The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1910-05-06

plain. no matter which way you look.
Some of the houses are built right on
the edge of the cliff. and as nearly all
the Acomans sleep on the roof. espe-
cially during the summer months, it is
a wonder that some of them do not
roll off or step off when walking in
their sleep and dash themselves to
pieces 800 feet below. When the
stranger wakes up in the morning
after his nap on the roof of one of
these dwellings and finds himself on
the verge of such tremendous de-
scent he is apt to plead for sleeping
quarters that are less airy.
If you are fortunate enough to be
in the good graces of the gobernador,
whose lightest word is law, you will
have no trouble about accommodate
tions. You will be taken into an
Acoma family and fed on tortillas,
meat and syrup, and then everybody
will sit around and smoke cigarettes
and discuss you in Spanish, which is
the language used more than the ma
tive QUERIES tongue.
The Acomans are inveterate cigar
cite smokers and manufacture pc
culiar kind of cigarettes from tobacco
and corn husks. There is always a
bundle of corn husks available
wherever you go, and these are used
by the community. In fact all the
Pueblo Indians, so called, though they
belong to varying tribes, are com.
munists, and the work of the indi-
vidual goes to the general fund.
The people of Acoma have irrigated
tracts of the plains below and are
skillful farmers. They are moderately
industrious, and in the morning crier
makes the round of the pueblo calling
on all the inhabitants to rise and go
forth to labor. Another crier an
nounces the time for meals, and at,
bedtime the criers make their last
rounds and all is quiet.
At night the herds of burros, goats
and cows are driven in by the boys,
who act as herders, and the sight is
something never to be forgotten. The
brilliant colors of New Mexico sun
set light up the pastoral scene like a
huge painting. In fact. morning, noon
or night Acoma will prove delight to
the painter, for there is a wonderful
picture, no matter which way you
look
The burros and cows are brought
to the summit of the mesa and turned
into corrals, while the goats are cor
raled at the foot of the cliffs. where
hnu will hn of
wild beasts. The rude carts, plows
and other farm machinery are stored
among the hollows in the rocks at the
bottom of the cliffs.
There is an old church at Acoma
that has seen strenuous times. 1t Is
situated on the southeast corner OF
the mesa, apart from the town, and is
40 feet high and $50 feet long. and the
adobe walls that compose it are seven
feet thick There is an abandoned
convent near it. This church was
built by the Spaniards. who conquered
Acoma in the days of the Conquista
dores.
Coronado stormed the mesa and cap
tured the town in 1541. The people
udu0 desperate uClSuS0, UuL IL Wos
not so easy to stop the mailed Span
lard from coming up the slopes as II
would have been if the assailants had
been the poorly armed Apaches or
Navajos, the hereditary enemies Of
the Acomans. In 1889, after the peo-
pie of Acoma had rebelled against
Spanish rule, they were again defeat
ed, this time by Juan de Onate, but
ten years later rebelled again and
murdered all the priests and partially
destroyed the church. De Vargas re-
conquered the Acomas and rebuilt the
church, and since then there has beer
no trouble.
A short distance away from the
pueblo of Acoma Is the wonderful
Mesa Encantada, or Enchanted Mesa.
This mesa is even larger than the one
on which Acoma is located, and there
is no trail to the top. Legend says
that the one trail was destroyed by
lightning bolt hundreds of years ago.
JOSIAH WALTER PRESTIN.