The Middlebury register and Addison County journal. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1883-1885, 1885-01-30
A REMARKABLE COMMUNITY
FACTS ABOUT THE WONDERFUL
CITY IN THE AIR"
The Puebla Of Acoma i'm New Mexico
A Dangerous Place TO Reach
Its Singular People.


Its Singular People.
A Santa Fe letter to the Lawrence
(Kan.) Journal says: The pueblo of
Acoma, situated ninety miles west of
Alberquerque is one of the most remark
able communities in New Mexico or the
United States. To reach it take the At
lantic and Pacific railroad to Mccarthy
station and then transfer to an Indian
pony and ride eight miles south by east.
When near your journeys emf you de-
scend almost inperceptibly into the val
ley six miles in width, in the middle OF
which stands butte, and on the top of
this is Acoma. Eight hundred people
are living there, and they and their an
cestors have gathered there the sum OF
their possessions for nearly three centur-
les. This butte is one of the many that
are the remnants of a mesa that has been
worn away by the erosion of ages, and
survivors only in flattopped mountains
here and there. The valleys between are
fertile, and untold generations of men
have seen them covered with waving
grain and flocks of sheep
Some time in the seventeenth century
the Laguno, or Valley Indian, made war
upon the Acomas for the possession of
the country, and the latter, being the
weaker, occupied this butte as a defen-
8 We position believed to be impregna-
De. Their judgment has been album
dtntly indicated. 1t has proved a Gil
brllter of strength and safety. The com
parison is not Inappropriate, and in APP
preaching it from the north | was struck
with the resemblance to the pictures |
have seen of that grim fortress that
frowns over the straits to the Mediter-
ranean. The height above the valley is
nearly 400 feet and the walls in several
places nearly perpendicular. There are
two means of ascent-one by flight of
steps cut into the face of the wall and
rising at an angle of forty-tive degrees,
and the other by iissure in the rocks
leading up into the heart of the noun
tain. Both ways have been trodden by
human feet until the steps are followed
out like shallow troughs. Either one is
exceedingly difficult, and nett lcr is toll
erably safe. We chose the one along the
assure. TO give an idea of tn labori-
business of the task, imagine stairway
starting at Mr.. Grosvenors Office end
rising to the top of the sprc of the Meth
odist church, then continuing on an easy
angle for one hundred feet, and then ris-
ing again by sleeper grade than ever
to an elevation higher than the weather.
vane on the university, and this stairway
a precarous footing along the sides of a
gasn in the rugged mountain, and you
may know how we reached Acoma,
With all the danger and fatigue it is a
laughable sight to see persOn-some
other person-make the ascent. One has
to stride over the assure. one foot on the
right ride and the other on the left, and
at the same time press the hands alter
nately against the rocks for support. An
Indian will throw live sheep around
his neck and go up quite rapidly with
out touching either hand to the rocks,
but | am satisfied | could never do it.
They told us Of a pathetic incident
that occurred on the outer stairway sew
eral generations ago Several men started
up, each with a sheep on his back. When
nearly to the top the sheep carried by
the foremost man became restless, and
the shepherd in trying to hold it fast
lost his footing, and in falling swept his
companions over the prccipcc, and they
all fell on the rocks at the foot in life
less heap. The Indians have carved a
representation of the accident on a rock
near where it occurred, which scarcely
serves to steady the nerves of those who
90 by that route.
The top of the elevation is level and
contains an area of sixty or seventy
acres. At one side stands the pueblo,
a blunt pyramid of adobe and stone,
honey combed with rooms; at the other
the church and grave yard, and near
the centre a pond of pure water thirty
feet in depth and several rods in eX-
tent.
The priest was made acquainted with
the object Of our visit, and the ringing
of the church bells brought the inhabi-
tants of the village around US. When
they understood that the titles to their
lands was in question, and we had come
to take testimony, they showed great
interest, and discussed various points in
VOWED with remarkable intelligence,
considering their limited opportunities
for a knowledge of law. AS nightfall
came on number of the men who had
been at work in the valleys came up,
bringing delicious peaches and grapes,
which we were glad to accept in view
of the meagrc preparations for supper.
We slept in the church, wrapped up in
our Navajo blankets, and never felt
more secure or happier in our lives. When
the gray dawn pecred through the lit
tie mica window pane, it revealed great
roof beams more than a foot in di
ameter and thirty or forty feet long, and
through the open tower a bell that was
/ -, i'm
bers and this bell were brought up tc
the top of this cliff no one living knows.
/ The Indians shake their heads and the
priest shakes his, but no one ventures an
opinion. The timbers are there, how
ever, as witnesses, and morning and
night as the seasons come and go and
generations pass away, the bell speaks
| for itself in the silyery tones that pleased
/ is founder in the far oil Spain when
King George was on the throne. The