The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1910-09-24

Orizaba is sacred mountain in Aztec myth
ology. The legend runs that Quetzalcoatl, Coo
of the Air." and indeed the great prophet ana
most important figure of the Toltec religion cor
responding to Confucus in China, Mahomet IN
India, and of whom the Messiah myth was also
current, died at Coatzacoalcos and his body WA
brought to Orizaba- His royal remains were CON
sumed by divine fire and his spirit few heaven
ward under the form Of beautiful peacock
Ixtaccihuatl. the ruin of volcano might d.
known as the despair OF the American scnoo'
teacher because of it's seemingly unpronounce
able name However, white woman" Tor tnaA
is what the word means in the Aztec tongue, y
simple of saying, and II one pronounces lxtacci
huatl as IL it were written is-tacsee-wati, II VIA
be close enough in view of our meager knowledge
Of this ancient idiom.
This mountain is 1920 feet high with snow
line at IA. 900 feet and Cortez was the first Euro
pean to cross it when he passed to the valley
of Mexico on his campaign of conquest Ger
man named Sonneschmidt dominated it in 1772.
while almost a century later In 1853, party OF
French engineers scaled its sloping sides.
And now we come to that Vesuvius OF Amer
,ca Popocatapetl, "the mountain Of smoke" for
such is the significance of the word In the IAN
e,,age OF the Aztecs. It rises In glorious eleya'
ton 1874 feet above the sea, and although SONS
80 miles from the City of Mexico seems TO STAND
a sentinel at its very gates. Indian tradition mas
II that both Popocatapetl and Ixtaccihuatl were
u
ouake 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 Pc
pocatapetl belongs is dinicult to determine. bun
a distinguished congressman OF the United states
Hon. william Sulzer. recently conquered the
mountain Of smoke"
south of the isthmus are situated the noun
tain mouarchs of the western world, and 1t 10
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 lSOz'
He It was who attempted to scale Chimborazo.
'the white watcher of the western seas" but
failed to get beyond 10000 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-clad sides TO
the top, 2049S feet above the broad Pacific.
The great mountains .Antisana and Cayamba.
both over $4,000 feet elevation, also succumbed
to the untiring Whymper. and the record OF his
deeds of danger climbing in the equatorial Andes
is 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-
termined heights were known to exist In the
great tableland 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
(23osO feet). was the first to fall as a prize tc
daring climbers for Mr.. E. A. Fitzgerald. the
English geologist 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 hii
ambition one of his companions. Burbriggen. thu
guide, went to the very apex and later Mr..
Vines and Santi Nicola, members of the Fftzger
aid expedition also arrived at the top Later. II
1898. Sir Martin Conway, another intrepid Eng
lish alpinist, made the ascent of Mount Acanca
qua and placed the peak Illimani to his credit
Conway was not. however. content with this vic
.orJ, but pushed ON to place Mount Sorato Of
his roll Of FIRST ascents.