Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1901-08-21
AHARD CLIMB ABOVE THE CLOUDS.
Newton Layne Describes Scenes In the Unsurpass
able Golden State.
sANTEE CALIFoRN1A. Aug. IL.

able Golden State.
SANTEE. CALIFORNIA, Aug. IL.
EDITOR CENSOR, R,--Awav up in the
foothills of the San Jacingo mountains
there is q little Indian settlement, where
rude people still cling to their ancient
customs and primitive methods. Here.
while the mercury was aspiring toward
the hundred mark, your correspondent
spent part of his vacation, and perhaps
veur re9ders will be interested in some
of ,,ie things he saw.
A 5wo DAYS ride from San Diego will
take You there-two days of heat and
dust, of slow climbing of winding noun
tain grades, but during which you leave
behind you the lower country, dry and
brown, and enter region of cak and
pines, Office cold springs and running
water And toward the close of the
second day you swing down long can
on and emerge into an open valley some
ten miles in breadth. This is part of
large cattle ranch. and is famous place
ta get lost in, as the roads run in every
direction and the rolling nature of the
country prevents a view ahead IL we
are fortunate, however. two hours
drive brings us to our destination. At
the base of twin peaks. of perfect SINH
larity in form and size is little village.
One narrow street runs east and west
and on either side is row of adobe
houses, The walls Of .ese are some
two feet thick. and + oofs are made
of cat-tails and rush The floors are
of dirt packed harf = ome houses are
bnilt of tiles and J red with brush or
willow houghs. $ principal feature
of the place is aot springs. These,
though they = doubtless destined to
one day beco' s, Imous, are at present
almost unkr =. They furnish source
Of conside' . revenue to the Indians,
who rent s ses and furnish baths to
the few = Ce people who yearly FREE
quent the place. The springs are three
in number and are separately character
ized by sulphur, magnesia aid alum.
They are walled with rock. so that the
water is of some depth, but perfectly
transparent From numerous tiny crew
ices in the rock bottom bubbles of gas
are continually escaping. The water il
conveyed to rude bath houses in fumes
of hollow logs. and the air fairly reeks
of the smell of sulphur. The temper
atnre of the water is about IA degrees.
There are many quaint and pictur-
esque scenes Here they cut their grain
with cradles and beat Ii with fails. or
tramp it out with ponies, and grind it
III the stone grinders The Indian wo-
men are always at work, the men gam
BILE or lie in tie shade and smoke. Many
live TO great age. My companion and
|, one morning, came upon an ancient
squaw apparently hundred years old.
Dressed in q single garment of tattered
calico. barefooted, with n brilliant ban
dana bound about her head, she was
busily engaged in grinding ont wheat
between two stones Her hands were
long and lean like the claws of bird,
ber small. black eyes snapped inquiring-
ly from a wizened countenarce shrunk-
en- and dried by the wind and sun of
century. My companion could not re-
sist the temptation and stepped up
softly with the camera, while / created
a counter diversion In front. But OF
sudden the old lady espied him. Wine
ing as II struck, she gabbled flood OF
uuintelligible protest accompanying 1t
with sundry demands of ''Diez centavos,
senur diez centavos. Upon ascertain
ing this much. we complied with the
money demand, and obtained very
satisfactory picture.
On barren hillside above this village
stands q little whitewhashed adobe
church Every Sunday morning bril-
liant procession winds slowly up the
hill in the bright sunshine. At the door
they dip their fingers in the holy water
and kneel and cross themselves. When
they are seated the priest lights the
candles, and kneeling before the altar
raises his voice in singing chant, while
the congregation responds with uncouth
words and deep gutterals that give
peculiar effect. They pray, and the
priest talks awile in their barbarous
dialect. Then he dismisses them and
they 20 wetting their fingers in the
holy water, back to their adobe huts, to
gamble the rest of the day and all the
night among themselves. and with the
cowboys of the Rancho Diablo.
IL you have ambitions in the direction
of mountain climbing it is easy to graf
ify them. Close by stands the highest
peak in the country, si.y thousand i've
hundred feet. 1t is long climb but on
clear day the view will amply repay
one. On the north are the tangled
ranges of the San JacintO, on the east
the Colorado desert is spread out at
your feet, vast of barren sand, with
the mountains that mark It's eastern
border family visible against the sky.
To the south lie the blue mouuteins OF
Mexico, and on the west the broad Pa
cifc with the distant island, Corpus
Christi, half hidden in the haze. A land
for the poet and dreamer, whose history
reaches back to blend with the tradi-
tions OF half forgotten races, of Aztec
and Inca, who dwelt and passed away.
Nj