USA > Arizona > The marvellous country : or, Three years in Arizona and New Mexico, the Apaches' home > Part 23
USA > New Mexico > The marvellous country : or, Three years in Arizona and New Mexico, the Apaches' home > Part 23
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27
So beautiful was she, that none but the bravest warriors
* There are, at the present time, Americans living in New Mexico who have actually seen the "sacred flame" burning in the temple at Pecos, as well as in the pueblo of Jemmez, and this some years after the United States had acquired possession of the Territory.
435
MONTEZUMA'S MOTHER.
could look upon her, as the celestial beauty of her form and features caused all who gazed upon her to at once become her humble and abject slaves. .
That the chiefs of all the tribes of the earth came and sought her hand in marriage; that they no sooner saw the other suitors, than they waged war one against the other, and engaged in furious combat for the privilege of first paying their addresses to her. She turned a deaf ear to all their entreaties, however, and refused to entertain the pro- posals of any of them, because she was the bride of the Great Spirit. Each of her suitors brought tribute of the finest and best productions of their lands, which were stored In great houses, built for that purpose.
In this manner she accumulated large quantities of gold, silver, precious stones, cloth, and skins; also vast stores of maize, wheat, and other grains. So immense were these supplies, that when famine came upon the land, and the people were starving, she was enabled to furnish them with food, and prevent them from dying. Thus it was that she won the love of all the people, and made herself worthy to become the mother of the great and good Montezuma.
One day, while wandering through a beautiful grove near her residence, she lay down upon the green grass, and fell asleep, failing to awake as the shades of evening approached. A gentle zephyr having displaced the snowy garment that covered her bosom, a single drop of dew fell
436
OLD RUINS.
upon one of her beautiful breasts, and she forthwith became pregnant, and gave birth to a son, who immediately grew to the stature of a man. This son was Montezuma, he who had built the many towns, the ruins of which were scattered throughout the country.
The old man informed me that he had visited many of these ruins himself, and found them "very much large;" but as Lieutenant Simpson, U. S. A., in his "Navajoe Ex- pedition," has given so complete a description of them, I prefer to use it, rather than the somewhat faulty and con- fused one given by the cacique.
Simpson describes a portion of these ruins as situated in the Canon de Chaco, and in the valley of the Rio de Chelly, two of the most southern tributaries of the Rio San Juan.
In all, there are more than thirty of these ruined pue- blos, only six of which he gives a description of: Pintado, Weje-gi, Una-Vida, Hungo-Pavic, Chettro-Kettle, and Peñasca-Blanca.
He found the ruins of the pueblo Pintado "forming one structure, and built of tabular pieces of hard, fine-grained, compact, gray sandstone, "- a material quite unknown in the present architecture of New Mexico,- "to which age and the atmosphere have imparted a reddish tint, the layers, or slabs, being not thicker than three inches, and sometinies as thin as a fourth of an inch. The masonry discovers a combination of science and art, which can only be referred
RUINS IN THE CAÑON DE CHACO.
437
DESCRIPTION OF THEM.
to a higher state of civilization and refinement than is to be found in the works of either the Mexicans or Pueblos of to-day.
"So beautiful, diminutive, and true are the details of the structure, as to give them at a little distance the appear- ance of a magnificent piece of mosaic work.
"In the outer face of the buildings no signs of mortar are to be seen, the intervals between the beds, or layers, being chinked with beautifully colored pebbles of the minutest thinness; the filling and backing of the walls is done in rubble masonry, the mortar, however, showing no indica- tion of the presence of lime; their thickness at the base is a little more than three feet, while higher up it is less, diminishing every story by retreating jogs on the inside from the bottom to the top.
"The elevation of the walls at the present time is thirty- two fcet, showing it to have been originally four stories high; the ground-plan, in exterior development, is four hun- dred and thirteen feet. On the ground floor are fifty-four apartments, the smallest one measuring five feet square, the largest one thirteen feet by seven. These rooms communi- cate with each other by means of small doors, two and a half feet wide by three feet high.
"In the second story, the doors are much larger; in this, as in the third story, were once windows. The system of flooring was unhewn beams about six inches in diameter,
438
IIUNGO-PAVIE.
from which the bark had been carefully removed; they were laid transversely from wall to wall, small, peeled sticks, about one inch in diameter, being laid across them; these were covered with grass, or tulle, which, with a layer of mud mortar, furnished the floor to the room above. These beams show no signs of the saw or axe, but bear the marks of having been hacked off by some very imper- fect instrument.
"In different portions of the ruins were three circular apartments, sunk in the ground, the walls being of masonry ; these apartments measured from sixteen to twenty-seven feet in diameter, and were about six feet in the clear; were called estufas, and were used for the performances of the ceremonies and rites of their religion; the only entrance to them being through a small door in the top, which also admitted the light."
The pueblo Weje-gi is built in the same manner as that of Pintado, and is constructed of the same kind of material. The apartments on the ground floor numbered ninety- nine; the length of the principal edifice is three hundred and ninety feet.
The ruins of Ilungo-Pavie show the same nicety in the details of their masonry as do those of Pintado, the estufa alone being different, it having a number of interior counter- forts. This pueblo was undoubtedly four stories in height.
The ruins of the pueblo of Chettro-Kettle, although
439
PEÑASCA-BLANCA.
showing the same style of architecture, and built of the same kind of material, are more extensive than those already described; there are four stories now standing, and one hundred and twenty-four rooms occupied the ground floor. Many of these rooms are in an excellent state of preservation, the walls still having upon them their coating, or plaster.
The most extensive of these northern ruins are those of the pueblo of Peñasca-Blanca, which differs from the others in the arrangement of the stones composing its walls; those of the other pueblos were of uniform character, in the several beds or layers composing them, but in these there is a regular alternation of large and small stones, the effect of which is both unique and beautiful.
The largest of these stones are about one foot in length and six inches in thickness, forming but a single bed; alter- nating with these are four or five beds of small stones, about an inch in thickness.
The general plan of the buildings seems to have been about the same; the number of rooms traceable upon the ground floor of this pueblo is one hundred and thirty-four, while the existing walls show it to have been five stories in height.
In no single instance was either a chimney or fireplace found among the ruins, nor were there any indications of the presence or use of iron in their construction. Quan-
440
POTTERY-WARE.
tities of pottery-ware were found, the colors showing taste in their selection and style of arrangement, and being still quite bright.
It can hardly be necessary to describe the ruins found in the valley of the Rio de Chelly, as they are similar to those already described as found in the Cañon de Chaco, covering the valley for the space of twenty-five miles.
Before leaving this subject, I desire to speak of some ruins which, though lying south of the present boundary of the United States, without doubt formed a part of the wonderful system of pueblos existing in this marvellous
EARTHEN BOWL FROM RUINS OF THE PUEBLO PEÑASOA-BLANCA.
country, which extended throughout New Mexico and Ari- zona, and were once the homes of a numerous and indus- trious race of people.
I refer to the ruins of the Casas Grandes found in north- western Chihuahua, and situated upon the Rio Casas Grandes, a stream that empties into Lake Guzman.
These are the ruins of the most southern of these fortified towns, or pueblos, and which the historian, Claverigo, de- clares similar in every respect to those of New Mexico,
441
CASAS GRANDES, CHIHUAHUA.
being constructed of three stories, and without entrance to the first floor.
Unlike any other ruins in New Mexico, save those of the Gran Quivera, water was conveyed to the pueblo from a spring some distance away, by means of an aqueduct. A large watch-tower, called by some "Castle Janos," stands about a league to the southwest of the town, commanding a wide extent of country, while along the banks of the stream are many mounds, in which weapons of stone, with many earthen vessels, handsomely painted, have been found.
Bartlett, in his "Personal Narrative," says: "The ruins of Casas Grandes in Chihuahua face the cardinal points, and consist of fallen and erect walls, the latter varying in height from five to thirty feet, projecting above the portions of ruins which have crumbled to decay. Were the heights estimated from the foundations, it would be much greater, particularly those of the centre point of the building, where the fallen walls and rubbish form a mound more than twenty feet above the ground. If, therefore, the highest walls now standing have their foundations on the lowest level, their probable height was more than fifty feet. I concluded that the outer portion of the buildings was the lowest, about one story high, while the central ones, judging from the height of the walls now standing, and the accumulation of rubbish, were probably from three to six stories.
,
56
442
DESCRIPTION OF RUINS.
"Every portion of the building is made of adobe, which differs entirely from that now made by the Mexicans, in that the blocks are very much larger, being about four feet in length, by twenty-two inches in thickness. Gravel was mixed with the mud, but no straw was used.
"The building consists of three masses, united by walls of one story, forming court-yards. The entire edifice ex- tends from north to south eight hundred feet, and from east to west two hundred and fifty. The general character is very similar to the Casas Grandes near the Pino vil- lages, and the ruins on the Salinas. Not a fragment of , wood remains; many doorways are to be seen, but the lintels have gone, and the top has in most cases crumbled away, and fallen in.
"Some of the apartments arranged along the main walls are twenty feet hy ten, and connected by doorways, with a small enclosure, or pen, in one corner, between three and four feet high. Besides these there are many other exceedingly narrow apartments, too contracted for dwell- ing-places or sleeping-rooms, with connecting doorways, and into which the light was admitted by circular aper- tures in the upper part of the wall. There are also large halls, and some enclosures within the walls, and so exten- sive that they could never have been covered by a roof. The lesser ranges of buildings, which surrounded the prin- cipal one, may have been occupied by the people at large,
443
ESTUFAS.
whose property may have been deposited within the great building for safe keeping. Although there appears to have been less order in the tout ensemble of this great collection of buildings than in those farther north, the number of small apartments, the second stages and stories, the inner courts, and nearly all the minor details, resemble those of the ruins found in New Mexico and Arizona."
Who shall answer the question, when and by whom were these wonderful structures built ?
In a succeeding chapter I propose to give the reader a synopsis of the many theories that have been advanced concerning these ruins by our savans, that he may, mn connection with the facts here given, understand the great uncertainty that exists concerning the early settlement of this marvellous country; as well as to convince him of the truth of the statements made in previous chapters of this work, that the barren and desolate wastes now existing between the Rio Grande and the waters of the Pacific were once inhabited by a race of people far superior in the arts and in mechanical skill to any of the races that for the past century have been found within its confines.
In all these ruins estufas are found to exist; they were invariably built underground; were circular in form, with neither doors nor windows, entrance always being had through a small aperture in the roof. These estufas are of different sizes, and from six to nine feet in the clear. They
444
INTERESTING RITES.
always contained a kind of altar, or stone table, flat upon the top, upon which it is supposed was kept burning the sacred flame.
The walls of many of them were ornamented with rude paintings or representations of different animals or birds; such figures as the deer, the dog, the wolf, the fox, the eagle, and the turkey; in addition to which, rude represen- tations of the sun, the moon, the clouds, and the lightning were found painted in colors.
These estufas, the old cacique informed me, were the temples of Montezuma, and . that the cacique and their council, at the planting and before the harvesting cach spring and fall, visit them and perform certain religious rites, consisting of songs and chants, which are sup- posed to make the offerings there given more acceptable to Montezuma, who in return therefor bestows upon his children many blessings, sending them rain and abundant crops.
I ventured to hint to the cacique that I possessed a very strong desire to visit the estufa at Zuni before I left; but the intimation was unheeded, nor was the subject again referred to by either of us.
The cacique had scarcely left ere Jimmy made his appear- ance, and seated himself beside me with such an air of im- portance that I was at once aware that he was about to make some communication of import. Inflating his lungs to their
445
JIMMY PROPOSES A "TIST."
fullest extent, and inclining his head to one side, while his face wore a very cunning expression, he remarked,-
"It is impossible for me to belave thi mony injurious reports carculated concernin' thi Injuns in thi town beyant, whin I say thi face ov thi good ould bazaque."
For a moment I was under the impression that Jimmy had been too freely partaking of the contents of our demijohn, but soon discovered, from the serious air that pervaded his whole hearing, that he meant business by his remark, and therefore replicd,-
"Well, Jimmy, as we don't propose to trust ourselves among them for any length of time, the truth or falsity of the report can be a matter of no earthly consequence to us, especially as neither of us will have any opportunity to test it."
"It'll be a great satisfaction, for to do it, sur," replied Jimmy.
"Do what, Jimmy ?"
"Tist it, sur."
"Well, you can't test it, so let that settle it," replied I, rather testily.
"But I think I will, shure."
"How do you propose to do it, Jimmy?"
"By thryin' it, shure, sur."
"How are you going to try it, Jimmy ?"
"Well, sur, yer say I owe mi mither-in-lor some riputa-
446
WANTS TO MARRY.
tion for thi loss ov her gurl, an' I'm thinkin' I'll jist marry har, an' sittle down misilf right here, sur, wid thi other Injuns."
Hlad I at that moment heard a clap of thunder resounding through the sky, I could not have been more completely astounded, than at this piece of information. Then the utter absurdity of it struck me so forcibly, that I lay back and indulged in a prolonged and most hearty fit of laughter, much to the discomfort of my poor body, which was still very sore from the effects of my fall. As soon as I could suffi- ciently recover myself, I said, --
"Why, Jimmy, the woman is old enough to be your mother."
"No, sur," said Jimmy, "she's only twinty-five, an' I'm twinty-six misilf."
"Ilow can that be, Jimmy, when she has a daughter at least twenty years old ?"
"Faith," said Jimmy, looking for a moment rather puz- zlea, "moighty quare things hap'n in this counthry; d'ye moind thi sthory that thi ould bazaque was tellin' yez a bit ago, about Mister Montezuma's mother ?"
"Yes, Jimmy, but that was only a legend that occurred a great many hundred years ago."
"Will, ef these things tuk place thin, why wouldn't they do it now ?"
"That is a question which I can't answer, Jimmy; but I
447
IIIS MOTHER-IN-LAW.
can, and do tell you, to keep away from the woman, and I shall require your parole that you won't go near the town without permission."
"I'll not give it to yez," said Jimmy, firmly bracing him- self, and speaking with a most determined air. "Father Donnegan giv it me, an' I'll kape it all mi life long, for he tould me to; an' it's mighty quare that a mon can't visit wid his own mither-in-lor, widout bein' obliged to deliver up his barole."
"You couldn't marry your mother-in-law, Jimmy, without breaking the law, and that would subject you to punishment for the crime of bigamy - perhaps."
"What's that, shure, sur ?"
"When a man marries his mother-in-law, that's bigamy, Jimmy, which the law don't permit."
"Shure, I think it's moighty small bizness for the lor to interfere in cases ov thi affictions."
"There's no country in the world, Jimmy, where such a marriage would be legal."
"Yis, sur," said Jimmy, with great promptitude; "it wud be laghal in ould Ireland."
"O, no; you are mistaken. It is impossible for it to be legal in any civilized country."
"Yis, sur," said Jimmy. "Michael Murphy, in the county Monohon, parish ov Limerick, married his own mither-in- lor, an' Father Donnegan did it wid his own hands."
1
448
HIS REASONS.
"Well, if he did do it, it's no excuse for you, and you may as well understand that, first as last."
"I'm no peon, shure," replied Jimmy.
"No; but you are under my care, and I'll see that the cacique puts a stop to any such nonsense."
"Is't the ould bazaque yer spakin' ov now? That for the ould haythin," said Jimmy, jumping up from the ground, and violently snapping his fingers, while he capered around like a mad man; "that for the ould haythin! Hasn't he got five wives alriddy, an' didn't he want mi mother-in-lor for another one, an' didn't she till me so wid her own mouth last night ?"
"Now, Jimmy, how is that possible, when you can't un- derstand a word she says?"
" Faith, she tould me it wid her fingers, so she did."
"Well, Jimmy, I do not propose to discuss the matter any further with you, nor do I know or care how many wives the cacique has; he is the governor, makes the laws, and has a right to have as many as he chooses; but I'll wager something that he never yet married his mother-in- law, nor can you, either."
"But I must, tho', for I'm plidged to hersince last night," said Jimmy, looking very fierce.
" That doesn't make any difference; not the least in the world. You were pledged to her daughter, and on the very first appearance of danger, you left her like a cowardly
449
AN AGREEABLE ERRAND.
puppy, and took good care of yourself alone, notwithstand- ing you had inveigled her away."
"What's invaygled, noo," said Jimmy.
" Well, sir," I replied, "I'll not talk with you any more at the present time; we will wait until the return of the doctor, and have his opinion on the subject. In the mean time, get me some dinner. I'm hungry, and want it at once."
"Will I go and git mi mither-in-law to come and cook yez some o' them illigant garvics yez liked so much ?" "No, sir. I don't want your mother-in-law in camp, or to ever hear of her again, and you be very careful that I don't, either. Now go and cook me some dinner at once."
Jimmy started, to return in a few moments with the announcement that Don Rafael had neglected to provide any meat, but had told him to go to the pueblo after it, a circum- stance that he had entirely forgotten.
Upon his mentioning the fact, I remembered that Don Ra- fael had asked permission for Jimmy to go for the provis- ions before he had left camp, and feeling remarkably hungry I could see no way of satisfying my appetite but to permit Jimmy to again visit the pueblo. I therefore reluctantly told hira to go, but bade him return as soon as possible.
Jimmy assented to this command most cheerfully, and started towards the pueblo with the air of a man who goes to perform a most agrecable errand; in fact, so quick was his
57
450
ALONE IN CAMP:
step, and so light his air, that I called him back after he had proceeded some distance on his errand, to bid him be sure and not forget to return immediately, as I was entirely alone in the camp, and very hungry.
Assuring me that he would certainly comply with my most reasonable demands, he once more departed, and. the setting sun was tinging the earth with its crimson benedic- tion ere he returned to inform me that "the mate wuz gane whin he got thare." A fact that my loneliness during the afternoon had more forcibly impressed upon me than did Jimmy's bare assertion.
To say that I had made up my mind to give Jimmy a "piece of it" upon his return, doesn't do justice to the ideas that had been crowding my active brain all the after- noon long; nor can I repeat to you the withering sarcasms that had sprung unbidden to my lips, or the tremendous oaths which I had determined to hurl at his devoted head, upon his appearance.
They would have crushed a dozen stalwart forms into the dust, for I had intended that they should annihilate Jimmy so completely that he nor his mother-in-law should never again be heard from.
Alas for my determination! One glance at his bright, pleasant face completely disarmed my resentment, and I heard his story about not "findin' the mate, and goin' round to his mither-in-lor's own house, an' gittin' a chicken fur
451
DISARMED.
my supper that he and his mither-in-lor had picked wid their own hands; and here it is," said Jimmy, "as fat as butther, noo; jest look at the beauthiful crayther, and I'll cook it fur yez illigantly, fur yez must be hungry." And away went Jimmy to cook the chicken.
Reader, I did just what you'd have done - ate the chicken, and heard Jimmy tell me that his "mither-in-lor wuz a moighty foine woman."
CHAPTER XXVIII.
T was after I had eaten my chicken, and more than an hour after the sun had sunk behind the line of bluffs that marked the west- ern horizon, that Dr. Parker and Don Rafael made their appearance in camp, the latter with a fine, fat antelope which he had shot that afternoon, tied to his saddle behind him.
Their arrival was the signal for Jimmy's disappearance. He was gone like a will-o'-the-wisp before they had fairly dismounted, and when wanted to take our animals to the corral he was nowhere to be found. We were much pro. voked at this utter disregard of our known wishes and com- mands, and were determined to prevent in future, if possible, Jimmy's unlicensed rambles.
While the doctor was swearing at the necessity that
(452)
453
A SUGGESTION.
demanded his presence in the culinary department of the camp in consequence of Jimmy's absence,- Don Rafael having gone with the animals to the pueblo,- to our sur- prise, and the doctor's great delight, the miscreant, looking as sweetly innocent as if entirely unconscious of having transgressed any command, appeared upon the scene of action accompanied by his mother-in-law, and immedi- ately proposed to relieve the doctor of the by no means self-imposed task he had undertaken of preparing our supper. Never before did a hungry man surrender a fry- ing-pan and its contents with as much resigned equanimity as did the doctor on this occasion. While Jimmy was engaged in finishing the cooking of our supper, his mother- in-law, seated at' a little distance, quietly surveyed the operation with no small degree of curiosity.
As I lay in my blankets cogitating upon Jimmy's persist- ent disobedience, and endeavoring to invent some means of curing him of his troublesome infatuation, an idea suddenly occurred to me, which I proceeded to put in practice upon the return of Don Rafael from the pueblo. Calling him to me, I said, in Spanish, "Go and make yourself as agree- able as possible to the woman there. I want to see what effect your making love to her will have upon Jimmy."
Don Rafael, who apparently liked the suggestion, imme- diately approached her, and commenced a conversation in the Zuni tongue, evidently very much to the woman's
454
LOVE-MAKING.
satisfaction. Jimmy occasionally stopped in his operations, furtively watching the pair, and plainly showing a per- turbed state of mind; while it was equally apparent, from the smiles that illumined the faces of the couple under his espionage, as well as the loving intonation of their voices, and their expressive gestures, that Don Rafael, if not verg- ing upon the tender, was, at least, making himself very agreeable to the woman.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.