Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-01-26
NEW MEXICO.
III-AROUND ALBUQUERQUE.
By Frederic ]. Haskin.


est in the state OF New Mexico, the east
ern visitor is destined to rearrange his
preconceived notions Of this new state.
Fortunately Albuquerque is all New
Mexico in little. partly because of its
natural location and partly because it is
a railroad center. and the railroads have
here made special provisions for the
tourists.
To one who has thought always OF
New Mexico as q land Of barren noun
tafns and sandy deserts it is an INTEL
lectual shock to discover that the prin-
cipal industry of the principal city Of
the state is numbering, and that the
huge sawmills Of Albuquerque are sup
piled with western yellow pine from the
largest unbroken pine forests yet exist
ing in this country-in New Mexico and
Arizona.
The traveller alighting from the train
in Albuquerque finds the stage set for
his amusement and instruction. The
railroad station itself and the huge hotel
connected with it form a group Of low
rambling buildings in the Spanish mis-
because of their intrinsic beauty, but
also bring sharply to mind the tradi-
lions and rOmances OF the old Spanish
colonists. On the platform, and inhabit-
d. part Oh the lOIcl DUllOlnS, are q
score OF Indians of native tribes. there
to sell their wares-blankets and basketry
and to impress upon the traveller that
this is the country of the Indian Not
the Indian that roamed the plains and
depended upon the meat Of animals for
food and their skins for dress. but the
Indian who lives In permanent houses.
submitting themselves to complicated
system Of government, filling the soil
for food and weaving wool and cotton
frny~ vNfh sv1rr x-t
ton at Albuquerque the present genera
ton Of these Indian tribes are repre-
sented by their most skillful weavers of
blankets and baskets, who reap a rich
harvest from the strangers who go
through on the railway.
As for the city itself, it is entirely mod
ern and entirely American. 1t was
founded in 1880
City Of Albuquerque on the advent
Is Entirely Modern. road and ~as
laid out after the rectangular fashion of
all new American towns Its wide streets
now are graced with substantial buildings,
the steel Office building and the cut-stone
mansion that are no different from their
kind in every other American town. But,
only a mile or SO away, is old Albuquer-
que, q Spanish town, where the houses
are adobe huts and the language Of the
people is Spanish.
Only few steps away from the rail-
road station is a model Of Pueblo
home, an adobe structure whose only en-
trance is from the roof. gained by means
houses Of the Pueblo Indians. built after
they had fallen under the more or less
thriftless influence of the Spanish Mexi-
cans. When the Spaniards first came,
after, the Pueblos retained their typical
system Of house building. Each village
was communal and ali Of the people lived
In the same huge house. Some of these
were built Of stone. but more often of
adobe. They were three to six stories in
height, each story receding from the one
below it. Usually these towns were built
on some high place, accessible only by
steep trail, and in every instance there
was no door opening out Of the lower
the entrance on the top of the ground
floor-a ladder that could be easily raised
for purposes of defense. Several Of
these pueblos are in easy motoring dis
lance Of Albuquerque.
When New Mexico was ceded to the
United States by the treaty of 1S4S the
American government recognized the
Pueblo Indians as citizens. and 1t also
guaranteed the integrity of the land
grants made by the Spanish and Mexican
governments. These two political facts
taken in connection with the economic
fact that agriculture In this part of New
Mexico Is possible only as the result Of
irrigation. make the social institutions of
New Mexico unique.
The huge land grants of the Spanish
era are governed after the ancient Gus
ton nd H.