Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1914-03-17
OLD PUEBLO CITY.
Acoma Found BY Explorer Coronado
In 1542.

IN lOfZ.
Acoma, the Pueblo Indian city
down in New Mexico, Is said to be the
Oldest city in the Western Hemisphere.
1t was in full bloom when Coronado in
1912 came across it on an exploring
tour northward from Mexico. He
found, says the Toronto Mail and EN-
pire, the Pueblo Indians doing things
that they are doing today and doing it
in the same fashions, and the houses
on the rocky islands that rise several
hundred feet out Of the plains are the
same houses that Coronados eyes rest
ed on as he came on the Indian city
st. Augustine. which Is often refer
red to as the oldest city in the United
States, was not found until 1865, when
Menendez came on Florida, while
chasing a French ship under Rebault.
Years before Coronado found 1t Acoma
was recognized abode Of the Pueblo
Indians. The Pueblos told Coronado
that their first city was on Katzimo,
the rocky island three miles away,
which is also called the Enchanted
Mesa" Many years ago, they told the
Spanish explorer, the original Acoma
rested on the top Of Katzimo.
One day, while all but three women
were in the plains below the tableland,
a great cliff fell, destroying the trail
from the plains to the ancient city.
The Indians took this as an indication
Of the Great Spirits displeasure over
something they had done, and to pun
ish them had cut off the path to their
city. Instead Of clearing the path and
returning to their old homes on top of
Katzimbo the Pueblos went to an ad-
Joining tableland and there set up the
present city Of Acoma, the same city
that Coronado visited in 1912.
The Pueblos look at the old city on
its rocky site nearly 400 feet in the air,
as a sacred place, and woe to the per-
son caught trying to penetrate its pre-
cincts.
The present city Of Acoma Is on a
plateau that rises $50 feet out. of the
arid plains of New Mexico. The sides
Of the plateau, a mass Of brown sand
stone, are almost straight. To get to
the top one must climb a crude stair
way cut in the stone. On top one will
find three or four rows Of primitive
apartment houses. These houses are
three stories high and are built on
each side Of streets 1000 feet long
The houses follow a line that seems
even straighter than the building line
in big cities. since the houses are all Of
the same type f'architecture and are
built up close to the line. The streets,
too, are 100 feet wide, which may be
another feature that modern city
builders may have copied from the red
men Of the southwest.
One may be sure that the Pueblos
did not get the idea Of broad streets
and building lines from the white
mans cities, for 100-foot streets and
building lines were laid down years
and years before palefaces came
across the ocean These things were
part Of Acoma when Coronado called
on the Pueblos in 1912. Another fea-
ture Of this quaint city is that houses
have fiat roofs. The upper floors are
reached by outside stairways in the
shape Of ladders. The first floor is the
longest. The second floor is ten feet
shorter than the first and the third
floor is ten feet shorter than the sec
ond. This ten feet serves as yards for
each Of the apartments In summer
the Indian and family use this yard
for sleeping. In winter he sleeps in
doors.
Houses are built Of mud, ordinary
and baked hard. After centuries un-
der the fierce rays Of the sun the
blocks get as hard as stone The walls
gre seamless. After the blocks were
placed, the Indian builders smeared the
joints with mud, which in time became
part of the blocks The walls Of most
Of the houses are eight feet thick. In
the early days they were often attack
ed by the warning Indians Of the
as they knew the Pueblo
foodstuff. In the city is cathdral 40
feet wide and 40 feet high. 1t has two
towers in which swing bells. The cath
edral is built Of mud just as the other
houses in the settlement. The roof is
supported by rafters that would serve
as masts in big sailing ships. These
rafters the Indians pulled twenty miles
across the plains from the San Mateo