The Winslow mail., 1923-06-29
7
Lodge Tales
By
Ford G. Frick
TEARS OF CHRIST

A I THE southern end of the San
gree de CristO range, not far from
Taos, n. M stands peculiar peak
peculiar in that certain stones, found
al it's summit, bear the shape of a
cross, some Of them so perfect that
one would imagine they had been
carved from the living rock by the
fingers of skilled sculptor. But more
peculiar still is the fact that these
stones, no matter how many times
they may be broken or crushed, even
though they be broken into dozen
fragments, will still retain their shape,
every fragment perfect cross in 1t
self.
About these stones is woven
legend not of any particular Indian
tribe or family, probably started by
the early Indian Christians or pos
sibly by the Spanish who settled the
country. At any rate it is beautl"
full little story, and so characteristic
that it is worth relating here. The
legend in itself is well known to the
Indian and Mexican settlers of the re-
bits of the rock are to be found in
virtually every household. The legend
is as follows
Long years ago, when the country
was new, the land was unknown to
the white man, but Indian tribes found
here a prosperous, well watered coun-
try, where they could live in ease,
without hard work and without great
effort. SO the land became popu-
lated and each tribe had its own re
ligion and each it's own gods, which
were worshiped faithfully.
But when the Spanish settlers came
into Mexico small parties Of them
were constantly making Journeys
northward where they expected to
find gold and silver. In their num-
Der were many priests, who were
strong in their religious conviction
and who hoped to convert the Indian
tribes to their belief And it so hap
pened that two of these Indian priests
came into the mountain country,
where dwelt countless tribes.
These two priests were well re-
ceived by the tribesmen who lived
with them for long, and they
made every effort to convert them
to the Catholic faith. But the
tribesmen were stubborn and demand
eG some sign of the strength of the
white mans god before they would
cease the worship Of the stone images
which they had set up.
The priests, seeing this, were very
sad and went to the mountain top and
prayed for three days and three nights
that there might be some sign from
heaven that the tribesmen would be
convinced Finally in answer to their
prayer, the Christ appeared on the
mountain top and spoke to them and
then pleaded with the tribesmen that
they would follow the advice Of the
priests and worship the white mans
Cod But the tribesmen were Obdu-
rate, and so the Christ knelt there
on the mountain top and prayed that
these Indians might be made to see
the right. And as He prayed He wept,
and the tears fell from His eyes to the
ground and there they were turned
into rocks as fast as they fell.
And every rock was in the shape of
cross, and there were thousands of
these rocks on the summit of the
mountain. Tribesmen who saw them
were amazed, and when they took the
rocks in their hands they marveled.
And some there were who broke the
rocks, but no matter how many times
they were broken, each small frag-
ment still retained it's shape and the
priests pointed to the rock and said
it was the sign from heaven And
the tribeSmen heard and were con-
vinced and therefore they wOrshiped
the white mans God as their own