Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1906-03-22
TBY A. w. LEE.l
Orizaba. State of Vera Cruz. Mexico.
March 5. 1905.

q ID "A. w.
Orizaba. State of Vera Cruz. Mexico.
March 5. 1906.
During the past week have been
doing some Mexican antiquities which
even my quondam acquaintance the
typical British tourist, would have to
admit smack of the antique. even
when compared with the antiquities of
Great Britain. The pyramids of the
Sun and the Moon, which are about
thirty miles from Mexico City and the
pyramid of Cholula, which is about
eight miles from the city of Puebla
were old and ancient when Cortes
came here about 400 years ago. The
people whom Cortes found here told
him that these same pyramids were
ancient when their forefathers came
In and took possession of the land
some 400 or 500 years before Cortes ar
rived. The existence of the pyramids
of the Sun and the Moon can be def
nitely traced back to 1880 A. D. and
then all semblance of record is lost.
They are attributed to the Toltecs,
though it is more probable that they
were built before their day even, that
Is to say prior to the year 6S4. These
pyramids are near the town of San
Juan Teotihuacan, .wenty-eight miles
from Mexico City on the Mexican rail-
way They can also be seen splendid
~ from the cars of the Interoceanic
railway at Metepic and Otumba sta
ton, the latter point being place
wnere Cortez fought decisive battle
with the Aztecs on his retreat from
Mexico City. We did not stop to per-
oil of
two pyramids desiring to devote all
our time to the great Cholula pyramid
as seen from the cars the pyramids. of
the Sun and moon stand out promi-
nently on the plain. The, former is
216 and the latter ISL feet high. The
pyramids of the Sun is more than one
han as large as the great Cheops Of
Egypt, and the structure of the inte-
rior portion is almost identically SINH
lar to the Egyptian pyramid.
The Pyramid of choIula.
Eight miles from the City of Puebla,
which by the way is the third largest
city in Mexico, located on the line Of
the Interoceanic railway, IL the great
pyramid Of Cholula and what remains
of the prehistoric, city of the same
name Here is not only historic but
prehistoric ground, and VISIT to this
place is one never to be forgotten.
The date Of the building of this pyra-
mid is unknown 1t has a legend, of
course. The legend says that it was
built by a race of giants descended
from the two survivors Of a great del
uge that overspread the land, and.
whose intent it was to raise it's heights
to heaven, but they incurred the dis
pleasure of the gods who sent forth
fires and destroyed them. This story
is co.incident with the Chaldean and
Hebrew accounts of the deluge and
the Tower of Babel of which there is
: ss.s.- Il. II tss'--a dStiops Of these
rsoisF7t that is sin the tales OF
tho Bible. The pyra1s-Go sday has the
appearance of naturaf hill, as its
sides arc overgrown with trees and
bushes, which. is but an evidence OF
its great antiquity. 1t is composed OF
alternate layers of sun dried brick,
clay and limestone which are clearly
in evidence at certain points where
the earth and other covering has been
cleared away The height is III feet
above the plain The four sides face
the cardinal points and the base line
is more than 1000 feet on each side,
covering twenty acres of the plain. A
paved road leads up the steep west
side, with steps of hewn stone, to the
arch and cross of the entrance way to
a church that was built on the very
top where Cortes found pagan tenn
Pile. In this temple was the image OF
the mystic deity known as "The God
of the Air" The sanctity of the place
and the magnificence of the temple
made it an object of veneration
throughout the land, and Cortes re-
cords that pilgrims came from great
distances to offer up their devotions
at the shrine of "Quetzalcoatl. 1t is
needless to say that Immediately after
the Spanish conquest the pagan tenn
nile was thrown down and magnifi-
cent Christian church erected in it's
place and stands there today, and in 1t
services are regularly held.
The view from the summit of this
pyramid becomes simply enhancing
and stamps itself indelibly on the
minds eye. Though one Is far above
the plain which stretches out in a
grand panorama on all sides, yet tow
eTing far above the observer are the
eternal snow capped peaks OF three OF
the Hottest mountains in America
Popocatapetl. Iztaccihuatl and Sierra
de Malinche, with still another, the
great, Orizaba, raising it's conical head
far. to the eastward. These same
mountains looked down upon Cortes
and his hardy band of adventures
400 years ago when they stood upon
this same spot. In rejecting upon
what they did here one feels that the
Wilderness of the snow capped peaks
must have crimsoned in the reflection
Of the blood shed by these same con
querors.
The Massacre of Cholula.
Prescott tells the story OF the
massacre of from 5000 to 6,Oo(
Chplulons because of the. discovery O
their periidy. While pretending friend
ship for the conquerors and entertain
ing them as guests. though it is true
that they were unlimited, the CHOU
lans were planning to exterminate the
5paniards by sudden and treacher
cas attack at the time when no hos
tilities were to be expected. From thu
~, 1f tI,ic 1,vralnid looked down lnT(