Albuquerque weekly citizen. (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1891-19??, 1891-01-17

A orsst rsss~. sss,is sees. Depicted On
Hsehs a. view menten.


A orsss r.s,.. sss,,s sees. Depicted On
Rsehs "a view merseo.
There has recently been discovered,
according 10 the Phiiadelphia Times,
near bona Ana, N. NJ, on the banks Of
the Rio urande, . stone bearing the rec
ord In q series Of pictures Of an Indian
hght between two tribes. The pictures,
which arc painted In bright rcd on the
face of the rock. which la nearly nat,
show them W be the work Of . more
skillful hand than was common among
the Indians, and betrays even slight
perception u perspective which IL en-.
tircly unique. Tho lasting qualities ~
tho paint manufactured by. the Indians.
the acc 'et Of which has never i~cn dis.
covered, are well known, weather and
time producing no peroeptlblc cH"ct
upon IL, bu' actually seeming 10 deepen
and Intensity H.
The exact date Of tho inscription In, Of
course, not 90 De- arrived at, but from tho
half-buricd condition Of the stone and
other marks IL Is safe to suppose that u
| II at least three hundred years old, N
not Of much moro remote antiquity. Its
great age In proved further 10y there be-
ing no knowledge OF such n trrme ndous
hRht ~ IL here represented since the
coming Of the white man Ia this region.
On being questioned on the subject,
however, an old Indian called Bobby
One. Eye. who IL we'll kno~n in these
parts, and who claims to be 10 years
! old. declared that he had heard ~ =
great battle that occurred Tonga. Tonga
| ago" far Ia the west 80 vague was he,
though, that II was easy "a soc that he
merely repeated an old tradition. Tho
! pictures are eight In number and di.
yicd from each other by lines into
chapters ~ the history Of the event.
bobby One. Eye seemed perfectly fatiil-
lar with this style ~ writing and read.
lily translated the inscription.
The arst picture represents tho figure
Of an Indian brave, decorated with
feathers and armed with tomahaSk,
bow and culver. Beneath tho warrior
arr Ave hundred minute strokes which
tell th, number ~ lighting men in tho
tribe. The second picture II that Of
bird flying toward the setting sun.
This, Bobby said. shows that their Jour
ncy was to the westward. In smaller
figures are III. new moon and .
buck. which gives the time as being In
the first quarter Of the buck moon, an
swcring 10 July. The third picture con-
slsts of seven suns and a. macy stars,
which indicates that they were seven
days and nights on the way.
} Tho next picture IL that OF the sun
rising over q number Of wi-N ans and
hand pointing with three fingers To
crouchlng panther. According to the
Interpretation OF the Indian this signi-
fes that they arrived at the habi-
tation OF their enemies at sunrise and
} thcn lay In wait three days. The hfth
picture shows where their enemies,
numbe. ing 400, we're surprised while
asleep. This 10 told by the wigwams,
near which lies man sleeping and be-
meath him that number Of strokes.
They killed with the tomahawk 200 oi
, the foe and took Atty prisoners. The
sixth picture shows this by head cloven
: with q tomAhawk with 100 lines he
meath, and q man with his hands and
fcaAbound and ffty limos. That their
own Toss was IFS II represented In
the seventh picture by n head ~ mum
, bcrcd. and inciosed In q bow, which was
:. the emblem Of honor. The eighth
picture shows their triumphal march
back toward the rising sun, their enc
mics In full flight, which IN represented
by flight Of broken arrows in the OPP
J positc direction and the huts OF the van.
! pushed In flames. The stone Ii large,
. upright one, worn smooth by the action
OF water In some past age, and Ia fully
= twenty-five feet In height by sixteen
, wide. The pictures begin near the top,
extending to within four feet Of tho
base. 1t Is subject for speculation
how the artist suspended or elevated
himself 30 Us to 5c able Ia paint the hrst
four or Ave Of his sketches. The stone
was nearly buried under che sand and
' earth, and Its inscription was only acct
Q dentally discovered By y Mexican ranch
Q man OF the neighborhood, who, catch
q ing glimpse Of the red paint, scrap"d
4 away enough OF tho soil 10 500 that IL
was tho work Of man.