Re: CIBOLA ZUNI TRIP - silent hunter

[silent hunter]

Pointing the way to the sacred salt lake. I hope you have enjoyed the trip so far.

This is the spot that I begin the next part of the trail. The sacred mother or the sacred lake of salt and along the way I find another lake that I could never find again, but later read about and i'll include that tale.

[silent hunter]

Once we left the safety of the “zig zag canyon” We started heading into the south winds at times the sand would blacken out the sky and darkness would cover the badlands.

I had just begun to stress out and counted myself lost when the heat of the day fell hard upon me. I wasn’t sure anymore if I was doing the right thing following these people. Thoughts raced through my mind. I began to expand my thinking to include other possibilities. Was I being lead to my death by these Indians, I am almost sure they new I was following them.

The wind storm didn’t let up for almost the day and I was lost out there with no water or food at this point. I remember sitting down on the hot sand and feeling like I had made a big mistake. I was really thirsty and had stopped sweating all together I was in real trouble. I got to my feet and came up with a plan. I would walk and count my steps in case I found nothing I could turn around and find the spot I had just been.

I had gone about a mile when I came across a dead cow bloated and stinking and the sight of that dead cow sent me into stress overdrive. I started running and franticly searching for a solution when I came across a lake of fresh water. I remember drinking from the water and cooling myself. I had looked across the lake and I saw the Zuni people on the other side they were standing on the other side of the lake. One of the people yelled over to me and told me not to trust the water and not to drink anymore. I was being tricked by Mato and he would only kill me. They told me that I was drinking from the lake of the dead and the name of the lake was Listening springs. I believe that I never saw any of that, but I searched for that place for years and could never find it again out there in that badlands. Still to this day I can’t just let it go I was there that day.

After the man had spoken to me I took comfort in his words and departed from that lake again wandering around the badlands the wind began to die down and I could see buildings in the distance as I got closer I could see a lake again and I set course for the lake. As I got closer I could see the Zuni making camp at the salt lake. This time I walked up to them and asked them for water they gave me water but never talked to me directly. They told story’s of how the earth had run low on water and that they were very thirsty and how their spirit mother lead them to this lake, but when they tasted the water they thought they had been tricked. The Zuni have no devil in their religion but there are a lot of tricksters. The mother told them how to use the salt to get from water hole to water hole and they still use that method today.

So I made it to the Zuni salt lake or Ma’l Okyat’isk’i as the Zuni call her. I searched around there and found in the top of one volcano a small salt lake and another small cone full of cold water. The cone was like a trap when I slid down in to get a drink I could barely climb out. It was like a ant funnel spider the side would force you to slide into the water and the harder you climbed for the top the more sand would fall from under your feet. I got out after I stopped trying so hard.

After I spent some time there I followed the Zuni again. I could see the steam from the power plants and knew where I was and changed course for St.johns that’s were I lived at the time. I ate got a canteen and headed back out were I left the trail. I will put some photos on of that salt lake and of the volcano with the fresh water cone, before we move down the trail to the hidden well or known as lost Jacobs well.

[silent hunter]

This is the best I can do as far as a photo of the volcano and the small cones on the inside

[silent hunter]

Surrounding thoses cones is a lake of salt and its all in the top of a volcano about one thousand feet higher than the lake in the other photo

[silent hunter]

There are spots along that journey where the bodies of the dead run down the canyons of the badlands like rocks in a creek. I for one never mess with the dead or even move a bone from its place.

The treasures I took with me had no value in cash, but the things I have seen I'll never forget. In this first village I came to, I had started looking around and noticed a ant pile it was green the closer I got it looked like a huge gem stone of peridot. It was actually thousands of small gravels they had brought forth from inside the earth, peridot and other stones as well as hand made indian beads.

Inside the dwelling walls that were still standing at the time there were four bodies all of diferent sizes. They were laying in a line like someone put them there facing north. Each skull you could see had been bashed in. There were carvings of men on horses with huge flag poles and carvings of armor and of family crests. The spanish had left drawings at this spot as well. The drawing that caught the most attention was of this jewel that was set atop one of the flag poles and in the hand of a man on horse back. On the horse was a saddle bag it had these words "escondi'o los regalos de la vista." I looked it up and I think it said they hid the gold from us. After I saw that I figured they probably killed the indians looking for the hidden gold. There were several cities out there familiar to that village.

[silent hunter]

After I got water and some food I started down the trail again. I only walked about three hours when I came to a river, the walls were thirty feet straight down. The map I had seen had the trail crossing there but there was no way down. After I got down and back to the spot, I could see where a huge chunk fell off the canyon wall and the posible trail route they used.

On the other side there was a mine shaft that went down 15 feet or so and then drifted over then down again. There were other like shafts that I have never even explored yet there. They had for a way down a single round log that steps had been cut into and boards wedged in the cuts. I was never able to explore those mines by myself and till this day I wonder.

Just a thought to leave you with. Those mines were on the side of the original path of the little colorado. Ok there is one for the googlers to search down, good luck because the course was changed before any map had ever been drawn. At least known to the white eyes!!!! And that is a whole other story. Hope you enjoy!!!!

[silent hunter]

This is what you see when you leave the badlands acually right in the middle of the desert. I could not pry myself from that canyon it was peace!!

[silent hunter]

Just up above the canyon this is a veiw from the top!!

[Vulture]

The story keeps getting better and better.

[cubfan64]

Kurt and Jim...

I spent some time today going through the thread deleting some of the photos that were as attachments and moving some of their descriptions to the same photos later after Kurt got them posted the way he wanted.

I did a little organizing and a little editing/formatting here and there, but I tried not to make too many changes to affect the flow of your story Kurt.

Please take a look when you have time and let me know if it's ok the way it is now or if there's something you would like changed.

There are still some photos I left as attachments (I think mostly on page 4) because there were no duplicates of them posted later on. Kurt - if you find time to repost any of those photos as images in your story, let me know and I'll be happy to go back and delete the attachment ones.

Fascinating story and definitely a place I'd love to see one day.