The Greenville journal. [volume] (Greenville, Ohio) 1850-1918, 1913-01-30

III Z Pueblo de Taos, inhabited by some
If1 400 dignifed Indians. Next in point
T"~' of age and interest is Fernandez de
G--- Taos quaint cid Mexican settlement
with venerable history, dating back
to the beginning Of 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 senortas
Years ago the Taos valley known as the gran.
ary of the southwest and in the days before bull
team traffic ended this important mart and
distributing point. But when the railroads were
built the change in the of travel and com
merce left Taos hopelessy isolated. Progress has
passed it by, and life on in the dreamy fash
ion OF the old land Of POGO Tiempo that this hus-
thng age has almost obliterated. The old land
marks are still undisturbed, the vandal passion for
change and improvement is still unknown, and the
Iaos OF today is much the same as the Taos of SO
or 100 years ago, with the element of danger from
nomadic savages eliminated. But those who desire
10 see TAOS as 1t In and as 1t has been must needs
make haste. The railroad builders are headed that
way; and when the shrek of the first locomotive
dispes the ghosts of the past and awakens the
valley from Its ageong slumber, 1t may be far more
pushing and prosperous but 1t will again be
half interesting
Taos was the farthest outpost Of Spanish ciyiliza
tion and continued until in very recent wears tn
De frontier settlement, on the debatabe border be-
tween civilization and the savage Wilderness The
old Pueblo communal buildings are famous as beinp
the most perfect remaining specimens of aboriginal
American architecture. Close by is the tall tower
OF the ruined adobe church. in which the last stand
OF the Pueblo Indian race for freedom was made in
ls47 few miles away is one of the most puzzng
archaeological riddles of the southwest
This consists Of long lines of cobblestones
mostly arranged In rectanges, with here and
there circle. When one first reaches the area
tnus distinguished he will hardly recognize any,
thing unusual; but after he has driven for miles
tho cohh
longs and circles in unbroken series It begins IN
nawn upon him that here is something remark ,
able. 1t is evident, that these cobbiestones were
Sne foundation stones of adobe buildings and
that the lapse of ages has resulted In the wear
ing away or the sun-dried bricks until the ancient
walls OF some prehistoric city have been ncor.
porated with the soil of the level plain leaving
not a trace behind, but the rounded stones
brought from the distant river The foundation
stones or this prehistoric and unnamed city cover
an area OF more than twenty-five square miles
The pueblo of Taos has existed upon its nresen+
site for at least 500 years. Yet the Taos Indians
nave no legend purporting to account for this
ancient community
1t is said that the first white settler in the
beautiful Taos valley Spaniard named
fernandez who drifted north from Santa Fe
two hundred years or more ago and built for
nlmseif an adobe hut in bunch of cottonwoods
three miles from the Indian village. Hence he
was called Fernandez de Taos" or Fernandez
OF the Cottonwoods and by and by the name was
applied to the locality, we'll as to the man
Before long other squatters began to follow his
lead, settling In the same neighborhoud The
land belonged to the Indians, but they were quite
willing to give liberal allowance to all white
comers In this they displayed a craft curiously
analogous to modern European statesmanship
which seeks to prevent a clash between two rival
powers by the creation of buffer state" to keen
them apart
The Taos Indians had suffered for centuries
from the incursions Of the Apaches They
shrewdly reasoned that by creating a fringe of
Spanish rancherias along the borders of their
own cultivated lands, they would shift the bur.
den OF defense from their own shoulders to those
Of the newcomers She scheme really worked
very we'll; and white settlers in the Taos valley
carried their guns with them to their grain fields
less than a third OF a century ago in order to he
prepared to defend themselves against A sudden
attack OF the Apaches, while the crafty inhab-
itants of Taos titled their fields in comparative
security and peace of mind.
In case OF attack by a large war party the
Taos Indians made common cause with the white
settlers, so that the proximity OF the community
was not without its advantages to the Spanards
owing to the abundance Of fur-bearng animals
and other wild game In the adjacent mountains
the fertility of the soil. the convenience of the
place as general distributing point and the fact
that 1t was situated on one of the lateraIs of
the Santa Fe trail, Taos became the home or at ,
least rne place or rendezvous of the soldiers of
fortune who made the southwest the> theater of I
their exploits KIT Carson Don Jesus Abreu '
Charles Maxwell, Charles Bent Ceran st. vrain .
Charles Beauben and many other makers NJ bis. E
tory once made this little village their home an 8
that 1t is crowded with memorials of heroic davs
Within stones throw of the plaza is the honse
IN which Kit Carson lived now >prostItuted to the
Dase uses OF hay and feed warehouse Less 6
than quarter of mile distant is the grave IN
which his dust lies. Close to this is the red
seal OF the Apaches-the graves of thirty Amer. :
lean soldiers with laconic inscription recording
the fact that they were slain by Apaches in the
Embudo canyon, March 8, 1854 :