El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1919-05-17


from an island farther away who told
him that there we're 80 other islands
very close together, thinly populated
and Astounding in pearls. These fbs
are ratherinteresting when we exa-
mine them The Island discovered by
+ Cortes was evidently the one he
named santa Cruz, afterwards named
California by some one, and still later
discovered TO be a peninsula Of the
mainland instead OF an island To
those OF us who are accustomed to
. lying and getting away with IL i is
evident that the 30 islands discovered
are purely imaginary.
If the Rio Petatlan has been cor
rectly Identified then Friar Marcos
had reached the mouth Of the Xaqut
river He next reached a desert which
he crossed in four days; and then met
some Indians who said that at four
days distance from the end Of the
mountain range was vast plain
whose inhabitants went clothed In
cotton cloth, had round green stones
and golden ornaments hanging at
their ears and noses, had gold uten-
sis, and had thin plates Of gold with
which they scraped off their sweat
They also said that the walls OF the
temples OF those people were covered
with gold.
Came in Near Douglas
Tt IS evident that the mountain
range referred 10 Is the divide which
separates the Yaqui river basin from
that Of the Rio Sonora; for there is
abundant evidence that through the
natural gateway Of the Taqui river
basin Friar Marcos entered Arizona
somewhere near the present city OF
Douglas This long divide, or broken
mountain range, ends IN the Drasooh
mountains. in Cochise county Arlzo-
ma. where the old turquoise mines OF
the Indians have been rediscovereci
nor IS there known 10 be any other
turquoise mines in the region through
which Friar Marcos could have
passed. That these we're the mines
from which the Indians OF Zuui re-
celved their turquoise can hardly be
doubted. as will be seen further
along in the narrative OF the priest
That the Taqui river basin Is the nat
ura1 gateway to Arizona from the
old province OF Nueva Galicia by land
is readily evident when We consider
that men can not travel Tar without
water and that the headWaters OF
that river are found in the Chirica-
hua mountains, which lie along the
Ariz0na-New Mexico border.
Differs With Marcos.
Frfar Marcos finally reached
country which was very populous but
verv poor. It's inhabitants received
mini as one ANNaEA-AAA AAlA4 $50 =-Ha
surrounding him with demonstrations
Of Joy, and kissing his habit with pro
found respect: hnd they gave him the
name OF Haiotan, which means Divine
Man.
Liberty IS taken at this point TO
remind the reader that this is E'riar
Marcos side Of the story and not
Observing the excellent disposition
Of those Indians he explained 10 them
through his interpreters the dogma OF
the unity Of God and the power OF
the king OF Spain.
Those Indians said that at a dis
lance Of four journeys into the IN
terror began a vast plain whose IN.
habitants dressed richly and wore
green stones in their ears and noses,
and that gold was so abundant In
that country that they covered the in-
ner walls Of their temples with K
Net Tempted By Riches.
But he did not 90 to. that ricn
country for his instructions were not
TO leave the seacoast far
After converting the Indians Of
that town he continued his civllizins
march. accompanied By three or four
hundred converted Indians who sup
plied his food on the trail by hunt 4
ing. In this manner he proceeded ]
more than 200 leagues, sowing the I
word OF the Eospel ana having me
pleasure OF seeing Il germinate, 4
flower. and bear fruit Everywhere (
he was received with great interest
and was supplied with abundant pro-
visions. Notwithstanding the fact
that the country had suffered from
drought for three consecutive years
The Indians also gave him fine
pelts. IN exchange for which he dis
pensed great benefit to them, for
besides showing them the eternal
truths Of the faith he cured the sick