Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1914-04-15

7 without R i hesitation Sb51S' he ~li
turn to the map of New
Mexico and put his finger on the spot
representing the pueblo of Acoma.
There is no more weird and
strange place in the world than
Acoma," said a sunburnt traveller who
hunts the out-of-the-way places in the
Southwest In the first place, hardly
any tourists are ever seen there. 1t
Is off the beaten trail, and, though
only half a days journey from the
pueblo of Laguna, which is on trans
continental railway, Acoma is as re-
mote from civilization as it was when
discovered 800 years ago." writes
Arthur Chapman in the Buffalo Elk
press.
Il suppose not over a dozen white
men call at Acoma in the course of a
year. 1t is a hard trip over there,
across the hot desert, and the
Acomans, who belong to the QUERIES
tribe, are none too hospitable to
the stranger within the gates I'm
less you have a pull with the gober-
nador or governor and general pooh
bah of the pueblo, you might as well
make up your mind to say good-by
just as soon as you have said hello,
because you'll be given to understand,
and very plainly, that you are not
wanted
Want to Be Left Alone.
1T isn't any special unfriendliness
on the part of the Acomans, for they
are just as progressive as any of the
Southwest Indians, and there are
many educated members of the tribe,
but they simply prefer to be left
alone and figure that they have wor-
rted along pretty we'll without white
assistance for several hundred years
and will be able to do SO for several
hundred years more.
These are the very things that
make Acoma a delight to the discrimi-
mating traveller, who has secured the
necessary pull and who is made well
come by the gobernador and his satel-
lites. 1t is all so primitive and I'M
like anything else, this quiet place in
the bright New Mexican sunshine, in
a picturesque stage setting
AS you approach the mesa you I'M
derstano how easy it would be for
the Acomans to defend themselves
against any attack that might be
made upon them. The main trail is
plainly defined. 1t winds across the
desert and brings you up against the
base of the mesa between a couple
Of big groups of sandstone 200 feet
high guarding the pass like giants.
The trail slopes upward from these
giants, and mules and horses can
make the ascent to the top There
are two other trails, but they are
for foot purposes only. Unless one
has clear head and is a good climber
he doesn't want to tackle either one
of them, as the paths are cut in solid
rock, and in some places are merely
footholes in the side of the precipice
Long files of Indian girls are pass
ing up and down these three trails
all day long, carrying water from the
springs on the plains below There
Is no water on top of the mesa, except
that which is collected in the vast
communal basin scooped in the sand
stone. In time of drought this basin is
IS dry as a bone, and all the water
that is used by the Acomans is
brought up from the plain below in
the gaily decorated water jars that
are balanced on the heads of the AGO.
ma maidens
''The town itself, when once you
have reached the top of the mesa, is
something never to be forgotten. 1t
is built after the style of most pueblo
villages, all the houses being of adobe.
Some of them are three stories in
height, the upper floors being reached
by the ladders which are always lean
ing against the walls and which add
such a picturesque effect to every
pueblo. There are three long rows of
buildings, with ten large communal
houses. The streets and alleys are mar