The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-07-28
FAMOUS MESA SCALED
ROCK THAT WAS SUPPOSED TO HAVE
BEEN INHABITED AGES AGO.
Ascent of the Celebrated New Mexico
Encantada Made for the First Time
by u Princeton Student.

ALBUQUERQUE, N NJ, July 27.-For
the first time in the history of man the cell
ebrated mesa has been mounted. The honor
belongs to Professor William Lbbey of
Princeton University, New Jersey, and the
fact has been scientifically established that
the summit is uninhabted, and, as far as
the party could discover, has ever been.
There were absolutely no traces of animal
life. 1t may be that new specimens of flora
have been found that existed in the prehis-
toric world, but sufficient examination has
not yet been made to determine this fact.
The Mesa Encantada 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.
Professor Libbey succeeded in making
his much-talked of ascent of the encan-
tada last Friday afternoon. The trip to the
summit was fraught with great perils, and
the result is of little value from an archae-
illogical standpoint. The party, consisting
of Professor Libbey, H. L. Bridgeman of
Brooklyn and the correspondent, reached
the foot of the enchanted mesa at Lagune
sixty miles from this city, last Wednesday
morning. Every preparation had been
made for the ascent; there were great kites
and balloons ready for use, but it was de-
cided to throw line across the top of the
mesa with gun, borrowed for the purpose
from the United States life-saving service.
The first shot, fired Wednesday morning
was too low. The second, carrying a steel
wire, went over the summit, but took two
days to draw the cord which was attached
to longer rope over the rough rocky sur
face of the spot described by Coronado in
his repot to the King of Spain nearly three
centuries ago as being the strongest nat
ural fortification in the known world
When the ropes were made fast a block
was arranged, and a great chain of boards,
twenty feet across, was fastened to it. "A
huge rock was sent to the summit without
tipping, and then Professor Libbey made
the ascent 1t was dangerous, exceedingly
so. AS the professor came close to the sum-
NIT 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 a great diff
hcuity presented itself in the form of a
gaping chasm. This was crossed on the
ropes, ana the ten acres of the surface OF
the rock We're explored by the daring sci
entists
They spent the entire day there, searching
for the evidences of the village, said to
have existed 900 years ago, but there was
in reality. There were monuments of rock
such the Indians built in the ages that
have gone by, but that was all There were
some pools of water that had collected 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 Ac0ma 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.
1t is assumed by botanists that this great
rock, which rises over 200 feet from the
surface of a desert of sand, protruded out
of the ancient sea that covered this section
of the world in the distant past and that
the fora is the same to-day as it was in
those days, when the world was young and
of which history has no account. Speci-
mems such as there We're were collected
age or TO the realms of the prehistoric
world is not known.
This rock, enchanted or haunted as ii
has been called by the Acoma Indians, has
been the center of scientific interest for
years Numerous attempts have been
made to mount it, only TO be doomed 10
failure The legend of the Indians is that
the summit of the rock was once reached
by a natural ladder in a pillar On this
place the old and decrepit were kent to
while the men We're in the valley at work
Once a great torrenttal rain came. like
cloudburst, and ate away the sandy founda-
tions Of the pillar, which fell and the in
habitants on the rock. several hundred in
number, starved to death. 1t had even been
asserted that the place was inhabited and
the ascent by the Libbey party was made
to set al rest the rumors and determine
once and for all whether or not the stories
as told were true.