5
1
Overview
"The story of a journey westward from Santa Fe to the Navajo Reservation, told by one who knows the Indians well." NY Tribune, Dec. 15, 1901
"This well illustrated story is picturesque, animated, instructive." - The Literary World, 1901
"Of historical and literary value." - National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1909
In the summer of 1896, Carl Eickemeyer in company with his wife and Sam, an Indian interpreter, left Santa Fe to travel westward over the Great Navajo Trail, with a saddle pony, team, and a wagon loaded with the necessary articles of camp life. The Great Navajo Trail leads across New Mexico and Arizona through valleys over plains the shadow of towering mesas amidst ruins of pueblos and the rough outposts civilization.
In 1900, Eickemeyer published a well illustrated account of his journey over the Great Navajo Trail from Santa Fe westward to the Navajo Reservation in the northwestern corner of New Mexico and the northeastern part of Arizona, and tells of his experiences among a people more or less "unaffected by the influences of civilization or by contact with white settlers."
Among the interesting characters met by the author was Que-su-la, chief of the Hualapi Indians of northern Arizona, who passed through Gallup, a little American town close to Navajo land: "So enthusiastic was the recital of his adventures, that we were, for the time being, transported to southern Arizona, where the Mojave Apaches were fighting the troops of General McCook, whose scouts were under Que-su-la's command."
In describing the Navajo dread of the coyote, Eickemeyer writes:
"When he unconsciously put his hand on the coyote skin that was hanging on the back of the wagon, an exclamation from those standing beside him caused him to withdraw it as if he had been bitten by a tarantula. The Indians at once broke into a hearty laugh, guying the man, until, in desperation at their taunts, he broke away and ran to the well down over the bank, where, in a tub, he washed and scrubbed the hand that had come in contact with the coyote skin, as if his only hope of future happiness depended upon a thorough cleansing."
About the mountains and their origin the Navajos have many legends. Concerning the Dsilli-che, or Black Mountains, the author was informed by an old medicine-man that "it will take four days to tell all about them." A Navajo mother would not sell the beadnecklace on her baby "lest Chindee [the devil] should run off with it." The author lavishes compliments on the Navajo maidens, "comely, well-built, strong as oxen, and graceful as fawns."
Brief notes on marriage, basket-making, blanket-weaving, death, medicine, etc., are given by the author. The Navajo silversmith, we learn, "turns out ornaments that for ingenuity of design and skill in workmanship are not rivalled by his civilized contemporary."
The volume closes with a plea for just and advantageous treatment of these Indians and a protest against "civilizing them out of existence."
About the author:
Carl Eickemeyer, inventor and author, was born at Yonkers, N. Y., in 1869. In 1893, he entered the employ of the Eickemeyer & Osterheld Manufacturing Co., of Yonkers, during his connection with this firm devised many inventions, becoming president in 1895. He traveled extensively through the West and Southwest, and has made a special study of cowboy, Indian and frontier life. His book, "Among the Pueblo Indians" (1895), gives an interesting account of journeys to the Pueblo villages along the Rio Grande.
"This well illustrated story is picturesque, animated, instructive." - The Literary World, 1901
"Of historical and literary value." - National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, 1909
In the summer of 1896, Carl Eickemeyer in company with his wife and Sam, an Indian interpreter, left Santa Fe to travel westward over the Great Navajo Trail, with a saddle pony, team, and a wagon loaded with the necessary articles of camp life. The Great Navajo Trail leads across New Mexico and Arizona through valleys over plains the shadow of towering mesas amidst ruins of pueblos and the rough outposts civilization.
In 1900, Eickemeyer published a well illustrated account of his journey over the Great Navajo Trail from Santa Fe westward to the Navajo Reservation in the northwestern corner of New Mexico and the northeastern part of Arizona, and tells of his experiences among a people more or less "unaffected by the influences of civilization or by contact with white settlers."
Among the interesting characters met by the author was Que-su-la, chief of the Hualapi Indians of northern Arizona, who passed through Gallup, a little American town close to Navajo land: "So enthusiastic was the recital of his adventures, that we were, for the time being, transported to southern Arizona, where the Mojave Apaches were fighting the troops of General McCook, whose scouts were under Que-su-la's command."
In describing the Navajo dread of the coyote, Eickemeyer writes:
"When he unconsciously put his hand on the coyote skin that was hanging on the back of the wagon, an exclamation from those standing beside him caused him to withdraw it as if he had been bitten by a tarantula. The Indians at once broke into a hearty laugh, guying the man, until, in desperation at their taunts, he broke away and ran to the well down over the bank, where, in a tub, he washed and scrubbed the hand that had come in contact with the coyote skin, as if his only hope of future happiness depended upon a thorough cleansing."
About the mountains and their origin the Navajos have many legends. Concerning the Dsilli-che, or Black Mountains, the author was informed by an old medicine-man that "it will take four days to tell all about them." A Navajo mother would not sell the beadnecklace on her baby "lest Chindee [the devil] should run off with it." The author lavishes compliments on the Navajo maidens, "comely, well-built, strong as oxen, and graceful as fawns."
Brief notes on marriage, basket-making, blanket-weaving, death, medicine, etc., are given by the author. The Navajo silversmith, we learn, "turns out ornaments that for ingenuity of design and skill in workmanship are not rivalled by his civilized contemporary."
The volume closes with a plea for just and advantageous treatment of these Indians and a protest against "civilizing them out of existence."
About the author:
Carl Eickemeyer, inventor and author, was born at Yonkers, N. Y., in 1869. In 1893, he entered the employ of the Eickemeyer & Osterheld Manufacturing Co., of Yonkers, during his connection with this firm devised many inventions, becoming president in 1895. He traveled extensively through the West and Southwest, and has made a special study of cowboy, Indian and frontier life. His book, "Among the Pueblo Indians" (1895), gives an interesting account of journeys to the Pueblo villages along the Rio Grande.
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940185588499 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Far West Travel Adventure |
| Publication date: | 08/21/2022 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| File size: | 2 MB |
About the Author
Carl Eickemeyer, inventor and author, was born at Yonkers, N. Y., in 1869. In 1893, he entered the employ of the Eickemeyer & Osterheld Manufacturing Co., of Yonkers, during his connection with this firm devised many inventions, becoming president in 1895. He traveled extensively through the West and Southwest, and has made a special study of cowboy, Indian and frontier life. His book, “Among the Pueblo Indians” (1895), gives an interesting account of journeys to the Pueblo villages along the Rio Grande.
From the B&N Reads Blog
Page 1 of