The Greeley tribune., 1908-05-14

eTO0
caused this to be dispensed with, as
death nearly always resulted, SO now.
in some distant and isolated commu.
mites. such as the one just referred
to, they are bound to the middle
cross by thongs SO tightly that the
thongs cut into the flesh and cause the
blood to stop circulating Then this
cross Is raised by the members and
set In the soft dirt and left until the
,Penitente loses consciousness before
he Is taken down and taken to the
Morado to be revived, which usually
takes several hours and in some cases
he dies without regaining conscious
ness. All the time that he is on the
cross, the people stand quietly below
waiting for the time when life is sup
posed to be extinct. A crown of
cacti thorns is usually worn on the
head at this time and the face is
always covered as well as the whole
head. Whether this was real cru
cifixion or not, l will not say, as
could not tell for sure from our dis
tance, but as no movements were no.
ticed. l am and always will be In
clined to think that the man was un-
consciuos and was probably taken
down as soon as we passed from their
sight. We were waiting to see the
body taken down but the guards
would make us move on as fast as
they could get to us and so we could
see no more.
From here we climbed over anoth-
err divide and were soon in one of the
most beautiful valleys that l have
ever seen. High mountains on three
sides, covered with heavy timber, and
on the west, the snowy range of the
Rockies. Mora is the county seat
of Mora county in northern New Mexi-
CO and is typical Mexican town of
about six hundred people, mostly Mexi-
cans with a few dozen whites, where
all buildings are constructed of adobe
with the exception of few stone
buildings and where you feel as If
you were in some. foreign country in
stead of in the grand United States
of America The natives who are
not Penitentes flocked to see the
motor cycle and unless watched very
closely. would have every bolt and de-
tachab1e thing loose In a few minutes.
My motor is the first that has ever
been in that part of the country and
was considered quite a curiosity by
all the natives.
I'VE sighted a procession bearing
crosses on the Mora side of the di-
vide but as they were far of and the
guards were near the road, we decid-
ed that we had better get into Mora
as soon as possible. We went up to-
ward Cleveland above Mora. and with
the glasses, could see a fine process
sion of the Penitentes. They were
led by the Hermano Mayor, the chief
officer of the lodge. and followed by
four Rezadors. or prayer chanters,
who chant prayers in a wierd tone of
voice. which at night sounds more
like the howl of the coyotes than any
other noies l can compare it to. They
follow the nearly naked Pehitents
each of whom bears huge cross cut
from green timber. in no case less
than twelve feet long. and weighing
in most cases two hundred pounds or
over In many cases they are so
heavy that the Penitent has to rest
| the arm on the ground every rod or
so and he has to have the help of the
guard or Companero to again raise
| it to his shoulder. The large end is
allowed to drag on the ground and in
some cases. after the guard has helped
the Penitent shoulder it. he will pick
up the free end and help him carry 1t
The cross bearing Penitents are fol
lowed by the Piteros or flute players
and after these come those who are
scourging themselves. Those doing
white muslin knee-length drawers
and the head is always covered. They
must walk barefoot over rocks, cacti
etc. for long distances, and over
rough mountain trails to the cross OF
Calvary where exercises are held, and
then return to the Morado. kneelng
before the cross directly in front OF
the door of the Morado before they en-
ter it again.
Before leaving the Morado, a good
part of the ceremony is gone through
with. The Picador is the man who
does the first of the torturing and he