The Canon City record with which is consolidated the Canon City cannon., 1919-06-05
NEW MEXICO
THE LAND. OF ANCIENT MYSTERIES
By a. +. Taylor.

tuft anu SHOWS Her 10 Hhfe DeeH a
very pretty Indian girl. Hundreds Of
people go to Mora every year to.see
the works of art By Cora Walton. and
/ II is worth trip there.
The. drive from Las Vegas TO Mora
is one of grandeur and beauty. The
road LEAFS through valleys. over plains
and hills and along siivery trout
streams. The Tega valley. seven
miles from Mora. is one of the pref-
test that has been my pleasure to see
II is not large. perhaps containing,
not to exceed, 15.00o acres. IL is the
property of Spanish people and is un-
der high state of cultivatidt
The town OF Taos, pronounced
Touse. as said before. Is on the west
side of the mountains. and is reached
by about 20 mile auto ride from Taos
Junction on the Rio GrandeN railroad
II is claimed to be an older town than
Mora but no one knows. bur il is
known that the Spanish came there in
1545- I, IS another SO per cent Span
ish and Mexican town.
When yon set OFF the train at Taos
Junction You can look across the val
ley and see the town 80 miles away.
and you would never suspect that you
would have canon 800 feet deep TO
cross to get there. II is simply crew
ice in the honeycomb of lava rock. The
canon reminds one of Canon Diablo
in Arizona. /; winds down through
the valley like big snake. To cross
II you have to travel FIVE miles alonr
the walls. OF the canon and to look
over its rugged walls you feel like you
would prefer to be on terra firma.
Surrounding this town and within
less than two miles are seven Spanish
towns. The Spanish towns range in
population from about 100 TO $50 and
az one Is a church over 300 years
old. Originally this valley was
owned by few families. but as the
children grew up and married offs the
oid,foiks build another addition to the
adobe houses to be occupied by the
married child and allots them part
of the home farm. and as a result the
farms. the individual farms. are small
II ~ said that the Spanish and Mexi-
cans there will not sell their lands at
all: that they are handed down from
generation to generation
These Spanish people are very loyal
10 this country and large number
OF the young men from this section of
the country were in the American
army
Five as pretty trout sfreArIis as are
to be found in the Rocky mountains
come out OF the mountains here, Join
below town. forming the Taos river.
and there is enough water goes to
waste there. If conserved. TO water
the million acres OF land in that part
of the valley.
One thing very striking in that COM
munily and that Is that there are but
few fences in the valley. They have
herd law and every man must take
care OF his own stock. In crossing
the valley you viii see thousands of
sheep and cattle, but every flock or
herd has from one TO two men in
charge This herd law seems to be
popular with the people.
IL space would permit me 10 write
an article as long as the treaty with
Germany. | could tell something Of
this stranse land and The customs al
the people Having visited every
court town in the state and tried
cases In most OF the courts. am well
acquainted iwth the geoeraphy and To-
biography OF the country.