El Nuevo mexicano., 1916-11-30

OF view, ten years is an Incredibly short
time In which to produce big results. How
ever, It is the period Of preparation that
is long, The b%lossoming out or great cul.
turaI movements las USUALLY come sudden.
". Ages OF sunshine and sommolence have
left Santa Re with something more than
traditions Of it's past, There are portions
Of 1t in which one can forget all the cen
turiea from the seventeenth down Entire
barrios exist almost unchanged In physical
Importance: narrow, crooked streets, adobe
walls, aceqpias. cemeteries, chapels. houses.
plaza and even the Palacio Real (sole build
ing in the United States that can rightly be
called a royal p~aIacel, remain in substantial
form.
From Fort Marcy a~eropolis. one looks tps
on three cultures: Indian, Spanish, Amerl-
can. The first, spanning indefinite cen
turies; the second and most conspicuous,
800 years old, so perfectly adapted as to
seem indigenouss the last here only 10
years and looking decidedly nondescript.
one thinks Of the Eternal City and of
looking down from the Capitoline Hill upon
the work Of the a~bofiginess kings, emperors,
pppes, the greatest vista Of human history
that Is anywhere possible to one sweep Of
the eve. And in truth there is no reason
why the Indians of the towns ON the site Of
Santa Fe should not have been living their
simple lives in the same days that the alb.
original Latins Y ere baking in the sun Of
the Seven Hills, baking pottery by precisely
the same methods as the Indians and, in the
same way, folding VI. the bodies Of their
dead for the Sepulchrata by the Via Sacra.
Remains Of the Indian period are not con-.
%spiciots, but they are everywhere. Fort
Marcy acropolis is covered with Pueblo
ruins. mostly under the modern breastworks
and at the foot Of its slope a~rtifacts Of va
rious kinds are continually being turned up
in accidental digging. Along the south side
Of the Rio Santa Fe. old walls, pOtsherds,
implements and skeletai remains
have been reported from time to time, from
the upper end Of town to far below Guada.
lupe church. In fact, II may be said that
remains have been found wherever
they have been looked for where excara-
were going On, Settlements and fields
existed at Aqua Fria, a distance of at least
miles. The Palace was built upon a
massive pile OF Pueblo ruins. When It was
for repairs, after being oceu-
pied by the school, huge masses of the an.
cient. puddled walls (brick construction was
not used by the Indians in pre-Spanish
simes) were laid bare. Indian artifaets and
skeletal remains we're found In the excava-
lions for the heating plant back Of. the Pal
ace to q dept Of ten feet. The, same has oc.
Cured when excavations we're made on the
east side of the plaza, and north to the
bluffs that overlook the city. The excaya-
lions for the basement Of the new art~]dn-
scum have disclosed a definitive archaeology
sstratification. That Indian towns COW
ared the hills and valley Of Santa Fe during
he centuries prior to the coming Of the
sRaniards can no longer be doubted, Both
archaeological and traditioDary evidences
ire conclusive. It is equally certain that
hey we're deserted at the time Of the col
)nization, 1898, or else they would have
been noticed in the records Of that period.
But the Spanish town, La villa Real dc
Santa Fe de San Francisco, founded 1906
Three fourths of its houses are
n style, seventeenth century Spanish. Three
ourths of its people are distinctly Spanish
n type and, In their homes, speak as good
1astiIlian as one hears in Andalusia today.
town of three hundred years ago acs
ually survives, while of it's contemporaries,
It. Augustine, 1865; jamestown, 1907; Ply
mouth, 1920, barely enough Nremains for
landmarks. Santa Fe has always been q
ar flung outpost. Events that shook the
enters Of government to which 1t was sue
essively tributary-Mexico City and Wash
ngton-were but little felt in its far seclu-
ion. Likewise, the rush Of nineteenth cen
ury civilization which has left visible the
vestiges Of the beginnings of east
I'm cities. was SO far moderated by the time
t reached Santa Fe as to have lost its de-
force. How much Of actual early
eventeepth century walls remain, no one
ould say. More, doubtless. than one would
at first thought; for adobe Is a dur
Bile material. Structures of known date
90 years old, are we'll preserved.
TIL last decade saw serious changes. 1t
at one time as though the old Santa
with its charm of antiquity and perfect
,daptation to environment, was destined to
i've way to something altogether mediocre
nd in every respect as characterless as
he towns OF the middle west. But the com
nunity became conscious of the loss that
gas impending. Now it is realized by all.
ianta Fe must become a modern residence
ity; at the same time 1t need not, in its
%evelopment lose its ancient character which
its unique among American capitals.
Re is at the dawning of anew era,
of general appreciation of its elemental
harm. In an excellent article in the April
number Of Ell PaIacio, William Templeton
specialist in architecture and city
tanning. pointed out the logical direction
{ the development of the future modern
ity of Santa Fe. 1t is safe to say that the
ten years will tell the STORY. What
yer the city is to be for all time. as to ar
hitecturai character, win be determined
urihg this decade.