76 SMITHSONIAN.COM | December 2019in a tent. Instead, he walked alongside the wagons and at night
wrapped himself up in a coarse blanket to sleep under the stars.
Arriving in New Mexico, a newly annexed U.S. territory, Agostini
settled into his cave and practiced his daily devotions. Each Sunday,
he walked to Las Vegas, New Mexico, for Mass. The Las Vegas Daily
Optic reported that “people for miles about were so impressed with
the religious character of the newcomer that they commenced mak-
ing pilgrimages in large numbers to his lonely dwelling.” Visitors re-
turned with stories about how the hermit had cured their ailments or
made a spring appear by striking the earth with his staff.
The hermit was killed in 1869 in another part of New Mexico by
unknown attackers and found with his crucifi x in his hand, wear-
ing a cilice—an ascetic’s spiked iron belt —that had been around his
waist so long his skin had grown over it.
The hermit’s austere life and death are much in the thoughts of
Joseph’s father, Victor Abeyta, as he makes his annual trek. The
climb has been harder for him since he was hit by a car in 2004—he
now has several metal plates and pins in the lower half of his body.
“We’re still able to come to this place and use it like they did,” he
says, surveying the view from the top. “And I’m fortunate enough
to still be able to do it.”THE TREK CONTINUES, THOUGH THERE’S ONLY ONE FAMILY LEFT TO CARRY IT OUT.