164 ETHNOGEOGEAPHY OF THE TEWA INDIANS [eth. ann. 29 



'water'. The springs give rise to the names of [6:7], [6:lt)], 

 [6:17], [6:25], [6:26]. See [6:Ojo Caliente region], page 165, 

 where names for the Ojo Caliente region in the Taos, Picuris, 

 and Cochiti languages, based on names of the spring which were 

 not recorded, are given. 



(2) Eug. Ojo Caliente hot springs, or more properl}' Ojo 

 Caliente spring. (<Span.). = Span. (3). , 



(.3) Span. Ojo Caliente 'hot spring'. =Eng. (2). 



This hot spring is situated 2.5 miles west of Taos and 50 

 miles north of Santa Fe, New Mexico, and about 12 miles from 

 Barranca station [8:70] on the Denver and Rio Grande Railway, 

 from which point a dail}' line of stages runs to the spring. 

 Altitude 6,300 feet* 



The hot spring is situated about 300 feet from the mouth of 

 a small arroj'o or gulch, which starts beneath Ojo Caliente 

 Mountain [6:16] and discharges into Ojo Caliente Creek [6:7] 

 from the west about 2 miles south of the junction therewith of 

 Comanche Creek [6:12]. The spring is situated where this 

 arroyo emerges from the mesa. Mineral water at a temperature 

 of from '.tO° to 122° F. oozes out or spurts forth from the earth 

 at this point, mostly on the southern Iwnk of the arroyo, but cov- 

 ering a considerable area.^ The old pool, over which the bath- 

 house is now l)uilt, was also on the south side of the arroyo. 



This greenish pool of hot water was one of the most sacred places 

 known to the Tewa. According to a San Ildefonso informant, 

 when the Tewa lived in the Ojo Caliente region and Ponejemu, 

 the culture hero was still among them, he used at times to enter 

 this pool. A Santa Clara Indian says that Posejemu's grand- 

 mother lived and still lives in this pool; that Posejeirni comes from 

 the south to visit her one day each year, passing in some wa}' 

 near Santa Clara Pueblo when he makes this journey. Sacred 

 pools such as this were btdieved to be tlie dwelling places of 

 mythic beings and openings between this world and ^opanug.e 

 ' the under world ' through which spirits freely passed. "Joseph's 

 Ojo Caliente."^ "The Hot Springs belonging to the Honorable 

 Antonio Joseph." " Mr. Joseph died several years ago, and the 

 spring is now in charge of his son. 



San Juan informants said that the Tewa drink and probably 

 also formerly drank the water of this hot spring. Baudelier 

 writes: "It is not unlikely that superstition prevented the 

 ancient Tehuas of Ojo Caliente from using the warm waters of 

 its stream for irrigation."^ The San Juan informants knew of 



1 Wheeler gives the altitude of Ojo Caliente as f),292 feet. 



2 For a geological description of the springs, see Lindgren, Graton, and Gordon, the Ore 

 Deposits of New Mexico, Professional Paper 68, U. S. Geol. Surv., pp. 72-74, 1910. 



"Bandolier, Final Report, pt.ii, p. 22, 1S92. 

 m)id.,p. Ui;. 

 'Ibid., II. 47. 



