The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1911-09-28
AN lNTfRtSTINGL
Mrs. Amelia Meek tells of Their *
tended Travels in the West.

Aztec, New Mexico, Sept. II, 1911.
Editor Reporter and many old
friends: Just been to the postottice
to get the Reporter and seeing our
name mentioned, l thought perhaps
our many friends might like to hear
about this country, so thought
would try to write a letter. We have
often thought of writing up some OF
our travels and experiences, but have
not done so. 1t has been almost five
years since we left our home.
, We left Langley, Washington, near
the middle of July. Came via Ever
EFT, Seattle aud Tacoma to Olympia
by boat, making the trip in one day.
Remained in Olympia twelve days,
visiting our old friends there, P. j.
and Dora Meek, and many others.
Bought tickets there for Pennington,
N. M. Came via Portland, Oregon,
over the Oregon short line to Poca-
tello, Idaho, thence to Grand June
ton, COL, via Delta, Montrose, Tellur-
ide, and Durango, Colo, which is a
grand trip, so much grand scenery.
If only we had not been 80 long on
the way-four and half days, laying
over hours and hours at different
stations, all night at Telluride and at
Durango.
Telluride is a quaint little town
surrounded by lofty mountains, COM
pletely shut in. Tumbling and roar
ing down the mountain sides are
numerous smaller ice cold streams,
sounding like cataracts. The eleva-
ton of Telluride is over 5000 feet
above sea level. The surrounding
mountains are very much higher.
Durango is something near 1000
feet altitude and is much larger
town. From Durango we came to
numerous smaller towns and on to
Pennington, N. M. Were there five
weeks. This is a very productive
country. This county, San Juan, is
about rs miles square, located in the
northwest corner of New Mexico.
Just outside the corporation of Farm
ington on a mesa, we can stand and
see four states, New Mexico, Arizona,
Colorado and Utah, as they corner
near there. Pennington is nice
clean little town of 1000 Inhabitants.
The business houses are large and
built of brick or stone, mostly OF
brick. The residences are more than
half brick, even the farm houses Cor
ranches as they are called here) are
mostly built of brick There are
many fruit trees on the residence lots
in town and numerous large orchards
all around the country, apples and
peaches being the most numerous,
but they raise cherries, apricots,
nj, or
Concord and Muscat grapes from the
same vineyard. Both were fine. Cali
fornia grapes do as we'll as the east
ern varieties. This county vies with
Delta county, Colo, for fruit, with
Greeley, Colo, for spuds, and with
Rocky ord, Colo, for cantaloupes.
In fact anything one plants, seems to
do we'll. Alfalfa is the banner crop,
being cut three and four times sea-
son, yielding from to 7 tons per acre
and sells for from IS to SO per ton.
Vegetables of all kinds grow to large
size, quality the very best. Corn
yields as high as 60 bushels per acre,
wheat 40 bushels, oats, barley and
other grain do we'll.
They say there is as much water
for irrigation in San Juan. county as
in all the rest of New Mexico, there
being three immense rivers running
the county, the Las Animas,
the San Juan pronounce this San
Wan) and the La Plata.
The cliff dwellers' homes are all
around us. Some in ruins, some in
good preservation. The north part
of New Mexico and Arizona and the
or%0 f
comprizing a scope of territory 1000
miles long by 900 miles wide, is or
has been nearly covered with the
homes. We visited at. house in
where they have built a
brick house on purpose to keep the
relics taken from the houses and
graves. There are bowls, some very
large, some small, pitchers, spoons,
water bottles, bone needles and other
tools, stone axes, and many other
things too numerous to mention, also
whole skeletons, besides skulls, and
parts of skulls The house is now
we'll filled and before the father died
they sold one cellar tier for $1,000,
and another for $500. The son IS
now with company employed by
The government or partly so, he hunt
ng for relics to study the character
sites of the prehistoric race No his
.ory has yet been found. There are
'Ome characters, marks and figures
If animals on stone slabs, but no one
Knows the meaning of them. Mr..
Norris, the young man who has the
collection we saw has one such slab.
lie says he has found more than one
hundred skeletons. The government
low claims all the whole skeletons
Ind sends them to Washington D. C.
We saw corn, shelled and in the ear,
which was found in the homes Some
If it was planted and grew, as it was
sealed for thousands of
lears, and kept from the air. 1t had
lot lost it's vitality. Some of it is
,urned to charcoal. 1t is thought
he people lived here before the
Christian era. Hair is found in the
graves, some of which is red, some
blonde, so they could not have been
indians, as their hair is very black.
We saw two skeletons and several
Ikulls.