The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-06-28
A CITY on A MOUND.
The Strange Location of the Pueblo
of Acoma in New Mexico.


of Acoma in New Mexico.
From Pearson's Weekly.
The pueblo Of Acoma, situated ninety
miles west of Albuquerque, is one of the
most remarkable communities in the world.
To reach it you take the Atlantic and Pa
cific railroad to McCarthys station, and
then transfer to q pony and ride eighteen
miles, south by east. When near your
journeys end you descend almost imper-
ceptibly into a valley six miles in width,
In the middle of which stands huge
mound and on the top of this is Acoma.
Eight hundred people are living there. and
their ancestors have gathered their posses-
sions there for nearly three centuries.
This mound is one of many that are the
remains of range of hills which has been
worn away by the erosion of the ages, and
survives only in fiat topped elevations here
and there. The valleys between are fertile,
and untold generations Of men have seen
them covered with grain and fiocks of sheep.
Some time in the seventeenth century the
Laguno or Valley Indians made war upon
the Acomas for the possession Of the coun-
try, and the latter, being the weaker, Occur
pied this mountain as position believed to
be impregnable. The hight above the
valleys is nearly 400 feet, and the
walls in several places nearly perpendicular.
There are two means OF ascent, one by
flight of steps out into the face Of the wall
and rising at an angle Of Az. and the other
by assure 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 trou9hs.
Either one is exceedingly difficult; neither
is tolerably safe. We choose the one along
the dssure. With all the danger and
fatigue, it Is a laughable sight to see a per-
son-some other-make the ascent. One has
TO stride over the fssurc, one foot on the
right hand side and the other on the left :,
and at the same time press the hands alter
nately against the rocks for support. An H.
dian will throw a live sheep around his neck
and 60 up quite rapidly without touching
the rocks with either hand, but | am salts
fed l could never do it. They told us OF
pathetic incident that occurred on the outer
stairway some 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 rest
less, and the shepherd In trying to hold it
fast lost his footing, and in falling swept his
companions over the precipice, aud they all
fell on the rocks in lifeless heap. The
Indians have carved a representation Of the
incident on a rock near where 1t occurred,
which scarcely serves TO steady the nerves
of those who go by that route.
The top OF the elevation is level and con-
tains an area OF sixty or seventy acres. At
one side stands the pueblo, blunt pyramid
Of adobe and stone honeycombed with
rooms, at the other the church and grave
yard. 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. As night ap-
preached a number of the men who had
been at work in the valley came up, bring
ing delicious peaches and grapes, which we
were glad to accept. We slept in the church
wrapped up in our Navajo blankets. aud
never felt more secure or happier in our
lives.
When the dawn appeared through the lit
tie mica window panes it revealed great
roof beams more than a foot in diameter
and thirty or forty feet long. and bell
that was cast in 1710. How these immense
timber and this bell were got up to the top
of this cliff no one living knows. The In
dams shake their heads and the priest shakes
his, but no one ventures an opinion. The
timbers are there, however, as witnessed,
and morning and night, as the seasons come
and 60 and generations pass away, the bell
speaks for itself In the silvery tones that
pleased its founder in far-off Spain when
King George was on the throne. The adobes
or the earth OF which they were made
were brought UP from the valley also, for
the top of the butte was bald rock in the
beginning. And the earth for the graves
came the same way, requiring forty years,
the priest said, to complete the graveyard.