The Delta independent., 1921-11-04


were pretty good, that he hit them
at 25 miles an hour We started out
and it looked as II it would start rain
ing any moment. We were not out
of sight of the house till we had to
cross a little creek, where the bridge
had been washed out. Mr.. Brinley
didn't give the. car enough gas, SO in
we went, and, OF course, stayed.
Right away a Mexican came along
and he could "savvy" good deal
He put rope on and tried to pull
us out by the saddle horn, but broke
his rope. He got another horse and
neighbor. The second horse was
afraid of the car. So they both fas-
tened on and we found we were down
behind post that had been bhoken
off from the old bridge, and we could
not go forward or back We piled
rock underneath the wheel and tried
again, but the horses wouldn't pull
any, and one horse that did decide to
pull made a lunge and broke his sad
die girth. But the Mexican got a
sack and made a girth and we finally
got pulled out.
of heavy storm and rented a room
and decided to stay in until the
weather settled.
That afternoon Mr.. Brinley was
cleaning the car and discovered he
didn't have drop of gas, and there
was only four gallons in the town.
So he took that and paid so cents
gallon.
Monticello is pretty town. 1t lies
right up against that old blue noun
tain. 1t looked about mile away.
but they said it is eight miles. They
had clear, cold water there. piped
down from that mountain. They told
us that they raised nearly all they
used there. and what other things
they needed they laid in in the fall.
as the only way to get things during
the winter was to bring them in on
sleighs. They get first class mail
once a week in winter and their pa
pers every six weeks.
Next morning we packed and start.
ed for Cortez, about 100 miles away.
The roads were pretty fair. The first
place we could get gas was at Dove
Creek Around there the people seem
ed to be mostly homesteaders; they
were dry farming, raising chickens,
etc. Most of them had good wire
fences around their places. Some
had few cows.
At Cortez we had such a lovely
place to camp that we stayed over
one day. We had a wood cook stove
and plenty of good kindling. We
wanted to have a good rest before
crossing that ISL miles of reserve.
We had heard that the Indians
were fighting among themselves. and
that there was disease called
"typhus fever" raging among them.
and that they were dying like flies.
So I was pretty much worried over
the trip. We were not allowed to
drink any water through there.
Well, along came a car from Grand
Valley and the people were on their
way to California. Friday morning
we all got up early, intending to start
for Gallup. New Mexico. Thirteen
miles from Cortez we came to an
Indian store and there was large
gate we had to open to get through,
anu thdt "do thC Dt6ihhih6 Vi thC
Indian reservation. 1t certainly look
ed like a real desert. The sun was
growing hot and we could see nothing
growing at all. Soon we began to see
those little short topped tepees at
different places over the reserve. but
none close to the road. Every little
while we would meet an Indian riding
a little old skinny pony. The man
would be bareheaded and have u
thick blanket wrapped around him.
My, they looked so hot; not a sign
of anything growing-not even grass.
And Dear only knows where they got
their water. We never saw sign of
any well.
At the end OF so miles we came to
regular Indian school and town
combined, called "Ship Rock" Now.
this is real nice town. The build
ings are all made of rocks and COW
cred with red roses. They had lots
of pretty flowers and lots of nice
homes.
"A large river ran right alongside
the town and they seemed to be rails
ing little stuff; had a few young
fruit trees and 1t looked nice.
understand all the teachers and the
superintendent of the school are white
people. ! understand that they send
men out over the reservation and
gather in the Indian children and
bring them into this school as young
as four years old. There they can be
cared for and kept clean. II appears
that the Indian children are all trou-
bled with sore eyes. We saw lots
right in Ship Rock that looked ter
rible.