Chapter 5 - The Great Desert

"The Great Desert of New Mexico and Arizona was a country of romance and glamour to me, and I must say that those regions possess a history that dates back several thousand years. The Santa Fe and surrounding valleys hold evidence of a civilization that existed before the birth of Christ. There, in the ruined cliff dwellings, in the dim, distant ages of the past, dwelt a race of people who were diminutive in size, very ingenious and inclined to be socialistic; while, in other districts, specimens and traces have been found of men and beasts of equally remote periods. Some of the adobe pueblo dwellings show very good architecture, and even after the passing of the centuries, make tolerably good homes for the Indians who have homesteaded them.

Most of the Navajo Indians, however, live in hogans - - little, round, dome-shaped huts made from logs, interlaced with boughs and mud. There is a hole about a foot in diameter at the top of the dome, and through this the smoke of the fire, which is in the center of the floor, winds its way out. Hogans are strong and stand up to the violent wind, rain, and sand storms that prevail during the different seasons of the year in the valleys and canyons; they are, therefore more practical than tepees and wigwams of the more northern tribes.

Many of the Navajo, Zuni and Hopi Indians of these parts are very angry at the production of a camera; while they know what it is for, they seem to think that it contains evil spirits and they are consequently very reluctant to be photographed. Notwithstanding the considerable amount of pictures taken by me of hose tribal villages etc., I can safely say that not one of them was given to an Indian. Upon being shown their own pictures, they display little interest and immediately hand them back. This peculiarity I attribute to the absence of looking glasses in their communities.

I am enclosing a couple of pictures that were taken in an Indian Village, far from the beaten track of the white man and eighteen miles from the nearest telephone. You will notice that the Navajo are wearing their “Sunday best”, the cheap shoddy rejects from the cities, and you may well wonder how many hides they had to give for these garments. In the background of two of the pictures you will see the hogans I spoke of and will also draw your attention to the three-day-old papoose strapped, Indian fashion, to a board and all ready for

transportation."

Dad, jodhpurs and all, poses with the group on the right.