Francis Schlatter immigrated to the United States in 1884 from Alsace on the border of France, Germany, and Switzerland. A cobbler by trade, he acquired a following and reputation as a healer. Ada Morley, the wife of Santa Fe archaeologist Sylvanus Morley, published the book The Life of the Harp in the Hand of the Harper, which told of the healer’s three-month stay on their ranch at Dátil, NM. The healer also befriended archaeologist Edgar Lee Hewett in 1895. Hewett recovered Schlatter’s healing rod in a grave in Mexico. Today, the healing rod is a part of the collection at the New Mexico History Museum in the Palace of the Governors.
The Inspiration for Indiana Jones
The American archaeologist Sylvanus G. Morley is believed to have been the inspiration for the fictional archaeologist Indiana Jones created by the movie producers George Lucas and Stephen Spielberg. Morley began his lifelong adventures in 1907 in Santa Fe, where he worked for the School of American Archaeology. Later in his career, Morley set out to explore the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. He is credited with rediscovering and restoring the ceremonial Mayan center known as Chichén Itzá.