From: laro@idworld.net   
      
   "Kye Ohtie"  wrote in message   
   news:402d43fd@news.zianet.com...   
   > In article , laro@idworld.net says...   
   >   
   > >The man was   
   > >Onate, the date was about 1599, if my recall hasn't slipped too far.   
   >   
   > I wonder if you're aware of the controversy   
   > surrounding the towering bronze of Onate on   
   > his steed that has been under construction for   
   > years and is to be installed in El Paso somewhere?   
      
   Yep, I am tangentially aware of it.  I am amazed at how seriously these   
   folks   
   continue to take Onate as an insult!  He was Hispanic, his maltreatment of   
   the Indians has not really been proven so far as I'm aware, and to convict   
   someone on hearsay seems really unfair in light of today's legal and civil   
   rights environment.  I personally think of him as a true pioneer, almost a   
   hero, certainly the father of Spanish New Mexico.  He did for NM what   
   Escandon did for Texas, except no one every started a story about   
   Escandon...  Maybe he made friends easier?   And he was a bit later, maybe   
   150 years later.   But I've read Simmons' book about him and I became aware   
   of what this man actually accomplished in his life, before his alleged   
   crimes.   I can understand, however, how the Indians might hold a grudge.   
   But this long, this serious a grudge, to cut off the feet of a statue, to   
   force relocation of a huge work of art?  No entiendo.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)