A Preliminary Study of the Pueblo of Taos, New Mexico

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1898 edition. Excerpt: ... on the pole and, holding on by the tails of the oxen, rides around the field to level it off. When the corn is a few inches above the ground, the field is trenched for irrigating. After this there is, of course, the hoeing, hilling, and occasional irrigating. If the water is scarce, as it is in July, one has to engage the use of it several days beforehand and has to use it whenever it is assigned to him, whether it be day or night. I have several times known an Indian to work in the field irrigating all night after having worked all day, and sometimes even two nights in succession. Modern American plows are commonly used. I have, however, seen at Taos two old home-made plows. They consist simply of a long straight pole, another short pole fastened to it at the proper angle, well braced and shod with a small piece of iron. Such a plow, of course, merely breaks up the soil and leaves a small trench; it does not turn a furrow. The harvesting of wheat is a most laborious task. It is done with a small sickle. A few stocks of grain are grasped in the left hand, cut off with the sickle, and laid on the ground; then a few more, and so on. Where the soil is poor and the wheat scattered and poorly headed, the crop would seem to us hardly to repay the labor expended. At San Ildefonso, where much of the soil is sandy, I saw the Indians patiently harvesting such grain. But at Taos the wheat is vigorous and well-headed, and yields a good crop. The threshing is an interesting sight. A circle of tall poles is set up. Then the ground within the circle and for a space outside is wet and packed hard by a flock of sheep or goats. As the Taos Indians do not keep sheep and goats, a Mexican is hired to come with a flock and drive them around till the plot is hard...