Williams news., 1914-09-17
THE SNAKE DANCE
Continued fram last week.

Before the entire party got under way again i, was five o'clock and clouding up for rain.
 The road runs across a desert which when rained on, turns to sea of mud. and it was thru this mud that the cars plunged along, in the rain. Everyone helped everyone else, and no one in the party seemed any the less cheerfull, in spite of .fhe discomfort. Dark ness fell long before Burro Springs were reached. It was raining steadily by that time, but the in- trepid travellers built blaziug fire in the rude shelter of pinon posts and branches, an Indian "Hovep evidently. Coffee was made, and everyone ate supper around the fire.
 Most of the party were tentless; and so the women slept on impro- vised beds inside the shelter, while the men curled up in thier cars.
 MT. Barney lost his watch as usual and by mistake rose at 4:30 A. M. but refused to go to bed again. Dr. Melick, MT. Hughes and MT. Barney established undy- ing regulations as cooks on this trip. From one camp fire the multitude was fed, from the capacious provi- sions boxes.
 The country from now on became very picturesque. Towering mesas lowered above the sandy desert stretches while deep arroyo cut the earth into numberless jagged edges, along the road.
 Moraibi was reached in the morning, and camp made. The Indian village proper is on high mesa, mile or so from the Gov ernment settlement. A few houses were grouped picturesquely about the hills, the Indian school and store in the center.
 In all there were perhaps one hun dred twenty-five white people present, some of whom had been there for two weeks waiting for the dance to come off.
 About 2 P. M. every one started up the mesa, minus autos, which were forbidden. After an arderous climb the summit was reached.
 The houses are very old, dating back two hundred and fifty years. They are made of flat jagged slabs of rocks piled one on the other, giving an appearance of irregular oblong boxes stood on end.
 The Khiva is a deep hole in the ground access to which can only be had by means of ladder, and it was in here that the snake priests were.
 By four o'clock a huge crowd had gathered.
 From the vantage point of a housetop one could see the stage like effect of the rope inclosed are ma with it's cluster of cotton wood boughs tied together inclosing the place where the snakes were con- cealed; the flat topped dwellings of the Indians as a back ground to the gayly dressed inhabitants, the visiting Navajoes and the white people, wh" crowed around the enclo~rue as closely as possible. At five P. M. the snake priests emerged from the Khiva fantastic. ally dressed in orange and brown buckskin, with a fox tail attached their bodies painted bright pink their faces pink and black. Eve ry preist was literally covered witf ornaments and beads and eagle fea thers in their hair, while the chei priest was especially adorned witf a huge abolone shell.
 In all there were twenty dancers three of whom were small boys Two priests armed with long fea thers took no part in the dance but by the strange method of tick ling the snakes tail soothed it suffi ciently to allow him to seize it ant fling it over his arm. After tn do hoA fo rnpcA fhoir