Geographical memoir upon upper California : in illustration of his map of Oregon and California

Page 76

12 He told Jthe that it was exactly like the buildings of Quarra, thus. confirrrling what I had learned at :Manzano. l hWw signified my aeterm\nation to proce'ed, when this man seemed extremely anxious about my going, and at last told me that he would m'eet me in a cedar grove, some distance in my route. In a little while I reached the grove, and saw him there. He the'n told me that he had. uiscovered the greatest mine in the country., where there was an abundance of gold and. silver. I :~skecl hi'm why he did not go and get it? "Oh," said he, "you cannot have been long in this country not to know that we poor people can keep nothing; the Ricos would seize all, but with your protection I would be secured in my la-bors." Then, he added, "I'll gil·e you my name, write it down, it is Jose Lucero, of Quarro;, you can inquire in the villages through which you pass, they will there tell you I am honest." I took down Jose Lucero's name~ and proceeded on in my journey, so that if any one wishes, they yet can go and seek the gold of Quarra. Having journeyed some distance beyond this place, we suddenly heard the most horrible screechings and groans, as if one was ap­pr'oachin~ the portal~ of Erebus; and all these horrid sounds pro· ceeded from the never greased wheels of some Spanish "carretas" These curious structures are formed of pine, chiefly· the axle is of pine, and the wheels of cotton-wood; they are made thus: A rec­ta~ gular . piece of wood, about four feet long, two and a half feet Wide, and one foot thick, is procured; this is diminished in thick· ness~ so. as to l.e~ve a projection on each side, which forms the hub, and Its extremities are rounded. The remaining arcs of a circle of four feet, ~re fastene~ to the first piece, with large wooden pins: so a~ to co.mplete .t~e. Circumference of the wheel. A large hole is . P~erced ~~the VICinity of the centre, to receive the spindJ.e of a huge ptn~ axle; a body I1ke a hay crate, and a tongue complete the "car~et'a<' The oxen are attached by the means of' a bar of wood, ,t~at t,s, lashed to. their horns. We met five of these "carretas," they weye on theu way to the great ' "Laguna Salada " to procure salt. ' At sundown we reach~d "Ab~," where I found my party com· ~ortab1y encamped. This town IS also one of the ancient ones; tfre .are .most extensive ruins seattered around in all directions; a b~dt In the style of those at Quarra. H·ere also is a large ~atheqral. Its ground plan is in the form of a cro~s· th'e short arm ls.~wenty-.two and a half feet wide, the long arrd is thirty feet :/ [~· t~en axes, respectively.' 27. feet and 120 feet; and. at the he~d . k' ~'th~o~s, there Is a pro.Ject10n, about nine feet square; t~1s ~a · e~ f e h~otal length 129 feet. The areas, intersected at a d1s· • anlcea~ t .nty-four feet from the head of the cross or fort y- three, 1nc u InP" the proJ· t' Th ' b }' th 9 ec IOn. e areas of the cross coin cide with t e ~ne~ at pass through the cardinal poin ts. In th e east end of the thort .arm,11there is a fine large window, the sid es of which have a 1t1 ca ed a flare a t I f d · · · Th lV 1t f h ' 8 Y e 0 ten use m Goth ic w mdows. e .fi a. h ~ t e church arE> over two feet in thi ckness and beautifully Dis e ; 50 that no architect could . improve th~ ~xact smoothness L 231 of theit exterior surface. From these descriptions of Quarra and Abo from all one learns of "Gran Qui vera," and from the walls of the houses, in t'he latter place, having, as Gregg has stated, the Spanish coat of arms upon their _face, one must conclude that t.hese buildings were ere.cted by Spamards, or, at least, und·er the direc­tion of some Spamsh padre. As these remains of buildings have created all kinds of hypo­thesis,- some attributing their origin to Indians, and some to Spaniards, I have taken the pains to look into sevt-ra l of the most excellent histories of this country; such as Solis, Miguel Venegas, and Clavige·ro. Venegas states, that in 1538, Marcos Niza, a Fran .. ciscan, visited a large town called '' Quivira,': with houses seven stori<'s high. Again, in 1542, Fran~ois Vasquez Covonada marches. north to the Rio Gila, and then east,. to the great cities of "Qui­vira" and" Axa," near the kingdom of "Cibolo" and "Tigue." Pattarrax was king of this region; the riches of this people con­sisted of black cattle, (buffalo?) that are food, furniture, and cloth­ing." This s~ttles 1he question, that" Quivira" and "Axa" were origiually Indian towns. This great kingnom of "Ciholo," (this word, at the present day, is used to mean buffalo,) although nistant from the city of Mexit:o, must have been known to Montezuma, for we find the Spaniards struck with amazeruent at the sight of a singu­lar animal in the zoological gardens of the Mexicaq monarch, such as they had not seen before.-Nor, according to Vanegas, was it kno\\ n in "Sonora," or along the river "Gila." In Solis, this animal is thus described: "This greatest rarity-the Mexican bull, has a bunch on its back like a camel, its flanks dry, its tail large, neck covered )Vith hair, like a lion; it is cloven-footerl, its head armed like that of a bul1, which tt res~mbles in fi.P.rceness, with no . less strength and agility" We know, from the present habits of the buffalo, that it confines its wanderings to the plains; and we knnw, ~rom Vanegas and Solis, that it was not known 'in California or Mexic.o; it must, thea, have come from the plains bordering the e~s~ern side of these regions. Now, the Mexicans had a habit of' givmg names to men, signi'fican t of their achievero en ts or ad ven­tur~ s, a?d. names to places, significant of events conn_ected with their ongtn, or for something for which they were remarkable. Thus, the great Tezcucan prince was called "Nezahual-coyotl," the hungry coyotl, or wolf: "Nt·zahual-pilli,'' the prince for· wh?m one has fasted: and the ancient name of lVIexico, "Teno- · chtdan," stgn fies cactus on a rock.* It is not then assuming too much, to concl11de that the kingdom of "Cibolo" signifiE:s the country from whence the buffalo came . . ~e shall now compare the style of architecture in New Mexico, Wit that of the city of Aztecs. At Taos we now find houses s:v~n st~ries high; at Acoma three stories; at Laguna they are t~o 8 ones htgh, and bui'lt of stone and tuud; while those of Quivira th:t ~or th~ Aztecs, in their .wanderings, observ<>d. at the .present. si te of Mexico, a cactns cact . ad 8{V~ng_ from the crev1ce of a rock , anti while looking at lt, an eagle lit upon the us. 1th JOY they hail th1s omcn,'and here build Mexico.