Durango semi-weekly herald., 1903-07-23
TRIP TO NEW MEXICO.

o
At the request OF The Herald, !
submit the following little Itinerary
Of the trip Mrs. Sarbcr and I recently
took TO Two Gray Hills. New Mexico
ON Monday morning, July 6. I start
ed with Mrs. C. II Broadhcad. Presby
terrain missionary to the Nayalos at
at Jewett. " NJ, and her fuurwceks'
old baby. for Jewctt. whore we arrived
Tuesday noon. stopping Monday night
with Mr. and Mrs. sam Nichols on the
La Plata. Mrs. Nichols had invited
her ncighhors in and | had the pleas
ure of preaching 10 an audience Of 20.
and It proved to be a blessed little
meeting, one young man being con
yerted. and others deeply impressed.
Mis- sarbcr followed hy stage on
Tuesday morning being cordially en-
tertained Mt Farmlngton Tuesday
night by Mrs. T. c. Arnold and ar
riViug ~ the Jewett Mission Wedncs-
day noon After delightful little
visit with the Broadheads who are cul-
turcd and lovely people we started
for Two Gray Iiills. about 60 miles
southwest across the Navajo desert
The San Juan was too high for ford
ing. SO We hired some Indians to ma
nipulate Harry BaIdwins uamfcrry
10 get MS aud our buggy and luggage
across. while an Indian SWAN the po
nirs over. our missionary al Two
Gray Hills had kindly sont his inter
pretcr 10 guide u.s. for which We We're
profoundly grateful We got under
way from the river nj $50 and the
Chaco being dry for safe passage
tQuicksand and very dangerous. with
even u very little waterl we plowed
through sand and broiling heat til
Springs and camped at $3.50. after
passing through "A storm that drove
MS to u Navajo hogan for shelter. We
pulled up at Mr. Joe Wilkins' place
4 part of his religion seems to be to
shelter and feed all passersby gratis
We were royalty entertained. Mrs
W WAS IN Pennington and Joe did
the cooking We had heard OF Il he
fore we left the San Juan aud were
partly prepared for IT, but II beat the
report Those mutton chops and bis
cults and that coffee would have done
credit Ia Dclmonlco's chef
We were treated to a truly New
Mexico spectacle A big arroyn runs
past Mr. wilkins place. Our storm
had been n big rain over In the Chins-
ka mountains When We arrived the
arroyo was dry, Before 9 o'clock It
was roaring torrent 80 feet wide,
and by morning. just bed Of moist
sand
We reached the Two Gray Hills
Mission at noon ON Friday the l1ih.
The mission was formerly under con
troll of the Womcn's Indian Rights as
socIation. with Mrs. Cole In charge.
hut was turned over to the Baptist
Home Mission society in October
and Rev. and Mrs x II Wright were
Installed In November following
There Is. besides the mission building
and a small schoolhouse. a trading
post, for several years conducted by
Winslow Wcthorill
The place gets It's name from two
large buttes lying west OF the mission
although the Navalos call ii Bistaklit
"a. two yellow hills.
The mission aad post are quite cen
tral TO a large number OF Indians
while there are sporadic Instances Of
poverty, they are for the most part
prosperous. although the last TWO
years have been hard ON them be
cause uf drnuth About two-rhifds oi
all their ponies have starved or been
used Tor food. but they have large
locks of sheep aud some cattle. There
are extensive corn fields n few miles
below the mission and The crop looks
fine Mir Wright and MIR Wetherill
have helped the Indians Ia take out n
ditch from an arroyo by the mission.
and this win prove a great benefit TO
their farming
We took down magic lantern and
a large number OF Bible views, and
Two evenings had the pleasure Of talk.
Ing to an Intensely interested group
OF Navaios and also preached TO a.
goodly company Sunday morning,
through an interpreter.
Saturday MIR and Mrs. Wright, their
two children MIR WoodEate the inter
prefer, and we drove to the foot of the
Chaska Mts.. to an Indian commun-
ity. called Tuwhatalena and picnIckcd
In the shade by cool spring, both de-
lightul changes from the desert heat
We saw the Navajo at home and as
he really is Many of their homes
compare very fayorably with Mexican
houses. and they live much the same.
We bought a blanket In the loom un-
der promise OF having It finished 10y
the time we should start home, and II
was delivered ON time To the hour
The Indians at the Mission and at
the store were n source Of constant
interest They were very friendly,