Montpelier examiner. [volume] (Montpelier, Idaho) 1895-1937, 1910-09-09
Orizaba is sacred mountain in Aztec myth

Orizaba is a sacred mountain in Aztec myth
ology. The legend runs that Quetzalcoatl, God
of the Air" and indeed the great prophet and
most important figure of the Toltec religion, cor
responding to Confucius in China, Mahomet IN
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
known as the despair of the American school
teacher, because of its seemingly unpronounce
able name. However. white woman" for that
is what the word means In the Aztec tongue, Is
simple of saying and II one pronounces lxtacci-
huatl as If 1t written Istac-see-watl, 1t will
be close enough in view of our meager knowledge
of this ancient idom.
This mountain is &c. 200 feet high with snow
line at 1890 feet, and Cortez the first Euro
pean to cross it when he passed to the valley
of Mexico on his campaign of conquest. A Ger
man named Sonneschmidt dominated it In 1772
while almost q century later, in 1853, party Of
French engineers scaled its sloping sides.
And now we come to that Vesuyius of Amer
ica Popocatapeti, the mountain of smoke" for
: such is the significance of the word In the Ian.
guage of the Aztecs. It rises in glorious eleVa.
ton 1874 feet above the sea, and although some
SO miles from the City of Mexico seems to stand
sentinel at its very gates Indian tradition has
1t that both Popocatapetl and Ixtaccihuatl were
threwn up from the plain after violent earth
quake and have attained their present heights
by the gradual piling up of lava and rocks after
various eruptons The last OF these disturbances
occurred in 1862.
To whom the honor of first surmountlng Po-
pocatapetl belongs is difficult to determine, but
q distinguished congressman of the United States.
Hon. William Suizer. recently conquered the
mountain of smoke
South of the isthmus are situated the noun,
tain monarchs of the western world, and 1t is
oulU wifi that these paO1O9ical nr0h.
lens have received the attention of adventurous
scientists although Humboldt made explorations
and aseents in South America early 1902.
He 1t was who attempted to scale Chimborazo,
the white watcher of the western seas but
failed to get beyond $4,000 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 TO- 98 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 expora.
ton. After these colossi of the Corderas had
BEN conquered. the eyes of the alpinists turned
southwark. where stil more lofty peaks of unde
termined heights were known to exist In the
great tableland OF Chile stood cloudcrested Acan
cagua,i rising grendly TO the Skies while TiipuB
cato, Illimani. and Sorata still dehed the most
determined to surmount their topmost heights
Acancagua. the highest of the Andean peaks
(23080 feet) was the first to fall as a prize to
daring climbers. for Mr.. e. 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
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
fish alpinist made the ascent OF Mount Aeanca
qua and placed the peak nlimani to his credit
Conway was not. however, content with this vic
tory. but pushed on to place Mount Sorato on
his roll of first ascents.