Excerpt from The Enchanted Mesa This tradition was recorded in its native purity some twelve years ago by Mr Charles F. Lummis, who has done so much to stimulate popular interest in this most interesting corner of our country, and the same story was repeated bv Acoma lips to the present writer while conducting a reconnaissance of the pueblos in the autumn of 1895. During this visit, desiring to test the verity of the tradition, a trip was made to the base of Katzimo, where a careful examination of the talus (especially where it is piled high about the foot of the great southwestern cleft (pi. 32, 33) up which the ancient pathway was reputed to have wound its course) was rewarded by the finding of numerous fragments of pottery of very ancient type, some of which were decorated in a vitreous glaze, an art now lost to Pueblo potters. The talus at this point rises to a height of 224 feet above the plain, and there fore slightly more than half-way up the mesa side. It is com posed largely of earth, which could have been deposited there in no other way whatsoever than by washing from the summit during periods of storm through many centuries. An examina tion of the trail to a point within 60 feet of the top exhibited traces of what were evidently the hand and foot holes that had once aided in the ascent of the ancient trail, as at Acoma today. Even then the indications of the former occupancy of the En chanted Mesa were regarded as sufficient and that another one of many native traditions had been verified by archeologic proof. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.