Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1910-09-02

Orizaba is sacred mountain in Aztec myth
ology. The legend runs that Quetzalcoatl Gou
of the Air. and indeed the great prophet ana
most important figure of the Toltec religion, cor
responding to Confucius in China, Mahomet III
India and of whom the Messiah myth was also
current died at Coatzacoalcos and his body was
brought to Orizaba. His royal remains were con-
sumed by divine fire and his spirit flew heaven
ward under the form of beautiful peacock
Ixtaccihuatl the ruin of volcano, might be
7 known as the despair of the American school
teacher, because of it's seemingly unpronounce-
able name. However, white woman, Tor tnat
is what the word in the Aztec tongue, IS
simple of saying and if pronounces lxtaccl-
huat as if it were written Istac-see-Watl 1t Will
be close enough in view of meager knowledge
Of this ancient idiom.
This mountain is 16 200 feet high with snow
line at IA 800 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 century later, in 1853, party or
French engineers scaled its sloping sides
And now we come to that Vesuvius of Amer
ica. Popocatapetl 'the mountain of smoke" for
such is the significance of the word in the Ian
guage of the Aztecs. 1t rises In glorious eleva-
tion 1914 feet above the sea- and although some
so miles from the City of Mexico seems to STAND
a sentinel at it's very gates. Indian tradition mas
it that both Popocatapetl and Ixtacc1huatl were
thrown up from the plain after violent earth
Quake and have attained their present heights
nv 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 surmounting Pc
pocatapet 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 are situated the noun
tain monarchs of the western world, and it 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 1907.
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 it's conquest belongs to that mas
ter of the Matterhorn Edward Whymper, who
fought his way up the rugged, snow-clad sides to
the top O498 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 classic of the annals of geological explora-
ticn After these colossi of the Cordileras had
been conquered, the eyes of the alpinists turned
southwark where still more lofty peaks of unde
termined heights known to exist In the
great tableland of Chile stood cloudcrested Acan-
cagua rising grandy to the skies, while Tupun-
gato Illimani, and Sorata still deied the most
determined to surmount their topmost heights.
Acancagua, the highest of the Andean peaks
(230So feet), was the first to fall as a prize to
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 his
ambition. one of his companions, Burbriggen, the
guide went to the very apex, and later Mr. s.
Vines and Santi Nicola, members of the Fitzger
aid expedition, also arrived at the top. Later in
1893 Sir Martin Conway, another intrepid Eng
lish alpfnist, made the ascent of Mount Acanca
qua and placed the peak Kllimani to his credit
Conway was not, however. content with this VIC
tory, but pushed to place Mount Sorato ON
his roll Of first ascents-