Blackfoot news. (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1891-1902, 1898-08-20
THE SPOIIIS OF WAR.
CANARiES AND CAROLlNES
MAY BE OURS.
Glance at the History of These
Valuable spanish Possessions = The
former Known to History aso !. c.
natter Known Since 1883. "

north latitude and the meridians OF Is
| degrees minutes and Is degrees 2
minutes west longitude. The nearest
/ island to Africa is only sixty miles
distant from its western coast. There
are seven large islands in the archipe
| las,, and several unimportant and un-
Inhabited islets, the total being 1886
square miles. They are roughly divis-
ible into two groups. The western
group comprises the islands of Tenerife.
Palma, Gomera and Hero. Through
the island of Hero, or Ferro, as II is
sometimes called, passes the meridian
which is taken as the dividing line be-
tween the eastern and western hemi-
spheres. The eastern group embraces
Gran Canaria. Lanzarote and Fuerte-
ventura. The largest island of the
group is Tenerife, from which rises the
famous Pieo de Teyde. or Peak Ten
erife, to height of 1920 feet above
the level of the sea. This island is
about fifty miles long and has an aver
age width of about twenty-eight miles.
Gomera is the smallest of the seven,
being but seventeen miles in length and
OF about the same width. The islands
are all of volcanic formation and have
high rocky coasts.
The history of these interesting is
lands can be traced back but few CEN
turtles. Legend and tradition, however,
will lead us into the realm of antiquity.
The islands have frequently been called
and were formerly known as the For
tunate Islands," or the Isle Of the
Blest. Before their existence was
even suspected, there were islands of
imagination described by the ancient
poets 80 like the Canary islands, that
when these were really discovered, the
fanciful descriptions OF the Elysian
fields by Homer, and the Fortunate
Isles" OF Hesiod and Pindar were found
TO apply to them. Homer's description
OF the abode of happy departed spirits
resembled so nearly these islands that
when found they were at once called
the Fortunate Islands" There is rea-
son to suppose that the Phoenicians
and Romans knew of them. The ear
liest mention that we have of them as
actually existing is in the treatise, DE
Mirabilis," about $50 B. C. This and
an account by Diodorus are no doubt
from the historian Timaeus. his au-
thority being the Greek navigator Py-
theas and the tales of the Punic and
other sailors. Status Sebosus. about
40 b. C., is the first who gives names to
five islands. which can be identified
from their description as being the
Canary Islands of today. From this
period for thirteen centuries. all knowl-
edge Of the islands was lost and the
Garden of Hesperides became once
| more fable. They were really exist
ing Islands buried in oblivion. The
Portuguese claim to have been their
diseoverers. Many tales are told of
their re-discovery prior to the fifteenth
century. but nothing definite or of i'm
portanee seems to have been done until
400. In that year a Norman noble
man, Jean de Bethencourt, organized
an expedition together with other
Frenchmen in search of adventure. and
left Rochelle to conquer the Canaries.
France seems to have given her coun-
trymen no assistance, money, men and
supplies being obtained from Spain
Bethencourt received a grant Of the
islands from Henry III. of CASTLE and
by the year 1904 he was in possession
OF Lanzarote, Fuerteventura, Gomera
and Hero. Bethencourt returned to
France in 1408 and died there shortly
afterward. His nephew, Maciot de
Bethencourt, was left as governor or
the Islands, but he proved a bad ruler
queen Catharine sent one Barba tn
control him. Maciot coded the jslands
to Barba, went to Madeira and sold
them over again to Prince Henry of
Portugal. The islands were then nass-
ed back and forth several times he
tween the two countries, each aIterp-
ately claiming them as her possessions
1t was not until 1879 that the dispnte
was finally settled and they became
Spanish possessions. Tenerife. Gran
Canaria and Palma, however, still re-
manned to be conquered and the tale
OF that unequal struggle is one NJ
brutality and horror. The Guancbea
rallied repeatedly around their native
kings, but, unlike the Spaniards thew
had no recourse to re-enforcenents and
their numbers were constantly dimin-
ished by pestilence as well as war In
1444 Diego de Herrera became lord of
the islands and from that time till tbeir
final subsection, over fifty years later
their history is a most painful ono of
meanness, treachery, cruelty and blood
shed on the part of the Spaniards
against an innocent, honorable and
confiding people. Gran Canarja was
finally conquered in 1883 and Palma in
14S1. Tenerife withstood until 14e5
and her downfall was then made nos
sible by the treachery of four native
Kings. These traitor kings are to this
DAY commemorated by the Spanish by
monument erected to their memory
In the Grand Plaza at Santa Cruz. Span
1sh colonists took up their residence IN
the Canaries and the natives gradually
disappeared. Not rapidly enough how
ever, to suit the local Spanish rulers
The inquisition was called upon for aid
and an attempt made to exterminate |
a Vat txr~