“Miraculous Staircase” by Kaye Spencer

Loretto Chapel front view

At the end of the Old Santa Fe Trail stands the Loretto Chapel. Inside the Gothic structure is the staircase referred to as miraculous, inexplicable, marvelous and is sometimes called St. Joseph’s Staircase. The stairway confounds architects, engineers and master craftsmen. It makes over two complete 360-degree turns, stands 20’ tall and has no center support. It rests solely on its base and against the choir loft. The risers of the 33 steps are all of the same height. Made of an apparently extinct wood species, it was constructed with only square wooden pegs without glue or nails…**

Within the well-preserved and quiet walls of Loretto Chapel in Santa Fé, New Mexico, is a staircase steeped in two mysteries that, for many people, have yet to be solved:

1. Who built the staircase?
2. How is its construction possible?

The Miraculous Staircase, as it is called, was built during a six-month period sometime between 1877 and 1881. To understand the story of the staircase, we must understand a little about the chapel’s history; the vision of its founding; the courage and determination of the people dedicated to its success; and the unwavering faith of these pioneering spirits.

Loretto Chapel’s story begins in 1853 and ends in 1971 when it became a private museum for the primary reason of preserving the Miraculous Staircase and the chapel.

Here is the truncated version of the chapel’s history from the chapel’s website**:

1850
*Bishop Jean Baptisite Lamy appointed to Church in Santa Fe, New Mexico Territory.
*Bishop Lamy begins letter writing plea for priests, brothers and nuns to come out and help him.

1852
*Sisters of Loretto send seven sisters from Kentucky.
*Sisters leave St. Louis and travel to Independence, Missouri.
*Encounter cholera epidemic, Mother Superior dies, and one nun is too ill to continue and returns.

1853 - 1873
*Sisters open Academy of Our Lady of Light (Loretto).
*From small school numbers to 300 students (girls) in a short period of time.
*Tuition, donations, and from the sisters own inheritances ($30,000) fund the school and chapel.
*Property is purchased, work on Loretto Chapel begins.
*School facilities cover a square block with 10 buildings.
*Architects from Paris design Loretto Chapel in the gothic style of King Louis IX's Sainte-Chapelle.

Loretto Chapel choir loft

1876
*Stained glass is purchased in Paris, arrives by ship in New Orleans, goes by paddle boat to St. Louis, and then travels by covered wagon via Old Santa Fe Trail.

Loretto Chapel altar

1878
*Chapel is completed.
*No access to the choir loft twenty-two feet above the main floor except by ladder.
*Due to limited space within the chapel, there isn’t room for a staircase.

Loretto Chapel staircase and confessional

[1877-1881]
*Staircase is built – without a railing.

Loretto Chapel staircase before railing

(picture of a picture)

1887
*Staircase railing is added.

Loretto Chapel staircase

I think I captured an orb.

Loretto Chapel staircase from below

Loretto Chapel staircase close-up

1880s & 1890s
*Chapel undergoes additions, renovations, such as the introduction of the Stations of the Cross, Gothic altar, frescos.

Loretto Chapel back view - Stations of the Cross on right

Now, back to the mysteries of the story of the staircase…

According to the history on the Loretto Chapel website, the Miraculous Staircase is believed to have been constructed by St. Joseph, patron saint of carpenters, who answered the sisters' prayers for a solution to the access problem to the choir loft, when he arrived at the chapel with a donkey and a toolbox, and said he was looking for work. When he finished the staircase, he disappeared, vanished, without payment or thanks.

Is the Miraculous Staircase a miracle or a hoax? To quote a line from 'The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance'… When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.

The 1998, made-for-television movie, 'The Staircase', stars Barbara Hershey as the mother superior and William Peterson as the mysterious carpenter. Yes, there's the Hollywood spin that fiddles with the facts, and the story is a little slow, but it’s still worth watching, even if you only watch it once.

Until next time,

Kaye Spencer

Writing the West one romance upon a time

Website/Blog - http://www.kayespencer.com
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Resources:
**http://www.lorettochapel.com/history.html
http://www.csicop.org/si/show/helix_to_heaven/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/15/AR2010011501810.html

All of the images are from my collection.

THE HISTORY OF....AND EVOLUTION OF....THE SADDLE By Gail L. Jenner

The Saddle is an essential tool for every cowboy and has remained one of his most important and expensive investments. In the early days, even if a cowboy lost his horse, he didn’t let go of his saddle. How many western movies have you seen where the cowboy, on foot, is carrying his saddle? Not far from the truth, cowboys relied on their saddles then--and they rely on their saddles today!

Most people are aware that the typical American cowboy’s saddle came to the New World with the Spanish. But the saddle’s history is even more exotic.

The first saddle is thought to have originated c. 365 AD by the Sarmations, an Iranian people (now extinct, but who lived in the area today known as Ukraine and southern Russia). These expert horsemen not only used their horses in battle but they also sacrificed them to their gods.

A warlike people, even their women were expert horsewomen. According to Hippocrates, “Their women, so long as they are virgins, ride, shoot, throw the javelin while mounted, and fight with their enemies. They do not lay aside their virginity until they have killed three of their enemies, and they do not marry before they have performed the traditional sacred rites. A woman who takes to herself a husband no longer rides, unless she is compelled to do so by a general expedition.”

The Sarmatians were overrun by the Huns and Goths, who also adopted the saddle as part of their material culture.

We next see the saddle being used by the Moors who invaded Spain during the early Medieval period often called the Dark Ages, c. 700s. These saddles were designed to accommodate armor and came with cantles, “forks,” and longer stirrups. They were strong and heavy and afforded protection for both horse and rider. This was also the saddle used by European knights in their quest to conquer the Middle East during the Crusades.

The Spanish, however, did introduce the saddle to the Western Hemisphere when they came to the New World in the 17^th Century. In 1680 the Pueblo Indians revolted against the Spanish and drove them out of their land and into Old Mexico, leaving behind many horses. The Pueblo Indians raised large herds of horses and began selling and trading them to other tribes, like the Kiowa and Comanche. Immediately the horse became a part of Native American experience. 

Horses spread across the Plains quickly. French traders reported seeing Cheyenne in Kansas with horses as early as 1745. Where early tribes traveled on foot or by using travois pulled by dogs or even people, the horse became an integral part of their evolving culture. With a horse, hunters were able to hunt buffalo aggressively. Some Plains tribesmen were able to ride and fire an arrow at top speed, killing a running buffalo with one shot.

Many tribes used saddles that were covered in hides or blankets, while some rode bareback.  

From the early Spanish or Mexican vaquero-inspired saddle, the common stock saddle evolved into two distinct styles, the “Texican” and the “Californios.” As vaqueros and traders traveled the Santa Fe Trail in the early 1800s, the saddle moved with them. This saddle introduced features that were then adopted by either the Texicans or the Californios, based upon need and function. The two styles of saddle evolved to serve different purposes and are still recognized today.

Some of the features the Santa Fe Saddle introduced to the development of today’s western saddle included: rawhide-covered tree; the “horn”; a removable leather covering that would protect the rider’s legs; and stirrups, cut from a single piece of wood. In the 1850s, the first “branded” saddles come on the scene, including companies such as the Visalia Stock Company, Hamley Company, and Herman H. Heiser Company.

By the 1860s the removable leather covering became a permanent part of the saddle. Stirrups were steamed and bent to become much more individual. Texas saddles, after the Civil War, developed a full “double-rigging” because the kind of hard, fast roping these cowboys did caused the back of the saddle to raise up. The flank cinch also appeared during this period. Finally, the Texas saddles developed square skirts while the saddles developed by the Californios were lighter and boasted rounded skirts.

Other interesting additions over time included a steel horn, introduced in 1885; wood horns often broke from the stress of tying up cattle. Padded seats were also introduced in the 1880s, although not for the rough and everyday cowboy!

Simply stated, then, the “Texican” styled saddles started with a swell-forked tree. They were heavier, but simpler, and boasted big, square-skirts. They were double-rigged as well, making them secure and useful in the hard, brushy riding cowboys had to do east of the Rockies.

The “Californios” styled saddle was created from a slick-forked tree. It was single-rigged and lighter, with rounded skirts, and much more decorated; with the Pacific coast’s milder terrain, the Spanish vaqueros found time to tool and decorate their saddles. Here is a modern, beautifully tooled saddle:

Even today, the shape of the “fork” (mentioned above) is what determines the basic style of a saddle. According to the Western Saddle Guide, “A fork is also commonly called the swells or, on English saddles, the pommel. The term “fork” came from the early practice of making this part of the saddle from the fork of a tree.”

The fork actually dictates the shape of the saddle, and originally every saddle was created from a roughed out wooden template. Today there are synthetic saddlesThe fork, located in front, later provided a base for mounting the horn. Again, according to the Western Saddle Guide, “The fork on a “slick” fork saddle is generally only 8 to 10 inches wide with the sides of the fork sloping straight up to the outside of the horn. The swell fork saddle has a “swell” that is generally 11 to 14 inches wide.”

The swell-fork styled saddle has continued to be popular with pleasure and competition riders, while the slick-forked saddle has remained popular with ranchers; it has also increased in popularity in recent years. A third style, the “Undercut swell” saddle was popular for a time, especially for cowboys breaking in new horses because it has an even higher swell on either side of the horn. Its exaggerated style, while keeping a cowboy in the saddle, often proved to be more dangerous since it is harder to dismount. It is the least popular styled saddle today.

Though there are far more detailed distinctions between today’s styled saddles, the basic western saddle evolved as the cowboy and his work evolved. Introductions of the cinch, the latigo, the saddle jockeys, and other paraphernalia have made the modern saddle a rich reflection or unique expression of the rider’s or manufacturer’s personality. Here is an illustration of the "parts" of a modern saddle:

Gail L. Jenner is the author of two historical novels, including ACROSS THE SWEET GRASS HILLS, Winner of the WILLA Literary Award from Women Writing the West, and re-released by Prairie Rose Publications. It is the story of love pitted against the infamous Marias Massacre against the Blackfeet. 

Gail is also the wife of a fourth generation cattle rancher and former bull rider who was a three-time rodeo champion. Slow talking and hard-working, she admires the qualities that still exemplify today's working cowboys. Life on a ranch is "living history" everyday.

For more about Gail, visit:  www.gailjenner.com or http://prairierosepublications.yolasite.com/gail-l-jenner.php