Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1904-08-20
P|CUR|S
PUEBLO
Special Interest Centers in the
CuarteIess of the
Place.
BUILDING is ISOLATED
Most Notable Feature Of the Structure
Is That 1t Is Not Built
Of Adobe.

structures in New Mexico, II not II
the entire United States. The ira
ditions of the Indians themselves as
cribed to these an extraordinary age
and are very clear in the assertion
that they were occupied before the
first coming of the Spaniards. The
building known as the Cuartales Is
somewhat isolated from the remain
der of the pueblo, being several hun
dred yards to the northeast of the
other houses. and is now much smaller
in every way than it was within the
memory of living men. 1t stands to-
day as picturesque ruin, boldly out
lined on the sky, but showing the signs
of neglect and decay which foreshad-
ow it's complete destruction during
the next half century unless means are
adopted to secure it's preservation.
Description Of Building.
The building consists of only five or
six rooms on the ground floor and
rises to the height of three stories. A
generation ago, the pressn structure
was surrounded by other rooms, which
have gradually fallen and now only
constitute mounds of earth, but the
names of the exact residents of which
are still we'll known by the older in
habitants. The building was then at
least two stories higher than 1t is at
present, some of the Indians insisting
that it reached even three more stor-
les in height, and must have rivaled
the great communal structures at
Taos in elevation if not in size Forty
years ago, some of these upper cham
bers were occupied by Mariana Leon,
an uncle of the venerable sacristan,
the informant, and by Jose Antonio
Leon and his wife Isabel. Where, now,
the rooms are open to the west,
through the destruction of the outer
walls, Nolasco Mermejo the ancestor
of family still large and important
had his residence less than half CEN
tury ago.
The most notable feature of the Gu
articles is that the structure is not built
of adobe. 1t is believed that in this
respect the old houses at Picuris are
unique; and some investigators hold
that they antedate all adobe structures
and of the best existing representa-
tives of a class of buildings which ex-
listed before the adobe came into
use.
Construction Of Walls.
The walls are made of earth, but
were built by hand from prepared mud,
a height Of about a foot being added
in each layer. The lines of these lay
ers are still perfectly distinguishable,
and according to the Indians each lay
er represents days work on the
structure. 1t is not unusual in some
parts of New Mexico, to see garden
walls or those built for boundaries
along the sides Of important roads,
erected in this way; large molds being
made of plank and filed with soft mud
which hardens into substantial en-
closure; but these houses of Picu.
ris were made long before any boards
existed in this country, and according
to the pueblo of traditions were built
UP entirely by hand. In thickness
they vary from one foot for interior
or partition walls to eighteen inches
for those constituting the exterior of
the building. y The Cuarteles structure
is erected entirely in this way, and at
least two other ancient buildings ex.
ist in the pueblo, the original struc-
lures of which are Of similar charac.
ter, but which have more modern ad.
ditions or repairs in which adobes
have been employed. One of these,
on the western, side Of the town. pre-
sents q curious illustrator of the
changed method eof construction, the
center Of the building being, efected in
the ancient style, but more modern
additions on both sides are built Of
/, adobe; the contrast between the two
systems being very apparent.
Similarity ia Buildings.
i, Travellers who have visited both
places have been struck by the SINH
1larity IN construction Of the Casa
GFande In Arizona and the Cuarteles
in Picuris The former being on
natural highway Of travel has become
well known, while the latter seldom
receives visit from either the scien-
stist OF the tourist. The former Is now
specially protected from further de-
cay by the Government OF the United
States, while the latter Ii Slowly but
surely crumbling into ruin.
Another peculiarity Of Picuris Il that