The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1910-05-05


in the good graces OF the gobernador
whose lightest word is law. you will
have no trouble about accommoda-
tons. You will be taken into an
AComa family and fed on tortillas.
meat and syrup. and then everybody
and discuss you in Spanish. which Is
/ the language used more than the ma
tive QUERIES tongue.
| The Acomans are lnyeterate cigar
cite smokers and manufacture a Pc
culIar kind OF cigarettes from tobacco
and corn husks There is always \
| 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 indl.
yidual goes to the general fund.
The people OF Acoma have irrigated
tracts of the plains below and are
| sklllful farmers. They are moderately
industrious. and In the morning n crler
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 az herders. and the sight Is
something never to be forgotten. The
brilliant colors of a New Mexico sun.
set light UP the pastoral scene like
huge painting. In fact, morning. noon
or night Acoma will prove a delight to
the painter. for there is 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 cllffs. where
they will he safe from attack from
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 strenuc is 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 1t are seven
feet thick. There is an abandoned
convent near IT, This church was
built by the Span!ards. who conquered
Acoma in the days OF the Conqulsta-
dores
Coronado stormed the mesa and cap
tured the town in 154l. The people
made a desperate defense. but II was
not so easy to stop the mailed Span
lard from coming up the slopes as 1t
would have been II 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 we're again defeat
ed. this time by Juan de Onate. but
ten years later rebelled again and
murdered Ell the priests and partially
destroyed the church. De Vargas re-
conquered the Acomas and rebuilt the
church. and since then there has been
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 a
lightning bolt hundreds OF years ago.
At that time It was said there was a
town on the Enchanted Mesa.
Most OF the inhabitants we're away
in the fields when the trail was de-
stroyed, but few we're left on top Of
the mesa, where they starved. the
legend says. The survivors moved to
the other mesa and built the town of
Acoma, and today the Enchanted
Mesa is Stunned by the Acomans as
Il evil spirits resided there.
tnGIAu WAITER pREgTTN