The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1891-05-24
A REMARKABLE COMMUNITY.
Living Oh The TOP Of a Mound in The Ter
TitOry Of New Mexico

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
cifc Railway to McCarthyS Station. and
then transfer to a 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 in this place, and
they and their ancestors have gathered
their possessions there for nearly three CEN
turtles.
This mound is one of many that are the
remains of range of hills which has been
worn away by the erosion Of tie ages, and
survives only in flat-topped elevations here
and there. The valleys between are fertile
aud untold generations Of men have seen
them covered with grain and fl0cks of sheep.
Some time in the seventeenth century the
Laguno or Valley Indians made war upon
the Ac0mas for the possession of the coun-
try, and the latter, being the weaker, occu-
pied this mountain as a position believed TO
be impregnable. The height above the val
leys is nearly 400 feet, and the walls in sew
eral places nearly perpendicular There are
two means VI ascent, one by flight OF steps
cut into the face OF the wall and rising at an
angle of 400. 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 tr0ughs. Either one is eX-
ceedngly difficult; neither is tOlerably safe.
We choose the one along tue assure. with
all the danger aud fatigue it is iauehable
sight to see peTsOn-SOme other-maSe the
ascent. One has TO stride over the assure,
one foot on the right-hand side and the other
OH 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 The rocks
with either hand. but am satisfied could
never do it. They told us of a pathetic in
cident 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 restless, and the
shepherd in trying to hold it fast lost his
footing. and in falling swept his companions
over the pTecipice, aud they all fell on the
rocks in lifeless heap. The Indians have
carved representation OF the Incident on
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 con-
tains an area of sixty or seventy acres. AT
one SIDE status Tue pueDlO, u DIuuL pyIdlnlu
of adobe and stone hunPyc0m bed 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
n extent The priest was made acquainted
with the object Of our visit, aud the ringing
of the church bell brought the inhabitants
of the village round us. As night ap-
preached number of the men VINO 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, and
never felt more secure or happier In our
lives.
When the dawn appeared through the lit
tie mica window panes it revealed great
TO f-beams more than a foot in diameter
and 80 or 40 feet long aud a bell that was
cast in ITO. How these immense timbers
and this bell were got up to 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 tim
bers are there, however, as witnessed, and
morning and night as the seasons come and
20 and generations pass away, the bell
speaks for itself in the siivery 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
graves came the same way, requiring forty
years, the priest said, to complete the grave
yard.-PearsOn's Weekly.