The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1913-02-01

~' of age and interest is Fernandez de
Taos, quaint old Mexican settlement,
with a venerable history, dating back
70 lne beginning or the seventeenth century. Last
OF all is Ranches de Taos, prosperous AGRICULTURAL
community where ones interest is equally divided
between the typical old Mission church and the nu
merous dark-eyed senoritas
Years ago the Taos valley was known as tho gran
airy of the southwest; and in the DAYS before bull
team traffic ended this an important mart and
distributing point. But when the railroads were
Quilt the change in the course of travel and COM
merce left Taos hopelessly isolated. Progress has
passed it by, and life moves on in the DREAMY fash
ION or the old land of POGO Tempo that this hus
tlng age has almost obliterated. The old land
marks are still undisurbed the vandal passion for
change and Improvement is still unknown and the
laos or today is much the same as the Taos Of IN
or lOO years ago, with the element of danger from
homadlc savages eliminated. But those who desire
70 see Iaos as it Is and as it has been must needs
make haste. The railroad builders are headed that
way; and when the shrek of the first locomotive
dlspels the ghosts of theAp past and awakens tho
Faey from It's age-long slumber, 1t may be far more
busting and prosperous, but it will never again he
half as interesting.
Taos was the farthest outnost of sn,nisb o;,;
ton, and continued until in very recent voars +o
De frontier settlement the debatable border he
tween civilization and the savage wildernessr Tho
o!d Fueolo communal buildings are famous as being
Inc most perfect remaining specimens of aboriginal
american architecture Close by is the tall tower
Of the ruined adobe church, in which the last stand
% Tue fueDlo indian race for freedom was made in
lo4I "A few miles away is of the most puzzling
archaeological riddles of the southwest
1hls consists of long lines of cobblestones
mostly arranged in rectangles with here and
mere circle When one first reaches the area
mus distinguished he win hardly recognize any
~lihs unusual; but after he has driven for miles
ana miles, seeing the cobbestone SQUARES oh
longs and circles in unbroken series if heoins tn
ua"n upon him that here is something remark
ape 1t IS evident that these cobblestones were
the Iouhdatlon stones of adobe buildings and
that the lapse Of ages has resulted in the wear
ing away OF the sun-dried bricks until the ancient
walls Of some prehistoric city have been moor
porated with the soil of the level plain, leaving
not trace behind, but the rounded stones
brought from the distant river The foundation
stones OF this prehistoric and unnamed citv cover
an area of more than TWENTY-FIVE SQUARE n,i1ne
me pueblo OF Taos has existed upon it's present
site Tor, at least 500 years Yet the Taos Indians
nave no legend purportng to account for this
ancient community.
1t is said that the first white so++7or :, Tho
beautiful Taos valley, was Spaniard named
rer'andez VINO drifted north from Santa Fe
,"o nuhdred years or more ago, and built for
Himself an ADOBE hut in a bunch of cottonwoods
'hree miles from the Indian village Hence he
was called Hernandez de Taos" or Fernande7
VI INC Cottonwoods, and by and by the name was
applied to the locality, as we'll as to the man
hefore long other squatters began to follow his
LEAD. settling in the same neiehborhood rho
Land belonged to the Indians but thew wero ,,i+
Wiling to give liberal allowance to all white
corners In this they displayed craft curions1v
analogous to modern European statesmanshin
wh1cn seeks to prevent clash between two rival
powers Dy the creation Of buffer state" tn keen
them apart oof
Inc Taos Indians had suffered for centuries
from the 1ncursions Of the Apaches Thew
shrewdly reasoned that by creating fringe Of
Spanish rancher1as along the borders of their
own cultivated lands they would shift the hur
zen OF defense from their shoulders to those
or the newcomers She scheme really worked
very well; and white settlers in the Taos VALLEY
earned their guns with them to their grain fields
less tnan third of century ago in order to be
attack Of the Apaches while the cr.f+v ih.h
1tants or Taos titled their fields in comnoro+iuo
security and peace of mind
IN case OF attack by large war partv tho
Taos Indians made common cause with the white '
settlers SO that the proximity of the communist
was not without its advantages to the Standards {
Owing to the abundance of fur-bearine an;ma1
ana other wild game in the adjacent mountains
the fertility of the soil, the convenience Of the ,
place as general distributing point and the fact
tnas II was situated on of the laterals of
the santa Fe TRAIL Taos became the home or At ,
least the place of rendezvous of the soldiers NJ
iol .une VINO made the southwest the theater of
eueil eAploits. Kit Carson, Don Jesus Abreu ,
ohaf,es Maxwell, Charles Bent, Ceran St. vrain. {
enafles beauolen and many other makers of his I
Tory once made this little village their home so ,
that 1t is crowded with memorials ~ hoo, -
WITHIN stones throw Of the plaza is tho h,
IN which h1t carson lived, now prostituted tn the
base uses OF nay and feed warehouse 1a,.
than a. quarter OF mile distant is the grave IN
wnicn MS DUST lies. Close to this is the red
seal OF the Apaches-the graves of thirty Amor.
lean soldiers, with laconc Inscription recora,na
the tact that they were slain by Apaches. IN the
Embudo canyon, March 8. 1854 49,