Bryan daily eagle and pilot. [volume] (Bryan, Tex.) 1909-1918, 1911-08-25
OUR OLDEST CITY

| Col. Ralph f. Twitchell, formerly of
Kansas City, but for twenty-five years
one of the leading lawyers of New
Mexico. has written a sketch of the
old city of Santa Fe which will both
please and surprise every reader. Mr..
Twichell has been a deep student OF
New Mexican history and speaks by
the card in whatever he. says. He has
been a pupil of Bandeher, the great
archaeOlogist, and Is prepared to de-
/ fend all of his statements.
Mr.. Twitchell says that Santa Fe
was an old place when the Pilgrims
landed at Plymouth. The Franciscans
founded a mission there in two small
| Indian pueblos which were then more
than 1000 years old-one on Fort
Marcy, the other on the site of San
Miguel church, the Oldest house OF
worship in the United States. In this
church there is an old bell cast in
Spain more than century before the
discovery of America. The altar paint
ings lay claim to even greater age and
are by the earlier Spanish masters.
But far older than the old church,
to quote Twitchell at length, is the
civilization that has scattered its mon
uments all around Santa Fe with
prodigality that astonishes even the
archateologist. On the Arroyo Hondo
are the ruins of communal village
that has been partly eXcavated and
has furnished part Of the treasures
found in the Cole collection in the
New Mexico historical museum and
elsewhere. The village stood on the
brink of a cliff. Today, on this very
spot. a concrete dam is being built
to reclaim 5000 acres of pinion-covered
fertile land and make it blossom as it
undoubtedly did 1000 years ago, when
men and women lived their simple
lives in this remote locality.
Similarly, five miles to the south
west at Aqua Fria, a curious and
sprawlng Mexican settlement on the
Santa Fe river, is a mound covered
with thousands of pieces of ornament
ed pottery A partial excavation shows
it to be a large communal dwelling
that yet may yield rich archaeological
treasures. Six miles to the north on
the Tesukue river are similar ruins
The road thence known as the Circle
or Sena drive runs over divide noted
for scenic views of weird beauty.
But all this is as nothing compared
with the 10000 communal and cliff
dwellings in Pajarito Park just across
the Rio Grande river to the west. Pa
jarito plateau embraces the region be-
tween the Jemez mountains and the
Rio Grande, extending from Chama
valley to Canda de Cochtl Pajarito
Park is in the center of this plateau.
1t runs from Santa Clara canyon on
the north to Capulin canyon on the
south-thirty-fiv miles long and fiji
teen miles wide. The cliff runs in this
park twenty-five miles from Santa Fe.
Here as DR.. Edgar L. Hewett says,
is the most interesting archaeological
region in the United States. Carloads
of pottery and utensils have been
carted away to enrich museums and
private collections; and the surface is
scarcely scratched, for communal
ruins thus far unmapped still are being |
discovered and but two or three have
been excavated to any extent. More |
than 10000 of these ruined buildings |
and caves remain to tempt the pick
and shovel OF the trained archaeol- |
ogist. The scenery is grand, no mat !