Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-06-01
ON THE RIO GRANDE.
A Town Like an Ant HiI-Unchanged
for Three Centuries.
Ccrre8D0ndence Chicago NtacS.

Corre8DoRdence ChicagO Wears.
Outside Of its commercial interest Wal
lace is a place which all visitors to New
Mexico should stop at. 1t is within
mile walk Of the pueblo of SantO Domingo,
one Of the largest and d6cldedly one OF the
most interesting Of all the Indian Villages
which are found to-day scattered over the
Valley of the RIO Grande. Who the fore
fathers are of these Pueblo Indians is q
question and a problem that has never
vet been satisfactorily solved. Frank
Cushing, living among the Zuni-
who are people of apparently the
same race as the inhabitants of
SantO Domingo and TaOs-is doing his
best to unravel the mystery that has hung
about the pueblOs since they were dis
covered by the Spaniards in 1910; but
whether Gushing Will find that Indian
mythology discloses the secrets of the
past or not remains to be seen. Coronado,
of Spain, found SantO Domingo and its
neighbOrs looking about as they Go to-day,
and the visit of the Spaniard was made
more than 800 years ago. Before his
arrival no one can tell what changes, if
any, had taken place at the oddly built
town. But since 1910, as one may
see by reading the accounts of the in
vader's march, there has been nothing
done at the villages to alter in any way
the old order of things in general. The
raYages Of time have caused the simple
hOusaS OF the simple people to seem more
and 3dore'a part of the ground upon which
they stand, no doubt, and with the pass
inc of the years old roots have rOtted away
and ancient ladders have fallen to pieces.
But the town as a whole looks to-day
about as it did centuries ago, and hun
dred years from now it will not have
greatly changed, judging from the past,
unless the ruthless wonder of the present
time, the American, lays his Yandal
hands upon the ancient dwellings.
The first glimpse one has of SantO Do
mingO gives the impression that the vii
lage is the abode Of some mighty ants
who have erected for themselves houses to
live in. Every abode is made of adobe,
and in many instances one house is built
on top OF the other, much as child would
place his blocks together. Where the
houses are so piled into a confused mass
there are long ladders reaching to each
roof, and thence through trap doors into
the interior, but the majority Of people
have cut dOorways in the sides Of their
houses, and even have gone so far as to
cut windows, too. 1t is a taYOTitG amuse-
ment of all having such homes to sit
in the open doorway, and pass the
compliments Of the day to all who
may happen to pass along the street.
Those who have no side doors sit upon
their house tops, and from there call forth
their various salutatiOns.' 1t can hardly
be said, although l used the word, that
this pueblo has any streets. There are
spaces between the houses to be sure,
but they are narrow ones. and as crooked
as those of the north end of classic Bos-
ton. There is only one open space of any
consequence, and that is the plaza or
public square, across which hurry those
quantity dressed, and quite as often I'M
dressed people who make the old town
their home. An artist will find at SantO
Domingo enough curious contrasts to
keep his pencil and brush in use for many
a day. Dark, sWarthy faces; long, coarse
hair, invariably worn with pronounced
Langtry bang; rows of white teeth,
set in large, full-Hpped mouths; magni-
ticent, Jun0-llke eyes, laughing or serious
as it happens; iuI1-rounded busts among
the women and broad chests among the
men; dirty, careless, good natured, ready
to sell an earring or a bracelet or a bit of
topaz. These are the sights and these
are the people that one sees about town,
down by the river and on the housetops.
With wants that are as simple as those
of child, the inhabitants of Santo Do
mingO are nevertheless, well to do, and
their farms are among the largest and
best in the Rio Grande valley. Not at all
versed in manufacturing, themselves,
J0ey ifdQe once year with the NaVaJOS
and the Zuni for the blankets and the
trinkets which the latter make, and give
in exchange the fruits and corn and sheep
which they have raised.
A girl of SantO Domingo, real first
class, able-bodied. nice girl, is as pretty
as picture. Brown as berry; eyes
dark and languid, hands and feet small;
ankle well-shaped and liberallydisplayed
shoulder round and peeping outs of the
calico waist that ends just below the arm;
pearly teeth, black hair, pretty laugh,
saucy, flirty, and yet demure. Where is
the man that would not fall in love for
half an hour, or until that time at least
when he noticed that his adored one
wore no shoes; that her dress was
sOiled; that she couldn't write; that
she had to work; and that she was an
Indian squaw? All, well, Pocahontas
isn't dead yet, by any means. And
coming back to the girl, and not thinking
other few imperfections noted aboYe-see
how gracefully she carries her earthen
water jar full of water on her head; see
how strong she is, how easily she carries
her burden that would make US stoop.
She is a modern Rebecca at the well, and,
like her model, she lives in hot country,
and she wears few clothes, and she loves
to linger and to gossip.