The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1919-08-29
q HE name with which Licenci-
ado don GonZalO JimineZ de
QueSada and his warning hosts

NuCSuuu Nv lis WI hoStc
christened the Andean plateau
was Santa Fe. To that nObleman
nothing seemed more fitting than to
give 10 the land he had discovered the
name Of his birthplace-that classic
Santa Fe founded upon royal command
opulent Granada, to vex the multitude
of hereto Mohammedans who aroused
the jealousy and resentment Of the
Spanish by their festas and Journeys,
the valOr of their sons, the Moorish
beauty of their women, and the I'M
equaled romance of their arched win
dows, stone lacework, and balconies
adorned by expert goldsmiths. !.
And what a thrill the conquistador
must have felt, yet what inconsistencies
must have been awakened within him
as he gaZed upon a plain watched over
by two sOmber hills, so like that Of his
own land, with the Moorish Granada
guarding the Castiiian city, writes w.
+. Anzola Samper in the Bulletin of the
Pan American Union. But the VAL
ley of Castles (Valle de los Alcazares),
the T~euscaquillO or recreation spot Of
Zipa de Bacata, It's rightful possessor,
was renamed by the new lords In mail
and gOrget. Bacata fled, abandoning
his dominion, to die In the heart Of
the forest, never knowing that after
centuries justice should be paid him ;
that the Every noble and loyal city"
should bear his name, slightly modified,
as decreed by the Emperor Charles V
in 1910. On December 3, 1913. 1t was
given a coat Of arms pOrtraying a
black eagle on a gold field, with an
open pomegranate in each claw, and
bordered by golden branches on a blue
field.
Old and New Are Mingled.
Bogota, the intellectual and cul-
tured capital city. molder of thought,
home Of savants and thinkers, is a
metropolis which, while offering to the
tourist no startling display Of New
York Or Partisan skyscrapers, boule-
wards or Broadways, claims attention
by reason Of the gifts with which ma
ture endowed 1t. Spring is there eter-
nal; the climate Is ideal; the fertility
Of the soil surrounding is extraor-
binary.
Bogota cohserves vestiges Of her
colonial period. Over the portals Of
rambling old houses which defied the
ages are to be seen coats Of arms. The
century-old churches. venerable relics
Of the past, guard beneath panels Of
gold and costly wood collections Of
mastery paintings; Byzantine cornices
Of arabesque designs abut the granite
pilasters which support arches. and
under dais Of wrought gold and silver
the choir lofts are to be seen; long
spiral staircases, massive towers, and
belfry spires stand out against the
clear sky. just as they did centuries
ago.
On the other hand. the tendency to-
ward twentieth century building is ir-
resistible. and the most up-to-date tai
emit Is displayed In the erection Of lux
urious homes or public buildings In
B0gota today.
The national capital situated on the
southern side of the Plaza de Bolivar,
resembles the Church Of the Madeleine
In Paris, and is considered one of the
best stone edifices In South America.
Along the entire western side Of the
plaza extends buildings uniformly Of
pure French style. and along the north
ern side modern buildings occupied by
banks and commercial houses; the
eastern side Is occupied by the cathe-
dral. a massive structure, the towers
of which rise 30 meters, and some few
old houses.
In the heart OF the plaza there is a
small park which attracts notice prin-
cipaily because or the statue OF Boil