Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1916-06-14
OLD MAPS TELL STORY
OF ILL FATED TRIALS
TO find Ell DORADO
Fortune Hunting spaniards Left
Documents Showing Loca-
ton of Gold Fields.

slOu OF OOlQ E1GlUS.
Washington. d. C.-The name Ell
part OF the Sixteenth century, is Span
lsh for 1.-THE gilded one" and an alb
brevation for the gildeG man" Gel
to a native South American ruler or
priest who, so early Spanish writers
state. was gilded at n certain annual
ceremony and then bathed in a Lake
near Santa Fe de Bogota, Colombia.
The name next came to signify a
legendary golden city. also called Ma
noa or Omoa, much sought after but
never found. Later it was used to in
dicate q mythical country somewhere
in South America where gold and prec-
ious stones We're to be found IN great
abundance. and for which many Ok
those of Ordaz. Orellana. Won Hutton.
Quesada and Sir Walter Ba!eigh. To-
day FL Dorado is used metaphoricaily
to designate a place where wealth can
be rapidly acquired.
Early Maps Show Efforts.
a pamphlet Just issue NY the Smith
scnian institution relates to the recent
Investigation of DR.. Rudolf SCHUYLER,
who writes ON two Sixteenth century
maps which relate TO the Ordaz and
Dortal expeditions in search of I'll Do
RADIO. The first map he attributes to
Oviedo. placing the date after 1881,
and the latter, which is anonymous,
DR.. chulie believes to have been
made about 1860.
Diego de Ordaz, a former companion
of Cortez, also credited as the first
person to ascend the great volcano
~Popocatepetl neal the City Of Mexico,
was granted a tract of and in South
~, ~ ~, H. Co. -: ---.- =. 1snn
His concession was for the colonization
of the then very indefinite district of
Maranon on the mainland. Ordaz
sailed for out America. October 20,
1881, with $50 men in three vessels;
he was met at the Canaries by another
vessel and $50 men; but owing to severe
storms the admiral's ship was the only
one to reach the coast in the neighbour
hood of the mouth of the Amazon.
Thence he sailed northward to Paria,
where he found and captured a fort
built by Antonio Sedeno, justly claim
where Sedeno had no right. Being
dissatisfied with the region of the
mouths of the Orinoco to explore the
delta.
Fatal Ell Dorado.
Two of the inscriptions on the old
Spanish map refer TO this exploring
expedition, which set out from Paris
VIZ - tlIN -, "a. 1 . 10
horses and one mule. il seven galleys
and finally arrived at an ndian VIII
lage called %huyapari or Aruacay. y
translation OF the legend reads: THE
large village of iiuyapari is situated
two lcagues inland from tho Orinoco.'
According to Indian infornants the
source of the river was in a large lake
lying in the mountains. the route to
which lay through a province called
Meta. where gold was abundant. This
was FL Dorado.
But the second legend inscribed
above the mountains in the upper right
hand corner of the map informs us
that "Ordaz could not pass this chain
of mountains tby the river on account
OF the bad condition of the water, and
from this mountain he returned down
the same river to the sea" Another
inscription states that ito this side
(west of the mountains), or the other
end of this rock, Christians had not
(yet) come" while an added note by
the photographer. Aviedo, mentions
the accident on the return trip from
the expedition in search of Meta-El
manned (here) on dry Oand)."
Although he later tried an overland
route. OrdaZ never located FL Dorado.
He suffered misfortunes lost his hold
ings in South America and finally
died on the way to Spain in 1888.
In 1888 Geronimo Dortal, treasurer
of the Ordaz expedition. was granted
the position formerly held by Ordaz.
II also made governor of Paria.
Shortly after his arrival, in 1884, Dor
tai equipped a new expedition to
search for the famous Meta-El Do
rado-under the command of Alfonso
de Herrera, n former lieutenant Of Or
daZ, and the itinerary of his i'll fated
voyage is described on OMiedo's mar
in several legends, the last Of which
tells pathetically Of his end: Here
they killed Alfonso de Herrera. lieuten-
ant of Governor Dortal; and to this
place came afterwards the said Dortal
and found true marks of the death of
the aforesaid Herrera, and there We're
found among other things a little bell
n a tin cup"
The Amazons.
In 1886, about q year after Herrera's
death, Dortal organized another eX-
pedittion which is said to have dis
covered the domain of the female
chief, Orocomay. an independent COM
munity of Indian women, located on
Oviedo's map between the Huyapari
end reads: Here are the villages and
domain of Queen Orocomay, Who am
ploys only females" Similar Anazons
were also reported by Orellana in 1912,
but today science does not credit such
communities to South America.
One other legend relating to Ell Do
rado reads: Beyond these chains OF
mountains Of the River Huyapari,
there are vast plains which are be-
lieved to be the and Of Peru. and the
| Indians saw that bevond these chains