Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1885-01-22
THE PUEBLO ACOMA.

American capital take up an enterprise
too long neglected.
THE PUEBLO ACOMA.
Something About the Wonderful
"Cify In the Airs
A Santa Re letter to The Lawrence
(Kan.) Journal says: The Pueblo of
Acoma, situated 80 miles west of Al
berquerque, is one of the most re-
markable communities in New Mexico
or the United States. To reach it take
the Atlantic and Pacific railroad to
Mccarthy station and then transfer to
an Indian pony and ride eight miles
south by east. When near your
journeys end you descend almost
imperceptibly into the valley six
miles in width, ia the middle of which
stands a butte, and on the top of this
is Acoma. Eight hundred people are
living there, and they and their an
cestors have gath cred there the sum
of their possessions for nearly three
centuries. This butte is one of many
that are the remnants of a mesa that
has been worn away by the erosion of
ages, and survives only in flat-topped
mountains here and there. The val
legs between are fertile, and untold
generations of men have seen them
covered with waving grass and hocks
of sheep.
Some time in the seventeenth CEN
fury the Laguno, or Valley indian,
made war upon the Acomas for the
possession of the country, and the lat
ter, being the weaker, occupied this
butte as defensive position believed
to be impregnable. Their Judgment
has been abundantly indicated. It
has proved a Gibraltar of strength
and safety. The comparison is not
Inappropriate, and in approaching it
from the aorth [ was struck with the
resemblance to the pictures I have
seen of that grim fortress that frowns
over the straits to the Mediterranean.
The height above the valley is nearly
four hundred feet and the walls In
several places nearly perpendicular
There are two means of ascent-one
by a flight of steps cut into the face
OF the wall and rising at an angle of
rs degrees, and the other by fissure
in the rocks leading up into the heart
of the mountain. Both ways have
been trodden by human feet until the
steps are followed out like shallow
troughs. Either one Is exceedingly
difficult, and neither is tolerablv safe
We chose the one along the fssure
To give an idea of the righteousness
of the task. imagine stairway start
ing at Mr.. Grosvenor's office, and
rising to the top of the spire of the
Methodist church, then continuing ON
an easier angle for one hundred feet,
and then rising again by sleeper
grade than ever to an elevation higher
than the weather-vaue on the univer-
sity, and this stairway precarious
footing along the sides of cash 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 side and the other on the
left, and at the same time press the
hands alternately against the rocks
for support. An Indian will throw a
live sheep around his neck and go up
quite rapidly without touching either
hand to the rocks, but l am satisfied I
could never do it.
They told us of pathetic Incident
that occurred on the outer stairway
several generations ago. Several men
started up, each with sheep on his
back. When nearly to the top the
sheep carried by the foremost man be-
came restless, and the shepherd Ia try
ing to hold it fast lost his footing, and
in falling swept his companions over
the precipice, and they all fell on the
rocks at the foot in lifeless heap.
The indians have carved a representa-
ton of the accident on a rock near
where it occurred, which scarcely
serves to steady the nerves of those
who go 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, blunt pyramid of adobe and
stone honey-combed with rooms; at
the other the church and graveyard,
and near the center a pond of pure
water thirty feet In depth and several
rods IN extent.
The priest was made acquainted
with the object of our visit, and the
ringing OF the church bell brought
the inhabitants of the village around
us. When they understood that the
title TO their lands was in question,
and we had come to take testimony, J
they showed great interest, and dis
cussed the various points Involved |