Little Falls weekly transcript. (Little Falls, Morrison Co., Minn.) 1894-19??, 1897-06-18
AMONG THE PUEBLOS.
THEY ARE ABOUT HALF CIVILIZED,
ESPECIALLY IN a6uNKO" GAMES.
Tho Geography Of Water and soil-Huat-
ing Strange Game-Indisns Who Prefer
Raising Corn 70 Raising scalps Mr..
T Ober In New Mexico. .5%.$

ing Strange Gsme-Indisns Who Prefer
Rsising Corn 70 Raising scalps - Mr..
Ober In New Mexico.
l@@ Especial Correspondence ,sg.
ALBUQUERQUE, N. NJ, May III that
old Yankee slapper who could always tell
his exact position by tasting the mud
brought upon the lead when on 'sound-
ings" should take a journey across the
continent, he could easily locate himself
by the color Of the earth In the water he
had to drink. Now, for instance, In Gin
cinnati the sediment In your tumbler is
yellow, showing the washings Of the Ohio.
In St. Louis 1t Is black, betraying the rich
soil along the banks of the Big Muddy"
In Kaneas the water IL limy, reminding
you of the great fossil monsters for which
The bed Of that vast inland sea was once
famous.
When New Mexico Is reached, the whole
aspect Of scenery, soil, water, and even OF
sky, changes as by a miracle. You have
leaped at once from the oocident to the
orient. Our Yankee skipper, unless he
had voyaged to Egypt or North Africa,
would be entirely Thrown out of gear BY
the radical changes in his surroundings.
He would GEE mountains with sharp. ser
rated edges, toothed liked saw, some
snow capped, others polished like crystals,
and all glistening beneath sky OF orient
azure. The soil, too, has changed. In
fact, the native Of Kansas or Missouri
would aver that there was no soil at all.
It Is thin, that is q fact, and the grass
seems so scanty that, as Chicago man
once said, "cow will have to hustle to
find enough to chew" Even the crows, 1t
IL said, have to "tote their rations" when
flying across New Mexico: But, like many
other things seen from distance, the New
Mexican soil pans out better than 1t looks
In the mountain 1t Is rich In many min
eral, and on the plains it Is valued for Its
own sweet sake. It ia here that we drst
encounter the humble "adobe" hut, TAX
ing the place ct the Kansas "dugout,
but sometimes assuming far grander pro-
portions. :.
Adobe, they tell me, Is word derived
from the Egyptian "adoub," and Is repre-
sented by q hieroglyph on some OF the
Egyptian monuments. So far as America
is concerned, however, 1t was probably OBJ
tanned from the Aztecs Of Mexico; at oil
events, you will find the Mexicans here
living in the adobes, which indeed they
very much resemble in complexion, being
q rich red brown or terra Gotta.
A more interesting people than the
Mexicans made use of the adobe as build
ing material hundreds, perhaps thou
sands, of years before the latter came to
this region. These were the Pueblos,
glimpses Of whom you may get from the
train as you are carried along the banks
Of the great Rio Grande, the "Nile of the
north" They may be seen scurrying to-
ward the station or water tank as the
painting engine stops for water, thirsty
after its long run across the desertlike
stretches. They dc. not differ greatly from
the "Greasers, = except that they will run
on occasions, while Mexican was never
known to move at gait faster than
slow walk. They carry in their hands
bowls water jars, grotesque figures, all OF
pottery Of their own designs and baking.
They also have arrowheads, jades or tur-