Gulf Coast breeze. [volume] (Crawfordville, Fla.) 1897-19??, 1898-06-24
THE ENCHANTED MESA.
TRACES OF HABITATioN FOUND ON
THE TOP OF kATZlMo.


Storms Once the Home Of Indians
Mr.. F. w. Hodge of the ethuologi-
cal bureau writes for the Century an
account Of his "Ascent of tho En-
cbanted Mesa" made last September.
Mr.. Hodge says:
The rocky floor of the mesa-top had
been swept and carved and swept
again by the storm-demons Of cen
turtles since the "ancients" Of the
Aeeting forms we saw on the roofs in
the moonlight Of the night before had
descended the ladder-trail in the early
morn of that Hateful day.
Although the afternoon was still
young, I at once saw that the remain
ing hours Of daylight would not suffice
for thorough examination Of the
snmmit. Directing the two Lagunas
below to gather together our blankets
and sufficient supply of provisions
for couple Of meals, q reconnaissance
was begun, and in few moments q
fragment of greatly weather-worn an
cient pottery was picked mp.
The storm of the previous day,
which drove the Indians from their
religious ceremonies, and gave birth
TO the glittering little pools in the
verdant valley below, afforded facili-
ties for observation on the summit
that otherwise would not have been
possible. Here and there in the
rocky floor "pot-holes" had been
eroded by wind and rain, and were
now filed with water; but nowhere
else on the entire summit had the rain
found a resting-place. Over the
brink it had poured in scores Of catar-
acts, carrying with it stones and such
earth as it managed to gather from
the scanty store yet remaining
The mesa-top was once covered with
0 fairly rich vegetation, pinons and
cedars predominating; but most OF
these now stand gaunt and bare, or
lie prone and decaying on the bleak
surface, their means of subsistence
having been long washed away. A
few dozen more storms, and the
others must inevitably perish. But
the examination of the surface OF
Katzimo was not essential to deter
mination OF the fact that it was for
merly mantled with thick stratum
of earth; the talus had already told
the story that on the very site OF their
village the inhabitants of Katzimo had
An abundance of material with which
to make the balls of adobe mud de-
scribed by one of the Spanish chron-
iclers Of the sixteenth century. The
last remnants of their houses, together
with the fragments OF their household
utensils, savesuch as we found, passed
over the brink generations ago; but
one may still find an abundance OF
the latter scattered through the
detritus which in places is piled half
way up the mesa's sides.
We built huge fire around one Of
the gaunt specters that stood about us
with outstretched arms; soon there
was mighty blaze, and a shout Of
approval reached us from the two
Lagunas below.
The next morning, while aiding
Major Pradt in making survey of
the mesa-top, was not little sur
prised to find three Acoma Indians
among us. They were by no means
friendly at first, for, having seen our
fire the night before, they had come
to the top by means Of our ladders to
learn the cause of this unusual burst
of flame from their ancestral home
site, and to GUST the intruders from
the height. The leader, who was the
war chief of the tribe, and medicine
man, asked our business. We told
him. The natives became interested,
and said that their people had feared
we were after their land. Being
assured we had no desire to make our
future home on their dry sand-dunes
or drier mesas, but that we we're
merely looking for pottery fragments,
the chief expressed serious doubt that
any relics could be found, inasmuch
as many ages had passed since
his people lived on the great table, and
he believed all evidences of former
occupancy had been swept or washed
away. The interest Of the three In
dams was quite apparent when L
showed them the fragment of pottery
picked up by Major Pradt the even
ing before, and they manifested no
unwillingness to search for other pot
sherds when I made the suggestion.
They were engaged in this quest only
short while when theyreturned with
several fragments of extremely an
cient, greatly worn earthenwnre, q
large proiectile-point, a portion of
shell bracelet, aud parts OF two grooved
stone axes, all lichen-Aecked with age.
and still moist from contact with the
ground. Thoroughly satisfied with
the outcome, / decided to bring the