Southern Appalachian Digital Collections

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Glimpses of our National Monuments

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  • wcu_great_smoky_mtns-10677.jpg
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  • 22 OUR NATIONAL MONUMENTS where a mission was established, reads: " I am the captain-general of the provinces of New Mexico for the King our Lord. Passed by here on return from the towns of Zuni on the 29 of July of the year 1629 and he put them in peace upon their petition, asking him his favor as vassals of his Majesty, and anew they gave their obedience all of which he did with clemency, zeal, and prudenceas such most Christian (not plain here) most extraordinary and gallant soldier of unending and praised memory." The party accompanying Silva Nieto was made up of 400 cavalry and 10 wagons. " They passed on the 23 of March of 1632 year to the avenging of the death of Father Letrado."—Lujan. Lujan, who signed this inscription, had reference to his trip with other soldiers from the garrison in Santa Fe to Hawiku, where the padre was scalped and murdered by Zuni Indians February 22, 1632, just 100 years before George Washington was born. The De Vargas inscription of 1692 is of historical importance. Translated it reads, "Here was the General Don Diego de Vargas who conquered for our Holy Faith and Royal Crown all of New Mexico at his own expense year 1692." De Vargas reconquered the Pueblo Indians after their bloody rebellion in 1680, and succeeded in bringing many colonists from Spain to take up homes in this country. He lies buried under the altar of the parish church in Santa Fe. Lieut. J. H. Simpson, afterward General Simpson, and the artist, R. H. Kern, were the first Americans to see these inscriptions and bring them to the attention of the public. They visited El Morro and copied the inscriptions in 1849, leaving a record of their own visit on the rock. The last Spanish inscription, of which there are over 50, was dated 1774. Thus for 168 years El Morro was a regular camping place for parties engaged in maintaining Spanish rule over the Pueblo Indians of this section. Carving of names by present visitors is strictly prohibited, with a heavy fine and imprisonment provided by law for violations, in order that the historic and prehistoric records may be preserved. Although to Governor Onate belongs the credit of placing the first Spanish inscriptions on the walls of El Morro, it contains hundreds of Indian glyphs which were carved many years before the Castilians first camped here. In fact Ohate's inscription was placed over the work of a prehistoric scribe. While these pictographs appear on both sides of the cliff, the best work of the Indians appears on the south side, some of the carvings being so high that it is believed ladders must have been used in making them. These
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