The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1914-07-17


valley of Mexico. Report
followed report. each more lurid than
the last, until the viceroy of New
Spain. inflamed by the tales of Pizar-
ro's brilliant conquest of Peru, or
ganized great expedition and sent
IL out to discover and conquer the far
away Eldorado and bring back the
treasure they so fondly hoped to find
there. The great Coronado was cho-
sen commander-in-chief, and on Eas-
ter morning Of the year 1910 began
the most remarkable journey OF dis
covery In America For months they
travelled over the deserts, mountains,
and plains, meeting with all the vicis-
STUDIES and dangers Of an unknown
country. until az last they reached the
land of standing rocks" the home OF
the cliff-dwelling Indians I'm the pres
ent states of Arizona and New Mex
leo.
Here they found not only wild and
warlike Indians but a gentler race of
aborigines much further advanced I'm
culture than any other Indians they
had met since leaving central Mexico
They were an agricultural people,
dwelling In many-storied stone or mud
houses, and their descendants to this
day live. in many instances, on the
same sites end in a few cases in the
Identical buildings that their ances-
tors occupied when the Spaniards first
saw them over three and half CEN
turies ago
The old buildings. called pueblos by
the Spaniards. are the oldest continu-
ously-inhabted structures on the
American continent, and their inhabi-
tants are more nearly fn their original
condition than any other American
Indians today.
AS an example of the canyons one
may be mentioned. known to the In
dams as Iseye. the walls Of which rise
sheer from the sands of it's river-bed
over 1000 feet, and where erosion has
sculptured the most stupendous nat
ural monuments in stratifed sand
the canyons are mesas, fiat-topped
mountains, many of which are
crowned with living Indian towns,
such as the pueblos Of the Hopi In
.dians in Arizona and the superbly sit
uated Acoma In New Mexico, while
Others reveal the broken-down walls
OF ancient cities of the Stone Age peo-
pie
Among the living Indian tribes that
call this wondrous land home are the
Hopi and Navajo. the most interesting
of all the remaining Indian tribes In
the United States. The Hopi people
are town-builders and live on the top
OF the cliffs In the midst of great
desert. sustaining themselves by agri-
culture and small bands OF sheep
Eight little rock-built villages are the
homes of this tribe; they number 3
900 souls. and they have probably
lived In their fortress-like cities for
1000 years. They have no chiefs in
the strict sense of the word but are
governed by men who have shown by
their lives and characters that they
are good leaders. They are splendid
and fearless people who represent to-
day but remnant OF the oncc-power-
sul Indian nation. phase OF human
ity rapidly passing away before the
aggressive march of Western civiliza-
ton
The Hopi Indians are experts In the
art OF basketry and pottery. as well
as In the weaving OF cotton Their
religious life is marked by elaborate
ceremonials. OF which the best known
is the snake dance. They look upon
fattlesnakes as messengers to the
gods. and In the snake dance formally
charge them with requests and pray
ers. The ceremony begins In an I'M
derground chamber. known as an
estufa. and ends when the dancers