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Show 994 FACTS LEADING EARLY HISTORY MEXICAN OF NEW a a to the appointment of the officials named by the ese Spaniards visited four other pueblos, all of the wage kin : es: Ineacha were doubtless the Tehua pueblos north of Santa Fé. The seventh village visited contained a large communa was setup. house of two or three stories, in the plaza of which village there was as ; a large structure, half under ground, which seemed to ~ kind of temple. The eighth and ninth pueblos were a day’s sea up a large river — the Rio Grande — but the tenth was the vail of all, being a journey of five leagues beyond the last, the build 2 being seven to nine stories in height. This pueblo the sania is did not enter, because the people were not altogether friendly. is pueblo was undoubtedly Taos.*°t The snow at this time was very fe . Uns ah BA ‘ i rs my i ea is the county seat of Taos county. — valley, surrounded by mountains which ' 4 mace eg town is very interesting, quaintly built around possesses considerable antiquity. The inl apoioage fore ¥ is m rise to the advent of the Only reial activity. iy area Hanne : Ma et sii The Téa oni a bon tee thousand. Bevei f very considerable place o a ’ of s hadows under the three miles to the northeast, railroads, et serccving Taos was a both sides of a bright, a pear a pueblo of Taos, undoubtedly the most interesting native set feast days te Scores of tourists visit it annually, particularly on its foast America. _ ab Geronimo, September 30. The Jicarilla Apaches, the Navajos, as oa Loe a Pueblo Indians from the south send delegations to this annual fes ~ population of the pueblo has been decreasing in large numbers Anes ae decades, and now numbers ciously to their primitive about customs. 400. The The Taos es pyramid pes © ee o n Englishpueblo stand today as they did sixty-nine years beforehouses there von eee speaking resident in the New World, on the two sides of a a anil ; in a valley among extremity. It is one the last vertebrae of the Rocky mountains. — ait north the massive peaks spring abruptly from the little plain; to canyon south are the ranges of Picurés and Santa Fé; on the west the aintthe d acute of the Rio Grande splits the valley from the timbered uplands to ” aA ae of the finest landscapes in the whole southwes : vee spite its altitude of over seven thousand feet, one of the faires nondil Nowhere in all the world is there a more startling page of history ie down to date. All of Europe has nothing which remotely suggests nee age bee-hives, these pyramidal fortress-homes of the northern Tiguas. yer in America, and only in New Mexico, that such things are to be seen. acca and the pueblos of Moqui are only diminished specimens of the same ino ment. But Taos is the most perfect remaining type of the terraced co ‘ghing house of the ancient Pueblos, which was in its turn the most aston domestic architecture ever invented by man, savage or civilized. -. nneblo; The Indians of Taos have a tradition as to the founding of ney ron of the story smacks strongly of the tale of Posenueve and the so-calle ae gover Montezuma. According to the story, as given by the principales Ans! dians of nor of the pueblo, it seems that many hundreds of years since the . an epi: Taos lived in the northwest; long before the coming they demic broke out among them, carrying off more than ofhalfthe RR a of the nation; SPANISH EXPLORATIONS 295 deep and forage for the horses was not to be obtained, the Spaniards returned to the south, where they visited pueblos eleve n and twelve, situate to the west of the Rio Grande, a league apart, and then an- do not know the site of the old pueblo ; it was far away to the north and west by a great lake and river. The pestilence raged; many of their principales died, and finally their cacique fell a victim. An election to name his successor was held, a very important affair, as without a caciqu e the pueblo could not exist as a unit, and would soon be merged into some other in their kivas, but without result. All pueblo. Many meetings had been held of the immedi ate family of the cacique had died, and it was necessary to elect his suecessor from the council of the nation; such an event had never occurr ed in the history of their people, and the vouncil which was called hesitated to act 3 a hive of bees without a queen, however, could exist easier than a pueblo without a cacique. One day, as the council entered the kiwa, a boy, known as Bah-ta k-ko, a lad of about twelve years, and known in the pueblo as a sort of Simple Simon, entered also, though the rule prohib ited anyone entering on such an import ant occasion, under no less a penalty than death, unless by right. The boy took his seat as though he had this right, and acted as though he were one of the council. The boy’s history was well known to everyone in the pueblo. His mother, Ah-za-za, a maiden of perhaps sixteen years, was sent one day to the hills to gather pifiones, and herbs with which to color feathe r robes. was finished, fell asleep. she became weary and laid down under a When her task pijfion tree, where she When she awoke her lap was filled with pifion nuts, and the ground around about was covered with them. In the course of time a son was born, who was called Bah-tah-ko. He was always a strange child and from infancy grew up uninstructed, as he had no father. He was shunned by other children, had no Playmates, and other than his mother, Ah-zaza, had no friends in the pueblo. Often, as he grew older, he would wander in the forest, remaining there for days; he had been heard talking to himself in a strange language; he was seen in company with great birds and wild ,beasts, which seemed to like rather than to fear him; it was said his closest companion was a great grizzly bear, and he had been seen talking with the beast, the enemy of the tribe. These, and many other stories were told of Bah-ta h-ko. He had escaped the plague; m fact, had not been ill, though all the others had been at the doors of death. Ah-za-za had, with others, been gathered to her fathers, where the Apache could not enter, and where the corn was always ripening. When the council had assembled, so goes the story from our ancients, it was seen that Bah-tah-ko was seated by the everla sting fire. Someone, whether in Jest or otherwise, many votes already having been taken without result, nominated Bah-tah-ko for cacique. The council assented to the nomination, when Bah-tah-ko arose and addressed the old men in words of great wisdom; told them he had known of his mission for many years; that it had been revealed to him by an eagle, which came to talk to him often. The council was astounded at the words and wisdom of Bah-tah-ko, for they had believed him half-witted ; unanimousl y he was made cacique, and from the walls of the pueblo the criers announced the election of the new cacique. A celebration of many days followed. A new house was built for his caciqueshin ; 1© cacique lands were tilled for him, and a general hunt for the cacique brought im much meat. Great strings of turquoise were sent him as gifts from other nations; he slept on feather robes; the mothers of the pueblo vied with each Other in presenting the charms of their daughters, for the cacique must have a |