St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-05-04
A CITY IN THE AIR.
The Pueblo OF Acoma, Ninety
Miles West of Albuquerque,N N, Nj,

Miles West of Albuqueraue,N.
Pearsons 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 & Pacific railway to McCar-
thy's station, and then transfer to
pony and ride eighteen miles south by
east. When near your journeys end
you descend almost imperceptibly into
a valley six miles in width, in the mid
die 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 there the sum of their
possessions for nearly three CEN
turtles. The mound is one of MANY
that are the remains of a range of hills
which had been worn away by the eros
ION 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 COW
cred with grain and flocks of sheep.
Some time in the seventeenth CENTURY
the LagunO or Valley Indians made war
upon the AcomaS for the possession of
the country, and the latter, being the
weaker, occupied this mountain as q
position believed to be impregnabe.
The height above the valleys is nearly
400 feet, and the walls IN several places
nearly perpendicular. There are two
means of ascent, one by fight of steps
cut into the face of the wall and ris-
ing at an angle of 40 degrees, 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 troughs.
Either one is exceedingly difficult;
neither is tolerably safe. We choose the
one along the assure. With all the
danger and fatigue, it is laughable
sight to see persOn-some other
make the ascent. One has to stride
over the assure, 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 Indian will throw 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 pathetic Incl
dent 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
precipice and 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 contains an
area of sixty or seventy acres. At one
side stands the pueblo, blunt pyramid
Of adobe and stone honey-cOmbed with
rooms. at the other the church and
graveyard, and near the center 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
round US. AS night approached num-
Der OF the men who had been at work in
the valley came up, bringing delicious
peaches and grapes, which we were glad
to accept. We slept in the church
wrapped up in our Navajo blankets, land
never felt more secure or happier in our
lives. When the dawn appeared through
the little mica window paneS it revealed
great roof beams more than foot in
diameter and thirty or forty feet long,
and 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
timbers are there, however. as witnessed,
and morning and night, as the seasons
come and go and generations pass away,
the bell speaks for itself in the silvery
tones that pleased its founder in far-Otf
Spain, when King George was Oh 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 begin
ming. And the earth for the graves
came the same way. requiring forty
years, the priest said, to complete the
graveyard