The Forrest City times., 1897-08-20
THE MESA ENcANTApA.
Ascent and Exploration of the Fa.
 Hock.

 | mous Rock.
 For the first time in the history of man the celebrated Mesa has been mounted. The honor belongs to Prof. William Libbey, of Princeton universi. ty, New Jersey, and the fact has been scientifically established that the sum. init is uninhabited, and, as far as the party could discover. has ever been. There were absolutely no traces of ami. nal life.
 It may be that new specimens of flora have been found that existed in the prehistoric world, but sufficient exam. iLation has not yet been made to de- termine this fact. The Mesa Encan- tada is said to be the only spot on the face of the globe where the flowers of the period of long ago can exist without the contamination and war of plant life with the world of the present day. 1 Prof. Libbey succeeded in making his much-talked-of ascent of the encantada few days ago. The trip to the sunni, was fraught with great perils, and the result Is of little value from an arch. geological standpoint.
 The party consisted of Prof. Libbey II. l.. Bridgeman, of Brooklyn, and the correspondent of the Times-H Herald Every preparation had been made for the ascent, there were great kites and balloons ready for use, but it was decid- ed to throw line across the top of the Mesa with gun. borrowed for the pur- pose from the United States life-savinQ service.
 | The first shot was too low. The sec. ond, carrying a steel wire, went over the summit, but took two days to draw the cord which was attached to a long. CT rope over the rough, rocky surface of the spot described by Coronado in his report to the king of Spain nearly three centuries ago as being the strong. est natural fertilization in the known world.
 | When the ropes were made fast block was arranged, and a great chain of boards, 20 feet across, was fastened to it. A huge rock was sent to the sum. init without tipping, and then Prof. libbey made the ascent. 1t was dan. gerous, exceedingly so. As the pro. lessor came close to the summit he had to hang on by one hand, while with the other, he disengaged the ropes of the chair, which had caught in the rough rocks. The remainder of the party then made the ascent, and were assisted on the surface by the professor.
 Next great difficulty presented it. self in the form of a gaping chasm. This was crossed on the ropes, and the ten acres of the surface of the rock were ex. plored by the daring scientists. They spent the entire day there, searching for the evidences of the vii. lage, said to have existed 500 years ago, but there was nothing to indicate that it ever had existed in reality. There were monuments of rock, such as the Indians built in the ages that have gone by, but that was all.
 There were some pools of water that had callected, but whether they were worn by the action of small particles of rock carried by the winds or whether they were in reality constructed by the i Acoma Indians in the centuries that have gone down into the silence of the past is not known. Search was made for the bones of the human beings whom the legend of the haunted rock describes as having been starved to death there, but they were not found.
 It is assumed by botanists that this great rock, which rises over TOO feet from the surface of a desert of sand. protruded out of the ancient sea that covered this section of the world in the ha hs. .. xt~ same to-day as it was in those days. when the world was young and of which history has no account. Specimens, such as there were, were collected, but whether they belong to this day and age or to the realms of the prehistoric world is not known.
 This rock, enchanted or haunted. as if has been called by the Acoma Indians. has been the center of scientific inter- est for years. Numerous attempts have been made to mount it, only to be doomed to failure.
 The legend of the Indians is that the summit of the rock was once reached by a natural ladder in pillar. On this place the old and decrepit were kept to shield them from the attacks of hostile loes, while the men were in the valley st work. Once a great torrential rain came, like cloudburst, and ate away the sandy foundations of the pillar, which fell, and the inhabitants on the rock, several hundred in number. starved to death.
 It has even been asserted that the place was inhabited, and the ascent by the Libbey party was made to set at rest the rumors and determine once and for all whether or not the stories as told were true.-Chicago Times-Herald.
 Cooked by Cold.
 Anyone who has ever picked up with