Santa Fe daily New Mexican., 1890-05-24
THE ST0RMING
nF rus K0uK AND PUEBLO O. ACoMN
HY VICENTE DE ZALDlvAR,
I'd, 1aG and 2ith Of January, 1922.
COutinlICd.1

On the 18th day Of January, 1890, Don
Vicente ue Xaldiyar left San Gabriel at
the head OF seventy mounted soldiers
This was all that it was possible TO spare,
against tribe counting 800 warriors, re-
inforced by Nayajos to the amount OF
another hundred, perhaps, and who wait
ed the Spauiards on the summit Of ciih
$50 feet high, with PERCEPTIONS sides,
mostly overhauging, the few paths lead
ins to its top, already dangerous owing to
their steepnes and to the Chasms along
which they ascend, having been closed
whereas piles OF rocks, large and small,
were gathered on the edge Of the preCi-
pices above, ready TO be hurled upon the
assailants. The odds were dispropOrtion-
atcly in favor OF Acoma, and neither the
clumsy firearms OF the Spaniards (Which
in the matter OF rapid delivery were in
ierior to the bow and arrow, and only pos
sessed the advantage Of slightly longer
range, nor the protection OF buckSkln
and steel, could Counterbaance them.
The attack of Acoma by Vicente de Ial-
diyar was therefore desperate undertak-
ing, which might be termed foolharGy
were it not for the fact that there was no
alternative left to the Spaniards, that it
was matter of victory or destruction to
them.
Not all the Spanish soldiers were sup
piled with firearms. That privilege was,
at the times OF which we treat, reserved
to tue "Arquebusiers" alone. The ma
jority Of the men commanded by Ialdlyar
were so called "Piqueniers, armed for
close combat, and protected by cotton
quilted jackets, or battered coat Of mail ;
garments little adapted to The climbing Of
vertical heights. One piece OF artillery
was also taken along, q stone -hOWit2er or
"pedrefo," which was easily carried by E
stout beast of burthen and had the ad-
vantage Of firing projectle of stone in
stead OF iron. Accurate pointing was, OF
course, impossible with such an imper-
feet contrivance, and how would it be
possible, gentlemen, to bring it to bear
| upon the village? At the present time
Acoma would be shattered to atoms by q
single twelve-pounder from any point Of
the mesas near by. In 1899 there was
no gun in the Spanish camp that pos
sessed the requisite range. still the
mountain howitzer was taken along, for
better or for worse Xaldivar himself had
no definite idea of how he might be abe
to use it.
The Spanish troupe arrived in sight OF
Acoma Oh the afternoon OF the 2lst Of
January. The direction whence they ap
preached leads us to infer [until better
inlormed) that they entered the basin
from the northeast and through the
Canada del Aqua Escondda" and "Agua
del Coyote" That is, from the direction
of the present (then not yet eXtant) pu
eblo Of Laguna. The little body rode to-
ward the rock and past the towerin.
Mesa Encantada" The Acomas gath
cred on the brink OF the precipices sur
rounding their pueblo. 1t soon became
apparent that they were not only unap
proachable to negotiations, but eager fo'
a fray; confident of the invulnera tiilty 0
their position, every imaginable taunt wax
offered to the Spaniards. Naked womer
sauntered aloDg the brink OF the chasme
making obscene demonstrations men
painted black, jumped from craig to craig
shouting and yelling, beckoning, the as
sailants to come on Medicine men il
hideous attire stood on projecting pillars
beating their drums, scattering charms tC
the winds and showering imprecations
upon the Zoe. The uproar became deaf
ening, as Zaldiyar commanded halt
within a short distance of the base, anc
approached with few attendants, amon2
s.. them the indispensable notary, to en-
deayor parley. Volleys of stones and dis
Cordant yells and shrieks were the
reply to his summons. 1t was obligatory
upon any Spanish officer in his position
to have the summons to surrender reat
thrice, ere he proceeded to use coercion
The reading soon became drowned by the
war whoops OF the Acomas and the crash
ing and laundering OF rocks hurled
against the Spaniards. That Acoma haC
to be stormed.
The night Of the 2lst and 22d of Janu
ary, 1899, passed without the enemy
making any hostile demonstrations Bu
at intervals the shouting and beating o
drums above struck the ear of the Span
iards; the people of Acoma were cele-
brating monster war dance, preparatory
for the morrow. AS this morrow dawned
Ialdivar had settled upon a plan Of at
tack.
1t is very difficult, at the present time
to re-establish the topography Of Acoma al
it was two centuries ago, with absolute
accuracy. The contours of a cliff sc
sharply defined are exposed to sudder
chan ges. Portions may have fallen tha
connected the main plateau with sur
rounding elevations. Sand drifts maj
have been formed since, or may have pre-
viously existed facilitating access to th'
summit, and now be obiterated. Certain
it is, however, that Vicente de Zaldiva
|, founded his plans on the existence of ,
promontory or height from which tn,
site of the village could be reached
by throwing beams across an intervenin,