The Savannah morning news., 1904-05-23


4 the northwest corner OF Lincoln coun-
ty, New Mexico. The Gran Quivira
Of to-day is a picturesque collection
of ruins in the midst of vast grassy
plain. There are the crum bling walls
of a convent and church, the remains
of adobe dwellings. and the traces of
q great canal which brought water
down from the mountains when the
plains supported a large population.
In 1877 an old Spanish soldier, who
had been with De Vargas in New
Mexico, died at Valencia, in Spain.
Before his death he sent for padre
and dictated 10 him what he declared
to be the true story of the treasure
of Gran Quivira, not the tabled city
of The Turk" but the abandoned pue-
bio in the Manzano plains The pueblo
was the center Of a large farming and
| mining region, and was very prosper
GUS The padres monOpolized the out
put OF the mines, which We're worked
by Indian laborers in virtual slavery,
and accumulated great stores of metal
in the magnificent church of stone.
At the outbreak of the Pueblo In
dian instruction Of 1880 the Spanish
/ settlers of all the country round about
! brought their valuables into the town
and placed them in the hands of the
padres for safety. The Indians swept
, the Spaniards out of the country, de-
/ strOyed their churches. and filled up
the mines, and the settlers OF Gran
/ Quivira We're forced to flee for their
lives with the rest of their country
! men.
The old colder told the padre of Va
, lencia that when the people of Gran
/ Quivira determined to abandon tie
/ town they gathered all the treasure
1 belonging 10 the church and to inli-
/ viGuals. amounting TO more than ST.
/ 100000, and buried il not far from the
I western end OF the church. In the
middle of a dark night the whole pop
ulation marched away toward the val
I ley of the Rio Grande. They were fol-
/ lowed and harrassed by the Indians,
/ and only a few survived the constant
/ attacks the privations, and the hor
! rors of the crossing of the desert, call
/ ed to this day Eel Tornado del Muer-
/ to"-the Journey of Death. A wretch
ej remnant arrived at Ell Paso and
never returned to the plains of Man
zanO.
Tht old soldiers statement was
shown by the priest to Don Ignacio
Baca of Valencia, who was greatly in
terested in the story, and proceeded to
| verify some of the important details
: by reference to official records contain
ing accounts of the treasure accumulat-
ed by the Church in New Mexico and
lest at the time of the expulsion of the
Spanish by the Pueblos. Satisfying
himself that there was much truth in
the soldiers narrative, Don lgnacio or
ganiZed an expedition to search for the
buried wealth of Gran Quivira, and tn
priest joined the party. The treasure
| hunters were young men of good fam
lily, and they went out attired in all the
splendor of the hidalgos. as if they
were on a pleasure iaunt N Spain.
Treasure Seekers Turned COIOnists.
After a long. adventurous journey
the ragged, haggard troop reached
what they believed to be the site of
Gran Quivira, to find only the ruins
of a city in a desolate plain. For sew
eral months they lived in the ruins,
subsisting on what game they could
kill dressing in skins of antelope, and
digging blindly for the buried millions |
I They found traces of old cemented
aqueducts and many indications that
| a large area of land had been under
! cultivation, but the padres had hidden
| the gold too well, and they discovered
/ no trace of it.
| Scarcity of water and food compell-
/ ed Don Ignacio and his companions to
/ abandon the search and move to the
! valley of the Rio Grande They camp
ed at a place called Tome. and finding
! the soil fertile and the location good in
! every way they wisely resolved TO es-
| tablish colony, quit gold hunting, and
! devote their time and labor to farm
ing. Some of them went to Spain and
returned with their families, and in
! 1893 the King of Spain made a grant
/ of land to Don Ignacio Baca and his
/ companions, and Tome soon became
| one of the most prosperous colonies in
/ the province.
The treasure of Tome. priced above
Z n lei ..f@ -
| padres, was Don Ignacio's beautiful
/ child, Beatriz, the pearl of Valencie
and because of that precious posses
sion the colony came very near to be-
/ ing wiped out of existence even as
! Gran Quivira had been.
/ on a trading trip to the Staked
/ Plains Don Ignacio established friend
4 ly relations with the war chief of the
| Comanches, and secured his promise
TO visit Tome in the spring. The chief
and a hundred warriors came in the
/ spring and were Hospitality entertained.
| They greatly admired the red silk
sashes worn by the Spaniards, and
| Don Ignacio gladdened their hearts by
/ Quitting the whole band with sashes.
But more than sashes the chief ad
/ mired Reatriz, then only ten years old,
| and he chose her as wife for his son.
Don Ignacio thought it impolitic to re-
! fuse, and he promised that when Bea-
/ tri7 should be u years old she should
! be the bride of the young Comancne
| warrior.
During the next two years the most
! friendly relations existed between the
! Spaniards and the Comanches, and fire.
| quently the old chief sent some of his
young men to Tome with presents from
! his son to the young girl. When Bea-
! triz was IL years old the Comanche
chief, accompanied by his son and most
| of the warriors of his tribe, went to
Tome to claim the bride.
Smallpox was raging in the valley
carrying off dozens of victims daily
and the chief was told that Beatriz had
been buried the very day of his ar
rival. Some of the Indians were strick-
en- by the disease. and the Comanches
fed in fear to the prairies.
The following year a party of Isleta
Indians on a buffalo hunt met the old
Comanche chief, and told aim that the
story of the death OF Beatriz was false;
that Don Ignacio had repented his
promise. and that the girl was conceal
-, Telat ha Wis