The Lamar register., 1910-08-31

orizaba is a sacred mountain in Aztec myth.
ology. The legend runs that Quetzalcoatl. uoa
of the Air." and indeed the great prophet ana
most important figure of the Toltec religion cor
responding to Confucjus in China, Mahomet IN
India and OF whom the Messiah myth was aiso
current, died at Coatzacoalcos and his body "as
brought to orizaba. His royal remains were con
sumed by divine fire and his spirit new heaven
ward under the form of a beautiful peacock
Ixtaccihuatl the ruin of volcano might De
known the despair of the American schooi
teacher. because of its seemingly unprohounoe
able name However white woman" for that
is what the word means in the Aztec tongue Is
simple of saying. and IL one pronounces iktacci,
huau as II it were written ls-tac-see-wau' II VIII
be close enough in view OF our measer kho"ieuse
of this ancient idiom
This mountain is ZOO feet high with a snow
line at IA 900 feet, and Cortez was the irst Euro
pean to cross 1t when he passed to the NaIley
of Mexico his campaign of conquest Ger
man named Sonneschmidt dominated IL In i''=,
while almost a century later. in 1858. a party OF
French engineers scaled its sloping sides
And now we come to that Vesuvius of Amer
lea Popocatapetl. "the mountain OF smoke ior
such is the Significance OF the word In the Ian
guage of the Aztecs. It rises In glorious eeva
tion 1874 feet above the sea, and although some
SO miles from the City of Mexico seems TO stahd
a sentinel at its very gates. Indian tradluen mas
IL that both Popocatapetl and Ixtaccihuau were
thrown up from the plain after violent earth
make and have attained their present heights
by the gradual piling up of lava and rocks after
various eruptions The last of these disturbances
occurred in 1902.
To whom the honor of first surrounding 20
nocatapetl belongs is difficult to determine. but
a distinguished congressman of the United States
Hon William Sulzer recently conquered the
mountain of smoke"
South Of the isthmus situated the noun
tain monarchs OF the western world, and II is
only within forty years that these geological prob
lens have received the attention of adventurous
scientists. although Humboldt made explorations
and ascents in South America as early as isoz
He 1t was who attempted to scale Chimborazo
the white watcher of the western seas" but
failed to get beyond 1900 feet. most notable
achievement. however. under the circumstances.
The glory of its conquest belongs to that mas
ter of the Matterhorn, Edward Whymper, who
fought his way up the rugged. snow-cad sides to
the top 1873 feet above the broad Pacific.
The great mountains Antisana and Cayamba
both over 10000 feet elevation. also succumbed
to the untirIng whymper, and the record Of his
deeds Of danger climbing in the equatorial Andes
is a classic of the annals of geological explora
ton. After these colossi of the Cordilleras had
been conquered. the eyes OF the alpinists turned
southwark where still more lofty peaks OF unde
terrnined heights were known to exist. In the
great tablel.nd of Chile stood cloud-crested Acan
cagua rising grandly to the skies, while Tupun
CATO Illimani. and Sorata still defed the most
determined to surmount their topmost heights
Acancagua. the highest of the Andean peaks
(23.0sO feet). the first to fall as a prize to
daring climbers, for Mr.. Z. A. Fitzgerald. the
English geoogist, fitted out an expedition in
1897. and although personally compelled by sick
ness to abandon his attempt to reach the summit
when within short distance of realizing his
am biton. of his companions. Burbriggen. the
guide, went to the very apex. and later Mr.. s.
Vines and Ssnti Nicola, members of the Fitzger
aid expedition. also arrived at the top. Later. in
1898. Sir Martin Conway. another intrepid Eng
lish alpinist. made the ascent of Mount Acanca
qua and placed the peak Imani to his credit
Conway not. however. content with this vic
tory, but pushed to place Mount Sorato
his roll of first ascents.