Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-10-22

waists or more IMAM twenty HnsSiip-
\ tons taken from the face OF In
scription rock In western New Mex
leo are being prepared at the National
Museum as the result OF recent trip
made by F. w. Hodge. ethnologist in
charge of the bureau of American eth
nology of the Smithsonian Institution.
The expedition. conducted under the joint
auspices of the bureau and the School of
American Archaeology at Santa Fe, was
undertaken for the purpose OF securing
authentic and accurate copies OF the now
almost invaluable inscriptions for perma-
ment preservation. The rock, set aside
as national monument by presidential
proclamation a few years ago. is being
effaced by visitors. who. inscribing their
own names. are constantly endangering
the Inscriptions of real worth. and as a
measure of precaution the casts were
taken to insure perfect copies of the in
scrptions
Inscription rock is ten miles in
straight line from the nearest settlement.
1t is Familiarity known in New Mexico IS
"El Morro,' or the castle. on account of
its fantastic shape. Stretching over more
than a mile, II reaches two or three hun
dred feet in the air. and it is due to the
erosion of the sandstone that its fantas-
tic form and name arose. In the early
days a small spring existed at the rock
which made ii an ideal site for camping.
and this fact is the chief cause of its
serving as a book wherein the explorers
of the seventeenth and eighteenth cenc
turtles wrote Of their doings.
The earliest inscription is one placed
there in 1906 in old-time Spanish. 1t was
Juan de Onate, the colonizer of New Mex
leo and the founder of Santa Fe, who
first traced on the smooth surface of the
castle" a scrawling chronicle Of what he
had done. The inscription tells of Onate
having visited the rock on his return
from the discovery of the South sea, in
April 1906. The South sea- in those
days meant the Pacific ocean. while what
Onate had in reality discovered was the
head Of the Gulf Of California
Next in importance to the inscription
carved by Onate is the one placed there
by Don Diego de Vargas. This tells of
his visit to New Mexico for the purpose
of conquering 1t for the royal crown Of
SPAIN at his own cost, in the year 1872
This inscription bears proof of part
of the early history Of that portion of the
country. The Pueblo Indians rebelled
against the Spanish settlers in 1880. Kill
ing a considerable number of missionaries
and colonists. and driving the remainder
from New Mexico The Pueblos then re-
manned independent for twelve years, dur
ing which time the Zunis. who lived thirty
five miles to the west of Inscription rock.
resided on Thunder mountain. an impreg-
nable stronghold, to which they had re-
tired after the Spaniards were killed or
driven out. At the end of the twelve
years Don Diego de Vargas went to New
Mexico with a considerable force, for the
purpose, as he inscribed on the rock. Of
reconquering that province at his per-
sonal expense. He was most successful
in this exploit. but at great cost 10 the
Indians in lives and property.
In order to secure copies of the inscrfp-
lions Impressions had to be taken. These
in turn will be used as the foundation for
the plaster casts. which will be exact re-
productions of the surface Of the rock.
The process by which the impressions
were obtained said Mr.. Hodge, was
extremely simple and highly successful.
These impressions were obtained by the
use of special paper. such as Is used by
stereotypers. First the rock. then the
paper was saturated with water, follow
ing which the paper was laid over the in
scription to be copied. A long-handled
brush, made especially for use with this
paper, was then brought into play, and
the paper literally hammered into the
rock. In the places where the rock
broke through, many thicknesses of paper
were employed, but otherwise by using
two or three layers of this paper, each
one thoroughly beaten in, the impress
sion was successfully obtained. In sew
eral instances the inscriptions were SO
long to require piecing the paper sew
eral times, but after the whole had been
beaten into the inscription and the sur
rounding surface the same result was
obtained as if one length only had been
used. After the impression had been
sufficiently hammered In the paper was
allowed to remain in place until ii be-
came dry and fell from Its own weight, a
process which required but a few hours
in that dry climate.
THE impressions thus obtained are call
ed 'sQueeZes, and any number Of casts
can be obtained from them. The inscrip-
easy reach, being at about shoulder
height. Others are quite near the ground,
while some are so high that scaffolding
had to be erected before the impressions
could be obtained. owing to the wash
ing away of the ground since the Span
iards visited the place.
1.-THE inscriptions are not only OF great
historical value, but have an chronological
value as well, as they establish dates in
which occurrences among the Pueblo In
scrptions is one by Lujan, who carved
the information that he was on his way
to Zuni to avenge the death of Francisco
Letrado, a celebrated Franciscan mission
airy, killed by the Zunis in 1892 A SIM
pie story. it tells of the beginning Of an
expedition, but leaves the rest to be
carved from a fertile imagination. AS a
matter of fact, Lujan. together with the
force he had brought with him, continued
on his way to the Zuni settlement. only to
find that the natives, in a panic, had
fed to Thunder mountain, as in previous
times of trouble. The mountain affording
the most secure stronghold, left Lujan
with his revenge still desired. But a par
lev with the natives resulted In their
promise henceforth to be good-a rather
weak ending to so dramatic a purpose"
Juan Gonzales. year 1929" is the whole
of another inscription. 1t nevertheless
tells its own tale to those conversant with
the history of that period. Gonzales was
private soldier, one Of an escort of
three who ACCOMPANIED the first mission