Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1890-01-31
AN AMERICAN pyRAMin
strnetnre In Mexico Ed, !.
To the Egyptian f,La..-.. @auA

v'"ethfe IN Mexico Eauaf
70 the Egyptian Cheops.
= hot necessary to leave North
a,h,5, soil to visit a genuine pyramid
"ni,h WIZ compare In size with Ike ,,us'
'.'..' Vi oheops itself. 1t can be reachaa
WITHOUT crossing the sea: In fact 80,
way VIII carry us almost to the base 4
srahch Of the Mexican and Yer. cn,,a
railway fnns from Anizaco n pnal, uA
ana horse railway runs from Pueblo
ohoiuia, about nine miles distan.
where the great pyramid stands. y
nienough 1t is on American so;I ~
b lily SHOWS Just when the pyramid was
quit " Is very old-that we Lno",
ana may be older than that of Cbeons l.,
Egypt. oi oi'eops' In
ine Aztecs invaded Mexico thousand
years ago, and II was standing then
fernaps the Toltecs or the O,olecs baa
. hand IN It's construction, or perhans ~
was there when they came. y
VINO they were, what thew were whv
eney quilt this huge structure--all these
are questions which have been askad l.,
vain. Certain 1t is that It was brilt -,
civilized race, one skilled in engineering
me measurements Of the pyramid dit
,er, Humbolt giving the sides OF the
base at LAO feet each, and Bandallar
made the north side 1000 feet. and tho
east side 1,026 feet, the south sida goo
leet and the west side 1000 feet TIE
height is about IA feet or more from,
the base to the top.
A view which Humboldt gives shows
mat formerly the four terraces of the
pyramid were very distinctly to be seen.
put now, owing to the crumblinp OF the
sharp edges OF the terraces by the action
OF rain and time, the pyramidal asnect
Is not so Immediately to be discerned
but near view and not very minute
examination shows at once the artificial
character OF the mound.
A broad paved road winds up to tho
top, where in the time of the conquest
stood an Aztec temple. This site ia now
occupied by pretty church, built by the
Spaniards. The Aztec temple was dedi-
Gated to the mysterious /" fair god, .
luetzacoatl, OF whom tradition is that
he came from over the sea in ancient
times to teach the Aztecs the arts of CIV
ilization.
There is some ground for supposing
that this neurological parsonage was a
Christian missionary VINO found his way
from Greenland-in old times fairly
civilized land--to Mexico, who lived
with the forefathers of the later Aztecs
and taught them many arts. He was
called 1.-THE god Of the air." his statue
was crowned with golden inter; he
wore gold collar, turquois earrings.
and carried scepter studded with gems
and shield painted with emblems of
the four winds.
The'pyramid is built of adobe brick,
and it is supposed that it served both as
fortified place and site for worship
At the top was temple of the gods, and
on the terraces were dwellings,, the
whole making a fortified pueblo, no
doubt impregnable to assault in the
days before gunpowder was known.
This pyramid and the smaller ones in
the vicinity resemble marvelously the
Assyrian and Chaldean temples, which
Layard and other explorers have so
infinitely described. Cholula has never
been explored, but doubtless contains
rare antiquarian treasures.
At the time of the conquest, in cutting
off an end of the pyramid to make room
for more direct route from Pueblo to
Mexico, a vast hollow chamber under
the structure was disclosed to view.
1t was built of stone and and sus-
tanned by beams of cypress. In it were
two skeletons. some idols and large
number of glazed vessels.
From the top of the pyramid can be
seen on the plain below some curious
mounds, one somewhat resembling an
elephant-all Enthusiastically artificial,
showing that this region was once re-
ligious gathering ground, a sort of
American Mecca.
Cholula has one great advantage over
Cheops. The latter is built on fiat
and arid plan. Cholula stands in the
midst of magnificent scenery. Perhaps
this is rather disadvantage, the pyra-
mid being dwarfed in appearance by the
huge mountains which form vast wall,
separating the valley of Pueblo from the
Valley of Mexico.
From the top of the phyamid there is
to be seen good-sized hill lying up
under the base of Popocatapetl 1t looks
like a sailboat alongside of the Great
Eastern.
In other directions one sees Malinche,
the most curious of mountains, and the
lofty, 'star-shining" peak of Orizaba.
The entire district is beautiful, and at
the same time impressive, and should
be better known to American tourists
Golden Days.