OCR Text |
Show 400 LEADING FACTS OF NEW MEXICAN HISTORY of the mesa was occupied by them on that occasion. They were prevailed upon by the Spanish governor to return, and their troubles were settled without bloodshed.*™ On the 30th day of June, 1694, De Vargas marched northward, killing eleven Tehuas at the pueblo of Cuyamungué, the first day out. This point is about eleven miles north DE VARGAS MAKES’ of Santa Fé on the main road to San Juan. EXPEDITION TO TAOS After the fight at Cuyamungué the captaingeneral proceeded to Picuriés, which he found deserted, and reached the pueblo of Taos on the 3rd day of July. This pueblo was also deserted, but he found it protected by crosses, which the Indians believed the Spaniards would respect. De Vargas #01 There are a number and the Cafiada de Cochiti. of folk tales clustering around the Potrero Viejo The Indians firmly believe that in the walls of the cliff, at some barely accessible spot, ancient jars are concealed in a hole in the rocks, which jars are said to be filled with “‘treasure.’’ Indian ‘‘treasure’’ differs from that of the white man. It is neither gold nor silver, but turquoises, both good and bad, provided they are green and blue; shell beads and fetiches. It is not the material or commercial price that gives these objects their value, but the superstitious importance attached to them in the eyes of aboriginal creeds and beliefs. The existence of such a deposit is not impossible, and were it ever recovered, would yield many objects worthy of ethnological or archeological collections. It is not likely, however, that the Indians will ever reveal its hiding place. Only an accident will ever discover this so-called ‘‘treasure.’’ In the walls of the Cafiada, a few miles east of the Potrero, there is a niche or cave of inconsiderable dimensions, to which is attached much superstitious dread by the natives. They believe that this niche is the closed entrance to a grotto famous for the meeting of sorcerers. It is told and with the utmost gravity, that at the hour of midnight witches and wizards congregate about the place in great numbers. The witches appear disguised as crows, the wizards as buzzards and woodpeckers, They alight upon the trees and shrubs about the cave and scream, cackle, and croak until finally the rock opens and reveals a brilliantly lighted cavern. Then the bird shapes are discarded and their human shapes are assumed, minus the eyes which they have left at home, carefully concealed in some sacrificial tinaja or olla, and now they enter the cavern where the master of all evil — el demonio — is waiting for them. The solitary wanderer who has lost his way in these deserted places, hears the noise of their carousals until the day breaks in the east, when the junta breaks up, crows, turkey-buzzards, woodpeckers, and magpies cover the surrounding pifion trees, until at last they fly away, to sleep during the day and return again at night. _Another story connected with this place is that of an Indian hunter whose wife was a very successful witch. On a certain occasion she devised a plan to be rid of her husband, as he took no part in her evil doings. The plan failed through the faithlessness of the man who had been engaged to crime, and whom the witch for that purpose had transformed into place of the husband being killed, the latter killed the deer and Spouse as well. The final result of the adventure was that the killed the pueblo was relieved of great imaginary dread more than real sources of injury. perform the a deer. In the faithless witch being dangers, which the Indians The Condé , de Galve, Viceroy v= = of New NI TAT Spain Q 9] |