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+Project Gutenberg's Early Western Travels 1748-1846, Volume XX, by Various
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Early Western Travels 1748-1846, Volume XX
+       Part II of Gregg's Commerce of the Prairies, 1831-1839
+
+Author: Various
+
+Editor: Reuben Gold Thwaites
+
+Release Date: November 17, 2013 [EBook #44205]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EARLY WESTERN TRAVELS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by RichardW, Greg Bergquist and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images generously made available
+by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ Early Western Travels
+
+ 1748-1846
+
+ Volume XX
+
+ [Illustration: Indian alarm on the Cimarron River]
+
+
+
+
+ Early Western Travels
+ 1748-1846
+
+
+ A Series of Annotated Reprints of some of the best
+ and rarest contemporary volumes of travel, descriptive
+ of the Aborigines and Social and
+ Economic Conditions in the Middle
+ and Far West, during the Period
+ of Early American Settlement
+
+ Edited with Notes, Introductions, Index, etc., by
+ Reuben Gold Thwaites, LL. D.
+
+ Editor of "The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents", "Original
+ Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition", "Hennepin's
+ New Discovery," etc.
+
+ Volume XX
+ Part II of Gregg's Commerce of the Prairies, 1831-1839
+
+ [Illustration]
+
+ Cleveland, Ohio
+ The Arthur H. Clark Company
+ 1905
+
+
+
+
+ COPYRIGHT 1905, BY
+ THE ARTHUR H. CLARK COMPANY
+
+ ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
+
+ The Lakeside Press
+ R. R. DONNELLEY & SONS COMPANY
+ CHICAGO
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS OF VOLUME XX
+
+
+  COMMERCE OF THE PRAIRIES; or, The Journal of a Santa Fé
+    Trader, during Eight Expeditions across the Great Western
+    Prairies, and a Residence of nearly Nine Years in Northern
+    Mexico. (Part II: Chapters xii-xvi of Volume I, and all
+    of Volume II of original.) _Josiah Gregg._
+
+  Author's Table of Contents                                        13
+
+  Text of Part II:                                                  21
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS TO VOLUME XX
+
+
+  "Indian Alarm on the Cimarron River" _Frontispiece_
+
+  "Map of the Interior of Northern Mexico" _Facing_                 21
+
+  Medal of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe de Mexico (text cut)         40
+
+  "Camp Comanche"                                                  123
+
+  Mule emerging from a mine; Still Hunting (text cuts in
+    original)                                                      181
+
+  "'Dog Town,' or Settlement of Prairie Dogs"                      279
+
+
+
+
+  PART II OF GREGG'S COMMERCE OF THE PRAIRIES, OR THE
+    JOURNAL OF A SANTA FÉ TRADER--1831-1839
+
+  Reprint of chapters xii-xvi of Volume I, and all of Volume
+    II of the second edition: New York, 1845
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+  CHAPTER XII
+
+  Government of New Mexico -- The Administration of Justice
+    -- Judicial Corruption -- Prejudices against Americans
+    -- Partiality for the English -- Anecdote of Governor
+    Armijo and a Trapper -- Outrage upon an American
+    Physician -- Violence suffered by the American Consul
+    and others -- Arbitrary Impositions upon Foreigners --
+    _Contribucion de Guerra_ -- The Alcaldes and their
+    System -- The _Fueros_ -- Mode of punishing Delinquents
+    and Criminals -- Mexican System of Slavery -- Thieves
+    and Thieveries Outrage upon an American Merchant --
+    Gambling and Gambling-houses -- Game of _Monte_ --
+    Anecdote of a Lady of Fashion -- _Chuza_ -- Cockpits --
+    _Correr el gallo_ -- _El Coleo_ -- Fandangoes --
+    _Cigarritos_,                                                   21
+
+  CHAPTER XIII
+
+  Military Hierarchy of Mexico -- Religious Superstitions --
+    Legend of _Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe_ -- A profane
+    Version of the Story -- A curious Plan for manufacturing
+    Water -- Saints and Images -- Processions -- How to make
+    it Rain -- The Sacred Host -- Fanaticism and Murder --
+    Honors paid to a Bishop -- Servility to Priests --
+    Attendance at Public Worship -- New Mexicans in Church
+    -- The Vesper Bells -- Passion Week and the Ceremonies
+    pertaining thereto -- Ridiculous _Penitencia_ --
+    Whitewashing of Criminals -- Matrimonial Connexions and
+    Mode of Contracting them -- Restrictions upon Lovers --
+    Onerous Fees paid for Marriages and Burials -- Anecdote
+    of a _Ranchero_ -- Ditto of a Servant and of a Widow,
+    illustrative of Priestly Extortion -- Modes of Burial,
+    and Burial Ground of the Heretics,                              37
+
+  CHAPTER XIV
+
+  The Pueblos -- Their Character for Sobriety, Honesty, and
+    Industry -- Traditional descent from Montezuma -- Their
+    Languages -- Former and present Population -- The Pueblo
+    of Pecos -- Singular Habits of that ill-fated Tribe --
+    Curious Tradition -- Montezuma and the Sun -- Legend of
+    a Serpent -- Religion and government -- Secret Council
+    -- Laws and Customs -- Excellent Provisions against
+    Demoralization -- Primitive Pastimes of the Pueblos --
+    Their Architecture -- Singular Structures of Taos, and
+    other novel Fortifications -- Primitive state of the
+    Arts among the Pueblos -- Style of Dress, Weapons, etc.
+    -- Their Diet -- The _Guayave_,                                 54
+
+  {xvi} CHAPTER XV
+
+  The wild Tribes of New Mexico -- Speculative Theories --
+    Clavigero and the _Azteques_ -- Pueblo Bonito and other
+    Ruins -- Probable Relationship between the _Azteques_
+    and Tribes of New Mexico -- The several Nations of this
+    Province -- _Navajóes_ and _Azteques_ -- Manufactures of
+    the former -- Their Agriculture, Religion, etc. --
+    Mexican Cruelty to the Indians and its Consequences --
+    Inroads of the Navajóes -- Exploits of a Mexican Army --
+    How to make a Hole in a powder-keg -- The _Apaches_ and
+    their character -- Their Food -- Novel Mode of settling
+    Disputes -- Range of their marauding Excursions --
+    Indian Traffic and imbecile Treaties -- Devastation of
+    the Country -- Chihuahua Rodomontades -- Juan José, a
+    celebrated Apache Chief, and his tragical End, etc. --
+    Massacre of Americans in Retaliation -- A tragical
+    Episode -- _Proyecto de Guerra_ and a 'gallant' Display
+    -- The _Yutas_ and their Hostilities -- A personal
+    Adventure with them, but no Bloodshed -- The Jicarillas,        67
+
+  CHAPTER XVI
+
+  Incidents of a Return Trip from Santa Fé -- Calibre of our
+    Party -- Return Caravans -- Remittances -- Death of Mr.
+    Langham -- Burial in the Desert -- A sudden Attack --
+    Confusion in the Camp -- The Pawnees -- A Wolfish Escort
+    -- Scarcity of Buffalo -- Unprofitable Delusion --
+    Arrival -- Table of Camping Sites and Distances --
+    Condition of the Town of Independence -- The Mormons --
+    Their Dishonesty and Immorality -- Their high-handed
+    Measures, and a Rising of the People -- A fatal Skirmish
+    -- A chivalrous Parade of the Citizens -- Expulsion of
+    the Mormons -- The Meteoric Shower, and Superstition,
+    etc. -- Wanderings and Improprieties of the 'Latter-day
+    Saints' -- Gov. Boggs' Recipe -- The City of Nauvoo --
+    Contemplated Retribution of the Mormons,                        87
+
+  CHAPTER XVII {I of Vol. II, original ed.}
+
+  A Return to Prairie Life -- Abandonment of the regular
+    Route -- The Start -- A Suicide -- Arrest of a Mulatto
+    for Debt -- Cherokee 'Bankrupt Law' -- Chuly, the Creek
+    Indian -- The Muster and the Introduction -- An '_Olla
+    Podrida_' -- Adventure of a 'Down-Easter' -- Arrival of
+    U. S. Dragoons -- Camp Holmes, and the Road -- A Visit
+    from a Party of Comanches -- Tabba-quena, a noted Chief
+    -- His extraordinary Geographical Talent -- Indians set
+    out for the 'Capitan Grande,' and we through an
+    unexplored Region -- Rejoined by Tabba-quena and his
+    '_suite_' -- Spring Valley -- The Buffalo Fever -- The
+    Chase -- A Green-horn Scamper -- Prairie Fuel,                  99
+
+  CHAPTER XVIII {II of Vol. II}
+
+  Travelling out of our Latitude -- The Buffalo-gnat -- A
+    Kiawa and Squaw -- Indian _crim. con._ Affair --
+    Extraordinary Mark of confidence in the White Man -- A
+    Conflagration -- An Espy Shower -- Region of Gypsum --
+    Our Latitude -- A Lilliputian Forest -- A Party of
+    Comanches -- A Visit to a 'Dog-Town' -- Indian Archery
+    -- Arrival of Comanche Warriors -- A 'Big Talk' and its
+    Results -- Speech of the _Capitan Mayor_ -- Project of
+    bringing Comanche Chiefs to Washington -- Return of
+    Lieut. Bowman, and our March resumed -- Melancholy
+    Reflections -- Another Indian Visit -- Mexican Captives
+    -- Voluntary Captivity -- A sprightly Mexican Lad --
+    Purchase of a Captive -- Comanche Trade and Etiquette --
+    Indians least dangerous to such as trade with them,            114
+
+  CHAPTER XIX {III of Vol. II}
+
+  Ponds and Buffalo Wallows -- Valley of the Canadian, and
+    romantic Freaks of Nature -- Formation of Ravines --
+    Melancholy Adventure of a Party of Traders in 1832 --
+    Fears of our being lost -- Arrival of a Party of
+    _Comancheros_, and their wonderful Stories -- Their
+    Peculiarities and Traffic -- Bitter Water, and the
+    _Salitre_ of New Mexico -- Avant-couriers for Santa Fé
+    -- Patent Fire-arms and their Virtues -- Ranchero Ideas
+    of Distance, and their Mode of giving Directions -- The
+    Angostura, and erroneous Notions of the Texans -- A new
+    Route revealed -- Solitary Travel -- Supply of
+    Provisions sent back -- Arrival at Santa Fé -- Gov.
+    Armijo, etc. -- A 'Flare-up' with His Excellency,              132
+
+  CHAPTER XX {IV of Vol. II}
+
+  Preparations for a Start to Chihuahua -- Ineptness of
+    Married Men for the Santa Fé Trade -- Annoying
+    Custom-house Regulations -- Mails in New Mexico --
+    Insecurity of Correspondence -- Outfit and Departure --
+    _Derecho de Consumo_ -- Ruins of Valverde -- 'Towns
+    without Houses' -- La Jornado del Muerto -- Laguna and
+    Ojo del Muerto -- A Tradition of the _Arrieros_ --
+    Laborious Ferrying and Quagmires -- Arrival at Paso del
+    Norte -- Amenity of the Valley -- _Sierra Blanca_ and
+    _Los Organos_ -- Face of the Country -- Seagrass --
+    Médanos or Sand-hills -- An accidental River -- Carrizal
+    -- Ojo Caliente -- Laguna de Encinillas -- Southern
+    Haciendas -- Arrival -- Character of the Route and Soil,       145
+
+  CHAPTER XXI {V of Vol. II}
+
+  Trip from Chihuahua to Aguascalientes, in 1835 -- Southern
+    Trade and _Ferias_ -- Hacienda de la Zarca, and its
+    innumerable Stock -- Rio Nazas, and Lakes without outlet
+    -- Perennial Cotton -- Exactions for Water and Pasturage
+    -- Village of Churches -- City of Durango and its
+    Peculiarities -- Fruits, Pulque, etc. -- Persecution of
+    Scorpions -- Negro-ship in the ascendant -- Robbers and
+    their _modus operandi_ -- City of Aguascalientes --
+    Bathing Scene -- Haste to return to the North -- Mexican
+    Mule-shoeing -- Difficulties and Perplexities -- A
+    Friend in time of need -- Reach Zacatecas -- City
+    Accommodations -- Hotels unfashionable -- _Locale_,
+    Fortifications, etc., of the City of Zacatecas -- Siege
+    by Santa Anna and his easy-won Victory -- At Durango
+    again -- Civil Warfare among the 'Sovereigns' --
+    Hairbreadth 'scapes -- Troubles of the Road -- Safe
+    Arrival at Chihuahua -- Character of the Southern
+    Country,                                                       162
+
+  CHAPTER XXII {VI of Vol. II}
+
+  Visit to the Mining Town of Jesus-Maria -- Critical Roads
+    -- Character of the Town -- Losing Speculations -- Mine
+    of Santa Juliana -- Curious mining Operations --
+    Different Modes of working the Ore -- The Crushing-mill,
+    etc. -- _Barras de Plata_ -- Value of Bullion -- The
+    Silver Trade -- Return to Chihuahua -- Resumption of the
+    regular Narrative -- Curious Wholesales -- Money Table
+    -- Redundancy of Copper Coin -- City of Chihuahua and
+    its Peculiarities -- Ecclesiastical Architecture --
+    Hidalgo and his Monument -- Public Works, and their
+    present Declension -- _Fête_ in honor of Iturbide --
+    Illiberality towards Americans -- Shopping Mania --
+    Anti-Masonic _Auto de Fe_,                                     178
+
+  CHAPTER XXIII {VII of Vol. II}
+
+  Departure for Santa Fé -- Straitened for Food -- Summary
+    Effort to procure Beef -- Seizure of one of our Party --
+    Altercation with a _Rico_ -- His pusillanimous Procedure
+    -- Great Preparations in Chihuahua for our Arrest --
+    Arrival of Mexican Troops -- A polite Officer -- Myself
+    with three of my Men summoned back to Chihuahua --
+    Amiable Conduct of Señor Artalejo -- _Junta_
+    _Departmental_ and Discussion of my Affair -- Writ of
+    _Habeas Corpus_ not in vogue -- The Matter adjusted and
+    Passports granted -- The _Morale_ -- Impunity of savage
+    Depredations -- Final Start -- Company of _Paseños_ with
+    their Fruits and Liquors -- Arrival at Santa Fé,               193
+
+  CHAPTER XXIV {VIII of Vol. II}
+
+  Preparations for returning Home -- Breaking out of the
+    Small-pox -- The Start -- Our Caravan -- Manuel the
+    Comanche -- A new Route -- The Prairie on Fire -- Danger
+    to be apprehended from these Conflagrations -- A
+    Comanche Buffalo-chase -- A Skirmish with the Pawnees --
+    An intrepid Mexican -- The Wounded -- Value of a thick
+    Skull -- Retreat of the Enemy and their Failure -- A
+    bleak Northwester -- Loss of our Sheep -- The Llano
+    Estacado and Sources of Red River -- The Canadian River
+    -- Cruelties upon Buffalo -- Feats at 'Still Hunting' --
+    Mr. Wethered's Adventure -- Once more on our own Soil --
+    The False Washita -- Enter our former Trail -- Character
+    of the Country over which we had travelled -- Arrival at
+    Van Buren -- The two Routes to Santa Fé -- Some
+    Advantages of that from Arkansas -- Restlessness of
+    Prairie Travellers in civilized Life, and Propensity for
+    returning to the Wild Deserts,                                 203
+
+  CHAPTER XXV {IX of Vol. II}
+  CONCLUSION OF THE SANTA FE TRADE
+
+  Decline of Prices -- Statistical Table -- Chihuahua Trade
+    -- Its Extent -- Different Ports through which Goods are
+    introduced to that Market -- Expedition between
+    Chihuahua and Arkansas -- The Drawback -- The more
+    recent Incidents of the Santa Fé Caravans -- Adventures
+    of 1843 -- Robbery and Murder of Chavez -- Expedition
+    from Texas -- Defeat of Gen. Armijo's Van-guard -- His
+    precipitate Retreat -- Texan Grievances -- Unfortunate
+    Results of indiscriminate Revenge -- Want of discipline
+    among the Texans -- Disarmed by Capt. Cook -- Return of
+    the Escort of U. S. Dragoons, and of the Texans --
+    Demands of the Mexican Government -- Closing of the
+    Santa Fé Trade,                                                221
+
+  CHAPTER XXVI {X of Vol. II}
+  GEOGRAPHY OF THE PRAIRIES
+
+  Extent of the Prairies -- Mountains -- _Mesas_ or
+    Table-lands -- _El Llano Estacado_ -- _Cañones_ -- Their
+    Annoyance to the early Caravans -- Immense Gullies --
+    Coal Mines and other Geological Products -- Gypsum --
+    Metallic Minerals -- Salines -- Capt. Boone's
+    Exploration -- 'Salt Plain' and 'Salt Rock' -- Mr.
+    Sibley's Visit -- Saline Exudations -- Unhabitableness
+    of the high Prairies -- Excellent Pasturage -- Rich
+    border Country sufficient for two States -- Northern
+    Texas -- Rivers of the Prairies -- Their Unfitness for
+    Navigation -- Timber -- Cross Timbers -- Encroachments
+    of the Timber upon the Prairies -- Fruits and Flowers --
+    Salubrity of Climate,                                          237
+
+  CHAPTER XXVII {XI of Vol. II}
+  ANIMALS OF THE PRAIRIES
+
+  The Mustang or Wild Horse -- Capturing him by 'Creasing,'
+    and with the Lazo -- Horse-flesh -- The Buffalo -- Its
+    Appearance -- Excellence of its Meat -- General Utility
+    to the Indian and Traveller -- Prospect of its
+    Extinction -- Hunting the Buffalo with Bow and Arrows,
+    the Lance, etc. -- 'Still-hunting' -- The Buffalo
+    ferocious only when wounded -- Butchering, etc. -- The
+    Gray Wolf -- Its Modes of killing Buffalo -- Their great
+    numbers -- A 'Wolf scrape' -- The Prairie Wolf, or
+    'Jackal of the Prairies' -- The Elk, Deer and Bear --
+    The Antelope -- The Bighorn -- The Prairie Dog -- Owls
+    and Rattlesnakes -- The Horned Frog -- Fowls -- Bees,
+    etc.,                                                          259
+
+  CHAPTER XXVIII {XII of Vol. II}
+  ABORIGINES OF AMERICA
+
+  Indian Cosmogony -- Traditions of Origin -- Identity of
+    Religious Notions -- Adoration of the Sun -- Shawnee
+    Faith -- Anecdote of Tecumseh -- Legendary Traditions --
+    Missionaries, and Success of the Catholics -- The
+    Indian's Heaven -- Burial Customs -- Ancient Accounts --
+    Depositing the Dead on Scaffolds -- Superstition and
+    Witchcraft -- Indian Philosophy -- Polygamy and other
+    Matrimonial Affairs -- Abhorrence of Incest --
+    Difference in Character -- Indian Hospitality -- Traits
+    of the Ancient Asiatics -- Names -- Relationship of
+    Different Tribes -- Dreadful Decrease of the Indians,          283
+
+  CHAPTER XXIX {XIII of Vol. II}
+  THE FRONTIER INDIANS
+
+  Causes of Removal West -- Annuities, etc. --
+    Dissatisfaction of the Indians -- Their Melioration by
+    the Change -- Superiority of their present Location --
+    Lands granted to them -- Improvements, Agriculture,
+    etc. -- Their Slaves -- Manufactures -- Style of Living,
+    Dress, etc. -- Literary Opportunities and Improvements
+    -- Choctaw Academy -- Harpies and Frauds -- Games --
+    Systems of Government -- Polygamy -- Ancient Laws and
+    Customs -- Intemperance -- Preventive Measures -- A
+    Choctaw Enactment -- Marriage and Funeral Customs of the
+    Choctaws -- The Creeks -- Their Summary Executions --
+    Mourning -- Indian Titles -- The Northern Tribes --
+    Census of the Frontier Nations,                                299
+
+  CHAPTER XXX {XIV of Vol. II}
+  INDIANS OF THE PRAIRIES
+
+  System of Chiefs -- Mode of Warfare -- War-Council -- The
+    Scalp-dance -- The Calumet or Pipe of Peace -- Treaties
+    -- Public News-criers -- Arms of the Indians -- Bow and
+    Arrows, etc. -- Hunting -- Dancing -- Language of Signs
+    -- Telegraphs -- Wigwams or Lodges -- Pack-dogs --
+    Costumes -- Painting, Tattooing, etc. -- Indian Dandies
+    -- Manufactures, and Dressing the Buffalo Rug -- Indian
+    Diet, Fasting, etc. -- Primitive Thomsonians -- Their
+    domestic Animals, the Dog and the Horse -- Wampum --
+    Their Chronology,                                              318
+
+  CHAPTER XXXI {XV of Vol. II}
+  INDIANS OF THE PRAIRIES
+
+  Intermediate Tribes -- Their Wigwams and their Hunting
+    Excursions -- Dress and Cut of their Hair -- The Pawnees
+    -- The Osages -- Their Roguery -- Matrimonial Customs --
+    Accomplished Mourners -- Their Superstitions -- The
+    Indian Figure -- The 'Pawnee Picts' -- Wild Tribes --
+    Census -- The Comanches -- Their Range -- Their Sobriety
+    -- Their Chiefs, etc. -- Female Chastity -- Comanche
+    Marriage -- Costumes -- Horsemanship -- Comanche Warfare
+    -- Predatory Forays -- Martial Ceremonies -- Treatment
+    of Captives -- Burial and Religious Rites,                     336
+
+  GLOSSARY.
+
+  Containing such Spanish or Hispano-Mexican words as occur
+    undefined in this work, or recur without definition
+    after having been once translated                              353
+
+
+[Illustration: MAP OF THE INTERIOR OF NORTHERN MEXICO.]
+
+
+
+
+ COMMERCE OF THE PRAIRIES
+ {PART II}
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII[1]
+
+Government of New Mexico -- The Administration of Justice --
+  Judicial Corruption -- Prejudices against Americans -- Partiality
+  for the English -- Anecdote of Governor Armijo and a Trapper --
+  Outrage upon an American Physician -- Violence suffered by the
+  American Consul and others -- Arbitrary Impositions upon Foreigners
+  -- _Contribucion de Guerra_ -- The Alcaldes and their System --
+  The _Fueros_ -- Mode of punishing Delinquents and Criminals --
+  Mexican System of Slavery -- Thieves and Thieveries -- Outrage upon
+  an American Merchant -- Gambling and Gambling-houses -- Game of
+  _Monte_ -- Anecdote of a Lady of Fashion -- _Chuza_ -- Cockpits --
+  _Correr_ _el gallo_ -- El Coleo -- Fandangoes -- _Cigarritos_.
+
+
+Prior to the adoption of the _Sistema Central_ in the Mexican
+republic, the province of New Mexico was under a territorial
+government. The executive was called _Gefe Político_ (political
+chief), and the _Diputacion Provincial_ very inefficiently supplied
+the place of a legislature. Under the present system, however, New
+Mexico being a _department_, the names of these powers have been
+changed, but their functions remain very nearly the same. The
+_Gobernador_ (governor) is appointed by the President for eight years.
+The legislative power is nominally vested in a _Junta Departamental_,
+a kind of state council, with very circumscribed {226} powers,
+somewhat analogous to, and certainly not more extensive than, those of
+a board of aldermen with us. But even this shadow of popular
+representation was 'prorogued' by Gov. Armijo soon after his accession
+to power (five or six years ago), and has never since been convened;
+so that [Pg022] its functions have been arbitrarily exercised by the
+governor ever since.
+
+The administration of the laws in Northern Mexico constitutes one of
+the most painful features of her institutions. Justice, or rather
+judgments, are a common article of traffic; and the hapless litigant
+who has not the means to soften the claws of the alcalde with a
+'silver unction,' is almost sure to get severely scratched in the
+contest, no matter what may be the justice of his cause, or the
+uprightness of his character. It is easy to perceive, then, that the
+poor and the humble stand no chance in a judicial contest with the
+wealthy and consequential, whose influence, even apart from their
+facilities for corrupting the court and suborning witnesses, is
+sufficient to neutralize any amount of plebeian testimony that might
+be brought against them.
+
+The evil consequences arising from maladministration of justice in New
+Mexico are most severely felt by foreigners, against whom a strong
+prejudice prevails throughout the South. Of these, the citizens of the
+United States are by far the most constant sufferers; an inevitable
+result of that sinister feeling with which the 'rival republic' views
+the advancement {227} and superiority of her more industrious
+neighbors. It is a notorious fact, that while the English are
+universally treated with comparative consideration and respect, the
+Americans residing in the southern parts of the republic are
+frequently taunted with the effeminacy of their government and its
+want of decision. So openly has this preference for British subjects
+been manifested, and so thoroughly conscious have the Americans become
+of the humiliating fact, that when a mercantile firm, consisting of an
+American and an Englishman, has occasion to present a memorial of any
+description, or to sue either for an act of favor or of justice from
+the nation, the application is sure [Pg023] to be made in the name of
+the latter, knowing it will thus be more likely to command proper
+attention.
+
+Few men, perhaps, have done more to jeopard the interests of American
+traders, or to bring the American character itself into contempt, than
+Armijo, the present arbitrary governor of New Mexico. I am happy to
+say, however, that in the midst of his many oppressions, he was once
+at least obliged to 'knock under' to one of those bold and daring
+spirits of the Rocky Mountains whom obstacles rather energize than
+subdue. This was about the year 1828, during Armijo's previous
+governorship. A law was then in existence which had been enacted by
+the general Congress prohibiting foreigners from trapping beaver in
+the Mexican territory, under penalty of confiscation, etc.; but as
+there were no native {228} trappers in New Mexico, Gov. Baca and his
+successor (Narbona) thought it expedient to extend licenses to
+foreigners, in the name of citizens, upon condition of their taking a
+certain proportion of Mexicans to learn the art of trapping. In
+pursuance of this disposition, Gov. Narbona extended a license to one
+Ewing Young, who was accompanied by a Mr. Sublette, brother of Capt.
+Wm. Sublette, and almost equally celebrated for his mountain
+adventures.[2] [Pg024] Previous to the return of this party from
+their trapping expedition, Armijo had succeeded Narbona in office, and
+they were informed that it was his intention to seize their furs. To
+prevent this, they deposited them at a neighboring village, where they
+were afterwards discovered, seized, and confiscated. The furs being
+damp, they were spread out in the sun before the _Guardia_, in Santa
+Fé, when Sublette, perceiving two packs of beaver which had been his
+own property, got by honest labor, instantly seized them and carried
+them away before the eyes of the whole garrison, and concealed both
+them and his own person in a house opposite. The entire military force
+was immediately put in requisition, and a general search made for the
+offender and his prize; but in vain: indeed, if the truth must be
+spoken, the troops seemed to have as little desire to find Sublette as
+the latter had of being found; for his character was too well known to
+leave any room for hope that his capture could be effected without a
+great deal {229} of trouble. In the meanwhile, Armijo raved, and
+threatened the Americans for not ferreting out their countryman and
+delivering him over to justice. Failing to produce any impression by
+blustering, however, he caused a couple of cannons to be pointed at
+the house where the offender was supposed to be concealed, declaring
+at the same time that he would batter it down; but all to no purpose.
+Mr. Sublette finally conveyed his furs in safety to the frontier, and
+thence to the United States. [Pg025]
+
+The following anecdote affords another illustration of
+Armijo's summary mode of dealing with Americans. In the fall of 1840,
+a gross outrage was committed upon a physician from Massachusetts
+(said to be a gentleman of unexceptionable deportment), who was
+travelling through the country for his health. He had loaned nine
+hundred dollars to a person of the name of Tayon, who afterwards
+borrowed the same amount of another foreigner and repaid this debt.
+The doctor then left for the South, where he intended to pass the
+winter, being afflicted with a pulmonary disease. But the individual
+who had lent Tayon the money, being informed that he was insolvent,
+applied to Gov. Armijo for an order to compel the doctor to return,
+expecting thereby to make him reimburse the money. The order overtook
+him at the village of Algodones,[3] near forty miles from Santa Fé,
+where he was at once arrested by the alcalde, and detained some time,
+ignorant even of the offence for which he was doing penance. {230} In
+the meantime, the American Consul at Santa Fé, having been informed of
+what had taken place, procured a counter-order from the governor for
+the release of the prisoner. When the alcalde of Algodones received
+this document, he determined at once that so extraordinary an act of
+justice should cost the foreigner some trifle. Accordingly, another
+order was forged on the spot, commanding that he should be taken to
+the capital--yet a 'gentle hint' was given, that his liberty might be
+purchased by the payment of two hundred dollars. Being in a land of
+strangers, among whom he had but little hope of receiving fair play,
+the doctor resolved to pay the amount demanded, and fly to Chihuahua,
+where he would at least be safe from Armijo's clutches. Having been
+informed, however, of the fraud [Pg026] practised by the alcalde,
+before he had proceeded far on his journey, he returned and made an
+attempt to bring the delinquent officer to justice, but altogether
+without success.
+
+But perhaps the most glaring outrages upon American citizens were
+committed in 1841, upon the occasion of the capture of the Texan Santa
+Fé Expedition. In Taos, a poor deaf and dumb U. S. creole Frenchman
+was beaten to death in open day. In San Miguel, the alcalde, at the
+head of a mob, entered the store of a Mr. Rowland, whom he robbed of a
+considerable amount of merchandise.[4] At the same time, the greatest
+excitement raged in Santa Fé against Americans, whose lives appeared
+in imminent danger; and a most {231} savage attack was made upon our
+excellent Consul, Manuel Alvarez, Esq., who had always taken an active
+interest in the welfare of American citizens.[5]
+
+A few minutes after the governor had departed for San Miguel, to
+encounter the Texans, a fellow named Martin, his nephew and
+confidential agent, aided by a band of ferocious _sans culottes_, and
+armed with a large knife, secretly entered the house of the Consul,
+who perceived him in time, however, to avert the blow; yet he received
+a severe wound in the face during the scuffle that ensued: the rabble
+running in at the same time, and vociferating, "_Sáquenlo ajuera!
+mátenlo!_"--Drag him out! kill him! Mr. Alvarez doubtless [Pg027]
+owed his preservation partially to the consternation with which the
+failure of their clandestine attempt at his life inspired the cowardly
+ruffians. Instead of being punished for this diabolical act, the
+principal assassin, on the contrary, was soon after promoted in the
+army.
+
+The outrage did not end here, however; for on the Consul's demanding
+his passport for the United States, it was refused for nearly a month;
+thus detaining him until the cold season had so far advanced, that, of
+his party (about fifteen in number), two perished from the cold; and
+not one arrived without being more or less frost-bitten--some very
+severely--besides suffering a loss of about fifty animals from the
+same cause.
+
+Although these and other daring outrages have been duly represented to
+our Government, {232} it does not appear that any measures of redress
+have yet been taken.
+
+With a view of oppressing our merchants, Gov. Armijo had, as early as
+1839, issued a decree exempting all the natives from the tax imposed
+on store-houses, shops, etc., throwing the whole burden of impost upon
+foreigners and naturalized citizens; a measure clearly and
+unequivocally at variance with the treaties and stipulations entered
+into between the United States and Mexico. A protest was presented
+without effect; when our Consul, finding all remonstrances useless,
+forwarded a memorial to the American Minister at Mexico,[6] who,
+although the vital interests of American citizens were at stake,
+deemed the affair of too little importance, perhaps, and therefore
+appears to have paid no attention to it. But this system of levying
+excessive taxes upon foreigners, is by no means an original invention
+of Gov. Armijo. In 1835, the government of Chihuahua having levied a
+_contribucion de guerra_ for raising means to make [Pg028] war upon
+the savages, who were laying waste the surrounding country, foreign
+merchants, with an equal disregard for their rights and the
+obligations of treaties, were taxed twenty-five dollars each per
+month; while the native merchants, many of whom possessed large
+haciendas, with thousands of stock, for the especial protection of
+which these taxes were chiefly imposed, paid only from five to ten
+dollars each. Remonstrances were presented to the governor, but in
+vain. In his official {233} reply, that functionary declared, "_que el
+gobierno cree arreglado el reparto de sus respectivas contribuciones_,"
+--the government believes your respective contributions in accordance
+with justice--which concluded the correspondence, and the Americans
+paid their twenty-five dollars per month.
+
+The only tribunals of 'justice' in New Mexico are those of the
+ordinary _alcaldes_ or justices of the peace; and an appeal from them
+is carried to the Supreme Court in the department of Chihuahua. The
+course of litigation is exceedingly simple and summary. The plaintiff
+makes his verbal complaint or demand before the alcalde, who orders
+him to summon the defendant, which is done by simply saying, "_Le
+llama el alcalde_" (the alcalde calls you) into his presence, the
+applicant acting thus in the double capacity of constable and
+complainant. The summons is always verbal, and rarely for a future
+time--instant attendance being expected. Should the defendant refuse
+to obey this simple mandate (which, by the bye, is a very rare
+occurrence), the alcalde sends his _baston de justicia_, his staff of
+justice, an ordinary walking-cane, distinguished only by a peculiar
+black silk tassel. This never fails to enforce compliance, for a
+refusal to attend after being shown the staff, would be construed into
+a contempt of court, and punished accordingly. The witnesses are
+sometimes sworn upon a cross cut on the _baston de justicia_, or more
+frequently, perhaps, upon a cross [Pg029] formed with {234} the
+finger and thumb. Generally speaking, however, the process of
+examination is gone through without a single oath being administered;
+and in the absence of witnesses, the alcalde often proceeds to
+sentence upon the simple statements of the contending parties. By a
+species of mutual agreement, the issue of a suit is sometimes referred
+to _hombres buenos_ (arbitrators), which is the nearest approximation
+that is made to trial by jury. In judicial proceedings, however, but
+little, or rather no attention is paid to any code of laws; in fact,
+there is scarcely one alcalde in a dozen who knows what a law is, or
+who ever saw a law-book. Their decisions, when not influenced by
+corrupt agencies, are controlled by the prevailing customs of the
+country.
+
+In the administration of justice, there are three distinct and
+privileged jurisdictions, known as _fueros_:[7] the _eclesiástico_,
+which provides that no member of the clergy, at least of the rank of
+curate and upwards, shall ever be arraigned before a civil tribunal,
+but shall be tried by their superiors in the order; the _militar_,
+which makes a similar provision in favor not only of commissioned
+officers, but of every common soldier from the ranks; and the _civil_
+or ordinary courts, for all cases in which the defendants are laymen.
+These _fueros_ have hitherto maintained the ecclesiastical and
+military classes in perfect independence of the civil authorities. The
+_civil_, in fact, remains in some degree subordinate to the other two
+_fueros_; for it can, under no circumstances, {235} have any
+jurisdiction whatever over them; while the lay plaintiff, in the
+privileged tribunals of these, may, if unsuccessful, have judgment
+entered up against him: a consequence that can never follow the suits
+of the ecclesiastical or military orders before the civil tribunals.
+The judgments of the latter, in [Pg030] such cases, would be void. It
+is no wonder, then, that the cause of freedom in Mexico has made so
+little progress.
+
+Imprisonment is almost the only sort of punishment resorted to in the
+North. For debt, petit larceny, highway robbery, and murder, the usual
+sentence is "_A la cárcel_" (to jail), where a person is likely to
+remain about as long for inability to pay _dos reales_, as for the
+worst of crimes: always provided he has not the means to pacify the
+offended majesty of the law. I never heard of but one execution for
+murder in New Mexico, since the declaration of independence. The most
+desperate and blood-stained criminals escape with impunity, after a
+few weeks of incarceration, unless the prosecutor happens to be a
+person of great influence; in which case, the prisoner is detained in
+the _calabozo_ at will, even when the offence committed has been of a
+trivial character. Notwithstanding this laxity in the execution of the
+laws, there are few murders of any kind committed.
+
+In case of debt, as before remarked, the delinquent is sent to
+jail--provided the creditor will not accept his services. If he will,
+however, the debtor becomes _nolens volens_ the {236} servant of the
+creditor till the debt is satisfied; and, serving, as he does, at very
+reduced wages, his expenses for clothing, and other necessaries, but
+too often retain him in perpetual servitude. This system does not
+operate, however, upon the higher classes, yet it acts with terrible
+severity upon the unfortunate poor, whose condition is but little
+better, if not worse indeed than that of the slaves of the South. They
+labor for fixed wages, it is true; but all they can earn is hardly
+sufficient to keep them in the coarsest clothing and pay their
+contingent expenses. Men's wages range from two to five dollars a
+month, and those of women from fifty cents to two dollars; in payment
+of which, they rarely receive any money; but instead thereof, articles
+of apparel and other necessaries at the most exorbitant prices. The
+consequence is that the [Pg031] servant soon accumulates a debt which
+he is unable to pay--his wages being often engaged for a year or two
+in advance. Now, according to the usages, if not the laws of the
+country, he is bound to serve his master until all arrearages are
+liquidated; and is only enabled to effect an exchange of masters, by
+engaging another to pay his debt, to whom he becomes in like manner
+bound.
+
+As I have already remarked, capital crimes and highway robberies are
+of comparatively rare occurrence in the North, but in smaller
+delinquencies, such as pilfering and petty rogueries of every shade
+and description, the common classes can very successfully compete
+{237} with any other people. Nothing indeed can be left exposed or
+unguarded without great danger of its being immediately stolen. No
+husbandman would think of leaving his axe or his hoe, or anything else
+of the slightest value, lying out over night. Empty wagons are often
+pillaged of every movable piece of iron, and even the wheels have been
+carried away. Pieces of merchandise are frequently purloined from the
+shelves, when they happen to be in reach. In Chihuahua, goods have
+actually been snatched from the counter while being exposed to the
+inspection of a pretended purchaser. I once had a trick of this kind
+played upon me by a couple of boys, who made their escape through a
+crowd of spectators with their booty exposed. In vain I cried
+"_Agarren á los ladrones!_" (catch the thieves!) not a single
+individual moved to apprehend them. I then proffered the goods stolen,
+to any person who might succeed in bringing the rogues to me, but to
+no purpose. In fact there seems to exist a great deal of repugnance,
+even among the better classes, to apprehending thieves; as if the mere
+act of informing against them was considered dishonorable. I heard a
+very respectable caballero once remark that he had seen a man purloin
+certain articles of merchandise, but he could not be induced to give
+[Pg032] up his name; observing, "O, I can't think of exposing the poor
+fellow!"
+
+The impunity with which delinquencies of this description are every
+day committed is {238} perhaps in some degree, the consequence of
+those severe enactments, such as the _Leyes de las Indias_ (the laws
+of the Indies), which rendered many thefts and robberies punishable
+with death.[8] The magistracy contracted the habit of frequently
+winking at crime, rather than resort to the barbarous expedients
+prescribed by the letter of the law. The utmost that can be gained now
+by public prosecution, is the recovery of the stolen property, if that
+be anywhere to be found, and occasionally a short period of
+imprisonment for the culprit. This is more particularly the case when
+the prosecutor happens to be a foreigner; while on the other hand, if
+he be the party accused, he is likely to be subjected to very severe
+treatment. A remarkable circumstance of this kind occurred in
+Chihuahua in the year 1835. One of our most respectable Missouri
+merchants had bought a mule of a stranger, but the animal was soon
+after claimed by a third person, who proved that it had been stolen
+from him. The Missourian would have been perfectly satisfied to lose
+the mule, and end the matter there; but to the surprise of all, he was
+directly summoned before an alcalde, and forthwith sentenced to jail:
+the partial judge having labored to fix the theft upon the innocent
+purchaser, while the real culprit, who was a native, was permitted to
+go at large.
+
+The love of gambling also deserves to be noticed as a distinguishing
+propensity of these people. Indeed it may well be said, without any
+undue stretch of imagination, that [Pg033] shop-lifting, {239}
+pocket-picking, and other elegant pastimes of the same kindred, are
+the legitimate offspring, especially among the lower classes, of that
+passion for gaming, which in Mexico more than anywhere else--to use
+Madame Calderon's language[9]--"is impregnated with the
+constitution--in man, woman, and child." It prevails in the lowly hut,
+as well as in the glittering saloon; nor is the sanctity of the gown
+nor the dignity of station sufficient proof against the fascinations
+of this exciting vice. No one considers it a degradation to be seen
+frequenting a _monte bank_: the governor himself and his lady, the
+grave magistrate and the priestly dignity, the gay caballero and the
+titled señora may all be seen staking their doubloons upon the turn of
+a card; while the humbler ranchero, the hired domestic and the ragged
+pauper, all press with equal avidity to test their fortune at the same
+shrine. There are other games at cards practised among these people,
+depending more upon skill; but that of _el monte_, being one
+exclusively of chance, seems to possess an all-absorbing attraction,
+difficult to be conceived by the uninitiated spectator.
+
+The following will not only serve to show the light in which gambling
+is held by all classes of society, but to illustrate the purifying
+effects of wealth upon character. Some twelve or fifteen years ago
+there lived (or rather roamed) in Taos a certain female of very loose
+habits, known as _La Tules_. Finding it difficult to obtain the means
+of living in that {240} district, she finally extended her wanderings
+to the capital. She there became a constant attendant on one of those
+pandemoniums where the favorite game of _monte_ was dealt _pro bono
+publico_. Fortune, at first, did not seem inclined [Pg034] to smile
+upon her efforts, and for some years she spent her days in lowliness
+and misery. At last her luck turned, as gamblers would say, and on one
+occasion she left the bank with a spoil of several hundred dollars!
+This enabled her to open a bank of her own, and being favored by a
+continuous run of good fortune, she gradually rose higher and higher
+in the scale of affluence, until she found herself in possession of a
+very handsome fortune. In 1843, she sent to the United States some ten
+thousand dollars to be invested in goods. She still continues her
+favorite 'amusement,' being now considered the most expert 'monte
+dealer' in all Santa Fé. She is openly received in the first circles
+of society: I doubt, in truth, whether there is to be found in the
+city a lady of more fashionable reputation than this same Tules, now
+known as Señora Doña Gertrudes Barceló.
+
+Among the multitude of games which seem to constitute the real
+business of life in New Mexico, that of _chuza_ evidently presents the
+most attractions to ladies; and they generally lay very heavy wagers
+upon the result. It is played with little balls, and bears some faint
+resemblance to what is called _roulette_. Bull-baiting and
+cock-fighting, about which so much has been said by every traveller in
+Mexico, {241} are also very popular 'amusements' in the North, and
+generally lead to the same excesses and the same results as gaming.
+The cock-pit rarely fails to be crowded on Sundays and other feast
+days; on which occasions the church, the ball-room, the
+gambling-house, and the cock-pit look like so many opposition
+establishments; for nothing is more common than to see people going
+from one place to another by alternate fits, just as devotional
+feeling or love of pleasure happens to prompt them.
+
+One of the most attractive sports of the rancheros and the peasantry,
+and that which, more than any other, calls for the exercise of skill
+and dexterity, is that called _correr el gallo_, [Pg035] practised
+generally on St. John's day. A common cock or hen is tied by the feet
+to some swinging limb of a tree, so as to be barely within the reach
+of a man on horseback: or the fowl is buried alive in a small pit in
+the ground leaving only the head above the surface. In either case,
+the racers, passing at full speed, grapple the head of the fowl, which
+being well greased, generally slips out of their fingers. As soon as
+some one, more dextrous than the rest, has succeeded in tearing it
+loose, he claps spurs to his steed, and endeavors to escape with the
+prize. He is hotly pursued, however, by the whole sporting crew, and
+the first who overtakes him tries to get possession of the fowl, when
+a strife ensues, during which the poor chicken is torn into atoms.
+Should the holder of the trophy be able to outstrip his pursuers, he
+carries {242} it to a crowd of fair spectators and presents it to his
+mistress, who takes it to the fandango which usually follows, as a
+testimony of the prowess of her lover.
+
+Among the vaqueros, and even among persons of distinction, _el coleo_
+(tailing) is a much nobler exercise than the preceding, and is also
+generally reserved for days of festivity. For this sport the most
+untractable ox or bull is turned loose upon a level common, when all
+the parties who propose to join in the amusement, being already
+mounted, start off in pursuit of him. The most successful rider, as
+soon as he gets near enough to the bull, seizes him by the tail, and
+with a sudden manœuvre, whirls him topsy-turvy upon the plain--to the
+no little risk of breaking his own neck, should his horse stumble or
+be tripped by the legs of the falling bull.
+
+Respecting _fandangos_, I will observe that this term, as it is used
+in New Mexico, is never applied to any particular dance, but is the
+usual designation for those ordinary assemblies where dancing and
+frolicking are carried on; _baile_ (or ball) being generally applied
+to those of a higher grade. The former especially are very frequent;
+for nothing is more [Pg036] general, throughout the country, and with
+all classes than dancing. From the gravest priest to the buffoon--from
+the richest nabob to the beggar--from the governor to the
+ranchero--from the soberest matron to the flippant belle--from the
+grandest _señora_ to the _cocinera_--all partake of this exhilarating
+{243} amusement. To judge from the quantity of tuned instruments which
+salute the ear almost every night in the week, one would suppose that
+a perpetual carnival prevailed everywhere. The musical instruments
+used at the _bailes_ and _fandangos_ are usually the fiddle and
+_bandolin_, or _guitarra_, accompanied in some villages by the _tombé_
+or little Indian drum. The musicians occasionally acquire considerable
+proficiency in the use of these instruments. But what most oddly
+greets, and really outrages most Protestant ears, is the accompaniment
+of divine service with the very same instruments, and often with the
+same tunes.
+
+Of all the petty vices practised by the New Mexicans, the _vicio
+inocente_ of smoking among ladies, is the most intolerable; and yet it
+is a habit of which the loveliest and the most refined equally
+partake. The _puro_ or _cigarro_[10] is seen in the mouths of all: it
+is handed round in the parlor, and introduced at the dinner
+table--even in the ball-room it is presented to ladies as regularly as
+any {244} other species of 'refreshment;' and in the dance the
+señorita may often be seen whirling round with a lighted _cigarrito_
+in her mouth. The belles of the Southern cities are very frequently
+furnished [Pg037] with _tenazitas de oro_ (little golden tongs), to
+hold the cigar with, so as to prevent their delicate fingers from
+being polluted either with the stain or scent of tobacco; forgetting
+at the same time its disagreeable effects upon the lips and breath.
+
+Notwithstanding their numerous vices, however, I should do the New
+Mexicans the justice to say that they are but little addicted to
+inebriety and its attendant dissipations. Yet this doubtlessly results
+to a considerable degree from the dearness of spirituous liquors,
+which virtually places them beyond the reach of the lower classes.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[1] Chapter xii of volume i of the original edition.--ED.
+
+[2] Both Bartolomé Baca (Vaca) and Narbona were Mexican officers. The
+former, whose term of office was from 1823 to September, 1825,
+belonged to a New Mexican family, and was one of the captains of the
+companies organized in 1808. Antonio Narbona came (1805) from the
+province of Chihuahua, as lieutenant of soldiers sent to repel a
+Navaho raid. He was governor, September, 1825, to May 1827. In 1843 he
+was colonel of an expedition against the Apache in Arizona.
+
+Ewing Young was a native of Knox County, Tennessee. He early went west
+for hunting and trapping, having passports for Mexican territory
+signed at Washington in 1828-29. In these years he made his first
+overland trip from New Mexico to California, where he aided the padres
+of San José in an expedition against revolted neophytes. In 1829 he
+returned to New Mexico, married a Taos woman, and again (1831) set out
+for California. There in 1834 he met Hall Kelley, and was persuaded to
+accompany him to Oregon, where he formed one of the first American
+settlements in the Chehalem Valley, tributary to the Willamette. A
+journey to California in 1836, to purchase cattle, resulted in
+stocking the Oregon pioneers. Young's Oregon settlement prospered; he
+erected saw and grist mills, and upon his death (1841) the
+administration of his estate was the occasion of the first tentative
+experiment in civil government in Oregon. In after years, a son
+Joachim came from New Mexico, and laid successful claim to the
+property, which was paid by the state.
+
+Milton J. Sublette was a younger brother of William (for whom see our
+volume xix, p. 221, note 55, Gregg) and himself a noted trapper and
+trader, operating chiefly in the Rocky Mountains. In 1833 he entered
+into arrangements with Nathaniel Wyeth (see our volume xxi), but the
+next year was compelled to retire because of injury to a leg, which
+caused his death at Fort Laramie, December 19, 1836.--ED.
+
+[3] Algodones is a small Mexican town in Sandoval County, about
+fifteen miles above Albuquerque. It is now a station on the Atchison,
+Topeka, and Santa Fé Railway, and has promise of becoming a junction
+with the Santa Fé Central.--ED.
+
+[4] Thomas Rowland, a native Pennsylvanian, had been a resident of New
+Mexico for a number of years, and had married there. His brother John
+was accused of complicity with the Texans, which led to the attack
+upon Rowland's property. This was shortly restored to him, as his
+friends were influential in official circles. See George W. Kendall,
+_Narrative of the Texan Santa Fé Expedition_ (New York, 1844), i, pp.
+271, 272, 332. John Rowland led a party of immigrants to California
+(1841), where he became a leading American pioneer.--ED.
+
+[5] Manuel Alvarez was a native of Spain, who showed much enterprise
+in establishing the trade between the United States and New Mexico. In
+1839 he was appointed United States consul at Santa Fé, an office
+which he held until the American conquest. In 1849 he took part in the
+new state movement, and was by the suffrages of the people elected
+governor; but Congress having erected New Mexico into a territory, the
+state government lapsed.--ED.
+
+[6] Powhattan Ellis, for notice of whom, see our volume xix, p. 274,
+note 100 (Gregg).--ED.
+
+[7] Originally a _fuero_ was any form of charter or privilege granted
+to a kingdom, province, town, or person. _Fueros_ played great part in
+the constitutional development of Spain and her colonies.--ED.
+
+[8] The "Laws of the Indies," or the codification of the ordinances,
+acts, etc., passed by the Council of the Indies and other
+administrative Spanish authorities for the government of the colonies,
+was first issued at Madrid in 1681, under the title _Recopilacion de
+Leyes de los Reynos de Indias_. A fourth edition, under the direction
+of the Council of the Indies, issued in 1791.--ED.
+
+[9] Madame Frances Erskine Inglis Calderon de la Barca was a
+Scotchwoman married to a Spaniard who was minister to the United
+States, and later to Mexico. While in the latter country, she
+published _Life in Mexico_ (London, 1843), an interesting, racy series
+of letters on the manners and customs of Spanish America.--ED.
+
+[10] The _puro_ is a common cigar of _pure_ tobacco; but the term
+_cigarro_ or _cigarrito_ is applied to those made of cut tobacco
+rolled up in a strip of paper or corn-husk. The latter are by far in
+the most general use in New Mexico, even among the men, and are those
+only smoked by the females. In this province cigarros are rarely sold
+in the shops, being generally manufactured by every one just as they
+are needed. Their expertness in this 'accomplishment' is often
+remarkable. The mounted vaquero will take out his _guagito_ (his
+little tobacco-flask), his packet of _hojas_ (or prepared husks), and
+his flint, steel, etc.,--make his cigarrito, strike fire and commence
+smoking in a minute's time--all while at full speed: and the next
+minute will perhaps lazo the wildest bull without interrupting his
+smoke.--GREGG.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+Military Hierarchy of Mexico -- Religious Superstitions -- Legend of
+  _Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe_ -- A profane version of the Story -- A
+  curious Plan for manufacturing Water -- Saints and Images --
+  Processions -- How to make it Rain -- The Sacred Host -- Fanaticism
+  and Murder -- Honors paid to a Bishop -- Servility to Priests --
+  Attendance at Public Worship -- New Mexicans in Church -- The Vesper
+  Bells -- Passion Week and the Ceremonies pertaining thereto --
+  Ridiculous _Penitencia_ -- Whitewashing of Criminals -- Matrimonial
+  Connexions and Mode of Contracting them -- Restrictions upon Lovers
+  -- Onerous Fees paid for Marriages and Burials -- Anecdote of a
+  _Ranchero_ -- Ditto of a Servant and a Widow, illustrative of
+  Priestly Extortion -- Modes of Burial, and Burial Ground of the
+  Heretics.
+
+
+The Mexicans seem the legitimate descendants of the subjects of 'His
+Most Catholic Majesty;' for the Romish faith is not only the religion
+established by law, but the only one tolerated by the constitution: a
+system of republican liberty wholly incomprehensible to the
+independent and tolerant spirits of the United States. Foreigners only
+of other creeds, in accordance with treaty stipulations, can worship
+privately within their own houses.[11] The Mexicans, indeed, talk of a
+'union of Church and State:' they should rather say a 'union of Church
+and Army;' for, as has {246} [Pg038] already been shown, the civil
+authority is so nearly merged in the military and the ecclesiastical,
+that the government, if not a military hierarchy, is something so near
+akin that it is difficult to draw the distinction. As Mr. Mayer[12]
+very appropriately remarks, you are warned of the double dominion of
+the army and the church "by the constant sound of the drum and the
+bell, which ring in your ears from morn to midnight, and drown the
+sounds of industry and labor."
+
+In the variety and grossness of popular superstitions, Northern Mexico
+can probably compete with any civilized country in the world. Others
+may have their extravagant traditions, their fanatical prejudices,
+their priestly impostures, but here the popular creed seems to be the
+embodiment of as much that is fantastic and improbable in idolatrous
+worship, as it is possible to clothe in the garb of a religious faith.
+It would fill volumes to relate one-half of the wonderful miracles and
+extraordinary apparitions said to have occurred during and since the
+conquest of the Indian Pueblos and their conversion to the Romish
+faith. Their character may be inferred from the following national
+legend of _La Maravillosa Aparicion de Nuestra Señora de
+Guadalupe--anglicè_, the marvellous apparition of Our Lady of
+Guadalupe,--which, in some one of its many traditionary shapes, is
+generally believed throughout the republic. I have seen some half a
+dozen written versions of this celebrated tradition, and heard about
+as many oral {247} ones; but no two agree in all the particulars.
+However, that which has received most currency informs us, that, on
+the 12th of December, 1531, an Indian called Juan Diego, while passing
+over the barren hill of Tepeyacac (about a league northward [Pg039]
+from the city of Mexico), in quest of medicinal herbs, had his
+attention suddenly arrested by the fragrance of flowers, and the sound
+of delightful music; and on looking up, he saw an angelic sort of
+figure directly before him. Being terrified he attempted to flee; but
+the apparition calling to him by name, "Juan Diego," said she, "go
+tell the bishop to have me a place of worship erected on this very
+spot." The Indian replied that he could not return, as he was seeking
+_remedios_ for a dying relative. But the figure bade him to do as
+commanded, and have no further care about his relative--that he was
+then well. Juan Diego went to the city, but being unable to procure an
+audience from the bishop, he concluded he had been acting under a
+delusion, and again set off for his _remedios_. Upon ascending the
+same hill, however, the apparition again accosted him, and hearing his
+excuse, upbraided him for his want of faith and energy; and said,
+"Tell the bishop that it is Guadalupe, the Virgin Mary, come to dwell
+amongst and protect the Mexicans, who sends thee." The Indian,
+returning again to the city, forced his way into the presence of the
+bishop, who, like a good sensible man, received the messenger with
+jeers, and treated him as a maniac; {248} telling him finally to bring
+some sign, which, if really the Mother of God, his directress could
+readily furnish.
+
+The perplexed Indian left the bishop's presence resolved to avoid
+further molestation from his spiritual acquaintance, by taking another
+route; yet, when near the place of his first meeting, he again
+encountered the apparition, who, hearing the result of his mission,
+ordered him to climb a naked rock hard by, and collect a bouquet of
+flowers which he would find growing there. Juan Diego, albeit without
+faith, obeyed, when, to his surprise he found the flowers referred to,
+and brought them to the Virgin, who, throwing them into his _tilma_,
+commanded him to carry them to the bishop; saying, [Pg040] "When he
+sees these he will believe, as he well knows that flowers do not bloom
+at this season, much less upon that barren rock." The humble messenger
+now with more courage sought the bishop's presence, and threw out the
+blooming credentials of his mission before him; when lo! to the
+astonishment of all, and to the entire conviction of his _Senoría
+ilustrísima_, the perfect image of the apparition appeared imprinted
+on the inside of the _tilma_.[13]
+
+The reverend Prelate now fully acknowledged the divinity of the
+picture, and in a {249} conclave of ecclesiastics convened for the
+purpose, he pronounced it the image of _La verdadera Vírgen_ and
+protectress of Mexico. A splendid chapel was soon after erected upon
+the spot designated in the mandate, in which the miraculous painting
+was deposited, where it is preserved to the present day. In the
+suburbs of every principal city in the republic, there is now a chapel
+specially dedicated to _Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe_, where coarse
+resemblances of the original picture are to be seen. Rough paintings
+of the same, of various dimensions, are also to be met with in nearly
+every dwelling, from the palace to the most miserable hovel. The
+image, with an adapted [Pg041] motto, has also been stamped upon
+medals, which are swung about the necks of the faithful.[14]
+
+[Illustration]
+
+{250} As a further confirmation of the miracle, it is also told, that
+when Juan Diego returned to his home, he found his relative in good
+health--that he had suddenly risen from the last extremity about the
+time of the former's meeting with the Virgin.
+
+Now comes the profane version of the story, which the skeptical have
+set afloat, as the most reasonable one; but against which, in the name
+of orthodoxy, I feel bound to enter my protest. To the better
+understanding of this 'explanatory tradition,' it may be necessary to
+premise that the name of Guadalupe was already familiar to the
+Spaniards, the Virgin Mary having, it is said, long before appeared in
+Spain, under the same title; on which occasion an order of monks,
+styled _Frailes Guadalupanos_, had been instituted. One of these
+worthy fathers who had been sent as a missionary to Mexico, finding
+the Indians rather stubborn and unyielding, conceived the plan of
+flattering their national vanity by fabricating a saint suited for the
+occasion. The Guadalupano had a poor friend who was an excellent
+painter, to whom he said, one day, "Take this tilma"--presenting him
+one of the coarsest and most slazy texture {251} (a sort of _manta de
+guangoche_); "paste it upon canvass, and paint me thereon the
+handsomest effigy of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe that your fancy can
+portray." When [Pg042] this was done according to order, and the
+tilma separated from the canvass, the picture appeared somewhat
+miraculous. Viewed very closely, it showed exceedingly dim; but upon
+receding to some distance, so that the eye could embrace a larger
+field of the open texture, it appeared quite distinct and beautiful.
+This effect is often alluded to at the present day, and easily as it
+might be accounted for upon philosophical principles, I have heard
+many an ignorant Mexican declare, that _la Santisima Vírgen_ concealed
+herself from such as profaned her shrine by a too near approach, and
+only shone forth in all her brilliancy to those who kept at a
+respectful distance. But in conclusion, the story relates, that a
+suitable damsel being selected and decked out to represent the Virgin,
+the affair was played off as it has been narrated.
+
+As regards the miracle of the fresh flowers in December the _profanos_
+say, that there was nothing very wonderful about it, as flowers were
+known to bloom in the lowlands, and only a few leagues from the spot
+where the affair took place, at all seasons of the year; implying that
+these had been engrafted upon the rock for the occasion. There are
+some who go so far as to insinuate that the bishop and other
+ecclesiastics were privy to the whole affair, and that every
+precaution had been {252} taken to see the Indian who played first
+fiddle in the matter, provided with a tilma, similar to the one on
+which the image of the Virgin was painted, and that this was artfully
+slipped in the place of the former, which the Indian had doffed when
+he climbed the rock after the flowers.--I have not seen the original
+portrait, but most of the copies and imitations I have met with,
+represent the Virgin with that peculiarly tawny complexion which was
+probably deemed indispensable to conciliate the prejudices of the
+aborigines. [Pg043]
+
+The reader may reconcile the foregoing discrepancies in the best way
+he can; all that I have to add is, that the apparition having been
+canonized by the Pope, a belief in it now constitutes as much a part
+of the religious faith of the Mexicans, as any article of the
+Apostolic Creed. To judge from the blind and reverential awe in which
+the Virgin Guadalupe is held by the lowly and the ignorant, one would
+suppose her to be the first person in the Divinity, for to her their
+vows are directed, their prayers offered up, and all their confessions
+made.
+
+Among the many traditions implicitly believed in by the people, and
+which tend to obstruct the advancement of knowledge, there is one
+equally as amusing and extravagant as the foregoing, which has been
+gravely recounted by the present Vicar of New Mexico and ex-delegate
+to Congress. During the memorable insurrection of 1680, the Pueblo of
+San Felipe was about the only one that {253} remained faithful to the
+Spaniards in all the North. It was during that exciting period that
+the padre of another Pueblo took refuge among them. Being besieged by
+their neighbors and their communication with the water entirely cut
+off, they applied for advice to the reverend padre, who bade them not
+despair, as he had it in his power to supply them with water. He then
+began to pray very fervently, after which he opened a vein in each of
+his arms, from whence there flowed two such copious streams of water
+that all fears of being reduced by thirst were completely allayed![15]
+[Pg044]
+
+It is a part of the superstitious blindness of these people to
+believe that every one of their legion of canonized saints possesses
+the power of performing certain miracles; and their aid is generally
+invoked on all occasions of sickness and distress. The kindest office,
+therefore, that the friends of a sick person can perform, is to bring
+forward the image of some of those saints whose healing powers have
+been satisfactorily tested. The efficacy of these superstitious
+remedies will not be difficult to account for, when the powerful
+influence of the imagination upon disease is taken into consideration.
+
+The images of patron saints are never put in such general requisition,
+however, as in seasons of severe drought. The priests, being generally
+expert at guessing the approach of a pluvial period, take good care
+not to make confident promises till they have substantial {254} reason
+to anticipate a speedy fulfilment of their prophecies. When the
+fitting season draws nigh, they carry out the image of Nuestra Señora
+de Guadalupe, or that of some other favorite saint, and parade about
+the streets, the fields and the meadows, followed by all the men,
+women, and children of the neighborhood, in solemn procession. Should
+the clouds condescend to vouchsafe a supply of rain within a week or
+two of this general humiliation, no one ever thinks of begrudging the
+scores of dollars that have been paid to the priests for bringing
+about so happy a result.
+
+Speaking of processions, I am reminded of another peculiar custom so
+prevalent in Mexico, that it never fails to attract the attention of
+strangers. This is the passage of the Sacred Host to the residence of
+persons dangerously ill, for the purpose of administering to them the
+Extreme Unction. In New Mexico, however, this procession is not
+attended with so much ostentatious display as it is in the South, the
+paradise of ecclesiastics, where [Pg045] it is conveyed in a black
+coach drawn by a pair of black mules, accompanied by armed soldiers
+and followed by crowds of _léperos_ of all sexes and ages. During the
+procession of the Host, two church-bells of different tones are kept
+sounding by alternate strokes. Also the carriage is always preceded by
+a bell-man tinkling a little bell in regular time, to notify all
+within hearing of its approach, that they may be prepared to pay it
+due homage. When {255} this bell is heard, all those that happen to be
+within sight of the procession, though at ever so great a distance,
+instantly kneel and remain in that position till it has passed out of
+sight. On these occasions, if an American happens to be within
+hearing, he endeavors to avoid the _cortége_, by turning the corner of
+a street or entering a shop or the house of a friend; for although it
+may be expedient, and even rational, to conform with the customs and
+ceremonies of these countries we are sojourning in, very few
+Protestants would feel disposed to fall on their knees before a coach
+freighted with frail mortals pretending to represent the Godhead! I am
+sorry to say that non-compliants are frequently insulted and sometimes
+pelted with stones by the rabble. Even a foreign artisan was once
+massacred in the Mexican metropolis because he refused to come out of
+his shop, where he was kneeling, and perform the act of genuflexion in
+the street!
+
+This abject idolatry sometimes takes a still more humiliating aspect,
+and descends to the worship of men in the capacity of religious
+rulers. On the occasion of the Bishop of Durango's visit to Santa Fé
+in 1833, an event which had not taken place for a great many years,
+the infatuated population hailed his arrival with as much devotional
+enthusiasm as if it had been the second advent of the Messiah.
+Magnificent preparations were made everywhere for his reception: the
+streets were swept, the roads and [Pg046] bridges on his route
+repaired {256} and decorated; and from every window in the city there
+hung such a profusion of fancy curtains and rich cloths that the
+imagination was carried back to those glowing descriptions of
+enchanted worlds which one reads of in the fables of necromancers. I
+must observe, however, that there is a custom in all the towns of
+Mexico (which it would not be safe to neglect), providing that
+whenever a religious procession takes place, all the doors and windows
+facing the street along which it is to pass, shall be decorated with
+shawls, carpets, or fancy cloths, according to the means and
+capabilities of the proprietor. During the bishop's sojourn in Santa
+Fé, which, to the great joy of the inhabitants, lasted for several
+weeks, he never appeared in the streets but that 'all true Catholics'
+who were so fortunate as to obtain a glimpse of his _Señoría
+Ilustrísima_ immediately dropped upon their knees, and never moved
+from that position till the mitred priest had either vouchsafed his
+benediction or had disappeared. Even the principal personages of the
+city would not venture to address him till they had first knelt at his
+feet and kissed his 'pastoral ring.' This, however, is only a
+heightened picture of what occurs every day in the intercourse between
+the rancheros and the common padres of the country. The slavish
+obsequiousness of the lower classes towards these pampered priests is
+almost incredible.
+
+No people are more punctual in their attendance upon public worship,
+or more exact {257} in the performance of the external rites of
+religion, than the New Mexicans. A man would about as soon think of
+venturing in twenty fathoms of water without being able to swim, as of
+undertaking a journey without hearing mass first. These religious
+exercises, however, partake but seldom of the character of true
+devotion; for people may be seen chattering or tittering while in the
+act of crossing themselves, or muttering [Pg047] some formal prayer.
+Indeed, it is the common remark of strangers, that they are wont to
+wear much graver countenances while dancing at a fandango than during
+their devotional exercises at the foot of the altar. In nothing,
+however, is their observance of the outward forms of religion more
+remarkable than in their deportment every day towards the close of
+twilight, when the large bell of the _Parroquia_ peals for _la
+oracion_, or vespers.[16] All conversation is instantly suspended--all
+labor ceases--people of all classes, whether on foot or on horseback,
+make a sudden halt--even the laden porter, groaning under the weight
+of an insupportable burden, stops in the midst of his career and
+stands still. An almost breathless silence reigns throughout the town,
+disturbed only by the occasional sibilations of the devout multitude:
+all of which, accompanied by the slow heavy peals of a large sonorous
+bell, afford a scene truly solemn and appropriate. At the expiration
+of about two minutes the charm is suddenly broken by the clatter of
+livelier-toned bells; and a _buenas {258} tardes_ (good evening) to
+those present closes the ceremony: when _presto_, all is bustle and
+confusion again--the colloquial chit-chat is resumed--the smith plies
+upon his anvil with redoubled energy--the clink of the hammer
+simultaneously resounds in every direction--the wayfarers are again in
+motion,--both pleasure and business, in short, assume their respective
+sway.
+
+Although the Catholics have a saint for each day in the year, the
+number of canonized _fiestas_ in which labor is prohibited has been
+somewhat reduced in Mexico. _La Semana Santa_, or Passion Week, is
+perhaps the period when the religious feeling, such as it is, is most
+fully excited: [Pg048] _Viernes Santo_ (Good Friday), especially, is
+observed with great pomp and splendor. An image of Christ large as
+life, nailed to a huge wooden cross, is paraded through the streets,
+in the midst of an immense procession, accompanied by a glittering
+array of carved images, representing the Virgin Mary, Mary Magdalene,
+and several others; while the most notorious personages of antiquity,
+who figured at that great era of the World's history,--the centurion
+with a band of guards, armed with lances, and apparelled in the
+costume supposed to have been worn in those days,--may be seen
+bestriding splendidly caparisoned horses, in the breathing reality of
+flesh and blood. Taking it all in all, this spectacle,--the ceremonies
+and manœuvres which attend its career through the densely crowded and
+ornamented {259} streets,--are calculated to produce impressions of a
+most confused description, in which regret and melancholy may be said
+to form no inconsiderable share.
+
+It has been customary for great malefactors to propitiate Divine
+forgiveness by a cruel sort of _penitencia_, which generally takes
+place during the _Semana Santa_. I once chanced to be in the town of
+Tomé[17] on Good Friday, when my attention was arrested by a man
+almost naked, bearing, in imitation of Simon, a huge cross upon his
+shoulders, which, though constructed of the lightest wood, must have
+weighed over a hundred pounds. The long end dragged upon the ground,
+as we have seen it represented in sacred pictures, and about the
+middle swung a stone of immense dimensions, appended there for the
+purpose of making the task more laborious. Not far behind followed
+another equally destitute of clothing, with his whole body wrapped in
+chains and cords, which seemed buried in the [Pg049] muscles, and
+which so cramped and confined him that he was scarcely able to keep
+pace with the procession. The person who brought up the rear presented
+a still more disgusting aspect. He walked along with a patient and
+composed step, while another followed close behind belaboring him
+lustily with a whip, which he flourished with all the satisfaction of
+an amateur; but as the lash was pointed only with a tuft of untwisted
+sea-grass, its application merely served to keep open the wounds upon
+the penitent's {260} back, which had been scarified, as I was
+informed, with the keen edge of a flint, and was bleeding most
+profusely. The blood was kept in perpetual flow by the stimulating
+juice of certain herbs, carried by a third person, into which the
+scourger frequently dipped his lash. Although the actors in this
+tragical farce were completely muffled, yet they were well known to
+many of the by-standers, one of whom assured me that they were three
+of the most notorious rascals in the country. By submitting to this
+species of penance, they annually received complete absolution of
+their past year's sins, and, thus 'purified,' entered afresh on the
+old career of wickedness and crime.
+
+In New Mexico, the institution of marriage changes the legal rights of
+the parties, but it scarcely affects their moral obligations. It is
+usually looked upon as a convenient cloak for irregularities, which
+society less willingly tolerates in the lives of unmarried women. Yet
+when it is considered that the majority of matches are forced and
+ill-assorted, some idea may be formed of the little incitement that is
+given to virtue. There are very few parents who would stoop to consult
+a young lady's wishes before concluding a marriage contract, nor would
+maidens, generally, ever dream of a matrimonial connection unless
+proposed first by the father. The lover's proposals are, upon the same
+principle, made in writing direct to the parents themselves, [Pg050]
+and without the least deference to the wishes or inclinations {261} of
+the young lady whose hand is thus sought in marriage. The tender
+emotions engendered between lovers during walks and rambles along the
+banks of silent streams, are never experienced in this country; for
+the sexes are seldom permitted to converse or be together alone. In
+short, instances have actually occurred when the betrothed couple have
+never seen each other till brought to the altar to be joined in
+wedlock.
+
+Among the humbler classes, there are still more powerful causes
+calculated to produce irregularity of life; not the least of which is
+the enormous fee that must be paid to the curate for tying the
+matrimonial knot. This system of extortion is carried so far as to
+amount very frequently to absolute prohibition: for the means of the
+bridegroom are often insufficient for the exigency of the occasion;
+and the priests seldom consent to join people in wedlock until the
+money has been secured to them. The curates being without control, the
+marriage rates are somewhat irregular, but they usually increase in
+proportion to the character of the ceremonies and to the circumstances
+of the parties. The lowest (about twenty dollars) are adapted to the
+simplest form, solemnized in church at mass; but with the excuse of
+any extra service and ceremonies, particularly if performed at a
+private house, the fees are increased often as high as several hundred
+dollars: I have heard of $500 being paid for a marriage ceremony. The
+following communication, which {262} appeared in a Chihuahua paper
+under the signature of "_Un Ranchero_" affords some illustration of
+the grievances of the plebeians in this respect. Literally translated
+it runs thus:
+
+  "_Messrs. Editors of the Noticioso de Chihuahua:_
+
+  "Permit me, through your paper, to say a few words in print, as
+  those of my pen have been unsuccessfully employed [Pg051] with the
+  _curas_ of Allende and Jimenez, to whom I applied the other day for
+  the purpose of ascertaining their legal charge to marry one of my
+  sons. The following simple and concise answer is all that I have
+  been able to elicit from either of these ecclesiastics:--'_The_
+  _marriage fees are a hundred and nineteen dollars_.' I must confess
+  that I was completely suffocated when I heard this outrageous demand
+  upon my poor purse; and did I not pride myself on being a true
+  Apostolic Roman Catholic, and were it not that the charming graces
+  of my intended daughter-in-law have so captivated my son that
+  nothing but marriage will satisfy him, I would assuredly advise him
+  to contrive some other arrangement with his beloved, which might not
+  be so ruinous to our poor purse; for reflect that $119 are the life
+  and all of a poor ranchero. If nothing else will do, I shall have to
+  sell my few cows (_mis vaquitas_) to help my son out of this
+  difficulty."--The 'Ranchero' then appeals to the Government to
+  remedy such evils, by imposing some salutary restrictions upon the
+  clergy; and concludes by saying, "If this is not done, I will {263}
+  never permit either of my remaining three sons to marry."
+
+This article was certainly an effort of boldness against the
+priesthood, which may have cost the poor 'Ranchero' a sentence of
+ex-communication. Few of his countrymen would venture on a similar act
+of temerity; and at least nine-tenths profess the most profound
+submission to their religious rulers. Being thus bred to look upon
+their priests as infallible and holy samples of piety and virtue, we
+should not be so much surprised at the excesses of the 'flock' when a
+large portion of the _pastores_, the padres themselves, are foremost
+in most of the popular vices of the country: first at the
+fandango--first at the gaming table--first at the cock-pit--first at
+bacchanalian orgies--and [Pg052] by no means last in the contraction
+of those _liaisons_ which are so emphatically prohibited by their
+vows.
+
+The baptismal and burial fees (neither of which can be avoided without
+incurring the charge of heresy) are also a great terror to the
+candidates for married life. "If I marry," says the poor yeoman, "my
+family must go unclad to baptize my children; and if any of them
+should die, we must starve ourselves to pay the burial charges." The
+fee for baptism, it is true, is not so exorbitant, and in accordance
+to custom, is often paid by the _padrino_ or sponsor; but the burial
+costs are almost equally extravagant with those of marriage, varying
+in proportion to the age and {264} circumstances of the deceased. A
+faithful Mexican servant in my employ at Chihuahua, once solicited
+forty dollars to bury his mother. Upon my expressing some surprise at
+the exorbitancy of the amount, he replied--"That is what the cura
+demands, sir, and if I do not pay it my poor mother will remain
+unburied!" Thus this man was obliged to sacrifice several months'
+wages, to pamper the avarice of a vicious and mercenary priest. On
+another occasion, a poor widow in Santa Fé, begged a little medicine
+for her sick child: "Not," said the disconsolate mother, "that the
+life of the babe imports me much, for I know the _angelito_ will go
+directly to heaven; but what shall I do to pay the priest for burying
+it? He will take my house and all from me--and I shall be turned
+desolate into the street!"--and so saying, she commenced weeping
+bitterly.
+
+Indigent parents are thus frequently under the painful necessity of
+abandoning and disowning their deceased children, to avoid the
+responsibility of burial expenses. To this end the corpse is sometimes
+deposited in some niche or corner of the church during the night; and
+upon being [Pg053] found in the morning, the priest is bound to inter
+it gratis, unless the parent can be discovered, in which case the
+latter would be liable to severe castigation, besides being bound to
+pay the expenses.
+
+Children that have not been baptized are destined, according to the
+popular faith, to a kind of negative existence in the world of {265}
+spirits, called _Limbo_, where they remain for ever without either
+suffering punishment or enjoying happiness. Baptized infants, on the
+other hand, being considered without sin, are supposed to enter at
+once into the joys of heaven. The deceased child is then denominated
+an _angelito_ (a little angel), and is interred with joy and mirth
+instead of grief and wailing. It is gaudily bedecked with fanciful
+attire and ornaments of tinsel and flowers; and being placed upon a
+small bier, it is carried to the grave by four children as gaily
+dressed as their circumstances will allow; accompanied by musicians
+using the instruments and playing the tunes of the fandangos; and the
+little procession is nothing but glee and merriment.
+
+In New Mexico the lower classes are very rarely, if ever, buried in
+coffins: the corpse being simply wrapped in a blanket, or some other
+covering, and in that rude attire consigned to its last home. It is
+truly shocking to a sensitive mind to witness the inhuman treatment to
+which the remains of the dead are sometimes subjected. There being
+nothing to indicate the place of the previous graves, it not
+unfrequently happens that the partially decayed relics of a corpse are
+dug up and forced to give place to the more recently deceased, when
+they are again thrown with the earth into the new grave with perfect
+indifference. The operation of filling up the grave especially, is
+particularly repulsive; the earth being pounded down with a large
+maul, {266} as fast as it is thrown in upon the unprotected corpse,
+with a force sufficient to crush a delicate frame to atoms. [Pg054]
+
+As the remains of heretics are not permitted to pollute either the
+church-yard or _Campo Santo_, those Americans who have died in Santa
+Fé, have been buried on a hill which overlooks the town to the
+northward. The corpses have sometimes been disinterred and robbed of
+the shroud in which they were enveloped; so that, on a few occasions,
+it has been deemed expedient to appoint a special watch for the
+protection of the grave.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[11] Religious freedom, and entire separation of church and state,
+were secured in Mexico, after a long and bitter struggle, by the
+constitution of 1873.--ED.
+
+[12] Brantz Mayer (1809-79), a native of Baltimore, Maryland,
+historian and diplomat. In 1843 he was secretary of legation at
+Mexico, and upon his return published _Mexico as it was and as it is_
+(New York, 1844), to which book Gregg here refers. Mayer was the
+author of several other works, both on Mexico and American history,
+and founder of the Maryland Historical Society.--ED.
+
+[13] This is a kind of mantle or loose covering worn by the Indians,
+which, in the present instance, was made of the coarse filaments of a
+species of maguey, and a little resembled the common coffee sacks. The
+painting, as it necessarily must be on such a material, is said to be
+coarse, and represents the Virgin covered with a blue robe bespangled
+with stars.--GREGG.
+
+[14] The accompanying cut represents both sides of a medal of
+"_Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe de Mexico_," of which, as I have been
+informed, 216,000 were struck at Birmingham in the year 1831, designed
+for the Mexican market. Similar medals are worn by nearly nine-tenths
+of the population of Northern Mexico. On one side, as will be seen,
+the Virgin is represented in her star-spangled robe, supported by a
+cherub and the moon under her feet: a design, which, it has been
+suggested, was most probably drawn from Revelation xii. 1. The date,
+"A. 1805," is that perhaps of some one of the innumerable miracles,
+which, according to fame in Mexico, have been wrought by the Virgin
+Guadalupe. The motto, "_Non fecit taliter omni nationi_" (She "hath
+not dealt so with any nation") which is found on the reverse of the
+medal, is extracted from Psalm cxlvii. 20.--GREGG.
+
+[15] This story is apochryphal, since the pueblo was besieged neither
+during the revolt of 1680 nor that of 1696. The pueblo of San Felipe
+is of Queres origin, and was known in the seventeenth century. Its
+first friar was Cristobal Quiñones, who died in 1609. The pueblo was
+faithful to the Spanish, its people killing none of that nation during
+the revolt. It now occupied its fourth site in Sandoval County, at the
+foot of a mesa which is crowned with the ruins of an earlier site. It
+is the southernmost pueblo of Queres stock, and had (1903) a
+population of five hundred and sixteen.--ED.
+
+[16] The Parroquia, or cathedral of Santa Fé, stands upon the site of,
+and partially incorporates the early building of 1627. It is built of
+light brown stone, and flanked by two bell towers.--ED.
+
+[17] Tomé is a town on the east bank of the Rio Grande, some distance
+below Albuquerque. It was at one time the seat of Valencia County, and
+in 1900 had a population of about eight hundred.--ED.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+The Pueblos -- Their Character for Sobriety, Honesty, and Industry --
+  Traditional Descent from Montezuma -- Their Languages -- Former and
+  present Population -- The Pueblo of Pecos -- Singular Habits of that
+  ill-fated Tribe -- Curious Tradition -- Montezuma and the Sun --
+  Legend of a Serpent -- Religion and Government -- Secret Council --
+  Laws and Customs -- Excellent Provisions against Demoralization --
+  Primitive Pastimes of the Pueblos -- Their Architecture -- Singular
+  Structures of Taos, and other novel Fortifications -- Primitive
+  state of the Arts among the Pueblos -- Style of Dress, Weapons, etc.
+  -- Their Diet -- The _Guayave_.
+
+
+Allusion has so frequently been made to the aboriginal tribes of New
+Mexico, known as _Los Pueblos_, that I think I shall not be
+trespassing too much upon the patience of the reader, in glancing
+rapidly at some of the more conspicuous features of their national
+habits and character.
+
+Although the term _Pueblo_ in Spanish literally means the _people_,
+and their _towns_, it is here specifically applied to the
+_Christianized Indians_ (as well as their villages)--to those
+aborigines whom the Spaniards not only subjected to their laws, but to
+an acknowledgment of the Romish faith, and upon whom they forced
+baptism and the cross in exchange for {268} the vast possessions of
+which they robbed them. All that was left them was, to each Pueblo a
+league or two of land situated around their villages, the conquerors
+reserving to themselves at least ninety-nine hundredths of the whole
+domain as a requital for their generosity. [Pg055]
+
+When these regions were first discovered it appears that the
+inhabitants lived in comfortable houses and cultivated the soil, as
+they have continued to do up to the present time. Indeed, they are now
+considered the best horticulturists in the country, furnishing most of
+the fruits and a large portion of the vegetable supplies that are to
+be found in the markets. They were until very lately the only people
+in New Mexico who cultivated the grape. They also maintain at the
+present time considerable herds of cattle, horses, etc. They are, in
+short, a remarkably sober and industrious race, conspicuous for
+morality and honesty, and very little given to quarrelling or
+dissipation, except when they have had much familiar intercourse with
+the Hispano-Mexican population.
+
+Most of these Pueblos call themselves the descendants of Montezuma,
+although it would appear that they could only have been made
+acquainted with the history of that monarch, by the Spaniards; as this
+province is nearly two thousand miles from the ancient kingdom of
+Mexico. At the time of the conquest they must have been a very
+powerful people--numbering near a hundred villages, as existing {269}
+ruins would seem to indicate; but they are now reduced to about
+twenty, which are scattered in various parts of the territory.[18]
+
+There are but three or four different languages spoken among them, and
+these, indeed, may be distantly allied to each other. Those of Taos,
+Picuris, Isleta, and perhaps some others, speak what has been called
+the _Piro_ language. A large portion of the others, viz., those of San
+Juan, Santa [Pg056] Clara, Nambé, Pojuaque, Tezuque, and some others,
+speak _Tegua_, having all been originally known by this general name;
+and those of Cochití, Santo Domingo, San Felipe, and perhaps Sandía,
+speak the same tongue, though they seem formerly to have been
+distinguished as _Queres_. The numerous tribes that inhabited the
+highlands between Rio del Norte and Pecos, as those of Pecos, Ciénega,
+Galisteo, etc., were known anciently as _Tagnos_, but these are now
+all extinct; yet their language is said to be spoken by those of Jemez
+and others of that section. Those further to the westward[19] {270}
+are perhaps allied to the Navajoes. Though all these Pueblos speak
+their native languages among themselves, a great many of them possess
+a smattering of Spanish, sufficient to carry on their intercourse with
+the Mexicans.[20]
+
+The population of these Pueblos will average nearly five hundred souls
+each (though some hardly exceed one hundred), making an aggregate of
+nine or ten thousand. At the time of the original conquest, at the
+close of the sixteenth century, they were, as has been mentioned,
+much, [Pg057] perhaps ten-fold, more numerous.[21] Ancient ruins are
+now to be seen scattered in every quarter of the territory: of some,
+entire stone walls are yet standing, while others are nearly or quite
+obliterated, many of them being now only known by their names which
+history or tradition has preserved to us. Numbers were no doubt
+destroyed during the insurrection of 1680, and the petty internal
+strifes which followed.
+
+Several of these Pueblos have been converted into Mexican villages, of
+which that of _Pecos_ is perhaps the most remarkable instance. What
+with the massacres of the second conquest, and the inroads of the
+Comanches, they gradually dwindled away, till they found themselves
+reduced to about a dozen, comprising all ages and sexes; and it was
+only a few years ago that they abandoned the home of their fathers and
+joined the Pueblo of Jemez.
+
+Many curious tales are told of the singular habits of this ill-fated
+tribe, which must no {271} doubt have tended to hasten its utter
+annihilation. A tradition was prevalent among them that Montezuma had
+kindled a holy fire, and enjoined their ancestors not to suffer it to
+be extinguished until he should return to deliver his people from the
+yoke of the Spaniards. In pursuance of these commands, a constant
+watch had been maintained for ages to prevent the fire from going out;
+and, as tradition further informed them, that Montezuma would appear
+with the sun, the deluded Indians were to be seen every clear morning
+upon the terraced roofs of their houses, attentively watching for the
+appearance of the 'king of light,' in hopes of seeing him 'cheek by
+jowl' with their immortal sovereign. I have [Pg058] myself descended
+into the famous _estufas_, or subterranean vaults, of which there were
+several in the village, and have beheld this consecrated fire,
+silently smouldering under a covering of ashes, in the basin of a
+small altar. Some say that they never lost hope in the final coming of
+Montezuma until, by some accident or other, or a lack of a sufficiency
+of warriors to watch it, the fire became extinguished; and that it was
+this catastrophe that induced them to abandon their villages, as I
+have before observed.
+
+The task of tending the sacred fire was, it is said, allotted to the
+warriors. It is further related, that they took the watch by turns for
+two successive days and nights, without partaking of either food,
+water, or sleep; while some assert, that instead of being restricted
+to {272} two days, each guard continued with the same unbending
+severity of purpose until exhaustion, and very frequently death, left
+their places to be filled by others. A large portion of those who came
+out alive were generally so completely prostrated by the want of
+repose and the inhalation of carbonic gas that they very soon died;
+when, as the vulgar story asseverates, their remains were carried to
+the den of a monstrous serpent, which kept itself in excellent
+condition by feeding upon these delicacies. This huge snake (invented
+no doubt by the lovers of the marvellous to account for the constant
+disappearance of the Indians) was represented as the idol which they
+worshipped, and as subsisting entirely upon the flesh of his devotees:
+live infants, however, seemed to suit his palate best. The story of
+this wonderful serpent was so firmly believed in by many ignorant
+people, that on one occasion I heard an honest ranchero assert, that
+upon entering the village very early on a winter's morning, he saw the
+huge trail of the reptile in the snow, as large as that of a dragging
+ox. [Pg059]
+
+This village, anciently so renowned, lies twenty-five miles eastward
+of Santa Fé, and near the _Rio Pecos_, to which it gave name. Even so
+late as ten years ago, when it contained a population of fifty to a
+hundred souls, the traveller would oftentimes perceive but a solitary
+Indian, a woman, or a child, standing here and there like so many
+statues upon the roofs of their houses, with their eyes fixed on {273}
+the eastern horizon, or leaning against a wall or a fence, listlessly
+gazing at the passing stranger; while at other times not a soul was to
+be seen in any direction, and the sepulchral silence of the place was
+only disturbed by the occasional barking of a dog, or the cackling of
+hens.[22]
+
+No other Pueblo appears to have adopted this extraordinary
+superstition: like Pecos, however, they have all held Montezuma to be
+their perpetual sovereign. It would likewise appear that they all
+worship the sun; for it is asserted to be their regular practice to
+turn the face towards the east at sunrise.[23] They profess the
+Catholic faith, however, of which, nevertheless, they cannot be
+expected to understand anything beyond the formalities; as [Pg060]
+but very few of their Mexican neighbors and teachers can boast of
+more.
+
+Although nominally under the jurisdiction of the federal government,
+as Mexican citizens, many features of their ancient customs are still
+retained, as well in their civil rule as in their religion. Each
+Pueblo is under the control of a _cacique_ or _gobernadorcillo_,
+chosen from among their own sages, and commissioned by the governor of
+New Mexico. The cacique, when any public business is to be transacted,
+collects together the principal chiefs of the Pueblo in an _estufa_,
+or cell, usually under ground, and there lays before them the subjects
+of debate, which are generally settled by the opinion of the majority.
+No Mexican is admitted to these councils, nor do the {274} subjects of
+discussion ever transpire beyond the precincts of the cavern. The
+council has also charge of the interior police and tranquility of the
+village.[24] One of their regulations is to appoint a secret watch for
+the purpose of keeping down disorders and vices of every description,
+and especially to keep an eye over the young men and women of the
+village. When any improper intercourse among them is detected, the
+parties are immediately carried to the council, and the cacique
+intimates to them that they must be wedded forthwith. Should the girl
+be of bad character, and the man, [Pg061] therefore, unwilling to
+marry her, they are ordered to keep separate under penalty of the
+lash. Hence it is, that the females of these Pueblos are almost
+universally noted for their chastity and modest deportment.[25]
+
+They also elect a _capitan de guerra_, a kind of commander-in-chief of
+the warriors, whose office it is to defend their homes and their
+interests both in the field and in the council chamber.[26] Though not
+very warlike, these Pueblos are generally valiant, and well skilled in
+the strategies of Indian warfare; and although they have been branded
+with cruelty and ferocity, yet they can hardly be said to surpass the
+Mexicans in this respect: both, in times of war, pay but little regard
+either to age or sex. I have been told that when the Pueblos return
+from their belligerent expeditions, instead of going directly to their
+homes, they always visit their council cell first. Here {275} they
+undress, dance, and carouse, frequently for two days in succession
+before seeing their families.
+
+Although the Pueblos are famous for hospitality and industry, they
+still continue in the rudest state of ignorance, having neither books
+nor schools among them, as none of their languages have been reduced
+to rules, and very few of their children are ever taught in
+Spanish.[27] A degree of primitiveness characterizes all their
+amusements, which bear a strong similarity to those of the wilder
+tribes. Before the New Mexican government had become so much [Pg062]
+impoverished, there was wont to be held in the capital on the 16th of
+September of every year, a national celebration of the declaration of
+Independence, to which the Pueblos were invited. The warriors and
+youths of each nation with a proportionate array of dusky damsels
+would appear on these occasions, painted and ornamented in accordance
+with their aboriginal customs, and amuse the inhabitants with all
+sorts of grotesque feats and native dances. Each Pueblo generally had
+its particular uniform dress and its particular dance. The men of one
+village would sometimes disguise themselves as elks, with horns on
+their heads, moving on all-fours, and mimicking the animal they were
+attempting to personate. Others would appear in the garb of a turkey,
+with large heavy wings, and strut about in imitation of that bird. But
+the Pecos tribe, already reduced to seven men, always occasioned most
+diversion. {276} Their favorite exploit was, each to put on the skin
+of a buffalo, horns, tail, and all, and thus accoutred scamper about
+through the crowd, to the real or affected terror of all the ladies
+present, and to the great delight of the boys.
+
+The Pueblo villages are generally built with more regularity than
+those of the Mexicans, and are constructed of the same materials as
+were used by them in the most primitive ages. Their dwelling-houses,
+it is true, are not so spacious as those of the Mexicans, containing
+very seldom more than two or three small apartments upon the ground
+floor, without any court-yard, but they have generally a much loftier
+appearance, being frequently two stories high and sometimes more. A
+very curious feature in these buildings, is, that there is most
+generally no direct communication between the street and the lower
+rooms, into which they descend by a trap-door from the upper story,
+the latter being accessible by means of ladders. Even the entrance to
+the upper stories is frequently at the roof. This style of [Pg063]
+building seems to have been adopted for security against their
+marauding neighbors of the wilder tribes, with whom they were often at
+war. When the family had all been housed at night, the ladder was
+drawn up, and the inmates were thus shut up in a kind of fortress,
+which bid defiance to the scanty implements of warfare used by the
+wild Indians.
+
+Though this was their most usual style of architecture, there still
+exists a Pueblo of Taos, {277} composed, for the most part, of but two
+edifices of very singular structure--one on each side of a creek, and
+formerly communicating by a bridge. The base-story is a mass of near
+four hundred feet long, a hundred and fifty wide, and divided into
+numerous apartments, upon which other tiers of rooms are built, one
+above another, drawn in by regular grades, forming a pyramidal pile of
+fifty or sixty feet high, and comprising some six or eight stories.
+The outer rooms only seem to be used for dwellings, and are lighted by
+little windows in the sides, but are entered through trap-doors in the
+_azoteas_ or roofs. Most of the inner apartments are employed as
+granaries and store-rooms, but a spacious hall in the centre of the
+mass, known as the _estufa_, is reserved for their secret councils.
+These two buildings afford habitations, as is said, for over six
+hundred souls.[28] There is likewise an edifice in the Pueblo of
+Picuris[29] of the same class, and some of those of Moqui are also
+said to be similar.
+
+Some of these villages were built upon rocky eminences deemed almost
+inaccessible: witness for instance [Pg064] the ruins of the ancient
+Pueblo of San Felipe, which may be seen towering upon the very verge
+of a precipice several hundred feet high, whose base is washed by the
+swift current of the Rio del Norte. The still existing Pueblo of Acoma
+also stands upon an isolated mound whose whole area is occupied by the
+village, being fringed all around by a precipitous _ceja_ or cliff.
+{278} The inhabitants enter the village by means of ladders, and by
+steps cut into the solid rock upon which it is based.[30]
+
+At the time of the conquest, many of these Pueblos manufactured some
+singular textures of cotton and other materials; but with the loss of
+their liberty, they seem to have lost most of their arts and
+ingenuity; so that the finer specimens of native fabrics are now only
+to be met with among the Moquis and Navajoes, who still retain their
+independence. The Pueblos, however, make some of the ordinary classes
+of blankets and _tilmas_,[31] as well as other woolen stuffs. They
+also manufacture, according to their aboriginal art, both for their
+own consumption, and for the purpose of traffic, a species of
+earthenware not much inferior to the coarse crockery of our common
+potters. The pots made of this material stand fire remarkably well,
+and are the universal substitutes for all the purposes of cookery,
+even among the Mexicans, for the iron castings of this country, which
+are utterly unknown there. Rude as this kind of crockery is, it
+nevertheless evinces a great deal of skill, considering that it is
+made entirely [Pg065] without lathe or any kind of machinery. It is
+often fancifully painted with colored earths and the juice of a plant
+called _guaco_, which brightens by burning. They also work a singular
+kind of wicker-ware, of which some bowls (if they may be so called)
+are so closely platted, {279} that, once swollen by dampness, they
+serve to hold liquids, and are therefore light and convenient vessels
+for the purposes of travellers.[32]
+
+The dress of many of the Pueblos has become assimilated in some
+respects to that of the common Mexicans; but by far the greatest
+portion still retain most of their aboriginal costume. The Taosas and
+others of the north somewhat resemble the prairie tribes in this
+respect; but the Pueblos to the south and west of Santa Fé dress in a
+different style, which is said to be similar in many respects to that
+of the aboriginal inhabitants of the city of Mexico. The moccasin is
+the only part of the prairie suit that appears common to them all, and
+of both sexes. They mostly wear a kind of short breeches and long
+stockings, the use of which they most probably acquired from the
+Spaniards. The _saco_, a species of woollen jacket without sleeves,
+completes their exterior garment; except during inclement seasons,
+when they make use of the tilma. Very few of them have hats or
+head-dress of any kind; and they generally wear their hair
+long--commonly fashioned into a _queue_, wrapped with some colored
+stuff. The squaws of the northern tribes dress pretty much like those
+of the Prairies; but the usual costume of the females of the southern
+and western Pueblos is a handsome kind of small blanket of dark
+color, [Pg066] which is drawn under one arm and tacked over the other
+shoulder, leaving both arms free and naked. It is generally {280} worn
+with a cotton chemise underneath and is bound about the waist with a
+girdle. We rarely if ever see a thorough-bred Pueblo woman in Mexican
+dress.[33]
+
+The weapons most in use among the Pueblos are the bow and arrow, with
+a long-handled lance and occasionally a fusil. The rawhide shield is
+also much used, which, though of but little service against fire-arms,
+serves to ward off the arrow and lance.
+
+The aliment of these Indians is, in most respects, similar to that of
+the Mexicans; in fact, as has been elsewhere remarked, the latter
+adopted with their utensils numerous items of aboriginal diet. The
+_tortilla_, the _atole_, the _pinole_,[34] and many others, together
+with the use of _chile_, are from the Indians. Some of the wilder
+tribes make a peculiar kind of _pinole_, by grinding the bean of the
+mezquite tree into flour, which is then used as that of corn. And
+besides the tortilla they make another singular kind of bread, if we
+may so style it, called _guayave_, a roll of which so much resembles a
+'hornets' nest,' that by strangers it is often designated by this
+title. It is usually made of Indian corn prepared and ground as for
+tortillas, and diluted into a thin paste. {281} I once happened to
+enter an Indian hut where a young girl of the family was baking
+_guayaves_. She was sitting by a fire, over which a large flat stone
+was heating, with a crock of prepared paste by her side. She [Pg067]
+thrust her hand into the paste, and then wiped it over the heated
+stone. What adhered to it was instantly baked and peeled off. She
+repeated this process at the rate of a dozen times or more per minute.
+Observing my curiosity, the girl handed me one of the 'sheets,'
+silently; for she seemed to understand but her native tongue. I found
+it pleasant enough to the taste; though when cold, as I have learned
+by experience, it is, like the cold tortilla, rather tough and
+insipid. They are even thinner than wafers; and some dozens, being
+folded in a roll, constitute the laminate composition before
+mentioned. Being thus preserved, they serve the natives for months
+upon their journeys.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[18] On the subject of Pueblo Indians, consult T. Donaldson, _Moqui
+Pueblo Indians of Arizona and Pueblo Indians of New Mexico_
+(Washington, 1893), extra bulletin of eleventh census; John T. Short,
+North _Americans of Antiquity_ (New York, 1880); A. F. A. Bandelier,
+Archæological Institute of America _Papers_, American Series, i-iv; N.
+O. G. Nordenskiold, _Cliff-dwellers of the Mesa Verde_ (Chicago and
+Stockholm, 1893); C. F. Lummis, _Land of Poco Tiempo_ (New York,
+1893).--ED.
+
+[19] Of these, the Pueblo of Zuñi has been celebrated for honesty and
+hospitality. The inhabitants mostly profess the Catholic faith, but
+have now no curate. They cultivate the soil, manufacture, and possess
+considerable quantities of stock. Their village is over 150 miles west
+of the Rio del Norte, on the waters of the Colorado of the West, and
+is believed to contain between 1,000 and 1,500 souls. The "seven
+Pueblos of Moqui" (as they are called) are a similar tribe living a
+few leagues beyond. They formerly acknowledged the government and
+religion of the Spaniards, but have long since rejected both, and live
+in a state of independence and paganism. Their dwellings, however,
+like those of Zuñi, are similar to those of the interior Pueblos, and
+they are equally industrious and agricultural, and still more
+ingenious in their manufacturing. The language of the _Moquis_ or
+_Moquinos_ is said to differ but little from that of the
+Navajoes.--GREGG.
+
+_Comment by Ed._ For the Moki (properly Hopi), see Pattie's
+_Narrative_, in our volume xviii, p. 130, note 64. The articles by
+Frank H. Cushing in American Bureau of Ethnology _Reports_ first
+directed attention to the Zuñi; consult also Bandelier, "Outline of
+Documentary History of Zuñi Tribe," in _Journal of American Ethnology
+and Archæology_ (Boston, 1891-94), iii.
+
+[20] On the linguistic stocks of the pueblos, consult our volume xix,
+p. 266, note 90 (Gregg).--ED.
+
+[21] Bandelier, "Final Report," Archæological Institute of America
+_Papers_, American Series, iii, pp. 121-136, considers the pueblo
+population at the time of the Spanish conquest to have been about
+twenty-five thousand. The present population of New Mexican pueblos,
+exclusive of the Moki, is about nine thousand.--ED.
+
+[22] The pueblo of Pecos was situated thirty miles southeast of Santa
+Fé, and at the close of the seventeenth century had a population of
+two thousand, being the largest pueblo in either New Mexico or
+Arizona. It was visited as early as 1540 by Alvarado, a lieutenant of
+Coronado. In 1598, the inhabitants rendered submission to Oñate, and a
+mission was established among them for which a large church was built
+in the seventeenth century, its ruins being still conspicuous. In the
+revolt of 1680 the Pecos remained neutral; but soon thereafter decline
+in numbers set in, and by 1837 but eighteen adults were left. A fever
+swept away the majority of these, when in 1840 the remnant of five men
+sold their lands to the government, and retired to their kinsmen at
+Jemez. A son of the tribe was found in 1880 among the Mexicans of the
+village of Pecos, a small, comparatively modern town. Bandelier
+discredits the Montezuma myth, which he considers a Spanish-Mexican
+importation. See Archæological Institute of America _Papers_, American
+Series, i, pp. 110-125. He found among the ruins, however, evidences
+of the existence of the sacred fire.--ED.
+
+[23] The Pueblo Indians still cling to many features of aboriginal
+worship. The sun-father and moon-mother are revered--not the orbs
+themselves, but the spiritual beings residing therein. Consult on this
+subject, Bandelier, _op. cit._, iii, pp. 276-316.--ED.
+
+[24] The office of the cacique is in essence religious; but as
+religion is interwoven with the entire life of the Pueblos, he is in a
+sense a civil official as well. He is chosen because of fitness,
+frequently on the nomination of his predecessor, and his education in
+the mysteries and secrets of his people is exacting. The office is for
+life, unless terminated by improper behavior, when the cacique may be
+deposed. The candidate sometimes declines the office because of the
+severity of the duties, which involve much fasting and abnegation.
+
+The _estufa_ is not always subterranean. It originated before the
+introduction of Christian family life, in a common home for the male
+members of the pueblo. It has become the council house of the tribe.
+Some pueblos contain more than one; unless rites are in progress, it
+is a bare, rude room usually unornamented. For details, consult John
+G. Bourke, _Snake Dance of the Moquis of Arizona_ (New York,
+1884).--ED.
+
+[25] Matrimonial relations among these people have been much modified
+by the introduction of Christianity, and the requirements of the
+friars, so that the monogamous family is now the rule among the
+sedentary Indians; although there are still in force certain clan
+restrictions in the choice of the mate.--ED.
+
+[26] Although the Pueblos have, since the subjugation of the Apache,
+engaged in no wars, a war-captain is each year selected by the
+cacique, who has, as Gregg relates, certain protective and religious
+functions.--ED.
+
+[27] Primary schools were established for several pueblos, about 1872,
+but met with opposition from priests, who did not desire Indian
+children to learn English. There are in the territory at present
+(1903), about eighteen day-schools, and two industrial boarding
+schools.--ED.
+
+[28] For a brief sketch of the history of Taos, see our volume xviii,
+p. 73, note 44. The Taos communal architecture is of the primitive
+type; after the Spanish conquest, the separate houses of the other
+pueblos were gradually adopted.--ED.
+
+[29] Picuries is one of the northern group. Like Taos, it is of Tiguan
+stock, and participated in the history of the region, being visited by
+one of Coronado's party in 1540. It yielded to Oñate in 1598, took
+part in the revolts of 1680 and 1696, and in the uprising against the
+Americans in 1848. The pueblo was formerly much larger than at
+present, its population now consisting of only about a hundred poor
+and rather unprogressive Indians. It is in Taos County about seventy
+miles north of Santa Fé.--ED.
+
+[30] Acoma is a Queres pueblo, built upon a cliff, about seventy miles
+southwest of Santa Fé, in Valencia County. Because of its
+inaccessibility, and the charm of its situation, it has been much
+noted. Coronado described it in his journey of 1540--see George P.
+Winship, _Journey of Coronado_ (New York, 1904); and here a great
+battle was fought between Spaniards and Acomans in 1599. The pueblo
+took part in the revolts of 1680 and 1696; but has since lived
+quietly, and has at present a population of about six hundred.--ED.
+
+[31] The _tilma_ of the North is a sort of small but durable blanket,
+worn by the Indians as a mantle.--GREGG.
+
+[32] Recent authorities do not consider the decline of domestic arts a
+sign of deterioration among the Pueblos. They taught the Navaho to
+weave, and now purchase blankets from the latter. Pottery is still
+manufactured among the New Mexican pueblos. See on these subjects
+Washington Matthews, "Navaho Weavers," in U. S. Bureau of Ethnology
+_Report_, 1881-82, pp. 371-391; and William H. Holmes, "Pottery of the
+Ancient Pueblos," _ibid._, 1882-83, pp. 265-358.--ED.
+
+[33] The Pueblos still retain their native dress, which is
+picturesque, healthful, convenient, and often relatively costly--a
+woman's costume sometimes being worth as much as twenty-five
+dollars.--ED.
+
+[34] _Pinole_ is in effect the _cold-flour_ of our hunters. It is the
+meal of parched Indian corn, prepared for use by stirring it up with a
+little cold water. This food seems also to have been of ancient use
+among the aborigines of other parts of America. Father Charlevoix, in
+1721, says of the savages about the northern lakes, that they "reduce
+[the maize] to Flour which they call _Farine froide_ (cold Flour), and
+this is the best Provision that can be made for Travellers."--GREGG.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+The wild Tribes of New Mexico -- Speculative Theories -- Clavigero and
+  the _Azteques_ -- Pueblo Bonito and other Ruins -- Probable
+  Relationship between the _Azteques_ and tribes of New Mexico -- The
+  several Nations of this Province -- _Navajóes_ and _Azteques_ --
+  Manufactures of the former -- Their Agriculture, Religion, etc. --
+  Mexican Cruelty to the Indians and its Consequences -- Inroads of
+  the Navajóes -- Exploits of a Mexican Army -- How to make a Hole in
+  a Powder-keg -- The _Apaches_ and their Character -- Their Food --
+  Novel Mode of settling Disputes -- Range of their marauding
+  Excursions -- Indian Traffic and imbecile Treaties -- Devastation of
+  the Country -- Chihuahua Rodomontades -- Juan José, a celebrated
+  Apache Chief, and his tragical End, etc. -- Massacre of Americans in
+  Retaliation -- A tragical Episode -- _Proyecto de Guerra_ and a
+  'gallant' Display -- The _Yutas_ and their Hostilities -- A personal
+  Adventure with them, but no blood shed -- Jicarillas.
+
+
+All the Indians of New Mexico not denominated Pueblos--not professing
+the Christian religion--are ranked as _wild tribes_, although these
+include some who have made great advances in arts, manufactures and
+agriculture. Those who are at all acquainted with the ancient history
+of Mexico, will recollect that, according to the traditions of the
+aborigines, all the principal tribes of Anahuac descended from the
+North: and that those of Mexico, especially [Pg068] the Azteques,
+emigrated {283} from the north of California, or northwest of New
+Mexico. Clavigero, the famous historian heretofore alluded to,[35]
+speaking of this emigration, observes, that the _Azteques_, or Mexican
+Indians, who were the last settlers in the country of Anahuac, lived
+until about the year 1160 of the Christian era in Aztlan, a country
+situated to the north of the Gulf of California; as is inferred from
+the route of their peregrinations, and from the information afterwards
+acquired by the Spaniards in their expeditions through those
+countries. He then proceeds to show by what incentives they were
+probably induced to abandon their native land; adding that whatever
+may have been the motive, no doubt can possibly exist as to the
+journey's having actually been performed. He says that they travelled
+in a southeastwardly direction towards the Rio Gila, where they
+remained for some time--the ruins of their edifices being still to be
+seen, upon its banks. They then struck out for a point over two
+hundred and fifty miles to the northwest of Chihuahua in about 29° of
+N. latitude, where they made another halt. This place is known by the
+name of _Casas Grandes_[36] (big houses), on account of a large
+edifice which still stands on the spot, and which, according to the
+general tradition of those regions, was erected by the Mexican
+Indians, during their [Pg069] wanderings. The building is constructed
+after the plan of those in New Mexico, with three stories, covered
+with an _azotea_ or terrace, and without door or entrance {284} into
+the lower story. A hand ladder is also used as a means of
+communication with the second story.
+
+Even allowing that the traditions upon which Clavigero founded his
+theoretical deductions are vague and uncertain, there is sufficient
+evidence in the ruins that still exist to show that those regions were
+once inhabited by a far more enlightened people than are now to be
+found among the aborigines. Of such character are the ruins of _Pueblo
+Bonito_, in the direction of Navajó, on the borders of the
+Cordilleras; the houses being generally built of slabs of fine-grit
+sand-stone, a material utterly unknown in the present architecture of
+the North.[37] Although some of these structures are very massive and
+spacious, they are generally cut up into small irregular rooms, many
+of which yet remain entire, being still covered, with the _vigas_ or
+joists remaining nearly sound under the _azoteas_ of earth; and yet
+their age is such that there is no tradition which gives any account
+of their origin. But there have been no images or sculptured work of
+any kind found about them. Besides these, many other ruins (though
+none so perfect) are scattered over the plains and among the
+mountains. What is very remarkable is, that a portion of them are
+situated at a great distance from any water; so that the inhabitants
+must have depended entirely upon rain, as is the case with the Pueblo
+of Acoma at the present day.
+
+The general appearance of Pueblo Bonito, {285} as well as that of the
+existing buildings of Moqui in the [Pg070] same mountainous regions,
+and other Pueblos of New Mexico, resembles so closely the ruins of
+Casas Grandes, that we naturally come to the conclusion that the
+founders of each must have descended from the same common stock. The
+present difference between their language and that of the Indians of
+Mexico, when we take into consideration the ages that have passed away
+since their separation, hardly presents any reasonable objection to
+this hypothesis.
+
+The principal wild tribes which inhabit or extend their incursions or
+peregrinations upon the territory of New Mexico, are the _Navajóes_,
+the _Apaches_, the _Yutas_, the _Caiguas_ or Kiawas, and the
+_Comanches_.[38] Of the latter I will speak in another place. The two
+first are from one and the same original stock, there being, even at
+the present day, no very important difference in their language. The
+Apaches are divided into numerous petty tribes, of one of which an
+insignificant band, called Jicarillas, inhabiting the mountains north
+of Taos, is an isolated and miserable remnant.[39]
+
+The _Navajóes_ are supposed to number about 10,000 souls, and though
+not the most numerous, they are certainly the most important, at least
+in a historical point of view, of all the northern tribes of Mexico.
+They reside in the main range of Cordilleras, 150 to 200 miles west of
+Santa Fé, on the waters of Rio Colorado of California, not far from
+the region, according to historians, from whence the [Pg071] {286}
+Azteques emigrated to Mexico; and there are many reasons to suppose
+them direct descendants from the remnant, which remained in the North,
+of this celebrated nation of antiquity. Although they mostly live in
+rude _jacales_, somewhat resembling the wigwams of the Pawnees, yet,
+from time immemorial, they have excelled all others in their original
+manufactures: and, as well as the Moquis, they are still distinguished
+for some exquisite styles of cotton textures, and display considerable
+ingenuity in embroidering with feathers the skins of animals,
+according to their primitive practice. They now also manufacture a
+singular species of blanket, known as the _Sarape Navajó_, which is of
+so close and dense a texture that it will frequently hold water almost
+equal to gum-elastic cloth. It is therefore highly prized for
+protection against the rains. Some of the finer qualities are often
+sold among the Mexicans as high as fifty or sixty dollars each.
+
+Notwithstanding the present predatory and somewhat unsettled habits of
+the Navajóes, they cultivate all the different grains and vegetables
+to be found in New Mexico. They also possess extensive herds of
+horses, mules, cattle, sheep and goats of their own raising, which are
+generally celebrated as being much superior to those of the Mexicans;
+owing, no doubt, to greater attention to the improvement of their
+stocks.
+
+Though Baron Humboldt[40] tells us that some missionaries were
+established among this tribe {287} prior to the general massacre of
+1680, but few attempts to christianize them have since been made. They
+now remain in a state of primitive paganism--and not only independent
+of the Mexicans, but their most formidable enemies.[41] [Pg072]
+
+After the establishment of the national independence, the
+government of New Mexico greatly embittered the disposition of the
+neighboring savages, especially the Navajoes, by repeated acts of
+cruelty and ill-faith well calculated to provoke hostilities. On one
+occasion, a party consisting of several chiefs and warriors of the
+Navajoes assembled at the Pueblo of Cochiti,[42] by invitation of the
+government, to celebrate a treaty of peace; when the New Mexicans,
+exasperated no doubt by the remembrance of former outrages, fell upon
+them unawares and put them all to death. It is also related, that
+about the same period, three Indians from the northern mountains
+having been brought as prisoners into Taos, they were peremptorily
+demanded by the Jicarillas, who were their bitterest enemies; when the
+Mexican authorities, dreading the resentment of this tribe, quietly
+complied with the barbarous request, suffering the prisoners to be
+butchered in cold blood before their very eyes! No wonder, then, that
+the New Mexicans are so generally warred upon by their savage
+neighbors.
+
+About fifteen years ago, the Navajoes were subjected by the energy of
+Col. Vizcarra, who succeeded in keeping them in submission for {288}
+some time; but since that officer's departure from New Mexico, no man
+has been [Pg073] found of sufficient capacity to inspire this daring
+tribe either with respect or fear; so that for the last ten years they
+have ravaged the country with impunity, murdering and destroying just
+as the humor happened to prompt them. When the spring of the year
+approaches, terms of peace are generally proposed to the government at
+Santa Fé, which the latter never fails to accept. This amicable
+arrangement enables the wily Indians to sow their crops at leisure,
+and to dispose of the property stolen from the Mexicans during their
+marauding incursions, to advantage; but the close of their
+agricultural labors is generally followed by a renewal of hostilities,
+and the game of rapine and destruction is played over again.
+
+Towards the close of 1835, a volunteer corps, which most of the
+leading men in New Mexico joined, was raised for the purpose of
+carrying war into the territory of the Navajoes. The latter hearing of
+their approach, and anxious no doubt to save them the trouble of so
+long a journey, mustered a select band of their warriors, who went
+forth to intercept the invaders in a mountain pass, where they lay
+concealed in an ambuscade. The valiant corps, utterly unconscious of
+the reception that awaited them, soon came jogging along in scattered
+groups, indulging in every kind of boisterous mirth; when the
+war-whoop, loud and shrill, followed by several shots, threw them all
+into a state of speechless consternation. {289} Some tumbled off their
+horses with fright, others fired their muskets at random: a terrific
+panic had seized everybody, and some minutes elapsed before they could
+recover their senses sufficiently to betake themselves to their heels.
+Two or three persons were killed in this ridiculous engagement, the
+most conspicuous of whom was a Capt. Hinófos, who commanded the
+regular troops.[43] [Pg074]
+
+A very curious but fully authentic anecdote may not be
+inappropriately inserted here, in which this individual was concerned.
+On one occasion, being about to start on a belligerent expedition, he
+directed his orderly-sergeant to fill a powder-flask from an
+unbroached keg of twenty-five pounds. The sergeant, having bored a
+hole with a gimlet, and finding that the powder issued too slowly,
+began to look about for something to enlarge the aperture, when his
+eyes haply fell upon an iron poker which lay in a corner of the
+fire-place. To heat the poker and apply it to the hole in the keg was
+the work of but a few moments; when an explosion took place which blew
+the upper part of the building into the street, tearing and shattering
+everything else to atoms. Miraculous as their escape may appear, the
+sergeant, as well as the captain who witnessed the whole operation,
+remained more frightened than hurt, although they were both very
+severely scorched and bruised. This ingenious sergeant was afterwards
+Secretary of State to Gov. Gonzalez, of revolutionary {290}
+memory,[44] and has nearly ever since held a clerkship in some of the
+offices of state, but is now captain in the regular army.
+
+I come now to speak of the _Apaches_, the most extensive and powerful,
+yet the most vagrant of all the savage nations that inhabit the
+interior of Northern Mexico. They are supposed to number some fifteen
+thousand souls, although they are subdivided into various petty bands,
+and scattered over an immense tract of country. Those that are found
+east of the Rio del Norte are generally known as _Mezcaleros_, on
+account of an article of food much in use among them, called
+_mezcal_,[45] but by far the greatest portion of the nation is located
+in the west, and is mostly known by the sobriquet [Pg075] of
+_Coyoteros_, in consequence, it is said, of their eating the _coyote_
+or prairie-wolf.[46] The Apaches are perhaps more given to itinerant
+habits than any other tribe in Mexico. They never construct houses,
+but live in the ordinary wigwam, or tent of skins and blankets. They
+manufacture nothing--cultivate nothing: they seldom resort to the
+chase, as their country is destitute of game--but depend almost
+entirely upon pillage for the support of their immense population,
+some two or three thousand of which are warriors.
+
+For their food, the Apaches rely chiefly upon the flesh of the cattle
+and sheep they can steal from the Mexican ranchos and haciendas. They
+are said, however, to be more fond of {291} the meat of the mule than
+that of any other animal. I have seen about encampments which they had
+recently left, the remains of mules that had been slaughtered for
+their consumption. Yet on one occasion I saw their whole trail, for
+many miles, literally strewed with the carcasses of these animals,
+which, it was evident, had not been killed for this purpose. It is the
+practice of the Apache chiefs, as I have understood, whenever a
+dispute arises betwixt their warriors relative to the ownership of any
+particular animal, to kill the brute at once, though it be the most
+valuable of the drove; and so check all further cavil. It was to be
+inferred from the number of dead mules they left behind them, that the
+most harmonious relations could not have existed between the members
+of the tribe, at least during this period of their journeyings. Like
+most of the savage tribes of North America, the Apaches are
+passionately fond of spirituous liquors, and may frequently be seen,
+in times [Pg076] of peace, lounging about the Mexican villages, in a
+state of helpless inebriety.
+
+The range of this marauding tribe extends over some portions of
+California, most of Sonora, the frontiers of Durango, and at certain
+seasons it even reaches Coahuila: Chihuahua, however, has been the
+mournful theatre of their most constant depredations. Every nook and
+corner of this once flourishing state has been subjected to their
+inroads. Such is the imbecility of the local governments, that the
+savages, in order to dispose of {292} their stolen property without
+even a shadow of molestation, frequently enter into partial treaties
+of peace with one department, while they continue to wage a war of
+extermination against the neighboring states. This arrangement
+supplies them with an ever-ready market, for the disposal of their
+booty and the purchase of munitions wherewith to prosecute their work
+of destruction. In 1840, I witnessed the departure from Santa Fé of a
+large trading party freighted with engines of war and a great quantity
+of whiskey, intended for the Apaches in exchange for mules and other
+articles of plunder which they had stolen from the people of the
+south. This traffic was not only tolerated but openly encouraged by
+the civil authorities, as the highest public functionaries were
+interested in its success--the governor himself not excepted.
+
+The Apaches, now and then, propose a truce to the government of
+Chihuahua, which is generally accepted very nearly upon their own
+terms. It has on some occasions been included that the marauders
+should have a _bonâ fide_ right to all their stolen property. A
+_venta_ or quit-claim brand, has actually been marked by the
+government upon large numbers of mules and horses which the Indians
+had robbed from the citizens. It is hardly necessary to add that these
+truces have rarely been observed by the wily savages longer than
+[Pg077] the time necessary for the disposal of their plunder. As soon
+as more mules were needed for service or for traffic--more cattle for
+beef--more {293} scalps for the war-dance--they would invariably
+return to their deeds of ravage and murder.
+
+The depredations of the Apaches have been of such long duration, that,
+beyond the immediate purlieus of the towns, the whole country from New
+Mexico to the borders of Durango is almost entirely depopulated. The
+haciendas and ranchos have been mostly abandoned, and the people
+chiefly confined to towns and cities. To such a pitch has the temerity
+of those savages reached, that small bands of three or four warriors
+have been known to make their appearance within a mile of the city of
+Chihuahua in open day, killing the laborers and driving off whole
+herds of mules and horses without the slightest opposition.
+Occasionally a detachment of troops is sent in pursuit of the
+marauders, but for no other purpose, it would seem, than to illustrate
+the imbecility of the former, as they are always sure to make a
+precipitate retreat, generally without even obtaining a glimpse of the
+enemy.[47] And yet the columns of a little weekly sheet published in
+Chihuahua always teem with flaming accounts of prodigious feats of
+valor performed by the 'army of operations' against _los bárbaros_:
+showing how "the enemy was pursued with all possible vigor"--how the
+soldiers "displayed the greatest {294} bravery, and the most
+unrestrainable desire to overhaul the dastards," and by what
+extraordinary combinations of adverse circumstances they were
+"compelled to relinquish the pursuit." Indeed, it would be difficult
+to find a braver race of people than the [Pg078] _Chihuahueños_[48]
+contrive to make themselves appear upon paper. When intelligence was
+received in Chihuahua of the famous skirmish with the French, at Vera
+Cruz, in which Santa Anna acquired the glory of losing a leg,[49] the
+event was celebrated with uproarious demonstrations of joy; and the
+next number of the _Noticioso_[50] contained a valiant fanfaronade,
+proclaiming to the world the astounding fact, that one Mexican was
+worth four French soldiers in battle: winding up with a "_Cancion
+Patriótica_," of which the following exquisite verse was the
+_refrain_:
+
+  "_Chihuahuenses, la Patria gloriosa_
+  _Otro timbre á su lustre ha añadido;_
+  _Pues la_, ıuʌıɔʇɐ lɐ פɐlıɐ ıupoɯɐqlǝ
+  AL VALOR MEXICANO _ha cedido_."
+
+Literally translated:
+
+  Chihuahuenses! our glorious country
+  Another ray has added to her lustre;
+  For the _invincible, indomitable Gallia_
+  Has succumbed to Mexican valor.
+
+By the inverted letters of "_invicta, la Galia indomable_," in the
+third line, the poet gives {295} the world to understand that the
+kingdom of the Gauls had at length been whirled topsy-turvy, by the
+glorious achievements of _el valor Mexicano_!
+
+From what has been said of the ravages of the Apaches, one would be
+apt to believe them an exceedingly brave people; but the Mexicans
+themselves call them cowards when compared with the Comanches; and we
+are wont to look upon the latter as perfect specimens of poltroonery
+when brought [Pg079] in conflict with the Shawnees, Delawares, and
+the rest of our border tribes.[51]
+
+There was once a celebrated chief called Juan José at the head of this
+tribe, whose extreme cunning and audacity caused his name to be
+dreaded throughout the country. What contributed more than anything
+else to render him a dangerous enemy, was the fact of his having
+received a liberal education at Chihuahua, which enabled him, when he
+afterwards rejoined his tribe, to outwit his pursuers, and, by robbing
+the mails, to acquire timely information of every expedition that was
+set on foot against him. The following account of the massacre in
+which he fell may not be altogether uninteresting to the reader.
+
+The government of Sonora, desirous to make some efforts to check the
+depredations of the Apaches, issued a proclamation, giving a sort of
+_carte blanche_ patent of 'marque and reprisal,' and declaring all the
+booty that might be taken from the savages to be the rightful property
+of the captors. Accordingly, in the {296} spring of 1837, a party of
+some 20 men composed chiefly of foreigners, spurred on by the love of
+gain, and never doubting but the Indians, after so many years of
+successful robberies, must be possessed of a vast amount of property,
+set out with an American as their commander, who had long resided in
+the country.[52] In a few days they reached a _ranchería_ of about
+fifty warriors with their families, among whom was the [Pg080] famous
+Juan José himself, and three other principal chiefs. On seeing the
+Americans advance, the former at once gave them to understand, that,
+if they had come to fight, they were ready to accommodate them; but on
+being assured by the leader, that they were merely bent on a trading
+expedition, a friendly interview was immediately established between
+the parties. The American captain having determined to put these
+obnoxious chiefs to death under any circumstances, soon caused a
+little field-piece which had been concealed from the Indians to be
+loaded with chain and canister shot, and to be held in readiness for
+use. The warriors were then invited to the camp to receive a present
+of flour, which was placed within range of the cannon. While they were
+occupied in dividing the contents of the bag, they were fired upon and
+a considerable number of their party killed on the spot! The remainder
+were then attacked with small arms, and about twenty slain, including
+Juan José and the other chiefs. Those who escaped became afterwards
+their own avengers in a {297} manner which proved terribly disastrous
+to another party of Americans, who happened at the time to be trapping
+on Rio Gila not far distant. The enraged savages resolved to take
+summary vengeance upon these unfortunate trappers; and falling upon
+them, massacred them every one![53] They were in all, including
+several Mexicans, about fifteen in number.[54] [Pg081]
+
+The projector of this scheme had probably been under the
+impression that treachery was justifiable against a treacherous enemy.
+He also believed, no doubt, that the act would be highly commended by
+the Mexicans who had suffered so much from the depredations of these
+notorious chiefs. But in this he was sadly mistaken; for the affair
+was received with general reprehension, although the Mexicans had been
+guilty of similar deeds themselves, as the following brief episode
+will sufficiently show.
+
+In the summer of 1839, a few Apache prisoners, among whom was the wife
+of a distinguished {298} chief, were confined in the calabozo of Paso
+del Norte. The bereaved chief, hearing of their captivity, collected a
+band of about sixty warriors, and, boldly entering the town, demanded
+the release of his consort and friends. The commandant of the place
+wishing to gain time, desired them to return the next morning, when
+their request would be granted. During the night the forces of the
+country were concentrated; notwithstanding, when the Apaches
+reappeared, the troops did not show their faces, but remained
+concealed, while the Mexican commandant strove to beguile the Indians
+into the prison, under pretence of delivering to them their friends.
+The unsuspecting chief and twenty others were entrapped in this
+manner, and treacherously dispatched in cold blood: not, however,
+without some loss to the Mexicans, who had four or five of their men
+killed in the fracas. Among these was the commandant himself, who had
+no sooner given the word, "_¡Maten á los carajos!_" (kill the
+scoundrels!) than the chief retorted, [Pg082] "_¡Entónces morirás tu
+primero, carajo!_" (then you shall die first, carajo!) and immediately
+stabbed him to the heart!
+
+But as New Mexico is more remote from the usual haunts of the Apaches,
+and, in fact, as her scanty ranchos present a much less fruitful field
+for their operations than the abundant haciendas of the South, the
+depredations of this tribe have extended but little upon that
+province. The only serious incursion that has come within my
+knowledge, was some ten {299} years ago. A band of Apache warriors
+boldly approached the town of Socorro[55] on the southern border, when
+a battle ensued between them and the Mexican force, composed of a
+company of regular troops and all the militia of the place. The
+Mexicans were soon completely routed and chased into the very streets,
+suffering a loss of thirty-three killed and several wounded. The
+savages bore away their slain, yet their loss was supposed to be but
+six or seven. I happened to be in the vicinity of the catastrophe the
+following day, when the utmost consternation prevailed among the
+inhabitants, who were in hourly expectation of another descent from
+the savages.
+
+Many schemes have been devised from time to time, particularly by the
+people of Chihuahua, to check the ravages of the Indians, but
+generally without success. Among these the notorious _Proyecto de
+Guerra_, adopted in 1837, stands most conspicuous. By this famous
+'war-project' a scale of rewards was established, to be paid out of a
+fund raised for that purpose. A hundred dollars reward were offered
+for the scalp of a full grown man, fifty for that of a squaw, and
+twenty-five for that of every papoose! To the credit of the republic,
+however, this barbarous _proyecto_ was in operation but a few weeks,
+and [Pg083] never received the sanction of the general government;
+although it was strongly advocated by some of the most intelligent
+citizens of Chihuahua. Yet, pending its existence, it was rigidly
+complied with. I saw myself, on one {300} occasion, a detachment of
+horsemen approach the Palacio in Chihuahua, preceded by their
+commanding officer, who bore a fresh scalp upon the tip of his lance,
+which he waved high in the air in exultation of his exploit! The next
+number of our little newspaper contained the official report of the
+affair. The soldiers were pursuing a band of Apaches, when they
+discovered a squaw who had lagged far behind in her endeavors to bear
+away her infant babe. They dispatched the mother without commiseration
+and took her scalp, which was the one so 'gallantly' displayed as
+already mentioned! The officer concluded his report by adding, that
+the child had died not long after it was made prisoner.
+
+The _Yutas_ (or _Eutaws_, as they are generally styled by Americans)
+are one of the most extensive nations of the West, being scattered
+from the north of New Mexico to the borders of Snake river and Rio
+Colorado, and numbering at least ten thousand souls. The habits of the
+tribe are altogether itinerant. A band of about a thousand spend their
+winters mostly in the mountain valleys northward of Taos, and the
+summer season generally in the prairie plains to the east, hunting
+buffalo. The vernacular language of the Yutas is said to be distantly
+allied to that of the Navajoes, but it has appeared to me much more
+guttural, having a deep sepulchral sound resembling ventriloquism.
+Although these Indians are nominally at peace with the New Mexican
+government, they do not hesitate to lay {301} the hunters and traders
+who happen to fall in with their scouring parties under severe
+contributions; and on some occasions they have been known to proceed
+[Pg084] even to personal violence. A prominent Mexican officer[56] was
+scourged not long ago by a party of Yutas, and yet the government has
+never dared to resent the outrage. Their hostilities, however, have
+not been confined to Mexican traders, as will be perceived by the
+sequel.
+
+In the summer of 1837, a small party of but five or six Shawnees fell
+in with a large band of Yutas near the eastern borders of the Rocky
+Mountains, south of Arkansas river. At first they were received with
+every demonstration of friendship; but the Yutas, emboldened no doubt
+by the small number of their visitors, very soon concluded to relieve
+them of whatever surplus property they might be possessed of. The
+Shawnees, however, much to the astonishment of the marauders, instead
+of quietly surrendering their goods and chattels, offered to defend
+them; upon which a skirmish ensued that actually cost the Yutas
+several of their men, including a favorite chief; while the Shawnees
+made their escape unhurt toward their eastern homes.
+
+A few days after this event, and while the Yutas were still bewailing
+the loss of their people, I happened to pass near their _rancherías_
+(temporary village) with a small caravan which mustered about
+thirty-five men. We {302} had hardly pitched our camp, when they began
+to flock about us--men, squaws, and papooses--in great numbers; but
+the warriors were sullen and reserved, only now and then muttering a
+curse upon the Americans on account of the treatment they had just
+received from the Shawnees, whom they considered as half-castes, and
+our allies. All of a sudden, a young warrior seized a splendid steed
+which belonged to our party, and, leaping upon his back, galloped
+[Pg085] off at full speed. Being fully convinced that, by acquiescing
+in this outrage, we should only encourage them to commit others, we
+resolved at once to make a peremptory demand for the stolen horse of
+their principal chief. Our request being treated with contumely, we
+sent in a warlike declaration, and forthwith commenced making
+preparations for descending upon the _rancherías_. The war-whoop
+resounded immediately in every direction; and as the Yutas bear a very
+high character for bravery and skill, the readiness with which they
+seemed to accept our challenge began to alarm our party considerably.
+We had defied them to mortal combat merely by way of bravado, without
+the least expectation that they would put themselves to so much
+inconvenience on our account. It was too late, however, to back out of
+the scrape.
+
+No sooner had the alarm been given than the _rancherías_ of the
+Indians were converted into a martial encampment; and while the
+mounted warriors were exhibiting their preliminary {303} feats of
+horsemanship, the squaws and papooses flew like scattered partridges
+to the rocks and clefts of a contiguous precipice. One-third of our
+party being Mexicans, the first step of the Indians was to proclaim a
+general _indulto_ to them, in hopes of reducing our force, scanty as
+it was already. "My Mexican friends," exclaimed in good Spanish, a
+young warrior who daringly rode up within a few rods of us, "we don't
+wish to hurt _you_; so leave those Americans, for we intend to kill
+every one of _them_." The Mexicans of our party to whom this language
+was addressed, being rancheros of some mettle, only answered, "_Al
+diablo_! we have not forgotten how you treat us when you catch us
+alone: now that we are with Americans who will defend their rights,
+expect ample [Pg086] retaliation for past insults." In truth, these
+rancheros seemed the most anxious to begin the fight,--a remarkable
+instance of the effects of confidence in companions.
+
+A crisis seemed now fast approaching: two swivels we had with us were
+levelled and primed, and the matches lighted. Every man was at his
+post, with his rifle ready for execution, each anxious to do his best,
+whatever might be the result; when the Indians, seeing us determined
+to embrace the chances of war, began to open negotiations. An aged
+squaw, said to be the mother of the principal chief, rode up and
+exclaimed, "My sons! the Americans and Yutas have been friends, and
+our old men wish to continue so: it is only a {304} few impetuous and
+strong-headed youths who want to fight." The stolen horse having been
+restored soon after this harangue, peace was joyfully proclaimed
+throughout both encampments, and the _capitanes_ exchanged
+ratifications by a social smoke.
+
+The little tribe of Jicarillas also harbored an enmity for the
+Americans, which, in 1834, broke out into a hostile _rencontre_. They
+had stolen some animals of a gallant young backwoodsman from Missouri,
+who, with a few comrades, pursued the marauders into the mountains and
+regained his property; and a fracas ensuing, an Indian or two were
+killed. A few days afterward all their warriors visited Santa Fé in a
+body, and demanded of the authorities there, the delivery of the
+American offenders to their vengeance. Though the former showed quite
+a disposition to gratify the savages as far as practicable, they had
+not helpless creatures to deal with, as in the case of the Indian
+prisoners already related. The foreigners, seeing their protection
+devolved upon themselves, prepared for defence, when the savages were
+fain to depart in peace.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+Incidents of a Return Trip from Santa Fé -- Calibre of our Party --
+  Return Caravans -- Remittances -- Death of Mr. Langham -- Burial in
+  the Desert -- A sudden Attack -- Confusion in the Camp -- A Wolfish
+  Escort -- Scarcity of Buffalo -- Unprofitable Delusion -- Arrival
+  -- Table of Camping Sites and Distances -- Condition of the Town
+  of Independence -- The Mormons -- Their Dishonesty and Immorality
+  -- Their high-handed Measures, and a Rising of the People -- A
+  fatal Skirmish -- A chivalrous Parade of the Citizens -- Expulsion
+  of the Mormons -- The Meteoric Shower, and Superstition, etc. --
+  Wanderings and Improprieties of the 'Latter-day Saints' -- Gov.
+  Boggs' Recipe -- The City of Nauvoo -- Contemplated Retribution of
+  the Mormons.
+
+
+I do not propose to detain the reader with an account of my
+journeyings between Mexico and the United States, during the seven
+years subsequent to my first arrival at Santa Fé. I will here merely
+remark, that I crossed the plains to the United States in the falls of
+1833 and 1836, and returned to Santa Fé with goods each succeeding
+spring. It was only in 1838, however, that I eventually closed up my
+affairs in Northern Mexico, and prepared to take my leave of the
+country, as I then supposed, forever. But in this I was mistaken, as
+will appear in the sequel.
+
+The most usual season for the return of the {306} caravans to the
+United States is the autumn, and not one has elapsed since the
+commencement of the trade which has not witnessed some departure from
+Santa Fé with that destination. They have also crossed occasionally in
+the spring, but without any regularity or frequency, and generally in
+very small parties. Even the 'fall companies,' in fact, are small when
+compared with the outward-bound caravans; for besides the numbers who
+remain permanently in the country, many of those who trade southward
+return to the United States _via_ Matamoros or some other Southern
+port. The return parties of autumn are therefore comparatively small,
+varying in number from fifty to a hundred [Pg088] men. They leave
+Santa Fé some four or five weeks after their arrival--generally about
+the first of September. In these companies there are rarely over
+thirty or forty wagons; for a large portion of those taken out by the
+annual caravans are disposed of in the country.
+
+Some of the traders who go out in the spring, return the ensuing fall,
+because they have the good fortune to sell off their stock promptly
+and to advantage: others are compelled to return in the fall to save
+their credit; nay, to preserve their homes, which, especially in the
+earlier periods, have sometimes been mortgaged to secure the payment
+of the merchandise they carried out with them. In such cases, their
+goods were not unfrequently sold at great sacrifice, to avoid the
+penalties which the breaking of their engagements at home {307} would
+involve. New adventurers, too, are apt to become discouraged with an
+unanticipated dullness of times, and not unfrequently sell off at
+wholesale for the best price they can get, though often at a serious
+loss. But those who are regularly engaged in this trade usually
+calculate upon employing a season--perhaps a year, in closing an
+enterprise--in selling off their goods and making their returns.
+
+The wagons of the return caravans are generally but lightly laden: one
+to two thousand pounds constitute the regular return cargo for a
+single wagon; for not only are the teams unable to haul heavy loads,
+on account of the decay of pasturage at this season, but the
+approaching winter compels the traders to travel in greater haste; so
+that this trip is usually made in about forty days. The amount of
+freight, too, from that direction is comparatively small. The
+remittances, as has already been mentioned, are chiefly in specie, or
+gold and silver bullion. The gold is mostly _dust_, from the Placer or
+gold mine near Santa Fé:[57] [Pg089] the silver bullion is all from
+the mines of the South--chiefly from those of Chihuahua. To these
+returns may be added a considerable number of mules and asses--some
+buffalo rugs, furs, and wool,--which last barely pays a return freight
+for the wagons that would otherwise be empty. Coarse Mexican blankets,
+which may be obtained in exchange for merchandise, have been sold in
+small quantities to advantage on our border.
+
+{308} On the 4th of April, 1838, we departed from Santa Fé. Our little
+party was found to consist of twenty-three Americans, with twelve
+Mexican servants. We had seven wagons, one dearborn, and two small
+field-pieces, besides a large assortment of small-arms. The principal
+proprietors carried between them about $150,000 in specie and bullion,
+being for the most part the proceeds of the previous year's adventure.
+
+We moved on at a brisk and joyous pace until we reached Ocaté creek, a
+tributary of the Colorado,[58] a distance of a hundred and thirty
+miles from Santa Fé, where we encountered a very sudden bereavement in
+the death of Mr. Langham, one of our most respected proprietors. This
+gentleman was known to be in weak health, but no fears were
+entertained for his safety. We were all actively engaged in assisting
+the more heavily laden wagons over the miry stream, when he was seized
+with a fit of apoplexy and expired instantly. As we had not the means
+of giving the deceased a decent burial, we were compelled to consign
+him to the earth in a shroud of blankets. A grave was accordingly dug
+on an elevated spot near the north bank of the creek, and on the
+morning of the 13th, ere the sun had risen in the east, the mortal
+remains of this most worthy [Pg090] man and valued friend were
+deposited in their last abode,--without a tomb-stone to consecrate the
+spot, or an epitaph to commemorate his virtues. The deceased was from
+St. Louis, {309} though he had passed the last eleven years of his
+life in Santa Fé, during the whole of which period he had seen neither
+his home nor his relatives.
+
+The melancholy rites being concluded, we resumed our line of march. We
+now continued for several days without the occurrence of any important
+accident or adventure. On the 19th we encamped in the Cimarron valley,
+about twelve miles below the Willow Bar. The very sight of this
+desolate region, frequented as it is by the most savage tribes of
+Indians, was sufficient to strike dismay into the hearts of our party;
+but as we had not as yet encountered any of them, we felt
+comparatively at ease. Our mules and horses were 'staked' as usual
+around the wagons, and every man, except the watch, betook himself to
+his blanket, in anticipation of a good night's rest. The hour of
+midnight had passed away, and nothing had been heard except the
+tramping of the men on guard, and the peculiar grating of the mules'
+teeth, nibbling the short grass of the valley. Ere long, however, one
+of our sentinels got a glimpse of some object moving stealthily along,
+and as he was straining his eyes to ascertain what sort of apparition
+it could be, a loud Indian yell suddenly revealed the mystery. This
+was quickly followed by a discharge of fire-arms, and the shrill note
+of the 'Pawnee whistle,' which at once made known the character of our
+visitors. As usual, the utmost confusion prevailed in our camp: some,
+who had been snatched {310} from the land of dreams, ran their heads
+against the wagons--others called out for their guns while they had
+them in their hands. During the height of the bustle and uproar, a
+Mexican servant was observed leaning with his back against a wagon,
+and his fusil elevated at an [Pg091] angle of forty-five degrees,
+cocking and pulling the trigger without ceasing, and exclaiming at
+every snap, "_Carajo, no sirve!_"--Curse it, it's good for nothing.
+
+The firing still continued--the yells grew fiercer and more frequent;
+and everything betokened the approach of a terrible conflict.
+Meanwhile a number of persons were engaged in securing the mules and
+horses which were staked around the encampment; and in a few minutes
+they were all shut up in the _corral_--a hundred head or more in a pen
+formed by seven wagons. The enemy failing in their principal
+object--to frighten off our stock, they soon began to retreat; and in
+a few minutes nothing more was to be heard of them. All that we could
+discover the next morning was, that none of our party had sustained
+any injury, and that we had not lost a single animal.
+
+The Pawnees have been among the most formidable and treacherous
+enemies of the Santa Fé traders. But the former have also suffered a
+little in turn from the caravans. In 1832, a company of traders were
+approached by a single Pawnee chief, who commenced a parley with them,
+when he was shot down by a Pueblo Indian of New Mexico who happened
+{311} to be with the caravan. Though this cruel act met with the
+decided reprobation of the traders generally, yet they were of course
+held responsible for it by the Indians.
+
+On our passage this time across the 'prairie ocean' which lay before
+us, we ran no risk of getting bewildered or lost, for there was now a
+plain wagon trail across the entire stretch of our route, from the
+Cimarron to Arkansas river.
+
+This track, which has since remained permanent, was made in the year
+1834. Owing to continuous rains during the passage of the caravan of
+that year, a plain trail was then cut in the softened turf, on the
+most direct route across [Pg092] this arid desert, leaving the
+Arkansas about twenty miles above the 'Caches.' This has ever since
+been the regular route of the caravans; and thus a recurrence of those
+distressing sufferings from thirst, so frequently experienced by early
+travellers in that inhospitable region, has been prevented.
+
+We forded the Arkansas without difficulty, and pursued our journey to
+the Missouri border with comparative ease; being only now and then
+disturbed at night by the hideous howling of wolves, a pack of which
+had constituted themselves into a kind of 'guard of honor,' and
+followed in our wake for several hundred miles--in fact to the very
+border of the settlements. They were at first attracted no doubt by
+the remains of buffalo which were killed by us upon the high plains,
+and {312} afterwards enticed on by an occasional fagged animal, which
+we were compelled to leave behind, as well as by the bones and scraps
+of food, which they picked up about our camps. Not a few of them paid
+the penalty of their lives for their temerity.
+
+Had we not fortunately been supplied with a sufficiency of meat and
+other provisions, we might have suffered of hunger before reaching the
+settlements; for we saw no buffalo after crossing the Arkansas river.
+It is true that, owing to their disrelish for the long dry grass of
+the eastern prairies, the buffalo are rarely found so far east in
+autumn as during the spring; yet I never saw them so scarce in this
+region before. In fact, at all seasons, they are usually very abundant
+as far east as our point of leaving the Arkansas river.
+
+Upon reaching the settlements, I had an opportunity of experiencing a
+delusion which had been the frequent subject of remark by travellers
+on the Prairies before. Accustomed as we had been for some months to
+our little mules, and the equally small-sized Mexican ponies, our
+[Pg093] sight became so adjusted to their proportions, that when we
+came to look upon the commonest hackney of our frontier horses, it
+appeared to be almost a monster. I have frequently heard exclamations
+of this kind from the new arrivals:--"How the Missourians have
+improved their breed of horses!"--"What a huge gelding!"--"Did you
+ever see such an animal!" This delusion is frequently availed of by
+the frontiersmen {313} to put off their meanest horses to these
+deluded travellers for the most enormous prices.
+
+On the 11th of May we arrived at Independence, after a propitious
+journey of only thirty-eight days.[59] We found the town in a thriving
+condition, although it had come very near being laid waste a few years
+before by the [Pg094] Mormons, who had originally selected this
+section of the country for the site of their New Jerusalem. In this
+they certainly displayed far more taste and good sense than they are
+generally supposed to be endowed {314} with: for the rich and
+beautiful uplands in the vicinity of Independence might well be
+denominated the 'garden spot' of the Far West. Their principal motive
+for preferring the border country, however, was no doubt a desire to
+be in the immediate vicinity of the Indians, as the reclamation of the
+'Lost tribes of Israel' was a part of their pretended mission.
+
+Prior to 1833, the Mormons, who were then flocking in great swarms to
+this favored region, had made considerable purchases of lots and
+tracts of land both in the town of Independence and in the adjacent
+country. A general depot, profanely styled the 'Lord's Store,' was
+established, from which the faithful were supplied with merchandise at
+moderate prices; while those who possessed any surplus of property
+were expected to deposit it in the same, for the benefit of the mass.
+The Mormons were at first kindly received by the good people of the
+country, who looked upon them as a set of harmless fanatics, very
+susceptible of being moulded into good and honest citizens. This
+confidence, however, was not destined to remain long in the ascendant,
+for they soon began to find that the corn in their cribs was sinking
+like snow before the sun-rays, and that their hogs and their cattle
+were by some mysterious agency rapidly disappearing. The new-comers
+also drew upon themselves much animadversion in consequence of the
+immorality of their lives, and in particular their disregard for the
+sacred rites of marriage.
+
+{315} Still they continued to spread and multiply, not by conversion
+but by immigration, to an alarming extent; and in proportion as they
+grew strong in numbers, they [Pg095] also became more exacting and
+bold in their pretensions. In a little paper printed at Independence
+under their immediate auspices,[60] everything was said that could
+provoke hostility between the 'saints' and their 'worldly' neighbors,
+until at last they became so emboldened by impunity, as openly to
+boast of their determination to be the sole proprietors of the 'Land
+of Zion;' a revelation to that effect having been made to their
+prophet.
+
+The people now began to perceive, that, at the rate the intruders were
+increasing, they would soon be able to command a majority of the
+country, and consequently the entire control of affairs would fall
+into their hands. It was evident, then, that one of the two parties
+would in the course of time have to abandon the country; for the old
+settlers could not think of bringing up their families in the midst of
+such a corrupt state of society as the Mormons were establishing.
+Still the nuisance was endured very patiently, and without any attempt
+at retaliation, until the 'saints' actually threatened to eject their
+opponents by main force. This last stroke of impudence at once roused
+the latent spirit of the honest backwoodsmen, some of whom were of the
+pioneer settlers of Missouri, and had become familiar with danger in
+their terrific wars with the savages. They were therefore by no {316}
+means appropriate subjects for yielding what they believed to be their
+rights. Meetings were held for the purpose of devising means of
+redress, which only tended to increase the insolence of the Mormons.
+Finally a mob was collected which proceeded at once to raze the
+obnoxious printing establishment to the ground, and to destroy all the
+materials they could lay hands upon. One or two of the Mormon leaders
+who fell into the hands of the people, were treated [Pg096] to a
+clean suit of 'tar and feathers,' and otherwise severely punished.[61]
+The 'Prophet Joseph,' however, was not then in the neighborhood.
+Having observed the storm-clouds gathering apace in the frontier
+horizon, he very wisely remained in Ohio, whence he issued his flaming
+mandates.
+
+These occurrences took place in the month of October, 1833, and I
+reached Independence from Santa Fé while the excitement was raging at
+its highest. The Mormons had rallied some ten miles west of the town,
+where their strongest settlements were located. A hostile encounter
+was hourly expected: nay, a skirmish actually took place shortly
+after, in which a respectable lawyer of Independence, who had been an
+active agent against the Mormons, was killed. In short, the whole
+country was in a state of dreadful fermentation.
+
+Early on the morning after the skirmish just referred to, a report
+reached Independence that the Mormons were marching in a {317} body
+towards the town, with the intention of sacking and burning it. I had
+often heard the cry of "Indians!" announcing the approach of hostile
+savages, but I do not remember ever to have witnessed so much
+consternation as prevailed at Independence on this memorable occasion.
+The note of alarm was sounded far and near, and armed men, eager for
+the fray, were rushing in from every quarter. Officers were summarily
+selected without deference to rank or station: the 'spirit-stirring
+drum' and the 'ear-piercing fife' made the air resound with music, and
+a little army of as brave and resolute a set of fellows as ever trod a
+field of battle, was, in a very short time, paraded through the
+streets. After a few preliminary exercises, they started for a certain
+point on the road where they intended to await the approach of the
+Mormons. [Pg097] The latter very soon made their appearance, but
+surprised at meeting with so formidable a reception, they never even
+attempted to pull a trigger, but at once surrendered at discretion.
+They were immediately disarmed, and subsequently released upon
+condition of their leaving the country without delay.
+
+It was very soon after this affair that the much talked of phenomenon
+of the meteoric shower (on the night of November 12th) occurred. This
+extraordinary visitation did not fail to produce its effects upon the
+superstitious minds of a few ignorant people, who began to wonder
+whether, after all, the Mormons might not be in the right; and whether
+this was not a sign sent from heaven as a remonstrance for the
+injustice they had been guilty of towards that chosen sect.[62]
+Sometime afterward, a terrible misfortune occurred which was in no way
+calculated to allay the superstitious fears of the ignorant. As some
+eight or ten citizens were returning with the ferry-boat which had
+crossed the last Mormons over the Missouri river, into Clay county,
+the district selected for their new home, the craft filled with water
+and sunk in the middle of the current; by which accident three or four
+men were drowned![63] It was owing perhaps to the craziness of the
+boat, yet some persons suspected the Mormons of having scuttled it by
+secretly boring auger-holes in the bottom just before they had left
+it.
+
+After sojourning a few months in Clay county, to the serious annoyance
+of the inhabitants (though, in fact, they [Pg098] had been kindly
+received at first), the _persecuted_ 'Latter day Saints' were again
+compelled to shift their quarters further off. They now sought to
+establish themselves in the new country of Caldwell, and founded their
+town of Far West, where they lingered in comparative peace for a few
+years.[64] As the county began to fill up with settlers however,
+quarrels repeatedly {319} broke out, until at last, in 1838, they
+found themselves again at open war with their neighbors. They appear
+to have set the laws of the state at defiance, and to have acted so
+turbulently throughout, that Governor Boggs deemed it necessary to
+order out a large force of state militia to subject them: which was
+easily accomplished without bloodshed. From that time the Mormons have
+harbored a mortal enmity towards the Governor: and the attempt which
+was afterwards made to assassinate him at Independence, is generally
+believed to have been instigated, if not absolutely perpetrated, by
+that deluded sect.[65]
+
+Being once more forced to emigrate, they passed into Illinois, where
+they founded the famous 'City of Nauvoo.' It would seem that their
+reception from the people of this state was even more strongly marked
+with kindness and indulgence than it had been elsewhere, being
+generally looked upon as the victims of persecution on account of
+[Pg099] their religious belief; yet it appears that the good people of
+Illinois have since become about as tired of them as were any of their
+former neighbors.[66] It seems very clear then, that fanatical
+delusion is not the only sin which stamps the conduct of these people
+with so much obliquity, or they would certainly have found permanent
+friends somewhere; whereas it is well known that a general aversion
+has prevailed against them wherever they have sojourned.
+
+Before concluding this chapter, it may be {320} proper to remark, that
+the Mormons have invariably refused to sell any of the property they
+had acquired in Missouri, but have on the contrary expressed a firm
+determination to reconquer their lost purchases.[67] Of these, a large
+lot, situated on an elevated point at Independence, known as the
+'Temple Lot,' upon which the 'Temple of Zion' was to have been
+raised,--has lately been 'profaned,' by cultivation, having been
+converted into a corn-field!
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[35] See our volume xix, p. 293, note 116 (Gregg).--ED.
+
+[36] The Casa Grande ruin in Pinal County, Arizona, just south of Gila
+River, has been known to antiquarians since the first discovery of the
+region. The earliest detailed description was written after the visit
+of Father Kuehne (Kino) in 1694. American explorers noted it during
+the passage of 1846; Bartlett's description of 1854 was the most
+faithful. For recent accounts, see Cosmos Mindeleff, in U. S. Bureau
+of Ethnology _Reports_, 1891-92, pp. 295-361; 1893-94, pp. 321-349. In
+1889 congress appropriated funds for its preservation and repair, and
+in 1892 set it apart as a public reservation. Modern archæologists
+discredit any connection of its builders with Mexican Aztecs. It is a
+work of Pueblo Indians, probably of the ancestors of the modern
+Pima--see our volume xviii, p. 200, note 96. This ruin should not be
+confused with one of a like name in Northern Mexico, for which see
+volume xviii of our series, p. 155, note 88.--ED.
+
+[37] It is uncertain to which ruin Gregg here refers. That of
+Cebolitta, not far from Acoma, answers his description as built of
+sandstone. There is a small ruin at Ojos Bonitos, not far from Zuñi,
+that may be intended; but the more probable is the former, on the
+well-known trace between Acoma and Zuñi, and of remarkably good
+workmanship in stone.--ED.
+
+[38] For the Navaho, Apache, and Ute tribes, see our volume xviii, p.
+69 (note 41), p. 109 (note 60), p. 140 (note 70); for the Kiowa,
+volume xv, p. 157, note 48; for the Comanche, volume xvi, p. 233, note
+109.--ED.
+
+[39] The Jicarrilla (Xicarrilla) are of _Athapascan_ stock, but from
+the similarity of their language are classed as Apache, although they
+are not known to have had any tribal connection with them. Their
+alliance was more frequently with the Ute, with whom they
+intermarried, and whose customs they assimilated. They were a
+predatory race, and from their vantage ground on the upper waters of
+the Rio Grande, Pecos, and Canadian, caused much annoyance. They are
+now located on a reservation in Rio Arriba County, and number about
+seven hundred and fifty.--ED.
+
+[40] For Humboldt, see our volume xviii, p. 345, note 136.--ED.
+
+[41] The Navaho were friendly with the Spaniards until about 1700,
+when they began depredations and cattle lifting, and frequent
+campaigns against them were undertaken. In 1744 a mission was
+attempted among them, which was abandoned after six years' futile
+efforts. Serious difficulties, however, did not recur until the
+beginning of the nineteenth century. The period of Gregg's sojourn in
+New Mexico was that of greatest hostility. For over twenty-five years
+the United States government had much difficulty with the Navaho.
+There are yet over twenty thousand of these tribesmen on the different
+reservations, chiefly in Arizona.--ED.
+
+[42] Cochiti is one of the smaller Queres pueblos, situated on the
+west side of the Rio Grande, almost directly west of Santa Fé. It was
+near the same spot, at the time of the Spanish accession in 1598. The
+Cochitiaños took part in the rebellions of 1680 and 1696, and part of
+the mutineers were, about 1699, removed to the pueblo of Laguna. There
+are now less than two hundred and fifty inhabitants of this Indian
+village.--ED.
+
+[43] The only other authority for this campaign is A. R. Thümmel,
+_Mexiko und die Mexikaner_ (Erlangen, 1848), pp. 350, 351.--ED.
+
+[44] For Governor José Gonzalez and his exploits during the
+insurrection of 1837 see preceding volume, ch. vi (Gregg).--ED.
+
+[45] _Mezcal_ is the baked root of the _maguey_ (_agave Americana_)
+and of another somewhat similar plant.--GREGG.
+
+[46] Like the Jicarrilla, the Mescallero were in reality a distinct
+tribe, and related to the Apache only by linguistic affinities. Since
+1865 they have been confined upon a reservation in southern New
+Mexico, where about four hundred still exist. The Coyoteros is one of
+some dozen tribes or bands among the Apache proper.--ED.
+
+[47] It has been credibly asserted, that, during one of these 'bold
+pursuits,' a band of Comanches stopped in the suburbs of a village on
+Rio Conchos, turned their horses into the wheat-fields, and took a
+comfortable _siesta_--desirous, it seemed, to behold their pursuers
+face to face; yet, after remaining most of the day, they departed
+without enjoying that pleasure.--GREGG.
+
+[48] Or _Chihuahuenses_, citizens of Chihuahua.--GREGG.
+
+[49] During the so-called "Pastry War," for which see our volume xix,
+p. 274, note 101 (Gregg).--ED.
+
+[50] _Noticioso de Chihuahua_ of December 28, 1838.--GREGG.
+
+[51] The experience of the United States army with the Apache has not
+proved their cowardice. Since the running of the boundary line after
+the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo (1848) up to 1886, one outbreak after
+another characterized our relations with the Apache. For fifteen years
+(1871-86) General Crook watched the Apache, and after each raid forced
+them back upon their reservations. Geronimo's band, which surrendered
+in September, 1886, was transported to Florida and Alabama.--ED.
+
+[52] The leader's name was James Johnson, who afterwards removed to
+California, where he died in poverty. See H. H. Bancroft, _History of
+Arizona and New Mexico_, p. 407.--ED.
+
+[53] Bancroft (_op. cit._) relates the escape of Benjamin Wilson, who
+afterwards narrated the event, and the death of the leader, Charles
+Kemp.--ED.
+
+[54] The Apaches, previous to this date, had committed but few
+depredations upon foreigners--restrained either by fear or respect.
+Small parties of the latter were permitted to pass the highways of the
+wilderness unmolested, while large caravans of Mexicans suffered
+frequent attacks. This apparent partiality produced unfounded
+jealousies, and the Americans were openly accused of holding secret
+treaties with the enemy, and even of supplying them with arms and
+ammunition. Although an occasional foreigner engaged in this
+clandestine and culpable traffic, yet the natives themselves embarked
+in it beyond comparison more extensively, as has been noted in another
+place. This unjust impression against Americans was partially effaced
+as well by the catastrophes mentioned in the text, as by the defeat
+and robbery (in which, however, no American lives were lost), of a
+small party of our people, about the same period, in _La Jornada del
+Muerto_, on their way from Chihuahua to Santa Fé.--GREGG.
+
+[55] For Socorro, consult Pattie's _Narrative_, in our volume xviii,
+p. 86, note 52.--ED.
+
+[56] Don Juan Andrés Archuleta, who commanded at the capture of Gen.
+McLeod's division of the Texans.--GREGG.
+
+[57] For the placer mines, see our volume xix, p. 304, note 128
+(Gregg).--ED.
+
+[58] Ocaté Creek is in Mora County, New Mexico, a tributary of the
+upper waters of the Canadian, one of the several streams called
+Colorado by the Mexicans. Because of this name, it was thought (until
+Long's expedition in 1820) to be the headwaters of Red River.--ED.
+
+[59] Having crossed the Prairies between Independence and Santa Fé six
+times, I can now present a table of the most notable camping sites,
+and their respective intermediate distances, with approximate
+accuracy--which may prove acceptable to some future travellers. The
+whole distance has been variously estimated at from 750 to 800 miles,
+yet I feel confident that the aggregate here presented is very nearly
+the true distance.
+
+ From INDEPENDENCE to                     _M._       _Agg._
+ Round Grove,                              35
+ Narrows,                                  30           65
+ 110-mile Creek,                           30           95
+ Bridge Cr.,                                8          103
+ Big John Spring, (crossing sv'l. Crs.)    40          143
+ Council Grove,                             2          145
+ Diamond Spring,                           15          160
+ Lost Spring,                              15          175
+ Cottonwood Cr.,                           12          187
+ Turkey Cr.,                               25          212
+ Little Arkansas,                          17          229
+ Cow Creek,                                20          249
+ Arkansas River,                           16          265
+ Walnut Cr., (up Ark. r.)                   8          273
+ Ash Creek,                                19          292
+ Pawnee Fork,                               6          298
+ Coon Creek,                               33          331
+ Caches,                                   36          367
+ Ford of Arkansas,                         20          387
+ Sand Cr. (leav. Ark. r.)                  50          437
+ Cimarron r. (Lower sp.)                    8          445
+ Middle spr. (up Cim. r.)                  36          481
+ Willow Bar,                               26          507
+ Upper Spring,                             18          525
+ Cold spr. (leav. Cim. r.)                  5          530
+ M'Nees's Cr.,                             25          555
+ Rabbit-ear Cr.,                           20          575
+ Round Mound,                               8          583
+ Rock Creek,                                8          591
+ Point of Rocks,                           19          610
+ Rio Colorado,                             20          630
+ Ocatè,                                     6          636
+ Santa Clara Spr.,                         21          657
+ Rio Mora,                                 22          679
+ Rio Gallinas (Vegas),                     20          699
+ Ojo de Bernal (spr.),                     17          716
+ San Miguel,                                6          722
+ Pecos village,                            23          755
+ SANTA FE,                                 25          770
+
+                                              --GREGG.
+
+[60] This paper, the first printed in Jackson County, was called The
+Evening and Morning Star, the first issue being in June, 1832.--ED.
+
+[61] This occurred July 20, 1833. Bishop Partridge and Charles Allen
+were the victims of the punishment.--ED.
+
+[62] In Northern Mexico, as I learned afterwards, the credulity of the
+superstitious was still more severely tried by this celestial
+phenomenon. Their Church had been deprived of some important
+privileges by the Congress but a short time before, and the people
+could not be persuaded but that the meteoric shower was intended as a
+curse upon the nation in consequence of that sacrilegious act.--GREGG.
+
+[63] The following were drowned: James Campbell, George Bradbury,
+David Linch, Thomas Harrington, William Everett, Smallwood Nolan.--ED.
+
+[64] Far West was begun in 1836; by 1838 there was a Mormon population
+of twelve thousand in and around the city.--ED.
+
+[65] Lilburn W. Boggs was born in Kentucky in 1798. Early removed to
+Missouri, he became prominent as a trader, pioneer, and political
+leader. In 1832 he was elected lieutenant-governor, serving as the
+acting-governor during part of his term. At its close (1836) he was
+chosen governor, and served for four years. During this term he
+incurred the animosity of the Mormons, by what was known as his
+"extermination order," issued in October, 1838. The attempt to
+assassinate him at the close of his term of office, at his home in
+Independence (1841), was popularly ascribed to a Mormon fanatic, who
+was, however, acquitted in the courts. In 1846 Governor Boggs led an
+overland party to California, where he assisted in the American
+occupation. Removed to Napa Valley in 1852, he died there nine years
+later. His wife was a granddaughter of Daniel Boone.--ED.
+
+[66] The year in which Gregg's book was published (June, 1844),
+Prophet Joseph Smith was killed by a mob in the jail of Carthage,
+Illinois.--ED.
+
+[67] After the death of the founder there was dissension in the ranks,
+one wing being headed by his eldest son, Joseph Smith III. The latter
+founded what is known as the Reorganized Church of Latter Day Saints,
+which repudiates polygamy. These were the sectarians who returned to
+Jackson County, Missouri, where a large number now reside.--ED.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII {I}[68]
+
+A Return to Prairie Life -- Abandonment of the regular Route -- The
+  Start -- A Suicide -- Arrest of a Mulatto for Debt -- Cherokee
+  'Bankrupt Law' -- Chuly, the Creek Indian -- The Muster and the
+  Introduction -- An '_Olla Podrida_' -- Adventure of a 'Down-Easter'
+  -- Arrival of U.S. Dragoons -- Camp Holmes, and the Road -- A Visit
+  from a Party of Comanches -- Tabba-quena, a noted Chief -- His
+  extraordinary Geographical Talent -- Indians set out for the
+  'Capitan Grande,' and we through an Unexplored Region -- Rejoined by
+  Tabba-quena and his '_suite_' -- Spring Valley -- The Buffalo Fever
+  -- The Chase -- A Green-horn Scamper -- Prairie Fuel.
+
+
+An unconquerable propensity to return to prairie life inclined me to
+embark in a fresh enterprise. The blockade [Pg100] of the Mexican
+ports by the French also offered strong inducements for undertaking
+such an expedition in the spring of 1839; for as Chihuahua is supplied
+principally through the sea-ports, it was now evident that the place
+must be suffering from great scarcity of goods. Being anxious to reach
+the market before the ports of the Gulf were reopened, we deemed it
+expedient to abandon the regular route from {10} Missouri for one
+wholly untried, from the borders of Arkansas, where the pasturage
+springs up nearly a month earlier. It is true, that such an attempt to
+convey heavily laden wagons through an unexplored region was attended
+with considerable risk; but as I was familiar with the general
+character of the plains contiguous to the north, I felt little or no
+apprehension of serious difficulties, except from what might be
+occasioned by regions of sandy soil. I have often been asked since,
+why we did not steer directly for Chihuahua, as our trade was chiefly
+destined for that place, instead of taking the circuitous route _via_
+Santa Fé. I answer, that we dreaded a journey across the southern
+prairies on account of the reputed aridity of the country in that
+direction, and I had no great desire to venture directly into a
+southern port in the present state of uncertainty as to the conditions
+of entry.
+
+Suitable arrangements having been made, and a choice stock of about
+$25,000 worth of goods shipped to Van Buren[69] on the Arkansas river,
+we started on the evening of the 21st of April, but made very little
+progress for the first eight days. While we were yet but ten or
+fifteen miles from Van Buren, [Pg101] an incident occurred which was
+attended with very melancholy results. A young man named Hays, who had
+driven a wagon for me for several months through the interior of
+Mexico, and thence to the United States in 1838, having heard that
+this expedition was projected, {11} was desirous of engaging again in
+the same employ. I was equally desirous to secure his services, as he
+was well-tried, and had proved himself an excellent fellow on those
+perilous journeys. But soon after our outset, and without any apparent
+reason, he expressed an inclination to abandon the trip. I earnestly
+strove to dissuade him from his purpose, and supposed I had succeeded.
+What was my surprise, then, upon my return after a few hours' absence
+in advance of the company, to learn that he had secretly absconded! I
+was now led to reflect upon some of his eccentricities, and bethought
+me of several evident indications of slight mental derangement. We
+were, however, but a few miles from the settlements of the whites, and
+in the midst of the civilized Cherokees, where there was little or no
+danger of his suffering; therefore, there seemed but little occasion
+for serious uneasiness on his account. As it was believed he had
+shaped his course back to Van Buren, I immediately wrote to our
+friends there, to have search made for him. However, nothing could be
+found of him till the next day, when his hat and coat were discovered
+upon the bank of the Arkansas, near Van Buren, which were the last
+traces ever had of the unfortunate Hays! Whether intentionally or
+accidentally, he was evidently drowned.
+
+On the 28th of April we crossed the Arkansas river a few miles above
+the mouth of the Canadian fork.[70] We had only proceeded {12} a short
+distance beyond, when a Cherokee shop-keeper came up to us with an
+attachment for debt [Pg102] against a free mulatto whom we had
+engaged as teamster. The poor fellow had no alternative but to return
+with the importunate creditor, who committed him at once to the care
+of 'Judge Lynch' for trial. We ascertained afterwards that he had been
+sentenced to 'take the benefit of the bankrupt law' after the manner
+of the Cherokees of that neighborhood. This is done by stripping and
+tying the victim to a tree; when each creditor, with a good cowhide or
+hickory switch in his hand, scores the amount of the bill due upon his
+bare back. One stripe for every dollar due is the usual process of
+'whitewashing;' and as the application of the lash is accompanied by
+all sorts of quaint remarks, the exhibition affords no small merriment
+to those present, with the exception, no doubt, of the delinquent
+himself. After the ordeal is over, the creditors declare themselves
+perfectly satisfied: nor could they, as is said, ever be persuaded
+thereafter to receive one red cent of the amount due, even if it were
+offered to them. As the poor mulatto was also in our debt, and was
+perhaps apprehensive that we might exact payment in the same currency,
+he never showed himself again.
+
+On the 2d of May we crossed the North Fork of the Canadian about a
+mile from its confluence with the main stream. A little westward of
+this there is a small village of {13} Creek Indians, and a shop or two
+kept by American traders.[71] An Indian who had quarrelled with his
+wife, came out and proposed to join us, and, to our great surprise,
+carried his proposal into execution. The next morning his repentant
+consort came into our camp, and set up a most dismal weeping and
+howling after her truant husband, who, notwithstanding, was neither to
+be caught by tears nor [Pg103] softened by entreaties, but persisted
+in his determination to see foreign countries. His name was
+Echú-eleh-hadjó (or _Crazy-deer-foot_), but, for brevity's sake, we
+always called him _Chuly_. He was industrious, and possessed many
+clever qualities, though somewhat disposed to commit excesses whenever
+he could procure liquor, which fortunately did not occur until our
+arrival at Santa Fé. He proved to be a good and willing hand on the
+way, but as he spoke no English, our communication with him was
+somewhat troublesome. I may as well add here, that, while in Santa Fé,
+he took another freak and joined a volunteer corps, chiefly of
+Americans, organized under one James Kirker to fight the Navajó and
+Apache Indians; the government of Chihuahua having guarantied to them
+all the spoils they should take.[72] With these our Creek found a few
+of his 'red brethren'--Shawnees and Delawares, who had wandered thus
+far from the frontier of Missouri. After this little army was
+disbanded, Chuly returned home, as I have been informed, with a small
+{14} party who crossed the plains directly from Chihuahua.
+
+We had never considered ourselves as perfectly _en chemin_ till after
+crossing the Arkansas river; and as our little party experienced no
+further change, I may now be permitted to introduce them collectively
+to the reader. It consisted of thirty-four men, including my brother
+John Gregg and myself. These men had all been hired by us except
+three, two of whom were Eastern-bred boys--a tailor and a
+silversmith--good-natured, clever little fellows, who had thought
+themselves at the 'jumping-off place' when they reached [Pg104] Van
+Buren, but now seemed nothing loth to extend their peregrinations a
+thousand miles or so further, in the hope of 'doing' the 'Spaniards,'
+as the Mexicans are generally styled in the West, out of a little
+surplus of specie. The other was a German peddler, who somewhat
+resembled the Dutchman's horse, "put him as you vant, and he ish
+alvays tere;" for he did nothing during the whole journey but descant
+on the value of a chest of trumperies which he carried, and with which
+he calculated, as he expressed it, to "py a plenty of te Shpanish
+tollar." The trip across the Prairies cost these men absolutely
+nothing, inasmuch as we furnished them with all the necessaries for
+the journey, in consideration of the additional strength they brought
+to our company.
+
+It is seldom that such a variety of ingredients are found mixed up in
+so small a compass. {15} Here were the representatives of seven
+distinct nations, each speaking his own native language, which
+produced at times a very respectable jumble of discordant sounds.
+There was one Frenchman whose volubility of tongue and curious
+gesticulations, contrasted very strangely with the frigidity of two
+phlegmatic wanderers from Germany; while the calm eccentricity of two
+Polish exiles, the stoical look of two sons of the desert (the Creek
+already spoken of, and a Chickasaw), and the pantomimic gestures of
+sundry loquacious Mexicans, contributed in no small degree to heighten
+the effects of the picture. The Americans were mostly backwoodsmen,
+who could handle the rifle far better than the whip, but who
+nevertheless officiated as wagoners.
+
+We had fourteen road-wagons, half drawn by mules, the others by oxen
+(eight of each to the team); besides a carriage and a Jersey wagon.
+Then we had two swivels mounted upon one pair of wheels; but one of
+them was attached to a movable truckle, so that, upon stopping, it
+could be transferred [Pg105] to the other side of the wagons. One of
+these was a long brass piece made to order, with a calibre of but an
+inch and a quarter, yet of sufficient metal to throw a leaden ball to
+the distance of a mile with surprising accuracy. The other was of
+iron, and a little larger. Besides these, our party was well supplied
+with small arms. The Americans mostly had their rifles and a musket in
+addition, which {16} they carried in their wagons, always well charged
+with ball and buckshot. Then my brother and myself were each provided
+with one of Colt's repeating rifles, and a pair of pistols of the
+same, so that we could, if necessary, carry thirty-six ready-loaded
+shots apiece; which alone constituted a capacity of defence rarely
+matched even on the Prairies.
+
+Previous to our departure we had received a promise from the war
+department of an escort of U.S. Dragoons, as far as the borders of the
+Mexican territory; but, upon sending an express to Gen. Arbuckle at
+Fort Gibson to that effect,[73] we were informed that in consequence
+of some fresh troubles among the Cherokees, it was doubtful whether
+the force could be spared in time. This was certainly no very
+agreeable news, inasmuch as the escort would have been very
+serviceable in assisting to search out a track over the unexplored
+wilderness we had to pass. It was too late, however, to recede; and so
+we resolved at all hazards to pursue our journey. [Pg106]
+
+We had advanced beyond the furthest settlements of the Creeks
+and Seminoles, and pitched our camp on a bright balmy evening, in the
+border of a delightful prairie, when some of the young men, attracted
+by the prospect of game, shouldered their rifles and wended their
+steps through the dense forest which lay contiguous to our encampment.
+Among those that went forth, there was one of the 'down-easters'
+already mentioned, who was much more familiar with the interior of
+{17} a city than of a wilderness forest. As the shades of evening were
+beginning to descend, and all the hunters had returned except him,
+several muskets and even our little field-pieces were fired, but
+without effect. The night passed away, and the morning dawned upon the
+encampment, and still he was absent. The firing was then renewed; but
+soon after he was seen approaching, very sullen and dejected. He came
+with a tale of perilous adventures and 'hair-breadth 'scapes' upon his
+lips, which somewhat abated the storm of ridicule by which he was at
+first assailed. It seemed that he had heard our firing on the previous
+evening, but believed it to proceed from a contrary direction--a very
+common mistake with persons who have become bewildered and lost. Thus
+deceived and stimulated by the fear of Indians (from a party of whom
+he supposed the firing to proceed), he continued his pathless
+wanderings till dark, when, to render his situation still more
+critical, he was attacked by a 'painter'--_anglicè_, panther--which he
+actually succeeded in beating off with the breech of his gun, and then
+betook himself to the topmost extremity of a tree, where, in order to
+avoid a similar intrusion, he passed the remainder of the night. From
+a peculiar odor with which the shattered gun was still redolent,
+however, it was strongly suspected that the 'terrific painter' was not
+many degrees removed, in affinity, from a----polecat.
+
+We had just reached the extreme edge of {18} the far [Pg107] famed
+'Cross Timbers,'[74] when we were gratified by the arrival of forty
+dragoons, under the command of Lieut. Bowman, who had orders to
+accompany us to the supposed boundary of the United States.[75] On the
+same evening we had the pleasure of encamping together at a place
+known as Camp Holmes, a wild romantic spot in latitude 35° 5′, and but
+a mile north of the Canadian river. Just at hand there was a beautiful
+spring, where, in 1835, Colonel Mason with a force of U. S. troops,
+had a 'big talk' and still bigger 'smoke' with a party of Comanche and
+Witchita Indians.[76] Upon the same site Col. Chouteau had also caused
+to be erected not long after, a little stockade fort, where a
+considerable trade was subsequently carried on with the Comanches and
+other tribes of the southwestern prairies. The place had now been
+abandoned, however, since the preceding winter.
+
+From the Arkansas river to Chouteau's Fort, our route presented an
+unbroken succession of grassy plains and fertile glades, intersected
+here and there with woody belts and numerous rivulets, most of which,
+however, are generally dry except during the rainy season. As far as
+Camp Holmes, [Pg108] we had a passable wagon road, which was opened
+upon the occasion of the Indian treaty before alluded to, and was
+afterwards kept open by the Indian traders. Yet, notwithstanding the
+road, this stretch gave us more trouble--presented more rugged passes,
+miry ravines and steep {19} ascents--than all the rest of our journey
+put together.
+
+We had not been long at the Fort, before we received a visit from a
+party of Comanches, who having heard of our approach came to greet us
+a welcome, on the supposition that it was their friend Chouteau
+returning to the fort with fresh supplies of merchandise. Great was
+their grief when we informed them that their favorite trader had died
+at Fort Gibson, the previous winter.[77] On visiting their wigwams and
+inquiring for their _capitan_,[78] we were introduced to a corpulent,
+squint-eyed old fellow, who certainly had nothing in his personal
+appearance indicative of rank or dignity. This was Tábba-quena (or the
+Big Eagle), a name familiar to all the Comanche traders. As we had
+frequently heard that he spoke Spanish fluently, we at once prepared
+ourselves for a social chit-chat; but, on accosting him in that
+tongue, and inquiring whether he could talk Spanish, he merely replied
+'_Poquito_,' putting at the same time his forefinger to his ear, to
+signify that he merely understood a little--which proved true to a
+degree, for our communication was chiefly [Pg109] by signs. We were
+now about to launch upon an unknown region--our route lay henceforth
+across that unexplored wilderness, of which I have so frequently
+spoken, without either pilot or trail to guide us for nearly 500
+miles. We had to depend entirely upon {20} our knowledge of the
+geographical position of the country for which we were steering, and
+the indications of a compass and sextant. This was emphatically a
+pioneer trip; such a one also as had, perhaps, never before been
+undertaken--to convey heavily laden wagons through a country almost
+wholly untrod by civilized man, and of which _we_, at least, knew
+nothing. We were therefore extremely anxious to acquire any
+information our visitors might be able to give us; but Tábba-quena
+being by no means experienced in wagon tactics, could only make us
+understand, by gestures, mixed with a little wretched Spanish, that
+the route up the Canadian presented no obstacles according to _his_
+mode of travelling. He appeared, however, very well acquainted with
+the whole Mexican frontier, from Santa Fé to Chihuahua, and even to
+the Gulf, as well as with all the Prairies. During the consultation he
+seemed occasionally to ask the opinions of other chiefs who had
+huddled around him. Finally, we handed him a sheet of paper and a
+pencil, signifying at the same time a desire that he would draw us a
+map of the Prairies. This he very promptly executed; and although the
+draft was somewhat rough, it bore, much to our astonishment, quite a
+map-like appearance, with a far more accurate delineation of all the
+principal rivers of the plains--the road from Missouri to Santa Fé,
+and the different Mexican settlements, than is to be found in many of
+the engraved maps of those regions.
+
+{21}Tabba-quena's party consisted of about sixty persons, including
+several squaws and papooses, with a few Kiawa chiefs and warriors,
+who, although of a tribe so entirely distinct, are frequently found
+domiciled among the Comanches. As we were about to break up the camp
+they all started for [Pg110] Fort Gibson, for the purpose, as they
+informed us, of paying a visit to the 'Capitan Grande'--a Spanish
+phrase used by many prairie tribes, and applied, in their confused
+notions of rank and power, not only to the President of the United
+States himself, but to the seat of the federal government. These they
+are again apt to confound with Fort Gibson and the commanding officer
+of that station.
+
+On the 18th of May, we set out from Chouteau's fort. From this forward
+our wagons were marched in two lines and regularly 'formed' at every
+camp, so as to constitute a fortification and a _corral_ for the
+stock. This is different from the 'forming' of the large caravans. The
+two front wagons are driven up, side by side, with their 'tails' a
+little inclined outward. About half of the rest are drawn up in the
+same manner, but each stopped with the fore-wheel a little back of the
+hind-wheel of the next ahead. The remainder are similarly brought up,
+but inclined inward behind, so as nearly to close again at the rear of
+the pen; leaving a gap through which to introduce the stock. Thus the
+_corral_ remains of an ovate form. After the drivers become expert the
+whole is performed in a very short time.
+
+{22}On the following day we were again joined by old Tabba-quena, and
+another Comanche chief, with five or six warriors, and as many squaws,
+including Tab's wife and infant son. As we were jogging along in the
+afternoon, I held quite a long conversation in our semi-mute language
+with the squinting old chief. He gave me to understand, as well as he
+could, that his comrades[79] had proceeded on their journey to see the
+Capitan Grande, but that he had concluded to return home for better
+horses. He boasted in no measured terms of his friendship for the
+Americans, and [Pg111] promised to exert his influence to prevent
+turbulent and unruly spirits of his nation from molesting us. But he
+could not disguise his fears in regard to the Pawnees and Osages, who,
+he said, would be sure to run off with our stock while we were asleep
+at night. When I informed him that we kept a strict night-watch, he
+said, "_Está bueno_" (that's good), and allowed that our chances for
+safety were not so bad after all.
+
+These friendly Indians encamped with us that night, and on the
+following morning the old chief informed us that some of his party had
+a few "mulas para _swap_" (mules to trade; for having learned the word
+_swap_ of some American traders, he very ingeniously tacked it at the
+tail of his little stock of Spanish). A barter of five mules was
+immediately concluded {23} upon, much to our advantage, as our teams
+were rather in a weak condition. Old Tab and his party then left us to
+join his band, which, he said, was located on the Faux Ouachittâ
+river, and we never saw aught of them more.[80]
+
+After leaving the Fort we generally kept on the ridge between the
+Canadian and the North Fork, crossing sometimes the tributary brooks
+of the one and sometimes those of the others. Having travelled in this
+manner for about eighty miles, we entered one of the most charming
+prairie vales that I have ever beheld, and which in the plenitude of
+our enthusiasm, we named 'Spring Valley,' on account of the numerous
+spring-fed rills and gurgling rivulets that greeted the sight in every
+direction;[81] in whose limpid pools swarms of trout and perch were
+carelessly playing. Much of the country, indeed, over which we had
+passed was somewhat of a similar character--yet nowhere quite so
+beautiful. I must premise, however, that westward of this, it [Pg112]
+is only the valleys immediately bordering the streams that are at all
+fit for cultivation: the high plains are too dry and sandy. But here
+the soil was dark and mellow, and the rich vegetation with which it
+was clothed plainly indicated its fertility. 'Spring Valley' gently
+inclines towards the North Fork, which was at the distance of about
+five miles from our present route. It was somewhere along the border
+of this enchanting vale that a little picket fort was erected in {24}
+1822, by an unfortunate trader named McKnight, who was afterwards
+betrayed and murdered by the faithless Comanches.[82] The landscape is
+beautifully variegated with stripes and fringes of timber: while the
+little herds of buffalo that were scattered about in fantastic groups
+imparted a degree of life and picturesqueness to the scene, which it
+was truly delightful to contemplate.
+
+It was three days previous that we had first met with these 'prairie
+cattle.' I have often heard backwoodsmen speak of the 'buck ague,' but
+commend me to the 'buffalo fever' of the Prairies for novelty and
+amusement. Very few of our party had ever seen a buffalo before in its
+wild state; therefore at the first sight of these noble animals the
+excitement surpassed anything I had ever witnessed before. Some of our
+dragoons, in their eagerness for sport, had managed to frighten away a
+small herd that were quietly feeding at some distance, before our
+'still hunters,' who had crawled towards them, had been able to get
+within rifle-shot of them. No sooner were the movements of our mounted
+men perceived, than the whole extent of country, as far as the eye
+could reach, became perfectly animate with living objects, fleeing and
+scampering in every direction. From the surrounding valleys sprang up
+numerous herds of these animals which had hitherto been unobserved,
+many of which, in their indiscriminate flight, passed so near the
+wagons, that the [Pg113] drivers, carried away by the contagious
+excitement of {25} the moment, would leave the teams and keep up a
+running fire after them. I had the good fortune to witness the
+exploits of one of our Northern greenhorns, who, mounted upon a
+sluggish mule, and without any kind of weapon, amused himself by
+chasing every buffalo that came scudding along, as if he expected to
+capture him by laying hold of his tail. Plying spur and whip, he would
+gallop after one division till he was left far behind: and then turn
+to another and another, with the same earnestness of purpose, until
+they had all passed out of sight. He finally came back disheartened
+and sullen, with his head hanging down like one conscious of having
+done something supremely ridiculous; but still cursing his lazy mule,
+which, he said, might have caught the buffalo, if it had had a mind
+to.
+
+The next day the buffalo being still more numerous, the chase was
+renewed with greater zest. In the midst of the general hurly-burly
+which ensued, three persons on foot were perceived afar off, chasing
+one herd of buffalo and then another, until they completely
+disappeared. These were two of our cooks, the one armed with a pistol,
+the other with a musket, accompanied by Chuly (the Creek), who was
+happily provided with a rifle. We travelled several miles without
+hearing or seeing anything of them. At last, when we had almost given
+them up for lost, Frank, the French cook, came trudging in, and his
+rueful countenance was no bad index of the {26} doleful tale he had to
+relate. Although he had been chasing and shooting all day, he had, as
+he expressed it, "no killet one," till eventually he happened to
+stumble upon a wounded calf, which he boldly attacked; but as ill luck
+would have it, the youngster took it into his head to give him battle.
+"Foutre de varment! he butt me down," exclaimed the exasperated
+Frenchman,--"Sacré! me plentee scart; but me kill him for all." Chuly
+and the [Pg114] other cook came in soon after, in equally dejected
+spirits; for, in addition to his ill luck in hunting, the latter had
+been lost. The Indian had perhaps killed buffalo with his rifle, but
+he was in no humor to be communicative in his language of signs; so
+nothing was ever known of his adventures. One thing seemed pretty
+certain, that they were all cured of the 'buffalo fever.'
+
+On the night after the first buffalo scamper, we encamped upon a
+woodless ravine, and were obliged to resort to 'buffalo chips' (dry
+ordure) for fuel. It is amusing to witness the bustle which generally
+takes place in collecting this offal. In dry weather it is an
+excellent substitute for wood, than which it even makes a hotter fire;
+but when moistened by rain, the smouldering pile will smoke for hours
+before it condescends to burn, if it does at all. The buffalo meat
+which the hunter roasts or broils upon this fire, he accounts more
+savory than the steaks dressed by the most delicate cooks in civilized
+life.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[68] Chapter i of volume ii of the original edition.--ED.
+
+[69] It is said that Major Long first chose the site of Van Buren for
+the fort afterwards erected at Bellepoint, five miles higher up the
+river, and known as Fort Smith--see our volume xiii, p. 197, note 166.
+The site was not occupied until after the removal of the Cherokee in
+1828; the next year it was made a post-office, and in 1838 the seat
+for Crawford County, Arkansas. For two decades Van Buren was a
+prosperous frontier town, the home of a large Indian trade. Since the
+War of Secession it has not regained its prestige.--ED.
+
+[70] The caravan crossed the Arkansas, between the embouchment of the
+Illinois and Canadian rivers, in what is now the Cherokee Nation,
+Indian Territory.--ED.
+
+[71] The North Fork of the Canadian unites with the main stream on the
+boundary between the Creek and Cherokee nations. The Creek town of
+Eufaula is near the site mentioned by Gregg.--ED.
+
+[72] James Kirker, known to the Mexicans as Santiago Querque, was an
+American who led an adventurous life upon the plains. Like several
+others he embarked in Apache warfare for the government of Chihuahua;
+and was accused, probably unjustly, of cheating in the delivery of
+scalps. He retired in bad humor to his hacienda in Sonora; later
+removing to California, where he died about 1853. See Kendall, _Texan
+Santa Fé Expedition_, ii, pp. 57-59.--ED.
+
+[73] Matthew Arbuckle was the son of a Virginia pioneer of the same
+name, who participated in the Battle of Point Pleasant in 1774. The
+son was born in 1776, and entered the regular army at the age of
+twenty-three, passing through all of the grades until in 1830 he was,
+for meritorious services, breveted brigadier-general. He died at Fort
+Smith June 11, 1851.
+
+Fort Gibson was erected in 1824 on the left bank of Neosho River, near
+its mouth. The western boundary of Arkansas was in 1825 removed forty
+miles to the west, so that this military post fell within its border.
+Later (1830), the boundary was again replaced at the original limits,
+whereupon Fort Gibson fell into Cherokee territory. Several unavailing
+efforts were made (1834-38) to have the garrison removed to Fort
+Smith; and after numerous protests by the Cherokee against its
+maintenance within their borders, Fort Gibson was finally abandoned in
+1857.--ED.
+
+[74] For the description of the belt of woodland known as Cross
+Timbers, see _post_, p. 253.--ED.
+
+[75] Lieutenant James Monroe Bowman entered the West Point military
+academy from Pennsylvania, was made lieutenant in the mounted rangers
+in 1832, and transferred to the dragoons in 1833. For his death (July
+21, 1839), see _post_.--ED.
+
+[76] Camp Holmes was at the site later occupied by Fort Holmes, in the
+Creek Nation, near its western boundary. In 1849 there was no
+habitation at this place; see _Senate Doc._, 31 Cong., 1 sess., 12.
+
+Richard Barnes Mason was born in Fairfax County, Virginia, in 1797; at
+the age of twenty he entered the army as lieutenant, two years later
+(1819) became captain, and in 1833 major of the 1st dragoons. He was
+lieutenant-colonel in 1836, colonel in 1846, and brigadier-general two
+years later, dying at St. Louis in 1850. He served in the Black Hawk
+War, and was first military and civil governor of California.
+
+For the Comanche, see our volume xvi, p. 233, note 109. For the
+Wichita, also called Pawnee Picts, _ibid._, p. 95, note 55.
+
+The treaty here alluded to was signed at Camp Holmes, August 24, 1835.
+If Colonel Mason was present it was in a subordinate capacity, as
+General Arbuckle and Montford Stokes were the federal commissioners.
+The treaty was one of peace and friendship between the Comanche,
+Wichita, and associated bands on the one part, and the tribes recently
+removed to the vicinity--Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, etc.--on the other,
+the government commissioners acting as mediators.--ED.
+
+[77] Auguste Pierre Chouteau, eldest son of the senior Pierre (for
+whom see our volume xvi, p. 275, note 127) and brother of Pierre
+(cadet), so well known in connection with the Missouri Fur Company,
+was born at St. Louis in 1786. After being educated at West Point, he
+entered the army, where he was ensign of the 1st infantry. In 1809, he
+resigned, married his cousin Sophie Labadie, and embarked in the fur
+trade, in which he had charge of the Arkansas branch of the business
+until his death at Fort Gibson.--ED.
+
+[78] Most of the prairie Indians seem to have learned this Spanish
+word, by which, when talking with the whites, all their chiefs are
+designated.--GREGG.
+
+[79] Some of these (principally Kiawas, as I afterwards learned),
+reached Fort Gibson, and received a handsome reward of government
+presents for their visit.--GREGG.
+
+[80] For this stream, see our volume xvi, p. 138, note 66.--ED.
+
+[81] In Oklahoma, probably not far from the present town of that
+name.--ED.
+
+[82] See our volume xix, p. 176, note 13 (Gregg).--ED.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII {II}
+
+Travelling out of our Latitude -- The Buffalo-gnat -- A Kiawa and
+  Squaw -- Indian _crim. con._ Affair -- Extraordinary Mark of
+  Confidence in the White Man -- A Conflagration -- An Espy Shower --
+  Region of Gypsum -- Our Latitude -- A Lilliputian Forest -- A Party
+  of Comanches -- A Visit to a 'Dog Town' -- Indian Archery -- Arrival
+  of Comanche Warriors -- A 'Big Talk,' and its Results -- Speech of
+  the _Capitan Mayor_ -- Project of bringing Comanche Chiefs to
+  Washington -- Return of Lieut. Bowman, and our March resumed --
+  Melancholy Reflections -- Another Indian Visit -- Mexican Captives
+  -- Voluntary Captivity -- A sprightly Mexican Lad -- Purchase of a
+  Captive -- Comanche Trade and Etiquette -- Indians least dangerous
+  to such as trade with them.
+
+
+As it now appeared that we had been forced at least two points north
+of the course we had originally intended to steer, by the northern
+bearing of the Canadian, we made an effort to cross a ridge of timber
+to the south, which, after considerable labor, proved successful. Here
+we found a [Pg115] multitude of gravelly, bright-flowing streams,
+with rich bottoms, lined all along with stately white oak,
+black-walnut, mulberry, and other similar growths, that yielded us
+excellent materials for wagon repairs, of which the route from
+Missouri, after passing Council Grove, is absolutely in want.
+
+{28} Although we found the buffalo extremely scarce westward of Spring
+Valley, yet there was no lack of game; for every nook and glade
+swarmed with deer and wild turkeys, partridges and grouse. We had also
+occasion to become acquainted with another species of prairie-tenant
+whose visits generally produced impressions that were anything but
+agreeable. I allude to a small black insect generally known to prairie
+travellers as the 'buffalo-gnat.' It not only attacks the face and
+hands, but even contrives to insinuate itself under the clothing, upon
+the breast and arms, and other covered parts. Here it fastens itself
+and luxuriates, until completely satisfied. Its bite is so poisonous
+as to give the face, neck, and hands, or any other part of the person
+upon which its affectionate caresses have been bestowed, the
+appearance of a pustulated varioloid. The buffalo-gnat is in fact a
+much more annoying insect than the mosquito, and also much more
+frequently met with on the prairie streams.
+
+We now continued our line of march between the Canadian and the
+timbered ridge with very little difficulty. Having stopped to 'noon'
+in a bordering valley, we were quite surprised by the appearance of an
+Indian with no other protection than his squaw. From what we could
+gather by their signs, they had been the victims of a 'love scrape.'
+The fellow, whom I found to be a Kiawa, had, according to his own
+account, stolen the wife of another, and then fled to the thickets,
+{29} where he purposed to lead a lonely life, in hopes of escaping the
+vengeance of his incensed predecessor. From this, it would appear that
+affairs of gallantry are not [Pg116] evils exclusively confined to
+civilization. Plausible, however, as the Indian's story seemed to be,
+we had strong suspicions that others of his band were not far off; and
+that he, with his 'better half,' had only been skulking about in hopes
+of exercising their 'acquisitiveness' at our expense; when, on finding
+themselves discovered, they deemed it the best policy fearlessly to
+approach us. This singular visit afforded a specimen of that
+confidence with which civilization inspires even the most untutored
+savages. They remained with us, in the utmost nonchalance, till the
+following morning.
+
+Shortly after the arrival of the visitors, we were terribly alarmed at
+a sudden prairie conflagration. The old grass of the valley in which
+we were encamped had not been burned off, and one of our cooks having
+unwittingly kindled a fire in the midst of it, it spread at once with
+wonderful rapidity; and a brisk wind springing up at the time, the
+flames were carried over the valley, in spite of every effort we could
+make to check them. Fortunately for us, the fire had broken out to the
+leeward of our wagons, and therefore occasioned us no damage; but the
+accident itself was a forcible illustration of the danger that might
+be incurred by pitching a camp in the midst of dry grass, and the
+advantages {30} that might be taken by hostile savages in such a
+locality.
+
+After the fire had raged with great violence for a few hours, a cloud
+suddenly obscured the horizon, which was almost immediately followed
+by a refreshing shower of rain: a phenomenon often witnessed upon the
+Prairies after an extensive conflagration; and affording a practical
+exemplification of Professor Espy's celebrated theory of artificial
+showers.[83] [Pg117]
+
+We now continued our journey without further trouble, except
+that of being still forced out of our proper latitude by the northern
+bearing of the Canadian. On the 30th of May, however, we succeeded in
+'doubling' the spur of the Great North Bend.[84] Upon ascending the
+dividing ridge again, which at this point was entirely destitute of
+timber, a 'prairie expanse' once more greeted our view. This and the
+following day, our route lay through a region that abounded in gypsum,
+from the finest quality down to ordinary plaster. On the night of the
+31st we encamped on a tributary of the North Fork, which we called
+Gypsum creek, in consequence of its being surrounded with vast
+quantities of that substance.[85]
+
+Being compelled to keep a reckoning of our latitude, by which our
+travel was partly governed, and the sun being now too high at noon for
+the use of the artificial horizon, we had to be guided entirely by
+observations of the meridian altitude of the moon, planets, or {31}
+fixed stars. At Gypsum creek our latitude was 36° 10′--being the
+utmost northing we had made. As we were now about thirty miles north
+of the parallel of Santa Fé, we had to steer, henceforth, a few
+degrees south of west in order to bring up on our direct course.
+
+The following night we encamped in a region covered with sandy
+hillocks, where there was not a drop of water to be found: in fact, an
+immense sand-plain was now opening before us, somewhat variegated in
+appearance, [Pg118] being entirely barren of vegetation in some
+places, while others were completely covered with an extraordinarily
+diminutive growth which has been called _shin-oak_, and a curious
+plum-bush of equally dwarfish stature. These singular-looking plants
+(undistinguishable at a distance from the grass of the prairies) were
+heavily laden with acorns and plums, which, when ripe, are of
+considerable size although the trunks of either were seldom thicker
+than oat-straws, and frequently not a foot high. We also met with the
+same in many other places on the Prairies.
+
+Still the most indispensable requisite, water, was nowhere to be
+found, and symptoms of alarm were beginning to spread far and wide
+among us. When we had last seen the Canadian and the North Fork, they
+appeared to separate in their course almost at right angles, therefore
+it was impossible to tell at what distance we were from either. At
+last {32} my brother and myself, who had been scouring the plains
+during the morning without success, finally perceived a deep hollow
+leading in the direction of the Canadian, where we found a fine pool
+of water, and our wagons 'made port' again before mid-day; thus
+quieting all alarm.
+
+Although we had encountered but very few buffalo since we left Spring
+Valley, they now began to make their appearance again, though not in
+very large droves; together with the deer and the fleet antelope,
+which latter struck me as being much more tame in this wild section of
+the Prairies than I had seen it elsewhere. The graceful and majestic
+mustang would also now and then sweep across the naked country, or
+come curvetting and capering in the vicinity of our little caravan,
+just as the humor prompted him. But what attracted our attention most
+were the little dog settlements, or, as they are more technically
+called, 'dog towns,' so often alluded to by prairie travellers. As we
+were passing through their 'streets,' multitudes of the diminutive
+inhabitants [Pg119] were to be seen among the numerous little
+hillocks which marked their dwellings, where they frisked about, or
+sat perched at their doors, yelping defiance, to our great
+amusement--heedless of the danger that often awaited them from the
+rifles of our party; for they had perhaps never seen such deadly
+weapons before.
+
+On the 5th of June, we found ourselves once more travelling on a firm
+rolling prairie, {33} about the region, as we supposed,[86] of the
+boundary between the United States and Mexico; when Lieut. Bowman, in
+pursuance of his instructions, began to talk seriously of returning.
+While the wagons were stopped at noon, a small party of us, including
+a few dragoons, advanced some miles ahead to take a survey of the
+route. We had just ascended the highest point of a ridge to get a
+prospect of the country beyond, when we descried a herd of buffalo in
+motion and two or three horsemen in hot pursuit. "Mexican Ciboleros!"
+we all exclaimed at once; for we supposed we might now be within the
+range of the buffalo hunters of New Mexico. Clapping spurs to our
+horses, we set off towards them at full speed. As we might have
+expected, our precipitate approach frightened them away and we soon
+lost sight of them altogether. On reaching the spot where they had
+last been seen, we found a horse and two mules saddled, all tied to
+the carcass of a slain buffalo which was partly skinned. We made
+diligent search in some copses of small growth, and among the adjacent
+ravines, but could discover no further traces of the fugitives. The
+Indian rigging of the animals, however, satisfied us that they were
+not Mexicans.
+
+We were just about giving up the pursuit, when a solitary Indian
+horseman was espied upon a ridge about a mile from [Pg120] us. My
+{34} brother and myself set out towards him, but on seeing us
+approach, he began to manifest some fear, and therefore my brother
+advanced alone. As soon as he was near enough he cried out "_Amigo!_"
+to which the Indian replied "_Comantz!_" and giving himself a thump
+upon the breast, he made a graceful circuit, and came up at full
+speed, presenting his hand in token of friendship. Nothing, however,
+could induce him to return to his animals with us, where the rest of
+our party had remained. He evidently feared treachery and foul play.
+Therefore we retraced our steps to the wagons, leaving the Indian's
+property just as we had found it, which, we subsequently discovered,
+was taken away after our departure.
+
+In the afternoon of the same day, five more Indians (including a
+squaw), made their appearance, and having been induced by friendly
+tokens to approach us, they spent the night at our encampment. The
+next morning, we expressed a desire, by signs, to be conducted to the
+nearest point on our route where good pasturage and water might be
+found. A sprightly young chief, armed only with his bow and arrows, at
+once undertook the task, while his comrades still travelled along in
+our company. We had not progressed far before we found ourselves in
+the very midst of another large 'dog-town.'
+
+The task of describing the social and domestic habits of these
+eccentric little brutes, has been so graphically and amusingly
+executed {35} by the racy and popular pen of G. Wilkins Kendall, that
+any attempt by me would be idle; and I feel that the most agreeable
+service I can do my readers is to borrow a paragraph from his alluring
+"Narrative," describing a scene presented by one of these prairie
+commonwealths.[87] [Pg121]
+
+"In their habits they are clannish, social, and extremely
+convivial, never living alone like other animals, but, on the
+contrary, always found in villages or large settlements. They are a
+wild, frolicsome, madcap set of fellows when undisturbed, uneasy and
+ever on the move, and appear to take especial delight in chattering
+away the time, and visiting from hole to hole to gossip and talk over
+each other's affairs--at least so their actions would indicate.... On
+several occasions I crept close to their villages, without being
+observed, to watch their movements. Directly in the centre of one of
+them I particularly noticed a very large dog, sitting in front of the
+door or entrance to his burrow, and by his own actions and those of
+his neighbors it really seemed as though he was the president, mayor,
+or chief--at all events, he was the 'big dog' of the place. For at
+least an hour I secretly watched the operations in this community.
+During that time the large dog I have mentioned received at least a
+dozen visits from his fellow-dogs, which would stop and chat with him
+a few moments, and then run off to their domiciles. All this while he
+never left his post for a moment, and I thought I could discover a
+gravity in his deportment {36} not discernible in those by which he
+was surrounded. Far is it from me to say that the visits he received
+were upon business, or had anything to do with the local government of
+the village; but it certainly appeared so. If any animal has a system
+of laws regulating the body politic, it is certainly the prairie dog."
+
+As we sat on our horses, looking at these 'village transactions,' our
+Comanche guide drew an arrow for the purpose of cutting short the
+career of a little citizen that sat yelping most doggedly in the mouth
+of his hole, forty or fifty paces distant. The animal was almost
+entirely concealed behind the hillock which encompassed the entrance
+of his apartment, so that the dart could not reach it in a [Pg122]
+direct line; but the Indian had resort to a manœuvre which caused the
+arrow to descend with a curve, and in an instant it quivered in the
+body of the poor little quadruped. The slayer only smiled at his feat,
+while we were perfectly astounded. There is nothing strange in the
+rifleman's being able to hit his mark with his fine-sighted barrel;
+but the accuracy with which these savages learn to shoot their
+feathered missiles, with such random aim, is almost incomprehensible.
+I had at the same time drawn one of Colt's repeating pistols, with a
+view of paying a similar compliment to another dog; when, finding that
+it excited the curiosity of the chief, I fired a few shots in quick
+succession, as an explanation of its virtues. He seemed to {37}
+comprehend the secret instantly, and, drawing his bow once more, he
+discharged a number of arrows with the same rapidity, as a palpable
+intimation that he could shoot as fast with his instrument as we could
+with our patent fire-arms. This was not merely a vain show: there was
+more of reality than of romance in his demonstration.
+
+Shortly after this we reached a fresh brook, a tributary of the North
+Fork, which wound its silent course in the midst of a picturesque
+valley, surrounded by romantic hills and craggy knobs. Here we pitched
+our camp: when three of our visitors left us for the purpose of going
+to bring all the 'capitanes' of their tribe, who were said to be
+encamped at no great distance from us.
+
+Our encampment, which we designated as 'Camp Comanche,' was only five
+or six miles from the North Fork, while, to the southward, the main
+Canadian was but a little more distant.[88]
+
+[Illustration: Camp Comanche]
+
+After waiting anxiously for the arrival of the Comanche chiefs, until
+our patience was well nigh exhausted, I ascended [Pg125] a high
+knoll just behind our camp, in company with the younger of the two
+chiefs who had remained with us, to see if anything could be
+discovered. By and by, the Comanche pointed anxiously towards the
+northwest, where he espied a party of his people, though at such a
+great distance, that it was some time before I could discern them.
+With what acuteness of vision are these savages endowed! Accustomed
+{38} to the open plains, and like the eagle to look out for their prey
+at immense distances, their optical perception is scarcely excelled by
+that of the king of birds.
+
+The party, having approached still nearer, assembled upon an eminence
+as if for the purpose of reconnoitring; but our chief upon the knoll
+hoisting his blanket, which seemed to say, 'come ahead,' they advanced
+slowly and deliberately--very unlike the customary mode of approach
+among all the prairie tribes.
+
+The party consisted of about sixty warriors, at the head of whom rode
+an Indian of small stature and agreeable countenance, verging on the
+age of fifty. He wore the usual Comanche dress, but instead of
+moccasins, he had on a pair of long white cotton hose, while upon his
+bare head waved a tall red plume,--a mark of distinction which
+proclaimed him at once the _capitan mayor_, or principal chief. We
+addressed them in Spanish, inquiring if they had brought an
+interpreter, when a lank-jawed, grum-looking savage announced his
+readiness to officiate in that capacity. "_Sabes hablar en Español,
+amigo?_" (can you talk Spanish, friend?) I inquired. "_Si_" (yes), he
+gruffly replied. "Where are your people?" "Encamped just above on
+yonder creek." "How many of you are there?" "Oh, a great many--nearly
+all the Comanche nation; for we are _en junta_ to go and fight the
+Pawnees." "Well, can you tell us how far it is to Santa Fé?"--But the
+surly savage cut short my inquiries by observing--{39} "_Ahí
+platícarémos despues_"--"We will talk about that hereafter." [Pg126]
+
+We then showed them a spot a few rods from us, where they might encamp
+so as not to intermix their animals with ours; after which all the
+_capitanes_ were invited to our camp to hold a 'big talk.' In a very
+short time we had ten chiefs seated in a circle within our tent, when
+the pipe, the Indian token of peace, was produced: but, doubting
+perhaps the sincerity of our professions, they at first refused to
+smoke. The interpreter, however, remarked as an excuse for their
+conduct, that it was not their custom to smoke until they had received
+some presents: but a few Mexican _cigarritos_ being produced, most of
+them took a whiff, as if under the impression that to smoke cigars was
+no pledge of friendship.
+
+Lieut. Bowman now desired us to broach the subject of peace and amity
+betwixt the Comanches and our people, and to invite them to visit the
+'Capitan Grande' at Washington, and enter into a perpetual treaty to
+that effect; but they would not then converse on the subject. In fact,
+the interpreter inquired, "Are we not at war?--how can we go to see
+the Capitan Grande?" We knew they held themselves at war with Mexico
+and Texas, and probably had mistaken us for Texans, which had no doubt
+caused the interpreter to speak so emphatically of their immense
+numbers. Upon this we explained to them that the United States was a
+distinct government {40} and at peace with the Comanches. As an
+earnest of our friendly disposition, we then produced some scarlet
+cloth, with a small quantity of vermilion, tobacco, beads, etc., which
+being distributed among them, they very soon settled down into a state
+of placidness and contentment. Indeed, it will be found, that, with
+wild Indians, presents are always the corner-stone of friendship. "We
+are rejoiced," at last said the elder chief with a ceremonious air,
+"our hearts are glad that you have arrived among us: it makes our eyes
+laugh to see Americans walk in our land. We will notify our old and
+young men--our boys [Pg127] and our maidens--our women and
+children,--that they may come to trade with you. We hope you will
+speak well of us to your people, that more of them may hunt the way to
+our country, for we like to trade with the white man." This was
+delivered in Comanche, but translated into Spanish by the interpreter,
+who, although a full Indian, had lived several years among the
+Mexicans and spoke that language tolerably well. Our 'big talk' lasted
+several hours, after which the Indians retired to sleep. The next
+morning, after renewing their protestations of friendship, they took
+their departure, the principal chief saying, "Tell the Capitan Grande
+that when he pleases to call us we are all ready to go to see him."
+
+The project of bringing some of the chiefs of these wild prairie
+tribes to Washington city, has been entertained, but never yet carried
+{41} into effect. The few who have penetrated as far as Fort Gibson,
+or perhaps to a frontier village, have probably left with more
+unfavorable impressions than they had before. Believing the former to
+be our great Capital, and the most insignificant among the latter, our
+largest cities, they have naturally come to the conclusion that they
+surpass us in numbers and power, if not in wealth and grandeur. I have
+no doubt that the chiefs of the Comanches and other prairie tribes, if
+rightly managed, might be induced to visit our veritable 'Capitan
+Grande,' and our large cities, which would doubtless have a far better
+effect than all the treaties of peace that could be concluded with
+them for an age to come. They would then 'see with their own eyes and
+hear with their own ears' the magnificence and power of the whites,
+which would inspire them at once with respect and fear.
+
+This was on the 7th of June. About noon, Lieut. Bowman and his command
+finally took leave of us, and at the same time we resumed our forward
+march. This separation was [Pg128] truly painful: not so much on
+account of the loss we were about to experience, in regard to the
+protection afforded us by the troops (which, to say the truth, was
+more needed now than it had ever been before), as for the necessity of
+parting with a friend, who had endeared himself to us all by his
+affable deportment, his social manners and accommodating disposition.
+Ah! little did we think then that we should never see that gallant
+officer more! {42} So young, so robust, and so healthy, little did we
+suspect that the sound of that voice which shouted so vigorously in
+responding to our parting salute in the desert, would never greet our
+ears again! But such was Fate's decree! Although he arrived safely at
+Fort Gibson, in a few short weeks he fell a victim to disease.
+
+There were perhaps a few timid hearts that longed to return with the
+dragoons, and ever and anon a wistful glance would be cast back at the
+receding figures in the distance. The idea of a handful of thirty-four
+men having to travel without guide or protection through a dreary
+wilderness, peopled by thousands of savages who were just as likely to
+be hostile as friendly, was certainly very little calculated to
+produce agreeable impressions. Much to the credit of our men, however,
+the escort was no sooner out of sight than the timorous regained
+confidence, and all seemed bound together by stronger ties than
+before. All we feared were ambuscades or surprise; to guard against
+which, it was only necessary to redouble our vigilance.
+
+On the following day, while we were enjoying our noon's rest upon a
+ravine of the Canadian, several parties of Indians, amounting
+altogether to about three hundred souls, including women and children,
+made their appearance. They belonged to the same band of Comanches
+with whom we had had so agreeable an intercourse, and had brought
+several mules in the expectation of driving a trade with us. The
+squaws and papooses {43} were so anxious to gratify their [Pg129]
+curiosity, and so very soon began to give such striking manifestations
+of their pilfering propensities, that, at the request of the chiefs,
+we carried some goods at a little distance, where a trade was opened,
+in hopes of attracting their attention. One woman, I observed, still
+lingered among the wagons, who, from certain peculiarities of
+features, struck me very forcibly as not being an Indian. In
+accordance with this impression I addressed her in Spanish, and was
+soon confirmed in all my suspicions. She was from the neighborhood of
+Matamoros, and had been married to a Comanche since her captivity. She
+did not entertain the least desire of returning to her own people.
+
+Similar instances of voluntary captivity have frequently occurred. Dr.
+Sibley, in a communication to the War Department, in 1805, relates an
+affecting case, which shows how a sensitive female will often prefer
+remaining with her masters, rather than encounter the horrible ordeal
+of ill-natured remarks to which she would inevitably be exposed on
+being restored to civilized life.[89] The Comanches, some twenty years
+previous, having kidnapped the daughter of the Governor-General of
+Chihuahua, the latter transmitted $1000 to a trader to procure her
+ransom. This was soon effected, but to the astonishment of all
+concerned, the unfortunate girl refused to leave the Indians. She sent
+word to her father, that they had disfigured her by tattooing; that
+she was married and perhaps _enceinte_; {44} and that she would be
+more unhappy by returning to her father under these circumstances than
+by remaining where she was.
+
+My attention was next attracted by a sprightly lad, ten or twelve
+years old, whose nationality could scarcely be detected under his
+Indian guise. But, though quite 'Indianized,' he was exceedingly
+polite. I inquired of him in Spanish, [Pg130] "Are you not a
+Mexican?" "Yes, sir,--I once was." "What is your name?" "Bernardino
+Saenz, sir, at your service." "When and where were you taken?" "About
+four years ago, at the Hacienda de las Animas, near Parral." "Shan't
+we buy you and take you to your people?--we are going thither." At
+this he hesitated a little, and then answered in an affecting tone,
+"_No, señor; ya soy demasiado bruto para vivir entre los Cristianos_"
+(O, no, sir; I am now too much of a brute to live among Christians);
+adding that his owner was not there, and that he knew the Indian in
+whose charge he came would not sell him.
+
+The Hacienda de las Animas is in the department of Chihuahua, some
+fifteen miles from the city of Parral, a much larger place than Santa
+Fé. Notwithstanding this, about three hundred Comanches made a bold
+inroad into the very heart of the settlements--laid waste the
+unfortunate hacienda, killing and capturing a considerable number--and
+remained several days in the neighborhood, committing all sorts of
+outrages. This occurred in 1835. I happened to be in Chihuahua {45} at
+the time, and very well remember the bustle and consternation that
+prevailed. A thousand volunteers were raised, commanded by the
+governor himself, who 'hotly pursued' the enemy during their tardy
+retreat; but returned with the usual report--"_No les pudimos
+alcanzar_,"--we could not overtake them.
+
+Out of half a dozen Mexican captives that happened to be with our new
+visitors, we only met with one who manifested the slightest
+inclination to abandon Indian life. This was a stupid boy about
+fifteen years of age, who had probably been roughly treated on account
+of his laziness. We very soon struck a bargain with his owner, paying
+about the price of a mule for the little outcast, whom I sent to his
+family as soon as we reached Chihuahua. Notwithstanding the [Pg131]
+inherent stupidity of my _protégé_, I found him abundantly
+grateful--much to his credit be it spoken--for the little service I
+had been able to render him.
+
+We succeeded in purchasing several mules which cost us between ten and
+twenty dollars worth of goods apiece. In Comanche trade the main
+trouble consists in fixing the price of the first animal. This being
+settled by the chiefs, it often happens that mule after mule is led up
+and the price received without further cavil. Each owner usually wants
+a general assortment; therefore the price must consist of several
+items, as a blanket, a looking-glass, an awl, a flint, a little
+tobacco, vermillion, beads, etc.
+
+Our trade with the new batch of Comanches {46} being over, they now
+began to depart as they had come, in small parties, without bidding us
+adieu, or even informing us of their intention, it being the usual
+mode of taking leave among Indians, to depart _sans cérémonie_, and as
+silently as possible.
+
+The Santa Fé caravans have generally avoided every manner of trade
+with the wild Indians, for fear of being treacherously dealt with
+during the familiar intercourse which necessarily ensues. This I am
+convinced is an erroneous impression; for I have always found, that
+savages are much less hostile to those with whom they trade, than to
+any other people. They are emphatically fond of traffic, and, being
+anxious to encourage the whites to come among them, instead of
+committing depredations upon those with whom they trade, they are
+generally ready to defend them against every enemy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX {III}
+
+Ponds and Buffalo Wallows -- Valley of the Canadian, and romantic
+  Freaks of Nature -- Melancholy Adventure of a Party of Traders in
+  1832 -- Fears of being lost -- Arrival of a Party of _Comancheros_,
+  and their wonderful Stories -- Their Peculiarities and Traffic --
+  Bitter Water, and the _Salitre_ of New Mexico -- Avant-couriers for
+  Santa Fé -- Patent Fire-arms and their Virtues -- Ranchero Ideas of
+  Distance, and their Mode of giving Directions -- The Angostura, and
+  erroneous Notions of the Texans -- A new Route revealed -- Solitary
+  Travel -- Supply of Provisions sent back -- Arrival at Santa Fé --
+  Gov. Armijo, etc. -- A 'Flare-up' with His Excellency.
+
+
+The Comanches having all disappeared, we resumed our march, and soon
+emerged into an open plain or _mesa_ which was one of the most
+monotonous I had ever seen, there being not a break, not a hill nor
+valley, nor even a shrub to obstruct the view. The only thing which
+served to turn us from a direct course pursued by the compass, was the
+innumerable ponds which bespeckled the plain, and which kept us at
+least well supplied with water. Many of these ponds seem to have grown
+out of 'buffalo wallows,'--a term used on the Prairies to designate a
+sink made by the buffalo's pawing the earth for the purpose of
+obtaining a smooth dusty surface to roll upon.
+
+{48} After three or four days of weary travel over this level plain,
+the picturesque valley of the Canadian burst once more upon our view,
+presenting one of the most magnificent sights I had ever beheld. Here
+rose a perpendicular cliff, in all the majesty and sublimity of its
+desolation;--there another sprang forward as in the very act of losing
+its balance and about to precipitate itself upon the vale below;--a
+little further on, a pillar with crevices and cornices so curiously
+formed as easily to be mistaken for the work of art; while a thousand
+other objects grotesquely and fantastically arranged, and all shaded
+in the sky-bound perspective by the blue ridge-like brow of the _mesa_
+far beyond the Canadian, [Pg133] constituted a kind of chaotic space
+where nature seemed to have indulged in her wildest caprices. Such was
+the confusion of ground-swells and eccentric cavities, that it was
+altogether impossible to determine whereabouts the channel of the
+Canadian wound its way among them.
+
+It would seem that these mesas might once have extended up to the
+margin of the stream, leaving a _cañon_ or chasm through which the
+river flowed, as is still the case in some other places. But the basis
+of the plain not having been sufficiently firm to resist the action of
+the waters, these have washed and cut the bordering _cejas_ or brows
+into all the shapes they now present. The buffalo and other animals
+have no doubt assisted in these transmutations. Their deep-worn paths
+over the {49} brows of the plains, form channels for the descending
+rains; which are soon washed into the size of ravines--and even
+considerable creeks. The beds of these continue to be worn down until
+veins of lasting water are opened, and constant-flowing streams thus
+established. Numerous were the embryo rivulets which might be observed
+forming in this way along the borders of those streams. The frequent
+isolated benches and mounds, whose tabular summits are on a level with
+the adjacent plains, and appear entirely of a similar formation,
+indicate that the intermediate earth has been washed away, or removed
+by some other process of nature--all seeming to give plausibility to
+our theory.
+
+It was somewhere in this vicinity that a small party of Americans
+experienced a terrible calamity in the winter of 1832-3, on their way
+home; and as the incident had the tendency to call into play the most
+prominent features of the Indian character, I will digress so far here
+as to relate the facts.
+
+The party consisted of twelve men, chiefly citizens of Missouri. Their
+baggage and about ten thousand dollars in specie were packed upon
+mules. They took the route of [Pg134] the Canadian river, fearing to
+venture on the northern prairies at that season of the year. Having
+left Santa Fé in December, they had proceeded without accident thus
+far, when a large body of Comanches and Kiawas were seen advancing
+towards them. Being well acquainted with the treacherous and
+pusillanimous {50} disposition of those races, the traders prepared at
+once for defence; but the savages having made a halt at some distance,
+began to approach one by one, or in small parties, making a great show
+of friendship all the while, until most of them had collected on the
+spot. Finding themselves surrounded in every direction, the travellers
+now began to move on, in hopes of getting rid of the intruders: but
+the latter were equally ready for the start; and, mounting their
+horses, kept jogging on in the same direction. The first act of
+hostility perpetrated by the Indians proved fatal to one of the
+American traders named Pratt, who was shot dead while attempting to
+secure two mules which had become separated from the rest. Upon this,
+the companions of the slain man immediately dismounted and commenced a
+fire upon the Indians, which was warmly returned, whereby another man
+of the name of Mitchell was killed.
+
+By this time the traders had taken off their packs and piled them
+around for protection; and now falling to work with their hands, they
+very soon scratched out a trench deep enough to protect them from the
+shot of the enemy. The latter made several desperate charges, but they
+seemed too careful of their own personal safety, notwithstanding the
+enormous superiority of their numbers, to venture too near the rifles
+of the Americans. In a few hours all the animals of the traders were
+either killed or wounded, but no personal damage was done to the
+remaining ten men, {51} with the exception of a wound in the thigh
+received by one, which was not at the time considered dangerous.
+[Pg135]
+
+During the siege, the Americans were in great danger of perishing from
+thirst, as the Indians had complete command of all the water within
+reach. Starvation was not so much to be dreaded; because, in case of
+necessity, they could live on the flesh of their slain animals, some
+of which lay stretched close around them. After being pent up for
+thirty-six hours in this horrible hole, during which time they had
+seldom ventured to raise their heads above the surface without being
+shot at, they resolved to make a bold _sortie_ in the night, as any
+death was preferable to the fate which awaited them there. As there
+was not an animal left that was at all in a condition to travel, the
+proprietors of the money gave permission to all to take and
+appropriate to themselves whatever amount each man could safely
+undertake to carry. In this way a few hundred dollars were started
+with, of which, however, but little ever reached the United States.
+The remainder was buried deep in the sand, in hopes that it might
+escape the cupidity of the savages; but to very little purpose, for
+they were afterwards seen by some Mexican traders making a great
+display of specie, which was without doubt taken from this unfortunate
+_cache_.
+
+With every prospect of being discovered, overtaken, and butchered, but
+resolved to sell their lives as dearly as possible, they at last {52}
+emerged from their hiding-place, and moved on silently and slowly
+until they found themselves beyond the purlieus of the Indian camps.
+Often did they look back in the direction where from three to five
+hundred savages were supposed to watch their movements, but, much to
+their astonishment, no one appeared to be in pursuit. The Indians,
+believing no doubt that the property of the traders would come into
+their hands, and having no amateur predilection for taking scalps at
+the risk of losing their own, appeared willing enough to let the
+spoliated adventurers depart without further molestation. [Pg136]
+
+The destitute travellers having run themselves short of provisions,
+and being no longer able to kill game for want of materials to load
+their rifles with, they were very soon reduced to the necessity of
+sustaining life upon roots, and the tender bark of trees. After
+travelling for several days in this desperate condition, with
+lacerated feet, and utter prostration of mind and body, they began to
+disagree among themselves about the route to be pursued, and
+eventually separated into two distinct parties. Five of these unhappy
+men steered a westward course, and after a succession of sufferings
+and privations which almost surpassed belief, they reached the
+settlements of the Creek Indians, near the Arkansas river, where they
+were treated with great kindness and hospitality. The other five
+wandered about in the greatest state of distress and bewilderment, and
+only two {53} finally succeeded in getting out of the mazes of the
+wilderness. Among those who were abandoned to their fate, and left to
+perish thus miserably, was a Mr. Schenck, the same individual who had
+been shot in the thigh; a gentleman of talent and excellent family
+connections, who was a brother, as I am informed, of the Hon. Mr.
+Schenck, at present a member of Congress from Ohio.[90]
+
+But let us resume our journey. We had for some days, while travelling
+along the course of the Canadian, been in anxious expectation of
+reaching a point from whence there was a cart-road to Santa Fé, made
+by the Ciboleros; but being constantly baffled and disappointed in
+this hope, serious apprehensions began to be entertained by some of
+[Pg137] the party that we might after all be utterly lost. In this
+emergency, one of our Mexicans who pretended to be a great deal wiser
+than the rest, insisted that we were pursuing a wrong direction, and
+that every day's march only took us further from Santa Fé. There
+appeared to be so much plausibility in his assertion, as he professed
+a perfect knowledge of all the country around, that many of our men
+were almost ready to mutiny,--to take the command from the hands of my
+brother and myself and lead us southward in search of the Colorado,
+into the fearful _Llano Estacado_, where we would probably have
+perished.[91] But our observations of the latitude, which we took very
+frequently, as well as the course we were pursuing, completely
+contradicted the {54} Mexican wiseacre. A few days afterwards we were
+overtaken by a party of _Comancheros_, or Mexican Comanche traders,
+when we had the satisfaction of learning that we were in the right
+track.
+
+These men had been trading with the band of Comanches we had lately
+met, and learning from them that we had passed on, they had hastened
+to overtake us, so as to obtain our protection against the savages,
+who, after selling their animals to the Mexicans, very frequently take
+forcible possession of them again, before the purchasers have been
+able to reach their homes. These parties of _Comancheros_ are usually
+composed of the indigent and rude classes of the frontier villages,
+who collect together, several times a year, and launch upon the plains
+with a few trinkets and trumperies of all kinds, and perhaps a bag of
+bread and may-be another of _pinole_, which they barter away to the
+savages for horses and mules. The entire stock of an individual trader
+very seldom exceeds the value of twenty dollars, with which he is
+content to wander about for several months, [Pg138] and glad to
+return home with a mule or two, as the proceeds of his traffic.
+
+These Mexican traders had much to tell us about the Comanches: saying,
+that they were four or five thousand in number, with perhaps a
+thousand warriors, and that the fiery young men had once determined to
+follow and attack us; but that the chiefs and sages had deterred them,
+by stating that our cannons {55} could kill to the distance of many
+miles, and shoot through hills and rocks and destroy everything that
+happened to be within their range. The main object of our visitors,
+however, seemed to be to raise themselves into importance by
+exaggerating the perils we had escaped from. That they had considered
+themselves in great jeopardy, there could be no doubt whatever, for,
+in their anxiety to overtake us, they came very near killing their
+animals.
+
+It was a war-party of this band of Comanches that paid the 'flying
+visit' to Bent's Fort on the Arkansas river, to which Mr. Farnham
+alludes in his trip to Oregon.[92] A band of the same Indians also
+fell in with the caravan from Missouri, with whom they were for a
+while upon the verge of hostilities.
+
+The next day we passed the afternoon upon a ravine where we found
+abundance of water, but to our great surprise our animals refused to
+drink. Upon tasting the water, we found it exceedingly nauseous and
+bitter; far more [Pg139] repugnant to some palates than a solution of
+Epsom salts. It is true that the water had been a little impregnated
+with the same loathsome substance for several days; but we had never
+found it so bad before. The salinous compound which imparts this
+savor, is found in great abundance in the vicinity of the table-plain
+streams of New Mexico, and is known to the natives by the name of
+_salitre_.[93] We {56} had the good fortune to find in the valley, a
+few sinks filled by recent rains, so that actually we experienced no
+great inconvenience from the want of fresh water. As far as our own
+personal necessities were concerned, we were abundantly supplied; it
+being an unfailing rule with us to carry in each wagon a five-gallon
+keg always filled with water, in order to guard against those
+frightful contingencies which so frequently occur on the Prairies. In
+truth upon leaving one watering place, we never knew where we would
+find the next.
+
+On the 20th of June we pitched our camp upon the north bank of the
+Canadian or Colorado, in latitude 35° 24′ according to a meridian
+altitude of Saturn. On the following day, I left the caravan,
+accompanied by three Comancheros, and proceeded at a more rapid pace
+towards Santa Fé. This was rather a hazardous journey, inasmuch as we
+were still within the range of the Pawnee and Comanche war-parties,
+and my companions were men in whom I could not repose the slightest
+confidence, except for piloting; being fully convinced that in case of
+meeting with an enemy, they would either forsake or deliver me up,
+just as it might seem most conducive to their own interest and safety.
+All I had to depend upon were my fire-arms, which could hardly fail to
+produce an impression in my favor; for, thanks to Mr. Colt's
+invention, I carried thirty-six charges ready-loaded, which I could
+easily fire at the rate of {57} a dozen [Pg140] per minute. I do not
+believe that any band of those timorous savages of the western
+prairies would venture to approach even a single man, under such
+circumstances. If, according to an old story of the frontier, an
+Indian supposed that a white man fired both with his tomahawk and
+scalping knife, to account for the execution done by a brace of
+pistols, thirty-six shots discharged in quick succession would
+certainly overawe them as being the effect of some great medicine.
+
+As we jogged merrily along, I often endeavored to while away the time
+by catechising my three companions in relation to the topography of
+the wild region we were traversing; but I soon found, that, like the
+Indians, these ignorant rancheros have no ideas of distances, except
+as compared with time or with some other distance. They will tell you
+that you may arrive at a given place by the time the sun reaches a
+certain point: otherwise, whether it be but half a mile or half a
+day's ride to the place inquired for, they are as apt to apply _está
+cerquita_ (it is close by), or _está lejos_ (it is far off), to the
+one as to the other, just as the impression happens to strike them,
+when compared with some other point more or less distant. This often
+proves a source of great annoyance to foreign travellers, as I had an
+opportunity of experiencing before my arrival. In giving directions,
+these people--in fact, the lower classes of Mexicans generally--are
+also in the habit of using very odd gesticulations, altogether {58}
+peculiar to themselves. Instead of pointing with their hands and
+fingers, they generally employ the mouth, which is done by thrusting
+out the lips in the direction of the spot, or object, which the
+inquirer wishes to find out--accompanied by _aquí_ or _allí está_.
+This habit of substituting labial gestures for the usual mode of
+indicating, has grown from the use of the _sarape_, which keeps their
+hands and arms perpetually confined. [Pg141]
+
+From the place where we left the wagons, till we reached the
+_Angostura_, or narrows,[94] (a distance of 60 miles), we had followed
+a plain cart-road, which seemed everywhere passable for wagons. Here,
+however, we found the point of a table plain projecting abruptly
+against the river, so as to render it impossible for wagons to pass
+without great risk. The huge masses of solid rock, which occur in this
+place, and the rugged cliffs or brows of the table lands which rise
+above them, appear to have been mistaken by a detachment of the Texan
+Santa Fé expedition, for spurs of the Rocky Mountains; an error which
+was rational enough, as they not unfrequently tower to the height of
+two thousand feet above the valley, and are often as rocky and rough
+as the rudest heaps of trap-rock can make them. By ascending the main
+summit of these craggy promontories, however, the eastern ridge of the
+veritable Rocky Mountains may be seen, still very far off in the
+western horizon, with a widespread and apparently level table plain,
+intervening and extending in every direction, {59} as far as the eye
+can reach; for even the deep-cut chasms of the intersecting rivers are
+rarely visible except one be upon their very brink.
+
+Upon expressing my fears that our wagons would not be able to pass the
+_Angostura_ in safety, my comrades informed me that there was an
+excellent route, of which no previous mention had been made, passing
+near the _Cerro de Tucumcari_, a round mound plainly visible to the
+southward.[95] After several vain efforts to induce some of the party
+to carry a [Pg142] note back to my brother, and to pilot the caravan
+through the Tucumcari route, one of them, known as Tio Baca, finally
+proposed to undertake the errand for a bounty of ten dollars, besides
+high wages till they should reach the frontier. His conditions being
+accepted, he set out after breakfast, not, however, without previously
+recommending himself to the Virgin Guadalupe, and all the saints in
+the calendar, and desiring us to remember him in our prayers.
+Notwithstanding his fears, however, he arrived in perfect safety, and
+I had the satisfaction of learning afterward that my brother found the
+new route everything he could have desired.
+
+I continued my journey westward with my two remaining companions; but,
+owing to their being provided with a relay of horses, they very soon
+left me to make the balance of the travel alone--though yet in a
+region haunted by hostile savages. On the following day, about the
+hour of twelve, as I was pursuing a horse-path along the course of the
+{60} Rio Pecos, near the frontier settlements, I met with a shepherd,
+of whom I anxiously inquired the distance to San Miguel. "O, it is
+just there," responded the man of sheep. "Don't you see that point of
+mesa yonder? It is just beyond that." This welcome information cheered
+me greatly; for, owing to the extraordinary transparency of the
+atmosphere, it appeared to me that the distance could not exceed two
+or three miles. "_Está cerquita_," exclaimed the shepherd as I rode
+off; "_ahora está V. allá_"--"it is close by; you will soon be there."
+
+I set off at as lively a pace as my jaded steed could carry me,
+confident of taking dinner in San Miguel.[96] Every ridge I turned I
+thought must be the last, and thus I jogged on, hoping and
+anticipating my future comforts till the shades of evening began to
+appear; when I descended into [Pg143] the valley of the Pecos, which,
+although narrow, is exceedingly fertile and beautifully lined with
+verdant fields, among which stood a great variety of mud cabins. About
+eight o'clock, I called at one of these cottages and again inquired
+the distance to San Miguel; when a swarthy-looking ranchero once more
+saluted mine ears with "_Está cerquita; ahora está V. allá_." Although
+the distance was designated in precisely the same words used by the
+shepherd eight hours before, I had the consolation at least of
+believing that I was something nearer. After spurring on for a couple
+of miles over a rugged road, I at last reached the long-sought
+village.
+
+{61} The next day, I hired a Mexican to carry some flour back to meet
+the wagons; for our party was by this time running short of
+provisions. In fact, we should long before have been in danger of
+starvation, had it not been for our oxen; for we had not seen a
+buffalo since the day we first met with the Comanches. Some of our
+cattle being in good plight, and able, as we were, to spare a few from
+our teams, we made beef of them when urged by necessity: an extra
+advantage in ox teams on these perilous expeditions.
+
+On the 25th of June I arrived safely at Santa Fé,--but again rode back
+to meet the wagons, which did not reach the capital till the 4th of
+July. We did not encounter a very favorable reception from 'his
+majesty,' Gov. Armijo. He had just established his arbitrary impost of
+$500 per wagon, which bore rather heavily upon us; for we had an
+overstock of coarse articles which we had merely brought along for the
+purpose of increasing the strength of our company, by adding to the
+number of our wagons.
+
+But these little troubles in a business way, were entirely drowned in
+the joyful sensations arising from our safe arrival, after so long and
+so perilous an expedition. Considering the character and our ignorance
+of the country over which we had travelled, we had been exceedingly
+successful. [Pg144] Instances are certainly rare of heavily-laden
+wagons' having been conducted, without a guide, through an unexplored
+desert; and yet we {62} performed the trip without any important
+accident--without encountering any very difficult passes--without
+suffering for food or for water.
+
+We had hoped that at least a few days of rest and quiet recreation
+might have been allowed us after our arrival; for relaxation was
+sorely needed at the end of so long a journey and its concomitant
+privations: but it was ordered otherwise. We had scarcely quartered
+ourselves within the town before a grand 'flare-up' took place between
+Gov. Armijo and the foreigners[97] in Santa Fé, which, for a little
+while, bid fair to result in open hostilities. It originated in the
+following circumstances.
+
+In the winter of 1837-8, a worthy young American, named Daley, was
+murdered at the Gold Mines, by a couple of villains, solely for
+plunder. The assassins were arrested, when they confessed their guilt;
+but, in a short time, they were permitted to run at large again, in
+violation of every principle of justice or humanity. About this time
+they were once more apprehended, however, by the interposition of
+foreigners: and, at the solicitation of the friends of the deceased, a
+memorial from the Americans in Santa Fé was presented to Armijo,
+representing the injustice of permitting the murderers of their
+countrymen to go unpunished; and praying that the culprits might {63}
+be dealt with according to law. But the governor affected to consider
+the affair as a conspiracy; and, collecting his ragamuffin militia,
+attempted to intimidate the petitioners. The foreigners were now
+constrained to look to their defence, as they saw that [Pg145] no
+justice was to be expected. Had Armijo persisted, serious consequences
+might have ensued; but seeing the 'conspirators' firm, he sent an
+apology, affecting to have misconstrued their motives, and promising
+that the laws should be duly executed upon the murderers.
+
+Besides the incentives of justice and humanity, foreigners felt a deep
+interest in the execution of this promise. But a few years previous,
+another person had been assassinated and robbed at the same place; yet
+the authorities having taken no interest in the matter, the felons
+were never discovered; and now, should these assassins escape the
+merited forfeit of their atrocious crime, it was evident there would
+be no future security for our lives and property. But the governor's
+_due execution of the laws_ consisted in retaining them a year or two
+in nominal imprisonment, when they were again set at liberty. Besides
+these, other foreigners have been murdered in New Mexico with equal
+impunity:--all which contrasts very strikingly with the manner our
+courts of justice have since dealt with those who killed Chavez, in
+1843, on the Santa Fé road.[98]
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[83] James Pollard Espy (1785-1860), a well-known meteorologist. His
+collection of reports on the weather, while occupied in his
+experiments, contributed towards the founding of the present United
+States weather-bureau. His theory was, that storms could be produced
+artificially by heating the atmosphere with long-continued fires. He
+published _Philosophy of Storms_ (Boston and London, 1841).--ED.
+
+[84] About the ninety-ninth meridian, the Canadian extends above the
+thirty-sixth parallel, forming the Great North Bend. The Oklahoma town
+of Taloga is on the southern curve of the bow.--ED.
+
+[85] The Canadian and its North Fork approach very closely at this
+point. The region between the North Bend and the one hundredth
+meridian contains much gypsum. See James's _Long's Expedition_, in our
+volume xvi, pp. 141-143.--ED.
+
+[86] From subsequent observations, this point appears to have been
+some miles west of the 100th degree of longitude.--GREGG.
+
+_Comment by Ed._ See volume xix, p. 217, note 52 (Gregg).
+
+[87] Kendall, _Texan Santa Fé Expedition_, i, p. 192.--ED.
+
+[88] Camp Comanche would appear to have been in Lipscombe or Ochiltree
+County, Texas.--ED.
+
+[89] For Dr. John Sibley, see our volume xvii, p. 68, note 60. This
+anecdote is found in his report in _American State Papers_, "Indian
+Affairs," i, p. 724.--ED.
+
+[90] Robert C. Schenck was born at Franklin, Ohio, in 1809, graduated
+from Miami University, and practised law at Dayton. After one term in
+the state legislature (1841-42), he was sent to Congress (1843-51),
+which he left to become American minister to Brazil (1851-53). In the
+War of Secession he attained a major-generalship, and resigned to
+re-enter Congress (1863-70). For six years (1870-76) Schenck served as
+minister to Great Britain, being one of the commissioners to adjust
+the Alabama claims. He died in Washington in 1890. Another brother was
+an admiral in the American navy.--ED.
+
+[91] Colorado is the usual Spanish term for Red River, which Gregg
+here intends. For Llano Estacado, see his description _post_, p.
+239.--ED.
+
+[92] Thomas J. Farnham, _Travels in the Great Western Prairie, the
+Anahuac and Rocky Mountains, and in Oregon Territory_ (London, 1843),
+reprinted in volume xxvii of our series.
+
+Bent's Fort, sometimes called Fort William for its founder Colonel
+William Bent, was situated on the north bank of the Arkansas, between
+the present towns of La Junta and Las Animas, Colorado. Founded in
+1829, it was an important fur-trade post, and base of supplies for the
+mountain trail to Santa Fé. The United States army of occupation
+(1846) passed by this post. In 1852, the government attempted to
+purchase the post; but not satisfied with the terms, its owner
+destroyed the stockade.--ED.
+
+[93] Literally _saltpetre_; but the _salitre_ of New Mexico is a
+compound of several other salts beside nitre.--GREGG.
+
+[94] On the eastern border of San Miguel County, New Mexico, are three
+peaks known as Los Cuervos, or The Crows. The river winding through
+this high land, forms the narrows of which Gregg speaks. Consult
+Kendall, _Texan Santa Fé Expedition_, i, p. 174.--ED.
+
+[95] Tucumcari Mountain is in eastern Quay County, with a town of the
+same name at its base--a junction on the Chicago, Rock Island, and
+Pacific Railway. For an interesting description of this mound, which
+he likens to the dome of the capitol at Washington, see report of
+James H. Simpson (1849), in _Senate Doc._, 31 cong., 2 sess., vi, 12,
+p. 14.--ED.
+
+[96] For San Miguel, see our volume xix, p. 253, note 76 (Gregg).--ED.
+
+[97] Among the New Mexicans, the terms _foreigner_ and _American_ are
+synonymous: indeed, the few citizens of other nations to be found
+there identify themselves with those of the United States. All
+foreigners are known there as _Americanos_; but south of Chihuahua
+they are indiscriminately called _Los Ingleses_, the English.--GREGG.
+
+[98] See post, pp. 227-232.--ED.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX {IV}
+
+Preparations for a Start to Chihuahua -- Ineptness of Married Men for
+  the Santa Fé Trade -- The Chihuahua Trade -- Annoying Custom-house
+  Regulations -- Mails in New Mexico -- Insecurity of Correspondence
+  -- Outfit and Departure -- _Derecho de Consumo_ -- Ruins of Valverde
+  -- 'Towns without Houses' -- La Jornada del Muerto -- Laguna and Ojo
+  del Muerto -- A Tradition of the _Arrieros_ -- Laborious Ferrying
+  and Quagmires -- Arrival at Paso del Norte -- Amenity of the Valley
+  -- _Sierra Blanca_ and _Los Organos_ -- Face of the Country --
+  Seagrass -- An accidental River -- Laguna de Encinillas -- Southern
+  Haciendas -- Arrival -- Character of the Route and Soil.
+
+
+After passing the custom-house ordeal, and exchanging some of our
+merchandise for 'Eagle Dollars'--an operation which occupied us
+several weeks, I prepared to set out for [Pg146] the Chihuahua
+market, whither a portion of our stock had been designed. Upon this
+expedition I was obliged to depart without my brother, who was
+laboring under the 'home fever,' and anxious to return to his family.
+"He that hath wife and children," says Lord Bacon, "hath given
+hostages to fortune; for they are impediments to great enterprises,
+either of virtue or mischief." Men under such bonds are peculiarly
+unfitted for the chequered life of a Santa Fé trader. The domestic
+hearth, {65} with all its sacred and most endearing recollections, is
+sure to haunt them in the hour of trial, and almost every step of
+their journey is apt to be attended by melancholy reflections of home
+and domestic dependencies.
+
+Before starting on this new journey I deem it proper to make a few
+observations relative to the general character of the _Chihuahua
+Trade_. I have already remarked, that much surprise has frequently
+been expressed by those who are unacquainted with all the bearings of
+the case, that the Missouri traders should take the circuitous route
+to Santa Fé, instead of steering direct for Chihuahua, inasmuch as the
+greatest portion of their goods is destined for the latter city. But
+as Chihuahua never had any port of entry for foreign goods till the
+last six or eight years, the market of that department had to be
+supplied in a great measure from Santa Fé. By opening the ports of El
+Paso and Presidio del Norte,[99] the commercial interest was so little
+affected, that when Santa Anna's decree for closing them again was
+issued, the loss was scarcely felt at all.
+
+The mode of transmitting merchandise from the ports to the interior,
+is very different from what it is in the United States. It is not
+enough to have to pass the tedious ordeal [Pg147] of custom-houses on
+the frontier, and we have not only to submit to a supervision and
+repayment of duty on arriving at our point of destination, but our
+cargo is subject to scrutiny at every town we have to pass through on
+our {66} journey. Nor would it be advisable to forsake the main route
+in order to avoid this tyrannical system of taxation; because,
+according to the laws of the country, every _cargamento_ which is
+found out of the regular track (except in cases of unavoidable
+necessity), is subject to confiscation, although accompanied by the
+necessary custom-house documents.
+
+There are also other risks and contingencies very little dreamed of in
+the philosophy of the inexperienced trader. Before setting out, the
+entire bill of merchandise has to be translated into Spanish; when,
+duplicates of the translation being presented to the custom-house, one
+is retained, while the other, accompanied by the _guia_ (a sort of
+clearance or mercantile passport), is carried along with the cargo by
+the conductor. The trader can have three points of destination named
+in his _guia_, to either of which he may direct his course, but to no
+others: while in the drawing up of the _factura_, or invoice, the
+greatest care is requisite, as the slightest mistake, even an
+accidental slip of the pen, might, according to the terms of the law,
+subject the goods to confiscation.[100]
+
+The _guia_ is not only required on leaving the ports for the interior,
+but is indispensable to the safe conveyance of goods from one
+department of the republic to another: nay, the {67} simple transfer
+of property from town to town, and from village to village, in the
+same department, is attended by precisely the same proportion of risk,
+and requires the same punctilious accuracy in the accompanying
+documents. [Pg148] Even the produce and manufactures of the country
+are equally subject to these embarrassing regulations. New Mexico has
+no internal custom-houses, and is therefore exempt from this rigorous
+provision; but from Chihuahua south every village has its revenue
+officers; so that the same stock of merchandise sometimes pays the
+internal duty at least half-a-dozen times before the sale is
+completed.
+
+Now, to procure this same _guia_, which is the cause of so much
+difficulty and anxiety in the end, is no small affair. Before the
+authorities condescend to draw a single line on paper, the merchant
+must produce an endorser for the _tornaguía_, which is a certificate
+from the custom-house to which the cargo goes directed, showing that
+the goods have been legally entered there. A failure in the return of
+this document within a prescribed limit of time, subjects the endorser
+to a forfeiture equal to the amount of the impost. Much inconvenience
+and not a little risk are also occasioned on this score by the
+irregularity--I may say, insecurity of the mails.
+
+Speaking of mails, I beg leave to observe, that there are no
+conveniences of this kind in New Mexico, except on the route from
+Santa Fé to Chihuahua, and these are very {68} irregular and
+uncertain. Before the Indians had obtained such complete possession of
+the highways through the wilderness, the mails between these two
+cities were carried semi-monthly; but now they are much less frequent,
+being mere expresses, in fact, dispatched only when an occasion
+offers. There are other causes, however, besides the dread of
+marauding savages, which render the transportation of the mails in New
+Mexico very insecure: I mean the dishonesty of those employed in
+superintending them. Persons known to be inimical to the post-master,
+or to the 'powers that be,' and wishing to forward any communication
+to the South, most generally either wait for private conveyance,
+[Pg149] or send their letters to a post-office (the only one besides
+that of Santa Fé in all New Mexico) some eighty miles on the way; thus
+avoiding an overhauling at the capital. Moreover, as the post-rider
+often carries the key of the mail-bag (for want of a supply at the
+different offices), he not unfrequently permits whomsoever will pay
+him a trifling _douceur_, to examine the correspondence. I was once
+witness to a case of this kind in the Jornada del Muerto, where the
+entire mail was tumbled out upon the grass, that an individual might
+search for letters, for which luxury he was charged by the
+accommodating carrier the moderate price of one dollar.
+
+The _derecho de consumo_ (the internal or consumption duty) is an
+impost averaging nearly twenty per cent. on the United States cost of
+{69} the bill. It supplies the place of a direct tax for the support
+of the departmental government, and is decidedly the most troublesome,
+if not the most oppressive revenue system that ever was devised for
+internal purposes. It operates at once as a drawback upon the
+commercial prosperity of the country, and as a potent incentive to
+fraudulent practices. The country people especially have resort to
+every species of clandestine intercourse, to escape this galling
+burden; for, every article of consumption they carry to market,
+whether fish, flesh or fowl, as well as fruit and vegetables, is taxed
+more or less; while another impost is levied upon the goods they
+purchase with the proceeds of their sales. This system, so beautifully
+entangled with corruptions, is supported on the ground that it
+supersedes direct taxation, which, in itself, is an evil that the
+'free and independent' people of Mexico would never submit to. Besides
+the petty annoyances incidental upon the laxity of custom-house
+regulations, no one can travel through the country without a passport,
+which to free-born Americans, is a truly insupportable nuisance.
+[Pg150]
+
+Having at last gone through with all the vexatious preparations
+necessary for our journey, on the 22d of August we started for
+Chihuahua. I fitted out myself but six wagons for this market, yet
+joining in company with several other traders, our little caravan
+again amounted to fourteen wagons, with about forty men. Though our
+route lay through {70} the interior of Northern Mexico, yet, on
+account of the hostile savages which infest most of the country
+through which we had to pass, it was necessary to unite in caravans of
+respectable strength, and to spare few of those precautions for safety
+which are required on the Prairies.
+
+The road we travelled passes down through the settlements of New
+Mexico for the first hundred and thirty miles, on the east side of the
+Rio del Norte. Nevertheless, as there was not an inn of any kind to be
+found upon the whole route, we were constrained to put up with very
+primitive accommodations. Being furnished from the outset, therefore,
+with blankets and buffalo rugs for bedding, we were prepared to
+bivouac, even in the suburbs of the villages, in the open air; for in
+this dry and salubrious atmosphere it is seldom that travellers go to
+the trouble of pitching tents.[101] When travelling alone, however, or
+with but a comrade or two, I have always experienced a great deal of
+hospitality from the rancheros and villageois of the country. Whatever
+sins these ignorant people may have to answer for, we must accord to
+them at least two glowing virtues--gratitude and hospitality. I have
+suffered like others, however, from one very disagreeable custom which
+prevails {71} among them. Instead of fixing a price for the services
+they bestow upon travellers, they are apt to answer, "_Lo que guste_,"
+or "_Lo_ [Pg151] _que le dé la gana_" (whatever you please, or have a
+mind to give), expecting, of course, that the liberal foreigner will
+give more than their consciences would permit them to exact.
+
+In about ten days' drive we passed the southernmost settlements of New
+Mexico, and twenty or thirty miles further down the river we came to
+the ruins of Valverde. This village was founded about twenty years
+ago, in one of the most fertile valleys of the Rio del Norte. It
+increased rapidly in population, until it was invaded by the Navajoes,
+when the inhabitants were obliged to abandon the place after
+considerable loss, and it has never since been repeopled. The bottoms
+of the valley, many of which are of rich alluvial loam, have lain
+fallow ever since, and will perhaps continue to be neglected until the
+genius of civilization shall have spread its beneficent influences
+over the land. This soil is the more valuable for cultivation on
+account of the facilities for irrigation which the river affords; as
+it too frequently happens that the best lands of the settlements
+remain unfruitful for want of water.[102]
+
+Our next camping place deserving of mention was _Fray Cristóbal_,
+which, like many others on the route, is neither town nor village, but
+a simple isolated point on the river-bank--a mere _parage_, or
+camping-ground. We had already passed San Pascual, El Contadero, {72}
+and many others, and we could hear Aleman, Robledo, and a dozen such
+spoken of on the way, leading the stranger to imagine that the route
+was lined with flourishing villages. The arriero will tell one to
+hasten--"we must reach San Diego before sleeping." We spur on perhaps
+with redoubled [Pg152] vigor, in hopes to rest at a town; but lo!
+upon arriving, we find only a mere watering-place, without open ground
+enough to graze the _caballada_. Thus every point along these
+wilderness highways used as a camping-site, has received a distinctive
+name, well known to every muleteer who travels them. Many of these
+_parages_, without the slightest vestige of human improvement, figure
+upon most of the current maps of the day as towns and villages. Yet
+there is not a single settlement (except of very recent establishment)
+from those before mentioned to the vicinity of El Paso, a distance of
+near two hundred miles.
+
+We arrived at Fray Cristóbal[103] in the evening, but this being the
+threshold of the famous _Jornada del Muerto_, we deemed it prudent to
+let our animals rest here until the following afternoon. The road over
+which we had hitherto been travelling, though it sometimes traverses
+upland ridges and undulating sections, runs generally near the border
+of the river, and for the most part in its immediate valley: but here
+it leaves the river and passes for nearly eighty miles over a
+table-plain to the eastward of a small ledge of mountains, whose
+western base is hugged {73} by the circuitous channel of the Rio del
+Norte. The craggy cliffs which project from these mountains render the
+eastern bank of the river altogether impassable. As the direct route
+over the plain is entirely destitute of water, we took the precaution
+to fill all our kegs at Fray Cristóbal, and late in the afternoon we
+finally set out. We generally find a great advantage in travelling
+through these arid tracts of land in the freshness of the evening, as
+the mules suffer less from thirst, and move [Pg153] on in better
+spirits--particularly in the season of warm weather.
+
+Early the next morning we found ourselves at the _Laguna del Muerto_,
+or 'Dead Man's Lake,' where there was not even a vestige of water.
+This _lake_ is but a sink in the plain of a few rods in diameter, and
+only filled with water during the rainy season. The _marshes_, which
+are said by some historians to be in this vicinity, are nowhere to be
+found: nothing but the firmest and driest table land is to be seen in
+every direction. To procure water for our thirsty animals it is often
+necessary to make a halt here, and drive them to the _Ojo del Muerto_
+(Dead Man's Spring), five or six miles to the westward, in the very
+heart of the mountain ridge that lay between us and the river. This
+region is one of the favorite resorts of the Apaches, where many a
+poor arriero has met with an untimely end. The route which leads to
+the spring winds for two or three miles down a narrow cañon or gorge,
+overhung on either side by abrupt precipices, {74} while the various
+clefts and crags, which project their gloomy brows over the abyss
+below, seem to invite the murderous savage to deeds of horror and
+blood.
+
+There is a tradition among the arrieros from which it would appear
+that the only road known in ancient time about the region of the
+_Jornada_, wound its circuitous course on the western side of the
+river. To save distance, an intrepid traveller undertook to traverse
+this desolate tract of land in one day, but having perished in the
+attempt, it has ever after borne the name of _La Jornada del Muerto_,
+'the Dead Man's Journey,' or, more strictly, 'the Day's Journey of the
+Dead Man.' One thing appears very certain, that this dangerous pass
+has cost the life of many travellers in days of yore; and when we at
+last reached Robledo, a camping-site upon the river, where we found
+abundance of wood and water, we felt truly grateful that the arid
+_Jornada_ had not [Pg154] been productive of more serious
+consequences to our party. We now found ourselves within the
+department of Chihuahua, as the boundary betwixt it and New Mexico
+passes not far north of Robledo.[104]
+
+We were still some sixty miles above Paso del Norte, but the balance
+of the road now led down the river valley or over the low bordering
+hills. During our journey between this and El Paso we passed the ruins
+of several settlements, which had formerly been the seats of opulence
+and prosperity, but which have since been abandoned in consequence
+{75} of the marauding incursions of the Apaches.
+
+On the 12th of September we reached the usual ford of the Rio del
+Norte, six miles above El Paso; but the river being somewhat flushed
+we found it impossible to cross over with our wagons. The reader will
+no doubt be surprised to learn that there is not a single ferry on
+this 'Great River of the North' till we approach the mouth. But how do
+people cross it? Why, during three-fourths of the year it is
+everywhere fordable, and when the freshet season comes on, each has to
+remain on his own side, or swim, for canoes even are very rare. But as
+we could neither swim our wagons and merchandise, nor very comfortably
+wait for the falling of the waters, our only alternative was to unload
+the vehicles, and ferry the goods over in a little 'dug-out' about
+thirty feet long and two feet wide, of which we were fortunate enough
+to obtain possession.
+
+We succeeded in finding a place shallow enough to haul our empty
+wagons across: but for this good fortune we should have been under the
+necessity of taking them to pieces (as I had before done), and of
+ferrying them on the 'small craft' [Pg155] before mentioned. Half of
+a wagon may thus be crossed at a time, by carefully balancing it upon
+the canoe, yet there is of course no little danger of capsizing during
+the passage.
+
+This river even when fordable often occasions a great deal of trouble,
+being, like the Arkansas, embarrassed with many quicksand {76} mires.
+In some places, if a wagon is permitted to stop in the river but for a
+moment, it sinks to the very body. Instances have occurred where it
+became necessary, not only to drag out the mules by the ears and to
+carry out the loading package by package, but to haul out the wagon
+piece by piece--wheel by wheel.
+
+On the 14th we made our entrance into the town of _El Paso del
+Norte_,[105] which is the northernmost settlement in the department of
+Chihuahua. Here our cargo had to be examined by a stern, surly
+officer, who, it was feared, would lay an embargo on our goods upon
+the slightest appearance of irregularity in our papers; but
+notwithstanding our gloomy forebodings, we passed the ordeal without
+any difficulty.
+
+The valley of El Paso is supposed to contain a population of about
+four thousand inhabitants, scattered over the western bottom of the
+Rio del Norte to the length of ten or twelve miles. These settlements
+are so thickly interspersed with vineyards, orchards, and corn-fields,
+as to present more the appearance of a series of plantations than of a
+town: in fact, only a small portion at the head of the valley, where
+the _plaza pública_ and parochial church are located, would seem to
+merit this title. {77} Two or three miles above the _plaza_ there is a
+dam of stone and brush across the river, the purpose of which is to
+turn the current into a dike or canal, which conveys nearly half the
+water of the stream, during a [Pg156] low stage, through this well
+cultivated valley, for the irrigation of the soil. Here we were
+regaled with the finest fruits of the season: the grapes especially
+were of the most exquisite flavor. From these the inhabitants
+manufacture a very pleasant wine, somewhat resembling Malaga. A
+species of _aguardiente_ (brandy) is also distilled from the same
+fruit, which, although weak, is of very agreeable flavor. These
+liquors are known among Americans as 'Pass wine' and 'Pass whiskey,'
+and constitute a profitable article of trade, supplying the markets of
+Chihuahua and New Mexico.[106]
+
+As I have said before, the road from Santa Fé to El Paso leads partly
+along the margin of the Rio del Norte, or across the bordering hills
+and plains; but the _sierra_ which separates the waters of this river
+and those of the Rio Pecos was always visible on our left. In some
+places it is cut up into detached ridges, one of which is known as
+_Sierra Blanca_, in consequence of its summit's being covered with
+snow till late in the spring, and having all {78} the appearance of a
+glittering white cloud. There is another still more picturesque ridge
+further south, called _Los Organos_, presenting an immense cliff of
+basaltic pillars, which bear some resemblance to the pipes of an
+_organ_, whence the mountain derived its name. Both these sierras are
+famous as being the strongholds of the much-dreaded Apaches.
+
+The mountains from El Paso northward are mostly clothed with pine,
+cedar, and a dwarfish species of oak. The valleys are timbered with
+cottonwood, and occasionally with _mezquite_, which, however, is
+rarely found higher up than the lower settlements of New Mexico. In
+the immediate vicinity [Pg157] of El Paso there is another small
+growth called _tornillo_ (or screw-wood), so denominated from a spiral
+pericarp, which, though different in shape, resembles that of the
+mezquite in flavor.[107] The plains and highlands generally are of a
+prairie character, and do not differ materially from those of all
+Northern Mexico, which are almost everywhere completely void of
+timber.
+
+One of the most useful plants to the people of El Paso is the
+_lechuguilla_, which abounds on the hills and mountain sides of that
+vicinity, as well as in many other places from thence southward.[108]
+Its blades, which resemble those of the palmilla, being mashed,
+scraped, and washed, afford very strong fibres like the common Manilla
+sea-grass, and equally serviceable for the manufacture of ropes, and
+other purposes.
+
+{79} After leaving El Paso, our road branched off at an angle of about
+two points to the westward of the river, the city of Chihuahua being
+situated nearly a hundred miles to the west of it. At the distance of
+about thirty miles we reached _Los Médanos_, a stupendous ledge of
+sand-hills, across which the road passes for about six miles. As teams
+are never able to haul the loaded wagons over this region of loose
+sand, we engaged an _atajo_ of mules at El Paso, upon which to convey
+our goods across. These Médanos consist of huge hillocks and ridges of
+pure sand, in many places without a vestige of vegetation. Through the
+lowest gaps between the hills, the road winds its way.
+
+What renders this portion of the route still more unpleasant and
+fatiguing, is the great scarcity of water. All that is to [Pg158] be
+found on the road for the distance of more than sixty miles after
+leaving El Paso, consists in two fetid springs or pools, whose water
+is only rendered tolerable by necessity. A little further on, however,
+we very unexpectedly encountered, this time, quite a superabundance of
+this necessary element. Just as we passed Lake Patos,[109] we were
+struck with astonishment at finding the road ahead of us literally
+overflowed by an immense body of water, with a brisk current, as if
+some great river had suddenly been conjured into existence by the aid
+of supernatural arts. A considerable time elapsed before we could
+unravel the mystery. At last we discovered that a freshet had lately
+occurred {80} in the streams that fed Lake Patos, and caused it to
+overflow its banks, which accounted for this unwelcome visitation. We
+had to flounder through the mud and water for several hours, before we
+succeeded in getting across.
+
+The following day we reached the _acequia_ below Carrizal, a small
+village with only three or four hundred inhabitants, but somewhat
+remarkable as being the site of a _presidio_ (fort), at which is
+stationed a company of troops to protect the country against the
+ravages of the Apaches, who, notwithstanding, continue to lay waste
+the ranchos in the vicinity, and to depredate at will within the very
+sight of the fort.[110]
+
+About twelve miles south of Carrizal there is one of the most charming
+warm springs called Ojo Caliente, where we arrived the next day. It
+forms a basin some thirty feet long by about half that width, and just
+deep and warm enough for a most delightful bath at all seasons of the
+year. Were this spring (whose outlet forms a bold little rivulet)
+anywhere [Pg159] within the United States, it would doubtless soon be
+converted into a place of fashionable resort. There appears to be a
+somewhat curious phenomenon connected with this spring. It proceeds,
+no doubt, from the little river of Cármen, which passes within half a
+mile, and finally discharges itself into the small lake of Patos
+before mentioned. During the dry season, this stream disappears in the
+sand some miles above the spring; and what medium it traverses in its
+subterranean passage to impart {81} to it so high a temperature,
+before breaking out in this fountain, would afford to the geologist an
+interesting subject of inquiry.[111]
+
+After fording the Rio Cármen, which, though usually without a drop of
+water in its channel, we now found a very turbulent stream, we did not
+meet with any object particularly worthy of remark, until we reached
+the _Laguna de Encinillas_.[112] This lake is ten or twelve miles long
+by two or three in width, and seems to have no outlet even during the
+greatest freshets, though fed by several small constantly-flowing
+streams from the surrounding mountains. The water of this lake during
+the dry season is so strongly impregnated with nauseous and bitter
+salts, as to render it wholly unpalatable to man and beast. The most
+predominant of these noxious substances is a species of alkali, known
+there by the title of _tequesquite_. It is often seen oozing out from
+the surface of marshy grounds, about the table plains of all Northern
+Mexico, forming a grayish crust, and is extensively used in the
+manufacture of soap, and sometimes by the bakers even for raising
+bread. Here we had another evidence of the alarming effects of the
+recent flood, the road for several miles along the margin of the lake
+being [Pg160] completely inundated. It was, however, in the city of
+Chihuahua itself that the disastrous consequences of the freshet were
+most severely felt. Some inferior houses of _adobe_ were so much
+soaked by the rains, that they tumbled to the ground, occasioning the
+loss of several lives.
+
+{82} The valley of Encinillas is very extensive and fertile, and is
+the locale of one of those princely estates which are so abundant
+further south, and known by the name of _Haciendas_. It abounds in
+excellent pasturage, and in cattle of all descriptions. In former
+times, before the Apaches had so completely devastated the country,
+the herds which grazed in this beautiful valley presented much the
+appearance of the buffalo of the plains, being almost as wild and
+generally of dark color. Many of the proprietors of these princely
+haciendas pride themselves in maintaining a uniformity in the color of
+their cattle: thus some are found stocked with black, others red,
+others white--or whatsoever shade the owner may have taken a fancy to.
+
+As we drew near to Chihuahua, our party had more the appearance of a
+funeral procession than of a band of adventurers, about to enter into
+the full fruition of 'dancing hopes,' and the realization of 'golden
+dreams.' Every one was uneasy as to what might be the treatment of the
+revenue officers. For my own part, I had not quite forgotten sundry
+annoyances and trials of temper I had been made to experience in the
+season of 1837, on a similar occasion. Much to our surprise, however,
+as well as delight, we were handled with a degree of leniency by the
+custom-house deities, on our arrival, that was almost incomprehensible.
+But the charm which operated in our favor, when understood, was very
+simple. A caravan had left Chihuahua direct {83} for the United
+States, the spring previous, and was daily expected back. The officers
+of the custom-house were already compromised by certain cogent
+arguments to receive the [Pg161] proprietors of this caravan with
+striking marks of favor, and the _Señor Administrador de Rentas_,
+Zuloaga himself, was expecting an _ancheta_ of goods. Therefore, had
+they treated us with their wonted severity, the contrast would have
+been altogether too glaring.[113]
+
+We arrived at Chihuahua on the first of October, after a trip of forty
+days, with wagons much more heavily laden than when we started from
+the United States. The whole distance from Santa Fé to Chihuahua is
+about 550 miles,--being reckoned 320 to Paso del Norte, and 230 from
+thence to Chihuahua. The road from El Paso south is mostly firm and
+beautiful, with the exception of the sand-hills before spoken of; and
+is only rendered disagreeable by the scarcity and occasional ill-savor
+of the water. The route winds over an elevated plain among numerous
+detached ridges of low mountains--spurs, as it were, of the main
+Cordilleras, which lie at a considerable distance to the westward.
+Most of these extensive intermediate plains, though in many places of
+fertile looking soil, must remain wholly unavailable for agricultural
+purposes, on account of their natural aridity and a total lack of
+water for irrigation.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[99] For El Paso, see Pattie's _Narrative_, in our volume xviii, p.
+155, note 89.
+
+Presidio del Norte is in the Mexican state of Chihuahua, at the mouth
+of Los Conchos River; hence the town is sometimes called Presidio de
+las Juntas (junction). It is one of the oldest posts in northern
+Mexico.--ED.
+
+[100] In confirmation of this, it is only necessary to quote the
+following from the _Pauta de Comisos_, Cap. II., Art. 22: "Ni las
+guias, ni las facturas, ni los pases, en todos los casos de que trata
+este decreto, han de contener enmendadura, raspadura, ni
+entrerenglonadura alguna"--and this under penalty of confiscation.
+--GREGG.
+
+[101] How scant soever our outfit of 'camp comforts' might appear, our
+Mexican muleteers were much more sparely supplied. The exposure
+endured by this hardy race is really surprising. Even in the coldest
+winter weather, they rarely carry more than one blanket apiece--the
+_sarape_, which serves as a cloak during the day, and at night is
+their only 'bed and bedding.'--GREGG.
+
+[102] The precinct of Valverde, on the east bank of the Rio Grande, a
+few miles below Socorro, has now a population of three hundred.
+Although of considerable importance in the early nineteenth century,
+the town has never been rebuilt since Gregg's time. The site was,
+however, the rendezvous for Doniphan's troops (1846) preparatory to
+his march into Chihuahua. It was also the field for a battle in the
+War of Secession (1862), wherein the Texans won a victory over the
+Federal troops.--ED.
+
+[103] Fray Cristobal was long an important station in New Mexico; but,
+as Gregg says, never a town of any size, merely a camping place at the
+beginning of the Jornada del Muerto. The latter is well described by
+Gregg, and was the dreaded portion of the journey from north to south
+until the building of the railway, which traverses the larger part of
+the old caravan route, but leaves the river somewhat higher up and
+returns to it at Rincon, some distance above Robledo.--ED.
+
+[104] Robledo was on the Rio Grande at the site where the Americans
+later erected Fort Selden.
+
+El Paso and the district north had formerly been a part of New Mexico;
+but the act of 1824, reconstituting the northern states, assigned El
+Paso district to Chihuahua, hence the boundary here mentioned.--ED.
+
+[105] This place is often known among Americans as '_The Pass_.' It
+has been suggested in another place, that it took its name from the
+_passing_ thither of the refugees from the massacre of 1680; yet many
+persons very rationally derive it from the _passing_ of the river (_el
+paso del Rio del Norte_) between two points of mountains which project
+against it from each side, just above the town.--GREGG.
+
+[106] There is very little wine or legitimate _aguardiente_
+manufactured in New Mexico. There was not a distillery, indeed, in all
+the province until established by Americans some fifteen or twenty
+years ago. Since that period, considerable quantities of whiskey have
+been made there, particularly in the vicinity of Taos,--distilled
+mainly from wheat, as this is the cheapest grain the country
+affords.--GREGG.
+
+[107] For the ordinary mesquit, see Pattie's _Narrative_, in our
+volume xviii, p. 94, note 56. The tornillo is _Prosopis pubescens_,
+the fruit of which is often called the screw-bean, and used by the
+Indians both for food and fodder.--ED.
+
+[108] A particular species of _agave_, called _A. lechuguilla_,
+abounding in the El Paso region. See J. N. Rose, "Useful Plants of
+Mexico," in U. S. Herbarium _Contributions_, volume v, no. 4, p.
+209.--ED.
+
+[109] Lake Patos (Lake of Geese), in northern Chihuahua, is the outlet
+for Rio Carmen.--ED.
+
+[110] Carrizal was founded about 1750, and at one time considered a
+part of the province of New Mexico. It was later made a presidio, or
+frontier fort, with a surrounding wall.--ED.
+
+[111] Wislizenus found the temperature of these springs 84°
+Fahrenheit. There is now a station called Ojo Calientes, on the
+Mexican Central Railway, but it is some distance from the
+springs.--ED.
+
+[112] The size of Laguna de Encinillas (Lake of Live-Oaks) varies
+greatly with the season of drouth or rain.--ED.
+
+[113] For a brief sketch of Chihuahua, see Pattie's _Narrative_, in
+our volume xviii, p. 153, note 85.--ED.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI {V}
+
+Trip from Chihuahua to Aguascalientes, in 1835 -- Southern Trade
+  and _Ferias_ -- Hacienda de la Zarca, and its innumerable Stock
+  -- Rio Nazas, and Lakes without outlet -- Perennial Cotton --
+  Exactions for Water and Pasturage -- Village of Churches -- City
+  of Durango and its Peculiarities -- Persecution of Scorpions
+  -- Negro-ship in the ascendant -- Robbers and their _modus_
+  _operandi_ -- City of Aguascalientes -- Bathing Scene -- Haste to
+  return to the North -- Mexican Mule-shoeing -- Difficulties and
+  Perplexities -- A Friend in time of need -- Reach Zacatecas -- City
+  Accommodations -- Hotels unfashionable -- _Locale_, Fortifications,
+  etc. of the City of Zacatecas -- Siege by Santa Anna and his
+  easy-won Victory -- At Durango again -- Civil Warfare among the
+  'Sovereigns' -- Hairbreadth 'scapes -- Troubles of the Road -- Safe
+  Arrival at Chihuahua -- Character of the Southern Country.
+
+
+The patient reader who may have accompanied me thus far, without
+murmuring at the dryness of some of the details, will perhaps pardon
+me for presenting here a brief account of a trip which I made to
+_Aguascalientes_, in the interior of Northern Mexico, in the year
+1835, and which the arrangement I have adopted has prevented me from
+introducing before, in its chronological order.
+
+The trade of the South constitutes a very important branch of the
+commerce of the country, in which foreigners, as well as natives, {85}
+are constantly embarking. It is customary for most of those who
+maintain mercantile establishments in Chihuahua, to procure
+assortments of Mexican fabrics from the manufactories of Leon,
+Aguascalientes, and other places of the same character in the more
+southern districts of the republic. At certain seasons of the year,
+here are held regular _ferias_, at which the people assemble in great
+numbers, as well of sellers as of purchasers. There are some eight or
+ten of these annual fairs held in the republic, each of which usually
+lasts a week or more. It was about as much, however, from a desire to
+behold the sunny districts of the South, as for commercial purposes,
+that I undertook this expedition in 1835; and as my engagements have
+not permitted me to revisit this section since, the few [Pg163] notes
+of interest I was then able to collect, seem to come more
+appropriately in this part of my work than in any other place that I
+could readily select.
+
+I set out from Chihuahua on the 26th of February, 1835. My party
+consisted of four men (including myself) and two empty wagons--not a
+very formidable escort to protect our persons as well as specie and
+bullion (the only transmissible currency of the country) against the
+bands of robbers which at all times infest that portion of our route
+that lay south of Durango. From Chihuahua to that city the road was
+rendered still more perilous by the constant hostilities of the
+Indians. On the 7th of March, however, we arrived, without {86}
+accident, at the town of Cerro Gordo, the northernmost settlement in
+the department of Durango; and the following day we reached La Zarca,
+which is the principal village of one of the most extensive haciendas
+in the North. So immense is the amount of cattle on this estate, that,
+as it was rumored, the proprietor once offered to sell the whole
+hacienda, stock, etc., for the consideration alone of fifty cents for
+each head of cattle found on the estate; but that no person has ever
+yet been able or willing to muster sufficient capital to take up the
+offer. It is very likely, however, that if such a proposition was ever
+made, the proprietor intended to include all his stock of rats and
+mice, reptiles and insects--in short, every genus of 'small cattle' on
+his premises. This estate covers a territory of perhaps a hundred
+miles in length, which comprises several flourishing villages.
+
+In two days more, we reached Rio Nazas, a beautiful little river that
+empties itself into Lake Cayman.[114] Rio [Pg164] Nazas has been
+celebrated for the growth of cotton, which, owing to the mildness of
+the climate, is sometimes planted fresh only every three or four
+years. The light frosts of winter seldom destroy more than the upper
+portion of the stalk, so that {87} the root is almost perennial. About
+twenty-five miles further, we stopped at the mining village of La
+Noria, where we were obliged to purchase water for our mules--a novel
+expense to the American traveller, but scarcely to be complained of,
+inasmuch as the water had to be drawn from wells with a great deal of
+labor. It is not unusual, also, for the proprietors of haciendas to
+demand remuneration for the pasturage on the open plains, consumed by
+the animals of travellers--a species of exaction which one never hears
+of further north.
+
+Our next stopping-place was Cuencamé, which may well be called the
+Village of Churches: for, although possessing a very small population,
+there are five or six edifices of this description.[115] As I had
+business to transact at Durango, which is situated forty or fifty
+miles westward of the main Southern road, I now pursued a direct route
+for that city, where I arrived on the 16th of March.
+
+Durango is one of the handsomest cities in the North, with a
+population of about 20,000. It is situated in a level plain,
+surrounded in every direction by low mountains. It presents two or
+three handsome squares, with many fine edifices and some really
+splendid churches. The town is supplied with water for irrigating the
+gardens, and for many other ordinary purposes, by several open
+aqueducts, which lead through the streets, from a large spring, a mile
+or {88} two distant; but as these are kept filthy by the offal that is
+thrown into them, the inhabitants who are able to buy it, procure most
+of their [Pg165] water for drinking and culinary purposes, from the
+_aguadores_, who pack it, on asses, usually in large jars, from the
+spring.
+
+This is the first Northern city in which there is to be found any
+evidence of that variety of tropical fruits, for which Southern Mexico
+is so justly famed. Although it was rather out of season, yet the
+market actually teemed with all that is most rich and exquisite in
+this kind of produce. The _maguey_, from which is extracted the
+popular beverage called _pulque_,[116] is not only cultivated
+extensively in the fields, but grows wild everywhere upon the plains.
+This being the height of the pulque season, a hundred shanties might
+be seen loaded with jugs and goblets filled with this favorite liquor,
+from its sweetest unfermented state to the grade of 'hard cider;'
+while the incessant cries of "Pulque! pulque dulce! pulque bueno!"
+added to the shrill and discordant notes of the fruit venders, created
+a confusion of {89} sounds amidst which it was impossible to hear
+oneself talk.
+
+Durango is also celebrated as being the head-quarters, as it were, of
+the whole scorpion family. During the spring, especially, so much are
+the houses infested by these poisonous insects, that many people are
+obliged to have resort to a kind of mosquito-bar, in order to keep
+them out of their beds at night. As an expedient to deliver the city
+from this terrible pest, a society has actually been formed, which
+pays a reward of a _cuartilla_ (three cents) for every _alacran_ (or
+scorpion) that is brought to them. Stimulated by the [Pg166] desire
+of gain, the idle boys of the city are always on the look-out: so
+that, in the course of a year, immense numbers of this public enemy
+are captured and slaughtered. The body of this insect is of the bulk
+and cast of a medium spider, with a jointed tail one to two inches
+long, at the end of which is a sting whose wounds are so poisonous as
+often to prove fatal to children, and are very painful to adults.
+
+The most extraordinary peculiarity of these scorpions is, that they
+are far less dangerous in the North than in the South, which in some
+manner accounts for the story told Capt. Pike, that even those of
+Durango lose most of their venom as soon as they are removed a few
+miles from the city.[117]
+
+Although we were exceedingly well armed, yet so many fearful stories
+of robberies said to be committed, almost daily, on the Southern
+roads, reached my ears, that before {90} leaving Durango, I resolved
+to add to my 'weapons of defence' one of those peculiarly terrible
+dogs which are sometimes to be found in this country, and which are
+very serviceable to travellers situated as I was. Having made my
+wishes known to a free negro from the United States, named George, he
+recommended me to a custom-house officer, and a very particular friend
+of his, as being possessed of the very article I was in search of. I
+accordingly called at the house of that functionary, in company with
+my sable informant, and we were ushered into a handsome parlor, where
+two or three well-dressed señoritas sat discussing some of the
+fruitful topics of the day. One of them--the officer's wife, as it
+appeared, and a very comely dame she was--rose immediately, and, with
+a great deal of ceremonious deference, saluted _Señor Don Jorge_,
+inviting him at the same time to a [Pg167] seat, while I was left to
+remain perfectly unnoticed in my standing position. George appeared
+considerably embarrassed, for he had not quite forgotten the customs
+and manners of his native country, and was even yet in the habit of
+treating Americans not only with respect but with humility. He
+therefore declined the tendered distinction, and remarked that '_el
+señor_' had only come to purchase their dog. Upon this, the lady
+pointed to a kennel in a corner, when the very first glimpse of the
+ferocious animal convinced me that he was precisely the sort of a
+customer I wanted for a companion. Having therefore paid {91} down six
+dollars, the stipulated sum of purchase, I bowed myself out of the
+presence of the ladies, not a little impressed with my own
+insignificance, in the eyes of these fair _doñas_, contrasted with the
+grandeur of my sable companion. But the popularity of negroes in
+Northern Mexico has ceased to be a matter of surprise to the
+traveller.
+
+With regard to _Don Jorge_, if I was surprised at the marks of
+attention paid him by a white lady, I had cause to be much more
+astonished shortly after. As the sooty don was lounging about my
+wagons, a clever-visaged youth approached and placed in his hands a
+satin stock, with the compliments of his sister (the officer's wife),
+hoping that he would accept that trifle, wrought by her own hand, as a
+token of her particular regard! But, notwithstanding these marks of
+distinction (to apply no harsher epithet), George was exceedingly
+anxious to engage in my employ, in whatsoever capacity I might choose
+to take him; for he had discovered that such honors were far from
+affording him a livelihood: yet I did not then need his services, and
+have never heard of him since.
+
+On the 22d we left Durango, and after a few days' march found
+ourselves once more in the _camino real_ that led from Chihuahua to
+Zacatecas. All the frightful stories I had [Pg168] heard about
+robbers now began to flash upon my memory, which made me regard every
+man I encountered on the road with a very suspicious eye. As all
+travellers go armed, it {92} is impossible to distinguish them from
+banditti;[118] so that the unsuspecting traveller is very frequently
+set upon by the very man he had been consorting with in apparent
+good-fellowship, and either murdered on the spot, or dragged from his
+horse with the lazo, and plundered of all that is valuable about him.
+
+I have heard it asserted that there is a regular bandit trade
+organized throughout the country, in which some of the principal
+officers of state (and particularly of the judicial corps) are not
+unfrequently engaged. A capital is made up by shares, as for any other
+enterprise, bandits are fitted out and instructed where to operate,
+and at stated periods of the year a regular dividend is paid to the
+stockholders. The impunity which these 'gentlemen of the order' almost
+everywhere enjoy in the country, is therefore not to be marvelled at.
+In Durango, during my sojourn there, a well dressed caballero was
+frequently in the habit of entering our _meson_, whom mine host soon
+pointed out to me as a notorious brigand. "Beware of him," said the
+honest publican; "he is prying into your affairs"--and so it turned
+out; for my muleteer informed me that the fellow had been trying to
+pump from him all the particulars in regard to our condition and
+destination. Yet this worthy was not only suffered to prowl about
+unmolested {93} by the authorities, but appeared to be on familiar
+terms with many of the principal dignitaries of the city.
+Notwithstanding all our apprehensions, however, we arrived at our
+place of destination without even the novelty of an incident to swell
+our budget of gossip. [Pg169]
+
+The city of Aguascalientes is beautifully situated in a level
+plain, and would appear to contain about twenty thousand inhabitants,
+who are principally engaged in the manufacture of _rebozos_ and other
+textures mostly of cotton.[119] As soon as I found myself sufficiently
+at leisure, I visited the famous warm spring (_ojo caliente_) in the
+suburbs, from which the city derives its euphonious name. I followed
+up the _acequia_ that led from the spring--a ditch four or five feet
+wide, through which flowed a stream three or four feet in depth. The
+water was precisely of that agreeable temperature to afford the luxury
+of a good bath, which I had hoped to enjoy; but every few paces I
+found men, women, and children, submerged in the acequia; and when I
+arrived at the basin, it was so choked up with girls and full-grown
+women, who were paddling about with all the nonchalance of a gang of
+ducks, that I was forced to relinquish my long-promised treat.
+
+It had been originally my intention to continue on to Leon, another
+manufacturing town some seventy or eighty miles from Aguascalientes;
+but, hearing that Santa Anna had just arrived there with a large army,
+on his way to Zacatecas to quell an insurrection,[120] I {94} felt
+very little curiosity to extend my rambles further. Having, therefore,
+made all my purchases in the shortest possible time, in a few days I
+was again in readiness to start for the North.
+
+That my mules might be in condition for the hard travel before me, it
+was necessary to have them shod: a precaution, however, which is
+seldom used in the north of Mexico, either [Pg170] with mules or
+horses. Owing a little to the peculiar breed, but more still no doubt
+to the dryness of the climate, Mexican animals have unusually hard
+hoofs. Many will travel for weeks, and even months, over the firm[121]
+and often rocky roads of the interior (the pack-mules carrying their
+huge loads), without any protection whatever to the feet, save that
+which nature has provided. But most of mine being a little
+tender-footed, I engaged Mexican _herreros_ to fit them out in their
+own peculiar style. Like almost everything else of their
+manufacturing, their mule-shoes are of a rather primitive model--broad
+thin plates, tacked on with large club-headed nails. But the
+expertness of the shoers compensated in some degree for the defects of
+the _herraduras_. It made but little odds how wild and vicious the
+mule--an assistant would draw up his foot in an instant, and soon
+place him _hors de combat_; and then fixing a nail, the shoer {95}
+would drive it to the head at a single stroke, standing usually at
+full arm's length, while the assistant held the foot. Thus in less
+than half the time I had ever witnessed the execution of a similar job
+before, they had completely shod more than twenty of the most unruly
+brutes--without once resorting to the expedient so usual in such
+cases, of throwing the animals upon the ground.
+
+Just as the process of shoeing my mules had been completed, a person
+who proved to be a public officer entered the _corral_, and pointing
+to the mules, very politely informed me that they were wanted by the
+government to transport troops to Zacatecas. "They will be called for
+to-morrow afternoon," he continued; "let them not be removed!" I had
+of course to bow acquiescence to this imperative edict, well knowing
+that all remonstrance would be vain; yet fully [Pg171] determined to
+be a considerable distance on the road northward before that 'morrow'
+should be very far advanced.
+
+But a new difficulty now presented itself. I must procure a _guia_ or
+passport for my cargo of merchandise, with a _responsible
+endorser_,--an additional imposition I was wholly unprepared for, as I
+was then ignorant of any law to that effect being in force, and had
+not a single acquaintance in the city. I was utterly at a loss what to
+do: under any other circumstances I might have left the amount of the
+_derecho de consumo_ in deposit, as others have been obliged to do on
+similar occasions; but {96} unfortunately I had laid out the last
+dollar of my available means.
+
+As I left the custom-house brooding over these perplexities, one of
+the principal clerks of the establishment slipped a piece of paper
+into my hand containing the following laconic notice:--"_Aguárdeme
+afuera_" (wait for me without);--an injunction I passively obeyed,
+although I had not the least idea of its purport. The clerk was soon
+with me, and remarked, "You are a stranger in the city, and ignorant
+of our severe revenue laws: meet me in an hour from this at my
+lodgings, and we will devise some remedy for your difficulties." It
+may be well supposed that I did not fail to be punctual. I met the
+obliging officer in his room with a handful of blank custom-house
+_pases_. It should be understood that a _pase_ only differs from a
+_guia_ in requiring no endorser, but the former can only be extended
+for amounts of goods not exceeding fifty dollars. Taking my bill, he
+very soon filled me up a _pase_ for every package, directing each to a
+different point in the North. "Now," observed my amiable friend, "if
+you are disposed to do a little smuggling, these will secure your
+safety, if you avoid the principal cities, till you reach the borders
+of Chihuahua: if not, you may have a friend on the way who will
+endorse your _guia_." I preferred the latter alternative. I had formed
+an acquaintance [Pg172] with a worthy German merchant in Durango,
+who, I felt convinced, would generously lend his signature to the
+required document.
+
+{97} As the revenue officers of Northern Mexico are not celebrated for
+liberality and disinterestedness, I took it for granted that my friend
+of the custom-house was actuated by selfish motives, and therefore
+proffered him a remuneration for the trouble he had taken on my
+account; but to my surprise, he positively refused accepting anything,
+observing that he held it the duty of every honest man to assist his
+fellow creatures in case of difficulty. It is truly a pleasant task to
+bear record of such instances of disinterestedness, in the midst of so
+many contaminating influences.
+
+While speaking of _guias_, I may as well remark that they are also
+frequently required for specie and always for bullion. This is often
+very annoying to the traveller, not only because it is sometimes
+inconvenient to find an endorser, but because the robbers are thus
+enabled to obtain precise and timely information of the funds and
+route of every traveller; for they generally have their agents in all
+the principal cities, who are apt to collude with some of the
+custom-house clerks, and thus procure regular reports of the
+departures, with the amounts of valuables conveyed.
+
+I was not long in taking leave of Aguascalientes, and heard nothing
+more of the impressment of my mules. It was not my good fortune,
+however, to remain for any length of time out of trouble. Being
+anxious to take the city of Zacatecas in my route without jeopardizing
+my goods, I took passage by the _diligencia_, while my wagons
+continued on in {98} the _camino real_ or main road. On my arrival at
+Zacatecas, I very soon discovered that by leaving 'my bed and board'
+behind with the wagons, I had doomed myself to no small inconvenience
+and privation. It was with the greatest difficulty I could obtain a
+place to lie upon, and [Pg173] clean victuals with which to allay my
+hunger. I could get a room, it is true, even for a _real_ per day, in
+one of those great barn-like _mesones_ which are to be met with in all
+these cities, but not one of them was at all furnished. There is
+sometimes, in a corner, a raised platform of mud, much resembling a
+common blacksmith's hearth, which is to supply the place of a
+bedstead, upon which the traveller may spread his blankets, if he
+happen to have any. On this occasion I succeeded in borrowing one or
+two of the stage-driver who was a Yankee, and so made out 'pretty
+comfortably' in the sleeping way. These _mesones_ are equally
+ill-prepared to furnish food for the traveller, unless he is willing
+to put up with a dish of _frijoles_ and _chile guisado_ with
+_tortillas_, all served up in the most filthy manner. I therefore
+sought out a public _fonda_ kept by an Italian, where I procured an
+excellent supper. Fondas, however, are mere _restaurants_, and
+consequently without accommodations for lodging.
+
+Strange as the fact may appear, one may travel fifteen hundred miles,
+and perhaps more, on the main public highway through Northern Mexico,
+without finding a single tavern with general accommodations. This,
+however, may {99} be accounted for, by taking into consideration the
+peculiar mode of travelling of the country, which renders resorts of
+this kind almost unnecessary. _Arrieros_ with their _atajos_ of
+pack-mules always camp out, being provided with their cooks and stock
+of provisions, which they carry with them. Ordinary travellers
+generally unite in little caravans, for security against robbers and
+marauders; and no caballero ever stirs abroad without a train of
+servants, and a pack-mule to carry his _cantinas_ (a pair of large
+wallets or leathern boxes), filled with provisions, on the top of
+which is lashed a huge machine containing a mattress and all the other
+'fixings' for bed furniture. Thus equipped, the [Pg174] caballero
+snaps his fingers at all the _hotels garnis_ of the universe, and is
+perfectly independent in every movement.
+
+The city of Zacatecas, as my readers are doubtless aware, is
+celebrated for its mining interests. Like all other Mexican towns of
+the same class, it originated in small, insignificant settlements on
+the hillsides, in the immediate vicinity of the mines, until it
+gradually grew up to be a large and wealthy city, with a population of
+some 30,000 inhabitants. Its locale is a deep ravine formed among
+rugged mountain ridges; and as the houses are mostly built in rows,
+overtopping one another, along the hillsides, some portions of the
+city present all the appearance of a vast amphitheatre. Many of the
+streets are handsomely paved, and two of the squares are finely
+ornamented with curiously carved _jets-d'eau_, {100} which are
+supplied with water raised by mule power, from wells among the
+adjacent hills. From these the city is chiefly furnished with water.
+
+I have already mentioned, that General Santa Anna was at this time
+marching against Zacatecas with a large force. It may be remembered
+that after the General's accession to the supreme authority of Mexico
+(upon the establishment of _Centralismo_), he deemed it expedient to
+issue a decree abolishing the state militia, known as _Cívicos_, as
+being dangerous to the liberties of----the _dictador_. Zacatecas, so
+far from obeying this despotic mandate, publicly called on the Cívicos
+to defend their rights, and Santa Anna was now descending upon them
+with an army double that which the city could raise, to enforce their
+obedience. The _Zacatecanos_, however, were not idle. The militia was
+pouring in from the surrounding villages, and a degree of enthusiasm
+prevailed throughout the city, which seemed to be the presage of a
+successful defence. In fact, the city itself, besides being from its
+location almost impregnable, was completely protected by artificial
+fortifications. The only accessible point [Pg175] was by the main
+road, which led from the south immediately up the narrow valley of the
+ravine. Across this a strong wall had been erected some years before,
+and the road passed through a large gate, commanded by a bastion upon
+the hillside above, whence a hundred men well supplied with arms and
+ammunition, might easily cut {101} off thousands upon thousands, as
+fast as they advanced. The city was therefore deemed impregnable, and
+being supplied with provisions for a lengthy siege, the patriots were
+in high spirits. A foreign engineer or two had been engaged to
+superintend the fortifications.
+
+Santa Anna reached Zacatecas a few days after my departure. As he had
+no idea of testing the doubtful mettle of his army, by an attempt to
+storm the place, which presented so formidable an appearance, he very
+quietly squatted himself down at the village of Guadalupe, three miles
+below. From this point he commenced his operations by throwing
+'missiles' into the city--not of lead, or cast-iron, or any such cruel
+agents of warfare, but _bombs of paper_, which fell among the
+besieged, and burst with gentle overtures to their commanding
+officers. This novel 'artillery' of the dictator produced a perfectly
+electric effect; for the valor of the commandant of the Cívicos rose
+to such a pitch, that he at once marched his forces out of the
+fortifications, to attack the besiegers in the open field--face to
+face, as true bravery required. But on the very first onset, this
+valiant officer, by some mysterious agency which could not be
+accounted for, was suddenly seized with a strange panic, and, with all
+his forces, made a precipitate retreat, fleeing helter-skelter, as if
+all the engines of destruction that were ever invented, had been
+brought to bear upon them; when the victorious army of Santa Anna
+marched into the city without further opposition.
+
+{102} This affair is a pretty just sample of most of the [Pg176]
+successful battles of this 'great general.' The treacherous collusion
+of the principal Zacatecas officers was so apparent, that they deemed
+it prudent to fly the city for safety, lest the wrath of their
+incensed fellow-citizens should explode upon them. Meanwhile the
+soldiery amused themselves by sacking the city, and by perpetrating
+every species of outrage that their mercenary and licentious appetites
+could devise. Their savage propensities were particularly exercised
+against the few foreigners that were found in the place.
+
+Meanwhile I was journeying very leisurely towards Durango, where I
+arrived on the 21st of April. As the main wagon road to the north does
+not pass through that city, it was most convenient and still more
+prudent for me to leave my wagons at a distance: their entrance would
+have occasioned the confiscation of my goods, for the want of the
+'necessary documents,' as already alluded to. But I now procured a
+_guia_ without further difficulty; which was indeed a principal object
+of my present visit to that city.
+
+Before leaving Durango I witnessed one of those civil broils which are
+so common in Mexico. I was not even aware that any difficulty had been
+brewing, till I was waked on the morning of the 25th by a report of
+fire-arms. Stepping out to ascertain what was the matter, I perceived
+the _azotea_ of the parochial church occupied by armed men, who seemed
+to be employed in amusing themselves {103} by discharging their guns
+at random upon the people in the streets. These _bravos_, as I was
+afterwards informed, belonged to the bishop's party, or that of the
+_Escoceses_, which was openly at war with the liberalists,
+anti-hierarchists, or _Yorkinos_, and were resorting to this summary
+mode of proceeding, in order to bring about a change of affairs; for
+at this time the liberal party had the ascendency in the civil
+government of Durango. [Pg177]
+
+Being somewhat curious to have a nearer view of what was going on, I
+walked down past the church, towards a crowd which was assembled in a
+_plaza_ beyond. This movement on my part was rather inconsiderate: for
+foreigners were in extremely bad odor with the belligerents; nor had I
+mingled with the multitude many minutes, before a sober-looking
+citizen plucked me by the sleeve, and advised me, if I valued my two
+ears, and did not wish to have my career of usefulness cut short
+prematurely, to stay within doors. Of course I needed no further
+persuasion, and returned at once to my lodgings, where I made
+immediate preparations for a speedy departure. As I was proceeding
+through the streets soon afterward, with a cargo of goods, I received,
+just after leaving the custom-house, a very warm salutation from the
+belligerents, which made the dust start from almost under my very
+feet. The _cargadores_ who were carrying my packages were no doubt as
+much frightened as myself. They supposed the reason of their shooting
+at us to be because {104} they imagined we were carrying off the
+_parque_ (ammunition) of the government, which was deposited in the
+building we had just left.
+
+We were soon under way, and very little regret did I feel when I
+fairly lost sight of the city of scorpions. But I was not yet wholly
+beyond the pale of difficulties. Owing to the fame of the Indian
+hostilities in the North, it was almost impossible to procure the
+services of Mexican muleteers for the expedition. One I engaged, took
+the first convenient opportunity to escape at night, carrying away a
+gun with which I had armed him; yet I felt grateful that he did not
+also take a mule, as he had the whole _caballada_ under his exclusive
+charge: and soon after, a Mexican wagoner was frightened back by the
+reports of savages.
+
+After a succession of such difficulties, and still greater [Pg178]
+risks from the Indians that infested the route, I was of course
+delighted when I reached Chihuahua, on the 14th of May, in perfect
+safety.[122]
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[114] The numerous little lakes throughout the interior of Mexico,
+without outlets yet into which rivers are continually flowing, present
+a phenomenon which seem, quite singular to the inhabitants of our
+humid climates. But the wastage in the sand, and still greater by
+evaporation in those elevated dry regions, is such that there are no
+important rises in the lakes except during unusual freshets.--GREGG.
+
+[115] The road passed southeast through the state of Durango, where
+all these small stations may be found on any good map. According to
+Pike the owner of the vast estate near La Zarca was the Marquis de San
+Miguel.--ED.
+
+[116] Also, from the _Pulque_ is distilled a spiritous liquor called
+_mezcal_. The _maguey_ (_Agave Americana_) is besides much used for
+hedging. It here performs the double purpose of a cheap and
+substantial fence, and of being equally valuable for _pulque_. When no
+longer serviceable in these capacities, the pulpy stalk is converted,
+by roasting, into a pleasant item of food, while the fibrous blades,
+being suitably dressed, are still more useful. They are manufactured
+into ropes, bags, etc., which resemble those made of the common
+sea-grass, though the fibres are finer. There is one species (which
+does not produce pulque, however), whose fibres, known in that country
+as _pita_, are nearly as fine as dressed hemp, and are generally used
+for sewing shoes, saddlery, and similar purposes.--GREGG.
+
+[117] See Elliott Coues, _Expeditions of Zebulon M. Pike_ (New York,
+1895), ii, p. 763, note 34. That editor identifies the scorpion as
+_Androctomus biaculeatus_, and favorably comments on Gregg's sensible
+explanation of Pike's story.--ED.
+
+[118] Travellers on these public highways not only go 'armed to the
+teeth,' but always carry their weapons exposed. Even my wagoners
+carried their guns and pistols swung upon the pommels of their
+saddles. At night, as we generally camped out, they were laid under
+our heads, or close by our sides.--GREGG.
+
+[119] Aguascalientes is the capital of a small interior Mexican state
+of the same name, now on the line of the Mexican Central Railway. It
+was founded in 1575, and at the close of the eighteenth century was a
+place of considerable importance. During the negotiations for peace
+between the United States and Mexico (1848), a revolution broke out at
+this place, that was with difficulty subdued.--ED.
+
+[120] This was part of the centralist revolution, for which see our
+volume xix, p. 271, note 96 (Gregg). Santa Ana himself subdued the
+opposition in Zacatecas, where his soldiers were permitted to plunder
+widely.--ED.
+
+[121] Some of these table-plain highways, though of but a dry sandy
+and clayey soil, are as firm as a brick pavement. In some places, for
+miles, I have remarked that the nail-heads of my shod animals would
+hardly leave any visible impression.--GREGG.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII {VI}
+
+Visit to the Mining Town of Jesus-Maria -- Critical Roads -- Losing
+  Speculations -- Mine of Santa Juliana -- Curious mining Operations
+  -- Different Modes of working the Ore -- The Crushing-mill, etc. --
+  _Barras de Plata_ -- Value of Bullion -- The Silver Trade -- Return
+  to Chihuahua -- Resumption of the regular Narrative -- Curious
+  Wholesales -- Money Table -- Redundancy of Copper Coin -- City of
+  Chihuahua and its Peculiarities -- Ecclesiastical Architecture --
+  Hidalgo and His Monument -- Public Works, and their present
+  Declension -- _Fête_ in honor of Iturbide -- Illiberality towards
+  Americans -- Shopping Mania -- Anti-Masonic _Auto de Fe_.
+
+
+Before resuming my regular narrative, I trust the reader will pardon
+me for introducing here a brief account of an excursion which I made
+in the fall of the year 1835, to the mining town of Jesus-Maria, one
+of the most important mineral districts in the department of
+Chihuahua, situated about a hundred and fifty miles west of the city,
+in the very heart of the great Cordilleras.[123]
+
+I had long been desirous of visiting some of the mining establishments
+of Mexico, and seeing a favorable opportunity of embarking in a
+profitable enterprise, I set out from Chihuahua on the 15th of
+October. My party consisted of but one American comrade, with {106} a
+Mexican muleteer--and three or four mules freighted with specie to be
+employed in the _silver trade_: a rather scanty convoy for a route
+subject to the inroads both of savages and robbers. For
+transportation, [Pg179] we generally pack our specie in sacks made of
+raw beef hide, which shrinks upon drying, and thus presses the
+contents so closely as to prevent friction. A pair of these packages,
+usually containing between one and two thousand dollars each,
+constitutes an ordinary mule-load on the mountain routes.
+
+The road in this direction leads through the roughest mountain passes;
+and, in some places, it winds so close along the borders of
+precipices, that by a single misstep an animal might be precipitated
+several hundred feet. Mules, however, are very surefooted; and will
+often clamber along the most craggy cliffs with nearly as much
+security as the goat. I was shown the projecting edge of a rock over
+which the road had formerly passed. This shelf was perhaps thirty feet
+in length by only two or three in width. The road which leads into the
+town of Jesus-Maria from the west side of the mountain is also
+extremely perilous and steep, and seems almost to overhang the houses
+below. Heavily laden mules have sometimes slipped off the track, and
+tumbled headlong into the town. This place is even more pent up
+between ridges than Zacatecas: the valley is narrower and the
+mountains much higher; while, as is the case with that remarkable
+city, the houses are {107} sometimes built in successive tiers, one
+above another; the _azoteas_ of the lower ones forming the yard of
+those above.
+
+The first mine I visited consisted of an immense horizontal shaft cut
+several hundred feet into a hill-side, a short distance below the town
+of Jesus-Maria, upon which the proprietors had already sunk, in the
+brief space of one year, the enormous sum of one hundred and twenty
+thousand dollars! Such is often the fate of the speculative miner,
+whose vocation is closely allied to gaming, and equally precarious.
+[Pg180]
+
+The most important mine of Jesus-Maria at this time was one called
+Santa Juliana, which had been the means of alternately making and
+sinking several splendid fortunes. This mine had then reached a depth
+of between eight and nine hundred feet, and the operations were still
+tending downwards. The materials were drawn up by mule power applied
+to a windlass: but as the rope attached to it only extended half way
+down, another windlass had been erected at the distance of about four
+hundred feet from the mouth of the cavern, which was also worked by
+mules, and drew the ores, etc., from the bottom. On one occasion, as I
+was standing near the aperture of this great pit, watching the ascent
+of the windlass-rope, expecting every moment the appearance of the
+large leathern bucket which they employ for drawing up the minerals as
+well as the rubbish and water[124] from the bottom, {108} what should
+greet my vision but a mule, puffing and writhing, firmly bound to a
+huge board constructed for the purpose, and looking about as demure
+upon the whole as a sheep under the shears. On being untied, the
+emancipated brute suddenly sprang to his feet, and looked around him
+at the bright scenes of the upper world with as much astonishment as
+Rip Van Winkle may be supposed to have felt after waking up from his
+twenty years' sleep.
+
+The ore which is obtained from these mines, if sufficiently rich to
+justify the operation, is transferred to the smelting furnaces, where
+the pure metal is melted down and extracted from the virgin fossil.
+If, on the contrary, the ore is deemed of inferior quality, it is then
+submitted to the process of amalgamation.
+
+[Illustration: Mule emerging from a mine]
+
+[Illustration: Still Hunting]
+
+{109} The _moliendas_, or crushing-mills (_arrastres_, as called at
+some mines), employed for the purpose of grinding the [Pg183] ores,
+are somewhat singular machines. A circular (or rather annular) cistern
+of some twenty or thirty feet in diameter is dug in the earth, and the
+sides as well as the bottom are lined with hewn stone of the hardest
+quality. Transversely through an upright post which turns upon its
+axis in the centre of the plan, passes a shaft of wood, at each end of
+which are attached by cords one or two grinding-stones with smooth
+flat surfaces, which are dragged (by mules fastened to the extremities
+of the shaft) slowly around upon the bottom of the cistern, into which
+the ore is thrown after being pounded into small pieces. It is here
+ground, with the addition of water, into an impalpable mortar, by the
+constant friction of the dragging stones against the sides and bottom
+of the cistern. A suitable quantity of quicksilver is perfectly mixed
+with the mortar; to which are added some muriates, sulphates, and
+other chemical substances, to facilitate the amalgamation. The
+compound is then piled up in small heaps, and not disturbed again
+until this process is supposed to be complete, when it is transferred
+to the washing-machine. Those I have observed are very simple,
+consisting of a kind of stone tub, into which a stream of water is
+made to flow constantly, so as to carry off all the lighter matter,
+which is kept stirred up by an upright studded with pegs, that
+revolves in the centre, while the amalgamated metals sink {110} to the
+bottom. Most of the quicksilver is then pressed out, and the silver
+submitted to a burning process, by which the remaining portion of
+mercury is expelled.
+
+The silver which is taken from the furnace, generally contains an
+intermixture of gold, averaging from ten to thirty per cent.; but what
+is extracted by amalgamation is mostly separated in the washing. While
+in a liquid state, the gold, from its greater specific gravity, mostly
+settles to the bottom: yet it usually retains a considerable alloy of
+silver. The [Pg184] compound is distinguished by the name of
+_oroche_. The main portion of the silver generally retains too little
+gold to make it worth separating.
+
+Every species of silver is moulded into _barras_ or ingots, weighing
+from fifty to eighty pounds each, and usually worth between one and
+two thousand dollars. These are assayed by an authorized agent of the
+government, and stamped with their weight and character, which enables
+the holder to calculate their value by a very simple rule. When the
+bullion is thus stamped, it constitutes a species of currency, which
+is much safer for remittances than coin. In case of robbery, the
+_barras_ are easily identified, provided the robbers have not had time
+to mould them into some other form. For this reason, people of wealth
+frequently lay up their funds in ingots; and the cellars of some of
+the _ricos_ of the South, are often found teeming with large
+quantities of them, presenting the appearance of a winter's supply of
+firewood.
+
+{111} As the charge for parting the gold and silver at the Mexican
+mints, is generally from one to two dollars, and coinage about fifty
+cents, per pound, this assayed bullion yields a profit upon its
+current value of nearly ten per cent. at the United States Mint; but,
+if unassayed, it generally produces an advance of about double that
+amount upon the usual cost at the mines. The exportation of bullion,
+however, is prohibited, except by special license from the general
+government. Still a large quantity is exported in this way, and
+considerable amounts smuggled out through some of the ports.
+
+A constant and often profitable business in the 'silver trade' is
+carried on at these mines. As the miners rarely fail being in need of
+ready money, they are generally obliged to sell their bullion for
+coin, and that often at a great sacrifice, so as to procure available
+means to prosecute their mining [Pg185] operations. To profit by this
+trade, as is already mentioned, was a principal object of my present
+visit. Having concluded my business transactions, and partially
+gratified my curiosity, I returned to Chihuahua, where I arrived,
+November 24, 1835, without being molested either by robbers or
+Indians, though the route is sometimes infested by both these classes
+of independent gentry.
+
+But, as it is now high time I should put an end to this digression, I
+will once more resume my narrative, where it was interrupted at my
+arrival in Chihuahua, on the first of October, 1839.
+
+{112} It is usual for each trader, upon his arrival in that city, to
+engage a store-room, and to open and exhibit his goods, as well for
+the purpose of disposing of them at wholesale as retail. His most
+profitable custom is that of the petty country merchants from the
+surrounding villages. Some traders, it is true, continue in the retail
+business for a season or more, yet the greater portion are transient
+dealers, selling off at wholesale as soon as a fair bargain is
+offered.
+
+The usual mode of selling by the lot in Chihuahua is somewhat
+singular. All such cottons as calicoes and other prints, bleached,
+brown and blue domestics both plain and twilled, stripes, checks,
+etc., are rated at two or three _reales_[125] per _vara_, without the
+least reference to quality or cost, and the 'general assortment' at 60
+to 100 per cent. upon the bills of cost, according to the demand. The
+_varage_ is [Pg186] usually estimated by adding eight per cent. to
+the yardage, but the _vara_ being thirty-three inches (nearly), the
+actual difference is more than nine. In these sales, cloths--{113}
+indeed all measurable goods, except ribands and the like, sometimes
+enter at the _varage_ rate. I have heard of some still more curious
+contracts in these measurement sales, particularly in Santa Fé, during
+the early periods of the American trade. Everything was sometimes
+rated by the vara--not only all textures, but even hats, cutlery,
+trinkets, and so on! In such cases, very singular disputes would
+frequently arise as to the mode of measuring some particular articles:
+for instance, whether pieces of riband should be measured in bulk, or
+unrolled, and yard by yard; looking-glasses, cross or lengthwise;
+pocket-knives, shut or open; writing-paper, in the ream, in the quire,
+or by the single sheet; and then, whether the longer or shorter way of
+the paper; and so of many others.
+
+Before the end of October, 1839, I had an opportunity of selling out
+my stock of goods to a couple of English merchants, which relieved me
+from the delays, to say nothing of the inconveniences attending a
+retail trade: such, for instance, as the accumulation of copper coin,
+which forms almost the exclusive currency in petty dealings. Some
+thousands of dollars' worth are frequently accumulated upon the hands
+of the merchant in this way, and as the copper of one department is
+worthless in another, except for its intrinsic value, which is seldom
+more than ten per cent. of the nominal value, the holders are
+subjected to a great deal of trouble and annoyance.
+
+With regard to the city, there is but little to {114} be said that is
+either very new or unusually interesting. When compared with Santa Fé
+and all the towns of the North, Chihuahua might indeed be pronounced a
+magnificent place; but, compared with the nobler cities of _tierra
+afuera_, it sinks [Pg187] into insignificance. According to Capt.
+Pike, the city of Chihuahua was founded in 1691. The ground-plan is
+much more regular than that of Santa Fé, while a much greater degree
+of elegance and classic taste has been exhibited in the style of the
+architecture of many buildings; for though the bodies be of _adobe_,
+all the best houses are cornered with hewn stone, and the doors and
+windows are framed in the same. The streets, however, remain nearly in
+the same state as Nature formed them, with the exception of a few
+roughly-paved side-walks. Although situated about a hundred miles east
+of the main chain of the Mexican Cordilleras, Chihuahua is surrounded
+on every side by detached ridges of mountains, but none of them of any
+great magnitude. The elevation of the city above the ocean is between
+four and five thousand feet; its latitude is 28° 36′; and its entire
+population numbers about ten thousand souls.
+
+The most splendid edifice in Chihuahua is the principal church, which
+is said to equal in architectural grandeur anything of the sort in the
+republic. The steeples, of which there is one at each front corner,
+rise over a hundred feet above the azotea. They are composed of very
+fancifully-carved columns; and {115} in appropriate niches of the
+frontispiece, which is also an elaborate piece of sculpture, are to be
+seen a number of statues, as large as life, the whole forming a
+complete representation of Christ and the twelve Apostles. This church
+was built about a century ago, by contributions levied upon the mines
+(particularly those of Santa Eulalia, fifteen or twenty miles from the
+city), which paid over a per centage on all the metal extracted
+therefrom; a _medio_, I believe, being levied upon each _marco_ of
+eight ounces. In this way, about a million of dollars was raised and
+expended in some thirty years, the time employed in the construction
+of the building. It is a curious fact, however, that, notwithstanding
+the enormous sums of money expended [Pg188] in outward embellishments,
+there is not a church from thence southward, perhaps, where the
+interior arrangements bear such striking marks of poverty and neglect.
+If, however, we are not dazzled by the sight of those costly
+decorations for which the churches of Southern Mexico are so much
+celebrated, we have the satisfaction of knowing that the turrets are
+well provided with bells, a fact of which every person who visits
+Chihuahua very soon obtains auricular demonstration. One, in
+particular, is so large and sonorous that it has frequently been
+heard, so I am informed, at the distance of twenty-five miles.
+
+A little below the _Plaza Mayor_ stands the ruins (as they may be
+called) of San Francisco--the mere skeleton of another great church
+{116} of hewn-stone, which was commenced by the Jesuits previous to
+their expulsion in 1767, but never finished. By the outlines still
+traceable amid the desolation which reigns around, it would appear
+that the plan of this edifice was conceived in a spirit of still
+greater magnificence than the Parroquia which I have been describing.
+The abounding architectural treasures that are mouldering and ready to
+tumble to the ground, bear sufficient evidence that the mind which had
+directed its progress was at once bold, vigorous and comprehensive.
+
+This dilapidated building has since been converted into a sort of
+state prison, particularly for the incarceration of distinguished
+prisoners. It was here that the principals of the famous Texan Santa
+Fé Expedition were confined, when they passed through the place, on
+their way to the city of Mexico.[126] This edifice has also acquired
+considerable celebrity as having received within its gloomy embraces
+several of the most distinguished patriots, who were taken prisoners
+during the first infant struggles for Mexican independence. [Pg189]
+Among these was the illustrious ecclesiastic, Don Miguel Hidalgo y
+Costilla, who made the first declaration at the village of Dolores,
+September 16, 1810.[127] He was taken prisoner in March, 1811, some
+time after his total defeat at Guadalaxara; and being brought to
+Chihuahua, he was shot on the 30th of July following, in a little
+square back of the prison, where a plain white monument of hewn stone
+{117} has been erected to his memory. It consists of an octagon base
+of about twenty-five feet in diameter, upon which rises a square,
+unornamented pyramid to the height of about thirty feet. The monument
+indeed is not an unapt emblem of the purity and simplicity of the
+curate's character.
+
+Among the few remarkable objects which attract the attention of the
+traveller is a row of columns supporting a large number of stupendous
+arches which may be seen from the heights, long before approaching the
+city from the north. This is an aqueduct of considerable magnitude
+which conveys water from the little river of Chihuahua, to an eminence
+above the town, whence it is passed through a succession of pipes to
+the main public square, where it empties itself into a large stone
+cistern; and by this method the city is supplied with water. This and
+other public works to be met with in Chihuahua, and in the southern
+cities, are glorious remnants of the prosperous times of the Spanish
+empire. No improvements on so exalted a scale have ever been made
+under the republican government. In fact, everything in this benighted
+country now seems to be on the decline, and the plain honest citizen
+of the old school is not unfrequently heard giving vent to his
+feelings by ejaculating "_¡Ojalá por los dias felices del Rey!_"--Oh,
+for the happy days of the King! In short, there can be no doubt, that
+the common people enjoyed more ease--more protection against the
+[Pg190] savages--more {118} security in their rights and
+property--more _liberty_, in truth, under the Spanish dynasty than at
+present.
+
+No better evidence can be found of the extensive operations which have
+been carried on in this the greatest mining district of Northern
+Mexico, than in the little mountains of _scoria_ which are found in
+the suburbs of the city. A great number of poor laborers make a
+regular business of hammering to pieces these metallic excrescences,
+from which they collect silver enough to buy their daily bread. An
+opinion has often been expressed by persons well acquainted with the
+subject, that a fair business might be done by working this same
+scoria over again. There are still in operation several furnaces in
+the city, where silver ores extracted from the mines of the
+surrounding mountains are smelted. There is also a rough mint in
+Chihuahua (as there is indeed in all the mining departments), yet most
+of its silver and all of its gold have been coined in the cities
+further south.
+
+When I arrived at Chihuahua, in 1839, a great fête had just come off
+for the double purpose of celebrating the anniversary of the Emperor
+Iturbide's birth day (Sept. 27, 1783), and that of his triumphal
+entrance into the city of Mexico in 1821. It will be remembered, that,
+after Mexico had been struggling for independence several years,
+General Iturbide, who had remained a faithful officer of the crown,
+and an active agent in persecuting the champions of Mexican liberty,
+finding {119} himself, about the close of 1820, at the head of a large
+division of the royal army sent against the patriot Guerrero, suddenly
+turned over his whole force to the support of the republican cause,
+and finally succeeded in destroying the last vestige of Spanish
+authority in Mexico. How he was afterwards crowned emperor, and
+subsequently [Pg191] dethroned, outlawed by a public decree and
+eventually executed, is all matter of history.[128] But it is not
+generally known, I believe, that this unfortunate soldier has since
+received the honors of the Father of the Republic, a dignity to which
+he was probably as much entitled as any one else--absurd though the
+adoption of such a hero as the 'champion of liberty,' may appear to
+'republicans of the Jefferson school.' A _grande fête d'hilarité_
+takes place annually, in honor of his political canonization, which
+'comes off' at the date already mentioned. To this great ball,
+however, no Americans were invited, with the exception of a
+Mexicanized denizen or two, whose invitation tickets informed the
+_honored party_ that the price of admission to this famous feast,--a
+ball given by the governor and other magnates of the land, in honor of
+the hero of independence,--was twenty-five dollars.
+
+Balls or reunions of this kind, however, seem not as frequent in
+Chihuahua as in New Mexico: and to those we hear of, claiming the
+title of 'fashionable,' Americans are very rarely invited. There is,
+in fact, but little social intercourse between foreigners and the
+natives, {120} except in a business way, or with a certain class of
+the former, at the gambling-table. This want of hospitable feelings is
+one of the worst traits in the character of the Chihuahueños, and when
+placed in contrast with the kind and courteous treatment those who
+visit the United States invariably experience from the lawgivers of
+fashion among us, their illiberality will appear a hundred fold more
+ungracious. These exclusive laws are the more severely felt in
+Chihuahua, because in that city there are no _cafés_, [Pg192] nor
+reading rooms, nor in short any favorite public resorts, except of a
+gambling character, at which gentlemen can meet to lounge or amuse
+themselves.
+
+Besides the cock-pit, the gaming-table, and the _Alameda_, which is
+the popular promenade for the wealthy and the indolent, one of the
+most favorite pastimes of the females generally is shopping; and the
+most fashionable time for this is by candle-light, after they have
+partaken of their chocolate and their _cigarritos_. The streets and
+shops are literally filled from dusk till nine or ten o'clock; and
+many a time have I seen the counter of a store actually lined till a
+late hour, with the fairest and most fashionable señoritas of the
+city. On such occasions it is not a little painful as well as
+troublesome to be compelled to keep a strict eye to the rights of
+property, not that the dealers are all dishonest, but because there
+never fail to be some present who are painfully afflicted with the
+self-appropriating mania, {121} even among the fairest-looking
+señoritas. This, with other purposes no less culpable, has no doubt
+tended to establish the custom of night-shopping.
+
+It may already be generally known perhaps, that the predominant party,
+in Mexico, (and particularly in the North), is decidedly anti-masonic.
+During my stay in Chihuahua I had an opportunity to test their
+antipathy for that mysterious brotherhood. This was evinced in the
+seizure of a dozen or two cotton handkerchiefs, which, unknown to
+myself, happened to bear the stamp of the 'masonic carpet.' These
+obnoxious articles having attracted the attention of some lynx-eyed
+friars, one day, much to my consternation, my store was suddenly
+invaded by the alcalde and some ecclesiastics. The handkerchiefs were
+seized without ceremony, and by an _auto de fe_, condemned to be
+publicly burned.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII {VII}
+
+Departure for Santa Fé -- Straitened for Food -- Summary Effort to
+  procure Beef -- Seizure of one of our Party -- Altercation with
+  a _Rico_ -- His pusillanimous Procedure -- Great Preparations in
+  Chihuahua for our Arrest -- Arrival of Mexican Troops -- A polite
+  Officer -- Myself with three of my Men summoned back to Chihuahua
+  -- Amiable Conduct of Señor Artalejo -- _Junta Departmental_ and
+  Discussion of my Affair -- Writ of _Habeas Corpus_ not in vogue
+  -- The Matter adjusted and Passport granted -- The _Morale_ --
+  Impunity of savage Depredators -- Final Start -- Company of
+  _Paseños_ with their Fruits and Liquors -- Arrival at Santa Fé.
+
+
+Having closed all my affairs in Chihuahua, and completed my
+preparations for departing, I took my leave of that city for the
+North, on the 31st of October, 1839. I was accompanied by a caravan
+consisting of twenty-two wagons (all of which save one belonged to
+me), and forty odd men, armed to the teeth, and prepared for any
+emergency we might be destined to encounter: a precaution altogether
+necessary, in view of the hordes of hostile savages which at all times
+infested the route before us.
+
+We also set out provided with an ample stock of bread and other
+necessaries; for, from the suburbs of Chihuahua to the village of
+{123} Carrizal, a distance of nearly a hundred and fifty miles, there
+are no settlements on the route, from whence to procure supplies. To
+furnish the party with meat, I engaged twenty sheep, to be delivered a
+few miles on the way, which were to be driven along for our daily
+consumption. But the contractor having failed, we found ourselves
+entering the wilderness without a morsel of meat. The second day our
+men began to murmur--it was surely 'dry living' upon mere bread and
+coffee: in fact, by the time we entered the 'territory' of the
+Hacienda de Encinillas, spoken of in another chapter, they were
+clearly suffering from hunger. I was therefore under the necessity of
+sending three Mexican muleteers of our party [Pg194] to _lazo_ a beef
+from a herd which was grazing at some distance from where we had
+pitched our camp; being one of those buffalo-like droves which run so
+nearly wild upon this extensive domain. It had been customary, from
+time immemorial, for travellers when they happened to be distressed
+for meat, to supply their wants out of the wild cattle which nominally
+belonged to this hacienda, reserving to themselves the privilege of
+paying a reasonable price afterwards to the proprietor for the damage
+committed. I must say, however, that, although I had travelled over
+the same road nine times, I had never before resorted to this summary
+mode of procuring food; nor should I, on the present occasion, have
+deviated from my regular practice, though thus partially authorized by
+a custom of the {124} country, but for the strait in which we found
+ourselves, and the fact that I was confident I should meet either with
+a _mayordomo_ or some of the _vaqueros_, to whom I could pay the value
+of the beef, before passing beyond the purlieus of the hacienda, upon
+the lands of which we had yet to travel for sixty or eighty miles.
+
+The muleteers had just commenced giving chase to the cattle, when we
+perceived several horsemen emerge from behind a contiguous eminence,
+and pursue them at full speed. Believing the assailants to be Indians,
+and seeing them shoot at one of the men, chase another, and seize the
+third, bearing him off prisoner, several of us prepared to hasten to
+the rescue, when the other two men came running in and informed us
+that the aggressors were Mexican vaqueros. We followed them,
+notwithstanding, to the village of Torreon, five or six miles to the
+westward, where we found a crowd of people already collected around
+our poor friend, who was trembling from head to foot, as though he had
+really fallen into the hands of savages. I immediately inquired for
+the mayordomo, when I was [Pg195] informed that the proprietor
+himself, Don Angel Trias, was present. Accordingly I addressed myself
+to _su señoría_, setting forth the innocence of my servant, and
+declaring myself solely responsible for whatever crime had been
+committed. Trias, however, was immovable in his determination to send
+the boy back to Chihuahua to be tried for robbery, and all further
+expostulation only drew down the {125} grossest and coarsest insults
+upon myself, as well as my country, of which he professed no
+inconsiderable knowledge.[129]
+
+The altercation was at first conducted solely in Spanish; but the
+princely señor growing weary of hearing so many unpalatable truths
+told of himself in the vernacular of his own humble and astounded
+menials, he stepped out from among the crowd, and addressed me in
+English,--a language in which he had acquired some proficiency in the
+course of his travels. The change of language by no means altered his
+views, nor abated his pertinacity. At last, finding there was nothing
+to be gained by this war of words, I ordered the boy to mount his
+horse and rejoin the wagons. "Beware of the consequences!" vociferated
+the enraged Trias. "Well, let them come," I replied; "here we are."
+But we were suffered to depart in peace with the prisoner.
+
+That the reader may be able to form some idea of the pusillanimity of
+this lordly _haciendero_, it is only necessary to add, that when the
+altercation took place we were inside of the fortifications, from
+which our egress might easily have been prevented by simply closing
+the outer gate. We [Pg196] were surrounded by the whole population of
+the village, besides a {126} small detachment of regular troops, whose
+commandant took a very active part in the controversy, and fought most
+valiantly with his tongue. But the valor of the illustrious Señor Don
+Angel knew a much safer course than to vent itself where there was
+even a remote chance of personal risk. His influence could not fail to
+enlist the public in his behalf, and he thought no doubt that his
+battles might just as well be fought by the officers of justice as by
+himself.
+
+Yet ignorant of his designs, and supposing the matter would end at
+this, we continued our march the next day, and by the time night
+approached we were full twenty miles from the seat of our late
+troubles. While at breakfast on the following morning we were greatly
+surprised by the appearance of two American gentlemen direct from
+Chihuahua, who had ridden thus far purposely to apprise us of what was
+brewing in the city to our detriment. It appeared that Trias had sent
+an express to the governor accusing me of rescuing a culprit from the
+hands of justice by force of arms, and that great preparations were
+accordingly being made to overtake and carry me back. That the reader
+may be able to understand the full extent and enormity of my offence,
+he has only to be informed that the proprietor of an hacienda is at
+once governor, justice of the peace, and everything besides which he
+has a mind to fancy himself--a perfect despot within the limits of his
+little dominion. It was, therefore, through contempt for _his_
+'excellency' {127} that I had insulted the majesty of the laws!
+
+Having expressed my sentiments of gratitude to my worthy countrymen
+for the pains they had taken on my account, we again pursued our
+journey, determined to abide the worst. This happened on the 3d of
+November: on the [Pg197] 5th we encamped near the Ojo Caliente, a
+hundred and thirty miles from Chihuahua. About eleven o'clock at
+night, a large body of men were seen approaching. They very soon
+passed us, and quietly encamped at a distance of several hundred
+yards. They were over a hundred in number.
+
+Nothing further occurred till next morning, when, just as I had risen
+from my pallet, a soldier approached and inquired if I was up. In a
+few minutes he returned with a message from _El Señor Capitan_ to know
+if he could see me. Having answered in the affirmative, a very
+courteous and agreeable personage soon made his appearance, who, after
+bowing and scraping until I began to be seriously afraid that his body
+would break in two, finally opened his mission by handing me a packet
+of letters, one of which contained an order from the Governor for my
+immediate presence in Chihuahua, together with the three muleteers
+whom I had sent after the cattle; warning me, at the same time, not to
+give cause, by my resistance, for any other measure, which might be
+unpleasant to my person. The next document was from Señor Trias
+himself, in which he expressed his regret {128} at having carried the
+matter to such an extreme, and ended with the usual offer of his
+services to facilitate an adjustment. Those, however, which most
+influenced my course, were from Don José Artalejo (_Juez de Hacienda_,
+Judge of the Customs, of Chihuahua), who offered to become responsible
+for a favorable issue if I would peaceably return; and another from a
+Mr. Sutton, with whom I had formerly been connected in business. The
+manly and upright deportment of this gentleman had inspired me with
+the greatest confidence, and therefore caused me to respect his
+opinions. But, besides my obligation to submit to a mandate from the
+government, however arbitrary and oppressive, another [Pg198] strong
+motive which induced me to return, in obedience to the Governor's
+order, was a latent misgiving lest any hostile movement on my part, no
+matter with what justice or necessity, might jeopardize the interests
+if not the lives of many of my countrymen in Chihuahua.
+
+With regard to ourselves and our immediate safety, we would have found
+but very little difficulty in fighting our way out of the country. We
+were all well-armed, and many appeared even anxious to have a brush
+with the besiegers. However, I informed the captain that I was willing
+to return to Chihuahua, with the three 'criminals,' provided we were
+permitted to go armed and free, as I was not aware of having committed
+any crime to justify an arrest. He rejoined that {129} this was
+precisely in accordance with his orders, and politely tendered me an
+escort of five or six soldiers, who should be placed under my command,
+to strengthen us against the Indians, that were known to infest our
+route. Thanking him for his favor, I at once started for Chihuahua,
+leaving the wagons to continue slowly on the journey, and the amiable
+captain with his band of _valientes_ to retrace their steps at leisure
+towards the capital.
+
+Late on the evening of the third day, I reached the city, and put up
+at the American Fonda, where I was fortunate enough to meet with my
+friend Artalejo, who at once proposed that we should proceed forthwith
+to the Governor's house. When we found ourselves in the presence of
+his excellency, my valued friend began by remarking that I had
+returned according to orders, and that he would answer for me with his
+person and property; and then, without even waiting for a reply, he
+turned to me and expressed a hope that I would make his house my
+residence while I remained in the city. I could not, of course,
+decline so friendly an invitation, particularly as I thought it
+probable [Pg199] that, being virtually my bail, he might prefer to
+have me near his person. But, as soon as we reached the street, he
+very promptly removed that suspicion from my mind. "I invite you to my
+house," said he, "as a friend, and not as a prisoner. If you have any
+business to transact, do not hold yourself under the least restraint.
+To-morrow I will see the affair satisfactorily settled."
+
+{130} The _Junta Departamental_, or State Council, of which Señor
+Artalejo was an influential member, was convened the following day.
+Meanwhile, every American I met with expressed a great deal of
+surprise to see me at liberty, as, from the excitement which had
+existed in the city, they expected I would have been lodged in the
+safest calabozo. I was advised not to venture much into the streets,
+as the rabble were very much incensed against me; but, although I
+afterwards wandered about pretty freely, no one offered to molest me;
+in fact, I must do the 'sovereigns of the city' the justice to say,
+that I was never more politely treated than during this occasion.
+Others suggested that, as Trias was one of the most wealthy and
+influential citizens of Chihuahua, I had better try to pave my way out
+of the difficulty with _plata_, as I could stand no chance in law
+against him. To this, however, I strenuously objected. I felt
+convinced that I had been ordered back to Chihuahua mainly for
+purposes of extortion, and I was determined that the _oficiales_
+should be disappointed. I had unbounded confidence in the friendship
+and integrity of Don José Artalejo, who was quite an exception to the
+general character of his countrymen. He was liberal, enlightened and
+honorable, and I shall ever remember with gratitude the warm interest
+he took in my affair, when he could have had no other motive for
+befriending me except what might spring from the consciousness of
+having performed a generous action. [Pg200]
+
+{131} At first, when the subject of my liberation was discussed in the
+_Junta Departamental_, the symptoms were rather squally, as some
+bigoted and unruly members of the Council seemed determined to have me
+punished, right or wrong. After a long and tedious debate, however, my
+friend brought me the draft of a petition which he desired me to copy
+and sign, and upon the presentation of which to the Governor, it had
+been agreed I should be released. This step, I was informed, had been
+resolved upon, because, after mature deliberation, the Council came to
+the conclusion that the proceedings against me had been extremely
+arbitrary and illegal, and that, if I should hereafter prosecute the
+Department, I might recover heavy damages. The wholesome lesson which
+had so lately been taught the Mexicans by France, was perhaps the
+cause of the fears of the Chihuahua authorities. A clause was
+therefore inserted in the petition, wherein I was made to renounce all
+intention on my part of ever troubling the Department on the subject,
+and became myself a suppliant to have the affair considered as
+concluded.
+
+This petition I would never have consented to sign, had I not been
+aware of the arbitrary power which was exercised over me.
+Imprisonment, in itself, was of but little consequence; but the total
+destruction of my property, which might have been the result of
+further detention, was an evil which I deemed it necessary to ward
+off, even at a great sacrifice {132} of feeling. Moreover, being in
+duress, no forced concession would, of course, be obligatory upon me
+after I resumed my liberty. Again, I felt no very great inclination to
+sue for redress where there was so little prospect of procuring
+anything. I might certainly have represented the matter to the Mexican
+government, and even have obtained perhaps the acknowledgment of my
+claims against Chihuahua for damages; but the payment would [Pg201]
+have been extremely doubtful. As to our own Government, I had too much
+experience to rely for a moment upon her interposition.
+
+During the progress of these transactions, I strove to ascertain the
+character of the charges made against me; but in vain. All I knew was,
+that I had offended a _rico_, and had been summoned back to Chihuahua
+at his instance; yet whether for 'high treason,' for an attempt at
+robbery, or for contempt to his _señoría_, I knew not. It is not
+unusual, however, in that 'land of liberty,' for a person to be
+arrested and even confined for weeks without knowing the cause. The
+writ of _Habeas Corpus_ appears unknown in the judicial tribunals of
+Northern Mexico.
+
+Upon the receipt of my petition, the Governor immediately issued the
+following decree, which I translate for the benefit of the reader, as
+being not a bad specimen of Mexican grand eloquence:
+
+"In consideration of the memorial which you have this day directed to
+the Superior Government, His Excellency, {133} the Governor, has been
+pleased to issue the following decree:
+
+"'That, as Don Angel Trias has withdrawn his prosecution, so far as
+relates to his personal interests, the Government, using the equity
+with which it ought to look upon faults committed without a deliberate
+intention to infringe the laws, which appears presumable in the
+present case, owing to the memorialist's ignorance of them, the grace
+which he solicits is granted to him; and, in consequence, he is at
+liberty to retire when he chooses: to which end, and that he may not
+be interrupted by the authorities, a copy of this decree will be
+transmitted to him.'
+
+"In virtue of the above, I inclose the said decree to you, for the
+purposes intended.
+
+"God and Liberty. Chihuahua, Nov. 9, 1839.
+
+  "AMADO DE LA VEGA, Sec.
+
+  "TO DON JOSIAH GREGG."
+
+Thus terminated this 'momentous' affair. The moral of it may be summed
+up in a few words. A citizen [Pg202] of the United States who, under
+the faith of treaties, is engaged in his business, may be seized and
+harassed by the arbitrary authorities of Chihuahua with perfect
+impunity, because experience has proved that the American Government
+winks at almost every individual outrage, as utterly unworthy of its
+serious consideration. At the same time, the Indians may enter, as
+they frequently do, the suburbs of the city,--rob, plunder, and
+destroy life, without a single soldier being raised, or an effort made
+to bring the savage malefactors within the pale of justice. But a few
+days before the occasion of my difficulty at Torreon, the Apaches had
+killed a ranchero or two in the immediate neighborhood of the same
+village; and afterwards, {134} at the very time such a bustle was
+being made in Chihuahua to raise troops for my 'special benefit,' the
+Indians entered the corn-fields in the suburbs of the city, and killed
+several _labradores_ who were at work in them. In neither of these
+cases, however, were there any troops at command to pursue and
+chastise the depredators--though a whole army was in readiness to
+persecute our party. The truth is, they felt much less reluctance to
+pursue a band of civil traders, who, they were well aware, could not
+assume a hostile attitude, than to be caught in the wake of a band of
+savages, who would as little respect their lives as their laws and
+their property.
+
+Early on the morning of the 10th, I once more, and for the last time,
+and with anything but regret, took my leave of Chihuahua, with my
+companions in trouble. Toward the afternoon we met my old friend the
+captain, with his valiant followers, whom I found as full of urbanity
+as ever--so much so, indeed, that he never even asked to see my
+passport.
+
+On the evening of the next day, now in the heart of the savage haunts,
+we were not a little alarmed by the appearance of a large body of
+horsemen in the distance. [Pg203] They turned out, however, to be
+_Paseños_, or citizens of the Paso del Norte. They were on their way
+to Chihuahua with a number of pack-mules laden with apples, pears,
+grapes, wine, and _aguardiente_--proceeds of their productive orchards
+and vineyards. It is from El Paso that Chihuahua is chiefly supplied
+with fruits and {135} liquors, which are transported on mules or in
+carretas. The fruits, as well fresh as in a dried state, are thus
+carried to the distant markets. The grapes, carefully dried in the
+shade, make excellent _pasas_ or raisins, of which large quantities
+are annually prepared for market by the people of that delightful town
+of vineyards and orchards, who, to take them altogether, are more
+sober and industrious than those of any other part of Mexico I have
+visited; and are happily less infested by the extremes of wealth and
+poverty.
+
+On the 13th, I overtook my wagons a few miles south of El Paso, whence
+our journey was continued, without any additional casualty, and on the
+6th of December we reached Santa Fé, in fine health and spirits.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[122] The distance from Chihuahua to Durango is about five hundred
+miles, and from thence to Aguascalientes it is nearly three
+hundred--upon the route we travelled, which was very circuitous. All
+the intermediate country resembles, in its physical features, that
+lying immediately north of Chihuahua, which has already been
+described.--GREGG.
+
+[123] Jesus-Maria is still a mining town in western Chihuahua, in the
+heart of a sierra of the same name.--ED.
+
+[124] Water has sometimes accumulated so rapidly in this mine as to
+stop operations for weeks together.--GREGG.
+
+[125] The Mexican money table is as follows: 12 _granos_ make 1
+_real_; 8 _reales_, 1 _peso_, or dollar. These are the divisions used
+in computation, but instead of _granos_, the copper coins of Chihuahua
+and many other places, are the _claco_ or _jola_ (1/8 real) and the
+_cuartilla_ (1/4 real). The silver coins are the _medio_ (6-1/4
+cents), the _real_ (12-1/2 cents), the _peseta_ (2 reales), the
+_toston_ or half dollar, and the _peso_ or dollar. The gold coins are
+the _doblon_ or _onza_ (doubloon), with the same subdivisions as the
+silver dollar, which are also of the same weight. The par value of the
+doubloon is sixteen dollars; but, as there is no kind of paper
+currency, gold, as the most convenient remittance, usually commands a
+high premium--sometimes so high, indeed, that the doubloon is valued
+in the North at from eighteen to twenty dollars.--GREGG.
+
+[126] See Kendall, _Texan Santa Fé Expedition_, ii, pp. 66-73.--ED.
+
+[127] For Hidalgo, see our volume xix, p. 176, note 11 (Gregg).--ED.
+
+[128] For Guerrero and Iturbide see Pattie's _Narrative_, in our
+volume xviii, p. 314 (note 130), p. 362 (note 141).--ED.
+
+[129] Trias, while yet a youth, was dispatched by his adopted father
+to take the tour of Europe and the United States. He was furnished for
+'pocket money' (as I have been told) with nearly a hundred _barras de
+plata_, each worth a thousand dollars or upwards. This money he easily
+got rid of during his travels, but retained most of his innate bigotry
+and self-importance: and, with his knowledge of the superiority of the
+people among whom he journeyed, grew his hatred for foreigners.
+--GREGG.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV [VIII]
+
+Preparations for returning Home -- Breaking out of the Small-pox --
+  The Start -- Our Caravan -- Manuel the Comanche -- A New Route --
+  The Prairie on Fire -- Danger to be apprehended from these
+  Conflagrations -- A Comanche Buffalo-chase -- A Skirmish with the
+  Pawnees -- An intrepid Mexican -- The Wounded -- Value of a thick
+  Skull -- Retreat of the Enemy and their Failure -- A bleak
+  Northwester -- Loss of our Sheep -- The Llano Estacado and Sources
+  of Red River -- The Canadian River -- Cruelties upon Buffalo --
+  Feats at 'Still-hunting' -- Mr. Wethered's Adventure -- Once more on
+  our own Soil -- The False Washita -- Enter our former Trail --
+  Character of the Country over which we had travelled -- Arrival at
+  Van Buren -- The two Routes to Santa Fé -- Some Advantages of that
+  from Arkansas -- Restlessness of Prairie Travellers in civilized
+  life, and Propensity for returning to the Wild Deserts.
+
+
+About the beginning of February, 1840, and just as I was making
+preparations to return to the United States, [Pg204] the small-pox
+broke out among my men, in a manner which at first occasioned at least
+as much astonishment as alarm. One of them, who had been vaccinated,
+having travelled in a district where the small-pox prevailed,
+complained of a little fever, which was followed by slight eruptions,
+but so unlike true variolous pustules, that I treated the matter very
+lightly; not even suspecting a varioloid. These slight symptoms {137}
+having passed off, nothing more was thought of it until eight or ten
+days after, when every unvaccinated member of our company was attacked
+by that fell disease, which soon began to manifest very malignant
+features. There were no fatal cases, however; yet much apprehension
+was felt, lest the disease should break out again on the route; but,
+to our great joy, we escaped this second scourge.
+
+A party that left Santa Fé for Missouri soon afterward, was much more
+unfortunate. On the way, several of their men were attacked by the
+small-pox: some of them died, and, others retaining the infection till
+they approached the Missouri frontier, they were compelled to undergo
+a 'quarantine' in the bordering prairie, before they were permitted to
+enter the settlements.
+
+On the 25th of February we set out from Santa Fé; but owing to some
+delays, we did not leave San Miguel till the 1st of March. As the
+pasturage was yet insufficient for our animals, we here provided
+ourselves with over six hundred bushels of corn, to feed them on the
+way. This time our caravan consisted of twenty-eight wagons, two small
+cannons, and forty-seven men, including sixteen Mexicans and a
+Comanche Indian who acted in the capacity of guide.[130] Two gentlemen
+of Baltimore, {138} Messrs. [Pg205] S. Wethered and J. R. Ware, had
+joined our caravan with one wagon and three men, making up the
+aggregate above-mentioned. We had also a caballada of more than two
+hundred mules, with nearly three hundred sheep and goats. The sheep
+were brought along partially to supply us with meat in case of
+emergency: the surplusage, however, could not fail to command a fair
+price in the United States.
+
+Instead of following the trail of the year before, I determined to
+seek a nearer and better route down the south side of the Canadian
+river, under the guidance of the Comanche; by which movement, we had
+again to travel a distance of four hundred miles over an entirely new
+country. We had just passed the Laguna Colorada, where, the following
+year, a division of Texan volunteers, under General McLeod,
+surrendered to Col. Archuleta,[131] when our fire was carelessly
+permitted to communicate with the prairie grass. As there was a
+head-wind blowing at the time, we very soon got out of reach of the
+conflagration: but the next day, the wind having changed, the fire was
+again perceived in our rear approaching us at a very brisk pace. The
+terror [Pg206] which these prairie conflagrations are calculated to
+inspire, when the grass is tall and dry, as was the case in the
+present instance, has often {139} been described, and though the
+perils of these disasters are not unfrequently exaggerated, they are
+sometimes sufficient to daunt the stoutest heart. Mr. Kendall relates
+a frightful incident of this kind which occurred to the Texan Santa Fé
+Exposition; and all those who have crossed the Prairies have had more
+or less experience as to the danger which occasionally threatens the
+caravans from these sweeping visitations. The worst evil to be
+apprehended with those bound for Santa Fé is from the explosion of
+gunpowder, as a keg or two of twenty-five pounds each, is usually to
+be found in every wagon. When we saw the fire gaining so rapidly upon
+us, we had to use the whip very unsparingly; and it was only when the
+lurid flames were actually rolling upon the heels of our teams, that
+we succeeded in reaching a spot of short-grass prairie, where there
+was no further danger to be apprehended.
+
+The headway of the conflagration was soon after checked by a small
+stream which traversed our route; and we had only emerged fairly from
+its smoke, on the following day (the 9th), when our Comanche guide
+returned hastily from his accustomed post in advance, and informed us
+that he had espied three buffaloes, not far off. They were the first
+we had met with, and, being heartily anxious for a change from the
+dried beef with which we were provided, I directed the Comanche, who
+was by far our surest hunter, to prepare at once for the _chasse_. He
+said he preferred to hunt on {140} horseback and with his bow and
+arrow; and believing my riding-horse the fleetest in company (which,
+by the by, was but a common pony, and thin in flesh withal), I
+dismounted and gave him the bridle, with many charges to treat him
+kindly, as we still had a long journey before [Pg207] us. "Don't
+attempt to kill but one--that will serve us for the present!" I
+exclaimed, as he galloped off. The Comanche was among the largest of
+his tribe--bony and muscular--weighing about two hundred pounds: but
+once at his favorite sport, he very quickly forgot my injunction, as
+well as the weakness of my little pony. He soon brought down two of
+his game,--and shyly remarked to those who followed in his wake, that,
+had he not feared a scolding from me, he would not have permitted the
+third to escape.
+
+On the evening of the 10th our camp was pitched in the neighborhood of
+a ravine in the prairie, and as the night was dark and dreary, the
+watch tried to comfort themselves by building a rousing fire, around
+which they presently drew, and commenced 'spinning long yarns' about
+Mexican fandangoes, and black-eyed damsels. All of a sudden the
+stillness of the night was interrupted by a loud report of fire-arms,
+and a shower of bullets came whizzing by the ears of the heedless
+sentinels. Fortunately, however, no one was injured; which must be
+looked upon as a very extraordinary circumstance, when we consider
+what a fair mark our men, thus huddled {141} round a blazing fire,
+presented to the rifles of the Indians. The savage yells, which
+resounded from every part of the ravine, bore very satisfactory
+testimony that this was no false alarm; and the 'Pawnee whistle' which
+was heard in every quarter, at once impressed us with the idea of its
+being a band of that famous prairie banditti.
+
+Every man sprang from his pallet with rifle in hand; for, upon the
+Prairies, we always sleep with our arms by our sides or under our
+heads. Our Comanche seemed at first very much at a loss what to do. At
+last, thinking it might possibly be a band of his own nation, he began
+a most boisterous harangue in his vernacular tongue, which he [Pg208]
+continued for several minutes; when finding that the enemy took no
+notice of him, and having become convinced also, from an occasional
+Pawnee word which he was able to make out, that he had been wasting
+breath with the mortal foes of his race, he suddenly ceased all
+expostulations, and blazed away with his rifle, with a degree of
+earnestness which was truly edifying, as if convinced that that was
+the best he could do for us.
+
+It was now evident that the Indians had taken possession of the entire
+ravine, the nearest points of which were not fifty yards from our
+wagons: a warning to prairie travellers to encamp at a greater
+distance from whatsoever might afford shelter for an enemy. The banks
+of the gully were low, but still they formed a very good breastwork,
+behind which {142} the enemy lay ensconced, discharging volleys of
+balls upon our wagons, among which we were scattered. At one time we
+thought of making an attempt to rout them from their fortified
+position; but being ignorant of their number, and unable to
+distinguish any object through the dismal darkness which hung all
+around, we had to remain content with firing at random from behind our
+wagons, aiming at the flash of their guns, or in the direction whence
+any noise appeared to emanate. Indeed their yelling was almost
+continuous, breaking out every now and then in the most hideous
+screams and vociferous chattering, which were calculated to appal such
+timorous persons as we may have had in our caravan. All their
+screeching and whooping, however, had no effect--they could not make
+our animals break from the enclosure of the wagons, in which they were
+fortunately shut up; which was no doubt their principal object for
+attacking us.
+
+I cannot forbear recording a most daring feat performed by a Mexican
+muleteer, named Antonio Chavez, during the hottest of the first onset.
+Seeing the danger of my [Pg209] two favorite riding horses, which
+were tethered outside within a few paces of the savages, he rushed out
+and brought safely in the most valuable of the two, though fusil-balls
+were showering around him all the while. The other horse broke his
+halter and made his escape.
+
+Although sundry scores of shots had been fired at our people, we had
+only two men {143} wounded. One, a Mexican, was but slightly injured
+in the hand, but the wound of the other, who was an Italian, bore a
+more serious aspect, and deserves especial mention. He was a short,
+corpulent fellow, and had been nicknamed 'Dutch'--a loquacious,
+chicken-hearted _fainéant_, and withal in the daily habit of gorging
+himself to such an enormous extent, that every alternate night he was
+on the sick list. On this memorable occasion, Dutch had 'foundered'
+again, and the usual prescription of a double dose of Epsom salts had
+been his supper potion. The skirmish had continued for about an hour,
+and although a frightful groaning had been heard in Dutch's wagon for
+some time, no one paid any attention to it, as it was generally
+supposed to be from the effects of his dose. At length, however, some
+one cried out, "Dutch is wounded!" I immediately went to see him, and
+found him writhing and twisting himself as if in great pain, crying
+all the time that he was shot. "Shot!--where?" I inquired. "Ah! in the
+head, sir?" "Pshaw! Dutch, none of that; you've only bumped your head
+in trying to hide yourself." Upon lighting a match, however, I found
+that a ball had passed through the middle of his hat, and that, to my
+consternation, the top of his head was bathed in blood. It turned out,
+upon subsequent examination, that the ball had glanced upon the skull,
+inflicting a serious-looking wound, and so deep that an inch of sound
+skin separated the holes at which the {144} bullet had entered and
+passed out. Notwithstanding I at first apprehended [Pg210] a fracture
+of the scull, it very soon healed, and Dutch was 'up and about' again
+in the course of a week.
+
+Although teachers not unfrequently have cause to deplore the thickness
+of their pupils' skulls, Dutch had every reason to congratulate
+himself upon possessing such a treasure, as it had evidently preserved
+him from a more serious catastrophe. It appeared he had taken shelter
+in his wagon at the commencement of the attack, without reflecting
+that the boards and sheets were not ball-proof: and as Indians,
+especially in the night, are apt to shoot too high, he was in a much
+more dangerous situation than if upon the ground.
+
+The enemy continued the attack for nearly three hours, when they
+finally retired, so as to make good their retreat before daylight. As
+it rained and snowed from that time till nine in the morning, their
+'sign' was almost entirely obliterated, and we were unable to discover
+whether they had received any injury or not. It was evidently a foot
+party, which we looked upon as another proof of their being Pawnees;
+for these famous marauders are well known to go forth on their
+expeditions of plunder without horses, although they seldom fail to
+return well mounted.
+
+Their shot had riddled our wagons considerably: in one we counted no
+less than eight bullet-holes. We had the gratification to believe,
+however, that they did not get a single {145} one of our animals: the
+horse which broke away at the first onset, doubtless made his escape;
+and a mule which was too badly wounded to travel, was dispatched by
+the muleteers, lest it should fall into the hands of the savages, or
+into the mouths of the wolves; and they deemed it more humane to leave
+it to be eaten dead than alive. We also experienced considerable
+damage in our stock of sheep, a number of them having been devoured by
+wolves. They had been scattered at the beginning of the attack;
+[Pg211] and, in their anxiety to fly from the scene of action, had
+jumped, as it were, into the very jaws of their ravenous enemies.
+
+On the 12th of March, we ascended upon the celebrated _Llano
+Estacado_, and continued along its borders for a few days. The second
+night upon this dreary plain, we experienced one of the strongest and
+bleakest 'northwesters' that ever swept across those prairies; during
+which, our flock of sheep and goats, being left unattended, fled over
+the plain, in search of some shelter, it was supposed, from the
+furious element. Their disappearance was not observed for some time,
+and the night being too dark to discern anything, we were obliged to
+defer going in pursuit of them till the following morning. After a
+fruitless and laborious search, during which the effects of the mirage
+proved a constant source of annoyance and disappointment, we were
+finally obliged to relinquish the pursuit, and return to the caravan
+without finding one of them.
+
+{146} These severe winds are very prevalent upon the great western
+prairies, though they are seldom quite so inclement. At some seasons,
+they are about as regular and unceasing as the 'trade winds' of the
+ocean. It will often blow a gale for days, and even weeks together,
+without slacking for a moment, except occasionally at night. It is for
+this reason, as well as on account of the rains, that percussion guns
+are preferable upon the Prairies, particularly for those who
+understand their use. The winds are frequently so severe as to sweep
+away both sparks and priming from a flint lock, and thus render it
+wholly ineffective.
+
+The following day we continued our march down the border of the Llano
+Estacado. Knowing that our Comanche guide was about as familiar with
+all those great plains as a landlord with his premises, I began to
+question him, [Pg212] as we travelled along, concerning the different
+streams which pierced them to the southward. Pointing in that
+direction, he said there passed a water-course, at the distance of a
+hard day's ride, which he designated as a _cañada_ or valley, in which
+there was always water to be found at occasional places, but that none
+flowed in its channel except during the rainy season. This cañada he
+described as having its origin in the Llano Estacado some fifty or
+sixty miles east of Rio Pecos, and about the same distance south of
+the route we came, and that its direction was a little south of east,
+passing to the southward {147} of the northern portion of the Witchita
+mountains, known to Mexican Ciboleros and Comancheros as _Sierra
+Jumanes_. It was, therefore, evident that this was the principal
+northern branch of Red River. The False Washita, or _Rio Negro_, as
+the Mexicans call it, has its rise, as he assured me, between the
+Canadian and this cañada, at no great distance of the southeastward of
+where we were then travelling.
+
+On the 15th, our Comanche guide, being fearful lest we should find no
+water upon the plain, advised us to pursue a more northwardly course,
+so that, after a hard day's ride, we again descended the _ceja_ or
+brow of the Llano Estacado, into the undulating lands which border the
+Canadian; and, on the following day, we found ourselves upon the
+southern bank of that stream.
+
+Although, but a few days' travel above where we now were, the Canadian
+runs pent up in a narrow channel, scarcely four rods across, we here
+found it spread out to the width of from three to six hundred yards,
+and so full of sand-bars (only interspersed with narrow rills) as to
+present the appearance of a mere sandy valley instead of the bed of a
+river. In fact, during the driest seasons, the water wholly disappears
+in many places. Captain Boone, of the U. S. Dragoons, being upon an
+exploring expedition [Pg213] in the summer of 1843, came to the
+Canadian about the region of our western boundary, where he found the
+channel perfectly dry.[132] Notwithstanding {148} it presents the face
+of one of the greatest rivers of the west during freshets, yet even
+then it would not be navigable on account of its rapidity and
+shallowness. It would appear almost incredible to those unacquainted
+with the prairie streams, that a river of about 1500 miles in length,
+and whose head wears a cap of perennial snow (having its source in the
+Rocky Mountains), should scarcely be navigable, for even the smallest
+craft, over fifty miles above its mouth.
+
+We pursued our course down the same side of the river for several
+days, during which time we crossed a multitude of little streams which
+flowed into the Canadian from the adjoining plains, while others
+presented nothing but dry beds of sand. One of these was so
+remarkable, on account of its peculiarity and size, that we named it
+'Dry River.' The bed was at least 200 yards wide, yet without a
+vestige of water; notwithstanding, our guide assured us that it was a
+brisk-flowing stream some leagues above: and from the drift-wood along
+its borders, it was evident that, even here, it must be a considerable
+river during freshets.[133]
+
+While traveling down the course of the Canadian, we sometimes found
+the buffalo very abundant. On one [Pg214] occasion, two or three
+hunters, who were a little in advance of the caravan, perceiving a
+herd quietly grazing in an open glade, they 'crawled upon' them after
+the manner of the 'still hunters.' Their first shot having brought
+down a fine {149} fat cow, they slipped up behind her, and, resting
+their guns over her body, shot two or three others, without
+occasioning any serious disturbance or surprise to their companions;
+for, extraordinary as it may appear, if the buffalo neither see nor
+smell the hunter, they will pay but little attention to the crack of
+guns, or to the mortality which is being dealt among them.
+
+The slaughter of these animals is frequently carried to an excess,
+which shows the depravity of the human heart in very bold relief. Such
+is the excitement that generally prevails at the sight of these fat
+denizens of the prairies, that very few hunters appear able to refrain
+from shooting as long as the game remains within reach of their
+rifles; nor can they ever permit a fair shot to escape them. Whether
+the mere pleasure of taking life is {150} the incentive of these
+brutal excesses, I will not pretend to decide; but one thing is very
+certain, that the buffalo killed yearly on these prairies far exceeds
+the wants of the traveller, or what might be looked upon as the
+exigencies of rational sport.[134]
+
+But in making these observations, I regret that I cannot give to my
+precepts the force of my own example: I have not always been able
+wholly to withstand the cruel temptation. Not long after the incident
+above alluded to, as I was pioneering alone, according to my usual
+practice, at a distance of a mile or two ahead of the wagons, in
+search of the best route, I perceived in a glade, a few rods in front
+[Pg215] of me, several protuberances, which at first occasioned me no
+little fright, for I took them, as they loomed dimly through the tall
+grass, for the tops of Indian lodges. But I soon discovered they were
+the huge humps of a herd of buffalo, which were quietly grazing.
+
+I immediately alighted, and approached unobserved to within forty or
+fifty yards of the unsuspecting animals. Being armed with one of
+Cochran's nine-chambered rifles, I took aim at one that stood
+broad-side, and 'blazed away.' The buffalo threw up their heads and
+looked about, but seeing nothing (for I remained concealed in the
+grass), they again {151} went on grazing as though nothing had
+happened. The truth is, the one I had shot was perhaps but little
+hurt; for, as generally happens with the inexperienced hunter--and
+often with those who know better, the first excitement allowing no
+time for reflection--I no doubt aimed too high, so as to lodge the
+ball in the hump. A buffalo's heart lies exceedingly low, so that to
+strike it the shot should enter not over one-fourth of the depth of
+the body above the lower edge of the breast bone.
+
+The brutes were no sooner quiet, than I took another and more
+deliberate aim at my former victim, which resulted as before. But
+believing him now mortally wounded, I next fired in quick succession
+at four others of the gang. It occurred to me, by this time, that I
+had better save my remaining three shots; for it was possible enough
+for my firing to attract the attention of strolling savages, who might
+take advantage of my empty gun to make a sortie upon me--yet there
+stood my buffalo, some of them still quietly feeding.
+
+As I walked out from my concealment, a party of our own men came
+galloping up from the wagons, considerably alarmed. They had heard the
+six shots, and, not recollecting my repeating rifle, supposed I had
+been attacked [Pg216] by Indians, and therefore came to my relief.
+Upon their approach the buffalo all fled, except three which appeared
+badly wounded--one indeed soon fell and expired. The other two would
+doubtless have followed {152} the example of the first, had not a
+hunter, anxious to dispatch them more speedily, approached too near;
+when, regaining strength from the excitement, they fled before him,
+and entirely escaped, though he pursued them for a considerable
+distance.
+
+A few days after this occurrence, Mr. Wethered returned to the camp
+one evening with seven buffalo tongues (the hunter's usual trophy)
+swung to his saddle. He said that, in the morning, one of the hunters
+had ungenerously objected to sharing a buffalo with him; whereupon Mr.
+W. set out, vowing he would kill buffalo for himself, and 'no thanks
+to any one.' He had not been out long when he spied a herd of only
+seven bulls, quietly feeding near a ravine; and slipping up behind the
+banks, he shot down one and then another, until they all lay before
+him; and their seven tongues he brought in to bear testimony of his
+skill.
+
+Not long after crossing Dry River, we ascended the high grounds, and
+soon found ourselves upon the high ridge which divides the waters of
+the Canadian and False Washita, whose 'breaks' could be traced
+descending from the Llano Estacado far to the southwest.
+
+By an observation of an eclipse of one of Jupiter's satellites, on the
+night of the 25th of March, in latitude 35° 51′ 30″, I found that we
+were very near the 100th degree of longitude west from Greenwich. On
+the following day, therefore, we celebrated our entrance into the
+United States territory. Those who {153} have never been beyond the
+purlieus of the land of their nativity, can form but a poor conception
+of the joy which the wanderer in distant climes [Pg217] experiences
+on treading once more upon his own native soil! Although we were yet
+far from the abodes of civilization, and further still from home,
+nevertheless the heart within us thrilled with exhilarating
+sensations; for we were again in our own territory, breathed our own
+free atmosphere, and were fairly out of reach of the arbitrary power
+which we had left behind us.
+
+As we continued our route upon this narrow dividing ridge, we could
+not help remarking how nearly these streams approach each other: in
+one place they seemed scarcely five miles apart. On this account our
+Comanche guide, as well as several Mexicans of our party, who had some
+acquaintance with these prairies, gave it as their opinion that the
+Washita or _Rio Negro_ was in fact a branch of the Canadian; for its
+confluence with Red River was beyond the bounds of their
+peregrinations.
+
+As the forest of Cross Timbers was now beginning to be seen in the
+distance, and fearing we might be troubled to find a passway through
+this brushy region, south of the Canadian, we forded this river on the
+29th, without the slightest trouble, and very soon entered our former
+trail, a little west of Spring Valley. This gave a new and joyful
+impulse to our spirits; for we had been travelling over twenty days
+without even a trail, {154} and through a region of which we knew
+absolutely nothing, except from what we could gather from our Comanche
+pilot. This trail, which our wagons had made the previous summer, was
+still visible, and henceforth there was an end to all misgivings.
+
+If we take a retrospective view of the country over which we
+travelled, we shall find but little that can ever present attractions
+to the agriculturist. Most of the low valleys of the Canadian, for a
+distance of five hundred miles, are either too sandy or too marshy for
+cultivation; and the upland prairies are, in many places, but little
+else than [Pg218] sand-hills. In some parts, it is true, they are
+firm and fertile, but wholly destitute of timber, with the exception
+of a diminutive branch of the Cross Timbers, which occupies a portion
+of the ridge betwixt the Canadian and the North Fork. The Canadian
+river itself is still more bare of timber than the upper Arkansas. In
+its whole course through the plains, there is but little except
+cottonwood, and that very scantily scattered along its banks--in some
+places, for leagues together, not a stick is to be seen. Except it be
+near the Mountains, where the valleys are more fertile, it is only the
+little narrow bottoms which skirt many of its tributary rivulets that
+indicate any amenity. Some of these are rich and beautiful in the
+extreme, timbered with walnut, mulberry, oak, elm, hackberry, and
+occasionally cedar about the bluffs.
+
+We now continued our journey without encountering any further
+casualty, except in {155} crossing the Arkansas river, where we lost
+several mules by drowning; and on the 22d of April we made our
+entrance into Van Buren. This trip was much more tedious and
+protracted than I had contemplated--owing, in the first part of the
+journey, to the inclemency of the season, and a want of pasturage for
+our animals; and, towards the conclusion, to the frequent rains, which
+kept the route in a miserable condition.
+
+Concerning this expedition, I have only one or two more remarks to
+offer. As regards the two different routes to Santa Fé, although
+Missouri, for various reasons which it is needless to explain here,
+can doubtless retain the monopoly of the Santa Fé trade, the route
+from Arkansas possesses many advantages. Besides its being some days'
+travel shorter,[135] it is less intersected with large streams; there
+are fewer sandy stretches, and a greater variety of [Pg219]
+wood-skirted brooks, affording throughout the journey very agreeable
+camping-places. Also, as the grass springs up nearly a month earlier
+than in Upper Missouri, caravans could start much sooner, and the
+proprietors would have double the time to conduct their mercantile
+transactions. Moreover, the return companies would find better
+pasturage on their way back, and reach their homes before the season
+of frost had far advanced. Again, such as should desire to engage in
+the 'stock {156} trade' would at once bring their mules and horses
+into a more congenial climate--one more in accordance with that of
+their nativity; for the rigorous winters of Missouri often prove fatal
+to the unacclimated Mexican animals.
+
+This was my last trip across the Plains, though I made an excursion,
+during the following summer, among the Comanche Indians, and other
+wild tribes, living in the heart of the Prairies, but returned without
+crossing to Mexico. The observations made during this trip will be
+found incorporated in the notices, which are to follow, of the
+Prairies and their inhabitants.
+
+Since that time I have striven in vain to reconcile myself to the even
+tenor of civilized life in the United States; and have sought in its
+amusements and its society a substitute for those high excitements
+which have attached me so strongly to Prairie life. Yet I am almost
+ashamed to confess that scarcely a day passes without my experiencing
+a pang of regret that I am not now roving at large upon those western
+plains. Nor do I find my taste peculiar; for I have hardly known a
+man, who has ever become familiar with the kind of life which I have
+led for so many years, that has not relinquished it with regret.
+
+There is more than one way of explaining this apparent incongruity. In
+the first place--the wild, unsettled and independent life of the
+Prairie trader, makes perfect freedom [Pg220] from nearly every kind
+of social dependence an absolute necessity of his being. He is in
+{157} daily, nay, hourly exposure of his life and property, and in the
+habit of relying upon his own arm and his own gun both for protection
+and support. Is he wronged? No court or jury is called to adjudicate
+upon his disputes or his abuses, save his own conscience; and no
+powers are invoked to redress them, save those with which the God of
+Nature has endowed him. He knows no government--no laws, save those of
+his own creation and adoption. He lives in no society which he must
+look up to or propitiate. The exchange of this untrammelled
+condition--this sovereign independence, for a life in civilization,
+where both his physical and moral freedom are invaded at every turn,
+by the complicated machinery of social institutions, is certainly
+likely to commend itself to but few,--not even to all those who have
+been educated to find their enjoyments in the arts and elegancies
+peculiar to civilized society;--as is evinced by the frequent
+instances of men of letters, of refinement and of wealth, voluntarily
+abandoning society for a life upon the Prairies, or in the still more
+savage mountain wilds.
+
+A 'tour on the Prairies' is certainly a _dangerous_ experiment for him
+who would live a quiet contented life at home among his friends and
+relatives: not so dangerous to life or health, as prejudicial to his
+domestic habits. Those who have lived pent up in our large cities,
+know but little of the broad, unembarrassed freedom of the Great
+Western Prairies. {158} Viewing them from a snug fire-side, they seem
+crowded with dangers, with labors and with sufferings; but once upon
+them, and these appear to vanish--they are soon forgotten.
+
+There is another consideration, which, with most men of the Prairies,
+operates seriously against their reconciliation to the habits of
+civilized life. Though they be [Pg221] endowed naturally with the
+organs of taste and refinement, and though once familiar with the ways
+and practices of civilized communities, yet a long absence from such
+society generally obliterates from their minds most of those common
+laws of social intercourse, which are so necessary to the man of the
+world. The awkwardness and the _gaucheries_ which ignorance of their
+details so often involves, are very trying to all men of sensitive
+temperaments. Consequently, multitudes rush back to the Prairies,
+merely to escape those criticisms and that ridicule, which they know
+not how to disarm.
+
+It will hardly be a matter of surprise then, when I add, that this
+passion for Prairie life, how paradoxical soever it may seem, will be
+very apt to lead me upon the Plains again, to spread my bed with the
+mustang and the buffalo, under the broad canopy of heaven,--there to
+seek to maintain undisturbed my confidence in men, by fraternizing
+with the little prairie dogs and wild colts, and the still wilder
+Indians--the _unconquered Sabæans_ of the Great American Deserts.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[130] Manuel _el Comanche_ was a full Indian, born and bred upon the
+great prairies. Long after having arrived at the state of manhood, he
+accompanied some Mexican _Comancheros_ to the frontier village of San
+Miguel, where he fell in love with a Mexican girl--married her--and
+has lived in that place, a sober, 'civilized' citizen for the last ten
+or twelve years--endowed with much more goodness of heart and
+integrity of purpose than a majority of his Mexican neighbors. He had
+learned to speak Spanish quite intelligibly, and was therefore an
+excellent Comanche interpreter: and being familiar with every part of
+the prairies, he was very serviceable as a guide.--GREGG.
+
+[131] Laguna Colorada is in the northeastern part of what is now Quay
+County, New Mexico, about twelve miles west of Tucumcari Mount.
+
+General Hugh McLeod was born in New York in 1814. Graduated at West
+Point, he resigned from the army to offer his services to the Texans
+in their struggle for independence. He also commanded in a campaign
+against the Cherokee in 1839. After the unfortunate Texan-Santa Fé
+expedition, McLeod was imprisoned in Mexico for about a year, and
+finally released at the request of the United States government. He
+served throughout the Mexican War, and joining the Confederate army in
+1861 died in Virginia the following year.
+
+Colonel Juan Andrés Archuleta, to whom McLeod surrendered, was not the
+Archuleta who conspired against the United States in 1846-47.--ED.
+
+[132] Nathan Boone was the youngest son of the noted pioneer Daniel.
+Born in Kentucky in 1780, he emigrated to Missouri late in the
+eighteenth century, and distinguished himself in frontier service
+during the War of 1812-15. He made his home in St. Charles County,
+Missouri, and built therein the first stone house, in which his father
+died in 1820. The younger Boone entered the regular army in 1832, as
+captain of rangers; the following year saw him in command of a company
+of the 1st dragoons, with whom he saw much frontier service. In 1847
+he received his majoralty, and in 1850 became lieutenant-colonel.
+Three years later, he resigned from the army, dying at his home in
+Green County, Missouri, in 1857.--ED.
+
+[133] Dry River is not laid down on current modern maps. It is in
+northwestern Texas, apparently near the line of the Atchison, Topeka
+and Santa Fé Railway, in Roberts and Hemphill counties. See our volume
+XVI, p. 130, note 61; also map 2 in _Senate Docs._, 31 cong., 1 sess.,
+12.--ED.
+
+[134] The same barbarous propensity is observable in regard to wild
+horses. Most persons appear unable to restrain this wanton inclination
+to take life, when a mustang approaches within rifle-shot. Many a
+stately steed thus falls a victim to the cruelty of man.--GREGG.
+
+[135] The latitude of Independence, Mo., is 39° 8′, while that of Van
+Buren is 35° 26′,--within a few miles of the parallel of Santa Fé: and
+being on about the same meridian as Independence, the distance, of
+course, is considerably shorter.--GREGG.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV {IX} CONCLUSION OF THE SANTA FÉ TRADE
+
+Decline of Prices -- Statistical Table -- Chihuahua Trade -- Its
+  Extent -- Different Ports through which Goods are introduced to that
+  Market -- Expedition between Chihuahua and Arkansas -- The more
+  recent Incidents of the Santa Fé Caravans -- Adventures of 1843 --
+  Robbery and Murder of Chavez -- Expedition from Texas -- Defeat of
+  Gen. Armijo's Van-guard -- His precipitate Retreat -- Texan
+  Grievances -- Unfortunate Results of Indiscriminate Revenge -- Want
+  of Discipline among the Texans -- Disarmed by Capt. Cook -- Return
+  of the Escort of U.S. Dragoons, and of the Texans -- Demands of the
+  Mexican Government -- Closing of the Santa Fé Trade.
+
+
+Before proceeding to the graver matters to be presented in the
+succeeding chapters, a few words to those who are curious about the
+history of the Santa Fé trade [Pg222] intervening between the
+conclusion of my personal narrative and the closing of the trade by
+the Mexican government, in 1843, may not be amiss.
+
+The Santa Fé trade, though more or less fluctuating from its origin,
+continued to present an average increase and growth down to the year
+1831. During the same period, the prices of goods continued to go down
+in even a more rapid ratio. Since 1831, the rates of {160} sales have
+continued steadily to fall, to the latest period of the trade,
+although there has been no average increase in the number of
+adventurers, or amount of merchandise.[136]
+
+{161} From 1831 to the present date, prices have scarcely averaged,
+for medium calicoes, thirty-seven cents, and for plain domestic
+cottons thirty-one cents per yard. Taking [Pg223] assortments round,
+100 per cent, upon United States costs were generally considered
+excellent sales: many stocks have been sold at a much lower rate. The
+average prices of Chihuahua are equally low, yet a brisker demand has
+rendered this the most agreeable and profitable branch of the trade.
+
+{162} The first attempt to introduce American goods into the more
+southern markets of Mexico from Santa Fé, was made in the year 1824.
+The amounts were very small, however, till towards the year 1831. For
+a few of the first years, the traders were in the habit of conveying
+small lots to Sonora and California; but this branch of the trade has,
+I believe, latterly ceased altogether. Yet the amounts transferred to
+Chihuahua have generally increased; so that for the last few years,
+that trade has consumed very nearly half of the entire imports by the
+Missouri Caravans.
+
+The entire consumption of foreign goods in the department of
+Chihuahua, has been estimated by intelligent Mexican merchants, at
+from two to three millions annually; [Pg224] the first cost of which
+might be set down at nearly one half. Of this amount the Santa Fé
+trade, as will be seen from the accompanying table, has not furnished
+a tenth part; the balance being introduced through other ports, viz.:
+_Matamoras_, whence Chihuahua has received nearly half its
+supplies--_Vera Cruz_ via the city of Mexico, whence considerable
+amounts have been brought to this department--_Tampico_ on the Gulf of
+Mexico, and _Mazatlan_ on the Pacific, via Durango, whence the imports
+have been of some importance--while nearly all the west of the
+department, and especially the heavy consumption of the mining town of
+Jesus-Maria, receives most of its supplies from the port of _Guaymas_
+on the Gulf of {163} California; whence, indeed, several stocks of
+goods have been introduced as far as the city of Chihuahua itself. In
+1840, a large amount of merchandise was transported directly from the
+Red River frontier of Arkansas to Chihuahua; but no other expedition
+has ever been made in that direction.[137] [Pg225]
+
+{164} By far the greatest portion of the introductions through
+the sea-ports just alluded to, have been made by British merchants. It
+is chiefly the preference given to American manufacturers, which has
+enabled the merchandise of the Santa Fé adventurers to compete in the
+Southern markets, with goods introduced through the sea-ports, which
+have had the {165} benefit of the drawback. In this last respect our
+traders have labored under a very unjust burden.
+
+It is difficult to conceive any equitable reason why merchants
+conveying their goods across the Prairies in wagons, should not be as
+much entitled to the protection of the Government, as those who
+transport them in vessels across the ocean. This assistance (with the
+reopening of the ports) might enable our merchants to monopolize the
+rich trade of Chihuahua; and they would obtain a share of that of the
+still richer departments of Durango and Zacatecas, as well as some
+portion of the Sonora and California [Pg226] trade. Then rating that
+of Chihuahua at two millions, half that of Durango at the same, and a
+million from Zacatecas, Sonora, etc., it would ascend to the clever
+amount of some five millions of dollars per annum.
+
+In point of revenue, the Santa Fé trade has been of but little
+importance to the government of Mexico. Though the amount of duties
+collected annually at this port has usually been fifty to eighty
+thousand dollars, yet nearly one-half has been embezzled by the
+officers of the customs, leaving an average net revenue of perhaps
+less than forty thousand dollars per annum.
+
+It is not an unimportant fact to be known, that, since the year 1831,
+few or none of the difficulties and dangers which once environed the
+Santa Fé adventurer have been encountered. No traders have been killed
+by the {166} savages on the regular route, and but few animals stolen
+from the caravans. On the whole, the rates of insurance upon
+adventures in this trade should hardly be as high as upon marine
+adventures between New York and Liverpool. While I declare, however,
+the serious dangers and troubles to have been in general so slight, I
+ought not to suppress at least an outline of the difficulties that
+occurred on the Prairies in 1843, which were attended with very
+serious consequences. [Pg227]
+
+It had been reported in Santa Fé as early as November, 1842, that a
+party of Texans were upon the Prairies, prepared to attack any Mexican
+traders who should cross the plains the succeeding spring; and as some
+Americans were accused of being spies, and in collusion with the
+Texans, many were ordered to Santa Fé for examination, occasioning a
+deal of trouble to several innocent persons. Than this, however, but
+little further attention was paid to the report, many believing it but
+another of those rumors of Texan invasion which had so often spread
+useless consternation through the country.
+
+So little apprehension appeared to exist, that, in February, 1843, Don
+Antonio José Chavez, of New Mexico, left Santa Fé for Independence,
+with but five servants, two wagons, and fifty-five mules. He had with
+him some ten or twelve thousand dollars in specie and gold bullion,
+besides a small lot of furs. As the month of March was extremely
+inclement, the little party suffered inconceivably {167} from cold and
+privations. Most of them were frost-bitten, and all their animals,
+except five, perished from the extreme severity of the season; on
+which account Chavez was compelled to leave one of his wagons upon the
+Prairies. He had worried along, however, with his remaining wagon and
+valuables, till about the tenth of April, when he found himself near
+the Little Arkansas; at least a hundred miles [Pg228] within the
+territory of the United States. He was there met by fifteen men from
+the border of Missouri, professing to be Texan troops, under the
+command of one John M'Daniel. This party had been collected, for the
+most part, on the frontier, by their leader, who was recently from
+Texas, from which government he professed to hold a captain's
+commission. They started no doubt with the intention of joining one
+Col. Warfield (also said to hold a Texan commission), who had been
+upon the Plains near the Mountains, with a small party, for several
+months--with the avowed intention of attacking the Mexican traders.
+
+Upon meeting Chavez, however, the party of M'Daniel at once determined
+to make sure of the prize he was possessed of, rather than take their
+chances of a similar booty beyond the U. S. boundary. The unfortunate
+Mexican was therefore taken a few miles south of the road, and his
+baggage rifled. Seven of the party then left for the settlements with
+their share of the booty, amounting to some four or five hundred
+dollars apiece; making the journey on foot, as their horses had taken
+{168} a stampede and escaped. The remaining eight, soon after the
+departure of their comrades, determined to put Chavez to death,--for
+what cause it would seem difficult to conjecture, as he had been, for
+two days, their unresisting prisoner. Lots were accordingly cast to
+determine which four of the party should be the cruel executioners;
+and their wretched victim was taken off a few rods and shot down in
+cold blood. After his murder a considerable amount of gold was found
+about his person, and in his trunk. The body of the unfortunate man,
+together with his wagon and baggage, was thrown into a neighboring
+ravine; and a few of the lost animals of the marauders having been
+found, their booty was packed upon them and borne away to the frontier
+of Missouri. [Pg229]
+
+Great exertions had been made to intercept this lawless band at the
+outset; but they escaped the vigilance even of a detachment of
+dragoons that had followed them over a hundred miles. Yet the honest
+citizens of the border were too much on the alert to permit them to
+return to the interior with impunity. However, five of the whole
+number (including three of the party that killed the man) effected
+their escape, but the other ten were arrested, committed, and sent to
+St. Louis for trial before the United States Court. It appears that
+those who were engaged in the killing of Chavez have since been
+convicted of murder; and the others, who were only concerned in the
+robbery, were found guilty {169} of larceny, and sentenced to fine and
+imprisonment.[138]
+
+About the first of May of the same year, a company of a hundred and
+seventy-five men, under one Col. Snively, was organized in the north
+of Texas, and set out from the settlements for the Santa Fé trace. It
+was at first reported that they contemplated a descent upon Santa Fé;
+but their force was evidently too weak to attempt an invasion at that
+crisis. Their prime object, therefore, seems to have been to attack
+and make reprisals upon the Mexicans engaged in the Santa Fé trade,
+who were expected to cross the Prairies during the months of May and
+June.
+
+After the arrival of the Texans upon the Arkansas, they were joined by
+Col. Warfield with a few followers. This officer, with about twenty
+men, had some time previously attacked the village of Mora, on the
+Mexican frontier, killing five men (as was reported) and driving off a
+number of horses.[139] They were afterwards followed by a party
+[Pg230] of Mexicans, however, who _stampeded_ and carried away, not
+only their own horses, but those of the Texans. Being left afoot the
+latter burned their saddles, and walked to Bent's Fort, where they
+were disbanded; whence Warfield passed to Snively's camp, as before
+mentioned.
+
+The Texans now advanced along the Santa Fé road, beyond the sand hills
+south of the Arkansas, when they discovered that a party of Mexicans
+had passed towards the river. They soon came upon them, and a skirmish
+{170} ensuing, eighteen Mexicans were killed, and as many wounded,
+five of whom afterwards died. The Texans suffered no injury, though
+the Mexicans were a hundred in number. The rest were all taken
+prisoners except two, who escaped and bore the news to Gen. Armijo,
+encamped with a large force at the Cold Spring, 140 miles beyond. As
+soon as the General received notice of the defeat of his vanguard, he
+broke up his camp most precipitately, and retreated to Santa Fé. A
+gentleman of the caravan which passed shortly afterward, informed me
+that spurs, lareats and other scraps of equipage, were found scattered
+in every direction about Armijo's camp--left by his troops in the
+hurly-burly of their precipitate retreat.[140]
+
+Keeping beyond the territory of the United States, the right of the
+Texans to harass the commerce of Mexicans will hardly be denied, as
+they were at open war: yet another consideration, it would seem,
+should have restrained them from aggressions in that quarter. They
+could not have been ignorant that but a portion of the traders were
+Mexicans--that many American citizens were connected in [Pg231] the
+same caravans. The Texans assert, it is true, that the lives and
+property of Americans were to be respected, _provided_ they abandoned
+the Mexicans. But did they reflect upon the baseness of the terms they
+were imposing? What American, worthy of the name, to save his own
+interests, or even his life, could deliver up his travelling
+companions {171} to be sacrificed? Then, after having abandoned the
+Mexicans, or betrayed them to their enemy--for such an act would have
+been accounted treachery--where would they have gone? They could not
+then have continued on into Mexico; and to have returned to the United
+States with their merchandise, would have been the ruin of most of
+them.
+
+The inhuman outrages suffered by those who were captured in New Mexico
+in 1841, among whom were many of the present party, have been pleaded
+in justification of this second Texan expedition. When we take their
+grievances into consideration, we must admit that they palliate, and
+indeed justify almost any species of revenge consistent with the laws
+of Nature and of nations: yet whether, under the existing
+circumstances, this invasion of the Prairies was proper or otherwise,
+I will leave for others to determine, as there seems to be a
+difference of opinion on the subject. The following considerations,
+however, will go to demonstrate the unpropitious consequences which
+are apt to result from a system of indiscriminate revenge.
+
+The unfortunate Chavez (whose murder, I suppose, was perpetrated under
+pretext of the cruelties suffered by the Texans, in the name of whom
+the party of M'Daniel was organized) was of the most wealthy and
+influential family of New Mexico, and one that was anything but
+friendly to the ruling governor, Gen. Armijo. Don Mariano Chavez, a
+brother to the deceased, is a gentleman of very [Pg232] amiable {172}
+character, such as is rarely to be met with in that unfortunate land.
+It is asserted that he furnished a considerable quantity of
+provisions, blankets, etc., to Col. Cooke's division of Texan
+prisoners.[141] Señora Chavez (the wife of Don Mariano), as is told,
+crossed the river from the village of Padillas, the place of their
+residence, and administered comforts to the unfortunate band of
+Texans.[142] Though the murder of young Chavez was evidently not
+sanctioned by the Texans generally, it will, notwithstanding, have
+greatly embittered this powerful family against them--a family whose
+liberal principles could not otherwise have been very unfavorable to
+Texas.[143]
+
+The attack upon the village of Mora, though of less important results,
+was nevertheless an unpropitiatory movement. The inhabitants of that
+place are generally very simple and innocent rancheros and hunters,
+and, being separated by the snowy mountains from the principal
+settlements of New Mexico, their hearts seem ever to have been
+inclined to the Texans. In fact, the village having been founded by
+some American denizens, the Mexican inhabitants appear in some degree
+to have imitated their character.
+
+The defeat of Armijo's vanguard was attended by still more disastrous
+consequences, both to the American and Texan interest. That division
+was composed of the militia of {173} the North--from about Taos--many
+of them Taos Pueblos. These people had not only remained [Pg233]
+embittered against Gov. Armijo since the revolution of 1837, but had
+always been notably in favor of Texas. So loth were they to fight the
+Texans, that, as I have been assured, the governor found it necessary
+to bind a number of them upon their horses, to prevent their escape,
+till he got them fairly upon the Prairies. And yet the poor fellows
+were compelled to suffer the vengeance which was due to their guilty
+general!
+
+When the news of their defeat reached Taos, the friends and relatives
+of the slain--the whole population indeed, were incensed beyond
+measure; and two or three, naturalized foreigners who were supposed to
+favor the cause of Texas, and who were in good standing before, were
+now compelled to flee for their lives; leaving their houses and
+property a prey to the incensed rabble. Such appears to have been the
+reaction of public sentiment resulting from the catastrophe upon the
+Prairies!
+
+Had the Texans proceeded differently--had they induced the Mexicans to
+surrender without battle, which they might no doubt easily have
+accomplished, they could have secured their services, without
+question, as guides to Gen. Armijo's camp, and that unmitigated tyrant
+might himself have fallen into their hands. The difficulty of
+maintaining order among the Texans was perhaps the cause of many of
+their unfortunate proceedings. {174} And no information of the caravan
+having been obtained, a detachment of seventy or eighty men left, to
+return to Texas.
+
+The traders arrived soon after, escorted by about two hundred U. S.
+Dragoons under the command of Capt. Cook.[144] Col. Snively with a
+hundred men being then encamped on the south side of the Arkansas
+river, some ten to fifteen miles below the point called the 'Caches,'
+[Pg234] he crossed the river and met Capt. Cook, who soon made known
+his intention of disarming him and his companions,--an intention which
+he at once proceeded to put into execution. A portion of the Texans,
+however, deceived the American captain in this wise. Having concealed
+their own rifles, which were mostly Colt's repeaters, they delivered
+to Capt. Cook the worthless fusils they had taken from the Mexicans;
+so that, when they were afterwards released, they still had their own
+valuable arms; of which, however, so far as the caravan in question
+was concerned, they appear to have had no opportunity of availing
+themselves.
+
+These facts are mentioned merely as they are said to have occurred.
+Capt. Cook has been much abused by the Texans, and accused of having
+violated a friendly flag--of having taken Col. Snively prisoner while
+on a friendly visit. This is denied by Capt. Cook, and by other
+persons who were in company at the time. But apart from the means
+employed by the American commander (the propriety or impropriety of
+which I shall not attempt {175} to discuss), the act was evidently the
+salvation of the Santa Fé caravan, of which a considerable portion
+were Americans. Had he left the Texans with their arms, he would
+doubtless have been accused by the traders of escorting them to the
+threshold of danger, and then delivering them over to certain
+destruction, when he had it in his power to secure their safety.
+
+Capt. Cook with his command soon after returned to the United
+States,[145] and with him some forty of the [Pg235] disarmed Texans,
+many of whom have been represented as gentlemen worthy of a better
+destiny. A large portion of the Texans steered directly home from the
+Arkansas river; while from sixty to seventy men, who elected Warfield
+their commander, were organized for the pursuit and capture of the
+caravan, which had already passed on some days in advance towards
+Santa Fé. They pursued in the wake of the traders, it is said, as far
+as the Point of Rocks (twenty miles east of the crossing of the
+Colorado or Canadian), but made no attempt upon them[146]--whence they
+returned direct to Texas. Thus terminated the 'Second Texan Santa Fé
+Expedition,' as it has been styled; and {176} though not so disastrous
+as the first, it turned out nearly as unprofitable.
+
+Although this expedition was composed wholly of Texans, or persons not
+claiming to be citizens of the United States, and organized entirely
+in Texas--and, notwithstanding the active measures adopted by the
+United States government to defend the caravans, as well of Mexicans
+as of Americans, against their enemy--Señor Bocanegra, Mexican
+Minister of Foreign Relations, made a formal demand upon the United
+States (as will be remembered), for damages resulting from this
+invasion. In a rejoinder to Gen. Thompson (alluding to Snively's
+company), he says, that "Independence, in Missouri, was the starting
+point of these men." The preceding narrative will show the error under
+which the honorable secretary labored.[147] [Pg236]
+
+A portion of the party who killed Chavez was from the
+frontier of Missouri; but witness the active exertions on the border
+to bring these depredators to justice--and then let the contrast be
+noted betwixt this affair and the impunity with which robberies are
+every day committed throughout Mexico, where well-known highwaymen
+often run at large, unmolested either by the citizens or by the
+authorities. What would Señor Bocanegra say if every other government
+were to demand indemnity for all the robberies committed upon their
+citizens in Mexico?
+
+But the most unfortunate circumstance attending this invasion of the
+Prairies--unfortunate {177} at least to the United States and to New
+Mexico--was the closing of the Northern ports to foreign commerce,
+which was doubtless, to a great degree, a consequence of the
+before-mentioned expedition, and which of course terminated the Santa
+Fé Trade, at least for the present.[148]
+
+I am of the impression, however, that little apprehension need be
+entertained, that this decree of Gen. Santa Anna will be permitted
+much longer to continue,[149] unless our peaceful relations with
+Mexico should be disturbed; an event, under any circumstances,
+seriously to be deprecated. With the continuation of peace between us,
+the Mexicans will certainly be compelled to open their northern
+frontier [Pg237] ports, to avoid a revolution in New Mexico, with
+which they are continually threatened while this embargo continues.
+Should the obnoxious decree be repealed, the Santa Fé Trade will
+doubtless be prosecuted again with renewed vigor and enterprise.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[136] Some general statistics of the Santa Fé Trade may prove not
+wholly without interest to the mercantile reader. With this view, I
+have prepared the following table of the probable amounts of
+merchandise invested in the Santa Fé Trade, from 1822 to 1843
+inclusive, and about the portion of the same transferred to the
+Southern markets (chiefly Chihuahua) during the same period; together
+with the approximate number of wagons, men and proprietors engaged
+each year.
+
+  ------|--------|-----|-----|----|-------|-----------------------------
+  Years.   Amt.   W'gs. Men. Pro's. T'n to    Remarks.
+          Mdse.                     Ch'a.
+  ------|--------|-----|-----|----|-------|-----------------------------
+   1822   15,000         70   60    9,000  Pack-animals only used.
+   1823   12,000         50   30    3,000  Pack-animals only used.
+   1824   35,000   26   100   80    3,000  Pack-animals and wagons.
+   1825   65,000   37   130   90    5,000  Pack-animals and wagons.
+   1826   90,000   60   100   70    7,000  Wagons only henceforth.
+   1827   85,000   55    90   50    8,000
+   1828  150,000  100   200   80   20,000 3 men killed, being the first.
+   1829   60,000   30    50   20    5,000  1st U.S.Es.--1 trader killed.
+   1830  120,000   70   140   60   20,000  First oxen used by traders.
+   1831  250,000  130   320   80   80,000  Two men killed.
+   1832  140,000   70   150   40   50,000  {Party defeated on Canadian
+   1833  180,000  105   185   60   80,000  {2 men killed, 3 perished.
+   1834  150,000   80   160   50   70,000  2d U.S. Escort
+   1835  140,000   75   140   40   70,000
+   1836  130,000   70   135   35   50,000
+   1837  150,000   80   160   35   60,000
+   1838   90,000   50   100   20   80,000
+   1839  250,000  130   250   40  100,000  Arkansas Expedition.
+   1840   50,000   30    60    5   10,000  Chihuahua Expedition.
+   1841  150,000   60   100   12   80,000  Texan Santa Fé Expedition.
+   1842  160,000   70   120   15   90,000
+   1843  450,000  230   350   30  300,000  3d U.S.Es.--Ports closed.
+  ------|--------|-----|-----|----|-------|-----------------------------
+
+The foregoing table is not given as perfectly accurate, yet it is
+believed to be about as nearly so as any that could be made out at the
+present day. The column marked "Pro's." (Proprietors), though even
+less precise than the other statistics, presents, I think, about the
+proportion of the whole number engaged each year who were owners. At
+first, as will be seen, almost every individual of each caravan was a
+proprietor, while of late the capital has been held by comparatively
+few hands. In 1843, the greater portion of the traders were New
+Mexicans, several of whom, during the three years previous, had
+embarked in this trade, of which they bid fair to secure a monopoly.
+
+The amount of merchandise transported to Santa Fé each year, is set
+down at its probable cost in the Eastern cities of the United States.
+Besides freights and insurance to Independence, there has been an
+annual investment, averaging nearly twenty-five per cent. upon the
+cost of the stocks, in wagons, teams, provisions, hire of hands, &c.,
+for transportation across the Prairies. A large portion of this
+remaining unconsumed, however, the ultimate loss on the outfit has not
+been more than half of the above amount. Instead of purchasing outfit,
+some traders prefer employing freighters, a number of whom are usually
+to be found on the frontier of Missouri, ready to transport goods to
+Santa Fé, at ten to twelve cents per pound. From thence to Chihuahua
+the price of freights is six to eight cents--upon mules, or in wagons.
+
+The average gross returns of the traders has rarely exceeded fifty per
+cent. upon the cost of their merchandise, leaving a net profit of
+between twenty and forty per cent.; though their profits have not
+unfrequently been under ten per cent.: in fact, as has before been
+mentioned, their adventures have sometimes been losing speculations.[A]
+--GREGG.
+
+[A] Those who are familiar with Mr. Mayer's very interesting work on
+Mexico, will observe that a portion of the preceding table corresponds
+substantially with one presented on page 318 of that work. In justice
+to myself, I feel compelled to state, that, in 1841, I published, in
+the Galveston "Daily Advertiser," a table of the Santa Fé trade from
+1831 to 1840 inclusive, of which that of Mr. Mayer embraces an exact
+copy. I have since made additions, and corrected it to some extent,
+but still the correspondence is such as seemed to require of me this
+explanation.
+
+[137] With a view to encourage adventurers, the government of
+Chihuahua agreed to reduce the impost duties to a very low rate, in
+favor of a pioneer enterprise; and to furnish an escort of dragoons
+for the protection of the traders.
+
+The expedition was undertaken chiefly by Mexicans; but one American
+merchant, Dr. H. Connelly, having invested capital in it. I obtained
+from this intelligent gentleman a very interesting sketch of the
+adventures of this pioneer party, which I regret that my plan will not
+permit me to present in detail.
+
+The adventurers set out from Chihuahua on the 3d of April, 1839,
+amidst the benisons of the citizens, and with the confident hope of
+transferring the valuable trade of the North to their city. The
+caravan (including fifty dragoons), consisted of over a hundred men,
+yet only about half a dozen of the number were proprietors. Though
+they had but seven wagons, they brought about seven hundred mules, and
+two or three hundred thousand dollars in specie and bullion, for the
+purposes of their adventure.
+
+They took the Presidio del Norte in their route, and then proceeding
+northwestwardly, finally arrived at Fort Towson after a protracted
+journey of three months; but without meeting with any hostile savages,
+or encountering any serious casualty, except getting bewildered, after
+crossing Red River, which they mistook for the Brazos. This caused
+them to shape their course thence nearly north, in search of the
+former stream, until they reached the Canadian river, where they met
+with some Delaware Indians, of whom they obtained the first correct
+information of their whereabouts; and by whom they were piloted safely
+to Fort Towson.
+
+It had been the intention of these adventurers to return to Chihuahua
+the ensuing fall; but from various accidents and delays, they were
+unable to get ready until the season had too far advanced; which, with
+an incessant series of rains that followed, prevented them from
+travelling till the ensuing spring. Learning that the Texans were
+friendly disposed towards them, they now turned their course through
+the midst of the northern settlements of that republic. Of the kind
+treatment they experienced during their transit, Dr. Connelly speaks
+in the following terms: "I have never been more hospitably treated, or
+had more efficient assistance, than was given by the citizens of Red
+River. All seemed to vie with each other in rendering us every aid in
+their power; and our Mexican friends, notwithstanding the hostile
+attitude in which the two countries stood towards each other, were
+treated with a kindness which they still recollect with the warmest
+feelings of gratitude." This forms a very notable contrast with the
+treatment which the Texan traders, who afterwards visited Santa Fé,
+received at the hands of the Mexicans.
+
+The Caravan now consisted of sixty or seventy wagons laden with
+merchandise, and about two hundred and twenty-five men, including
+their escort of Mexican dragoons. They passed the Texan border early
+in April, and expected to intersect their former track beyond the
+Cross Timbers, but that trail having been partially obliterated, they
+crossed it unobserved, and were several days lost on the waters of the
+Brazos river. Having turned their course south for a few days,
+however, they fortunately discovered their old route at a branch of
+the Colorado.
+
+After this they continued their journey without further casualty; for
+notwithstanding they met with a large body of Comanches, they passed
+them amicably, and soon reached the Rio Pecos. Though very narrow,
+this stream was too deep to be forded, and they were compelled to
+resort to an expedient characteristic of the Prairies. There being not
+a stick of timber anywhere to be found, of which to make even a raft,
+they buoyed up a wagon-body by binding several empty water-kegs to the
+bottom, which served them the purpose of a ferry-boat.
+
+When they reached Presidio del Norte again, they learned that Gov.
+Irigóyen, with whom they had celebrated the contract for a diminution
+of their duties, had died during their absence. A new corps of
+officers being in power, they were now threatened with a charge of
+full tariff duties. After a delay of forty-five days at the Presidio,
+however, they made a compromise, and entered Chihuahua on the 27th of
+August, 1840.
+
+The delays and accumulated expenses of this expedition caused it to
+result so disastrously to the interests of all who were engaged in it,
+that no other enterprise of the kind has since been undertaken.
+--GREGG.
+
+[138] John McDaniel and his brother David were both executed. For the
+names of other participators, consult _Niles' Register_, lxiv, pp.
+195, 280. The Texas government disclaimed all responsibility for
+McDaniel.--ED.
+
+[139] Mora is on a stream of the same name, for which see our volume
+xix, p. 252, note 73 (Gregg), and is the seat of Mora County. The
+first settlement was made in 1832, but repulsed by Indians; not until
+1840, therefore, could the place be called permanent. In the
+revolution of 1847, Mora was involved against the United States whose
+troops burned the town in reprisal. The present population is about
+seven hundred.--ED.
+
+[140] For a more detailed account of this expedition, see H. Yoakum,
+_History of Texas_ (New York, 1856), ii, pp. 399-405.--ED.
+
+[141] Colonel William G. Cooke, of Texas, appointed one of the
+commissioners to negotiate with the New Mexicans. He was treacherously
+induced to surrender to a force under Dimasio Salezar, at Anton
+Chico.--ED.
+
+[142] Padilla is a small village on the eastern side of Rio Grande, a
+few miles below Albuquerque. The Chavez family owned a large ranch,
+and its younger members had been engaged in the American trade for
+some years.--ED.
+
+[143] This family is very distinct from one Manuel Chavez (who, though
+Gov. Armijo's nephew, is a very low character), a principal agent in
+the treacheries practised upon the Texan Santa Fé Expedition.--GREGG.
+
+[144] Philip St. George Cooke, for whom see volume xix, p. 187, note
+32 (Gregg).-ED.
+
+[145] As U. S. troops cannot go beyond our boundary, which, on this
+route is the Arkansas river, these escorts afford but little
+protection to the caravans. Such an extensive, uninhabitable waste as
+the great prairies are, ought certainly to be under maritime
+regulations. Some international arrangements should be made between
+the United States and Texas or Mexico (accordingly as the
+proprietorship of the region beyond our boundary may be settled),
+whereby the armies of either might indiscriminately range upon this
+desert, as ships of war upon the ocean.--GREGG.
+
+[146] For Point of Rocks, see our volume xix, p. 249, note 70
+(Gregg).--ED.
+
+[147] José Maria Bocanegra was a member of the liberal party in
+Mexico, who came into power under Guerrero in 1829. He was also
+president ad interim, and for some years minister of foreign affairs.
+
+Waddy Thompson, of South Carolina, was born in 1798; and after serving
+in the state legislature was member of Congress (1835-41). In 1842 he
+was made minister to Mexico, which position he filled but two years.
+Upon his return he published _Recollections_ (New York, 1846). Going
+to Mexico as an advocate of Texas annexation, he returned its
+opponent, convinced that slavery could not be maintained on soil
+acquired from Mexico. The latter years of his life were devoted to
+cotton-raising in Florida, where he died in 1868.--ED.
+
+[148] The following is the substance of Santa Anna's decree, dated at
+his Palace of Tacubaya, August 7, 1843:
+
+"Article 1st. The frontier custom-houses of Taos, in the department of
+New Mexico, Paso del Norte and Presidio del Norte in that of
+Chihuahua, are entirely closed to all commerce.
+
+"Art. 2d. This decree shall take effect within forty-five days after
+its publication in the capital of the Republic."
+
+It should be understood that the only port in New Mexico for the
+introduction of foreign goods was nominally Taos, though the
+custom-house was at Santa Fé, where all the entrances were
+made.--GREGG.
+
+[149] These northern ports have since been reopened by decree of March
+31, 1844; and about ninety wagons, with perhaps $200,000 cost of
+goods, (and occupying 150 to 200 men), crossed the plains to Santa Fé,
+during the following summer and fall.--GREGG.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI {X}
+
+GEOGRAPHY OF THE PRAIRIES
+
+Extent of Prairies -- Mountains -- _Mesas_ or Table-lands -- _El_
+  _Llano Estacado_ -- _Cañones_ -- Their Annoyance to the early
+  Caravans -- Immense Gullies -- Coal Mines and other geological
+  Products -- Gypsum -- Metallic Minerals -- Salines -- Capt. Boone's
+  Exploration -- 'Salt Plain' and 'Salt Rock' -- Mr. Sibley's Visit --
+  Saline Exudations -- Unhabitableness of the high Prairies --
+  Excellent Pasturage -- Rich border Country sufficient for two States
+  -- Northern Texas -- Rivers of the Prairies -- Their Unfitness for
+  Navigation -- Timber -- Cross Timbers -- Encroachments of the Timber
+  upon the Prairies -- Fruits and Flowers -- Salubrity of Climate.
+
+
+While I have endeavored in the preceding pages to give the reader some
+general idea of life upon the Prairies, I feel that I have wholly
+failed thus far to convey any adequate notions of their natural
+history. I propose in the following pages to repair this deficiency as
+far as I am able, and to present a rapid sketch of the vastness of
+those mighty territories; of their physical geography; and of the
+life, as well vegetable as animal, which they sustain. It is to be
+regretted that this ample field for observation should have received
+so little of the consideration of scientific men; for there {179} is
+scarcely a province in the whole wide range of Nature's unexplored
+domains, which is so worthy of study, and yet has been so little
+studied by the natural philosopher.
+
+If we look at the Great Western Prairies, independently of the
+political powers to which portions of them respectively belong, we
+shall find them occupying the whole of that [Pg238] extensive
+territory lying between the spurs of the Rocky Mountains on the north,
+and the rivers of Texas on the south--a distance of some seven or
+eight hundred miles in one direction; and from the frontiers of
+Missouri and Arkansas on the east to the eastern branches of the
+southern Rocky Mountains on the west--about six hundred miles in the
+transverse direction: the whole comprising an area of about 400,000
+square miles, some 30,000 of which are within the original limits of
+Texas, and 70,000 in those of New Mexico (if we extend them east to
+the United States boundary), leaving about 300,000 in the territory of
+the United States.
+
+This vast territory is not interrupted by any important mountainous
+elevations, except along the borders of the great western sierras, and
+by some low, craggy ridges about the Arkansas frontier--skirts of the
+Ozark mountains. There is, it is true, high on the dividing ridge
+between Red River and the False Washita, a range of hills, the
+southwestern portion of which extends about to the 100th degree of
+longitude west from Greenwich; that is, to the United States {180}
+boundary line. These are generally called the Witchita mountains, but
+sometimes _Towyash_ by hunters, perhaps from _tóyavist_, the Comanche
+word for mountain. I inquired once of a Comanche Indian how his nation
+designated this range of mountains, which was then in sight of us. He
+answered, "_Tóyavist_." "But this simply means a mountain," I replied.
+"How do you distinguish this from any other mountain?" "There are no
+other mountains in the Comanche territory," he rejoined--"none till we
+go east to your country, or south to Texas, or west to the land of the
+Mexican."
+
+With these exceptions, there are scarcely any elevations throughout
+these immense plains which should be dignified by the title of
+mountains. Those seen by the Texan Santa [Pg239] Fé Expedition about
+the sources of Red River, were without doubt the _cejas_ or brows of
+the elevated table plains with which the Prairies abound, and which,
+when viewed from the plain below, often assume the appearance of
+formidable mountains; but once upon their summit, the spectator sees
+another vast plain before him.
+
+These _table lands_, or _mesas_, as the Mexicans term them, of which
+there are many thousands of square miles lying between the frontier of
+the United States and the Rocky Mountains, are level plains, elevated
+a considerable distance above the surrounding country, and may be
+likened to the famous steppes of Asia. They are cut up with numerous
+{181} streams, the largest of which are generally bordered for several
+miles back by hilly uplands, which are for the most part sandy, dry
+and barren.
+
+The most notable of the great _plateaux_ of the Prairies is that known
+to Mexicans as _El Llano Estacado_, which is bounded on the north by
+the Canadian river--extends east about to the United States boundary,
+including the heads of the False Washita and other branches of Red
+River--and spreads southward to the sources of Trinity, Brazos and
+Colorado rivers, and westward to Rio Pecos. It is quite an elevated
+and generally a level plain, without important hills or ridges, unless
+we distinguish as such the craggy breaks of the streams which border
+and pierce it. It embraces an area of about 30,000 square miles, most
+of which is without water during three-fourths of the year; while a
+large proportion of its few perennial streams are too brackish to
+drink of.
+
+I have been assured by Mexican hunters and Indians, that, from Santa
+Fé southeastward, there is but one route upon which this plain can be
+safely traversed during the dry season; and even some of the
+watering-places on this are at intervals of fifty to eighty miles, and
+hard to find. [Pg240] Hence the Mexican traders and hunters, that
+they might not lose their way and perish from thirst, once staked out
+this route across the plain, it is said; whence it has received the
+name of _El Llano Estacado_, or the Staked Plain.
+
+{182} In some places the brows of these _mesas_ approach the very
+borders of the streams. When this occurs on both sides, it leaves deep
+chasms or ravines between, called by the Mexicans _cañones_, and which
+abound in the vicinity of the mountains. The Canadian river flows
+through one of the most remarkable of these cañones for a distance of
+more than fifty miles--extending from the road of the Missouri
+caravans downward--throughout the whole extent of which the gorge is
+utterly impassable for wagons, and almost so for animals.
+
+Intersecting the direct route from Missouri, this cañon was a source
+of great annoyance to some of the pioneers in the Santa Fé trade. In
+1825, a caravan with a number of wagons reached it about five miles
+below the present ford. The party was carelessly moving along, without
+suspecting even a ravine at hand, as the bordering plains were
+exceedingly level, and the opposite margins of equal height, when
+suddenly they found themselves upon the very brink of an immense
+precipice, several hundred yards deep, and almost perpendicular on
+both sides of the river. At the bottom of those cliffs, there was, as
+is usually the case, a very narrow but fertile valley, through which
+the river wound its way, sometimes touching the one bluff and
+sometimes the other.
+
+Ignorant of a ford so near above, the caravan turned down towards the
+crossing of the former traders. "We travelled fifty miles," {183} says
+Mr. Stanley, who was of the caravan, "the whole of which distance the
+river is bound in by cliffs several hundred feet high, in many places
+nearly perpendicular. We at length came to the termination of the
+table land; but what scene presented itself! [Pg241] The valley below
+could only be reached by descending a frightful cliff of from 1200 to
+1500 feet, and more or less precipitous. After a search of several
+hours, a practicable way was found; and, with the greatest fatigue and
+exertion, by locking wheels, holding on with ropes, and literally
+lifting the wagons down in places, we finally succeeded in reaching
+the bottom.... How did the Canadian and other streams in New Mexico
+sink themselves to such immense depths in the solid rock? It seems
+impossible that the water should have worn away the rock while as hard
+as in its present state. What a field of speculation for the
+geologist, in the propositions--Were the chasms made for the streams,
+or did the streams make the chasms? Are they not of volcanic origin?"
+
+Nor are the flat prairies always free from this kind of annoyance to
+travellers. They are not unfrequently intersected by diminutive chasms
+or water-cuts, which, though sometimes hardly a rod in width, are
+often from fifty to a hundred feet deep. These little cañones are
+washed out by the rains, in their descent to the bordering streams,
+which is soon effected after an opening is once made through the
+surface; for though the clayey {184} foundation is exceedingly firm
+and hard while dry, it seems the most soluble of earths, and melts
+almost as rapidly as snow under the action of water. The tenacious
+turf of the 'buffalo grass,' however, retains the marginal surface, so
+that the sides are usually perpendicular--indeed, often shelving
+inward at the base, and therefore utterly impassable. I have come
+unsuspectingly upon the verge of such a chasm; and though, to a
+stranger, the appearance would indicate the very head of the ravine, I
+would sometimes be compelled to follow its meandering course for miles
+without being able to double its 'breaks.' These I have more
+especially observed high on the borders of the Canadian. [Pg242]
+
+The geological constitution of the Prairies is exceedingly
+diversified. Along the eastern border, especially towards the north,
+there is an abundance of limestone, interspersed with sandstone,
+slate, and many extensive beds of bituminous coal. The coal is
+particularly abundant in some of the regions bordering the Neosho
+river; where there are also said to be a few singular bituminous or
+'tar springs,' as they are sometimes called by the hunters. There are
+also many other mineral, and particularly sulphur springs, to be met
+with.
+
+Further westward, the sandstone prevails; but some of the table plains
+are based upon strata of a sort of friable calcareous rock, which has
+been denominated 'rotten limestone:' yet along the borders of the
+mountains the base of the plains seems generally {185} to be of trap
+and greenstone. From the waters of Red River to the southwest corner
+of Missouri, throughout the range of the Ozark mountains, granite,
+limestone, flint and sandstone prevail. But much of the middle portion
+of the Prairies is without any apparent rocky foundation--we sometimes
+travel for days in succession without seeing even as much as a pebble.
+
+On passing towards Santa Fé in 1839, and returning in 1840, I observed
+an immense range of plaster of Paris, both north and south of the
+Canadian river, and between thirty and fifty miles east of the United
+States western boundary. The whole country seemed based upon this
+fossil, and cliffs and huge masses of it were seen in every direction.
+It ranges from the coarsest compact sulphate of lime or ordinary
+plaster, to the most transparent gypsum or selenite, of which last
+there is a great abundance. By authentic accounts from other
+travellers, this range of gypsum extends, in a direction nearly north,
+almost to the Arkansas river. [Pg243]
+
+Of metallic minerals, iron, lead, and perhaps copper, are found on the
+borders of the Prairies; and it is asserted that several specimens of
+silver ores have been met with on our frontier, as well as about the
+Witchita and the Rocky Mountains. Gold has also been found, no doubt,
+in different places; yet it is questionable whether it has anywhere
+been discovered in sufficient abundance to render it worth the
+seeking. Some trappers have reported {186} an extensive gold region
+about the sources of the Platte river; yet, although recent search has
+been made, it has not been discovered.[150]
+
+The most valuable perhaps, and the most abundant mineral production of
+the Prairies is _Salt_. In the Choctaw country, on the waters of Red
+River, there are two salt-works in operation; and in the Cherokee
+nation salt springs are numerous, three or four of which are now
+worked on a small scale; yet a sufficient quantity of salt might
+easily be produced to supply even the adjoining States. The _Grand
+Saline_, about forty miles above Fort Gibson, near the Neosho river,
+was considered a curiosity of its kind, before its natural beauties
+were effaced by 'improvements.'[151] In the border of a little valley,
+a number of small salt springs break out, around the orifice of each
+of which was formed, in the shape of a pot, a kind of calcareous
+saline concretion. None of the springs are very bold, but the water is
+strong, and sufficiently abundant for extensive works.
+
+There have been several _Salines_, or mines (if we may so term them)
+of pure salt, discovered in different parts of the Prairies. The most
+northern I have heard of, is [Pg244] fifty or sixty miles west of the
+Missouri river, and thirty or forty south of the Platte, near a
+tributary called the Saline; where the Otoes and other Indians procure
+salt. It is described as resembling the _salinas_ of New Mexico, and
+the quantity of salt as inexhaustible. South of the Arkansas river and
+a degree or two further {187} westward, there are several of these
+salines, which are perhaps still more extensive.
+
+I have been favored with some extracts from the journal of Capt.
+Nathan Boone[152] of the United States' Dragoons, who made an
+exploring tour through those desolate regions during the summer of
+1843. In his journey, between the Canadian and Upper Arkansas, he
+found efflorescent salt in many places, as well as a superabundance of
+strongly impregnated salt-water; but, besides these, he visited two
+considerable salines.
+
+Of the first, which he calls the 'Salt Plain,' he remarks, that "the
+approach was very gratifying, and from the appearance one might expect
+to find salt in a solid mass, for the whole extent of the plain, of
+several feet in thickness." This is situated in the forks of the Salt
+Fork of the Arkansas. The plain is described as being level as a
+floor, and evidently sometimes overflowed by the streams which border
+it. Yet the extent of salt, it would seem, did not realize Capt.
+Boone's anticipations, as he remarks that it was covered "with the
+slightest possible film of crystallized salt on the surface, enough to
+make it white." But he explored only a small portion of the plain,
+which was very extensive. [Pg245]
+
+However, the most wonderful saline is the great _Salt Rock_,
+which he found further to the {188} southwestward, on the main Red
+Fork. "The whole cove on the right of the two forks of the river,"
+says Capt. Boone, "appears to be one immense salt spring of water so
+much concentrated, that, as soon as it reaches the point of breaking
+forth, it begins depositing its salt. In this way a large crust, or
+rock is formed all over the bottom for perhaps 160 acres. Digging
+through the sand for a few inches anywhere in this space, we could
+find the solid salt, so hard that there was no means in our power of
+getting up a block of it. We broke our mattock in the attempt. In many
+places, through this rock-salt crust the water boiled up as clear as
+crystal ... but so salt that our hands, after being immersed in it and
+suffered to dry, became as white as snow. Thrusting the arm down into
+these holes, they appeared to be walled with salt as far down as one
+could reach. The cliffs which overhang this place are composed of red
+clay and gypsum, and capped with a stratum of the latter.... We found
+this salt a little bitter from the impurities it contained, probably
+Epsom salts principally." As it is overhung with sulphate of lime, and
+perhaps also based upon the same, might not this 'salt-rock' be
+heavily impregnated with this mineral, occasioning its excessive
+hardness? Capt. Boone also speaks of gypsum in various other places,
+both north and south of this, during his travel.
+
+Mr. Sibley (then of Fort Osage), who was quite familiar with the
+western prairies, visited {189} a saline, over thirty years ago, which
+would seem to be the 'Salt Plain' first mentioned by Capt. Boone. The
+former, it is true, found the salt much more abundant than as
+described by the latter; but this may be owing to Capt. Boone's not
+having [Pg246] penetrated as far as the point alluded to by Mr.
+Sibley,--whose description is in the following language:[153]
+
+"The Grand Saline is situated about 280 miles southwest of Fort Osage,
+between two forks of a small branch of the Arkansas, one of which
+washes its southern extremity, and the other, the principal one, runs
+nearly parallel, within a mile of its opposite side. It is a hard
+level plain of reddish colored sand, and of an irregular or mixed
+figure. Its greatest length is from northwest to southeast, and its
+circumference about thirty miles. From the appearance of the driftwood
+that is scattered over, it would seem the whole plain is at times
+inundated by the overflowing of the streams that pass near it. This
+plain is entirely covered in dry hot weather, from two to six inches
+deep, with a crust of beautiful clean white salt, of a quality rather
+superior to the imported blown salt. It bears a striking resemblance
+to a field of brilliant snow after a rain, with a light crust on its
+top."
+
+This is, in extent and appearance, nearly as described by several
+hunters and Indian traders with whom I have conversed. Col. Logan, a
+worthy former agent of the Creek Indians,[154] {190} visited no doubt
+the same, not far from the same period; and he describes it in a
+similar manner--only representing the depth of the salt as greater.
+Everywhere that he dug through the stratum of earth about the margin,
+at the depth of a few inches he came to a _rock of solid salt_, which
+induced him to believe that the whole country thereabouts was based
+upon a stratum of 'rock salt.' [Pg247] This was of a reddish cast,
+partaking of the color of the surface of the surrounding country. Mr.
+Sibley remarks that "the distance to a navigable branch of Arkansas is
+about eighty miles"--referring perhaps to the Red Fork; though the
+saline is no doubt at a still less distance from the main stream.
+
+With such inexhaustible mines of salt within two or three days'
+journey of the Arkansas river, and again within the same distance of
+the Missouri, which would cost no further labor than the digging it up
+and the transporting of it to boats for freighting it down those
+streams, it seems strange that they should lie idle, while we are
+receiving much of our supplies of this indispensable commodity from
+abroad.
+
+Besides the _salines_ already mentioned, there is one high on the
+Canadian river, some two hundred miles east of Santa Fé. Also, it is
+said, there are some to be found on the waters of Red River; and
+numerous others are no doubt scattered throughout the same regions,
+which have never been discovered.
+
+Many of the low valleys of all the western {191} streams (Red River as
+well as Arkansas and its branches), are impregnated with salinous
+qualities, and, during wet weather, ooze saltish exudations, which
+effloresce in a thin scum. This is sometimes pure salt, but more
+frequently compounded of different salts--not only of the muriate, but
+of the sulphate of soda, and perhaps magnesia; often strongly
+tinctured with nitre. Some of the waters of these sections
+(particularly when stagnant) are so saturated with this compound
+during dry weather, that they are insupportable even for brutes--much
+to the consternation of a forlorn traveller. In these saline flats
+nothing grows but hard wiry grass, which a famished beast will
+scarcely eat. [Pg248]
+
+It is from these exudations, as well as from the salines or salt
+plains before mentioned, that our western waters, especially from
+Arkansas to Red River, acquire their brackishness during the low
+seasons; and not from the mountains, as some have presumed. Such as
+issue from thence are there as pure, fresh and crystalline as snow-fed
+rills and icy fountains can make them.
+
+It will now readily be inferred that the Great Prairies from Red River
+to the western sources of the Missouri, are, as has before been
+intimated, chiefly uninhabitable--not so much for want of wood (though
+the plains are altogether naked), as of soil and of water; for though
+some of the plains appear of sufficiently fertile soil, they are
+mostly of a sterile character, and all too dry to be cultivated. {192}
+These great steppes seem only fitted for the haunts of the mustang,
+the buffalo, the antelope, and their migratory lord, the prairie
+Indian. Unless with the progressive influence of time, some favorable
+mutation should be wrought in nature's operations, to revive the
+plains and upland prairies, the occasional fertile valleys are too
+isolated and remote to become the abodes of civilized man.
+
+Like the table plains of Northern Mexico, these high prairies could at
+present only be made available for grazing purposes, and that in the
+vicinity of the water-courses. The grass with which they are mostly
+clothed, is of a superior quality. The celebrated 'buffalo grass' is
+of two kinds, both of which are species of the _grama_ of New Mexico,
+and equally nutritious at all seasons. It is the same, I believe, that
+is called 'mezquite grass' in Texas, from the mezquite tree which
+grows there in the same dry regions with it. Of this unequalled
+pasturage the great western prairies afford a sufficiency to graze
+cattle for the supply of all the United States. It is particularly
+adapted to [Pg249] sheep-raising, as is shown by example of the same
+species in New Mexico.
+
+But from the general sterility and unhabitableness of the Prairies is
+excepted, as will be understood, that portion, already alluded to,
+which borders our western frontier. The uplands from the Arkansas
+boundary to the Cross Timbers, are everywhere beautifully interspersed
+with isolated prairies and glades, many of which are fertile, though
+some are {193} too flat, and consequently inclined to be marshy. The
+valleys of the streams are principally of a rich loam, rather subject
+to inundations, but mostly tillable. The timbered uplands are mostly
+of fair quality, except on the broken ridges and mountainous sections
+before referred to. Some of the uplands, however, known usually as
+'post-oak flats,' like the marshy prairies, seem to be based upon
+quick-sand. The soil is of a dead unproductive character, and covered
+with small lumps or mounds of various sizes, and of irregular shapes.
+
+The country lying west of Missouri, which includes the sources of the
+Neosho, the Verdigris, the Marais-des-Cygnes and other branches of the
+Osage, and the lower sections of the Kansas river, vies with any
+portion of the Far West in the amenity of its upland prairies--in the
+richness of its alluvial bottoms--in the beauty and freshness of its
+purling rills and rivulets--and in the salubrity of its atmosphere.
+
+We have here then, along the whole border, a strip of country,
+averaging at least two hundred miles wide by five hundred long--and
+even more if we extend it up the Missouri river--affording territory
+for two States, respectable in size, and though more scant in timber,
+yet more fertile, in general, than the two conterminous States of
+Missouri and Arkansas. But most of this delightful region has been
+ceded to the different tribes of the Frontier Indians. [Pg250]
+
+{194} Concerning that portion of the Prairies which lies south of Red
+River, in Northern Texas, I learn from some interesting memoranda,
+politely furnished me by Dr. Henry Connelly, one of the principals of
+the pioneer expedition from Chihuahua to Arkansas, of which I have
+already spoken, that, besides some beautiful lands among the Cross
+Timbers, there is a great deal of delightful country still further
+west, of a part of which that gentleman holds the following
+language:--"Between the Brazos and Red River, there is surely the most
+beautiful and picturesque region I have ever beheld. I saw some of the
+finest timber, generally oak--not that scrubby oak which characterizes
+so much of the Texan territory--but large black and bur-oak; such as
+would answer all the purposes for which the largest timber is useful.
+Between those two rivers, no doubt there is destined to be one of the
+most dense and prosperous settlements. The fertility of the soil is
+not exceeded by any I have seen; and, from the high and undulating
+character of the country, there can be no doubt of its being very
+healthy."
+
+To the westward of Rio Brazos, and south of some sandy and saline
+regions which border the upper portions of this stream, the same
+enterprising traveller represents many of the valleys as rich and
+beautiful, and the uplands as being in many places sparsely timbered
+with mezquite trees. This is particularly the case on the sources of
+the Colorado, where the country is delightfully watered. But
+immediately {195} north of this sets in that immense desert region of
+the Llano Estacado.
+
+The chief natural disadvantage to which the Great Western Prairies are
+exposed, consists in the absence of navigable streams. Throughout the
+whole vast territory which I have been attempting to describe, there
+is not a single river, except the Missouri, which is navigable during
+[Pg251] the whole season. The remaining streams, in their course
+through the plains, are and must continue to be, for all purposes of
+commerce, comparatively useless.
+
+The chief of these rivers are the Missouri, the Arkansas, and Red
+River, with their numerous tributaries. The principal western branches
+of the Missouri are the Yellow Stone, the Platte and the Kansas. Small
+'flats' and 'buffalo boats' have passed down the two former for a
+considerable distance, during high water; but they are never navigable
+to any extent by steamboats.
+
+The _Arkansas_ river penetrates far into the Rocky Mountains, its
+ramifications, interlocking with some of the waters of the Missouri,
+Columbia, San Buenaventura, Colorado of the West, and Rio del
+Norte.[155] The channel of this stream, in its course through the
+Prairies, is very wide and shallow, with banks in many places hardly
+five feet above low water. It will probably measure nearly 2000 miles
+in length, from its source to the frontier of Arkansas. It is called
+_Rio Napeste_ by the Mexicans; but among the early French voyagers it
+acquired the name of _Arkansas_, or rather {196} _Akansa_,[156] from a
+tribe of the Dahcotah or Osage stock, who lived near its mouth. This
+river has numerous tributaries, some of which are of great length, yet
+there is not one that is at all navigable, except the [Pg252] Neosho
+from the north, which has been descended by small boats for at least a
+hundred miles.
+
+_Red River_ is much shorter and narrower from the frontier westward
+than the Arkansas, bearing but little over half the volume of water.
+Even in its serpentine course it can hardly exceed 1200 miles from the
+Arkansas boundary to its source. This river rises in the table plains
+of the Llano Estacado, and has not, as I have been assured by traders
+and hunters, any mountainous elevations about its source of any
+consequence;[157] although we are continually hearing the inhabitants
+of its lower borders speak of the "_June freshets_ produced by the
+melting of the snow in the mountains."
+
+The upper portions of this river, and emphatically from the mouth of
+the False Washita (or Faux Ouachittâ) upward, present little or no
+facilities for navigation; being frequently spread out over sand-bars
+to the width of several hundred yards. A very credible Indian trader,
+who had been on Red River {197} some two hundred miles above the False
+Washita, informed me, that, while in some places he found it not over
+fifty yards wide, in others it was at least five hundred. This and
+most other prairie streams have commonly very low banks with
+remarkably shallow channels, which, during droughts, sometimes go dry
+in their transit through the sandy plains.[158] [Pg253]
+
+It would be neither interesting nor profitable to present to
+my readers a detailed account of all the tributaries of the three
+principal rivers already mentioned. They may be {198} found for the
+most part laid down, with their bearings and relative magnitudes, upon
+the map which accompanies this work. It is only necessary to say in
+addition, that none of them can ever be availed of to any considerable
+extent for purposes of navigation.
+
+With regard to the productions of the soil of these regions, the
+reader will probably have formed, in the main, a tolerably correct
+idea already; nevertheless a few further specifications may not be
+altogether unacceptable.
+
+The timber of that portion of the United States territory which is
+included between the Arkansas frontier and the Cross Timbers,
+throughout the highlands, is mostly oak of various kinds, of which
+black-jack and post-oak predominate, as these, and especially the
+former, seem only capable of withstanding the conflagrations to which
+they are exposed, and therefore abound along the prairie borders. The
+black-jack presents a blackened, scrubby appearance, with harsh rugged
+branches--partly on account of being so often scorched and crisped by
+the prairie fires. About the streams we find an intermixture of elm,
+hackberry, [Pg254] peccan (or pecan), ash, walnut, mulberry, cherry,
+persimmon, cottonwood, sycamore, birch, etc., with varieties of
+hickory, gum, dogwood, and the like. All of the foregoing, except
+paccan, gum and dogwood, are also found west of Missouri, where,
+although the uplands are almost wholly prairie, the richest growths
+predominate in the valleys.
+
+{199} In many of the rich bottoms from the Canadian to Red River, for
+a distance of one or two hundred miles west of the frontier, is found
+the celebrated _bois-d'arc_ (literally, _bow-wood_), usually corrupted
+in pronunciation to _bowdark_. It was so named by the French on
+account of its peculiar fitness for _bows_. This tree is sometimes
+found with a trunk two or three feet in diameter, but, being much
+branched, it is rarely over forty or fifty feet high. The leaves are
+large, and it bears a fruit a little resembling the orange in general
+appearance, though rougher and larger, being four or five inches in
+diameter; but it is not used for food. The wood is of a beautiful
+light orange color, and, though coarse, is susceptible of polish. It
+is one of the hardest, firmest and most durable of timbers, and is
+much used by wagon-makers and millwrights, as well as by the wild
+Indians, who make bows of the younger growths.[159]
+
+On the Arkansas and especially its southern tributaries as far west as
+the Verdigris, and up those of Red River nearly to the False Washita,
+the bottoms are mostly covered with cane. And scattered over all the
+south to about the same distance westward, the sassafras abounds,
+which grows here in every kind of soil and locality.
+
+The celebrated _Cross Timbers_, of which frequent mention has been
+made, extend from the Brazos, or perhaps from the Colorado of Texas,
+across the sources of Trinity, traversing [Pg255] Red River above the
+False Washita, and thence {200} west of north, to the Red Fork of
+Arkansas, if not further. It is a rough hilly range of country, and,
+though not mountainous, may perhaps be considered a prolongation of
+that chain of low mountains which pass to the northward of Bexar and
+Austin city in Texas.[160]
+
+The Cross Timbers vary in width from five to thirty miles, and
+entirely cut off the communication betwixt the interior prairies and
+those of the great plains. They may be considered as the 'fringe' of
+the great prairies, being a continuous brushy strip, composed of
+various kinds of undergrowth; such as black-jacks, post-oaks, and in
+some places hickory, elm, etc., intermixed with a very diminutive
+dwarf oak, called by the hunters 'shin-oak.' Most of the timber
+appears to be kept small by the continual inroads of the 'burning
+prairies;' for, being killed almost annually, it is constantly
+replaced by scions of undergrowth; so that it becomes more and more
+dense every reproduction. In some places, however, the oaks are of
+considerable size, and able to withstand the conflagrations. The
+underwood is so matted in many places with grape-vines, greenbriars,
+etc., as to form almost impenetrable 'roughs,' which serve as
+hiding-places for wild beasts, as well as wild Indians; and would, in
+savage warfare, prove almost as formidable as the hammocks of Florida.
+
+South of the Canadian, a branch of these Cross Timbers projects off
+westward, extending across this stream, and up its course for 100
+{201} miles or so, from whence, it inclines northwest beyond the North
+Fork, and ultimately ceases, no doubt, in the great sandy plains in
+that direction. [Pg256]
+
+The region of the Cross Timbers is generally well-watered; and
+is interspersed with romantic and fertile tracts. The bottoms of the
+tributaries of Red River, even for some distance west of the Cross
+Timbers (perhaps almost to the U. S. boundary), are mostly very
+fertile, and timbered with narrow stripes of elm, hackberry, walnut,
+hickory, mulberry, bur-oak and other rich growths.
+
+But further north, and west of the Cross Timbers, even the streams are
+nearly naked. The Cimarron river for more than a hundred miles is
+absolutely without timber; and the Arkansas, for so large a stream, is
+remarkably scant. The southern border, being protected from the
+prairie fires by a chain of sand-hills, which extends for two hundred
+miles along it, is not so bare as the northern bank; though even here
+it is only skirted with occasional sparsely set groves of cottonwood
+in the nooks and bends. It is upon the abundance of islands which
+intersperse its channel, that the greatest quantity of timber (though
+purely cottonwood) is to be found; yet withal, there are stretches of
+miles without a tree in view. The banks of the Canadian are equally
+naked; and, having fewer islands, the river appears still more barren.
+In fact, there is scarce anything else but cottonwood, and that very
+sparsely scattered {202} along the streams, throughout most of the
+far-western prairies.
+
+It is unquestionably the prairie conflagrations that keep down the
+woody growth upon most of the western uplands. The occasional skirts
+and fringes which have escaped their rage, have been protected by the
+streams they border. Yet may not the time come when these vast plains
+will be covered with timber? It would seem that the prairie region,
+long after the discovery of America, extended to the very banks of the
+Mississippi. Father Marquette, in a voyage down this river, in 1673,
+after passing below [Pg257] the mouth of the Ohio, remarks:--"The
+banks of the river began to be covered with high trees, which hindered
+us from observing the country as we had done all along; but we judged
+from the bellowing of the oxen [buffalo] that the meadows are very
+near."[161]--Indeed, there are parts of the southwest now thickly set
+with trees of good size, that, within the remembrance of the oldest
+inhabitants, were as naked as the prairie plains; and the appearance
+of the timber in many other sections indicates that it has grown up
+within less than a century. In fact, we are now witnessing the
+encroachment of the timber upon the prairies, wherever the devastating
+conflagrations have ceased their ravages.
+
+The high plains seem too dry and lifeless to produce timber; yet might
+not the vicissitudes of nature operate a change likewise upon the
+seasons? Why may we not suppose {203} that the genial influences of
+civilization--that extensive cultivation of the earth--might
+contribute to the multiplication of showers, as it certainly does of
+fountains? Or that the shady groves, as they advance upon the
+prairies, may have some effect upon the seasons? At least, many old
+settlers maintain that the droughts are becoming less oppressive in
+the West. The people of New Mexico also assure us that the rains have
+much increased of latter years, a phenomenon which the vulgar
+superstitiously attribute to the arrival of the Missouri traders. Then
+may we not hope that these sterile regions might yet be thus revived
+and fertilized, and their surface covered one day by flourishing
+settlements to the Rocky Mountains?
+
+With regard to fruits, the Prairies are of course not very plentifully
+supplied. West of the border, however, for nearly two hundred miles,
+they are covered, in many places, [Pg258] with the wild strawberry;
+and the groves lining the streams frequently abound in grapes, plums,
+persimmons, mulberries, peccans, hackberries, and other 'sylvan
+luxuries.' The high prairies beyond, however, are very bare of fruits.
+The prickly pear may be found over most of the dry plains; but this is
+neither very palatable nor wholesome, though often eaten by travellers
+for want of other fruits. Upon the branches of the Canadian, North
+Fork, and Cimarron, there are, in places, considerable quantities of
+excellent plums, grapes, choke-cherries, gooseberries, and
+currants--of the {204} latter there are three kinds, black, red, and
+white. About the ravines and marshy grounds (particularly towards the
+east) there are different kinds of small onions, with which the
+traveller may season his fresh meats. On the plains, also, I have met
+with a species resembling garlic in flavor.
+
+But the flowers are among the most interesting products of the
+frontier prairies. These gay meadows wear their most fanciful piebald
+robes from the earliest spring till divested of them by the hoary
+frosts of autumn. When again winter has fled, but before the grassy
+green appears, or other vegetation has ventured to peep above the
+earth, they are bespeckled in many places with a species of
+_erythronium_, a pretty lilaceous little flower, which springs from
+the ground already developed, between a pair of lanceolate leaves, and
+is soon after in full bloom.[162] But the floriferous region only
+extends about two hundred miles beyond the border: the high plains are
+nearly as destitute of flowers as they are of fruits.
+
+The _climate_ of most parts of the Prairies is no doubt healthy in the
+extreme; for a purer atmosphere is hardly to be found. But the cold
+rains of the 'wet season,' and the colder snows of winter, with the
+annoying winds [Pg259] that prevail at nearly all times, often render
+it very unpleasant. It can hardly be said, it is true, that the
+Prairies have their regular 'dry and rainy seasons;' yet the summers
+are often so droughty, that, unless some change should {205} be
+effected in nature's functions, cultivators would generally find it
+necessary, no doubt, to resort to irrigation. That portion, however,
+which is conterminous with our western border, and to the distance of
+nearly two hundred miles westward, in every respect resembles the
+adjacent States of Missouri and Arkansas in climate. The south is a
+little disposed to chills and fevers; but the northern portion is as
+healthy as the most salubrious uplands of Missouri.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[150] This discovery was verified by the finding of gold near Denver
+in 1858. A reader of Gregg's book, in the St. Louis Mercantile
+Library, wrote upon the margin in 1858, opposite this paragraph: "The
+truth of this report has been verified this year."--Chittenden,
+_Fur-Trade_, ii, p. 486.--ED.
+
+[151] For an early description of the Grand Saline, see Bradbury's
+_Travels_, in our volume v, pp. 192, 193.--ED.
+
+[152] Capt. Boone is a son of the late Col. Daniel Boone, the
+celebrated pioneer of the West. Being of practical habits, and of
+extensive experience upon those deserts, much weight is due to his
+observations.--GREGG.
+
+[153] Brackenbridge's [Brackenridge's] Voyage up the Missouri River,
+p. 205.--GREGG.
+
+_Comment by Ed._ See our volume vi, p. 153, note 54; also our volume
+v, pp. 191-194.
+
+[154] James Logan was appointed agent among the Creeks shortly after
+their final removal to Indian Territory (about 1838), and was replaced
+about 1842.--ED.
+
+[155] Gregg probably takes this information from Pike's journals. In
+his edition thereof, Elliott Coues claims (ii, p. 733, note 18) that
+San Buenaventura River was a myth of this early period. Pike describes
+it as emptying into the Pacific north of California; but upon his map
+it runs into a nameless salt lake, and is probably to be identified
+with Sevier River.--ED.
+
+[156] A stranger would be led to suppose we were without a system of
+orthography, from the fact of our so generally adopting the French
+spelling of Indian names, whereby all sight is soon lost of the
+original. The French first corrupt them, and we, by adapting our
+pronunciation to their orthography, at once transform them into new
+names. Thus 'polite usage' has converted into _Arkan´sas_ the plural
+of the primitive _Arkansa_ or _Arkonsah_; though an approximate,
+_Ar´kansaw_, is still the current 'vulgar' pronunciation. _Osage_ and
+a great many others have suffered similar metamorphoses.--GREGG.
+
+[157] For the exploration of the sources of Red River, see our volume
+xvi, p. 85, note 52. Gregg would appear to be one of the first
+correctly to locate the headwaters of this stream.--ED.
+
+[158] Of all the rivers of this character, the Cimarron, being on the
+route from Missouri to Santa Fé, has become the most famous. Its water
+disappears in the sand and reappears again, in so many places, that
+some travellers have contended that it 'ebbs and flows' periodically.
+This is doubtless owing to the fact, that the little current which may
+flow above the sand in the night, or in cloudy weather, is kept dried
+up, in an unshaded channel, during the hot sunny days. But in some
+places the sand is so porous that the water never flows above it,
+except during freshets.
+
+I was once greatly surprised upon encountering one of these sandy
+sections of the river after a tremendous rain-storm. Our caravan was
+encamped at the 'Lower Cimarron Spring:' and, a little after
+night-fall, a dismal, murky cloud was seen gathering in the western
+horizon, which very soon came lowering upon us, driven by a hurricane,
+and bringing with it one of those tremendous bursts of thunder and
+lightning, and rain, which render the storms of the Prairies, like
+those of the tropics, so terrible. Hail-stones, as large as turkeys'
+eggs, and torrents of rain soon drenched the whole country; and so
+rapidly were the banks of the river overflowed, that the most active
+exertions were requisite to prevent the mules that were 'staked' in
+the valley from drowning. Next morning, after crossing the neck of a
+bend, we were, at the distance of about three miles, upon the
+river-bank again; when, to our astonishment, the wetted sand, and an
+occasional pool, fast being absorbed, were the only vestiges of the
+recent flood--no water was flowing there!
+
+In these sandy stretches of the Cimarron, and other similar 'dry
+streams,' travellers procure water by excavating basins in the
+channel, a few feet deep, into which the water is filtrated from the
+saturated sand.--GREGG.
+
+[159] This is the shrub now known as Osage orange (_Maclura
+aurantiaca_).--ED.
+
+[160] Bexar is the older name for San Antonio, Texas, which was
+founded (1718) as a presidio and mission to the memory of San Antonio
+de Bejar (Bexar). Austin was laid out (1839) as the capital of the
+independent state of Texas. See George P. Garrison, _Texas_ (New York,
+1902).--ED.
+
+[161] See Thwaites, _Jesuit Relations_, lix, for Marquette's journal.
+This quotation is found on p. 149.--ED.
+
+[162] Commonly known as dog-toothed violet.--ED.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII {XI}
+
+ANIMALS OF THE PRAIRIES
+
+The Mustang or Wild Horse -- Capturing him by 'Creasing,' and with
+  the Lazo -- Horse-flesh -- The Buffalo -- Its Appearance --
+  Excellence of its Meat -- General Utility to the Indian and
+  Traveller -- Prospect of its Extinction -- Hunting the Buffalo with
+  Bow and Arrows, the Lance, etc. -- 'Still-hunting' -- The Buffalo
+  ferocious only when wounded -- Butchering, etc. -- The Gray Wolf --
+  Its Modes of killing Buffalo -- Their great Numbers -- A
+  'Wolf-scrape' -- The Prairie Wolf, or 'Jackal of the Prairies' --
+  Elk, Deer and Bear -- The Antelope -- The Bighorn -- The Prairie Dog
+  -- Owls and Rattlesnakes -- The Horned Frog -- Fowls -- Bees, etc.
+
+
+The zoology of the Prairies has probably attracted more attention than
+any other feature of their natural history. This has not arisen
+altogether from the peculiar interest the animals of the Prairies
+possess; but they constitute so considerable a portion of the society
+of the traveller who journeys among them, that they get to hold
+somewhat the same place in his estimation that his fellow-creatures
+would occupy if he were in civilization. Indeed, the animals are _par
+éminence_ the communities of the Prairies.
+
+By far the most noble of these, and therefore {207} the [Pg260] best
+entitled to precedence in the brief notice I am able to present of the
+animals of those regions, is the _mustang_[163] or wild horse of the
+Prairies. As he is descended from the stock introduced into America by
+the first Spanish colonists, he has no doubt a partial mixture of
+Arabian blood. Being of domestic origin, he is found of various
+colors, and sometimes of a beautiful piebald.
+
+It is a singular fact in the economy of nature, that all _wild_
+animals of the same species should have one uniform color (with only
+occasional but uniform differences between males and females); while
+that of the _domestic_ animals, whether quadruped or fowl, is more or
+less diversified.
+
+The beauty of the mustang is proverbial. One in particular has been
+celebrated by hunters, of which marvellous stories are told. He has
+been represented as a medium-sized stallion of perfect symmetry,
+milk-white, save a pair of black ears--a natural 'pacer,' and so
+fleet, it has been said, as to leave far behind every horse that had
+been tried in pursuit of him, without breaking his 'pace.' But I infer
+that this story is somewhat mythical, from the difficulty which one
+finds in fixing the abiding place of its equine hero. He is familiarly
+known, by common report, all over the great Prairies. The trapper
+celebrates him in the vicinity of the northern Rocky {208} Mountains;
+the hunter, on the Arkansas, or in the midst of the Plains; while
+others have him pacing at the rate of half a mile a minute on the
+borders of Texas. It is hardly a matter of surprise, then, that a
+creature of such an ubiquitary existence should never have been
+caught.
+
+The wild horses are generally well-formed, with trim and clean limbs;
+still their elegance has been much exaggerated by travellers, because
+they have seen them at large, abandoned [Pg261] to their wild and
+natural gaiety. Then, it is true, they appear superb indeed; but when
+caught and tamed, they generally dwindle down to ordinary ponies.
+Large droves are very frequently seen upon the Prairies, sometimes of
+hundreds together, gambolling and curvetting within a short distance
+of the caravans. It is sometimes difficult to keep them from dashing
+among the loose stock of the traveller, which would be exceedingly
+dangerous; for, once together, they are hard to separate again,
+particularly if the number of mustangs is much the greatest. It is a
+singular fact, that the gentlest wagon-horse (even though quite fagged
+with travel), once among a drove of mustangs, will often acquire in a
+few hours all the intractable wildness of his untamed companions.
+
+The mustang is sometimes taken by the cruel expedient of 'creasing,'
+which consists in shooting him through the upper _crease_ of the neck,
+above the cervical vertebræ; when, the ball cutting a principal nerve,
+he falls as suddenly {209} as if shot in the brain, and remains
+senseless for a few minutes, during which he is secured with a rope.
+He soon recovers from the shock, however, and springs to his feet, but
+finds himself deprived of his liberty. He is easily tamed after this,
+and the wound heals without leaving any physical injury. But
+'creasing' is so nice an operation that many are killed in the
+attempt. If the ball pass a little too low, it fractures a vertebra
+and kills the poor brute instantly.
+
+But the most usual mode, among the Mexicans and Indians, of taking the
+_mesteña_ (as the former call these animals), is with the lazo. They
+pursue them on fleet horses, and great numbers are thus noosed and
+tamed. The mustang has been taken in Texas in considerable numbers by
+preparing a strong pen at some passway or crossing of a river, into
+which they are frightened and caught. [Pg262]
+
+Upon the plains, I once succeeded in separating a gay-looking stallion
+from his herd of _mesteñas_, upon which he immediately joined our
+_caballada_, and was directly lazoed by a Mexican. As he curvetted at
+the end of the rope, or would stop and gaze majestically at his
+subjecters, his symmetrical proportions attracted the attention of
+all; and our best jockeys at once valued him at five hundred dollars.
+But it appeared that he had before been tamed, for he soon submitted
+to the saddle, and in a few days dwindled down to scarce a
+twenty-dollar hackney.
+
+Prairie travellers have often been reduced {210} to the necessity of
+eating the flesh of the mustang; and, when young and tender, it has
+been accounted savory enough; but, when of full age, it is said to be
+exceedingly rancid, particularly when fat. They are sometimes hunted
+by Mexicans for their oil, which is used by the curriers.
+
+The _buffalo_, though making no pretensions to the elegance and
+symmetry of the mustang, is by far the most important animal of the
+Prairies to the traveller. It is sufficiently well known that these
+animals bear but little resemblance to the buffalo of India; but that
+they are a species of bison, or _bos Americanus_, according to
+naturalists. They are called _Cíbolos_ by the Mexicans; and it would
+certainly have prevented ambiguity, had they been distinguished by
+some other name than buffalo with us.
+
+Their dusky black color becomes much paler during the season of long
+hair.[164] The phenomenon of a white buffalo has frequently been
+remarked upon the Prairies; but as the white skin is said to have been
+used in the mystic ceremonies of many of the northern tribes of
+Indians, this probably created such a demand for them, that they have
+become nearly extinct. Their unusual [Pg263] color has commonly been
+considered a _lusus naturæ_, yet it is probable that they stand in
+about the same relation to the black or brown buffalo that black sheep
+do to white ones. The horns of {211} the buffalo are short and black,
+and almost concealed under the frightfully shaggy frontlets of long
+woolly hair that crown the foreheads of the bulls; which, with the
+goat-like beard, and ill-shapen hump, form the chief distinction
+between them and the domestic cattle: in fact, they are so nearly of
+the same species that they will breed together; though the offspring,
+like the mule, is said to be unfruitful. Between the males and females
+there is still a greater disproportion in size than among the domestic
+cattle. A buffalo cow is about as heavy as a common ox, while a large
+fat bull will weigh perhaps double as much.
+
+These are very gregarious animals. At some seasons, however, the cows
+rather incline to keep to themselves; at other times they are mostly
+seen in the centre of the gang, while the bulls are scattered around,
+frequently to a considerable distance, evidently guarding the cows and
+calves. And on the outskirts of the buffalo range, we are apt to meet
+with small gangs of bulls alone, a day or two's travel distant, as
+though performing the office of 'piquet guards' for the main herds.
+
+The flesh of the buffalo is, I think, as fine as any meat I ever
+tasted: the old hunter will not admit that there is anything equal to
+it. Much of its apparent savoriness, however, results perhaps from our
+sharpened 'prairie appetites,' and our being usually upon salt
+provisions awhile before obtaining it. The {212} flesh is of coarser
+texture than beef, more juicy, and the fat and lean better
+distributed. This meat is also very easy of digestion,[165] [Pg264]
+possessing even aperient qualities. The circumstance that bulls of all
+ages, if fat, make good beef, is a further proof of the superiority of
+buffalo meat. These are generally selected for consumption in the
+winter and early spring, when the cows, unless barren, are apt to be
+poor; but during most of the year, the latter are the fattest and
+tenderest meat. Of these, the udder is held as hardly second to the
+tongue in delicacy. But what the tail of the beaver is to the trapper,
+the tongue of the buffalo is to the hunter. Next to this are the
+'marrow-bones,' the tender-loins, and the hump-ribs. Instead of a
+gristly substance, as sometimes stated, the hump is produced by a
+convex tier of vertical ribs, which project from the spine, forming a
+gradual curve over the shoulders: those of the middle being sometimes
+nearly two feet in length. The 'veal' is rarely good, being generally
+poor, owing to the scanty supply of milk which their dams afford, and
+to their running so much from hunters and wolves.
+
+This animal furnishes almost the exclusive food of the prairie
+Indians, as well as covering for their wigwams and most of their
+clothing; also their bedding, ropes, bags for their meat, &c.; sinews
+for bow-strings, for sewing moccasins, leggins, and the like; besides
+{213} sustenance for the numerous travellers and trappers who range
+upon their grazing regions. Were they only killed for food, however,
+their natural increase would perhaps replenish the loss: yet the
+continual and wanton slaughter of them by travellers and hunters, and
+the still greater havoc made among them by the Indians, not only for
+meat, but often for the skins and tongues alone (for which they find a
+ready market among their traders), are fast reducing their numbers,
+and must ultimately effect their total annihilation from the
+continent. It is believed that the annual [Pg265] 'export' of
+_buffalo rugs_[166] from the Prairies and bordering 'buffalo range,'
+is about a hundred thousand: and the number killed wantonly, or
+exclusively for meat, is no doubt still greater, as the skins are fit
+to dress scarcely half the year. The vast extent of the prairies upon
+which they now pasture is no argument against the prospect of their
+total extinction, when we take into consideration the extent of
+country from which they have already disappeared; for it is well
+known, that, within the recollection of our oldest pioneers, they were
+nearly as abundant east of the Mississippi as they now are upon the
+western prairies; and from history we learn, that they once ranged to
+the Atlantic coast. Even within thirty years, they were abundant over
+much of the present States of Missouri and Arkansas; yet they are now
+rarely seen within two hundred miles of the frontier. Indeed, upon the
+high {214} plains they have very sensibly decreased within the last
+ten years. Nevertheless, the number of buffalo upon the Prairies is
+still immense. But, as they incline to migrate _en masse_ from place
+to place, it sometimes happens, that, for several days' travel
+together, not a single one is to be met with; but, in other places,
+many thousands are often seen at one view.
+
+The Indians, as well as Mexicans, hunt the buffalo mostly with the bow
+and arrows. For this purpose they train their fleetest horses to run
+close beside him; and, when near enough, with almost unerring aim,
+they pierce him with their arrows, usually behind the short ribs,
+ranging forward, which soon disables and brings him to the ground.
+When an arrow has been ill-directed, or does not enter deep enough,
+and even sometimes when it has penetrated a vital part, but is needed
+to use again, the [Pg266] hunter sometimes rides up and draws it out
+while the animal is yet running. An athletic Indian will not
+unfrequently discharge his darts with such force, that I have seen
+them (30 inches long) wholly buried in the body of a buffalo: and I
+have been assured by hunters that the arrows, missing the bones, have
+been known to pass entirely through the huge carcass and fall upon the
+ground.
+
+The dexterity acquired by these wild hunters in shooting the buffalo,
+is very surprising. On one occasion, upon the prairies, a party of
+Witchita Indians were encamped near us; and {215} a drove of buffalo
+passing in the vicinity, I requested a chief to take my horse and kill
+one 'upon the shares.' He delighted in the sport: so, gathering his
+arrows, he mounted the pony, which was slow, and withal very lean, and
+giving chase, in a few minutes he had two buffaloes lying upon the
+plain, and two others went off so badly wounded, that, with a little
+exertion, they might have been secured.
+
+But the dexterity of the Comanches in the buffalo chase is perhaps
+superior to that of any other tribe. The Mexican _Ciboleros_, however,
+are scarcely if at all inferior to the Indians in this sport. I once
+went on a hunting expedition with a Cibolero, who carried no arms
+except his bow and arrows and a butcher's knife. Espying a herd of
+buffalo, he put spurs to his horse, and, though I followed as fast as
+a mule I rode could trudge, when I came up with him, after a chase of
+two or three miles, he had the buffalo partly skinned! This was rather
+unusual dispatch, to be sure, for the animal oftener lingers awhile
+after receiving the fatal dart.
+
+In the chase, the experienced hunter singles out the fattest buffalo
+as his victim, and having given him a mortal wound, he in like manner
+selects another, and so on, till the plain is sometimes literally
+strewed with carcasses. [Pg267]
+
+It seems that Capt. Bonneville[167] marvelled greatly that some
+Indians, during his peregrinations in the Rocky Mountains, should have
+{216} killed buffalo "without guns or arrows, and with only an old
+spear;" and he was no doubt mistaken in supposing "that they had
+chased the herds of buffalo at full speed, until they tired them down,
+when they easily dispatched them with the spear:" for both Indians and
+Mexicans often chase with a long-handled spear or lance, which, if the
+horse be well trained, is still a more expeditious mode of killing
+them than with the bow and arrow. An expert lancer will enter a drove,
+and drawing up alongside, will pierce buffalo after buffalo until
+several are brought down.
+
+In default of bow or lance, they chase with the fusil, but seldom so
+successfully as with the former weapons. The Americans generally
+prefer 'running' with the horseman's pistol; yet the Indian is apt to
+kill double as many with his arrows or lance.
+
+In all these modes of hunting, the buffalo is sometimes dangerous;
+for, becoming enraged from his wounds, he will often make desperate
+lunges at his pursuer; and, if the horse be not well trained, he may
+be himself disembowelled, leaving his rider at the mercy of the
+buffalo, [Pg268] as has happened on some occasions. But if the steed
+understand his business, he will dodge the animal with the expertness
+of a fencer.
+
+Buffalo calves (but not full-grown buffalo) are often taken with the
+lazo by Mexicans and Indians; yet, being separated from their dams and
+the droves during chases, these simple little creatures not
+unfrequently take up with {217} the riding animals of the hunters, and
+follow them to the camp as tamely as though they were their dams. If
+provided with domestic cows, they may be raised without much
+difficulty.
+
+Some of the northern Indians, particularly the Assiniboins,[168] are
+said to practise still a distinct mode of taking the buffalo. A
+staunch pound is erected at some convenient point, and, after a course
+of mystic rites by their medicine-men, they start upon the enterprise.
+A gang of buffalo is frightened towards the pen, while an Indian,
+covered with one of their woolly skins, runs at a distance ahead.
+Being seen by the animals, they mistake him for one of their kind, and
+follow him into the pen. Once secured in the enclosure, they leisurely
+dispatch them with their arrows, as they are said to believe it would
+offend the Great Spirit and render future hunts unpropitious to use
+fire arms in killing their imprisoned game.
+
+However, of all other modes, our backwoodsmen prefer
+'still-hunting'--that is, stealing upon their game afoot with the
+rifle. Buffalo are much more easily approached than deer. When the
+hunter perceives a herd at rest, or quietly feeding, he crawls upon
+them behind a bank, a shrub, or a tuft of grass, with the greatest
+facility, provided he 'has the wind of them,' as hunters say--that is,
+if the wind blows from the buffalo; but if the reverse, he will
+[Pg269] find it impossible to approach them, however securely he may
+have {218} concealed himself from their sight. In fact, their scent
+being acute, they seem to depend more upon it than their sight; for if
+a gang of buffalo be frightened, from any quarter whatever, they are
+apt to shape their course against the wind, that they may scent an
+enemy in their way.
+
+If the hunter succeed in 'bringing down' his first shot, he may
+frequently kill several out of the same herd; for, should the game
+neither see nor smell him, they may hear the rifle-cracks, and witness
+their companions fall one after another, without heeding, except to
+raise their heads, and perhaps start a little at each report. They
+would seem to fancy that the fallen are only lying down to rest, and
+they are loth to leave them. On one occasion, upon the Cimarron river,
+I saw some ten or a dozen buffaloes lying upon a few acres of ground,
+all of which had been shot from the same herd by a couple of our
+hunters. Had not the gang been frightened by the approaching caravan,
+perhaps a dozen more of them might have fallen.
+
+A dexterous hunter will sometimes 'crawl upon' a gang of buffalo, on a
+perfectly level plain. As their sight is at best not acute, and is
+always more or less obscured by the shaggy hair of their foreheads,
+they will hardly observe an approaching enemy when they are feeding,
+unless the wind bears them the scent. The hunter is, therefore,
+careful to 'have the wind' of them, and crawls slowly and closely upon
+the ground, until within gun-shot. If {219} he bring down the first,
+the others will perhaps retire a little, when he may sometimes
+approach behind the fallen buffalo, and shoot several others.
+
+The tenacity of these animals for life is often very extraordinary.
+When one receives even a mortal shot, he frequently appears not
+hurt--he seems to disdain to [Pg270] flinch--but will curl his tail
+and step about as though he neither felt nor feared anything! If left
+undisturbed, however, he begins to stagger, and in a few moments
+expires: but if provoked, he might run for miles before he would fall.
+I have seen a party of hunters around a wounded and enraged bull,
+fire, at a few paces distance, a dozen or two shots, aimed at his very
+heart, without their seeming to have any effect till his anger cooled,
+when in an instant he would lie lifeless upon the ground. In such
+cases, the inexperienced hunter often aims to shoot them in the brain,
+but without success. Owing not only to the thickness of the scull, but
+to the matted wool upon it, I have never witnessed an instance of a
+rifle-ball's penetrating to the brain of a buffalo bull.
+
+The 'still-hunter' must needs be upon his guard; for the wounded
+buffalo is prone to make battle, upon the too near approach of his
+enemy. With a little presence of mind, however, his attacks are easily
+shunned. If he makes a lunge, the pedestrian hunter has only to wheel
+abruptly to one side; for the animal is apt to pass on in a direct
+line. I have never heard of a serious accident of the {220} kind; yet
+some frightful though amusing incidents have occurred in such cases.
+
+The buffalo never attacks, however, except when wounded. Even the
+largest droves (the opinion of some travellers to the contrary
+notwithstanding), though in the wildest career, are easily turned from
+their course by a single man who may intercept their way. I have
+crouched in the tall grass in the direct route of a frighted gang,
+when, firing at them on their near approach, they would spread in
+consternation to either side. Still their advance is somewhat
+frightful--their thundering rumble over the dry plain--their lion-like
+fronts and dangling beards--their open mouths and hanging tongues--as
+they come on, puffing [Pg271] like a locomotive engine at every
+bound, does at first make the blood settle a little heavy about the
+heart.
+
+The gait of these animals is a clumsy gallop, and any common pony can
+overtake them in the chase; though, as the hunter would express it,
+they 'lumber' over the ground rather deceivingly. The cows are usually
+much faster than the bulls. It has been the remark of travellers that
+the buffalo jumps up from the ground differently from any other
+animal. The horse rises upon his fore feet first, and the cow upon her
+hind feet, but the buffalo seems to spring up on them all at once.
+
+American hunters, as well as Indians, to butcher the buffalo,
+generally turn it upon the belly, and commence on the back. The {221}
+hump-ribs, tender-loins, and a few other choice bits being
+appropriated, the remainder is commonly left for the wolves. The skin
+is chiefly used for buffalo rugs, but for which it is only preserved
+by the Indians during fall and winter (and then rarely but from the
+cows and bullocks), when the hair is long and woolly. I have never
+seen the buffalo hide tanned, but it seems too porous and spongy to
+make substantial leather. Were it valuable, thousands of hides might
+be saved that are annually left to the wolves upon the Prairies.
+
+Although the buffalo is the largest, he has by no means the control
+among the prairie animals: the sceptre of authority has been lodged
+with the large _gray wolf_. Though but little larger than the wolf of
+the United States, he is much more ferocious. The same species abound
+throughout the north of Mexico, where they often kill horses, mules
+and cattle of all sizes; and on the Prairies they make considerable
+havoc among the buffalo.
+
+Many curious tales are told of the wiles and expedients practised by
+these animals to secure their prey. Some [Pg272] assert that they
+collect in companies, and chase a buffalo by turns, till he is
+fatigued, when they join and soon dispatch him: others, that, as the
+buffalo runs with the tongue hanging out, they snap at it in the chase
+till it is torn off, which preventing him from eating, he is reduced
+by starvation, and soon overpowered: others, that, while running, they
+gnaw and lacerate {222} the legs and ham-strings till they disable
+him, and then he is killed by the gang. Be this as it may, certain it
+is that they overcome many of the largest buffaloes, employing perhaps
+different means of subduing them, and among these is doubtless the
+last mentioned, for I have myself seen them with the muscles of the
+thighs cruelly mangled--a consequence no doubt of some of these
+attacks. Calves are constantly falling victims to the rapacity of
+these wolves; yet, when herds of buffalo are together, they defend
+their offspring with great bravery.
+
+Though the color of this wolf is generally a dirty gray, it is
+sometimes met with nearly white. I am of opinion, however, that the
+diversity of color originates chiefly from the different ages of the
+hair, and the age and condition of the animal itself. The few white
+wolves I have seen, have been lean, long-haired, and apparently very
+old. There are immense numbers of them upon the Prairies. Droves are
+frequently to be seen following in the wake of caravans, hunting
+companies, and itinerant Indian bands, for weeks together--not, like
+the jackal, so much to disinter the dead (though this they sometimes
+do), as to feast upon the abandoned carcasses of the buffalo which are
+so often wantonly killed and wasted. Unless in these cases, they are
+rarely seen, except in the neighborhood of buffalo; therefore, when
+the hungry traveller meets with wolves, he feels some assurance that
+supplies of his favorite game are at hand. [Pg273]
+
+{223} I have never known these animals, rapacious as they are, [to]
+extend their attacks to man, though they probably would, if very
+hungry and a favorable opportunity presented itself. I shall not soon
+forget an adventure with one of them, many years ago, on the frontier
+of Missouri. Riding near the prairie border, I perceived one of the
+largest and fiercest of the gray species, which had just descended
+from the west, and seemed famished to desperation. I at once prepared
+for a chase; and, being without arms, I caught up a cudgel, when I
+betook me valiantly to the charge, much stronger, as I soon
+discovered, in my cause than in my equipment. The wolf was in no humor
+to flee, however, but boldly met me full half-way. I was soon
+disarmed, for my club broke upon the animal's head. He then 'laid to'
+my horse's legs, which, not relishing the conflict, gave a plunge and
+sent me whirling over his head, and made his escape, leaving me and
+the wolf at close quarters. I was no sooner upon my feet than my
+antagonist renewed the charge; but, being without weapon, or any means
+of awakening an emotion of terror, save through his imagination, I
+took off my large black hat, and using it for a shield, began to
+thrust it towards his gaping jaws. My _ruse_ had the desired effect;
+for, after springing at me a few times, he wheeled about and trotted
+off several paces, and stopped to gaze at me. Being apprehensive that
+he might change his mind and return to the attack, and conscious that,
+under the {224} compromise, I had the best of the bargain, I very
+resolutely---- took to my heels, glad of the opportunity of making a
+drawn game, though I had myself given the challenge.
+
+There is a small species called the _prairie wolf_ on the frontier,
+and _coyote_[169] by the Mexicans, which is also found [Pg274] in
+immense numbers on the Plains. It is rather smaller than an ordinary
+dog, nearly the color of the common gray wolf, and though as rapacious
+as the larger kind, it seems too cowardly to attack stout game. It
+therefore lives upon the remains of buffalo killed by hunters and by
+the large wolves, added to such small game as hares, prairie dogs,
+etc., and even reptiles and insects. It will lie for hours beside a
+'dog-hole,' watching for the appearance of the little animal, which no
+sooner peeps out than the enemy pounces upon it.
+
+The coyote has been denominated the 'jackal of the Prairies;' indeed,
+some have reckoned it really a species of that animal, yet it would
+seem improperly, as this creature {225} partakes much less of the
+nature of the jackal than of the common wolf. Still, however noisy the
+former may be, he cannot exceed the prairie wolf. Like ventriloquists,
+a pair of these will represent a dozen distinct voices in such quick
+succession--will bark, chatter, yelp, whine, and howl in such variety
+of note, that one would fancy a score of them at hand. This, added to
+the long and doleful bugle-note of the large wolf, which often
+accompanies it, sometimes makes a night upon the Prairies perfectly
+hideous.--Some hunters assert that the coyote and the dog will breed
+together. Be this as it may, certain it is that the Indian dogs have a
+wonderfully wolfish appearance.
+
+The _elk_ as well as the _deer_ is found somewhat abundant [Pg275]
+upon the Arkansas river, as high as the Santa Fé road, but from thence
+westward they are both very scarce; for these animals do not resort to
+the high prairie plains. Further south, however, in the prairies
+bordering the brushy tributaries of the Canadian and Red River, deer
+are exceedingly plenty--herds of hundreds are sometimes seen together;
+but in these southern regions there are but few elks.
+
+About the thickety streams above-mentioned, as well as among the Cross
+Timbers, the _black bear_ is very common, living chiefly upon acorns
+and other fruits. The grape vines and the branches of the scrubby
+oaks, and plum-bushes, are in some places so torn and broken by the
+bear in pursuit of fruits, that a stranger {226} would conclude a
+violent hurricane had passed among them.
+
+That species of gazelle known as the _antelope_ is very numerous upon
+the high plains. This beautiful animal, though reckoned a link between
+the deer and goat, is certainly much nearest the latter. It is about
+the size and somewhat of the figure of a large goat. Its horns also
+resemble those of the latter, being likewise persistent; but they are
+more erect, and have a short prong projecting in front. The ground of
+this animal's color a little resembles that of the common deer, but it
+is variegated with a whitish section or two on each side.
+
+The antelope is most remarkable for its fleetness: not bounding like
+the deer, but skimming over the ground as though upon skates. The
+fastest horse will rarely overtake them. I once witnessed an effort to
+catch one that had a hind-leg broken, but it far outstripped our
+fleetest 'buffalo-horse.' It is, therefore, too swift to be hunted in
+the chase. I have seen dogs run after this animal, but they would soon
+stop and turn about, apparently much ashamed of being left so far
+behind. [Pg276]
+
+The flesh of the antelope is, like that of the goat, rather coarse,
+and but little esteemed: consequently, no great efforts are made to
+take them. Being as wild as fleet, the hunting of them is very
+difficult, except they be entrapped by their curiosity. Meeting a
+stranger, they seem loth to leave him until they have fully found him
+out. They will often {227} take a circuit around the object of their
+curiosity, usually approaching nearer and nearer, until within
+rifle-shot--frequently stopping to gaze. Also, they are often decoyed
+with a scarlet coat, or a red handkerchief attached to the tip of a
+ramrod, which will sometimes allure them within reach of the hunter's
+aim. But this interesting animal, like the buffalo, is now very rarely
+seen within less than 200 miles of the frontier: though early voyagers
+tell us that it once frequented as far east as the Mississippi.
+
+The _bighorn_ (_carnero cimarron_, as called by the Mexicans, and
+sometimes known to trappers as the mountain sheep), so abundant in
+most of the Rocky Mountain chain, is found in the spurs and
+table-plain cliffs about the sources of the Cimarron river (whence
+this stream acquired its name), as well as in the highland gorges, and
+other parts of those mountain borders. Its flesh is said to be
+excellent, and is preferred by many hunters to venison. It is larger
+than a common sheep, and covered with brownish hair instead of
+wool--darker than the deer, but whitish on the belly. It is most
+remarkable for its huge spiral horns, resembling in shape and
+curvature those of the sheep, but sometimes over three feet long, and
+four to six inches in diameter at the base.[170] [Pg277]
+
+{228} The bighorn is quite celebrated for its agility, and its
+habit of secluding itself among the most inaccessible mountain crags.
+It seems to delight in perching and capering upon the very verge of
+the most frightful precipices and overhanging cliffs, and in skipping
+from rock to rock, regardless of the yawning chasms, hundreds of feet
+in depth, which intervene. In fact, when pursued, it does not
+hesitate, as I have been assured, to leap from a cliff into a valley a
+hundred or more feet below, where, lighting upon its huge horns, it
+springs to its feet uninjured; for the neck is so thick and strong as
+to support the greatest shock the animal's weight can bring upon it.
+Being exceedingly timorous, it rarely descends to the valleys, but
+feeds and sleeps about such craggy fastnesses as are inaccessible to
+the wolves and other animals of prey. This animal seems greatly to
+resemble the _moufflon_ of Buffon, in color, figure and horns, but the
+_chamois_ in habits.
+
+But of all the prairie animals, by far the most curious, and by no
+means the least celebrated, is the little _prairie dog_. This singular
+quadruped is but little larger than a common squirrel, its body being
+nearly a foot long, with a tail of three or four inches. The color
+ranges from brown to a dirty yellow. The flesh, though often eaten by
+travellers, is not esteemed savory. It was denominated the 'barking
+squirrel,' the 'prairie ground-squirrel,' etc., by early explorers,
+with much more apparent propriety than the present established {229}
+name. Its yelp, which resembles that of the little toy-dog, seems its
+only canine attribute. It rather appears to occupy a middle ground
+betwixt the rabbit and squirrel--like the former in feeding and
+burrowing--like the latter in frisking, flirting, sitting erect, and
+somewhat so in its barking.
+
+The prairie dog has been reckoned by some naturalists a species of the
+marmot (_arctomys ludoviciana_); yet it seems [Pg278] to possess
+scarce any other quality in common with this animal except that of
+burrowing. Some have supposed, it is true, that like the marmot, they
+lie torpid during the cold season; and it is observed in 'Long's
+Expedition,' that, "as they pass the winter in a lethargic state, they
+lay up no provisions," &c.: but this is no doubt erroneous; for I have
+the concurrent testimony of several persons, who have been upon the
+Prairies in winter, that, like rabbits and squirrels, they issue from
+their holes every soft day; and therefore lay up no doubt a hoard of
+'hay' (as there is rarely anything else to be found in the vicinity of
+their towns) for winter's use.
+
+A collection of their burrows has been termed by travellers a 'dog
+town,' which comprises from a dozen or so, to some thousands in the
+same vicinity; often covering an area of several square miles. They
+generally locate upon firm dry plains, coated with fine short grass,
+upon which they feed; for they are no doubt exclusively herbivorous.
+But even when tall coarse grass surrounds, they seem commonly to
+destroy this within their 'streets,' {230} which are nearly always
+found 'paved' with a fine species suited to their palates. They must
+need but little water, if any at all, as their 'towns' are often,
+indeed generally, found in the midst of the most arid plains--unless
+we suppose they dig down to subterranean fountains. At least they
+evidently burrow remarkably deep. Attempts either to dig or drown them
+out of their holes have generally proved unsuccessful.
+
+[Illustration: "Dog Town," or Settlement of Prairie Dogs]
+
+Approaching a 'village,' the little dogs may be observed frisking
+about the 'streets'--passing from dwelling to dwelling apparently on
+visits--sometimes a few clustered together as though in council--here
+feeding upon the tender herbage--there cleansing their 'houses,' or
+brushing the little hillock about the door--yet all quiet. Upon
+[Pg281] seeing a stranger, however, each streaks it to its home,
+but is apt to stop at the entrance, and spread the general alarm by a
+succession of shrill yelps, usually sitting erect. Yet at the report
+of a gun or the too near approach of the visitor, they dart down and
+are seen no more till the cause of alarm seems to have disappeared.
+
+Two other animals appear to live in communion with the prairie
+dogs--the _rattle-snake_ and a small _owl_;[171] but both are no doubt
+intruders, resorting to these burrows for shelter, and to feed, it is
+presumed, upon the 'pups' of the inmates.
+
+{231} Rattle-snakes are exceedingly abundant upon these plains: scores
+of them are sometimes killed in the course of a day's travel; yet they
+seem remarkably harmless, for I have never witnessed an instance of a
+man's being bitten, though they have been known to crawl even into the
+beds of travellers.[172] Mules are sometimes bitten by them, yet very
+rarely, though they must daily walk over considerable numbers.
+
+The _horned frog_, as modern travellers have christened it, or horned
+lizard,[173] as those of earlier times more rationally called it, is
+the most famed and curious reptile of the plains. Like the prairie
+dog, it is only found in the dry regions, often many miles from water.
+It no doubt lives nearly, if not wholly, without drink. Its food
+probably consists chiefly of ants and other insects; though many
+Mexicans will have it, that the _camaleon_ (as they call it) _vive del
+aire_--lives upon the air. It has been kept several [Pg282] months
+without partaking of a particle of aliment. I once took a pair of them
+upon the far-western plains, which I shut up in a box and carried to
+one of the eastern cities, where they were kept for several months
+before they died,--without having taken food or water, though
+repeatedly offered them.
+
+{232} The whole length of the horned frog is from two to five
+inches--body flatted horizontally, oval-shaped, and between one and
+two inches wide in the middle. The back is beautifully variegated,
+with white and brown, and sometimes a yellowish purple. The belly is
+whitish and covered with brown specks. It acquired its name from a
+pair of short horns projecting from the top of the head--with other
+smaller horny protuberances upon the head and body. It has a short
+tail, which gives it a lizard-like appearance. It is a very
+inoffensive creature, and may be handled with perfect impunity,
+notwithstanding its uncouth appearance, and sometimes vicious
+demonstrations.
+
+As birds mostly incline to the timbered regions, there is but a scant
+variety to be met with upon the plains. About the Cross Timbers and
+indeed on all the brushy creeks, especially to the southward, are
+quantities of wild _turkeys_, which are frequently seen ranging in
+large flocks in the bordering prairies. That species of American
+grouse, known west as the _prairie-hen_, is very abundant on the
+frontier, and is quite destructive, in autumn, to the prairie
+corn-fields. This fowl is rarely seen over two hundred miles beyond
+the border. _Partridges_ are found about as far west; but their number
+is quite limited anywhere beyond the precincts of the settlements.
+About the streams there are different species of geese and ducks, as
+well as both sand-hill and white cranes: also flocks of a species of
+plover and {233} curlew. Add to these numbers of hawks and ravens, and
+we have most of the fowls of the [Pg283] Prairies. Flocks of the
+latter follow in the wake of caravans with even greater constancy than
+wolves.
+
+The _bee_, among Western pioneers, is the proverbial precursor of the
+Anglo-American population: in fact, the aborigines of the frontier
+have generally corroborated the notion; for they used to say, they
+knew the whites were not far behind, when bees appeared among them.
+This partial coincidence, I suppose, is the result of their emigration
+westward being at nearly an even pace with that of the settlers. As
+yet no honey-bees seem to have been discovered as far westward as any
+part of the Rocky Mountains. They are scattered, however, to the
+distance of two or three hundred miles west of the Missouri and
+Arkansas frontier, where there is timber affording them suitable
+habitations. On the Santa Fé route but few have been found beyond the
+Council Grove.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[163] _Mustang_ would most naturally seem a corruption of the Spanish
+adjective _mostrenco_ (without owner), but the Mexicans call wild
+horses _mesteñas_, a synonyme in one of its senses with
+_mostrenco_.--GREGG.
+
+[164] The bulls usually shed in the spring, from the shoulders back,
+but not in front, which imparts to them quite a lion-like
+appearance.--GREGG.
+
+[165] It has often been remarked by travellers, that however much
+buffalo meat one may eat, no inconvenience is ever suffered from
+it.--GREGG.
+
+[166] Often, but it would seem improperly, called 'buffalo
+_robes_.'--GREGG.
+
+[167] Benjamin Louis Eulalie de Bonneville was born in France in 1796.
+At an early age he came to America with his mother, where he was cared
+for by Thomas Paine, who secured for him a cadetship in the United
+States Military Academy, from which he was graduated in 1819, when he
+entered the army. During Lafayette's visit of 1825, Bonneville was
+detailed as his aide. He was later stationed on the Western frontier,
+and obtaining leave of absence (1831) planned an extensive fur-trading
+and exploring expedition. This is the journey graphically described by
+Washington Irving, in _Rocky Mountains, or Scenes, Incidents and
+Adventures in the far West, digested from the journal of B. L. E.
+Bonneville of the army of the United States_ (Phila., 1837).
+Bonneville was absent from civilization for three years (1832-35), and
+wandered as far west as the Columbia. His trading venture was but
+moderately successful, and he returned to army life, participating in
+both the Seminole and Mexican wars, in the latter of which he was
+severely wounded. During the War of Secession, he was stationed
+chiefly at frontier posts, being breveted brigadier-general in 1865.
+He died at Fort Smith in 1878.--ED.
+
+[168] For the Assiniboin consult our volume xiv, p. 275, note
+197.--ED.
+
+[169] _Canis latrans_, a distinction to which its noisiness
+emphatically entitles it. Clavigero says of this animal: "El _coyotl_,
+_ó coyote_, como dicen los Españoles, es una fiera semejante al lobo en
+la voracidad, á la zorra en la astucia, al perro en la forma, y en
+otras propiedades al _adive_, ó _chacal_; por lo que algunos
+escritores Megicanos lo han numerado entre varias de aquellas
+especias; pero es indudable que se diferencia de todas ellas,"
+etc.--_Hist. Ant. de Még. Tom. I. p. 40._
+
+A similar propensity is observable among us to refer nearly all
+American animals to European species, whereas but very few that are
+legitimately indigenous to this continent, agree in every particular
+to those of the Old World. It would surely have contributed to the
+copiousness and euphony of the language, as well as to perspicuity in
+the distinction of species, had we, like the Mexicans, retained the
+Indian names of our indigenous animals.--GREGG.
+
+[170] Mr. Irving furnishes the following dimensions of a male of this
+species: "From the nose to the base of the tail, five feet; length of
+the tail, four inches; girth of the body, four feet; height, three
+feet eight inches," &c.--_Rocky Mts., Vol. I., p._ 48.--GREGG.
+
+[171] This has been called the _Coquimbo owl_. Its note, whether
+natural or imitative, much resembles that of the prairie dog.--GREGG.
+
+[172] Though I never saw it tried, it has been said that snakes will
+not crawl over a hair-rope stretched upon the ground, and that
+consequently these form good barriers to keep these reptiles out of a
+bed.--GREGG.
+
+[173] Orbicular lizard, as it has been technically denominated. It
+would seem a species of chameleon, having apparently some, though very
+little, variability of color.--GREGG.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII {XII}
+
+ABORIGINES OF AMERICA
+
+Indian Cosmogony -- Traditions of Origin -- Identity of Religious
+  Notions -- Adoration of the Sun -- Shawnee Faith -- Anecdote of
+  Tecumseh -- Legendary Traditions -- Missionaries, and Success of the
+  Catholics -- The Indian's Heaven -- Burial Customs -- Ancient
+  Accounts -- Depositing the Dead on Scaffolds -- Superstition and
+  Witchcraft -- Indian Philosophy -- Polygamy and other Matrimonial
+  Affairs -- Abhorrence of Incest -- Difference in Character -- Indian
+  Hospitality -- Traits of the Ancient Asiatics -- Names --
+  Relationship of Different Tribes -- Dreadful Decrease of the
+  Indians.
+
+
+It will hardly be expected from a work making so little pretension as
+this to scientific accuracy and completeness, that the remarks which
+my plan necessarily leads me to make, concerning the aborigines of
+western America, should be either critical or comprehensive. Neither
+can I feel that it is a topic which I am at liberty wholly to
+disregard. The opportunities which I have enjoyed for [Pg284]
+obtaining a knowledge of the character and habits of the western
+Indians have been such, that I trust that a brief account of them may
+prove in some measure new, and not altogether uninteresting to a
+portion of my readers. Impressed with this belief, I propose, in the
+few {235} following pages, to record such facts as shall seem to be
+most novel, and to corroborate, in my humble measure, occasional
+others which have before been related. With this view, I shall proceed
+to notice, in the present chapter, such leading characteristics of the
+aborigines generally, as shall seem most noteworthy; and then, in
+those that follow, ask the reader's attention to many peculiarities
+which make the most conspicuous differences between them.
+
+No aboriginal nation or people has ever yet been discovered, to my
+knowledge, which has not professed to have a mysterious ancestry of a
+mythical character. It is interesting to mark the analogies and the
+differences between their various systems. Although among some tribes
+who have lived much in communication with the whites, their cosmogony
+has been confounded very much with the Mosaic or Scripture account, so
+that it is now often difficult to distinguish clearly the aboriginal
+from the imported, yet all the Americo-Indian tribes have more or less
+preserved their traditions on this subject. The old full-blood
+Choctaws, for instance, relate that the first of their tribe issued
+from a cave in Nunnewaya or Bending Mountain, in the 'Old Nation,'
+east of the Mississippi; yet this tradition has but little currency
+among the young men and mixed-bloods of the tribe. The minute account
+of this supposed origin cannot now be readily procured; yet some idea
+may be formed of it from a kindred tradition among {236} the Mandans
+which has been preserved to us by Lewis and Clark, and is thus
+related: [Pg285]
+
+"The whole nation resided in one large village under ground near a
+subterraneous lake: a grape vine extended its roots down to their
+habitation and gave them a view of the light: some of the most
+adventurous climbed up the vine, and were delighted with the sight of
+the earth, which they found covered with buffalo, and rich with every
+kind of fruits: returning with the grapes they had gathered, their
+countrymen were so pleased with the taste of them that their whole
+nation resolved to leave their dull residence for the charms of the
+upper regions; men, women and children ascended by means of the vine;
+but when about half the nation had reached the surface of the earth, a
+corpulent woman who was clambering up the vine broke it with her
+weight, and closed upon herself and the rest of the nation, the light
+of the sun."[174]
+
+Besides the Mandans it seems that other neighboring tribes had
+somewhat analogous notions of their origin. An early explorer relates
+that the Osages believed that their fore-fathers grew from a snail,
+which, having become a man, married the daughter of a beaver, whence
+sprang the present race.
+
+The resemblance of the American Indians to each other, however, is not
+more conspicuous in anything than in their religious opinions. They
+seem to have no well-defined creeds: yet there are very few but
+profess a faith in some sort of First Cause--a Great {237} Spirit, a
+Master of Life, who rules the destinies of the world. Though the
+different nations have not always typified their deity by the same
+objects, yet by far the greater number seem to have fixed upon the sun
+as the fit object of their adoration.[175] "Next to _Virachocha_, or
+their supreme God," says Father [Pg286] Acosta,[176] speaking of the
+Indians of Peru, "that which most commonly they have and do adore
+amongst the Infidells is the Sunne." Many of the Mexican tribes[177]
+profess the same faith, and particularly those of New Mexico, as has
+already been mentioned. This seems also the most current among the
+Comanches and other wild tribes of the Prairies: and the Choctaws and
+several other nations of the frontier appear at least to have held the
+sun in great veneration.
+
+But of all the Indian tribes, none appear to have ascribed to the
+'fountain of light' more of the proper attributes of deity than the
+Shawnees. They argue, with some plausibility, that the sun animates
+everything--therefore, he is clearly the Master of Life, or the Great
+Spirit; and that everything is produced originally from the bosom of
+the earth--therefore, she is the mother of creation. The following
+anecdote[178] (as told to me by a gentleman of integrity), which
+transpired upon {238} the occasion of an interview of Tecumseh with
+Gen. Harrison, is as illustrative of the religious opinions of the
+Shawnees, as it is characteristic of the hauteur and independent
+spirit of that celebrated [Pg287] Shawnee chief. The General, having
+called Tecumseh for a 'talk,' desired him to take a seat, saying,
+"Come here, Tecumseh, and sit by your father." "You my father?"
+replied the chief, with a stern air--"No! yonder sun is my father
+(pointing towards it), and the earth is my mother; so I will rest on
+her bosom"--and immediately seated himself upon the ground, according
+to Indian custom.
+
+But though the Shawnees consider the sun the type, if not the essence,
+of the Great Spirit, many also believe in an evil genius, who makes
+all sorts of bad things, to counterbalance those made by the Good
+Spirit. For instance, when the latter made a sheep, a rose, wholesome
+herbs, etc., the bad spirit matched them with a wolf, a thorn,
+poisonous plants, and the like. They also appear to think there is a
+kind of purgatory in which the spirits of the wicked may be cleansed
+before entering into their elysium.
+
+The worship of all the aborigines seems to consist chiefly in feasting
+and dancing. A worthy missionary among the Shawnees related to me the
+following legendary tradition, as explanatory of their ideas of
+another world, and the institution of their worship, which may serve
+as a fair sample of the traditions of many other tribes.
+
+{239} In days of yore (say the Shawnees) there lived a pious brother
+and an affectionate sister, who were inordinately attached to each
+other. It came to pass that the sister sickened and died, and was
+carried to the world of spirits. The good brother was inconsolable,
+and for a while refused to eat or drink, or to partake of any kind of
+nourishment: he wished to follow his beloved sister. At length he
+resolved to set out in search of her; so he commenced his pilgrimage
+toward the setting sun. Steadily pursuing the same course for days and
+moons together, he at last came to where the sky and earth meet; and
+finding [Pg288] an opening, he ascended into the upper regions. He
+now turned his course towards the rising sun, which he continued,
+above the sky, till he came to the abode of his grandfather--which
+seems but another name for one of the good spirits. This sage, knowing
+his errand, gave him 'medicine' to transform him into a spirit, that
+he might pass through the celestial courts. He also gave him
+instructions how to proceed, and where he would find his sister. He
+said she would be at a dance; and when she rose to join in the
+amusement, he must seize and ensconce her in the hollow of a reed with
+which he was furnished, and cover the orifice with the end of his
+finger.
+
+After an arduous peregrination through the land of spirits, the
+brother found and secured his sister as directed. He returned with his
+charge to the habitation of his grandfather, who gave another
+'medicine' to transform {240} them both into material beings again,
+that they might revisit their brothers on earth. The sage also
+explained to them the mysteries of heaven and the sacred rites of
+worship, that they might instruct their tribe therein. When about to
+start back, the venerable spirit told them that the route by which the
+brother had come was very circuitous--there was a much nearer way; and
+opening a trap-door through the sky, they beheld their native town
+just below them. So the good brother and sister descended; and
+returning home, a great feast was celebrated, accompanied by a solemn
+dance--in accordance with the grandfather's instructions. Thus
+originated, as they say, the sacred dances and other religious
+ceremonies now in practice.
+
+As they believe the Indian heaven separate, and essentially different
+and distinct from that of the whites, and as they do not wish their
+people divided, this has often occasioned a serious opposition to the
+labors of the missionaries.[179] [Pg289] For the purpose of thwarting
+the {241} measures of these, a noted anti-christian sage 'played off,'
+a few years ago, the following 'vision.' Being very ill (as they
+relate), this sage, to all appearance, died, and became stiff and
+cold, except a spot upon his breast, which still retained the heat of
+life. In this state he remained a day or more, when he again breathed
+and returned among the living: and calling his friends about him, he
+related the scenes he had witnessed. He had ascended to the Indian's
+heaven, he said, which he described as usual: a fine country,
+abounding in all sorts of game, and everything an Indian could desire.
+There he met with his grandfather, who said to him, "It is meet, my
+son, that thou return to the earth, and warn thy brothers against the
+dangers that await them. Tell them to beware of the religion of the
+white man: that every Indian who embraces it is obliged to take the
+road to the white man's heaven; and yet no red man is permitted to
+enter there, but will have to wander about forever without a
+resting-place."
+
+The identity of the notions which the different tribes have conceived
+of a future existence, and the character of the 'world of spirits,'
+seems still more general. They [Pg290] fancy {242} heaven but another
+material world, superior, it is true, yet resembling this--a kind of
+elysian vale, or paradise--a 'happy hunting-ground,' abounding in game
+and all their comforts of life, which may be procured without labor.
+This elysium they generally seem to locate 'upon the sky,' which they
+fancy a material solid vault. It appears impossible for them, in their
+pristine barbarism, to conceive of a spiritual existence, or of a
+world differing materially from that which they see around them.
+
+Father Hennepin (writing about 1680) relates, that the northern
+Indians inquired about the manner of living in heaven, and remarks:
+"When I made answer that they live there without eating or drinking,
+'We will not go thither,' said they, 'because we must not eat;' and
+when I have added that there would be no occasion for food there, they
+clapt their hands to their mouths, as a sign of admiration, and said,
+'_Thou art a great liar!--is there anything can live without
+eating?_'"[180]
+
+Similar opinions, among many different tribes, I have heard declared
+in direct terms; yet, did we want further testimony, some of their
+burial customs and funeral rites would seem to indicate their ideas of
+the future state. The Cherokees, Choctaws, Creeks, Kansas, and kindred
+tribes, besides many others, or perhaps most others of the frontier,
+have been accustomed to inter the most valuable property of the
+deceased and many necessaries with them. "Their whole property was
+buried {243} with them,"[181] says an intelligent Cherokee, in some
+manuscript notes concerning his ancestors, I have in my possession:
+and I have been assured by creditable natives, that, within their
+recollection [Pg291] they have seen, at these burials, provisions,
+salt, and other necessaries, interred with the dead for their long
+journey.
+
+There are very few of the prairie Indians but practise something of
+this kind: many kill the favorite hunting-horses, and deposit the
+arms, etc., of the deceased, for his use in the chase, when he arrives
+at the 'happy hunting ground.' We are also informed by Capt.
+Bonneville, and other travellers, that this is practised by some, if
+not all, of the natives beyond the Rocky Mountains. The same is told
+of the Navajoes, Apaches, and other uncatholicized tribes of the north
+of Mexico.
+
+Peter Martyr, a learned and celebrated protestant divine, who wrote
+his "Decades of the Newe Worlde"[182] towards the middle of the
+sixteenth century, observes that, "in many places of the firme lande,
+when any of the kynges dye, all his householde servauntes, as well
+women as men which have continually served hym, kyl themselves,
+beleavynge, as they are taught by the devyl _Tuyra_, that they which
+kyll themselves when the kynge dyeth, go with hym to heaven and serve
+hym in the same place and office as they dyd before on {244} the earth
+whyle he lyved.[183] And that all that refuse so to doo, when after
+they dye by theyr naturall death or otherwyse, theyr soules to dye
+with theyr bodyes, and to bee dissolved into ayer and become nothynge
+as do the soules of hogges, byrdes or fysshes, or other brute [Pg292]
+beastes."[184] In corroboration of a similar custom among the natives
+along the Mississippi, in 1542, Herrera relates,[185] that, after the
+death of Fernando de Soto, and his party had set out westward, they
+were joined by a youth, who stated that he had fled to escape being
+buried with his lord who had died; which was the practice in that
+country. Travellers from the upper lakes to the Mississippi speak of
+similar customs, at an early day, among the tribes of that quarter.
+
+It would appear that they believe everything, both animate and
+inanimate--beasts, arms, ornaments, etc.--to possess immortal
+attributes, subject to resurrection in the world of spirits. However,
+did not their motives seem so well defined by the direct allusions to
+their notions of futurity, we might suppose, as is frequently urged,
+that the burying of property, slaves, etc., with the deceased, was
+only intended as a mark of respect; which, indeed, is hardly more
+irrational than the custom {245} of interring costly garniture and
+appendages with the dead among us.
+
+Some of the modes of burial adopted by the American aborigines are
+different, I believe, from those of any other people. Though, as among
+civilized nations, even the wildest tribes sometimes inter in ordinary
+graves, yet they frequently deposit their dead, in a sitting and even
+in a standing posture, in pits, caves, and hollow trees; and
+occasionally, they lay the corpse out upon scaffolds suspended from
+the branches of trees, or resting upon them where they will admit of
+it, so as to be out of reach of the wolves and other beasts.
+
+I was once, with a little caravan, travelling up the course of the
+Arkansas river, when, a thunder-storm coming up [Pg293] suddenly, and
+night drawing near, we turned the wagons as soon as we could, to the
+river-bank, to encamp. The bustle of ungearing and securing the teams
+before they should be frightened by the tempest, was hardly over, when
+we discovered a platform suspended above our heads, upon the branches
+of a cottonwood, which, upon examination, was found to contain an
+Indian corpse, from whose bones the putrid flesh had not yet
+separated!
+
+This mode of disposing of the dead would seem once to have been quite
+extensive; for, as well as upon the western prairies, it formerly
+prevailed among the Potawatomies of the north, and the Choctaws of the
+south, at least while on their expeditions. In this case, if
+practicable, they would leave a band of {246} aged men, known as
+bone-pickers,' to clean the bones, when the flesh decayed, and carry
+them to their village for interment.
+
+Barbarians are generally superstitious to an extreme, believing in
+hobgoblins, witchcraft, legerdemain and all sorts of mummeries.[186]
+Like many grandmothers in backwoods life, they delight in recounting
+the extraordinary apparitions, transmigrations, sorceries, etc., which
+they pretend to have witnessed. Nothing seems too absurd for their
+belief. Among many other cases of similar cast, an intelligent
+Potawatomie once assured me that he had witnessed the death of one of
+his nation, who had received [Pg294] a stab in his side with a knife
+(probably in some illicit adventure); and it being unknown to his
+friends how the wound had been inflicted, it was currently reported
+and believed, that from their {247} present home on the frontier of
+Missouri, he had visited the 'Old Nation' in Michigan,[187] poisoned
+an enemy there, received the fatal stab, and returned and died, all in
+one day.
+
+If you tell an Indian that such things are absurd and impossible, he
+is apt to answer, "It may be so with the white man, but how do you
+know it to be impossible with the Indian? You tell us many strange
+things which happened to your fathers--we don't contradict them,
+though we believe such things never could have happened to the red
+man." Or, they will reply, perhaps, as they did to Father Hennepin in
+a similar case: "Fie, thou knowest not what thou sayest; thou may'st
+know what has passed in thy own Country, for thy Ancestors have told
+thee of them; but thou canst not know what has passed in ours before
+the Spirits (that is to say the Europeans) came hither."
+
+In their matrimonial customs there is also a similarity among most of
+the American savages. Polygamy seems once to have been universal; and
+I believe still is so among the uncivilized tribes. Every man takes as
+many wives as he can obtain, or is able to support. The squaws,
+however, the more willingly consent to this multiplicity, as it
+affords additional helpmates in their labors. Polygamy among these
+savages would appear, indeed, not altogether an unwise provision. At
+least it seems palliated with such [Pg295] a belligerent people, who
+lose so many males in their continual wars, leaving a great surplus of
+females; and {248} where the duties of the latter are so numerous and
+so severe.
+
+The custom of buying wives, or at least making large presents to their
+parents, has always been very general; and still exists, not only
+among the more savage, but even with many of the partially civilized
+nations. Yet, notwithstanding their depravity in other respects, there
+is one thing truly remarkable in their marriages. All modern observers
+seem to agree with the ancient authors, that they universally abhor
+incestuous connections. Among the Creeks, even the marrying of cousins
+was punished by cutting off the ears. The Cherokees (according to some
+manuscript notes which I have of an intelligent member of the tribe)
+were prohibited from marrying in their own clans (i. e. kindred) under
+penalty of death; and their clans themselves were their executioners.
+But, although the Indians thus so strictly prohibit marriage within
+the degree of consanguinity, it is not so with those of affinity among
+many tribes. The Otoes, Kansas, and others of the same stock, will not
+only marry several sisters, but their deceased brothers' wives; in
+fact, this last seems considered a duty so that the orphan children of
+the brother may not be without a protector.[188]
+
+While the aborigines of the New World {249} have been noted above
+almost every other uncivilized nation in history, for their
+vindictiveness and cruelty towards their enemies, there are, in these
+attributes, wide differences apparent among them. The Indians along
+the Pacific coast, as well as in most of Mexico, were always more mild
+and peaceable than those of the United States. Hence it is, [Pg296]
+in fact, that the Spaniards did not meet with that formidable
+resistance to their conquests which they encountered among the fiery
+tribes of Florida, or that relentless and desperate hostility which
+the Anglo-Americans experienced in the first settlement of most parts
+of the United States.
+
+But in the common trait of hospitality to strangers all the western
+tribes are alike distinguished. The traveller who is thrown upon their
+charity, is almost universally received and treated with the greatest
+kindness; and, though they might pilfer him to the skin, and even
+place his person in jeopardy, if he show want of confidence in them,
+and endeavor to conceal his effects, yet his property is generally
+secure when under their charge: they appear to consider a breach of
+confidence one of the greatest crimes.
+
+Among the wild tribes, as well as among most of the unadulterated
+border Indians, to set something to eat before a friend, and even a
+stranger, immediately upon his arrival at a lodge or a cabin, is
+deemed not only an act of hospitality but of necessary etiquette; and
+a refusal to partake is looked upon as an unfriendly {250} token--an
+insult, in fact, to the family. Travellers are often severely taxed to
+preserve the good feeling of their hosts in this particular,
+especially among the prairie Indians. One at all fastidious in matters
+of diet, would find it hard to relish food from a greasy hornspoon
+which every urchin had been using; and then to ladle it out of a pot
+which had been common for all the papooses and pups of the premises:
+or to partake from a slice rolled up in a musty skin, or a dirtier
+blanket. And yet an apology even of having already dined half-a-dozen
+times would scarcely palliate the insult of a refusal. Though one
+visit fifty lodges in the course of a day, he must taste the food of
+every one.
+
+The Indian system of chiefs, which still prevails, and is nearly the
+same everywhere, except with the Cherokees, [Pg297] Choctaws,
+Chickasaws, and the Creeks to a degree, seems to bear a strong
+resemblance to that of the patriarchs of old; which, with their clans
+so analogous to those of our forefathers, perhaps affords as strong a
+proof as any other of their Asiatic origin.[189] To this might be
+added their {251} mode of naming;[190] for the Indians universally
+apply [Pg298] names significant of acts, qualities, beasts, birds,
+etc., to their offspring,--a practice which seems to have prevailed
+generally among the ancient Asiatics. Surnames have only been adopted
+by educated families {252} and mixed-bloods of the border nations, and
+are generally taken from their missionaries or some favorite friends;
+except they inherit surnames from parents of white extraction.
+
+That the Indians of America are decreasing in numbers is very well
+known, but many are dwindling away, perhaps, at a more rapid pace than
+is generally suspected. The number of the Osages, it is confidently
+believed, has diminished fifty per cent. within the last ten years:
+the once powerful tribe of Missouries is now reduced to a mere
+remnant; while the Mandans, as a nation, have become entirely extinct:
+and others have shared or bid fair soon to share the same fate. This
+has resulted partially from the ravages of the small-pox and other
+diseases, yet as much no doubt from the baneful effects of
+intoxicating liquors. On this account, their diminution has generally
+been less in proportion as they are more remote from the whites. But
+the 'red man' has suffered from his intercourse with the whites not in
+this respect alone. The incentives to luxury and avarice continually
+presented by them, have had a very pernicious influence. Formerly the
+savages were contented with the indispensables of life--generally
+sober, just and charitable; but now they will sacrifice their
+comfort--risk their lives, and commit the most atrocious outrages to
+gratify their vanity and lusts--to bedeck themselves with gewgaws and
+finery.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX {XIII}
+
+THE FRONTIER INDIANS
+
+Causes of Removal West -- Annuities, etc. -- Dissatisfaction of
+  the Indians -- Their Melioration by the Change -- Superiority of
+  their present Location -- Lands granted to them -- Improvements,
+  Agriculture, etc. -- Their Slaves -- Manufactures -- Style of
+  Living, Dress, etc. -- Literary Opportunities and Improvements
+  -- Choctaw Academy -- Harpies and Frauds -- Games -- Systems of
+  Government -- Polygamy -- Ancient Laws and Customs -- Intemperance
+  -- Preventive Measures -- A Choctaw Enactment -- Marriage and
+  Funeral Customs of the Choctaws -- The Creeks -- Their Summary
+  Executions -- Mourning -- Indian Titles -- The Northern Tribes --
+  Census of the Frontier Nations.
+
+
+For the purpose of a somewhat more discriminating notice of the Indian
+tribes beyond our western border--for it is to those I intend my
+remarks, in these pages, to be strictly confined--I will distinguish
+them, according to the prevailing classification of the West, as
+'Frontier' or 'Border Indians,' which title includes those occupying
+that district lying west of and immediately adjoining Arkansas and
+Missouri, and known as the _Indian Territory_; and the 'Wild Tribes'
+or 'Prairie Indians,' by which are meant those who are found west of
+the others, and who range those immense {254} plains from the borders
+of the Indian Territory to the Rocky Mountains. Of these I will speak
+in their order.
+
+The most important of the frontier tribes, as is well known, are the
+Cherokees, Choctaws and Chickasaws, Creeks and Seminoles, Shawnees,
+Delawares, etc. It is equally well known that most of these tribes
+were removed from within the States, not less because of the vicious
+propensities which they contracted and the imposition to which they
+were continually exposed, than on account of the difficulty of
+maintaining peaceful relations between them and our own citizens,
+while they remained in their midst. Their situation within the States
+certainly presented quite [Pg300] an anomaly in government--
+independent powers within the limits of others claiming sovereign
+jurisdiction.[191]
+
+A mistaken philanthropy--mistaken for want of a full knowledge of all
+the bearings of the subject--among some people, has occasioned much
+censure upon this branch of the policy of our government. But were we
+to take into consideration the treatment of other nations towards the
+aborigines of America, that of the United States, when placed in
+contrast, would certainly present a very benevolent aspect. They have
+always been removed by their own consent, obtained through their
+chiefs and councils; and have not only been given equal amounts of
+land, west of the border, but have generally been removed and
+furnished a year's subsistence {255} at the expense of the government,
+and received valuable equivalents beside, in utensils and other
+necessaries, and in regular annuities. These are sums, generally in
+money, annually paid, for a series of years, to the several tribes,
+proportioned usually to the size of the tribe and the amount of
+territory acquired from it. This institution of annuities, however,
+though intended as the most charitable, has doubtless been the most
+injurious branch of the policy of the United States towards the
+Indians. Being thus afforded the means of living without much labor,
+they have neglected manufactures, and even agriculture, to a
+considerable degree, and many of them have acquired [Pg301] confirmed
+habits of indolence and dissipation; and now that their annuities are
+growing short, they are being left destitute, without the energy, the
+industry, or the means wherewith to procure a livelihood.
+
+But, notwithstanding the constant efforts of the general government to
+make them comfortable, and the immense sums of money which have been
+paid them, and their being located in regions far better suited to
+their wants and their habits of life than those they abandoned, many
+of them appear greatly dissatisfied with the change and with the
+government; which seems painfully demonstrative of that perverse,
+restless disposition, which appears ever to have characterized the
+conduct of half-civilized nations.
+
+One ostensible reason for their unwillingness {256} to remove, has
+been a reluctance to abandon their native homes and the 'graves of
+their fathers.' Many fabulous legends are told of the attachment of
+the Indian to his native soil, yet but few who are acquainted with
+their habitudes, will place much stress on this. Their own traditions,
+as well as experience, have shown, that, when left to themselves, they
+incline to migrate; of which the Azteques of Mexico, and the Osages,
+with others of our border, afford striking examples: in fact, there is
+scarcely a tribe on the frontier which has not its traditions of
+migrations at some period. The Shawnees say their forefathers
+emigrated from the south to the regions north of the Ohio--the Creeks,
+as well as many of the Choctaws, that they were originally from west
+of the Mississippi--besides many other cases.
+
+But, with regard to this passage of our country's history, I will
+merely say, in addition, that, so far as I am able to judge, the
+condition of the 'red man' has been very materially bettered by the
+change. The lands they at present occupy are, for the most part, of a
+more fertile character [Pg302] than those which they have left. The
+climate is equally or perhaps more healthy, in general;
+notwithstanding the dreadful mortality which afflicted many of them
+shortly after their removal--a calamity which was attributable,
+primarily, to the change of climate, as well as to the change of
+habits which their new dwelling-places involved; and secondarily, to
+the too abundant use of {257} spirituous liquors, with which they were
+frequently provided by both native and white peddlers and traders,
+before any measures, efficient enough to check the evil, were taken
+either by themselves or by the general government. But, although the
+latter cause still prevails to some degree, I have little doubt that
+the average mortality among the frontier tribes, at present, is less
+than it was before their removal.
+
+To each tribe has generally been granted a greater number of acres,
+with definite metes and boundaries, than had been ceded by them east
+of the Mississippi. It is deemed unnecessary, however, to swell this
+brief notice with a statement of the several amounts of land given to
+each tribe, and their localities, as these may be seen with sufficient
+accuracy and definiteness by consulting the map which accompanies this
+work.
+
+The lands of each tribe are the property of the Indian commonwealth;
+and, therefore, even among the most civilized of them, the settler has
+a title only in his improvement, which he holds by occupancy, and can
+sell at pleasure. To prevent collisions in improvements, the first
+occupant is entitled to a certain distance in every direction. Among
+the Cherokees, no one can build within a quarter of a mile of the
+house or field of another: so, to extend their possessions, the more
+wealthy sometimes make several isolated improvements, scattered in
+different directions, within half a mile of each other. [Pg303]
+
+{258} The game in the interspersed forests having now become scarce,
+and that of the western prairies being too remote, the frontier
+Indians have generally turned their attention to agriculture, and to
+the raising of stock; and most of them have large numbers of horses,
+cattle, and hogs.
+
+Some of these Indians, particularly of the southern nations, have very
+extensive farms: but the mass of their population extend their culture
+no further than they seem compelled by necessity. The traveller,
+passing through the Cherokee Nation, is struck with the contrast
+between an occasional stately dwelling, with an extensive farm
+attached, and the miserable hovels of the indigent, sometimes not ten
+feet square, with a little patch of corn, scarce large enough for a
+family garden. In fact, among all the tribes who have no slaves, what
+little there is of cultivation, is mostly the work of the women.
+Scattered through the country, one continually encounters dilapidated
+huts with trifling improvements, which have been abandoned by the
+owners for some fancy they may have taken to some other location at a
+distance, better adapted, as they think, to the promotion of their
+comfort, and upon which they may live with less labor.
+
+Most of the labor among the wealthier classes of Cherokees, Choctaws,
+Chickasaws, Creeks and Seminoles, is done by negro slaves; for they
+have all adopted substantially the Southern system of slavery.[192]
+Some individuals of these nations own over fifty slaves each: {259}
+but they [Pg304] are the only slaveholders of the frontier tribes,
+except very few among the Shawnees.
+
+With some tribes, and particularly among the lower classes of the
+Creeks, they are inclined to settle in 'towns,' as they are
+called,--making large fields, which are cultivated in common, and the
+produce proportionally distributed. But these 'towns' are rather
+settlements than villages, being but sparse clusters of huts without
+any regularity. Indeed, there is not, I believe, a regularly laid out
+town in all the Indian country, nor a place that could even merit the
+name of a village; except Doaksville near Fort Towson, and perhaps
+Park Hill in the Cherokee Nation.[193]
+
+Besides agriculture, most of the frontier tribes attend a little to
+manufactures, though with no greater energy. The women have generally
+learned to spin, weave and sew, at which they occupy themselves,
+occasionally, during recess from the labors of the field. But very few
+of the men acquire mechanical arts or follow trades of any kind: their
+carpenter, wheelwright and smith work is done by a few mechanics
+provided the several tribes in accordance with treaty stipulations. To
+each tribe is furnished in particular one or more blacksmiths from the
+United States.
+
+These frontier Indians for the most part live in cabins of logs, like
+those of our backwoods settlers; and many of them are undistinguishable,
+except in color, language, and to some degree in costume, from the
+poorer {260} classes of their white neighbors. Even in dress and
+language the more civilized are fast conforming to the latter. In many
+families, especially of the Cherokees, the [Pg305] English tongue
+only is spoken; and great numbers of these, as well as of the Choctaws
+and Chickasaws, dress according to the American fashions: but the
+ruder portions of even these, the most enlightened nations, as is also
+the case with nearly all of the northern tribes, wear the
+hunting-shirt, sometimes of buckskin, but now more commonly of calico,
+cotton plaid or linsey. Instead of using hats, they wreathe about
+their heads a fancy-colored shawl or handkerchief. Neither do the
+women of these classes wear bonnets, but leave their heads exposed, or
+protected only with a shawl, somewhat after the manner of the Mexican
+females; to the lower classes of whom, indeed, the mixed-bloods of
+these Indians bear a strong resemblance. Their most usual dress is a
+short petticoat of cotton goods, or as frequently with the tribes of
+the north, of coarse red or blue broad-cloth.
+
+The literary opportunities afforded to the border tribes are so
+important in their consequences as to deserve some notice. To each
+tribe has been granted, by the United States, a school fund, generally
+somewhat proportioned to the extent of the tribe. The Cherokees and
+Choctaws seem to have availed themselves of this provision to the
+greatest advantage. These funds are for the most part invested in
+American stocks, and the proceeds {261} appropriated to educational
+uses, establishing schools, etc.[194] [Pg306] The tuition is, I
+believe, in every case, free to the Indians; and yet it is painful to
+know that comparatively few of the common classes will send their
+children.
+
+The most extensive literary institution which has ever been in
+operation, for the benefit of the 'red man,' was the 'Choctaw
+Academy,' established in Kentucky, and supported by a common fund of
+several different tribes. It was not as successful, however, as was
+anticipated by its projectors; and is now being transferred and merged
+into an academy near Fort Towson, in the Choctaw country, wholly
+supported out of the Choctaw fund. This Academy proved very
+unsatisfactory to many of the tribes concerned. They said, with
+apparent justice, that their boys, educated there, forgot all their
+customs, their language, their relatives, their national attachments;
+and, in exchange, often acquired indolent and effeminate, if not
+vicious habits; and were rendered {262} unfit to live among their
+people, or to earn a maintenance by labor. There seems but little
+doubt that the funds of each tribe might be employed to a much better
+advantage in their own country. The influence of the institutions
+would there be more likely to extend to all classes; and by gradual,
+the only practicable means, a change might be wrought upon the
+nation.[195]
+
+It is one of the calamities incident to the state of ignorance in
+which most of these poor Indians remain, and their close, indeed
+political connection with the more civilized people [Pg307] of the
+United States, that they are continually preyed upon by the
+unprincipled harpies who are ever prowling through their country,
+ready to seize every opportunity of deceiving and defrauding them out
+of their money or effects.[196] {263} The most depraving agencies
+employed to this end are the ministration of intoxicating drinks, and
+gaming, of both which the Indians are passionately fond, and by which
+they are frequently robbed of their money as soon almost as received.
+
+Apart from the usual games at cards, dice, etc., the Indians of the
+border have some peculiar games of their own, as well at cards as
+otherwise. Among these the most celebrated is the 'Ball Play,' which
+resembles, in some respects, the old-fashioned game of _bandy_. The
+wagers are usually laid upon beating the majority of a given number, a
+dozen or more of these games; and large amounts in horses, blankets,
+and other goods, and even money, are frequently staked upon the
+result.
+
+Besides the ball play, _dancing_ is a most favorite amusement of these
+tribes, indeed of all the frontier as well as prairie Indians. They
+formerly had many kinds of dances,--the green-corn dance, the
+medicine, the eagle, the scalp and the war dances. But these are now
+only practised by the ruder portions of the border nations and the
+less improved tribes; among whom may still be witnessed frequently
+their genuine aboriginal frolics. [Pg308]
+
+The green-corn dance generally lasts several {264} days, commencing
+when the new crop begins to ripen. A large arbor of green branches is
+usually prepared, and numerous parties of both sexes dance in a body
+to their native songs and rude instrumental music, accompanied by
+their monotonous "heh! heh! heh!" with a chorus of yells at intervals;
+and their movements are attended with the most comical gesticulations.
+Having passed through a course of 'purification' by drinking a
+decoction of certain stimulant herbs, prepared by their medicine-men,
+and put out all the fires, they strike fire anew by rubbing sticks
+together; and a quantity of corn, pulse and other fruits of the
+season, being cooked with the 'new fire,' the dance is closed with a
+general feast. Each family, as it is said, then takes a supply from
+the 'new breed' of fire. A more interesting and salutary influence of
+this custom, which is said to prevail among some tribes at this
+festival, is the cancelling or composing of all old difficulties and
+disputes.
+
+The most advanced of these border nations, the _Cherokees_ and the
+united tribes of the _Choctaws_ and _Chickasaws_, have adopted systems
+of government, which are based upon [Pg309] the constitutions of our
+States. The Cherokee being the most complete, some account of it may
+not be out of place in this connection.
+
+A council or convention of the wise men of the nation was convened on
+the first of July, 1839, who framed a constitution, of which the
+following are the general features, it being somewhat similar to one
+previously adopted in {265} the 'Old Nation.' The three powers,
+legislative, executive and judicial, are distinguished and
+established. The legislative consists of a National Committee and
+Council. The former is composed of two and the latter of three members
+from each of the eight or ten districts into which the nation was to
+be divided--elected for two years by the people. They convene annually
+on the first Monday in October, and each house elects a presiding
+officer out of its own body. Bills are introduced, discussed and
+passed according to parliamentary usage.
+
+The executive, called Principal Chief, and an assistant chief, are
+elected for four years by the people. The executive has the usual veto
+and pardoning power. He is assisted by an 'Executive Council' of five,
+and the common cabinet of secretaries. The judiciary consists of a
+Supreme and Circuit Court, and the ordinary justices of the peace.
+Trial by jury is secured; and the common law of England appears to
+have been generally adopted. Religious toleration is guarantied, but
+no person can hold a civil office who denies the existence of a God,
+and a future state of rewards and punishments.[197]
+
+According to laws subsequently enacted by the same council, the
+punishment for murder is death; and for an attempt to kill, a fine
+correspondent to the damage, for the benefit of the injured party: for
+rape, a hundred lashes--but [Pg310] for infanticide, only twenty-five
+to fifty![198] Whipping seems the punishment {266} for all inferior
+crimes; which is the same with the Choctaws and Creeks, among whom the
+executioners are called the 'light-horse,' a kind of police-guard,
+also formerly in use by the Cherokees, but now their place is supplied
+by a common sheriff and _posse_.
+
+As is to be inferred from their institutions, the Cherokees stand
+first among the 'red men' in refinement, though in industry, morality,
+and sobriety, they are no doubt excelled by the Choctaws and
+Chickasaws, who are reckoned the most quiet and Christian-like Indians
+of the border.
+
+No laws have yet been passed to enforce the payment of debts, except
+by the Cherokees; and these found it necessary to suspend their
+operation for two years. Even the most improved have not prohibited
+polygamy by any law; though, from the example of the whites and of the
+more civilized among them, as well as the exertions of the
+missionaries, it is growing out of repute with most of the border
+nations. It is still occasionally practised, however; and the ruder
+classes among them all, I believe, sometimes still take any number of
+wives, and divorce them at pleasure. But the more enlightened are
+married by preachers, or authorized civil officers.
+
+With the united nation of Choctaws and Chickasaws, the executive power
+is vested in four chiefs, called in Choctaw _mingoes_, who are
+selected one from each of the districts into which the country is
+divided, {267} and of which the Chickasaw tribe constitutes one.[199]
+These chiefs are vested with the usual veto and pardoning powers, and
+are elected [Pg311] for four years. Most of their other
+constitutional provisions resemble those of the Cherokees. The
+Choctaws, as well as the Creeks, punish the crime of murder with death
+by shooting, which is generally executed immediately after trial, by
+the 'light-horse.'
+
+It has become evident, however, that written laws and courts of
+justice, judges and juries, are still rather in advance of the state
+of civilization of the ruder classes, even among these most
+enlightened tribes. It has been found very difficult to bring them
+under their subordination. They have had, notwithstanding, a salutary
+effect in many cases, and especially with regard to murder. Among most
+of these nations (as well as the wild tribes), it was formerly the
+custom to leave the punishment of homicide to the relatives of the
+murdered. With the Choctaws and Cherokees, in particular, the entire
+clan or family of the murderer were held responsible for the crime;
+and though the real offender might escape, the bereaved family had a
+right to kill any one of his nearest relatives that could be found, up
+to the most remote kindred. There seemed no exceptions for accidental
+homicide, or killing in self-defence: the Mosaic precept of 'life for
+life' must be fulfilled, unless satisfactorily commuted. This savage
+custom had at least one salutary effect, however: the relatives
+themselves, instead of assisting {268} the escape, as so often occurs
+in civilized life, were generally the first to apprehend and bring the
+fugitive criminal to justice.
+
+But among the Choctaws, at least, any one might take the place of the
+murderer, and in the death of the substitute the law was satisfied,
+and the true criminal remained exempt. An intelligent and creditable
+Choctaw related to me an affecting incident, for the truth of which he
+vouched. An Indian had remained responsible for the appearance, on a
+certain day, of his brother, who had killed a man. [Pg312] When the
+day arrived, the murderer exhibited some reluctance to fulfil the
+pledge, when the other said to him: "My brother, you are no brave--you
+are afraid to die--stay here and take care of my family--I will die in
+your place:" whereupon he immediately attended the appointed spot, and
+was executed accordingly.
+
+The highest honor known among them, in fact, being that of a 'great
+brave,' it reflected the greatest credit to meet death boldly. Instead
+of being visited by his tribe with infamy for the crime he had
+committed, it rather tended to make his name illustrious, if he met
+the consequences without fear or flinching: whereas, any effort to
+avoid death was attributed to cowardice. It would have been esteemed
+quite as ignominious for the murderer to flee the established forfeit
+of his life, as for a 'gentleman' under the 'civilized code of honor,'
+to back out from a duel.
+
+But among most of the frontier, as also the {269} wild tribes, a
+commutation, though not honorable to the perpetrator, was and still is
+permitted, except by the Cherokees and Choctaws. Any recompense which
+would satisfy the bereft family, released the murderer from further
+penalty.
+
+There is scarcely any temptation which the Indian tribes have to
+encounter so frequently, and so seriously fatal to their social
+improvement, as intemperance. Of this they are conscious themselves,
+and most of them have adopted measures for prohibiting the
+introduction of ardent spirits among them, and for checking the
+propensity to use them, with various degrees of success. Among the
+Choctaws, a law was passed upon this subject, which, though not
+entirely, was measurably successful; and the spirit which effected its
+passage was worthy of the most exalted state of civilization.
+
+It seems that the tribe had generally become sensible [Pg313] of the
+pernicious influences of strong drink upon their prosperity and
+happiness, and had attempted various plans for its suppression,
+without success. At last, it was determined by the chiefs, captains,
+and head men, to strike a blow which should reach the very root of the
+evil at once. A council was called, and many and long were the
+speeches which were made, and much enthusiasm was created against the
+monster 'Whiskey,' and all his brood of compound enormities. Still
+every one seemed loth to move his arrest and execution. Finally, a
+{270} captain of more than ordinary temerity arose, and offered a
+resolution that each and every individual who should thenceforward
+dare to introduce any of the liquid curses into their country, should
+be punished with a hundred lashes on his bare back, and the liquor be
+poured out. This was passed, after some slight changes, by
+acclamation: but, with a due sense of the injustice of _ex-post-facto_
+restrictions, all those who had liquors on hand were permitted to sell
+them. The council adjourned; but the members soon began to canvass
+among each other the pernicious consequences which might result from
+the protracted use of the whiskey already in the shops, and therefore
+concluded the quicker it was drank up, the more promptly would the
+evil be over: so, falling to, in less than two hours Bacchus never
+mustered a drunker troop than were these same temperance legislators.
+The consequences of their determination were of lasting importance to
+them. The law, with some slight improvements, has ever since been
+rigorously enforced.
+
+Among most of the Indian tribes the daughter has very little to do
+with the selection of her husband. The parents usually require to be
+satisfied first, and their permission being secured the daughter never
+presumes to offer any important resistance. There is a post-nuptial
+custom peculiar to the full-blood Indians of the Choctaws, which
+[Pg314] deserves particular notice. For years, and perhaps for life,
+{271} after the marriage of her daughter, the mother is forbidden to
+look upon her son-in-law. Though they converse together, he must be
+hidden from her by a wall, a tent, a curtain, or, when nothing else
+offers, by covering the eyes. During their emigration, it is said
+these poor superstitious matrons were put to infinite trouble so as
+not to infract this custom. While travelling, or in camp often without
+tents, the mother-in-law was afraid to raise her head or open her
+eyes, lest they should meet the interdicted object.
+
+It is another peculiarity, which they have in common with some of the
+more northern tribes, that the Choctaw wife, of the 'old school,' can
+never call her husband by name. But if they have offspring--she calls
+him "my son's father;" or, more commonly using the child's name, when,
+if Ok-le-no-wa, for instance, she calls the husband "Ok-le-no-wa's
+father." And yet another oddity regarding names: the ignorant Choctaw
+seems to have a superstitious aversion to telling his own name: indeed
+it appears impossible to get it from him, unless he have an
+acquaintance present, whom he will request to tell it for him.
+
+In burials, the civilized Choctaws follow the customs of the whites,
+but the ruder classes still preserve their aboriginal usages.
+According to these, a painted pole with a flag is stuck up at the
+grave, which usually remains three months. During this period they
+have regular mourning exercises every morning and evening; and are
+always prompt to avail themselves, {272} at any other hour of the day,
+of the assistance of any friend who may visit them to help them to
+weep. At the end of the prescribed term, the friends of the bereft
+family attend a feast at their house, and, after dancing all night,
+the next morning visit the grave and pull down the pole; which is
+called 'the [Pg315] pole-pulling.' After this all mourning ceases,
+and the family is permitted to join in the usual amusements and
+festivities of the tribe, which was not allowable before.
+
+Though the _Creeks_[200] are generally a very industrious people,
+raising an abundance of corn and vegetables, yet they are quite behind
+their neighbors, of whom I have been speaking, as well politically as
+in a social and literary view. Their executive consists of two
+principal chiefs, and their legislature or council of about forty
+minor chiefs or captains, who are also, _ex officio_, justices of the
+peace.[201] They have no trial by jury, and their judicial proceedings
+are exceedingly summary--frequently without witnesses; for the
+warriors are generally too proud to deny a charge, lest it be
+construed into cowardice. Executions sometimes take place within an
+hour after the commencement of trial. Murder, rape and a third
+conviction of stealing are punished with death, usually by shooting;
+but, in case of homicide, if claimed by the relatives of the {273}
+deceased, the criminal is executed with the same kind of weapon, or,
+if possible, the very same, with which he committed the murder.
+
+Most inferior crimes, as has been mentioned, are punished by whipping:
+for the first offence of stealing, fifty lashes; for the second, a
+hundred and ears cropped. Adultery is punished by cutting off both the
+nose and ears of the adulteress; but the husband has a right to say if
+the law shall be executed: in fact, he is generally the executioner,
+and that often without trial. Notwithstanding the severity of these
+laws, they are for the most part rigorously enforced; though a
+commutation satisfactory to the [Pg316] aggrieved is still permitted
+to release the offender. Their laws, in cases of accidental homicide,
+are still more barbarously rigid than those of the other nations.
+
+The obsequies of the Creeks are peculiar in this,--that at the moment
+an Indian expires, a gun is discharged. Their graves are generally
+under the floors of their dwellings, and a husband's is apt to be
+under the bed of his widow. The fate of the unfortunate relict is
+miserable enough in any country, but among the Creeks her doom is
+barbarously rigorous. She remains in strict mourning for four
+years,[202] with dishevelled hair and without {274} combing,--unless
+the relatives of the deceased interfere; whereby it is sometimes put
+an end to in a few months, provided the sincerity of her grief be
+evident and her conduct meritorious. In their mourning, however, they
+do not weep and cry with such clamorous vehemence as the Choctaws and
+others. But the Shawnees and Delawares are still more celebrated for
+quiet mourning.[203] As warlike nations, they appear to disdain to
+mourn and wail aloud, as is the practice among the greater portion of
+the savage tribes.
+
+Though these people have no family names, they generally take a kind
+of honorary title or _sobriquet_, as is also the case with the wild
+tribes, upon the occurrence of any important incident, or the
+performance of a meritorious feat. A singular mode of inheritance
+prevails among the Cherokees, the Creeks, and perhaps others. Though
+the women in other respects are mostly held as very inferior beings,
+the clans are all reckoned by them: the children pertain to [Pg317]
+the mother, and the estates descend through the female branch of the
+family. They say it is easy enough to verify the mothers of families,
+but it is difficult to identify the fathers.
+
+The remaining tribes, inhabiting the more northern frontier, as well
+as the Seminoles who are located among the Creeks, possess so few
+distinct or striking characteristics, and, indeed, are mostly so few
+in number, that a particular notice of them seems hardly to be
+required. Suffice it to say, that all of them, {275} as I believe,
+still retain their ancient systems of arbitrary chiefs and councils of
+sages and braves, nearly in their primitive state; and that the
+greater portion of them live in log huts, and cultivate the soil to a
+considerable extent. Though the Shawnees, Delawares, and Kickapoos,
+are among the most agricultural of the northern Indians, yet a few of
+these spend the greater portion of their time on the Prairies in
+hunting and in trading with the wild tribes.[204]
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[174] Consult Thwaites, _Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark
+Expedition_, (New York, 1904-05) v, p. 347.--ED.
+
+[175] The consensus of modern opinion is, that the Indians worshipped
+the sun only as a symbol. They were in a stage neither monotheistic
+nor pantheistic, but recognized all manifestations of the unseen,
+without a sense of personal unity. Consult on this subject, J. W.
+Powell, "Mythology of North American Indians," in U. S. Bureau of
+Ethnology _Report_, 1879-80, pp. 17-56; D. G. Brinton, _Myths of the
+New World_ (third edition, Philadelphia, 1896); R. M. Dorman, _Origin
+of Primitive Superstitions among the Aborigines of America_ (Phila.,
+1881).--ED.
+
+[176] José de Acosta, a Jesuit historian (1539-1600), born in Spain,
+was missionary to Peru for many years. Upon his return to Spain he
+published _Historia Natural y Moral de las Indias_ (Seville, 1590),
+both in Latin and Spanish. An English translation appeared in
+1604.--ED.
+
+[177] Clavigero asserts of the Indians of Mexico, that their first
+heaven (that of the warriors, &c.) they called "_la casa del sol_"
+(the house of the sun), which luminary they worshipped every morning
+at sunrise.--GREGG.
+
+[178] I have since met with the same, in substance, related by Mr.
+Schoolcraft.--GREGG.
+
+_Comment by Ed._ Henry Rowe Schoolcraft (1793-1864), for many years
+Indian agent at Mackinac, and a prolific writer on Indian subjects.
+
+[179] The Shawnees have four missionary establishments among them,
+viz. a Methodist, Baptist, Moravian, and Quaker. There are also
+missionaries of different sects among most of the tribes of the
+border, the labors of whom have been attended with some degree of
+success. There is, I believe, but one Catholic Mission upon the
+frontier, which is among the Potawatomies, about a thousand of whom
+have embraced this faith. The Catholics, however, appear to have
+succeeded better than most other denominations, in their missionary
+efforts. It is so in Mexico, so in Canada, and appears so everywhere
+else that they have undertaken the Christianization of the heathen. I
+would not be understood to attribute this to any intrinsic superiority
+of their religion, but to the peculiarities of its forms and
+ceremonies. The pageantry of their worship, the palpable
+representation of the divine mysteries by the introduction of images,
+better accords with their pristine idolatry, than a more spiritual
+faith. Catholics, indeed, have had the sagacity to permit the Indians
+(at least in some countries) to interweave many of their own heathen
+ceremonies with the sacred Christian rites, forming a singular _mêlée_
+of Romish and pagan worship, which is especially the case in Mexico.
+Also, the less rigid Catholic creed and customs do not debar them from
+their wonted favorite amusements, not to say vices. It is therefore
+that whole tribes sometimes simultaneously embrace this imposing
+creed.--GREGG.
+
+[180] See Thwaites, _Hennepin's New Discovery_ (Chicago, 1903), ii,
+pp. 537, 538.--ED.
+
+[181] Adair, who resided forty years with the southern Indians,
+previous to 1775, speaks of the same among them all.--GREGG.
+
+_Comment by Ed._ Consult J. Long's _Voyages_ in our volume ii, p. 64,
+note 31.
+
+[182] Peter Martyr de Anghiera (1457 (?)-1526) was the first historian
+of the New World. Born in North Italy, he went to Rome in 1477, in the
+train of Cardinal Ascanio Sforza. Ten years later he was invited to
+Spain, where he became tutor to the royal children, and later
+protonothary and royal historiographer. His _Decades_ (_De Rebus
+Oceanicis et Novo Orbe Decades_) first appearing in 1530, are a prime
+source for the early history of America, he having known and conversed
+with the Spanish discoverers.--ED.
+
+[183] Also Clavigero speaks of similar beliefs and practices among the
+Mexican Indians, particularly in the obsequies of the kings; and
+adds--"El número de víctimas correspondía á la grandeza del funeral,
+y, segun algunos autores, llegaban á veces á doscientas."--GREGG.
+
+[184] Edition of 1555, translated from the Latin, fol. 181.--In
+another place, the same author also says they buried corn, etc., with
+the dead, for their use in the world to come.--GREGG.
+
+[185] For Herrera, see our volume xix, p. 258, note 79 (Gregg).--ED.
+
+[186] The Indians often so imposed upon the credulous ancients as to
+make them believe they had direct communication with Satan. The
+learned divine, Peter Martyr, has a whole chapter "Of the familiaritie
+which certeyne of the Indians have with the devyll, and howe they
+receave answere of hym of thynges to coome:" and very seriously and
+philosophically concludes, that, "the devyll beynge so auncient an
+Astronomer, knowethe the tymes of thynges, and seeth howe they are
+naturally directed:" to which he appends numerous instances of the
+evil spirit's revelations of the "tymes of thynges to coome" to his
+ministers, the magi. And even as late as 1721, Father Charlevoix
+gravely says, an instance he relates, and many others that he "knows,
+which are equally certain, prove that the Devil is sometimes concerned
+in the magic of the Savages." The Choctaws, and perhaps some others,
+used to punish witchcraft with all the rigor of our own ancestors,
+putting poor creatures to death upon the slightest proof of their
+tampering with the black art: but this barbarity is now prohibited by
+their more civilized laws. Yet the more barbarous tribes still have
+their conjurers and medicine-men, who deal in auguries and mystic
+ceremonies; which, with their dances, constitute the greater part of
+their worship.--GREGG.
+
+[187] For the early habitat of the Potawatomi, consult Croghan's
+_Journals_, in our volume i, p. 115 note 84.--_Ed._
+
+[188] Clavigero remarks of the Indians of Mexico, "Estaba severamante
+prohibido .  .  .  todo enlace matrimonial, entre parientes en primer
+grado de consanguinidad, ó de afinidad, excepto entre cuñados."
+--GREGG.
+
+[189] The origin of the American Indians has been discussed by too
+many able writers for me to enter into it here: nor will I attempt to
+show the general traits of similarity that are to be observed in their
+various languages: yet it may interest an occasional reader, to be
+informed of the relations of consanguinity which subsist between many
+of the different Indian tribes. They may be arranged principally under
+the following heads: 1. The Dahcotah stock, which is by far the most
+extensive of those indigenous west of the Mississippi. It embraces the
+Arkansas (of which the Quapaws are now the only remnant), the Osages,
+Kansas or Kaws, Iowas, Winnebagoes, Otoes, Missouries, Omahas, Poncas,
+and the various bands of the Sioux: all of whom speak a language still
+traceable to the same origin, though some of them have been separated
+for several centuries. I call these indigenous to the West, because
+most of them have been so from the period of the earliest explorers on
+the Mississippi; yet the tradition among them is that they came from
+about the northern lakes; which appears corroborated by the fact, that
+the language of the Naudowessies, Assiniboins, and perhaps others in
+that quarter, shows them to be of the same family.--2. The different
+bands of the Comanches and Shoshonies or Snakes, constitute another
+extensive stock, speaking one language.--3. The Blackfeet, Gros
+Ventres or Minnatarees, Crows and Arrapahoes, speak dialects of
+another.--4. The Pawnees and Rickaras of the north, and the Wacoes,
+Wichitas, Towockanoes, Towyash and Keechyes, of Red River, are of the
+same origin. The Chayennes, originally from near Lake Winnipeg, and
+the Kiawas (or Caiguas, according to Mexican orthography), appear
+unallied to any of the foregoing nations.--5. Of those from the north
+and east, the Algonquin stock appears most extensive,--embracing the
+Potawatomies, Ottawas, Chippewas, Knisteneaux, Crees, Sacs and Foxes;
+with whom the Delawares have also been classed, though their language
+would now appear very distinct.--6. The Wyandots, Senecas, and others
+of the Six Nations, are of the Huron or Iroquois.--7. The Shawnees and
+Kickapoos are of one stock.--8. The Kaskaskias, Piorias, Piankeshaws
+and Weaws, are descendants of the Miamies.--9. The Choctaws and
+Chickasaws are nearly the same people.--10. The Creeks and
+Seminoles--though old authors speak of the Creeks as being akin to the
+Choctaws, yet there is now but little relationship to be traced in
+their language; while that of the Cherokees appears entirely _sui
+generis_.--GREGG.
+
+_Comment by Ed._ On this subject consult J. W. Powell, "Indian
+Linguistic Families of America north of Mexico" in U. S. Bureau of
+Ethnology _Report_, 1885-86. Gregg is unusually correct in his
+classification, but nevertheless has fallen into a few errors.
+
+[190] The _tribes_ often take the names of the seceding chiefs who
+originate them, or are called from some circumstance attending their
+separation; but frequently they assume a name from an important word
+in their languages: thus _Choctaw_ and _Chickasaw_ are said to have
+been the names of chiefs; _Seminole_ (or _Seminóleh_) and _Pioria_
+imply runaways or seceders; while _Illinois_, in the language of that
+ancient tribe, and _Lunnapáe_, by which the Delawares distinguish
+themselves, signify _man_. This last is perhaps most common; for, as
+each nations holds itself superior to all others, its members call
+themselves _men_, in contradistinction to _boys_ or _squaws_, as they
+are wont to denominate their enemies.--GREGG.
+
+[191] Pressure of the white population upon the southern tribes,
+induced them to migrate to the west of the Mississippi, a movement
+which began with detached parties of Choctaw as early as 1805. In 1824
+President Monroe recommended their removal, and in 1830 Jackson
+ordered it. Large bands of these Indians had already received lands in
+Arkansas; wherefore, in 1832, Indian Territory was set apart for the
+tribes and removals thither began. The Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Creek
+made but little difficulty; the Cherokee and Seminole opposed the
+removal. The former were forcibly ejected (1836-38), and by 1839 were
+united on their present site in Indian Territory. The Seminole
+resistance led to the war with that people (1835-42), in which a large
+portion of the tribesmen perished. The remainder were finally united
+in Indian Territory in 1846.--ED.
+
+[192] The civilized tribes had been slave-holders before their removal
+to Indian Territory. At the outbreak of the War of Secession their
+sympathies were with the Confederacy, with whom the Cherokee made a
+treaty October 7, 1861. Early in 1863, however, they abolished slavery
+by law, and the large majority of their regiments went over to the
+Union side. A constitutional amendment in 1866, forever abolished
+slavery or involuntary servitude, except for crime. See _Constitution
+and Laws of Cherokee Nation_.--ED.
+
+[193] Neither of these places has developed into towns of importance,
+although both are still on the map of Indian Territory. By an act of
+1898, towns were to be incorporated, and town sites surveyed. In 1900,
+the largest town was Ardmore, in the Chickasaw Nation. There were
+seven towns of more than two thousand population, and twelve more
+exceeding one thousand.--ED.
+
+[194] Their schools are mostly conducted in English, yet among some
+tribes they are often taught in their native languages. As in other
+respects, the Cherokees have made the greatest advancement in a
+literary point. Their singular system of characters representing
+syllables, invented by an illiterate native, is no doubt known to most
+of my readers. In these characters, a considerable number of books
+have been printed in their vernacular tongue. Many Cherokees, however,
+as well as Choctaws, have received good English educations. In the
+language of the latter also a great number of books have been
+published, but in which the common letter is used. A few books have
+also been printed in the languages of the Creeks, Wyandots,
+Potawatomies, and Ottawas, Shawnees, Delawares, and some in the
+different dialects of Osage, Kansas, Otoes, etc. There is now a
+printing-office in operation at Park Hill, in the Cherokee Nation, and
+another among the Shawnees at the Baptist Mission.--GREGG.
+
+[195] By the treaty of 1825 with the Choctaw, a fund of six thousand
+dollars per year for twenty years was to be allotted for the use of
+schools. The Indians requested that a portion of this fund might be
+used to educate boys at a distance from home. This was a cherished
+plan of Colonel Richard M. Johnson, who was chosen sponsor for the new
+academy, and began the erection of buildings near his home at Great
+Crossings, in Scott County, Kentucky, where the first boys were
+received in the autumn of 1825. Baptist co-operation was enlisted, and
+Rev. Thomas Henderson chosen first principal of Choctaw Academy. At
+first the school flourished, and Indian boys from many other tribes
+were sent to Kentucky, until at one time the academy had an enrollment
+of more than one hundred and fifty lads. In consequence of the
+dissatisfaction which Gregg here describes the Choctaw and other
+Southern Indians began to withdraw their boys about 1842, and the
+school's usefulness terminated. Consult _House Ex. Docs._, 26 Cong., 2
+sess., 109. The civilized tribes now maintain several higher boarding
+schools and academies in the territory. The Choctaw and Chickasaw each
+have five; the Cherokee two at Tallequah, in which the nation is much
+interested.--ED.
+
+[196] By no means the least considerable of the frauds practised upon
+the frontier Indians, have been by contractors and government agents.
+The character of these impositions may be inferred from the following
+instance, as it is told, and very generally believed, upon the
+southwestern frontier.
+
+It had been pretty well known, that some of those who had been in the
+habit of contracting to furnish with subsistence several of the
+southern tribes, in the year 1838 _et seq._, had been imposing most
+grossly upon the Indians as well as the Government, in the way of
+'short rations' and other delinquencies, which resulted in the gain of
+a very large sum to the parties concerned. About the close of their
+operations, one of the _employés_, who was rather more cunning than
+the principals, took it into his head, on account of some
+ill-treatment he had suffered, to make an _exposé_ of their
+transactions. He happened to hold a letter of instructions (which were
+of course of a confidential character), wherein were set forth the
+processes by which these frauds were to be practised. And to turn the
+affair to his particular profit, he threatened the parties with a
+complete exposure, unless a satisfactory _gratification_ should
+interpose. A compromise being indispensable to the welfare of 'all
+whom it concerned,' a negotiation was soon set on foot: but the 'noisy
+customer' was not silenced, until he was paid $13,500 in cash;
+whereupon he delivered up the obnoxious 'papers,' and agreed to
+abscond. Some notice of the facts of this case are said to have been
+brought to the knowledge of the Government; and how it has escaped an
+investigation--and, more especially, how it escaped the attention of
+the Superintendent of that immediate district, have been matters of
+great surprise to those who had a knowledge of the particulars.
+--GREGG.
+
+[197] See _Constitution and Laws of Cherokee Nation_, published at
+Tallequah. The constitution was signed at the latter place, September
+6, 1839.--ED.
+
+[198] These laws have now been changed, and correspond to those of the
+United States.--ED.
+
+[199] In 1837, the Chickasaw bought an interest in Choctaw lands; but
+in 1855 they purchased from the latter tribe the right of
+self-government, and established a Chickasaw Nation. Their
+constitution, drawn in 1867, is liberal, being closely modelled on
+that of the United States.--ED.
+
+[200] These Indians call themselves _Muscogee_ or _Muscóhgeh_. They
+acquired the name of _Creeks_, by the whites, from the great number of
+small streams that intersect the country which they formerly
+inhabited--being first called, "Indians of the country of
+_creeks_."--GREGG.
+
+[201] The Creeks established a republican government in 1867, modelled
+upon that of the neighboring tribes.--ED.
+
+[202] This custom seems to have descended from antiquity. Adair, prior
+to 1775, writes, that "The Muscohge widows are obliged to live a
+chaste single life for the space of four years; and the Chikkasah
+women, for the term of three, at the risk of the law of adultery being
+executed against the recusants." But I have not heard this custom
+spoken of among the Chickasaws at the present day.--GREGG.
+
+[203] The Delaware and Shawnee removed from Kansas in 1866-67, and
+1869 respectively, and became incorporated with the Cherokee Nation.
+The Delaware, however, still maintain a form of tribal autonomy.--ED.
+
+[204] No complete census has been taken of the frontier Indians since
+their removal; but the aggregate population of those settled west of
+the border, exclusive of the Osages, Kansas, and others of the north
+(who are more appropriately ranked among the Prairie Indians), is
+76,664, according to the report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs
+for the year 1844. Of these there are reckoned of Cherokees, 25,911;
+Choctaws, 12,410; Chickasaws, 4,111; Creeks, 24,594; Seminoles, or
+Florida Indians, 3,136; Senecas from Sandusky, 125; Senecas and
+Shawnees, 211; Quapaws, 400; Wyandots, 585; Potawatomies, Chippewas
+and Ottawas, located on the waters of the Osage, 2,028; Kaskaskias and
+Piorias, 150; Piankeshaws, 98; Weaws, 176; Shawnees, 887; Delawares,
+1,059; Stockbridges, Munsees, &c., 278; Kickapoos, 505; In addition to
+these, there still remain east of the Mississippi, of Cherokees,
+1,000; Choctaws, 7,000, (but which are now, January, 1845, in progress
+of emigration); Chickasaws, 20; Creeks, 744; Potawatomies, &c., 92;
+Weaws, 30; besides some entire remnant tribes.
+
+Many of the foregoing amounts, however, have been standing numbers in
+the tables of the reports of the Indian Department, ever since the
+removal of these tribes, and as it is known that most of them have
+been on the decline, the above aggregate is no doubt excessive. For
+instance, instead of 25,911, as given in the report for the Cherokees,
+their very intelligent agent, Governor Butler, reckoned them, in 1842,
+at only about 18,000: the Creeks in place of 24,594, have, in like
+manner, been set down at about 20,000; and in the 'Choctaw Almanac'
+for 1843, I find the population of that nation rated at 12,690,
+instead of 15,177, as stated in the Commissioner's report for the same
+year.--GREGG.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX {XIV}
+
+INDIANS OF THE PRAIRIES
+
+System of Chiefs -- Mode of Warfare -- War-Council -- The
+  Scalp-dance -- The Calumet or Pipe of Peace -- Treaties -- Public
+  News-criers -- Arms of the Indians -- Bow and Arrows, etc. --
+  Hunting -- Dancing -- Language of Signs -- Telegraphs -- Wigwams
+  or Lodges -- Pack-dogs -- Costumes -- Painting, Tattooing, etc.
+  -- Indian Dandies -- Manufactures, and Dressing the Buffalo
+  Rug -- Indian Diet, Feasting, etc. -- Primitive Thomsonians --
+  Their domestic Animals, the Dog and the Horse -- Wampum -- Their
+  Chronology.
+
+
+Those savage hordes which may be considered as the Prairie Indians
+proper, have made little or no perceptible progress in civilization.
+They mostly live by plunder and the chase: a few eke out a subsistence
+by agriculture. They consist of various distinct tribes, but among
+whom there is a greater diversity of language than of habitudes. I
+would not have it understood, however, that all the customs of every
+band are entirely similar: it is this assumption, together with the
+practice of setting down as standing customs what they have observed
+on some particular occasions, that has frequently created such a
+discrepancy between the accounts of transient travellers.
+
+{277} There is scarcely a prairie tribe, however limited in numbers,
+but is subdivided into petty bands, each under the immediate control
+of its own chief. Their systems of government are frequently
+compounded of the patriarchal and military. The most influential heads
+of families exercise a petty rule, which often extends beyond their
+own household to a circle of adherents. Several of these clans, bound
+by the ties of consanguinity or friendship, are apt to come under the
+control, by common consent, of some more influential chief, who may
+have gained celebrity in their wars; but a regular hereditary descent
+seems rarely established. These petty bands seldom unite under one
+general leader, except for the common defence, when [Pg319]
+threatened with danger. Occasionally there springs up a master
+spirit--a great brave and a great sage, who is able to unite his whole
+tribe, in which he is generally aided by a sufficient knack at
+sorcerous tricks to give him the character of a great 'medicine-man.'
+
+War seems to be the element of the prairie Indians, notwithstanding
+but few possess much intrinsic bravery. They are, in fact, the most
+cowardly savages east of the Rocky Mountains, bearing but little
+similitude in this respect to the aborigines of the interior of the
+United States. They rarely attack an enemy except with a decided
+advantage; for the prospect of losing even a single warrior will often
+deter them from undertaking the most flattering adventure. It is true
+that, in addition {278} to their timidity, they are restrained by the
+fact that the loss of a man often casts a gloom upon the most
+brilliant victory, and throws a whole clan into mourning. On this
+account they generally attack by surprise, and in the night, when all
+are presumed to be asleep; having care, if against a formidable enemy,
+that it be long enough before the morning dawn to allow them to retire
+beyond reach of pursuit before daylight. When the moon rises at a late
+hour, just before she appears, is a favorite time; for then they will
+have a gleam of light by which to collect and drive off the prize of
+stock which they may be able to frighten away. These prowling parties
+around a camp sometimes employ a species of signals in imitation of
+wolves, owls and other nocturnal animals, by which they communicate
+with each other--mimicking so to the life as not to give alarm to
+unsuspecting travellers.
+
+War is seldom concluded upon, or even a campaign undertaken, without a
+general council, in which all the chiefs and most distinguished braves
+and sages assemble. After all are seated in a circle, the pipe is
+passed around until their brains are sufficiently soothed to enable
+them [Pg320] to consult the Great Spirit, and take freely into
+advisement the important matters under consideration. Therefore the
+tobacco smoke is usually blown upwards, as a propitiatory incense to
+the invoked spirits or genii who dwell 'upon the sky.' In this
+operation the smoke is generally inhaled into {279} the lungs, and
+discharged in murky streams from the olfactories. If a council be
+preparatory to a campaign, the warriors sometimes catch the tobacco
+smoke in the hand, anointing their bodies with it; which they fancy
+renders them, if not invulnerable, at least far more secure from the
+darts of their enemies.
+
+Although in their warfare they employ every wile and stratagem, and
+faithless subterfuge, to deceive their enemies, and in battle are
+relentless and cruel in the extreme, yet they seldom resort to those
+horrid punishments and tortures upon their prisoners which were wont
+to be inflicted by the savages of the interior of the United States,
+during their early wars with the whites. The practice of burning their
+captives alive, said to have prevailed many years ago among some
+prairie tribes, seems now to have grown quite out of use.
+
+Upon returning from a campaign after a defeat, the village resounds
+for many days with the lamentations, the shrieks and wailings of the
+women and children; in which, not only the bereft families, but all
+the relatives and most of the friends of the deceased join. If, on the
+contrary, the warriors have been successful, and bring home scalps of
+their enemies, all join in their most famous festival, the
+scalp-dance. In this fête the savage trophies are usually elevated
+upon a pole in the centre of the dance; or perhaps the brave captors
+retain them in their hands, tossing and swinging them about their
+heads; at the same time vehemently apostrophizing these ghastly
+representatives {280} of their enemies, with the most taunting and
+insulting [Pg321] bravadoes; branding the nation with cowardice and
+effeminacy; daring them to come forward and revenge the blood of their
+slain; then concluding with scoffs and exulting yells at the dastardly
+silence of their enemies, whom they represent as afraid to whisper a
+note of vengeance against their superiors and masters, the triumphing
+conquerors. After the warriors have become fatigued, the squaws and
+children generally continue the barbarous festivity; in the midst of
+which some vainglorious brave will rise perhaps, and repeat the
+apostrophic fanfaronades, representing that the very squaws and
+papooses hold them in cowering submission, and that henceforth these
+only will be sent to subdue them; their warriors being reserved for
+more noble enemies. These brutal rites and rodomontades being
+concluded, the scalps are handed to their owners, who cure and paint
+them for future war-dances and other kindred ceremonies.
+
+When a tribe wishes to celebrate a treaty of peace with an enemy, a
+number of their warriors, as ambassadors, or perhaps a whole band,
+move to the neighborhood, and send the calumet or pipe of peace, which
+supplies the place of the flag of truce among civilized nations:[205]
+though, when the embassy {281} is to the whites, a flag usually
+accompanies, as they have learned that this is our token of peace. The
+overture being accepted, the chiefs and principals of each band meet
+in council, sometimes in a wigwam, if there [Pg322] be a suitable
+one, else in the open air, taking their seats, as usual, upon their
+haunches in a circle proportioned to the number. If there be
+presents--and these are an indispensable earnest of friendship from
+the whites--the essence, the seal of the treaty, without which
+negotiation is vain--these are laid in the centre. A personage in the
+capacity of an orderly sergeant then lights the calumet, which he
+hands to a principal chief, who, before smoking, usually points the
+stem towards the four cardinal points, and towards the heavens and the
+earth--then takes a certain number of whiffs (generally about three),
+and passing it to the next, who draws an equal number of whiffs, it
+thus continues around the circle, in the direction of the sun, each
+sending fumid {282} currents upward from the nozzle. It seems looked
+upon as sacrilege for a person to pass before the pipe while the
+chiefs are smoking; and the heedless or impudent are sometimes
+severely punished for the act. The 'big talk' follows, and the
+presents are distributed by a chief who exercises the office of
+commissary. But in the petty truces among each other, presents are
+scarcely expected, except they be claimed by the more powerful party
+as a matter of tribute.
+
+Travellers and hunters are generally obliged to hold a treaty or 'big
+talk' with every band of prairie Indians they may encounter, if they
+wish to maintain friendly relations with them. Treaties have also been
+held, at different periods, with most of the wild tribes, by agents of
+the U. S. [Pg323] Government, yet for the most part with but very
+little effect--they generally forget or disregard them by the time the
+presents they may have received are consumed.
+
+These treaties, as well as other council deliberations, are generally
+promulgated by a sort of public crier, who proclaims the stipulations
+and resolutions from lodge to lodge; and the event is preserved in the
+memory of the sages to future generations. Among some of the tribes
+their memory is assisted by the famous 'wampum belt,' which is a list
+or belt made of wampum beads, so interwoven in hieroglyphic figures as
+to form a record of important events. Others preserve the same by
+hieroglyphic paintings on their buffalo rugs, and the like.
+
+{283} The _arms_ of the wild Indians are chiefly the bow and arrows,
+with the use of which they become remarkably expert. A dexterous
+savage will lay a wager, at short shots, against many riflemen.
+Indeed, there is hardly any more effective weapon than the bow and
+arrow in the hands of an expert archer. While the musketeer will load
+and fire once, the bowman will discharge a dozen arrows, and that, at
+distances under fifty yards, with an accuracy nearly equal to the
+rifle. In a charge, they are eminently serviceable; for the Indian
+seems to discharge his arrows with about as much certainty when
+running at full speed as when standing.
+
+The usual length of the Indian bow is about three feet, though it is
+sometimes as much as four. It is generally made of elastic wood, yet
+elk's horn is occasionally used. Those of the latter are made of two
+of the longest and straightest shafts, which, being shaved down to the
+necessary proportions, are united by lapping their ends together and
+binding them firmly with sinew. Bows have also been made, in the same
+manner, of a pair of buffalo ribs; but as well these as those of
+elk-horn, are rather items of [Pg324] curiosity than of service: at
+least, they are not equal to bows of the bois-d'arc tree. Even the
+backs of the _wooden_ bows are often lined the whole length with a
+broad strip of sinew, and the whole wrapped with shreds of the same.
+The arrows are generally about thirty inches long, and pointed with
+iron, though the primitive {284} flint points are still met with among
+some of the wildest tribes.
+
+Besides these, the lance or spear, the use of which they may have
+learned from the Mexicans, is an effective weapon in the charge as
+well as the chase. Many are also provided with the Northwestern fusil,
+and some have rifles. Very few, however, have acquired the dexterity
+of our frontier Indians with this deadly weapon. But no Indian deems
+his equipage complete without a 'scalping-knife;' yet among the
+western prairie Indians the tomahawk is but little known. These
+employ, in its stead, the war-club or 'war-hawk,' which are bludgeons
+with an encased stone for a head in the former, and with a transverse
+blade or spike in its place in the latter. Many are provided with
+shields of raw buffalo or elk skin, upon which are frequently painted
+some rude hieroglyphical devices representing the enemies they have
+slain, as well as any other notable exploits of which they can boast.
+Such as are without these have their titles to renown recorded
+commonly upon the handles of their hatchets, their war-clubs, or
+perhaps tattooed upon their breasts or arms.
+
+Besides war, _hunting_ seems the only creditable employment in which a
+warrior can engage. Every other labor is put upon the squaws; and even
+when a party of hunters set out, they generally provide themselves
+with enough of these 'menials' to take charge of the meat: the Indian
+only deigns to shoot {285} down the game; the squaws not only have it
+to cure and pack, but to skin and dress. [Pg325]
+
+Except such tribes as are expert with the rifle, very few of the
+prairie Indians hunt other game than the buffalo: not, as some have
+presumed, because they deem all small game too ignoble for them, but
+because the former is at once easiest taken, and affords the most
+bounteous supply of food. The antelope is too wild and fleet for their
+mode of hunting, and is only occasionally taken by stratagem; while
+the deer, as difficult to take in the chase, is less easily entrapped.
+But, mounted upon their trained steeds, and with the arrow or lance,
+they are not to be excelled in the chase. A few of them, let loose
+among a herd of buffalo, will soon have the plain strewed with their
+carcasses.
+
+Among the amusements of the Indians generally, _dancing_ is perhaps
+the most favorite. Besides a war accompaniment, it is practised as a
+recreation, and often connected with their worship. Their social
+frolics, in which the squaws are commonly permitted to join, are
+conducted with less ferocity of manner than their war dances; though
+even these are accompanied with the wildest and most comical
+gesticulations, and songs full at once of mirth and obscenity. In
+these, as well as in the war and scalp dances, a sort of little drum
+and a shrill squeaking pipe are their common instruments of music.
+
+As so many tongues, entirely different, are spoken by the prairie
+Indians, a 'language of {286} signs' has become the general medium of
+communication between the different nations. This system of signs has
+been brought to such perfection among them, that the most intricate
+correspondence seems to be intelligibly conducted by such as have
+acquired a proficiency in this 'dumb language.'
+
+Their systems of telegraphs are very peculiar, and though they might
+seem impracticable at first, yet so thoroughly are they understood by
+the savages, that it is availed of [Pg326] frequently to immense
+advantage. The most remarkable is by raising smokes, by which many
+important facts are communicated to a considerable distance--and made
+intelligible by the manner, size, number or repetition of the smokes,
+which are commonly raised by firing spots of dry grass. When
+travelling, they will also pile heaps of stones upon mounds or
+conspicuous points, so arranged as to be understood by their passing
+comrades; and sometimes they set up the bleached buffalo heads, which
+are everywhere scattered over those plains, to indicate the direction
+of their march, and many other facts which may be communicated by
+those simple signs.
+
+Almost every tribe has some peculiarity in the construction of their
+lodges or wigwams, in the manner of arranging their camps, and in the
+different items of dress, by any or all which peculiarities the
+experienced traveller is able to recognize the tribe of their owner.
+If a moccasin, or other article of apparel be {287} found, he at once
+designates the nation to which it belongs--even a track is often
+sufficient to identify them.[206] Also by the 'sign,' and especially
+the remains of fires, he determines the interval elapsed since their
+departure, with remarkable accuracy.
+
+The lodges are composed of a frame of small poles or rods, covered
+usually with buffalo skins, which receive but little further
+preparation than the currying off of the hair. Some give their lodges
+a round wagon-top shape, as those of the Osages, which commonly
+consist of a frame of bent rods, resembling wagon-bows, and covered
+with skins, the bark of trees, or, as is generally the case in their
+villages, with grass and earth. Again, some dispose the poles in two
+parallel lines, and incline them against a ridge-pole, [Pg327] which
+gives the wigwam the shape of a house-roof: others, planting small
+rods in a circle, to swine the points together as to resemble, in some
+degree, when covered, a rounded hay-mow: but by far the most general
+style, among the wild tribes, of constructing their wigwams, is by
+planting the lodge-poles so as to enclose a circular area of from ten
+to twenty feet in diameter (the size depending upon the number of the
+family); and the tops being brought together, it forms a conical
+frame, which is closely covered with skins, except an aperture in the
+apex for the escape of the {288} smoke. This is the style of the
+Comanches and most other tribes of the great plains. The doors of the
+lodges being closed with a skin, they are kept very comfortable in
+winter with but little fire. This is kindled in the centre, and a hole
+is left in the vertex of the lodge, through which the smoke is
+discharged so freely, that the interior is but seldom infected by it.
+
+These lodges are always pitched or set up by the squaws, and with such
+expedition, that, upon the stopping of an itinerant band, a town
+springs up in a desert valley in a few minutes, as if by enchantment.
+The lodge-poles are often neatly prepared, and carried along from camp
+to camp. In conveying them, one end frequently drags on the ground;
+whereby the trail is known to be that of a band with families, as war
+parties never carry lodge-poles. The Chayennes, Sioux and some other
+northern tribes, often employ dogs for carrying and dragging their
+lodge covers and poles; indeed for conveying most of their light
+baggage: but, for ordinary travelling purposes and packing their more
+weighty baggage, they use horses. So few navigable waters traverse the
+Prairies, that none of the Indians of the high plains have learned the
+use of canoes or water-craft of any kind.
+
+There is some variety in the dress in vogue among the [Pg328]
+different tribes; though they all use moccasins, leggins, flap or
+breech-clout, and, when not in active pursuits, they generally wrap
+their bodies in buffalo rugs, blankets or {289} mantles of strouding,
+according to their wealth or opportunities. Some of the northern
+tribes display considerable ingenuity and taste in the manufacture of
+moccasins. But this is the work of the women, who often embroider them
+with beads and colored porcupine quills, in a most beautiful manner.
+The _leggin_ is a buckskin or cloth covering for the leg and thigh, as
+of the pantaloon. A superfluous list is usually left outside the seam,
+which, if of skin, is slitted into long tassels, or if of cloth, the
+wide border remains entire, to dangle and flap upon the exterior of
+the legs. A strip of strouding (that is, coarse broad-cloth) about a
+foot in width and a yard or more long, constitutes the most usual
+flap; which being passed betwixt the legs, the ends are secured under
+the belt around the waist, whence the leggins are suspended. As the
+flap is sometimes near two yards long, a surplusage of half a yard or
+more at each end is sometimes left dangling down before and behind.
+
+The Indians use no head-dress, but support the bleakest rains and
+hottest suns of those bare plains with naked heads. Nevertheless,
+their coarse black hair seems 'fertilized' by exposure; for they
+rarely become gray till an exceeding old age; and I do not recollect
+to have ever seen a bald Indian. Their eyesight also, they retain in
+extraordinary vigor, notwithstanding the want of protection even of
+the eye-lashes and brows (which are plucked out), and in spite of the
+constant use of apparently deleterious paints around the edges {290}
+of the lids. Though using no regular head-dress, they sometimes wear,
+as a temporary ornament, a fantastic cap of skins; and it is not
+unusual to see a brave with the entire shaggy frontlet of a buffalo,
+[Pg329] horns and all, set upon his head--which, with his painted
+face, imparts a diabolical ferocity to his aspect.
+
+The Indians of the Plains, almost without exception, wear long hair,
+which dangles in clotted tresses over the shoulders--besmeared with
+gum, grease and paints, and ornamented with feathers and trinkets. But
+most of those intermediate tribes nearer our border, trim their hair
+in a peculiar manner.
+
+Vermillion seems almost indispensable to the Indian's toilet; but in
+default of this they paint with colored earths. When going to war,
+they bedaub their bodies with something black--mud, charcoal or
+gunpowder, which gives them a frightful appearance. But 'ornamental'
+painting is much more gay and fanciful. The face, and sometimes arms
+and breast are oddly striped and chequered, interspersed with shades
+of yellow and white clay, as well as occasional black, though the
+latter is chiefly appropriated to war. Especial pains are taken to tip
+the eyelids most gaily with vermillion.
+
+Besides painting, most of the tribes tattoo--some sparingly, while
+others make their faces, breasts, and particularly their arms,
+perfectly piebald. This seems practised to some extent by all the
+savages from the Atlantic {291} to the Pacific. Figures are pierced in
+the skin with any sharp pointed instrument--often the keen prickles of
+the cactus--and pulverized charcoal or gunpowder, or sometimes the
+coloring juice of a plant, is rubbed into the fresh punctures, which
+leaves a lasting stain.
+
+The most usual female dress is of the style worn by the Comanche
+squaws, which is described in speaking of that nation. With respect to
+dress and other ornaments, however, the order of the civilized world
+is reversed among the Indians. The 'fair sex' paint less than the
+men--use fewer ornaments generally, and particularly, wear [Pg330] no
+pendants in the ears. While a savage beauty pays but little attention
+to her person, a 'brave' will spend as much time at his toilet as a
+French belle, in the adjustment of his ornaments--his paint, trinkets,
+beads and other gewgaws. A mirror is his idol: no warrior is equipped
+without this indispensable toilet companion, which he very frequently
+consults. He usually takes it from its original case, and sets it in a
+large fancifully carved frame of wood, which is always carried about
+him. He is also rarely without his tweezers, whether of a fold of tin,
+of hardened wood, or of spirally twisted wire, with which he carefully
+eradicates, not only his beard, eye-lashes and brows, but every
+villous particle from his body, as fast as it appears; for everything
+of the kind is considered as extremely unbecoming a warrior. It is on
+this account that Indians {292} have frequently been represented as
+naturally beardless.
+
+All Indians are passionately fond of beads, trinkets and gewgaws of
+every kind. The men often cut up the rim of the ears in a frightful
+manner to admit their pendants of beads, plate, shells, etc.; and even
+strips of lead are sometimes twined around the separated rim, by the
+weight of which the detached portion of the ear is frequently swagged
+down some inches. It is not unusual to see near half a pound even of
+beads and 'jewelry' swung to each ear; and among some tribes, also a
+large quantity to the nose. The hair is likewise garnished with the
+same, and the neck with strings of beads, bear's claws, and the like;
+while the arms are profusely ornamented with bracelets of wire or
+plated metal. The 'braves' are those who commonly deck themselves with
+the most gaudy trappings, and would usually be taken by a stranger for
+the chiefs of the band, who, on the other hand, are often apparelled
+in the most ordinary manner. [Pg331]
+
+The squaws are, in every sense of the word the slaves of the men. They
+are called upon to perform every toilsome service--to carry wood and
+make fires--to skin and dress the meat and prepare the food--to herd,
+drive up, saddle and unsaddle their lords' horses--to pitch and strike
+the lodges--to pack up the baggage, and often indeed to carry heavy
+loads during travel--in short, everything else pretty much but fight
+and hunt, which the {293} Indian boasts of, as being his peculiar, if
+not his sole vocations.
+
+What little of manufacturing is done among the Indians is also the
+work of the women. They prepare the different articles of apparel. In
+embroidering moccasins and their leathern petticoats, etc., their
+greatest skill, particularly among the northern tribes, is exhibited.
+But the most extensive article of their manufacture is the _buffalo
+rug_, which they not only prepare for their own use, but which
+constitutes the largest item of their traffic with the Indian traders.
+These are dressed and cured exclusively by the squaws.
+
+To dress a buffalo rug, the first step is to 'flesh' the skin, or
+neatly scrape from the inner surface every carneous particle. This is
+generally done with an instrument of bone, cut something in the shape
+of a small adz, with a serrate edge. For this operation the skin is
+sometimes suspended in a frame upon the branch of a tree, or a fork of
+the lodge--though more commonly, perhaps, stretched with pegs upon the
+smooth ground, with the flesh-side up. After it dries, the spongy
+surface of the skin is neatly curried off with another adz-shaped bone
+or handle of wood, with a flat bit of iron transversely set for the
+blade, which is edged after the manner of a currier's instrument. The
+surface is then besmeared with brains (which the Canadians call
+_mettre à la cervelle_), and rolled up with the flesh-side in, in
+which condition it is left for two or three days. The brains of the
+same {294} animals are generally used; those [Pg332] of a buffalo
+being more than sufficient to dress his own hide. The pores of the
+skin being fully penetrated by the brains, it is again wetted, and
+softened by continual working and rubbing till it dries. To facilitate
+this last operation, it is sometimes stretched in a frame and
+suspended before a fire, when the inner surface is scraped with the
+serrated adz before mentioned, and finished off by assiduous rubbing
+with a pumice-stone, if that article can be had; if not, by passing
+the skin by small sections rapidly back and forth over a slack cord.
+
+Buffalo rugs are often observed with a seam in the middle. This is
+caused by cutting them in two, partly for convenience in dressing
+them, and partly to take out the hollow occasioned by the hump,
+particularly of the bulls. The hump of the cow being less, their skins
+generally bear dressing without being cut. The hide is frequently
+split in two, however, in skinning the animal, the Indians preferring
+to commence on the back.
+
+The buffalo skin is often dressed without the wool. To this end the
+hide is soaked in water till the hair is loosened, when it is
+'curried' and 'brained,' and softened as above. Of these dressed
+buffalo skins (known among Mexicans as _anta blanca_) is made a
+considerable portion of the Indian clothing for both sexes--even the
+petticoats of the females; though these prefer buckskin when they can
+procure it.
+
+The chief aliment of the Prairie Indians is {295} flesh, though in
+default of this they often sustain themselves for weeks together upon
+roots, herbs and fruits. The buffalo are the common herds of these
+savages, affording them 'food, raiment and shelter.' It seems there
+were anciently occasional cannibal tribes[207] in those regions, but
+not a [Pg333] vestige of cannibalism, as I believe, now remains;
+except such an inhuman appetite may be ascribed to some of the more
+savage warriors, who, as I have heard, in the delirium of exultant
+victory, have been known to devour the hearts of their bravest
+victims, at once to satiate their blood-thirsty propensities, and to
+appropriate to themselves, as they fancy, the valor of the slain
+enemy.
+
+However, they make food of nearly every animal of their country, and
+often of insects and even the filthiest vermin. By some tribes,
+grasshoppers, locusts and the like are collected and dried for future
+use. Among nearly all the northern tribes, the flesh of the dog[208]
+is considered as the greatest delicacy; so much so, indeed, that when
+a favorite visitor is expected to dine, they are sure to have served
+up for him the choicest pieces from some one of the many fat whelps
+which pertain to every lodge. In this way travellers have often been
+{296} constrained to eat Indian dog-meat, and which, prejudice apart,
+is by no means an unsavory viand; but the flesh of the wolf, and even
+the American dog, is generally said to be ill-flavored and sometimes
+insupportable. The polecat is also a favorite food among the Indians;
+and though the celebrated Irving, during a "Tour on the Prairies,"
+seems to claim a deal of credit for having "plumped into the river" a
+dressed polecat, whereby he prevented an Osage from "disgracing" their
+fire by the cooking of it, yet all travellers who have tasted the
+flesh of this animal have pronounced it fine, and of exquisite
+relish.[209] "The flesh of the skunk," observes Dr. James, in his
+account of Maj. Long's Expedition, "we [Pg334] sometimes had dressed
+for dinner, and found it remarkably rich and delicate food."
+
+These wild tribes are without other kitchen utensils than an
+occasional kettle. They sometimes broil their meats, but often eat
+them raw. A savage will feast upon the warm carcass of the buffalo;
+selecting bits of the tenderloin, liver, etc., and it is not uncommon
+to see him use the gall as sauce! Feasting is one of their favorite
+enjoyments; though their ability to endure hunger almost exceeds
+belief. They will fast a week and yet retain their strength and vigor:
+but then when they do procure food again, it seems as if they never
+would be satiated.
+
+The Indians of the Prairies have become acquainted with the medical
+virtues of many of their indigenous plants, which are often {297} used
+in connection with the vapor sweat, and cold bath: wherefore we may
+consider them as the primitive Thomsonians.[210] After a profuse
+sweating, assisted by decoctions of sudorific herbs, in a tight lodge
+filled with vapor by pouring water over heated stones, and while still
+dripping, they will leap into a pool of cold water, and afterwards
+wrap themselves in a buffalo rug. This course has proved successful in
+some diseases, and extraordinary cures have thus been performed: but
+in other cases, and especially in the small-pox, it has been attended
+with horrible fatality. They frequently let blood for disease, which
+is oftenest performed with the keen edge of a flint: and though they
+sometimes open a vein, they more commonly make their incisions
+indiscriminately. They have great faith in their 'medicine men,' who
+pretend to cure the sick with conjurations and charms; and the
+Comanches and many others often keep up an irksome, monotonous singing
+over the diseased person, to frighten away [Pg335] the evil spirit
+which is supposed to torment him: all of which, from its effect upon
+the imagination, often tends, no doubt, to hasten recovery.
+
+These Indians keep no domestic animals, except horses, mules, and
+dogs. With the latter every lodge is abundantly supplied; yet, as has
+already been shown, they are more useful appendages than the annoying
+packs which so often infest the country cabins, and frequently the
+villages, in the United States. {298} Horses, however, constitute the
+chief wealth of the prairie Indian. These are the incentives to most
+of their predatory excursions. The tribes of the north in particular,
+as well as the white trappers, frequently maintain their horses,
+during winter, upon the tender bark of the sweet cottonwood, the
+_populus angulata_ of the Mississippi valley.
+
+The western savages know nothing of the value of money. The wampum
+bead, it is true, among a few tribes, somewhat resembles a currency:
+for, being generally esteemed, it acquires a value in proportion to
+size, and sometimes passes from hand to hand, in exchange for
+necessaries. The legitimate wampum is only of shells, and was of
+aboriginal manufacture; being small long tubes with an ovate surface,
+or sometimes simply cylindrical; and handsomely polished: but
+imitations of glass or porcelain seem now the most common. The color
+is generally white, though sometimes blue or striped.
+
+These Indians have no knowledge of the divisions of time, except by
+palpable distinctions; as days, moons and years; which last they
+commonly represent as so many springs, or falls of the leaves, or as
+often by winters, that is, frosts or snows. Distances are represented
+by days' journey, which are oftener designated by camps or 'sleeps.'
+When a day's journey is spoken of in general terms, it is meant that
+of a band in regular travel, which rarely exceeds twenty miles.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI [XV]
+
+INDIANS OF THE PRAIRIES
+
+Intermediate Tribes -- Their Wigwams and their Hunting Excursions
+  -- Dress and Cut of their Hair -- The Pawnees -- The Osages --
+  Their Roguery -- Matrimonial Customs -- Accomplished Mourners --
+  Their Superstitions -- The Indian Stature -- The 'Pawnee Picts'
+  -- Wild Tribes -- Census -- The Comanches -- Their Range -- Their
+  Sobriety -- Their Chiefs, etc. -- Female Chastity -- Comanche
+  Marriage -- Costumes -- Horsemanship -- Comanche Warfare --
+  Predatory Forays -- Martial Ceremonies -- Treatment of Captives --
+  Burial and Religious Rites.
+
+
+The tribes inhabiting near the borders of the frontier Indians differ
+from those that range the far-western prairies in several traits of
+general character. The former have their fixed villages, and, for the
+most part, combine the pursuits of agriculture and the chase. They
+form, indeed, a sort of intermediate class between the frontier and
+the wild tribes, resembling the one or the other in all important
+particulars. I will merely notice in this place a few of the
+characteristics by which the more conspicuous of these tribes are
+distinguished.
+
+Their village wigwams differ from the lodges of the wilder tribes, in
+their being {300} much more substantial, and usually covered with
+grass and earth instead of skins. The Indians commonly remain in their
+villages during the inclement portion of the winter; yet most of them
+spend the early spring upon the Prairies in buffalo-hunting; as well
+as such portions of the summer and autumn as are not occupied in the
+cultivation and gathering of their crops, which they secure in
+_caches_ till their return.
+
+In dress they differ but little from the wilder tribes, except that,
+having more communication with the whites, they make greater use of
+our fabrics--blankets, coarse cloths, calicoes and the like. Their
+most striking peculiarity consists in the cut of their hair. Most of
+them, [Pg337] instead, like the Indians of the Plains, of wearing the
+hair long, trim and arrange it in the most fantastic style. In the
+care bestowed upon this part of their toilet, they cannot be excelled
+by the most _soigneux_ of civilized dandies. They shave a large
+portion of the head, but leave a fanciful lock upon the crown as a
+scalp-crest (an indispensable trophy for the enemy), which is in
+general gorgeously bedecked with painted feathers and gewgaws.
+
+The _Pawnees_, who now have their principal village on the Loup Fork
+of the Platte river, are perhaps the most famous of these tribes.
+Small bands of their war-parties roam on foot through every portion of
+the Prairies, often to the Mexican frontier, though they generally
+contrive to return well mounted. {301} When upon these expeditions,
+they may properly enough be considered the Ishmaelites of the
+Prairies--their hands are against every man, and every man's hand is
+against them. They will skulk about in the vicinity of a prize of
+mules or horses for several days unsuspected, till a favorable
+opportunity offers to pounce upon them.
+
+This nation is divided into four principal bands, the Grand Pawnees
+(or _Grand Pans_, as called by the Canadians), the Republics, the
+Mahas or Loups, and the Tapage or Noisy Pawnees. Their relatives, the
+Rickaras, are now considered a distinct tribe.[211]
+
+The _Osages_ are at present the most important western branch of the
+Dahcotah stock, after the Sioux. There are two bands of them, the Big
+and Little Osages.[212] Though the Pawnees stand most prominent as
+prairie marauders, these are unsurpassed in simple rogueries.
+Expertness at stealing appears indeed to constitute a part [Pg338] of
+their faith, and an all-important branch of education, in which
+degrees are conferred in true 'academic order;' for I have been
+assured, that, in their councils, the claims of the candidates to the
+honors of rogueship are duly considered, and to the most proficient is
+awarded an honorary badge--the right to wear a fancy feather stuck
+athwart his scalp-crest.
+
+The habitudes of the Osages do not appear to have undergone any
+material change, notwithstanding the exertions of the government and
+the missionaries to civilize and to christianize {302} them. Some of
+their matrimonial customs are very curious and rather peculiar. The
+eldest daughter seems not only 'heiress apparent,' but, when married,
+becomes absolute owner of the entire property and household of her
+parents--family and all. While single, however, she has no authority,
+but is herself held as a piece of merchantable property, estimated
+somewhat as in civilized life, in proportion to her 'charms,' and to
+the value of her 'hereditaments.' She is therefore kept under the
+strictest watch by her parents, that she may not diminish her worth by
+any improper conduct.
+
+When some warrior 'beau' has taken a fancy to the heiress and wishes
+to possess her and her estate of sisters, dogs, rugs and household, he
+takes his finest horses, (and if she be a 'belle' he need not attempt
+it unless he have some of the noblest), and tying them at her lodge
+door departs without saying a word; leaving them, like a slow-match,
+silently to effect his purpose. After the 'pretender' has disappeared,
+the matron of the premises and her lord inspect the valuables, the
+'demure damsel' barely venturing a sly peep through some crevice of
+the wigwam. If the offer be found unworthy, the horses are sent back
+to the owner as silently as they came, or maybe with some apology,
+provided he be a warrior whom they are afraid of offending. [Pg339]
+But if accepted, the father takes instead some of his own horses and
+ties them at the door of the proposer, as a token of admission. If the
+{303} parties be without horses, some other valuables are employed in
+lieu. After this the marriage is solemnized with a joyous fête, and
+their primitive ceremonies.
+
+But now the son-in-law is fully indemnified for his heavy
+'disbursement' in the _purchase_ of his bride; for he at once becomes
+possessor of the entire wealth of his father-in-law--master of the
+family-lodge and all the household: if there be a dozen younger
+daughters, they are all _de droit_--his wives or slaves as we may
+choose to consider them: in fact, the 'heiress' herself seems in the
+same predicament, and the wife among them all who may have the tact to
+gain the husband's affections, generally becomes mistress of the
+'harem.' From the refuse of this estate of 'fair ones' the indigent
+warriors and inferior Indians who are not able to purchase an
+'heiress' are apt to supply themselves with wives upon a cheaper
+scale.[213]
+
+The Osages bury their dead according to the usual Indian mode; and,
+though it seems always to have been the custom among most {304} savage
+nations, to keep up a chorus of hideous cries and yells for a long
+while after the death of a relative, yet the Osages are by far the
+most accomplished mourners of them all. Being once encamped near a
+party of them, I was awakened at the dawn of day [Pg340] by the most
+doleful, piteous, heart-rending howls and lamentations. The apparently
+distressed mourners would cry with a protracted expiration till
+completely out of breath. For some instants he seemed to be in the
+very last agonies: then he would recover breath with a smothered,
+gurgling inspiration: and thus he continued for several minutes,
+giving vent to every variety of hideous and terrific sounds. Looking
+around, I perceived the weeper standing with his face towards the
+faint gleam which flitted from the still obscured sun. This was
+perhaps his idol; else he was standing thus because his deceased
+relation lay in that direction. A full 'choir' of these mourners
+(which is always joined by the howls and yelps of their myriads of
+dogs), imparts the most frightful horror to a wilderness camp.
+
+It is considered among these as well as other 'crying' tribes, quite a
+merit to be a graceful weeper: it becomes even a profitable vocation
+to those whose eyes and lungs are most capacious of such things. If
+you tell an Osage that you have lost a kinsman or friend for whom you
+wish him to mourn, he will undertake the service for a trifling
+reward--and acquit himself with more 'credit'--more to the spirit than
+the best tragic {305} actor. He will mimic every exterior indication
+of grief and the most heart-felt wailing, till the tears trickle in
+torrents down his cheeks.[214]
+
+The Osages seem generally to worship a good and evil spirit, and to
+believe in the most usual Indian paradise. No people can have more
+implicit faith in witchcraft and all kinds of sorcery and
+superstitions--such as holding converse with deceased friends or
+relations--appointing a time to die, etc.: and instances are related
+of their fancying [Pg341] themselves thus called to the world of
+spirits, which would so powerfully affect the imagination as to cause
+them to pine away, and sometimes die even to the appointed day.
+
+Owing partially, no doubt, to the burdensome life they lead, the
+squaws of all the tribes are, for the most part, much more inclined to
+corpulency than the men. They are generally chubby and ill-favored,
+while the males are usually tall, erect, well-turned and active. For
+their proverbial straightness, however, the Osages are perhaps more
+famous than any of the other prairie Indians.
+
+The _Wacoes_, _Witchitas_ and their kindred tribes on Red River, are,
+for the most part, a very indigent race. They are chiefly remarkable
+for their profuse tatooing, whereby they have sometimes acquired the
+title of 'Pawnee Picts:' the females particularly make a perfect
+calico of the whole under-jaw, breast and arms, and the mammæ are
+fancifully ornamented with rings and rays. The tattoo, in fact, seems
+to constitute the chief female ornament {306} of these tribes; for
+their only gown consists of about a yard and a half of strouding, or
+else a small dressed skin, suspended from the waist, and constituting
+a sort of primitive petticoat. The upper portion of the body remains
+uncovered, except by a blanket or small skin, thrown loosely over the
+shoulders. The men are often without any other vesture than the flap,
+and sometimes a buffalo rug or blanket.
+
+As the remaining tribes of this intermediate class present few or no
+distinctive characteristics, we will pass at once to the consideration
+of the _wild tribes_ proper[215] of the Great [Pg342] Western
+Prairies. These neither cultivate the soil nor live in fixed villages,
+but lead a roving life in pursuit of plunder and game, and without
+ever submitting themselves to that repose--to those fixed habits,
+which must always precede any progress in civilization. But as the
+_Comanches_ are the only tribe of these 'wandering Arabs' of the
+Plains which {307} present any distinguishing features of
+interest--any prominent points of national character--the remarks that
+follow will be devoted almost exclusively to them.
+
+The relationship of the Comanches to the Snakes or Shoshonies, shows
+them to have descended from the north: in fact, it is but half a
+century since their range was from the Arkansas river northward; but
+at present this stream is their _ultima Thule_. Yet they even now
+acknowledge no boundaries, but call themselves the lords of the entire
+Prairies--all others are but 'tenants at will.' They lead a wandering
+sort of life, betaking themselves whithersoever the seasons or the
+habits of the buffalo, their chief object of pursuit, may lead them.
+Although during summer they are not unfrequently found as far north as
+the Arkansas river, their winters they usually pass about the head
+branches of the Brazos and Colorado rivers of Texas.
+
+In their domestic habits, these Indians, for the most part, resemble
+the other wild tribes; yet in some respects they differ materially.
+One of the most interesting traits of difference is to be found in
+their distaste for ardent [Pg343] spirits: but few of them can be
+induced to taste a drop of intoxicating liquors; thus forming an
+exception, I believe, to the entire race of the 'red man,' who appears
+to have a constitutional appetite for strong drinks. The frontier as
+well as the prairie tribes--the Mexican as well as the Mountain
+Indians--all are equally slaves to their use.
+
+{308} The Comanches are divided into numerous petty bands, each under
+the control of its own particular chief. When a chief becomes old and
+care-worn, he exercises but the 'civil authority' of his clan; while
+his son, if deemed worthy, otherwise some distinguished brave,
+assumes, by 'common consent,' the functions of war-chief. As is the
+case with all barbarous tribes, their chiefs assume every judicial and
+executive authority. Complaints are made to them and sentence
+summarily pronounced, and often as summarily executed. For most
+offences, the chief, if he considers his authority sufficiently well
+established, freely uses the rod upon his subjects. He rarely attempts
+this, however, upon noted warriors or 'braves,' whose influence and
+resentment he may have reason to fear. The punishment of murder among
+these, as among most of the savage nations, devolves upon the bereaved
+relatives, who are free to pursue and punish the perpetrators
+according to their own liking, which is seldom short of death. But the
+offended party, if disposed to compromise, has also the privilege of
+accepting a commutation and releasing the murderer.
+
+The husband seems to have complete power over the destinies of his
+wife and children. For adultery, his punishment is most usually to cut
+off the nose or ears,[216] or {309} both; and he may even take the
+life of his unfaithful wife [Pg344] with impunity. The squaw who has
+been mutilated for such a cause, is _ipso facto_ divorced, and, it is
+said, for ever precluded from marrying again. The consequence is, that
+she becomes a confirmed harlot in the tribe. Owing in part, no doubt,
+to such severity in their customs, the Comanche squaws have ever been
+noted for their chastity. This may result also, in some degree, from
+the circumstance, that the Comanche husbands, fathers and brothers,
+seldom or never subject their wives, daughters and sisters, to that
+debasing traffic practised among so many of the northern nations.
+
+Like other wild tribes, the Comanches tolerate polygamy, the chiefs
+and braves sometimes taking as many as eight or ten wives at a time.
+Three is considered the usual number, however, for 'subjects' or
+common warriors, and nine for the chiefs. Their marriage ceremonies
+vary in different bands; but the following has been represented as the
+most usual. Unlike most other tribes, the consent of the maiden has to
+be obtained. This done, the lover, from apparent delicacy, goes not to
+the father of his intended, but, in accordance with a custom which
+prevails among some other tribes, communicates his desire to an uncle
+or other aged relative, who enters into the marriage contract. The
+parties, however, are not yet fully betrothed; but, as a test of the
+submission of the bride to the service of her proposed lord, the
+latter ties his riding-horse {310} at her lodge door. If she turn him
+loose, she has resolved finally to reject him; but if she lead him to
+the _caballada_, it is an unequivocal agreement to take the charge of
+his horses and other property; and the marriage is soon concluded. The
+'uncle' now communicates the engagement to the chief, who causes the
+'bans' to be published, that no other wooer may interfere. As the
+horse is with them the type of every important interest, the
+bridegroom next [Pg345] proceeds to kill the least valuable one he is
+possessed of; and, taking out the heart, hangs it at the door of his
+betrothed, who takes and roasts it, and then dividing it into two
+parts, each eats a half, which perfects the bond of wedlock. The heart
+of the buffalo or other animal may perhaps be substituted, if the
+bridegroom has not a superabundance of horses. Should the
+circumstances of the parties admit of it, the marriage is usually
+celebrated with feasting and dances; though, in general, the Comanches
+are less fond of dancing than most other Indians.
+
+The Comanche dress consists of the usual leggins, moccasins, flap and
+blanket or robe. Many wear in addition a kind of leathern jerkin, or
+tight jacket closed before. Their moccasins differ from those of other
+tribes, by having a lengthy tassel of leathern fringes attached to the
+heels, which trail the ground as they walk. Instead of this fringe,
+the tassels sometimes consists of the tail of a polecat or some other
+animal. When he can procure {311} it, the young warrior is wont to
+wear a mantle and leggins of strouding. Both of these articles,
+according to the 'latest fashions,' should be one-half red, the other
+blue. The bi-colored mantle, as well as the blanket or buffalo rug, is
+carelessly thrown over the shoulders, and must be long enough to drag
+the ground; for they seem to have an instinct for the 'regal grandeur
+of a sweeping gown.'
+
+Though all the far-western Indians wear their hair long, the Comanche
+seems to take most pride in the voluminousness of his 'tresses,' and
+the length of his _queue_, which is sometimes eked out with buffalo or
+other hair, till its tip reaches the ground, and is bedaubed with gum,
+grease and paint, and decorated with beads and other gewgaws. We are
+not to think that foppery and coxcombry are generated exclusively in
+civilized life. I am sure I never saw a vainer creature than a
+Comanche brave in full costume, of dress, [Pg346] trinkets and paint.
+He steps as if he disdained the very ground upon which he walks.
+
+The dress of the Comanche squaw is usually a kind of loose gown or
+tunic of leather, or cotton if it can be procured, which hangs from
+the shoulders and is bound around the waist with a girdle; thus
+presenting a resemblance in its appearance to our ordinary female
+costume. They wear moccasins, to which short leggins are attached, and
+which constitute a sort of leathern hose. They are not permitted to
+wear long hair: that 'manly' prerogative would be degraded by such an
+{312} association. It is therefore kept docked so as scarcely to reach
+the shoulders.
+
+A style of dress similar to that of the Comanche females, is worn by
+those of most of the erratic tribes. The squaws of the north usually
+embroider their leathern frocks in a fanciful manner with colored
+porcupine quills and beads, and bedeck the borders with rattling
+shells, tags, hawk-bells, and the like. Such as have the fortune to
+marry Canadian or American trappers, are those who usually dress most
+gaily.
+
+The prairie Indians generally are an equestrian race; yet in
+horsemanship the Comanches stand decidedly preeminent; and can only be
+equalled by the Northern Mexicans, and perhaps the Arabs. Like the
+latter, they dote upon their steeds: one had as well undertake to
+purchase a Comanche's child as his favorite riding-horse. They have a
+peculiar mark for their animals: every one which has pertained to them
+may always be recognized by a slit in the tip of each ear; a practice
+apparently universal among all their tribe.
+
+In their warlike expeditions they avail themselves of their equestrian
+skill with wonderful success. As they always fight on horseback, they
+depend chiefly upon the charge, at which they use their arrows and
+javelins with wonderful [Pg347] efficacy.[217] On such occasions a
+Comanche will often throw himself upon {313} the opposite side of his
+charger, so as to be protected from the darts of the enemy; and, while
+clinging there, he will discharge his arrows with extraordinary
+dexterity from underneath his horse's neck. Different from the
+'prowling' tribes, they seldom attack at night, or in timbered or
+rough regions; for they would then be unable to manœuvre their
+coursers to advantage.
+
+Although not meriting the title of brave Indians, they are held by the
+Mexicans as the most valiant of their border: but when they come in
+contact with Americans or any of our frontier tribes, they generally
+appear timid and cowardly. Their predatory forays are therefore
+directed mostly westward. They make continual inroads upon the whole
+eastern frontier of Mexico, from Chihuahua to the coast; driving off
+immense numbers of horses and mules, and killing the citizens they may
+encounter, or making them prisoners--particularly the females and
+boys. Of the latter they make slaves, to perform such menial service
+as usually pertains to the squaws, particularly the herding of the
+stock. It is perhaps this alleviation of their labor by slaves, that
+has contributed to elevate the Comanche women above those of many of
+the northern tribes. Of their female captives they often make wives; a
+fate which has befallen some of those taken from Texas.
+
+Strange as it may appear, their captives frequently become attached to
+their masters and to the savage life, and with difficulty are {314}
+induced to leave them after a few years' captivity. In fact, these
+prisoners, it is said, in time often turn out to be the most
+formidable savages. Combining the subtlety of the Mexican with the
+barbarity of the Indian, they sometimes pilot into their native
+frontier [Pg348] and instigate horrid outrages. The department of
+Chihuahua has been the greatest sufferer from their inroads.
+
+But, though at continual war with the south of the republic, for many
+years the Comanches have cultivated peace with the New Mexicans--not
+only because the poverty of the country offers fewer inducements for
+their inroads, but because it is desirable, as with the interior
+Mexican tribes, to retain some friendly point with which to keep an
+amicable intercourse and traffic. Parties of them have therefore
+sometimes entered the settlements of New Mexico for trading purposes;
+while every season numerous bands of New Mexicans, known as
+_Comancheros_, supplied with arms, ammunitions, trinkets, provisions
+and other necessaries, launch upon the Prairies to barter for mules,
+and the different fruits of their ravages upon the south.
+
+This powerful nation, combined with the petty southern tribes, has
+also waged an almost unceasing warfare upon Texas, ever since her
+independence. War-parties have frequently penetrated to the very heart
+of the settlements, perpetrating murderous outrages, and bearing away
+into captivity numerous women and children. They have entered {315}
+the city of Austin, then the seat of government, in open day; and, at
+other times, have been known to descend to the very seacoast,
+committing many frightful depredations. "On the 8th of August, 1840,"
+writes a friend who resided at Linnville, on Matagorda Bay, "several
+hundred Comanches came down from the mountains, and charged upon us
+without the least notice. They burned and made a perfect destruction
+of the village and everything pertaining to it."[218] [Pg349]
+
+Besides continual hostilities with Mexico and Texas, the
+Comanches are at war with most of the Indians of the Mexican interior,
+as also with the tribes of the more northern prairies--and
+particularly the Arrapahoes and Chayennes, with whom they have many
+bloody rencounters.[219] But they generally remain on friendly terms
+with the petty tribes of the south, whom, indeed, they seem to hold as
+their vassals.
+
+As these Indians always go to war on horseback, several days are often
+spent previous to a campaign in equestrian exercises and ceremonies,
+which seem partly to supply the place of the war-dance of other
+tribes; though they sometimes join in preparatory dances also. It is
+not an unusual custom, when a campaign is in agitation, for a band of
+about twenty Comanche maidens to chant, for three nights in
+succession, the victories of their ancestors, the valor of their
+brothers and cotemporaries, and the individual prowess of all such
+young warriors as they consider should engage in {316} the
+contemplated enterprise: and all those designated by the serenading
+band are held as drafted for the [Pg350] campaign. Fired by the
+encomiums and excitations of the 'fair _cantatrices_,' they fly at
+once to the standard of their favorite chief: and the ceremony is
+concluded by a war-dance.
+
+Upon their return from a successful expedition, the 'war-worn corps'
+halts on some elevation at a distance from the village, and a herald
+is sent forward to announce their arrival. Thereupon, one of their
+most respectable and aged matrons issues forth to receive them,
+carrying with her a very long-handled lance kept for the purpose. On
+the top of this the victorious Indians fasten all the scalps they may
+have taken, so arranged that each shall be conspicuous. The matron
+squaw then approaches the wigwams, holding her scalp-garnished lance
+high in the air, and chanting some favorite war-legend. She is soon
+joined by other squaws and Indian lasses, who dance around as the
+procession moves through the entire circuit of the village. If the
+victory has been brilliant, the dancing and feasting are apt to be
+kept up for several days, all parties joining in the general jubilee.
+
+If the conquerors bring any prisoners with them, these have to
+encounter the scourgings and insults of the squaws and children. Each
+seems entitled to a blow, a kick, a pinch, a bite, or whatever simple
+punishment they may choose to inflict upon the unfortunate captives.
+This done, they are delivered {317} over to the captors as slaves, and
+put to the service and drudgery of the camp.
+
+After their first entrance it seems rare for them to treat their
+captives with much cruelty: though an instance was related to me by
+some Mexican prisoners, of a very barbarous massacre which they
+witnessed during their captivity. Two white men, supposed to be
+Texans, were tied to a stake, and a number of their marksmen, retiring
+to a distance and using the naked bodies of their victims [Pg351] as
+targets, began wantonly to fire at them, and continued their horrid
+sport, until some fatal balls put an end to their sufferings! The
+capture of these had probably been attended with some aggravating
+circumstances, which induced the savages to resort to this cruel
+method of satiating their revenge.
+
+If a campaign has been unsuccessful, the warriors separate upon their
+return, and drop into the village one by one. Nothing is now heard for
+several days, but the wailings and howlings of the bereft relatives
+and friends. They will also scarify their arms and legs, and subject
+themselves to other carnal mortifications of the most powerful
+character. On these occasions their previous captives, and
+particularly such as may belong to the nation of their victorious
+enemy, are sure to be roughly treated, and sometimes massacred by the
+enraged relatives of the slain.
+
+When a Comanche dies, a similar course of mourning is practised; and
+he is usually wrapped in his best blankets or robes, and interred
+{318} with most of his 'jewelry' and other articles of esteem;
+accompanying which, it is said, an awl and some moccasin leather is
+generally added, as a provision, it would appear, for his use during
+his long journey to the 'happy hunting ground' beyond the grave. They
+also kill the favorite horses of the deceased, which are often buried
+by his side, doubtless with the same object.
+
+The religious notions of the Comanches resemble, in most particulars,
+those of the other prairie tribes; yet they appear to have an
+occasional peculiarity. Some say the dry buffalo head or cranium is
+their idol. True it is that they show it great reverence, and use it
+in many of their mystic ceremonies. The Pawnees also hold these
+buffalo heads, with which the plains are strewed, in great reverence;
+and usually for many leagues around, these skulls are set up facing
+towards their villages, in the belief that the herds [Pg352] of
+buffalo will thus be conducted by them into their neighborhood.[220]
+Of the Comanches the sun is no doubt the principal deity. When
+preparing for a campaign, it is said they do not fail to place their
+arms betimes every morning on the east side of their lodges, that they
+may receive the blessing of the fountain of light at his first
+appearance. This indeed seems the usual time for offering their
+devotions to the sun, of many tribes of the American aborigines.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[205] This seems to have been of ancient and general use among the
+savages of North America. "I must speak here of the _Calumet_,"
+remarks Father Marquette, "the most mysterious thing in the world. The
+sceptres of our kings are not so much respected; for the savages have
+such a deference for this pipe, that one may call it _the god of peace
+and war, and the arbiter of life and death_. One, with this calumet,
+may venture amongst his enemies, and in the hottest engagement they
+lay down their arms before this sacred pipe." The deference is perhaps
+not so great at the present day, though the 'pipe of peace' is still
+very much respected. Even the ashes from the calumet seem to be held
+sacred; for, usually after smoking, the pipe is emptied in some corner
+of the lodge specially allotted for the purpose. But as they have
+generally learned that smoking is not practised by the whites on these
+occasions, it is now not commonly held important for us to smoke with
+them; but presents are expected instead. Anciently, however, they were
+more strict; for, in another place, the same author (in 1673)
+relates:--"As soon as we sat down, they presented us, according to
+custom, their _calumet_, which one must needs accept, for else he
+should be lookt upon as an enemy, or a meer brute; however, it is not
+necessary to smoak, and provided one puts it to his mouth, it is
+enough."--GREGG.
+
+_Comment by Ed._ See Thwaites, _Jesuit Relations_, lix, pp. 117, 119,
+131.
+
+[206] As many tribes make their moccasins of different shapes--some
+with hooked toes, others broad--some with the seam on the bottom,
+etc., there is always a palpable difference in the tracks.--GREGG.
+
+[207] A diminutive tribe on the Texas border, called Tonkewas, made
+food of human flesh within the present century, and, it may be of late
+years, though I have not heard it mentioned.--GREGG.
+
+[208] Dogs seem always to have been a favorite article of food among
+the aborigines of different parts. Father Marquette, in his voyage
+down the Mississippi in 1673, remarks of an Indian feast, "The third
+service was a huge Dog, whom they killed on purpose," &c.--GREGG.
+
+[209] See Irving, _Tour on the Prairies_, pp. 83, 84.--ED.
+
+[210] Dr. Samuel Thomson (1769-1843), a New England physician,
+advocated a method of treating fevers and similar diseases by means of
+steaming.--ED.
+
+[211] For the Pawnee groups and habitat, see Pattie's _Narrative_, in
+our volume xviii, p. 40, note 24. For the Arikara, consult Bradbury's
+_Travels_, in our volume v, p. 127, note 83.--ED.
+
+[212] For the Osage see our volume v, p. 50, note 22.--ED.
+
+[213] The custom of taking all the sisters of a family is also said to
+be common among the Kansas, Omahas and other kindred tribes; indeed it
+appears to have prevailed from the earliest ages among all the
+Dahcotah family as well as many Algonquins and most other tribes about
+the great Lakes. Mons. La Salle, in his trip from these to the
+Mississippi in 1673, remarks of the savages of those regions: "They
+marry several Wives, and commonly all Sisters, if they can, thinking
+they agree better in their Family." Hennepin, Charlevoix and others
+speak of the same custom. Murray also mentions something of the kind
+among the Pawnees. Forbes alludes to the same in California. But I am
+uninformed, whether, in these several instances, the husband's right
+was only _de facto_, or _de jure_ as among the Osages, to all the
+younger sisters.--GREGG.
+
+[214] Note Bradbury's experience with the mourning Osage, in our
+volume v, pp. 63, 64.--ED.
+
+[215] The population of the intermediate tribes, according to the
+Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, for 1844 is as follows:
+Pawnees, 12,500 souls (though some experienced traders rate them at
+only about 5,000); Rickaras, 1,200; Chippewas, Potawatomies and
+Ottawas of the North, 2,298; Sacs and Foxes, 2,762; Winnebagoes,
+2,183; Iowas, 470; Poncas, 777; Omahas, 1,301; Otoes and Missouries,
+931; Kansas, 1,700; Osages, 4,102;--besides of Caddoes and Inyes about
+500; Wacoes, Witchitas, Towockanoes, Towyashes and Keechyes, 1,000;
+who maintain themselves chiefly in Northern Texas. The wild tribes
+proper of the Prairies, are, the Comanches, consisting of about 10,000
+souls; Kiawas, 2,000; Apaches, 100; Arrapahoes, 2,000; Chayennes,
+2,000; besides many others to the north and westward, who rarely
+descend within the regions to the notice of which these pages are
+confined. As these tribes would doubtless average at least
+three-fifths females, they could hardly turn out one-fifth of their
+numbers in warriors, though this is the usual rule of estimating them
+by men of Indian experience.--GREGG.
+
+[216] This custom was perhaps once quite extensive. It prevails among
+the Creeks to the present day, and was anciently practised by other
+southern nations; and "Among the Miamis," says Father Charlevoix, "the
+Husband has a right to cut off his wife's nose if she runs away from
+him."--GREGG.
+
+[217] The Comanches employ usually short-handled javelins or lances,
+declaring, like the Spartan mother, that cowards only need long
+weapons.--GREGG.
+
+[218] The Comanche had been hostile to the Spanish in Texas,
+preventing its settlement, and about 1757 destroying the mission of
+San Saba. In 1785 the troops were obliged to retire into the Alamo at
+San Antonio, in order to be secured from their raids. The Texans were
+at first friendly with the Comanche; but in 1832 a Mexican deputation
+visited the border tribes, and incited them against the Texans. Open
+war broke out in 1837, and several battles were fought. In February,
+1840, twelve chiefs with a numerous retinue came to San Antonio to
+make peace. Refusing to deliver up their white captives, troops were
+set upon them, and in the ensuing mêlée all the chiefs and twenty
+other Indians were killed. The Comanche retired to plan revenge. Early
+in August, they advanced, avoiding Austin and San Antonio, and fell
+upon the town of Victoria. The inhabitants resisting, about fifteen of
+them were killed. When the Indians reached Linnville, a village of
+only five houses, its inhabitants fled to a ship in the bay, whereupon
+the hamlet was destroyed. A pursuing party under General Felix Houston
+defeated the natives, and recovered the white prisoners. In September,
+an expedition headed by Colonel John Moore attained the Comanche
+village high up on the Colorado River, and severely chastised them,
+killing one hundred and twenty-eight, and capturing thirty-two. After
+this the Comanche avoided the Texans for some years.--ED.
+
+[219] For the Arapaho, consult James's _Long's Expedition_, our volume
+xv, p. 157, note 48. A brief notice of the Cheyenne is in our volume
+v, p. 140, note 88.--ED.
+
+[220] Most of the plains Indians had superstitions regarding the
+buffalo. Consult on this subject, James O. Dorsey, "Study of Siouan
+Cults," in U. S. Bureau of Ethnology _Reports_, 1889-90, pp. 361-544;
+George A. Dorsey, _Traditions of the Skidi Pawnee_ (Boston and New
+York, 1904).--ED.
+
+
+
+
+GLOSSARY
+
+  [Pg353] CONTAINING SUCH SPANISH OR HISPANO-MEXICAN WORDS
+    AS OCCUR UNDEFINED IN THIS WORK, OR RECUR WITHOUT
+    DEFINITION AFTER HAVING BEEN ONCE TRANSLATED.
+
+
+  _A_, _al_, to, to the.
+
+  _Abajo_, down, under, below.
+
+  _Acequia_, ditch, canal.
+
+  _Adelantado_, governor of a province.
+
+  _A dios_, adieu, farewell.
+
+  _Administrador de Rentas_, a custom-house officer.
+
+  _Adobe_, a sort of unburnt brick.
+
+  _Afuera_, without, abroad.
+
+  _Aguador_, water-carrier.
+
+  _Aguardiente_, brandy.
+
+  _Alacran_, scorpion.
+
+  _Alameda_, public walk, with rows of trees, usually the
+    _álamo_.
+
+  _Alamo_ (in Mexico), cotton-wood.
+
+  _Alcalde_, justice of the peace.
+
+  _Alegria_, mirth; a plant.
+
+  _Allí_, there.
+
+  _Amigo_, friend.
+
+  _Ancheta_, adventure of goods.
+
+  _Angelito_, little angel.
+
+  _Angostura_, narrowness.
+
+  _Aparejo_, sort of pack-saddle.
+
+  _Aquí_, here.
+
+  _Arancel_, tariff.
+
+  _Armas_, arms.
+
+  _Arriba_, up, above.
+
+  _Arriero_, muleteer.
+
+  _Asambléa_, assembly.
+
+  _Astucia_, cunning, artifice.
+
+  _Atajo_, drove of pack mules, &c.
+
+  _Atole_, sort of thick gruel.
+
+  _Auto_, act, edict.
+
+  _Ayotéa_, flat roof, terrace.
+
+
+  _Baile_, ball, dance.
+
+  _Bandolin_, species of small guitar.
+
+  _Bárbaro_, barbarous; a savage.
+
+  _Barra_, ingot, bar of silver, &c.
+
+  _Baston_, staff, cane.
+
+  _Blanco_, white.
+
+  _Bolsa_, pocket, purse.
+
+  _Bonanza_, prosperity.
+
+  _Bonito_, pretty.
+
+  _Bota_, boot, leggin.
+
+  _Bravo_, brave, bold.
+
+  _Bueno_, good.
+
+  _Burro_, ass.
+
+
+  _Caballada_, drove of horses, &c.
+
+  _Caballero_, gentleman, knight.
+
+  _Caballo_, horse.
+
+  _Cacique_, Indian chief or prince.
+
+  _Café_, coffee; coffee-house.
+
+  _Calabozo_, dungeon, jail.
+
+  _Caliente_, warm, hot.
+
+  _Camino_, road.
+
+  _Campo_, field, camp.
+
+  _Campo santo_, cemetery without a church.
+
+  _Cancion_, song, poem.
+
+  _Cañada_, valley.
+
+  _Cañon_, deep gorge or ravine; cannon.
+
+  _Capilla_, chapel.
+
+  _Capitan_, captain.
+
+  _Carajo_, an oath; scoundrel.
+
+  _Caravana_, caravan.
+
+  _Cárcel_, prison, jail.
+
+  _Carga_, load.
+
+  _Cargador_, carrier.
+
+  _Cargamento_, cargo.
+
+  _Carnero_, male sheep.
+
+  _Carreta_, cart.
+
+  _Carro_, wagon, &c.
+
+  _Casa_, house.
+
+  _Cautivo_, captive.
+
+  _Ceja_, brow.
+
+  _Centralismo_, central government.
+
+  _Cerro_, mound.
+
+  _Chacal_, jackal.
+
+  _Chico_, small; small person. [Pg354] _Chile_, red
+    pepper.
+
+  _Cibolero_, buffalo-hunter.
+
+  _Cibolo_, the American buffalo.
+
+  _Cigarrito_, little cigar.
+
+  _Cigarro_, cigar.
+
+  _Cimarron_, wild.
+
+  _Claco_, small copper coin.
+
+  _Coche_, coach.
+
+  _Cocina_, kitchen.
+
+  _Cocinera_, female cook.
+
+  _Cola_, tail; glue.
+
+  _Colorado_, red.
+
+  _Comanchero_, Comanche trader.
+
+  _Comiso_, confiscation.
+
+  _Consumo_, consumption.
+
+  _Contra-revolucion_, counter-revolution.
+
+  _Cordillera_, chain of mountains.
+
+  _Corral_, yard, pen.
+
+  _Correr_, to run.
+
+  _Coyote_, prairie-wolf.
+
+  _Crepúsculo_, dawn, twilight.
+
+  _Cristo_, Christ.
+
+  _Cruz_, cross.
+
+  _Cuñado_, brother-in-law.
+
+
+  _De_, _del_, of, of the, &c.
+
+  _Decreto_, decree.
+
+  _Derecho_, tax; right.
+
+  _Descubrimiento_, discovery.
+
+  _Dia_, day.
+
+  _Diablo_, devil.
+
+  _Dictador_, dictator.
+
+  _Diligencia_, diligence; stage-coach.
+
+  _Dios_, God.
+
+  _Doblon_, doubloon.
+
+  _Domingingo_, Sunday; Dominic.
+
+  _Doña_, Madam, Mrs., Miss.
+
+  _Dorado_, gilt.
+
+  _Dos_, two.
+
+  _Dulce_, sweet.
+
+
+  _Eclesiástico_, ecclesiastical.
+
+  _El_, the; he, him.
+
+  _Enáguas_, sort of petticoat.
+
+  _En junta_, in council.
+
+  _Enmendadura_, enmendation.
+
+  _Entrada_, entrance.
+
+  _Entrerenglonadura_, interlineation.
+
+  _Escritor_, writer.
+
+  _Escuadron_, squadron.
+
+  _Español_, Spanish; Spaniard.
+
+  _Está_, is, he is, it is, &c.
+
+  _Estacado_, staked.
+
+  _Estrangero_, stranger, foreigner.
+
+  _Estufa_, cell; stove.
+
+
+  _Factura_, invoice.
+
+  _Fandango_, dance; ball.
+
+  _Fiera_, wild beast.
+
+  _Fe_, faith.
+
+  _Feria_, fair.
+
+  _Fierro_, iron; branding-iron, &c.
+
+  _Fiesta_, feast.
+
+  _Fonda_, eating-house, inn.
+
+  _Fraile_, _Fray_, friar.
+
+  _Frijol_, bean.
+
+  _Fueros_, chartered privileges.
+
+
+  _Gachupin_, Spaniard in America.
+
+  _Gallina_, hen.
+
+  _Gallo_, cock.
+
+  _Ganado_, cattle.
+
+  _Gefe_, chief.
+
+  _Gobernador_, governor.
+
+  _Gobernadorcillo_, petty governor, or chief.
+
+  _Gobierno_, government.
+
+  _Grama_, species of grass.
+
+  _Gran_, _grande_, great, large.
+
+  _Grandeza_, greatness, grandeur.
+
+  _Grano_, grain.
+
+  _Gauge_, gourd, flask.
+
+  _Guardia_, guard, watch; watch-house.
+
+  _Guerra_, war.
+
+  _Guia_, sort of passport for goods.
+
+  _Guisado_, cooked, stewed.
+
+  _Guitarra_, guitar.
+
+
+  _Hacienda_, estate; lands; treasure.
+
+  _Haciendero_, proprietor of an hacienda.
+
+  _Herradura_, horse-shoe.
+
+  _Herrero_, blacksmith.
+
+  _Hidalgo_, nobleman.
+
+  _Hoja_, leaf, husk, &c.
+
+  _Hombre_, man.
+
+  _Hombre bueno_, arbitrator.
+
+
+  _Ilustrísimo_, most illustrious.
+
+  _Imprenta_, printing-office.
+
+  _Inocente_, innocent.
+
+
+  _Jacal_, hut, wigwam.
+
+  _Jola_, copper coin, penny.
+
+  _Jornada_, day's travel; journey.
+
+  _Juez_, judge.
+
+  _Junta_, council; union.
+
+
+  _La_, _las_, the; her, it, them.
+
+  _Labor_, labor; field; mining-pit.
+
+  _Labrador_, laborer, farmer.
+
+  _Ladron_, thief, robber.
+
+  _Laguna_, lake.
+
+  _Lanzada_, thrust with a lance.
+
+  _Layador_, nooser.
+
+  _Lazito_, little lazo.
+
+  _Lazo_, noosing rope.
+
+  _Legua_, league.
+
+  _Lépero_, vagabond, _sans-culotte_.
+
+  _Ley_, law.
+
+  _Limosnero_, beggar.
+
+  _Llano_, plain; prairie; smooth.
+
+  _Lo_, _los_, the; it, them, &c.
+
+  _Lobo_, wolf.
+
+
+  _Madre_, mother.
+
+  _Manifiesto_, manifest; bill of goods presented to the
+    custom-house.
+
+  _Manta_, covering; cotton-cloth.
+
+  _Marco_, weight of eight ounces; mark.
+
+  _Mayor_, great, superior.
+
+  _Mayordomo_, overseer.
+
+  _Médano_, sand-hill.
+
+  _Medio_, half; picayune.
+
+  _Menor_, less, inferior.
+
+  _Mesa_, table; table-plain.
+
+  _Meson_, inn, hotel.
+
+  _Mestizo_, mongrel.
+
+  _Mezquite_, a tree, acacia.
+
+  _Mi_, _mis_, my.
+
+  _Militar_, military.
+
+  _Monte_, a game; grove; mount.
+
+  _Mora_, mulberry.
+
+  _Muerto_, dead; dead man.
+
+  _Mula_, mule; unsalable item.
+
+
+  _Negro_, black; a black person.
+
+  _Noria_, machine for drawing water; well.
+
+  _Norte_, north.
+
+  _Noticioso_, giving information.
+
+  _Número_, number.
+
+
+  _Oficial_, official; officer.
+
+  _Ojo_, eye; spring of water.
+
+  _Oro_, gold.
+
+
+  _Padre_, father; priest.
+
+  _Padrino_, godfather, sponsor.
+
+  _Paisano_, countryman.
+
+  _Palacio_, palace.
+
+  _Panza_, paunch.
+
+  _Papa_, pope; potato.
+
+  _Parage_, place; camping-site.
+
+  _Pariente_, relative, kin.
+
+  _Parroquia_, parish; parish church.
+
+  _Pasa_, raisin.
+
+  _Paséo_, pleasure walk or ride.
+
+  _Paso_, pass, passage; step.
+
+  _Pastor_, pastor; shepherd.
+
+  _Patio_, court, enclosed yard.
+
+  _Pato_, duck.
+
+  _Patriótico_, patriotic.
+
+  _Pauta_, rule, model.
+
+  _Pelo_, hair.
+
+  _Penitencia_, penance, penitence.
+
+  _Perro_, dog.
+
+  _Peso_, dollar; weight.
+
+  _Piedra_, stone.
+
+  _Pinole_, food of parched Indian meal stirred in water.
+
+  _Placer_, pleasure; gold region.
+
+  _Plata_, silver.
+
+  _Plaza_, square; place; village.
+
+  _Poquito_, very little.
+
+  _Portal_, porch, corridor.
+
+  _Perfecto_, perfect.
+
+  _Presidio_, garrison, fort.
+
+  _Presto_, quick, soon.
+
+  _Profano_, profane.
+
+  _Pronunciamento_, act of making a public declaration.
+
+  _Proyecto_, project, plan.
+
+  _Público_, public.
+
+  _Pueblo_, people; Catholic Indians, &c.
+
+  _Puerta_, door.
+
+  _Puro_, pure; pure tobacco cigar.
+
+
+  _Ranchera_, country woman.
+
+  _Ranchería_, village of wild Indians.
+
+  _Ranchero_, inhabitant of a rancho.
+
+  _Rancho_, stock-farm.
+
+  _Raspadura_, erasure; rasping.
+
+  _Real_, a coin; royal, real, grand.
+
+  _Rebozo_, muffler, species of scarf.
+
+  _Remedio_, remedy, medicine.
+
+  _Rey_, king.
+
+  _Rico_, rich; rich man.
+
+  _Rio_, river.
+
+
+  _Sala_, hall, parlor.
+
+  _Salina_, salt pond or pit.
+
+  _San_, _santo_, _santa_, saint, holy.
+
+  _Sandía_, watermelon.
+
+  _Sangre_, blood.
+
+  _Santísimo_, most holy.
+
+  _Saquéo_, sack, pillage.
+
+  _Sarape_, sort of blanket.
+
+  _Semana_, week.
+
+  _Señor_, sir, Mr.; lord.
+
+  _Señora_, Madam, Mrs.; lady.
+
+  _Señoría_, lordship.
+
+  _Señoría ilustrísima_, title of a bishop, &c.
+
+  _Señorita_, madam, miss, Mrs., &c.
+
+  _Sierra_, ridge of mountains; saw.
+
+  _Siesta_, afternoon's sleep.
+
+  _Silla_, chair; saddle.
+
+  _Sistema_, system.
+
+  _Sol_, sun.
+
+  _Soldado_, soldier.
+
+  _Sombrero_, hat.
+
+  _Sonoreño_, citizen of Sonora.
+
+  _Su_, _sus_, his, her, its, their.
+
+
+  _Tarde_, evening.
+
+  _Tierra_, country, land.
+
+  _Tierra Afuera_ (in Mexico), the exterior, or country near
+    the coast, &c.
+
+  _Tilma_, Indian mantle.
+
+  _Tio_, uncle.
+
+  _Todo_, all, every, whole.
+
+  _Tonillo_, screw.
+
+  _Tortilla_, thin cake, diminutive of _torta_, cake, loaf.
+
+
+  _Vado_, ford.
+
+  _Valiente_, valiant, brave.
+
+  _Valle_, valley, dale.
+
+  _Vaquero_, cowherd.
+
+  _Vaquita_, diminutive of _vaca_, cow.
+
+  _Vara_, Spanish yard of 33 inches.
+
+  _Venta_, sale; sale-brand; inn.
+
+  _Verdadero_, true.
+
+  _Verde_, green.
+
+  _Vicio_, vice.
+
+  _Viernes_, Friday.
+
+
+  _Un_, _uno_, a, one.
+
+
+  _Y_, _é_, and.
+
+  _Yeso_, gypsum.
+
+
+  _Zambo_, offspring of the Indian and negro.
+
+  _Zaguan_, entry, porch.
+
+  _Zarco_, light blue.
+
+  _Zorra_, fox.
+
+
+
+
+TRANSCRIBER NOTE:
+
+
+Original spelling and grammar has mostly been retained. Figures were
+moved from within paragraphs to between paragraphs. Footnotes were
+moved to the ends of chapters. This 1905 edition is an annotated
+reprint of "Part II of Gregg's Commerce of the Prairies, 1831-1839";
+the pagination of the latter document is shown herein as a number
+enclosed in curly brackets, e.g. {226}. The pagination of the 1905
+publication is shown in square brackets, e.g. [Pg009].
+
+Page 78: the phrase "invicta, la Galia indomable" is printed upside
+down. This was not a mistake, as it is explained in a following
+paragraph. This has been reproduced herein as well as possible
+("ıuʌıɔʇɐ lɐ פɐlıɐ ıupoɯɐqlǝ"), using Unicode characters. Some of
+these characters may not be properly displayed in all browsers and
+fonts.
+
+Footnote 59: the original large table was broken into two pieces.
+
+Page 99: "ofthe regular Route" was changed to "of the regular Route".
+
+Page 144: "consipracy" was changed to "conspiracy".
+
+Page 145: "futurese curity" to "future security".
+
+Page 168: an initial quotation mark was added to "he is prying into
+your affairs".
+
+Page 173: "mattrass" to "mattress".
+
+Footnote 123: "Jesus Maria" changed to "Jesus-Maria".
+
+Page 193: "invogue" to "in vogue".
+
+Page 208: "discharging valleys" to "discharging volleys".
+
+Footnote 136: Several instances of "do." (abbreviation for "ditto")
+replaced by repeated text. Also, a Remark that applies to two years
+1832 and 1833 is indicated herein
+
+ "{Party defeated on Canadian
+  {2 men killed, 3 perished."
+
+The original replaced the two "{" by a single double-height "{".
+
+Page 268: "Assinaboins" to "Assiniboins", to match the footnote. The
+more usual modern spelling seems to be "Assiniboine" ("Assiniboines",
+plural).
+
+Page 274: "dolefu" to "doleful".
+
+Page 296: "resistence" to "resistance".
+
+Page 320: "tancy" to "fancy".
+
+In this simple .txt version, italics are _indicated by underscoring_.
+Small caps are converted to uppercase.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Early Western Travels 1748-1846,
+Volume XX, by Various
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EARLY WESTERN TRAVELS ***
+
+***** This file should be named 44205-0.txt or 44205-0.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
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+Project Gutenberg's Early Western Travels 1748-1846, Volume XX, by Various
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Early Western Travels 1748-1846, Volume XX
+       Part II of Gregg's Commerce of the Prairies, 1831-1839
+
+Author: Various
+
+Editor: Reuben Gold Thwaites
+
+Release Date: November 17, 2013 [EBook #44205]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EARLY WESTERN TRAVELS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by RichardW, Greg Bergquist and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images generously made available
+by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ Early Western Travels
+
+ 1748-1846
+
+ Volume XX
+
+ [Illustration: Indian alarm on the Cimarron River]
+
+
+
+
+ Early Western Travels
+ 1748-1846
+
+
+ A Series of Annotated Reprints of some of the best
+ and rarest contemporary volumes of travel, descriptive
+ of the Aborigines and Social and
+ Economic Conditions in the Middle
+ and Far West, during the Period
+ of Early American Settlement
+
+ Edited with Notes, Introductions, Index, etc., by
+ Reuben Gold Thwaites, LL. D.
+
+ Editor of "The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents", "Original
+ Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition", "Hennepin's
+ New Discovery," etc.
+
+ Volume XX
+ Part II of Gregg's Commerce of the Prairies, 1831-1839
+
+ [Illustration]
+
+ Cleveland, Ohio
+ The Arthur H. Clark Company
+ 1905
+
+
+
+
+ COPYRIGHT 1905, BY
+ THE ARTHUR H. CLARK COMPANY
+
+ ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
+
+ The Lakeside Press
+ R. R. DONNELLEY & SONS COMPANY
+ CHICAGO
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS OF VOLUME XX
+
+
+  COMMERCE OF THE PRAIRIES; or, The Journal of a Santa F�
+    Trader, during Eight Expeditions across the Great Western
+    Prairies, and a Residence of nearly Nine Years in Northern
+    Mexico. (Part II: Chapters xii-xvi of Volume I, and all
+    of Volume II of original.) _Josiah Gregg._
+
+  Author's Table of Contents                                        13
+
+  Text of Part II:                                                  21
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS TO VOLUME XX
+
+
+  "Indian Alarm on the Cimarron River" _Frontispiece_
+
+  "Map of the Interior of Northern Mexico" _Facing_                 21
+
+  Medal of Nuestra Se�ora de Guadalupe de Mexico (text cut)         40
+
+  "Camp Comanche"                                                  123
+
+  Mule emerging from a mine; Still Hunting (text cuts in
+    original)                                                      181
+
+  "'Dog Town,' or Settlement of Prairie Dogs"                      279
+
+
+
+
+  PART II OF GREGG'S COMMERCE OF THE PRAIRIES, OR THE
+    JOURNAL OF A SANTA F� TRADER--1831-1839
+
+  Reprint of chapters xii-xvi of Volume I, and all of Volume
+    II of the second edition: New York, 1845
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+  CHAPTER XII
+
+  Government of New Mexico -- The Administration of Justice
+    -- Judicial Corruption -- Prejudices against Americans
+    -- Partiality for the English -- Anecdote of Governor
+    Armijo and a Trapper -- Outrage upon an American
+    Physician -- Violence suffered by the American Consul
+    and others -- Arbitrary Impositions upon Foreigners --
+    _Contribucion de Guerra_ -- The Alcaldes and their
+    System -- The _Fueros_ -- Mode of punishing Delinquents
+    and Criminals -- Mexican System of Slavery -- Thieves
+    and Thieveries Outrage upon an American Merchant --
+    Gambling and Gambling-houses -- Game of _Monte_ --
+    Anecdote of a Lady of Fashion -- _Chuza_ -- Cockpits --
+    _Correr el gallo_ -- _El Coleo_ -- Fandangoes --
+    _Cigarritos_,                                                   21
+
+  CHAPTER XIII
+
+  Military Hierarchy of Mexico -- Religious Superstitions --
+    Legend of _Nuestra Se�ora de Guadalupe_ -- A profane
+    Version of the Story -- A curious Plan for manufacturing
+    Water -- Saints and Images -- Processions -- How to make
+    it Rain -- The Sacred Host -- Fanaticism and Murder --
+    Honors paid to a Bishop -- Servility to Priests --
+    Attendance at Public Worship -- New Mexicans in Church
+    -- The Vesper Bells -- Passion Week and the Ceremonies
+    pertaining thereto -- Ridiculous _Penitencia_ --
+    Whitewashing of Criminals -- Matrimonial Connexions and
+    Mode of Contracting them -- Restrictions upon Lovers --
+    Onerous Fees paid for Marriages and Burials -- Anecdote
+    of a _Ranchero_ -- Ditto of a Servant and of a Widow,
+    illustrative of Priestly Extortion -- Modes of Burial,
+    and Burial Ground of the Heretics,                              37
+
+  CHAPTER XIV
+
+  The Pueblos -- Their Character for Sobriety, Honesty, and
+    Industry -- Traditional descent from Montezuma -- Their
+    Languages -- Former and present Population -- The Pueblo
+    of Pecos -- Singular Habits of that ill-fated Tribe --
+    Curious Tradition -- Montezuma and the Sun -- Legend of
+    a Serpent -- Religion and government -- Secret Council
+    -- Laws and Customs -- Excellent Provisions against
+    Demoralization -- Primitive Pastimes of the Pueblos --
+    Their Architecture -- Singular Structures of Taos, and
+    other novel Fortifications -- Primitive state of the
+    Arts among the Pueblos -- Style of Dress, Weapons, etc.
+    -- Their Diet -- The _Guayave_,                                 54
+
+  {xvi} CHAPTER XV
+
+  The wild Tribes of New Mexico -- Speculative Theories --
+    Clavigero and the _Azteques_ -- Pueblo Bonito and other
+    Ruins -- Probable Relationship between the _Azteques_
+    and Tribes of New Mexico -- The several Nations of this
+    Province -- _Navaj�es_ and _Azteques_ -- Manufactures of
+    the former -- Their Agriculture, Religion, etc. --
+    Mexican Cruelty to the Indians and its Consequences --
+    Inroads of the Navaj�es -- Exploits of a Mexican Army --
+    How to make a Hole in a powder-keg -- The _Apaches_ and
+    their character -- Their Food -- Novel Mode of settling
+    Disputes -- Range of their marauding Excursions --
+    Indian Traffic and imbecile Treaties -- Devastation of
+    the Country -- Chihuahua Rodomontades -- Juan Jos�, a
+    celebrated Apache Chief, and his tragical End, etc. --
+    Massacre of Americans in Retaliation -- A tragical
+    Episode -- _Proyecto de Guerra_ and a 'gallant' Display
+    -- The _Yutas_ and their Hostilities -- A personal
+    Adventure with them, but no Bloodshed -- The Jicarillas,        67
+
+  CHAPTER XVI
+
+  Incidents of a Return Trip from Santa F� -- Calibre of our
+    Party -- Return Caravans -- Remittances -- Death of Mr.
+    Langham -- Burial in the Desert -- A sudden Attack --
+    Confusion in the Camp -- The Pawnees -- A Wolfish Escort
+    -- Scarcity of Buffalo -- Unprofitable Delusion --
+    Arrival -- Table of Camping Sites and Distances --
+    Condition of the Town of Independence -- The Mormons --
+    Their Dishonesty and Immorality -- Their high-handed
+    Measures, and a Rising of the People -- A fatal Skirmish
+    -- A chivalrous Parade of the Citizens -- Expulsion of
+    the Mormons -- The Meteoric Shower, and Superstition,
+    etc. -- Wanderings and Improprieties of the 'Latter-day
+    Saints' -- Gov. Boggs' Recipe -- The City of Nauvoo --
+    Contemplated Retribution of the Mormons,                        87
+
+  CHAPTER XVII {I of Vol. II, original ed.}
+
+  A Return to Prairie Life -- Abandonment of the regular
+    Route -- The Start -- A Suicide -- Arrest of a Mulatto
+    for Debt -- Cherokee 'Bankrupt Law' -- Chuly, the Creek
+    Indian -- The Muster and the Introduction -- An '_Olla
+    Podrida_' -- Adventure of a 'Down-Easter' -- Arrival of
+    U. S. Dragoons -- Camp Holmes, and the Road -- A Visit
+    from a Party of Comanches -- Tabba-quena, a noted Chief
+    -- His extraordinary Geographical Talent -- Indians set
+    out for the 'Capitan Grande,' and we through an
+    unexplored Region -- Rejoined by Tabba-quena and his
+    '_suite_' -- Spring Valley -- The Buffalo Fever -- The
+    Chase -- A Green-horn Scamper -- Prairie Fuel,                  99
+
+  CHAPTER XVIII {II of Vol. II}
+
+  Travelling out of our Latitude -- The Buffalo-gnat -- A
+    Kiawa and Squaw -- Indian _crim. con._ Affair --
+    Extraordinary Mark of confidence in the White Man -- A
+    Conflagration -- An Espy Shower -- Region of Gypsum --
+    Our Latitude -- A Lilliputian Forest -- A Party of
+    Comanches -- A Visit to a 'Dog-Town' -- Indian Archery
+    -- Arrival of Comanche Warriors -- A 'Big Talk' and its
+    Results -- Speech of the _Capitan Mayor_ -- Project of
+    bringing Comanche Chiefs to Washington -- Return of
+    Lieut. Bowman, and our March resumed -- Melancholy
+    Reflections -- Another Indian Visit -- Mexican Captives
+    -- Voluntary Captivity -- A sprightly Mexican Lad --
+    Purchase of a Captive -- Comanche Trade and Etiquette --
+    Indians least dangerous to such as trade with them,            114
+
+  CHAPTER XIX {III of Vol. II}
+
+  Ponds and Buffalo Wallows -- Valley of the Canadian, and
+    romantic Freaks of Nature -- Formation of Ravines --
+    Melancholy Adventure of a Party of Traders in 1832 --
+    Fears of our being lost -- Arrival of a Party of
+    _Comancheros_, and their wonderful Stories -- Their
+    Peculiarities and Traffic -- Bitter Water, and the
+    _Salitre_ of New Mexico -- Avant-couriers for Santa F�
+    -- Patent Fire-arms and their Virtues -- Ranchero Ideas
+    of Distance, and their Mode of giving Directions -- The
+    Angostura, and erroneous Notions of the Texans -- A new
+    Route revealed -- Solitary Travel -- Supply of
+    Provisions sent back -- Arrival at Santa F� -- Gov.
+    Armijo, etc. -- A 'Flare-up' with His Excellency,              132
+
+  CHAPTER XX {IV of Vol. II}
+
+  Preparations for a Start to Chihuahua -- Ineptness of
+    Married Men for the Santa F� Trade -- Annoying
+    Custom-house Regulations -- Mails in New Mexico --
+    Insecurity of Correspondence -- Outfit and Departure --
+    _Derecho de Consumo_ -- Ruins of Valverde -- 'Towns
+    without Houses' -- La Jornado del Muerto -- Laguna and
+    Ojo del Muerto -- A Tradition of the _Arrieros_ --
+    Laborious Ferrying and Quagmires -- Arrival at Paso del
+    Norte -- Amenity of the Valley -- _Sierra Blanca_ and
+    _Los Organos_ -- Face of the Country -- Seagrass --
+    M�danos or Sand-hills -- An accidental River -- Carrizal
+    -- Ojo Caliente -- Laguna de Encinillas -- Southern
+    Haciendas -- Arrival -- Character of the Route and Soil,       145
+
+  CHAPTER XXI {V of Vol. II}
+
+  Trip from Chihuahua to Aguascalientes, in 1835 -- Southern
+    Trade and _Ferias_ -- Hacienda de la Zarca, and its
+    innumerable Stock -- Rio Nazas, and Lakes without outlet
+    -- Perennial Cotton -- Exactions for Water and Pasturage
+    -- Village of Churches -- City of Durango and its
+    Peculiarities -- Fruits, Pulque, etc. -- Persecution of
+    Scorpions -- Negro-ship in the ascendant -- Robbers and
+    their _modus operandi_ -- City of Aguascalientes --
+    Bathing Scene -- Haste to return to the North -- Mexican
+    Mule-shoeing -- Difficulties and Perplexities -- A
+    Friend in time of need -- Reach Zacatecas -- City
+    Accommodations -- Hotels unfashionable -- _Locale_,
+    Fortifications, etc., of the City of Zacatecas -- Siege
+    by Santa Anna and his easy-won Victory -- At Durango
+    again -- Civil Warfare among the 'Sovereigns' --
+    Hairbreadth 'scapes -- Troubles of the Road -- Safe
+    Arrival at Chihuahua -- Character of the Southern
+    Country,                                                       162
+
+  CHAPTER XXII {VI of Vol. II}
+
+  Visit to the Mining Town of Jesus-Maria -- Critical Roads
+    -- Character of the Town -- Losing Speculations -- Mine
+    of Santa Juliana -- Curious mining Operations --
+    Different Modes of working the Ore -- The Crushing-mill,
+    etc. -- _Barras de Plata_ -- Value of Bullion -- The
+    Silver Trade -- Return to Chihuahua -- Resumption of the
+    regular Narrative -- Curious Wholesales -- Money Table
+    -- Redundancy of Copper Coin -- City of Chihuahua and
+    its Peculiarities -- Ecclesiastical Architecture --
+    Hidalgo and his Monument -- Public Works, and their
+    present Declension -- _F�te_ in honor of Iturbide --
+    Illiberality towards Americans -- Shopping Mania --
+    Anti-Masonic _Auto de Fe_,                                     178
+
+  CHAPTER XXIII {VII of Vol. II}
+
+  Departure for Santa F� -- Straitened for Food -- Summary
+    Effort to procure Beef -- Seizure of one of our Party --
+    Altercation with a _Rico_ -- His pusillanimous Procedure
+    -- Great Preparations in Chihuahua for our Arrest --
+    Arrival of Mexican Troops -- A polite Officer -- Myself
+    with three of my Men summoned back to Chihuahua --
+    Amiable Conduct of Se�or Artalejo -- _Junta_
+    _Departmental_ and Discussion of my Affair -- Writ of
+    _Habeas Corpus_ not in vogue -- The Matter adjusted and
+    Passports granted -- The _Morale_ -- Impunity of savage
+    Depredations -- Final Start -- Company of _Pase�os_ with
+    their Fruits and Liquors -- Arrival at Santa F�,               193
+
+  CHAPTER XXIV {VIII of Vol. II}
+
+  Preparations for returning Home -- Breaking out of the
+    Small-pox -- The Start -- Our Caravan -- Manuel the
+    Comanche -- A new Route -- The Prairie on Fire -- Danger
+    to be apprehended from these Conflagrations -- A
+    Comanche Buffalo-chase -- A Skirmish with the Pawnees --
+    An intrepid Mexican -- The Wounded -- Value of a thick
+    Skull -- Retreat of the Enemy and their Failure -- A
+    bleak Northwester -- Loss of our Sheep -- The Llano
+    Estacado and Sources of Red River -- The Canadian River
+    -- Cruelties upon Buffalo -- Feats at 'Still Hunting' --
+    Mr. Wethered's Adventure -- Once more on our own Soil --
+    The False Washita -- Enter our former Trail -- Character
+    of the Country over which we had travelled -- Arrival at
+    Van Buren -- The two Routes to Santa F� -- Some
+    Advantages of that from Arkansas -- Restlessness of
+    Prairie Travellers in civilized Life, and Propensity for
+    returning to the Wild Deserts,                                 203
+
+  CHAPTER XXV {IX of Vol. II}
+  CONCLUSION OF THE SANTA FE TRADE
+
+  Decline of Prices -- Statistical Table -- Chihuahua Trade
+    -- Its Extent -- Different Ports through which Goods are
+    introduced to that Market -- Expedition between
+    Chihuahua and Arkansas -- The Drawback -- The more
+    recent Incidents of the Santa F� Caravans -- Adventures
+    of 1843 -- Robbery and Murder of Chavez -- Expedition
+    from Texas -- Defeat of Gen. Armijo's Van-guard -- His
+    precipitate Retreat -- Texan Grievances -- Unfortunate
+    Results of indiscriminate Revenge -- Want of discipline
+    among the Texans -- Disarmed by Capt. Cook -- Return of
+    the Escort of U. S. Dragoons, and of the Texans --
+    Demands of the Mexican Government -- Closing of the
+    Santa F� Trade,                                                221
+
+  CHAPTER XXVI {X of Vol. II}
+  GEOGRAPHY OF THE PRAIRIES
+
+  Extent of the Prairies -- Mountains -- _Mesas_ or
+    Table-lands -- _El Llano Estacado_ -- _Ca�ones_ -- Their
+    Annoyance to the early Caravans -- Immense Gullies --
+    Coal Mines and other Geological Products -- Gypsum --
+    Metallic Minerals -- Salines -- Capt. Boone's
+    Exploration -- 'Salt Plain' and 'Salt Rock' -- Mr.
+    Sibley's Visit -- Saline Exudations -- Unhabitableness
+    of the high Prairies -- Excellent Pasturage -- Rich
+    border Country sufficient for two States -- Northern
+    Texas -- Rivers of the Prairies -- Their Unfitness for
+    Navigation -- Timber -- Cross Timbers -- Encroachments
+    of the Timber upon the Prairies -- Fruits and Flowers --
+    Salubrity of Climate,                                          237
+
+  CHAPTER XXVII {XI of Vol. II}
+  ANIMALS OF THE PRAIRIES
+
+  The Mustang or Wild Horse -- Capturing him by 'Creasing,'
+    and with the Lazo -- Horse-flesh -- The Buffalo -- Its
+    Appearance -- Excellence of its Meat -- General Utility
+    to the Indian and Traveller -- Prospect of its
+    Extinction -- Hunting the Buffalo with Bow and Arrows,
+    the Lance, etc. -- 'Still-hunting' -- The Buffalo
+    ferocious only when wounded -- Butchering, etc. -- The
+    Gray Wolf -- Its Modes of killing Buffalo -- Their great
+    numbers -- A 'Wolf scrape' -- The Prairie Wolf, or
+    'Jackal of the Prairies' -- The Elk, Deer and Bear --
+    The Antelope -- The Bighorn -- The Prairie Dog -- Owls
+    and Rattlesnakes -- The Horned Frog -- Fowls -- Bees,
+    etc.,                                                          259
+
+  CHAPTER XXVIII {XII of Vol. II}
+  ABORIGINES OF AMERICA
+
+  Indian Cosmogony -- Traditions of Origin -- Identity of
+    Religious Notions -- Adoration of the Sun -- Shawnee
+    Faith -- Anecdote of Tecumseh -- Legendary Traditions --
+    Missionaries, and Success of the Catholics -- The
+    Indian's Heaven -- Burial Customs -- Ancient Accounts --
+    Depositing the Dead on Scaffolds -- Superstition and
+    Witchcraft -- Indian Philosophy -- Polygamy and other
+    Matrimonial Affairs -- Abhorrence of Incest --
+    Difference in Character -- Indian Hospitality -- Traits
+    of the Ancient Asiatics -- Names -- Relationship of
+    Different Tribes -- Dreadful Decrease of the Indians,          283
+
+  CHAPTER XXIX {XIII of Vol. II}
+  THE FRONTIER INDIANS
+
+  Causes of Removal West -- Annuities, etc. --
+    Dissatisfaction of the Indians -- Their Melioration by
+    the Change -- Superiority of their present Location --
+    Lands granted to them -- Improvements, Agriculture,
+    etc. -- Their Slaves -- Manufactures -- Style of Living,
+    Dress, etc. -- Literary Opportunities and Improvements
+    -- Choctaw Academy -- Harpies and Frauds -- Games --
+    Systems of Government -- Polygamy -- Ancient Laws and
+    Customs -- Intemperance -- Preventive Measures -- A
+    Choctaw Enactment -- Marriage and Funeral Customs of the
+    Choctaws -- The Creeks -- Their Summary Executions --
+    Mourning -- Indian Titles -- The Northern Tribes --
+    Census of the Frontier Nations,                                299
+
+  CHAPTER XXX {XIV of Vol. II}
+  INDIANS OF THE PRAIRIES
+
+  System of Chiefs -- Mode of Warfare -- War-Council -- The
+    Scalp-dance -- The Calumet or Pipe of Peace -- Treaties
+    -- Public News-criers -- Arms of the Indians -- Bow and
+    Arrows, etc. -- Hunting -- Dancing -- Language of Signs
+    -- Telegraphs -- Wigwams or Lodges -- Pack-dogs --
+    Costumes -- Painting, Tattooing, etc. -- Indian Dandies
+    -- Manufactures, and Dressing the Buffalo Rug -- Indian
+    Diet, Fasting, etc. -- Primitive Thomsonians -- Their
+    domestic Animals, the Dog and the Horse -- Wampum --
+    Their Chronology,                                              318
+
+  CHAPTER XXXI {XV of Vol. II}
+  INDIANS OF THE PRAIRIES
+
+  Intermediate Tribes -- Their Wigwams and their Hunting
+    Excursions -- Dress and Cut of their Hair -- The Pawnees
+    -- The Osages -- Their Roguery -- Matrimonial Customs --
+    Accomplished Mourners -- Their Superstitions -- The
+    Indian Figure -- The 'Pawnee Picts' -- Wild Tribes --
+    Census -- The Comanches -- Their Range -- Their Sobriety
+    -- Their Chiefs, etc. -- Female Chastity -- Comanche
+    Marriage -- Costumes -- Horsemanship -- Comanche Warfare
+    -- Predatory Forays -- Martial Ceremonies -- Treatment
+    of Captives -- Burial and Religious Rites,                     336
+
+  GLOSSARY.
+
+  Containing such Spanish or Hispano-Mexican words as occur
+    undefined in this work, or recur without definition
+    after having been once translated                              353
+
+
+[Illustration: MAP OF THE INTERIOR OF NORTHERN MEXICO.]
+
+
+
+
+ COMMERCE OF THE PRAIRIES
+ {PART II}
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII[1]
+
+Government of New Mexico -- The Administration of Justice --
+  Judicial Corruption -- Prejudices against Americans -- Partiality
+  for the English -- Anecdote of Governor Armijo and a Trapper --
+  Outrage upon an American Physician -- Violence suffered by the
+  American Consul and others -- Arbitrary Impositions upon Foreigners
+  -- _Contribucion de Guerra_ -- The Alcaldes and their System --
+  The _Fueros_ -- Mode of punishing Delinquents and Criminals --
+  Mexican System of Slavery -- Thieves and Thieveries -- Outrage upon
+  an American Merchant -- Gambling and Gambling-houses -- Game of
+  _Monte_ -- Anecdote of a Lady of Fashion -- _Chuza_ -- Cockpits --
+  _Correr_ _el gallo_ -- El Coleo -- Fandangoes -- _Cigarritos_.
+
+
+Prior to the adoption of the _Sistema Central_ in the Mexican
+republic, the province of New Mexico was under a territorial
+government. The executive was called _Gefe Pol�tico_ (political
+chief), and the _Diputacion Provincial_ very inefficiently supplied
+the place of a legislature. Under the present system, however, New
+Mexico being a _department_, the names of these powers have been
+changed, but their functions remain very nearly the same. The
+_Gobernador_ (governor) is appointed by the President for eight years.
+The legislative power is nominally vested in a _Junta Departamental_,
+a kind of state council, with very circumscribed {226} powers,
+somewhat analogous to, and certainly not more extensive than, those of
+a board of aldermen with us. But even this shadow of popular
+representation was 'prorogued' by Gov. Armijo soon after his accession
+to power (five or six years ago), and has never since been convened;
+so that [Pg022] its functions have been arbitrarily exercised by the
+governor ever since.
+
+The administration of the laws in Northern Mexico constitutes one of
+the most painful features of her institutions. Justice, or rather
+judgments, are a common article of traffic; and the hapless litigant
+who has not the means to soften the claws of the alcalde with a
+'silver unction,' is almost sure to get severely scratched in the
+contest, no matter what may be the justice of his cause, or the
+uprightness of his character. It is easy to perceive, then, that the
+poor and the humble stand no chance in a judicial contest with the
+wealthy and consequential, whose influence, even apart from their
+facilities for corrupting the court and suborning witnesses, is
+sufficient to neutralize any amount of plebeian testimony that might
+be brought against them.
+
+The evil consequences arising from maladministration of justice in New
+Mexico are most severely felt by foreigners, against whom a strong
+prejudice prevails throughout the South. Of these, the citizens of the
+United States are by far the most constant sufferers; an inevitable
+result of that sinister feeling with which the 'rival republic' views
+the advancement {227} and superiority of her more industrious
+neighbors. It is a notorious fact, that while the English are
+universally treated with comparative consideration and respect, the
+Americans residing in the southern parts of the republic are
+frequently taunted with the effeminacy of their government and its
+want of decision. So openly has this preference for British subjects
+been manifested, and so thoroughly conscious have the Americans become
+of the humiliating fact, that when a mercantile firm, consisting of an
+American and an Englishman, has occasion to present a memorial of any
+description, or to sue either for an act of favor or of justice from
+the nation, the application is sure [Pg023] to be made in the name of
+the latter, knowing it will thus be more likely to command proper
+attention.
+
+Few men, perhaps, have done more to jeopard the interests of American
+traders, or to bring the American character itself into contempt, than
+Armijo, the present arbitrary governor of New Mexico. I am happy to
+say, however, that in the midst of his many oppressions, he was once
+at least obliged to 'knock under' to one of those bold and daring
+spirits of the Rocky Mountains whom obstacles rather energize than
+subdue. This was about the year 1828, during Armijo's previous
+governorship. A law was then in existence which had been enacted by
+the general Congress prohibiting foreigners from trapping beaver in
+the Mexican territory, under penalty of confiscation, etc.; but as
+there were no native {228} trappers in New Mexico, Gov. Baca and his
+successor (Narbona) thought it expedient to extend licenses to
+foreigners, in the name of citizens, upon condition of their taking a
+certain proportion of Mexicans to learn the art of trapping. In
+pursuance of this disposition, Gov. Narbona extended a license to one
+Ewing Young, who was accompanied by a Mr. Sublette, brother of Capt.
+Wm. Sublette, and almost equally celebrated for his mountain
+adventures.[2] [Pg024] Previous to the return of this party from
+their trapping expedition, Armijo had succeeded Narbona in office, and
+they were informed that it was his intention to seize their furs. To
+prevent this, they deposited them at a neighboring village, where they
+were afterwards discovered, seized, and confiscated. The furs being
+damp, they were spread out in the sun before the _Guardia_, in Santa
+F�, when Sublette, perceiving two packs of beaver which had been his
+own property, got by honest labor, instantly seized them and carried
+them away before the eyes of the whole garrison, and concealed both
+them and his own person in a house opposite. The entire military force
+was immediately put in requisition, and a general search made for the
+offender and his prize; but in vain: indeed, if the truth must be
+spoken, the troops seemed to have as little desire to find Sublette as
+the latter had of being found; for his character was too well known to
+leave any room for hope that his capture could be effected without a
+great deal {229} of trouble. In the meanwhile, Armijo raved, and
+threatened the Americans for not ferreting out their countryman and
+delivering him over to justice. Failing to produce any impression by
+blustering, however, he caused a couple of cannons to be pointed at
+the house where the offender was supposed to be concealed, declaring
+at the same time that he would batter it down; but all to no purpose.
+Mr. Sublette finally conveyed his furs in safety to the frontier, and
+thence to the United States. [Pg025]
+
+The following anecdote affords another illustration of
+Armijo's summary mode of dealing with Americans. In the fall of 1840,
+a gross outrage was committed upon a physician from Massachusetts
+(said to be a gentleman of unexceptionable deportment), who was
+travelling through the country for his health. He had loaned nine
+hundred dollars to a person of the name of Tayon, who afterwards
+borrowed the same amount of another foreigner and repaid this debt.
+The doctor then left for the South, where he intended to pass the
+winter, being afflicted with a pulmonary disease. But the individual
+who had lent Tayon the money, being informed that he was insolvent,
+applied to Gov. Armijo for an order to compel the doctor to return,
+expecting thereby to make him reimburse the money. The order overtook
+him at the village of Algodones,[3] near forty miles from Santa F�,
+where he was at once arrested by the alcalde, and detained some time,
+ignorant even of the offence for which he was doing penance. {230} In
+the meantime, the American Consul at Santa F�, having been informed of
+what had taken place, procured a counter-order from the governor for
+the release of the prisoner. When the alcalde of Algodones received
+this document, he determined at once that so extraordinary an act of
+justice should cost the foreigner some trifle. Accordingly, another
+order was forged on the spot, commanding that he should be taken to
+the capital--yet a 'gentle hint' was given, that his liberty might be
+purchased by the payment of two hundred dollars. Being in a land of
+strangers, among whom he had but little hope of receiving fair play,
+the doctor resolved to pay the amount demanded, and fly to Chihuahua,
+where he would at least be safe from Armijo's clutches. Having been
+informed, however, of the fraud [Pg026] practised by the alcalde,
+before he had proceeded far on his journey, he returned and made an
+attempt to bring the delinquent officer to justice, but altogether
+without success.
+
+But perhaps the most glaring outrages upon American citizens were
+committed in 1841, upon the occasion of the capture of the Texan Santa
+F� Expedition. In Taos, a poor deaf and dumb U. S. creole Frenchman
+was beaten to death in open day. In San Miguel, the alcalde, at the
+head of a mob, entered the store of a Mr. Rowland, whom he robbed of a
+considerable amount of merchandise.[4] At the same time, the greatest
+excitement raged in Santa F� against Americans, whose lives appeared
+in imminent danger; and a most {231} savage attack was made upon our
+excellent Consul, Manuel Alvarez, Esq., who had always taken an active
+interest in the welfare of American citizens.[5]
+
+A few minutes after the governor had departed for San Miguel, to
+encounter the Texans, a fellow named Martin, his nephew and
+confidential agent, aided by a band of ferocious _sans culottes_, and
+armed with a large knife, secretly entered the house of the Consul,
+who perceived him in time, however, to avert the blow; yet he received
+a severe wound in the face during the scuffle that ensued: the rabble
+running in at the same time, and vociferating, "_S�quenlo ajuera!
+m�tenlo!_"--Drag him out! kill him! Mr. Alvarez doubtless [Pg027]
+owed his preservation partially to the consternation with which the
+failure of their clandestine attempt at his life inspired the cowardly
+ruffians. Instead of being punished for this diabolical act, the
+principal assassin, on the contrary, was soon after promoted in the
+army.
+
+The outrage did not end here, however; for on the Consul's demanding
+his passport for the United States, it was refused for nearly a month;
+thus detaining him until the cold season had so far advanced, that, of
+his party (about fifteen in number), two perished from the cold; and
+not one arrived without being more or less frost-bitten--some very
+severely--besides suffering a loss of about fifty animals from the
+same cause.
+
+Although these and other daring outrages have been duly represented to
+our Government, {232} it does not appear that any measures of redress
+have yet been taken.
+
+With a view of oppressing our merchants, Gov. Armijo had, as early as
+1839, issued a decree exempting all the natives from the tax imposed
+on store-houses, shops, etc., throwing the whole burden of impost upon
+foreigners and naturalized citizens; a measure clearly and
+unequivocally at variance with the treaties and stipulations entered
+into between the United States and Mexico. A protest was presented
+without effect; when our Consul, finding all remonstrances useless,
+forwarded a memorial to the American Minister at Mexico,[6] who,
+although the vital interests of American citizens were at stake,
+deemed the affair of too little importance, perhaps, and therefore
+appears to have paid no attention to it. But this system of levying
+excessive taxes upon foreigners, is by no means an original invention
+of Gov. Armijo. In 1835, the government of Chihuahua having levied a
+_contribucion de guerra_ for raising means to make [Pg028] war upon
+the savages, who were laying waste the surrounding country, foreign
+merchants, with an equal disregard for their rights and the
+obligations of treaties, were taxed twenty-five dollars each per
+month; while the native merchants, many of whom possessed large
+haciendas, with thousands of stock, for the especial protection of
+which these taxes were chiefly imposed, paid only from five to ten
+dollars each. Remonstrances were presented to the governor, but in
+vain. In his official {233} reply, that functionary declared, "_que el
+gobierno cree arreglado el reparto de sus respectivas contribuciones_,"
+--the government believes your respective contributions in accordance
+with justice--which concluded the correspondence, and the Americans
+paid their twenty-five dollars per month.
+
+The only tribunals of 'justice' in New Mexico are those of the
+ordinary _alcaldes_ or justices of the peace; and an appeal from them
+is carried to the Supreme Court in the department of Chihuahua. The
+course of litigation is exceedingly simple and summary. The plaintiff
+makes his verbal complaint or demand before the alcalde, who orders
+him to summon the defendant, which is done by simply saying, "_Le
+llama el alcalde_" (the alcalde calls you) into his presence, the
+applicant acting thus in the double capacity of constable and
+complainant. The summons is always verbal, and rarely for a future
+time--instant attendance being expected. Should the defendant refuse
+to obey this simple mandate (which, by the bye, is a very rare
+occurrence), the alcalde sends his _baston de justicia_, his staff of
+justice, an ordinary walking-cane, distinguished only by a peculiar
+black silk tassel. This never fails to enforce compliance, for a
+refusal to attend after being shown the staff, would be construed into
+a contempt of court, and punished accordingly. The witnesses are
+sometimes sworn upon a cross cut on the _baston de justicia_, or more
+frequently, perhaps, upon a cross [Pg029] formed with {234} the
+finger and thumb. Generally speaking, however, the process of
+examination is gone through without a single oath being administered;
+and in the absence of witnesses, the alcalde often proceeds to
+sentence upon the simple statements of the contending parties. By a
+species of mutual agreement, the issue of a suit is sometimes referred
+to _hombres buenos_ (arbitrators), which is the nearest approximation
+that is made to trial by jury. In judicial proceedings, however, but
+little, or rather no attention is paid to any code of laws; in fact,
+there is scarcely one alcalde in a dozen who knows what a law is, or
+who ever saw a law-book. Their decisions, when not influenced by
+corrupt agencies, are controlled by the prevailing customs of the
+country.
+
+In the administration of justice, there are three distinct and
+privileged jurisdictions, known as _fueros_:[7] the _eclesi�stico_,
+which provides that no member of the clergy, at least of the rank of
+curate and upwards, shall ever be arraigned before a civil tribunal,
+but shall be tried by their superiors in the order; the _militar_,
+which makes a similar provision in favor not only of commissioned
+officers, but of every common soldier from the ranks; and the _civil_
+or ordinary courts, for all cases in which the defendants are laymen.
+These _fueros_ have hitherto maintained the ecclesiastical and
+military classes in perfect independence of the civil authorities. The
+_civil_, in fact, remains in some degree subordinate to the other two
+_fueros_; for it can, under no circumstances, {235} have any
+jurisdiction whatever over them; while the lay plaintiff, in the
+privileged tribunals of these, may, if unsuccessful, have judgment
+entered up against him: a consequence that can never follow the suits
+of the ecclesiastical or military orders before the civil tribunals.
+The judgments of the latter, in [Pg030] such cases, would be void. It
+is no wonder, then, that the cause of freedom in Mexico has made so
+little progress.
+
+Imprisonment is almost the only sort of punishment resorted to in the
+North. For debt, petit larceny, highway robbery, and murder, the usual
+sentence is "_A la c�rcel_" (to jail), where a person is likely to
+remain about as long for inability to pay _dos reales_, as for the
+worst of crimes: always provided he has not the means to pacify the
+offended majesty of the law. I never heard of but one execution for
+murder in New Mexico, since the declaration of independence. The most
+desperate and blood-stained criminals escape with impunity, after a
+few weeks of incarceration, unless the prosecutor happens to be a
+person of great influence; in which case, the prisoner is detained in
+the _calabozo_ at will, even when the offence committed has been of a
+trivial character. Notwithstanding this laxity in the execution of the
+laws, there are few murders of any kind committed.
+
+In case of debt, as before remarked, the delinquent is sent to
+jail--provided the creditor will not accept his services. If he will,
+however, the debtor becomes _nolens volens_ the {236} servant of the
+creditor till the debt is satisfied; and, serving, as he does, at very
+reduced wages, his expenses for clothing, and other necessaries, but
+too often retain him in perpetual servitude. This system does not
+operate, however, upon the higher classes, yet it acts with terrible
+severity upon the unfortunate poor, whose condition is but little
+better, if not worse indeed than that of the slaves of the South. They
+labor for fixed wages, it is true; but all they can earn is hardly
+sufficient to keep them in the coarsest clothing and pay their
+contingent expenses. Men's wages range from two to five dollars a
+month, and those of women from fifty cents to two dollars; in payment
+of which, they rarely receive any money; but instead thereof, articles
+of apparel and other necessaries at the most exorbitant prices. The
+consequence is that the [Pg031] servant soon accumulates a debt which
+he is unable to pay--his wages being often engaged for a year or two
+in advance. Now, according to the usages, if not the laws of the
+country, he is bound to serve his master until all arrearages are
+liquidated; and is only enabled to effect an exchange of masters, by
+engaging another to pay his debt, to whom he becomes in like manner
+bound.
+
+As I have already remarked, capital crimes and highway robberies are
+of comparatively rare occurrence in the North, but in smaller
+delinquencies, such as pilfering and petty rogueries of every shade
+and description, the common classes can very successfully compete
+{237} with any other people. Nothing indeed can be left exposed or
+unguarded without great danger of its being immediately stolen. No
+husbandman would think of leaving his axe or his hoe, or anything else
+of the slightest value, lying out over night. Empty wagons are often
+pillaged of every movable piece of iron, and even the wheels have been
+carried away. Pieces of merchandise are frequently purloined from the
+shelves, when they happen to be in reach. In Chihuahua, goods have
+actually been snatched from the counter while being exposed to the
+inspection of a pretended purchaser. I once had a trick of this kind
+played upon me by a couple of boys, who made their escape through a
+crowd of spectators with their booty exposed. In vain I cried
+"_Agarren � los ladrones!_" (catch the thieves!) not a single
+individual moved to apprehend them. I then proffered the goods stolen,
+to any person who might succeed in bringing the rogues to me, but to
+no purpose. In fact there seems to exist a great deal of repugnance,
+even among the better classes, to apprehending thieves; as if the mere
+act of informing against them was considered dishonorable. I heard a
+very respectable caballero once remark that he had seen a man purloin
+certain articles of merchandise, but he could not be induced to give
+[Pg032] up his name; observing, "O, I can't think of exposing the poor
+fellow!"
+
+The impunity with which delinquencies of this description are every
+day committed is {238} perhaps in some degree, the consequence of
+those severe enactments, such as the _Leyes de las Indias_ (the laws
+of the Indies), which rendered many thefts and robberies punishable
+with death.[8] The magistracy contracted the habit of frequently
+winking at crime, rather than resort to the barbarous expedients
+prescribed by the letter of the law. The utmost that can be gained now
+by public prosecution, is the recovery of the stolen property, if that
+be anywhere to be found, and occasionally a short period of
+imprisonment for the culprit. This is more particularly the case when
+the prosecutor happens to be a foreigner; while on the other hand, if
+he be the party accused, he is likely to be subjected to very severe
+treatment. A remarkable circumstance of this kind occurred in
+Chihuahua in the year 1835. One of our most respectable Missouri
+merchants had bought a mule of a stranger, but the animal was soon
+after claimed by a third person, who proved that it had been stolen
+from him. The Missourian would have been perfectly satisfied to lose
+the mule, and end the matter there; but to the surprise of all, he was
+directly summoned before an alcalde, and forthwith sentenced to jail:
+the partial judge having labored to fix the theft upon the innocent
+purchaser, while the real culprit, who was a native, was permitted to
+go at large.
+
+The love of gambling also deserves to be noticed as a distinguishing
+propensity of these people. Indeed it may well be said, without any
+undue stretch of imagination, that [Pg033] shop-lifting, {239}
+pocket-picking, and other elegant pastimes of the same kindred, are
+the legitimate offspring, especially among the lower classes, of that
+passion for gaming, which in Mexico more than anywhere else--to use
+Madame Calderon's language[9]--"is impregnated with the
+constitution--in man, woman, and child." It prevails in the lowly hut,
+as well as in the glittering saloon; nor is the sanctity of the gown
+nor the dignity of station sufficient proof against the fascinations
+of this exciting vice. No one considers it a degradation to be seen
+frequenting a _monte bank_: the governor himself and his lady, the
+grave magistrate and the priestly dignity, the gay caballero and the
+titled se�ora may all be seen staking their doubloons upon the turn of
+a card; while the humbler ranchero, the hired domestic and the ragged
+pauper, all press with equal avidity to test their fortune at the same
+shrine. There are other games at cards practised among these people,
+depending more upon skill; but that of _el monte_, being one
+exclusively of chance, seems to possess an all-absorbing attraction,
+difficult to be conceived by the uninitiated spectator.
+
+The following will not only serve to show the light in which gambling
+is held by all classes of society, but to illustrate the purifying
+effects of wealth upon character. Some twelve or fifteen years ago
+there lived (or rather roamed) in Taos a certain female of very loose
+habits, known as _La Tules_. Finding it difficult to obtain the means
+of living in that {240} district, she finally extended her wanderings
+to the capital. She there became a constant attendant on one of those
+pandemoniums where the favorite game of _monte_ was dealt _pro bono
+publico_. Fortune, at first, did not seem inclined [Pg034] to smile
+upon her efforts, and for some years she spent her days in lowliness
+and misery. At last her luck turned, as gamblers would say, and on one
+occasion she left the bank with a spoil of several hundred dollars!
+This enabled her to open a bank of her own, and being favored by a
+continuous run of good fortune, she gradually rose higher and higher
+in the scale of affluence, until she found herself in possession of a
+very handsome fortune. In 1843, she sent to the United States some ten
+thousand dollars to be invested in goods. She still continues her
+favorite 'amusement,' being now considered the most expert 'monte
+dealer' in all Santa F�. She is openly received in the first circles
+of society: I doubt, in truth, whether there is to be found in the
+city a lady of more fashionable reputation than this same Tules, now
+known as Se�ora Do�a Gertrudes Barcel�.
+
+Among the multitude of games which seem to constitute the real
+business of life in New Mexico, that of _chuza_ evidently presents the
+most attractions to ladies; and they generally lay very heavy wagers
+upon the result. It is played with little balls, and bears some faint
+resemblance to what is called _roulette_. Bull-baiting and
+cock-fighting, about which so much has been said by every traveller in
+Mexico, {241} are also very popular 'amusements' in the North, and
+generally lead to the same excesses and the same results as gaming.
+The cock-pit rarely fails to be crowded on Sundays and other feast
+days; on which occasions the church, the ball-room, the
+gambling-house, and the cock-pit look like so many opposition
+establishments; for nothing is more common than to see people going
+from one place to another by alternate fits, just as devotional
+feeling or love of pleasure happens to prompt them.
+
+One of the most attractive sports of the rancheros and the peasantry,
+and that which, more than any other, calls for the exercise of skill
+and dexterity, is that called _correr el gallo_, [Pg035] practised
+generally on St. John's day. A common cock or hen is tied by the feet
+to some swinging limb of a tree, so as to be barely within the reach
+of a man on horseback: or the fowl is buried alive in a small pit in
+the ground leaving only the head above the surface. In either case,
+the racers, passing at full speed, grapple the head of the fowl, which
+being well greased, generally slips out of their fingers. As soon as
+some one, more dextrous than the rest, has succeeded in tearing it
+loose, he claps spurs to his steed, and endeavors to escape with the
+prize. He is hotly pursued, however, by the whole sporting crew, and
+the first who overtakes him tries to get possession of the fowl, when
+a strife ensues, during which the poor chicken is torn into atoms.
+Should the holder of the trophy be able to outstrip his pursuers, he
+carries {242} it to a crowd of fair spectators and presents it to his
+mistress, who takes it to the fandango which usually follows, as a
+testimony of the prowess of her lover.
+
+Among the vaqueros, and even among persons of distinction, _el coleo_
+(tailing) is a much nobler exercise than the preceding, and is also
+generally reserved for days of festivity. For this sport the most
+untractable ox or bull is turned loose upon a level common, when all
+the parties who propose to join in the amusement, being already
+mounted, start off in pursuit of him. The most successful rider, as
+soon as he gets near enough to the bull, seizes him by the tail, and
+with a sudden man[oe]uvre, whirls him topsy-turvy upon the plain--to the
+no little risk of breaking his own neck, should his horse stumble or
+be tripped by the legs of the falling bull.
+
+Respecting _fandangos_, I will observe that this term, as it is used
+in New Mexico, is never applied to any particular dance, but is the
+usual designation for those ordinary assemblies where dancing and
+frolicking are carried on; _baile_ (or ball) being generally applied
+to those of a higher grade. The former especially are very frequent;
+for nothing is more [Pg036] general, throughout the country, and with
+all classes than dancing. From the gravest priest to the buffoon--from
+the richest nabob to the beggar--from the governor to the
+ranchero--from the soberest matron to the flippant belle--from the
+grandest _se�ora_ to the _cocinera_--all partake of this exhilarating
+{243} amusement. To judge from the quantity of tuned instruments which
+salute the ear almost every night in the week, one would suppose that
+a perpetual carnival prevailed everywhere. The musical instruments
+used at the _bailes_ and _fandangos_ are usually the fiddle and
+_bandolin_, or _guitarra_, accompanied in some villages by the _tomb�_
+or little Indian drum. The musicians occasionally acquire considerable
+proficiency in the use of these instruments. But what most oddly
+greets, and really outrages most Protestant ears, is the accompaniment
+of divine service with the very same instruments, and often with the
+same tunes.
+
+Of all the petty vices practised by the New Mexicans, the _vicio
+inocente_ of smoking among ladies, is the most intolerable; and yet it
+is a habit of which the loveliest and the most refined equally
+partake. The _puro_ or _cigarro_[10] is seen in the mouths of all: it
+is handed round in the parlor, and introduced at the dinner
+table--even in the ball-room it is presented to ladies as regularly as
+any {244} other species of 'refreshment;' and in the dance the
+se�orita may often be seen whirling round with a lighted _cigarrito_
+in her mouth. The belles of the Southern cities are very frequently
+furnished [Pg037] with _tenazitas de oro_ (little golden tongs), to
+hold the cigar with, so as to prevent their delicate fingers from
+being polluted either with the stain or scent of tobacco; forgetting
+at the same time its disagreeable effects upon the lips and breath.
+
+Notwithstanding their numerous vices, however, I should do the New
+Mexicans the justice to say that they are but little addicted to
+inebriety and its attendant dissipations. Yet this doubtlessly results
+to a considerable degree from the dearness of spirituous liquors,
+which virtually places them beyond the reach of the lower classes.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[1] Chapter xii of volume i of the original edition.--ED.
+
+[2] Both Bartolom� Baca (Vaca) and Narbona were Mexican officers. The
+former, whose term of office was from 1823 to September, 1825,
+belonged to a New Mexican family, and was one of the captains of the
+companies organized in 1808. Antonio Narbona came (1805) from the
+province of Chihuahua, as lieutenant of soldiers sent to repel a
+Navaho raid. He was governor, September, 1825, to May 1827. In 1843 he
+was colonel of an expedition against the Apache in Arizona.
+
+Ewing Young was a native of Knox County, Tennessee. He early went west
+for hunting and trapping, having passports for Mexican territory
+signed at Washington in 1828-29. In these years he made his first
+overland trip from New Mexico to California, where he aided the padres
+of San Jos� in an expedition against revolted neophytes. In 1829 he
+returned to New Mexico, married a Taos woman, and again (1831) set out
+for California. There in 1834 he met Hall Kelley, and was persuaded to
+accompany him to Oregon, where he formed one of the first American
+settlements in the Chehalem Valley, tributary to the Willamette. A
+journey to California in 1836, to purchase cattle, resulted in
+stocking the Oregon pioneers. Young's Oregon settlement prospered; he
+erected saw and grist mills, and upon his death (1841) the
+administration of his estate was the occasion of the first tentative
+experiment in civil government in Oregon. In after years, a son
+Joachim came from New Mexico, and laid successful claim to the
+property, which was paid by the state.
+
+Milton J. Sublette was a younger brother of William (for whom see our
+volume xix, p. 221, note 55, Gregg) and himself a noted trapper and
+trader, operating chiefly in the Rocky Mountains. In 1833 he entered
+into arrangements with Nathaniel Wyeth (see our volume xxi), but the
+next year was compelled to retire because of injury to a leg, which
+caused his death at Fort Laramie, December 19, 1836.--ED.
+
+[3] Algodones is a small Mexican town in Sandoval County, about
+fifteen miles above Albuquerque. It is now a station on the Atchison,
+Topeka, and Santa F� Railway, and has promise of becoming a junction
+with the Santa F� Central.--ED.
+
+[4] Thomas Rowland, a native Pennsylvanian, had been a resident of New
+Mexico for a number of years, and had married there. His brother John
+was accused of complicity with the Texans, which led to the attack
+upon Rowland's property. This was shortly restored to him, as his
+friends were influential in official circles. See George W. Kendall,
+_Narrative of the Texan Santa F� Expedition_ (New York, 1844), i, pp.
+271, 272, 332. John Rowland led a party of immigrants to California
+(1841), where he became a leading American pioneer.--ED.
+
+[5] Manuel Alvarez was a native of Spain, who showed much enterprise
+in establishing the trade between the United States and New Mexico. In
+1839 he was appointed United States consul at Santa F�, an office
+which he held until the American conquest. In 1849 he took part in the
+new state movement, and was by the suffrages of the people elected
+governor; but Congress having erected New Mexico into a territory, the
+state government lapsed.--ED.
+
+[6] Powhattan Ellis, for notice of whom, see our volume xix, p. 274,
+note 100 (Gregg).--ED.
+
+[7] Originally a _fuero_ was any form of charter or privilege granted
+to a kingdom, province, town, or person. _Fueros_ played great part in
+the constitutional development of Spain and her colonies.--ED.
+
+[8] The "Laws of the Indies," or the codification of the ordinances,
+acts, etc., passed by the Council of the Indies and other
+administrative Spanish authorities for the government of the colonies,
+was first issued at Madrid in 1681, under the title _Recopilacion de
+Leyes de los Reynos de Indias_. A fourth edition, under the direction
+of the Council of the Indies, issued in 1791.--ED.
+
+[9] Madame Frances Erskine Inglis Calderon de la Barca was a
+Scotchwoman married to a Spaniard who was minister to the United
+States, and later to Mexico. While in the latter country, she
+published _Life in Mexico_ (London, 1843), an interesting, racy series
+of letters on the manners and customs of Spanish America.--ED.
+
+[10] The _puro_ is a common cigar of _pure_ tobacco; but the term
+_cigarro_ or _cigarrito_ is applied to those made of cut tobacco
+rolled up in a strip of paper or corn-husk. The latter are by far in
+the most general use in New Mexico, even among the men, and are those
+only smoked by the females. In this province cigarros are rarely sold
+in the shops, being generally manufactured by every one just as they
+are needed. Their expertness in this 'accomplishment' is often
+remarkable. The mounted vaquero will take out his _guagito_ (his
+little tobacco-flask), his packet of _hojas_ (or prepared husks), and
+his flint, steel, etc.,--make his cigarrito, strike fire and commence
+smoking in a minute's time--all while at full speed: and the next
+minute will perhaps lazo the wildest bull without interrupting his
+smoke.--GREGG.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+Military Hierarchy of Mexico -- Religious Superstitions -- Legend of
+  _Nuestra Se�ora de Guadalupe_ -- A profane version of the Story -- A
+  curious Plan for manufacturing Water -- Saints and Images --
+  Processions -- How to make it Rain -- The Sacred Host -- Fanaticism
+  and Murder -- Honors paid to a Bishop -- Servility to Priests --
+  Attendance at Public Worship -- New Mexicans in Church -- The Vesper
+  Bells -- Passion Week and the Ceremonies pertaining thereto --
+  Ridiculous _Penitencia_ -- Whitewashing of Criminals -- Matrimonial
+  Connexions and Mode of Contracting them -- Restrictions upon Lovers
+  -- Onerous Fees paid for Marriages and Burials -- Anecdote of a
+  _Ranchero_ -- Ditto of a Servant and a Widow, illustrative of
+  Priestly Extortion -- Modes of Burial, and Burial Ground of the
+  Heretics.
+
+
+The Mexicans seem the legitimate descendants of the subjects of 'His
+Most Catholic Majesty;' for the Romish faith is not only the religion
+established by law, but the only one tolerated by the constitution: a
+system of republican liberty wholly incomprehensible to the
+independent and tolerant spirits of the United States. Foreigners only
+of other creeds, in accordance with treaty stipulations, can worship
+privately within their own houses.[11] The Mexicans, indeed, talk of a
+'union of Church and State:' they should rather say a 'union of Church
+and Army;' for, as has {246} [Pg038] already been shown, the civil
+authority is so nearly merged in the military and the ecclesiastical,
+that the government, if not a military hierarchy, is something so near
+akin that it is difficult to draw the distinction. As Mr. Mayer[12]
+very appropriately remarks, you are warned of the double dominion of
+the army and the church "by the constant sound of the drum and the
+bell, which ring in your ears from morn to midnight, and drown the
+sounds of industry and labor."
+
+In the variety and grossness of popular superstitions, Northern Mexico
+can probably compete with any civilized country in the world. Others
+may have their extravagant traditions, their fanatical prejudices,
+their priestly impostures, but here the popular creed seems to be the
+embodiment of as much that is fantastic and improbable in idolatrous
+worship, as it is possible to clothe in the garb of a religious faith.
+It would fill volumes to relate one-half of the wonderful miracles and
+extraordinary apparitions said to have occurred during and since the
+conquest of the Indian Pueblos and their conversion to the Romish
+faith. Their character may be inferred from the following national
+legend of _La Maravillosa Aparicion de Nuestra Se�ora de
+Guadalupe--anglic�_, the marvellous apparition of Our Lady of
+Guadalupe,--which, in some one of its many traditionary shapes, is
+generally believed throughout the republic. I have seen some half a
+dozen written versions of this celebrated tradition, and heard about
+as many oral {247} ones; but no two agree in all the particulars.
+However, that which has received most currency informs us, that, on
+the 12th of December, 1531, an Indian called Juan Diego, while passing
+over the barren hill of Tepeyacac (about a league northward [Pg039]
+from the city of Mexico), in quest of medicinal herbs, had his
+attention suddenly arrested by the fragrance of flowers, and the sound
+of delightful music; and on looking up, he saw an angelic sort of
+figure directly before him. Being terrified he attempted to flee; but
+the apparition calling to him by name, "Juan Diego," said she, "go
+tell the bishop to have me a place of worship erected on this very
+spot." The Indian replied that he could not return, as he was seeking
+_remedios_ for a dying relative. But the figure bade him to do as
+commanded, and have no further care about his relative--that he was
+then well. Juan Diego went to the city, but being unable to procure an
+audience from the bishop, he concluded he had been acting under a
+delusion, and again set off for his _remedios_. Upon ascending the
+same hill, however, the apparition again accosted him, and hearing his
+excuse, upbraided him for his want of faith and energy; and said,
+"Tell the bishop that it is Guadalupe, the Virgin Mary, come to dwell
+amongst and protect the Mexicans, who sends thee." The Indian,
+returning again to the city, forced his way into the presence of the
+bishop, who, like a good sensible man, received the messenger with
+jeers, and treated him as a maniac; {248} telling him finally to bring
+some sign, which, if really the Mother of God, his directress could
+readily furnish.
+
+The perplexed Indian left the bishop's presence resolved to avoid
+further molestation from his spiritual acquaintance, by taking another
+route; yet, when near the place of his first meeting, he again
+encountered the apparition, who, hearing the result of his mission,
+ordered him to climb a naked rock hard by, and collect a bouquet of
+flowers which he would find growing there. Juan Diego, albeit without
+faith, obeyed, when, to his surprise he found the flowers referred to,
+and brought them to the Virgin, who, throwing them into his _tilma_,
+commanded him to carry them to the bishop; saying, [Pg040] "When he
+sees these he will believe, as he well knows that flowers do not bloom
+at this season, much less upon that barren rock." The humble messenger
+now with more courage sought the bishop's presence, and threw out the
+blooming credentials of his mission before him; when lo! to the
+astonishment of all, and to the entire conviction of his _Senor�a
+ilustr�sima_, the perfect image of the apparition appeared imprinted
+on the inside of the _tilma_.[13]
+
+The reverend Prelate now fully acknowledged the divinity of the
+picture, and in a {249} conclave of ecclesiastics convened for the
+purpose, he pronounced it the image of _La verdadera V�rgen_ and
+protectress of Mexico. A splendid chapel was soon after erected upon
+the spot designated in the mandate, in which the miraculous painting
+was deposited, where it is preserved to the present day. In the
+suburbs of every principal city in the republic, there is now a chapel
+specially dedicated to _Nuestra Se�ora de Guadalupe_, where coarse
+resemblances of the original picture are to be seen. Rough paintings
+of the same, of various dimensions, are also to be met with in nearly
+every dwelling, from the palace to the most miserable hovel. The
+image, with an adapted [Pg041] motto, has also been stamped upon
+medals, which are swung about the necks of the faithful.[14]
+
+[Illustration]
+
+{250} As a further confirmation of the miracle, it is also told, that
+when Juan Diego returned to his home, he found his relative in good
+health--that he had suddenly risen from the last extremity about the
+time of the former's meeting with the Virgin.
+
+Now comes the profane version of the story, which the skeptical have
+set afloat, as the most reasonable one; but against which, in the name
+of orthodoxy, I feel bound to enter my protest. To the better
+understanding of this 'explanatory tradition,' it may be necessary to
+premise that the name of Guadalupe was already familiar to the
+Spaniards, the Virgin Mary having, it is said, long before appeared in
+Spain, under the same title; on which occasion an order of monks,
+styled _Frailes Guadalupanos_, had been instituted. One of these
+worthy fathers who had been sent as a missionary to Mexico, finding
+the Indians rather stubborn and unyielding, conceived the plan of
+flattering their national vanity by fabricating a saint suited for the
+occasion. The Guadalupano had a poor friend who was an excellent
+painter, to whom he said, one day, "Take this tilma"--presenting him
+one of the coarsest and most slazy texture {251} (a sort of _manta de
+guangoche_); "paste it upon canvass, and paint me thereon the
+handsomest effigy of Nuestra Se�ora de Guadalupe that your fancy can
+portray." When [Pg042] this was done according to order, and the
+tilma separated from the canvass, the picture appeared somewhat
+miraculous. Viewed very closely, it showed exceedingly dim; but upon
+receding to some distance, so that the eye could embrace a larger
+field of the open texture, it appeared quite distinct and beautiful.
+This effect is often alluded to at the present day, and easily as it
+might be accounted for upon philosophical principles, I have heard
+many an ignorant Mexican declare, that _la Santisima V�rgen_ concealed
+herself from such as profaned her shrine by a too near approach, and
+only shone forth in all her brilliancy to those who kept at a
+respectful distance. But in conclusion, the story relates, that a
+suitable damsel being selected and decked out to represent the Virgin,
+the affair was played off as it has been narrated.
+
+As regards the miracle of the fresh flowers in December the _profanos_
+say, that there was nothing very wonderful about it, as flowers were
+known to bloom in the lowlands, and only a few leagues from the spot
+where the affair took place, at all seasons of the year; implying that
+these had been engrafted upon the rock for the occasion. There are
+some who go so far as to insinuate that the bishop and other
+ecclesiastics were privy to the whole affair, and that every
+precaution had been {252} taken to see the Indian who played first
+fiddle in the matter, provided with a tilma, similar to the one on
+which the image of the Virgin was painted, and that this was artfully
+slipped in the place of the former, which the Indian had doffed when
+he climbed the rock after the flowers.--I have not seen the original
+portrait, but most of the copies and imitations I have met with,
+represent the Virgin with that peculiarly tawny complexion which was
+probably deemed indispensable to conciliate the prejudices of the
+aborigines. [Pg043]
+
+The reader may reconcile the foregoing discrepancies in the best way
+he can; all that I have to add is, that the apparition having been
+canonized by the Pope, a belief in it now constitutes as much a part
+of the religious faith of the Mexicans, as any article of the
+Apostolic Creed. To judge from the blind and reverential awe in which
+the Virgin Guadalupe is held by the lowly and the ignorant, one would
+suppose her to be the first person in the Divinity, for to her their
+vows are directed, their prayers offered up, and all their confessions
+made.
+
+Among the many traditions implicitly believed in by the people, and
+which tend to obstruct the advancement of knowledge, there is one
+equally as amusing and extravagant as the foregoing, which has been
+gravely recounted by the present Vicar of New Mexico and ex-delegate
+to Congress. During the memorable insurrection of 1680, the Pueblo of
+San Felipe was about the only one that {253} remained faithful to the
+Spaniards in all the North. It was during that exciting period that
+the padre of another Pueblo took refuge among them. Being besieged by
+their neighbors and their communication with the water entirely cut
+off, they applied for advice to the reverend padre, who bade them not
+despair, as he had it in his power to supply them with water. He then
+began to pray very fervently, after which he opened a vein in each of
+his arms, from whence there flowed two such copious streams of water
+that all fears of being reduced by thirst were completely allayed![15]
+[Pg044]
+
+It is a part of the superstitious blindness of these people to
+believe that every one of their legion of canonized saints possesses
+the power of performing certain miracles; and their aid is generally
+invoked on all occasions of sickness and distress. The kindest office,
+therefore, that the friends of a sick person can perform, is to bring
+forward the image of some of those saints whose healing powers have
+been satisfactorily tested. The efficacy of these superstitious
+remedies will not be difficult to account for, when the powerful
+influence of the imagination upon disease is taken into consideration.
+
+The images of patron saints are never put in such general requisition,
+however, as in seasons of severe drought. The priests, being generally
+expert at guessing the approach of a pluvial period, take good care
+not to make confident promises till they have substantial {254} reason
+to anticipate a speedy fulfilment of their prophecies. When the
+fitting season draws nigh, they carry out the image of Nuestra Se�ora
+de Guadalupe, or that of some other favorite saint, and parade about
+the streets, the fields and the meadows, followed by all the men,
+women, and children of the neighborhood, in solemn procession. Should
+the clouds condescend to vouchsafe a supply of rain within a week or
+two of this general humiliation, no one ever thinks of begrudging the
+scores of dollars that have been paid to the priests for bringing
+about so happy a result.
+
+Speaking of processions, I am reminded of another peculiar custom so
+prevalent in Mexico, that it never fails to attract the attention of
+strangers. This is the passage of the Sacred Host to the residence of
+persons dangerously ill, for the purpose of administering to them the
+Extreme Unction. In New Mexico, however, this procession is not
+attended with so much ostentatious display as it is in the South, the
+paradise of ecclesiastics, where [Pg045] it is conveyed in a black
+coach drawn by a pair of black mules, accompanied by armed soldiers
+and followed by crowds of _l�peros_ of all sexes and ages. During the
+procession of the Host, two church-bells of different tones are kept
+sounding by alternate strokes. Also the carriage is always preceded by
+a bell-man tinkling a little bell in regular time, to notify all
+within hearing of its approach, that they may be prepared to pay it
+due homage. When {255} this bell is heard, all those that happen to be
+within sight of the procession, though at ever so great a distance,
+instantly kneel and remain in that position till it has passed out of
+sight. On these occasions, if an American happens to be within
+hearing, he endeavors to avoid the _cort�ge_, by turning the corner of
+a street or entering a shop or the house of a friend; for although it
+may be expedient, and even rational, to conform with the customs and
+ceremonies of these countries we are sojourning in, very few
+Protestants would feel disposed to fall on their knees before a coach
+freighted with frail mortals pretending to represent the Godhead! I am
+sorry to say that non-compliants are frequently insulted and sometimes
+pelted with stones by the rabble. Even a foreign artisan was once
+massacred in the Mexican metropolis because he refused to come out of
+his shop, where he was kneeling, and perform the act of genuflexion in
+the street!
+
+This abject idolatry sometimes takes a still more humiliating aspect,
+and descends to the worship of men in the capacity of religious
+rulers. On the occasion of the Bishop of Durango's visit to Santa F�
+in 1833, an event which had not taken place for a great many years,
+the infatuated population hailed his arrival with as much devotional
+enthusiasm as if it had been the second advent of the Messiah.
+Magnificent preparations were made everywhere for his reception: the
+streets were swept, the roads and [Pg046] bridges on his route
+repaired {256} and decorated; and from every window in the city there
+hung such a profusion of fancy curtains and rich cloths that the
+imagination was carried back to those glowing descriptions of
+enchanted worlds which one reads of in the fables of necromancers. I
+must observe, however, that there is a custom in all the towns of
+Mexico (which it would not be safe to neglect), providing that
+whenever a religious procession takes place, all the doors and windows
+facing the street along which it is to pass, shall be decorated with
+shawls, carpets, or fancy cloths, according to the means and
+capabilities of the proprietor. During the bishop's sojourn in Santa
+F�, which, to the great joy of the inhabitants, lasted for several
+weeks, he never appeared in the streets but that 'all true Catholics'
+who were so fortunate as to obtain a glimpse of his _Se�or�a
+Ilustr�sima_ immediately dropped upon their knees, and never moved
+from that position till the mitred priest had either vouchsafed his
+benediction or had disappeared. Even the principal personages of the
+city would not venture to address him till they had first knelt at his
+feet and kissed his 'pastoral ring.' This, however, is only a
+heightened picture of what occurs every day in the intercourse between
+the rancheros and the common padres of the country. The slavish
+obsequiousness of the lower classes towards these pampered priests is
+almost incredible.
+
+No people are more punctual in their attendance upon public worship,
+or more exact {257} in the performance of the external rites of
+religion, than the New Mexicans. A man would about as soon think of
+venturing in twenty fathoms of water without being able to swim, as of
+undertaking a journey without hearing mass first. These religious
+exercises, however, partake but seldom of the character of true
+devotion; for people may be seen chattering or tittering while in the
+act of crossing themselves, or muttering [Pg047] some formal prayer.
+Indeed, it is the common remark of strangers, that they are wont to
+wear much graver countenances while dancing at a fandango than during
+their devotional exercises at the foot of the altar. In nothing,
+however, is their observance of the outward forms of religion more
+remarkable than in their deportment every day towards the close of
+twilight, when the large bell of the _Parroquia_ peals for _la
+oracion_, or vespers.[16] All conversation is instantly suspended--all
+labor ceases--people of all classes, whether on foot or on horseback,
+make a sudden halt--even the laden porter, groaning under the weight
+of an insupportable burden, stops in the midst of his career and
+stands still. An almost breathless silence reigns throughout the town,
+disturbed only by the occasional sibilations of the devout multitude:
+all of which, accompanied by the slow heavy peals of a large sonorous
+bell, afford a scene truly solemn and appropriate. At the expiration
+of about two minutes the charm is suddenly broken by the clatter of
+livelier-toned bells; and a _buenas {258} tardes_ (good evening) to
+those present closes the ceremony: when _presto_, all is bustle and
+confusion again--the colloquial chit-chat is resumed--the smith plies
+upon his anvil with redoubled energy--the clink of the hammer
+simultaneously resounds in every direction--the wayfarers are again in
+motion,--both pleasure and business, in short, assume their respective
+sway.
+
+Although the Catholics have a saint for each day in the year, the
+number of canonized _fiestas_ in which labor is prohibited has been
+somewhat reduced in Mexico. _La Semana Santa_, or Passion Week, is
+perhaps the period when the religious feeling, such as it is, is most
+fully excited: [Pg048] _Viernes Santo_ (Good Friday), especially, is
+observed with great pomp and splendor. An image of Christ large as
+life, nailed to a huge wooden cross, is paraded through the streets,
+in the midst of an immense procession, accompanied by a glittering
+array of carved images, representing the Virgin Mary, Mary Magdalene,
+and several others; while the most notorious personages of antiquity,
+who figured at that great era of the World's history,--the centurion
+with a band of guards, armed with lances, and apparelled in the
+costume supposed to have been worn in those days,--may be seen
+bestriding splendidly caparisoned horses, in the breathing reality of
+flesh and blood. Taking it all in all, this spectacle,--the ceremonies
+and man[oe]uvres which attend its career through the densely crowded and
+ornamented {259} streets,--are calculated to produce impressions of a
+most confused description, in which regret and melancholy may be said
+to form no inconsiderable share.
+
+It has been customary for great malefactors to propitiate Divine
+forgiveness by a cruel sort of _penitencia_, which generally takes
+place during the _Semana Santa_. I once chanced to be in the town of
+Tom�[17] on Good Friday, when my attention was arrested by a man
+almost naked, bearing, in imitation of Simon, a huge cross upon his
+shoulders, which, though constructed of the lightest wood, must have
+weighed over a hundred pounds. The long end dragged upon the ground,
+as we have seen it represented in sacred pictures, and about the
+middle swung a stone of immense dimensions, appended there for the
+purpose of making the task more laborious. Not far behind followed
+another equally destitute of clothing, with his whole body wrapped in
+chains and cords, which seemed buried in the [Pg049] muscles, and
+which so cramped and confined him that he was scarcely able to keep
+pace with the procession. The person who brought up the rear presented
+a still more disgusting aspect. He walked along with a patient and
+composed step, while another followed close behind belaboring him
+lustily with a whip, which he flourished with all the satisfaction of
+an amateur; but as the lash was pointed only with a tuft of untwisted
+sea-grass, its application merely served to keep open the wounds upon
+the penitent's {260} back, which had been scarified, as I was
+informed, with the keen edge of a flint, and was bleeding most
+profusely. The blood was kept in perpetual flow by the stimulating
+juice of certain herbs, carried by a third person, into which the
+scourger frequently dipped his lash. Although the actors in this
+tragical farce were completely muffled, yet they were well known to
+many of the by-standers, one of whom assured me that they were three
+of the most notorious rascals in the country. By submitting to this
+species of penance, they annually received complete absolution of
+their past year's sins, and, thus 'purified,' entered afresh on the
+old career of wickedness and crime.
+
+In New Mexico, the institution of marriage changes the legal rights of
+the parties, but it scarcely affects their moral obligations. It is
+usually looked upon as a convenient cloak for irregularities, which
+society less willingly tolerates in the lives of unmarried women. Yet
+when it is considered that the majority of matches are forced and
+ill-assorted, some idea may be formed of the little incitement that is
+given to virtue. There are very few parents who would stoop to consult
+a young lady's wishes before concluding a marriage contract, nor would
+maidens, generally, ever dream of a matrimonial connection unless
+proposed first by the father. The lover's proposals are, upon the same
+principle, made in writing direct to the parents themselves, [Pg050]
+and without the least deference to the wishes or inclinations {261} of
+the young lady whose hand is thus sought in marriage. The tender
+emotions engendered between lovers during walks and rambles along the
+banks of silent streams, are never experienced in this country; for
+the sexes are seldom permitted to converse or be together alone. In
+short, instances have actually occurred when the betrothed couple have
+never seen each other till brought to the altar to be joined in
+wedlock.
+
+Among the humbler classes, there are still more powerful causes
+calculated to produce irregularity of life; not the least of which is
+the enormous fee that must be paid to the curate for tying the
+matrimonial knot. This system of extortion is carried so far as to
+amount very frequently to absolute prohibition: for the means of the
+bridegroom are often insufficient for the exigency of the occasion;
+and the priests seldom consent to join people in wedlock until the
+money has been secured to them. The curates being without control, the
+marriage rates are somewhat irregular, but they usually increase in
+proportion to the character of the ceremonies and to the circumstances
+of the parties. The lowest (about twenty dollars) are adapted to the
+simplest form, solemnized in church at mass; but with the excuse of
+any extra service and ceremonies, particularly if performed at a
+private house, the fees are increased often as high as several hundred
+dollars: I have heard of $500 being paid for a marriage ceremony. The
+following communication, which {262} appeared in a Chihuahua paper
+under the signature of "_Un Ranchero_" affords some illustration of
+the grievances of the plebeians in this respect. Literally translated
+it runs thus:
+
+  "_Messrs. Editors of the Noticioso de Chihuahua:_
+
+  "Permit me, through your paper, to say a few words in print, as
+  those of my pen have been unsuccessfully employed [Pg051] with the
+  _curas_ of Allende and Jimenez, to whom I applied the other day for
+  the purpose of ascertaining their legal charge to marry one of my
+  sons. The following simple and concise answer is all that I have
+  been able to elicit from either of these ecclesiastics:--'_The_
+  _marriage fees are a hundred and nineteen dollars_.' I must confess
+  that I was completely suffocated when I heard this outrageous demand
+  upon my poor purse; and did I not pride myself on being a true
+  Apostolic Roman Catholic, and were it not that the charming graces
+  of my intended daughter-in-law have so captivated my son that
+  nothing but marriage will satisfy him, I would assuredly advise him
+  to contrive some other arrangement with his beloved, which might not
+  be so ruinous to our poor purse; for reflect that $119 are the life
+  and all of a poor ranchero. If nothing else will do, I shall have to
+  sell my few cows (_mis vaquitas_) to help my son out of this
+  difficulty."--The 'Ranchero' then appeals to the Government to
+  remedy such evils, by imposing some salutary restrictions upon the
+  clergy; and concludes by saying, "If this is not done, I will {263}
+  never permit either of my remaining three sons to marry."
+
+This article was certainly an effort of boldness against the
+priesthood, which may have cost the poor 'Ranchero' a sentence of
+ex-communication. Few of his countrymen would venture on a similar act
+of temerity; and at least nine-tenths profess the most profound
+submission to their religious rulers. Being thus bred to look upon
+their priests as infallible and holy samples of piety and virtue, we
+should not be so much surprised at the excesses of the 'flock' when a
+large portion of the _pastores_, the padres themselves, are foremost
+in most of the popular vices of the country: first at the
+fandango--first at the gaming table--first at the cock-pit--first at
+bacchanalian orgies--and [Pg052] by no means last in the contraction
+of those _liaisons_ which are so emphatically prohibited by their
+vows.
+
+The baptismal and burial fees (neither of which can be avoided without
+incurring the charge of heresy) are also a great terror to the
+candidates for married life. "If I marry," says the poor yeoman, "my
+family must go unclad to baptize my children; and if any of them
+should die, we must starve ourselves to pay the burial charges." The
+fee for baptism, it is true, is not so exorbitant, and in accordance
+to custom, is often paid by the _padrino_ or sponsor; but the burial
+costs are almost equally extravagant with those of marriage, varying
+in proportion to the age and {264} circumstances of the deceased. A
+faithful Mexican servant in my employ at Chihuahua, once solicited
+forty dollars to bury his mother. Upon my expressing some surprise at
+the exorbitancy of the amount, he replied--"That is what the cura
+demands, sir, and if I do not pay it my poor mother will remain
+unburied!" Thus this man was obliged to sacrifice several months'
+wages, to pamper the avarice of a vicious and mercenary priest. On
+another occasion, a poor widow in Santa F�, begged a little medicine
+for her sick child: "Not," said the disconsolate mother, "that the
+life of the babe imports me much, for I know the _angelito_ will go
+directly to heaven; but what shall I do to pay the priest for burying
+it? He will take my house and all from me--and I shall be turned
+desolate into the street!"--and so saying, she commenced weeping
+bitterly.
+
+Indigent parents are thus frequently under the painful necessity of
+abandoning and disowning their deceased children, to avoid the
+responsibility of burial expenses. To this end the corpse is sometimes
+deposited in some niche or corner of the church during the night; and
+upon being [Pg053] found in the morning, the priest is bound to inter
+it gratis, unless the parent can be discovered, in which case the
+latter would be liable to severe castigation, besides being bound to
+pay the expenses.
+
+Children that have not been baptized are destined, according to the
+popular faith, to a kind of negative existence in the world of {265}
+spirits, called _Limbo_, where they remain for ever without either
+suffering punishment or enjoying happiness. Baptized infants, on the
+other hand, being considered without sin, are supposed to enter at
+once into the joys of heaven. The deceased child is then denominated
+an _angelito_ (a little angel), and is interred with joy and mirth
+instead of grief and wailing. It is gaudily bedecked with fanciful
+attire and ornaments of tinsel and flowers; and being placed upon a
+small bier, it is carried to the grave by four children as gaily
+dressed as their circumstances will allow; accompanied by musicians
+using the instruments and playing the tunes of the fandangos; and the
+little procession is nothing but glee and merriment.
+
+In New Mexico the lower classes are very rarely, if ever, buried in
+coffins: the corpse being simply wrapped in a blanket, or some other
+covering, and in that rude attire consigned to its last home. It is
+truly shocking to a sensitive mind to witness the inhuman treatment to
+which the remains of the dead are sometimes subjected. There being
+nothing to indicate the place of the previous graves, it not
+unfrequently happens that the partially decayed relics of a corpse are
+dug up and forced to give place to the more recently deceased, when
+they are again thrown with the earth into the new grave with perfect
+indifference. The operation of filling up the grave especially, is
+particularly repulsive; the earth being pounded down with a large
+maul, {266} as fast as it is thrown in upon the unprotected corpse,
+with a force sufficient to crush a delicate frame to atoms. [Pg054]
+
+As the remains of heretics are not permitted to pollute either the
+church-yard or _Campo Santo_, those Americans who have died in Santa
+F�, have been buried on a hill which overlooks the town to the
+northward. The corpses have sometimes been disinterred and robbed of
+the shroud in which they were enveloped; so that, on a few occasions,
+it has been deemed expedient to appoint a special watch for the
+protection of the grave.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[11] Religious freedom, and entire separation of church and state,
+were secured in Mexico, after a long and bitter struggle, by the
+constitution of 1873.--ED.
+
+[12] Brantz Mayer (1809-79), a native of Baltimore, Maryland,
+historian and diplomat. In 1843 he was secretary of legation at
+Mexico, and upon his return published _Mexico as it was and as it is_
+(New York, 1844), to which book Gregg here refers. Mayer was the
+author of several other works, both on Mexico and American history,
+and founder of the Maryland Historical Society.--ED.
+
+[13] This is a kind of mantle or loose covering worn by the Indians,
+which, in the present instance, was made of the coarse filaments of a
+species of maguey, and a little resembled the common coffee sacks. The
+painting, as it necessarily must be on such a material, is said to be
+coarse, and represents the Virgin covered with a blue robe bespangled
+with stars.--GREGG.
+
+[14] The accompanying cut represents both sides of a medal of
+"_Nuestra Se�ora de Guadalupe de Mexico_," of which, as I have been
+informed, 216,000 were struck at Birmingham in the year 1831, designed
+for the Mexican market. Similar medals are worn by nearly nine-tenths
+of the population of Northern Mexico. On one side, as will be seen,
+the Virgin is represented in her star-spangled robe, supported by a
+cherub and the moon under her feet: a design, which, it has been
+suggested, was most probably drawn from Revelation xii. 1. The date,
+"A. 1805," is that perhaps of some one of the innumerable miracles,
+which, according to fame in Mexico, have been wrought by the Virgin
+Guadalupe. The motto, "_Non fecit taliter omni nationi_" (She "hath
+not dealt so with any nation") which is found on the reverse of the
+medal, is extracted from Psalm cxlvii. 20.--GREGG.
+
+[15] This story is apochryphal, since the pueblo was besieged neither
+during the revolt of 1680 nor that of 1696. The pueblo of San Felipe
+is of Queres origin, and was known in the seventeenth century. Its
+first friar was Cristobal Qui�ones, who died in 1609. The pueblo was
+faithful to the Spanish, its people killing none of that nation during
+the revolt. It now occupied its fourth site in Sandoval County, at the
+foot of a mesa which is crowned with the ruins of an earlier site. It
+is the southernmost pueblo of Queres stock, and had (1903) a
+population of five hundred and sixteen.--ED.
+
+[16] The Parroquia, or cathedral of Santa F�, stands upon the site of,
+and partially incorporates the early building of 1627. It is built of
+light brown stone, and flanked by two bell towers.--ED.
+
+[17] Tom� is a town on the east bank of the Rio Grande, some distance
+below Albuquerque. It was at one time the seat of Valencia County, and
+in 1900 had a population of about eight hundred.--ED.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+The Pueblos -- Their Character for Sobriety, Honesty, and Industry --
+  Traditional Descent from Montezuma -- Their Languages -- Former and
+  present Population -- The Pueblo of Pecos -- Singular Habits of that
+  ill-fated Tribe -- Curious Tradition -- Montezuma and the Sun --
+  Legend of a Serpent -- Religion and Government -- Secret Council --
+  Laws and Customs -- Excellent Provisions against Demoralization --
+  Primitive Pastimes of the Pueblos -- Their Architecture -- Singular
+  Structures of Taos, and other novel Fortifications -- Primitive
+  state of the Arts among the Pueblos -- Style of Dress, Weapons, etc.
+  -- Their Diet -- The _Guayave_.
+
+
+Allusion has so frequently been made to the aboriginal tribes of New
+Mexico, known as _Los Pueblos_, that I think I shall not be
+trespassing too much upon the patience of the reader, in glancing
+rapidly at some of the more conspicuous features of their national
+habits and character.
+
+Although the term _Pueblo_ in Spanish literally means the _people_,
+and their _towns_, it is here specifically applied to the
+_Christianized Indians_ (as well as their villages)--to those
+aborigines whom the Spaniards not only subjected to their laws, but to
+an acknowledgment of the Romish faith, and upon whom they forced
+baptism and the cross in exchange for {268} the vast possessions of
+which they robbed them. All that was left them was, to each Pueblo a
+league or two of land situated around their villages, the conquerors
+reserving to themselves at least ninety-nine hundredths of the whole
+domain as a requital for their generosity. [Pg055]
+
+When these regions were first discovered it appears that the
+inhabitants lived in comfortable houses and cultivated the soil, as
+they have continued to do up to the present time. Indeed, they are now
+considered the best horticulturists in the country, furnishing most of
+the fruits and a large portion of the vegetable supplies that are to
+be found in the markets. They were until very lately the only people
+in New Mexico who cultivated the grape. They also maintain at the
+present time considerable herds of cattle, horses, etc. They are, in
+short, a remarkably sober and industrious race, conspicuous for
+morality and honesty, and very little given to quarrelling or
+dissipation, except when they have had much familiar intercourse with
+the Hispano-Mexican population.
+
+Most of these Pueblos call themselves the descendants of Montezuma,
+although it would appear that they could only have been made
+acquainted with the history of that monarch, by the Spaniards; as this
+province is nearly two thousand miles from the ancient kingdom of
+Mexico. At the time of the conquest they must have been a very
+powerful people--numbering near a hundred villages, as existing {269}
+ruins would seem to indicate; but they are now reduced to about
+twenty, which are scattered in various parts of the territory.[18]
+
+There are but three or four different languages spoken among them, and
+these, indeed, may be distantly allied to each other. Those of Taos,
+Picuris, Isleta, and perhaps some others, speak what has been called
+the _Piro_ language. A large portion of the others, viz., those of San
+Juan, Santa [Pg056] Clara, Namb�, Pojuaque, Tezuque, and some others,
+speak _Tegua_, having all been originally known by this general name;
+and those of Cochit�, Santo Domingo, San Felipe, and perhaps Sand�a,
+speak the same tongue, though they seem formerly to have been
+distinguished as _Queres_. The numerous tribes that inhabited the
+highlands between Rio del Norte and Pecos, as those of Pecos, Ci�nega,
+Galisteo, etc., were known anciently as _Tagnos_, but these are now
+all extinct; yet their language is said to be spoken by those of Jemez
+and others of that section. Those further to the westward[19] {270}
+are perhaps allied to the Navajoes. Though all these Pueblos speak
+their native languages among themselves, a great many of them possess
+a smattering of Spanish, sufficient to carry on their intercourse with
+the Mexicans.[20]
+
+The population of these Pueblos will average nearly five hundred souls
+each (though some hardly exceed one hundred), making an aggregate of
+nine or ten thousand. At the time of the original conquest, at the
+close of the sixteenth century, they were, as has been mentioned,
+much, [Pg057] perhaps ten-fold, more numerous.[21] Ancient ruins are
+now to be seen scattered in every quarter of the territory: of some,
+entire stone walls are yet standing, while others are nearly or quite
+obliterated, many of them being now only known by their names which
+history or tradition has preserved to us. Numbers were no doubt
+destroyed during the insurrection of 1680, and the petty internal
+strifes which followed.
+
+Several of these Pueblos have been converted into Mexican villages, of
+which that of _Pecos_ is perhaps the most remarkable instance. What
+with the massacres of the second conquest, and the inroads of the
+Comanches, they gradually dwindled away, till they found themselves
+reduced to about a dozen, comprising all ages and sexes; and it was
+only a few years ago that they abandoned the home of their fathers and
+joined the Pueblo of Jemez.
+
+Many curious tales are told of the singular habits of this ill-fated
+tribe, which must no {271} doubt have tended to hasten its utter
+annihilation. A tradition was prevalent among them that Montezuma had
+kindled a holy fire, and enjoined their ancestors not to suffer it to
+be extinguished until he should return to deliver his people from the
+yoke of the Spaniards. In pursuance of these commands, a constant
+watch had been maintained for ages to prevent the fire from going out;
+and, as tradition further informed them, that Montezuma would appear
+with the sun, the deluded Indians were to be seen every clear morning
+upon the terraced roofs of their houses, attentively watching for the
+appearance of the 'king of light,' in hopes of seeing him 'cheek by
+jowl' with their immortal sovereign. I have [Pg058] myself descended
+into the famous _estufas_, or subterranean vaults, of which there were
+several in the village, and have beheld this consecrated fire,
+silently smouldering under a covering of ashes, in the basin of a
+small altar. Some say that they never lost hope in the final coming of
+Montezuma until, by some accident or other, or a lack of a sufficiency
+of warriors to watch it, the fire became extinguished; and that it was
+this catastrophe that induced them to abandon their villages, as I
+have before observed.
+
+The task of tending the sacred fire was, it is said, allotted to the
+warriors. It is further related, that they took the watch by turns for
+two successive days and nights, without partaking of either food,
+water, or sleep; while some assert, that instead of being restricted
+to {272} two days, each guard continued with the same unbending
+severity of purpose until exhaustion, and very frequently death, left
+their places to be filled by others. A large portion of those who came
+out alive were generally so completely prostrated by the want of
+repose and the inhalation of carbonic gas that they very soon died;
+when, as the vulgar story asseverates, their remains were carried to
+the den of a monstrous serpent, which kept itself in excellent
+condition by feeding upon these delicacies. This huge snake (invented
+no doubt by the lovers of the marvellous to account for the constant
+disappearance of the Indians) was represented as the idol which they
+worshipped, and as subsisting entirely upon the flesh of his devotees:
+live infants, however, seemed to suit his palate best. The story of
+this wonderful serpent was so firmly believed in by many ignorant
+people, that on one occasion I heard an honest ranchero assert, that
+upon entering the village very early on a winter's morning, he saw the
+huge trail of the reptile in the snow, as large as that of a dragging
+ox. [Pg059]
+
+This village, anciently so renowned, lies twenty-five miles eastward
+of Santa F�, and near the _Rio Pecos_, to which it gave name. Even so
+late as ten years ago, when it contained a population of fifty to a
+hundred souls, the traveller would oftentimes perceive but a solitary
+Indian, a woman, or a child, standing here and there like so many
+statues upon the roofs of their houses, with their eyes fixed on {273}
+the eastern horizon, or leaning against a wall or a fence, listlessly
+gazing at the passing stranger; while at other times not a soul was to
+be seen in any direction, and the sepulchral silence of the place was
+only disturbed by the occasional barking of a dog, or the cackling of
+hens.[22]
+
+No other Pueblo appears to have adopted this extraordinary
+superstition: like Pecos, however, they have all held Montezuma to be
+their perpetual sovereign. It would likewise appear that they all
+worship the sun; for it is asserted to be their regular practice to
+turn the face towards the east at sunrise.[23] They profess the
+Catholic faith, however, of which, nevertheless, they cannot be
+expected to understand anything beyond the formalities; as [Pg060]
+but very few of their Mexican neighbors and teachers can boast of
+more.
+
+Although nominally under the jurisdiction of the federal government,
+as Mexican citizens, many features of their ancient customs are still
+retained, as well in their civil rule as in their religion. Each
+Pueblo is under the control of a _cacique_ or _gobernadorcillo_,
+chosen from among their own sages, and commissioned by the governor of
+New Mexico. The cacique, when any public business is to be transacted,
+collects together the principal chiefs of the Pueblo in an _estufa_,
+or cell, usually under ground, and there lays before them the subjects
+of debate, which are generally settled by the opinion of the majority.
+No Mexican is admitted to these councils, nor do the {274} subjects of
+discussion ever transpire beyond the precincts of the cavern. The
+council has also charge of the interior police and tranquility of the
+village.[24] One of their regulations is to appoint a secret watch for
+the purpose of keeping down disorders and vices of every description,
+and especially to keep an eye over the young men and women of the
+village. When any improper intercourse among them is detected, the
+parties are immediately carried to the council, and the cacique
+intimates to them that they must be wedded forthwith. Should the girl
+be of bad character, and the man, [Pg061] therefore, unwilling to
+marry her, they are ordered to keep separate under penalty of the
+lash. Hence it is, that the females of these Pueblos are almost
+universally noted for their chastity and modest deportment.[25]
+
+They also elect a _capitan de guerra_, a kind of commander-in-chief of
+the warriors, whose office it is to defend their homes and their
+interests both in the field and in the council chamber.[26] Though not
+very warlike, these Pueblos are generally valiant, and well skilled in
+the strategies of Indian warfare; and although they have been branded
+with cruelty and ferocity, yet they can hardly be said to surpass the
+Mexicans in this respect: both, in times of war, pay but little regard
+either to age or sex. I have been told that when the Pueblos return
+from their belligerent expeditions, instead of going directly to their
+homes, they always visit their council cell first. Here {275} they
+undress, dance, and carouse, frequently for two days in succession
+before seeing their families.
+
+Although the Pueblos are famous for hospitality and industry, they
+still continue in the rudest state of ignorance, having neither books
+nor schools among them, as none of their languages have been reduced
+to rules, and very few of their children are ever taught in
+Spanish.[27] A degree of primitiveness characterizes all their
+amusements, which bear a strong similarity to those of the wilder
+tribes. Before the New Mexican government had become so much [Pg062]
+impoverished, there was wont to be held in the capital on the 16th of
+September of every year, a national celebration of the declaration of
+Independence, to which the Pueblos were invited. The warriors and
+youths of each nation with a proportionate array of dusky damsels
+would appear on these occasions, painted and ornamented in accordance
+with their aboriginal customs, and amuse the inhabitants with all
+sorts of grotesque feats and native dances. Each Pueblo generally had
+its particular uniform dress and its particular dance. The men of one
+village would sometimes disguise themselves as elks, with horns on
+their heads, moving on all-fours, and mimicking the animal they were
+attempting to personate. Others would appear in the garb of a turkey,
+with large heavy wings, and strut about in imitation of that bird. But
+the Pecos tribe, already reduced to seven men, always occasioned most
+diversion. {276} Their favorite exploit was, each to put on the skin
+of a buffalo, horns, tail, and all, and thus accoutred scamper about
+through the crowd, to the real or affected terror of all the ladies
+present, and to the great delight of the boys.
+
+The Pueblo villages are generally built with more regularity than
+those of the Mexicans, and are constructed of the same materials as
+were used by them in the most primitive ages. Their dwelling-houses,
+it is true, are not so spacious as those of the Mexicans, containing
+very seldom more than two or three small apartments upon the ground
+floor, without any court-yard, but they have generally a much loftier
+appearance, being frequently two stories high and sometimes more. A
+very curious feature in these buildings, is, that there is most
+generally no direct communication between the street and the lower
+rooms, into which they descend by a trap-door from the upper story,
+the latter being accessible by means of ladders. Even the entrance to
+the upper stories is frequently at the roof. This style of [Pg063]
+building seems to have been adopted for security against their
+marauding neighbors of the wilder tribes, with whom they were often at
+war. When the family had all been housed at night, the ladder was
+drawn up, and the inmates were thus shut up in a kind of fortress,
+which bid defiance to the scanty implements of warfare used by the
+wild Indians.
+
+Though this was their most usual style of architecture, there still
+exists a Pueblo of Taos, {277} composed, for the most part, of but two
+edifices of very singular structure--one on each side of a creek, and
+formerly communicating by a bridge. The base-story is a mass of near
+four hundred feet long, a hundred and fifty wide, and divided into
+numerous apartments, upon which other tiers of rooms are built, one
+above another, drawn in by regular grades, forming a pyramidal pile of
+fifty or sixty feet high, and comprising some six or eight stories.
+The outer rooms only seem to be used for dwellings, and are lighted by
+little windows in the sides, but are entered through trap-doors in the
+_azoteas_ or roofs. Most of the inner apartments are employed as
+granaries and store-rooms, but a spacious hall in the centre of the
+mass, known as the _estufa_, is reserved for their secret councils.
+These two buildings afford habitations, as is said, for over six
+hundred souls.[28] There is likewise an edifice in the Pueblo of
+Picuris[29] of the same class, and some of those of Moqui are also
+said to be similar.
+
+Some of these villages were built upon rocky eminences deemed almost
+inaccessible: witness for instance [Pg064] the ruins of the ancient
+Pueblo of San Felipe, which may be seen towering upon the very verge
+of a precipice several hundred feet high, whose base is washed by the
+swift current of the Rio del Norte. The still existing Pueblo of Acoma
+also stands upon an isolated mound whose whole area is occupied by the
+village, being fringed all around by a precipitous _ceja_ or cliff.
+{278} The inhabitants enter the village by means of ladders, and by
+steps cut into the solid rock upon which it is based.[30]
+
+At the time of the conquest, many of these Pueblos manufactured some
+singular textures of cotton and other materials; but with the loss of
+their liberty, they seem to have lost most of their arts and
+ingenuity; so that the finer specimens of native fabrics are now only
+to be met with among the Moquis and Navajoes, who still retain their
+independence. The Pueblos, however, make some of the ordinary classes
+of blankets and _tilmas_,[31] as well as other woolen stuffs. They
+also manufacture, according to their aboriginal art, both for their
+own consumption, and for the purpose of traffic, a species of
+earthenware not much inferior to the coarse crockery of our common
+potters. The pots made of this material stand fire remarkably well,
+and are the universal substitutes for all the purposes of cookery,
+even among the Mexicans, for the iron castings of this country, which
+are utterly unknown there. Rude as this kind of crockery is, it
+nevertheless evinces a great deal of skill, considering that it is
+made entirely [Pg065] without lathe or any kind of machinery. It is
+often fancifully painted with colored earths and the juice of a plant
+called _guaco_, which brightens by burning. They also work a singular
+kind of wicker-ware, of which some bowls (if they may be so called)
+are so closely platted, {279} that, once swollen by dampness, they
+serve to hold liquids, and are therefore light and convenient vessels
+for the purposes of travellers.[32]
+
+The dress of many of the Pueblos has become assimilated in some
+respects to that of the common Mexicans; but by far the greatest
+portion still retain most of their aboriginal costume. The Taosas and
+others of the north somewhat resemble the prairie tribes in this
+respect; but the Pueblos to the south and west of Santa F� dress in a
+different style, which is said to be similar in many respects to that
+of the aboriginal inhabitants of the city of Mexico. The moccasin is
+the only part of the prairie suit that appears common to them all, and
+of both sexes. They mostly wear a kind of short breeches and long
+stockings, the use of which they most probably acquired from the
+Spaniards. The _saco_, a species of woollen jacket without sleeves,
+completes their exterior garment; except during inclement seasons,
+when they make use of the tilma. Very few of them have hats or
+head-dress of any kind; and they generally wear their hair
+long--commonly fashioned into a _queue_, wrapped with some colored
+stuff. The squaws of the northern tribes dress pretty much like those
+of the Prairies; but the usual costume of the females of the southern
+and western Pueblos is a handsome kind of small blanket of dark
+color, [Pg066] which is drawn under one arm and tacked over the other
+shoulder, leaving both arms free and naked. It is generally {280} worn
+with a cotton chemise underneath and is bound about the waist with a
+girdle. We rarely if ever see a thorough-bred Pueblo woman in Mexican
+dress.[33]
+
+The weapons most in use among the Pueblos are the bow and arrow, with
+a long-handled lance and occasionally a fusil. The rawhide shield is
+also much used, which, though of but little service against fire-arms,
+serves to ward off the arrow and lance.
+
+The aliment of these Indians is, in most respects, similar to that of
+the Mexicans; in fact, as has been elsewhere remarked, the latter
+adopted with their utensils numerous items of aboriginal diet. The
+_tortilla_, the _atole_, the _pinole_,[34] and many others, together
+with the use of _chile_, are from the Indians. Some of the wilder
+tribes make a peculiar kind of _pinole_, by grinding the bean of the
+mezquite tree into flour, which is then used as that of corn. And
+besides the tortilla they make another singular kind of bread, if we
+may so style it, called _guayave_, a roll of which so much resembles a
+'hornets' nest,' that by strangers it is often designated by this
+title. It is usually made of Indian corn prepared and ground as for
+tortillas, and diluted into a thin paste. {281} I once happened to
+enter an Indian hut where a young girl of the family was baking
+_guayaves_. She was sitting by a fire, over which a large flat stone
+was heating, with a crock of prepared paste by her side. She [Pg067]
+thrust her hand into the paste, and then wiped it over the heated
+stone. What adhered to it was instantly baked and peeled off. She
+repeated this process at the rate of a dozen times or more per minute.
+Observing my curiosity, the girl handed me one of the 'sheets,'
+silently; for she seemed to understand but her native tongue. I found
+it pleasant enough to the taste; though when cold, as I have learned
+by experience, it is, like the cold tortilla, rather tough and
+insipid. They are even thinner than wafers; and some dozens, being
+folded in a roll, constitute the laminate composition before
+mentioned. Being thus preserved, they serve the natives for months
+upon their journeys.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[18] On the subject of Pueblo Indians, consult T. Donaldson, _Moqui
+Pueblo Indians of Arizona and Pueblo Indians of New Mexico_
+(Washington, 1893), extra bulletin of eleventh census; John T. Short,
+North _Americans of Antiquity_ (New York, 1880); A. F. A. Bandelier,
+Arch�ological Institute of America _Papers_, American Series, i-iv; N.
+O. G. Nordenskiold, _Cliff-dwellers of the Mesa Verde_ (Chicago and
+Stockholm, 1893); C. F. Lummis, _Land of Poco Tiempo_ (New York,
+1893).--ED.
+
+[19] Of these, the Pueblo of Zu�i has been celebrated for honesty and
+hospitality. The inhabitants mostly profess the Catholic faith, but
+have now no curate. They cultivate the soil, manufacture, and possess
+considerable quantities of stock. Their village is over 150 miles west
+of the Rio del Norte, on the waters of the Colorado of the West, and
+is believed to contain between 1,000 and 1,500 souls. The "seven
+Pueblos of Moqui" (as they are called) are a similar tribe living a
+few leagues beyond. They formerly acknowledged the government and
+religion of the Spaniards, but have long since rejected both, and live
+in a state of independence and paganism. Their dwellings, however,
+like those of Zu�i, are similar to those of the interior Pueblos, and
+they are equally industrious and agricultural, and still more
+ingenious in their manufacturing. The language of the _Moquis_ or
+_Moquinos_ is said to differ but little from that of the
+Navajoes.--GREGG.
+
+_Comment by Ed._ For the Moki (properly Hopi), see Pattie's
+_Narrative_, in our volume xviii, p. 130, note 64. The articles by
+Frank H. Cushing in American Bureau of Ethnology _Reports_ first
+directed attention to the Zu�i; consult also Bandelier, "Outline of
+Documentary History of Zu�i Tribe," in _Journal of American Ethnology
+and Arch�ology_ (Boston, 1891-94), iii.
+
+[20] On the linguistic stocks of the pueblos, consult our volume xix,
+p. 266, note 90 (Gregg).--ED.
+
+[21] Bandelier, "Final Report," Arch�ological Institute of America
+_Papers_, American Series, iii, pp. 121-136, considers the pueblo
+population at the time of the Spanish conquest to have been about
+twenty-five thousand. The present population of New Mexican pueblos,
+exclusive of the Moki, is about nine thousand.--ED.
+
+[22] The pueblo of Pecos was situated thirty miles southeast of Santa
+F�, and at the close of the seventeenth century had a population of
+two thousand, being the largest pueblo in either New Mexico or
+Arizona. It was visited as early as 1540 by Alvarado, a lieutenant of
+Coronado. In 1598, the inhabitants rendered submission to O�ate, and a
+mission was established among them for which a large church was built
+in the seventeenth century, its ruins being still conspicuous. In the
+revolt of 1680 the Pecos remained neutral; but soon thereafter decline
+in numbers set in, and by 1837 but eighteen adults were left. A fever
+swept away the majority of these, when in 1840 the remnant of five men
+sold their lands to the government, and retired to their kinsmen at
+Jemez. A son of the tribe was found in 1880 among the Mexicans of the
+village of Pecos, a small, comparatively modern town. Bandelier
+discredits the Montezuma myth, which he considers a Spanish-Mexican
+importation. See Arch�ological Institute of America _Papers_, American
+Series, i, pp. 110-125. He found among the ruins, however, evidences
+of the existence of the sacred fire.--ED.
+
+[23] The Pueblo Indians still cling to many features of aboriginal
+worship. The sun-father and moon-mother are revered--not the orbs
+themselves, but the spiritual beings residing therein. Consult on this
+subject, Bandelier, _op. cit._, iii, pp. 276-316.--ED.
+
+[24] The office of the cacique is in essence religious; but as
+religion is interwoven with the entire life of the Pueblos, he is in a
+sense a civil official as well. He is chosen because of fitness,
+frequently on the nomination of his predecessor, and his education in
+the mysteries and secrets of his people is exacting. The office is for
+life, unless terminated by improper behavior, when the cacique may be
+deposed. The candidate sometimes declines the office because of the
+severity of the duties, which involve much fasting and abnegation.
+
+The _estufa_ is not always subterranean. It originated before the
+introduction of Christian family life, in a common home for the male
+members of the pueblo. It has become the council house of the tribe.
+Some pueblos contain more than one; unless rites are in progress, it
+is a bare, rude room usually unornamented. For details, consult John
+G. Bourke, _Snake Dance of the Moquis of Arizona_ (New York,
+1884).--ED.
+
+[25] Matrimonial relations among these people have been much modified
+by the introduction of Christianity, and the requirements of the
+friars, so that the monogamous family is now the rule among the
+sedentary Indians; although there are still in force certain clan
+restrictions in the choice of the mate.--ED.
+
+[26] Although the Pueblos have, since the subjugation of the Apache,
+engaged in no wars, a war-captain is each year selected by the
+cacique, who has, as Gregg relates, certain protective and religious
+functions.--ED.
+
+[27] Primary schools were established for several pueblos, about 1872,
+but met with opposition from priests, who did not desire Indian
+children to learn English. There are in the territory at present
+(1903), about eighteen day-schools, and two industrial boarding
+schools.--ED.
+
+[28] For a brief sketch of the history of Taos, see our volume xviii,
+p. 73, note 44. The Taos communal architecture is of the primitive
+type; after the Spanish conquest, the separate houses of the other
+pueblos were gradually adopted.--ED.
+
+[29] Picuries is one of the northern group. Like Taos, it is of Tiguan
+stock, and participated in the history of the region, being visited by
+one of Coronado's party in 1540. It yielded to O�ate in 1598, took
+part in the revolts of 1680 and 1696, and in the uprising against the
+Americans in 1848. The pueblo was formerly much larger than at
+present, its population now consisting of only about a hundred poor
+and rather unprogressive Indians. It is in Taos County about seventy
+miles north of Santa F�.--ED.
+
+[30] Acoma is a Queres pueblo, built upon a cliff, about seventy miles
+southwest of Santa F�, in Valencia County. Because of its
+inaccessibility, and the charm of its situation, it has been much
+noted. Coronado described it in his journey of 1540--see George P.
+Winship, _Journey of Coronado_ (New York, 1904); and here a great
+battle was fought between Spaniards and Acomans in 1599. The pueblo
+took part in the revolts of 1680 and 1696; but has since lived
+quietly, and has at present a population of about six hundred.--ED.
+
+[31] The _tilma_ of the North is a sort of small but durable blanket,
+worn by the Indians as a mantle.--GREGG.
+
+[32] Recent authorities do not consider the decline of domestic arts a
+sign of deterioration among the Pueblos. They taught the Navaho to
+weave, and now purchase blankets from the latter. Pottery is still
+manufactured among the New Mexican pueblos. See on these subjects
+Washington Matthews, "Navaho Weavers," in U. S. Bureau of Ethnology
+_Report_, 1881-82, pp. 371-391; and William H. Holmes, "Pottery of the
+Ancient Pueblos," _ibid._, 1882-83, pp. 265-358.--ED.
+
+[33] The Pueblos still retain their native dress, which is
+picturesque, healthful, convenient, and often relatively costly--a
+woman's costume sometimes being worth as much as twenty-five
+dollars.--ED.
+
+[34] _Pinole_ is in effect the _cold-flour_ of our hunters. It is the
+meal of parched Indian corn, prepared for use by stirring it up with a
+little cold water. This food seems also to have been of ancient use
+among the aborigines of other parts of America. Father Charlevoix, in
+1721, says of the savages about the northern lakes, that they "reduce
+[the maize] to Flour which they call _Farine froide_ (cold Flour), and
+this is the best Provision that can be made for Travellers."--GREGG.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+The wild Tribes of New Mexico -- Speculative Theories -- Clavigero and
+  the _Azteques_ -- Pueblo Bonito and other Ruins -- Probable
+  Relationship between the _Azteques_ and tribes of New Mexico -- The
+  several Nations of this Province -- _Navaj�es_ and _Azteques_ --
+  Manufactures of the former -- Their Agriculture, Religion, etc. --
+  Mexican Cruelty to the Indians and its Consequences -- Inroads of
+  the Navaj�es -- Exploits of a Mexican Army -- How to make a Hole in
+  a Powder-keg -- The _Apaches_ and their Character -- Their Food --
+  Novel Mode of settling Disputes -- Range of their marauding
+  Excursions -- Indian Traffic and imbecile Treaties -- Devastation of
+  the Country -- Chihuahua Rodomontades -- Juan Jos�, a celebrated
+  Apache Chief, and his tragical End, etc. -- Massacre of Americans in
+  Retaliation -- A tragical Episode -- _Proyecto de Guerra_ and a
+  'gallant' Display -- The _Yutas_ and their Hostilities -- A personal
+  Adventure with them, but no blood shed -- Jicarillas.
+
+
+All the Indians of New Mexico not denominated Pueblos--not professing
+the Christian religion--are ranked as _wild tribes_, although these
+include some who have made great advances in arts, manufactures and
+agriculture. Those who are at all acquainted with the ancient history
+of Mexico, will recollect that, according to the traditions of the
+aborigines, all the principal tribes of Anahuac descended from the
+North: and that those of Mexico, especially [Pg068] the Azteques,
+emigrated {283} from the north of California, or northwest of New
+Mexico. Clavigero, the famous historian heretofore alluded to,[35]
+speaking of this emigration, observes, that the _Azteques_, or Mexican
+Indians, who were the last settlers in the country of Anahuac, lived
+until about the year 1160 of the Christian era in Aztlan, a country
+situated to the north of the Gulf of California; as is inferred from
+the route of their peregrinations, and from the information afterwards
+acquired by the Spaniards in their expeditions through those
+countries. He then proceeds to show by what incentives they were
+probably induced to abandon their native land; adding that whatever
+may have been the motive, no doubt can possibly exist as to the
+journey's having actually been performed. He says that they travelled
+in a southeastwardly direction towards the Rio Gila, where they
+remained for some time--the ruins of their edifices being still to be
+seen, upon its banks. They then struck out for a point over two
+hundred and fifty miles to the northwest of Chihuahua in about 29� of
+N. latitude, where they made another halt. This place is known by the
+name of _Casas Grandes_[36] (big houses), on account of a large
+edifice which still stands on the spot, and which, according to the
+general tradition of those regions, was erected by the Mexican
+Indians, during their [Pg069] wanderings. The building is constructed
+after the plan of those in New Mexico, with three stories, covered
+with an _azotea_ or terrace, and without door or entrance {284} into
+the lower story. A hand ladder is also used as a means of
+communication with the second story.
+
+Even allowing that the traditions upon which Clavigero founded his
+theoretical deductions are vague and uncertain, there is sufficient
+evidence in the ruins that still exist to show that those regions were
+once inhabited by a far more enlightened people than are now to be
+found among the aborigines. Of such character are the ruins of _Pueblo
+Bonito_, in the direction of Navaj�, on the borders of the
+Cordilleras; the houses being generally built of slabs of fine-grit
+sand-stone, a material utterly unknown in the present architecture of
+the North.[37] Although some of these structures are very massive and
+spacious, they are generally cut up into small irregular rooms, many
+of which yet remain entire, being still covered, with the _vigas_ or
+joists remaining nearly sound under the _azoteas_ of earth; and yet
+their age is such that there is no tradition which gives any account
+of their origin. But there have been no images or sculptured work of
+any kind found about them. Besides these, many other ruins (though
+none so perfect) are scattered over the plains and among the
+mountains. What is very remarkable is, that a portion of them are
+situated at a great distance from any water; so that the inhabitants
+must have depended entirely upon rain, as is the case with the Pueblo
+of Acoma at the present day.
+
+The general appearance of Pueblo Bonito, {285} as well as that of the
+existing buildings of Moqui in the [Pg070] same mountainous regions,
+and other Pueblos of New Mexico, resembles so closely the ruins of
+Casas Grandes, that we naturally come to the conclusion that the
+founders of each must have descended from the same common stock. The
+present difference between their language and that of the Indians of
+Mexico, when we take into consideration the ages that have passed away
+since their separation, hardly presents any reasonable objection to
+this hypothesis.
+
+The principal wild tribes which inhabit or extend their incursions or
+peregrinations upon the territory of New Mexico, are the _Navaj�es_,
+the _Apaches_, the _Yutas_, the _Caiguas_ or Kiawas, and the
+_Comanches_.[38] Of the latter I will speak in another place. The two
+first are from one and the same original stock, there being, even at
+the present day, no very important difference in their language. The
+Apaches are divided into numerous petty tribes, of one of which an
+insignificant band, called Jicarillas, inhabiting the mountains north
+of Taos, is an isolated and miserable remnant.[39]
+
+The _Navaj�es_ are supposed to number about 10,000 souls, and though
+not the most numerous, they are certainly the most important, at least
+in a historical point of view, of all the northern tribes of Mexico.
+They reside in the main range of Cordilleras, 150 to 200 miles west of
+Santa F�, on the waters of Rio Colorado of California, not far from
+the region, according to historians, from whence the [Pg071] {286}
+Azteques emigrated to Mexico; and there are many reasons to suppose
+them direct descendants from the remnant, which remained in the North,
+of this celebrated nation of antiquity. Although they mostly live in
+rude _jacales_, somewhat resembling the wigwams of the Pawnees, yet,
+from time immemorial, they have excelled all others in their original
+manufactures: and, as well as the Moquis, they are still distinguished
+for some exquisite styles of cotton textures, and display considerable
+ingenuity in embroidering with feathers the skins of animals,
+according to their primitive practice. They now also manufacture a
+singular species of blanket, known as the _Sarape Navaj�_, which is of
+so close and dense a texture that it will frequently hold water almost
+equal to gum-elastic cloth. It is therefore highly prized for
+protection against the rains. Some of the finer qualities are often
+sold among the Mexicans as high as fifty or sixty dollars each.
+
+Notwithstanding the present predatory and somewhat unsettled habits of
+the Navaj�es, they cultivate all the different grains and vegetables
+to be found in New Mexico. They also possess extensive herds of
+horses, mules, cattle, sheep and goats of their own raising, which are
+generally celebrated as being much superior to those of the Mexicans;
+owing, no doubt, to greater attention to the improvement of their
+stocks.
+
+Though Baron Humboldt[40] tells us that some missionaries were
+established among this tribe {287} prior to the general massacre of
+1680, but few attempts to christianize them have since been made. They
+now remain in a state of primitive paganism--and not only independent
+of the Mexicans, but their most formidable enemies.[41] [Pg072]
+
+After the establishment of the national independence, the
+government of New Mexico greatly embittered the disposition of the
+neighboring savages, especially the Navajoes, by repeated acts of
+cruelty and ill-faith well calculated to provoke hostilities. On one
+occasion, a party consisting of several chiefs and warriors of the
+Navajoes assembled at the Pueblo of Cochiti,[42] by invitation of the
+government, to celebrate a treaty of peace; when the New Mexicans,
+exasperated no doubt by the remembrance of former outrages, fell upon
+them unawares and put them all to death. It is also related, that
+about the same period, three Indians from the northern mountains
+having been brought as prisoners into Taos, they were peremptorily
+demanded by the Jicarillas, who were their bitterest enemies; when the
+Mexican authorities, dreading the resentment of this tribe, quietly
+complied with the barbarous request, suffering the prisoners to be
+butchered in cold blood before their very eyes! No wonder, then, that
+the New Mexicans are so generally warred upon by their savage
+neighbors.
+
+About fifteen years ago, the Navajoes were subjected by the energy of
+Col. Vizcarra, who succeeded in keeping them in submission for {288}
+some time; but since that officer's departure from New Mexico, no man
+has been [Pg073] found of sufficient capacity to inspire this daring
+tribe either with respect or fear; so that for the last ten years they
+have ravaged the country with impunity, murdering and destroying just
+as the humor happened to prompt them. When the spring of the year
+approaches, terms of peace are generally proposed to the government at
+Santa F�, which the latter never fails to accept. This amicable
+arrangement enables the wily Indians to sow their crops at leisure,
+and to dispose of the property stolen from the Mexicans during their
+marauding incursions, to advantage; but the close of their
+agricultural labors is generally followed by a renewal of hostilities,
+and the game of rapine and destruction is played over again.
+
+Towards the close of 1835, a volunteer corps, which most of the
+leading men in New Mexico joined, was raised for the purpose of
+carrying war into the territory of the Navajoes. The latter hearing of
+their approach, and anxious no doubt to save them the trouble of so
+long a journey, mustered a select band of their warriors, who went
+forth to intercept the invaders in a mountain pass, where they lay
+concealed in an ambuscade. The valiant corps, utterly unconscious of
+the reception that awaited them, soon came jogging along in scattered
+groups, indulging in every kind of boisterous mirth; when the
+war-whoop, loud and shrill, followed by several shots, threw them all
+into a state of speechless consternation. {289} Some tumbled off their
+horses with fright, others fired their muskets at random: a terrific
+panic had seized everybody, and some minutes elapsed before they could
+recover their senses sufficiently to betake themselves to their heels.
+Two or three persons were killed in this ridiculous engagement, the
+most conspicuous of whom was a Capt. Hin�fos, who commanded the
+regular troops.[43] [Pg074]
+
+A very curious but fully authentic anecdote may not be
+inappropriately inserted here, in which this individual was concerned.
+On one occasion, being about to start on a belligerent expedition, he
+directed his orderly-sergeant to fill a powder-flask from an
+unbroached keg of twenty-five pounds. The sergeant, having bored a
+hole with a gimlet, and finding that the powder issued too slowly,
+began to look about for something to enlarge the aperture, when his
+eyes haply fell upon an iron poker which lay in a corner of the
+fire-place. To heat the poker and apply it to the hole in the keg was
+the work of but a few moments; when an explosion took place which blew
+the upper part of the building into the street, tearing and shattering
+everything else to atoms. Miraculous as their escape may appear, the
+sergeant, as well as the captain who witnessed the whole operation,
+remained more frightened than hurt, although they were both very
+severely scorched and bruised. This ingenious sergeant was afterwards
+Secretary of State to Gov. Gonzalez, of revolutionary {290}
+memory,[44] and has nearly ever since held a clerkship in some of the
+offices of state, but is now captain in the regular army.
+
+I come now to speak of the _Apaches_, the most extensive and powerful,
+yet the most vagrant of all the savage nations that inhabit the
+interior of Northern Mexico. They are supposed to number some fifteen
+thousand souls, although they are subdivided into various petty bands,
+and scattered over an immense tract of country. Those that are found
+east of the Rio del Norte are generally known as _Mezcaleros_, on
+account of an article of food much in use among them, called
+_mezcal_,[45] but by far the greatest portion of the nation is located
+in the west, and is mostly known by the sobriquet [Pg075] of
+_Coyoteros_, in consequence, it is said, of their eating the _coyote_
+or prairie-wolf.[46] The Apaches are perhaps more given to itinerant
+habits than any other tribe in Mexico. They never construct houses,
+but live in the ordinary wigwam, or tent of skins and blankets. They
+manufacture nothing--cultivate nothing: they seldom resort to the
+chase, as their country is destitute of game--but depend almost
+entirely upon pillage for the support of their immense population,
+some two or three thousand of which are warriors.
+
+For their food, the Apaches rely chiefly upon the flesh of the cattle
+and sheep they can steal from the Mexican ranchos and haciendas. They
+are said, however, to be more fond of {291} the meat of the mule than
+that of any other animal. I have seen about encampments which they had
+recently left, the remains of mules that had been slaughtered for
+their consumption. Yet on one occasion I saw their whole trail, for
+many miles, literally strewed with the carcasses of these animals,
+which, it was evident, had not been killed for this purpose. It is the
+practice of the Apache chiefs, as I have understood, whenever a
+dispute arises betwixt their warriors relative to the ownership of any
+particular animal, to kill the brute at once, though it be the most
+valuable of the drove; and so check all further cavil. It was to be
+inferred from the number of dead mules they left behind them, that the
+most harmonious relations could not have existed between the members
+of the tribe, at least during this period of their journeyings. Like
+most of the savage tribes of North America, the Apaches are
+passionately fond of spirituous liquors, and may frequently be seen,
+in times [Pg076] of peace, lounging about the Mexican villages, in a
+state of helpless inebriety.
+
+The range of this marauding tribe extends over some portions of
+California, most of Sonora, the frontiers of Durango, and at certain
+seasons it even reaches Coahuila: Chihuahua, however, has been the
+mournful theatre of their most constant depredations. Every nook and
+corner of this once flourishing state has been subjected to their
+inroads. Such is the imbecility of the local governments, that the
+savages, in order to dispose of {292} their stolen property without
+even a shadow of molestation, frequently enter into partial treaties
+of peace with one department, while they continue to wage a war of
+extermination against the neighboring states. This arrangement
+supplies them with an ever-ready market, for the disposal of their
+booty and the purchase of munitions wherewith to prosecute their work
+of destruction. In 1840, I witnessed the departure from Santa F� of a
+large trading party freighted with engines of war and a great quantity
+of whiskey, intended for the Apaches in exchange for mules and other
+articles of plunder which they had stolen from the people of the
+south. This traffic was not only tolerated but openly encouraged by
+the civil authorities, as the highest public functionaries were
+interested in its success--the governor himself not excepted.
+
+The Apaches, now and then, propose a truce to the government of
+Chihuahua, which is generally accepted very nearly upon their own
+terms. It has on some occasions been included that the marauders
+should have a _bon� fide_ right to all their stolen property. A
+_venta_ or quit-claim brand, has actually been marked by the
+government upon large numbers of mules and horses which the Indians
+had robbed from the citizens. It is hardly necessary to add that these
+truces have rarely been observed by the wily savages longer than
+[Pg077] the time necessary for the disposal of their plunder. As soon
+as more mules were needed for service or for traffic--more cattle for
+beef--more {293} scalps for the war-dance--they would invariably
+return to their deeds of ravage and murder.
+
+The depredations of the Apaches have been of such long duration, that,
+beyond the immediate purlieus of the towns, the whole country from New
+Mexico to the borders of Durango is almost entirely depopulated. The
+haciendas and ranchos have been mostly abandoned, and the people
+chiefly confined to towns and cities. To such a pitch has the temerity
+of those savages reached, that small bands of three or four warriors
+have been known to make their appearance within a mile of the city of
+Chihuahua in open day, killing the laborers and driving off whole
+herds of mules and horses without the slightest opposition.
+Occasionally a detachment of troops is sent in pursuit of the
+marauders, but for no other purpose, it would seem, than to illustrate
+the imbecility of the former, as they are always sure to make a
+precipitate retreat, generally without even obtaining a glimpse of the
+enemy.[47] And yet the columns of a little weekly sheet published in
+Chihuahua always teem with flaming accounts of prodigious feats of
+valor performed by the 'army of operations' against _los b�rbaros_:
+showing how "the enemy was pursued with all possible vigor"--how the
+soldiers "displayed the greatest {294} bravery, and the most
+unrestrainable desire to overhaul the dastards," and by what
+extraordinary combinations of adverse circumstances they were
+"compelled to relinquish the pursuit." Indeed, it would be difficult
+to find a braver race of people than the [Pg078] _Chihuahue�os_[48]
+contrive to make themselves appear upon paper. When intelligence was
+received in Chihuahua of the famous skirmish with the French, at Vera
+Cruz, in which Santa Anna acquired the glory of losing a leg,[49] the
+event was celebrated with uproarious demonstrations of joy; and the
+next number of the _Noticioso_[50] contained a valiant fanfaronade,
+proclaiming to the world the astounding fact, that one Mexican was
+worth four French soldiers in battle: winding up with a "_Cancion
+Patri�tica_," of which the following exquisite verse was the
+_refrain_:
+
+  "_Chihuahuenses, la Patria gloriosa_
+  _Otro timbre � su lustre ha a�adido;_
+  _Pues la_, invicta la Galia indomable
+  AL VALOR MEXICANO _ha cedido_."
+
+Literally translated:
+
+  Chihuahuenses! our glorious country
+  Another ray has added to her lustre;
+  For the _invincible, indomitable Gallia_
+  Has succumbed to Mexican valor.
+
+By the inverted letters of "_invicta, la Galia indomable_," in the
+third line, the poet gives {295} the world to understand that the
+kingdom of the Gauls had at length been whirled topsy-turvy, by the
+glorious achievements of _el valor Mexicano_!
+
+From what has been said of the ravages of the Apaches, one would be
+apt to believe them an exceedingly brave people; but the Mexicans
+themselves call them cowards when compared with the Comanches; and we
+are wont to look upon the latter as perfect specimens of poltroonery
+when brought [Pg079] in conflict with the Shawnees, Delawares, and
+the rest of our border tribes.[51]
+
+There was once a celebrated chief called Juan Jos� at the head of this
+tribe, whose extreme cunning and audacity caused his name to be
+dreaded throughout the country. What contributed more than anything
+else to render him a dangerous enemy, was the fact of his having
+received a liberal education at Chihuahua, which enabled him, when he
+afterwards rejoined his tribe, to outwit his pursuers, and, by robbing
+the mails, to acquire timely information of every expedition that was
+set on foot against him. The following account of the massacre in
+which he fell may not be altogether uninteresting to the reader.
+
+The government of Sonora, desirous to make some efforts to check the
+depredations of the Apaches, issued a proclamation, giving a sort of
+_carte blanche_ patent of 'marque and reprisal,' and declaring all the
+booty that might be taken from the savages to be the rightful property
+of the captors. Accordingly, in the {296} spring of 1837, a party of
+some 20 men composed chiefly of foreigners, spurred on by the love of
+gain, and never doubting but the Indians, after so many years of
+successful robberies, must be possessed of a vast amount of property,
+set out with an American as their commander, who had long resided in
+the country.[52] In a few days they reached a _rancher�a_ of about
+fifty warriors with their families, among whom was the [Pg080] famous
+Juan Jos� himself, and three other principal chiefs. On seeing the
+Americans advance, the former at once gave them to understand, that,
+if they had come to fight, they were ready to accommodate them; but on
+being assured by the leader, that they were merely bent on a trading
+expedition, a friendly interview was immediately established between
+the parties. The American captain having determined to put these
+obnoxious chiefs to death under any circumstances, soon caused a
+little field-piece which had been concealed from the Indians to be
+loaded with chain and canister shot, and to be held in readiness for
+use. The warriors were then invited to the camp to receive a present
+of flour, which was placed within range of the cannon. While they were
+occupied in dividing the contents of the bag, they were fired upon and
+a considerable number of their party killed on the spot! The remainder
+were then attacked with small arms, and about twenty slain, including
+Juan Jos� and the other chiefs. Those who escaped became afterwards
+their own avengers in a {297} manner which proved terribly disastrous
+to another party of Americans, who happened at the time to be trapping
+on Rio Gila not far distant. The enraged savages resolved to take
+summary vengeance upon these unfortunate trappers; and falling upon
+them, massacred them every one![53] They were in all, including
+several Mexicans, about fifteen in number.[54] [Pg081]
+
+The projector of this scheme had probably been under the
+impression that treachery was justifiable against a treacherous enemy.
+He also believed, no doubt, that the act would be highly commended by
+the Mexicans who had suffered so much from the depredations of these
+notorious chiefs. But in this he was sadly mistaken; for the affair
+was received with general reprehension, although the Mexicans had been
+guilty of similar deeds themselves, as the following brief episode
+will sufficiently show.
+
+In the summer of 1839, a few Apache prisoners, among whom was the wife
+of a distinguished {298} chief, were confined in the calabozo of Paso
+del Norte. The bereaved chief, hearing of their captivity, collected a
+band of about sixty warriors, and, boldly entering the town, demanded
+the release of his consort and friends. The commandant of the place
+wishing to gain time, desired them to return the next morning, when
+their request would be granted. During the night the forces of the
+country were concentrated; notwithstanding, when the Apaches
+reappeared, the troops did not show their faces, but remained
+concealed, while the Mexican commandant strove to beguile the Indians
+into the prison, under pretence of delivering to them their friends.
+The unsuspecting chief and twenty others were entrapped in this
+manner, and treacherously dispatched in cold blood: not, however,
+without some loss to the Mexicans, who had four or five of their men
+killed in the fracas. Among these was the commandant himself, who had
+no sooner given the word, "_�Maten � los carajos!_" (kill the
+scoundrels!) than the chief retorted, [Pg082] "_�Ent�nces morir�s tu
+primero, carajo!_" (then you shall die first, carajo!) and immediately
+stabbed him to the heart!
+
+But as New Mexico is more remote from the usual haunts of the Apaches,
+and, in fact, as her scanty ranchos present a much less fruitful field
+for their operations than the abundant haciendas of the South, the
+depredations of this tribe have extended but little upon that
+province. The only serious incursion that has come within my
+knowledge, was some ten {299} years ago. A band of Apache warriors
+boldly approached the town of Socorro[55] on the southern border, when
+a battle ensued between them and the Mexican force, composed of a
+company of regular troops and all the militia of the place. The
+Mexicans were soon completely routed and chased into the very streets,
+suffering a loss of thirty-three killed and several wounded. The
+savages bore away their slain, yet their loss was supposed to be but
+six or seven. I happened to be in the vicinity of the catastrophe the
+following day, when the utmost consternation prevailed among the
+inhabitants, who were in hourly expectation of another descent from
+the savages.
+
+Many schemes have been devised from time to time, particularly by the
+people of Chihuahua, to check the ravages of the Indians, but
+generally without success. Among these the notorious _Proyecto de
+Guerra_, adopted in 1837, stands most conspicuous. By this famous
+'war-project' a scale of rewards was established, to be paid out of a
+fund raised for that purpose. A hundred dollars reward were offered
+for the scalp of a full grown man, fifty for that of a squaw, and
+twenty-five for that of every papoose! To the credit of the republic,
+however, this barbarous _proyecto_ was in operation but a few weeks,
+and [Pg083] never received the sanction of the general government;
+although it was strongly advocated by some of the most intelligent
+citizens of Chihuahua. Yet, pending its existence, it was rigidly
+complied with. I saw myself, on one {300} occasion, a detachment of
+horsemen approach the Palacio in Chihuahua, preceded by their
+commanding officer, who bore a fresh scalp upon the tip of his lance,
+which he waved high in the air in exultation of his exploit! The next
+number of our little newspaper contained the official report of the
+affair. The soldiers were pursuing a band of Apaches, when they
+discovered a squaw who had lagged far behind in her endeavors to bear
+away her infant babe. They dispatched the mother without commiseration
+and took her scalp, which was the one so 'gallantly' displayed as
+already mentioned! The officer concluded his report by adding, that
+the child had died not long after it was made prisoner.
+
+The _Yutas_ (or _Eutaws_, as they are generally styled by Americans)
+are one of the most extensive nations of the West, being scattered
+from the north of New Mexico to the borders of Snake river and Rio
+Colorado, and numbering at least ten thousand souls. The habits of the
+tribe are altogether itinerant. A band of about a thousand spend their
+winters mostly in the mountain valleys northward of Taos, and the
+summer season generally in the prairie plains to the east, hunting
+buffalo. The vernacular language of the Yutas is said to be distantly
+allied to that of the Navajoes, but it has appeared to me much more
+guttural, having a deep sepulchral sound resembling ventriloquism.
+Although these Indians are nominally at peace with the New Mexican
+government, they do not hesitate to lay {301} the hunters and traders
+who happen to fall in with their scouring parties under severe
+contributions; and on some occasions they have been known to proceed
+[Pg084] even to personal violence. A prominent Mexican officer[56] was
+scourged not long ago by a party of Yutas, and yet the government has
+never dared to resent the outrage. Their hostilities, however, have
+not been confined to Mexican traders, as will be perceived by the
+sequel.
+
+In the summer of 1837, a small party of but five or six Shawnees fell
+in with a large band of Yutas near the eastern borders of the Rocky
+Mountains, south of Arkansas river. At first they were received with
+every demonstration of friendship; but the Yutas, emboldened no doubt
+by the small number of their visitors, very soon concluded to relieve
+them of whatever surplus property they might be possessed of. The
+Shawnees, however, much to the astonishment of the marauders, instead
+of quietly surrendering their goods and chattels, offered to defend
+them; upon which a skirmish ensued that actually cost the Yutas
+several of their men, including a favorite chief; while the Shawnees
+made their escape unhurt toward their eastern homes.
+
+A few days after this event, and while the Yutas were still bewailing
+the loss of their people, I happened to pass near their _rancher�as_
+(temporary village) with a small caravan which mustered about
+thirty-five men. We {302} had hardly pitched our camp, when they began
+to flock about us--men, squaws, and papooses--in great numbers; but
+the warriors were sullen and reserved, only now and then muttering a
+curse upon the Americans on account of the treatment they had just
+received from the Shawnees, whom they considered as half-castes, and
+our allies. All of a sudden, a young warrior seized a splendid steed
+which belonged to our party, and, leaping upon his back, galloped
+[Pg085] off at full speed. Being fully convinced that, by acquiescing
+in this outrage, we should only encourage them to commit others, we
+resolved at once to make a peremptory demand for the stolen horse of
+their principal chief. Our request being treated with contumely, we
+sent in a warlike declaration, and forthwith commenced making
+preparations for descending upon the _rancher�as_. The war-whoop
+resounded immediately in every direction; and as the Yutas bear a very
+high character for bravery and skill, the readiness with which they
+seemed to accept our challenge began to alarm our party considerably.
+We had defied them to mortal combat merely by way of bravado, without
+the least expectation that they would put themselves to so much
+inconvenience on our account. It was too late, however, to back out of
+the scrape.
+
+No sooner had the alarm been given than the _rancher�as_ of the
+Indians were converted into a martial encampment; and while the
+mounted warriors were exhibiting their preliminary {303} feats of
+horsemanship, the squaws and papooses flew like scattered partridges
+to the rocks and clefts of a contiguous precipice. One-third of our
+party being Mexicans, the first step of the Indians was to proclaim a
+general _indulto_ to them, in hopes of reducing our force, scanty as
+it was already. "My Mexican friends," exclaimed in good Spanish, a
+young warrior who daringly rode up within a few rods of us, "we don't
+wish to hurt _you_; so leave those Americans, for we intend to kill
+every one of _them_." The Mexicans of our party to whom this language
+was addressed, being rancheros of some mettle, only answered, "_Al
+diablo_! we have not forgotten how you treat us when you catch us
+alone: now that we are with Americans who will defend their rights,
+expect ample [Pg086] retaliation for past insults." In truth, these
+rancheros seemed the most anxious to begin the fight,--a remarkable
+instance of the effects of confidence in companions.
+
+A crisis seemed now fast approaching: two swivels we had with us were
+levelled and primed, and the matches lighted. Every man was at his
+post, with his rifle ready for execution, each anxious to do his best,
+whatever might be the result; when the Indians, seeing us determined
+to embrace the chances of war, began to open negotiations. An aged
+squaw, said to be the mother of the principal chief, rode up and
+exclaimed, "My sons! the Americans and Yutas have been friends, and
+our old men wish to continue so: it is only a {304} few impetuous and
+strong-headed youths who want to fight." The stolen horse having been
+restored soon after this harangue, peace was joyfully proclaimed
+throughout both encampments, and the _capitanes_ exchanged
+ratifications by a social smoke.
+
+The little tribe of Jicarillas also harbored an enmity for the
+Americans, which, in 1834, broke out into a hostile _rencontre_. They
+had stolen some animals of a gallant young backwoodsman from Missouri,
+who, with a few comrades, pursued the marauders into the mountains and
+regained his property; and a fracas ensuing, an Indian or two were
+killed. A few days afterward all their warriors visited Santa F� in a
+body, and demanded of the authorities there, the delivery of the
+American offenders to their vengeance. Though the former showed quite
+a disposition to gratify the savages as far as practicable, they had
+not helpless creatures to deal with, as in the case of the Indian
+prisoners already related. The foreigners, seeing their protection
+devolved upon themselves, prepared for defence, when the savages were
+fain to depart in peace.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+Incidents of a Return Trip from Santa F� -- Calibre of our Party --
+  Return Caravans -- Remittances -- Death of Mr. Langham -- Burial in
+  the Desert -- A sudden Attack -- Confusion in the Camp -- A Wolfish
+  Escort -- Scarcity of Buffalo -- Unprofitable Delusion -- Arrival
+  -- Table of Camping Sites and Distances -- Condition of the Town
+  of Independence -- The Mormons -- Their Dishonesty and Immorality
+  -- Their high-handed Measures, and a Rising of the People -- A
+  fatal Skirmish -- A chivalrous Parade of the Citizens -- Expulsion
+  of the Mormons -- The Meteoric Shower, and Superstition, etc. --
+  Wanderings and Improprieties of the 'Latter-day Saints' -- Gov.
+  Boggs' Recipe -- The City of Nauvoo -- Contemplated Retribution of
+  the Mormons.
+
+
+I do not propose to detain the reader with an account of my
+journeyings between Mexico and the United States, during the seven
+years subsequent to my first arrival at Santa F�. I will here merely
+remark, that I crossed the plains to the United States in the falls of
+1833 and 1836, and returned to Santa F� with goods each succeeding
+spring. It was only in 1838, however, that I eventually closed up my
+affairs in Northern Mexico, and prepared to take my leave of the
+country, as I then supposed, forever. But in this I was mistaken, as
+will appear in the sequel.
+
+The most usual season for the return of the {306} caravans to the
+United States is the autumn, and not one has elapsed since the
+commencement of the trade which has not witnessed some departure from
+Santa F� with that destination. They have also crossed occasionally in
+the spring, but without any regularity or frequency, and generally in
+very small parties. Even the 'fall companies,' in fact, are small when
+compared with the outward-bound caravans; for besides the numbers who
+remain permanently in the country, many of those who trade southward
+return to the United States _via_ Matamoros or some other Southern
+port. The return parties of autumn are therefore comparatively small,
+varying in number from fifty to a hundred [Pg088] men. They leave
+Santa F� some four or five weeks after their arrival--generally about
+the first of September. In these companies there are rarely over
+thirty or forty wagons; for a large portion of those taken out by the
+annual caravans are disposed of in the country.
+
+Some of the traders who go out in the spring, return the ensuing fall,
+because they have the good fortune to sell off their stock promptly
+and to advantage: others are compelled to return in the fall to save
+their credit; nay, to preserve their homes, which, especially in the
+earlier periods, have sometimes been mortgaged to secure the payment
+of the merchandise they carried out with them. In such cases, their
+goods were not unfrequently sold at great sacrifice, to avoid the
+penalties which the breaking of their engagements at home {307} would
+involve. New adventurers, too, are apt to become discouraged with an
+unanticipated dullness of times, and not unfrequently sell off at
+wholesale for the best price they can get, though often at a serious
+loss. But those who are regularly engaged in this trade usually
+calculate upon employing a season--perhaps a year, in closing an
+enterprise--in selling off their goods and making their returns.
+
+The wagons of the return caravans are generally but lightly laden: one
+to two thousand pounds constitute the regular return cargo for a
+single wagon; for not only are the teams unable to haul heavy loads,
+on account of the decay of pasturage at this season, but the
+approaching winter compels the traders to travel in greater haste; so
+that this trip is usually made in about forty days. The amount of
+freight, too, from that direction is comparatively small. The
+remittances, as has already been mentioned, are chiefly in specie, or
+gold and silver bullion. The gold is mostly _dust_, from the Placer or
+gold mine near Santa F�:[57] [Pg089] the silver bullion is all from
+the mines of the South--chiefly from those of Chihuahua. To these
+returns may be added a considerable number of mules and asses--some
+buffalo rugs, furs, and wool,--which last barely pays a return freight
+for the wagons that would otherwise be empty. Coarse Mexican blankets,
+which may be obtained in exchange for merchandise, have been sold in
+small quantities to advantage on our border.
+
+{308} On the 4th of April, 1838, we departed from Santa F�. Our little
+party was found to consist of twenty-three Americans, with twelve
+Mexican servants. We had seven wagons, one dearborn, and two small
+field-pieces, besides a large assortment of small-arms. The principal
+proprietors carried between them about $150,000 in specie and bullion,
+being for the most part the proceeds of the previous year's adventure.
+
+We moved on at a brisk and joyous pace until we reached Ocat� creek, a
+tributary of the Colorado,[58] a distance of a hundred and thirty
+miles from Santa F�, where we encountered a very sudden bereavement in
+the death of Mr. Langham, one of our most respected proprietors. This
+gentleman was known to be in weak health, but no fears were
+entertained for his safety. We were all actively engaged in assisting
+the more heavily laden wagons over the miry stream, when he was seized
+with a fit of apoplexy and expired instantly. As we had not the means
+of giving the deceased a decent burial, we were compelled to consign
+him to the earth in a shroud of blankets. A grave was accordingly dug
+on an elevated spot near the north bank of the creek, and on the
+morning of the 13th, ere the sun had risen in the east, the mortal
+remains of this most worthy [Pg090] man and valued friend were
+deposited in their last abode,--without a tomb-stone to consecrate the
+spot, or an epitaph to commemorate his virtues. The deceased was from
+St. Louis, {309} though he had passed the last eleven years of his
+life in Santa F�, during the whole of which period he had seen neither
+his home nor his relatives.
+
+The melancholy rites being concluded, we resumed our line of march. We
+now continued for several days without the occurrence of any important
+accident or adventure. On the 19th we encamped in the Cimarron valley,
+about twelve miles below the Willow Bar. The very sight of this
+desolate region, frequented as it is by the most savage tribes of
+Indians, was sufficient to strike dismay into the hearts of our party;
+but as we had not as yet encountered any of them, we felt
+comparatively at ease. Our mules and horses were 'staked' as usual
+around the wagons, and every man, except the watch, betook himself to
+his blanket, in anticipation of a good night's rest. The hour of
+midnight had passed away, and nothing had been heard except the
+tramping of the men on guard, and the peculiar grating of the mules'
+teeth, nibbling the short grass of the valley. Ere long, however, one
+of our sentinels got a glimpse of some object moving stealthily along,
+and as he was straining his eyes to ascertain what sort of apparition
+it could be, a loud Indian yell suddenly revealed the mystery. This
+was quickly followed by a discharge of fire-arms, and the shrill note
+of the 'Pawnee whistle,' which at once made known the character of our
+visitors. As usual, the utmost confusion prevailed in our camp: some,
+who had been snatched {310} from the land of dreams, ran their heads
+against the wagons--others called out for their guns while they had
+them in their hands. During the height of the bustle and uproar, a
+Mexican servant was observed leaning with his back against a wagon,
+and his fusil elevated at an [Pg091] angle of forty-five degrees,
+cocking and pulling the trigger without ceasing, and exclaiming at
+every snap, "_Carajo, no sirve!_"--Curse it, it's good for nothing.
+
+The firing still continued--the yells grew fiercer and more frequent;
+and everything betokened the approach of a terrible conflict.
+Meanwhile a number of persons were engaged in securing the mules and
+horses which were staked around the encampment; and in a few minutes
+they were all shut up in the _corral_--a hundred head or more in a pen
+formed by seven wagons. The enemy failing in their principal
+object--to frighten off our stock, they soon began to retreat; and in
+a few minutes nothing more was to be heard of them. All that we could
+discover the next morning was, that none of our party had sustained
+any injury, and that we had not lost a single animal.
+
+The Pawnees have been among the most formidable and treacherous
+enemies of the Santa F� traders. But the former have also suffered a
+little in turn from the caravans. In 1832, a company of traders were
+approached by a single Pawnee chief, who commenced a parley with them,
+when he was shot down by a Pueblo Indian of New Mexico who happened
+{311} to be with the caravan. Though this cruel act met with the
+decided reprobation of the traders generally, yet they were of course
+held responsible for it by the Indians.
+
+On our passage this time across the 'prairie ocean' which lay before
+us, we ran no risk of getting bewildered or lost, for there was now a
+plain wagon trail across the entire stretch of our route, from the
+Cimarron to Arkansas river.
+
+This track, which has since remained permanent, was made in the year
+1834. Owing to continuous rains during the passage of the caravan of
+that year, a plain trail was then cut in the softened turf, on the
+most direct route across [Pg092] this arid desert, leaving the
+Arkansas about twenty miles above the 'Caches.' This has ever since
+been the regular route of the caravans; and thus a recurrence of those
+distressing sufferings from thirst, so frequently experienced by early
+travellers in that inhospitable region, has been prevented.
+
+We forded the Arkansas without difficulty, and pursued our journey to
+the Missouri border with comparative ease; being only now and then
+disturbed at night by the hideous howling of wolves, a pack of which
+had constituted themselves into a kind of 'guard of honor,' and
+followed in our wake for several hundred miles--in fact to the very
+border of the settlements. They were at first attracted no doubt by
+the remains of buffalo which were killed by us upon the high plains,
+and {312} afterwards enticed on by an occasional fagged animal, which
+we were compelled to leave behind, as well as by the bones and scraps
+of food, which they picked up about our camps. Not a few of them paid
+the penalty of their lives for their temerity.
+
+Had we not fortunately been supplied with a sufficiency of meat and
+other provisions, we might have suffered of hunger before reaching the
+settlements; for we saw no buffalo after crossing the Arkansas river.
+It is true that, owing to their disrelish for the long dry grass of
+the eastern prairies, the buffalo are rarely found so far east in
+autumn as during the spring; yet I never saw them so scarce in this
+region before. In fact, at all seasons, they are usually very abundant
+as far east as our point of leaving the Arkansas river.
+
+Upon reaching the settlements, I had an opportunity of experiencing a
+delusion which had been the frequent subject of remark by travellers
+on the Prairies before. Accustomed as we had been for some months to
+our little mules, and the equally small-sized Mexican ponies, our
+[Pg093] sight became so adjusted to their proportions, that when we
+came to look upon the commonest hackney of our frontier horses, it
+appeared to be almost a monster. I have frequently heard exclamations
+of this kind from the new arrivals:--"How the Missourians have
+improved their breed of horses!"--"What a huge gelding!"--"Did you
+ever see such an animal!" This delusion is frequently availed of by
+the frontiersmen {313} to put off their meanest horses to these
+deluded travellers for the most enormous prices.
+
+On the 11th of May we arrived at Independence, after a propitious
+journey of only thirty-eight days.[59] We found the town in a thriving
+condition, although it had come very near being laid waste a few years
+before by the [Pg094] Mormons, who had originally selected this
+section of the country for the site of their New Jerusalem. In this
+they certainly displayed far more taste and good sense than they are
+generally supposed to be endowed {314} with: for the rich and
+beautiful uplands in the vicinity of Independence might well be
+denominated the 'garden spot' of the Far West. Their principal motive
+for preferring the border country, however, was no doubt a desire to
+be in the immediate vicinity of the Indians, as the reclamation of the
+'Lost tribes of Israel' was a part of their pretended mission.
+
+Prior to 1833, the Mormons, who were then flocking in great swarms to
+this favored region, had made considerable purchases of lots and
+tracts of land both in the town of Independence and in the adjacent
+country. A general depot, profanely styled the 'Lord's Store,' was
+established, from which the faithful were supplied with merchandise at
+moderate prices; while those who possessed any surplus of property
+were expected to deposit it in the same, for the benefit of the mass.
+The Mormons were at first kindly received by the good people of the
+country, who looked upon them as a set of harmless fanatics, very
+susceptible of being moulded into good and honest citizens. This
+confidence, however, was not destined to remain long in the ascendant,
+for they soon began to find that the corn in their cribs was sinking
+like snow before the sun-rays, and that their hogs and their cattle
+were by some mysterious agency rapidly disappearing. The new-comers
+also drew upon themselves much animadversion in consequence of the
+immorality of their lives, and in particular their disregard for the
+sacred rites of marriage.
+
+{315} Still they continued to spread and multiply, not by conversion
+but by immigration, to an alarming extent; and in proportion as they
+grew strong in numbers, they [Pg095] also became more exacting and
+bold in their pretensions. In a little paper printed at Independence
+under their immediate auspices,[60] everything was said that could
+provoke hostility between the 'saints' and their 'worldly' neighbors,
+until at last they became so emboldened by impunity, as openly to
+boast of their determination to be the sole proprietors of the 'Land
+of Zion;' a revelation to that effect having been made to their
+prophet.
+
+The people now began to perceive, that, at the rate the intruders were
+increasing, they would soon be able to command a majority of the
+country, and consequently the entire control of affairs would fall
+into their hands. It was evident, then, that one of the two parties
+would in the course of time have to abandon the country; for the old
+settlers could not think of bringing up their families in the midst of
+such a corrupt state of society as the Mormons were establishing.
+Still the nuisance was endured very patiently, and without any attempt
+at retaliation, until the 'saints' actually threatened to eject their
+opponents by main force. This last stroke of impudence at once roused
+the latent spirit of the honest backwoodsmen, some of whom were of the
+pioneer settlers of Missouri, and had become familiar with danger in
+their terrific wars with the savages. They were therefore by no {316}
+means appropriate subjects for yielding what they believed to be their
+rights. Meetings were held for the purpose of devising means of
+redress, which only tended to increase the insolence of the Mormons.
+Finally a mob was collected which proceeded at once to raze the
+obnoxious printing establishment to the ground, and to destroy all the
+materials they could lay hands upon. One or two of the Mormon leaders
+who fell into the hands of the people, were treated [Pg096] to a
+clean suit of 'tar and feathers,' and otherwise severely punished.[61]
+The 'Prophet Joseph,' however, was not then in the neighborhood.
+Having observed the storm-clouds gathering apace in the frontier
+horizon, he very wisely remained in Ohio, whence he issued his flaming
+mandates.
+
+These occurrences took place in the month of October, 1833, and I
+reached Independence from Santa F� while the excitement was raging at
+its highest. The Mormons had rallied some ten miles west of the town,
+where their strongest settlements were located. A hostile encounter
+was hourly expected: nay, a skirmish actually took place shortly
+after, in which a respectable lawyer of Independence, who had been an
+active agent against the Mormons, was killed. In short, the whole
+country was in a state of dreadful fermentation.
+
+Early on the morning after the skirmish just referred to, a report
+reached Independence that the Mormons were marching in a {317} body
+towards the town, with the intention of sacking and burning it. I had
+often heard the cry of "Indians!" announcing the approach of hostile
+savages, but I do not remember ever to have witnessed so much
+consternation as prevailed at Independence on this memorable occasion.
+The note of alarm was sounded far and near, and armed men, eager for
+the fray, were rushing in from every quarter. Officers were summarily
+selected without deference to rank or station: the 'spirit-stirring
+drum' and the 'ear-piercing fife' made the air resound with music, and
+a little army of as brave and resolute a set of fellows as ever trod a
+field of battle, was, in a very short time, paraded through the
+streets. After a few preliminary exercises, they started for a certain
+point on the road where they intended to await the approach of the
+Mormons. [Pg097] The latter very soon made their appearance, but
+surprised at meeting with so formidable a reception, they never even
+attempted to pull a trigger, but at once surrendered at discretion.
+They were immediately disarmed, and subsequently released upon
+condition of their leaving the country without delay.
+
+It was very soon after this affair that the much talked of phenomenon
+of the meteoric shower (on the night of November 12th) occurred. This
+extraordinary visitation did not fail to produce its effects upon the
+superstitious minds of a few ignorant people, who began to wonder
+whether, after all, the Mormons might not be in the right; and whether
+this was not a sign sent from heaven as a remonstrance for the
+injustice they had been guilty of towards that chosen sect.[62]
+Sometime afterward, a terrible misfortune occurred which was in no way
+calculated to allay the superstitious fears of the ignorant. As some
+eight or ten citizens were returning with the ferry-boat which had
+crossed the last Mormons over the Missouri river, into Clay county,
+the district selected for their new home, the craft filled with water
+and sunk in the middle of the current; by which accident three or four
+men were drowned![63] It was owing perhaps to the craziness of the
+boat, yet some persons suspected the Mormons of having scuttled it by
+secretly boring auger-holes in the bottom just before they had left
+it.
+
+After sojourning a few months in Clay county, to the serious annoyance
+of the inhabitants (though, in fact, they [Pg098] had been kindly
+received at first), the _persecuted_ 'Latter day Saints' were again
+compelled to shift their quarters further off. They now sought to
+establish themselves in the new country of Caldwell, and founded their
+town of Far West, where they lingered in comparative peace for a few
+years.[64] As the county began to fill up with settlers however,
+quarrels repeatedly {319} broke out, until at last, in 1838, they
+found themselves again at open war with their neighbors. They appear
+to have set the laws of the state at defiance, and to have acted so
+turbulently throughout, that Governor Boggs deemed it necessary to
+order out a large force of state militia to subject them: which was
+easily accomplished without bloodshed. From that time the Mormons have
+harbored a mortal enmity towards the Governor: and the attempt which
+was afterwards made to assassinate him at Independence, is generally
+believed to have been instigated, if not absolutely perpetrated, by
+that deluded sect.[65]
+
+Being once more forced to emigrate, they passed into Illinois, where
+they founded the famous 'City of Nauvoo.' It would seem that their
+reception from the people of this state was even more strongly marked
+with kindness and indulgence than it had been elsewhere, being
+generally looked upon as the victims of persecution on account of
+[Pg099] their religious belief; yet it appears that the good people of
+Illinois have since become about as tired of them as were any of their
+former neighbors.[66] It seems very clear then, that fanatical
+delusion is not the only sin which stamps the conduct of these people
+with so much obliquity, or they would certainly have found permanent
+friends somewhere; whereas it is well known that a general aversion
+has prevailed against them wherever they have sojourned.
+
+Before concluding this chapter, it may be {320} proper to remark, that
+the Mormons have invariably refused to sell any of the property they
+had acquired in Missouri, but have on the contrary expressed a firm
+determination to reconquer their lost purchases.[67] Of these, a large
+lot, situated on an elevated point at Independence, known as the
+'Temple Lot,' upon which the 'Temple of Zion' was to have been
+raised,--has lately been 'profaned,' by cultivation, having been
+converted into a corn-field!
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[35] See our volume xix, p. 293, note 116 (Gregg).--ED.
+
+[36] The Casa Grande ruin in Pinal County, Arizona, just south of Gila
+River, has been known to antiquarians since the first discovery of the
+region. The earliest detailed description was written after the visit
+of Father Kuehne (Kino) in 1694. American explorers noted it during
+the passage of 1846; Bartlett's description of 1854 was the most
+faithful. For recent accounts, see Cosmos Mindeleff, in U. S. Bureau
+of Ethnology _Reports_, 1891-92, pp. 295-361; 1893-94, pp. 321-349. In
+1889 congress appropriated funds for its preservation and repair, and
+in 1892 set it apart as a public reservation. Modern arch�ologists
+discredit any connection of its builders with Mexican Aztecs. It is a
+work of Pueblo Indians, probably of the ancestors of the modern
+Pima--see our volume xviii, p. 200, note 96. This ruin should not be
+confused with one of a like name in Northern Mexico, for which see
+volume xviii of our series, p. 155, note 88.--ED.
+
+[37] It is uncertain to which ruin Gregg here refers. That of
+Cebolitta, not far from Acoma, answers his description as built of
+sandstone. There is a small ruin at Ojos Bonitos, not far from Zu�i,
+that may be intended; but the more probable is the former, on the
+well-known trace between Acoma and Zu�i, and of remarkably good
+workmanship in stone.--ED.
+
+[38] For the Navaho, Apache, and Ute tribes, see our volume xviii, p.
+69 (note 41), p. 109 (note 60), p. 140 (note 70); for the Kiowa,
+volume xv, p. 157, note 48; for the Comanche, volume xvi, p. 233, note
+109.--ED.
+
+[39] The Jicarrilla (Xicarrilla) are of _Athapascan_ stock, but from
+the similarity of their language are classed as Apache, although they
+are not known to have had any tribal connection with them. Their
+alliance was more frequently with the Ute, with whom they
+intermarried, and whose customs they assimilated. They were a
+predatory race, and from their vantage ground on the upper waters of
+the Rio Grande, Pecos, and Canadian, caused much annoyance. They are
+now located on a reservation in Rio Arriba County, and number about
+seven hundred and fifty.--ED.
+
+[40] For Humboldt, see our volume xviii, p. 345, note 136.--ED.
+
+[41] The Navaho were friendly with the Spaniards until about 1700,
+when they began depredations and cattle lifting, and frequent
+campaigns against them were undertaken. In 1744 a mission was
+attempted among them, which was abandoned after six years' futile
+efforts. Serious difficulties, however, did not recur until the
+beginning of the nineteenth century. The period of Gregg's sojourn in
+New Mexico was that of greatest hostility. For over twenty-five years
+the United States government had much difficulty with the Navaho.
+There are yet over twenty thousand of these tribesmen on the different
+reservations, chiefly in Arizona.--ED.
+
+[42] Cochiti is one of the smaller Queres pueblos, situated on the
+west side of the Rio Grande, almost directly west of Santa F�. It was
+near the same spot, at the time of the Spanish accession in 1598. The
+Cochitia�os took part in the rebellions of 1680 and 1696, and part of
+the mutineers were, about 1699, removed to the pueblo of Laguna. There
+are now less than two hundred and fifty inhabitants of this Indian
+village.--ED.
+
+[43] The only other authority for this campaign is A. R. Th�mmel,
+_Mexiko und die Mexikaner_ (Erlangen, 1848), pp. 350, 351.--ED.
+
+[44] For Governor Jos� Gonzalez and his exploits during the
+insurrection of 1837 see preceding volume, ch. vi (Gregg).--ED.
+
+[45] _Mezcal_ is the baked root of the _maguey_ (_agave Americana_)
+and of another somewhat similar plant.--GREGG.
+
+[46] Like the Jicarrilla, the Mescallero were in reality a distinct
+tribe, and related to the Apache only by linguistic affinities. Since
+1865 they have been confined upon a reservation in southern New
+Mexico, where about four hundred still exist. The Coyoteros is one of
+some dozen tribes or bands among the Apache proper.--ED.
+
+[47] It has been credibly asserted, that, during one of these 'bold
+pursuits,' a band of Comanches stopped in the suburbs of a village on
+Rio Conchos, turned their horses into the wheat-fields, and took a
+comfortable _siesta_--desirous, it seemed, to behold their pursuers
+face to face; yet, after remaining most of the day, they departed
+without enjoying that pleasure.--GREGG.
+
+[48] Or _Chihuahuenses_, citizens of Chihuahua.--GREGG.
+
+[49] During the so-called "Pastry War," for which see our volume xix,
+p. 274, note 101 (Gregg).--ED.
+
+[50] _Noticioso de Chihuahua_ of December 28, 1838.--GREGG.
+
+[51] The experience of the United States army with the Apache has not
+proved their cowardice. Since the running of the boundary line after
+the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo (1848) up to 1886, one outbreak after
+another characterized our relations with the Apache. For fifteen years
+(1871-86) General Crook watched the Apache, and after each raid forced
+them back upon their reservations. Geronimo's band, which surrendered
+in September, 1886, was transported to Florida and Alabama.--ED.
+
+[52] The leader's name was James Johnson, who afterwards removed to
+California, where he died in poverty. See H. H. Bancroft, _History of
+Arizona and New Mexico_, p. 407.--ED.
+
+[53] Bancroft (_op. cit._) relates the escape of Benjamin Wilson, who
+afterwards narrated the event, and the death of the leader, Charles
+Kemp.--ED.
+
+[54] The Apaches, previous to this date, had committed but few
+depredations upon foreigners--restrained either by fear or respect.
+Small parties of the latter were permitted to pass the highways of the
+wilderness unmolested, while large caravans of Mexicans suffered
+frequent attacks. This apparent partiality produced unfounded
+jealousies, and the Americans were openly accused of holding secret
+treaties with the enemy, and even of supplying them with arms and
+ammunition. Although an occasional foreigner engaged in this
+clandestine and culpable traffic, yet the natives themselves embarked
+in it beyond comparison more extensively, as has been noted in another
+place. This unjust impression against Americans was partially effaced
+as well by the catastrophes mentioned in the text, as by the defeat
+and robbery (in which, however, no American lives were lost), of a
+small party of our people, about the same period, in _La Jornada del
+Muerto_, on their way from Chihuahua to Santa F�.--GREGG.
+
+[55] For Socorro, consult Pattie's _Narrative_, in our volume xviii,
+p. 86, note 52.--ED.
+
+[56] Don Juan Andr�s Archuleta, who commanded at the capture of Gen.
+McLeod's division of the Texans.--GREGG.
+
+[57] For the placer mines, see our volume xix, p. 304, note 128
+(Gregg).--ED.
+
+[58] Ocat� Creek is in Mora County, New Mexico, a tributary of the
+upper waters of the Canadian, one of the several streams called
+Colorado by the Mexicans. Because of this name, it was thought (until
+Long's expedition in 1820) to be the headwaters of Red River.--ED.
+
+[59] Having crossed the Prairies between Independence and Santa F� six
+times, I can now present a table of the most notable camping sites,
+and their respective intermediate distances, with approximate
+accuracy--which may prove acceptable to some future travellers. The
+whole distance has been variously estimated at from 750 to 800 miles,
+yet I feel confident that the aggregate here presented is very nearly
+the true distance.
+
+ From INDEPENDENCE to                     _M._       _Agg._
+ Round Grove,                              35
+ Narrows,                                  30           65
+ 110-mile Creek,                           30           95
+ Bridge Cr.,                                8          103
+ Big John Spring, (crossing sv'l. Crs.)    40          143
+ Council Grove,                             2          145
+ Diamond Spring,                           15          160
+ Lost Spring,                              15          175
+ Cottonwood Cr.,                           12          187
+ Turkey Cr.,                               25          212
+ Little Arkansas,                          17          229
+ Cow Creek,                                20          249
+ Arkansas River,                           16          265
+ Walnut Cr., (up Ark. r.)                   8          273
+ Ash Creek,                                19          292
+ Pawnee Fork,                               6          298
+ Coon Creek,                               33          331
+ Caches,                                   36          367
+ Ford of Arkansas,                         20          387
+ Sand Cr. (leav. Ark. r.)                  50          437
+ Cimarron r. (Lower sp.)                    8          445
+ Middle spr. (up Cim. r.)                  36          481
+ Willow Bar,                               26          507
+ Upper Spring,                             18          525
+ Cold spr. (leav. Cim. r.)                  5          530
+ M'Nees's Cr.,                             25          555
+ Rabbit-ear Cr.,                           20          575
+ Round Mound,                               8          583
+ Rock Creek,                                8          591
+ Point of Rocks,                           19          610
+ Rio Colorado,                             20          630
+ Ocat�,                                     6          636
+ Santa Clara Spr.,                         21          657
+ Rio Mora,                                 22          679
+ Rio Gallinas (Vegas),                     20          699
+ Ojo de Bernal (spr.),                     17          716
+ San Miguel,                                6          722
+ Pecos village,                            23          755
+ SANTA FE,                                 25          770
+
+                                              --GREGG.
+
+[60] This paper, the first printed in Jackson County, was called The
+Evening and Morning Star, the first issue being in June, 1832.--ED.
+
+[61] This occurred July 20, 1833. Bishop Partridge and Charles Allen
+were the victims of the punishment.--ED.
+
+[62] In Northern Mexico, as I learned afterwards, the credulity of the
+superstitious was still more severely tried by this celestial
+phenomenon. Their Church had been deprived of some important
+privileges by the Congress but a short time before, and the people
+could not be persuaded but that the meteoric shower was intended as a
+curse upon the nation in consequence of that sacrilegious act.--GREGG.
+
+[63] The following were drowned: James Campbell, George Bradbury,
+David Linch, Thomas Harrington, William Everett, Smallwood Nolan.--ED.
+
+[64] Far West was begun in 1836; by 1838 there was a Mormon population
+of twelve thousand in and around the city.--ED.
+
+[65] Lilburn W. Boggs was born in Kentucky in 1798. Early removed to
+Missouri, he became prominent as a trader, pioneer, and political
+leader. In 1832 he was elected lieutenant-governor, serving as the
+acting-governor during part of his term. At its close (1836) he was
+chosen governor, and served for four years. During this term he
+incurred the animosity of the Mormons, by what was known as his
+"extermination order," issued in October, 1838. The attempt to
+assassinate him at the close of his term of office, at his home in
+Independence (1841), was popularly ascribed to a Mormon fanatic, who
+was, however, acquitted in the courts. In 1846 Governor Boggs led an
+overland party to California, where he assisted in the American
+occupation. Removed to Napa Valley in 1852, he died there nine years
+later. His wife was a granddaughter of Daniel Boone.--ED.
+
+[66] The year in which Gregg's book was published (June, 1844),
+Prophet Joseph Smith was killed by a mob in the jail of Carthage,
+Illinois.--ED.
+
+[67] After the death of the founder there was dissension in the ranks,
+one wing being headed by his eldest son, Joseph Smith III. The latter
+founded what is known as the Reorganized Church of Latter Day Saints,
+which repudiates polygamy. These were the sectarians who returned to
+Jackson County, Missouri, where a large number now reside.--ED.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII {I}[68]
+
+A Return to Prairie Life -- Abandonment of the regular Route -- The
+  Start -- A Suicide -- Arrest of a Mulatto for Debt -- Cherokee
+  'Bankrupt Law' -- Chuly, the Creek Indian -- The Muster and the
+  Introduction -- An '_Olla Podrida_' -- Adventure of a 'Down-Easter'
+  -- Arrival of U.S. Dragoons -- Camp Holmes, and the Road -- A Visit
+  from a Party of Comanches -- Tabba-quena, a noted Chief -- His
+  extraordinary Geographical Talent -- Indians set out for the
+  'Capitan Grande,' and we through an Unexplored Region -- Rejoined by
+  Tabba-quena and his '_suite_' -- Spring Valley -- The Buffalo Fever
+  -- The Chase -- A Green-horn Scamper -- Prairie Fuel.
+
+
+An unconquerable propensity to return to prairie life inclined me to
+embark in a fresh enterprise. The blockade [Pg100] of the Mexican
+ports by the French also offered strong inducements for undertaking
+such an expedition in the spring of 1839; for as Chihuahua is supplied
+principally through the sea-ports, it was now evident that the place
+must be suffering from great scarcity of goods. Being anxious to reach
+the market before the ports of the Gulf were reopened, we deemed it
+expedient to abandon the regular route from {10} Missouri for one
+wholly untried, from the borders of Arkansas, where the pasturage
+springs up nearly a month earlier. It is true, that such an attempt to
+convey heavily laden wagons through an unexplored region was attended
+with considerable risk; but as I was familiar with the general
+character of the plains contiguous to the north, I felt little or no
+apprehension of serious difficulties, except from what might be
+occasioned by regions of sandy soil. I have often been asked since,
+why we did not steer directly for Chihuahua, as our trade was chiefly
+destined for that place, instead of taking the circuitous route _via_
+Santa F�. I answer, that we dreaded a journey across the southern
+prairies on account of the reputed aridity of the country in that
+direction, and I had no great desire to venture directly into a
+southern port in the present state of uncertainty as to the conditions
+of entry.
+
+Suitable arrangements having been made, and a choice stock of about
+$25,000 worth of goods shipped to Van Buren[69] on the Arkansas river,
+we started on the evening of the 21st of April, but made very little
+progress for the first eight days. While we were yet but ten or
+fifteen miles from Van Buren, [Pg101] an incident occurred which was
+attended with very melancholy results. A young man named Hays, who had
+driven a wagon for me for several months through the interior of
+Mexico, and thence to the United States in 1838, having heard that
+this expedition was projected, {11} was desirous of engaging again in
+the same employ. I was equally desirous to secure his services, as he
+was well-tried, and had proved himself an excellent fellow on those
+perilous journeys. But soon after our outset, and without any apparent
+reason, he expressed an inclination to abandon the trip. I earnestly
+strove to dissuade him from his purpose, and supposed I had succeeded.
+What was my surprise, then, upon my return after a few hours' absence
+in advance of the company, to learn that he had secretly absconded! I
+was now led to reflect upon some of his eccentricities, and bethought
+me of several evident indications of slight mental derangement. We
+were, however, but a few miles from the settlements of the whites, and
+in the midst of the civilized Cherokees, where there was little or no
+danger of his suffering; therefore, there seemed but little occasion
+for serious uneasiness on his account. As it was believed he had
+shaped his course back to Van Buren, I immediately wrote to our
+friends there, to have search made for him. However, nothing could be
+found of him till the next day, when his hat and coat were discovered
+upon the bank of the Arkansas, near Van Buren, which were the last
+traces ever had of the unfortunate Hays! Whether intentionally or
+accidentally, he was evidently drowned.
+
+On the 28th of April we crossed the Arkansas river a few miles above
+the mouth of the Canadian fork.[70] We had only proceeded {12} a short
+distance beyond, when a Cherokee shop-keeper came up to us with an
+attachment for debt [Pg102] against a free mulatto whom we had
+engaged as teamster. The poor fellow had no alternative but to return
+with the importunate creditor, who committed him at once to the care
+of 'Judge Lynch' for trial. We ascertained afterwards that he had been
+sentenced to 'take the benefit of the bankrupt law' after the manner
+of the Cherokees of that neighborhood. This is done by stripping and
+tying the victim to a tree; when each creditor, with a good cowhide or
+hickory switch in his hand, scores the amount of the bill due upon his
+bare back. One stripe for every dollar due is the usual process of
+'whitewashing;' and as the application of the lash is accompanied by
+all sorts of quaint remarks, the exhibition affords no small merriment
+to those present, with the exception, no doubt, of the delinquent
+himself. After the ordeal is over, the creditors declare themselves
+perfectly satisfied: nor could they, as is said, ever be persuaded
+thereafter to receive one red cent of the amount due, even if it were
+offered to them. As the poor mulatto was also in our debt, and was
+perhaps apprehensive that we might exact payment in the same currency,
+he never showed himself again.
+
+On the 2d of May we crossed the North Fork of the Canadian about a
+mile from its confluence with the main stream. A little westward of
+this there is a small village of {13} Creek Indians, and a shop or two
+kept by American traders.[71] An Indian who had quarrelled with his
+wife, came out and proposed to join us, and, to our great surprise,
+carried his proposal into execution. The next morning his repentant
+consort came into our camp, and set up a most dismal weeping and
+howling after her truant husband, who, notwithstanding, was neither to
+be caught by tears nor [Pg103] softened by entreaties, but persisted
+in his determination to see foreign countries. His name was
+Ech�-eleh-hadj� (or _Crazy-deer-foot_), but, for brevity's sake, we
+always called him _Chuly_. He was industrious, and possessed many
+clever qualities, though somewhat disposed to commit excesses whenever
+he could procure liquor, which fortunately did not occur until our
+arrival at Santa F�. He proved to be a good and willing hand on the
+way, but as he spoke no English, our communication with him was
+somewhat troublesome. I may as well add here, that, while in Santa F�,
+he took another freak and joined a volunteer corps, chiefly of
+Americans, organized under one James Kirker to fight the Navaj� and
+Apache Indians; the government of Chihuahua having guarantied to them
+all the spoils they should take.[72] With these our Creek found a few
+of his 'red brethren'--Shawnees and Delawares, who had wandered thus
+far from the frontier of Missouri. After this little army was
+disbanded, Chuly returned home, as I have been informed, with a small
+{14} party who crossed the plains directly from Chihuahua.
+
+We had never considered ourselves as perfectly _en chemin_ till after
+crossing the Arkansas river; and as our little party experienced no
+further change, I may now be permitted to introduce them collectively
+to the reader. It consisted of thirty-four men, including my brother
+John Gregg and myself. These men had all been hired by us except
+three, two of whom were Eastern-bred boys--a tailor and a
+silversmith--good-natured, clever little fellows, who had thought
+themselves at the 'jumping-off place' when they reached [Pg104] Van
+Buren, but now seemed nothing loth to extend their peregrinations a
+thousand miles or so further, in the hope of 'doing' the 'Spaniards,'
+as the Mexicans are generally styled in the West, out of a little
+surplus of specie. The other was a German peddler, who somewhat
+resembled the Dutchman's horse, "put him as you vant, and he ish
+alvays tere;" for he did nothing during the whole journey but descant
+on the value of a chest of trumperies which he carried, and with which
+he calculated, as he expressed it, to "py a plenty of te Shpanish
+tollar." The trip across the Prairies cost these men absolutely
+nothing, inasmuch as we furnished them with all the necessaries for
+the journey, in consideration of the additional strength they brought
+to our company.
+
+It is seldom that such a variety of ingredients are found mixed up in
+so small a compass. {15} Here were the representatives of seven
+distinct nations, each speaking his own native language, which
+produced at times a very respectable jumble of discordant sounds.
+There was one Frenchman whose volubility of tongue and curious
+gesticulations, contrasted very strangely with the frigidity of two
+phlegmatic wanderers from Germany; while the calm eccentricity of two
+Polish exiles, the stoical look of two sons of the desert (the Creek
+already spoken of, and a Chickasaw), and the pantomimic gestures of
+sundry loquacious Mexicans, contributed in no small degree to heighten
+the effects of the picture. The Americans were mostly backwoodsmen,
+who could handle the rifle far better than the whip, but who
+nevertheless officiated as wagoners.
+
+We had fourteen road-wagons, half drawn by mules, the others by oxen
+(eight of each to the team); besides a carriage and a Jersey wagon.
+Then we had two swivels mounted upon one pair of wheels; but one of
+them was attached to a movable truckle, so that, upon stopping, it
+could be transferred [Pg105] to the other side of the wagons. One of
+these was a long brass piece made to order, with a calibre of but an
+inch and a quarter, yet of sufficient metal to throw a leaden ball to
+the distance of a mile with surprising accuracy. The other was of
+iron, and a little larger. Besides these, our party was well supplied
+with small arms. The Americans mostly had their rifles and a musket in
+addition, which {16} they carried in their wagons, always well charged
+with ball and buckshot. Then my brother and myself were each provided
+with one of Colt's repeating rifles, and a pair of pistols of the
+same, so that we could, if necessary, carry thirty-six ready-loaded
+shots apiece; which alone constituted a capacity of defence rarely
+matched even on the Prairies.
+
+Previous to our departure we had received a promise from the war
+department of an escort of U.S. Dragoons, as far as the borders of the
+Mexican territory; but, upon sending an express to Gen. Arbuckle at
+Fort Gibson to that effect,[73] we were informed that in consequence
+of some fresh troubles among the Cherokees, it was doubtful whether
+the force could be spared in time. This was certainly no very
+agreeable news, inasmuch as the escort would have been very
+serviceable in assisting to search out a track over the unexplored
+wilderness we had to pass. It was too late, however, to recede; and so
+we resolved at all hazards to pursue our journey. [Pg106]
+
+We had advanced beyond the furthest settlements of the Creeks
+and Seminoles, and pitched our camp on a bright balmy evening, in the
+border of a delightful prairie, when some of the young men, attracted
+by the prospect of game, shouldered their rifles and wended their
+steps through the dense forest which lay contiguous to our encampment.
+Among those that went forth, there was one of the 'down-easters'
+already mentioned, who was much more familiar with the interior of
+{17} a city than of a wilderness forest. As the shades of evening were
+beginning to descend, and all the hunters had returned except him,
+several muskets and even our little field-pieces were fired, but
+without effect. The night passed away, and the morning dawned upon the
+encampment, and still he was absent. The firing was then renewed; but
+soon after he was seen approaching, very sullen and dejected. He came
+with a tale of perilous adventures and 'hair-breadth 'scapes' upon his
+lips, which somewhat abated the storm of ridicule by which he was at
+first assailed. It seemed that he had heard our firing on the previous
+evening, but believed it to proceed from a contrary direction--a very
+common mistake with persons who have become bewildered and lost. Thus
+deceived and stimulated by the fear of Indians (from a party of whom
+he supposed the firing to proceed), he continued his pathless
+wanderings till dark, when, to render his situation still more
+critical, he was attacked by a 'painter'--_anglic�_, panther--which he
+actually succeeded in beating off with the breech of his gun, and then
+betook himself to the topmost extremity of a tree, where, in order to
+avoid a similar intrusion, he passed the remainder of the night. From
+a peculiar odor with which the shattered gun was still redolent,
+however, it was strongly suspected that the 'terrific painter' was not
+many degrees removed, in affinity, from a----polecat.
+
+We had just reached the extreme edge of {18} the far [Pg107] famed
+'Cross Timbers,'[74] when we were gratified by the arrival of forty
+dragoons, under the command of Lieut. Bowman, who had orders to
+accompany us to the supposed boundary of the United States.[75] On the
+same evening we had the pleasure of encamping together at a place
+known as Camp Holmes, a wild romantic spot in latitude 35� 5�, and but
+a mile north of the Canadian river. Just at hand there was a beautiful
+spring, where, in 1835, Colonel Mason with a force of U. S. troops,
+had a 'big talk' and still bigger 'smoke' with a party of Comanche and
+Witchita Indians.[76] Upon the same site Col. Chouteau had also caused
+to be erected not long after, a little stockade fort, where a
+considerable trade was subsequently carried on with the Comanches and
+other tribes of the southwestern prairies. The place had now been
+abandoned, however, since the preceding winter.
+
+From the Arkansas river to Chouteau's Fort, our route presented an
+unbroken succession of grassy plains and fertile glades, intersected
+here and there with woody belts and numerous rivulets, most of which,
+however, are generally dry except during the rainy season. As far as
+Camp Holmes, [Pg108] we had a passable wagon road, which was opened
+upon the occasion of the Indian treaty before alluded to, and was
+afterwards kept open by the Indian traders. Yet, notwithstanding the
+road, this stretch gave us more trouble--presented more rugged passes,
+miry ravines and steep {19} ascents--than all the rest of our journey
+put together.
+
+We had not been long at the Fort, before we received a visit from a
+party of Comanches, who having heard of our approach came to greet us
+a welcome, on the supposition that it was their friend Chouteau
+returning to the fort with fresh supplies of merchandise. Great was
+their grief when we informed them that their favorite trader had died
+at Fort Gibson, the previous winter.[77] On visiting their wigwams and
+inquiring for their _capitan_,[78] we were introduced to a corpulent,
+squint-eyed old fellow, who certainly had nothing in his personal
+appearance indicative of rank or dignity. This was T�bba-quena (or the
+Big Eagle), a name familiar to all the Comanche traders. As we had
+frequently heard that he spoke Spanish fluently, we at once prepared
+ourselves for a social chit-chat; but, on accosting him in that
+tongue, and inquiring whether he could talk Spanish, he merely replied
+'_Poquito_,' putting at the same time his forefinger to his ear, to
+signify that he merely understood a little--which proved true to a
+degree, for our communication was chiefly [Pg109] by signs. We were
+now about to launch upon an unknown region--our route lay henceforth
+across that unexplored wilderness, of which I have so frequently
+spoken, without either pilot or trail to guide us for nearly 500
+miles. We had to depend entirely upon {20} our knowledge of the
+geographical position of the country for which we were steering, and
+the indications of a compass and sextant. This was emphatically a
+pioneer trip; such a one also as had, perhaps, never before been
+undertaken--to convey heavily laden wagons through a country almost
+wholly untrod by civilized man, and of which _we_, at least, knew
+nothing. We were therefore extremely anxious to acquire any
+information our visitors might be able to give us; but T�bba-quena
+being by no means experienced in wagon tactics, could only make us
+understand, by gestures, mixed with a little wretched Spanish, that
+the route up the Canadian presented no obstacles according to _his_
+mode of travelling. He appeared, however, very well acquainted with
+the whole Mexican frontier, from Santa F� to Chihuahua, and even to
+the Gulf, as well as with all the Prairies. During the consultation he
+seemed occasionally to ask the opinions of other chiefs who had
+huddled around him. Finally, we handed him a sheet of paper and a
+pencil, signifying at the same time a desire that he would draw us a
+map of the Prairies. This he very promptly executed; and although the
+draft was somewhat rough, it bore, much to our astonishment, quite a
+map-like appearance, with a far more accurate delineation of all the
+principal rivers of the plains--the road from Missouri to Santa F�,
+and the different Mexican settlements, than is to be found in many of
+the engraved maps of those regions.
+
+{21}Tabba-quena's party consisted of about sixty persons, including
+several squaws and papooses, with a few Kiawa chiefs and warriors,
+who, although of a tribe so entirely distinct, are frequently found
+domiciled among the Comanches. As we were about to break up the camp
+they all started for [Pg110] Fort Gibson, for the purpose, as they
+informed us, of paying a visit to the 'Capitan Grande'--a Spanish
+phrase used by many prairie tribes, and applied, in their confused
+notions of rank and power, not only to the President of the United
+States himself, but to the seat of the federal government. These they
+are again apt to confound with Fort Gibson and the commanding officer
+of that station.
+
+On the 18th of May, we set out from Chouteau's fort. From this forward
+our wagons were marched in two lines and regularly 'formed' at every
+camp, so as to constitute a fortification and a _corral_ for the
+stock. This is different from the 'forming' of the large caravans. The
+two front wagons are driven up, side by side, with their 'tails' a
+little inclined outward. About half of the rest are drawn up in the
+same manner, but each stopped with the fore-wheel a little back of the
+hind-wheel of the next ahead. The remainder are similarly brought up,
+but inclined inward behind, so as nearly to close again at the rear of
+the pen; leaving a gap through which to introduce the stock. Thus the
+_corral_ remains of an ovate form. After the drivers become expert the
+whole is performed in a very short time.
+
+{22}On the following day we were again joined by old Tabba-quena, and
+another Comanche chief, with five or six warriors, and as many squaws,
+including Tab's wife and infant son. As we were jogging along in the
+afternoon, I held quite a long conversation in our semi-mute language
+with the squinting old chief. He gave me to understand, as well as he
+could, that his comrades[79] had proceeded on their journey to see the
+Capitan Grande, but that he had concluded to return home for better
+horses. He boasted in no measured terms of his friendship for the
+Americans, and [Pg111] promised to exert his influence to prevent
+turbulent and unruly spirits of his nation from molesting us. But he
+could not disguise his fears in regard to the Pawnees and Osages, who,
+he said, would be sure to run off with our stock while we were asleep
+at night. When I informed him that we kept a strict night-watch, he
+said, "_Est� bueno_" (that's good), and allowed that our chances for
+safety were not so bad after all.
+
+These friendly Indians encamped with us that night, and on the
+following morning the old chief informed us that some of his party had
+a few "mulas para _swap_" (mules to trade; for having learned the word
+_swap_ of some American traders, he very ingeniously tacked it at the
+tail of his little stock of Spanish). A barter of five mules was
+immediately concluded {23} upon, much to our advantage, as our teams
+were rather in a weak condition. Old Tab and his party then left us to
+join his band, which, he said, was located on the Faux Ouachitt�
+river, and we never saw aught of them more.[80]
+
+After leaving the Fort we generally kept on the ridge between the
+Canadian and the North Fork, crossing sometimes the tributary brooks
+of the one and sometimes those of the others. Having travelled in this
+manner for about eighty miles, we entered one of the most charming
+prairie vales that I have ever beheld, and which in the plenitude of
+our enthusiasm, we named 'Spring Valley,' on account of the numerous
+spring-fed rills and gurgling rivulets that greeted the sight in every
+direction;[81] in whose limpid pools swarms of trout and perch were
+carelessly playing. Much of the country, indeed, over which we had
+passed was somewhat of a similar character--yet nowhere quite so
+beautiful. I must premise, however, that westward of this, it [Pg112]
+is only the valleys immediately bordering the streams that are at all
+fit for cultivation: the high plains are too dry and sandy. But here
+the soil was dark and mellow, and the rich vegetation with which it
+was clothed plainly indicated its fertility. 'Spring Valley' gently
+inclines towards the North Fork, which was at the distance of about
+five miles from our present route. It was somewhere along the border
+of this enchanting vale that a little picket fort was erected in {24}
+1822, by an unfortunate trader named McKnight, who was afterwards
+betrayed and murdered by the faithless Comanches.[82] The landscape is
+beautifully variegated with stripes and fringes of timber: while the
+little herds of buffalo that were scattered about in fantastic groups
+imparted a degree of life and picturesqueness to the scene, which it
+was truly delightful to contemplate.
+
+It was three days previous that we had first met with these 'prairie
+cattle.' I have often heard backwoodsmen speak of the 'buck ague,' but
+commend me to the 'buffalo fever' of the Prairies for novelty and
+amusement. Very few of our party had ever seen a buffalo before in its
+wild state; therefore at the first sight of these noble animals the
+excitement surpassed anything I had ever witnessed before. Some of our
+dragoons, in their eagerness for sport, had managed to frighten away a
+small herd that were quietly feeding at some distance, before our
+'still hunters,' who had crawled towards them, had been able to get
+within rifle-shot of them. No sooner were the movements of our mounted
+men perceived, than the whole extent of country, as far as the eye
+could reach, became perfectly animate with living objects, fleeing and
+scampering in every direction. From the surrounding valleys sprang up
+numerous herds of these animals which had hitherto been unobserved,
+many of which, in their indiscriminate flight, passed so near the
+wagons, that the [Pg113] drivers, carried away by the contagious
+excitement of {25} the moment, would leave the teams and keep up a
+running fire after them. I had the good fortune to witness the
+exploits of one of our Northern greenhorns, who, mounted upon a
+sluggish mule, and without any kind of weapon, amused himself by
+chasing every buffalo that came scudding along, as if he expected to
+capture him by laying hold of his tail. Plying spur and whip, he would
+gallop after one division till he was left far behind: and then turn
+to another and another, with the same earnestness of purpose, until
+they had all passed out of sight. He finally came back disheartened
+and sullen, with his head hanging down like one conscious of having
+done something supremely ridiculous; but still cursing his lazy mule,
+which, he said, might have caught the buffalo, if it had had a mind
+to.
+
+The next day the buffalo being still more numerous, the chase was
+renewed with greater zest. In the midst of the general hurly-burly
+which ensued, three persons on foot were perceived afar off, chasing
+one herd of buffalo and then another, until they completely
+disappeared. These were two of our cooks, the one armed with a pistol,
+the other with a musket, accompanied by Chuly (the Creek), who was
+happily provided with a rifle. We travelled several miles without
+hearing or seeing anything of them. At last, when we had almost given
+them up for lost, Frank, the French cook, came trudging in, and his
+rueful countenance was no bad index of the {26} doleful tale he had to
+relate. Although he had been chasing and shooting all day, he had, as
+he expressed it, "no killet one," till eventually he happened to
+stumble upon a wounded calf, which he boldly attacked; but as ill luck
+would have it, the youngster took it into his head to give him battle.
+"Foutre de varment! he butt me down," exclaimed the exasperated
+Frenchman,--"Sacr�! me plentee scart; but me kill him for all." Chuly
+and the [Pg114] other cook came in soon after, in equally dejected
+spirits; for, in addition to his ill luck in hunting, the latter had
+been lost. The Indian had perhaps killed buffalo with his rifle, but
+he was in no humor to be communicative in his language of signs; so
+nothing was ever known of his adventures. One thing seemed pretty
+certain, that they were all cured of the 'buffalo fever.'
+
+On the night after the first buffalo scamper, we encamped upon a
+woodless ravine, and were obliged to resort to 'buffalo chips' (dry
+ordure) for fuel. It is amusing to witness the bustle which generally
+takes place in collecting this offal. In dry weather it is an
+excellent substitute for wood, than which it even makes a hotter fire;
+but when moistened by rain, the smouldering pile will smoke for hours
+before it condescends to burn, if it does at all. The buffalo meat
+which the hunter roasts or broils upon this fire, he accounts more
+savory than the steaks dressed by the most delicate cooks in civilized
+life.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[68] Chapter i of volume ii of the original edition.--ED.
+
+[69] It is said that Major Long first chose the site of Van Buren for
+the fort afterwards erected at Bellepoint, five miles higher up the
+river, and known as Fort Smith--see our volume xiii, p. 197, note 166.
+The site was not occupied until after the removal of the Cherokee in
+1828; the next year it was made a post-office, and in 1838 the seat
+for Crawford County, Arkansas. For two decades Van Buren was a
+prosperous frontier town, the home of a large Indian trade. Since the
+War of Secession it has not regained its prestige.--ED.
+
+[70] The caravan crossed the Arkansas, between the embouchment of the
+Illinois and Canadian rivers, in what is now the Cherokee Nation,
+Indian Territory.--ED.
+
+[71] The North Fork of the Canadian unites with the main stream on the
+boundary between the Creek and Cherokee nations. The Creek town of
+Eufaula is near the site mentioned by Gregg.--ED.
+
+[72] James Kirker, known to the Mexicans as Santiago Querque, was an
+American who led an adventurous life upon the plains. Like several
+others he embarked in Apache warfare for the government of Chihuahua;
+and was accused, probably unjustly, of cheating in the delivery of
+scalps. He retired in bad humor to his hacienda in Sonora; later
+removing to California, where he died about 1853. See Kendall, _Texan
+Santa F� Expedition_, ii, pp. 57-59.--ED.
+
+[73] Matthew Arbuckle was the son of a Virginia pioneer of the same
+name, who participated in the Battle of Point Pleasant in 1774. The
+son was born in 1776, and entered the regular army at the age of
+twenty-three, passing through all of the grades until in 1830 he was,
+for meritorious services, breveted brigadier-general. He died at Fort
+Smith June 11, 1851.
+
+Fort Gibson was erected in 1824 on the left bank of Neosho River, near
+its mouth. The western boundary of Arkansas was in 1825 removed forty
+miles to the west, so that this military post fell within its border.
+Later (1830), the boundary was again replaced at the original limits,
+whereupon Fort Gibson fell into Cherokee territory. Several unavailing
+efforts were made (1834-38) to have the garrison removed to Fort
+Smith; and after numerous protests by the Cherokee against its
+maintenance within their borders, Fort Gibson was finally abandoned in
+1857.--ED.
+
+[74] For the description of the belt of woodland known as Cross
+Timbers, see _post_, p. 253.--ED.
+
+[75] Lieutenant James Monroe Bowman entered the West Point military
+academy from Pennsylvania, was made lieutenant in the mounted rangers
+in 1832, and transferred to the dragoons in 1833. For his death (July
+21, 1839), see _post_.--ED.
+
+[76] Camp Holmes was at the site later occupied by Fort Holmes, in the
+Creek Nation, near its western boundary. In 1849 there was no
+habitation at this place; see _Senate Doc._, 31 Cong., 1 sess., 12.
+
+Richard Barnes Mason was born in Fairfax County, Virginia, in 1797; at
+the age of twenty he entered the army as lieutenant, two years later
+(1819) became captain, and in 1833 major of the 1st dragoons. He was
+lieutenant-colonel in 1836, colonel in 1846, and brigadier-general two
+years later, dying at St. Louis in 1850. He served in the Black Hawk
+War, and was first military and civil governor of California.
+
+For the Comanche, see our volume xvi, p. 233, note 109. For the
+Wichita, also called Pawnee Picts, _ibid._, p. 95, note 55.
+
+The treaty here alluded to was signed at Camp Holmes, August 24, 1835.
+If Colonel Mason was present it was in a subordinate capacity, as
+General Arbuckle and Montford Stokes were the federal commissioners.
+The treaty was one of peace and friendship between the Comanche,
+Wichita, and associated bands on the one part, and the tribes recently
+removed to the vicinity--Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, etc.--on the other,
+the government commissioners acting as mediators.--ED.
+
+[77] Auguste Pierre Chouteau, eldest son of the senior Pierre (for
+whom see our volume xvi, p. 275, note 127) and brother of Pierre
+(cadet), so well known in connection with the Missouri Fur Company,
+was born at St. Louis in 1786. After being educated at West Point, he
+entered the army, where he was ensign of the 1st infantry. In 1809, he
+resigned, married his cousin Sophie Labadie, and embarked in the fur
+trade, in which he had charge of the Arkansas branch of the business
+until his death at Fort Gibson.--ED.
+
+[78] Most of the prairie Indians seem to have learned this Spanish
+word, by which, when talking with the whites, all their chiefs are
+designated.--GREGG.
+
+[79] Some of these (principally Kiawas, as I afterwards learned),
+reached Fort Gibson, and received a handsome reward of government
+presents for their visit.--GREGG.
+
+[80] For this stream, see our volume xvi, p. 138, note 66.--ED.
+
+[81] In Oklahoma, probably not far from the present town of that
+name.--ED.
+
+[82] See our volume xix, p. 176, note 13 (Gregg).--ED.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII {II}
+
+Travelling out of our Latitude -- The Buffalo-gnat -- A Kiawa and
+  Squaw -- Indian _crim. con._ Affair -- Extraordinary Mark of
+  Confidence in the White Man -- A Conflagration -- An Espy Shower --
+  Region of Gypsum -- Our Latitude -- A Lilliputian Forest -- A Party
+  of Comanches -- A Visit to a 'Dog Town' -- Indian Archery -- Arrival
+  of Comanche Warriors -- A 'Big Talk,' and its Results -- Speech of
+  the _Capitan Mayor_ -- Project of bringing Comanche Chiefs to
+  Washington -- Return of Lieut. Bowman, and our March resumed --
+  Melancholy Reflections -- Another Indian Visit -- Mexican Captives
+  -- Voluntary Captivity -- A sprightly Mexican Lad -- Purchase of a
+  Captive -- Comanche Trade and Etiquette -- Indians least dangerous
+  to such as trade with them.
+
+
+As it now appeared that we had been forced at least two points north
+of the course we had originally intended to steer, by the northern
+bearing of the Canadian, we made an effort to cross a ridge of timber
+to the south, which, after considerable labor, proved successful. Here
+we found a [Pg115] multitude of gravelly, bright-flowing streams,
+with rich bottoms, lined all along with stately white oak,
+black-walnut, mulberry, and other similar growths, that yielded us
+excellent materials for wagon repairs, of which the route from
+Missouri, after passing Council Grove, is absolutely in want.
+
+{28} Although we found the buffalo extremely scarce westward of Spring
+Valley, yet there was no lack of game; for every nook and glade
+swarmed with deer and wild turkeys, partridges and grouse. We had also
+occasion to become acquainted with another species of prairie-tenant
+whose visits generally produced impressions that were anything but
+agreeable. I allude to a small black insect generally known to prairie
+travellers as the 'buffalo-gnat.' It not only attacks the face and
+hands, but even contrives to insinuate itself under the clothing, upon
+the breast and arms, and other covered parts. Here it fastens itself
+and luxuriates, until completely satisfied. Its bite is so poisonous
+as to give the face, neck, and hands, or any other part of the person
+upon which its affectionate caresses have been bestowed, the
+appearance of a pustulated varioloid. The buffalo-gnat is in fact a
+much more annoying insect than the mosquito, and also much more
+frequently met with on the prairie streams.
+
+We now continued our line of march between the Canadian and the
+timbered ridge with very little difficulty. Having stopped to 'noon'
+in a bordering valley, we were quite surprised by the appearance of an
+Indian with no other protection than his squaw. From what we could
+gather by their signs, they had been the victims of a 'love scrape.'
+The fellow, whom I found to be a Kiawa, had, according to his own
+account, stolen the wife of another, and then fled to the thickets,
+{29} where he purposed to lead a lonely life, in hopes of escaping the
+vengeance of his incensed predecessor. From this, it would appear that
+affairs of gallantry are not [Pg116] evils exclusively confined to
+civilization. Plausible, however, as the Indian's story seemed to be,
+we had strong suspicions that others of his band were not far off; and
+that he, with his 'better half,' had only been skulking about in hopes
+of exercising their 'acquisitiveness' at our expense; when, on finding
+themselves discovered, they deemed it the best policy fearlessly to
+approach us. This singular visit afforded a specimen of that
+confidence with which civilization inspires even the most untutored
+savages. They remained with us, in the utmost nonchalance, till the
+following morning.
+
+Shortly after the arrival of the visitors, we were terribly alarmed at
+a sudden prairie conflagration. The old grass of the valley in which
+we were encamped had not been burned off, and one of our cooks having
+unwittingly kindled a fire in the midst of it, it spread at once with
+wonderful rapidity; and a brisk wind springing up at the time, the
+flames were carried over the valley, in spite of every effort we could
+make to check them. Fortunately for us, the fire had broken out to the
+leeward of our wagons, and therefore occasioned us no damage; but the
+accident itself was a forcible illustration of the danger that might
+be incurred by pitching a camp in the midst of dry grass, and the
+advantages {30} that might be taken by hostile savages in such a
+locality.
+
+After the fire had raged with great violence for a few hours, a cloud
+suddenly obscured the horizon, which was almost immediately followed
+by a refreshing shower of rain: a phenomenon often witnessed upon the
+Prairies after an extensive conflagration; and affording a practical
+exemplification of Professor Espy's celebrated theory of artificial
+showers.[83] [Pg117]
+
+We now continued our journey without further trouble, except
+that of being still forced out of our proper latitude by the northern
+bearing of the Canadian. On the 30th of May, however, we succeeded in
+'doubling' the spur of the Great North Bend.[84] Upon ascending the
+dividing ridge again, which at this point was entirely destitute of
+timber, a 'prairie expanse' once more greeted our view. This and the
+following day, our route lay through a region that abounded in gypsum,
+from the finest quality down to ordinary plaster. On the night of the
+31st we encamped on a tributary of the North Fork, which we called
+Gypsum creek, in consequence of its being surrounded with vast
+quantities of that substance.[85]
+
+Being compelled to keep a reckoning of our latitude, by which our
+travel was partly governed, and the sun being now too high at noon for
+the use of the artificial horizon, we had to be guided entirely by
+observations of the meridian altitude of the moon, planets, or {31}
+fixed stars. At Gypsum creek our latitude was 36� 10�--being the
+utmost northing we had made. As we were now about thirty miles north
+of the parallel of Santa F�, we had to steer, henceforth, a few
+degrees south of west in order to bring up on our direct course.
+
+The following night we encamped in a region covered with sandy
+hillocks, where there was not a drop of water to be found: in fact, an
+immense sand-plain was now opening before us, somewhat variegated in
+appearance, [Pg118] being entirely barren of vegetation in some
+places, while others were completely covered with an extraordinarily
+diminutive growth which has been called _shin-oak_, and a curious
+plum-bush of equally dwarfish stature. These singular-looking plants
+(undistinguishable at a distance from the grass of the prairies) were
+heavily laden with acorns and plums, which, when ripe, are of
+considerable size although the trunks of either were seldom thicker
+than oat-straws, and frequently not a foot high. We also met with the
+same in many other places on the Prairies.
+
+Still the most indispensable requisite, water, was nowhere to be
+found, and symptoms of alarm were beginning to spread far and wide
+among us. When we had last seen the Canadian and the North Fork, they
+appeared to separate in their course almost at right angles, therefore
+it was impossible to tell at what distance we were from either. At
+last {32} my brother and myself, who had been scouring the plains
+during the morning without success, finally perceived a deep hollow
+leading in the direction of the Canadian, where we found a fine pool
+of water, and our wagons 'made port' again before mid-day; thus
+quieting all alarm.
+
+Although we had encountered but very few buffalo since we left Spring
+Valley, they now began to make their appearance again, though not in
+very large droves; together with the deer and the fleet antelope,
+which latter struck me as being much more tame in this wild section of
+the Prairies than I had seen it elsewhere. The graceful and majestic
+mustang would also now and then sweep across the naked country, or
+come curvetting and capering in the vicinity of our little caravan,
+just as the humor prompted him. But what attracted our attention most
+were the little dog settlements, or, as they are more technically
+called, 'dog towns,' so often alluded to by prairie travellers. As we
+were passing through their 'streets,' multitudes of the diminutive
+inhabitants [Pg119] were to be seen among the numerous little
+hillocks which marked their dwellings, where they frisked about, or
+sat perched at their doors, yelping defiance, to our great
+amusement--heedless of the danger that often awaited them from the
+rifles of our party; for they had perhaps never seen such deadly
+weapons before.
+
+On the 5th of June, we found ourselves once more travelling on a firm
+rolling prairie, {33} about the region, as we supposed,[86] of the
+boundary between the United States and Mexico; when Lieut. Bowman, in
+pursuance of his instructions, began to talk seriously of returning.
+While the wagons were stopped at noon, a small party of us, including
+a few dragoons, advanced some miles ahead to take a survey of the
+route. We had just ascended the highest point of a ridge to get a
+prospect of the country beyond, when we descried a herd of buffalo in
+motion and two or three horsemen in hot pursuit. "Mexican Ciboleros!"
+we all exclaimed at once; for we supposed we might now be within the
+range of the buffalo hunters of New Mexico. Clapping spurs to our
+horses, we set off towards them at full speed. As we might have
+expected, our precipitate approach frightened them away and we soon
+lost sight of them altogether. On reaching the spot where they had
+last been seen, we found a horse and two mules saddled, all tied to
+the carcass of a slain buffalo which was partly skinned. We made
+diligent search in some copses of small growth, and among the adjacent
+ravines, but could discover no further traces of the fugitives. The
+Indian rigging of the animals, however, satisfied us that they were
+not Mexicans.
+
+We were just about giving up the pursuit, when a solitary Indian
+horseman was espied upon a ridge about a mile from [Pg120] us. My
+{34} brother and myself set out towards him, but on seeing us
+approach, he began to manifest some fear, and therefore my brother
+advanced alone. As soon as he was near enough he cried out "_Amigo!_"
+to which the Indian replied "_Comantz!_" and giving himself a thump
+upon the breast, he made a graceful circuit, and came up at full
+speed, presenting his hand in token of friendship. Nothing, however,
+could induce him to return to his animals with us, where the rest of
+our party had remained. He evidently feared treachery and foul play.
+Therefore we retraced our steps to the wagons, leaving the Indian's
+property just as we had found it, which, we subsequently discovered,
+was taken away after our departure.
+
+In the afternoon of the same day, five more Indians (including a
+squaw), made their appearance, and having been induced by friendly
+tokens to approach us, they spent the night at our encampment. The
+next morning, we expressed a desire, by signs, to be conducted to the
+nearest point on our route where good pasturage and water might be
+found. A sprightly young chief, armed only with his bow and arrows, at
+once undertook the task, while his comrades still travelled along in
+our company. We had not progressed far before we found ourselves in
+the very midst of another large 'dog-town.'
+
+The task of describing the social and domestic habits of these
+eccentric little brutes, has been so graphically and amusingly
+executed {35} by the racy and popular pen of G. Wilkins Kendall, that
+any attempt by me would be idle; and I feel that the most agreeable
+service I can do my readers is to borrow a paragraph from his alluring
+"Narrative," describing a scene presented by one of these prairie
+commonwealths.[87] [Pg121]
+
+"In their habits they are clannish, social, and extremely
+convivial, never living alone like other animals, but, on the
+contrary, always found in villages or large settlements. They are a
+wild, frolicsome, madcap set of fellows when undisturbed, uneasy and
+ever on the move, and appear to take especial delight in chattering
+away the time, and visiting from hole to hole to gossip and talk over
+each other's affairs--at least so their actions would indicate.... On
+several occasions I crept close to their villages, without being
+observed, to watch their movements. Directly in the centre of one of
+them I particularly noticed a very large dog, sitting in front of the
+door or entrance to his burrow, and by his own actions and those of
+his neighbors it really seemed as though he was the president, mayor,
+or chief--at all events, he was the 'big dog' of the place. For at
+least an hour I secretly watched the operations in this community.
+During that time the large dog I have mentioned received at least a
+dozen visits from his fellow-dogs, which would stop and chat with him
+a few moments, and then run off to their domiciles. All this while he
+never left his post for a moment, and I thought I could discover a
+gravity in his deportment {36} not discernible in those by which he
+was surrounded. Far is it from me to say that the visits he received
+were upon business, or had anything to do with the local government of
+the village; but it certainly appeared so. If any animal has a system
+of laws regulating the body politic, it is certainly the prairie dog."
+
+As we sat on our horses, looking at these 'village transactions,' our
+Comanche guide drew an arrow for the purpose of cutting short the
+career of a little citizen that sat yelping most doggedly in the mouth
+of his hole, forty or fifty paces distant. The animal was almost
+entirely concealed behind the hillock which encompassed the entrance
+of his apartment, so that the dart could not reach it in a [Pg122]
+direct line; but the Indian had resort to a man[oe]uvre which caused the
+arrow to descend with a curve, and in an instant it quivered in the
+body of the poor little quadruped. The slayer only smiled at his feat,
+while we were perfectly astounded. There is nothing strange in the
+rifleman's being able to hit his mark with his fine-sighted barrel;
+but the accuracy with which these savages learn to shoot their
+feathered missiles, with such random aim, is almost incomprehensible.
+I had at the same time drawn one of Colt's repeating pistols, with a
+view of paying a similar compliment to another dog; when, finding that
+it excited the curiosity of the chief, I fired a few shots in quick
+succession, as an explanation of its virtues. He seemed to {37}
+comprehend the secret instantly, and, drawing his bow once more, he
+discharged a number of arrows with the same rapidity, as a palpable
+intimation that he could shoot as fast with his instrument as we could
+with our patent fire-arms. This was not merely a vain show: there was
+more of reality than of romance in his demonstration.
+
+Shortly after this we reached a fresh brook, a tributary of the North
+Fork, which wound its silent course in the midst of a picturesque
+valley, surrounded by romantic hills and craggy knobs. Here we pitched
+our camp: when three of our visitors left us for the purpose of going
+to bring all the 'capitanes' of their tribe, who were said to be
+encamped at no great distance from us.
+
+Our encampment, which we designated as 'Camp Comanche,' was only five
+or six miles from the North Fork, while, to the southward, the main
+Canadian was but a little more distant.[88]
+
+[Illustration: Camp Comanche]
+
+After waiting anxiously for the arrival of the Comanche chiefs, until
+our patience was well nigh exhausted, I ascended [Pg125] a high
+knoll just behind our camp, in company with the younger of the two
+chiefs who had remained with us, to see if anything could be
+discovered. By and by, the Comanche pointed anxiously towards the
+northwest, where he espied a party of his people, though at such a
+great distance, that it was some time before I could discern them.
+With what acuteness of vision are these savages endowed! Accustomed
+{38} to the open plains, and like the eagle to look out for their prey
+at immense distances, their optical perception is scarcely excelled by
+that of the king of birds.
+
+The party, having approached still nearer, assembled upon an eminence
+as if for the purpose of reconnoitring; but our chief upon the knoll
+hoisting his blanket, which seemed to say, 'come ahead,' they advanced
+slowly and deliberately--very unlike the customary mode of approach
+among all the prairie tribes.
+
+The party consisted of about sixty warriors, at the head of whom rode
+an Indian of small stature and agreeable countenance, verging on the
+age of fifty. He wore the usual Comanche dress, but instead of
+moccasins, he had on a pair of long white cotton hose, while upon his
+bare head waved a tall red plume,--a mark of distinction which
+proclaimed him at once the _capitan mayor_, or principal chief. We
+addressed them in Spanish, inquiring if they had brought an
+interpreter, when a lank-jawed, grum-looking savage announced his
+readiness to officiate in that capacity. "_Sabes hablar en Espa�ol,
+amigo?_" (can you talk Spanish, friend?) I inquired. "_Si_" (yes), he
+gruffly replied. "Where are your people?" "Encamped just above on
+yonder creek." "How many of you are there?" "Oh, a great many--nearly
+all the Comanche nation; for we are _en junta_ to go and fight the
+Pawnees." "Well, can you tell us how far it is to Santa F�?"--But the
+surly savage cut short my inquiries by observing--{39} "_Ah�
+plat�car�mos despues_"--"We will talk about that hereafter." [Pg126]
+
+We then showed them a spot a few rods from us, where they might encamp
+so as not to intermix their animals with ours; after which all the
+_capitanes_ were invited to our camp to hold a 'big talk.' In a very
+short time we had ten chiefs seated in a circle within our tent, when
+the pipe, the Indian token of peace, was produced: but, doubting
+perhaps the sincerity of our professions, they at first refused to
+smoke. The interpreter, however, remarked as an excuse for their
+conduct, that it was not their custom to smoke until they had received
+some presents: but a few Mexican _cigarritos_ being produced, most of
+them took a whiff, as if under the impression that to smoke cigars was
+no pledge of friendship.
+
+Lieut. Bowman now desired us to broach the subject of peace and amity
+betwixt the Comanches and our people, and to invite them to visit the
+'Capitan Grande' at Washington, and enter into a perpetual treaty to
+that effect; but they would not then converse on the subject. In fact,
+the interpreter inquired, "Are we not at war?--how can we go to see
+the Capitan Grande?" We knew they held themselves at war with Mexico
+and Texas, and probably had mistaken us for Texans, which had no doubt
+caused the interpreter to speak so emphatically of their immense
+numbers. Upon this we explained to them that the United States was a
+distinct government {40} and at peace with the Comanches. As an
+earnest of our friendly disposition, we then produced some scarlet
+cloth, with a small quantity of vermilion, tobacco, beads, etc., which
+being distributed among them, they very soon settled down into a state
+of placidness and contentment. Indeed, it will be found, that, with
+wild Indians, presents are always the corner-stone of friendship. "We
+are rejoiced," at last said the elder chief with a ceremonious air,
+"our hearts are glad that you have arrived among us: it makes our eyes
+laugh to see Americans walk in our land. We will notify our old and
+young men--our boys [Pg127] and our maidens--our women and
+children,--that they may come to trade with you. We hope you will
+speak well of us to your people, that more of them may hunt the way to
+our country, for we like to trade with the white man." This was
+delivered in Comanche, but translated into Spanish by the interpreter,
+who, although a full Indian, had lived several years among the
+Mexicans and spoke that language tolerably well. Our 'big talk' lasted
+several hours, after which the Indians retired to sleep. The next
+morning, after renewing their protestations of friendship, they took
+their departure, the principal chief saying, "Tell the Capitan Grande
+that when he pleases to call us we are all ready to go to see him."
+
+The project of bringing some of the chiefs of these wild prairie
+tribes to Washington city, has been entertained, but never yet carried
+{41} into effect. The few who have penetrated as far as Fort Gibson,
+or perhaps to a frontier village, have probably left with more
+unfavorable impressions than they had before. Believing the former to
+be our great Capital, and the most insignificant among the latter, our
+largest cities, they have naturally come to the conclusion that they
+surpass us in numbers and power, if not in wealth and grandeur. I have
+no doubt that the chiefs of the Comanches and other prairie tribes, if
+rightly managed, might be induced to visit our veritable 'Capitan
+Grande,' and our large cities, which would doubtless have a far better
+effect than all the treaties of peace that could be concluded with
+them for an age to come. They would then 'see with their own eyes and
+hear with their own ears' the magnificence and power of the whites,
+which would inspire them at once with respect and fear.
+
+This was on the 7th of June. About noon, Lieut. Bowman and his command
+finally took leave of us, and at the same time we resumed our forward
+march. This separation was [Pg128] truly painful: not so much on
+account of the loss we were about to experience, in regard to the
+protection afforded us by the troops (which, to say the truth, was
+more needed now than it had ever been before), as for the necessity of
+parting with a friend, who had endeared himself to us all by his
+affable deportment, his social manners and accommodating disposition.
+Ah! little did we think then that we should never see that gallant
+officer more! {42} So young, so robust, and so healthy, little did we
+suspect that the sound of that voice which shouted so vigorously in
+responding to our parting salute in the desert, would never greet our
+ears again! But such was Fate's decree! Although he arrived safely at
+Fort Gibson, in a few short weeks he fell a victim to disease.
+
+There were perhaps a few timid hearts that longed to return with the
+dragoons, and ever and anon a wistful glance would be cast back at the
+receding figures in the distance. The idea of a handful of thirty-four
+men having to travel without guide or protection through a dreary
+wilderness, peopled by thousands of savages who were just as likely to
+be hostile as friendly, was certainly very little calculated to
+produce agreeable impressions. Much to the credit of our men, however,
+the escort was no sooner out of sight than the timorous regained
+confidence, and all seemed bound together by stronger ties than
+before. All we feared were ambuscades or surprise; to guard against
+which, it was only necessary to redouble our vigilance.
+
+On the following day, while we were enjoying our noon's rest upon a
+ravine of the Canadian, several parties of Indians, amounting
+altogether to about three hundred souls, including women and children,
+made their appearance. They belonged to the same band of Comanches
+with whom we had had so agreeable an intercourse, and had brought
+several mules in the expectation of driving a trade with us. The
+squaws and papooses {43} were so anxious to gratify their [Pg129]
+curiosity, and so very soon began to give such striking manifestations
+of their pilfering propensities, that, at the request of the chiefs,
+we carried some goods at a little distance, where a trade was opened,
+in hopes of attracting their attention. One woman, I observed, still
+lingered among the wagons, who, from certain peculiarities of
+features, struck me very forcibly as not being an Indian. In
+accordance with this impression I addressed her in Spanish, and was
+soon confirmed in all my suspicions. She was from the neighborhood of
+Matamoros, and had been married to a Comanche since her captivity. She
+did not entertain the least desire of returning to her own people.
+
+Similar instances of voluntary captivity have frequently occurred. Dr.
+Sibley, in a communication to the War Department, in 1805, relates an
+affecting case, which shows how a sensitive female will often prefer
+remaining with her masters, rather than encounter the horrible ordeal
+of ill-natured remarks to which she would inevitably be exposed on
+being restored to civilized life.[89] The Comanches, some twenty years
+previous, having kidnapped the daughter of the Governor-General of
+Chihuahua, the latter transmitted $1000 to a trader to procure her
+ransom. This was soon effected, but to the astonishment of all
+concerned, the unfortunate girl refused to leave the Indians. She sent
+word to her father, that they had disfigured her by tattooing; that
+she was married and perhaps _enceinte_; {44} and that she would be
+more unhappy by returning to her father under these circumstances than
+by remaining where she was.
+
+My attention was next attracted by a sprightly lad, ten or twelve
+years old, whose nationality could scarcely be detected under his
+Indian guise. But, though quite 'Indianized,' he was exceedingly
+polite. I inquired of him in Spanish, [Pg130] "Are you not a
+Mexican?" "Yes, sir,--I once was." "What is your name?" "Bernardino
+Saenz, sir, at your service." "When and where were you taken?" "About
+four years ago, at the Hacienda de las Animas, near Parral." "Shan't
+we buy you and take you to your people?--we are going thither." At
+this he hesitated a little, and then answered in an affecting tone,
+"_No, se�or; ya soy demasiado bruto para vivir entre los Cristianos_"
+(O, no, sir; I am now too much of a brute to live among Christians);
+adding that his owner was not there, and that he knew the Indian in
+whose charge he came would not sell him.
+
+The Hacienda de las Animas is in the department of Chihuahua, some
+fifteen miles from the city of Parral, a much larger place than Santa
+F�. Notwithstanding this, about three hundred Comanches made a bold
+inroad into the very heart of the settlements--laid waste the
+unfortunate hacienda, killing and capturing a considerable number--and
+remained several days in the neighborhood, committing all sorts of
+outrages. This occurred in 1835. I happened to be in Chihuahua {45} at
+the time, and very well remember the bustle and consternation that
+prevailed. A thousand volunteers were raised, commanded by the
+governor himself, who 'hotly pursued' the enemy during their tardy
+retreat; but returned with the usual report--"_No les pudimos
+alcanzar_,"--we could not overtake them.
+
+Out of half a dozen Mexican captives that happened to be with our new
+visitors, we only met with one who manifested the slightest
+inclination to abandon Indian life. This was a stupid boy about
+fifteen years of age, who had probably been roughly treated on account
+of his laziness. We very soon struck a bargain with his owner, paying
+about the price of a mule for the little outcast, whom I sent to his
+family as soon as we reached Chihuahua. Notwithstanding the [Pg131]
+inherent stupidity of my _prot�g�_, I found him abundantly
+grateful--much to his credit be it spoken--for the little service I
+had been able to render him.
+
+We succeeded in purchasing several mules which cost us between ten and
+twenty dollars worth of goods apiece. In Comanche trade the main
+trouble consists in fixing the price of the first animal. This being
+settled by the chiefs, it often happens that mule after mule is led up
+and the price received without further cavil. Each owner usually wants
+a general assortment; therefore the price must consist of several
+items, as a blanket, a looking-glass, an awl, a flint, a little
+tobacco, vermillion, beads, etc.
+
+Our trade with the new batch of Comanches {46} being over, they now
+began to depart as they had come, in small parties, without bidding us
+adieu, or even informing us of their intention, it being the usual
+mode of taking leave among Indians, to depart _sans c�r�monie_, and as
+silently as possible.
+
+The Santa F� caravans have generally avoided every manner of trade
+with the wild Indians, for fear of being treacherously dealt with
+during the familiar intercourse which necessarily ensues. This I am
+convinced is an erroneous impression; for I have always found, that
+savages are much less hostile to those with whom they trade, than to
+any other people. They are emphatically fond of traffic, and, being
+anxious to encourage the whites to come among them, instead of
+committing depredations upon those with whom they trade, they are
+generally ready to defend them against every enemy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX {III}
+
+Ponds and Buffalo Wallows -- Valley of the Canadian, and romantic
+  Freaks of Nature -- Melancholy Adventure of a Party of Traders in
+  1832 -- Fears of being lost -- Arrival of a Party of _Comancheros_,
+  and their wonderful Stories -- Their Peculiarities and Traffic --
+  Bitter Water, and the _Salitre_ of New Mexico -- Avant-couriers for
+  Santa F� -- Patent Fire-arms and their Virtues -- Ranchero Ideas of
+  Distance, and their Mode of giving Directions -- The Angostura, and
+  erroneous Notions of the Texans -- A new Route revealed -- Solitary
+  Travel -- Supply of Provisions sent back -- Arrival at Santa F� --
+  Gov. Armijo, etc. -- A 'Flare-up' with His Excellency.
+
+
+The Comanches having all disappeared, we resumed our march, and soon
+emerged into an open plain or _mesa_ which was one of the most
+monotonous I had ever seen, there being not a break, not a hill nor
+valley, nor even a shrub to obstruct the view. The only thing which
+served to turn us from a direct course pursued by the compass, was the
+innumerable ponds which bespeckled the plain, and which kept us at
+least well supplied with water. Many of these ponds seem to have grown
+out of 'buffalo wallows,'--a term used on the Prairies to designate a
+sink made by the buffalo's pawing the earth for the purpose of
+obtaining a smooth dusty surface to roll upon.
+
+{48} After three or four days of weary travel over this level plain,
+the picturesque valley of the Canadian burst once more upon our view,
+presenting one of the most magnificent sights I had ever beheld. Here
+rose a perpendicular cliff, in all the majesty and sublimity of its
+desolation;--there another sprang forward as in the very act of losing
+its balance and about to precipitate itself upon the vale below;--a
+little further on, a pillar with crevices and cornices so curiously
+formed as easily to be mistaken for the work of art; while a thousand
+other objects grotesquely and fantastically arranged, and all shaded
+in the sky-bound perspective by the blue ridge-like brow of the _mesa_
+far beyond the Canadian, [Pg133] constituted a kind of chaotic space
+where nature seemed to have indulged in her wildest caprices. Such was
+the confusion of ground-swells and eccentric cavities, that it was
+altogether impossible to determine whereabouts the channel of the
+Canadian wound its way among them.
+
+It would seem that these mesas might once have extended up to the
+margin of the stream, leaving a _ca�on_ or chasm through which the
+river flowed, as is still the case in some other places. But the basis
+of the plain not having been sufficiently firm to resist the action of
+the waters, these have washed and cut the bordering _cejas_ or brows
+into all the shapes they now present. The buffalo and other animals
+have no doubt assisted in these transmutations. Their deep-worn paths
+over the {49} brows of the plains, form channels for the descending
+rains; which are soon washed into the size of ravines--and even
+considerable creeks. The beds of these continue to be worn down until
+veins of lasting water are opened, and constant-flowing streams thus
+established. Numerous were the embryo rivulets which might be observed
+forming in this way along the borders of those streams. The frequent
+isolated benches and mounds, whose tabular summits are on a level with
+the adjacent plains, and appear entirely of a similar formation,
+indicate that the intermediate earth has been washed away, or removed
+by some other process of nature--all seeming to give plausibility to
+our theory.
+
+It was somewhere in this vicinity that a small party of Americans
+experienced a terrible calamity in the winter of 1832-3, on their way
+home; and as the incident had the tendency to call into play the most
+prominent features of the Indian character, I will digress so far here
+as to relate the facts.
+
+The party consisted of twelve men, chiefly citizens of Missouri. Their
+baggage and about ten thousand dollars in specie were packed upon
+mules. They took the route of [Pg134] the Canadian river, fearing to
+venture on the northern prairies at that season of the year. Having
+left Santa F� in December, they had proceeded without accident thus
+far, when a large body of Comanches and Kiawas were seen advancing
+towards them. Being well acquainted with the treacherous and
+pusillanimous {50} disposition of those races, the traders prepared at
+once for defence; but the savages having made a halt at some distance,
+began to approach one by one, or in small parties, making a great show
+of friendship all the while, until most of them had collected on the
+spot. Finding themselves surrounded in every direction, the travellers
+now began to move on, in hopes of getting rid of the intruders: but
+the latter were equally ready for the start; and, mounting their
+horses, kept jogging on in the same direction. The first act of
+hostility perpetrated by the Indians proved fatal to one of the
+American traders named Pratt, who was shot dead while attempting to
+secure two mules which had become separated from the rest. Upon this,
+the companions of the slain man immediately dismounted and commenced a
+fire upon the Indians, which was warmly returned, whereby another man
+of the name of Mitchell was killed.
+
+By this time the traders had taken off their packs and piled them
+around for protection; and now falling to work with their hands, they
+very soon scratched out a trench deep enough to protect them from the
+shot of the enemy. The latter made several desperate charges, but they
+seemed too careful of their own personal safety, notwithstanding the
+enormous superiority of their numbers, to venture too near the rifles
+of the Americans. In a few hours all the animals of the traders were
+either killed or wounded, but no personal damage was done to the
+remaining ten men, {51} with the exception of a wound in the thigh
+received by one, which was not at the time considered dangerous.
+[Pg135]
+
+During the siege, the Americans were in great danger of perishing from
+thirst, as the Indians had complete command of all the water within
+reach. Starvation was not so much to be dreaded; because, in case of
+necessity, they could live on the flesh of their slain animals, some
+of which lay stretched close around them. After being pent up for
+thirty-six hours in this horrible hole, during which time they had
+seldom ventured to raise their heads above the surface without being
+shot at, they resolved to make a bold _sortie_ in the night, as any
+death was preferable to the fate which awaited them there. As there
+was not an animal left that was at all in a condition to travel, the
+proprietors of the money gave permission to all to take and
+appropriate to themselves whatever amount each man could safely
+undertake to carry. In this way a few hundred dollars were started
+with, of which, however, but little ever reached the United States.
+The remainder was buried deep in the sand, in hopes that it might
+escape the cupidity of the savages; but to very little purpose, for
+they were afterwards seen by some Mexican traders making a great
+display of specie, which was without doubt taken from this unfortunate
+_cache_.
+
+With every prospect of being discovered, overtaken, and butchered, but
+resolved to sell their lives as dearly as possible, they at last {52}
+emerged from their hiding-place, and moved on silently and slowly
+until they found themselves beyond the purlieus of the Indian camps.
+Often did they look back in the direction where from three to five
+hundred savages were supposed to watch their movements, but, much to
+their astonishment, no one appeared to be in pursuit. The Indians,
+believing no doubt that the property of the traders would come into
+their hands, and having no amateur predilection for taking scalps at
+the risk of losing their own, appeared willing enough to let the
+spoliated adventurers depart without further molestation. [Pg136]
+
+The destitute travellers having run themselves short of provisions,
+and being no longer able to kill game for want of materials to load
+their rifles with, they were very soon reduced to the necessity of
+sustaining life upon roots, and the tender bark of trees. After
+travelling for several days in this desperate condition, with
+lacerated feet, and utter prostration of mind and body, they began to
+disagree among themselves about the route to be pursued, and
+eventually separated into two distinct parties. Five of these unhappy
+men steered a westward course, and after a succession of sufferings
+and privations which almost surpassed belief, they reached the
+settlements of the Creek Indians, near the Arkansas river, where they
+were treated with great kindness and hospitality. The other five
+wandered about in the greatest state of distress and bewilderment, and
+only two {53} finally succeeded in getting out of the mazes of the
+wilderness. Among those who were abandoned to their fate, and left to
+perish thus miserably, was a Mr. Schenck, the same individual who had
+been shot in the thigh; a gentleman of talent and excellent family
+connections, who was a brother, as I am informed, of the Hon. Mr.
+Schenck, at present a member of Congress from Ohio.[90]
+
+But let us resume our journey. We had for some days, while travelling
+along the course of the Canadian, been in anxious expectation of
+reaching a point from whence there was a cart-road to Santa F�, made
+by the Ciboleros; but being constantly baffled and disappointed in
+this hope, serious apprehensions began to be entertained by some of
+[Pg137] the party that we might after all be utterly lost. In this
+emergency, one of our Mexicans who pretended to be a great deal wiser
+than the rest, insisted that we were pursuing a wrong direction, and
+that every day's march only took us further from Santa F�. There
+appeared to be so much plausibility in his assertion, as he professed
+a perfect knowledge of all the country around, that many of our men
+were almost ready to mutiny,--to take the command from the hands of my
+brother and myself and lead us southward in search of the Colorado,
+into the fearful _Llano Estacado_, where we would probably have
+perished.[91] But our observations of the latitude, which we took very
+frequently, as well as the course we were pursuing, completely
+contradicted the {54} Mexican wiseacre. A few days afterwards we were
+overtaken by a party of _Comancheros_, or Mexican Comanche traders,
+when we had the satisfaction of learning that we were in the right
+track.
+
+These men had been trading with the band of Comanches we had lately
+met, and learning from them that we had passed on, they had hastened
+to overtake us, so as to obtain our protection against the savages,
+who, after selling their animals to the Mexicans, very frequently take
+forcible possession of them again, before the purchasers have been
+able to reach their homes. These parties of _Comancheros_ are usually
+composed of the indigent and rude classes of the frontier villages,
+who collect together, several times a year, and launch upon the plains
+with a few trinkets and trumperies of all kinds, and perhaps a bag of
+bread and may-be another of _pinole_, which they barter away to the
+savages for horses and mules. The entire stock of an individual trader
+very seldom exceeds the value of twenty dollars, with which he is
+content to wander about for several months, [Pg138] and glad to
+return home with a mule or two, as the proceeds of his traffic.
+
+These Mexican traders had much to tell us about the Comanches: saying,
+that they were four or five thousand in number, with perhaps a
+thousand warriors, and that the fiery young men had once determined to
+follow and attack us; but that the chiefs and sages had deterred them,
+by stating that our cannons {55} could kill to the distance of many
+miles, and shoot through hills and rocks and destroy everything that
+happened to be within their range. The main object of our visitors,
+however, seemed to be to raise themselves into importance by
+exaggerating the perils we had escaped from. That they had considered
+themselves in great jeopardy, there could be no doubt whatever, for,
+in their anxiety to overtake us, they came very near killing their
+animals.
+
+It was a war-party of this band of Comanches that paid the 'flying
+visit' to Bent's Fort on the Arkansas river, to which Mr. Farnham
+alludes in his trip to Oregon.[92] A band of the same Indians also
+fell in with the caravan from Missouri, with whom they were for a
+while upon the verge of hostilities.
+
+The next day we passed the afternoon upon a ravine where we found
+abundance of water, but to our great surprise our animals refused to
+drink. Upon tasting the water, we found it exceedingly nauseous and
+bitter; far more [Pg139] repugnant to some palates than a solution of
+Epsom salts. It is true that the water had been a little impregnated
+with the same loathsome substance for several days; but we had never
+found it so bad before. The salinous compound which imparts this
+savor, is found in great abundance in the vicinity of the table-plain
+streams of New Mexico, and is known to the natives by the name of
+_salitre_.[93] We {56} had the good fortune to find in the valley, a
+few sinks filled by recent rains, so that actually we experienced no
+great inconvenience from the want of fresh water. As far as our own
+personal necessities were concerned, we were abundantly supplied; it
+being an unfailing rule with us to carry in each wagon a five-gallon
+keg always filled with water, in order to guard against those
+frightful contingencies which so frequently occur on the Prairies. In
+truth upon leaving one watering place, we never knew where we would
+find the next.
+
+On the 20th of June we pitched our camp upon the north bank of the
+Canadian or Colorado, in latitude 35� 24� according to a meridian
+altitude of Saturn. On the following day, I left the caravan,
+accompanied by three Comancheros, and proceeded at a more rapid pace
+towards Santa F�. This was rather a hazardous journey, inasmuch as we
+were still within the range of the Pawnee and Comanche war-parties,
+and my companions were men in whom I could not repose the slightest
+confidence, except for piloting; being fully convinced that in case of
+meeting with an enemy, they would either forsake or deliver me up,
+just as it might seem most conducive to their own interest and safety.
+All I had to depend upon were my fire-arms, which could hardly fail to
+produce an impression in my favor; for, thanks to Mr. Colt's
+invention, I carried thirty-six charges ready-loaded, which I could
+easily fire at the rate of {57} a dozen [Pg140] per minute. I do not
+believe that any band of those timorous savages of the western
+prairies would venture to approach even a single man, under such
+circumstances. If, according to an old story of the frontier, an
+Indian supposed that a white man fired both with his tomahawk and
+scalping knife, to account for the execution done by a brace of
+pistols, thirty-six shots discharged in quick succession would
+certainly overawe them as being the effect of some great medicine.
+
+As we jogged merrily along, I often endeavored to while away the time
+by catechising my three companions in relation to the topography of
+the wild region we were traversing; but I soon found, that, like the
+Indians, these ignorant rancheros have no ideas of distances, except
+as compared with time or with some other distance. They will tell you
+that you may arrive at a given place by the time the sun reaches a
+certain point: otherwise, whether it be but half a mile or half a
+day's ride to the place inquired for, they are as apt to apply _est�
+cerquita_ (it is close by), or _est� lejos_ (it is far off), to the
+one as to the other, just as the impression happens to strike them,
+when compared with some other point more or less distant. This often
+proves a source of great annoyance to foreign travellers, as I had an
+opportunity of experiencing before my arrival. In giving directions,
+these people--in fact, the lower classes of Mexicans generally--are
+also in the habit of using very odd gesticulations, altogether {58}
+peculiar to themselves. Instead of pointing with their hands and
+fingers, they generally employ the mouth, which is done by thrusting
+out the lips in the direction of the spot, or object, which the
+inquirer wishes to find out--accompanied by _aqu�_ or _all� est�_.
+This habit of substituting labial gestures for the usual mode of
+indicating, has grown from the use of the _sarape_, which keeps their
+hands and arms perpetually confined. [Pg141]
+
+From the place where we left the wagons, till we reached the
+_Angostura_, or narrows,[94] (a distance of 60 miles), we had followed
+a plain cart-road, which seemed everywhere passable for wagons. Here,
+however, we found the point of a table plain projecting abruptly
+against the river, so as to render it impossible for wagons to pass
+without great risk. The huge masses of solid rock, which occur in this
+place, and the rugged cliffs or brows of the table lands which rise
+above them, appear to have been mistaken by a detachment of the Texan
+Santa F� expedition, for spurs of the Rocky Mountains; an error which
+was rational enough, as they not unfrequently tower to the height of
+two thousand feet above the valley, and are often as rocky and rough
+as the rudest heaps of trap-rock can make them. By ascending the main
+summit of these craggy promontories, however, the eastern ridge of the
+veritable Rocky Mountains may be seen, still very far off in the
+western horizon, with a widespread and apparently level table plain,
+intervening and extending in every direction, {59} as far as the eye
+can reach; for even the deep-cut chasms of the intersecting rivers are
+rarely visible except one be upon their very brink.
+
+Upon expressing my fears that our wagons would not be able to pass the
+_Angostura_ in safety, my comrades informed me that there was an
+excellent route, of which no previous mention had been made, passing
+near the _Cerro de Tucumcari_, a round mound plainly visible to the
+southward.[95] After several vain efforts to induce some of the party
+to carry a [Pg142] note back to my brother, and to pilot the caravan
+through the Tucumcari route, one of them, known as Tio Baca, finally
+proposed to undertake the errand for a bounty of ten dollars, besides
+high wages till they should reach the frontier. His conditions being
+accepted, he set out after breakfast, not, however, without previously
+recommending himself to the Virgin Guadalupe, and all the saints in
+the calendar, and desiring us to remember him in our prayers.
+Notwithstanding his fears, however, he arrived in perfect safety, and
+I had the satisfaction of learning afterward that my brother found the
+new route everything he could have desired.
+
+I continued my journey westward with my two remaining companions; but,
+owing to their being provided with a relay of horses, they very soon
+left me to make the balance of the travel alone--though yet in a
+region haunted by hostile savages. On the following day, about the
+hour of twelve, as I was pursuing a horse-path along the course of the
+{60} Rio Pecos, near the frontier settlements, I met with a shepherd,
+of whom I anxiously inquired the distance to San Miguel. "O, it is
+just there," responded the man of sheep. "Don't you see that point of
+mesa yonder? It is just beyond that." This welcome information cheered
+me greatly; for, owing to the extraordinary transparency of the
+atmosphere, it appeared to me that the distance could not exceed two
+or three miles. "_Est� cerquita_," exclaimed the shepherd as I rode
+off; "_ahora est� V. all�_"--"it is close by; you will soon be there."
+
+I set off at as lively a pace as my jaded steed could carry me,
+confident of taking dinner in San Miguel.[96] Every ridge I turned I
+thought must be the last, and thus I jogged on, hoping and
+anticipating my future comforts till the shades of evening began to
+appear; when I descended into [Pg143] the valley of the Pecos, which,
+although narrow, is exceedingly fertile and beautifully lined with
+verdant fields, among which stood a great variety of mud cabins. About
+eight o'clock, I called at one of these cottages and again inquired
+the distance to San Miguel; when a swarthy-looking ranchero once more
+saluted mine ears with "_Est� cerquita; ahora est� V. all�_." Although
+the distance was designated in precisely the same words used by the
+shepherd eight hours before, I had the consolation at least of
+believing that I was something nearer. After spurring on for a couple
+of miles over a rugged road, I at last reached the long-sought
+village.
+
+{61} The next day, I hired a Mexican to carry some flour back to meet
+the wagons; for our party was by this time running short of
+provisions. In fact, we should long before have been in danger of
+starvation, had it not been for our oxen; for we had not seen a
+buffalo since the day we first met with the Comanches. Some of our
+cattle being in good plight, and able, as we were, to spare a few from
+our teams, we made beef of them when urged by necessity: an extra
+advantage in ox teams on these perilous expeditions.
+
+On the 25th of June I arrived safely at Santa F�,--but again rode back
+to meet the wagons, which did not reach the capital till the 4th of
+July. We did not encounter a very favorable reception from 'his
+majesty,' Gov. Armijo. He had just established his arbitrary impost of
+$500 per wagon, which bore rather heavily upon us; for we had an
+overstock of coarse articles which we had merely brought along for the
+purpose of increasing the strength of our company, by adding to the
+number of our wagons.
+
+But these little troubles in a business way, were entirely drowned in
+the joyful sensations arising from our safe arrival, after so long and
+so perilous an expedition. Considering the character and our ignorance
+of the country over which we had travelled, we had been exceedingly
+successful. [Pg144] Instances are certainly rare of heavily-laden
+wagons' having been conducted, without a guide, through an unexplored
+desert; and yet we {62} performed the trip without any important
+accident--without encountering any very difficult passes--without
+suffering for food or for water.
+
+We had hoped that at least a few days of rest and quiet recreation
+might have been allowed us after our arrival; for relaxation was
+sorely needed at the end of so long a journey and its concomitant
+privations: but it was ordered otherwise. We had scarcely quartered
+ourselves within the town before a grand 'flare-up' took place between
+Gov. Armijo and the foreigners[97] in Santa F�, which, for a little
+while, bid fair to result in open hostilities. It originated in the
+following circumstances.
+
+In the winter of 1837-8, a worthy young American, named Daley, was
+murdered at the Gold Mines, by a couple of villains, solely for
+plunder. The assassins were arrested, when they confessed their guilt;
+but, in a short time, they were permitted to run at large again, in
+violation of every principle of justice or humanity. About this time
+they were once more apprehended, however, by the interposition of
+foreigners: and, at the solicitation of the friends of the deceased, a
+memorial from the Americans in Santa F� was presented to Armijo,
+representing the injustice of permitting the murderers of their
+countrymen to go unpunished; and praying that the culprits might {63}
+be dealt with according to law. But the governor affected to consider
+the affair as a conspiracy; and, collecting his ragamuffin militia,
+attempted to intimidate the petitioners. The foreigners were now
+constrained to look to their defence, as they saw that [Pg145] no
+justice was to be expected. Had Armijo persisted, serious consequences
+might have ensued; but seeing the 'conspirators' firm, he sent an
+apology, affecting to have misconstrued their motives, and promising
+that the laws should be duly executed upon the murderers.
+
+Besides the incentives of justice and humanity, foreigners felt a deep
+interest in the execution of this promise. But a few years previous,
+another person had been assassinated and robbed at the same place; yet
+the authorities having taken no interest in the matter, the felons
+were never discovered; and now, should these assassins escape the
+merited forfeit of their atrocious crime, it was evident there would
+be no future security for our lives and property. But the governor's
+_due execution of the laws_ consisted in retaining them a year or two
+in nominal imprisonment, when they were again set at liberty. Besides
+these, other foreigners have been murdered in New Mexico with equal
+impunity:--all which contrasts very strikingly with the manner our
+courts of justice have since dealt with those who killed Chavez, in
+1843, on the Santa F� road.[98]
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[83] James Pollard Espy (1785-1860), a well-known meteorologist. His
+collection of reports on the weather, while occupied in his
+experiments, contributed towards the founding of the present United
+States weather-bureau. His theory was, that storms could be produced
+artificially by heating the atmosphere with long-continued fires. He
+published _Philosophy of Storms_ (Boston and London, 1841).--ED.
+
+[84] About the ninety-ninth meridian, the Canadian extends above the
+thirty-sixth parallel, forming the Great North Bend. The Oklahoma town
+of Taloga is on the southern curve of the bow.--ED.
+
+[85] The Canadian and its North Fork approach very closely at this
+point. The region between the North Bend and the one hundredth
+meridian contains much gypsum. See James's _Long's Expedition_, in our
+volume xvi, pp. 141-143.--ED.
+
+[86] From subsequent observations, this point appears to have been
+some miles west of the 100th degree of longitude.--GREGG.
+
+_Comment by Ed._ See volume xix, p. 217, note 52 (Gregg).
+
+[87] Kendall, _Texan Santa F� Expedition_, i, p. 192.--ED.
+
+[88] Camp Comanche would appear to have been in Lipscombe or Ochiltree
+County, Texas.--ED.
+
+[89] For Dr. John Sibley, see our volume xvii, p. 68, note 60. This
+anecdote is found in his report in _American State Papers_, "Indian
+Affairs," i, p. 724.--ED.
+
+[90] Robert C. Schenck was born at Franklin, Ohio, in 1809, graduated
+from Miami University, and practised law at Dayton. After one term in
+the state legislature (1841-42), he was sent to Congress (1843-51),
+which he left to become American minister to Brazil (1851-53). In the
+War of Secession he attained a major-generalship, and resigned to
+re-enter Congress (1863-70). For six years (1870-76) Schenck served as
+minister to Great Britain, being one of the commissioners to adjust
+the Alabama claims. He died in Washington in 1890. Another brother was
+an admiral in the American navy.--ED.
+
+[91] Colorado is the usual Spanish term for Red River, which Gregg
+here intends. For Llano Estacado, see his description _post_, p.
+239.--ED.
+
+[92] Thomas J. Farnham, _Travels in the Great Western Prairie, the
+Anahuac and Rocky Mountains, and in Oregon Territory_ (London, 1843),
+reprinted in volume xxvii of our series.
+
+Bent's Fort, sometimes called Fort William for its founder Colonel
+William Bent, was situated on the north bank of the Arkansas, between
+the present towns of La Junta and Las Animas, Colorado. Founded in
+1829, it was an important fur-trade post, and base of supplies for the
+mountain trail to Santa F�. The United States army of occupation
+(1846) passed by this post. In 1852, the government attempted to
+purchase the post; but not satisfied with the terms, its owner
+destroyed the stockade.--ED.
+
+[93] Literally _saltpetre_; but the _salitre_ of New Mexico is a
+compound of several other salts beside nitre.--GREGG.
+
+[94] On the eastern border of San Miguel County, New Mexico, are three
+peaks known as Los Cuervos, or The Crows. The river winding through
+this high land, forms the narrows of which Gregg speaks. Consult
+Kendall, _Texan Santa F� Expedition_, i, p. 174.--ED.
+
+[95] Tucumcari Mountain is in eastern Quay County, with a town of the
+same name at its base--a junction on the Chicago, Rock Island, and
+Pacific Railway. For an interesting description of this mound, which
+he likens to the dome of the capitol at Washington, see report of
+James H. Simpson (1849), in _Senate Doc._, 31 cong., 2 sess., vi, 12,
+p. 14.--ED.
+
+[96] For San Miguel, see our volume xix, p. 253, note 76 (Gregg).--ED.
+
+[97] Among the New Mexicans, the terms _foreigner_ and _American_ are
+synonymous: indeed, the few citizens of other nations to be found
+there identify themselves with those of the United States. All
+foreigners are known there as _Americanos_; but south of Chihuahua
+they are indiscriminately called _Los Ingleses_, the English.--GREGG.
+
+[98] See post, pp. 227-232.--ED.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX {IV}
+
+Preparations for a Start to Chihuahua -- Ineptness of Married Men for
+  the Santa F� Trade -- The Chihuahua Trade -- Annoying Custom-house
+  Regulations -- Mails in New Mexico -- Insecurity of Correspondence
+  -- Outfit and Departure -- _Derecho de Consumo_ -- Ruins of Valverde
+  -- 'Towns without Houses' -- La Jornada del Muerto -- Laguna and Ojo
+  del Muerto -- A Tradition of the _Arrieros_ -- Laborious Ferrying
+  and Quagmires -- Arrival at Paso del Norte -- Amenity of the Valley
+  -- _Sierra Blanca_ and _Los Organos_ -- Face of the Country --
+  Seagrass -- An accidental River -- Laguna de Encinillas -- Southern
+  Haciendas -- Arrival -- Character of the Route and Soil.
+
+
+After passing the custom-house ordeal, and exchanging some of our
+merchandise for 'Eagle Dollars'--an operation which occupied us
+several weeks, I prepared to set out for [Pg146] the Chihuahua
+market, whither a portion of our stock had been designed. Upon this
+expedition I was obliged to depart without my brother, who was
+laboring under the 'home fever,' and anxious to return to his family.
+"He that hath wife and children," says Lord Bacon, "hath given
+hostages to fortune; for they are impediments to great enterprises,
+either of virtue or mischief." Men under such bonds are peculiarly
+unfitted for the chequered life of a Santa F� trader. The domestic
+hearth, {65} with all its sacred and most endearing recollections, is
+sure to haunt them in the hour of trial, and almost every step of
+their journey is apt to be attended by melancholy reflections of home
+and domestic dependencies.
+
+Before starting on this new journey I deem it proper to make a few
+observations relative to the general character of the _Chihuahua
+Trade_. I have already remarked, that much surprise has frequently
+been expressed by those who are unacquainted with all the bearings of
+the case, that the Missouri traders should take the circuitous route
+to Santa F�, instead of steering direct for Chihuahua, inasmuch as the
+greatest portion of their goods is destined for the latter city. But
+as Chihuahua never had any port of entry for foreign goods till the
+last six or eight years, the market of that department had to be
+supplied in a great measure from Santa F�. By opening the ports of El
+Paso and Presidio del Norte,[99] the commercial interest was so little
+affected, that when Santa Anna's decree for closing them again was
+issued, the loss was scarcely felt at all.
+
+The mode of transmitting merchandise from the ports to the interior,
+is very different from what it is in the United States. It is not
+enough to have to pass the tedious ordeal [Pg147] of custom-houses on
+the frontier, and we have not only to submit to a supervision and
+repayment of duty on arriving at our point of destination, but our
+cargo is subject to scrutiny at every town we have to pass through on
+our {66} journey. Nor would it be advisable to forsake the main route
+in order to avoid this tyrannical system of taxation; because,
+according to the laws of the country, every _cargamento_ which is
+found out of the regular track (except in cases of unavoidable
+necessity), is subject to confiscation, although accompanied by the
+necessary custom-house documents.
+
+There are also other risks and contingencies very little dreamed of in
+the philosophy of the inexperienced trader. Before setting out, the
+entire bill of merchandise has to be translated into Spanish; when,
+duplicates of the translation being presented to the custom-house, one
+is retained, while the other, accompanied by the _guia_ (a sort of
+clearance or mercantile passport), is carried along with the cargo by
+the conductor. The trader can have three points of destination named
+in his _guia_, to either of which he may direct his course, but to no
+others: while in the drawing up of the _factura_, or invoice, the
+greatest care is requisite, as the slightest mistake, even an
+accidental slip of the pen, might, according to the terms of the law,
+subject the goods to confiscation.[100]
+
+The _guia_ is not only required on leaving the ports for the interior,
+but is indispensable to the safe conveyance of goods from one
+department of the republic to another: nay, the {67} simple transfer
+of property from town to town, and from village to village, in the
+same department, is attended by precisely the same proportion of risk,
+and requires the same punctilious accuracy in the accompanying
+documents. [Pg148] Even the produce and manufactures of the country
+are equally subject to these embarrassing regulations. New Mexico has
+no internal custom-houses, and is therefore exempt from this rigorous
+provision; but from Chihuahua south every village has its revenue
+officers; so that the same stock of merchandise sometimes pays the
+internal duty at least half-a-dozen times before the sale is
+completed.
+
+Now, to procure this same _guia_, which is the cause of so much
+difficulty and anxiety in the end, is no small affair. Before the
+authorities condescend to draw a single line on paper, the merchant
+must produce an endorser for the _tornagu�a_, which is a certificate
+from the custom-house to which the cargo goes directed, showing that
+the goods have been legally entered there. A failure in the return of
+this document within a prescribed limit of time, subjects the endorser
+to a forfeiture equal to the amount of the impost. Much inconvenience
+and not a little risk are also occasioned on this score by the
+irregularity--I may say, insecurity of the mails.
+
+Speaking of mails, I beg leave to observe, that there are no
+conveniences of this kind in New Mexico, except on the route from
+Santa F� to Chihuahua, and these are very {68} irregular and
+uncertain. Before the Indians had obtained such complete possession of
+the highways through the wilderness, the mails between these two
+cities were carried semi-monthly; but now they are much less frequent,
+being mere expresses, in fact, dispatched only when an occasion
+offers. There are other causes, however, besides the dread of
+marauding savages, which render the transportation of the mails in New
+Mexico very insecure: I mean the dishonesty of those employed in
+superintending them. Persons known to be inimical to the post-master,
+or to the 'powers that be,' and wishing to forward any communication
+to the South, most generally either wait for private conveyance,
+[Pg149] or send their letters to a post-office (the only one besides
+that of Santa F� in all New Mexico) some eighty miles on the way; thus
+avoiding an overhauling at the capital. Moreover, as the post-rider
+often carries the key of the mail-bag (for want of a supply at the
+different offices), he not unfrequently permits whomsoever will pay
+him a trifling _douceur_, to examine the correspondence. I was once
+witness to a case of this kind in the Jornada del Muerto, where the
+entire mail was tumbled out upon the grass, that an individual might
+search for letters, for which luxury he was charged by the
+accommodating carrier the moderate price of one dollar.
+
+The _derecho de consumo_ (the internal or consumption duty) is an
+impost averaging nearly twenty per cent. on the United States cost of
+{69} the bill. It supplies the place of a direct tax for the support
+of the departmental government, and is decidedly the most troublesome,
+if not the most oppressive revenue system that ever was devised for
+internal purposes. It operates at once as a drawback upon the
+commercial prosperity of the country, and as a potent incentive to
+fraudulent practices. The country people especially have resort to
+every species of clandestine intercourse, to escape this galling
+burden; for, every article of consumption they carry to market,
+whether fish, flesh or fowl, as well as fruit and vegetables, is taxed
+more or less; while another impost is levied upon the goods they
+purchase with the proceeds of their sales. This system, so beautifully
+entangled with corruptions, is supported on the ground that it
+supersedes direct taxation, which, in itself, is an evil that the
+'free and independent' people of Mexico would never submit to. Besides
+the petty annoyances incidental upon the laxity of custom-house
+regulations, no one can travel through the country without a passport,
+which to free-born Americans, is a truly insupportable nuisance.
+[Pg150]
+
+Having at last gone through with all the vexatious preparations
+necessary for our journey, on the 22d of August we started for
+Chihuahua. I fitted out myself but six wagons for this market, yet
+joining in company with several other traders, our little caravan
+again amounted to fourteen wagons, with about forty men. Though our
+route lay through {70} the interior of Northern Mexico, yet, on
+account of the hostile savages which infest most of the country
+through which we had to pass, it was necessary to unite in caravans of
+respectable strength, and to spare few of those precautions for safety
+which are required on the Prairies.
+
+The road we travelled passes down through the settlements of New
+Mexico for the first hundred and thirty miles, on the east side of the
+Rio del Norte. Nevertheless, as there was not an inn of any kind to be
+found upon the whole route, we were constrained to put up with very
+primitive accommodations. Being furnished from the outset, therefore,
+with blankets and buffalo rugs for bedding, we were prepared to
+bivouac, even in the suburbs of the villages, in the open air; for in
+this dry and salubrious atmosphere it is seldom that travellers go to
+the trouble of pitching tents.[101] When travelling alone, however, or
+with but a comrade or two, I have always experienced a great deal of
+hospitality from the rancheros and villageois of the country. Whatever
+sins these ignorant people may have to answer for, we must accord to
+them at least two glowing virtues--gratitude and hospitality. I have
+suffered like others, however, from one very disagreeable custom which
+prevails {71} among them. Instead of fixing a price for the services
+they bestow upon travellers, they are apt to answer, "_Lo que guste_,"
+or "_Lo_ [Pg151] _que le d� la gana_" (whatever you please, or have a
+mind to give), expecting, of course, that the liberal foreigner will
+give more than their consciences would permit them to exact.
+
+In about ten days' drive we passed the southernmost settlements of New
+Mexico, and twenty or thirty miles further down the river we came to
+the ruins of Valverde. This village was founded about twenty years
+ago, in one of the most fertile valleys of the Rio del Norte. It
+increased rapidly in population, until it was invaded by the Navajoes,
+when the inhabitants were obliged to abandon the place after
+considerable loss, and it has never since been repeopled. The bottoms
+of the valley, many of which are of rich alluvial loam, have lain
+fallow ever since, and will perhaps continue to be neglected until the
+genius of civilization shall have spread its beneficent influences
+over the land. This soil is the more valuable for cultivation on
+account of the facilities for irrigation which the river affords; as
+it too frequently happens that the best lands of the settlements
+remain unfruitful for want of water.[102]
+
+Our next camping place deserving of mention was _Fray Crist�bal_,
+which, like many others on the route, is neither town nor village, but
+a simple isolated point on the river-bank--a mere _parage_, or
+camping-ground. We had already passed San Pascual, El Contadero, {72}
+and many others, and we could hear Aleman, Robledo, and a dozen such
+spoken of on the way, leading the stranger to imagine that the route
+was lined with flourishing villages. The arriero will tell one to
+hasten--"we must reach San Diego before sleeping." We spur on perhaps
+with redoubled [Pg152] vigor, in hopes to rest at a town; but lo!
+upon arriving, we find only a mere watering-place, without open ground
+enough to graze the _caballada_. Thus every point along these
+wilderness highways used as a camping-site, has received a distinctive
+name, well known to every muleteer who travels them. Many of these
+_parages_, without the slightest vestige of human improvement, figure
+upon most of the current maps of the day as towns and villages. Yet
+there is not a single settlement (except of very recent establishment)
+from those before mentioned to the vicinity of El Paso, a distance of
+near two hundred miles.
+
+We arrived at Fray Crist�bal[103] in the evening, but this being the
+threshold of the famous _Jornada del Muerto_, we deemed it prudent to
+let our animals rest here until the following afternoon. The road over
+which we had hitherto been travelling, though it sometimes traverses
+upland ridges and undulating sections, runs generally near the border
+of the river, and for the most part in its immediate valley: but here
+it leaves the river and passes for nearly eighty miles over a
+table-plain to the eastward of a small ledge of mountains, whose
+western base is hugged {73} by the circuitous channel of the Rio del
+Norte. The craggy cliffs which project from these mountains render the
+eastern bank of the river altogether impassable. As the direct route
+over the plain is entirely destitute of water, we took the precaution
+to fill all our kegs at Fray Crist�bal, and late in the afternoon we
+finally set out. We generally find a great advantage in travelling
+through these arid tracts of land in the freshness of the evening, as
+the mules suffer less from thirst, and move [Pg153] on in better
+spirits--particularly in the season of warm weather.
+
+Early the next morning we found ourselves at the _Laguna del Muerto_,
+or 'Dead Man's Lake,' where there was not even a vestige of water.
+This _lake_ is but a sink in the plain of a few rods in diameter, and
+only filled with water during the rainy season. The _marshes_, which
+are said by some historians to be in this vicinity, are nowhere to be
+found: nothing but the firmest and driest table land is to be seen in
+every direction. To procure water for our thirsty animals it is often
+necessary to make a halt here, and drive them to the _Ojo del Muerto_
+(Dead Man's Spring), five or six miles to the westward, in the very
+heart of the mountain ridge that lay between us and the river. This
+region is one of the favorite resorts of the Apaches, where many a
+poor arriero has met with an untimely end. The route which leads to
+the spring winds for two or three miles down a narrow ca�on or gorge,
+overhung on either side by abrupt precipices, {74} while the various
+clefts and crags, which project their gloomy brows over the abyss
+below, seem to invite the murderous savage to deeds of horror and
+blood.
+
+There is a tradition among the arrieros from which it would appear
+that the only road known in ancient time about the region of the
+_Jornada_, wound its circuitous course on the western side of the
+river. To save distance, an intrepid traveller undertook to traverse
+this desolate tract of land in one day, but having perished in the
+attempt, it has ever after borne the name of _La Jornada del Muerto_,
+'the Dead Man's Journey,' or, more strictly, 'the Day's Journey of the
+Dead Man.' One thing appears very certain, that this dangerous pass
+has cost the life of many travellers in days of yore; and when we at
+last reached Robledo, a camping-site upon the river, where we found
+abundance of wood and water, we felt truly grateful that the arid
+_Jornada_ had not [Pg154] been productive of more serious
+consequences to our party. We now found ourselves within the
+department of Chihuahua, as the boundary betwixt it and New Mexico
+passes not far north of Robledo.[104]
+
+We were still some sixty miles above Paso del Norte, but the balance
+of the road now led down the river valley or over the low bordering
+hills. During our journey between this and El Paso we passed the ruins
+of several settlements, which had formerly been the seats of opulence
+and prosperity, but which have since been abandoned in consequence
+{75} of the marauding incursions of the Apaches.
+
+On the 12th of September we reached the usual ford of the Rio del
+Norte, six miles above El Paso; but the river being somewhat flushed
+we found it impossible to cross over with our wagons. The reader will
+no doubt be surprised to learn that there is not a single ferry on
+this 'Great River of the North' till we approach the mouth. But how do
+people cross it? Why, during three-fourths of the year it is
+everywhere fordable, and when the freshet season comes on, each has to
+remain on his own side, or swim, for canoes even are very rare. But as
+we could neither swim our wagons and merchandise, nor very comfortably
+wait for the falling of the waters, our only alternative was to unload
+the vehicles, and ferry the goods over in a little 'dug-out' about
+thirty feet long and two feet wide, of which we were fortunate enough
+to obtain possession.
+
+We succeeded in finding a place shallow enough to haul our empty
+wagons across: but for this good fortune we should have been under the
+necessity of taking them to pieces (as I had before done), and of
+ferrying them on the 'small craft' [Pg155] before mentioned. Half of
+a wagon may thus be crossed at a time, by carefully balancing it upon
+the canoe, yet there is of course no little danger of capsizing during
+the passage.
+
+This river even when fordable often occasions a great deal of trouble,
+being, like the Arkansas, embarrassed with many quicksand {76} mires.
+In some places, if a wagon is permitted to stop in the river but for a
+moment, it sinks to the very body. Instances have occurred where it
+became necessary, not only to drag out the mules by the ears and to
+carry out the loading package by package, but to haul out the wagon
+piece by piece--wheel by wheel.
+
+On the 14th we made our entrance into the town of _El Paso del
+Norte_,[105] which is the northernmost settlement in the department of
+Chihuahua. Here our cargo had to be examined by a stern, surly
+officer, who, it was feared, would lay an embargo on our goods upon
+the slightest appearance of irregularity in our papers; but
+notwithstanding our gloomy forebodings, we passed the ordeal without
+any difficulty.
+
+The valley of El Paso is supposed to contain a population of about
+four thousand inhabitants, scattered over the western bottom of the
+Rio del Norte to the length of ten or twelve miles. These settlements
+are so thickly interspersed with vineyards, orchards, and corn-fields,
+as to present more the appearance of a series of plantations than of a
+town: in fact, only a small portion at the head of the valley, where
+the _plaza p�blica_ and parochial church are located, would seem to
+merit this title. {77} Two or three miles above the _plaza_ there is a
+dam of stone and brush across the river, the purpose of which is to
+turn the current into a dike or canal, which conveys nearly half the
+water of the stream, during a [Pg156] low stage, through this well
+cultivated valley, for the irrigation of the soil. Here we were
+regaled with the finest fruits of the season: the grapes especially
+were of the most exquisite flavor. From these the inhabitants
+manufacture a very pleasant wine, somewhat resembling Malaga. A
+species of _aguardiente_ (brandy) is also distilled from the same
+fruit, which, although weak, is of very agreeable flavor. These
+liquors are known among Americans as 'Pass wine' and 'Pass whiskey,'
+and constitute a profitable article of trade, supplying the markets of
+Chihuahua and New Mexico.[106]
+
+As I have said before, the road from Santa F� to El Paso leads partly
+along the margin of the Rio del Norte, or across the bordering hills
+and plains; but the _sierra_ which separates the waters of this river
+and those of the Rio Pecos was always visible on our left. In some
+places it is cut up into detached ridges, one of which is known as
+_Sierra Blanca_, in consequence of its summit's being covered with
+snow till late in the spring, and having all {78} the appearance of a
+glittering white cloud. There is another still more picturesque ridge
+further south, called _Los Organos_, presenting an immense cliff of
+basaltic pillars, which bear some resemblance to the pipes of an
+_organ_, whence the mountain derived its name. Both these sierras are
+famous as being the strongholds of the much-dreaded Apaches.
+
+The mountains from El Paso northward are mostly clothed with pine,
+cedar, and a dwarfish species of oak. The valleys are timbered with
+cottonwood, and occasionally with _mezquite_, which, however, is
+rarely found higher up than the lower settlements of New Mexico. In
+the immediate vicinity [Pg157] of El Paso there is another small
+growth called _tornillo_ (or screw-wood), so denominated from a spiral
+pericarp, which, though different in shape, resembles that of the
+mezquite in flavor.[107] The plains and highlands generally are of a
+prairie character, and do not differ materially from those of all
+Northern Mexico, which are almost everywhere completely void of
+timber.
+
+One of the most useful plants to the people of El Paso is the
+_lechuguilla_, which abounds on the hills and mountain sides of that
+vicinity, as well as in many other places from thence southward.[108]
+Its blades, which resemble those of the palmilla, being mashed,
+scraped, and washed, afford very strong fibres like the common Manilla
+sea-grass, and equally serviceable for the manufacture of ropes, and
+other purposes.
+
+{79} After leaving El Paso, our road branched off at an angle of about
+two points to the westward of the river, the city of Chihuahua being
+situated nearly a hundred miles to the west of it. At the distance of
+about thirty miles we reached _Los M�danos_, a stupendous ledge of
+sand-hills, across which the road passes for about six miles. As teams
+are never able to haul the loaded wagons over this region of loose
+sand, we engaged an _atajo_ of mules at El Paso, upon which to convey
+our goods across. These M�danos consist of huge hillocks and ridges of
+pure sand, in many places without a vestige of vegetation. Through the
+lowest gaps between the hills, the road winds its way.
+
+What renders this portion of the route still more unpleasant and
+fatiguing, is the great scarcity of water. All that is to [Pg158] be
+found on the road for the distance of more than sixty miles after
+leaving El Paso, consists in two fetid springs or pools, whose water
+is only rendered tolerable by necessity. A little further on, however,
+we very unexpectedly encountered, this time, quite a superabundance of
+this necessary element. Just as we passed Lake Patos,[109] we were
+struck with astonishment at finding the road ahead of us literally
+overflowed by an immense body of water, with a brisk current, as if
+some great river had suddenly been conjured into existence by the aid
+of supernatural arts. A considerable time elapsed before we could
+unravel the mystery. At last we discovered that a freshet had lately
+occurred {80} in the streams that fed Lake Patos, and caused it to
+overflow its banks, which accounted for this unwelcome visitation. We
+had to flounder through the mud and water for several hours, before we
+succeeded in getting across.
+
+The following day we reached the _acequia_ below Carrizal, a small
+village with only three or four hundred inhabitants, but somewhat
+remarkable as being the site of a _presidio_ (fort), at which is
+stationed a company of troops to protect the country against the
+ravages of the Apaches, who, notwithstanding, continue to lay waste
+the ranchos in the vicinity, and to depredate at will within the very
+sight of the fort.[110]
+
+About twelve miles south of Carrizal there is one of the most charming
+warm springs called Ojo Caliente, where we arrived the next day. It
+forms a basin some thirty feet long by about half that width, and just
+deep and warm enough for a most delightful bath at all seasons of the
+year. Were this spring (whose outlet forms a bold little rivulet)
+anywhere [Pg159] within the United States, it would doubtless soon be
+converted into a place of fashionable resort. There appears to be a
+somewhat curious phenomenon connected with this spring. It proceeds,
+no doubt, from the little river of C�rmen, which passes within half a
+mile, and finally discharges itself into the small lake of Patos
+before mentioned. During the dry season, this stream disappears in the
+sand some miles above the spring; and what medium it traverses in its
+subterranean passage to impart {81} to it so high a temperature,
+before breaking out in this fountain, would afford to the geologist an
+interesting subject of inquiry.[111]
+
+After fording the Rio C�rmen, which, though usually without a drop of
+water in its channel, we now found a very turbulent stream, we did not
+meet with any object particularly worthy of remark, until we reached
+the _Laguna de Encinillas_.[112] This lake is ten or twelve miles long
+by two or three in width, and seems to have no outlet even during the
+greatest freshets, though fed by several small constantly-flowing
+streams from the surrounding mountains. The water of this lake during
+the dry season is so strongly impregnated with nauseous and bitter
+salts, as to render it wholly unpalatable to man and beast. The most
+predominant of these noxious substances is a species of alkali, known
+there by the title of _tequesquite_. It is often seen oozing out from
+the surface of marshy grounds, about the table plains of all Northern
+Mexico, forming a grayish crust, and is extensively used in the
+manufacture of soap, and sometimes by the bakers even for raising
+bread. Here we had another evidence of the alarming effects of the
+recent flood, the road for several miles along the margin of the lake
+being [Pg160] completely inundated. It was, however, in the city of
+Chihuahua itself that the disastrous consequences of the freshet were
+most severely felt. Some inferior houses of _adobe_ were so much
+soaked by the rains, that they tumbled to the ground, occasioning the
+loss of several lives.
+
+{82} The valley of Encinillas is very extensive and fertile, and is
+the locale of one of those princely estates which are so abundant
+further south, and known by the name of _Haciendas_. It abounds in
+excellent pasturage, and in cattle of all descriptions. In former
+times, before the Apaches had so completely devastated the country,
+the herds which grazed in this beautiful valley presented much the
+appearance of the buffalo of the plains, being almost as wild and
+generally of dark color. Many of the proprietors of these princely
+haciendas pride themselves in maintaining a uniformity in the color of
+their cattle: thus some are found stocked with black, others red,
+others white--or whatsoever shade the owner may have taken a fancy to.
+
+As we drew near to Chihuahua, our party had more the appearance of a
+funeral procession than of a band of adventurers, about to enter into
+the full fruition of 'dancing hopes,' and the realization of 'golden
+dreams.' Every one was uneasy as to what might be the treatment of the
+revenue officers. For my own part, I had not quite forgotten sundry
+annoyances and trials of temper I had been made to experience in the
+season of 1837, on a similar occasion. Much to our surprise, however,
+as well as delight, we were handled with a degree of leniency by the
+custom-house deities, on our arrival, that was almost incomprehensible.
+But the charm which operated in our favor, when understood, was very
+simple. A caravan had left Chihuahua direct {83} for the United
+States, the spring previous, and was daily expected back. The officers
+of the custom-house were already compromised by certain cogent
+arguments to receive the [Pg161] proprietors of this caravan with
+striking marks of favor, and the _Se�or Administrador de Rentas_,
+Zuloaga himself, was expecting an _ancheta_ of goods. Therefore, had
+they treated us with their wonted severity, the contrast would have
+been altogether too glaring.[113]
+
+We arrived at Chihuahua on the first of October, after a trip of forty
+days, with wagons much more heavily laden than when we started from
+the United States. The whole distance from Santa F� to Chihuahua is
+about 550 miles,--being reckoned 320 to Paso del Norte, and 230 from
+thence to Chihuahua. The road from El Paso south is mostly firm and
+beautiful, with the exception of the sand-hills before spoken of; and
+is only rendered disagreeable by the scarcity and occasional ill-savor
+of the water. The route winds over an elevated plain among numerous
+detached ridges of low mountains--spurs, as it were, of the main
+Cordilleras, which lie at a considerable distance to the westward.
+Most of these extensive intermediate plains, though in many places of
+fertile looking soil, must remain wholly unavailable for agricultural
+purposes, on account of their natural aridity and a total lack of
+water for irrigation.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[99] For El Paso, see Pattie's _Narrative_, in our volume xviii, p.
+155, note 89.
+
+Presidio del Norte is in the Mexican state of Chihuahua, at the mouth
+of Los Conchos River; hence the town is sometimes called Presidio de
+las Juntas (junction). It is one of the oldest posts in northern
+Mexico.--ED.
+
+[100] In confirmation of this, it is only necessary to quote the
+following from the _Pauta de Comisos_, Cap. II., Art. 22: "Ni las
+guias, ni las facturas, ni los pases, en todos los casos de que trata
+este decreto, han de contener enmendadura, raspadura, ni
+entrerenglonadura alguna"--and this under penalty of confiscation.
+--GREGG.
+
+[101] How scant soever our outfit of 'camp comforts' might appear, our
+Mexican muleteers were much more sparely supplied. The exposure
+endured by this hardy race is really surprising. Even in the coldest
+winter weather, they rarely carry more than one blanket apiece--the
+_sarape_, which serves as a cloak during the day, and at night is
+their only 'bed and bedding.'--GREGG.
+
+[102] The precinct of Valverde, on the east bank of the Rio Grande, a
+few miles below Socorro, has now a population of three hundred.
+Although of considerable importance in the early nineteenth century,
+the town has never been rebuilt since Gregg's time. The site was,
+however, the rendezvous for Doniphan's troops (1846) preparatory to
+his march into Chihuahua. It was also the field for a battle in the
+War of Secession (1862), wherein the Texans won a victory over the
+Federal troops.--ED.
+
+[103] Fray Cristobal was long an important station in New Mexico; but,
+as Gregg says, never a town of any size, merely a camping place at the
+beginning of the Jornada del Muerto. The latter is well described by
+Gregg, and was the dreaded portion of the journey from north to south
+until the building of the railway, which traverses the larger part of
+the old caravan route, but leaves the river somewhat higher up and
+returns to it at Rincon, some distance above Robledo.--ED.
+
+[104] Robledo was on the Rio Grande at the site where the Americans
+later erected Fort Selden.
+
+El Paso and the district north had formerly been a part of New Mexico;
+but the act of 1824, reconstituting the northern states, assigned El
+Paso district to Chihuahua, hence the boundary here mentioned.--ED.
+
+[105] This place is often known among Americans as '_The Pass_.' It
+has been suggested in another place, that it took its name from the
+_passing_ thither of the refugees from the massacre of 1680; yet many
+persons very rationally derive it from the _passing_ of the river (_el
+paso del Rio del Norte_) between two points of mountains which project
+against it from each side, just above the town.--GREGG.
+
+[106] There is very little wine or legitimate _aguardiente_
+manufactured in New Mexico. There was not a distillery, indeed, in all
+the province until established by Americans some fifteen or twenty
+years ago. Since that period, considerable quantities of whiskey have
+been made there, particularly in the vicinity of Taos,--distilled
+mainly from wheat, as this is the cheapest grain the country
+affords.--GREGG.
+
+[107] For the ordinary mesquit, see Pattie's _Narrative_, in our
+volume xviii, p. 94, note 56. The tornillo is _Prosopis pubescens_,
+the fruit of which is often called the screw-bean, and used by the
+Indians both for food and fodder.--ED.
+
+[108] A particular species of _agave_, called _A. lechuguilla_,
+abounding in the El Paso region. See J. N. Rose, "Useful Plants of
+Mexico," in U. S. Herbarium _Contributions_, volume v, no. 4, p.
+209.--ED.
+
+[109] Lake Patos (Lake of Geese), in northern Chihuahua, is the outlet
+for Rio Carmen.--ED.
+
+[110] Carrizal was founded about 1750, and at one time considered a
+part of the province of New Mexico. It was later made a presidio, or
+frontier fort, with a surrounding wall.--ED.
+
+[111] Wislizenus found the temperature of these springs 84�
+Fahrenheit. There is now a station called Ojo Calientes, on the
+Mexican Central Railway, but it is some distance from the
+springs.--ED.
+
+[112] The size of Laguna de Encinillas (Lake of Live-Oaks) varies
+greatly with the season of drouth or rain.--ED.
+
+[113] For a brief sketch of Chihuahua, see Pattie's _Narrative_, in
+our volume xviii, p. 153, note 85.--ED.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI {V}
+
+Trip from Chihuahua to Aguascalientes, in 1835 -- Southern Trade
+  and _Ferias_ -- Hacienda de la Zarca, and its innumerable Stock
+  -- Rio Nazas, and Lakes without outlet -- Perennial Cotton --
+  Exactions for Water and Pasturage -- Village of Churches -- City
+  of Durango and its Peculiarities -- Persecution of Scorpions
+  -- Negro-ship in the ascendant -- Robbers and their _modus_
+  _operandi_ -- City of Aguascalientes -- Bathing Scene -- Haste to
+  return to the North -- Mexican Mule-shoeing -- Difficulties and
+  Perplexities -- A Friend in time of need -- Reach Zacatecas -- City
+  Accommodations -- Hotels unfashionable -- _Locale_, Fortifications,
+  etc. of the City of Zacatecas -- Siege by Santa Anna and his
+  easy-won Victory -- At Durango again -- Civil Warfare among the
+  'Sovereigns' -- Hairbreadth 'scapes -- Troubles of the Road -- Safe
+  Arrival at Chihuahua -- Character of the Southern Country.
+
+
+The patient reader who may have accompanied me thus far, without
+murmuring at the dryness of some of the details, will perhaps pardon
+me for presenting here a brief account of a trip which I made to
+_Aguascalientes_, in the interior of Northern Mexico, in the year
+1835, and which the arrangement I have adopted has prevented me from
+introducing before, in its chronological order.
+
+The trade of the South constitutes a very important branch of the
+commerce of the country, in which foreigners, as well as natives, {85}
+are constantly embarking. It is customary for most of those who
+maintain mercantile establishments in Chihuahua, to procure
+assortments of Mexican fabrics from the manufactories of Leon,
+Aguascalientes, and other places of the same character in the more
+southern districts of the republic. At certain seasons of the year,
+here are held regular _ferias_, at which the people assemble in great
+numbers, as well of sellers as of purchasers. There are some eight or
+ten of these annual fairs held in the republic, each of which usually
+lasts a week or more. It was about as much, however, from a desire to
+behold the sunny districts of the South, as for commercial purposes,
+that I undertook this expedition in 1835; and as my engagements have
+not permitted me to revisit this section since, the few [Pg163] notes
+of interest I was then able to collect, seem to come more
+appropriately in this part of my work than in any other place that I
+could readily select.
+
+I set out from Chihuahua on the 26th of February, 1835. My party
+consisted of four men (including myself) and two empty wagons--not a
+very formidable escort to protect our persons as well as specie and
+bullion (the only transmissible currency of the country) against the
+bands of robbers which at all times infest that portion of our route
+that lay south of Durango. From Chihuahua to that city the road was
+rendered still more perilous by the constant hostilities of the
+Indians. On the 7th of March, however, we arrived, without {86}
+accident, at the town of Cerro Gordo, the northernmost settlement in
+the department of Durango; and the following day we reached La Zarca,
+which is the principal village of one of the most extensive haciendas
+in the North. So immense is the amount of cattle on this estate, that,
+as it was rumored, the proprietor once offered to sell the whole
+hacienda, stock, etc., for the consideration alone of fifty cents for
+each head of cattle found on the estate; but that no person has ever
+yet been able or willing to muster sufficient capital to take up the
+offer. It is very likely, however, that if such a proposition was ever
+made, the proprietor intended to include all his stock of rats and
+mice, reptiles and insects--in short, every genus of 'small cattle' on
+his premises. This estate covers a territory of perhaps a hundred
+miles in length, which comprises several flourishing villages.
+
+In two days more, we reached Rio Nazas, a beautiful little river that
+empties itself into Lake Cayman.[114] Rio [Pg164] Nazas has been
+celebrated for the growth of cotton, which, owing to the mildness of
+the climate, is sometimes planted fresh only every three or four
+years. The light frosts of winter seldom destroy more than the upper
+portion of the stalk, so that {87} the root is almost perennial. About
+twenty-five miles further, we stopped at the mining village of La
+Noria, where we were obliged to purchase water for our mules--a novel
+expense to the American traveller, but scarcely to be complained of,
+inasmuch as the water had to be drawn from wells with a great deal of
+labor. It is not unusual, also, for the proprietors of haciendas to
+demand remuneration for the pasturage on the open plains, consumed by
+the animals of travellers--a species of exaction which one never hears
+of further north.
+
+Our next stopping-place was Cuencam�, which may well be called the
+Village of Churches: for, although possessing a very small population,
+there are five or six edifices of this description.[115] As I had
+business to transact at Durango, which is situated forty or fifty
+miles westward of the main Southern road, I now pursued a direct route
+for that city, where I arrived on the 16th of March.
+
+Durango is one of the handsomest cities in the North, with a
+population of about 20,000. It is situated in a level plain,
+surrounded in every direction by low mountains. It presents two or
+three handsome squares, with many fine edifices and some really
+splendid churches. The town is supplied with water for irrigating the
+gardens, and for many other ordinary purposes, by several open
+aqueducts, which lead through the streets, from a large spring, a mile
+or {88} two distant; but as these are kept filthy by the offal that is
+thrown into them, the inhabitants who are able to buy it, procure most
+of their [Pg165] water for drinking and culinary purposes, from the
+_aguadores_, who pack it, on asses, usually in large jars, from the
+spring.
+
+This is the first Northern city in which there is to be found any
+evidence of that variety of tropical fruits, for which Southern Mexico
+is so justly famed. Although it was rather out of season, yet the
+market actually teemed with all that is most rich and exquisite in
+this kind of produce. The _maguey_, from which is extracted the
+popular beverage called _pulque_,[116] is not only cultivated
+extensively in the fields, but grows wild everywhere upon the plains.
+This being the height of the pulque season, a hundred shanties might
+be seen loaded with jugs and goblets filled with this favorite liquor,
+from its sweetest unfermented state to the grade of 'hard cider;'
+while the incessant cries of "Pulque! pulque dulce! pulque bueno!"
+added to the shrill and discordant notes of the fruit venders, created
+a confusion of {89} sounds amidst which it was impossible to hear
+oneself talk.
+
+Durango is also celebrated as being the head-quarters, as it were, of
+the whole scorpion family. During the spring, especially, so much are
+the houses infested by these poisonous insects, that many people are
+obliged to have resort to a kind of mosquito-bar, in order to keep
+them out of their beds at night. As an expedient to deliver the city
+from this terrible pest, a society has actually been formed, which
+pays a reward of a _cuartilla_ (three cents) for every _alacran_ (or
+scorpion) that is brought to them. Stimulated by the [Pg166] desire
+of gain, the idle boys of the city are always on the look-out: so
+that, in the course of a year, immense numbers of this public enemy
+are captured and slaughtered. The body of this insect is of the bulk
+and cast of a medium spider, with a jointed tail one to two inches
+long, at the end of which is a sting whose wounds are so poisonous as
+often to prove fatal to children, and are very painful to adults.
+
+The most extraordinary peculiarity of these scorpions is, that they
+are far less dangerous in the North than in the South, which in some
+manner accounts for the story told Capt. Pike, that even those of
+Durango lose most of their venom as soon as they are removed a few
+miles from the city.[117]
+
+Although we were exceedingly well armed, yet so many fearful stories
+of robberies said to be committed, almost daily, on the Southern
+roads, reached my ears, that before {90} leaving Durango, I resolved
+to add to my 'weapons of defence' one of those peculiarly terrible
+dogs which are sometimes to be found in this country, and which are
+very serviceable to travellers situated as I was. Having made my
+wishes known to a free negro from the United States, named George, he
+recommended me to a custom-house officer, and a very particular friend
+of his, as being possessed of the very article I was in search of. I
+accordingly called at the house of that functionary, in company with
+my sable informant, and we were ushered into a handsome parlor, where
+two or three well-dressed se�oritas sat discussing some of the
+fruitful topics of the day. One of them--the officer's wife, as it
+appeared, and a very comely dame she was--rose immediately, and, with
+a great deal of ceremonious deference, saluted _Se�or Don Jorge_,
+inviting him at the same time to a [Pg167] seat, while I was left to
+remain perfectly unnoticed in my standing position. George appeared
+considerably embarrassed, for he had not quite forgotten the customs
+and manners of his native country, and was even yet in the habit of
+treating Americans not only with respect but with humility. He
+therefore declined the tendered distinction, and remarked that '_el
+se�or_' had only come to purchase their dog. Upon this, the lady
+pointed to a kennel in a corner, when the very first glimpse of the
+ferocious animal convinced me that he was precisely the sort of a
+customer I wanted for a companion. Having therefore paid {91} down six
+dollars, the stipulated sum of purchase, I bowed myself out of the
+presence of the ladies, not a little impressed with my own
+insignificance, in the eyes of these fair _do�as_, contrasted with the
+grandeur of my sable companion. But the popularity of negroes in
+Northern Mexico has ceased to be a matter of surprise to the
+traveller.
+
+With regard to _Don Jorge_, if I was surprised at the marks of
+attention paid him by a white lady, I had cause to be much more
+astonished shortly after. As the sooty don was lounging about my
+wagons, a clever-visaged youth approached and placed in his hands a
+satin stock, with the compliments of his sister (the officer's wife),
+hoping that he would accept that trifle, wrought by her own hand, as a
+token of her particular regard! But, notwithstanding these marks of
+distinction (to apply no harsher epithet), George was exceedingly
+anxious to engage in my employ, in whatsoever capacity I might choose
+to take him; for he had discovered that such honors were far from
+affording him a livelihood: yet I did not then need his services, and
+have never heard of him since.
+
+On the 22d we left Durango, and after a few days' march found
+ourselves once more in the _camino real_ that led from Chihuahua to
+Zacatecas. All the frightful stories I had [Pg168] heard about
+robbers now began to flash upon my memory, which made me regard every
+man I encountered on the road with a very suspicious eye. As all
+travellers go armed, it {92} is impossible to distinguish them from
+banditti;[118] so that the unsuspecting traveller is very frequently
+set upon by the very man he had been consorting with in apparent
+good-fellowship, and either murdered on the spot, or dragged from his
+horse with the lazo, and plundered of all that is valuable about him.
+
+I have heard it asserted that there is a regular bandit trade
+organized throughout the country, in which some of the principal
+officers of state (and particularly of the judicial corps) are not
+unfrequently engaged. A capital is made up by shares, as for any other
+enterprise, bandits are fitted out and instructed where to operate,
+and at stated periods of the year a regular dividend is paid to the
+stockholders. The impunity which these 'gentlemen of the order' almost
+everywhere enjoy in the country, is therefore not to be marvelled at.
+In Durango, during my sojourn there, a well dressed caballero was
+frequently in the habit of entering our _meson_, whom mine host soon
+pointed out to me as a notorious brigand. "Beware of him," said the
+honest publican; "he is prying into your affairs"--and so it turned
+out; for my muleteer informed me that the fellow had been trying to
+pump from him all the particulars in regard to our condition and
+destination. Yet this worthy was not only suffered to prowl about
+unmolested {93} by the authorities, but appeared to be on familiar
+terms with many of the principal dignitaries of the city.
+Notwithstanding all our apprehensions, however, we arrived at our
+place of destination without even the novelty of an incident to swell
+our budget of gossip. [Pg169]
+
+The city of Aguascalientes is beautifully situated in a level
+plain, and would appear to contain about twenty thousand inhabitants,
+who are principally engaged in the manufacture of _rebozos_ and other
+textures mostly of cotton.[119] As soon as I found myself sufficiently
+at leisure, I visited the famous warm spring (_ojo caliente_) in the
+suburbs, from which the city derives its euphonious name. I followed
+up the _acequia_ that led from the spring--a ditch four or five feet
+wide, through which flowed a stream three or four feet in depth. The
+water was precisely of that agreeable temperature to afford the luxury
+of a good bath, which I had hoped to enjoy; but every few paces I
+found men, women, and children, submerged in the acequia; and when I
+arrived at the basin, it was so choked up with girls and full-grown
+women, who were paddling about with all the nonchalance of a gang of
+ducks, that I was forced to relinquish my long-promised treat.
+
+It had been originally my intention to continue on to Leon, another
+manufacturing town some seventy or eighty miles from Aguascalientes;
+but, hearing that Santa Anna had just arrived there with a large army,
+on his way to Zacatecas to quell an insurrection,[120] I {94} felt
+very little curiosity to extend my rambles further. Having, therefore,
+made all my purchases in the shortest possible time, in a few days I
+was again in readiness to start for the North.
+
+That my mules might be in condition for the hard travel before me, it
+was necessary to have them shod: a precaution, however, which is
+seldom used in the north of Mexico, either [Pg170] with mules or
+horses. Owing a little to the peculiar breed, but more still no doubt
+to the dryness of the climate, Mexican animals have unusually hard
+hoofs. Many will travel for weeks, and even months, over the firm[121]
+and often rocky roads of the interior (the pack-mules carrying their
+huge loads), without any protection whatever to the feet, save that
+which nature has provided. But most of mine being a little
+tender-footed, I engaged Mexican _herreros_ to fit them out in their
+own peculiar style. Like almost everything else of their
+manufacturing, their mule-shoes are of a rather primitive model--broad
+thin plates, tacked on with large club-headed nails. But the
+expertness of the shoers compensated in some degree for the defects of
+the _herraduras_. It made but little odds how wild and vicious the
+mule--an assistant would draw up his foot in an instant, and soon
+place him _hors de combat_; and then fixing a nail, the shoer {95}
+would drive it to the head at a single stroke, standing usually at
+full arm's length, while the assistant held the foot. Thus in less
+than half the time I had ever witnessed the execution of a similar job
+before, they had completely shod more than twenty of the most unruly
+brutes--without once resorting to the expedient so usual in such
+cases, of throwing the animals upon the ground.
+
+Just as the process of shoeing my mules had been completed, a person
+who proved to be a public officer entered the _corral_, and pointing
+to the mules, very politely informed me that they were wanted by the
+government to transport troops to Zacatecas. "They will be called for
+to-morrow afternoon," he continued; "let them not be removed!" I had
+of course to bow acquiescence to this imperative edict, well knowing
+that all remonstrance would be vain; yet fully [Pg171] determined to
+be a considerable distance on the road northward before that 'morrow'
+should be very far advanced.
+
+But a new difficulty now presented itself. I must procure a _guia_ or
+passport for my cargo of merchandise, with a _responsible
+endorser_,--an additional imposition I was wholly unprepared for, as I
+was then ignorant of any law to that effect being in force, and had
+not a single acquaintance in the city. I was utterly at a loss what to
+do: under any other circumstances I might have left the amount of the
+_derecho de consumo_ in deposit, as others have been obliged to do on
+similar occasions; but {96} unfortunately I had laid out the last
+dollar of my available means.
+
+As I left the custom-house brooding over these perplexities, one of
+the principal clerks of the establishment slipped a piece of paper
+into my hand containing the following laconic notice:--"_Agu�rdeme
+afuera_" (wait for me without);--an injunction I passively obeyed,
+although I had not the least idea of its purport. The clerk was soon
+with me, and remarked, "You are a stranger in the city, and ignorant
+of our severe revenue laws: meet me in an hour from this at my
+lodgings, and we will devise some remedy for your difficulties." It
+may be well supposed that I did not fail to be punctual. I met the
+obliging officer in his room with a handful of blank custom-house
+_pases_. It should be understood that a _pase_ only differs from a
+_guia_ in requiring no endorser, but the former can only be extended
+for amounts of goods not exceeding fifty dollars. Taking my bill, he
+very soon filled me up a _pase_ for every package, directing each to a
+different point in the North. "Now," observed my amiable friend, "if
+you are disposed to do a little smuggling, these will secure your
+safety, if you avoid the principal cities, till you reach the borders
+of Chihuahua: if not, you may have a friend on the way who will
+endorse your _guia_." I preferred the latter alternative. I had formed
+an acquaintance [Pg172] with a worthy German merchant in Durango,
+who, I felt convinced, would generously lend his signature to the
+required document.
+
+{97} As the revenue officers of Northern Mexico are not celebrated for
+liberality and disinterestedness, I took it for granted that my friend
+of the custom-house was actuated by selfish motives, and therefore
+proffered him a remuneration for the trouble he had taken on my
+account; but to my surprise, he positively refused accepting anything,
+observing that he held it the duty of every honest man to assist his
+fellow creatures in case of difficulty. It is truly a pleasant task to
+bear record of such instances of disinterestedness, in the midst of so
+many contaminating influences.
+
+While speaking of _guias_, I may as well remark that they are also
+frequently required for specie and always for bullion. This is often
+very annoying to the traveller, not only because it is sometimes
+inconvenient to find an endorser, but because the robbers are thus
+enabled to obtain precise and timely information of the funds and
+route of every traveller; for they generally have their agents in all
+the principal cities, who are apt to collude with some of the
+custom-house clerks, and thus procure regular reports of the
+departures, with the amounts of valuables conveyed.
+
+I was not long in taking leave of Aguascalientes, and heard nothing
+more of the impressment of my mules. It was not my good fortune,
+however, to remain for any length of time out of trouble. Being
+anxious to take the city of Zacatecas in my route without jeopardizing
+my goods, I took passage by the _diligencia_, while my wagons
+continued on in {98} the _camino real_ or main road. On my arrival at
+Zacatecas, I very soon discovered that by leaving 'my bed and board'
+behind with the wagons, I had doomed myself to no small inconvenience
+and privation. It was with the greatest difficulty I could obtain a
+place to lie upon, and [Pg173] clean victuals with which to allay my
+hunger. I could get a room, it is true, even for a _real_ per day, in
+one of those great barn-like _mesones_ which are to be met with in all
+these cities, but not one of them was at all furnished. There is
+sometimes, in a corner, a raised platform of mud, much resembling a
+common blacksmith's hearth, which is to supply the place of a
+bedstead, upon which the traveller may spread his blankets, if he
+happen to have any. On this occasion I succeeded in borrowing one or
+two of the stage-driver who was a Yankee, and so made out 'pretty
+comfortably' in the sleeping way. These _mesones_ are equally
+ill-prepared to furnish food for the traveller, unless he is willing
+to put up with a dish of _frijoles_ and _chile guisado_ with
+_tortillas_, all served up in the most filthy manner. I therefore
+sought out a public _fonda_ kept by an Italian, where I procured an
+excellent supper. Fondas, however, are mere _restaurants_, and
+consequently without accommodations for lodging.
+
+Strange as the fact may appear, one may travel fifteen hundred miles,
+and perhaps more, on the main public highway through Northern Mexico,
+without finding a single tavern with general accommodations. This,
+however, may {99} be accounted for, by taking into consideration the
+peculiar mode of travelling of the country, which renders resorts of
+this kind almost unnecessary. _Arrieros_ with their _atajos_ of
+pack-mules always camp out, being provided with their cooks and stock
+of provisions, which they carry with them. Ordinary travellers
+generally unite in little caravans, for security against robbers and
+marauders; and no caballero ever stirs abroad without a train of
+servants, and a pack-mule to carry his _cantinas_ (a pair of large
+wallets or leathern boxes), filled with provisions, on the top of
+which is lashed a huge machine containing a mattress and all the other
+'fixings' for bed furniture. Thus equipped, the [Pg174] caballero
+snaps his fingers at all the _hotels garnis_ of the universe, and is
+perfectly independent in every movement.
+
+The city of Zacatecas, as my readers are doubtless aware, is
+celebrated for its mining interests. Like all other Mexican towns of
+the same class, it originated in small, insignificant settlements on
+the hillsides, in the immediate vicinity of the mines, until it
+gradually grew up to be a large and wealthy city, with a population of
+some 30,000 inhabitants. Its locale is a deep ravine formed among
+rugged mountain ridges; and as the houses are mostly built in rows,
+overtopping one another, along the hillsides, some portions of the
+city present all the appearance of a vast amphitheatre. Many of the
+streets are handsomely paved, and two of the squares are finely
+ornamented with curiously carved _jets-d'eau_, {100} which are
+supplied with water raised by mule power, from wells among the
+adjacent hills. From these the city is chiefly furnished with water.
+
+I have already mentioned, that General Santa Anna was at this time
+marching against Zacatecas with a large force. It may be remembered
+that after the General's accession to the supreme authority of Mexico
+(upon the establishment of _Centralismo_), he deemed it expedient to
+issue a decree abolishing the state militia, known as _C�vicos_, as
+being dangerous to the liberties of----the _dictador_. Zacatecas, so
+far from obeying this despotic mandate, publicly called on the C�vicos
+to defend their rights, and Santa Anna was now descending upon them
+with an army double that which the city could raise, to enforce their
+obedience. The _Zacatecanos_, however, were not idle. The militia was
+pouring in from the surrounding villages, and a degree of enthusiasm
+prevailed throughout the city, which seemed to be the presage of a
+successful defence. In fact, the city itself, besides being from its
+location almost impregnable, was completely protected by artificial
+fortifications. The only accessible point [Pg175] was by the main
+road, which led from the south immediately up the narrow valley of the
+ravine. Across this a strong wall had been erected some years before,
+and the road passed through a large gate, commanded by a bastion upon
+the hillside above, whence a hundred men well supplied with arms and
+ammunition, might easily cut {101} off thousands upon thousands, as
+fast as they advanced. The city was therefore deemed impregnable, and
+being supplied with provisions for a lengthy siege, the patriots were
+in high spirits. A foreign engineer or two had been engaged to
+superintend the fortifications.
+
+Santa Anna reached Zacatecas a few days after my departure. As he had
+no idea of testing the doubtful mettle of his army, by an attempt to
+storm the place, which presented so formidable an appearance, he very
+quietly squatted himself down at the village of Guadalupe, three miles
+below. From this point he commenced his operations by throwing
+'missiles' into the city--not of lead, or cast-iron, or any such cruel
+agents of warfare, but _bombs of paper_, which fell among the
+besieged, and burst with gentle overtures to their commanding
+officers. This novel 'artillery' of the dictator produced a perfectly
+electric effect; for the valor of the commandant of the C�vicos rose
+to such a pitch, that he at once marched his forces out of the
+fortifications, to attack the besiegers in the open field--face to
+face, as true bravery required. But on the very first onset, this
+valiant officer, by some mysterious agency which could not be
+accounted for, was suddenly seized with a strange panic, and, with all
+his forces, made a precipitate retreat, fleeing helter-skelter, as if
+all the engines of destruction that were ever invented, had been
+brought to bear upon them; when the victorious army of Santa Anna
+marched into the city without further opposition.
+
+{102} This affair is a pretty just sample of most of the [Pg176]
+successful battles of this 'great general.' The treacherous collusion
+of the principal Zacatecas officers was so apparent, that they deemed
+it prudent to fly the city for safety, lest the wrath of their
+incensed fellow-citizens should explode upon them. Meanwhile the
+soldiery amused themselves by sacking the city, and by perpetrating
+every species of outrage that their mercenary and licentious appetites
+could devise. Their savage propensities were particularly exercised
+against the few foreigners that were found in the place.
+
+Meanwhile I was journeying very leisurely towards Durango, where I
+arrived on the 21st of April. As the main wagon road to the north does
+not pass through that city, it was most convenient and still more
+prudent for me to leave my wagons at a distance: their entrance would
+have occasioned the confiscation of my goods, for the want of the
+'necessary documents,' as already alluded to. But I now procured a
+_guia_ without further difficulty; which was indeed a principal object
+of my present visit to that city.
+
+Before leaving Durango I witnessed one of those civil broils which are
+so common in Mexico. I was not even aware that any difficulty had been
+brewing, till I was waked on the morning of the 25th by a report of
+fire-arms. Stepping out to ascertain what was the matter, I perceived
+the _azotea_ of the parochial church occupied by armed men, who seemed
+to be employed in amusing themselves {103} by discharging their guns
+at random upon the people in the streets. These _bravos_, as I was
+afterwards informed, belonged to the bishop's party, or that of the
+_Escoceses_, which was openly at war with the liberalists,
+anti-hierarchists, or _Yorkinos_, and were resorting to this summary
+mode of proceeding, in order to bring about a change of affairs; for
+at this time the liberal party had the ascendency in the civil
+government of Durango. [Pg177]
+
+Being somewhat curious to have a nearer view of what was going on, I
+walked down past the church, towards a crowd which was assembled in a
+_plaza_ beyond. This movement on my part was rather inconsiderate: for
+foreigners were in extremely bad odor with the belligerents; nor had I
+mingled with the multitude many minutes, before a sober-looking
+citizen plucked me by the sleeve, and advised me, if I valued my two
+ears, and did not wish to have my career of usefulness cut short
+prematurely, to stay within doors. Of course I needed no further
+persuasion, and returned at once to my lodgings, where I made
+immediate preparations for a speedy departure. As I was proceeding
+through the streets soon afterward, with a cargo of goods, I received,
+just after leaving the custom-house, a very warm salutation from the
+belligerents, which made the dust start from almost under my very
+feet. The _cargadores_ who were carrying my packages were no doubt as
+much frightened as myself. They supposed the reason of their shooting
+at us to be because {104} they imagined we were carrying off the
+_parque_ (ammunition) of the government, which was deposited in the
+building we had just left.
+
+We were soon under way, and very little regret did I feel when I
+fairly lost sight of the city of scorpions. But I was not yet wholly
+beyond the pale of difficulties. Owing to the fame of the Indian
+hostilities in the North, it was almost impossible to procure the
+services of Mexican muleteers for the expedition. One I engaged, took
+the first convenient opportunity to escape at night, carrying away a
+gun with which I had armed him; yet I felt grateful that he did not
+also take a mule, as he had the whole _caballada_ under his exclusive
+charge: and soon after, a Mexican wagoner was frightened back by the
+reports of savages.
+
+After a succession of such difficulties, and still greater [Pg178]
+risks from the Indians that infested the route, I was of course
+delighted when I reached Chihuahua, on the 14th of May, in perfect
+safety.[122]
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[114] The numerous little lakes throughout the interior of Mexico,
+without outlets yet into which rivers are continually flowing, present
+a phenomenon which seem, quite singular to the inhabitants of our
+humid climates. But the wastage in the sand, and still greater by
+evaporation in those elevated dry regions, is such that there are no
+important rises in the lakes except during unusual freshets.--GREGG.
+
+[115] The road passed southeast through the state of Durango, where
+all these small stations may be found on any good map. According to
+Pike the owner of the vast estate near La Zarca was the Marquis de San
+Miguel.--ED.
+
+[116] Also, from the _Pulque_ is distilled a spiritous liquor called
+_mezcal_. The _maguey_ (_Agave Americana_) is besides much used for
+hedging. It here performs the double purpose of a cheap and
+substantial fence, and of being equally valuable for _pulque_. When no
+longer serviceable in these capacities, the pulpy stalk is converted,
+by roasting, into a pleasant item of food, while the fibrous blades,
+being suitably dressed, are still more useful. They are manufactured
+into ropes, bags, etc., which resemble those made of the common
+sea-grass, though the fibres are finer. There is one species (which
+does not produce pulque, however), whose fibres, known in that country
+as _pita_, are nearly as fine as dressed hemp, and are generally used
+for sewing shoes, saddlery, and similar purposes.--GREGG.
+
+[117] See Elliott Coues, _Expeditions of Zebulon M. Pike_ (New York,
+1895), ii, p. 763, note 34. That editor identifies the scorpion as
+_Androctomus biaculeatus_, and favorably comments on Gregg's sensible
+explanation of Pike's story.--ED.
+
+[118] Travellers on these public highways not only go 'armed to the
+teeth,' but always carry their weapons exposed. Even my wagoners
+carried their guns and pistols swung upon the pommels of their
+saddles. At night, as we generally camped out, they were laid under
+our heads, or close by our sides.--GREGG.
+
+[119] Aguascalientes is the capital of a small interior Mexican state
+of the same name, now on the line of the Mexican Central Railway. It
+was founded in 1575, and at the close of the eighteenth century was a
+place of considerable importance. During the negotiations for peace
+between the United States and Mexico (1848), a revolution broke out at
+this place, that was with difficulty subdued.--ED.
+
+[120] This was part of the centralist revolution, for which see our
+volume xix, p. 271, note 96 (Gregg). Santa Ana himself subdued the
+opposition in Zacatecas, where his soldiers were permitted to plunder
+widely.--ED.
+
+[121] Some of these table-plain highways, though of but a dry sandy
+and clayey soil, are as firm as a brick pavement. In some places, for
+miles, I have remarked that the nail-heads of my shod animals would
+hardly leave any visible impression.--GREGG.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII {VI}
+
+Visit to the Mining Town of Jesus-Maria -- Critical Roads -- Losing
+  Speculations -- Mine of Santa Juliana -- Curious mining Operations
+  -- Different Modes of working the Ore -- The Crushing-mill, etc. --
+  _Barras de Plata_ -- Value of Bullion -- The Silver Trade -- Return
+  to Chihuahua -- Resumption of the regular Narrative -- Curious
+  Wholesales -- Money Table -- Redundancy of Copper Coin -- City of
+  Chihuahua and its Peculiarities -- Ecclesiastical Architecture --
+  Hidalgo and His Monument -- Public Works, and their present
+  Declension -- _F�te_ in honor of Iturbide -- Illiberality towards
+  Americans -- Shopping Mania -- Anti-Masonic _Auto de Fe_.
+
+
+Before resuming my regular narrative, I trust the reader will pardon
+me for introducing here a brief account of an excursion which I made
+in the fall of the year 1835, to the mining town of Jesus-Maria, one
+of the most important mineral districts in the department of
+Chihuahua, situated about a hundred and fifty miles west of the city,
+in the very heart of the great Cordilleras.[123]
+
+I had long been desirous of visiting some of the mining establishments
+of Mexico, and seeing a favorable opportunity of embarking in a
+profitable enterprise, I set out from Chihuahua on the 15th of
+October. My party consisted of but one American comrade, with {106} a
+Mexican muleteer--and three or four mules freighted with specie to be
+employed in the _silver trade_: a rather scanty convoy for a route
+subject to the inroads both of savages and robbers. For
+transportation, [Pg179] we generally pack our specie in sacks made of
+raw beef hide, which shrinks upon drying, and thus presses the
+contents so closely as to prevent friction. A pair of these packages,
+usually containing between one and two thousand dollars each,
+constitutes an ordinary mule-load on the mountain routes.
+
+The road in this direction leads through the roughest mountain passes;
+and, in some places, it winds so close along the borders of
+precipices, that by a single misstep an animal might be precipitated
+several hundred feet. Mules, however, are very surefooted; and will
+often clamber along the most craggy cliffs with nearly as much
+security as the goat. I was shown the projecting edge of a rock over
+which the road had formerly passed. This shelf was perhaps thirty feet
+in length by only two or three in width. The road which leads into the
+town of Jesus-Maria from the west side of the mountain is also
+extremely perilous and steep, and seems almost to overhang the houses
+below. Heavily laden mules have sometimes slipped off the track, and
+tumbled headlong into the town. This place is even more pent up
+between ridges than Zacatecas: the valley is narrower and the
+mountains much higher; while, as is the case with that remarkable
+city, the houses are {107} sometimes built in successive tiers, one
+above another; the _azoteas_ of the lower ones forming the yard of
+those above.
+
+The first mine I visited consisted of an immense horizontal shaft cut
+several hundred feet into a hill-side, a short distance below the town
+of Jesus-Maria, upon which the proprietors had already sunk, in the
+brief space of one year, the enormous sum of one hundred and twenty
+thousand dollars! Such is often the fate of the speculative miner,
+whose vocation is closely allied to gaming, and equally precarious.
+[Pg180]
+
+The most important mine of Jesus-Maria at this time was one called
+Santa Juliana, which had been the means of alternately making and
+sinking several splendid fortunes. This mine had then reached a depth
+of between eight and nine hundred feet, and the operations were still
+tending downwards. The materials were drawn up by mule power applied
+to a windlass: but as the rope attached to it only extended half way
+down, another windlass had been erected at the distance of about four
+hundred feet from the mouth of the cavern, which was also worked by
+mules, and drew the ores, etc., from the bottom. On one occasion, as I
+was standing near the aperture of this great pit, watching the ascent
+of the windlass-rope, expecting every moment the appearance of the
+large leathern bucket which they employ for drawing up the minerals as
+well as the rubbish and water[124] from the bottom, {108} what should
+greet my vision but a mule, puffing and writhing, firmly bound to a
+huge board constructed for the purpose, and looking about as demure
+upon the whole as a sheep under the shears. On being untied, the
+emancipated brute suddenly sprang to his feet, and looked around him
+at the bright scenes of the upper world with as much astonishment as
+Rip Van Winkle may be supposed to have felt after waking up from his
+twenty years' sleep.
+
+The ore which is obtained from these mines, if sufficiently rich to
+justify the operation, is transferred to the smelting furnaces, where
+the pure metal is melted down and extracted from the virgin fossil.
+If, on the contrary, the ore is deemed of inferior quality, it is then
+submitted to the process of amalgamation.
+
+[Illustration: Mule emerging from a mine]
+
+[Illustration: Still Hunting]
+
+{109} The _moliendas_, or crushing-mills (_arrastres_, as called at
+some mines), employed for the purpose of grinding the [Pg183] ores,
+are somewhat singular machines. A circular (or rather annular) cistern
+of some twenty or thirty feet in diameter is dug in the earth, and the
+sides as well as the bottom are lined with hewn stone of the hardest
+quality. Transversely through an upright post which turns upon its
+axis in the centre of the plan, passes a shaft of wood, at each end of
+which are attached by cords one or two grinding-stones with smooth
+flat surfaces, which are dragged (by mules fastened to the extremities
+of the shaft) slowly around upon the bottom of the cistern, into which
+the ore is thrown after being pounded into small pieces. It is here
+ground, with the addition of water, into an impalpable mortar, by the
+constant friction of the dragging stones against the sides and bottom
+of the cistern. A suitable quantity of quicksilver is perfectly mixed
+with the mortar; to which are added some muriates, sulphates, and
+other chemical substances, to facilitate the amalgamation. The
+compound is then piled up in small heaps, and not disturbed again
+until this process is supposed to be complete, when it is transferred
+to the washing-machine. Those I have observed are very simple,
+consisting of a kind of stone tub, into which a stream of water is
+made to flow constantly, so as to carry off all the lighter matter,
+which is kept stirred up by an upright studded with pegs, that
+revolves in the centre, while the amalgamated metals sink {110} to the
+bottom. Most of the quicksilver is then pressed out, and the silver
+submitted to a burning process, by which the remaining portion of
+mercury is expelled.
+
+The silver which is taken from the furnace, generally contains an
+intermixture of gold, averaging from ten to thirty per cent.; but what
+is extracted by amalgamation is mostly separated in the washing. While
+in a liquid state, the gold, from its greater specific gravity, mostly
+settles to the bottom: yet it usually retains a considerable alloy of
+silver. The [Pg184] compound is distinguished by the name of
+_oroche_. The main portion of the silver generally retains too little
+gold to make it worth separating.
+
+Every species of silver is moulded into _barras_ or ingots, weighing
+from fifty to eighty pounds each, and usually worth between one and
+two thousand dollars. These are assayed by an authorized agent of the
+government, and stamped with their weight and character, which enables
+the holder to calculate their value by a very simple rule. When the
+bullion is thus stamped, it constitutes a species of currency, which
+is much safer for remittances than coin. In case of robbery, the
+_barras_ are easily identified, provided the robbers have not had time
+to mould them into some other form. For this reason, people of wealth
+frequently lay up their funds in ingots; and the cellars of some of
+the _ricos_ of the South, are often found teeming with large
+quantities of them, presenting the appearance of a winter's supply of
+firewood.
+
+{111} As the charge for parting the gold and silver at the Mexican
+mints, is generally from one to two dollars, and coinage about fifty
+cents, per pound, this assayed bullion yields a profit upon its
+current value of nearly ten per cent. at the United States Mint; but,
+if unassayed, it generally produces an advance of about double that
+amount upon the usual cost at the mines. The exportation of bullion,
+however, is prohibited, except by special license from the general
+government. Still a large quantity is exported in this way, and
+considerable amounts smuggled out through some of the ports.
+
+A constant and often profitable business in the 'silver trade' is
+carried on at these mines. As the miners rarely fail being in need of
+ready money, they are generally obliged to sell their bullion for
+coin, and that often at a great sacrifice, so as to procure available
+means to prosecute their mining [Pg185] operations. To profit by this
+trade, as is already mentioned, was a principal object of my present
+visit. Having concluded my business transactions, and partially
+gratified my curiosity, I returned to Chihuahua, where I arrived,
+November 24, 1835, without being molested either by robbers or
+Indians, though the route is sometimes infested by both these classes
+of independent gentry.
+
+But, as it is now high time I should put an end to this digression, I
+will once more resume my narrative, where it was interrupted at my
+arrival in Chihuahua, on the first of October, 1839.
+
+{112} It is usual for each trader, upon his arrival in that city, to
+engage a store-room, and to open and exhibit his goods, as well for
+the purpose of disposing of them at wholesale as retail. His most
+profitable custom is that of the petty country merchants from the
+surrounding villages. Some traders, it is true, continue in the retail
+business for a season or more, yet the greater portion are transient
+dealers, selling off at wholesale as soon as a fair bargain is
+offered.
+
+The usual mode of selling by the lot in Chihuahua is somewhat
+singular. All such cottons as calicoes and other prints, bleached,
+brown and blue domestics both plain and twilled, stripes, checks,
+etc., are rated at two or three _reales_[125] per _vara_, without the
+least reference to quality or cost, and the 'general assortment' at 60
+to 100 per cent. upon the bills of cost, according to the demand. The
+_varage_ is [Pg186] usually estimated by adding eight per cent. to
+the yardage, but the _vara_ being thirty-three inches (nearly), the
+actual difference is more than nine. In these sales, cloths--{113}
+indeed all measurable goods, except ribands and the like, sometimes
+enter at the _varage_ rate. I have heard of some still more curious
+contracts in these measurement sales, particularly in Santa F�, during
+the early periods of the American trade. Everything was sometimes
+rated by the vara--not only all textures, but even hats, cutlery,
+trinkets, and so on! In such cases, very singular disputes would
+frequently arise as to the mode of measuring some particular articles:
+for instance, whether pieces of riband should be measured in bulk, or
+unrolled, and yard by yard; looking-glasses, cross or lengthwise;
+pocket-knives, shut or open; writing-paper, in the ream, in the quire,
+or by the single sheet; and then, whether the longer or shorter way of
+the paper; and so of many others.
+
+Before the end of October, 1839, I had an opportunity of selling out
+my stock of goods to a couple of English merchants, which relieved me
+from the delays, to say nothing of the inconveniences attending a
+retail trade: such, for instance, as the accumulation of copper coin,
+which forms almost the exclusive currency in petty dealings. Some
+thousands of dollars' worth are frequently accumulated upon the hands
+of the merchant in this way, and as the copper of one department is
+worthless in another, except for its intrinsic value, which is seldom
+more than ten per cent. of the nominal value, the holders are
+subjected to a great deal of trouble and annoyance.
+
+With regard to the city, there is but little to {114} be said that is
+either very new or unusually interesting. When compared with Santa F�
+and all the towns of the North, Chihuahua might indeed be pronounced a
+magnificent place; but, compared with the nobler cities of _tierra
+afuera_, it sinks [Pg187] into insignificance. According to Capt.
+Pike, the city of Chihuahua was founded in 1691. The ground-plan is
+much more regular than that of Santa F�, while a much greater degree
+of elegance and classic taste has been exhibited in the style of the
+architecture of many buildings; for though the bodies be of _adobe_,
+all the best houses are cornered with hewn stone, and the doors and
+windows are framed in the same. The streets, however, remain nearly in
+the same state as Nature formed them, with the exception of a few
+roughly-paved side-walks. Although situated about a hundred miles east
+of the main chain of the Mexican Cordilleras, Chihuahua is surrounded
+on every side by detached ridges of mountains, but none of them of any
+great magnitude. The elevation of the city above the ocean is between
+four and five thousand feet; its latitude is 28� 36�; and its entire
+population numbers about ten thousand souls.
+
+The most splendid edifice in Chihuahua is the principal church, which
+is said to equal in architectural grandeur anything of the sort in the
+republic. The steeples, of which there is one at each front corner,
+rise over a hundred feet above the azotea. They are composed of very
+fancifully-carved columns; and {115} in appropriate niches of the
+frontispiece, which is also an elaborate piece of sculpture, are to be
+seen a number of statues, as large as life, the whole forming a
+complete representation of Christ and the twelve Apostles. This church
+was built about a century ago, by contributions levied upon the mines
+(particularly those of Santa Eulalia, fifteen or twenty miles from the
+city), which paid over a per centage on all the metal extracted
+therefrom; a _medio_, I believe, being levied upon each _marco_ of
+eight ounces. In this way, about a million of dollars was raised and
+expended in some thirty years, the time employed in the construction
+of the building. It is a curious fact, however, that, notwithstanding
+the enormous sums of money expended [Pg188] in outward embellishments,
+there is not a church from thence southward, perhaps, where the
+interior arrangements bear such striking marks of poverty and neglect.
+If, however, we are not dazzled by the sight of those costly
+decorations for which the churches of Southern Mexico are so much
+celebrated, we have the satisfaction of knowing that the turrets are
+well provided with bells, a fact of which every person who visits
+Chihuahua very soon obtains auricular demonstration. One, in
+particular, is so large and sonorous that it has frequently been
+heard, so I am informed, at the distance of twenty-five miles.
+
+A little below the _Plaza Mayor_ stands the ruins (as they may be
+called) of San Francisco--the mere skeleton of another great church
+{116} of hewn-stone, which was commenced by the Jesuits previous to
+their expulsion in 1767, but never finished. By the outlines still
+traceable amid the desolation which reigns around, it would appear
+that the plan of this edifice was conceived in a spirit of still
+greater magnificence than the Parroquia which I have been describing.
+The abounding architectural treasures that are mouldering and ready to
+tumble to the ground, bear sufficient evidence that the mind which had
+directed its progress was at once bold, vigorous and comprehensive.
+
+This dilapidated building has since been converted into a sort of
+state prison, particularly for the incarceration of distinguished
+prisoners. It was here that the principals of the famous Texan Santa
+F� Expedition were confined, when they passed through the place, on
+their way to the city of Mexico.[126] This edifice has also acquired
+considerable celebrity as having received within its gloomy embraces
+several of the most distinguished patriots, who were taken prisoners
+during the first infant struggles for Mexican independence. [Pg189]
+Among these was the illustrious ecclesiastic, Don Miguel Hidalgo y
+Costilla, who made the first declaration at the village of Dolores,
+September 16, 1810.[127] He was taken prisoner in March, 1811, some
+time after his total defeat at Guadalaxara; and being brought to
+Chihuahua, he was shot on the 30th of July following, in a little
+square back of the prison, where a plain white monument of hewn stone
+{117} has been erected to his memory. It consists of an octagon base
+of about twenty-five feet in diameter, upon which rises a square,
+unornamented pyramid to the height of about thirty feet. The monument
+indeed is not an unapt emblem of the purity and simplicity of the
+curate's character.
+
+Among the few remarkable objects which attract the attention of the
+traveller is a row of columns supporting a large number of stupendous
+arches which may be seen from the heights, long before approaching the
+city from the north. This is an aqueduct of considerable magnitude
+which conveys water from the little river of Chihuahua, to an eminence
+above the town, whence it is passed through a succession of pipes to
+the main public square, where it empties itself into a large stone
+cistern; and by this method the city is supplied with water. This and
+other public works to be met with in Chihuahua, and in the southern
+cities, are glorious remnants of the prosperous times of the Spanish
+empire. No improvements on so exalted a scale have ever been made
+under the republican government. In fact, everything in this benighted
+country now seems to be on the decline, and the plain honest citizen
+of the old school is not unfrequently heard giving vent to his
+feelings by ejaculating "_�Ojal� por los dias felices del Rey!_"--Oh,
+for the happy days of the King! In short, there can be no doubt, that
+the common people enjoyed more ease--more protection against the
+[Pg190] savages--more {118} security in their rights and
+property--more _liberty_, in truth, under the Spanish dynasty than at
+present.
+
+No better evidence can be found of the extensive operations which have
+been carried on in this the greatest mining district of Northern
+Mexico, than in the little mountains of _scoria_ which are found in
+the suburbs of the city. A great number of poor laborers make a
+regular business of hammering to pieces these metallic excrescences,
+from which they collect silver enough to buy their daily bread. An
+opinion has often been expressed by persons well acquainted with the
+subject, that a fair business might be done by working this same
+scoria over again. There are still in operation several furnaces in
+the city, where silver ores extracted from the mines of the
+surrounding mountains are smelted. There is also a rough mint in
+Chihuahua (as there is indeed in all the mining departments), yet most
+of its silver and all of its gold have been coined in the cities
+further south.
+
+When I arrived at Chihuahua, in 1839, a great f�te had just come off
+for the double purpose of celebrating the anniversary of the Emperor
+Iturbide's birth day (Sept. 27, 1783), and that of his triumphal
+entrance into the city of Mexico in 1821. It will be remembered, that,
+after Mexico had been struggling for independence several years,
+General Iturbide, who had remained a faithful officer of the crown,
+and an active agent in persecuting the champions of Mexican liberty,
+finding {119} himself, about the close of 1820, at the head of a large
+division of the royal army sent against the patriot Guerrero, suddenly
+turned over his whole force to the support of the republican cause,
+and finally succeeded in destroying the last vestige of Spanish
+authority in Mexico. How he was afterwards crowned emperor, and
+subsequently [Pg191] dethroned, outlawed by a public decree and
+eventually executed, is all matter of history.[128] But it is not
+generally known, I believe, that this unfortunate soldier has since
+received the honors of the Father of the Republic, a dignity to which
+he was probably as much entitled as any one else--absurd though the
+adoption of such a hero as the 'champion of liberty,' may appear to
+'republicans of the Jefferson school.' A _grande f�te d'hilarit�_
+takes place annually, in honor of his political canonization, which
+'comes off' at the date already mentioned. To this great ball,
+however, no Americans were invited, with the exception of a
+Mexicanized denizen or two, whose invitation tickets informed the
+_honored party_ that the price of admission to this famous feast,--a
+ball given by the governor and other magnates of the land, in honor of
+the hero of independence,--was twenty-five dollars.
+
+Balls or reunions of this kind, however, seem not as frequent in
+Chihuahua as in New Mexico: and to those we hear of, claiming the
+title of 'fashionable,' Americans are very rarely invited. There is,
+in fact, but little social intercourse between foreigners and the
+natives, {120} except in a business way, or with a certain class of
+the former, at the gambling-table. This want of hospitable feelings is
+one of the worst traits in the character of the Chihuahue�os, and when
+placed in contrast with the kind and courteous treatment those who
+visit the United States invariably experience from the lawgivers of
+fashion among us, their illiberality will appear a hundred fold more
+ungracious. These exclusive laws are the more severely felt in
+Chihuahua, because in that city there are no _caf�s_, [Pg192] nor
+reading rooms, nor in short any favorite public resorts, except of a
+gambling character, at which gentlemen can meet to lounge or amuse
+themselves.
+
+Besides the cock-pit, the gaming-table, and the _Alameda_, which is
+the popular promenade for the wealthy and the indolent, one of the
+most favorite pastimes of the females generally is shopping; and the
+most fashionable time for this is by candle-light, after they have
+partaken of their chocolate and their _cigarritos_. The streets and
+shops are literally filled from dusk till nine or ten o'clock; and
+many a time have I seen the counter of a store actually lined till a
+late hour, with the fairest and most fashionable se�oritas of the
+city. On such occasions it is not a little painful as well as
+troublesome to be compelled to keep a strict eye to the rights of
+property, not that the dealers are all dishonest, but because there
+never fail to be some present who are painfully afflicted with the
+self-appropriating mania, {121} even among the fairest-looking
+se�oritas. This, with other purposes no less culpable, has no doubt
+tended to establish the custom of night-shopping.
+
+It may already be generally known perhaps, that the predominant party,
+in Mexico, (and particularly in the North), is decidedly anti-masonic.
+During my stay in Chihuahua I had an opportunity to test their
+antipathy for that mysterious brotherhood. This was evinced in the
+seizure of a dozen or two cotton handkerchiefs, which, unknown to
+myself, happened to bear the stamp of the 'masonic carpet.' These
+obnoxious articles having attracted the attention of some lynx-eyed
+friars, one day, much to my consternation, my store was suddenly
+invaded by the alcalde and some ecclesiastics. The handkerchiefs were
+seized without ceremony, and by an _auto de fe_, condemned to be
+publicly burned.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII {VII}
+
+Departure for Santa F� -- Straitened for Food -- Summary Effort to
+  procure Beef -- Seizure of one of our Party -- Altercation with
+  a _Rico_ -- His pusillanimous Procedure -- Great Preparations in
+  Chihuahua for our Arrest -- Arrival of Mexican Troops -- A polite
+  Officer -- Myself with three of my Men summoned back to Chihuahua
+  -- Amiable Conduct of Se�or Artalejo -- _Junta Departmental_ and
+  Discussion of my Affair -- Writ of _Habeas Corpus_ not in vogue
+  -- The Matter adjusted and Passport granted -- The _Morale_ --
+  Impunity of savage Depredators -- Final Start -- Company of
+  _Pase�os_ with their Fruits and Liquors -- Arrival at Santa F�.
+
+
+Having closed all my affairs in Chihuahua, and completed my
+preparations for departing, I took my leave of that city for the
+North, on the 31st of October, 1839. I was accompanied by a caravan
+consisting of twenty-two wagons (all of which save one belonged to
+me), and forty odd men, armed to the teeth, and prepared for any
+emergency we might be destined to encounter: a precaution altogether
+necessary, in view of the hordes of hostile savages which at all times
+infested the route before us.
+
+We also set out provided with an ample stock of bread and other
+necessaries; for, from the suburbs of Chihuahua to the village of
+{123} Carrizal, a distance of nearly a hundred and fifty miles, there
+are no settlements on the route, from whence to procure supplies. To
+furnish the party with meat, I engaged twenty sheep, to be delivered a
+few miles on the way, which were to be driven along for our daily
+consumption. But the contractor having failed, we found ourselves
+entering the wilderness without a morsel of meat. The second day our
+men began to murmur--it was surely 'dry living' upon mere bread and
+coffee: in fact, by the time we entered the 'territory' of the
+Hacienda de Encinillas, spoken of in another chapter, they were
+clearly suffering from hunger. I was therefore under the necessity of
+sending three Mexican muleteers of our party [Pg194] to _lazo_ a beef
+from a herd which was grazing at some distance from where we had
+pitched our camp; being one of those buffalo-like droves which run so
+nearly wild upon this extensive domain. It had been customary, from
+time immemorial, for travellers when they happened to be distressed
+for meat, to supply their wants out of the wild cattle which nominally
+belonged to this hacienda, reserving to themselves the privilege of
+paying a reasonable price afterwards to the proprietor for the damage
+committed. I must say, however, that, although I had travelled over
+the same road nine times, I had never before resorted to this summary
+mode of procuring food; nor should I, on the present occasion, have
+deviated from my regular practice, though thus partially authorized by
+a custom of the {124} country, but for the strait in which we found
+ourselves, and the fact that I was confident I should meet either with
+a _mayordomo_ or some of the _vaqueros_, to whom I could pay the value
+of the beef, before passing beyond the purlieus of the hacienda, upon
+the lands of which we had yet to travel for sixty or eighty miles.
+
+The muleteers had just commenced giving chase to the cattle, when we
+perceived several horsemen emerge from behind a contiguous eminence,
+and pursue them at full speed. Believing the assailants to be Indians,
+and seeing them shoot at one of the men, chase another, and seize the
+third, bearing him off prisoner, several of us prepared to hasten to
+the rescue, when the other two men came running in and informed us
+that the aggressors were Mexican vaqueros. We followed them,
+notwithstanding, to the village of Torreon, five or six miles to the
+westward, where we found a crowd of people already collected around
+our poor friend, who was trembling from head to foot, as though he had
+really fallen into the hands of savages. I immediately inquired for
+the mayordomo, when I was [Pg195] informed that the proprietor
+himself, Don Angel Trias, was present. Accordingly I addressed myself
+to _su se�or�a_, setting forth the innocence of my servant, and
+declaring myself solely responsible for whatever crime had been
+committed. Trias, however, was immovable in his determination to send
+the boy back to Chihuahua to be tried for robbery, and all further
+expostulation only drew down the {125} grossest and coarsest insults
+upon myself, as well as my country, of which he professed no
+inconsiderable knowledge.[129]
+
+The altercation was at first conducted solely in Spanish; but the
+princely se�or growing weary of hearing so many unpalatable truths
+told of himself in the vernacular of his own humble and astounded
+menials, he stepped out from among the crowd, and addressed me in
+English,--a language in which he had acquired some proficiency in the
+course of his travels. The change of language by no means altered his
+views, nor abated his pertinacity. At last, finding there was nothing
+to be gained by this war of words, I ordered the boy to mount his
+horse and rejoin the wagons. "Beware of the consequences!" vociferated
+the enraged Trias. "Well, let them come," I replied; "here we are."
+But we were suffered to depart in peace with the prisoner.
+
+That the reader may be able to form some idea of the pusillanimity of
+this lordly _haciendero_, it is only necessary to add, that when the
+altercation took place we were inside of the fortifications, from
+which our egress might easily have been prevented by simply closing
+the outer gate. We [Pg196] were surrounded by the whole population of
+the village, besides a {126} small detachment of regular troops, whose
+commandant took a very active part in the controversy, and fought most
+valiantly with his tongue. But the valor of the illustrious Se�or Don
+Angel knew a much safer course than to vent itself where there was
+even a remote chance of personal risk. His influence could not fail to
+enlist the public in his behalf, and he thought no doubt that his
+battles might just as well be fought by the officers of justice as by
+himself.
+
+Yet ignorant of his designs, and supposing the matter would end at
+this, we continued our march the next day, and by the time night
+approached we were full twenty miles from the seat of our late
+troubles. While at breakfast on the following morning we were greatly
+surprised by the appearance of two American gentlemen direct from
+Chihuahua, who had ridden thus far purposely to apprise us of what was
+brewing in the city to our detriment. It appeared that Trias had sent
+an express to the governor accusing me of rescuing a culprit from the
+hands of justice by force of arms, and that great preparations were
+accordingly being made to overtake and carry me back. That the reader
+may be able to understand the full extent and enormity of my offence,
+he has only to be informed that the proprietor of an hacienda is at
+once governor, justice of the peace, and everything besides which he
+has a mind to fancy himself--a perfect despot within the limits of his
+little dominion. It was, therefore, through contempt for _his_
+'excellency' {127} that I had insulted the majesty of the laws!
+
+Having expressed my sentiments of gratitude to my worthy countrymen
+for the pains they had taken on my account, we again pursued our
+journey, determined to abide the worst. This happened on the 3d of
+November: on the [Pg197] 5th we encamped near the Ojo Caliente, a
+hundred and thirty miles from Chihuahua. About eleven o'clock at
+night, a large body of men were seen approaching. They very soon
+passed us, and quietly encamped at a distance of several hundred
+yards. They were over a hundred in number.
+
+Nothing further occurred till next morning, when, just as I had risen
+from my pallet, a soldier approached and inquired if I was up. In a
+few minutes he returned with a message from _El Se�or Capitan_ to know
+if he could see me. Having answered in the affirmative, a very
+courteous and agreeable personage soon made his appearance, who, after
+bowing and scraping until I began to be seriously afraid that his body
+would break in two, finally opened his mission by handing me a packet
+of letters, one of which contained an order from the Governor for my
+immediate presence in Chihuahua, together with the three muleteers
+whom I had sent after the cattle; warning me, at the same time, not to
+give cause, by my resistance, for any other measure, which might be
+unpleasant to my person. The next document was from Se�or Trias
+himself, in which he expressed his regret {128} at having carried the
+matter to such an extreme, and ended with the usual offer of his
+services to facilitate an adjustment. Those, however, which most
+influenced my course, were from Don Jos� Artalejo (_Juez de Hacienda_,
+Judge of the Customs, of Chihuahua), who offered to become responsible
+for a favorable issue if I would peaceably return; and another from a
+Mr. Sutton, with whom I had formerly been connected in business. The
+manly and upright deportment of this gentleman had inspired me with
+the greatest confidence, and therefore caused me to respect his
+opinions. But, besides my obligation to submit to a mandate from the
+government, however arbitrary and oppressive, another [Pg198] strong
+motive which induced me to return, in obedience to the Governor's
+order, was a latent misgiving lest any hostile movement on my part, no
+matter with what justice or necessity, might jeopardize the interests
+if not the lives of many of my countrymen in Chihuahua.
+
+With regard to ourselves and our immediate safety, we would have found
+but very little difficulty in fighting our way out of the country. We
+were all well-armed, and many appeared even anxious to have a brush
+with the besiegers. However, I informed the captain that I was willing
+to return to Chihuahua, with the three 'criminals,' provided we were
+permitted to go armed and free, as I was not aware of having committed
+any crime to justify an arrest. He rejoined that {129} this was
+precisely in accordance with his orders, and politely tendered me an
+escort of five or six soldiers, who should be placed under my command,
+to strengthen us against the Indians, that were known to infest our
+route. Thanking him for his favor, I at once started for Chihuahua,
+leaving the wagons to continue slowly on the journey, and the amiable
+captain with his band of _valientes_ to retrace their steps at leisure
+towards the capital.
+
+Late on the evening of the third day, I reached the city, and put up
+at the American Fonda, where I was fortunate enough to meet with my
+friend Artalejo, who at once proposed that we should proceed forthwith
+to the Governor's house. When we found ourselves in the presence of
+his excellency, my valued friend began by remarking that I had
+returned according to orders, and that he would answer for me with his
+person and property; and then, without even waiting for a reply, he
+turned to me and expressed a hope that I would make his house my
+residence while I remained in the city. I could not, of course,
+decline so friendly an invitation, particularly as I thought it
+probable [Pg199] that, being virtually my bail, he might prefer to
+have me near his person. But, as soon as we reached the street, he
+very promptly removed that suspicion from my mind. "I invite you to my
+house," said he, "as a friend, and not as a prisoner. If you have any
+business to transact, do not hold yourself under the least restraint.
+To-morrow I will see the affair satisfactorily settled."
+
+{130} The _Junta Departamental_, or State Council, of which Se�or
+Artalejo was an influential member, was convened the following day.
+Meanwhile, every American I met with expressed a great deal of
+surprise to see me at liberty, as, from the excitement which had
+existed in the city, they expected I would have been lodged in the
+safest calabozo. I was advised not to venture much into the streets,
+as the rabble were very much incensed against me; but, although I
+afterwards wandered about pretty freely, no one offered to molest me;
+in fact, I must do the 'sovereigns of the city' the justice to say,
+that I was never more politely treated than during this occasion.
+Others suggested that, as Trias was one of the most wealthy and
+influential citizens of Chihuahua, I had better try to pave my way out
+of the difficulty with _plata_, as I could stand no chance in law
+against him. To this, however, I strenuously objected. I felt
+convinced that I had been ordered back to Chihuahua mainly for
+purposes of extortion, and I was determined that the _oficiales_
+should be disappointed. I had unbounded confidence in the friendship
+and integrity of Don Jos� Artalejo, who was quite an exception to the
+general character of his countrymen. He was liberal, enlightened and
+honorable, and I shall ever remember with gratitude the warm interest
+he took in my affair, when he could have had no other motive for
+befriending me except what might spring from the consciousness of
+having performed a generous action. [Pg200]
+
+{131} At first, when the subject of my liberation was discussed in the
+_Junta Departamental_, the symptoms were rather squally, as some
+bigoted and unruly members of the Council seemed determined to have me
+punished, right or wrong. After a long and tedious debate, however, my
+friend brought me the draft of a petition which he desired me to copy
+and sign, and upon the presentation of which to the Governor, it had
+been agreed I should be released. This step, I was informed, had been
+resolved upon, because, after mature deliberation, the Council came to
+the conclusion that the proceedings against me had been extremely
+arbitrary and illegal, and that, if I should hereafter prosecute the
+Department, I might recover heavy damages. The wholesome lesson which
+had so lately been taught the Mexicans by France, was perhaps the
+cause of the fears of the Chihuahua authorities. A clause was
+therefore inserted in the petition, wherein I was made to renounce all
+intention on my part of ever troubling the Department on the subject,
+and became myself a suppliant to have the affair considered as
+concluded.
+
+This petition I would never have consented to sign, had I not been
+aware of the arbitrary power which was exercised over me.
+Imprisonment, in itself, was of but little consequence; but the total
+destruction of my property, which might have been the result of
+further detention, was an evil which I deemed it necessary to ward
+off, even at a great sacrifice {132} of feeling. Moreover, being in
+duress, no forced concession would, of course, be obligatory upon me
+after I resumed my liberty. Again, I felt no very great inclination to
+sue for redress where there was so little prospect of procuring
+anything. I might certainly have represented the matter to the Mexican
+government, and even have obtained perhaps the acknowledgment of my
+claims against Chihuahua for damages; but the payment would [Pg201]
+have been extremely doubtful. As to our own Government, I had too much
+experience to rely for a moment upon her interposition.
+
+During the progress of these transactions, I strove to ascertain the
+character of the charges made against me; but in vain. All I knew was,
+that I had offended a _rico_, and had been summoned back to Chihuahua
+at his instance; yet whether for 'high treason,' for an attempt at
+robbery, or for contempt to his _se�or�a_, I knew not. It is not
+unusual, however, in that 'land of liberty,' for a person to be
+arrested and even confined for weeks without knowing the cause. The
+writ of _Habeas Corpus_ appears unknown in the judicial tribunals of
+Northern Mexico.
+
+Upon the receipt of my petition, the Governor immediately issued the
+following decree, which I translate for the benefit of the reader, as
+being not a bad specimen of Mexican grand eloquence:
+
+"In consideration of the memorial which you have this day directed to
+the Superior Government, His Excellency, {133} the Governor, has been
+pleased to issue the following decree:
+
+"'That, as Don Angel Trias has withdrawn his prosecution, so far as
+relates to his personal interests, the Government, using the equity
+with which it ought to look upon faults committed without a deliberate
+intention to infringe the laws, which appears presumable in the
+present case, owing to the memorialist's ignorance of them, the grace
+which he solicits is granted to him; and, in consequence, he is at
+liberty to retire when he chooses: to which end, and that he may not
+be interrupted by the authorities, a copy of this decree will be
+transmitted to him.'
+
+"In virtue of the above, I inclose the said decree to you, for the
+purposes intended.
+
+"God and Liberty. Chihuahua, Nov. 9, 1839.
+
+  "AMADO DE LA VEGA, Sec.
+
+  "TO DON JOSIAH GREGG."
+
+Thus terminated this 'momentous' affair. The moral of it may be summed
+up in a few words. A citizen [Pg202] of the United States who, under
+the faith of treaties, is engaged in his business, may be seized and
+harassed by the arbitrary authorities of Chihuahua with perfect
+impunity, because experience has proved that the American Government
+winks at almost every individual outrage, as utterly unworthy of its
+serious consideration. At the same time, the Indians may enter, as
+they frequently do, the suburbs of the city,--rob, plunder, and
+destroy life, without a single soldier being raised, or an effort made
+to bring the savage malefactors within the pale of justice. But a few
+days before the occasion of my difficulty at Torreon, the Apaches had
+killed a ranchero or two in the immediate neighborhood of the same
+village; and afterwards, {134} at the very time such a bustle was
+being made in Chihuahua to raise troops for my 'special benefit,' the
+Indians entered the corn-fields in the suburbs of the city, and killed
+several _labradores_ who were at work in them. In neither of these
+cases, however, were there any troops at command to pursue and
+chastise the depredators--though a whole army was in readiness to
+persecute our party. The truth is, they felt much less reluctance to
+pursue a band of civil traders, who, they were well aware, could not
+assume a hostile attitude, than to be caught in the wake of a band of
+savages, who would as little respect their lives as their laws and
+their property.
+
+Early on the morning of the 10th, I once more, and for the last time,
+and with anything but regret, took my leave of Chihuahua, with my
+companions in trouble. Toward the afternoon we met my old friend the
+captain, with his valiant followers, whom I found as full of urbanity
+as ever--so much so, indeed, that he never even asked to see my
+passport.
+
+On the evening of the next day, now in the heart of the savage haunts,
+we were not a little alarmed by the appearance of a large body of
+horsemen in the distance. [Pg203] They turned out, however, to be
+_Pase�os_, or citizens of the Paso del Norte. They were on their way
+to Chihuahua with a number of pack-mules laden with apples, pears,
+grapes, wine, and _aguardiente_--proceeds of their productive orchards
+and vineyards. It is from El Paso that Chihuahua is chiefly supplied
+with fruits and {135} liquors, which are transported on mules or in
+carretas. The fruits, as well fresh as in a dried state, are thus
+carried to the distant markets. The grapes, carefully dried in the
+shade, make excellent _pasas_ or raisins, of which large quantities
+are annually prepared for market by the people of that delightful town
+of vineyards and orchards, who, to take them altogether, are more
+sober and industrious than those of any other part of Mexico I have
+visited; and are happily less infested by the extremes of wealth and
+poverty.
+
+On the 13th, I overtook my wagons a few miles south of El Paso, whence
+our journey was continued, without any additional casualty, and on the
+6th of December we reached Santa F�, in fine health and spirits.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[122] The distance from Chihuahua to Durango is about five hundred
+miles, and from thence to Aguascalientes it is nearly three
+hundred--upon the route we travelled, which was very circuitous. All
+the intermediate country resembles, in its physical features, that
+lying immediately north of Chihuahua, which has already been
+described.--GREGG.
+
+[123] Jesus-Maria is still a mining town in western Chihuahua, in the
+heart of a sierra of the same name.--ED.
+
+[124] Water has sometimes accumulated so rapidly in this mine as to
+stop operations for weeks together.--GREGG.
+
+[125] The Mexican money table is as follows: 12 _granos_ make 1
+_real_; 8 _reales_, 1 _peso_, or dollar. These are the divisions used
+in computation, but instead of _granos_, the copper coins of Chihuahua
+and many other places, are the _claco_ or _jola_ (1/8 real) and the
+_cuartilla_ (1/4 real). The silver coins are the _medio_ (6-1/4
+cents), the _real_ (12-1/2 cents), the _peseta_ (2 reales), the
+_toston_ or half dollar, and the _peso_ or dollar. The gold coins are
+the _doblon_ or _onza_ (doubloon), with the same subdivisions as the
+silver dollar, which are also of the same weight. The par value of the
+doubloon is sixteen dollars; but, as there is no kind of paper
+currency, gold, as the most convenient remittance, usually commands a
+high premium--sometimes so high, indeed, that the doubloon is valued
+in the North at from eighteen to twenty dollars.--GREGG.
+
+[126] See Kendall, _Texan Santa F� Expedition_, ii, pp. 66-73.--ED.
+
+[127] For Hidalgo, see our volume xix, p. 176, note 11 (Gregg).--ED.
+
+[128] For Guerrero and Iturbide see Pattie's _Narrative_, in our
+volume xviii, p. 314 (note 130), p. 362 (note 141).--ED.
+
+[129] Trias, while yet a youth, was dispatched by his adopted father
+to take the tour of Europe and the United States. He was furnished for
+'pocket money' (as I have been told) with nearly a hundred _barras de
+plata_, each worth a thousand dollars or upwards. This money he easily
+got rid of during his travels, but retained most of his innate bigotry
+and self-importance: and, with his knowledge of the superiority of the
+people among whom he journeyed, grew his hatred for foreigners.
+--GREGG.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV [VIII]
+
+Preparations for returning Home -- Breaking out of the Small-pox --
+  The Start -- Our Caravan -- Manuel the Comanche -- A New Route --
+  The Prairie on Fire -- Danger to be apprehended from these
+  Conflagrations -- A Comanche Buffalo-chase -- A Skirmish with the
+  Pawnees -- An intrepid Mexican -- The Wounded -- Value of a thick
+  Skull -- Retreat of the Enemy and their Failure -- A bleak
+  Northwester -- Loss of our Sheep -- The Llano Estacado and Sources
+  of Red River -- The Canadian River -- Cruelties upon Buffalo --
+  Feats at 'Still-hunting' -- Mr. Wethered's Adventure -- Once more on
+  our own Soil -- The False Washita -- Enter our former Trail --
+  Character of the Country over which we had travelled -- Arrival at
+  Van Buren -- The two Routes to Santa F� -- Some Advantages of that
+  from Arkansas -- Restlessness of Prairie Travellers in civilized
+  life, and Propensity for returning to the Wild Deserts.
+
+
+About the beginning of February, 1840, and just as I was making
+preparations to return to the United States, [Pg204] the small-pox
+broke out among my men, in a manner which at first occasioned at least
+as much astonishment as alarm. One of them, who had been vaccinated,
+having travelled in a district where the small-pox prevailed,
+complained of a little fever, which was followed by slight eruptions,
+but so unlike true variolous pustules, that I treated the matter very
+lightly; not even suspecting a varioloid. These slight symptoms {137}
+having passed off, nothing more was thought of it until eight or ten
+days after, when every unvaccinated member of our company was attacked
+by that fell disease, which soon began to manifest very malignant
+features. There were no fatal cases, however; yet much apprehension
+was felt, lest the disease should break out again on the route; but,
+to our great joy, we escaped this second scourge.
+
+A party that left Santa F� for Missouri soon afterward, was much more
+unfortunate. On the way, several of their men were attacked by the
+small-pox: some of them died, and, others retaining the infection till
+they approached the Missouri frontier, they were compelled to undergo
+a 'quarantine' in the bordering prairie, before they were permitted to
+enter the settlements.
+
+On the 25th of February we set out from Santa F�; but owing to some
+delays, we did not leave San Miguel till the 1st of March. As the
+pasturage was yet insufficient for our animals, we here provided
+ourselves with over six hundred bushels of corn, to feed them on the
+way. This time our caravan consisted of twenty-eight wagons, two small
+cannons, and forty-seven men, including sixteen Mexicans and a
+Comanche Indian who acted in the capacity of guide.[130] Two gentlemen
+of Baltimore, {138} Messrs. [Pg205] S. Wethered and J. R. Ware, had
+joined our caravan with one wagon and three men, making up the
+aggregate above-mentioned. We had also a caballada of more than two
+hundred mules, with nearly three hundred sheep and goats. The sheep
+were brought along partially to supply us with meat in case of
+emergency: the surplusage, however, could not fail to command a fair
+price in the United States.
+
+Instead of following the trail of the year before, I determined to
+seek a nearer and better route down the south side of the Canadian
+river, under the guidance of the Comanche; by which movement, we had
+again to travel a distance of four hundred miles over an entirely new
+country. We had just passed the Laguna Colorada, where, the following
+year, a division of Texan volunteers, under General McLeod,
+surrendered to Col. Archuleta,[131] when our fire was carelessly
+permitted to communicate with the prairie grass. As there was a
+head-wind blowing at the time, we very soon got out of reach of the
+conflagration: but the next day, the wind having changed, the fire was
+again perceived in our rear approaching us at a very brisk pace. The
+terror [Pg206] which these prairie conflagrations are calculated to
+inspire, when the grass is tall and dry, as was the case in the
+present instance, has often {139} been described, and though the
+perils of these disasters are not unfrequently exaggerated, they are
+sometimes sufficient to daunt the stoutest heart. Mr. Kendall relates
+a frightful incident of this kind which occurred to the Texan Santa F�
+Exposition; and all those who have crossed the Prairies have had more
+or less experience as to the danger which occasionally threatens the
+caravans from these sweeping visitations. The worst evil to be
+apprehended with those bound for Santa F� is from the explosion of
+gunpowder, as a keg or two of twenty-five pounds each, is usually to
+be found in every wagon. When we saw the fire gaining so rapidly upon
+us, we had to use the whip very unsparingly; and it was only when the
+lurid flames were actually rolling upon the heels of our teams, that
+we succeeded in reaching a spot of short-grass prairie, where there
+was no further danger to be apprehended.
+
+The headway of the conflagration was soon after checked by a small
+stream which traversed our route; and we had only emerged fairly from
+its smoke, on the following day (the 9th), when our Comanche guide
+returned hastily from his accustomed post in advance, and informed us
+that he had espied three buffaloes, not far off. They were the first
+we had met with, and, being heartily anxious for a change from the
+dried beef with which we were provided, I directed the Comanche, who
+was by far our surest hunter, to prepare at once for the _chasse_. He
+said he preferred to hunt on {140} horseback and with his bow and
+arrow; and believing my riding-horse the fleetest in company (which,
+by the by, was but a common pony, and thin in flesh withal), I
+dismounted and gave him the bridle, with many charges to treat him
+kindly, as we still had a long journey before [Pg207] us. "Don't
+attempt to kill but one--that will serve us for the present!" I
+exclaimed, as he galloped off. The Comanche was among the largest of
+his tribe--bony and muscular--weighing about two hundred pounds: but
+once at his favorite sport, he very quickly forgot my injunction, as
+well as the weakness of my little pony. He soon brought down two of
+his game,--and shyly remarked to those who followed in his wake, that,
+had he not feared a scolding from me, he would not have permitted the
+third to escape.
+
+On the evening of the 10th our camp was pitched in the neighborhood of
+a ravine in the prairie, and as the night was dark and dreary, the
+watch tried to comfort themselves by building a rousing fire, around
+which they presently drew, and commenced 'spinning long yarns' about
+Mexican fandangoes, and black-eyed damsels. All of a sudden the
+stillness of the night was interrupted by a loud report of fire-arms,
+and a shower of bullets came whizzing by the ears of the heedless
+sentinels. Fortunately, however, no one was injured; which must be
+looked upon as a very extraordinary circumstance, when we consider
+what a fair mark our men, thus huddled {141} round a blazing fire,
+presented to the rifles of the Indians. The savage yells, which
+resounded from every part of the ravine, bore very satisfactory
+testimony that this was no false alarm; and the 'Pawnee whistle' which
+was heard in every quarter, at once impressed us with the idea of its
+being a band of that famous prairie banditti.
+
+Every man sprang from his pallet with rifle in hand; for, upon the
+Prairies, we always sleep with our arms by our sides or under our
+heads. Our Comanche seemed at first very much at a loss what to do. At
+last, thinking it might possibly be a band of his own nation, he began
+a most boisterous harangue in his vernacular tongue, which he [Pg208]
+continued for several minutes; when finding that the enemy took no
+notice of him, and having become convinced also, from an occasional
+Pawnee word which he was able to make out, that he had been wasting
+breath with the mortal foes of his race, he suddenly ceased all
+expostulations, and blazed away with his rifle, with a degree of
+earnestness which was truly edifying, as if convinced that that was
+the best he could do for us.
+
+It was now evident that the Indians had taken possession of the entire
+ravine, the nearest points of which were not fifty yards from our
+wagons: a warning to prairie travellers to encamp at a greater
+distance from whatsoever might afford shelter for an enemy. The banks
+of the gully were low, but still they formed a very good breastwork,
+behind which {142} the enemy lay ensconced, discharging volleys of
+balls upon our wagons, among which we were scattered. At one time we
+thought of making an attempt to rout them from their fortified
+position; but being ignorant of their number, and unable to
+distinguish any object through the dismal darkness which hung all
+around, we had to remain content with firing at random from behind our
+wagons, aiming at the flash of their guns, or in the direction whence
+any noise appeared to emanate. Indeed their yelling was almost
+continuous, breaking out every now and then in the most hideous
+screams and vociferous chattering, which were calculated to appal such
+timorous persons as we may have had in our caravan. All their
+screeching and whooping, however, had no effect--they could not make
+our animals break from the enclosure of the wagons, in which they were
+fortunately shut up; which was no doubt their principal object for
+attacking us.
+
+I cannot forbear recording a most daring feat performed by a Mexican
+muleteer, named Antonio Chavez, during the hottest of the first onset.
+Seeing the danger of my [Pg209] two favorite riding horses, which
+were tethered outside within a few paces of the savages, he rushed out
+and brought safely in the most valuable of the two, though fusil-balls
+were showering around him all the while. The other horse broke his
+halter and made his escape.
+
+Although sundry scores of shots had been fired at our people, we had
+only two men {143} wounded. One, a Mexican, was but slightly injured
+in the hand, but the wound of the other, who was an Italian, bore a
+more serious aspect, and deserves especial mention. He was a short,
+corpulent fellow, and had been nicknamed 'Dutch'--a loquacious,
+chicken-hearted _fain�ant_, and withal in the daily habit of gorging
+himself to such an enormous extent, that every alternate night he was
+on the sick list. On this memorable occasion, Dutch had 'foundered'
+again, and the usual prescription of a double dose of Epsom salts had
+been his supper potion. The skirmish had continued for about an hour,
+and although a frightful groaning had been heard in Dutch's wagon for
+some time, no one paid any attention to it, as it was generally
+supposed to be from the effects of his dose. At length, however, some
+one cried out, "Dutch is wounded!" I immediately went to see him, and
+found him writhing and twisting himself as if in great pain, crying
+all the time that he was shot. "Shot!--where?" I inquired. "Ah! in the
+head, sir?" "Pshaw! Dutch, none of that; you've only bumped your head
+in trying to hide yourself." Upon lighting a match, however, I found
+that a ball had passed through the middle of his hat, and that, to my
+consternation, the top of his head was bathed in blood. It turned out,
+upon subsequent examination, that the ball had glanced upon the skull,
+inflicting a serious-looking wound, and so deep that an inch of sound
+skin separated the holes at which the {144} bullet had entered and
+passed out. Notwithstanding I at first apprehended [Pg210] a fracture
+of the scull, it very soon healed, and Dutch was 'up and about' again
+in the course of a week.
+
+Although teachers not unfrequently have cause to deplore the thickness
+of their pupils' skulls, Dutch had every reason to congratulate
+himself upon possessing such a treasure, as it had evidently preserved
+him from a more serious catastrophe. It appeared he had taken shelter
+in his wagon at the commencement of the attack, without reflecting
+that the boards and sheets were not ball-proof: and as Indians,
+especially in the night, are apt to shoot too high, he was in a much
+more dangerous situation than if upon the ground.
+
+The enemy continued the attack for nearly three hours, when they
+finally retired, so as to make good their retreat before daylight. As
+it rained and snowed from that time till nine in the morning, their
+'sign' was almost entirely obliterated, and we were unable to discover
+whether they had received any injury or not. It was evidently a foot
+party, which we looked upon as another proof of their being Pawnees;
+for these famous marauders are well known to go forth on their
+expeditions of plunder without horses, although they seldom fail to
+return well mounted.
+
+Their shot had riddled our wagons considerably: in one we counted no
+less than eight bullet-holes. We had the gratification to believe,
+however, that they did not get a single {145} one of our animals: the
+horse which broke away at the first onset, doubtless made his escape;
+and a mule which was too badly wounded to travel, was dispatched by
+the muleteers, lest it should fall into the hands of the savages, or
+into the mouths of the wolves; and they deemed it more humane to leave
+it to be eaten dead than alive. We also experienced considerable
+damage in our stock of sheep, a number of them having been devoured by
+wolves. They had been scattered at the beginning of the attack;
+[Pg211] and, in their anxiety to fly from the scene of action, had
+jumped, as it were, into the very jaws of their ravenous enemies.
+
+On the 12th of March, we ascended upon the celebrated _Llano
+Estacado_, and continued along its borders for a few days. The second
+night upon this dreary plain, we experienced one of the strongest and
+bleakest 'northwesters' that ever swept across those prairies; during
+which, our flock of sheep and goats, being left unattended, fled over
+the plain, in search of some shelter, it was supposed, from the
+furious element. Their disappearance was not observed for some time,
+and the night being too dark to discern anything, we were obliged to
+defer going in pursuit of them till the following morning. After a
+fruitless and laborious search, during which the effects of the mirage
+proved a constant source of annoyance and disappointment, we were
+finally obliged to relinquish the pursuit, and return to the caravan
+without finding one of them.
+
+{146} These severe winds are very prevalent upon the great western
+prairies, though they are seldom quite so inclement. At some seasons,
+they are about as regular and unceasing as the 'trade winds' of the
+ocean. It will often blow a gale for days, and even weeks together,
+without slacking for a moment, except occasionally at night. It is for
+this reason, as well as on account of the rains, that percussion guns
+are preferable upon the Prairies, particularly for those who
+understand their use. The winds are frequently so severe as to sweep
+away both sparks and priming from a flint lock, and thus render it
+wholly ineffective.
+
+The following day we continued our march down the border of the Llano
+Estacado. Knowing that our Comanche guide was about as familiar with
+all those great plains as a landlord with his premises, I began to
+question him, [Pg212] as we travelled along, concerning the different
+streams which pierced them to the southward. Pointing in that
+direction, he said there passed a water-course, at the distance of a
+hard day's ride, which he designated as a _ca�ada_ or valley, in which
+there was always water to be found at occasional places, but that none
+flowed in its channel except during the rainy season. This ca�ada he
+described as having its origin in the Llano Estacado some fifty or
+sixty miles east of Rio Pecos, and about the same distance south of
+the route we came, and that its direction was a little south of east,
+passing to the southward {147} of the northern portion of the Witchita
+mountains, known to Mexican Ciboleros and Comancheros as _Sierra
+Jumanes_. It was, therefore, evident that this was the principal
+northern branch of Red River. The False Washita, or _Rio Negro_, as
+the Mexicans call it, has its rise, as he assured me, between the
+Canadian and this ca�ada, at no great distance of the southeastward of
+where we were then travelling.
+
+On the 15th, our Comanche guide, being fearful lest we should find no
+water upon the plain, advised us to pursue a more northwardly course,
+so that, after a hard day's ride, we again descended the _ceja_ or
+brow of the Llano Estacado, into the undulating lands which border the
+Canadian; and, on the following day, we found ourselves upon the
+southern bank of that stream.
+
+Although, but a few days' travel above where we now were, the Canadian
+runs pent up in a narrow channel, scarcely four rods across, we here
+found it spread out to the width of from three to six hundred yards,
+and so full of sand-bars (only interspersed with narrow rills) as to
+present the appearance of a mere sandy valley instead of the bed of a
+river. In fact, during the driest seasons, the water wholly disappears
+in many places. Captain Boone, of the U. S. Dragoons, being upon an
+exploring expedition [Pg213] in the summer of 1843, came to the
+Canadian about the region of our western boundary, where he found the
+channel perfectly dry.[132] Notwithstanding {148} it presents the face
+of one of the greatest rivers of the west during freshets, yet even
+then it would not be navigable on account of its rapidity and
+shallowness. It would appear almost incredible to those unacquainted
+with the prairie streams, that a river of about 1500 miles in length,
+and whose head wears a cap of perennial snow (having its source in the
+Rocky Mountains), should scarcely be navigable, for even the smallest
+craft, over fifty miles above its mouth.
+
+We pursued our course down the same side of the river for several
+days, during which time we crossed a multitude of little streams which
+flowed into the Canadian from the adjoining plains, while others
+presented nothing but dry beds of sand. One of these was so
+remarkable, on account of its peculiarity and size, that we named it
+'Dry River.' The bed was at least 200 yards wide, yet without a
+vestige of water; notwithstanding, our guide assured us that it was a
+brisk-flowing stream some leagues above: and from the drift-wood along
+its borders, it was evident that, even here, it must be a considerable
+river during freshets.[133]
+
+While traveling down the course of the Canadian, we sometimes found
+the buffalo very abundant. On one [Pg214] occasion, two or three
+hunters, who were a little in advance of the caravan, perceiving a
+herd quietly grazing in an open glade, they 'crawled upon' them after
+the manner of the 'still hunters.' Their first shot having brought
+down a fine {149} fat cow, they slipped up behind her, and, resting
+their guns over her body, shot two or three others, without
+occasioning any serious disturbance or surprise to their companions;
+for, extraordinary as it may appear, if the buffalo neither see nor
+smell the hunter, they will pay but little attention to the crack of
+guns, or to the mortality which is being dealt among them.
+
+The slaughter of these animals is frequently carried to an excess,
+which shows the depravity of the human heart in very bold relief. Such
+is the excitement that generally prevails at the sight of these fat
+denizens of the prairies, that very few hunters appear able to refrain
+from shooting as long as the game remains within reach of their
+rifles; nor can they ever permit a fair shot to escape them. Whether
+the mere pleasure of taking life is {150} the incentive of these
+brutal excesses, I will not pretend to decide; but one thing is very
+certain, that the buffalo killed yearly on these prairies far exceeds
+the wants of the traveller, or what might be looked upon as the
+exigencies of rational sport.[134]
+
+But in making these observations, I regret that I cannot give to my
+precepts the force of my own example: I have not always been able
+wholly to withstand the cruel temptation. Not long after the incident
+above alluded to, as I was pioneering alone, according to my usual
+practice, at a distance of a mile or two ahead of the wagons, in
+search of the best route, I perceived in a glade, a few rods in front
+[Pg215] of me, several protuberances, which at first occasioned me no
+little fright, for I took them, as they loomed dimly through the tall
+grass, for the tops of Indian lodges. But I soon discovered they were
+the huge humps of a herd of buffalo, which were quietly grazing.
+
+I immediately alighted, and approached unobserved to within forty or
+fifty yards of the unsuspecting animals. Being armed with one of
+Cochran's nine-chambered rifles, I took aim at one that stood
+broad-side, and 'blazed away.' The buffalo threw up their heads and
+looked about, but seeing nothing (for I remained concealed in the
+grass), they again {151} went on grazing as though nothing had
+happened. The truth is, the one I had shot was perhaps but little
+hurt; for, as generally happens with the inexperienced hunter--and
+often with those who know better, the first excitement allowing no
+time for reflection--I no doubt aimed too high, so as to lodge the
+ball in the hump. A buffalo's heart lies exceedingly low, so that to
+strike it the shot should enter not over one-fourth of the depth of
+the body above the lower edge of the breast bone.
+
+The brutes were no sooner quiet, than I took another and more
+deliberate aim at my former victim, which resulted as before. But
+believing him now mortally wounded, I next fired in quick succession
+at four others of the gang. It occurred to me, by this time, that I
+had better save my remaining three shots; for it was possible enough
+for my firing to attract the attention of strolling savages, who might
+take advantage of my empty gun to make a sortie upon me--yet there
+stood my buffalo, some of them still quietly feeding.
+
+As I walked out from my concealment, a party of our own men came
+galloping up from the wagons, considerably alarmed. They had heard the
+six shots, and, not recollecting my repeating rifle, supposed I had
+been attacked [Pg216] by Indians, and therefore came to my relief.
+Upon their approach the buffalo all fled, except three which appeared
+badly wounded--one indeed soon fell and expired. The other two would
+doubtless have followed {152} the example of the first, had not a
+hunter, anxious to dispatch them more speedily, approached too near;
+when, regaining strength from the excitement, they fled before him,
+and entirely escaped, though he pursued them for a considerable
+distance.
+
+A few days after this occurrence, Mr. Wethered returned to the camp
+one evening with seven buffalo tongues (the hunter's usual trophy)
+swung to his saddle. He said that, in the morning, one of the hunters
+had ungenerously objected to sharing a buffalo with him; whereupon Mr.
+W. set out, vowing he would kill buffalo for himself, and 'no thanks
+to any one.' He had not been out long when he spied a herd of only
+seven bulls, quietly feeding near a ravine; and slipping up behind the
+banks, he shot down one and then another, until they all lay before
+him; and their seven tongues he brought in to bear testimony of his
+skill.
+
+Not long after crossing Dry River, we ascended the high grounds, and
+soon found ourselves upon the high ridge which divides the waters of
+the Canadian and False Washita, whose 'breaks' could be traced
+descending from the Llano Estacado far to the southwest.
+
+By an observation of an eclipse of one of Jupiter's satellites, on the
+night of the 25th of March, in latitude 35� 51� 30��, I found that we
+were very near the 100th degree of longitude west from Greenwich. On
+the following day, therefore, we celebrated our entrance into the
+United States territory. Those who {153} have never been beyond the
+purlieus of the land of their nativity, can form but a poor conception
+of the joy which the wanderer in distant climes [Pg217] experiences
+on treading once more upon his own native soil! Although we were yet
+far from the abodes of civilization, and further still from home,
+nevertheless the heart within us thrilled with exhilarating
+sensations; for we were again in our own territory, breathed our own
+free atmosphere, and were fairly out of reach of the arbitrary power
+which we had left behind us.
+
+As we continued our route upon this narrow dividing ridge, we could
+not help remarking how nearly these streams approach each other: in
+one place they seemed scarcely five miles apart. On this account our
+Comanche guide, as well as several Mexicans of our party, who had some
+acquaintance with these prairies, gave it as their opinion that the
+Washita or _Rio Negro_ was in fact a branch of the Canadian; for its
+confluence with Red River was beyond the bounds of their
+peregrinations.
+
+As the forest of Cross Timbers was now beginning to be seen in the
+distance, and fearing we might be troubled to find a passway through
+this brushy region, south of the Canadian, we forded this river on the
+29th, without the slightest trouble, and very soon entered our former
+trail, a little west of Spring Valley. This gave a new and joyful
+impulse to our spirits; for we had been travelling over twenty days
+without even a trail, {154} and through a region of which we knew
+absolutely nothing, except from what we could gather from our Comanche
+pilot. This trail, which our wagons had made the previous summer, was
+still visible, and henceforth there was an end to all misgivings.
+
+If we take a retrospective view of the country over which we
+travelled, we shall find but little that can ever present attractions
+to the agriculturist. Most of the low valleys of the Canadian, for a
+distance of five hundred miles, are either too sandy or too marshy for
+cultivation; and the upland prairies are, in many places, but little
+else than [Pg218] sand-hills. In some parts, it is true, they are
+firm and fertile, but wholly destitute of timber, with the exception
+of a diminutive branch of the Cross Timbers, which occupies a portion
+of the ridge betwixt the Canadian and the North Fork. The Canadian
+river itself is still more bare of timber than the upper Arkansas. In
+its whole course through the plains, there is but little except
+cottonwood, and that very scantily scattered along its banks--in some
+places, for leagues together, not a stick is to be seen. Except it be
+near the Mountains, where the valleys are more fertile, it is only the
+little narrow bottoms which skirt many of its tributary rivulets that
+indicate any amenity. Some of these are rich and beautiful in the
+extreme, timbered with walnut, mulberry, oak, elm, hackberry, and
+occasionally cedar about the bluffs.
+
+We now continued our journey without encountering any further
+casualty, except in {155} crossing the Arkansas river, where we lost
+several mules by drowning; and on the 22d of April we made our
+entrance into Van Buren. This trip was much more tedious and
+protracted than I had contemplated--owing, in the first part of the
+journey, to the inclemency of the season, and a want of pasturage for
+our animals; and, towards the conclusion, to the frequent rains, which
+kept the route in a miserable condition.
+
+Concerning this expedition, I have only one or two more remarks to
+offer. As regards the two different routes to Santa F�, although
+Missouri, for various reasons which it is needless to explain here,
+can doubtless retain the monopoly of the Santa F� trade, the route
+from Arkansas possesses many advantages. Besides its being some days'
+travel shorter,[135] it is less intersected with large streams; there
+are fewer sandy stretches, and a greater variety of [Pg219]
+wood-skirted brooks, affording throughout the journey very agreeable
+camping-places. Also, as the grass springs up nearly a month earlier
+than in Upper Missouri, caravans could start much sooner, and the
+proprietors would have double the time to conduct their mercantile
+transactions. Moreover, the return companies would find better
+pasturage on their way back, and reach their homes before the season
+of frost had far advanced. Again, such as should desire to engage in
+the 'stock {156} trade' would at once bring their mules and horses
+into a more congenial climate--one more in accordance with that of
+their nativity; for the rigorous winters of Missouri often prove fatal
+to the unacclimated Mexican animals.
+
+This was my last trip across the Plains, though I made an excursion,
+during the following summer, among the Comanche Indians, and other
+wild tribes, living in the heart of the Prairies, but returned without
+crossing to Mexico. The observations made during this trip will be
+found incorporated in the notices, which are to follow, of the
+Prairies and their inhabitants.
+
+Since that time I have striven in vain to reconcile myself to the even
+tenor of civilized life in the United States; and have sought in its
+amusements and its society a substitute for those high excitements
+which have attached me so strongly to Prairie life. Yet I am almost
+ashamed to confess that scarcely a day passes without my experiencing
+a pang of regret that I am not now roving at large upon those western
+plains. Nor do I find my taste peculiar; for I have hardly known a
+man, who has ever become familiar with the kind of life which I have
+led for so many years, that has not relinquished it with regret.
+
+There is more than one way of explaining this apparent incongruity. In
+the first place--the wild, unsettled and independent life of the
+Prairie trader, makes perfect freedom [Pg220] from nearly every kind
+of social dependence an absolute necessity of his being. He is in
+{157} daily, nay, hourly exposure of his life and property, and in the
+habit of relying upon his own arm and his own gun both for protection
+and support. Is he wronged? No court or jury is called to adjudicate
+upon his disputes or his abuses, save his own conscience; and no
+powers are invoked to redress them, save those with which the God of
+Nature has endowed him. He knows no government--no laws, save those of
+his own creation and adoption. He lives in no society which he must
+look up to or propitiate. The exchange of this untrammelled
+condition--this sovereign independence, for a life in civilization,
+where both his physical and moral freedom are invaded at every turn,
+by the complicated machinery of social institutions, is certainly
+likely to commend itself to but few,--not even to all those who have
+been educated to find their enjoyments in the arts and elegancies
+peculiar to civilized society;--as is evinced by the frequent
+instances of men of letters, of refinement and of wealth, voluntarily
+abandoning society for a life upon the Prairies, or in the still more
+savage mountain wilds.
+
+A 'tour on the Prairies' is certainly a _dangerous_ experiment for him
+who would live a quiet contented life at home among his friends and
+relatives: not so dangerous to life or health, as prejudicial to his
+domestic habits. Those who have lived pent up in our large cities,
+know but little of the broad, unembarrassed freedom of the Great
+Western Prairies. {158} Viewing them from a snug fire-side, they seem
+crowded with dangers, with labors and with sufferings; but once upon
+them, and these appear to vanish--they are soon forgotten.
+
+There is another consideration, which, with most men of the Prairies,
+operates seriously against their reconciliation to the habits of
+civilized life. Though they be [Pg221] endowed naturally with the
+organs of taste and refinement, and though once familiar with the ways
+and practices of civilized communities, yet a long absence from such
+society generally obliterates from their minds most of those common
+laws of social intercourse, which are so necessary to the man of the
+world. The awkwardness and the _gaucheries_ which ignorance of their
+details so often involves, are very trying to all men of sensitive
+temperaments. Consequently, multitudes rush back to the Prairies,
+merely to escape those criticisms and that ridicule, which they know
+not how to disarm.
+
+It will hardly be a matter of surprise then, when I add, that this
+passion for Prairie life, how paradoxical soever it may seem, will be
+very apt to lead me upon the Plains again, to spread my bed with the
+mustang and the buffalo, under the broad canopy of heaven,--there to
+seek to maintain undisturbed my confidence in men, by fraternizing
+with the little prairie dogs and wild colts, and the still wilder
+Indians--the _unconquered Sab�ans_ of the Great American Deserts.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[130] Manuel _el Comanche_ was a full Indian, born and bred upon the
+great prairies. Long after having arrived at the state of manhood, he
+accompanied some Mexican _Comancheros_ to the frontier village of San
+Miguel, where he fell in love with a Mexican girl--married her--and
+has lived in that place, a sober, 'civilized' citizen for the last ten
+or twelve years--endowed with much more goodness of heart and
+integrity of purpose than a majority of his Mexican neighbors. He had
+learned to speak Spanish quite intelligibly, and was therefore an
+excellent Comanche interpreter: and being familiar with every part of
+the prairies, he was very serviceable as a guide.--GREGG.
+
+[131] Laguna Colorada is in the northeastern part of what is now Quay
+County, New Mexico, about twelve miles west of Tucumcari Mount.
+
+General Hugh McLeod was born in New York in 1814. Graduated at West
+Point, he resigned from the army to offer his services to the Texans
+in their struggle for independence. He also commanded in a campaign
+against the Cherokee in 1839. After the unfortunate Texan-Santa F�
+expedition, McLeod was imprisoned in Mexico for about a year, and
+finally released at the request of the United States government. He
+served throughout the Mexican War, and joining the Confederate army in
+1861 died in Virginia the following year.
+
+Colonel Juan Andr�s Archuleta, to whom McLeod surrendered, was not the
+Archuleta who conspired against the United States in 1846-47.--ED.
+
+[132] Nathan Boone was the youngest son of the noted pioneer Daniel.
+Born in Kentucky in 1780, he emigrated to Missouri late in the
+eighteenth century, and distinguished himself in frontier service
+during the War of 1812-15. He made his home in St. Charles County,
+Missouri, and built therein the first stone house, in which his father
+died in 1820. The younger Boone entered the regular army in 1832, as
+captain of rangers; the following year saw him in command of a company
+of the 1st dragoons, with whom he saw much frontier service. In 1847
+he received his majoralty, and in 1850 became lieutenant-colonel.
+Three years later, he resigned from the army, dying at his home in
+Green County, Missouri, in 1857.--ED.
+
+[133] Dry River is not laid down on current modern maps. It is in
+northwestern Texas, apparently near the line of the Atchison, Topeka
+and Santa F� Railway, in Roberts and Hemphill counties. See our volume
+XVI, p. 130, note 61; also map 2 in _Senate Docs._, 31 cong., 1 sess.,
+12.--ED.
+
+[134] The same barbarous propensity is observable in regard to wild
+horses. Most persons appear unable to restrain this wanton inclination
+to take life, when a mustang approaches within rifle-shot. Many a
+stately steed thus falls a victim to the cruelty of man.--GREGG.
+
+[135] The latitude of Independence, Mo., is 39� 8�, while that of Van
+Buren is 35� 26�,--within a few miles of the parallel of Santa F�: and
+being on about the same meridian as Independence, the distance, of
+course, is considerably shorter.--GREGG.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV {IX} CONCLUSION OF THE SANTA F� TRADE
+
+Decline of Prices -- Statistical Table -- Chihuahua Trade -- Its
+  Extent -- Different Ports through which Goods are introduced to that
+  Market -- Expedition between Chihuahua and Arkansas -- The more
+  recent Incidents of the Santa F� Caravans -- Adventures of 1843 --
+  Robbery and Murder of Chavez -- Expedition from Texas -- Defeat of
+  Gen. Armijo's Van-guard -- His precipitate Retreat -- Texan
+  Grievances -- Unfortunate Results of Indiscriminate Revenge -- Want
+  of Discipline among the Texans -- Disarmed by Capt. Cook -- Return
+  of the Escort of U.S. Dragoons, and of the Texans -- Demands of the
+  Mexican Government -- Closing of the Santa F� Trade.
+
+
+Before proceeding to the graver matters to be presented in the
+succeeding chapters, a few words to those who are curious about the
+history of the Santa F� trade [Pg222] intervening between the
+conclusion of my personal narrative and the closing of the trade by
+the Mexican government, in 1843, may not be amiss.
+
+The Santa F� trade, though more or less fluctuating from its origin,
+continued to present an average increase and growth down to the year
+1831. During the same period, the prices of goods continued to go down
+in even a more rapid ratio. Since 1831, the rates of {160} sales have
+continued steadily to fall, to the latest period of the trade,
+although there has been no average increase in the number of
+adventurers, or amount of merchandise.[136]
+
+{161} From 1831 to the present date, prices have scarcely averaged,
+for medium calicoes, thirty-seven cents, and for plain domestic
+cottons thirty-one cents per yard. Taking [Pg223] assortments round,
+100 per cent, upon United States costs were generally considered
+excellent sales: many stocks have been sold at a much lower rate. The
+average prices of Chihuahua are equally low, yet a brisker demand has
+rendered this the most agreeable and profitable branch of the trade.
+
+{162} The first attempt to introduce American goods into the more
+southern markets of Mexico from Santa F�, was made in the year 1824.
+The amounts were very small, however, till towards the year 1831. For
+a few of the first years, the traders were in the habit of conveying
+small lots to Sonora and California; but this branch of the trade has,
+I believe, latterly ceased altogether. Yet the amounts transferred to
+Chihuahua have generally increased; so that for the last few years,
+that trade has consumed very nearly half of the entire imports by the
+Missouri Caravans.
+
+The entire consumption of foreign goods in the department of
+Chihuahua, has been estimated by intelligent Mexican merchants, at
+from two to three millions annually; [Pg224] the first cost of which
+might be set down at nearly one half. Of this amount the Santa F�
+trade, as will be seen from the accompanying table, has not furnished
+a tenth part; the balance being introduced through other ports, viz.:
+_Matamoras_, whence Chihuahua has received nearly half its
+supplies--_Vera Cruz_ via the city of Mexico, whence considerable
+amounts have been brought to this department--_Tampico_ on the Gulf of
+Mexico, and _Mazatlan_ on the Pacific, via Durango, whence the imports
+have been of some importance--while nearly all the west of the
+department, and especially the heavy consumption of the mining town of
+Jesus-Maria, receives most of its supplies from the port of _Guaymas_
+on the Gulf of {163} California; whence, indeed, several stocks of
+goods have been introduced as far as the city of Chihuahua itself. In
+1840, a large amount of merchandise was transported directly from the
+Red River frontier of Arkansas to Chihuahua; but no other expedition
+has ever been made in that direction.[137] [Pg225]
+
+{164} By far the greatest portion of the introductions through
+the sea-ports just alluded to, have been made by British merchants. It
+is chiefly the preference given to American manufacturers, which has
+enabled the merchandise of the Santa F� adventurers to compete in the
+Southern markets, with goods introduced through the sea-ports, which
+have had the {165} benefit of the drawback. In this last respect our
+traders have labored under a very unjust burden.
+
+It is difficult to conceive any equitable reason why merchants
+conveying their goods across the Prairies in wagons, should not be as
+much entitled to the protection of the Government, as those who
+transport them in vessels across the ocean. This assistance (with the
+reopening of the ports) might enable our merchants to monopolize the
+rich trade of Chihuahua; and they would obtain a share of that of the
+still richer departments of Durango and Zacatecas, as well as some
+portion of the Sonora and California [Pg226] trade. Then rating that
+of Chihuahua at two millions, half that of Durango at the same, and a
+million from Zacatecas, Sonora, etc., it would ascend to the clever
+amount of some five millions of dollars per annum.
+
+In point of revenue, the Santa F� trade has been of but little
+importance to the government of Mexico. Though the amount of duties
+collected annually at this port has usually been fifty to eighty
+thousand dollars, yet nearly one-half has been embezzled by the
+officers of the customs, leaving an average net revenue of perhaps
+less than forty thousand dollars per annum.
+
+It is not an unimportant fact to be known, that, since the year 1831,
+few or none of the difficulties and dangers which once environed the
+Santa F� adventurer have been encountered. No traders have been killed
+by the {166} savages on the regular route, and but few animals stolen
+from the caravans. On the whole, the rates of insurance upon
+adventures in this trade should hardly be as high as upon marine
+adventures between New York and Liverpool. While I declare, however,
+the serious dangers and troubles to have been in general so slight, I
+ought not to suppress at least an outline of the difficulties that
+occurred on the Prairies in 1843, which were attended with very
+serious consequences. [Pg227]
+
+It had been reported in Santa F� as early as November, 1842, that a
+party of Texans were upon the Prairies, prepared to attack any Mexican
+traders who should cross the plains the succeeding spring; and as some
+Americans were accused of being spies, and in collusion with the
+Texans, many were ordered to Santa F� for examination, occasioning a
+deal of trouble to several innocent persons. Than this, however, but
+little further attention was paid to the report, many believing it but
+another of those rumors of Texan invasion which had so often spread
+useless consternation through the country.
+
+So little apprehension appeared to exist, that, in February, 1843, Don
+Antonio Jos� Chavez, of New Mexico, left Santa F� for Independence,
+with but five servants, two wagons, and fifty-five mules. He had with
+him some ten or twelve thousand dollars in specie and gold bullion,
+besides a small lot of furs. As the month of March was extremely
+inclement, the little party suffered inconceivably {167} from cold and
+privations. Most of them were frost-bitten, and all their animals,
+except five, perished from the extreme severity of the season; on
+which account Chavez was compelled to leave one of his wagons upon the
+Prairies. He had worried along, however, with his remaining wagon and
+valuables, till about the tenth of April, when he found himself near
+the Little Arkansas; at least a hundred miles [Pg228] within the
+territory of the United States. He was there met by fifteen men from
+the border of Missouri, professing to be Texan troops, under the
+command of one John M'Daniel. This party had been collected, for the
+most part, on the frontier, by their leader, who was recently from
+Texas, from which government he professed to hold a captain's
+commission. They started no doubt with the intention of joining one
+Col. Warfield (also said to hold a Texan commission), who had been
+upon the Plains near the Mountains, with a small party, for several
+months--with the avowed intention of attacking the Mexican traders.
+
+Upon meeting Chavez, however, the party of M'Daniel at once determined
+to make sure of the prize he was possessed of, rather than take their
+chances of a similar booty beyond the U. S. boundary. The unfortunate
+Mexican was therefore taken a few miles south of the road, and his
+baggage rifled. Seven of the party then left for the settlements with
+their share of the booty, amounting to some four or five hundred
+dollars apiece; making the journey on foot, as their horses had taken
+{168} a stampede and escaped. The remaining eight, soon after the
+departure of their comrades, determined to put Chavez to death,--for
+what cause it would seem difficult to conjecture, as he had been, for
+two days, their unresisting prisoner. Lots were accordingly cast to
+determine which four of the party should be the cruel executioners;
+and their wretched victim was taken off a few rods and shot down in
+cold blood. After his murder a considerable amount of gold was found
+about his person, and in his trunk. The body of the unfortunate man,
+together with his wagon and baggage, was thrown into a neighboring
+ravine; and a few of the lost animals of the marauders having been
+found, their booty was packed upon them and borne away to the frontier
+of Missouri. [Pg229]
+
+Great exertions had been made to intercept this lawless band at the
+outset; but they escaped the vigilance even of a detachment of
+dragoons that had followed them over a hundred miles. Yet the honest
+citizens of the border were too much on the alert to permit them to
+return to the interior with impunity. However, five of the whole
+number (including three of the party that killed the man) effected
+their escape, but the other ten were arrested, committed, and sent to
+St. Louis for trial before the United States Court. It appears that
+those who were engaged in the killing of Chavez have since been
+convicted of murder; and the others, who were only concerned in the
+robbery, were found guilty {169} of larceny, and sentenced to fine and
+imprisonment.[138]
+
+About the first of May of the same year, a company of a hundred and
+seventy-five men, under one Col. Snively, was organized in the north
+of Texas, and set out from the settlements for the Santa F� trace. It
+was at first reported that they contemplated a descent upon Santa F�;
+but their force was evidently too weak to attempt an invasion at that
+crisis. Their prime object, therefore, seems to have been to attack
+and make reprisals upon the Mexicans engaged in the Santa F� trade,
+who were expected to cross the Prairies during the months of May and
+June.
+
+After the arrival of the Texans upon the Arkansas, they were joined by
+Col. Warfield with a few followers. This officer, with about twenty
+men, had some time previously attacked the village of Mora, on the
+Mexican frontier, killing five men (as was reported) and driving off a
+number of horses.[139] They were afterwards followed by a party
+[Pg230] of Mexicans, however, who _stampeded_ and carried away, not
+only their own horses, but those of the Texans. Being left afoot the
+latter burned their saddles, and walked to Bent's Fort, where they
+were disbanded; whence Warfield passed to Snively's camp, as before
+mentioned.
+
+The Texans now advanced along the Santa F� road, beyond the sand hills
+south of the Arkansas, when they discovered that a party of Mexicans
+had passed towards the river. They soon came upon them, and a skirmish
+{170} ensuing, eighteen Mexicans were killed, and as many wounded,
+five of whom afterwards died. The Texans suffered no injury, though
+the Mexicans were a hundred in number. The rest were all taken
+prisoners except two, who escaped and bore the news to Gen. Armijo,
+encamped with a large force at the Cold Spring, 140 miles beyond. As
+soon as the General received notice of the defeat of his vanguard, he
+broke up his camp most precipitately, and retreated to Santa F�. A
+gentleman of the caravan which passed shortly afterward, informed me
+that spurs, lareats and other scraps of equipage, were found scattered
+in every direction about Armijo's camp--left by his troops in the
+hurly-burly of their precipitate retreat.[140]
+
+Keeping beyond the territory of the United States, the right of the
+Texans to harass the commerce of Mexicans will hardly be denied, as
+they were at open war: yet another consideration, it would seem,
+should have restrained them from aggressions in that quarter. They
+could not have been ignorant that but a portion of the traders were
+Mexicans--that many American citizens were connected in [Pg231] the
+same caravans. The Texans assert, it is true, that the lives and
+property of Americans were to be respected, _provided_ they abandoned
+the Mexicans. But did they reflect upon the baseness of the terms they
+were imposing? What American, worthy of the name, to save his own
+interests, or even his life, could deliver up his travelling
+companions {171} to be sacrificed? Then, after having abandoned the
+Mexicans, or betrayed them to their enemy--for such an act would have
+been accounted treachery--where would they have gone? They could not
+then have continued on into Mexico; and to have returned to the United
+States with their merchandise, would have been the ruin of most of
+them.
+
+The inhuman outrages suffered by those who were captured in New Mexico
+in 1841, among whom were many of the present party, have been pleaded
+in justification of this second Texan expedition. When we take their
+grievances into consideration, we must admit that they palliate, and
+indeed justify almost any species of revenge consistent with the laws
+of Nature and of nations: yet whether, under the existing
+circumstances, this invasion of the Prairies was proper or otherwise,
+I will leave for others to determine, as there seems to be a
+difference of opinion on the subject. The following considerations,
+however, will go to demonstrate the unpropitious consequences which
+are apt to result from a system of indiscriminate revenge.
+
+The unfortunate Chavez (whose murder, I suppose, was perpetrated under
+pretext of the cruelties suffered by the Texans, in the name of whom
+the party of M'Daniel was organized) was of the most wealthy and
+influential family of New Mexico, and one that was anything but
+friendly to the ruling governor, Gen. Armijo. Don Mariano Chavez, a
+brother to the deceased, is a gentleman of very [Pg232] amiable {172}
+character, such as is rarely to be met with in that unfortunate land.
+It is asserted that he furnished a considerable quantity of
+provisions, blankets, etc., to Col. Cooke's division of Texan
+prisoners.[141] Se�ora Chavez (the wife of Don Mariano), as is told,
+crossed the river from the village of Padillas, the place of their
+residence, and administered comforts to the unfortunate band of
+Texans.[142] Though the murder of young Chavez was evidently not
+sanctioned by the Texans generally, it will, notwithstanding, have
+greatly embittered this powerful family against them--a family whose
+liberal principles could not otherwise have been very unfavorable to
+Texas.[143]
+
+The attack upon the village of Mora, though of less important results,
+was nevertheless an unpropitiatory movement. The inhabitants of that
+place are generally very simple and innocent rancheros and hunters,
+and, being separated by the snowy mountains from the principal
+settlements of New Mexico, their hearts seem ever to have been
+inclined to the Texans. In fact, the village having been founded by
+some American denizens, the Mexican inhabitants appear in some degree
+to have imitated their character.
+
+The defeat of Armijo's vanguard was attended by still more disastrous
+consequences, both to the American and Texan interest. That division
+was composed of the militia of {173} the North--from about Taos--many
+of them Taos Pueblos. These people had not only remained [Pg233]
+embittered against Gov. Armijo since the revolution of 1837, but had
+always been notably in favor of Texas. So loth were they to fight the
+Texans, that, as I have been assured, the governor found it necessary
+to bind a number of them upon their horses, to prevent their escape,
+till he got them fairly upon the Prairies. And yet the poor fellows
+were compelled to suffer the vengeance which was due to their guilty
+general!
+
+When the news of their defeat reached Taos, the friends and relatives
+of the slain--the whole population indeed, were incensed beyond
+measure; and two or three, naturalized foreigners who were supposed to
+favor the cause of Texas, and who were in good standing before, were
+now compelled to flee for their lives; leaving their houses and
+property a prey to the incensed rabble. Such appears to have been the
+reaction of public sentiment resulting from the catastrophe upon the
+Prairies!
+
+Had the Texans proceeded differently--had they induced the Mexicans to
+surrender without battle, which they might no doubt easily have
+accomplished, they could have secured their services, without
+question, as guides to Gen. Armijo's camp, and that unmitigated tyrant
+might himself have fallen into their hands. The difficulty of
+maintaining order among the Texans was perhaps the cause of many of
+their unfortunate proceedings. {174} And no information of the caravan
+having been obtained, a detachment of seventy or eighty men left, to
+return to Texas.
+
+The traders arrived soon after, escorted by about two hundred U. S.
+Dragoons under the command of Capt. Cook.[144] Col. Snively with a
+hundred men being then encamped on the south side of the Arkansas
+river, some ten to fifteen miles below the point called the 'Caches,'
+[Pg234] he crossed the river and met Capt. Cook, who soon made known
+his intention of disarming him and his companions,--an intention which
+he at once proceeded to put into execution. A portion of the Texans,
+however, deceived the American captain in this wise. Having concealed
+their own rifles, which were mostly Colt's repeaters, they delivered
+to Capt. Cook the worthless fusils they had taken from the Mexicans;
+so that, when they were afterwards released, they still had their own
+valuable arms; of which, however, so far as the caravan in question
+was concerned, they appear to have had no opportunity of availing
+themselves.
+
+These facts are mentioned merely as they are said to have occurred.
+Capt. Cook has been much abused by the Texans, and accused of having
+violated a friendly flag--of having taken Col. Snively prisoner while
+on a friendly visit. This is denied by Capt. Cook, and by other
+persons who were in company at the time. But apart from the means
+employed by the American commander (the propriety or impropriety of
+which I shall not attempt {175} to discuss), the act was evidently the
+salvation of the Santa F� caravan, of which a considerable portion
+were Americans. Had he left the Texans with their arms, he would
+doubtless have been accused by the traders of escorting them to the
+threshold of danger, and then delivering them over to certain
+destruction, when he had it in his power to secure their safety.
+
+Capt. Cook with his command soon after returned to the United
+States,[145] and with him some forty of the [Pg235] disarmed Texans,
+many of whom have been represented as gentlemen worthy of a better
+destiny. A large portion of the Texans steered directly home from the
+Arkansas river; while from sixty to seventy men, who elected Warfield
+their commander, were organized for the pursuit and capture of the
+caravan, which had already passed on some days in advance towards
+Santa F�. They pursued in the wake of the traders, it is said, as far
+as the Point of Rocks (twenty miles east of the crossing of the
+Colorado or Canadian), but made no attempt upon them[146]--whence they
+returned direct to Texas. Thus terminated the 'Second Texan Santa F�
+Expedition,' as it has been styled; and {176} though not so disastrous
+as the first, it turned out nearly as unprofitable.
+
+Although this expedition was composed wholly of Texans, or persons not
+claiming to be citizens of the United States, and organized entirely
+in Texas--and, notwithstanding the active measures adopted by the
+United States government to defend the caravans, as well of Mexicans
+as of Americans, against their enemy--Se�or Bocanegra, Mexican
+Minister of Foreign Relations, made a formal demand upon the United
+States (as will be remembered), for damages resulting from this
+invasion. In a rejoinder to Gen. Thompson (alluding to Snively's
+company), he says, that "Independence, in Missouri, was the starting
+point of these men." The preceding narrative will show the error under
+which the honorable secretary labored.[147] [Pg236]
+
+A portion of the party who killed Chavez was from the
+frontier of Missouri; but witness the active exertions on the border
+to bring these depredators to justice--and then let the contrast be
+noted betwixt this affair and the impunity with which robberies are
+every day committed throughout Mexico, where well-known highwaymen
+often run at large, unmolested either by the citizens or by the
+authorities. What would Se�or Bocanegra say if every other government
+were to demand indemnity for all the robberies committed upon their
+citizens in Mexico?
+
+But the most unfortunate circumstance attending this invasion of the
+Prairies--unfortunate {177} at least to the United States and to New
+Mexico--was the closing of the Northern ports to foreign commerce,
+which was doubtless, to a great degree, a consequence of the
+before-mentioned expedition, and which of course terminated the Santa
+F� Trade, at least for the present.[148]
+
+I am of the impression, however, that little apprehension need be
+entertained, that this decree of Gen. Santa Anna will be permitted
+much longer to continue,[149] unless our peaceful relations with
+Mexico should be disturbed; an event, under any circumstances,
+seriously to be deprecated. With the continuation of peace between us,
+the Mexicans will certainly be compelled to open their northern
+frontier [Pg237] ports, to avoid a revolution in New Mexico, with
+which they are continually threatened while this embargo continues.
+Should the obnoxious decree be repealed, the Santa F� Trade will
+doubtless be prosecuted again with renewed vigor and enterprise.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[136] Some general statistics of the Santa F� Trade may prove not
+wholly without interest to the mercantile reader. With this view, I
+have prepared the following table of the probable amounts of
+merchandise invested in the Santa F� Trade, from 1822 to 1843
+inclusive, and about the portion of the same transferred to the
+Southern markets (chiefly Chihuahua) during the same period; together
+with the approximate number of wagons, men and proprietors engaged
+each year.
+
+  ------|--------|-----|-----|----|-------|-----------------------------
+  Years.   Amt.   W'gs. Men. Pro's. T'n to    Remarks.
+          Mdse.                     Ch'a.
+  ------|--------|-----|-----|----|-------|-----------------------------
+   1822   15,000         70   60    9,000  Pack-animals only used.
+   1823   12,000         50   30    3,000  Pack-animals only used.
+   1824   35,000   26   100   80    3,000  Pack-animals and wagons.
+   1825   65,000   37   130   90    5,000  Pack-animals and wagons.
+   1826   90,000   60   100   70    7,000  Wagons only henceforth.
+   1827   85,000   55    90   50    8,000
+   1828  150,000  100   200   80   20,000 3 men killed, being the first.
+   1829   60,000   30    50   20    5,000  1st U.S.Es.--1 trader killed.
+   1830  120,000   70   140   60   20,000  First oxen used by traders.
+   1831  250,000  130   320   80   80,000  Two men killed.
+   1832  140,000   70   150   40   50,000  {Party defeated on Canadian
+   1833  180,000  105   185   60   80,000  {2 men killed, 3 perished.
+   1834  150,000   80   160   50   70,000  2d U.S. Escort
+   1835  140,000   75   140   40   70,000
+   1836  130,000   70   135   35   50,000
+   1837  150,000   80   160   35   60,000
+   1838   90,000   50   100   20   80,000
+   1839  250,000  130   250   40  100,000  Arkansas Expedition.
+   1840   50,000   30    60    5   10,000  Chihuahua Expedition.
+   1841  150,000   60   100   12   80,000  Texan Santa F� Expedition.
+   1842  160,000   70   120   15   90,000
+   1843  450,000  230   350   30  300,000  3d U.S.Es.--Ports closed.
+  ------|--------|-----|-----|----|-------|-----------------------------
+
+The foregoing table is not given as perfectly accurate, yet it is
+believed to be about as nearly so as any that could be made out at the
+present day. The column marked "Pro's." (Proprietors), though even
+less precise than the other statistics, presents, I think, about the
+proportion of the whole number engaged each year who were owners. At
+first, as will be seen, almost every individual of each caravan was a
+proprietor, while of late the capital has been held by comparatively
+few hands. In 1843, the greater portion of the traders were New
+Mexicans, several of whom, during the three years previous, had
+embarked in this trade, of which they bid fair to secure a monopoly.
+
+The amount of merchandise transported to Santa F� each year, is set
+down at its probable cost in the Eastern cities of the United States.
+Besides freights and insurance to Independence, there has been an
+annual investment, averaging nearly twenty-five per cent. upon the
+cost of the stocks, in wagons, teams, provisions, hire of hands, &c.,
+for transportation across the Prairies. A large portion of this
+remaining unconsumed, however, the ultimate loss on the outfit has not
+been more than half of the above amount. Instead of purchasing outfit,
+some traders prefer employing freighters, a number of whom are usually
+to be found on the frontier of Missouri, ready to transport goods to
+Santa F�, at ten to twelve cents per pound. From thence to Chihuahua
+the price of freights is six to eight cents--upon mules, or in wagons.
+
+The average gross returns of the traders has rarely exceeded fifty per
+cent. upon the cost of their merchandise, leaving a net profit of
+between twenty and forty per cent.; though their profits have not
+unfrequently been under ten per cent.: in fact, as has before been
+mentioned, their adventures have sometimes been losing speculations.[A]
+--GREGG.
+
+[A] Those who are familiar with Mr. Mayer's very interesting work on
+Mexico, will observe that a portion of the preceding table corresponds
+substantially with one presented on page 318 of that work. In justice
+to myself, I feel compelled to state, that, in 1841, I published, in
+the Galveston "Daily Advertiser," a table of the Santa F� trade from
+1831 to 1840 inclusive, of which that of Mr. Mayer embraces an exact
+copy. I have since made additions, and corrected it to some extent,
+but still the correspondence is such as seemed to require of me this
+explanation.
+
+[137] With a view to encourage adventurers, the government of
+Chihuahua agreed to reduce the impost duties to a very low rate, in
+favor of a pioneer enterprise; and to furnish an escort of dragoons
+for the protection of the traders.
+
+The expedition was undertaken chiefly by Mexicans; but one American
+merchant, Dr. H. Connelly, having invested capital in it. I obtained
+from this intelligent gentleman a very interesting sketch of the
+adventures of this pioneer party, which I regret that my plan will not
+permit me to present in detail.
+
+The adventurers set out from Chihuahua on the 3d of April, 1839,
+amidst the benisons of the citizens, and with the confident hope of
+transferring the valuable trade of the North to their city. The
+caravan (including fifty dragoons), consisted of over a hundred men,
+yet only about half a dozen of the number were proprietors. Though
+they had but seven wagons, they brought about seven hundred mules, and
+two or three hundred thousand dollars in specie and bullion, for the
+purposes of their adventure.
+
+They took the Presidio del Norte in their route, and then proceeding
+northwestwardly, finally arrived at Fort Towson after a protracted
+journey of three months; but without meeting with any hostile savages,
+or encountering any serious casualty, except getting bewildered, after
+crossing Red River, which they mistook for the Brazos. This caused
+them to shape their course thence nearly north, in search of the
+former stream, until they reached the Canadian river, where they met
+with some Delaware Indians, of whom they obtained the first correct
+information of their whereabouts; and by whom they were piloted safely
+to Fort Towson.
+
+It had been the intention of these adventurers to return to Chihuahua
+the ensuing fall; but from various accidents and delays, they were
+unable to get ready until the season had too far advanced; which, with
+an incessant series of rains that followed, prevented them from
+travelling till the ensuing spring. Learning that the Texans were
+friendly disposed towards them, they now turned their course through
+the midst of the northern settlements of that republic. Of the kind
+treatment they experienced during their transit, Dr. Connelly speaks
+in the following terms: "I have never been more hospitably treated, or
+had more efficient assistance, than was given by the citizens of Red
+River. All seemed to vie with each other in rendering us every aid in
+their power; and our Mexican friends, notwithstanding the hostile
+attitude in which the two countries stood towards each other, were
+treated with a kindness which they still recollect with the warmest
+feelings of gratitude." This forms a very notable contrast with the
+treatment which the Texan traders, who afterwards visited Santa F�,
+received at the hands of the Mexicans.
+
+The Caravan now consisted of sixty or seventy wagons laden with
+merchandise, and about two hundred and twenty-five men, including
+their escort of Mexican dragoons. They passed the Texan border early
+in April, and expected to intersect their former track beyond the
+Cross Timbers, but that trail having been partially obliterated, they
+crossed it unobserved, and were several days lost on the waters of the
+Brazos river. Having turned their course south for a few days,
+however, they fortunately discovered their old route at a branch of
+the Colorado.
+
+After this they continued their journey without further casualty; for
+notwithstanding they met with a large body of Comanches, they passed
+them amicably, and soon reached the Rio Pecos. Though very narrow,
+this stream was too deep to be forded, and they were compelled to
+resort to an expedient characteristic of the Prairies. There being not
+a stick of timber anywhere to be found, of which to make even a raft,
+they buoyed up a wagon-body by binding several empty water-kegs to the
+bottom, which served them the purpose of a ferry-boat.
+
+When they reached Presidio del Norte again, they learned that Gov.
+Irig�yen, with whom they had celebrated the contract for a diminution
+of their duties, had died during their absence. A new corps of
+officers being in power, they were now threatened with a charge of
+full tariff duties. After a delay of forty-five days at the Presidio,
+however, they made a compromise, and entered Chihuahua on the 27th of
+August, 1840.
+
+The delays and accumulated expenses of this expedition caused it to
+result so disastrously to the interests of all who were engaged in it,
+that no other enterprise of the kind has since been undertaken.
+--GREGG.
+
+[138] John McDaniel and his brother David were both executed. For the
+names of other participators, consult _Niles' Register_, lxiv, pp.
+195, 280. The Texas government disclaimed all responsibility for
+McDaniel.--ED.
+
+[139] Mora is on a stream of the same name, for which see our volume
+xix, p. 252, note 73 (Gregg), and is the seat of Mora County. The
+first settlement was made in 1832, but repulsed by Indians; not until
+1840, therefore, could the place be called permanent. In the
+revolution of 1847, Mora was involved against the United States whose
+troops burned the town in reprisal. The present population is about
+seven hundred.--ED.
+
+[140] For a more detailed account of this expedition, see H. Yoakum,
+_History of Texas_ (New York, 1856), ii, pp. 399-405.--ED.
+
+[141] Colonel William G. Cooke, of Texas, appointed one of the
+commissioners to negotiate with the New Mexicans. He was treacherously
+induced to surrender to a force under Dimasio Salezar, at Anton
+Chico.--ED.
+
+[142] Padilla is a small village on the eastern side of Rio Grande, a
+few miles below Albuquerque. The Chavez family owned a large ranch,
+and its younger members had been engaged in the American trade for
+some years.--ED.
+
+[143] This family is very distinct from one Manuel Chavez (who, though
+Gov. Armijo's nephew, is a very low character), a principal agent in
+the treacheries practised upon the Texan Santa F� Expedition.--GREGG.
+
+[144] Philip St. George Cooke, for whom see volume xix, p. 187, note
+32 (Gregg).-ED.
+
+[145] As U. S. troops cannot go beyond our boundary, which, on this
+route is the Arkansas river, these escorts afford but little
+protection to the caravans. Such an extensive, uninhabitable waste as
+the great prairies are, ought certainly to be under maritime
+regulations. Some international arrangements should be made between
+the United States and Texas or Mexico (accordingly as the
+proprietorship of the region beyond our boundary may be settled),
+whereby the armies of either might indiscriminately range upon this
+desert, as ships of war upon the ocean.--GREGG.
+
+[146] For Point of Rocks, see our volume xix, p. 249, note 70
+(Gregg).--ED.
+
+[147] Jos� Maria Bocanegra was a member of the liberal party in
+Mexico, who came into power under Guerrero in 1829. He was also
+president ad interim, and for some years minister of foreign affairs.
+
+Waddy Thompson, of South Carolina, was born in 1798; and after serving
+in the state legislature was member of Congress (1835-41). In 1842 he
+was made minister to Mexico, which position he filled but two years.
+Upon his return he published _Recollections_ (New York, 1846). Going
+to Mexico as an advocate of Texas annexation, he returned its
+opponent, convinced that slavery could not be maintained on soil
+acquired from Mexico. The latter years of his life were devoted to
+cotton-raising in Florida, where he died in 1868.--ED.
+
+[148] The following is the substance of Santa Anna's decree, dated at
+his Palace of Tacubaya, August 7, 1843:
+
+"Article 1st. The frontier custom-houses of Taos, in the department of
+New Mexico, Paso del Norte and Presidio del Norte in that of
+Chihuahua, are entirely closed to all commerce.
+
+"Art. 2d. This decree shall take effect within forty-five days after
+its publication in the capital of the Republic."
+
+It should be understood that the only port in New Mexico for the
+introduction of foreign goods was nominally Taos, though the
+custom-house was at Santa F�, where all the entrances were
+made.--GREGG.
+
+[149] These northern ports have since been reopened by decree of March
+31, 1844; and about ninety wagons, with perhaps $200,000 cost of
+goods, (and occupying 150 to 200 men), crossed the plains to Santa F�,
+during the following summer and fall.--GREGG.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI {X}
+
+GEOGRAPHY OF THE PRAIRIES
+
+Extent of Prairies -- Mountains -- _Mesas_ or Table-lands -- _El_
+  _Llano Estacado_ -- _Ca�ones_ -- Their Annoyance to the early
+  Caravans -- Immense Gullies -- Coal Mines and other geological
+  Products -- Gypsum -- Metallic Minerals -- Salines -- Capt. Boone's
+  Exploration -- 'Salt Plain' and 'Salt Rock' -- Mr. Sibley's Visit --
+  Saline Exudations -- Unhabitableness of the high Prairies --
+  Excellent Pasturage -- Rich border Country sufficient for two States
+  -- Northern Texas -- Rivers of the Prairies -- Their Unfitness for
+  Navigation -- Timber -- Cross Timbers -- Encroachments of the Timber
+  upon the Prairies -- Fruits and Flowers -- Salubrity of Climate.
+
+
+While I have endeavored in the preceding pages to give the reader some
+general idea of life upon the Prairies, I feel that I have wholly
+failed thus far to convey any adequate notions of their natural
+history. I propose in the following pages to repair this deficiency as
+far as I am able, and to present a rapid sketch of the vastness of
+those mighty territories; of their physical geography; and of the
+life, as well vegetable as animal, which they sustain. It is to be
+regretted that this ample field for observation should have received
+so little of the consideration of scientific men; for there {179} is
+scarcely a province in the whole wide range of Nature's unexplored
+domains, which is so worthy of study, and yet has been so little
+studied by the natural philosopher.
+
+If we look at the Great Western Prairies, independently of the
+political powers to which portions of them respectively belong, we
+shall find them occupying the whole of that [Pg238] extensive
+territory lying between the spurs of the Rocky Mountains on the north,
+and the rivers of Texas on the south--a distance of some seven or
+eight hundred miles in one direction; and from the frontiers of
+Missouri and Arkansas on the east to the eastern branches of the
+southern Rocky Mountains on the west--about six hundred miles in the
+transverse direction: the whole comprising an area of about 400,000
+square miles, some 30,000 of which are within the original limits of
+Texas, and 70,000 in those of New Mexico (if we extend them east to
+the United States boundary), leaving about 300,000 in the territory of
+the United States.
+
+This vast territory is not interrupted by any important mountainous
+elevations, except along the borders of the great western sierras, and
+by some low, craggy ridges about the Arkansas frontier--skirts of the
+Ozark mountains. There is, it is true, high on the dividing ridge
+between Red River and the False Washita, a range of hills, the
+southwestern portion of which extends about to the 100th degree of
+longitude west from Greenwich; that is, to the United States {180}
+boundary line. These are generally called the Witchita mountains, but
+sometimes _Towyash_ by hunters, perhaps from _t�yavist_, the Comanche
+word for mountain. I inquired once of a Comanche Indian how his nation
+designated this range of mountains, which was then in sight of us. He
+answered, "_T�yavist_." "But this simply means a mountain," I replied.
+"How do you distinguish this from any other mountain?" "There are no
+other mountains in the Comanche territory," he rejoined--"none till we
+go east to your country, or south to Texas, or west to the land of the
+Mexican."
+
+With these exceptions, there are scarcely any elevations throughout
+these immense plains which should be dignified by the title of
+mountains. Those seen by the Texan Santa [Pg239] F� Expedition about
+the sources of Red River, were without doubt the _cejas_ or brows of
+the elevated table plains with which the Prairies abound, and which,
+when viewed from the plain below, often assume the appearance of
+formidable mountains; but once upon their summit, the spectator sees
+another vast plain before him.
+
+These _table lands_, or _mesas_, as the Mexicans term them, of which
+there are many thousands of square miles lying between the frontier of
+the United States and the Rocky Mountains, are level plains, elevated
+a considerable distance above the surrounding country, and may be
+likened to the famous steppes of Asia. They are cut up with numerous
+{181} streams, the largest of which are generally bordered for several
+miles back by hilly uplands, which are for the most part sandy, dry
+and barren.
+
+The most notable of the great _plateaux_ of the Prairies is that known
+to Mexicans as _El Llano Estacado_, which is bounded on the north by
+the Canadian river--extends east about to the United States boundary,
+including the heads of the False Washita and other branches of Red
+River--and spreads southward to the sources of Trinity, Brazos and
+Colorado rivers, and westward to Rio Pecos. It is quite an elevated
+and generally a level plain, without important hills or ridges, unless
+we distinguish as such the craggy breaks of the streams which border
+and pierce it. It embraces an area of about 30,000 square miles, most
+of which is without water during three-fourths of the year; while a
+large proportion of its few perennial streams are too brackish to
+drink of.
+
+I have been assured by Mexican hunters and Indians, that, from Santa
+F� southeastward, there is but one route upon which this plain can be
+safely traversed during the dry season; and even some of the
+watering-places on this are at intervals of fifty to eighty miles, and
+hard to find. [Pg240] Hence the Mexican traders and hunters, that
+they might not lose their way and perish from thirst, once staked out
+this route across the plain, it is said; whence it has received the
+name of _El Llano Estacado_, or the Staked Plain.
+
+{182} In some places the brows of these _mesas_ approach the very
+borders of the streams. When this occurs on both sides, it leaves deep
+chasms or ravines between, called by the Mexicans _ca�ones_, and which
+abound in the vicinity of the mountains. The Canadian river flows
+through one of the most remarkable of these ca�ones for a distance of
+more than fifty miles--extending from the road of the Missouri
+caravans downward--throughout the whole extent of which the gorge is
+utterly impassable for wagons, and almost so for animals.
+
+Intersecting the direct route from Missouri, this ca�on was a source
+of great annoyance to some of the pioneers in the Santa F� trade. In
+1825, a caravan with a number of wagons reached it about five miles
+below the present ford. The party was carelessly moving along, without
+suspecting even a ravine at hand, as the bordering plains were
+exceedingly level, and the opposite margins of equal height, when
+suddenly they found themselves upon the very brink of an immense
+precipice, several hundred yards deep, and almost perpendicular on
+both sides of the river. At the bottom of those cliffs, there was, as
+is usually the case, a very narrow but fertile valley, through which
+the river wound its way, sometimes touching the one bluff and
+sometimes the other.
+
+Ignorant of a ford so near above, the caravan turned down towards the
+crossing of the former traders. "We travelled fifty miles," {183} says
+Mr. Stanley, who was of the caravan, "the whole of which distance the
+river is bound in by cliffs several hundred feet high, in many places
+nearly perpendicular. We at length came to the termination of the
+table land; but what scene presented itself! [Pg241] The valley below
+could only be reached by descending a frightful cliff of from 1200 to
+1500 feet, and more or less precipitous. After a search of several
+hours, a practicable way was found; and, with the greatest fatigue and
+exertion, by locking wheels, holding on with ropes, and literally
+lifting the wagons down in places, we finally succeeded in reaching
+the bottom.... How did the Canadian and other streams in New Mexico
+sink themselves to such immense depths in the solid rock? It seems
+impossible that the water should have worn away the rock while as hard
+as in its present state. What a field of speculation for the
+geologist, in the propositions--Were the chasms made for the streams,
+or did the streams make the chasms? Are they not of volcanic origin?"
+
+Nor are the flat prairies always free from this kind of annoyance to
+travellers. They are not unfrequently intersected by diminutive chasms
+or water-cuts, which, though sometimes hardly a rod in width, are
+often from fifty to a hundred feet deep. These little ca�ones are
+washed out by the rains, in their descent to the bordering streams,
+which is soon effected after an opening is once made through the
+surface; for though the clayey {184} foundation is exceedingly firm
+and hard while dry, it seems the most soluble of earths, and melts
+almost as rapidly as snow under the action of water. The tenacious
+turf of the 'buffalo grass,' however, retains the marginal surface, so
+that the sides are usually perpendicular--indeed, often shelving
+inward at the base, and therefore utterly impassable. I have come
+unsuspectingly upon the verge of such a chasm; and though, to a
+stranger, the appearance would indicate the very head of the ravine, I
+would sometimes be compelled to follow its meandering course for miles
+without being able to double its 'breaks.' These I have more
+especially observed high on the borders of the Canadian. [Pg242]
+
+The geological constitution of the Prairies is exceedingly
+diversified. Along the eastern border, especially towards the north,
+there is an abundance of limestone, interspersed with sandstone,
+slate, and many extensive beds of bituminous coal. The coal is
+particularly abundant in some of the regions bordering the Neosho
+river; where there are also said to be a few singular bituminous or
+'tar springs,' as they are sometimes called by the hunters. There are
+also many other mineral, and particularly sulphur springs, to be met
+with.
+
+Further westward, the sandstone prevails; but some of the table plains
+are based upon strata of a sort of friable calcareous rock, which has
+been denominated 'rotten limestone:' yet along the borders of the
+mountains the base of the plains seems generally {185} to be of trap
+and greenstone. From the waters of Red River to the southwest corner
+of Missouri, throughout the range of the Ozark mountains, granite,
+limestone, flint and sandstone prevail. But much of the middle portion
+of the Prairies is without any apparent rocky foundation--we sometimes
+travel for days in succession without seeing even as much as a pebble.
+
+On passing towards Santa F� in 1839, and returning in 1840, I observed
+an immense range of plaster of Paris, both north and south of the
+Canadian river, and between thirty and fifty miles east of the United
+States western boundary. The whole country seemed based upon this
+fossil, and cliffs and huge masses of it were seen in every direction.
+It ranges from the coarsest compact sulphate of lime or ordinary
+plaster, to the most transparent gypsum or selenite, of which last
+there is a great abundance. By authentic accounts from other
+travellers, this range of gypsum extends, in a direction nearly north,
+almost to the Arkansas river. [Pg243]
+
+Of metallic minerals, iron, lead, and perhaps copper, are found on the
+borders of the Prairies; and it is asserted that several specimens of
+silver ores have been met with on our frontier, as well as about the
+Witchita and the Rocky Mountains. Gold has also been found, no doubt,
+in different places; yet it is questionable whether it has anywhere
+been discovered in sufficient abundance to render it worth the
+seeking. Some trappers have reported {186} an extensive gold region
+about the sources of the Platte river; yet, although recent search has
+been made, it has not been discovered.[150]
+
+The most valuable perhaps, and the most abundant mineral production of
+the Prairies is _Salt_. In the Choctaw country, on the waters of Red
+River, there are two salt-works in operation; and in the Cherokee
+nation salt springs are numerous, three or four of which are now
+worked on a small scale; yet a sufficient quantity of salt might
+easily be produced to supply even the adjoining States. The _Grand
+Saline_, about forty miles above Fort Gibson, near the Neosho river,
+was considered a curiosity of its kind, before its natural beauties
+were effaced by 'improvements.'[151] In the border of a little valley,
+a number of small salt springs break out, around the orifice of each
+of which was formed, in the shape of a pot, a kind of calcareous
+saline concretion. None of the springs are very bold, but the water is
+strong, and sufficiently abundant for extensive works.
+
+There have been several _Salines_, or mines (if we may so term them)
+of pure salt, discovered in different parts of the Prairies. The most
+northern I have heard of, is [Pg244] fifty or sixty miles west of the
+Missouri river, and thirty or forty south of the Platte, near a
+tributary called the Saline; where the Otoes and other Indians procure
+salt. It is described as resembling the _salinas_ of New Mexico, and
+the quantity of salt as inexhaustible. South of the Arkansas river and
+a degree or two further {187} westward, there are several of these
+salines, which are perhaps still more extensive.
+
+I have been favored with some extracts from the journal of Capt.
+Nathan Boone[152] of the United States' Dragoons, who made an
+exploring tour through those desolate regions during the summer of
+1843. In his journey, between the Canadian and Upper Arkansas, he
+found efflorescent salt in many places, as well as a superabundance of
+strongly impregnated salt-water; but, besides these, he visited two
+considerable salines.
+
+Of the first, which he calls the 'Salt Plain,' he remarks, that "the
+approach was very gratifying, and from the appearance one might expect
+to find salt in a solid mass, for the whole extent of the plain, of
+several feet in thickness." This is situated in the forks of the Salt
+Fork of the Arkansas. The plain is described as being level as a
+floor, and evidently sometimes overflowed by the streams which border
+it. Yet the extent of salt, it would seem, did not realize Capt.
+Boone's anticipations, as he remarks that it was covered "with the
+slightest possible film of crystallized salt on the surface, enough to
+make it white." But he explored only a small portion of the plain,
+which was very extensive. [Pg245]
+
+However, the most wonderful saline is the great _Salt Rock_,
+which he found further to the {188} southwestward, on the main Red
+Fork. "The whole cove on the right of the two forks of the river,"
+says Capt. Boone, "appears to be one immense salt spring of water so
+much concentrated, that, as soon as it reaches the point of breaking
+forth, it begins depositing its salt. In this way a large crust, or
+rock is formed all over the bottom for perhaps 160 acres. Digging
+through the sand for a few inches anywhere in this space, we could
+find the solid salt, so hard that there was no means in our power of
+getting up a block of it. We broke our mattock in the attempt. In many
+places, through this rock-salt crust the water boiled up as clear as
+crystal ... but so salt that our hands, after being immersed in it and
+suffered to dry, became as white as snow. Thrusting the arm down into
+these holes, they appeared to be walled with salt as far down as one
+could reach. The cliffs which overhang this place are composed of red
+clay and gypsum, and capped with a stratum of the latter.... We found
+this salt a little bitter from the impurities it contained, probably
+Epsom salts principally." As it is overhung with sulphate of lime, and
+perhaps also based upon the same, might not this 'salt-rock' be
+heavily impregnated with this mineral, occasioning its excessive
+hardness? Capt. Boone also speaks of gypsum in various other places,
+both north and south of this, during his travel.
+
+Mr. Sibley (then of Fort Osage), who was quite familiar with the
+western prairies, visited {189} a saline, over thirty years ago, which
+would seem to be the 'Salt Plain' first mentioned by Capt. Boone. The
+former, it is true, found the salt much more abundant than as
+described by the latter; but this may be owing to Capt. Boone's not
+having [Pg246] penetrated as far as the point alluded to by Mr.
+Sibley,--whose description is in the following language:[153]
+
+"The Grand Saline is situated about 280 miles southwest of Fort Osage,
+between two forks of a small branch of the Arkansas, one of which
+washes its southern extremity, and the other, the principal one, runs
+nearly parallel, within a mile of its opposite side. It is a hard
+level plain of reddish colored sand, and of an irregular or mixed
+figure. Its greatest length is from northwest to southeast, and its
+circumference about thirty miles. From the appearance of the driftwood
+that is scattered over, it would seem the whole plain is at times
+inundated by the overflowing of the streams that pass near it. This
+plain is entirely covered in dry hot weather, from two to six inches
+deep, with a crust of beautiful clean white salt, of a quality rather
+superior to the imported blown salt. It bears a striking resemblance
+to a field of brilliant snow after a rain, with a light crust on its
+top."
+
+This is, in extent and appearance, nearly as described by several
+hunters and Indian traders with whom I have conversed. Col. Logan, a
+worthy former agent of the Creek Indians,[154] {190} visited no doubt
+the same, not far from the same period; and he describes it in a
+similar manner--only representing the depth of the salt as greater.
+Everywhere that he dug through the stratum of earth about the margin,
+at the depth of a few inches he came to a _rock of solid salt_, which
+induced him to believe that the whole country thereabouts was based
+upon a stratum of 'rock salt.' [Pg247] This was of a reddish cast,
+partaking of the color of the surface of the surrounding country. Mr.
+Sibley remarks that "the distance to a navigable branch of Arkansas is
+about eighty miles"--referring perhaps to the Red Fork; though the
+saline is no doubt at a still less distance from the main stream.
+
+With such inexhaustible mines of salt within two or three days'
+journey of the Arkansas river, and again within the same distance of
+the Missouri, which would cost no further labor than the digging it up
+and the transporting of it to boats for freighting it down those
+streams, it seems strange that they should lie idle, while we are
+receiving much of our supplies of this indispensable commodity from
+abroad.
+
+Besides the _salines_ already mentioned, there is one high on the
+Canadian river, some two hundred miles east of Santa F�. Also, it is
+said, there are some to be found on the waters of Red River; and
+numerous others are no doubt scattered throughout the same regions,
+which have never been discovered.
+
+Many of the low valleys of all the western {191} streams (Red River as
+well as Arkansas and its branches), are impregnated with salinous
+qualities, and, during wet weather, ooze saltish exudations, which
+effloresce in a thin scum. This is sometimes pure salt, but more
+frequently compounded of different salts--not only of the muriate, but
+of the sulphate of soda, and perhaps magnesia; often strongly
+tinctured with nitre. Some of the waters of these sections
+(particularly when stagnant) are so saturated with this compound
+during dry weather, that they are insupportable even for brutes--much
+to the consternation of a forlorn traveller. In these saline flats
+nothing grows but hard wiry grass, which a famished beast will
+scarcely eat. [Pg248]
+
+It is from these exudations, as well as from the salines or salt
+plains before mentioned, that our western waters, especially from
+Arkansas to Red River, acquire their brackishness during the low
+seasons; and not from the mountains, as some have presumed. Such as
+issue from thence are there as pure, fresh and crystalline as snow-fed
+rills and icy fountains can make them.
+
+It will now readily be inferred that the Great Prairies from Red River
+to the western sources of the Missouri, are, as has before been
+intimated, chiefly uninhabitable--not so much for want of wood (though
+the plains are altogether naked), as of soil and of water; for though
+some of the plains appear of sufficiently fertile soil, they are
+mostly of a sterile character, and all too dry to be cultivated. {192}
+These great steppes seem only fitted for the haunts of the mustang,
+the buffalo, the antelope, and their migratory lord, the prairie
+Indian. Unless with the progressive influence of time, some favorable
+mutation should be wrought in nature's operations, to revive the
+plains and upland prairies, the occasional fertile valleys are too
+isolated and remote to become the abodes of civilized man.
+
+Like the table plains of Northern Mexico, these high prairies could at
+present only be made available for grazing purposes, and that in the
+vicinity of the water-courses. The grass with which they are mostly
+clothed, is of a superior quality. The celebrated 'buffalo grass' is
+of two kinds, both of which are species of the _grama_ of New Mexico,
+and equally nutritious at all seasons. It is the same, I believe, that
+is called 'mezquite grass' in Texas, from the mezquite tree which
+grows there in the same dry regions with it. Of this unequalled
+pasturage the great western prairies afford a sufficiency to graze
+cattle for the supply of all the United States. It is particularly
+adapted to [Pg249] sheep-raising, as is shown by example of the same
+species in New Mexico.
+
+But from the general sterility and unhabitableness of the Prairies is
+excepted, as will be understood, that portion, already alluded to,
+which borders our western frontier. The uplands from the Arkansas
+boundary to the Cross Timbers, are everywhere beautifully interspersed
+with isolated prairies and glades, many of which are fertile, though
+some are {193} too flat, and consequently inclined to be marshy. The
+valleys of the streams are principally of a rich loam, rather subject
+to inundations, but mostly tillable. The timbered uplands are mostly
+of fair quality, except on the broken ridges and mountainous sections
+before referred to. Some of the uplands, however, known usually as
+'post-oak flats,' like the marshy prairies, seem to be based upon
+quick-sand. The soil is of a dead unproductive character, and covered
+with small lumps or mounds of various sizes, and of irregular shapes.
+
+The country lying west of Missouri, which includes the sources of the
+Neosho, the Verdigris, the Marais-des-Cygnes and other branches of the
+Osage, and the lower sections of the Kansas river, vies with any
+portion of the Far West in the amenity of its upland prairies--in the
+richness of its alluvial bottoms--in the beauty and freshness of its
+purling rills and rivulets--and in the salubrity of its atmosphere.
+
+We have here then, along the whole border, a strip of country,
+averaging at least two hundred miles wide by five hundred long--and
+even more if we extend it up the Missouri river--affording territory
+for two States, respectable in size, and though more scant in timber,
+yet more fertile, in general, than the two conterminous States of
+Missouri and Arkansas. But most of this delightful region has been
+ceded to the different tribes of the Frontier Indians. [Pg250]
+
+{194} Concerning that portion of the Prairies which lies south of Red
+River, in Northern Texas, I learn from some interesting memoranda,
+politely furnished me by Dr. Henry Connelly, one of the principals of
+the pioneer expedition from Chihuahua to Arkansas, of which I have
+already spoken, that, besides some beautiful lands among the Cross
+Timbers, there is a great deal of delightful country still further
+west, of a part of which that gentleman holds the following
+language:--"Between the Brazos and Red River, there is surely the most
+beautiful and picturesque region I have ever beheld. I saw some of the
+finest timber, generally oak--not that scrubby oak which characterizes
+so much of the Texan territory--but large black and bur-oak; such as
+would answer all the purposes for which the largest timber is useful.
+Between those two rivers, no doubt there is destined to be one of the
+most dense and prosperous settlements. The fertility of the soil is
+not exceeded by any I have seen; and, from the high and undulating
+character of the country, there can be no doubt of its being very
+healthy."
+
+To the westward of Rio Brazos, and south of some sandy and saline
+regions which border the upper portions of this stream, the same
+enterprising traveller represents many of the valleys as rich and
+beautiful, and the uplands as being in many places sparsely timbered
+with mezquite trees. This is particularly the case on the sources of
+the Colorado, where the country is delightfully watered. But
+immediately {195} north of this sets in that immense desert region of
+the Llano Estacado.
+
+The chief natural disadvantage to which the Great Western Prairies are
+exposed, consists in the absence of navigable streams. Throughout the
+whole vast territory which I have been attempting to describe, there
+is not a single river, except the Missouri, which is navigable during
+[Pg251] the whole season. The remaining streams, in their course
+through the plains, are and must continue to be, for all purposes of
+commerce, comparatively useless.
+
+The chief of these rivers are the Missouri, the Arkansas, and Red
+River, with their numerous tributaries. The principal western branches
+of the Missouri are the Yellow Stone, the Platte and the Kansas. Small
+'flats' and 'buffalo boats' have passed down the two former for a
+considerable distance, during high water; but they are never navigable
+to any extent by steamboats.
+
+The _Arkansas_ river penetrates far into the Rocky Mountains, its
+ramifications, interlocking with some of the waters of the Missouri,
+Columbia, San Buenaventura, Colorado of the West, and Rio del
+Norte.[155] The channel of this stream, in its course through the
+Prairies, is very wide and shallow, with banks in many places hardly
+five feet above low water. It will probably measure nearly 2000 miles
+in length, from its source to the frontier of Arkansas. It is called
+_Rio Napeste_ by the Mexicans; but among the early French voyagers it
+acquired the name of _Arkansas_, or rather {196} _Akansa_,[156] from a
+tribe of the Dahcotah or Osage stock, who lived near its mouth. This
+river has numerous tributaries, some of which are of great length, yet
+there is not one that is at all navigable, except the [Pg252] Neosho
+from the north, which has been descended by small boats for at least a
+hundred miles.
+
+_Red River_ is much shorter and narrower from the frontier westward
+than the Arkansas, bearing but little over half the volume of water.
+Even in its serpentine course it can hardly exceed 1200 miles from the
+Arkansas boundary to its source. This river rises in the table plains
+of the Llano Estacado, and has not, as I have been assured by traders
+and hunters, any mountainous elevations about its source of any
+consequence;[157] although we are continually hearing the inhabitants
+of its lower borders speak of the "_June freshets_ produced by the
+melting of the snow in the mountains."
+
+The upper portions of this river, and emphatically from the mouth of
+the False Washita (or Faux Ouachitt�) upward, present little or no
+facilities for navigation; being frequently spread out over sand-bars
+to the width of several hundred yards. A very credible Indian trader,
+who had been on Red River {197} some two hundred miles above the False
+Washita, informed me, that, while in some places he found it not over
+fifty yards wide, in others it was at least five hundred. This and
+most other prairie streams have commonly very low banks with
+remarkably shallow channels, which, during droughts, sometimes go dry
+in their transit through the sandy plains.[158] [Pg253]
+
+It would be neither interesting nor profitable to present to
+my readers a detailed account of all the tributaries of the three
+principal rivers already mentioned. They may be {198} found for the
+most part laid down, with their bearings and relative magnitudes, upon
+the map which accompanies this work. It is only necessary to say in
+addition, that none of them can ever be availed of to any considerable
+extent for purposes of navigation.
+
+With regard to the productions of the soil of these regions, the
+reader will probably have formed, in the main, a tolerably correct
+idea already; nevertheless a few further specifications may not be
+altogether unacceptable.
+
+The timber of that portion of the United States territory which is
+included between the Arkansas frontier and the Cross Timbers,
+throughout the highlands, is mostly oak of various kinds, of which
+black-jack and post-oak predominate, as these, and especially the
+former, seem only capable of withstanding the conflagrations to which
+they are exposed, and therefore abound along the prairie borders. The
+black-jack presents a blackened, scrubby appearance, with harsh rugged
+branches--partly on account of being so often scorched and crisped by
+the prairie fires. About the streams we find an intermixture of elm,
+hackberry, [Pg254] peccan (or pecan), ash, walnut, mulberry, cherry,
+persimmon, cottonwood, sycamore, birch, etc., with varieties of
+hickory, gum, dogwood, and the like. All of the foregoing, except
+paccan, gum and dogwood, are also found west of Missouri, where,
+although the uplands are almost wholly prairie, the richest growths
+predominate in the valleys.
+
+{199} In many of the rich bottoms from the Canadian to Red River, for
+a distance of one or two hundred miles west of the frontier, is found
+the celebrated _bois-d'arc_ (literally, _bow-wood_), usually corrupted
+in pronunciation to _bowdark_. It was so named by the French on
+account of its peculiar fitness for _bows_. This tree is sometimes
+found with a trunk two or three feet in diameter, but, being much
+branched, it is rarely over forty or fifty feet high. The leaves are
+large, and it bears a fruit a little resembling the orange in general
+appearance, though rougher and larger, being four or five inches in
+diameter; but it is not used for food. The wood is of a beautiful
+light orange color, and, though coarse, is susceptible of polish. It
+is one of the hardest, firmest and most durable of timbers, and is
+much used by wagon-makers and millwrights, as well as by the wild
+Indians, who make bows of the younger growths.[159]
+
+On the Arkansas and especially its southern tributaries as far west as
+the Verdigris, and up those of Red River nearly to the False Washita,
+the bottoms are mostly covered with cane. And scattered over all the
+south to about the same distance westward, the sassafras abounds,
+which grows here in every kind of soil and locality.
+
+The celebrated _Cross Timbers_, of which frequent mention has been
+made, extend from the Brazos, or perhaps from the Colorado of Texas,
+across the sources of Trinity, traversing [Pg255] Red River above the
+False Washita, and thence {200} west of north, to the Red Fork of
+Arkansas, if not further. It is a rough hilly range of country, and,
+though not mountainous, may perhaps be considered a prolongation of
+that chain of low mountains which pass to the northward of Bexar and
+Austin city in Texas.[160]
+
+The Cross Timbers vary in width from five to thirty miles, and
+entirely cut off the communication betwixt the interior prairies and
+those of the great plains. They may be considered as the 'fringe' of
+the great prairies, being a continuous brushy strip, composed of
+various kinds of undergrowth; such as black-jacks, post-oaks, and in
+some places hickory, elm, etc., intermixed with a very diminutive
+dwarf oak, called by the hunters 'shin-oak.' Most of the timber
+appears to be kept small by the continual inroads of the 'burning
+prairies;' for, being killed almost annually, it is constantly
+replaced by scions of undergrowth; so that it becomes more and more
+dense every reproduction. In some places, however, the oaks are of
+considerable size, and able to withstand the conflagrations. The
+underwood is so matted in many places with grape-vines, greenbriars,
+etc., as to form almost impenetrable 'roughs,' which serve as
+hiding-places for wild beasts, as well as wild Indians; and would, in
+savage warfare, prove almost as formidable as the hammocks of Florida.
+
+South of the Canadian, a branch of these Cross Timbers projects off
+westward, extending across this stream, and up its course for 100
+{201} miles or so, from whence, it inclines northwest beyond the North
+Fork, and ultimately ceases, no doubt, in the great sandy plains in
+that direction. [Pg256]
+
+The region of the Cross Timbers is generally well-watered; and
+is interspersed with romantic and fertile tracts. The bottoms of the
+tributaries of Red River, even for some distance west of the Cross
+Timbers (perhaps almost to the U. S. boundary), are mostly very
+fertile, and timbered with narrow stripes of elm, hackberry, walnut,
+hickory, mulberry, bur-oak and other rich growths.
+
+But further north, and west of the Cross Timbers, even the streams are
+nearly naked. The Cimarron river for more than a hundred miles is
+absolutely without timber; and the Arkansas, for so large a stream, is
+remarkably scant. The southern border, being protected from the
+prairie fires by a chain of sand-hills, which extends for two hundred
+miles along it, is not so bare as the northern bank; though even here
+it is only skirted with occasional sparsely set groves of cottonwood
+in the nooks and bends. It is upon the abundance of islands which
+intersperse its channel, that the greatest quantity of timber (though
+purely cottonwood) is to be found; yet withal, there are stretches of
+miles without a tree in view. The banks of the Canadian are equally
+naked; and, having fewer islands, the river appears still more barren.
+In fact, there is scarce anything else but cottonwood, and that very
+sparsely scattered {202} along the streams, throughout most of the
+far-western prairies.
+
+It is unquestionably the prairie conflagrations that keep down the
+woody growth upon most of the western uplands. The occasional skirts
+and fringes which have escaped their rage, have been protected by the
+streams they border. Yet may not the time come when these vast plains
+will be covered with timber? It would seem that the prairie region,
+long after the discovery of America, extended to the very banks of the
+Mississippi. Father Marquette, in a voyage down this river, in 1673,
+after passing below [Pg257] the mouth of the Ohio, remarks:--"The
+banks of the river began to be covered with high trees, which hindered
+us from observing the country as we had done all along; but we judged
+from the bellowing of the oxen [buffalo] that the meadows are very
+near."[161]--Indeed, there are parts of the southwest now thickly set
+with trees of good size, that, within the remembrance of the oldest
+inhabitants, were as naked as the prairie plains; and the appearance
+of the timber in many other sections indicates that it has grown up
+within less than a century. In fact, we are now witnessing the
+encroachment of the timber upon the prairies, wherever the devastating
+conflagrations have ceased their ravages.
+
+The high plains seem too dry and lifeless to produce timber; yet might
+not the vicissitudes of nature operate a change likewise upon the
+seasons? Why may we not suppose {203} that the genial influences of
+civilization--that extensive cultivation of the earth--might
+contribute to the multiplication of showers, as it certainly does of
+fountains? Or that the shady groves, as they advance upon the
+prairies, may have some effect upon the seasons? At least, many old
+settlers maintain that the droughts are becoming less oppressive in
+the West. The people of New Mexico also assure us that the rains have
+much increased of latter years, a phenomenon which the vulgar
+superstitiously attribute to the arrival of the Missouri traders. Then
+may we not hope that these sterile regions might yet be thus revived
+and fertilized, and their surface covered one day by flourishing
+settlements to the Rocky Mountains?
+
+With regard to fruits, the Prairies are of course not very plentifully
+supplied. West of the border, however, for nearly two hundred miles,
+they are covered, in many places, [Pg258] with the wild strawberry;
+and the groves lining the streams frequently abound in grapes, plums,
+persimmons, mulberries, peccans, hackberries, and other 'sylvan
+luxuries.' The high prairies beyond, however, are very bare of fruits.
+The prickly pear may be found over most of the dry plains; but this is
+neither very palatable nor wholesome, though often eaten by travellers
+for want of other fruits. Upon the branches of the Canadian, North
+Fork, and Cimarron, there are, in places, considerable quantities of
+excellent plums, grapes, choke-cherries, gooseberries, and
+currants--of the {204} latter there are three kinds, black, red, and
+white. About the ravines and marshy grounds (particularly towards the
+east) there are different kinds of small onions, with which the
+traveller may season his fresh meats. On the plains, also, I have met
+with a species resembling garlic in flavor.
+
+But the flowers are among the most interesting products of the
+frontier prairies. These gay meadows wear their most fanciful piebald
+robes from the earliest spring till divested of them by the hoary
+frosts of autumn. When again winter has fled, but before the grassy
+green appears, or other vegetation has ventured to peep above the
+earth, they are bespeckled in many places with a species of
+_erythronium_, a pretty lilaceous little flower, which springs from
+the ground already developed, between a pair of lanceolate leaves, and
+is soon after in full bloom.[162] But the floriferous region only
+extends about two hundred miles beyond the border: the high plains are
+nearly as destitute of flowers as they are of fruits.
+
+The _climate_ of most parts of the Prairies is no doubt healthy in the
+extreme; for a purer atmosphere is hardly to be found. But the cold
+rains of the 'wet season,' and the colder snows of winter, with the
+annoying winds [Pg259] that prevail at nearly all times, often render
+it very unpleasant. It can hardly be said, it is true, that the
+Prairies have their regular 'dry and rainy seasons;' yet the summers
+are often so droughty, that, unless some change should {205} be
+effected in nature's functions, cultivators would generally find it
+necessary, no doubt, to resort to irrigation. That portion, however,
+which is conterminous with our western border, and to the distance of
+nearly two hundred miles westward, in every respect resembles the
+adjacent States of Missouri and Arkansas in climate. The south is a
+little disposed to chills and fevers; but the northern portion is as
+healthy as the most salubrious uplands of Missouri.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[150] This discovery was verified by the finding of gold near Denver
+in 1858. A reader of Gregg's book, in the St. Louis Mercantile
+Library, wrote upon the margin in 1858, opposite this paragraph: "The
+truth of this report has been verified this year."--Chittenden,
+_Fur-Trade_, ii, p. 486.--ED.
+
+[151] For an early description of the Grand Saline, see Bradbury's
+_Travels_, in our volume v, pp. 192, 193.--ED.
+
+[152] Capt. Boone is a son of the late Col. Daniel Boone, the
+celebrated pioneer of the West. Being of practical habits, and of
+extensive experience upon those deserts, much weight is due to his
+observations.--GREGG.
+
+[153] Brackenbridge's [Brackenridge's] Voyage up the Missouri River,
+p. 205.--GREGG.
+
+_Comment by Ed._ See our volume vi, p. 153, note 54; also our volume
+v, pp. 191-194.
+
+[154] James Logan was appointed agent among the Creeks shortly after
+their final removal to Indian Territory (about 1838), and was replaced
+about 1842.--ED.
+
+[155] Gregg probably takes this information from Pike's journals. In
+his edition thereof, Elliott Coues claims (ii, p. 733, note 18) that
+San Buenaventura River was a myth of this early period. Pike describes
+it as emptying into the Pacific north of California; but upon his map
+it runs into a nameless salt lake, and is probably to be identified
+with Sevier River.--ED.
+
+[156] A stranger would be led to suppose we were without a system of
+orthography, from the fact of our so generally adopting the French
+spelling of Indian names, whereby all sight is soon lost of the
+original. The French first corrupt them, and we, by adapting our
+pronunciation to their orthography, at once transform them into new
+names. Thus 'polite usage' has converted into _Arkan�sas_ the plural
+of the primitive _Arkansa_ or _Arkonsah_; though an approximate,
+_Ar�kansaw_, is still the current 'vulgar' pronunciation. _Osage_ and
+a great many others have suffered similar metamorphoses.--GREGG.
+
+[157] For the exploration of the sources of Red River, see our volume
+xvi, p. 85, note 52. Gregg would appear to be one of the first
+correctly to locate the headwaters of this stream.--ED.
+
+[158] Of all the rivers of this character, the Cimarron, being on the
+route from Missouri to Santa F�, has become the most famous. Its water
+disappears in the sand and reappears again, in so many places, that
+some travellers have contended that it 'ebbs and flows' periodically.
+This is doubtless owing to the fact, that the little current which may
+flow above the sand in the night, or in cloudy weather, is kept dried
+up, in an unshaded channel, during the hot sunny days. But in some
+places the sand is so porous that the water never flows above it,
+except during freshets.
+
+I was once greatly surprised upon encountering one of these sandy
+sections of the river after a tremendous rain-storm. Our caravan was
+encamped at the 'Lower Cimarron Spring:' and, a little after
+night-fall, a dismal, murky cloud was seen gathering in the western
+horizon, which very soon came lowering upon us, driven by a hurricane,
+and bringing with it one of those tremendous bursts of thunder and
+lightning, and rain, which render the storms of the Prairies, like
+those of the tropics, so terrible. Hail-stones, as large as turkeys'
+eggs, and torrents of rain soon drenched the whole country; and so
+rapidly were the banks of the river overflowed, that the most active
+exertions were requisite to prevent the mules that were 'staked' in
+the valley from drowning. Next morning, after crossing the neck of a
+bend, we were, at the distance of about three miles, upon the
+river-bank again; when, to our astonishment, the wetted sand, and an
+occasional pool, fast being absorbed, were the only vestiges of the
+recent flood--no water was flowing there!
+
+In these sandy stretches of the Cimarron, and other similar 'dry
+streams,' travellers procure water by excavating basins in the
+channel, a few feet deep, into which the water is filtrated from the
+saturated sand.--GREGG.
+
+[159] This is the shrub now known as Osage orange (_Maclura
+aurantiaca_).--ED.
+
+[160] Bexar is the older name for San Antonio, Texas, which was
+founded (1718) as a presidio and mission to the memory of San Antonio
+de Bejar (Bexar). Austin was laid out (1839) as the capital of the
+independent state of Texas. See George P. Garrison, _Texas_ (New York,
+1902).--ED.
+
+[161] See Thwaites, _Jesuit Relations_, lix, for Marquette's journal.
+This quotation is found on p. 149.--ED.
+
+[162] Commonly known as dog-toothed violet.--ED.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII {XI}
+
+ANIMALS OF THE PRAIRIES
+
+The Mustang or Wild Horse -- Capturing him by 'Creasing,' and with
+  the Lazo -- Horse-flesh -- The Buffalo -- Its Appearance --
+  Excellence of its Meat -- General Utility to the Indian and
+  Traveller -- Prospect of its Extinction -- Hunting the Buffalo with
+  Bow and Arrows, the Lance, etc. -- 'Still-hunting' -- The Buffalo
+  ferocious only when wounded -- Butchering, etc. -- The Gray Wolf --
+  Its Modes of killing Buffalo -- Their great Numbers -- A
+  'Wolf-scrape' -- The Prairie Wolf, or 'Jackal of the Prairies' --
+  Elk, Deer and Bear -- The Antelope -- The Bighorn -- The Prairie Dog
+  -- Owls and Rattlesnakes -- The Horned Frog -- Fowls -- Bees, etc.
+
+
+The zoology of the Prairies has probably attracted more attention than
+any other feature of their natural history. This has not arisen
+altogether from the peculiar interest the animals of the Prairies
+possess; but they constitute so considerable a portion of the society
+of the traveller who journeys among them, that they get to hold
+somewhat the same place in his estimation that his fellow-creatures
+would occupy if he were in civilization. Indeed, the animals are _par
+�minence_ the communities of the Prairies.
+
+By far the most noble of these, and therefore {207} the [Pg260] best
+entitled to precedence in the brief notice I am able to present of the
+animals of those regions, is the _mustang_[163] or wild horse of the
+Prairies. As he is descended from the stock introduced into America by
+the first Spanish colonists, he has no doubt a partial mixture of
+Arabian blood. Being of domestic origin, he is found of various
+colors, and sometimes of a beautiful piebald.
+
+It is a singular fact in the economy of nature, that all _wild_
+animals of the same species should have one uniform color (with only
+occasional but uniform differences between males and females); while
+that of the _domestic_ animals, whether quadruped or fowl, is more or
+less diversified.
+
+The beauty of the mustang is proverbial. One in particular has been
+celebrated by hunters, of which marvellous stories are told. He has
+been represented as a medium-sized stallion of perfect symmetry,
+milk-white, save a pair of black ears--a natural 'pacer,' and so
+fleet, it has been said, as to leave far behind every horse that had
+been tried in pursuit of him, without breaking his 'pace.' But I infer
+that this story is somewhat mythical, from the difficulty which one
+finds in fixing the abiding place of its equine hero. He is familiarly
+known, by common report, all over the great Prairies. The trapper
+celebrates him in the vicinity of the northern Rocky {208} Mountains;
+the hunter, on the Arkansas, or in the midst of the Plains; while
+others have him pacing at the rate of half a mile a minute on the
+borders of Texas. It is hardly a matter of surprise, then, that a
+creature of such an ubiquitary existence should never have been
+caught.
+
+The wild horses are generally well-formed, with trim and clean limbs;
+still their elegance has been much exaggerated by travellers, because
+they have seen them at large, abandoned [Pg261] to their wild and
+natural gaiety. Then, it is true, they appear superb indeed; but when
+caught and tamed, they generally dwindle down to ordinary ponies.
+Large droves are very frequently seen upon the Prairies, sometimes of
+hundreds together, gambolling and curvetting within a short distance
+of the caravans. It is sometimes difficult to keep them from dashing
+among the loose stock of the traveller, which would be exceedingly
+dangerous; for, once together, they are hard to separate again,
+particularly if the number of mustangs is much the greatest. It is a
+singular fact, that the gentlest wagon-horse (even though quite fagged
+with travel), once among a drove of mustangs, will often acquire in a
+few hours all the intractable wildness of his untamed companions.
+
+The mustang is sometimes taken by the cruel expedient of 'creasing,'
+which consists in shooting him through the upper _crease_ of the neck,
+above the cervical vertebr�; when, the ball cutting a principal nerve,
+he falls as suddenly {209} as if shot in the brain, and remains
+senseless for a few minutes, during which he is secured with a rope.
+He soon recovers from the shock, however, and springs to his feet, but
+finds himself deprived of his liberty. He is easily tamed after this,
+and the wound heals without leaving any physical injury. But
+'creasing' is so nice an operation that many are killed in the
+attempt. If the ball pass a little too low, it fractures a vertebra
+and kills the poor brute instantly.
+
+But the most usual mode, among the Mexicans and Indians, of taking the
+_meste�a_ (as the former call these animals), is with the lazo. They
+pursue them on fleet horses, and great numbers are thus noosed and
+tamed. The mustang has been taken in Texas in considerable numbers by
+preparing a strong pen at some passway or crossing of a river, into
+which they are frightened and caught. [Pg262]
+
+Upon the plains, I once succeeded in separating a gay-looking stallion
+from his herd of _meste�as_, upon which he immediately joined our
+_caballada_, and was directly lazoed by a Mexican. As he curvetted at
+the end of the rope, or would stop and gaze majestically at his
+subjecters, his symmetrical proportions attracted the attention of
+all; and our best jockeys at once valued him at five hundred dollars.
+But it appeared that he had before been tamed, for he soon submitted
+to the saddle, and in a few days dwindled down to scarce a
+twenty-dollar hackney.
+
+Prairie travellers have often been reduced {210} to the necessity of
+eating the flesh of the mustang; and, when young and tender, it has
+been accounted savory enough; but, when of full age, it is said to be
+exceedingly rancid, particularly when fat. They are sometimes hunted
+by Mexicans for their oil, which is used by the curriers.
+
+The _buffalo_, though making no pretensions to the elegance and
+symmetry of the mustang, is by far the most important animal of the
+Prairies to the traveller. It is sufficiently well known that these
+animals bear but little resemblance to the buffalo of India; but that
+they are a species of bison, or _bos Americanus_, according to
+naturalists. They are called _C�bolos_ by the Mexicans; and it would
+certainly have prevented ambiguity, had they been distinguished by
+some other name than buffalo with us.
+
+Their dusky black color becomes much paler during the season of long
+hair.[164] The phenomenon of a white buffalo has frequently been
+remarked upon the Prairies; but as the white skin is said to have been
+used in the mystic ceremonies of many of the northern tribes of
+Indians, this probably created such a demand for them, that they have
+become nearly extinct. Their unusual [Pg263] color has commonly been
+considered a _lusus natur�_, yet it is probable that they stand in
+about the same relation to the black or brown buffalo that black sheep
+do to white ones. The horns of {211} the buffalo are short and black,
+and almost concealed under the frightfully shaggy frontlets of long
+woolly hair that crown the foreheads of the bulls; which, with the
+goat-like beard, and ill-shapen hump, form the chief distinction
+between them and the domestic cattle: in fact, they are so nearly of
+the same species that they will breed together; though the offspring,
+like the mule, is said to be unfruitful. Between the males and females
+there is still a greater disproportion in size than among the domestic
+cattle. A buffalo cow is about as heavy as a common ox, while a large
+fat bull will weigh perhaps double as much.
+
+These are very gregarious animals. At some seasons, however, the cows
+rather incline to keep to themselves; at other times they are mostly
+seen in the centre of the gang, while the bulls are scattered around,
+frequently to a considerable distance, evidently guarding the cows and
+calves. And on the outskirts of the buffalo range, we are apt to meet
+with small gangs of bulls alone, a day or two's travel distant, as
+though performing the office of 'piquet guards' for the main herds.
+
+The flesh of the buffalo is, I think, as fine as any meat I ever
+tasted: the old hunter will not admit that there is anything equal to
+it. Much of its apparent savoriness, however, results perhaps from our
+sharpened 'prairie appetites,' and our being usually upon salt
+provisions awhile before obtaining it. The {212} flesh is of coarser
+texture than beef, more juicy, and the fat and lean better
+distributed. This meat is also very easy of digestion,[165] [Pg264]
+possessing even aperient qualities. The circumstance that bulls of all
+ages, if fat, make good beef, is a further proof of the superiority of
+buffalo meat. These are generally selected for consumption in the
+winter and early spring, when the cows, unless barren, are apt to be
+poor; but during most of the year, the latter are the fattest and
+tenderest meat. Of these, the udder is held as hardly second to the
+tongue in delicacy. But what the tail of the beaver is to the trapper,
+the tongue of the buffalo is to the hunter. Next to this are the
+'marrow-bones,' the tender-loins, and the hump-ribs. Instead of a
+gristly substance, as sometimes stated, the hump is produced by a
+convex tier of vertical ribs, which project from the spine, forming a
+gradual curve over the shoulders: those of the middle being sometimes
+nearly two feet in length. The 'veal' is rarely good, being generally
+poor, owing to the scanty supply of milk which their dams afford, and
+to their running so much from hunters and wolves.
+
+This animal furnishes almost the exclusive food of the prairie
+Indians, as well as covering for their wigwams and most of their
+clothing; also their bedding, ropes, bags for their meat, &c.; sinews
+for bow-strings, for sewing moccasins, leggins, and the like; besides
+{213} sustenance for the numerous travellers and trappers who range
+upon their grazing regions. Were they only killed for food, however,
+their natural increase would perhaps replenish the loss: yet the
+continual and wanton slaughter of them by travellers and hunters, and
+the still greater havoc made among them by the Indians, not only for
+meat, but often for the skins and tongues alone (for which they find a
+ready market among their traders), are fast reducing their numbers,
+and must ultimately effect their total annihilation from the
+continent. It is believed that the annual [Pg265] 'export' of
+_buffalo rugs_[166] from the Prairies and bordering 'buffalo range,'
+is about a hundred thousand: and the number killed wantonly, or
+exclusively for meat, is no doubt still greater, as the skins are fit
+to dress scarcely half the year. The vast extent of the prairies upon
+which they now pasture is no argument against the prospect of their
+total extinction, when we take into consideration the extent of
+country from which they have already disappeared; for it is well
+known, that, within the recollection of our oldest pioneers, they were
+nearly as abundant east of the Mississippi as they now are upon the
+western prairies; and from history we learn, that they once ranged to
+the Atlantic coast. Even within thirty years, they were abundant over
+much of the present States of Missouri and Arkansas; yet they are now
+rarely seen within two hundred miles of the frontier. Indeed, upon the
+high {214} plains they have very sensibly decreased within the last
+ten years. Nevertheless, the number of buffalo upon the Prairies is
+still immense. But, as they incline to migrate _en masse_ from place
+to place, it sometimes happens, that, for several days' travel
+together, not a single one is to be met with; but, in other places,
+many thousands are often seen at one view.
+
+The Indians, as well as Mexicans, hunt the buffalo mostly with the bow
+and arrows. For this purpose they train their fleetest horses to run
+close beside him; and, when near enough, with almost unerring aim,
+they pierce him with their arrows, usually behind the short ribs,
+ranging forward, which soon disables and brings him to the ground.
+When an arrow has been ill-directed, or does not enter deep enough,
+and even sometimes when it has penetrated a vital part, but is needed
+to use again, the [Pg266] hunter sometimes rides up and draws it out
+while the animal is yet running. An athletic Indian will not
+unfrequently discharge his darts with such force, that I have seen
+them (30 inches long) wholly buried in the body of a buffalo: and I
+have been assured by hunters that the arrows, missing the bones, have
+been known to pass entirely through the huge carcass and fall upon the
+ground.
+
+The dexterity acquired by these wild hunters in shooting the buffalo,
+is very surprising. On one occasion, upon the prairies, a party of
+Witchita Indians were encamped near us; and {215} a drove of buffalo
+passing in the vicinity, I requested a chief to take my horse and kill
+one 'upon the shares.' He delighted in the sport: so, gathering his
+arrows, he mounted the pony, which was slow, and withal very lean, and
+giving chase, in a few minutes he had two buffaloes lying upon the
+plain, and two others went off so badly wounded, that, with a little
+exertion, they might have been secured.
+
+But the dexterity of the Comanches in the buffalo chase is perhaps
+superior to that of any other tribe. The Mexican _Ciboleros_, however,
+are scarcely if at all inferior to the Indians in this sport. I once
+went on a hunting expedition with a Cibolero, who carried no arms
+except his bow and arrows and a butcher's knife. Espying a herd of
+buffalo, he put spurs to his horse, and, though I followed as fast as
+a mule I rode could trudge, when I came up with him, after a chase of
+two or three miles, he had the buffalo partly skinned! This was rather
+unusual dispatch, to be sure, for the animal oftener lingers awhile
+after receiving the fatal dart.
+
+In the chase, the experienced hunter singles out the fattest buffalo
+as his victim, and having given him a mortal wound, he in like manner
+selects another, and so on, till the plain is sometimes literally
+strewed with carcasses. [Pg267]
+
+It seems that Capt. Bonneville[167] marvelled greatly that some
+Indians, during his peregrinations in the Rocky Mountains, should have
+{216} killed buffalo "without guns or arrows, and with only an old
+spear;" and he was no doubt mistaken in supposing "that they had
+chased the herds of buffalo at full speed, until they tired them down,
+when they easily dispatched them with the spear:" for both Indians and
+Mexicans often chase with a long-handled spear or lance, which, if the
+horse be well trained, is still a more expeditious mode of killing
+them than with the bow and arrow. An expert lancer will enter a drove,
+and drawing up alongside, will pierce buffalo after buffalo until
+several are brought down.
+
+In default of bow or lance, they chase with the fusil, but seldom so
+successfully as with the former weapons. The Americans generally
+prefer 'running' with the horseman's pistol; yet the Indian is apt to
+kill double as many with his arrows or lance.
+
+In all these modes of hunting, the buffalo is sometimes dangerous;
+for, becoming enraged from his wounds, he will often make desperate
+lunges at his pursuer; and, if the horse be not well trained, he may
+be himself disembowelled, leaving his rider at the mercy of the
+buffalo, [Pg268] as has happened on some occasions. But if the steed
+understand his business, he will dodge the animal with the expertness
+of a fencer.
+
+Buffalo calves (but not full-grown buffalo) are often taken with the
+lazo by Mexicans and Indians; yet, being separated from their dams and
+the droves during chases, these simple little creatures not
+unfrequently take up with {217} the riding animals of the hunters, and
+follow them to the camp as tamely as though they were their dams. If
+provided with domestic cows, they may be raised without much
+difficulty.
+
+Some of the northern Indians, particularly the Assiniboins,[168] are
+said to practise still a distinct mode of taking the buffalo. A
+staunch pound is erected at some convenient point, and, after a course
+of mystic rites by their medicine-men, they start upon the enterprise.
+A gang of buffalo is frightened towards the pen, while an Indian,
+covered with one of their woolly skins, runs at a distance ahead.
+Being seen by the animals, they mistake him for one of their kind, and
+follow him into the pen. Once secured in the enclosure, they leisurely
+dispatch them with their arrows, as they are said to believe it would
+offend the Great Spirit and render future hunts unpropitious to use
+fire arms in killing their imprisoned game.
+
+However, of all other modes, our backwoodsmen prefer
+'still-hunting'--that is, stealing upon their game afoot with the
+rifle. Buffalo are much more easily approached than deer. When the
+hunter perceives a herd at rest, or quietly feeding, he crawls upon
+them behind a bank, a shrub, or a tuft of grass, with the greatest
+facility, provided he 'has the wind of them,' as hunters say--that is,
+if the wind blows from the buffalo; but if the reverse, he will
+[Pg269] find it impossible to approach them, however securely he may
+have {218} concealed himself from their sight. In fact, their scent
+being acute, they seem to depend more upon it than their sight; for if
+a gang of buffalo be frightened, from any quarter whatever, they are
+apt to shape their course against the wind, that they may scent an
+enemy in their way.
+
+If the hunter succeed in 'bringing down' his first shot, he may
+frequently kill several out of the same herd; for, should the game
+neither see nor smell him, they may hear the rifle-cracks, and witness
+their companions fall one after another, without heeding, except to
+raise their heads, and perhaps start a little at each report. They
+would seem to fancy that the fallen are only lying down to rest, and
+they are loth to leave them. On one occasion, upon the Cimarron river,
+I saw some ten or a dozen buffaloes lying upon a few acres of ground,
+all of which had been shot from the same herd by a couple of our
+hunters. Had not the gang been frightened by the approaching caravan,
+perhaps a dozen more of them might have fallen.
+
+A dexterous hunter will sometimes 'crawl upon' a gang of buffalo, on a
+perfectly level plain. As their sight is at best not acute, and is
+always more or less obscured by the shaggy hair of their foreheads,
+they will hardly observe an approaching enemy when they are feeding,
+unless the wind bears them the scent. The hunter is, therefore,
+careful to 'have the wind' of them, and crawls slowly and closely upon
+the ground, until within gun-shot. If {219} he bring down the first,
+the others will perhaps retire a little, when he may sometimes
+approach behind the fallen buffalo, and shoot several others.
+
+The tenacity of these animals for life is often very extraordinary.
+When one receives even a mortal shot, he frequently appears not
+hurt--he seems to disdain to [Pg270] flinch--but will curl his tail
+and step about as though he neither felt nor feared anything! If left
+undisturbed, however, he begins to stagger, and in a few moments
+expires: but if provoked, he might run for miles before he would fall.
+I have seen a party of hunters around a wounded and enraged bull,
+fire, at a few paces distance, a dozen or two shots, aimed at his very
+heart, without their seeming to have any effect till his anger cooled,
+when in an instant he would lie lifeless upon the ground. In such
+cases, the inexperienced hunter often aims to shoot them in the brain,
+but without success. Owing not only to the thickness of the scull, but
+to the matted wool upon it, I have never witnessed an instance of a
+rifle-ball's penetrating to the brain of a buffalo bull.
+
+The 'still-hunter' must needs be upon his guard; for the wounded
+buffalo is prone to make battle, upon the too near approach of his
+enemy. With a little presence of mind, however, his attacks are easily
+shunned. If he makes a lunge, the pedestrian hunter has only to wheel
+abruptly to one side; for the animal is apt to pass on in a direct
+line. I have never heard of a serious accident of the {220} kind; yet
+some frightful though amusing incidents have occurred in such cases.
+
+The buffalo never attacks, however, except when wounded. Even the
+largest droves (the opinion of some travellers to the contrary
+notwithstanding), though in the wildest career, are easily turned from
+their course by a single man who may intercept their way. I have
+crouched in the tall grass in the direct route of a frighted gang,
+when, firing at them on their near approach, they would spread in
+consternation to either side. Still their advance is somewhat
+frightful--their thundering rumble over the dry plain--their lion-like
+fronts and dangling beards--their open mouths and hanging tongues--as
+they come on, puffing [Pg271] like a locomotive engine at every
+bound, does at first make the blood settle a little heavy about the
+heart.
+
+The gait of these animals is a clumsy gallop, and any common pony can
+overtake them in the chase; though, as the hunter would express it,
+they 'lumber' over the ground rather deceivingly. The cows are usually
+much faster than the bulls. It has been the remark of travellers that
+the buffalo jumps up from the ground differently from any other
+animal. The horse rises upon his fore feet first, and the cow upon her
+hind feet, but the buffalo seems to spring up on them all at once.
+
+American hunters, as well as Indians, to butcher the buffalo,
+generally turn it upon the belly, and commence on the back. The {221}
+hump-ribs, tender-loins, and a few other choice bits being
+appropriated, the remainder is commonly left for the wolves. The skin
+is chiefly used for buffalo rugs, but for which it is only preserved
+by the Indians during fall and winter (and then rarely but from the
+cows and bullocks), when the hair is long and woolly. I have never
+seen the buffalo hide tanned, but it seems too porous and spongy to
+make substantial leather. Were it valuable, thousands of hides might
+be saved that are annually left to the wolves upon the Prairies.
+
+Although the buffalo is the largest, he has by no means the control
+among the prairie animals: the sceptre of authority has been lodged
+with the large _gray wolf_. Though but little larger than the wolf of
+the United States, he is much more ferocious. The same species abound
+throughout the north of Mexico, where they often kill horses, mules
+and cattle of all sizes; and on the Prairies they make considerable
+havoc among the buffalo.
+
+Many curious tales are told of the wiles and expedients practised by
+these animals to secure their prey. Some [Pg272] assert that they
+collect in companies, and chase a buffalo by turns, till he is
+fatigued, when they join and soon dispatch him: others, that, as the
+buffalo runs with the tongue hanging out, they snap at it in the chase
+till it is torn off, which preventing him from eating, he is reduced
+by starvation, and soon overpowered: others, that, while running, they
+gnaw and lacerate {222} the legs and ham-strings till they disable
+him, and then he is killed by the gang. Be this as it may, certain it
+is that they overcome many of the largest buffaloes, employing perhaps
+different means of subduing them, and among these is doubtless the
+last mentioned, for I have myself seen them with the muscles of the
+thighs cruelly mangled--a consequence no doubt of some of these
+attacks. Calves are constantly falling victims to the rapacity of
+these wolves; yet, when herds of buffalo are together, they defend
+their offspring with great bravery.
+
+Though the color of this wolf is generally a dirty gray, it is
+sometimes met with nearly white. I am of opinion, however, that the
+diversity of color originates chiefly from the different ages of the
+hair, and the age and condition of the animal itself. The few white
+wolves I have seen, have been lean, long-haired, and apparently very
+old. There are immense numbers of them upon the Prairies. Droves are
+frequently to be seen following in the wake of caravans, hunting
+companies, and itinerant Indian bands, for weeks together--not, like
+the jackal, so much to disinter the dead (though this they sometimes
+do), as to feast upon the abandoned carcasses of the buffalo which are
+so often wantonly killed and wasted. Unless in these cases, they are
+rarely seen, except in the neighborhood of buffalo; therefore, when
+the hungry traveller meets with wolves, he feels some assurance that
+supplies of his favorite game are at hand. [Pg273]
+
+{223} I have never known these animals, rapacious as they are, [to]
+extend their attacks to man, though they probably would, if very
+hungry and a favorable opportunity presented itself. I shall not soon
+forget an adventure with one of them, many years ago, on the frontier
+of Missouri. Riding near the prairie border, I perceived one of the
+largest and fiercest of the gray species, which had just descended
+from the west, and seemed famished to desperation. I at once prepared
+for a chase; and, being without arms, I caught up a cudgel, when I
+betook me valiantly to the charge, much stronger, as I soon
+discovered, in my cause than in my equipment. The wolf was in no humor
+to flee, however, but boldly met me full half-way. I was soon
+disarmed, for my club broke upon the animal's head. He then 'laid to'
+my horse's legs, which, not relishing the conflict, gave a plunge and
+sent me whirling over his head, and made his escape, leaving me and
+the wolf at close quarters. I was no sooner upon my feet than my
+antagonist renewed the charge; but, being without weapon, or any means
+of awakening an emotion of terror, save through his imagination, I
+took off my large black hat, and using it for a shield, began to
+thrust it towards his gaping jaws. My _ruse_ had the desired effect;
+for, after springing at me a few times, he wheeled about and trotted
+off several paces, and stopped to gaze at me. Being apprehensive that
+he might change his mind and return to the attack, and conscious that,
+under the {224} compromise, I had the best of the bargain, I very
+resolutely---- took to my heels, glad of the opportunity of making a
+drawn game, though I had myself given the challenge.
+
+There is a small species called the _prairie wolf_ on the frontier,
+and _coyote_[169] by the Mexicans, which is also found [Pg274] in
+immense numbers on the Plains. It is rather smaller than an ordinary
+dog, nearly the color of the common gray wolf, and though as rapacious
+as the larger kind, it seems too cowardly to attack stout game. It
+therefore lives upon the remains of buffalo killed by hunters and by
+the large wolves, added to such small game as hares, prairie dogs,
+etc., and even reptiles and insects. It will lie for hours beside a
+'dog-hole,' watching for the appearance of the little animal, which no
+sooner peeps out than the enemy pounces upon it.
+
+The coyote has been denominated the 'jackal of the Prairies;' indeed,
+some have reckoned it really a species of that animal, yet it would
+seem improperly, as this creature {225} partakes much less of the
+nature of the jackal than of the common wolf. Still, however noisy the
+former may be, he cannot exceed the prairie wolf. Like ventriloquists,
+a pair of these will represent a dozen distinct voices in such quick
+succession--will bark, chatter, yelp, whine, and howl in such variety
+of note, that one would fancy a score of them at hand. This, added to
+the long and doleful bugle-note of the large wolf, which often
+accompanies it, sometimes makes a night upon the Prairies perfectly
+hideous.--Some hunters assert that the coyote and the dog will breed
+together. Be this as it may, certain it is that the Indian dogs have a
+wonderfully wolfish appearance.
+
+The _elk_ as well as the _deer_ is found somewhat abundant [Pg275]
+upon the Arkansas river, as high as the Santa F� road, but from thence
+westward they are both very scarce; for these animals do not resort to
+the high prairie plains. Further south, however, in the prairies
+bordering the brushy tributaries of the Canadian and Red River, deer
+are exceedingly plenty--herds of hundreds are sometimes seen together;
+but in these southern regions there are but few elks.
+
+About the thickety streams above-mentioned, as well as among the Cross
+Timbers, the _black bear_ is very common, living chiefly upon acorns
+and other fruits. The grape vines and the branches of the scrubby
+oaks, and plum-bushes, are in some places so torn and broken by the
+bear in pursuit of fruits, that a stranger {226} would conclude a
+violent hurricane had passed among them.
+
+That species of gazelle known as the _antelope_ is very numerous upon
+the high plains. This beautiful animal, though reckoned a link between
+the deer and goat, is certainly much nearest the latter. It is about
+the size and somewhat of the figure of a large goat. Its horns also
+resemble those of the latter, being likewise persistent; but they are
+more erect, and have a short prong projecting in front. The ground of
+this animal's color a little resembles that of the common deer, but it
+is variegated with a whitish section or two on each side.
+
+The antelope is most remarkable for its fleetness: not bounding like
+the deer, but skimming over the ground as though upon skates. The
+fastest horse will rarely overtake them. I once witnessed an effort to
+catch one that had a hind-leg broken, but it far outstripped our
+fleetest 'buffalo-horse.' It is, therefore, too swift to be hunted in
+the chase. I have seen dogs run after this animal, but they would soon
+stop and turn about, apparently much ashamed of being left so far
+behind. [Pg276]
+
+The flesh of the antelope is, like that of the goat, rather coarse,
+and but little esteemed: consequently, no great efforts are made to
+take them. Being as wild as fleet, the hunting of them is very
+difficult, except they be entrapped by their curiosity. Meeting a
+stranger, they seem loth to leave him until they have fully found him
+out. They will often {227} take a circuit around the object of their
+curiosity, usually approaching nearer and nearer, until within
+rifle-shot--frequently stopping to gaze. Also, they are often decoyed
+with a scarlet coat, or a red handkerchief attached to the tip of a
+ramrod, which will sometimes allure them within reach of the hunter's
+aim. But this interesting animal, like the buffalo, is now very rarely
+seen within less than 200 miles of the frontier: though early voyagers
+tell us that it once frequented as far east as the Mississippi.
+
+The _bighorn_ (_carnero cimarron_, as called by the Mexicans, and
+sometimes known to trappers as the mountain sheep), so abundant in
+most of the Rocky Mountain chain, is found in the spurs and
+table-plain cliffs about the sources of the Cimarron river (whence
+this stream acquired its name), as well as in the highland gorges, and
+other parts of those mountain borders. Its flesh is said to be
+excellent, and is preferred by many hunters to venison. It is larger
+than a common sheep, and covered with brownish hair instead of
+wool--darker than the deer, but whitish on the belly. It is most
+remarkable for its huge spiral horns, resembling in shape and
+curvature those of the sheep, but sometimes over three feet long, and
+four to six inches in diameter at the base.[170] [Pg277]
+
+{228} The bighorn is quite celebrated for its agility, and its
+habit of secluding itself among the most inaccessible mountain crags.
+It seems to delight in perching and capering upon the very verge of
+the most frightful precipices and overhanging cliffs, and in skipping
+from rock to rock, regardless of the yawning chasms, hundreds of feet
+in depth, which intervene. In fact, when pursued, it does not
+hesitate, as I have been assured, to leap from a cliff into a valley a
+hundred or more feet below, where, lighting upon its huge horns, it
+springs to its feet uninjured; for the neck is so thick and strong as
+to support the greatest shock the animal's weight can bring upon it.
+Being exceedingly timorous, it rarely descends to the valleys, but
+feeds and sleeps about such craggy fastnesses as are inaccessible to
+the wolves and other animals of prey. This animal seems greatly to
+resemble the _moufflon_ of Buffon, in color, figure and horns, but the
+_chamois_ in habits.
+
+But of all the prairie animals, by far the most curious, and by no
+means the least celebrated, is the little _prairie dog_. This singular
+quadruped is but little larger than a common squirrel, its body being
+nearly a foot long, with a tail of three or four inches. The color
+ranges from brown to a dirty yellow. The flesh, though often eaten by
+travellers, is not esteemed savory. It was denominated the 'barking
+squirrel,' the 'prairie ground-squirrel,' etc., by early explorers,
+with much more apparent propriety than the present established {229}
+name. Its yelp, which resembles that of the little toy-dog, seems its
+only canine attribute. It rather appears to occupy a middle ground
+betwixt the rabbit and squirrel--like the former in feeding and
+burrowing--like the latter in frisking, flirting, sitting erect, and
+somewhat so in its barking.
+
+The prairie dog has been reckoned by some naturalists a species of the
+marmot (_arctomys ludoviciana_); yet it seems [Pg278] to possess
+scarce any other quality in common with this animal except that of
+burrowing. Some have supposed, it is true, that like the marmot, they
+lie torpid during the cold season; and it is observed in 'Long's
+Expedition,' that, "as they pass the winter in a lethargic state, they
+lay up no provisions," &c.: but this is no doubt erroneous; for I have
+the concurrent testimony of several persons, who have been upon the
+Prairies in winter, that, like rabbits and squirrels, they issue from
+their holes every soft day; and therefore lay up no doubt a hoard of
+'hay' (as there is rarely anything else to be found in the vicinity of
+their towns) for winter's use.
+
+A collection of their burrows has been termed by travellers a 'dog
+town,' which comprises from a dozen or so, to some thousands in the
+same vicinity; often covering an area of several square miles. They
+generally locate upon firm dry plains, coated with fine short grass,
+upon which they feed; for they are no doubt exclusively herbivorous.
+But even when tall coarse grass surrounds, they seem commonly to
+destroy this within their 'streets,' {230} which are nearly always
+found 'paved' with a fine species suited to their palates. They must
+need but little water, if any at all, as their 'towns' are often,
+indeed generally, found in the midst of the most arid plains--unless
+we suppose they dig down to subterranean fountains. At least they
+evidently burrow remarkably deep. Attempts either to dig or drown them
+out of their holes have generally proved unsuccessful.
+
+[Illustration: "Dog Town," or Settlement of Prairie Dogs]
+
+Approaching a 'village,' the little dogs may be observed frisking
+about the 'streets'--passing from dwelling to dwelling apparently on
+visits--sometimes a few clustered together as though in council--here
+feeding upon the tender herbage--there cleansing their 'houses,' or
+brushing the little hillock about the door--yet all quiet. Upon
+[Pg281] seeing a stranger, however, each streaks it to its home,
+but is apt to stop at the entrance, and spread the general alarm by a
+succession of shrill yelps, usually sitting erect. Yet at the report
+of a gun or the too near approach of the visitor, they dart down and
+are seen no more till the cause of alarm seems to have disappeared.
+
+Two other animals appear to live in communion with the prairie
+dogs--the _rattle-snake_ and a small _owl_;[171] but both are no doubt
+intruders, resorting to these burrows for shelter, and to feed, it is
+presumed, upon the 'pups' of the inmates.
+
+{231} Rattle-snakes are exceedingly abundant upon these plains: scores
+of them are sometimes killed in the course of a day's travel; yet they
+seem remarkably harmless, for I have never witnessed an instance of a
+man's being bitten, though they have been known to crawl even into the
+beds of travellers.[172] Mules are sometimes bitten by them, yet very
+rarely, though they must daily walk over considerable numbers.
+
+The _horned frog_, as modern travellers have christened it, or horned
+lizard,[173] as those of earlier times more rationally called it, is
+the most famed and curious reptile of the plains. Like the prairie
+dog, it is only found in the dry regions, often many miles from water.
+It no doubt lives nearly, if not wholly, without drink. Its food
+probably consists chiefly of ants and other insects; though many
+Mexicans will have it, that the _camaleon_ (as they call it) _vive del
+aire_--lives upon the air. It has been kept several [Pg282] months
+without partaking of a particle of aliment. I once took a pair of them
+upon the far-western plains, which I shut up in a box and carried to
+one of the eastern cities, where they were kept for several months
+before they died,--without having taken food or water, though
+repeatedly offered them.
+
+{232} The whole length of the horned frog is from two to five
+inches--body flatted horizontally, oval-shaped, and between one and
+two inches wide in the middle. The back is beautifully variegated,
+with white and brown, and sometimes a yellowish purple. The belly is
+whitish and covered with brown specks. It acquired its name from a
+pair of short horns projecting from the top of the head--with other
+smaller horny protuberances upon the head and body. It has a short
+tail, which gives it a lizard-like appearance. It is a very
+inoffensive creature, and may be handled with perfect impunity,
+notwithstanding its uncouth appearance, and sometimes vicious
+demonstrations.
+
+As birds mostly incline to the timbered regions, there is but a scant
+variety to be met with upon the plains. About the Cross Timbers and
+indeed on all the brushy creeks, especially to the southward, are
+quantities of wild _turkeys_, which are frequently seen ranging in
+large flocks in the bordering prairies. That species of American
+grouse, known west as the _prairie-hen_, is very abundant on the
+frontier, and is quite destructive, in autumn, to the prairie
+corn-fields. This fowl is rarely seen over two hundred miles beyond
+the border. _Partridges_ are found about as far west; but their number
+is quite limited anywhere beyond the precincts of the settlements.
+About the streams there are different species of geese and ducks, as
+well as both sand-hill and white cranes: also flocks of a species of
+plover and {233} curlew. Add to these numbers of hawks and ravens, and
+we have most of the fowls of the [Pg283] Prairies. Flocks of the
+latter follow in the wake of caravans with even greater constancy than
+wolves.
+
+The _bee_, among Western pioneers, is the proverbial precursor of the
+Anglo-American population: in fact, the aborigines of the frontier
+have generally corroborated the notion; for they used to say, they
+knew the whites were not far behind, when bees appeared among them.
+This partial coincidence, I suppose, is the result of their emigration
+westward being at nearly an even pace with that of the settlers. As
+yet no honey-bees seem to have been discovered as far westward as any
+part of the Rocky Mountains. They are scattered, however, to the
+distance of two or three hundred miles west of the Missouri and
+Arkansas frontier, where there is timber affording them suitable
+habitations. On the Santa F� route but few have been found beyond the
+Council Grove.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[163] _Mustang_ would most naturally seem a corruption of the Spanish
+adjective _mostrenco_ (without owner), but the Mexicans call wild
+horses _meste�as_, a synonyme in one of its senses with
+_mostrenco_.--GREGG.
+
+[164] The bulls usually shed in the spring, from the shoulders back,
+but not in front, which imparts to them quite a lion-like
+appearance.--GREGG.
+
+[165] It has often been remarked by travellers, that however much
+buffalo meat one may eat, no inconvenience is ever suffered from
+it.--GREGG.
+
+[166] Often, but it would seem improperly, called 'buffalo
+_robes_.'--GREGG.
+
+[167] Benjamin Louis Eulalie de Bonneville was born in France in 1796.
+At an early age he came to America with his mother, where he was cared
+for by Thomas Paine, who secured for him a cadetship in the United
+States Military Academy, from which he was graduated in 1819, when he
+entered the army. During Lafayette's visit of 1825, Bonneville was
+detailed as his aide. He was later stationed on the Western frontier,
+and obtaining leave of absence (1831) planned an extensive fur-trading
+and exploring expedition. This is the journey graphically described by
+Washington Irving, in _Rocky Mountains, or Scenes, Incidents and
+Adventures in the far West, digested from the journal of B. L. E.
+Bonneville of the army of the United States_ (Phila., 1837).
+Bonneville was absent from civilization for three years (1832-35), and
+wandered as far west as the Columbia. His trading venture was but
+moderately successful, and he returned to army life, participating in
+both the Seminole and Mexican wars, in the latter of which he was
+severely wounded. During the War of Secession, he was stationed
+chiefly at frontier posts, being breveted brigadier-general in 1865.
+He died at Fort Smith in 1878.--ED.
+
+[168] For the Assiniboin consult our volume xiv, p. 275, note
+197.--ED.
+
+[169] _Canis latrans_, a distinction to which its noisiness
+emphatically entitles it. Clavigero says of this animal: "El _coyotl_,
+_� coyote_, como dicen los Espa�oles, es una fiera semejante al lobo en
+la voracidad, � la zorra en la astucia, al perro en la forma, y en
+otras propiedades al _adive_, � _chacal_; por lo que algunos
+escritores Megicanos lo han numerado entre varias de aquellas
+especias; pero es indudable que se diferencia de todas ellas,"
+etc.--_Hist. Ant. de M�g. Tom. I. p. 40._
+
+A similar propensity is observable among us to refer nearly all
+American animals to European species, whereas but very few that are
+legitimately indigenous to this continent, agree in every particular
+to those of the Old World. It would surely have contributed to the
+copiousness and euphony of the language, as well as to perspicuity in
+the distinction of species, had we, like the Mexicans, retained the
+Indian names of our indigenous animals.--GREGG.
+
+[170] Mr. Irving furnishes the following dimensions of a male of this
+species: "From the nose to the base of the tail, five feet; length of
+the tail, four inches; girth of the body, four feet; height, three
+feet eight inches," &c.--_Rocky Mts., Vol. I., p._ 48.--GREGG.
+
+[171] This has been called the _Coquimbo owl_. Its note, whether
+natural or imitative, much resembles that of the prairie dog.--GREGG.
+
+[172] Though I never saw it tried, it has been said that snakes will
+not crawl over a hair-rope stretched upon the ground, and that
+consequently these form good barriers to keep these reptiles out of a
+bed.--GREGG.
+
+[173] Orbicular lizard, as it has been technically denominated. It
+would seem a species of chameleon, having apparently some, though very
+little, variability of color.--GREGG.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII {XII}
+
+ABORIGINES OF AMERICA
+
+Indian Cosmogony -- Traditions of Origin -- Identity of Religious
+  Notions -- Adoration of the Sun -- Shawnee Faith -- Anecdote of
+  Tecumseh -- Legendary Traditions -- Missionaries, and Success of the
+  Catholics -- The Indian's Heaven -- Burial Customs -- Ancient
+  Accounts -- Depositing the Dead on Scaffolds -- Superstition and
+  Witchcraft -- Indian Philosophy -- Polygamy and other Matrimonial
+  Affairs -- Abhorrence of Incest -- Difference in Character -- Indian
+  Hospitality -- Traits of the Ancient Asiatics -- Names --
+  Relationship of Different Tribes -- Dreadful Decrease of the
+  Indians.
+
+
+It will hardly be expected from a work making so little pretension as
+this to scientific accuracy and completeness, that the remarks which
+my plan necessarily leads me to make, concerning the aborigines of
+western America, should be either critical or comprehensive. Neither
+can I feel that it is a topic which I am at liberty wholly to
+disregard. The opportunities which I have enjoyed for [Pg284]
+obtaining a knowledge of the character and habits of the western
+Indians have been such, that I trust that a brief account of them may
+prove in some measure new, and not altogether uninteresting to a
+portion of my readers. Impressed with this belief, I propose, in the
+few {235} following pages, to record such facts as shall seem to be
+most novel, and to corroborate, in my humble measure, occasional
+others which have before been related. With this view, I shall proceed
+to notice, in the present chapter, such leading characteristics of the
+aborigines generally, as shall seem most noteworthy; and then, in
+those that follow, ask the reader's attention to many peculiarities
+which make the most conspicuous differences between them.
+
+No aboriginal nation or people has ever yet been discovered, to my
+knowledge, which has not professed to have a mysterious ancestry of a
+mythical character. It is interesting to mark the analogies and the
+differences between their various systems. Although among some tribes
+who have lived much in communication with the whites, their cosmogony
+has been confounded very much with the Mosaic or Scripture account, so
+that it is now often difficult to distinguish clearly the aboriginal
+from the imported, yet all the Americo-Indian tribes have more or less
+preserved their traditions on this subject. The old full-blood
+Choctaws, for instance, relate that the first of their tribe issued
+from a cave in Nunnewaya or Bending Mountain, in the 'Old Nation,'
+east of the Mississippi; yet this tradition has but little currency
+among the young men and mixed-bloods of the tribe. The minute account
+of this supposed origin cannot now be readily procured; yet some idea
+may be formed of it from a kindred tradition among {236} the Mandans
+which has been preserved to us by Lewis and Clark, and is thus
+related: [Pg285]
+
+"The whole nation resided in one large village under ground near a
+subterraneous lake: a grape vine extended its roots down to their
+habitation and gave them a view of the light: some of the most
+adventurous climbed up the vine, and were delighted with the sight of
+the earth, which they found covered with buffalo, and rich with every
+kind of fruits: returning with the grapes they had gathered, their
+countrymen were so pleased with the taste of them that their whole
+nation resolved to leave their dull residence for the charms of the
+upper regions; men, women and children ascended by means of the vine;
+but when about half the nation had reached the surface of the earth, a
+corpulent woman who was clambering up the vine broke it with her
+weight, and closed upon herself and the rest of the nation, the light
+of the sun."[174]
+
+Besides the Mandans it seems that other neighboring tribes had
+somewhat analogous notions of their origin. An early explorer relates
+that the Osages believed that their fore-fathers grew from a snail,
+which, having become a man, married the daughter of a beaver, whence
+sprang the present race.
+
+The resemblance of the American Indians to each other, however, is not
+more conspicuous in anything than in their religious opinions. They
+seem to have no well-defined creeds: yet there are very few but
+profess a faith in some sort of First Cause--a Great {237} Spirit, a
+Master of Life, who rules the destinies of the world. Though the
+different nations have not always typified their deity by the same
+objects, yet by far the greater number seem to have fixed upon the sun
+as the fit object of their adoration.[175] "Next to _Virachocha_, or
+their supreme God," says Father [Pg286] Acosta,[176] speaking of the
+Indians of Peru, "that which most commonly they have and do adore
+amongst the Infidells is the Sunne." Many of the Mexican tribes[177]
+profess the same faith, and particularly those of New Mexico, as has
+already been mentioned. This seems also the most current among the
+Comanches and other wild tribes of the Prairies: and the Choctaws and
+several other nations of the frontier appear at least to have held the
+sun in great veneration.
+
+But of all the Indian tribes, none appear to have ascribed to the
+'fountain of light' more of the proper attributes of deity than the
+Shawnees. They argue, with some plausibility, that the sun animates
+everything--therefore, he is clearly the Master of Life, or the Great
+Spirit; and that everything is produced originally from the bosom of
+the earth--therefore, she is the mother of creation. The following
+anecdote[178] (as told to me by a gentleman of integrity), which
+transpired upon {238} the occasion of an interview of Tecumseh with
+Gen. Harrison, is as illustrative of the religious opinions of the
+Shawnees, as it is characteristic of the hauteur and independent
+spirit of that celebrated [Pg287] Shawnee chief. The General, having
+called Tecumseh for a 'talk,' desired him to take a seat, saying,
+"Come here, Tecumseh, and sit by your father." "You my father?"
+replied the chief, with a stern air--"No! yonder sun is my father
+(pointing towards it), and the earth is my mother; so I will rest on
+her bosom"--and immediately seated himself upon the ground, according
+to Indian custom.
+
+But though the Shawnees consider the sun the type, if not the essence,
+of the Great Spirit, many also believe in an evil genius, who makes
+all sorts of bad things, to counterbalance those made by the Good
+Spirit. For instance, when the latter made a sheep, a rose, wholesome
+herbs, etc., the bad spirit matched them with a wolf, a thorn,
+poisonous plants, and the like. They also appear to think there is a
+kind of purgatory in which the spirits of the wicked may be cleansed
+before entering into their elysium.
+
+The worship of all the aborigines seems to consist chiefly in feasting
+and dancing. A worthy missionary among the Shawnees related to me the
+following legendary tradition, as explanatory of their ideas of
+another world, and the institution of their worship, which may serve
+as a fair sample of the traditions of many other tribes.
+
+{239} In days of yore (say the Shawnees) there lived a pious brother
+and an affectionate sister, who were inordinately attached to each
+other. It came to pass that the sister sickened and died, and was
+carried to the world of spirits. The good brother was inconsolable,
+and for a while refused to eat or drink, or to partake of any kind of
+nourishment: he wished to follow his beloved sister. At length he
+resolved to set out in search of her; so he commenced his pilgrimage
+toward the setting sun. Steadily pursuing the same course for days and
+moons together, he at last came to where the sky and earth meet; and
+finding [Pg288] an opening, he ascended into the upper regions. He
+now turned his course towards the rising sun, which he continued,
+above the sky, till he came to the abode of his grandfather--which
+seems but another name for one of the good spirits. This sage, knowing
+his errand, gave him 'medicine' to transform him into a spirit, that
+he might pass through the celestial courts. He also gave him
+instructions how to proceed, and where he would find his sister. He
+said she would be at a dance; and when she rose to join in the
+amusement, he must seize and ensconce her in the hollow of a reed with
+which he was furnished, and cover the orifice with the end of his
+finger.
+
+After an arduous peregrination through the land of spirits, the
+brother found and secured his sister as directed. He returned with his
+charge to the habitation of his grandfather, who gave another
+'medicine' to transform {240} them both into material beings again,
+that they might revisit their brothers on earth. The sage also
+explained to them the mysteries of heaven and the sacred rites of
+worship, that they might instruct their tribe therein. When about to
+start back, the venerable spirit told them that the route by which the
+brother had come was very circuitous--there was a much nearer way; and
+opening a trap-door through the sky, they beheld their native town
+just below them. So the good brother and sister descended; and
+returning home, a great feast was celebrated, accompanied by a solemn
+dance--in accordance with the grandfather's instructions. Thus
+originated, as they say, the sacred dances and other religious
+ceremonies now in practice.
+
+As they believe the Indian heaven separate, and essentially different
+and distinct from that of the whites, and as they do not wish their
+people divided, this has often occasioned a serious opposition to the
+labors of the missionaries.[179] [Pg289] For the purpose of thwarting
+the {241} measures of these, a noted anti-christian sage 'played off,'
+a few years ago, the following 'vision.' Being very ill (as they
+relate), this sage, to all appearance, died, and became stiff and
+cold, except a spot upon his breast, which still retained the heat of
+life. In this state he remained a day or more, when he again breathed
+and returned among the living: and calling his friends about him, he
+related the scenes he had witnessed. He had ascended to the Indian's
+heaven, he said, which he described as usual: a fine country,
+abounding in all sorts of game, and everything an Indian could desire.
+There he met with his grandfather, who said to him, "It is meet, my
+son, that thou return to the earth, and warn thy brothers against the
+dangers that await them. Tell them to beware of the religion of the
+white man: that every Indian who embraces it is obliged to take the
+road to the white man's heaven; and yet no red man is permitted to
+enter there, but will have to wander about forever without a
+resting-place."
+
+The identity of the notions which the different tribes have conceived
+of a future existence, and the character of the 'world of spirits,'
+seems still more general. They [Pg290] fancy {242} heaven but another
+material world, superior, it is true, yet resembling this--a kind of
+elysian vale, or paradise--a 'happy hunting-ground,' abounding in game
+and all their comforts of life, which may be procured without labor.
+This elysium they generally seem to locate 'upon the sky,' which they
+fancy a material solid vault. It appears impossible for them, in their
+pristine barbarism, to conceive of a spiritual existence, or of a
+world differing materially from that which they see around them.
+
+Father Hennepin (writing about 1680) relates, that the northern
+Indians inquired about the manner of living in heaven, and remarks:
+"When I made answer that they live there without eating or drinking,
+'We will not go thither,' said they, 'because we must not eat;' and
+when I have added that there would be no occasion for food there, they
+clapt their hands to their mouths, as a sign of admiration, and said,
+'_Thou art a great liar!--is there anything can live without
+eating?_'"[180]
+
+Similar opinions, among many different tribes, I have heard declared
+in direct terms; yet, did we want further testimony, some of their
+burial customs and funeral rites would seem to indicate their ideas of
+the future state. The Cherokees, Choctaws, Creeks, Kansas, and kindred
+tribes, besides many others, or perhaps most others of the frontier,
+have been accustomed to inter the most valuable property of the
+deceased and many necessaries with them. "Their whole property was
+buried {243} with them,"[181] says an intelligent Cherokee, in some
+manuscript notes concerning his ancestors, I have in my possession:
+and I have been assured by creditable natives, that, within their
+recollection [Pg291] they have seen, at these burials, provisions,
+salt, and other necessaries, interred with the dead for their long
+journey.
+
+There are very few of the prairie Indians but practise something of
+this kind: many kill the favorite hunting-horses, and deposit the
+arms, etc., of the deceased, for his use in the chase, when he arrives
+at the 'happy hunting ground.' We are also informed by Capt.
+Bonneville, and other travellers, that this is practised by some, if
+not all, of the natives beyond the Rocky Mountains. The same is told
+of the Navajoes, Apaches, and other uncatholicized tribes of the north
+of Mexico.
+
+Peter Martyr, a learned and celebrated protestant divine, who wrote
+his "Decades of the Newe Worlde"[182] towards the middle of the
+sixteenth century, observes that, "in many places of the firme lande,
+when any of the kynges dye, all his householde servauntes, as well
+women as men which have continually served hym, kyl themselves,
+beleavynge, as they are taught by the devyl _Tuyra_, that they which
+kyll themselves when the kynge dyeth, go with hym to heaven and serve
+hym in the same place and office as they dyd before on {244} the earth
+whyle he lyved.[183] And that all that refuse so to doo, when after
+they dye by theyr naturall death or otherwyse, theyr soules to dye
+with theyr bodyes, and to bee dissolved into ayer and become nothynge
+as do the soules of hogges, byrdes or fysshes, or other brute [Pg292]
+beastes."[184] In corroboration of a similar custom among the natives
+along the Mississippi, in 1542, Herrera relates,[185] that, after the
+death of Fernando de Soto, and his party had set out westward, they
+were joined by a youth, who stated that he had fled to escape being
+buried with his lord who had died; which was the practice in that
+country. Travellers from the upper lakes to the Mississippi speak of
+similar customs, at an early day, among the tribes of that quarter.
+
+It would appear that they believe everything, both animate and
+inanimate--beasts, arms, ornaments, etc.--to possess immortal
+attributes, subject to resurrection in the world of spirits. However,
+did not their motives seem so well defined by the direct allusions to
+their notions of futurity, we might suppose, as is frequently urged,
+that the burying of property, slaves, etc., with the deceased, was
+only intended as a mark of respect; which, indeed, is hardly more
+irrational than the custom {245} of interring costly garniture and
+appendages with the dead among us.
+
+Some of the modes of burial adopted by the American aborigines are
+different, I believe, from those of any other people. Though, as among
+civilized nations, even the wildest tribes sometimes inter in ordinary
+graves, yet they frequently deposit their dead, in a sitting and even
+in a standing posture, in pits, caves, and hollow trees; and
+occasionally, they lay the corpse out upon scaffolds suspended from
+the branches of trees, or resting upon them where they will admit of
+it, so as to be out of reach of the wolves and other beasts.
+
+I was once, with a little caravan, travelling up the course of the
+Arkansas river, when, a thunder-storm coming up [Pg293] suddenly, and
+night drawing near, we turned the wagons as soon as we could, to the
+river-bank, to encamp. The bustle of ungearing and securing the teams
+before they should be frightened by the tempest, was hardly over, when
+we discovered a platform suspended above our heads, upon the branches
+of a cottonwood, which, upon examination, was found to contain an
+Indian corpse, from whose bones the putrid flesh had not yet
+separated!
+
+This mode of disposing of the dead would seem once to have been quite
+extensive; for, as well as upon the western prairies, it formerly
+prevailed among the Potawatomies of the north, and the Choctaws of the
+south, at least while on their expeditions. In this case, if
+practicable, they would leave a band of {246} aged men, known as
+bone-pickers,' to clean the bones, when the flesh decayed, and carry
+them to their village for interment.
+
+Barbarians are generally superstitious to an extreme, believing in
+hobgoblins, witchcraft, legerdemain and all sorts of mummeries.[186]
+Like many grandmothers in backwoods life, they delight in recounting
+the extraordinary apparitions, transmigrations, sorceries, etc., which
+they pretend to have witnessed. Nothing seems too absurd for their
+belief. Among many other cases of similar cast, an intelligent
+Potawatomie once assured me that he had witnessed the death of one of
+his nation, who had received [Pg294] a stab in his side with a knife
+(probably in some illicit adventure); and it being unknown to his
+friends how the wound had been inflicted, it was currently reported
+and believed, that from their {247} present home on the frontier of
+Missouri, he had visited the 'Old Nation' in Michigan,[187] poisoned
+an enemy there, received the fatal stab, and returned and died, all in
+one day.
+
+If you tell an Indian that such things are absurd and impossible, he
+is apt to answer, "It may be so with the white man, but how do you
+know it to be impossible with the Indian? You tell us many strange
+things which happened to your fathers--we don't contradict them,
+though we believe such things never could have happened to the red
+man." Or, they will reply, perhaps, as they did to Father Hennepin in
+a similar case: "Fie, thou knowest not what thou sayest; thou may'st
+know what has passed in thy own Country, for thy Ancestors have told
+thee of them; but thou canst not know what has passed in ours before
+the Spirits (that is to say the Europeans) came hither."
+
+In their matrimonial customs there is also a similarity among most of
+the American savages. Polygamy seems once to have been universal; and
+I believe still is so among the uncivilized tribes. Every man takes as
+many wives as he can obtain, or is able to support. The squaws,
+however, the more willingly consent to this multiplicity, as it
+affords additional helpmates in their labors. Polygamy among these
+savages would appear, indeed, not altogether an unwise provision. At
+least it seems palliated with such [Pg295] a belligerent people, who
+lose so many males in their continual wars, leaving a great surplus of
+females; and {248} where the duties of the latter are so numerous and
+so severe.
+
+The custom of buying wives, or at least making large presents to their
+parents, has always been very general; and still exists, not only
+among the more savage, but even with many of the partially civilized
+nations. Yet, notwithstanding their depravity in other respects, there
+is one thing truly remarkable in their marriages. All modern observers
+seem to agree with the ancient authors, that they universally abhor
+incestuous connections. Among the Creeks, even the marrying of cousins
+was punished by cutting off the ears. The Cherokees (according to some
+manuscript notes which I have of an intelligent member of the tribe)
+were prohibited from marrying in their own clans (i. e. kindred) under
+penalty of death; and their clans themselves were their executioners.
+But, although the Indians thus so strictly prohibit marriage within
+the degree of consanguinity, it is not so with those of affinity among
+many tribes. The Otoes, Kansas, and others of the same stock, will not
+only marry several sisters, but their deceased brothers' wives; in
+fact, this last seems considered a duty so that the orphan children of
+the brother may not be without a protector.[188]
+
+While the aborigines of the New World {249} have been noted above
+almost every other uncivilized nation in history, for their
+vindictiveness and cruelty towards their enemies, there are, in these
+attributes, wide differences apparent among them. The Indians along
+the Pacific coast, as well as in most of Mexico, were always more mild
+and peaceable than those of the United States. Hence it is, [Pg296]
+in fact, that the Spaniards did not meet with that formidable
+resistance to their conquests which they encountered among the fiery
+tribes of Florida, or that relentless and desperate hostility which
+the Anglo-Americans experienced in the first settlement of most parts
+of the United States.
+
+But in the common trait of hospitality to strangers all the western
+tribes are alike distinguished. The traveller who is thrown upon their
+charity, is almost universally received and treated with the greatest
+kindness; and, though they might pilfer him to the skin, and even
+place his person in jeopardy, if he show want of confidence in them,
+and endeavor to conceal his effects, yet his property is generally
+secure when under their charge: they appear to consider a breach of
+confidence one of the greatest crimes.
+
+Among the wild tribes, as well as among most of the unadulterated
+border Indians, to set something to eat before a friend, and even a
+stranger, immediately upon his arrival at a lodge or a cabin, is
+deemed not only an act of hospitality but of necessary etiquette; and
+a refusal to partake is looked upon as an unfriendly {250} token--an
+insult, in fact, to the family. Travellers are often severely taxed to
+preserve the good feeling of their hosts in this particular,
+especially among the prairie Indians. One at all fastidious in matters
+of diet, would find it hard to relish food from a greasy hornspoon
+which every urchin had been using; and then to ladle it out of a pot
+which had been common for all the papooses and pups of the premises:
+or to partake from a slice rolled up in a musty skin, or a dirtier
+blanket. And yet an apology even of having already dined half-a-dozen
+times would scarcely palliate the insult of a refusal. Though one
+visit fifty lodges in the course of a day, he must taste the food of
+every one.
+
+The Indian system of chiefs, which still prevails, and is nearly the
+same everywhere, except with the Cherokees, [Pg297] Choctaws,
+Chickasaws, and the Creeks to a degree, seems to bear a strong
+resemblance to that of the patriarchs of old; which, with their clans
+so analogous to those of our forefathers, perhaps affords as strong a
+proof as any other of their Asiatic origin.[189] To this might be
+added their {251} mode of naming;[190] for the Indians universally
+apply [Pg298] names significant of acts, qualities, beasts, birds,
+etc., to their offspring,--a practice which seems to have prevailed
+generally among the ancient Asiatics. Surnames have only been adopted
+by educated families {252} and mixed-bloods of the border nations, and
+are generally taken from their missionaries or some favorite friends;
+except they inherit surnames from parents of white extraction.
+
+That the Indians of America are decreasing in numbers is very well
+known, but many are dwindling away, perhaps, at a more rapid pace than
+is generally suspected. The number of the Osages, it is confidently
+believed, has diminished fifty per cent. within the last ten years:
+the once powerful tribe of Missouries is now reduced to a mere
+remnant; while the Mandans, as a nation, have become entirely extinct:
+and others have shared or bid fair soon to share the same fate. This
+has resulted partially from the ravages of the small-pox and other
+diseases, yet as much no doubt from the baneful effects of
+intoxicating liquors. On this account, their diminution has generally
+been less in proportion as they are more remote from the whites. But
+the 'red man' has suffered from his intercourse with the whites not in
+this respect alone. The incentives to luxury and avarice continually
+presented by them, have had a very pernicious influence. Formerly the
+savages were contented with the indispensables of life--generally
+sober, just and charitable; but now they will sacrifice their
+comfort--risk their lives, and commit the most atrocious outrages to
+gratify their vanity and lusts--to bedeck themselves with gewgaws and
+finery.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX {XIII}
+
+THE FRONTIER INDIANS
+
+Causes of Removal West -- Annuities, etc. -- Dissatisfaction of
+  the Indians -- Their Melioration by the Change -- Superiority of
+  their present Location -- Lands granted to them -- Improvements,
+  Agriculture, etc. -- Their Slaves -- Manufactures -- Style of
+  Living, Dress, etc. -- Literary Opportunities and Improvements
+  -- Choctaw Academy -- Harpies and Frauds -- Games -- Systems of
+  Government -- Polygamy -- Ancient Laws and Customs -- Intemperance
+  -- Preventive Measures -- A Choctaw Enactment -- Marriage and
+  Funeral Customs of the Choctaws -- The Creeks -- Their Summary
+  Executions -- Mourning -- Indian Titles -- The Northern Tribes --
+  Census of the Frontier Nations.
+
+
+For the purpose of a somewhat more discriminating notice of the Indian
+tribes beyond our western border--for it is to those I intend my
+remarks, in these pages, to be strictly confined--I will distinguish
+them, according to the prevailing classification of the West, as
+'Frontier' or 'Border Indians,' which title includes those occupying
+that district lying west of and immediately adjoining Arkansas and
+Missouri, and known as the _Indian Territory_; and the 'Wild Tribes'
+or 'Prairie Indians,' by which are meant those who are found west of
+the others, and who range those immense {254} plains from the borders
+of the Indian Territory to the Rocky Mountains. Of these I will speak
+in their order.
+
+The most important of the frontier tribes, as is well known, are the
+Cherokees, Choctaws and Chickasaws, Creeks and Seminoles, Shawnees,
+Delawares, etc. It is equally well known that most of these tribes
+were removed from within the States, not less because of the vicious
+propensities which they contracted and the imposition to which they
+were continually exposed, than on account of the difficulty of
+maintaining peaceful relations between them and our own citizens,
+while they remained in their midst. Their situation within the States
+certainly presented quite [Pg300] an anomaly in government--
+independent powers within the limits of others claiming sovereign
+jurisdiction.[191]
+
+A mistaken philanthropy--mistaken for want of a full knowledge of all
+the bearings of the subject--among some people, has occasioned much
+censure upon this branch of the policy of our government. But were we
+to take into consideration the treatment of other nations towards the
+aborigines of America, that of the United States, when placed in
+contrast, would certainly present a very benevolent aspect. They have
+always been removed by their own consent, obtained through their
+chiefs and councils; and have not only been given equal amounts of
+land, west of the border, but have generally been removed and
+furnished a year's subsistence {255} at the expense of the government,
+and received valuable equivalents beside, in utensils and other
+necessaries, and in regular annuities. These are sums, generally in
+money, annually paid, for a series of years, to the several tribes,
+proportioned usually to the size of the tribe and the amount of
+territory acquired from it. This institution of annuities, however,
+though intended as the most charitable, has doubtless been the most
+injurious branch of the policy of the United States towards the
+Indians. Being thus afforded the means of living without much labor,
+they have neglected manufactures, and even agriculture, to a
+considerable degree, and many of them have acquired [Pg301] confirmed
+habits of indolence and dissipation; and now that their annuities are
+growing short, they are being left destitute, without the energy, the
+industry, or the means wherewith to procure a livelihood.
+
+But, notwithstanding the constant efforts of the general government to
+make them comfortable, and the immense sums of money which have been
+paid them, and their being located in regions far better suited to
+their wants and their habits of life than those they abandoned, many
+of them appear greatly dissatisfied with the change and with the
+government; which seems painfully demonstrative of that perverse,
+restless disposition, which appears ever to have characterized the
+conduct of half-civilized nations.
+
+One ostensible reason for their unwillingness {256} to remove, has
+been a reluctance to abandon their native homes and the 'graves of
+their fathers.' Many fabulous legends are told of the attachment of
+the Indian to his native soil, yet but few who are acquainted with
+their habitudes, will place much stress on this. Their own traditions,
+as well as experience, have shown, that, when left to themselves, they
+incline to migrate; of which the Azteques of Mexico, and the Osages,
+with others of our border, afford striking examples: in fact, there is
+scarcely a tribe on the frontier which has not its traditions of
+migrations at some period. The Shawnees say their forefathers
+emigrated from the south to the regions north of the Ohio--the Creeks,
+as well as many of the Choctaws, that they were originally from west
+of the Mississippi--besides many other cases.
+
+But, with regard to this passage of our country's history, I will
+merely say, in addition, that, so far as I am able to judge, the
+condition of the 'red man' has been very materially bettered by the
+change. The lands they at present occupy are, for the most part, of a
+more fertile character [Pg302] than those which they have left. The
+climate is equally or perhaps more healthy, in general;
+notwithstanding the dreadful mortality which afflicted many of them
+shortly after their removal--a calamity which was attributable,
+primarily, to the change of climate, as well as to the change of
+habits which their new dwelling-places involved; and secondarily, to
+the too abundant use of {257} spirituous liquors, with which they were
+frequently provided by both native and white peddlers and traders,
+before any measures, efficient enough to check the evil, were taken
+either by themselves or by the general government. But, although the
+latter cause still prevails to some degree, I have little doubt that
+the average mortality among the frontier tribes, at present, is less
+than it was before their removal.
+
+To each tribe has generally been granted a greater number of acres,
+with definite metes and boundaries, than had been ceded by them east
+of the Mississippi. It is deemed unnecessary, however, to swell this
+brief notice with a statement of the several amounts of land given to
+each tribe, and their localities, as these may be seen with sufficient
+accuracy and definiteness by consulting the map which accompanies this
+work.
+
+The lands of each tribe are the property of the Indian commonwealth;
+and, therefore, even among the most civilized of them, the settler has
+a title only in his improvement, which he holds by occupancy, and can
+sell at pleasure. To prevent collisions in improvements, the first
+occupant is entitled to a certain distance in every direction. Among
+the Cherokees, no one can build within a quarter of a mile of the
+house or field of another: so, to extend their possessions, the more
+wealthy sometimes make several isolated improvements, scattered in
+different directions, within half a mile of each other. [Pg303]
+
+{258} The game in the interspersed forests having now become scarce,
+and that of the western prairies being too remote, the frontier
+Indians have generally turned their attention to agriculture, and to
+the raising of stock; and most of them have large numbers of horses,
+cattle, and hogs.
+
+Some of these Indians, particularly of the southern nations, have very
+extensive farms: but the mass of their population extend their culture
+no further than they seem compelled by necessity. The traveller,
+passing through the Cherokee Nation, is struck with the contrast
+between an occasional stately dwelling, with an extensive farm
+attached, and the miserable hovels of the indigent, sometimes not ten
+feet square, with a little patch of corn, scarce large enough for a
+family garden. In fact, among all the tribes who have no slaves, what
+little there is of cultivation, is mostly the work of the women.
+Scattered through the country, one continually encounters dilapidated
+huts with trifling improvements, which have been abandoned by the
+owners for some fancy they may have taken to some other location at a
+distance, better adapted, as they think, to the promotion of their
+comfort, and upon which they may live with less labor.
+
+Most of the labor among the wealthier classes of Cherokees, Choctaws,
+Chickasaws, Creeks and Seminoles, is done by negro slaves; for they
+have all adopted substantially the Southern system of slavery.[192]
+Some individuals of these nations own over fifty slaves each: {259}
+but they [Pg304] are the only slaveholders of the frontier tribes,
+except very few among the Shawnees.
+
+With some tribes, and particularly among the lower classes of the
+Creeks, they are inclined to settle in 'towns,' as they are
+called,--making large fields, which are cultivated in common, and the
+produce proportionally distributed. But these 'towns' are rather
+settlements than villages, being but sparse clusters of huts without
+any regularity. Indeed, there is not, I believe, a regularly laid out
+town in all the Indian country, nor a place that could even merit the
+name of a village; except Doaksville near Fort Towson, and perhaps
+Park Hill in the Cherokee Nation.[193]
+
+Besides agriculture, most of the frontier tribes attend a little to
+manufactures, though with no greater energy. The women have generally
+learned to spin, weave and sew, at which they occupy themselves,
+occasionally, during recess from the labors of the field. But very few
+of the men acquire mechanical arts or follow trades of any kind: their
+carpenter, wheelwright and smith work is done by a few mechanics
+provided the several tribes in accordance with treaty stipulations. To
+each tribe is furnished in particular one or more blacksmiths from the
+United States.
+
+These frontier Indians for the most part live in cabins of logs, like
+those of our backwoods settlers; and many of them are undistinguishable,
+except in color, language, and to some degree in costume, from the
+poorer {260} classes of their white neighbors. Even in dress and
+language the more civilized are fast conforming to the latter. In many
+families, especially of the Cherokees, the [Pg305] English tongue
+only is spoken; and great numbers of these, as well as of the Choctaws
+and Chickasaws, dress according to the American fashions: but the
+ruder portions of even these, the most enlightened nations, as is also
+the case with nearly all of the northern tribes, wear the
+hunting-shirt, sometimes of buckskin, but now more commonly of calico,
+cotton plaid or linsey. Instead of using hats, they wreathe about
+their heads a fancy-colored shawl or handkerchief. Neither do the
+women of these classes wear bonnets, but leave their heads exposed, or
+protected only with a shawl, somewhat after the manner of the Mexican
+females; to the lower classes of whom, indeed, the mixed-bloods of
+these Indians bear a strong resemblance. Their most usual dress is a
+short petticoat of cotton goods, or as frequently with the tribes of
+the north, of coarse red or blue broad-cloth.
+
+The literary opportunities afforded to the border tribes are so
+important in their consequences as to deserve some notice. To each
+tribe has been granted, by the United States, a school fund, generally
+somewhat proportioned to the extent of the tribe. The Cherokees and
+Choctaws seem to have availed themselves of this provision to the
+greatest advantage. These funds are for the most part invested in
+American stocks, and the proceeds {261} appropriated to educational
+uses, establishing schools, etc.[194] [Pg306] The tuition is, I
+believe, in every case, free to the Indians; and yet it is painful to
+know that comparatively few of the common classes will send their
+children.
+
+The most extensive literary institution which has ever been in
+operation, for the benefit of the 'red man,' was the 'Choctaw
+Academy,' established in Kentucky, and supported by a common fund of
+several different tribes. It was not as successful, however, as was
+anticipated by its projectors; and is now being transferred and merged
+into an academy near Fort Towson, in the Choctaw country, wholly
+supported out of the Choctaw fund. This Academy proved very
+unsatisfactory to many of the tribes concerned. They said, with
+apparent justice, that their boys, educated there, forgot all their
+customs, their language, their relatives, their national attachments;
+and, in exchange, often acquired indolent and effeminate, if not
+vicious habits; and were rendered {262} unfit to live among their
+people, or to earn a maintenance by labor. There seems but little
+doubt that the funds of each tribe might be employed to a much better
+advantage in their own country. The influence of the institutions
+would there be more likely to extend to all classes; and by gradual,
+the only practicable means, a change might be wrought upon the
+nation.[195]
+
+It is one of the calamities incident to the state of ignorance in
+which most of these poor Indians remain, and their close, indeed
+political connection with the more civilized people [Pg307] of the
+United States, that they are continually preyed upon by the
+unprincipled harpies who are ever prowling through their country,
+ready to seize every opportunity of deceiving and defrauding them out
+of their money or effects.[196] {263} The most depraving agencies
+employed to this end are the ministration of intoxicating drinks, and
+gaming, of both which the Indians are passionately fond, and by which
+they are frequently robbed of their money as soon almost as received.
+
+Apart from the usual games at cards, dice, etc., the Indians of the
+border have some peculiar games of their own, as well at cards as
+otherwise. Among these the most celebrated is the 'Ball Play,' which
+resembles, in some respects, the old-fashioned game of _bandy_. The
+wagers are usually laid upon beating the majority of a given number, a
+dozen or more of these games; and large amounts in horses, blankets,
+and other goods, and even money, are frequently staked upon the
+result.
+
+Besides the ball play, _dancing_ is a most favorite amusement of these
+tribes, indeed of all the frontier as well as prairie Indians. They
+formerly had many kinds of dances,--the green-corn dance, the
+medicine, the eagle, the scalp and the war dances. But these are now
+only practised by the ruder portions of the border nations and the
+less improved tribes; among whom may still be witnessed frequently
+their genuine aboriginal frolics. [Pg308]
+
+The green-corn dance generally lasts several {264} days, commencing
+when the new crop begins to ripen. A large arbor of green branches is
+usually prepared, and numerous parties of both sexes dance in a body
+to their native songs and rude instrumental music, accompanied by
+their monotonous "heh! heh! heh!" with a chorus of yells at intervals;
+and their movements are attended with the most comical gesticulations.
+Having passed through a course of 'purification' by drinking a
+decoction of certain stimulant herbs, prepared by their medicine-men,
+and put out all the fires, they strike fire anew by rubbing sticks
+together; and a quantity of corn, pulse and other fruits of the
+season, being cooked with the 'new fire,' the dance is closed with a
+general feast. Each family, as it is said, then takes a supply from
+the 'new breed' of fire. A more interesting and salutary influence of
+this custom, which is said to prevail among some tribes at this
+festival, is the cancelling or composing of all old difficulties and
+disputes.
+
+The most advanced of these border nations, the _Cherokees_ and the
+united tribes of the _Choctaws_ and _Chickasaws_, have adopted systems
+of government, which are based upon [Pg309] the constitutions of our
+States. The Cherokee being the most complete, some account of it may
+not be out of place in this connection.
+
+A council or convention of the wise men of the nation was convened on
+the first of July, 1839, who framed a constitution, of which the
+following are the general features, it being somewhat similar to one
+previously adopted in {265} the 'Old Nation.' The three powers,
+legislative, executive and judicial, are distinguished and
+established. The legislative consists of a National Committee and
+Council. The former is composed of two and the latter of three members
+from each of the eight or ten districts into which the nation was to
+be divided--elected for two years by the people. They convene annually
+on the first Monday in October, and each house elects a presiding
+officer out of its own body. Bills are introduced, discussed and
+passed according to parliamentary usage.
+
+The executive, called Principal Chief, and an assistant chief, are
+elected for four years by the people. The executive has the usual veto
+and pardoning power. He is assisted by an 'Executive Council' of five,
+and the common cabinet of secretaries. The judiciary consists of a
+Supreme and Circuit Court, and the ordinary justices of the peace.
+Trial by jury is secured; and the common law of England appears to
+have been generally adopted. Religious toleration is guarantied, but
+no person can hold a civil office who denies the existence of a God,
+and a future state of rewards and punishments.[197]
+
+According to laws subsequently enacted by the same council, the
+punishment for murder is death; and for an attempt to kill, a fine
+correspondent to the damage, for the benefit of the injured party: for
+rape, a hundred lashes--but [Pg310] for infanticide, only twenty-five
+to fifty![198] Whipping seems the punishment {266} for all inferior
+crimes; which is the same with the Choctaws and Creeks, among whom the
+executioners are called the 'light-horse,' a kind of police-guard,
+also formerly in use by the Cherokees, but now their place is supplied
+by a common sheriff and _posse_.
+
+As is to be inferred from their institutions, the Cherokees stand
+first among the 'red men' in refinement, though in industry, morality,
+and sobriety, they are no doubt excelled by the Choctaws and
+Chickasaws, who are reckoned the most quiet and Christian-like Indians
+of the border.
+
+No laws have yet been passed to enforce the payment of debts, except
+by the Cherokees; and these found it necessary to suspend their
+operation for two years. Even the most improved have not prohibited
+polygamy by any law; though, from the example of the whites and of the
+more civilized among them, as well as the exertions of the
+missionaries, it is growing out of repute with most of the border
+nations. It is still occasionally practised, however; and the ruder
+classes among them all, I believe, sometimes still take any number of
+wives, and divorce them at pleasure. But the more enlightened are
+married by preachers, or authorized civil officers.
+
+With the united nation of Choctaws and Chickasaws, the executive power
+is vested in four chiefs, called in Choctaw _mingoes_, who are
+selected one from each of the districts into which the country is
+divided, {267} and of which the Chickasaw tribe constitutes one.[199]
+These chiefs are vested with the usual veto and pardoning powers, and
+are elected [Pg311] for four years. Most of their other
+constitutional provisions resemble those of the Cherokees. The
+Choctaws, as well as the Creeks, punish the crime of murder with death
+by shooting, which is generally executed immediately after trial, by
+the 'light-horse.'
+
+It has become evident, however, that written laws and courts of
+justice, judges and juries, are still rather in advance of the state
+of civilization of the ruder classes, even among these most
+enlightened tribes. It has been found very difficult to bring them
+under their subordination. They have had, notwithstanding, a salutary
+effect in many cases, and especially with regard to murder. Among most
+of these nations (as well as the wild tribes), it was formerly the
+custom to leave the punishment of homicide to the relatives of the
+murdered. With the Choctaws and Cherokees, in particular, the entire
+clan or family of the murderer were held responsible for the crime;
+and though the real offender might escape, the bereaved family had a
+right to kill any one of his nearest relatives that could be found, up
+to the most remote kindred. There seemed no exceptions for accidental
+homicide, or killing in self-defence: the Mosaic precept of 'life for
+life' must be fulfilled, unless satisfactorily commuted. This savage
+custom had at least one salutary effect, however: the relatives
+themselves, instead of assisting {268} the escape, as so often occurs
+in civilized life, were generally the first to apprehend and bring the
+fugitive criminal to justice.
+
+But among the Choctaws, at least, any one might take the place of the
+murderer, and in the death of the substitute the law was satisfied,
+and the true criminal remained exempt. An intelligent and creditable
+Choctaw related to me an affecting incident, for the truth of which he
+vouched. An Indian had remained responsible for the appearance, on a
+certain day, of his brother, who had killed a man. [Pg312] When the
+day arrived, the murderer exhibited some reluctance to fulfil the
+pledge, when the other said to him: "My brother, you are no brave--you
+are afraid to die--stay here and take care of my family--I will die in
+your place:" whereupon he immediately attended the appointed spot, and
+was executed accordingly.
+
+The highest honor known among them, in fact, being that of a 'great
+brave,' it reflected the greatest credit to meet death boldly. Instead
+of being visited by his tribe with infamy for the crime he had
+committed, it rather tended to make his name illustrious, if he met
+the consequences without fear or flinching: whereas, any effort to
+avoid death was attributed to cowardice. It would have been esteemed
+quite as ignominious for the murderer to flee the established forfeit
+of his life, as for a 'gentleman' under the 'civilized code of honor,'
+to back out from a duel.
+
+But among most of the frontier, as also the {269} wild tribes, a
+commutation, though not honorable to the perpetrator, was and still is
+permitted, except by the Cherokees and Choctaws. Any recompense which
+would satisfy the bereft family, released the murderer from further
+penalty.
+
+There is scarcely any temptation which the Indian tribes have to
+encounter so frequently, and so seriously fatal to their social
+improvement, as intemperance. Of this they are conscious themselves,
+and most of them have adopted measures for prohibiting the
+introduction of ardent spirits among them, and for checking the
+propensity to use them, with various degrees of success. Among the
+Choctaws, a law was passed upon this subject, which, though not
+entirely, was measurably successful; and the spirit which effected its
+passage was worthy of the most exalted state of civilization.
+
+It seems that the tribe had generally become sensible [Pg313] of the
+pernicious influences of strong drink upon their prosperity and
+happiness, and had attempted various plans for its suppression,
+without success. At last, it was determined by the chiefs, captains,
+and head men, to strike a blow which should reach the very root of the
+evil at once. A council was called, and many and long were the
+speeches which were made, and much enthusiasm was created against the
+monster 'Whiskey,' and all his brood of compound enormities. Still
+every one seemed loth to move his arrest and execution. Finally, a
+{270} captain of more than ordinary temerity arose, and offered a
+resolution that each and every individual who should thenceforward
+dare to introduce any of the liquid curses into their country, should
+be punished with a hundred lashes on his bare back, and the liquor be
+poured out. This was passed, after some slight changes, by
+acclamation: but, with a due sense of the injustice of _ex-post-facto_
+restrictions, all those who had liquors on hand were permitted to sell
+them. The council adjourned; but the members soon began to canvass
+among each other the pernicious consequences which might result from
+the protracted use of the whiskey already in the shops, and therefore
+concluded the quicker it was drank up, the more promptly would the
+evil be over: so, falling to, in less than two hours Bacchus never
+mustered a drunker troop than were these same temperance legislators.
+The consequences of their determination were of lasting importance to
+them. The law, with some slight improvements, has ever since been
+rigorously enforced.
+
+Among most of the Indian tribes the daughter has very little to do
+with the selection of her husband. The parents usually require to be
+satisfied first, and their permission being secured the daughter never
+presumes to offer any important resistance. There is a post-nuptial
+custom peculiar to the full-blood Indians of the Choctaws, which
+[Pg314] deserves particular notice. For years, and perhaps for life,
+{271} after the marriage of her daughter, the mother is forbidden to
+look upon her son-in-law. Though they converse together, he must be
+hidden from her by a wall, a tent, a curtain, or, when nothing else
+offers, by covering the eyes. During their emigration, it is said
+these poor superstitious matrons were put to infinite trouble so as
+not to infract this custom. While travelling, or in camp often without
+tents, the mother-in-law was afraid to raise her head or open her
+eyes, lest they should meet the interdicted object.
+
+It is another peculiarity, which they have in common with some of the
+more northern tribes, that the Choctaw wife, of the 'old school,' can
+never call her husband by name. But if they have offspring--she calls
+him "my son's father;" or, more commonly using the child's name, when,
+if Ok-le-no-wa, for instance, she calls the husband "Ok-le-no-wa's
+father." And yet another oddity regarding names: the ignorant Choctaw
+seems to have a superstitious aversion to telling his own name: indeed
+it appears impossible to get it from him, unless he have an
+acquaintance present, whom he will request to tell it for him.
+
+In burials, the civilized Choctaws follow the customs of the whites,
+but the ruder classes still preserve their aboriginal usages.
+According to these, a painted pole with a flag is stuck up at the
+grave, which usually remains three months. During this period they
+have regular mourning exercises every morning and evening; and are
+always prompt to avail themselves, {272} at any other hour of the day,
+of the assistance of any friend who may visit them to help them to
+weep. At the end of the prescribed term, the friends of the bereft
+family attend a feast at their house, and, after dancing all night,
+the next morning visit the grave and pull down the pole; which is
+called 'the [Pg315] pole-pulling.' After this all mourning ceases,
+and the family is permitted to join in the usual amusements and
+festivities of the tribe, which was not allowable before.
+
+Though the _Creeks_[200] are generally a very industrious people,
+raising an abundance of corn and vegetables, yet they are quite behind
+their neighbors, of whom I have been speaking, as well politically as
+in a social and literary view. Their executive consists of two
+principal chiefs, and their legislature or council of about forty
+minor chiefs or captains, who are also, _ex officio_, justices of the
+peace.[201] They have no trial by jury, and their judicial proceedings
+are exceedingly summary--frequently without witnesses; for the
+warriors are generally too proud to deny a charge, lest it be
+construed into cowardice. Executions sometimes take place within an
+hour after the commencement of trial. Murder, rape and a third
+conviction of stealing are punished with death, usually by shooting;
+but, in case of homicide, if claimed by the relatives of the {273}
+deceased, the criminal is executed with the same kind of weapon, or,
+if possible, the very same, with which he committed the murder.
+
+Most inferior crimes, as has been mentioned, are punished by whipping:
+for the first offence of stealing, fifty lashes; for the second, a
+hundred and ears cropped. Adultery is punished by cutting off both the
+nose and ears of the adulteress; but the husband has a right to say if
+the law shall be executed: in fact, he is generally the executioner,
+and that often without trial. Notwithstanding the severity of these
+laws, they are for the most part rigorously enforced; though a
+commutation satisfactory to the [Pg316] aggrieved is still permitted
+to release the offender. Their laws, in cases of accidental homicide,
+are still more barbarously rigid than those of the other nations.
+
+The obsequies of the Creeks are peculiar in this,--that at the moment
+an Indian expires, a gun is discharged. Their graves are generally
+under the floors of their dwellings, and a husband's is apt to be
+under the bed of his widow. The fate of the unfortunate relict is
+miserable enough in any country, but among the Creeks her doom is
+barbarously rigorous. She remains in strict mourning for four
+years,[202] with dishevelled hair and without {274} combing,--unless
+the relatives of the deceased interfere; whereby it is sometimes put
+an end to in a few months, provided the sincerity of her grief be
+evident and her conduct meritorious. In their mourning, however, they
+do not weep and cry with such clamorous vehemence as the Choctaws and
+others. But the Shawnees and Delawares are still more celebrated for
+quiet mourning.[203] As warlike nations, they appear to disdain to
+mourn and wail aloud, as is the practice among the greater portion of
+the savage tribes.
+
+Though these people have no family names, they generally take a kind
+of honorary title or _sobriquet_, as is also the case with the wild
+tribes, upon the occurrence of any important incident, or the
+performance of a meritorious feat. A singular mode of inheritance
+prevails among the Cherokees, the Creeks, and perhaps others. Though
+the women in other respects are mostly held as very inferior beings,
+the clans are all reckoned by them: the children pertain to [Pg317]
+the mother, and the estates descend through the female branch of the
+family. They say it is easy enough to verify the mothers of families,
+but it is difficult to identify the fathers.
+
+The remaining tribes, inhabiting the more northern frontier, as well
+as the Seminoles who are located among the Creeks, possess so few
+distinct or striking characteristics, and, indeed, are mostly so few
+in number, that a particular notice of them seems hardly to be
+required. Suffice it to say, that all of them, {275} as I believe,
+still retain their ancient systems of arbitrary chiefs and councils of
+sages and braves, nearly in their primitive state; and that the
+greater portion of them live in log huts, and cultivate the soil to a
+considerable extent. Though the Shawnees, Delawares, and Kickapoos,
+are among the most agricultural of the northern Indians, yet a few of
+these spend the greater portion of their time on the Prairies in
+hunting and in trading with the wild tribes.[204]
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[174] Consult Thwaites, _Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark
+Expedition_, (New York, 1904-05) v, p. 347.--ED.
+
+[175] The consensus of modern opinion is, that the Indians worshipped
+the sun only as a symbol. They were in a stage neither monotheistic
+nor pantheistic, but recognized all manifestations of the unseen,
+without a sense of personal unity. Consult on this subject, J. W.
+Powell, "Mythology of North American Indians," in U. S. Bureau of
+Ethnology _Report_, 1879-80, pp. 17-56; D. G. Brinton, _Myths of the
+New World_ (third edition, Philadelphia, 1896); R. M. Dorman, _Origin
+of Primitive Superstitions among the Aborigines of America_ (Phila.,
+1881).--ED.
+
+[176] Jos� de Acosta, a Jesuit historian (1539-1600), born in Spain,
+was missionary to Peru for many years. Upon his return to Spain he
+published _Historia Natural y Moral de las Indias_ (Seville, 1590),
+both in Latin and Spanish. An English translation appeared in
+1604.--ED.
+
+[177] Clavigero asserts of the Indians of Mexico, that their first
+heaven (that of the warriors, &c.) they called "_la casa del sol_"
+(the house of the sun), which luminary they worshipped every morning
+at sunrise.--GREGG.
+
+[178] I have since met with the same, in substance, related by Mr.
+Schoolcraft.--GREGG.
+
+_Comment by Ed._ Henry Rowe Schoolcraft (1793-1864), for many years
+Indian agent at Mackinac, and a prolific writer on Indian subjects.
+
+[179] The Shawnees have four missionary establishments among them,
+viz. a Methodist, Baptist, Moravian, and Quaker. There are also
+missionaries of different sects among most of the tribes of the
+border, the labors of whom have been attended with some degree of
+success. There is, I believe, but one Catholic Mission upon the
+frontier, which is among the Potawatomies, about a thousand of whom
+have embraced this faith. The Catholics, however, appear to have
+succeeded better than most other denominations, in their missionary
+efforts. It is so in Mexico, so in Canada, and appears so everywhere
+else that they have undertaken the Christianization of the heathen. I
+would not be understood to attribute this to any intrinsic superiority
+of their religion, but to the peculiarities of its forms and
+ceremonies. The pageantry of their worship, the palpable
+representation of the divine mysteries by the introduction of images,
+better accords with their pristine idolatry, than a more spiritual
+faith. Catholics, indeed, have had the sagacity to permit the Indians
+(at least in some countries) to interweave many of their own heathen
+ceremonies with the sacred Christian rites, forming a singular _m�l�e_
+of Romish and pagan worship, which is especially the case in Mexico.
+Also, the less rigid Catholic creed and customs do not debar them from
+their wonted favorite amusements, not to say vices. It is therefore
+that whole tribes sometimes simultaneously embrace this imposing
+creed.--GREGG.
+
+[180] See Thwaites, _Hennepin's New Discovery_ (Chicago, 1903), ii,
+pp. 537, 538.--ED.
+
+[181] Adair, who resided forty years with the southern Indians,
+previous to 1775, speaks of the same among them all.--GREGG.
+
+_Comment by Ed._ Consult J. Long's _Voyages_ in our volume ii, p. 64,
+note 31.
+
+[182] Peter Martyr de Anghiera (1457 (?)-1526) was the first historian
+of the New World. Born in North Italy, he went to Rome in 1477, in the
+train of Cardinal Ascanio Sforza. Ten years later he was invited to
+Spain, where he became tutor to the royal children, and later
+protonothary and royal historiographer. His _Decades_ (_De Rebus
+Oceanicis et Novo Orbe Decades_) first appearing in 1530, are a prime
+source for the early history of America, he having known and conversed
+with the Spanish discoverers.--ED.
+
+[183] Also Clavigero speaks of similar beliefs and practices among the
+Mexican Indians, particularly in the obsequies of the kings; and
+adds--"El n�mero de v�ctimas correspond�a � la grandeza del funeral,
+y, segun algunos autores, llegaban � veces � doscientas."--GREGG.
+
+[184] Edition of 1555, translated from the Latin, fol. 181.--In
+another place, the same author also says they buried corn, etc., with
+the dead, for their use in the world to come.--GREGG.
+
+[185] For Herrera, see our volume xix, p. 258, note 79 (Gregg).--ED.
+
+[186] The Indians often so imposed upon the credulous ancients as to
+make them believe they had direct communication with Satan. The
+learned divine, Peter Martyr, has a whole chapter "Of the familiaritie
+which certeyne of the Indians have with the devyll, and howe they
+receave answere of hym of thynges to coome:" and very seriously and
+philosophically concludes, that, "the devyll beynge so auncient an
+Astronomer, knowethe the tymes of thynges, and seeth howe they are
+naturally directed:" to which he appends numerous instances of the
+evil spirit's revelations of the "tymes of thynges to coome" to his
+ministers, the magi. And even as late as 1721, Father Charlevoix
+gravely says, an instance he relates, and many others that he "knows,
+which are equally certain, prove that the Devil is sometimes concerned
+in the magic of the Savages." The Choctaws, and perhaps some others,
+used to punish witchcraft with all the rigor of our own ancestors,
+putting poor creatures to death upon the slightest proof of their
+tampering with the black art: but this barbarity is now prohibited by
+their more civilized laws. Yet the more barbarous tribes still have
+their conjurers and medicine-men, who deal in auguries and mystic
+ceremonies; which, with their dances, constitute the greater part of
+their worship.--GREGG.
+
+[187] For the early habitat of the Potawatomi, consult Croghan's
+_Journals_, in our volume i, p. 115 note 84.--_Ed._
+
+[188] Clavigero remarks of the Indians of Mexico, "Estaba severamante
+prohibido .��.��.��todo enlace matrimonial, entre parientes en primer
+grado de consanguinidad, � de afinidad, excepto entre cu�ados."
+--GREGG.
+
+[189] The origin of the American Indians has been discussed by too
+many able writers for me to enter into it here: nor will I attempt to
+show the general traits of similarity that are to be observed in their
+various languages: yet it may interest an occasional reader, to be
+informed of the relations of consanguinity which subsist between many
+of the different Indian tribes. They may be arranged principally under
+the following heads: 1. The Dahcotah stock, which is by far the most
+extensive of those indigenous west of the Mississippi. It embraces the
+Arkansas (of which the Quapaws are now the only remnant), the Osages,
+Kansas or Kaws, Iowas, Winnebagoes, Otoes, Missouries, Omahas, Poncas,
+and the various bands of the Sioux: all of whom speak a language still
+traceable to the same origin, though some of them have been separated
+for several centuries. I call these indigenous to the West, because
+most of them have been so from the period of the earliest explorers on
+the Mississippi; yet the tradition among them is that they came from
+about the northern lakes; which appears corroborated by the fact, that
+the language of the Naudowessies, Assiniboins, and perhaps others in
+that quarter, shows them to be of the same family.--2. The different
+bands of the Comanches and Shoshonies or Snakes, constitute another
+extensive stock, speaking one language.--3. The Blackfeet, Gros
+Ventres or Minnatarees, Crows and Arrapahoes, speak dialects of
+another.--4. The Pawnees and Rickaras of the north, and the Wacoes,
+Wichitas, Towockanoes, Towyash and Keechyes, of Red River, are of the
+same origin. The Chayennes, originally from near Lake Winnipeg, and
+the Kiawas (or Caiguas, according to Mexican orthography), appear
+unallied to any of the foregoing nations.--5. Of those from the north
+and east, the Algonquin stock appears most extensive,--embracing the
+Potawatomies, Ottawas, Chippewas, Knisteneaux, Crees, Sacs and Foxes;
+with whom the Delawares have also been classed, though their language
+would now appear very distinct.--6. The Wyandots, Senecas, and others
+of the Six Nations, are of the Huron or Iroquois.--7. The Shawnees and
+Kickapoos are of one stock.--8. The Kaskaskias, Piorias, Piankeshaws
+and Weaws, are descendants of the Miamies.--9. The Choctaws and
+Chickasaws are nearly the same people.--10. The Creeks and
+Seminoles--though old authors speak of the Creeks as being akin to the
+Choctaws, yet there is now but little relationship to be traced in
+their language; while that of the Cherokees appears entirely _sui
+generis_.--GREGG.
+
+_Comment by Ed._ On this subject consult J. W. Powell, "Indian
+Linguistic Families of America north of Mexico" in U. S. Bureau of
+Ethnology _Report_, 1885-86. Gregg is unusually correct in his
+classification, but nevertheless has fallen into a few errors.
+
+[190] The _tribes_ often take the names of the seceding chiefs who
+originate them, or are called from some circumstance attending their
+separation; but frequently they assume a name from an important word
+in their languages: thus _Choctaw_ and _Chickasaw_ are said to have
+been the names of chiefs; _Seminole_ (or _Semin�leh_) and _Pioria_
+imply runaways or seceders; while _Illinois_, in the language of that
+ancient tribe, and _Lunnap�e_, by which the Delawares distinguish
+themselves, signify _man_. This last is perhaps most common; for, as
+each nations holds itself superior to all others, its members call
+themselves _men_, in contradistinction to _boys_ or _squaws_, as they
+are wont to denominate their enemies.--GREGG.
+
+[191] Pressure of the white population upon the southern tribes,
+induced them to migrate to the west of the Mississippi, a movement
+which began with detached parties of Choctaw as early as 1805. In 1824
+President Monroe recommended their removal, and in 1830 Jackson
+ordered it. Large bands of these Indians had already received lands in
+Arkansas; wherefore, in 1832, Indian Territory was set apart for the
+tribes and removals thither began. The Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Creek
+made but little difficulty; the Cherokee and Seminole opposed the
+removal. The former were forcibly ejected (1836-38), and by 1839 were
+united on their present site in Indian Territory. The Seminole
+resistance led to the war with that people (1835-42), in which a large
+portion of the tribesmen perished. The remainder were finally united
+in Indian Territory in 1846.--ED.
+
+[192] The civilized tribes had been slave-holders before their removal
+to Indian Territory. At the outbreak of the War of Secession their
+sympathies were with the Confederacy, with whom the Cherokee made a
+treaty October 7, 1861. Early in 1863, however, they abolished slavery
+by law, and the large majority of their regiments went over to the
+Union side. A constitutional amendment in 1866, forever abolished
+slavery or involuntary servitude, except for crime. See _Constitution
+and Laws of Cherokee Nation_.--ED.
+
+[193] Neither of these places has developed into towns of importance,
+although both are still on the map of Indian Territory. By an act of
+1898, towns were to be incorporated, and town sites surveyed. In 1900,
+the largest town was Ardmore, in the Chickasaw Nation. There were
+seven towns of more than two thousand population, and twelve more
+exceeding one thousand.--ED.
+
+[194] Their schools are mostly conducted in English, yet among some
+tribes they are often taught in their native languages. As in other
+respects, the Cherokees have made the greatest advancement in a
+literary point. Their singular system of characters representing
+syllables, invented by an illiterate native, is no doubt known to most
+of my readers. In these characters, a considerable number of books
+have been printed in their vernacular tongue. Many Cherokees, however,
+as well as Choctaws, have received good English educations. In the
+language of the latter also a great number of books have been
+published, but in which the common letter is used. A few books have
+also been printed in the languages of the Creeks, Wyandots,
+Potawatomies, and Ottawas, Shawnees, Delawares, and some in the
+different dialects of Osage, Kansas, Otoes, etc. There is now a
+printing-office in operation at Park Hill, in the Cherokee Nation, and
+another among the Shawnees at the Baptist Mission.--GREGG.
+
+[195] By the treaty of 1825 with the Choctaw, a fund of six thousand
+dollars per year for twenty years was to be allotted for the use of
+schools. The Indians requested that a portion of this fund might be
+used to educate boys at a distance from home. This was a cherished
+plan of Colonel Richard M. Johnson, who was chosen sponsor for the new
+academy, and began the erection of buildings near his home at Great
+Crossings, in Scott County, Kentucky, where the first boys were
+received in the autumn of 1825. Baptist co-operation was enlisted, and
+Rev. Thomas Henderson chosen first principal of Choctaw Academy. At
+first the school flourished, and Indian boys from many other tribes
+were sent to Kentucky, until at one time the academy had an enrollment
+of more than one hundred and fifty lads. In consequence of the
+dissatisfaction which Gregg here describes the Choctaw and other
+Southern Indians began to withdraw their boys about 1842, and the
+school's usefulness terminated. Consult _House Ex. Docs._, 26 Cong., 2
+sess., 109. The civilized tribes now maintain several higher boarding
+schools and academies in the territory. The Choctaw and Chickasaw each
+have five; the Cherokee two at Tallequah, in which the nation is much
+interested.--ED.
+
+[196] By no means the least considerable of the frauds practised upon
+the frontier Indians, have been by contractors and government agents.
+The character of these impositions may be inferred from the following
+instance, as it is told, and very generally believed, upon the
+southwestern frontier.
+
+It had been pretty well known, that some of those who had been in the
+habit of contracting to furnish with subsistence several of the
+southern tribes, in the year 1838 _et seq._, had been imposing most
+grossly upon the Indians as well as the Government, in the way of
+'short rations' and other delinquencies, which resulted in the gain of
+a very large sum to the parties concerned. About the close of their
+operations, one of the _employ�s_, who was rather more cunning than
+the principals, took it into his head, on account of some
+ill-treatment he had suffered, to make an _expos�_ of their
+transactions. He happened to hold a letter of instructions (which were
+of course of a confidential character), wherein were set forth the
+processes by which these frauds were to be practised. And to turn the
+affair to his particular profit, he threatened the parties with a
+complete exposure, unless a satisfactory _gratification_ should
+interpose. A compromise being indispensable to the welfare of 'all
+whom it concerned,' a negotiation was soon set on foot: but the 'noisy
+customer' was not silenced, until he was paid $13,500 in cash;
+whereupon he delivered up the obnoxious 'papers,' and agreed to
+abscond. Some notice of the facts of this case are said to have been
+brought to the knowledge of the Government; and how it has escaped an
+investigation--and, more especially, how it escaped the attention of
+the Superintendent of that immediate district, have been matters of
+great surprise to those who had a knowledge of the particulars.
+--GREGG.
+
+[197] See _Constitution and Laws of Cherokee Nation_, published at
+Tallequah. The constitution was signed at the latter place, September
+6, 1839.--ED.
+
+[198] These laws have now been changed, and correspond to those of the
+United States.--ED.
+
+[199] In 1837, the Chickasaw bought an interest in Choctaw lands; but
+in 1855 they purchased from the latter tribe the right of
+self-government, and established a Chickasaw Nation. Their
+constitution, drawn in 1867, is liberal, being closely modelled on
+that of the United States.--ED.
+
+[200] These Indians call themselves _Muscogee_ or _Musc�hgeh_. They
+acquired the name of _Creeks_, by the whites, from the great number of
+small streams that intersect the country which they formerly
+inhabited--being first called, "Indians of the country of
+_creeks_."--GREGG.
+
+[201] The Creeks established a republican government in 1867, modelled
+upon that of the neighboring tribes.--ED.
+
+[202] This custom seems to have descended from antiquity. Adair, prior
+to 1775, writes, that "The Muscohge widows are obliged to live a
+chaste single life for the space of four years; and the Chikkasah
+women, for the term of three, at the risk of the law of adultery being
+executed against the recusants." But I have not heard this custom
+spoken of among the Chickasaws at the present day.--GREGG.
+
+[203] The Delaware and Shawnee removed from Kansas in 1866-67, and
+1869 respectively, and became incorporated with the Cherokee Nation.
+The Delaware, however, still maintain a form of tribal autonomy.--ED.
+
+[204] No complete census has been taken of the frontier Indians since
+their removal; but the aggregate population of those settled west of
+the border, exclusive of the Osages, Kansas, and others of the north
+(who are more appropriately ranked among the Prairie Indians), is
+76,664, according to the report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs
+for the year 1844. Of these there are reckoned of Cherokees, 25,911;
+Choctaws, 12,410; Chickasaws, 4,111; Creeks, 24,594; Seminoles, or
+Florida Indians, 3,136; Senecas from Sandusky, 125; Senecas and
+Shawnees, 211; Quapaws, 400; Wyandots, 585; Potawatomies, Chippewas
+and Ottawas, located on the waters of the Osage, 2,028; Kaskaskias and
+Piorias, 150; Piankeshaws, 98; Weaws, 176; Shawnees, 887; Delawares,
+1,059; Stockbridges, Munsees, &c., 278; Kickapoos, 505; In addition to
+these, there still remain east of the Mississippi, of Cherokees,
+1,000; Choctaws, 7,000, (but which are now, January, 1845, in progress
+of emigration); Chickasaws, 20; Creeks, 744; Potawatomies, &c., 92;
+Weaws, 30; besides some entire remnant tribes.
+
+Many of the foregoing amounts, however, have been standing numbers in
+the tables of the reports of the Indian Department, ever since the
+removal of these tribes, and as it is known that most of them have
+been on the decline, the above aggregate is no doubt excessive. For
+instance, instead of 25,911, as given in the report for the Cherokees,
+their very intelligent agent, Governor Butler, reckoned them, in 1842,
+at only about 18,000: the Creeks in place of 24,594, have, in like
+manner, been set down at about 20,000; and in the 'Choctaw Almanac'
+for 1843, I find the population of that nation rated at 12,690,
+instead of 15,177, as stated in the Commissioner's report for the same
+year.--GREGG.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX {XIV}
+
+INDIANS OF THE PRAIRIES
+
+System of Chiefs -- Mode of Warfare -- War-Council -- The
+  Scalp-dance -- The Calumet or Pipe of Peace -- Treaties -- Public
+  News-criers -- Arms of the Indians -- Bow and Arrows, etc. --
+  Hunting -- Dancing -- Language of Signs -- Telegraphs -- Wigwams
+  or Lodges -- Pack-dogs -- Costumes -- Painting, Tattooing, etc.
+  -- Indian Dandies -- Manufactures, and Dressing the Buffalo
+  Rug -- Indian Diet, Feasting, etc. -- Primitive Thomsonians --
+  Their domestic Animals, the Dog and the Horse -- Wampum -- Their
+  Chronology.
+
+
+Those savage hordes which may be considered as the Prairie Indians
+proper, have made little or no perceptible progress in civilization.
+They mostly live by plunder and the chase: a few eke out a subsistence
+by agriculture. They consist of various distinct tribes, but among
+whom there is a greater diversity of language than of habitudes. I
+would not have it understood, however, that all the customs of every
+band are entirely similar: it is this assumption, together with the
+practice of setting down as standing customs what they have observed
+on some particular occasions, that has frequently created such a
+discrepancy between the accounts of transient travellers.
+
+{277} There is scarcely a prairie tribe, however limited in numbers,
+but is subdivided into petty bands, each under the immediate control
+of its own chief. Their systems of government are frequently
+compounded of the patriarchal and military. The most influential heads
+of families exercise a petty rule, which often extends beyond their
+own household to a circle of adherents. Several of these clans, bound
+by the ties of consanguinity or friendship, are apt to come under the
+control, by common consent, of some more influential chief, who may
+have gained celebrity in their wars; but a regular hereditary descent
+seems rarely established. These petty bands seldom unite under one
+general leader, except for the common defence, when [Pg319]
+threatened with danger. Occasionally there springs up a master
+spirit--a great brave and a great sage, who is able to unite his whole
+tribe, in which he is generally aided by a sufficient knack at
+sorcerous tricks to give him the character of a great 'medicine-man.'
+
+War seems to be the element of the prairie Indians, notwithstanding
+but few possess much intrinsic bravery. They are, in fact, the most
+cowardly savages east of the Rocky Mountains, bearing but little
+similitude in this respect to the aborigines of the interior of the
+United States. They rarely attack an enemy except with a decided
+advantage; for the prospect of losing even a single warrior will often
+deter them from undertaking the most flattering adventure. It is true
+that, in addition {278} to their timidity, they are restrained by the
+fact that the loss of a man often casts a gloom upon the most
+brilliant victory, and throws a whole clan into mourning. On this
+account they generally attack by surprise, and in the night, when all
+are presumed to be asleep; having care, if against a formidable enemy,
+that it be long enough before the morning dawn to allow them to retire
+beyond reach of pursuit before daylight. When the moon rises at a late
+hour, just before she appears, is a favorite time; for then they will
+have a gleam of light by which to collect and drive off the prize of
+stock which they may be able to frighten away. These prowling parties
+around a camp sometimes employ a species of signals in imitation of
+wolves, owls and other nocturnal animals, by which they communicate
+with each other--mimicking so to the life as not to give alarm to
+unsuspecting travellers.
+
+War is seldom concluded upon, or even a campaign undertaken, without a
+general council, in which all the chiefs and most distinguished braves
+and sages assemble. After all are seated in a circle, the pipe is
+passed around until their brains are sufficiently soothed to enable
+them [Pg320] to consult the Great Spirit, and take freely into
+advisement the important matters under consideration. Therefore the
+tobacco smoke is usually blown upwards, as a propitiatory incense to
+the invoked spirits or genii who dwell 'upon the sky.' In this
+operation the smoke is generally inhaled into {279} the lungs, and
+discharged in murky streams from the olfactories. If a council be
+preparatory to a campaign, the warriors sometimes catch the tobacco
+smoke in the hand, anointing their bodies with it; which they fancy
+renders them, if not invulnerable, at least far more secure from the
+darts of their enemies.
+
+Although in their warfare they employ every wile and stratagem, and
+faithless subterfuge, to deceive their enemies, and in battle are
+relentless and cruel in the extreme, yet they seldom resort to those
+horrid punishments and tortures upon their prisoners which were wont
+to be inflicted by the savages of the interior of the United States,
+during their early wars with the whites. The practice of burning their
+captives alive, said to have prevailed many years ago among some
+prairie tribes, seems now to have grown quite out of use.
+
+Upon returning from a campaign after a defeat, the village resounds
+for many days with the lamentations, the shrieks and wailings of the
+women and children; in which, not only the bereft families, but all
+the relatives and most of the friends of the deceased join. If, on the
+contrary, the warriors have been successful, and bring home scalps of
+their enemies, all join in their most famous festival, the
+scalp-dance. In this f�te the savage trophies are usually elevated
+upon a pole in the centre of the dance; or perhaps the brave captors
+retain them in their hands, tossing and swinging them about their
+heads; at the same time vehemently apostrophizing these ghastly
+representatives {280} of their enemies, with the most taunting and
+insulting [Pg321] bravadoes; branding the nation with cowardice and
+effeminacy; daring them to come forward and revenge the blood of their
+slain; then concluding with scoffs and exulting yells at the dastardly
+silence of their enemies, whom they represent as afraid to whisper a
+note of vengeance against their superiors and masters, the triumphing
+conquerors. After the warriors have become fatigued, the squaws and
+children generally continue the barbarous festivity; in the midst of
+which some vainglorious brave will rise perhaps, and repeat the
+apostrophic fanfaronades, representing that the very squaws and
+papooses hold them in cowering submission, and that henceforth these
+only will be sent to subdue them; their warriors being reserved for
+more noble enemies. These brutal rites and rodomontades being
+concluded, the scalps are handed to their owners, who cure and paint
+them for future war-dances and other kindred ceremonies.
+
+When a tribe wishes to celebrate a treaty of peace with an enemy, a
+number of their warriors, as ambassadors, or perhaps a whole band,
+move to the neighborhood, and send the calumet or pipe of peace, which
+supplies the place of the flag of truce among civilized nations:[205]
+though, when the embassy {281} is to the whites, a flag usually
+accompanies, as they have learned that this is our token of peace. The
+overture being accepted, the chiefs and principals of each band meet
+in council, sometimes in a wigwam, if there [Pg322] be a suitable
+one, else in the open air, taking their seats, as usual, upon their
+haunches in a circle proportioned to the number. If there be
+presents--and these are an indispensable earnest of friendship from
+the whites--the essence, the seal of the treaty, without which
+negotiation is vain--these are laid in the centre. A personage in the
+capacity of an orderly sergeant then lights the calumet, which he
+hands to a principal chief, who, before smoking, usually points the
+stem towards the four cardinal points, and towards the heavens and the
+earth--then takes a certain number of whiffs (generally about three),
+and passing it to the next, who draws an equal number of whiffs, it
+thus continues around the circle, in the direction of the sun, each
+sending fumid {282} currents upward from the nozzle. It seems looked
+upon as sacrilege for a person to pass before the pipe while the
+chiefs are smoking; and the heedless or impudent are sometimes
+severely punished for the act. The 'big talk' follows, and the
+presents are distributed by a chief who exercises the office of
+commissary. But in the petty truces among each other, presents are
+scarcely expected, except they be claimed by the more powerful party
+as a matter of tribute.
+
+Travellers and hunters are generally obliged to hold a treaty or 'big
+talk' with every band of prairie Indians they may encounter, if they
+wish to maintain friendly relations with them. Treaties have also been
+held, at different periods, with most of the wild tribes, by agents of
+the U. S. [Pg323] Government, yet for the most part with but very
+little effect--they generally forget or disregard them by the time the
+presents they may have received are consumed.
+
+These treaties, as well as other council deliberations, are generally
+promulgated by a sort of public crier, who proclaims the stipulations
+and resolutions from lodge to lodge; and the event is preserved in the
+memory of the sages to future generations. Among some of the tribes
+their memory is assisted by the famous 'wampum belt,' which is a list
+or belt made of wampum beads, so interwoven in hieroglyphic figures as
+to form a record of important events. Others preserve the same by
+hieroglyphic paintings on their buffalo rugs, and the like.
+
+{283} The _arms_ of the wild Indians are chiefly the bow and arrows,
+with the use of which they become remarkably expert. A dexterous
+savage will lay a wager, at short shots, against many riflemen.
+Indeed, there is hardly any more effective weapon than the bow and
+arrow in the hands of an expert archer. While the musketeer will load
+and fire once, the bowman will discharge a dozen arrows, and that, at
+distances under fifty yards, with an accuracy nearly equal to the
+rifle. In a charge, they are eminently serviceable; for the Indian
+seems to discharge his arrows with about as much certainty when
+running at full speed as when standing.
+
+The usual length of the Indian bow is about three feet, though it is
+sometimes as much as four. It is generally made of elastic wood, yet
+elk's horn is occasionally used. Those of the latter are made of two
+of the longest and straightest shafts, which, being shaved down to the
+necessary proportions, are united by lapping their ends together and
+binding them firmly with sinew. Bows have also been made, in the same
+manner, of a pair of buffalo ribs; but as well these as those of
+elk-horn, are rather items of [Pg324] curiosity than of service: at
+least, they are not equal to bows of the bois-d'arc tree. Even the
+backs of the _wooden_ bows are often lined the whole length with a
+broad strip of sinew, and the whole wrapped with shreds of the same.
+The arrows are generally about thirty inches long, and pointed with
+iron, though the primitive {284} flint points are still met with among
+some of the wildest tribes.
+
+Besides these, the lance or spear, the use of which they may have
+learned from the Mexicans, is an effective weapon in the charge as
+well as the chase. Many are also provided with the Northwestern fusil,
+and some have rifles. Very few, however, have acquired the dexterity
+of our frontier Indians with this deadly weapon. But no Indian deems
+his equipage complete without a 'scalping-knife;' yet among the
+western prairie Indians the tomahawk is but little known. These
+employ, in its stead, the war-club or 'war-hawk,' which are bludgeons
+with an encased stone for a head in the former, and with a transverse
+blade or spike in its place in the latter. Many are provided with
+shields of raw buffalo or elk skin, upon which are frequently painted
+some rude hieroglyphical devices representing the enemies they have
+slain, as well as any other notable exploits of which they can boast.
+Such as are without these have their titles to renown recorded
+commonly upon the handles of their hatchets, their war-clubs, or
+perhaps tattooed upon their breasts or arms.
+
+Besides war, _hunting_ seems the only creditable employment in which a
+warrior can engage. Every other labor is put upon the squaws; and even
+when a party of hunters set out, they generally provide themselves
+with enough of these 'menials' to take charge of the meat: the Indian
+only deigns to shoot {285} down the game; the squaws not only have it
+to cure and pack, but to skin and dress. [Pg325]
+
+Except such tribes as are expert with the rifle, very few of the
+prairie Indians hunt other game than the buffalo: not, as some have
+presumed, because they deem all small game too ignoble for them, but
+because the former is at once easiest taken, and affords the most
+bounteous supply of food. The antelope is too wild and fleet for their
+mode of hunting, and is only occasionally taken by stratagem; while
+the deer, as difficult to take in the chase, is less easily entrapped.
+But, mounted upon their trained steeds, and with the arrow or lance,
+they are not to be excelled in the chase. A few of them, let loose
+among a herd of buffalo, will soon have the plain strewed with their
+carcasses.
+
+Among the amusements of the Indians generally, _dancing_ is perhaps
+the most favorite. Besides a war accompaniment, it is practised as a
+recreation, and often connected with their worship. Their social
+frolics, in which the squaws are commonly permitted to join, are
+conducted with less ferocity of manner than their war dances; though
+even these are accompanied with the wildest and most comical
+gesticulations, and songs full at once of mirth and obscenity. In
+these, as well as in the war and scalp dances, a sort of little drum
+and a shrill squeaking pipe are their common instruments of music.
+
+As so many tongues, entirely different, are spoken by the prairie
+Indians, a 'language of {286} signs' has become the general medium of
+communication between the different nations. This system of signs has
+been brought to such perfection among them, that the most intricate
+correspondence seems to be intelligibly conducted by such as have
+acquired a proficiency in this 'dumb language.'
+
+Their systems of telegraphs are very peculiar, and though they might
+seem impracticable at first, yet so thoroughly are they understood by
+the savages, that it is availed of [Pg326] frequently to immense
+advantage. The most remarkable is by raising smokes, by which many
+important facts are communicated to a considerable distance--and made
+intelligible by the manner, size, number or repetition of the smokes,
+which are commonly raised by firing spots of dry grass. When
+travelling, they will also pile heaps of stones upon mounds or
+conspicuous points, so arranged as to be understood by their passing
+comrades; and sometimes they set up the bleached buffalo heads, which
+are everywhere scattered over those plains, to indicate the direction
+of their march, and many other facts which may be communicated by
+those simple signs.
+
+Almost every tribe has some peculiarity in the construction of their
+lodges or wigwams, in the manner of arranging their camps, and in the
+different items of dress, by any or all which peculiarities the
+experienced traveller is able to recognize the tribe of their owner.
+If a moccasin, or other article of apparel be {287} found, he at once
+designates the nation to which it belongs--even a track is often
+sufficient to identify them.[206] Also by the 'sign,' and especially
+the remains of fires, he determines the interval elapsed since their
+departure, with remarkable accuracy.
+
+The lodges are composed of a frame of small poles or rods, covered
+usually with buffalo skins, which receive but little further
+preparation than the currying off of the hair. Some give their lodges
+a round wagon-top shape, as those of the Osages, which commonly
+consist of a frame of bent rods, resembling wagon-bows, and covered
+with skins, the bark of trees, or, as is generally the case in their
+villages, with grass and earth. Again, some dispose the poles in two
+parallel lines, and incline them against a ridge-pole, [Pg327] which
+gives the wigwam the shape of a house-roof: others, planting small
+rods in a circle, to swine the points together as to resemble, in some
+degree, when covered, a rounded hay-mow: but by far the most general
+style, among the wild tribes, of constructing their wigwams, is by
+planting the lodge-poles so as to enclose a circular area of from ten
+to twenty feet in diameter (the size depending upon the number of the
+family); and the tops being brought together, it forms a conical
+frame, which is closely covered with skins, except an aperture in the
+apex for the escape of the {288} smoke. This is the style of the
+Comanches and most other tribes of the great plains. The doors of the
+lodges being closed with a skin, they are kept very comfortable in
+winter with but little fire. This is kindled in the centre, and a hole
+is left in the vertex of the lodge, through which the smoke is
+discharged so freely, that the interior is but seldom infected by it.
+
+These lodges are always pitched or set up by the squaws, and with such
+expedition, that, upon the stopping of an itinerant band, a town
+springs up in a desert valley in a few minutes, as if by enchantment.
+The lodge-poles are often neatly prepared, and carried along from camp
+to camp. In conveying them, one end frequently drags on the ground;
+whereby the trail is known to be that of a band with families, as war
+parties never carry lodge-poles. The Chayennes, Sioux and some other
+northern tribes, often employ dogs for carrying and dragging their
+lodge covers and poles; indeed for conveying most of their light
+baggage: but, for ordinary travelling purposes and packing their more
+weighty baggage, they use horses. So few navigable waters traverse the
+Prairies, that none of the Indians of the high plains have learned the
+use of canoes or water-craft of any kind.
+
+There is some variety in the dress in vogue among the [Pg328]
+different tribes; though they all use moccasins, leggins, flap or
+breech-clout, and, when not in active pursuits, they generally wrap
+their bodies in buffalo rugs, blankets or {289} mantles of strouding,
+according to their wealth or opportunities. Some of the northern
+tribes display considerable ingenuity and taste in the manufacture of
+moccasins. But this is the work of the women, who often embroider them
+with beads and colored porcupine quills, in a most beautiful manner.
+The _leggin_ is a buckskin or cloth covering for the leg and thigh, as
+of the pantaloon. A superfluous list is usually left outside the seam,
+which, if of skin, is slitted into long tassels, or if of cloth, the
+wide border remains entire, to dangle and flap upon the exterior of
+the legs. A strip of strouding (that is, coarse broad-cloth) about a
+foot in width and a yard or more long, constitutes the most usual
+flap; which being passed betwixt the legs, the ends are secured under
+the belt around the waist, whence the leggins are suspended. As the
+flap is sometimes near two yards long, a surplusage of half a yard or
+more at each end is sometimes left dangling down before and behind.
+
+The Indians use no head-dress, but support the bleakest rains and
+hottest suns of those bare plains with naked heads. Nevertheless,
+their coarse black hair seems 'fertilized' by exposure; for they
+rarely become gray till an exceeding old age; and I do not recollect
+to have ever seen a bald Indian. Their eyesight also, they retain in
+extraordinary vigor, notwithstanding the want of protection even of
+the eye-lashes and brows (which are plucked out), and in spite of the
+constant use of apparently deleterious paints around the edges {290}
+of the lids. Though using no regular head-dress, they sometimes wear,
+as a temporary ornament, a fantastic cap of skins; and it is not
+unusual to see a brave with the entire shaggy frontlet of a buffalo,
+[Pg329] horns and all, set upon his head--which, with his painted
+face, imparts a diabolical ferocity to his aspect.
+
+The Indians of the Plains, almost without exception, wear long hair,
+which dangles in clotted tresses over the shoulders--besmeared with
+gum, grease and paints, and ornamented with feathers and trinkets. But
+most of those intermediate tribes nearer our border, trim their hair
+in a peculiar manner.
+
+Vermillion seems almost indispensable to the Indian's toilet; but in
+default of this they paint with colored earths. When going to war,
+they bedaub their bodies with something black--mud, charcoal or
+gunpowder, which gives them a frightful appearance. But 'ornamental'
+painting is much more gay and fanciful. The face, and sometimes arms
+and breast are oddly striped and chequered, interspersed with shades
+of yellow and white clay, as well as occasional black, though the
+latter is chiefly appropriated to war. Especial pains are taken to tip
+the eyelids most gaily with vermillion.
+
+Besides painting, most of the tribes tattoo--some sparingly, while
+others make their faces, breasts, and particularly their arms,
+perfectly piebald. This seems practised to some extent by all the
+savages from the Atlantic {291} to the Pacific. Figures are pierced in
+the skin with any sharp pointed instrument--often the keen prickles of
+the cactus--and pulverized charcoal or gunpowder, or sometimes the
+coloring juice of a plant, is rubbed into the fresh punctures, which
+leaves a lasting stain.
+
+The most usual female dress is of the style worn by the Comanche
+squaws, which is described in speaking of that nation. With respect to
+dress and other ornaments, however, the order of the civilized world
+is reversed among the Indians. The 'fair sex' paint less than the
+men--use fewer ornaments generally, and particularly, wear [Pg330] no
+pendants in the ears. While a savage beauty pays but little attention
+to her person, a 'brave' will spend as much time at his toilet as a
+French belle, in the adjustment of his ornaments--his paint, trinkets,
+beads and other gewgaws. A mirror is his idol: no warrior is equipped
+without this indispensable toilet companion, which he very frequently
+consults. He usually takes it from its original case, and sets it in a
+large fancifully carved frame of wood, which is always carried about
+him. He is also rarely without his tweezers, whether of a fold of tin,
+of hardened wood, or of spirally twisted wire, with which he carefully
+eradicates, not only his beard, eye-lashes and brows, but every
+villous particle from his body, as fast as it appears; for everything
+of the kind is considered as extremely unbecoming a warrior. It is on
+this account that Indians {292} have frequently been represented as
+naturally beardless.
+
+All Indians are passionately fond of beads, trinkets and gewgaws of
+every kind. The men often cut up the rim of the ears in a frightful
+manner to admit their pendants of beads, plate, shells, etc.; and even
+strips of lead are sometimes twined around the separated rim, by the
+weight of which the detached portion of the ear is frequently swagged
+down some inches. It is not unusual to see near half a pound even of
+beads and 'jewelry' swung to each ear; and among some tribes, also a
+large quantity to the nose. The hair is likewise garnished with the
+same, and the neck with strings of beads, bear's claws, and the like;
+while the arms are profusely ornamented with bracelets of wire or
+plated metal. The 'braves' are those who commonly deck themselves with
+the most gaudy trappings, and would usually be taken by a stranger for
+the chiefs of the band, who, on the other hand, are often apparelled
+in the most ordinary manner. [Pg331]
+
+The squaws are, in every sense of the word the slaves of the men. They
+are called upon to perform every toilsome service--to carry wood and
+make fires--to skin and dress the meat and prepare the food--to herd,
+drive up, saddle and unsaddle their lords' horses--to pitch and strike
+the lodges--to pack up the baggage, and often indeed to carry heavy
+loads during travel--in short, everything else pretty much but fight
+and hunt, which the {293} Indian boasts of, as being his peculiar, if
+not his sole vocations.
+
+What little of manufacturing is done among the Indians is also the
+work of the women. They prepare the different articles of apparel. In
+embroidering moccasins and their leathern petticoats, etc., their
+greatest skill, particularly among the northern tribes, is exhibited.
+But the most extensive article of their manufacture is the _buffalo
+rug_, which they not only prepare for their own use, but which
+constitutes the largest item of their traffic with the Indian traders.
+These are dressed and cured exclusively by the squaws.
+
+To dress a buffalo rug, the first step is to 'flesh' the skin, or
+neatly scrape from the inner surface every carneous particle. This is
+generally done with an instrument of bone, cut something in the shape
+of a small adz, with a serrate edge. For this operation the skin is
+sometimes suspended in a frame upon the branch of a tree, or a fork of
+the lodge--though more commonly, perhaps, stretched with pegs upon the
+smooth ground, with the flesh-side up. After it dries, the spongy
+surface of the skin is neatly curried off with another adz-shaped bone
+or handle of wood, with a flat bit of iron transversely set for the
+blade, which is edged after the manner of a currier's instrument. The
+surface is then besmeared with brains (which the Canadians call
+_mettre � la cervelle_), and rolled up with the flesh-side in, in
+which condition it is left for two or three days. The brains of the
+same {294} animals are generally used; those [Pg332] of a buffalo
+being more than sufficient to dress his own hide. The pores of the
+skin being fully penetrated by the brains, it is again wetted, and
+softened by continual working and rubbing till it dries. To facilitate
+this last operation, it is sometimes stretched in a frame and
+suspended before a fire, when the inner surface is scraped with the
+serrated adz before mentioned, and finished off by assiduous rubbing
+with a pumice-stone, if that article can be had; if not, by passing
+the skin by small sections rapidly back and forth over a slack cord.
+
+Buffalo rugs are often observed with a seam in the middle. This is
+caused by cutting them in two, partly for convenience in dressing
+them, and partly to take out the hollow occasioned by the hump,
+particularly of the bulls. The hump of the cow being less, their skins
+generally bear dressing without being cut. The hide is frequently
+split in two, however, in skinning the animal, the Indians preferring
+to commence on the back.
+
+The buffalo skin is often dressed without the wool. To this end the
+hide is soaked in water till the hair is loosened, when it is
+'curried' and 'brained,' and softened as above. Of these dressed
+buffalo skins (known among Mexicans as _anta blanca_) is made a
+considerable portion of the Indian clothing for both sexes--even the
+petticoats of the females; though these prefer buckskin when they can
+procure it.
+
+The chief aliment of the Prairie Indians is {295} flesh, though in
+default of this they often sustain themselves for weeks together upon
+roots, herbs and fruits. The buffalo are the common herds of these
+savages, affording them 'food, raiment and shelter.' It seems there
+were anciently occasional cannibal tribes[207] in those regions, but
+not a [Pg333] vestige of cannibalism, as I believe, now remains;
+except such an inhuman appetite may be ascribed to some of the more
+savage warriors, who, as I have heard, in the delirium of exultant
+victory, have been known to devour the hearts of their bravest
+victims, at once to satiate their blood-thirsty propensities, and to
+appropriate to themselves, as they fancy, the valor of the slain
+enemy.
+
+However, they make food of nearly every animal of their country, and
+often of insects and even the filthiest vermin. By some tribes,
+grasshoppers, locusts and the like are collected and dried for future
+use. Among nearly all the northern tribes, the flesh of the dog[208]
+is considered as the greatest delicacy; so much so, indeed, that when
+a favorite visitor is expected to dine, they are sure to have served
+up for him the choicest pieces from some one of the many fat whelps
+which pertain to every lodge. In this way travellers have often been
+{296} constrained to eat Indian dog-meat, and which, prejudice apart,
+is by no means an unsavory viand; but the flesh of the wolf, and even
+the American dog, is generally said to be ill-flavored and sometimes
+insupportable. The polecat is also a favorite food among the Indians;
+and though the celebrated Irving, during a "Tour on the Prairies,"
+seems to claim a deal of credit for having "plumped into the river" a
+dressed polecat, whereby he prevented an Osage from "disgracing" their
+fire by the cooking of it, yet all travellers who have tasted the
+flesh of this animal have pronounced it fine, and of exquisite
+relish.[209] "The flesh of the skunk," observes Dr. James, in his
+account of Maj. Long's Expedition, "we [Pg334] sometimes had dressed
+for dinner, and found it remarkably rich and delicate food."
+
+These wild tribes are without other kitchen utensils than an
+occasional kettle. They sometimes broil their meats, but often eat
+them raw. A savage will feast upon the warm carcass of the buffalo;
+selecting bits of the tenderloin, liver, etc., and it is not uncommon
+to see him use the gall as sauce! Feasting is one of their favorite
+enjoyments; though their ability to endure hunger almost exceeds
+belief. They will fast a week and yet retain their strength and vigor:
+but then when they do procure food again, it seems as if they never
+would be satiated.
+
+The Indians of the Prairies have become acquainted with the medical
+virtues of many of their indigenous plants, which are often {297} used
+in connection with the vapor sweat, and cold bath: wherefore we may
+consider them as the primitive Thomsonians.[210] After a profuse
+sweating, assisted by decoctions of sudorific herbs, in a tight lodge
+filled with vapor by pouring water over heated stones, and while still
+dripping, they will leap into a pool of cold water, and afterwards
+wrap themselves in a buffalo rug. This course has proved successful in
+some diseases, and extraordinary cures have thus been performed: but
+in other cases, and especially in the small-pox, it has been attended
+with horrible fatality. They frequently let blood for disease, which
+is oftenest performed with the keen edge of a flint: and though they
+sometimes open a vein, they more commonly make their incisions
+indiscriminately. They have great faith in their 'medicine men,' who
+pretend to cure the sick with conjurations and charms; and the
+Comanches and many others often keep up an irksome, monotonous singing
+over the diseased person, to frighten away [Pg335] the evil spirit
+which is supposed to torment him: all of which, from its effect upon
+the imagination, often tends, no doubt, to hasten recovery.
+
+These Indians keep no domestic animals, except horses, mules, and
+dogs. With the latter every lodge is abundantly supplied; yet, as has
+already been shown, they are more useful appendages than the annoying
+packs which so often infest the country cabins, and frequently the
+villages, in the United States. {298} Horses, however, constitute the
+chief wealth of the prairie Indian. These are the incentives to most
+of their predatory excursions. The tribes of the north in particular,
+as well as the white trappers, frequently maintain their horses,
+during winter, upon the tender bark of the sweet cottonwood, the
+_populus angulata_ of the Mississippi valley.
+
+The western savages know nothing of the value of money. The wampum
+bead, it is true, among a few tribes, somewhat resembles a currency:
+for, being generally esteemed, it acquires a value in proportion to
+size, and sometimes passes from hand to hand, in exchange for
+necessaries. The legitimate wampum is only of shells, and was of
+aboriginal manufacture; being small long tubes with an ovate surface,
+or sometimes simply cylindrical; and handsomely polished: but
+imitations of glass or porcelain seem now the most common. The color
+is generally white, though sometimes blue or striped.
+
+These Indians have no knowledge of the divisions of time, except by
+palpable distinctions; as days, moons and years; which last they
+commonly represent as so many springs, or falls of the leaves, or as
+often by winters, that is, frosts or snows. Distances are represented
+by days' journey, which are oftener designated by camps or 'sleeps.'
+When a day's journey is spoken of in general terms, it is meant that
+of a band in regular travel, which rarely exceeds twenty miles.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI [XV]
+
+INDIANS OF THE PRAIRIES
+
+Intermediate Tribes -- Their Wigwams and their Hunting Excursions
+  -- Dress and Cut of their Hair -- The Pawnees -- The Osages --
+  Their Roguery -- Matrimonial Customs -- Accomplished Mourners --
+  Their Superstitions -- The Indian Stature -- The 'Pawnee Picts'
+  -- Wild Tribes -- Census -- The Comanches -- Their Range -- Their
+  Sobriety -- Their Chiefs, etc. -- Female Chastity -- Comanche
+  Marriage -- Costumes -- Horsemanship -- Comanche Warfare --
+  Predatory Forays -- Martial Ceremonies -- Treatment of Captives --
+  Burial and Religious Rites.
+
+
+The tribes inhabiting near the borders of the frontier Indians differ
+from those that range the far-western prairies in several traits of
+general character. The former have their fixed villages, and, for the
+most part, combine the pursuits of agriculture and the chase. They
+form, indeed, a sort of intermediate class between the frontier and
+the wild tribes, resembling the one or the other in all important
+particulars. I will merely notice in this place a few of the
+characteristics by which the more conspicuous of these tribes are
+distinguished.
+
+Their village wigwams differ from the lodges of the wilder tribes, in
+their being {300} much more substantial, and usually covered with
+grass and earth instead of skins. The Indians commonly remain in their
+villages during the inclement portion of the winter; yet most of them
+spend the early spring upon the Prairies in buffalo-hunting; as well
+as such portions of the summer and autumn as are not occupied in the
+cultivation and gathering of their crops, which they secure in
+_caches_ till their return.
+
+In dress they differ but little from the wilder tribes, except that,
+having more communication with the whites, they make greater use of
+our fabrics--blankets, coarse cloths, calicoes and the like. Their
+most striking peculiarity consists in the cut of their hair. Most of
+them, [Pg337] instead, like the Indians of the Plains, of wearing the
+hair long, trim and arrange it in the most fantastic style. In the
+care bestowed upon this part of their toilet, they cannot be excelled
+by the most _soigneux_ of civilized dandies. They shave a large
+portion of the head, but leave a fanciful lock upon the crown as a
+scalp-crest (an indispensable trophy for the enemy), which is in
+general gorgeously bedecked with painted feathers and gewgaws.
+
+The _Pawnees_, who now have their principal village on the Loup Fork
+of the Platte river, are perhaps the most famous of these tribes.
+Small bands of their war-parties roam on foot through every portion of
+the Prairies, often to the Mexican frontier, though they generally
+contrive to return well mounted. {301} When upon these expeditions,
+they may properly enough be considered the Ishmaelites of the
+Prairies--their hands are against every man, and every man's hand is
+against them. They will skulk about in the vicinity of a prize of
+mules or horses for several days unsuspected, till a favorable
+opportunity offers to pounce upon them.
+
+This nation is divided into four principal bands, the Grand Pawnees
+(or _Grand Pans_, as called by the Canadians), the Republics, the
+Mahas or Loups, and the Tapage or Noisy Pawnees. Their relatives, the
+Rickaras, are now considered a distinct tribe.[211]
+
+The _Osages_ are at present the most important western branch of the
+Dahcotah stock, after the Sioux. There are two bands of them, the Big
+and Little Osages.[212] Though the Pawnees stand most prominent as
+prairie marauders, these are unsurpassed in simple rogueries.
+Expertness at stealing appears indeed to constitute a part [Pg338] of
+their faith, and an all-important branch of education, in which
+degrees are conferred in true 'academic order;' for I have been
+assured, that, in their councils, the claims of the candidates to the
+honors of rogueship are duly considered, and to the most proficient is
+awarded an honorary badge--the right to wear a fancy feather stuck
+athwart his scalp-crest.
+
+The habitudes of the Osages do not appear to have undergone any
+material change, notwithstanding the exertions of the government and
+the missionaries to civilize and to christianize {302} them. Some of
+their matrimonial customs are very curious and rather peculiar. The
+eldest daughter seems not only 'heiress apparent,' but, when married,
+becomes absolute owner of the entire property and household of her
+parents--family and all. While single, however, she has no authority,
+but is herself held as a piece of merchantable property, estimated
+somewhat as in civilized life, in proportion to her 'charms,' and to
+the value of her 'hereditaments.' She is therefore kept under the
+strictest watch by her parents, that she may not diminish her worth by
+any improper conduct.
+
+When some warrior 'beau' has taken a fancy to the heiress and wishes
+to possess her and her estate of sisters, dogs, rugs and household, he
+takes his finest horses, (and if she be a 'belle' he need not attempt
+it unless he have some of the noblest), and tying them at her lodge
+door departs without saying a word; leaving them, like a slow-match,
+silently to effect his purpose. After the 'pretender' has disappeared,
+the matron of the premises and her lord inspect the valuables, the
+'demure damsel' barely venturing a sly peep through some crevice of
+the wigwam. If the offer be found unworthy, the horses are sent back
+to the owner as silently as they came, or maybe with some apology,
+provided he be a warrior whom they are afraid of offending. [Pg339]
+But if accepted, the father takes instead some of his own horses and
+ties them at the door of the proposer, as a token of admission. If the
+{303} parties be without horses, some other valuables are employed in
+lieu. After this the marriage is solemnized with a joyous f�te, and
+their primitive ceremonies.
+
+But now the son-in-law is fully indemnified for his heavy
+'disbursement' in the _purchase_ of his bride; for he at once becomes
+possessor of the entire wealth of his father-in-law--master of the
+family-lodge and all the household: if there be a dozen younger
+daughters, they are all _de droit_--his wives or slaves as we may
+choose to consider them: in fact, the 'heiress' herself seems in the
+same predicament, and the wife among them all who may have the tact to
+gain the husband's affections, generally becomes mistress of the
+'harem.' From the refuse of this estate of 'fair ones' the indigent
+warriors and inferior Indians who are not able to purchase an
+'heiress' are apt to supply themselves with wives upon a cheaper
+scale.[213]
+
+The Osages bury their dead according to the usual Indian mode; and,
+though it seems always to have been the custom among most {304} savage
+nations, to keep up a chorus of hideous cries and yells for a long
+while after the death of a relative, yet the Osages are by far the
+most accomplished mourners of them all. Being once encamped near a
+party of them, I was awakened at the dawn of day [Pg340] by the most
+doleful, piteous, heart-rending howls and lamentations. The apparently
+distressed mourners would cry with a protracted expiration till
+completely out of breath. For some instants he seemed to be in the
+very last agonies: then he would recover breath with a smothered,
+gurgling inspiration: and thus he continued for several minutes,
+giving vent to every variety of hideous and terrific sounds. Looking
+around, I perceived the weeper standing with his face towards the
+faint gleam which flitted from the still obscured sun. This was
+perhaps his idol; else he was standing thus because his deceased
+relation lay in that direction. A full 'choir' of these mourners
+(which is always joined by the howls and yelps of their myriads of
+dogs), imparts the most frightful horror to a wilderness camp.
+
+It is considered among these as well as other 'crying' tribes, quite a
+merit to be a graceful weeper: it becomes even a profitable vocation
+to those whose eyes and lungs are most capacious of such things. If
+you tell an Osage that you have lost a kinsman or friend for whom you
+wish him to mourn, he will undertake the service for a trifling
+reward--and acquit himself with more 'credit'--more to the spirit than
+the best tragic {305} actor. He will mimic every exterior indication
+of grief and the most heart-felt wailing, till the tears trickle in
+torrents down his cheeks.[214]
+
+The Osages seem generally to worship a good and evil spirit, and to
+believe in the most usual Indian paradise. No people can have more
+implicit faith in witchcraft and all kinds of sorcery and
+superstitions--such as holding converse with deceased friends or
+relations--appointing a time to die, etc.: and instances are related
+of their fancying [Pg341] themselves thus called to the world of
+spirits, which would so powerfully affect the imagination as to cause
+them to pine away, and sometimes die even to the appointed day.
+
+Owing partially, no doubt, to the burdensome life they lead, the
+squaws of all the tribes are, for the most part, much more inclined to
+corpulency than the men. They are generally chubby and ill-favored,
+while the males are usually tall, erect, well-turned and active. For
+their proverbial straightness, however, the Osages are perhaps more
+famous than any of the other prairie Indians.
+
+The _Wacoes_, _Witchitas_ and their kindred tribes on Red River, are,
+for the most part, a very indigent race. They are chiefly remarkable
+for their profuse tatooing, whereby they have sometimes acquired the
+title of 'Pawnee Picts:' the females particularly make a perfect
+calico of the whole under-jaw, breast and arms, and the mamm� are
+fancifully ornamented with rings and rays. The tattoo, in fact, seems
+to constitute the chief female ornament {306} of these tribes; for
+their only gown consists of about a yard and a half of strouding, or
+else a small dressed skin, suspended from the waist, and constituting
+a sort of primitive petticoat. The upper portion of the body remains
+uncovered, except by a blanket or small skin, thrown loosely over the
+shoulders. The men are often without any other vesture than the flap,
+and sometimes a buffalo rug or blanket.
+
+As the remaining tribes of this intermediate class present few or no
+distinctive characteristics, we will pass at once to the consideration
+of the _wild tribes_ proper[215] of the Great [Pg342] Western
+Prairies. These neither cultivate the soil nor live in fixed villages,
+but lead a roving life in pursuit of plunder and game, and without
+ever submitting themselves to that repose--to those fixed habits,
+which must always precede any progress in civilization. But as the
+_Comanches_ are the only tribe of these 'wandering Arabs' of the
+Plains which {307} present any distinguishing features of
+interest--any prominent points of national character--the remarks that
+follow will be devoted almost exclusively to them.
+
+The relationship of the Comanches to the Snakes or Shoshonies, shows
+them to have descended from the north: in fact, it is but half a
+century since their range was from the Arkansas river northward; but
+at present this stream is their _ultima Thule_. Yet they even now
+acknowledge no boundaries, but call themselves the lords of the entire
+Prairies--all others are but 'tenants at will.' They lead a wandering
+sort of life, betaking themselves whithersoever the seasons or the
+habits of the buffalo, their chief object of pursuit, may lead them.
+Although during summer they are not unfrequently found as far north as
+the Arkansas river, their winters they usually pass about the head
+branches of the Brazos and Colorado rivers of Texas.
+
+In their domestic habits, these Indians, for the most part, resemble
+the other wild tribes; yet in some respects they differ materially.
+One of the most interesting traits of difference is to be found in
+their distaste for ardent [Pg343] spirits: but few of them can be
+induced to taste a drop of intoxicating liquors; thus forming an
+exception, I believe, to the entire race of the 'red man,' who appears
+to have a constitutional appetite for strong drinks. The frontier as
+well as the prairie tribes--the Mexican as well as the Mountain
+Indians--all are equally slaves to their use.
+
+{308} The Comanches are divided into numerous petty bands, each under
+the control of its own particular chief. When a chief becomes old and
+care-worn, he exercises but the 'civil authority' of his clan; while
+his son, if deemed worthy, otherwise some distinguished brave,
+assumes, by 'common consent,' the functions of war-chief. As is the
+case with all barbarous tribes, their chiefs assume every judicial and
+executive authority. Complaints are made to them and sentence
+summarily pronounced, and often as summarily executed. For most
+offences, the chief, if he considers his authority sufficiently well
+established, freely uses the rod upon his subjects. He rarely attempts
+this, however, upon noted warriors or 'braves,' whose influence and
+resentment he may have reason to fear. The punishment of murder among
+these, as among most of the savage nations, devolves upon the bereaved
+relatives, who are free to pursue and punish the perpetrators
+according to their own liking, which is seldom short of death. But the
+offended party, if disposed to compromise, has also the privilege of
+accepting a commutation and releasing the murderer.
+
+The husband seems to have complete power over the destinies of his
+wife and children. For adultery, his punishment is most usually to cut
+off the nose or ears,[216] or {309} both; and he may even take the
+life of his unfaithful wife [Pg344] with impunity. The squaw who has
+been mutilated for such a cause, is _ipso facto_ divorced, and, it is
+said, for ever precluded from marrying again. The consequence is, that
+she becomes a confirmed harlot in the tribe. Owing in part, no doubt,
+to such severity in their customs, the Comanche squaws have ever been
+noted for their chastity. This may result also, in some degree, from
+the circumstance, that the Comanche husbands, fathers and brothers,
+seldom or never subject their wives, daughters and sisters, to that
+debasing traffic practised among so many of the northern nations.
+
+Like other wild tribes, the Comanches tolerate polygamy, the chiefs
+and braves sometimes taking as many as eight or ten wives at a time.
+Three is considered the usual number, however, for 'subjects' or
+common warriors, and nine for the chiefs. Their marriage ceremonies
+vary in different bands; but the following has been represented as the
+most usual. Unlike most other tribes, the consent of the maiden has to
+be obtained. This done, the lover, from apparent delicacy, goes not to
+the father of his intended, but, in accordance with a custom which
+prevails among some other tribes, communicates his desire to an uncle
+or other aged relative, who enters into the marriage contract. The
+parties, however, are not yet fully betrothed; but, as a test of the
+submission of the bride to the service of her proposed lord, the
+latter ties his riding-horse {310} at her lodge door. If she turn him
+loose, she has resolved finally to reject him; but if she lead him to
+the _caballada_, it is an unequivocal agreement to take the charge of
+his horses and other property; and the marriage is soon concluded. The
+'uncle' now communicates the engagement to the chief, who causes the
+'bans' to be published, that no other wooer may interfere. As the
+horse is with them the type of every important interest, the
+bridegroom next [Pg345] proceeds to kill the least valuable one he is
+possessed of; and, taking out the heart, hangs it at the door of his
+betrothed, who takes and roasts it, and then dividing it into two
+parts, each eats a half, which perfects the bond of wedlock. The heart
+of the buffalo or other animal may perhaps be substituted, if the
+bridegroom has not a superabundance of horses. Should the
+circumstances of the parties admit of it, the marriage is usually
+celebrated with feasting and dances; though, in general, the Comanches
+are less fond of dancing than most other Indians.
+
+The Comanche dress consists of the usual leggins, moccasins, flap and
+blanket or robe. Many wear in addition a kind of leathern jerkin, or
+tight jacket closed before. Their moccasins differ from those of other
+tribes, by having a lengthy tassel of leathern fringes attached to the
+heels, which trail the ground as they walk. Instead of this fringe,
+the tassels sometimes consists of the tail of a polecat or some other
+animal. When he can procure {311} it, the young warrior is wont to
+wear a mantle and leggins of strouding. Both of these articles,
+according to the 'latest fashions,' should be one-half red, the other
+blue. The bi-colored mantle, as well as the blanket or buffalo rug, is
+carelessly thrown over the shoulders, and must be long enough to drag
+the ground; for they seem to have an instinct for the 'regal grandeur
+of a sweeping gown.'
+
+Though all the far-western Indians wear their hair long, the Comanche
+seems to take most pride in the voluminousness of his 'tresses,' and
+the length of his _queue_, which is sometimes eked out with buffalo or
+other hair, till its tip reaches the ground, and is bedaubed with gum,
+grease and paint, and decorated with beads and other gewgaws. We are
+not to think that foppery and coxcombry are generated exclusively in
+civilized life. I am sure I never saw a vainer creature than a
+Comanche brave in full costume, of dress, [Pg346] trinkets and paint.
+He steps as if he disdained the very ground upon which he walks.
+
+The dress of the Comanche squaw is usually a kind of loose gown or
+tunic of leather, or cotton if it can be procured, which hangs from
+the shoulders and is bound around the waist with a girdle; thus
+presenting a resemblance in its appearance to our ordinary female
+costume. They wear moccasins, to which short leggins are attached, and
+which constitute a sort of leathern hose. They are not permitted to
+wear long hair: that 'manly' prerogative would be degraded by such an
+{312} association. It is therefore kept docked so as scarcely to reach
+the shoulders.
+
+A style of dress similar to that of the Comanche females, is worn by
+those of most of the erratic tribes. The squaws of the north usually
+embroider their leathern frocks in a fanciful manner with colored
+porcupine quills and beads, and bedeck the borders with rattling
+shells, tags, hawk-bells, and the like. Such as have the fortune to
+marry Canadian or American trappers, are those who usually dress most
+gaily.
+
+The prairie Indians generally are an equestrian race; yet in
+horsemanship the Comanches stand decidedly preeminent; and can only be
+equalled by the Northern Mexicans, and perhaps the Arabs. Like the
+latter, they dote upon their steeds: one had as well undertake to
+purchase a Comanche's child as his favorite riding-horse. They have a
+peculiar mark for their animals: every one which has pertained to them
+may always be recognized by a slit in the tip of each ear; a practice
+apparently universal among all their tribe.
+
+In their warlike expeditions they avail themselves of their equestrian
+skill with wonderful success. As they always fight on horseback, they
+depend chiefly upon the charge, at which they use their arrows and
+javelins with wonderful [Pg347] efficacy.[217] On such occasions a
+Comanche will often throw himself upon {313} the opposite side of his
+charger, so as to be protected from the darts of the enemy; and, while
+clinging there, he will discharge his arrows with extraordinary
+dexterity from underneath his horse's neck. Different from the
+'prowling' tribes, they seldom attack at night, or in timbered or
+rough regions; for they would then be unable to man[oe]uvre their
+coursers to advantage.
+
+Although not meriting the title of brave Indians, they are held by the
+Mexicans as the most valiant of their border: but when they come in
+contact with Americans or any of our frontier tribes, they generally
+appear timid and cowardly. Their predatory forays are therefore
+directed mostly westward. They make continual inroads upon the whole
+eastern frontier of Mexico, from Chihuahua to the coast; driving off
+immense numbers of horses and mules, and killing the citizens they may
+encounter, or making them prisoners--particularly the females and
+boys. Of the latter they make slaves, to perform such menial service
+as usually pertains to the squaws, particularly the herding of the
+stock. It is perhaps this alleviation of their labor by slaves, that
+has contributed to elevate the Comanche women above those of many of
+the northern tribes. Of their female captives they often make wives; a
+fate which has befallen some of those taken from Texas.
+
+Strange as it may appear, their captives frequently become attached to
+their masters and to the savage life, and with difficulty are {314}
+induced to leave them after a few years' captivity. In fact, these
+prisoners, it is said, in time often turn out to be the most
+formidable savages. Combining the subtlety of the Mexican with the
+barbarity of the Indian, they sometimes pilot into their native
+frontier [Pg348] and instigate horrid outrages. The department of
+Chihuahua has been the greatest sufferer from their inroads.
+
+But, though at continual war with the south of the republic, for many
+years the Comanches have cultivated peace with the New Mexicans--not
+only because the poverty of the country offers fewer inducements for
+their inroads, but because it is desirable, as with the interior
+Mexican tribes, to retain some friendly point with which to keep an
+amicable intercourse and traffic. Parties of them have therefore
+sometimes entered the settlements of New Mexico for trading purposes;
+while every season numerous bands of New Mexicans, known as
+_Comancheros_, supplied with arms, ammunitions, trinkets, provisions
+and other necessaries, launch upon the Prairies to barter for mules,
+and the different fruits of their ravages upon the south.
+
+This powerful nation, combined with the petty southern tribes, has
+also waged an almost unceasing warfare upon Texas, ever since her
+independence. War-parties have frequently penetrated to the very heart
+of the settlements, perpetrating murderous outrages, and bearing away
+into captivity numerous women and children. They have entered {315}
+the city of Austin, then the seat of government, in open day; and, at
+other times, have been known to descend to the very seacoast,
+committing many frightful depredations. "On the 8th of August, 1840,"
+writes a friend who resided at Linnville, on Matagorda Bay, "several
+hundred Comanches came down from the mountains, and charged upon us
+without the least notice. They burned and made a perfect destruction
+of the village and everything pertaining to it."[218] [Pg349]
+
+Besides continual hostilities with Mexico and Texas, the
+Comanches are at war with most of the Indians of the Mexican interior,
+as also with the tribes of the more northern prairies--and
+particularly the Arrapahoes and Chayennes, with whom they have many
+bloody rencounters.[219] But they generally remain on friendly terms
+with the petty tribes of the south, whom, indeed, they seem to hold as
+their vassals.
+
+As these Indians always go to war on horseback, several days are often
+spent previous to a campaign in equestrian exercises and ceremonies,
+which seem partly to supply the place of the war-dance of other
+tribes; though they sometimes join in preparatory dances also. It is
+not an unusual custom, when a campaign is in agitation, for a band of
+about twenty Comanche maidens to chant, for three nights in
+succession, the victories of their ancestors, the valor of their
+brothers and cotemporaries, and the individual prowess of all such
+young warriors as they consider should engage in {316} the
+contemplated enterprise: and all those designated by the serenading
+band are held as drafted for the [Pg350] campaign. Fired by the
+encomiums and excitations of the 'fair _cantatrices_,' they fly at
+once to the standard of their favorite chief: and the ceremony is
+concluded by a war-dance.
+
+Upon their return from a successful expedition, the 'war-worn corps'
+halts on some elevation at a distance from the village, and a herald
+is sent forward to announce their arrival. Thereupon, one of their
+most respectable and aged matrons issues forth to receive them,
+carrying with her a very long-handled lance kept for the purpose. On
+the top of this the victorious Indians fasten all the scalps they may
+have taken, so arranged that each shall be conspicuous. The matron
+squaw then approaches the wigwams, holding her scalp-garnished lance
+high in the air, and chanting some favorite war-legend. She is soon
+joined by other squaws and Indian lasses, who dance around as the
+procession moves through the entire circuit of the village. If the
+victory has been brilliant, the dancing and feasting are apt to be
+kept up for several days, all parties joining in the general jubilee.
+
+If the conquerors bring any prisoners with them, these have to
+encounter the scourgings and insults of the squaws and children. Each
+seems entitled to a blow, a kick, a pinch, a bite, or whatever simple
+punishment they may choose to inflict upon the unfortunate captives.
+This done, they are delivered {317} over to the captors as slaves, and
+put to the service and drudgery of the camp.
+
+After their first entrance it seems rare for them to treat their
+captives with much cruelty: though an instance was related to me by
+some Mexican prisoners, of a very barbarous massacre which they
+witnessed during their captivity. Two white men, supposed to be
+Texans, were tied to a stake, and a number of their marksmen, retiring
+to a distance and using the naked bodies of their victims [Pg351] as
+targets, began wantonly to fire at them, and continued their horrid
+sport, until some fatal balls put an end to their sufferings! The
+capture of these had probably been attended with some aggravating
+circumstances, which induced the savages to resort to this cruel
+method of satiating their revenge.
+
+If a campaign has been unsuccessful, the warriors separate upon their
+return, and drop into the village one by one. Nothing is now heard for
+several days, but the wailings and howlings of the bereft relatives
+and friends. They will also scarify their arms and legs, and subject
+themselves to other carnal mortifications of the most powerful
+character. On these occasions their previous captives, and
+particularly such as may belong to the nation of their victorious
+enemy, are sure to be roughly treated, and sometimes massacred by the
+enraged relatives of the slain.
+
+When a Comanche dies, a similar course of mourning is practised; and
+he is usually wrapped in his best blankets or robes, and interred
+{318} with most of his 'jewelry' and other articles of esteem;
+accompanying which, it is said, an awl and some moccasin leather is
+generally added, as a provision, it would appear, for his use during
+his long journey to the 'happy hunting ground' beyond the grave. They
+also kill the favorite horses of the deceased, which are often buried
+by his side, doubtless with the same object.
+
+The religious notions of the Comanches resemble, in most particulars,
+those of the other prairie tribes; yet they appear to have an
+occasional peculiarity. Some say the dry buffalo head or cranium is
+their idol. True it is that they show it great reverence, and use it
+in many of their mystic ceremonies. The Pawnees also hold these
+buffalo heads, with which the plains are strewed, in great reverence;
+and usually for many leagues around, these skulls are set up facing
+towards their villages, in the belief that the herds [Pg352] of
+buffalo will thus be conducted by them into their neighborhood.[220]
+Of the Comanches the sun is no doubt the principal deity. When
+preparing for a campaign, it is said they do not fail to place their
+arms betimes every morning on the east side of their lodges, that they
+may receive the blessing of the fountain of light at his first
+appearance. This indeed seems the usual time for offering their
+devotions to the sun, of many tribes of the American aborigines.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[205] This seems to have been of ancient and general use among the
+savages of North America. "I must speak here of the _Calumet_,"
+remarks Father Marquette, "the most mysterious thing in the world. The
+sceptres of our kings are not so much respected; for the savages have
+such a deference for this pipe, that one may call it _the god of peace
+and war, and the arbiter of life and death_. One, with this calumet,
+may venture amongst his enemies, and in the hottest engagement they
+lay down their arms before this sacred pipe." The deference is perhaps
+not so great at the present day, though the 'pipe of peace' is still
+very much respected. Even the ashes from the calumet seem to be held
+sacred; for, usually after smoking, the pipe is emptied in some corner
+of the lodge specially allotted for the purpose. But as they have
+generally learned that smoking is not practised by the whites on these
+occasions, it is now not commonly held important for us to smoke with
+them; but presents are expected instead. Anciently, however, they were
+more strict; for, in another place, the same author (in 1673)
+relates:--"As soon as we sat down, they presented us, according to
+custom, their _calumet_, which one must needs accept, for else he
+should be lookt upon as an enemy, or a meer brute; however, it is not
+necessary to smoak, and provided one puts it to his mouth, it is
+enough."--GREGG.
+
+_Comment by Ed._ See Thwaites, _Jesuit Relations_, lix, pp. 117, 119,
+131.
+
+[206] As many tribes make their moccasins of different shapes--some
+with hooked toes, others broad--some with the seam on the bottom,
+etc., there is always a palpable difference in the tracks.--GREGG.
+
+[207] A diminutive tribe on the Texas border, called Tonkewas, made
+food of human flesh within the present century, and, it may be of late
+years, though I have not heard it mentioned.--GREGG.
+
+[208] Dogs seem always to have been a favorite article of food among
+the aborigines of different parts. Father Marquette, in his voyage
+down the Mississippi in 1673, remarks of an Indian feast, "The third
+service was a huge Dog, whom they killed on purpose," &c.--GREGG.
+
+[209] See Irving, _Tour on the Prairies_, pp. 83, 84.--ED.
+
+[210] Dr. Samuel Thomson (1769-1843), a New England physician,
+advocated a method of treating fevers and similar diseases by means of
+steaming.--ED.
+
+[211] For the Pawnee groups and habitat, see Pattie's _Narrative_, in
+our volume xviii, p. 40, note 24. For the Arikara, consult Bradbury's
+_Travels_, in our volume v, p. 127, note 83.--ED.
+
+[212] For the Osage see our volume v, p. 50, note 22.--ED.
+
+[213] The custom of taking all the sisters of a family is also said to
+be common among the Kansas, Omahas and other kindred tribes; indeed it
+appears to have prevailed from the earliest ages among all the
+Dahcotah family as well as many Algonquins and most other tribes about
+the great Lakes. Mons. La Salle, in his trip from these to the
+Mississippi in 1673, remarks of the savages of those regions: "They
+marry several Wives, and commonly all Sisters, if they can, thinking
+they agree better in their Family." Hennepin, Charlevoix and others
+speak of the same custom. Murray also mentions something of the kind
+among the Pawnees. Forbes alludes to the same in California. But I am
+uninformed, whether, in these several instances, the husband's right
+was only _de facto_, or _de jure_ as among the Osages, to all the
+younger sisters.--GREGG.
+
+[214] Note Bradbury's experience with the mourning Osage, in our
+volume v, pp. 63, 64.--ED.
+
+[215] The population of the intermediate tribes, according to the
+Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, for 1844 is as follows:
+Pawnees, 12,500 souls (though some experienced traders rate them at
+only about 5,000); Rickaras, 1,200; Chippewas, Potawatomies and
+Ottawas of the North, 2,298; Sacs and Foxes, 2,762; Winnebagoes,
+2,183; Iowas, 470; Poncas, 777; Omahas, 1,301; Otoes and Missouries,
+931; Kansas, 1,700; Osages, 4,102;--besides of Caddoes and Inyes about
+500; Wacoes, Witchitas, Towockanoes, Towyashes and Keechyes, 1,000;
+who maintain themselves chiefly in Northern Texas. The wild tribes
+proper of the Prairies, are, the Comanches, consisting of about 10,000
+souls; Kiawas, 2,000; Apaches, 100; Arrapahoes, 2,000; Chayennes,
+2,000; besides many others to the north and westward, who rarely
+descend within the regions to the notice of which these pages are
+confined. As these tribes would doubtless average at least
+three-fifths females, they could hardly turn out one-fifth of their
+numbers in warriors, though this is the usual rule of estimating them
+by men of Indian experience.--GREGG.
+
+[216] This custom was perhaps once quite extensive. It prevails among
+the Creeks to the present day, and was anciently practised by other
+southern nations; and "Among the Miamis," says Father Charlevoix, "the
+Husband has a right to cut off his wife's nose if she runs away from
+him."--GREGG.
+
+[217] The Comanches employ usually short-handled javelins or lances,
+declaring, like the Spartan mother, that cowards only need long
+weapons.--GREGG.
+
+[218] The Comanche had been hostile to the Spanish in Texas,
+preventing its settlement, and about 1757 destroying the mission of
+San Saba. In 1785 the troops were obliged to retire into the Alamo at
+San Antonio, in order to be secured from their raids. The Texans were
+at first friendly with the Comanche; but in 1832 a Mexican deputation
+visited the border tribes, and incited them against the Texans. Open
+war broke out in 1837, and several battles were fought. In February,
+1840, twelve chiefs with a numerous retinue came to San Antonio to
+make peace. Refusing to deliver up their white captives, troops were
+set upon them, and in the ensuing m�l�e all the chiefs and twenty
+other Indians were killed. The Comanche retired to plan revenge. Early
+in August, they advanced, avoiding Austin and San Antonio, and fell
+upon the town of Victoria. The inhabitants resisting, about fifteen of
+them were killed. When the Indians reached Linnville, a village of
+only five houses, its inhabitants fled to a ship in the bay, whereupon
+the hamlet was destroyed. A pursuing party under General Felix Houston
+defeated the natives, and recovered the white prisoners. In September,
+an expedition headed by Colonel John Moore attained the Comanche
+village high up on the Colorado River, and severely chastised them,
+killing one hundred and twenty-eight, and capturing thirty-two. After
+this the Comanche avoided the Texans for some years.--ED.
+
+[219] For the Arapaho, consult James's _Long's Expedition_, our volume
+xv, p. 157, note 48. A brief notice of the Cheyenne is in our volume
+v, p. 140, note 88.--ED.
+
+[220] Most of the plains Indians had superstitions regarding the
+buffalo. Consult on this subject, James O. Dorsey, "Study of Siouan
+Cults," in U. S. Bureau of Ethnology _Reports_, 1889-90, pp. 361-544;
+George A. Dorsey, _Traditions of the Skidi Pawnee_ (Boston and New
+York, 1904).--ED.
+
+
+
+
+GLOSSARY
+
+  [Pg353] CONTAINING SUCH SPANISH OR HISPANO-MEXICAN WORDS
+    AS OCCUR UNDEFINED IN THIS WORK, OR RECUR WITHOUT
+    DEFINITION AFTER HAVING BEEN ONCE TRANSLATED.
+
+
+  _A_, _al_, to, to the.
+
+  _Abajo_, down, under, below.
+
+  _Acequia_, ditch, canal.
+
+  _Adelantado_, governor of a province.
+
+  _A dios_, adieu, farewell.
+
+  _Administrador de Rentas_, a custom-house officer.
+
+  _Adobe_, a sort of unburnt brick.
+
+  _Afuera_, without, abroad.
+
+  _Aguador_, water-carrier.
+
+  _Aguardiente_, brandy.
+
+  _Alacran_, scorpion.
+
+  _Alameda_, public walk, with rows of trees, usually the
+    _�lamo_.
+
+  _Alamo_ (in Mexico), cotton-wood.
+
+  _Alcalde_, justice of the peace.
+
+  _Alegria_, mirth; a plant.
+
+  _All�_, there.
+
+  _Amigo_, friend.
+
+  _Ancheta_, adventure of goods.
+
+  _Angelito_, little angel.
+
+  _Angostura_, narrowness.
+
+  _Aparejo_, sort of pack-saddle.
+
+  _Aqu�_, here.
+
+  _Arancel_, tariff.
+
+  _Armas_, arms.
+
+  _Arriba_, up, above.
+
+  _Arriero_, muleteer.
+
+  _Asambl�a_, assembly.
+
+  _Astucia_, cunning, artifice.
+
+  _Atajo_, drove of pack mules, &c.
+
+  _Atole_, sort of thick gruel.
+
+  _Auto_, act, edict.
+
+  _Ayot�a_, flat roof, terrace.
+
+
+  _Baile_, ball, dance.
+
+  _Bandolin_, species of small guitar.
+
+  _B�rbaro_, barbarous; a savage.
+
+  _Barra_, ingot, bar of silver, &c.
+
+  _Baston_, staff, cane.
+
+  _Blanco_, white.
+
+  _Bolsa_, pocket, purse.
+
+  _Bonanza_, prosperity.
+
+  _Bonito_, pretty.
+
+  _Bota_, boot, leggin.
+
+  _Bravo_, brave, bold.
+
+  _Bueno_, good.
+
+  _Burro_, ass.
+
+
+  _Caballada_, drove of horses, &c.
+
+  _Caballero_, gentleman, knight.
+
+  _Caballo_, horse.
+
+  _Cacique_, Indian chief or prince.
+
+  _Caf�_, coffee; coffee-house.
+
+  _Calabozo_, dungeon, jail.
+
+  _Caliente_, warm, hot.
+
+  _Camino_, road.
+
+  _Campo_, field, camp.
+
+  _Campo santo_, cemetery without a church.
+
+  _Cancion_, song, poem.
+
+  _Ca�ada_, valley.
+
+  _Ca�on_, deep gorge or ravine; cannon.
+
+  _Capilla_, chapel.
+
+  _Capitan_, captain.
+
+  _Carajo_, an oath; scoundrel.
+
+  _Caravana_, caravan.
+
+  _C�rcel_, prison, jail.
+
+  _Carga_, load.
+
+  _Cargador_, carrier.
+
+  _Cargamento_, cargo.
+
+  _Carnero_, male sheep.
+
+  _Carreta_, cart.
+
+  _Carro_, wagon, &c.
+
+  _Casa_, house.
+
+  _Cautivo_, captive.
+
+  _Ceja_, brow.
+
+  _Centralismo_, central government.
+
+  _Cerro_, mound.
+
+  _Chacal_, jackal.
+
+  _Chico_, small; small person. [Pg354] _Chile_, red
+    pepper.
+
+  _Cibolero_, buffalo-hunter.
+
+  _Cibolo_, the American buffalo.
+
+  _Cigarrito_, little cigar.
+
+  _Cigarro_, cigar.
+
+  _Cimarron_, wild.
+
+  _Claco_, small copper coin.
+
+  _Coche_, coach.
+
+  _Cocina_, kitchen.
+
+  _Cocinera_, female cook.
+
+  _Cola_, tail; glue.
+
+  _Colorado_, red.
+
+  _Comanchero_, Comanche trader.
+
+  _Comiso_, confiscation.
+
+  _Consumo_, consumption.
+
+  _Contra-revolucion_, counter-revolution.
+
+  _Cordillera_, chain of mountains.
+
+  _Corral_, yard, pen.
+
+  _Correr_, to run.
+
+  _Coyote_, prairie-wolf.
+
+  _Crep�sculo_, dawn, twilight.
+
+  _Cristo_, Christ.
+
+  _Cruz_, cross.
+
+  _Cu�ado_, brother-in-law.
+
+
+  _De_, _del_, of, of the, &c.
+
+  _Decreto_, decree.
+
+  _Derecho_, tax; right.
+
+  _Descubrimiento_, discovery.
+
+  _Dia_, day.
+
+  _Diablo_, devil.
+
+  _Dictador_, dictator.
+
+  _Diligencia_, diligence; stage-coach.
+
+  _Dios_, God.
+
+  _Doblon_, doubloon.
+
+  _Domingingo_, Sunday; Dominic.
+
+  _Do�a_, Madam, Mrs., Miss.
+
+  _Dorado_, gilt.
+
+  _Dos_, two.
+
+  _Dulce_, sweet.
+
+
+  _Eclesi�stico_, ecclesiastical.
+
+  _El_, the; he, him.
+
+  _En�guas_, sort of petticoat.
+
+  _En junta_, in council.
+
+  _Enmendadura_, enmendation.
+
+  _Entrada_, entrance.
+
+  _Entrerenglonadura_, interlineation.
+
+  _Escritor_, writer.
+
+  _Escuadron_, squadron.
+
+  _Espa�ol_, Spanish; Spaniard.
+
+  _Est�_, is, he is, it is, &c.
+
+  _Estacado_, staked.
+
+  _Estrangero_, stranger, foreigner.
+
+  _Estufa_, cell; stove.
+
+
+  _Factura_, invoice.
+
+  _Fandango_, dance; ball.
+
+  _Fiera_, wild beast.
+
+  _Fe_, faith.
+
+  _Feria_, fair.
+
+  _Fierro_, iron; branding-iron, &c.
+
+  _Fiesta_, feast.
+
+  _Fonda_, eating-house, inn.
+
+  _Fraile_, _Fray_, friar.
+
+  _Frijol_, bean.
+
+  _Fueros_, chartered privileges.
+
+
+  _Gachupin_, Spaniard in America.
+
+  _Gallina_, hen.
+
+  _Gallo_, cock.
+
+  _Ganado_, cattle.
+
+  _Gefe_, chief.
+
+  _Gobernador_, governor.
+
+  _Gobernadorcillo_, petty governor, or chief.
+
+  _Gobierno_, government.
+
+  _Grama_, species of grass.
+
+  _Gran_, _grande_, great, large.
+
+  _Grandeza_, greatness, grandeur.
+
+  _Grano_, grain.
+
+  _Gauge_, gourd, flask.
+
+  _Guardia_, guard, watch; watch-house.
+
+  _Guerra_, war.
+
+  _Guia_, sort of passport for goods.
+
+  _Guisado_, cooked, stewed.
+
+  _Guitarra_, guitar.
+
+
+  _Hacienda_, estate; lands; treasure.
+
+  _Haciendero_, proprietor of an hacienda.
+
+  _Herradura_, horse-shoe.
+
+  _Herrero_, blacksmith.
+
+  _Hidalgo_, nobleman.
+
+  _Hoja_, leaf, husk, &c.
+
+  _Hombre_, man.
+
+  _Hombre bueno_, arbitrator.
+
+
+  _Ilustr�simo_, most illustrious.
+
+  _Imprenta_, printing-office.
+
+  _Inocente_, innocent.
+
+
+  _Jacal_, hut, wigwam.
+
+  _Jola_, copper coin, penny.
+
+  _Jornada_, day's travel; journey.
+
+  _Juez_, judge.
+
+  _Junta_, council; union.
+
+
+  _La_, _las_, the; her, it, them.
+
+  _Labor_, labor; field; mining-pit.
+
+  _Labrador_, laborer, farmer.
+
+  _Ladron_, thief, robber.
+
+  _Laguna_, lake.
+
+  _Lanzada_, thrust with a lance.
+
+  _Layador_, nooser.
+
+  _Lazito_, little lazo.
+
+  _Lazo_, noosing rope.
+
+  _Legua_, league.
+
+  _L�pero_, vagabond, _sans-culotte_.
+
+  _Ley_, law.
+
+  _Limosnero_, beggar.
+
+  _Llano_, plain; prairie; smooth.
+
+  _Lo_, _los_, the; it, them, &c.
+
+  _Lobo_, wolf.
+
+
+  _Madre_, mother.
+
+  _Manifiesto_, manifest; bill of goods presented to the
+    custom-house.
+
+  _Manta_, covering; cotton-cloth.
+
+  _Marco_, weight of eight ounces; mark.
+
+  _Mayor_, great, superior.
+
+  _Mayordomo_, overseer.
+
+  _M�dano_, sand-hill.
+
+  _Medio_, half; picayune.
+
+  _Menor_, less, inferior.
+
+  _Mesa_, table; table-plain.
+
+  _Meson_, inn, hotel.
+
+  _Mestizo_, mongrel.
+
+  _Mezquite_, a tree, acacia.
+
+  _Mi_, _mis_, my.
+
+  _Militar_, military.
+
+  _Monte_, a game; grove; mount.
+
+  _Mora_, mulberry.
+
+  _Muerto_, dead; dead man.
+
+  _Mula_, mule; unsalable item.
+
+
+  _Negro_, black; a black person.
+
+  _Noria_, machine for drawing water; well.
+
+  _Norte_, north.
+
+  _Noticioso_, giving information.
+
+  _N�mero_, number.
+
+
+  _Oficial_, official; officer.
+
+  _Ojo_, eye; spring of water.
+
+  _Oro_, gold.
+
+
+  _Padre_, father; priest.
+
+  _Padrino_, godfather, sponsor.
+
+  _Paisano_, countryman.
+
+  _Palacio_, palace.
+
+  _Panza_, paunch.
+
+  _Papa_, pope; potato.
+
+  _Parage_, place; camping-site.
+
+  _Pariente_, relative, kin.
+
+  _Parroquia_, parish; parish church.
+
+  _Pasa_, raisin.
+
+  _Pas�o_, pleasure walk or ride.
+
+  _Paso_, pass, passage; step.
+
+  _Pastor_, pastor; shepherd.
+
+  _Patio_, court, enclosed yard.
+
+  _Pato_, duck.
+
+  _Patri�tico_, patriotic.
+
+  _Pauta_, rule, model.
+
+  _Pelo_, hair.
+
+  _Penitencia_, penance, penitence.
+
+  _Perro_, dog.
+
+  _Peso_, dollar; weight.
+
+  _Piedra_, stone.
+
+  _Pinole_, food of parched Indian meal stirred in water.
+
+  _Placer_, pleasure; gold region.
+
+  _Plata_, silver.
+
+  _Plaza_, square; place; village.
+
+  _Poquito_, very little.
+
+  _Portal_, porch, corridor.
+
+  _Perfecto_, perfect.
+
+  _Presidio_, garrison, fort.
+
+  _Presto_, quick, soon.
+
+  _Profano_, profane.
+
+  _Pronunciamento_, act of making a public declaration.
+
+  _Proyecto_, project, plan.
+
+  _P�blico_, public.
+
+  _Pueblo_, people; Catholic Indians, &c.
+
+  _Puerta_, door.
+
+  _Puro_, pure; pure tobacco cigar.
+
+
+  _Ranchera_, country woman.
+
+  _Rancher�a_, village of wild Indians.
+
+  _Ranchero_, inhabitant of a rancho.
+
+  _Rancho_, stock-farm.
+
+  _Raspadura_, erasure; rasping.
+
+  _Real_, a coin; royal, real, grand.
+
+  _Rebozo_, muffler, species of scarf.
+
+  _Remedio_, remedy, medicine.
+
+  _Rey_, king.
+
+  _Rico_, rich; rich man.
+
+  _Rio_, river.
+
+
+  _Sala_, hall, parlor.
+
+  _Salina_, salt pond or pit.
+
+  _San_, _santo_, _santa_, saint, holy.
+
+  _Sand�a_, watermelon.
+
+  _Sangre_, blood.
+
+  _Sant�simo_, most holy.
+
+  _Saqu�o_, sack, pillage.
+
+  _Sarape_, sort of blanket.
+
+  _Semana_, week.
+
+  _Se�or_, sir, Mr.; lord.
+
+  _Se�ora_, Madam, Mrs.; lady.
+
+  _Se�or�a_, lordship.
+
+  _Se�or�a ilustr�sima_, title of a bishop, &c.
+
+  _Se�orita_, madam, miss, Mrs., &c.
+
+  _Sierra_, ridge of mountains; saw.
+
+  _Siesta_, afternoon's sleep.
+
+  _Silla_, chair; saddle.
+
+  _Sistema_, system.
+
+  _Sol_, sun.
+
+  _Soldado_, soldier.
+
+  _Sombrero_, hat.
+
+  _Sonore�o_, citizen of Sonora.
+
+  _Su_, _sus_, his, her, its, their.
+
+
+  _Tarde_, evening.
+
+  _Tierra_, country, land.
+
+  _Tierra Afuera_ (in Mexico), the exterior, or country near
+    the coast, &c.
+
+  _Tilma_, Indian mantle.
+
+  _Tio_, uncle.
+
+  _Todo_, all, every, whole.
+
+  _Tonillo_, screw.
+
+  _Tortilla_, thin cake, diminutive of _torta_, cake, loaf.
+
+
+  _Vado_, ford.
+
+  _Valiente_, valiant, brave.
+
+  _Valle_, valley, dale.
+
+  _Vaquero_, cowherd.
+
+  _Vaquita_, diminutive of _vaca_, cow.
+
+  _Vara_, Spanish yard of 33 inches.
+
+  _Venta_, sale; sale-brand; inn.
+
+  _Verdadero_, true.
+
+  _Verde_, green.
+
+  _Vicio_, vice.
+
+  _Viernes_, Friday.
+
+
+  _Un_, _uno_, a, one.
+
+
+  _Y_, _�_, and.
+
+  _Yeso_, gypsum.
+
+
+  _Zambo_, offspring of the Indian and negro.
+
+  _Zaguan_, entry, porch.
+
+  _Zarco_, light blue.
+
+  _Zorra_, fox.
+
+
+
+
+TRANSCRIBER NOTE:
+
+
+Original spelling and grammar has mostly been retained. Figures were
+moved from within paragraphs to between paragraphs. Footnotes were
+moved to the ends of chapters. This 1905 edition is an annotated
+reprint of "Part II of Gregg's Commerce of the Prairies, 1831-1839";
+the pagination of the latter document is shown herein as a number
+enclosed in curly brackets, e.g. {226}. The pagination of the 1905
+publication is shown in square brackets, e.g. [Pg009]. In this
+Latin-1 version, the "oe ligature" character is indicated by "[oe]".
+
+Page 78: the phrase "invicta la Galia indomable" was printed upside
+down in the third line of the verse. This was not a mistake, as it
+is explained in a following paragraph. However, no method exists
+to reproduce this inversion as the Latin-1 text required for the
+present version. Other versions, which use Unicode text, may show the
+inverted characters as originally intended.
+
+Footnote 59: the original large table was broken into two pieces.
+
+Page 99: "ofthe regular Route" was changed to "of the regular Route".
+
+Page 144: "consipracy" was changed to "conspiracy".
+
+Page 145: "futurese curity" to "future security".
+
+Page 168: an initial quotation mark was added to "he is prying into
+your affairs".
+
+Page 173: "mattrass" to "mattress".
+
+Footnote 123: "Jesus Maria" changed to "Jesus-Maria".
+
+Page 193: "invogue" to "in vogue".
+
+Page 208: "discharging valleys" to "discharging volleys".
+
+Footnote 136: Several instances of "do." (abbreviation for "ditto")
+replaced by repeated text. Also, a Remark that applies to two years
+1832 and 1833 is indicated herein
+
+ "{Party defeated on Canadian
+  {2 men killed, 3 perished."
+
+The original replaced the two "{" by a single double-height "{".
+
+Page 268: "Assinaboins" to "Assiniboins", to match the footnote. The
+more usual modern spelling seems to be "Assiniboine" ("Assiniboines",
+plural).
+
+Page 274: "dolefu" to "doleful".
+
+Page 296: "resistence" to "resistance".
+
+Page 320: "tancy" to "fancy".
+
+In this simple .txt version, italics are _indicated by underscoring_.
+Small caps are converted to uppercase.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Early Western Travels 1748-1846,
+Volume XX, by Various
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EARLY WESTERN TRAVELS ***
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+***** This file should be named 44205-8.txt or 44205-8.zip *****
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+  <title> The Project Gutenberg eBook of Early Western Travels
+  1748-1846, Volume XX, Part II of Gregg's Commerce of the Prairies,
+  1831-1839, by Reuben Gold Thwaites.
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+<pre>
+
+Project Gutenberg's Early Western Travels 1748-1846, Volume XX, by Various
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Early Western Travels 1748-1846, Volume XX
+       Part II of Gregg's Commerce of the Prairies, 1831-1839
+
+Author: Various
+
+Editor: Reuben Gold Thwaites
+
+Release Date: November 17, 2013 [EBook #44205]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EARLY WESTERN TRAVELS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by RichardW, Greg Bergquist and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images generously made available
+by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;">
+<img id="coverpage" src="images/cover.jpg" width="600" height="800" alt="" />
+</div>
+
+<h1 title="Early Western Travels 1748-1846 Volume XX,
+ Part II of Gregg's Commerce of the Prairies, 1831-1839.">
+Early Western Travels<br />
+1748-1846<br />
+Volume XX</h1>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;">
+<a name="Illustration_Indian_alarm_on_the_Cimarron_River"
+ id="Illustration_Indian_alarm_on_the_Cimarron_River"></a>
+<img src="images/i004.jpg" width="600" height="362" alt="" />
+<div class="caption">Indian alarm on the Cimarron River</div>
+<div class="IlloRtn"><a
+href="#ILLUSTRATIONS_TO_VOLUME_XX">Illustrations List</a></div>
+</div>
+
+<div class="front">
+<div class="fsize1">Early Western Travels
+<br />1748-1846
+</div>
+
+<div class="fsize3">
+A Series of Annotated Reprints of some of the best and<br />
+rarest contemporary volumes of travel, descriptive<br />
+of the Aborigines and Social and Economic<br />
+Conditions in the Middle and Far West, <br />
+during the Period of Early <br />
+American Settlement
+</div>
+
+<div class="fsize4"><br /><br />Edited with Notes, Introductions, Index, etc., by</div>
+
+<div class="fsize2">Reuben Gold Thwaites, LL. D.</div>
+
+<div class="fsize4">
+Editor of "The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents",<br />
+"Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition",<br />
+"Hennepin's New Discovery," etc.
+</div>
+
+<div class="fsize2"><br />Volume XX</div>
+<div class="fsize3">Part II of Gregg's Commerce of the Prairies,
+1831-1839</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 50px;margin-top:3em;
+margin-bottom:0;">
+<img src="images/i005.png" width="50" height="57" alt="trademark" />
+</div>
+
+<div class="fsize2"><br />Cleveland, Ohio</div>
+<div class="fsize2">The Arthur H. Clark Company</div>
+<div class="fsize2">1905</div>
+</div>
+
+<div class="front">
+<div class="fsize3"><span class="smcap">Copyright 1905, by</span></div>
+
+<div class="fsize3">THE ARTHUR H. CLARK COMPANY</div>
+
+<div class="fsize3">ALL RIGHTS RESERVED<br /><br /><br /></div>
+
+<div class="fsize4">
+<span class="gothic">The Lakeside Press</span><br />
+R. R. DONNELLEY &#38; SONS COMPANY<br />
+CHICAGO</div>
+</div>
+
+<h2 title="Contents of Volume XX">
+<a name="CONTENTS_OF_VOLUME_XX" id="CONTENTS_OF_VOLUME_XX"></a>
+CONTENTS OF VOLUME XX</h2>
+
+<div class="contents">
+<table summary="contents of volume XX.">
+<tr>
+ <td class="subhead"><span class="smcap">Commerce of the Prairies</span>; or,
+ The Journal of a Santa Fé Trader, during Eight Expeditions across the Great
+ Western Prairies, and a Residence of nearly Nine Years in Northern Mexico.
+ (Part II: Chapters xii-xvi of Volume I, and all of Volume II of original.)
+ <i>Josiah Gregg.</i></td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left"><a href="#CONTENTS">Author's Table of Contents</a></td>
+ <td align="right">13</td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left"><a href="#COMMERCE_OF_THE_PRAIRIES">Text of Part II</a>:</td>
+ <td align="right">21</td></tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+<h2 title="Illustrations to Volume XX">
+<a name="ILLUSTRATIONS_TO_VOLUME_XX" id="ILLUSTRATIONS_TO_VOLUME_XX"></a>
+ILLUSTRATIONS TO VOLUME XX</h2>
+
+<div class="contents">
+<table summary="Illustrations to volume XX">
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">"<a href="#Illustration_Indian_alarm_on_the_Cimarron_River">
+Indian Alarm on the Cimarron River</a>"</td>
+ <td align="right"><i>Frontispiece</i></td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">"<a href="#Map-of-the-Interior-of-Northern-Mexico">
+Map of the Interior of Northern Mexico</a>"</td>
+ <td align="right"><i>Facing</i></td>
+ <td align="left">21</td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left"><a href="#Medal-of-Nuestra-Senora-de-Guadalupe-de-Mexico">
+Medal of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe de Mexico</a> (text cut)</td>
+ <td align="right" colspan="2">40</td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">"<a href="#Camp-Comanche">Camp Comanche</a>"</td>
+ <td align="right" colspan="2">123</td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left"><a href="#Mule-emerging">Mule emerging from a mine;</a>
+ <a href="#Still-Hunting">Still Hunting</a> (text cuts in original)</td>
+ <td align="right" colspan="2">181</td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">"'<a href="#Dog-Town">Dog Town</a>,' or Settlement of Prairie Dogs"</td>
+ <td align="right" colspan="2">279</td></tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+<div class="front">
+<h2 style="page-break-before:avoid;" title="Part II of Gregg's
+Commerce of the Prairies, or The Journal of a Santa Fé
+Trader——1831-1839">
+
+<span class="smcap">Part II of Gregg's Commerce of the Prairies, or
+The Journal of a Santa Fé Trader——1831-1839</span><br /><br />
+</h2>
+
+<div class="fsize3">Reprint of chapters xii-xvi of Volume I, and all of Volume II of the
+second edition: New York, 1845</div>
+</div>
+
+<h3 title="Contents">
+<a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS</h3>
+
+<div class="contents">
+<div class="fsize3"><a id="tocXII"></a><a href="#CHAPTER_XII1">CHAPTER XII</a></div>
+<table summary="1845 Table of Contents">
+<tr>
+ <td class="subhead">Government of New Mexico — The Administration of Justice —
+Judicial Corruption — Prejudices against Americans — Partiality for the English
+— Anecdote of Governor Armijo and a Trapper — Outrage upon an American Physician
+— Violence suffered by the American Consul and others — Arbitrary Impositions upon
+Foreigners — <i>Contribucion de Guerra</i> — The Alcaldes and their System —
+The <i>Fueros</i> — Mode of punishing Delinquents and Criminals — Mexican System
+of Slavery — Thieves and Thieveries Outrage upon an American Merchant — Gambling
+and Gambling-houses — Game of <i>Monte</i> — Anecdote of a Lady of Fashion —
+<i>Chuza</i> — Cockpits — <i>Correr el gallo</i> — <i>El Coleo</i> —
+Fandangoes — <i>Cigarritos</i>,</td>
+ <td class="tocpgn">21</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<div class="fsize3"><a id="tocXIII"></a><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII</a></div>
+
+<table summary="1845 Table of Contents">
+<tr>
+ <td class="subhead">
+Military Hierarchy of Mexico — Religious Superstitions — Legend
+of <i>Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe</i> — A profane Version
+of the Story — A curious Plan for manufacturing Water — Saints
+and Images — Processions — How to make it Rain — The
+Sacred Host — Fanaticism and Murder — Honors paid
+to a Bishop — Servility to Priests — Attendance at Public
+Worship — New Mexicans in Church — The Vesper Bells — Passion
+Week and the Ceremonies pertaining thereto — Ridiculous
+<i>Penitencia</i> — Whitewashing of Criminals — Matrimonial
+Connexions and Mode of Contracting them — Restrictions
+upon Lovers — Onerous Fees paid for Marriages
+and Burials — Anecdote of a <i>Ranchero</i> — Ditto of a
+Servant and of a Widow, illustrative of Priestly Extortion — Modes
+of Burial, and Burial Ground of the Heretics,</td>
+ <td class="tocpgn">37</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<div class="fsize3"><a id="tocXIV"></a><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV</a></div>
+
+<table summary="1845 Table of Contents">
+<tr><td class="subhead">The Pueblos — Their Character for Sobriety,
+Honesty, and Industry — Traditional
+descent from Montezuma — Their
+Languages — Former and present Population — The Pueblo
+of Pecos — Singular Habits of that ill-fated Tribe — Curious
+Tradition — Montezuma and the Sun — Legend of a Serpent — Religion
+and government — Secret Council — Laws and
+Customs — Excellent Provisions against Demoralization — Primitive
+Pastimes of the Pueblos — Their Architecture — Singular
+Structures of Taos, and other novel Fortifications — Primitive
+state of the Arts among the Pueblos — Style of
+Dress, Weapons, etc. — Their Diet — The <i>Guayave</i>,</td>
+ <td class="tocpgn">54</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<div class="fsize3"><a id="tocXV"></a>{xvi} <a href="#CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV</a></div>
+
+<table summary="1845 Table of Contents">
+<tr><td class="subhead">The wild Tribes of New Mexico — Speculative Theories — Clavigero
+and the <i>Azteques</i> — Pueblo Bonito and other Ruins — Probable
+Relationship between the <i>Azteques</i> and Tribes of
+New Mexico — The several Nations of this Province — <i>Navajóes</i>
+and <i>Azteques</i> — Manufactures of the former — Their
+Agriculture, Religion, etc. — Mexican Cruelty to the
+Indians and its Consequences — Inroads of the Navajóes — Exploits
+of a Mexican Army — How to make a Hole in
+a powder-keg — The <i>Apaches</i> and their character — Their
+Food — Novel Mode of settling Disputes — Range of their
+marauding Excursions — Indian Traffic and imbecile Treaties — Devastation
+of the Country — Chihuahua Rodomontades — Juan
+José, a celebrated Apache Chief, and his
+tragical End, etc. — Massacre of Americans in Retaliation — A
+tragical Episode — <i>Proyecto de Guerra</i> and a 'gallant'
+Display — The <i>Yutas</i> and their Hostilities — A personal Adventure
+with them, but no Bloodshed — The Jicarillas,</td>
+ <td class="tocpgn">67</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<div class="fsize3"><a id="tocXVI"></a><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI</a></div>
+
+<table summary="1845 Table of Contents">
+<tr>
+ <td class="subhead">Incidents of a Return Trip from Santa Fé — Calibre of our Party — Return
+Caravans — Remittances — Death of Mr. Langham — Burial
+in the Desert — A sudden Attack — Confusion
+in the Camp — The Pawnees — A Wolfish Escort — Scarcity
+of Buffalo — Unprofitable Delusion — Arrival — Table
+of Camping Sites and Distances — Condition of the
+Town of Independence — The Mormons — Their Dishonesty
+and Immorality — Their high-handed Measures, and a
+Rising of the People — A fatal Skirmish — A chivalrous Parade
+of the Citizens — Expulsion of the Mormons — The
+Meteoric Shower, and Superstition, etc. — Wanderings and
+Improprieties of the 'Latter-day Saints' — Gov. Boggs'
+Recipe — The City of Nauvoo — Contemplated Retribution
+of the Mormons,</td>
+  <td class="tocpgn">87</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+
+<div class="fsize3"><a id="tocXVII"></a><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII_I68">CHAPTER XVII</a> {I of Vol. II, original ed.}</div>
+
+<table summary="1845 Table of Contents">
+<tr>
+ <td class="subhead">A Return to Prairie Life — Abandonment of the regular Route — The
+Start — A Suicide — Arrest of a Mulatto for Debt — Cherokee
+'Bankrupt Law' — Chuly, the Creek Indian —
+The Muster and the Introduction — An '<i>Olla Podrida</i>' — Adventure
+of a 'Down-Easter' — Arrival of U. S. Dragoons — Camp
+Holmes, and the Road — A Visit from a Party
+of Comanches — Tabba-quena, a noted Chief — His extraordinary
+Geographical Talent — Indians set out for the
+'Capitan Grande,' and we through an unexplored Region — Rejoined
+by Tabba-quena and his '<i>suite</i>' — Spring Valley — The
+Buffalo Fever — The Chase — A Green-horn Scamper — Prairie
+Fuel,</td>
+ <td class="tocpgn">99</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<div class="fsize3"><a id="tocXVIII"></a><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII_II">CHAPTER XVIII</a> {II of Vol. II}</div>
+
+<table summary="1845 Table of Contents">
+<tr><td class="subhead">Travelling out of our Latitude — The Buffalo-gnat — A Kiawa
+and Squaw — Indian <i>crim. con.</i> Affair — Extraordinary
+Mark of confidence in the White Man — A Conflagration — An
+Espy Shower — Region of Gypsum — Our Latitude — A
+Lilliputian Forest — A Party of Comanches — A Visit to
+a 'Dog-Town' — Indian Archery — Arrival of Comanche
+Warriors — A 'Big Talk' and its Results — Speech of the
+<i>Capitan Mayor</i> — Project of bringing Comanche Chiefs to
+Washington — Return of Lieut. Bowman, and our March
+resumed — Melancholy Reflections — Another Indian Visit — Mexican
+Captives — Voluntary Captivity — A sprightly
+Mexican Lad — Purchase of a Captive — Comanche Trade
+and Etiquette — Indians least dangerous to such as trade
+with them,</td>
+ <td class="tocpgn">114</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<div class="fsize3"><a id="tocXIX"></a><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX_III">CHAPTER XIX</a> {III of Vol. II}</div>
+
+<table summary="1845 Table of Contents"><tr>
+ <td class="subhead">Ponds and Buffalo Wallows — Valley of the Canadian, and
+romantic Freaks of Nature — Formation of Ravines — Melancholy
+Adventure of a Party of Traders in 1832 — Fears of
+our being lost — Arrival of a Party of <i>Comancheros</i>, and
+their wonderful Stories — Their Peculiarities and Traffic — Bitter
+Water, and the <i>Salitre</i> of New Mexico — Avant-couriers
+for Santa Fé — Patent Fire-arms and their Virtues — Ranchero
+Ideas of Distance, and their Mode of giving Directions — The
+Angostura, and erroneous Notions of the Texans — A
+new Route revealed — Solitary Travel — Supply of Provisions
+sent back — Arrival at Santa Fé — Gov. Armijo, etc. — A
+'Flare-up' with His Excellency,</td>
+ <td class="tocpgn">132</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<div class="fsize3"><a id="tocXX"></a><a href="#CHAPTER_XX_IV">CHAPTER XX</a> {IV of Vol. II}</div>
+
+<table summary="1845 Table of Contents"><tr>
+ <td class="subhead">Preparations for a Start to Chihuahua — Ineptness of Married
+Men for the Santa Fé Trade — Annoying Custom-house
+Regulations — Mails in New Mexico — Insecurity of Correspondence — Outfit
+and Departure — <i>Derecho de Consumo</i>
+— Ruins of Valverde — 'Towns without Houses' — La
+Jornado del Muerto — Laguna and Ojo del Muerto — A
+Tradition of the <i>Arrieros</i> — Laborious Ferrying and Quagmires — Arrival
+at Paso del Norte — Amenity of the Valley — <i>Sierra
+Blanca</i> and <i>Los Organos</i> — Face of the Country — Seagrass — Médanos
+or Sand-hills — An accidental River — Carrizal — Ojo
+Caliente — Laguna de Encinillas — Southern
+Haciendas — Arrival — Character of the Route
+and Soil,</td>
+ <td class="tocpgn">145</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<div class="fsize3"><a id="tocXXI"></a><a href="#CHAPTER_XXI_V">CHAPTER XXI</a> {V of Vol. II}</div>
+
+<table summary="1845 Table of Contents"><tr>
+ <td class="subhead">Trip from Chihuahua to Aguascalientes, in 1835 — Southern
+Trade and <i>Ferias</i> — Hacienda de la Zarca, and its innumerable
+Stock — Rio Nazas, and Lakes without outlet — Perennial
+Cotton — Exactions for Water and Pasturage — Village
+of Churches — City of Durango and its Peculiarities — Fruits,
+Pulque, etc. — Persecution of Scorpions — Negro-ship
+in the ascendant — Robbers and their <i>modus operandi</i> — City
+of Aguascalientes — Bathing Scene — Haste to return
+to the North — Mexican Mule-shoeing — Difficulties
+and Perplexities — A Friend in time of need — Reach Zacatecas — City
+Accommodations — Hotels unfashionable — <i>Locale</i>,
+Fortifications, etc., of the City of Zacatecas — Siege
+by Santa Anna and his easy-won Victory — At Durango
+again — Civil Warfare among the 'Sovereigns' — Hairbreadth
+'scapes — Troubles of the Road — Safe Arrival at
+Chihuahua — Character of the Southern Country,</td>
+ <td class="tocpgn">162</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<div class="fsize3"><a id="tocXXII"></a><a href="#CHAPTER_XXII_VI">CHAPTER XXII</a> {VI of Vol. II}</div>
+
+<table summary="1845 Table of Contents"><tr>
+ <td class="subhead">Visit to the Mining Town of Jesus-Maria — Critical Roads — Character
+of the Town — Losing Speculations — Mine of
+Santa Juliana — Curious mining Operations — Different
+Modes of working the Ore — The Crushing-mill, etc. — <i>Barras
+de Plata</i> — Value of Bullion — The Silver Trade — Return
+to Chihuahua — Resumption of the regular Narrative — Curious
+Wholesales — Money Table — Redundancy
+of Copper Coin — City of Chihuahua and its Peculiarities — Ecclesiastical
+Architecture — Hidalgo and his Monument — Public
+Works, and their present Declension — <i>Fête</i>
+in honor of Iturbide — Illiberality towards Americans — Shopping
+Mania — Anti-Masonic <i>Auto de Fe</i>,</td>
+ <td class="tocpgn">178</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<div class="fsize3"><a id="tocXXIII"></a><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIII_VII">CHAPTER XXIII</a> {VII of Vol. II}</div>
+
+<table summary="1845 Table of Contents"><tr>
+ <td class="subhead">Departure for Santa Fé — Straitened for Food — Summary Effort
+to procure Beef — Seizure of one of our Party — Altercation
+with a <i>Rico</i> — His pusillanimous Procedure — Great
+Preparations in Chihuahua for our Arrest — Arrival of Mexican
+Troops — A polite Officer — Myself with three of my
+Men summoned back to Chihuahua — Amiable Conduct of
+Señor Artalejo — <i>Junta Departmental</i> and Discussion of my
+Affair — Writ of <i>Habeas Corpus</i> not in vogue — The Matter
+adjusted and Passports granted — The <i>Morale</i> — Impunity
+of savage Depredations — Final Start — Company of <i>Paseños</i>
+with their Fruits and Liquors — Arrival at Santa Fé,</td>
+ <td class="tocpgn">193</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<div class="fsize3"><a id="tocXXIV"></a><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIV_VIII">CHAPTER XXIV</a> {VIII of Vol. II}</div>
+
+<table summary="1845 Table of Contents"><tr>
+ <td class="subhead">Preparations for returning Home — Breaking out of the Small-pox — The
+Start — Our Caravan — Manuel the Comanche — A
+new Route — The Prairie on Fire — Danger to be apprehended
+from these Conflagrations — A Comanche Buffalo-chase — A
+Skirmish with the Pawnees — An intrepid Mexican — The
+Wounded — Value of a thick Skull — Retreat of
+the Enemy and their Failure — A bleak Northwester — Loss
+of our Sheep — The Llano Estacado and Sources of Red
+River — The Canadian River — Cruelties upon Buffalo — Feats
+at 'Still Hunting' — Mr. Wethered's Adventure — Once
+more on our own Soil — The False Washita — Enter our
+former Trail — Character of the Country over which we had
+travelled — Arrival at Van Buren — The two Routes to
+Santa Fé — Some Advantages of that from Arkansas — Restlessness
+of Prairie Travellers in civilized Life, and Propensity
+for returning to the Wild Deserts,</td>
+ <td class="tocpgn">203</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<div class="fsize3"><a id="tocXXV"></a><a href="#CHAPTER_XXV_IX">CHAPTER XXV</a> {IX of Vol. II}<br />
+<small>CONCLUSION OF THE SANTA FE TRADE</small></div>
+
+<table summary="1845 Table of Contents"><tr>
+ <td class="subhead">Decline of Prices — Statistical Table — Chihuahua Trade — Its
+Extent — Different Ports through which Goods are
+introduced to that Market — Expedition between Chihuahua
+and Arkansas — The Drawback — The more recent Incidents
+of the Santa Fé Caravans — Adventures of 1843 — Robbery
+and Murder of Chavez — Expedition from Texas — Defeat
+of Gen. Armijo's Van-guard — His precipitate
+Retreat — Texan Grievances — Unfortunate Results of indiscriminate
+Revenge — Want of discipline among the Texans — Disarmed
+by Capt. Cook — Return of the Escort of
+U. S. Dragoons, and of the Texans — Demands of the Mexican
+Government — Closing of the Santa Fé Trade,</td>
+ <td class="tocpgn">221</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<div class="fsize3"><a id="tocXXVI"></a><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVI_X">CHAPTER XXVI</a> {X of Vol. II}<br />
+<small>GEOGRAPHY OF THE PRAIRIES</small></div>
+
+<table summary="1845 Table of Contents"><tr>
+ <td class="subhead">Extent of the Prairies — Mountains — <i>Mesas</i> or Table-lands — <i>El
+Llano Estacado</i> — <i>Cañones</i> — Their Annoyance to the
+early Caravans — Immense Gullies — Coal Mines and other
+Geological Products — Gypsum — Metallic Minerals — Salines — Capt.
+Boone's Exploration — 'Salt Plain' and 'Salt
+Rock' — Mr. Sibley's Visit — Saline Exudations — Unhabitableness
+of the high Prairies — Excellent Pasturage — Rich
+border Country sufficient for two States — Northern
+Texas — Rivers of the Prairies — Their Unfitness for Navigation — Timber — Cross
+Timbers — Encroachments of the
+Timber upon the Prairies — Fruits and Flowers — Salubrity
+of Climate,</td>
+ <td class="tocpgn">237</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<div class="fsize3"><a id="tocXXVII"></a><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVII_XI">CHAPTER XXVII</a> {XI of Vol. II}<br />
+<small>ANIMALS OF THE PRAIRIES</small></div>
+
+<table summary="1845 Table of Contents"><tr>
+ <td class="subhead">The Mustang or Wild Horse — Capturing him by 'Creasing,'
+and with the Lazo — Horse-flesh — The Buffalo — Its Appearance — Excellence
+of its Meat — General Utility to the
+Indian and Traveller — Prospect of its Extinction — Hunting
+the Buffalo with Bow and Arrows, the Lance, etc. — 'Still-hunting' — The
+Buffalo ferocious only when wounded — Butchering,
+etc. — The Gray Wolf — Its Modes of killing
+Buffalo — Their great numbers — A 'Wolf scrape' — The
+Prairie Wolf, or 'Jackal of the Prairies' — The Elk, Deer and
+Bear — The Antelope — The Bighorn — The Prairie Dog — Owls
+and Rattlesnakes — The Horned Frog — Fowls — Bees,
+etc.,</td>
+ <td class="tocpgn">259</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<div class="fsize3"><a id="tocXXVIII"></a><a href="#CHAPTER_XXVIII_XII">CHAPTER XXVIII</a> {XII of Vol. II}<br />
+<small>ABORIGINES OF AMERICA</small></div>
+
+<table summary="1845 Table of Contents"><tr>
+ <td class="subhead">Indian Cosmogony — Traditions of Origin — Identity of Religious
+Notions — Adoration of the Sun — Shawnee Faith — Anecdote
+of Tecumseh — Legendary Traditions — Missionaries,
+and Success of the Catholics — The Indian's
+Heaven — Burial Customs — Ancient Accounts — Depositing
+the Dead on Scaffolds — Superstition and Witchcraft — Indian
+Philosophy — Polygamy and other Matrimonial Affairs — Abhorrence
+of Incest — Difference in Character — Indian
+Hospitality — Traits of the Ancient Asiatics — Names — Relationship
+of Different Tribes — Dreadful Decrease
+of the Indians,</td>
+ <td class="tocpgn">283</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<div class="fsize3"><a id="tocXXIX"></a><a href="#CHAPTER_XXIX_XIII">CHAPTER XXIX</a> {XIII of Vol. II}<br />
+<small>THE FRONTIER INDIANS</small></div>
+
+<table summary="1845 Table of Contents"><tr>
+ <td class="subhead">Causes of Removal West — Annuities, etc. — Dissatisfaction of
+the Indians — Their Melioration by the Change — Superiority
+of their present Location — Lands granted to them
+— Improvements, Agriculture, etc. — Their Slaves — Manufactures — Style
+of Living, Dress, etc. — Literary Opportunities
+and Improvements — Choctaw Academy — Harpies and
+Frauds — Games — Systems of Government — Polygamy — Ancient
+Laws and Customs — Intemperance — Preventive
+Measures — A Choctaw Enactment — Marriage and
+Funeral Customs of the Choctaws — The Creeks — Their
+Summary Executions — Mourning — Indian Titles — The
+Northern Tribes — Census of the Frontier Nations,</td>
+ <td class="tocpgn">299</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<div class="fsize3"><a id="tocXXX"></a><a href="#CHAPTER_XXX_XIV">CHAPTER XXX</a> {XIV of Vol. II}<br />
+<small>INDIANS OF THE PRAIRIES</small></div>
+
+<table summary="1845 Table of Contents"><tr>
+ <td class="subhead">System of Chiefs — Mode of Warfare — War-Council — The
+Scalp-dance — The Calumet or Pipe of Peace — Treaties — Public
+News-criers — Arms of the Indians — Bow and Arrows,
+etc. — Hunting — Dancing — Language of Signs — Telegraphs — Wigwams
+or Lodges — Pack-dogs — Costumes — Painting,
+Tattooing, etc. — Indian Dandies — Manufactures,
+and Dressing the Buffalo Rug — Indian Diet, Fasting,
+etc. — Primitive Thomsonians — Their domestic Animals,
+the Dog and the Horse — Wampum — Their Chronology,</td>
+ <td class="tocpgn">318</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<div class="fsize3"><a id="tocXXXI"></a><a href="#CHAPTER_XXXI_XV">CHAPTER XXXI</a> {XV of Vol. II}<br />
+<small>INDIANS OF THE PRAIRIES</small></div>
+
+<table summary="1845 Table of Contents"><tr>
+ <td class="subhead">Intermediate Tribes — Their Wigwams and their Hunting Excursions — Dress
+and Cut of their Hair — The Pawnees — The
+Osages — Their Roguery — Matrimonial Customs — Accomplished
+Mourners — Their Superstitions — The Indian
+Figure — The 'Pawnee Picts' — Wild Tribes — Census — The
+Comanches — Their Range — Their Sobriety — Their Chiefs,
+etc. — Female Chastity — Comanche Marriage — Costumes — Horsemanship — Comanche
+Warfare — Predatory Forays — Martial Ceremonies — Treatment of
+Captives — Burial and Religious Rites,</td>
+ <td class="tocpgn">336</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<div class="fsize3"><a id="tocGlossary"></a><a href="#GLOSSARY">GLOSSARY</a>.</div>
+
+<table summary="1845 Table of Contents"><tr>
+ <td class="subhead">Containing such Spanish or Hispano-Mexican words as occur
+undefined in this work, or recur without definition after
+having been once translated</td>
+ <td class="tocpgn">353</td></tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 513px;">
+<a id="Map-of-the-Interior-of-Northern-Mexico"></a>
+<img src="images/i022.jpg" width="449" height="700" alt="" />
+<div class="caption">MAP OF THE INTERIOR OF NORTHERN MEXICO.
+<span class="seelarge"><a href="images/i022-hd.jpg">see larger</a></span></div>
+<div class="IlloRtn"><a
+href="#ILLUSTRATIONS_TO_VOLUME_XX">Illustrations List</a></div>
+</div>
+
+<div class="front">
+<div class="fsize2"><a name="COMMERCE_OF_THE_PRAIRIES"
+ id="COMMERCE_OF_THE_PRAIRIES"></a>
+ COMMERCE OF THE PRAIRIES</div>
+<div class="fsize2">{PART II}</div>
+</div>
+
+<h3 title="Chapter XII">
+<a name="CHAPTER_XII1" id="CHAPTER_XII1"></a>CHAPTER XII<a
+ name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1"
+ class="fnanchor">[1]</a></h3>
+
+<p class="subhead"><a id="Pg021"></a>
+Government of New Mexico — The Administration of Justice — Judicial
+Corruption — Prejudices against Americans — Partiality for the
+English — Anecdote of Governor Armijo and a Trapper — Outrage upon
+an American Physician — Violence suffered by the American Consul
+and others — Arbitrary Impositions upon Foreigners — <i>Contribucion
+de Guerra</i> — The Alcaldes and their System — The <i>Fueros</i> — Mode
+of punishing Delinquents and Criminals — Mexican System of Slavery
+— Thieves and Thieveries — Outrage upon an American Merchant —
+Gambling and Gambling-houses — Game of <i>Monte</i> — Anecdote of a
+Lady of Fashion — <i>Chuza</i> — Cockpits — <i>Correr el gallo</i> — El
+Coleo — Fandangoes — <i>Cigarritos</i>. <a href="#tocXII"
+class="toclnk">toc</a></p>
+
+<p>Prior to the adoption of the <i>Sistema Central</i> in the Mexican
+republic, the province of New Mexico was under a territorial
+government. The executive was called <dfn>Gefe Político</dfn>
+(political chief), and the <dfn>Diputacion Provincial</dfn> very inefficiently
+supplied the place of a legislature. Under the
+present system, however, New Mexico being a <dfn>department</dfn>,
+the names of these powers have been changed, but their
+functions remain very nearly the same. The <dfn>Gobernador</dfn>
+(governor) is appointed by the President for eight years.
+The legislative power is nominally vested in a <dfn>Junta Departamental</dfn>,
+a kind of state council, with very circumscribed
+{226} powers, somewhat analogous to, and certainly not more
+extensive than, those of a board of aldermen with us. But
+even this shadow of popular representation was 'prorogued'
+by Gov. Armijo soon after his accession to power (five or
+six years ago), and has never since been convened; so that
+<span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg022"></a>[p022]</span>
+its functions have been arbitrarily exercised by the governor
+ever since.</p>
+
+<p>The administration of the laws in Northern Mexico
+constitutes one of the most painful features of her institutions.
+Justice, or rather judgments, are a common article
+of traffic; and the hapless litigant who has not the means
+to soften the claws of the alcalde with a 'silver unction,'
+is almost sure to get severely scratched in the contest, no
+matter what may be the justice of his cause, or the uprightness
+of his character. It is easy to perceive, then, that the
+poor and the humble stand no chance in a judicial contest
+with the wealthy and consequential, whose influence, even
+apart from their facilities for corrupting the court and
+suborning witnesses, is sufficient to neutralize any amount
+of plebeian testimony that might be brought against them.</p>
+
+<p>The evil consequences arising from maladministration
+of justice in New Mexico are most severely felt by foreigners,
+against whom a strong prejudice prevails throughout the
+South. Of these, the citizens of the United States are by
+far the most constant sufferers; an inevitable result of that
+sinister feeling with which the 'rival republic' views the
+advancement {227} and superiority of her more industrious
+neighbors. It is a notorious fact, that while the English are
+universally treated with comparative consideration and
+respect, the Americans residing in the southern parts of
+the republic are frequently taunted with the effeminacy of
+their government and its want of decision. So openly has
+this preference for British subjects been manifested, and
+so thoroughly conscious have the Americans become of
+the humiliating fact, that when a mercantile firm, consisting
+of an American and an Englishman, has occasion to present
+a memorial of any description, or to sue either for an act of
+favor or of justice from the nation, the application is sure
+<span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg023"></a>[p023]</span>
+to be made in the name of the latter, knowing it will thus be
+more likely to command proper attention.</p>
+
+<p>Few men, perhaps, have done more to jeopard the interests
+of American traders, or to bring the American character
+itself into contempt, than Armijo, the present arbitrary
+governor of New Mexico. I am happy to say, however, that
+in the midst of his many oppressions, he was once at least
+obliged to 'knock under' to one of those bold and daring
+spirits of the Rocky Mountains whom obstacles rather
+energize than subdue. This was about the year 1828, during
+Armijo's previous governorship. A law was then in existence
+which had been enacted by the general Congress prohibiting
+foreigners from trapping beaver in the Mexican territory,
+under penalty of confiscation, etc.; but as there were
+no native {228} trappers in New Mexico, Gov. Baca and his
+successor (Narbona) thought it expedient to extend licenses
+to foreigners, in the name of citizens, upon condition of their
+taking a certain proportion of Mexicans to learn the art of
+trapping. In pursuance of this disposition, Gov. Narbona
+extended a license to one Ewing Young, who was accompanied
+by a Mr. Sublette, brother of Capt. Wm. Sublette,
+and almost equally celebrated for his mountain adventures.<a
+name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a>
+<span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg024"></a>[p024]</span>
+Previous to the return of this party from their trapping
+expedition, Armijo had succeeded Narbona in office, and
+they were informed that it was his intention to seize their
+furs. To prevent this, they deposited them at a neighboring
+village, where they were afterwards discovered, seized, and
+confiscated. The furs being damp, they were spread out in
+the sun before the <i>Guardia</i>, in Santa Fé, when Sublette, perceiving
+two packs of beaver which had been his own property,
+got by honest labor, instantly seized them and carried them
+away before the eyes of the whole garrison, and concealed
+both them and his own person in a house opposite. The
+entire military force was immediately put in requisition, and
+a general search made for the offender and his prize; but
+in vain: indeed, if the truth must be spoken, the troops
+seemed to have as little desire to find Sublette as the latter
+had of being found; for his character was too well known to
+leave any room for hope that his capture could be effected
+without a great deal {229} of trouble. In the meanwhile,
+Armijo raved, and threatened the Americans for not ferreting
+out their countryman and delivering him over to justice.
+Failing to produce any impression by blustering, however,
+he caused a couple of cannons to be pointed at the house
+where the offender was supposed to be concealed, declaring
+at the same time that he would batter it down; but all to no
+purpose. Mr. Sublette finally conveyed his furs in safety
+to the frontier, and thence to the United States.
+<span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg025"></a>[p025]</span></p>
+
+<p>
+The following anecdote affords another illustration of
+Armijo's summary mode of dealing with Americans. In
+the fall of 1840, a gross outrage was committed upon a
+physician from Massachusetts (said to be a gentleman of
+unexceptionable deportment), who was travelling through
+the country for his health. He had loaned nine hundred
+dollars to a person of the name of Tayon, who afterwards
+borrowed the same amount of another foreigner and repaid
+this debt. The doctor then left for the South, where he
+intended to pass the winter, being afflicted with a pulmonary
+disease. But the individual who had lent Tayon the money,
+being informed that he was insolvent, applied to Gov. Armijo
+for an order to compel the doctor to return, expecting thereby
+to make him reimburse the money. The order overtook
+him at the village of Algodones,<a name="FNanchor_3_3"
+id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a>
+near forty miles from Santa
+Fé, where he was at once arrested by the alcalde, and detained
+some time, ignorant even of the offence for which he was doing
+penance. {230} In the meantime, the American Consul at
+Santa Fé, having been informed of what had taken place,
+procured a counter-order from the governor for the release
+of the prisoner. When the alcalde of Algodones received this
+document, he determined at once that so extraordinary an
+act of justice should cost the foreigner some trifle. Accordingly,
+another order was forged on the spot, commanding
+that he should be taken to the capital—yet a 'gentle hint'
+was given, that his liberty might be purchased by the payment
+of two hundred dollars. Being in a land of strangers,
+among whom he had but little hope of receiving fair play,
+the doctor resolved to pay the amount demanded, and fly
+to Chihuahua, where he would at least be safe from Armijo's
+clutches. Having been informed, however, of the fraud
+<span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg026"></a>[p026]</span>
+practised by the alcalde, before he had proceeded far on his
+journey, he returned and made an attempt to bring the
+delinquent officer to justice, but altogether without success.</p>
+
+<p>But perhaps the most glaring outrages upon American
+citizens were committed in 1841, upon the occasion of the
+capture of the Texan Santa Fé Expedition. In Taos, a
+poor deaf and dumb U. S. creole Frenchman was beaten to
+death in open day. In San Miguel, the alcalde, at the head
+of a mob, entered the store of a Mr. Rowland, whom he
+robbed of a considerable amount of merchandise.<a
+name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> At the
+same time, the greatest excitement raged in Santa Fé against
+Americans, whose lives appeared in imminent danger; and
+a most {231} savage attack was made upon our excellent
+Consul, Manuel Alvarez, Esq., who had always taken an
+active interest in the welfare of American citizens.<a
+name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a></p>
+
+<p>A few minutes after the governor had departed for San
+Miguel, to encounter the Texans, a fellow named Martin, his
+nephew and confidential agent, aided by a band of ferocious
+<i>sans culottes</i>, and armed with a large knife, secretly entered
+the house of the Consul, who perceived him in time, however,
+to avert the blow; yet he received a severe wound in the
+face during the scuffle that ensued: the rabble running in
+at the same time, and vociferating, "<dfn>Sáquenlo ajuera! mátenlo!</dfn>"—Drag
+him out! kill him! Mr. Alvarez doubtless
+<span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg027"></a>[p027]</span> owed his
+preservation partially to the consternation with
+which the failure of their clandestine attempt at his life
+inspired the cowardly ruffians. Instead of being punished
+for this diabolical act, the principal assassin, on the contrary,
+was soon after promoted in the army.</p>
+
+<p>The outrage did not end here, however; for on the Consul's
+demanding his passport for the United States, it was
+refused for nearly a month; thus detaining him until the cold
+season had so far advanced, that, of his party (about fifteen
+in number), two perished from the cold; and not one arrived
+without being more or less frost-bitten—some very severely—besides
+suffering a loss of about fifty animals from the
+same cause.</p>
+
+<p>Although these and other daring outrages have been duly
+represented to our Government, {232} it does not appear
+that any measures of redress have yet been taken.</p>
+
+<p>With a view of oppressing our merchants, Gov. Armijo
+had, as early as 1839, issued a decree exempting all the
+natives from the tax imposed on store-houses, shops, etc.,
+throwing the whole burden of impost upon foreigners and
+naturalized citizens; a measure clearly and unequivocally
+at variance with the treaties and stipulations entered into
+between the United States and Mexico. A protest was presented
+without effect; when our Consul, finding all remonstrances
+useless, forwarded a memorial to the American
+Minister at Mexico,<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> who, although the vital interests of
+American citizens were at stake, deemed the affair of too
+little importance, perhaps, and therefore appears to have
+paid no attention to it. But this system of levying excessive
+taxes upon foreigners, is by no means an original invention of
+Gov. Armijo. In 1835, the government of Chihuahua having
+levied a <dfn>contribucion de guerra</dfn> for raising means to make
+<span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg028"></a>[p028]</span> war upon the
+savages, who were laying waste the surrounding
+country, foreign merchants, with an equal disregard for their
+rights and the obligations of treaties, were taxed twenty-five
+dollars each per month; while the native merchants, many
+of whom possessed large haciendas, with thousands of stock,
+for the especial protection of which these taxes were chiefly
+imposed, paid only from five to ten dollars each. Remonstrances
+were presented to the governor, but in vain. In his
+official {233} reply, that functionary declared, "<dfn>que el gobierno
+cree arreglado el reparto de sus respectivas contribuciones</dfn>,"—the
+government believes your respective contributions in
+accordance with justice—which concluded the correspondence,
+and the Americans paid their twenty-five dollars per
+month.</p>
+
+<p>The only tribunals of 'justice' in New Mexico are those
+of the ordinary <dfn>alcaldes</dfn> or justices of the peace; and an appeal
+from them is carried to the Supreme Court in the department
+of Chihuahua. The course of litigation is exceedingly
+simple and summary. The plaintiff makes his verbal complaint
+or demand before the alcalde, who orders him to
+summon the defendant, which is done by simply saying,
+"<dfn>Le llama el alcalde</dfn>" (the alcalde calls you) into his presence,
+the applicant acting thus in the double capacity of constable
+and complainant. The summons is always verbal,
+and rarely for a future time—instant attendance being
+expected. Should the defendant refuse to obey this simple
+mandate (which, by the bye, is a very rare occurrence), the
+alcalde sends his <dfn>baston de justicia</dfn>, his staff of justice, an
+ordinary walking-cane, distinguished only by a peculiar
+black silk tassel. This never fails to enforce compliance,
+for a refusal to attend after being shown the staff, would be
+construed into a contempt of court, and punished accordingly.
+The witnesses are sometimes sworn upon a cross cut on the
+<i>baston de justicia</i>, or more frequently, perhaps, upon a cross
+<span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg029"></a>[p029]</span> formed with {234}
+the finger and thumb. Generally speaking,
+however, the process of examination is gone through
+without a single oath being administered; and in the absence
+of witnesses, the alcalde often proceeds to sentence upon the
+simple statements of the contending parties. By a species
+of mutual agreement, the issue of a suit is sometimes referred
+to <dfn>hombres buenos</dfn> (arbitrators), which is the nearest approximation
+that is made to trial by jury. In judicial proceedings,
+however, but little, or rather no attention is paid to any code
+of laws; in fact, there is scarcely one alcalde in a dozen who
+knows what a law is, or who ever saw a law-book. Their
+decisions, when not influenced by corrupt agencies, are controlled
+by the prevailing customs of the country.</p>
+
+<p>In the administration of justice, there are three distinct
+and privileged jurisdictions, known as <dfn>fueros</dfn>:<a
+name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7"
+class="fnanchor">[7]</a> the <dfn>eclesiástico</dfn>,
+which provides that no member of the clergy, at least of the
+rank of curate and upwards, shall ever be arraigned before a
+civil tribunal, but shall be tried by their superiors in the order;
+the <dfn>militar</dfn>, which makes a similar provision in favor not
+only of commissioned officers, but of every common soldier
+from the ranks; and the <dfn>civil</dfn> or ordinary courts, for all cases
+in which the defendants are laymen. These <dfn>fueros</dfn> have
+hitherto maintained the ecclesiastical and military classes
+in perfect independence of the civil authorities. The <i>civil</i>, in
+fact, remains in some degree subordinate to the other two
+<i>fueros</i>; for it can, under no circumstances, {235} have any
+jurisdiction whatever over them; while the lay plaintiff, in
+the privileged tribunals of these, may, if unsuccessful, have
+judgment entered up against him: a consequence that can
+never follow the suits of the ecclesiastical or military orders
+before the civil tribunals. The judgments of the latter, in <span
+class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg030"></a>[p030]</span>
+such cases, would be void. It is no wonder, then, that the
+cause of freedom in Mexico has made so little progress.</p>
+
+<p>Imprisonment is almost the only sort of punishment resorted
+to in the North. For debt, petit larceny, highway
+robbery, and murder, the usual sentence is "<dfn>A la cárcel</dfn>"
+(to jail), where a person is likely to remain about as long for
+inability to pay <i>dos reales</i>, as for the worst of crimes: always
+provided he has not the means to pacify the offended majesty
+of the law. I never heard of but one execution for murder
+in New Mexico, since the declaration of independence. The
+most desperate and blood-stained criminals escape with
+impunity, after a few weeks of incarceration, unless the
+prosecutor happens to be a person of great influence; in
+which case, the prisoner is detained in the <i>calabozo</i> at will,
+even when the offence committed has been of a trivial character.
+Notwithstanding this laxity in the execution of the
+laws, there are few murders of any kind committed.</p>
+
+<p>In case of debt, as before remarked, the delinquent is sent
+to jail—provided the creditor will not accept his services.
+If he will, however, the debtor becomes <dfn>nolens volens</dfn> the {236}
+servant of the creditor till the debt is satisfied; and, serving,
+as he does, at very reduced wages, his expenses for clothing,
+and other necessaries, but too often retain him in perpetual
+servitude. This system does not operate, however, upon
+the higher classes, yet it acts with terrible severity upon the
+unfortunate poor, whose condition is but little better, if not
+worse indeed than that of the slaves of the South. They
+labor for fixed wages, it is true; but all they can earn is hardly
+sufficient to keep them in the coarsest clothing and pay their
+contingent expenses. Men's wages range from two to five
+dollars a month, and those of women from fifty cents to two
+dollars; in payment of which, they rarely receive any money;
+but instead thereof, articles of apparel and other necessaries
+at the most exorbitant prices. The consequence is that the <span class="xxpgno">
+<a id="Pg031"></a>[p031]</span>
+servant soon accumulates a debt which he is unable to pay—his
+wages being often engaged for a year or two in advance.
+Now, according to the usages, if not the laws of the country,
+he is bound to serve his master until all arrearages are
+liquidated; and is only enabled to effect an exchange of
+masters, by engaging another to pay his debt, to whom he
+becomes in like manner bound.</p>
+
+<p>As I have already remarked, capital crimes and highway
+robberies are of comparatively rare occurrence in the North,
+but in smaller delinquencies, such as pilfering and petty
+rogueries of every shade and description, the common classes
+can very successfully compete {237} with any other people.
+Nothing indeed can be left exposed or unguarded without
+great danger of its being immediately stolen. No husbandman
+would think of leaving his axe or his hoe, or anything
+else of the slightest value, lying out over night. Empty
+wagons are often pillaged of every movable piece of iron,
+and even the wheels have been carried away. Pieces of
+merchandise are frequently purloined from the shelves, when
+they happen to be in reach. In Chihuahua, goods have
+actually been snatched from the counter while being exposed
+to the inspection of a pretended purchaser. I once had a
+trick of this kind played upon me by a couple of boys, who
+made their escape through a crowd of spectators with their
+booty exposed. In vain I cried "<dfn>Agarren á los ladrones!</dfn>"
+(catch the thieves!) not a single individual moved to apprehend
+them. I then proffered the goods stolen, to any person
+who might succeed in bringing the rogues to me, but
+to no purpose. In fact there seems to exist a great deal of
+repugnance, even among the better classes, to apprehending
+thieves; as if the mere act of informing against them was
+considered dishonorable. I heard a very respectable caballero
+once remark that he had seen a man purloin certain
+articles of merchandise, but he could not be induced to give
+<span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg032"></a>[p032]</span>
+up his name; observing, "O, I can't think of exposing the
+poor fellow!"</p>
+
+<p>The impunity with which delinquencies of this description
+are every day committed is {238} perhaps in some degree,
+the consequence of those severe enactments, such as the
+<dfn>Leyes de las Indias</dfn> (the laws of the Indies), which rendered
+many thefts and robberies punishable with death.<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> The
+magistracy contracted the habit of frequently winking at
+crime, rather than resort to the barbarous expedients prescribed
+by the letter of the law. The utmost that can be
+gained now by public prosecution, is the recovery of the
+stolen property, if that be anywhere to be found, and occasionally
+a short period of imprisonment for the culprit. This
+is more particularly the case when the prosecutor happens
+to be a foreigner; while on the other hand, if he be the party
+accused, he is likely to be subjected to very severe treatment.
+A remarkable circumstance of this kind occurred in Chihuahua
+in the year 1835. One of our most respectable
+Missouri merchants had bought a mule of a stranger, but
+the animal was soon after claimed by a third person, who
+proved that it had been stolen from him. The Missourian
+would have been perfectly satisfied to lose the mule, and end
+the matter there; but to the surprise of all, he was directly
+summoned before an alcalde, and forthwith sentenced to
+jail: the partial judge having labored to fix the theft upon
+the innocent purchaser, while the real culprit, who was a
+native, was permitted to go at large.</p>
+
+<p>The love of gambling also deserves to be noticed as a
+distinguishing propensity of these people. Indeed it may
+well be said, without any undue stretch of imagination, that
+<span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg033"></a>[p033]</span>
+shop-lifting, {239} pocket-picking, and other elegant pastimes
+of the same kindred, are the legitimate offspring, especially
+among the lower classes, of that passion for gaming, which
+in Mexico more than anywhere else—to use Madame
+Calderon's language<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a>
+<a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a>
+—"is impregnated with the constitution—in
+man, woman, and child." It prevails in the
+lowly hut, as well as in the glittering saloon; nor is the
+sanctity of the gown nor the dignity of station sufficient
+proof against the fascinations of this exciting vice. No one
+considers it a degradation to be seen frequenting a <i>monte
+bank</i>: the governor himself and his lady, the grave magistrate
+and the priestly dignity, the gay caballero and the titled
+señora may all be seen staking their doubloons upon the
+turn of a card; while the humbler ranchero, the hired
+domestic and the ragged pauper, all press with equal avidity
+to test their fortune at the same shrine. There are other
+games at cards practised among these people, depending
+more upon skill; but that of <i>el monte</i>, being one exclusively
+of chance, seems to possess an all-absorbing attraction,
+difficult to be conceived by the uninitiated spectator.</p>
+
+<p>The following will not only serve to show the light in which
+gambling is held by all classes of society, but to illustrate the
+purifying effects of wealth upon character. Some twelve
+or fifteen years ago there lived (or rather roamed) in Taos
+a certain female of very loose habits, known as <dfn>La Tules</dfn>.
+Finding it difficult to obtain the means of living in that {240}
+district, she finally extended her wanderings to the capital.
+She there became a constant attendant on one of those
+pandemoniums where the favorite game of <i>monte</i> was dealt
+<i>pro bono publico</i>. Fortune, at first, did not seem inclined
+<span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg034"></a>[p034]</span>
+to smile upon her efforts, and for some years she spent her
+days in lowliness and misery. At last her luck turned, as
+gamblers would say, and on one occasion she left the bank
+with a spoil of several hundred dollars! This enabled her
+to open a bank of her own, and being favored by a continuous
+run of good fortune, she gradually rose higher and higher in
+the scale of affluence, until she found herself in possession
+of a very handsome fortune. In 1843, she sent to the
+United States some ten thousand dollars to be invested in
+goods. She still continues her favorite 'amusement,' being
+now considered the most expert 'monte dealer' in all Santa
+Fé. She is openly received in the first circles of society:
+I doubt, in truth, whether there is to be found in the city a
+lady of more fashionable reputation than this same Tules,
+now known as Señora Doña Gertrudes Barceló.</p>
+
+<p>Among the multitude of games which seem to constitute
+the real business of life in New Mexico, that of <dfn>chuza</dfn> evidently
+presents the most attractions to ladies; and they
+generally lay very heavy wagers upon the result. It is
+played with little balls, and bears some faint resemblance
+to what is called <i>roulette</i>. Bull-baiting and cock-fighting,
+about which so much has been said by every traveller in
+Mexico, {241} are also very popular 'amusements' in the
+North, and generally lead to the same excesses and the same
+results as gaming. The cock-pit rarely fails to be crowded
+on Sundays and other feast days; on which occasions the
+church, the ball-room, the gambling-house, and the cock-pit
+look like so many opposition establishments; for nothing
+is more common than to see people going from one place to
+another by alternate fits, just as devotional feeling or love of
+pleasure happens to prompt them.</p>
+
+<p>One of the most attractive sports of the rancheros and the
+peasantry, and that which, more than any other, calls for
+the exercise of skill and dexterity, is that called <dfn>correr el gallo</dfn>, <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg035"></a>[p035]</span>
+practised generally on St. John's day. A common cock or
+hen is tied by the feet to some swinging limb of a tree, so as
+to be barely within the reach of a man on horseback: or the
+fowl is buried alive in a small pit in the ground leaving only
+the head above the surface. In either case, the racers,
+passing at full speed, grapple the head of the fowl, which
+being well greased, generally slips out of their fingers. As
+soon as some one, more dextrous than the rest, has succeeded
+in tearing it loose, he claps spurs to his steed, and endeavors
+to escape with the prize. He is hotly pursued, however,
+by the whole sporting crew, and the first who overtakes him
+tries to get possession of the fowl, when a strife ensues, during
+which the poor chicken is torn into atoms. Should the
+holder of the trophy be able to outstrip his pursuers, he
+carries {242} it to a crowd of fair spectators and presents it
+to his mistress, who takes it to the fandango which usually
+follows, as a testimony of the prowess of her lover.</p>
+
+<p>Among the vaqueros, and even among persons of distinction,
+<dfn>el coleo</dfn> (tailing) is a much nobler exercise than the
+preceding, and is also generally reserved for days of festivity.
+For this sport the most untractable ox or bull is turned
+loose upon a level common, when all the parties who propose
+to join in the amusement, being already mounted, start off
+in pursuit of him. The most successful rider, as soon as he
+gets near enough to the bull, seizes him by the tail, and with
+a sudden manœuvre, whirls him topsy-turvy upon the plain—to
+the no little risk of breaking his own neck, should his
+horse stumble or be tripped by the legs of the falling bull.</p>
+
+<p>Respecting <dfn>fandangos</dfn>, I will observe that this term, as it
+is used in New Mexico, is never applied to any particular
+dance, but is the usual designation for those ordinary assemblies
+where dancing and frolicking are carried on; <dfn>baile</dfn>
+(or ball) being generally applied to those of a higher grade.
+The former especially are very frequent; for nothing is more <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg036"></a>[p036]</span>
+general, throughout the country, and with all classes than
+dancing. From the gravest priest to the buffoon—from
+the richest nabob to the beggar—from the governor to the
+ranchero—from the soberest matron to the flippant belle—from
+the grandest <i>señora</i> to the <i>cocinera</i>—all partake of this
+exhilarating {243} amusement. To judge from the quantity
+of tuned instruments which salute the ear almost every night
+in the week, one would suppose that a perpetual carnival
+prevailed everywhere. The musical instruments used at
+the <dfn>bailes</dfn> and <dfn>fandangos</dfn> are usually the fiddle and <dfn>bandolin</dfn>,
+or <dfn>guitarra</dfn>, accompanied in some villages by the <dfn>tombé</dfn> or
+little Indian drum. The musicians occasionally acquire
+considerable proficiency in the use of these instruments.
+But what most oddly greets, and really outrages most Protestant
+ears, is the accompaniment of divine service with
+the very same instruments, and often with the same tunes.</p>
+
+<p>Of all the petty vices practised by the New Mexicans, the
+<dfn>vicio inocente</dfn> of smoking among ladies, is the most intolerable;
+and yet it is a habit of which the loveliest and the most
+refined equally partake. The <dfn>puro</dfn> or <dfn>cigarro</dfn><a
+name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a>
+is seen in
+the mouths of all: it is handed round in the parlor, and
+introduced at the dinner table—even in the ball-room it is
+presented to ladies as regularly as any {244} other species of
+'refreshment;' and in the dance the señorita may often be
+seen whirling round with a lighted <dfn>cigarrito</dfn> in her mouth.
+The belles of the Southern cities are very frequently furnished <span
+class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg037"></a>[p037]</span>
+with <dfn>tenazitas de oro</dfn> (little golden tongs), to hold
+the cigar with, so as to prevent their delicate fingers from
+being polluted either with the stain or scent of tobacco;
+forgetting at the same time its disagreeable effects upon
+the lips and breath.</p>
+
+<p>Notwithstanding their numerous vices, however, I should
+do the New Mexicans the justice to say that they are but
+little addicted to inebriety and its attendant dissipations.
+Yet this doubtlessly results to a considerable degree from
+the dearness of spirituous liquors, which virtually places them
+beyond the reach of the lower classes.</p>
+
+<div class="footnotes">
+<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a>
+Chapter xii of volume i of the original edition.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span
+class="label">[2]</span></a> Both Bartolomé Baca (Vaca) and Narbona were Mexican officers. The
+former, whose term of office was from 1823 to September, 1825, belonged to a New
+Mexican family, and was one of the captains of the companies organized in 1808.
+Antonio Narbona came (1805) from the province of Chihuahua, as lieutenant of
+soldiers sent to repel a Navaho raid. He was governor, September, 1825, to May
+1827. In 1843 he was colonel of an expedition against the Apache in Arizona.
+</p>
+<p>
+Ewing Young was a native of Knox County, Tennessee. He early went west
+for hunting and trapping, having passports for Mexican territory signed at Washington
+in 1828-29. In these years he made his first overland trip from New Mexico
+to California, where he aided the padres of San José in an expedition against revolted
+neophytes. In 1829 he returned to New Mexico, married a Taos woman,
+and again (1831) set out for California. There in 1834 he met Hall Kelley, and
+was persuaded to accompany him to Oregon, where he formed one of the first
+American settlements in the Chehalem Valley, tributary to the Willamette. A
+journey to California in 1836, to purchase cattle, resulted in stocking the Oregon
+pioneers. Young's Oregon settlement prospered; he erected saw and grist mills,
+and upon his death (1841) the administration of his estate was the occasion of the
+first tentative experiment in civil government in Oregon. In after years, a son
+Joachim came from New Mexico, and laid successful claim to the property, which
+was paid by the state.
+</p>
+<p>
+Milton J. Sublette was a younger brother of William (for whom see our volume
+xix, p. 221, note 55, Gregg) and himself a noted trapper and trader, operating chiefly
+in the Rocky Mountains. In 1833 he entered into arrangements with Nathaniel
+Wyeth (see our volume xxi), but the next year was compelled to retire because of
+injury to a leg, which caused his death at Fort Laramie, December 19, 1836.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span
+class="label">[3]</span></a> Algodones is a small Mexican town in Sandoval County, about fifteen miles
+above Albuquerque. It is now a station on the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fé
+Railway, and has promise of becoming a junction with the Santa Fé Central.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> Thomas Rowland, a native Pennsylvanian, had been a resident of New Mexico
+for a number of years, and had married there. His brother John was accused
+of complicity with the Texans, which led to the attack upon Rowland's property.
+This was shortly restored to him, as his friends were influential in official circles.
+See George W. Kendall, <cite>Narrative of the Texan Santa Fé Expedition</cite> (New York,
+1844), i, pp. 271, 272, 332. John Rowland led a party of immigrants to California
+(1841), where he became a leading American pioneer.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> Manuel Alvarez was a native of Spain, who showed much enterprise in establishing
+the trade between the United States and New Mexico. In 1839 he was
+appointed United States consul at Santa Fé, an office which he held until the American
+conquest. In 1849 he took part in the new state movement, and was by the
+suffrages of the people elected governor; but Congress having erected New Mexico
+into a territory, the state government lapsed.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> Powhattan Ellis, for notice of whom, see our volume xix, p. 274, note 100
+(Gregg).—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> Originally a <dfn>fuero</dfn> was any form of charter or privilege granted to a kingdom,
+province, town, or person. <i>Fueros</i> played great part in the constitutional development
+of Spain and her colonies.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> The "Laws of the Indies," or the codification of the ordinances, acts, etc.,
+passed by the Council of the Indies and other administrative Spanish authorities
+for the government of the colonies, was first issued at Madrid in 1681, under the
+title <cite>Recopilacion de Leyes de los Reynos de Indias</cite>. A fourth edition, under the
+direction of the Council of the Indies, issued in 1791.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> Madame Frances Erskine Inglis Calderon de la Barca was a Scotchwoman
+married to a Spaniard who was minister to the United States, and later to
+Mexico. While in the latter country, she published <cite>Life in Mexico</cite> (London,
+1843), an interesting, racy series of letters on the manners and customs of Spanish
+America.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a>
+ The <dfn>puro</dfn> is a common cigar of <em>pure</em> tobacco; but the term <dfn>cigarro</dfn> or <dfn>cigarrito</dfn>
+is applied to those made of cut tobacco rolled up in a strip of paper or corn-husk.
+The latter are by far in the most general use in New Mexico, even among the men,
+and are those only smoked by the females. In this province cigarros are
+rarely sold in the shops, being generally manufactured by every one just as
+they are needed. Their expertness in this 'accomplishment' is often remarkable.
+The mounted vaquero will take out his <dfn>guagito</dfn> (his little tobacco-flask), his packet
+of <dfn>hojas</dfn> (or prepared husks), and his flint, steel, etc.,—make his cigarrito, strike
+fire and commence smoking in a minute's time—all while at full speed: and
+the next minute will perhaps lazo the wildest bull without interrupting his
+smoke.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div></div>
+
+<h3 title="Chapter XIII">
+<a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII</h3>
+
+<p class="subhead">Military Hierarchy of Mexico — Religious Superstitions — Legend of
+<cite>Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe</cite> — A profane version of the Story — A
+curious Plan for manufacturing Water — Saints and Images — Processions — How
+to make it Rain — The Sacred Host — Fanaticism
+and Murder — Honors paid to a Bishop — Servility to Priests — Attendance
+at Public Worship — New Mexicans in Church — The
+Vesper Bells — Passion Week and the Ceremonies pertaining
+thereto — Ridiculous <i>Penitencia</i> — Whitewashing of Criminals — Matrimonial
+Connexions and Mode of Contracting them — Restrictions
+upon Lovers — Onerous Fees paid for Marriages and Burials — Anecdote
+of a <i>Ranchero</i> — Ditto of a Servant and a Widow, illustrative
+of Priestly Extortion — Modes of Burial, and Burial Ground
+of the Heretics.<a href="#tocXIII"
+class="toclnk">toc</a></p>
+
+<p>The Mexicans seem the legitimate descendants of the
+subjects of 'His Most Catholic Majesty;' for the Romish
+faith is not only the religion established by law, but the only
+one tolerated by the constitution: a system of republican
+liberty wholly incomprehensible to the independent and
+tolerant spirits of the United States. Foreigners only of
+other creeds, in accordance with treaty stipulations, can
+worship privately within their own houses.<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> The Mexicans,
+indeed, talk of a 'union of Church and State:' they should
+rather say a 'union of Church and Army;' for, as has {246}
+<span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg038"></a>[p038]</span> already been shown, the civil authority is so nearly merged
+in the military and the ecclesiastical, that the government,
+if not a military hierarchy, is something so near akin that it is
+difficult to draw the distinction. As Mr. Mayer<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a><a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> very
+appropriately remarks, you are warned of the double
+dominion of the army and the church "by the constant sound
+of the drum and the bell, which ring in your ears from morn
+to midnight, and drown the sounds of industry and labor."</p>
+
+<p>In the variety and grossness of popular superstitions,
+Northern Mexico can probably compete with any civilized
+country in the world. Others may have their extravagant
+traditions, their fanatical prejudices, their priestly impostures,
+but here the popular creed seems to be the embodiment of as
+much that is fantastic and improbable in idolatrous worship,
+as it is possible to clothe in the garb of a religious faith.
+It would fill volumes to relate one-half of the wonderful
+miracles and extraordinary apparitions said to have occurred
+during and since the conquest of the Indian Pueblos and
+their conversion to the Romish faith. Their character
+may be inferred from the following national legend of <cite>La
+Maravillosa Aparicion de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe</cite>—<i>anglicè</i>,
+the marvellous apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe,—which,
+in some one of its many traditionary shapes,
+is generally believed throughout the republic. I have seen
+some half a dozen written versions of this celebrated tradition,
+and heard about as many oral {247} ones; but no two
+agree in all the particulars. However, that which has
+received most currency informs us, that, on the 12th of
+December, 1531, an Indian called Juan Diego, while passing
+over the barren hill of Tepeyacac (about a league northward <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg039"></a>[p039]</span>
+from the city of Mexico), in quest of medicinal herbs, had
+his attention suddenly arrested by the fragrance of flowers,
+and the sound of delightful music; and on looking up, he
+saw an angelic sort of figure directly before him. Being
+terrified he attempted to flee; but the apparition calling
+to him by name, "Juan Diego," said she, "go tell the bishop
+to have me a place of worship erected on this very spot."
+The Indian replied that he could not return, as he was
+seeking <i>remedios</i> for a dying relative. But the figure bade
+him to do as commanded, and have no further care about
+his relative—that he was then well. Juan Diego went
+to the city, but being unable to procure an audience from the
+bishop, he concluded he had been acting under a delusion,
+and again set off for his <i>remedios</i>. Upon ascending the
+same hill, however, the apparition again accosted him, and
+hearing his excuse, upbraided him for his want of faith and
+energy; and said, "Tell the bishop that it is Guadalupe, the
+Virgin Mary, come to dwell amongst and protect the Mexicans,
+who sends thee." The Indian, returning again to the
+city, forced his way into the presence of the bishop, who,
+like a good sensible man, received the messenger with jeers,
+and treated him as a maniac; {248} telling him finally to
+bring some sign, which, if really the Mother of God, his
+directress could readily furnish.</p>
+
+<p>The perplexed Indian left the bishop's presence resolved
+to avoid further molestation from his spiritual acquaintance,
+by taking another route; yet, when near the place of his first
+meeting, he again encountered the apparition, who, hearing
+the result of his mission, ordered him to climb a naked rock
+hard by, and collect a bouquet of flowers which he would
+find growing there. Juan Diego, albeit without faith,
+obeyed, when, to his surprise he found the flowers referred
+to, and brought them to the Virgin, who, throwing them into
+his <i>tilma</i>, commanded him to carry them to the bishop; saying,
+<span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg040"></a>[p040]</span>
+"When he sees these he will believe, as he well knows
+that flowers do not bloom at this season, much less upon that
+barren rock." The humble messenger now with more courage
+sought the bishop's presence, and threw out the blooming
+credentials of his mission before him; when lo! to the
+astonishment of all, and to the entire conviction of his
+<i>Senoría ilustrísima</i>, the perfect image of the apparition
+appeared imprinted on the inside of the <i>tilma</i>.<a
+name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a><a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a></p>
+
+<p>The reverend Prelate now fully acknowledged the divinity
+of the picture, and in a {249} conclave of ecclesiastics convened
+for the purpose, he pronounced it the image of <i>La
+verdadera Vírgen</i> and protectress of Mexico. A splendid
+chapel was soon after erected upon the spot designated in
+the mandate, in which the miraculous painting was deposited,
+where it is preserved to the present day. In the suburbs of
+every principal city in the republic, there is now a chapel
+specially dedicated to <i>Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe</i>, where
+coarse resemblances of the original picture are to be seen.
+Rough paintings of the same, of various dimensions, are
+also to be met with in nearly every dwelling, from the palace
+to the most miserable hovel. The image, with an adapted <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg041"></a>[p041]</span>
+motto, has also been stamped upon medals, which are swung
+about the necks of the faithful.<a name="FNanchor_14_14"
+id="FNanchor_14_14"></a><a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a></p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 292px;">
+<a id="Medal-of-Nuestra-Senora-de-Guadalupe-de-Mexico"></a>
+<img src="images/i042.png" width="292" height="206"
+alt="medal with image of La verdadera Vírgen" />
+<div class="IlloRtn"><a
+href="#ILLUSTRATIONS_TO_VOLUME_XX">Illustrations List</a></div>
+</div>
+
+<p>{250} As a further confirmation of the miracle, it is also
+told, that when Juan Diego returned to his home, he found
+his relative in good health—that he had suddenly risen
+from the last extremity about the time of the former's meeting
+with the Virgin.</p>
+
+<p>Now comes the profane version of the story, which the
+skeptical have set afloat, as the most reasonable one; but
+against which, in the name of orthodoxy, I feel bound to
+enter my protest. To the better understanding of this
+'explanatory tradition,' it may be necessary to premise that
+the name of Guadalupe was already familiar to the Spaniards,
+the Virgin Mary having, it is said, long before appeared in
+Spain, under the same title; on which occasion an order of
+monks, styled <dfn>Frailes Guadalupanos</dfn>, had been instituted.
+One of these worthy fathers who had been sent as a missionary
+to Mexico, finding the Indians rather stubborn and
+unyielding, conceived the plan of flattering their national
+vanity by fabricating a saint suited for the occasion. The
+Guadalupano had a poor friend who was an excellent
+painter, to whom he said, one day, "Take this tilma"—presenting
+him one of the coarsest and most slazy texture
+{251} (a sort of <dfn>manta de guangoche</dfn>); "paste it upon canvass,
+and paint me thereon the handsomest effigy of Nuestra
+Señora de Guadalupe that your fancy can portray." When <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg042"></a>[p042]</span>
+this was done according to order, and the tilma separated
+from the canvass, the picture appeared somewhat miraculous.
+Viewed very closely, it showed exceedingly dim; but upon
+receding to some distance, so that the eye could embrace a
+larger field of the open texture, it appeared quite distinct
+and beautiful. This effect is often alluded to at the present
+day, and easily as it might be accounted for upon philosophical
+principles, I have heard many an ignorant Mexican
+declare, that <i>la Santisima Vírgen</i> concealed herself from
+such as profaned her shrine by a too near approach, and
+only shone forth in all her brilliancy to those who kept at a
+respectful distance. But in conclusion, the story relates,
+that a suitable damsel being selected and decked out to
+represent the Virgin, the affair was played off as it has been
+narrated.</p>
+
+<p>As regards the miracle of the fresh flowers in December
+the <i>profanos</i> say, that there was nothing very wonderful about
+it, as flowers were known to bloom in the lowlands, and
+only a few leagues from the spot where the affair took place,
+at all seasons of the year; implying that these had been
+engrafted upon the rock for the occasion. There are some
+who go so far as to insinuate that the bishop and other
+ecclesiastics were privy to the whole affair, and that every
+precaution had been {252} taken to see the Indian who
+played first fiddle in the matter, provided with a tilma,
+similar to the one on which the image of the Virgin was
+painted, and that this was artfully slipped in the place of the
+former, which the Indian had doffed when he climbed the
+rock after the flowers.—I have not seen the original portrait,
+but most of the copies and imitations I have met with,
+represent the Virgin with that peculiarly tawny complexion
+which was probably deemed indispensable to conciliate the
+prejudices of the aborigines. <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg043"></a>[p043]</span></p>
+
+<p>The reader may reconcile the foregoing discrepancies in
+the best way he can; all that I have to add is, that the
+apparition having been canonized by the Pope, a belief in it
+now constitutes as much a part of the religious faith of the
+Mexicans, as any article of the Apostolic Creed. To judge
+from the blind and reverential awe in which the Virgin
+Guadalupe is held by the lowly and the ignorant, one
+would suppose her to be the first person in the Divinity,
+for to her their vows are directed, their prayers offered up,
+and all their confessions made.</p>
+
+<p>Among the many traditions implicitly believed in by the
+people, and which tend to obstruct the advancement of
+knowledge, there is one equally as amusing and extravagant
+as the foregoing, which has been gravely recounted by the
+present Vicar of New Mexico and ex-delegate to Congress.
+During the memorable insurrection of 1680, the Pueblo of
+San Felipe was about the only one that {253} remained faithful
+to the Spaniards in all the North. It was during that
+exciting period that the padre of another Pueblo took refuge
+among them. Being besieged by their neighbors and their
+communication with the water entirely cut off, they applied
+for advice to the reverend padre, who bade them not despair,
+as he had it in his power to supply them with water. He
+then began to pray very fervently, after which he opened a
+vein in each of his arms, from whence there flowed two such
+copious streams of water that all fears of being reduced by
+thirst were completely allayed!<a name="FNanchor_15_15"
+id="FNanchor_15_15"></a><a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a>
+<span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg044"></a>[p044]</span></p>
+
+<p>It is a part of the superstitious blindness of these people
+to believe that every one of their legion of canonized saints
+possesses the power of performing certain miracles; and their
+aid is generally invoked on all occasions of sickness and
+distress. The kindest office, therefore, that the friends
+of a sick person can perform, is to bring forward the image
+of some of those saints whose healing powers have been
+satisfactorily tested. The efficacy of these superstitious
+remedies will not be difficult to account for, when the
+powerful influence of the imagination upon disease is taken
+into consideration.</p>
+
+<p>The images of patron saints are never put in such general
+requisition, however, as in seasons of severe drought. The
+priests, being generally expert at guessing the approach
+of a pluvial period, take good care not to make confident
+promises till they have substantial {254} reason to anticipate
+a speedy fulfilment of their prophecies. When the fitting
+season draws nigh, they carry out the image of Nuestra
+Señora de Guadalupe, or that of some other favorite saint,
+and parade about the streets, the fields and the meadows,
+followed by all the men, women, and children of the neighborhood,
+in solemn procession. Should the clouds condescend
+to vouchsafe a supply of rain within a week or
+two of this general humiliation, no one ever thinks of begrudging
+the scores of dollars that have been paid to the
+priests for bringing about so happy a result.</p>
+
+<p>Speaking of processions, I am reminded of another
+peculiar custom so prevalent in Mexico, that it never
+fails to attract the attention of strangers. This is the
+passage of the Sacred Host to the residence of persons
+dangerously ill, for the purpose of administering to them
+the Extreme Unction. In New Mexico, however, this
+procession is not attended with so much ostentatious display
+as it is in the South, the paradise of ecclesiastics, where <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg045"></a>[p045]</span>
+it is conveyed in a black coach drawn by a pair of black
+mules, accompanied by armed soldiers and followed by
+crowds of <i>léperos</i> of all sexes and ages. During the procession
+of the Host, two church-bells of different tones are
+kept sounding by alternate strokes. Also the carriage
+is always preceded by a bell-man tinkling a little bell in
+regular time, to notify all within hearing of its approach,
+that they may be prepared to pay it due homage. When
+{255} this bell is heard, all those that happen to be within
+sight of the procession, though at ever so great a distance,
+instantly kneel and remain in that position till it has passed
+out of sight. On these occasions, if an American happens
+to be within hearing, he endeavors to avoid the <i>cortége</i>,
+by turning the corner of a street or entering a shop or the
+house of a friend; for although it may be expedient, and
+even rational, to conform with the customs and ceremonies
+of these countries we are sojourning in, very few Protestants
+would feel disposed to fall on their knees before a coach
+freighted with frail mortals pretending to represent the
+Godhead! I am sorry to say that non-compliants are
+frequently insulted and sometimes pelted with stones by
+the rabble. Even a foreign artisan was once massacred
+in the Mexican metropolis because he refused to come out
+of his shop, where he was kneeling, and perform the act
+of genuflexion in the street!</p>
+
+<p>This abject idolatry sometimes takes a still more humiliating
+aspect, and descends to the worship of men in the
+capacity of religious rulers. On the occasion of the Bishop
+of Durango's visit to Santa Fé in 1833, an event which
+had not taken place for a great many years, the infatuated
+population hailed his arrival with as much devotional
+enthusiasm as if it had been the second advent of the Messiah.
+Magnificent preparations were made everywhere
+for his reception: the streets were swept, the roads and <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg046"></a>[p046]</span>
+bridges on his route repaired {256} and decorated; and
+from every window in the city there hung such a profusion
+of fancy curtains and rich cloths that the imagination was
+carried back to those glowing descriptions of enchanted
+worlds which one reads of in the fables of necromancers.
+I must observe, however, that there is a custom in all the
+towns of Mexico (which it would not be safe to neglect),
+providing that whenever a religious procession takes place,
+all the doors and windows facing the street along which it
+is to pass, shall be decorated with shawls, carpets, or fancy
+cloths, according to the means and capabilities of the proprietor.
+During the bishop's sojourn in Santa Fé, which,
+to the great joy of the inhabitants, lasted for several weeks,
+he never appeared in the streets but that 'all true Catholics'
+who were so fortunate as to obtain a glimpse of his <i>Señoría
+Ilustrísima</i> immediately dropped upon their knees, and
+never moved from that position till the mitred priest had
+either vouchsafed his benediction or had disappeared. Even
+the principal personages of the city would not venture to
+address him till they had first knelt at his feet and kissed
+his 'pastoral ring.' This, however, is only a heightened
+picture of what occurs every day in the intercourse between
+the rancheros and the common padres of the country. The
+slavish obsequiousness of the lower classes towards these
+pampered priests is almost incredible.</p>
+
+<p>No people are more punctual in their attendance upon
+public worship, or more exact {257} in the performance of
+the external rites of religion, than the New Mexicans. A
+man would about as soon think of venturing in twenty
+fathoms of water without being able to swim, as of undertaking
+a journey without hearing mass first. These religious
+exercises, however, partake but seldom of the character
+of true devotion; for people may be seen chattering
+or tittering while in the act of crossing themselves, or muttering <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg047"></a>[p047]</span>
+some formal prayer. Indeed, it is the common
+remark of strangers, that they are wont to wear much
+graver countenances while dancing at a fandango than
+during their devotional exercises at the foot of the altar.
+In nothing, however, is their observance of the outward
+forms of religion more remarkable than in their deportment
+every day towards the close of twilight, when the large bell
+of the <i>Parroquia</i> peals for <i>la oracion</i>, or vespers.<a
+name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a><a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> All
+conversation is instantly suspended—all labor ceases—people
+of all classes, whether on foot or on horseback, make
+a sudden halt—even the laden porter, groaning under
+the weight of an insupportable burden, stops in the midst
+of his career and stands still. An almost breathless silence
+reigns throughout the town, disturbed only by the occasional
+sibilations of the devout multitude: all of which, accompanied
+by the slow heavy peals of a large sonorous bell,
+afford a scene truly solemn and appropriate. At the expiration
+of about two minutes the charm is suddenly broken
+by the clatter of livelier-toned bells; and a <dfn>buenas {258}
+tardes</dfn> (good evening) to those present closes the ceremony:
+when <i>presto</i>, all is bustle and confusion again—the colloquial
+chit-chat is resumed—the smith plies upon his
+anvil with redoubled energy—the clink of the hammer
+simultaneously resounds in every direction—the wayfarers
+are again in motion,—both pleasure and business, in
+short, assume their respective sway.</p>
+
+<p>Although the Catholics have a saint for each day in the
+year, the number of canonized <i>fiestas</i> in which labor is prohibited
+has been somewhat reduced in Mexico. <dfn>La Semana
+Santa</dfn>, or Passion Week, is perhaps the period when
+the religious feeling, such as it is, is most fully excited: <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg048"></a>[p048]</span>
+<dfn>Viernes Santo</dfn> (Good Friday), especially, is observed with
+great pomp and splendor. An image of Christ large as
+life, nailed to a huge wooden cross, is paraded through
+the streets, in the midst of an immense procession, accompanied
+by a glittering array of carved images, representing
+the Virgin Mary, Mary Magdalene, and several others;
+while the most notorious personages of antiquity, who
+figured at that great era of the World's history,—the centurion
+with a band of guards, armed with lances, and apparelled
+in the costume supposed to have been worn in
+those days,—may be seen bestriding splendidly caparisoned
+horses, in the breathing reality of flesh and blood. Taking
+it all in all, this spectacle,—the ceremonies and manœuvres
+which attend its career through the densely crowded and
+ornamented {259} streets,—are calculated to produce impressions
+of a most confused description, in which regret and
+melancholy may be said to form no inconsiderable share.</p>
+
+<p>It has been customary for great malefactors to propitiate
+Divine forgiveness by a cruel sort of <i>penitencia</i>, which
+generally takes place during the <i>Semana Santa</i>. I once
+chanced to be in the town of Tomé<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a><a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> on Good Friday,
+when my attention was arrested by a man almost naked,
+bearing, in imitation of Simon, a huge cross upon his shoulders,
+which, though constructed of the lightest wood, must
+have weighed over a hundred pounds. The long end
+dragged upon the ground, as we have seen it represented
+in sacred pictures, and about the middle swung a stone of
+immense dimensions, appended there for the purpose of
+making the task more laborious. Not far behind followed
+another equally destitute of clothing, with his whole body
+wrapped in chains and cords, which seemed buried in the <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg049"></a>[p049]</span>
+muscles, and which so cramped and confined him that
+he was scarcely able to keep pace with the procession.
+The person who brought up the rear presented a still more
+disgusting aspect. He walked along with a patient and
+composed step, while another followed close behind belaboring
+him lustily with a whip, which he flourished with
+all the satisfaction of an amateur; but as the lash was pointed
+only with a tuft of untwisted sea-grass, its application merely
+served to keep open the wounds upon the penitent's {260}
+back, which had been scarified, as I was informed, with
+the keen edge of a flint, and was bleeding most profusely.
+The blood was kept in perpetual flow by the stimulating
+juice of certain herbs, carried by a third person, into which
+the scourger frequently dipped his lash. Although the
+actors in this tragical farce were completely muffled, yet
+they were well known to many of the by-standers, one of
+whom assured me that they were three of the most notorious
+rascals in the country. By submitting to this species of
+penance, they annually received complete absolution of
+their past year's sins, and, thus 'purified,' entered afresh
+on the old career of wickedness and crime.</p>
+
+<p>In New Mexico, the institution of marriage changes the
+legal rights of the parties, but it scarcely affects their moral
+obligations. It is usually looked upon as a convenient
+cloak for irregularities, which society less willingly tolerates
+in the lives of unmarried women. Yet when it is considered
+that the majority of matches are forced and ill-assorted,
+some idea may be formed of the little incitement that is
+given to virtue. There are very few parents who would
+stoop to consult a young lady's wishes before concluding
+a marriage contract, nor would maidens, generally, ever
+dream of a matrimonial connection unless proposed first
+by the father. The lover's proposals are, upon the same
+principle, made in writing direct to the parents themselves, <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg050"></a>[p050]</span>
+and without the least deference to the wishes or inclinations
+{261} of the young lady whose hand is thus sought in marriage.
+The tender emotions engendered between lovers
+during walks and rambles along the banks of silent streams,
+are never experienced in this country; for the sexes are
+seldom permitted to converse or be together alone. In
+short, instances have actually occurred when the betrothed
+couple have never seen each other till brought to the altar
+to be joined in wedlock.</p>
+
+<p>Among the humbler classes, there are still more powerful
+causes calculated to produce irregularity of life; not the
+least of which is the enormous fee that must be paid to the
+curate for tying the matrimonial knot. This system of
+extortion is carried so far as to amount very frequently
+to absolute prohibition: for the means of the bridegroom
+are often insufficient for the exigency of the occasion; and
+the priests seldom consent to join people in wedlock until
+the money has been secured to them. The curates being
+without control, the marriage rates are somewhat irregular,
+but they usually increase in proportion to the character
+of the ceremonies and to the circumstances of the parties.
+The lowest (about twenty dollars) are adapted to the simplest
+form, solemnized in church at mass; but with the
+excuse of any extra service and ceremonies, particularly
+if performed at a private house, the fees are increased often
+as high as several hundred dollars: I have heard of $500
+being paid for a marriage ceremony. The following communication,
+which {262} appeared in a Chihuahua paper
+under the signature of "<i>Un Ranchero</i>" affords some illustration
+of the grievances of the plebeians in this respect.
+Literally translated it runs thus:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+
+<p>"<em>Messrs. Editors of the Noticioso de Chihuahua:</em></p>
+
+<p>"Permit me, through your paper, to say a few words in
+print, as those of my pen have been unsuccessfully employed
+<span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg051"></a>[p051]</span> with the <i>curas</i> of Allende and Jimenez, to whom I
+applied the other day for the purpose of ascertaining their
+legal charge to marry one of my sons. The following
+simple and concise answer is all that I have been able to
+elicit from either of these ecclesiastics:—'<em>The marriage
+fees are a hundred and nineteen dollars</em>.' I must confess
+that I was completely suffocated when I heard this outrageous
+demand upon my poor purse; and did I not pride
+myself on being a true Apostolic Roman Catholic, and
+were it not that the charming graces of my intended daughter-in-law
+have so captivated my son that nothing but marriage
+will satisfy him, I would assuredly advise him to contrive
+some other arrangement with his beloved, which
+might not be so ruinous to our poor purse; for reflect that
+$119 are the life and all of a poor ranchero. If nothing
+else will do, I shall have to sell my few cows (<dfn>mis vaquitas</dfn>)
+to help my son out of this difficulty."—The 'Ranchero'
+then appeals to the Government to remedy such evils, by
+imposing some salutary restrictions upon the clergy; and
+concludes by saying, "If this is not done, I will {263} never
+permit either of my remaining three sons to marry."</p></div>
+
+<p>This article was certainly an effort of boldness against
+the priesthood, which may have cost the poor 'Ranchero'
+a sentence of ex-communication. Few of his countrymen
+would venture on a similar act of temerity; and at least
+nine-tenths profess the most profound submission to their
+religious rulers. Being thus bred to look upon their
+priests as infallible and holy samples of piety and virtue,
+we should not be so much surprised at the excesses of the
+'flock' when a large portion of the <i>pastores</i>, the padres
+themselves, are foremost in most of the popular vices of
+the country: first at the fandango—first at the gaming
+table—first at the cock-pit—first at bacchanalian orgies—and <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg052"></a>[p052]</span>
+by no means last in the contraction of those
+<i>liaisons</i> which are so emphatically prohibited by their
+vows.</p>
+
+<p>The baptismal and burial fees (neither of which can be
+avoided without incurring the charge of heresy) are also
+a great terror to the candidates for married life. "If I
+marry," says the poor yeoman, "my family must go unclad
+to baptize my children; and if any of them should die,
+we must starve ourselves to pay the burial charges."
+The fee for baptism, it is true, is not so exorbitant,
+and in accordance to custom, is often paid by the <dfn>padrino</dfn>
+or sponsor; but the burial costs are almost equally extravagant
+with those of marriage, varying in proportion to the
+age and {264} circumstances of the deceased. A faithful
+Mexican servant in my employ at Chihuahua, once solicited
+forty dollars to bury his mother. Upon my expressing
+some surprise at the exorbitancy of the amount, he replied—"That
+is what the cura demands, sir, and if I do not
+pay it my poor mother will remain unburied!" Thus this
+man was obliged to sacrifice several months' wages, to
+pamper the avarice of a vicious and mercenary priest. On
+another occasion, a poor widow in Santa Fé, begged a little
+medicine for her sick child: "Not," said the disconsolate
+mother, "that the life of the babe imports me much, for I
+know the <i>angelito</i> will go directly to heaven; but what shall
+I do to pay the priest for burying it? He will take my
+house and all from me—and I shall be turned desolate
+into the street!"—and so saying, she commenced weeping
+bitterly.</p>
+
+<p>Indigent parents are thus frequently under the painful
+necessity of abandoning and disowning their deceased children,
+to avoid the responsibility of burial expenses. To
+this end the corpse is sometimes deposited in some niche
+or corner of the church during the night; and upon being <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg053"></a>[p053]</span>
+found in the morning, the priest is bound to inter it gratis,
+unless the parent can be discovered, in which case the latter
+would be liable to severe castigation, besides being bound
+to pay the expenses.</p>
+
+<p>Children that have not been baptized are destined, according
+to the popular faith, to a kind of negative existence in the
+world of {265} spirits, called <dfn>Limbo</dfn>, where they remain for ever
+without either suffering punishment or enjoying happiness.
+Baptized infants, on the other hand, being considered without
+sin, are supposed to enter at once into the joys of heaven.
+The deceased child is then denominated an <dfn>angelito</dfn> (a little
+angel), and is interred with joy and mirth instead of grief
+and wailing. It is gaudily bedecked with fanciful attire
+and ornaments of tinsel and flowers; and being placed upon
+a small bier, it is carried to the grave by four children as
+gaily dressed as their circumstances will allow; accompanied
+by musicians using the instruments and playing the
+tunes of the fandangos; and the little procession is nothing
+but glee and merriment.</p>
+
+<p>In New Mexico the lower classes are very rarely, if ever,
+buried in coffins: the corpse being simply wrapped in a
+blanket, or some other covering, and in that rude attire
+consigned to its last home. It is truly shocking to a sensitive
+mind to witness the inhuman treatment to which the
+remains of the dead are sometimes subjected. There being
+nothing to indicate the place of the previous graves, it not
+unfrequently happens that the partially decayed relics of a
+corpse are dug up and forced to give place to the more
+recently deceased, when they are again thrown with the
+earth into the new grave with perfect indifference. The
+operation of filling up the grave especially, is particularly
+repulsive; the earth being pounded down with a large maul,
+{266} as fast as it is thrown in upon the unprotected corpse,
+with a force sufficient to crush a delicate frame to atoms. <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg054"></a>[p054]</span></p>
+
+<p>As the remains of heretics are not permitted to pollute
+either the church-yard or <i>Campo Santo</i>, those Americans
+who have died in Santa Fé, have been buried on a hill which
+overlooks the town to the northward. The corpses have
+sometimes been disinterred and robbed of the shroud in
+which they were enveloped; so that, on a few occasions, it
+has been deemed expedient to appoint a special watch for
+the protection of the grave.</p>
+
+<div class="footnotes">
+<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> Religious freedom, and entire separation of church and state, were secured
+in Mexico, after a long and bitter struggle, by the constitution of 1873.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a><a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> Brantz Mayer (1809-79), a native of Baltimore, Maryland, historian and
+diplomat. In 1843 he was secretary of legation at Mexico, and upon his return
+published <cite>Mexico as it was and as it is</cite> (New York, 1844), to which book Gregg
+here refers. Mayer was the author of several other works, both on Mexico and
+American history, and founder of the Maryland Historical Society.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a><a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> This is a kind of mantle or loose covering worn by the Indians, which, in the
+present instance, was made of the coarse filaments of a species of maguey, and a
+little resembled the common coffee sacks. The painting, as it necessarily must be
+on such a material, is said to be coarse, and represents the Virgin covered with a
+blue robe bespangled with stars.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a><a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a>
+The accompanying cut represents both sides of a medal of "<dfn>Nuestra Señora
+de Guadalupe de Mexico</dfn>," of which, as I have been informed, 216,000 were struck
+at Birmingham in the year 1831, designed for the Mexican market. Similar medals
+are worn by nearly nine-tenths of the population of Northern Mexico. On one
+side, as will be seen, the Virgin is represented in her star-spangled robe, supported
+by a cherub and the moon under her feet: a design, which, it has been suggested,
+was most probably drawn from Revelation xii. 1. The date, "A. 1805," is that
+perhaps of some one of the innumerable miracles, which, according to fame in
+Mexico, have been wrought by the Virgin Guadalupe. The motto, "<i>Non fecit
+taliter omni nationi</i>" (She "hath not dealt so with any nation") which is found on
+the reverse of the medal, is extracted from Psalm cxlvii. 20.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a><a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> This story is apochryphal, since the pueblo was besieged neither during the
+revolt of 1680 nor that of 1696. The pueblo of San Felipe is of Queres origin, and
+was known in the seventeenth century. Its first friar was Cristobal Quiñones, who
+died in 1609. The pueblo was faithful to the Spanish, its people killing none of
+that nation during the revolt. It now occupied its fourth site in Sandoval County,
+at the foot of a mesa which is crowned with the ruins of an earlier site. It is the
+southernmost pueblo of Queres stock, and had (1903) a population of five hundred
+and sixteen.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a><a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> The Parroquia, or cathedral of Santa Fé, stands upon the site of, and partially
+incorporates the early building of 1627. It is built of light brown stone, and
+flanked by two bell towers.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a><a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> Tomé is a town on the east bank of the Rio Grande, some distance below
+Albuquerque. It was at one time the seat of Valencia County, and in 1900 had a
+population of about eight hundred.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div></div>
+
+<h3 title="Chapter XIV">
+<a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV</h3>
+
+<p class="subhead">The Pueblos — Their Character for Sobriety, Honesty, and Industry — Traditional
+Descent from Montezuma — Their Languages — Former
+and present Population — The Pueblo of Pecos — Singular
+Habits of that ill-fated Tribe — Curious Tradition — Montezuma
+and the Sun — Legend of a Serpent — Religion and Government — Secret
+Council — Laws and Customs — Excellent Provisions
+against Demoralization — Primitive Pastimes of the Pueblos — Their
+Architecture — Singular Structures of Taos, and other novel
+Fortifications — Primitive state of the Arts among the Pueblos — Style
+of Dress, Weapons, etc. — Their Diet — The <i>Guayave</i>.<a href="#tocXIV"
+class="toclnk">toc</a></p>
+
+<p>Allusion has so frequently been made to the aboriginal
+tribes of New Mexico, known as <dfn>Los Pueblos</dfn>, that I think
+I shall not be trespassing too much upon the patience of
+the reader, in glancing rapidly at some of the more conspicuous
+features of their national habits and character.</p>
+
+<p>Although the term <dfn>Pueblo</dfn> in Spanish literally means
+the <i>people</i>, and their <i>towns</i>, it is here specifically applied
+to the <i>Christianized Indians</i> (as well as their villages)—to
+those aborigines whom the Spaniards not only subjected
+to their laws, but to an acknowledgment of the Romish
+faith, and upon whom they forced baptism and the cross
+in exchange for {268} the vast possessions of which they
+robbed them. All that was left them was, to each Pueblo
+a league or two of land situated around their villages, the
+conquerors reserving to themselves at least ninety-nine
+hundredths of the whole domain as a requital for their
+generosity. <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg055"></a>[p055]</span></p>
+
+<p>When these regions were first discovered it appears that
+the inhabitants lived in comfortable houses and cultivated
+the soil, as they have continued to do up to the present
+time. Indeed, they are now considered the best horticulturists
+in the country, furnishing most of the fruits and
+a large portion of the vegetable supplies that are to be found
+in the markets. They were until very lately the only
+people in New Mexico who cultivated the grape. They
+also maintain at the present time considerable herds of
+cattle, horses, etc. They are, in short, a remarkably sober
+and industrious race, conspicuous for morality and honesty,
+and very little given to quarrelling or dissipation, except
+when they have had much familiar intercourse with the
+Hispano-Mexican population.</p>
+
+<p>Most of these Pueblos call themselves the descendants
+of Montezuma, although it would appear that they could
+only have been made acquainted with the history of that
+monarch, by the Spaniards; as this province is nearly two
+thousand miles from the ancient kingdom of Mexico. At
+the time of the conquest they must have been a very powerful
+people—numbering near a hundred villages, as existing
+{269} ruins would seem to indicate; but they are now reduced
+to about twenty, which are scattered in various parts of
+the territory.<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a></p>
+
+<p>There are but three or four different languages spoken
+among them, and these, indeed, may be distantly allied
+to each other. Those of Taos, Picuris, Isleta, and perhaps
+some others, speak what has been called the <dfn>Piro</dfn> language.
+A large portion of the others, viz., those of San Juan, Santa <span
+class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg056"></a>[p056]</span>
+Clara, Nambé, Pojuaque, Tezuque, and some others,
+speak <dfn>Tegua</dfn>, having all been originally known by this
+general name; and those of Cochití, Santo Domingo, San
+Felipe, and perhaps Sandía, speak the same tongue, though
+they seem formerly to have been distinguished as <dfn>Queres</dfn>.
+The numerous tribes that inhabited the highlands between
+Rio del Norte and Pecos, as those of Pecos, Ciénega, Galisteo,
+etc., were known anciently as <dfn>Tagnos</dfn>, but these are now
+all extinct; yet their language is said to be spoken by those
+of Jemez and others of that section. Those further to
+the westward<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> {270} are perhaps allied to the Navajoes.
+Though all these Pueblos speak their native languages
+among themselves, a great many of them possess a smattering
+of Spanish, sufficient to carry on their intercourse with
+the Mexicans.<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a><a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a></p>
+
+<p>The population of these Pueblos will average nearly
+five hundred souls each (though some hardly exceed one
+hundred), making an aggregate of nine or ten thousand.
+At the time of the original conquest, at the close of the
+sixteenth century, they were, as has been mentioned, much, <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg057"></a>[p057]</span>
+perhaps ten-fold, more numerous.<a name="FNanchor_21_21" id="FNanchor_21_21"></a><a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> Ancient ruins are
+now to be seen scattered in every quarter of the territory:
+of some, entire stone walls are yet standing, while others
+are nearly or quite obliterated, many of them being now
+only known by their names which history or tradition has
+preserved to us. Numbers were no doubt destroyed during
+the insurrection of 1680, and the petty internal strifes which
+followed.</p>
+
+<p>Several of these Pueblos have been converted into Mexican
+villages, of which that of <dfn>Pecos</dfn> is perhaps the most
+remarkable instance. What with the massacres of the
+second conquest, and the inroads of the Comanches, they
+gradually dwindled away, till they found themselves reduced
+to about a dozen, comprising all ages and sexes; and
+it was only a few years ago that they abandoned the home
+of their fathers and joined the Pueblo of Jemez.</p>
+
+<p>Many curious tales are told of the singular habits of this
+ill-fated tribe, which must no {271} doubt have tended to
+hasten its utter annihilation. A tradition was prevalent
+among them that Montezuma had kindled a holy fire, and
+enjoined their ancestors not to suffer it to be extinguished
+until he should return to deliver his people from the yoke
+of the Spaniards. In pursuance of these commands, a
+constant watch had been maintained for ages to prevent
+the fire from going out; and, as tradition further informed
+them, that Montezuma would appear with the sun, the
+deluded Indians were to be seen every clear morning upon
+the terraced roofs of their houses, attentively watching for
+the appearance of the 'king of light,' in hopes of seeing
+him 'cheek by jowl' with their immortal sovereign. I have <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg058"></a>[p058]</span>
+myself descended into the famous <dfn>estufas</dfn>, or subterranean
+vaults, of which there were several in the village, and have
+beheld this consecrated fire, silently smouldering under a
+covering of ashes, in the basin of a small altar. Some
+say that they never lost hope in the final coming of
+Montezuma until, by some accident or other, or a lack
+of a sufficiency of warriors to watch it, the fire became
+extinguished; and that it was this catastrophe that induced
+them to abandon their villages, as I have before observed.</p>
+
+<p>The task of tending the sacred fire was, it is said, allotted
+to the warriors. It is further related, that they took the
+watch by turns for two successive days and nights, without
+partaking of either food, water, or sleep; while some assert,
+that instead of being restricted to {272} two days, each
+guard continued with the same unbending severity of purpose
+until exhaustion, and very frequently death, left their places
+to be filled by others. A large portion of those who came
+out alive were generally so completely prostrated by the
+want of repose and the inhalation of carbonic gas that they
+very soon died; when, as the vulgar story asseverates, their
+remains were carried to the den of a monstrous serpent,
+which kept itself in excellent condition by feeding upon
+these delicacies. This huge snake (invented no doubt by
+the lovers of the marvellous to account for the constant
+disappearance of the Indians) was represented as the idol
+which they worshipped, and as subsisting entirely upon
+the flesh of his devotees: live infants, however, seemed
+to suit his palate best. The story of this wonderful serpent
+was so firmly believed in by many ignorant people, that on
+one occasion I heard an honest ranchero assert, that upon
+entering the village very early on a winter's morning, he
+saw the huge trail of the reptile in the snow, as large as that
+of a dragging ox. <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg059"></a>[p059]</span></p>
+
+<p>This village, anciently so renowned, lies twenty-five
+miles eastward of Santa Fé, and near the <i>Rio Pecos</i>, to
+which it gave name. Even so late as ten years ago, when
+it contained a population of fifty to a hundred souls, the
+traveller would oftentimes perceive but a solitary Indian,
+a woman, or a child, standing here and there like so many
+statues upon the roofs of their houses, with their eyes fixed
+on {273} the eastern horizon, or leaning against a wall or
+a fence, listlessly gazing at the passing stranger; while at
+other times not a soul was to be seen in any direction, and
+the sepulchral silence of the place was only disturbed by
+the occasional barking of a dog, or the cackling of hens.<a name="FNanchor_22_22" id="FNanchor_22_22"></a><a href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a></p>
+
+<p>No other Pueblo appears to have adopted this extraordinary
+superstition: like Pecos, however, they have all
+held Montezuma to be their perpetual sovereign. It would
+likewise appear that they all worship the sun; for it is
+asserted to be their regular practice to turn the face
+towards the east at sunrise.<a name="FNanchor_23_23" id="FNanchor_23_23"></a><a href="#Footnote_23_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a> They profess the Catholic
+faith, however, of which, nevertheless, they cannot be expected
+to understand anything beyond the formalities; as <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg060"></a>[p060]</span>
+but very few of their Mexican neighbors and teachers
+can boast of more.</p>
+
+<p>Although nominally under the jurisdiction of the federal
+government, as Mexican citizens, many features of their
+ancient customs are still retained, as well in their civil rule
+as in their religion. Each Pueblo is under the control of a
+<dfn>cacique</dfn> or <dfn>gobernadorcillo</dfn>, chosen from among their own
+sages, and commissioned by the governor of New Mexico.
+The cacique, when any public business is to be transacted,
+collects together the principal chiefs of the Pueblo in an
+<dfn>estufa</dfn>, or cell, usually under ground, and there lays before
+them the subjects of debate, which are generally settled
+by the opinion of the majority. No Mexican is admitted
+to these councils, nor do the {274} subjects of discussion
+ever transpire beyond the precincts of the cavern. The
+council has also charge of the interior police and tranquility
+of the village.<a name="FNanchor_24_24" id="FNanchor_24_24"></a><a href="#Footnote_24_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a> One of their regulations is to appoint
+a secret watch for the purpose of keeping down disorders
+and vices of every description, and especially to keep
+an eye over the young men and women of the village. When
+any improper intercourse among them is detected, the
+parties are immediately carried to the council, and the
+cacique intimates to them that they must be wedded forthwith.
+Should the girl be of bad character, and the man, <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg061"></a>[p061]</span>
+therefore, unwilling to marry her, they are ordered to
+keep separate under penalty of the lash. Hence it is, that
+the females of these Pueblos are almost universally noted
+for their chastity and modest deportment.<a name="FNanchor_25_25" id="FNanchor_25_25"></a><a href="#Footnote_25_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a></p>
+
+<p>They also elect a <dfn>capitan de guerra</dfn>, a kind of commander-in-chief
+of the warriors, whose office it is to
+defend their homes and their interests both in the field
+and in the council chamber.<a name="FNanchor_26_26" id="FNanchor_26_26"></a><a href="#Footnote_26_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a> Though not very warlike,
+these Pueblos are generally valiant, and well skilled
+in the strategies of Indian warfare; and although they
+have been branded with cruelty and ferocity, yet they
+can hardly be said to surpass the Mexicans in this respect:
+both, in times of war, pay but little regard either to age or
+sex. I have been told that when the Pueblos return from
+their belligerent expeditions, instead of going directly to
+their homes, they always visit their council cell first. Here
+{275} they undress, dance, and carouse, frequently for two
+days in succession before seeing their families.</p>
+
+<p>Although the Pueblos are famous for hospitality and
+industry, they still continue in the rudest state of ignorance,
+having neither books nor schools among them, as none of
+their languages have been reduced to rules, and very few
+of their children are ever taught in Spanish.<a name="FNanchor_27_27" id="FNanchor_27_27"></a><a href="#Footnote_27_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a> A degree of
+primitiveness characterizes all their amusements, which
+bear a strong similarity to those of the wilder tribes. Before
+the New Mexican government had become so much <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg062"></a>[p062]</span>
+impoverished, there was wont to be held in the capital on
+the 16th of September of every year, a national celebration
+of the declaration of Independence, to which the Pueblos
+were invited. The warriors and youths of each nation
+with a proportionate array of dusky damsels would appear
+on these occasions, painted and ornamented in accordance
+with their aboriginal customs, and amuse the inhabitants
+with all sorts of grotesque feats and native dances. Each
+Pueblo generally had its particular uniform dress and its
+particular dance. The men of one village would sometimes
+disguise themselves as elks, with horns on their heads,
+moving on all-fours, and mimicking the animal they were
+attempting to personate. Others would appear in the
+garb of a turkey, with large heavy wings, and strut about
+in imitation of that bird. But the Pecos tribe, already
+reduced to seven men, always occasioned most diversion.
+{276} Their favorite exploit was, each to put on the skin
+of a buffalo, horns, tail, and all, and thus accoutred scamper
+about through the crowd, to the real or affected terror
+of all the ladies present, and to the great delight of the
+boys.</p>
+
+<p>The Pueblo villages are generally built with more regularity
+than those of the Mexicans, and are constructed of
+the same materials as were used by them in the most primitive
+ages. Their dwelling-houses, it is true, are not so
+spacious as those of the Mexicans, containing very seldom
+more than two or three small apartments upon the ground
+floor, without any court-yard, but they have generally a
+much loftier appearance, being frequently two stories high
+and sometimes more. A very curious feature in these
+buildings, is, that there is most generally no direct communication
+between the street and the lower rooms, into which
+they descend by a trap-door from the upper story, the latter
+being accessible by means of ladders. Even the entrance
+to the upper stories is frequently at the roof. This style of <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg063"></a>[p063]</span>
+building seems to have been adopted for security against
+their marauding neighbors of the wilder tribes, with whom
+they were often at war. When the family had all been
+housed at night, the ladder was drawn up, and the inmates
+were thus shut up in a kind of fortress, which bid defiance
+to the scanty implements of warfare used by the wild Indians.</p>
+
+<p>Though this was their most usual style of architecture,
+there still exists a Pueblo of Taos, {277} composed, for the
+most part, of but two edifices of very singular structure—one
+on each side of a creek, and formerly communicating
+by a bridge. The base-story is a mass of near four hundred
+feet long, a hundred and fifty wide, and divided into numerous
+apartments, upon which other tiers of rooms are built,
+one above another, drawn in by regular grades, forming
+a pyramidal pile of fifty or sixty feet high, and comprising
+some six or eight stories. The outer rooms only seem to
+be used for dwellings, and are lighted by little windows
+in the sides, but are entered through trap-doors in the
+<dfn>azoteas</dfn> or roofs. Most of the inner apartments are employed
+as granaries and store-rooms, but a spacious hall in
+the centre of the mass, known as the <dfn>estufa</dfn>, is reserved for
+their secret councils. These two buildings afford habitations,
+as is said, for over six hundred souls.<a name="FNanchor_28_28" id="FNanchor_28_28"></a><a href="#Footnote_28_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a> There is
+likewise an edifice in the Pueblo of Picuris<a name="FNanchor_29_29" id="FNanchor_29_29"></a><a href="#Footnote_29_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a> of the same
+class, and some of those of Moqui are also said to be similar.</p>
+
+<p>Some of these villages were built upon rocky eminences
+deemed almost inaccessible: witness for instance <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg064"></a>[p064]</span>
+the ruins of the ancient Pueblo of San Felipe, which
+may be seen towering upon the very verge of a precipice
+several hundred feet high, whose base is washed by
+the swift current of the Rio del Norte. The still existing
+Pueblo of Acoma also stands upon an isolated mound
+whose whole area is occupied by the village, being fringed
+all around by a precipitous <dfn>ceja</dfn> or cliff. {278} The inhabitants
+enter the village by means of ladders, and by steps
+cut into the solid rock upon which it is based.<a name="FNanchor_30_30" id="FNanchor_30_30"></a><a href="#Footnote_30_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a></p>
+
+<p>At the time of the conquest, many of these Pueblos
+manufactured some singular textures of cotton and other
+materials; but with the loss of their liberty, they seem
+to have lost most of their arts and ingenuity; so that the
+finer specimens of native fabrics are now only to be met
+with among the Moquis and Navajoes, who still retain
+their independence. The Pueblos, however, make some
+of the ordinary classes of blankets and <dfn>tilmas</dfn>,<a name="FNanchor_31_31" id="FNanchor_31_31"></a><a href="#Footnote_31_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a> as well as
+other woolen stuffs. They also manufacture, according
+to their aboriginal art, both for their own consumption, and
+for the purpose of traffic, a species of earthenware not much
+inferior to the coarse crockery of our common potters.
+The pots made of this material stand fire remarkably well,
+and are the universal substitutes for all the purposes of
+cookery, even among the Mexicans, for the iron castings
+of this country, which are utterly unknown there. Rude
+as this kind of crockery is, it nevertheless evinces a
+great deal of skill, considering that it is made entirely <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg065"></a>[p065]</span>
+without lathe or any kind of machinery. It is often fancifully
+painted with colored earths and the juice of a plant
+called <dfn>guaco</dfn>, which brightens by burning. They also
+work a singular kind of wicker-ware, of which some bowls
+(if they may be so called) are so closely platted, {279} that,
+once swollen by dampness, they serve to hold liquids, and
+are therefore light and convenient vessels for the purposes
+of travellers.<a name="FNanchor_32_32" id="FNanchor_32_32"></a><a href="#Footnote_32_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a></p>
+
+<p>The dress of many of the Pueblos has become assimilated
+in some respects to that of the common Mexicans; but by
+far the greatest portion still retain most of their aboriginal
+costume. The Taosas and others of the north somewhat
+resemble the prairie tribes in this respect; but the Pueblos
+to the south and west of Santa Fé dress in a different style,
+which is said to be similar in many respects to that of the
+aboriginal inhabitants of the city of Mexico. The moccasin
+is the only part of the prairie suit that appears common
+to them all, and of both sexes. They mostly wear
+a kind of short breeches and long stockings, the use of
+which they most probably acquired from the Spaniards.
+The <dfn>saco</dfn>, a species of woollen jacket without sleeves, completes
+their exterior garment; except during inclement
+seasons, when they make use of the tilma. Very few of
+them have hats or head-dress of any kind; and they generally
+wear their hair long—commonly fashioned into a <dfn>queue</dfn>,
+wrapped with some colored stuff. The squaws of the northern
+tribes dress pretty much like those of the Prairies; but
+the usual costume of the females of the southern and western
+Pueblos is a handsome kind of small blanket of dark color, <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg066"></a>[p066]</span>
+which is drawn under one arm and tacked over the other
+shoulder, leaving both arms free and naked. It is generally
+{280} worn with a cotton chemise underneath and is bound
+about the waist with a girdle. We rarely if ever see a
+thorough-bred Pueblo woman in Mexican dress.<a name="FNanchor_33_33" id="FNanchor_33_33"></a><a href="#Footnote_33_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a></p>
+
+<p>The weapons most in use among the Pueblos are the
+bow and arrow, with a long-handled lance and occasionally
+a fusil. The rawhide shield is also much used, which,
+though of but little service against fire-arms, serves to ward
+off the arrow and lance.</p>
+
+<p>The aliment of these Indians is, in most respects, similar
+to that of the Mexicans; in fact, as has been elsewhere
+remarked, the latter adopted with their utensils numerous
+items of aboriginal diet. The <i>tortilla</i>, the <i>atole</i>, the <i>pinole</i>,<a
+name="FNanchor_34_34" id="FNanchor_34_34"></a><a href="#Footnote_34_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a>
+and many others, together with the use of <i>chile</i>, are from
+the Indians. Some of the wilder tribes make a peculiar
+kind of <dfn>pinole</dfn>, by grinding the bean of the mezquite tree
+into flour, which is then used as that of corn. And besides
+the tortilla they make another singular kind of bread, if
+we may so style it, called <dfn>guayave</dfn>, a roll of which so much
+resembles a 'hornets' nest,' that by strangers it is often
+designated by this title. It is usually made of Indian
+corn prepared and ground as for tortillas, and diluted into
+a thin paste. {281} I once happened to enter an Indian
+hut where a young girl of the family was baking <i>guayaves</i>.
+She was sitting by a fire, over which a large flat stone was
+heating, with a crock of prepared paste by her side. She <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg067"></a>[p067]</span>
+thrust her hand into the paste, and then wiped it over the
+heated stone. What adhered to it was instantly baked and
+peeled off. She repeated this process at the rate of a
+dozen times or more per minute. Observing my curiosity,
+the girl handed me one of the 'sheets,' silently; for she
+seemed to understand but her native tongue. I found
+it pleasant enough to the taste; though when cold, as I
+have learned by experience, it is, like the cold tortilla,
+rather tough and insipid. They are even thinner than
+wafers; and some dozens, being folded in a roll, constitute
+the laminate composition before mentioned. Being
+thus preserved, they serve the natives for months upon
+their journeys.</p>
+
+<div class="footnotes">
+<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a><a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a>
+On the subject of Pueblo Indians, consult T. Donaldson, <cite>Moqui Pueblo
+Indians of Arizona and Pueblo Indians of New Mexico</cite> (Washington, 1893), extra
+bulletin of eleventh census; John T. Short, North <cite>Americans of Antiquity</cite> (New
+York, 1880); A. F. A. Bandelier, Archæological Institute of America <i>Papers</i>,
+American Series, i-iv; N. O. G. Nordenskiold, <cite>Cliff-dwellers of the Mesa Verde</cite>
+(Chicago and Stockholm, 1893); C. F. Lummis, <cite>Land of Poco Tiempo</cite> (New York,
+1893).—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a><a href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> Of these, the Pueblo of Zuñi has been celebrated for honesty and hospitality.
+The inhabitants mostly profess the Catholic faith, but have now no curate. They
+cultivate the soil, manufacture, and possess considerable quantities of stock. Their
+village is over 150 miles west of the Rio del Norte, on the waters of the Colorado
+of the West, and is believed to contain between 1,000 and 1,500 souls. The "seven
+Pueblos of Moqui" (as they are called) are a similar tribe living a few leagues
+beyond. They formerly acknowledged the government and religion of the Spaniards,
+but have long since rejected both, and live in a state of independence and
+paganism. Their dwellings, however, like those of Zuñi, are similar to those of
+the interior Pueblos, and they are equally industrious and agricultural, and still
+more ingenious in their manufacturing. The language of the <dfn>Moquis</dfn> or <dfn>Moquinos</dfn>
+is said to differ but little from that of the Navajoes.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span>
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>Comment by Ed.</i> For the Moki (properly Hopi), see Pattie's <cite>Narrative</cite>, in our
+volume xviii, p. 130, note 64. The articles by Frank H. Cushing in American
+Bureau of Ethnology <cite>Reports</cite> first directed attention to the Zuñi; consult also Bandelier,
+"Outline of Documentary History of Zuñi Tribe," in <cite>Journal of American
+Ethnology and Archæology</cite> (Boston, 1891-94), iii.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a><a href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> On the linguistic stocks of the pueblos, consult our volume xix, p. 266, note 90
+(Gregg).—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a><a href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> Bandelier, "Final Report," Archæological Institute of America <cite>Papers</cite>,
+American Series, iii, pp. 121-136, considers the pueblo population at the time of
+the Spanish conquest to have been about twenty-five thousand. The present
+population of New Mexican pueblos, exclusive of the Moki, is about nine thousand.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_22_22" id="Footnote_22_22"></a><a href="#FNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> The pueblo of Pecos was situated thirty miles southeast of Santa Fé, and at
+the close of the seventeenth century had a population of two thousand, being the
+largest pueblo in either New Mexico or Arizona. It was visited as early as 1540
+by Alvarado, a lieutenant of Coronado. In 1598, the inhabitants rendered submission
+to Oñate, and a mission was established among them for which a large
+church was built in the seventeenth century, its ruins being still conspicuous. In
+the revolt of 1680 the Pecos remained neutral; but soon thereafter decline in numbers
+set in, and by 1837 but eighteen adults were left. A fever swept away the
+majority of these, when in 1840 the remnant of five men sold their lands to the
+government, and retired to their kinsmen at Jemez. A son of the tribe was found
+in 1880 among the Mexicans of the village of Pecos, a small, comparatively modern
+town. Bandelier discredits the Montezuma myth, which he considers a Spanish-Mexican
+importation. See Archæological Institute of America <cite>Papers</cite>, American
+Series, i, pp. 110-125. He found among the ruins, however, evidences of the
+existence of the sacred fire.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_23_23" id="Footnote_23_23"></a><a href="#FNanchor_23_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> The Pueblo Indians still cling to many features of aboriginal worship. The
+sun-father and moon-mother are revered—not the orbs themselves, but the
+spiritual beings residing therein. Consult on this subject, Bandelier, <i>op. cit.</i>, iii,
+pp. 276-316.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_24_24" id="Footnote_24_24"></a><a href="#FNanchor_24_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> The office of the cacique is in essence religious; but as religion is interwoven
+with the entire life of the Pueblos, he is in a sense a civil official as well. He is
+chosen because of fitness, frequently on the nomination of his predecessor, and
+his education in the mysteries and secrets of his people is exacting. The office is
+for life, unless terminated by improper behavior, when the cacique may be deposed.
+The candidate sometimes declines the office because of the severity of the duties,
+which involve much fasting and abnegation.
+</p>
+<p>
+The <i>estufa</i> is not always subterranean. It originated before the introduction
+of Christian family life, in a common home for the male members of the pueblo.
+It has become the council house of the tribe. Some pueblos contain more than
+one; unless rites are in progress, it is a bare, rude room usually unornamented.
+For details, consult John G. Bourke, <cite>Snake Dance of the Moquis of Arizona</cite> (New
+York, 1884).—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_25_25" id="Footnote_25_25"></a><a href="#FNanchor_25_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> Matrimonial relations among these people have been much modified by the
+introduction of Christianity, and the requirements of the friars, so that the monogamous
+family is now the rule among the sedentary Indians; although there are still
+in force certain clan restrictions in the choice of the mate.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_26_26" id="Footnote_26_26"></a><a href="#FNanchor_26_26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> Although the Pueblos have, since the subjugation of the Apache, engaged
+in no wars, a war-captain is each year selected by the cacique, who has, as Gregg
+relates, certain protective and religious functions.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_27_27" id="Footnote_27_27"></a><a href="#FNanchor_27_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> Primary schools were established for several pueblos, about 1872, but met
+with opposition from priests, who did not desire Indian children to learn English.
+There are in the territory at present (1903), about eighteen day-schools, and two
+industrial boarding schools.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_28_28" id="Footnote_28_28"></a><a href="#FNanchor_28_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> For a brief sketch of the history of Taos, see our volume xviii, p. 73, note 44.
+The Taos communal architecture is of the primitive type; after the Spanish conquest,
+the separate houses of the other pueblos were gradually adopted.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_29_29" id="Footnote_29_29"></a><a href="#FNanchor_29_29"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> Picuries is one of the northern group. Like Taos, it is of Tiguan stock, and
+participated in the history of the region, being visited by one of Coronado's party
+in 1540. It yielded to Oñate in 1598, took part in the revolts of 1680 and 1696,
+and in the uprising against the Americans in 1848. The pueblo was formerly
+much larger than at present, its population now consisting of only about a hundred
+poor and rather unprogressive Indians. It is in Taos County about seventy miles
+north of Santa Fé.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_30_30" id="Footnote_30_30"></a><a href="#FNanchor_30_30"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> Acoma is a Queres pueblo, built upon a cliff, about seventy miles southwest
+of Santa Fé, in Valencia County. Because of its inaccessibility, and the charm
+of its situation, it has been much noted. Coronado described it in his journey of
+1540—see George P. Winship, <cite>Journey of Coronado</cite> (New York, 1904); and here
+a great battle was fought between Spaniards and Acomans in 1599. The pueblo
+took part in the revolts of 1680 and 1696; but has since lived quietly, and has at
+present a population of about six hundred.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_31_31" id="Footnote_31_31"></a><a href="#FNanchor_31_31"><span
+class="label">[31]</span></a> The <dfn>tilma</dfn> of the North is a
+ sort of small but durable blanket, worn by the
+Indians as a mantle.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_32_32" id="Footnote_32_32"></a><a href="#FNanchor_32_32"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> Recent authorities do not consider the decline of domestic arts a sign of deterioration
+among the Pueblos. They taught the Navaho to weave, and now purchase
+blankets from the latter. Pottery is still manufactured among the New Mexican
+pueblos. See on these subjects Washington Matthews, "Navaho Weavers," in
+U. S. Bureau of Ethnology <cite>Report</cite>, 1881-82, pp. 371-391; and William H. Holmes,
+"Pottery of the Ancient Pueblos," <i>ibid.</i>, 1882-83, pp. 265-358.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_33_33" id="Footnote_33_33"></a><a href="#FNanchor_33_33"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> The Pueblos still retain their native dress, which is picturesque, healthful,
+convenient, and often relatively costly—a woman's costume sometimes being
+worth as much as twenty-five dollars.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_34_34" id="Footnote_34_34"></a><a href="#FNanchor_34_34"><span
+class="label">[34]</span></a> <dfn>Pinole</dfn> is in effect the <i>cold-flour</i> of our hunters. It is the meal of parched
+Indian corn, prepared for use by stirring it up with a little cold water. This food
+seems also to have been of ancient use among the aborigines of other parts of
+America. Father Charlevoix, in 1721, says of the savages about the northern
+lakes, that they "reduce [the maize] to Flour which they call <dfn>Farine froide</dfn> (cold
+Flour), and this is the best Provision that can be made for Travellers."—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div></div>
+
+<h3 title="Chapter XV">
+<a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV</h3>
+
+<p class="subhead">The wild Tribes of New Mexico — Speculative Theories — Clavigero
+and the <i>Azteques</i> — Pueblo Bonito and other Ruins — Probable
+Relationship between the <i>Azteques</i> and tribes of New Mexico — The
+several Nations of this Province — <i>Navajóes</i> and <i>Azteques</i> — Manufactures
+of the former — Their Agriculture, Religion, etc. — Mexican
+Cruelty to the Indians and its Consequences — Inroads of the
+Navajóes — Exploits of a Mexican Army — How to make a Hole
+in a Powder-keg — The <i>Apaches</i> and their Character — Their Food — Novel
+Mode of settling Disputes — Range of their marauding
+Excursions — Indian Traffic and imbecile Treaties — Devastation
+of the Country — Chihuahua Rodomontades — Juan José, a celebrated
+Apache Chief, and his tragical End, etc. — Massacre of Americans
+in Retaliation — A tragical Episode — <i>Proyecto de Guerra</i> and
+a 'gallant' Display — The <i>Yutas</i> and their Hostilities — A personal
+Adventure with them, but no blood shed — Jicarillas.<a href="#tocXV"
+class="toclnk">toc</a></p>
+
+<p>All the Indians of New Mexico not denominated Pueblos—not
+professing the Christian religion—are ranked as
+<i>wild tribes</i>, although these include some who have made
+great advances in arts, manufactures and agriculture.
+Those who are at all acquainted with the ancient history
+of Mexico, will recollect that, according to the traditions
+of the aborigines, all the principal tribes of Anahuac descended
+from the North: and that those of Mexico, especially <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg068"></a>[p068]</span>
+the Azteques, emigrated {283} from the north of California,
+or northwest of New Mexico. Clavigero, the famous
+historian heretofore alluded to,<a name="FNanchor_35_35" id="FNanchor_35_35"></a><a href="#Footnote_35_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a> speaking of this emigration,
+observes, that the <dfn>Azteques</dfn>, or Mexican Indians, who
+were the last settlers in the country of Anahuac, lived until
+about the year 1160 of the Christian era in Aztlan, a country
+situated to the north of the Gulf of California; as is inferred
+from the route of their peregrinations, and from the information
+afterwards acquired by the Spaniards in their
+expeditions through those countries. He then proceeds to
+show by what incentives they were probably induced to
+abandon their native land; adding that whatever may
+have been the motive, no doubt can possibly exist as
+to the journey's having actually been performed. He
+says that they travelled in a southeastwardly direction
+towards the Rio Gila, where they remained for some time—the
+ruins of their edifices being still to be seen, upon
+its banks. They then struck out for a point over two hundred
+and fifty miles to the northwest of Chihuahua in about
+29° of N. latitude, where they made another halt. This
+place is known by the name of <dfn>Casas Grandes</dfn><a name="FNanchor_36_36" id="FNanchor_36_36"></a><a href="#Footnote_36_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a> (big houses),
+on account of a large edifice which still stands on the spot,
+and which, according to the general tradition of those regions,
+was erected by the Mexican Indians, during their <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg069"></a>[p069]</span>
+wanderings. The building is constructed after the plan
+of those in New Mexico, with three stories, covered with
+an <dfn>azotea</dfn> or terrace, and without door or entrance {284}
+into the lower story. A hand ladder is also used as a means
+of communication with the second story.</p>
+
+<p>Even allowing that the traditions upon which Clavigero
+founded his theoretical deductions are vague and uncertain,
+there is sufficient evidence in the ruins that still exist to
+show that those regions were once inhabited by a far more
+enlightened people than are now to be found among the
+aborigines. Of such character are the ruins of <i>Pueblo
+Bonito</i>, in the direction of Navajó, on the borders of the
+Cordilleras; the houses being generally built of slabs of
+fine-grit sand-stone, a material utterly unknown in the
+present architecture of the North.<a name="FNanchor_37_37" id="FNanchor_37_37"></a><a href="#Footnote_37_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a> Although some of
+these structures are very massive and spacious, they are
+generally cut up into small irregular rooms, many of which
+yet remain entire, being still covered, with the <dfn>vigas</dfn> or
+joists remaining nearly sound under the <i>azoteas</i> of earth;
+and yet their age is such that there is no tradition which
+gives any account of their origin. But there have been
+no images or sculptured work of any kind found about them.
+Besides these, many other ruins (though none so perfect)
+are scattered over the plains and among the mountains.
+What is very remarkable is, that a portion of them are
+situated at a great distance from any water; so that the
+inhabitants must have depended entirely upon rain, as
+is the case with the Pueblo of Acoma at the present day.</p>
+
+<p>The general appearance of Pueblo Bonito, {285} as
+well as that of the existing buildings of Moqui in the <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg070"></a>[p070]</span>
+same mountainous regions, and other Pueblos of New
+Mexico, resembles so closely the ruins of Casas Grandes,
+that we naturally come to the conclusion that the founders
+of each must have descended from the same common
+stock. The present difference between their language and
+that of the Indians of Mexico, when we take into consideration
+the ages that have passed away since their separation,
+hardly presents any reasonable objection to this hypothesis.</p>
+
+<p>The principal wild tribes which inhabit or extend their
+incursions or peregrinations upon the territory of New
+Mexico, are the <i>Navajóes</i>, the <i>Apaches</i>, the <i>Yutas</i>, the
+<i>Caiguas</i> or Kiawas, and the <i>Comanches</i>.<a name="FNanchor_38_38"
+id="FNanchor_38_38"></a><a href="#Footnote_38_38" class="fnanchor">[38]</a> Of the latter
+I will speak in another place. The two first are from one
+and the same original stock, there being, even at the present
+day, no very important difference in their language. The
+Apaches are divided into numerous petty tribes, of one of
+which an insignificant band, called Jicarillas, inhabiting
+the mountains north of Taos, is an isolated and miserable
+remnant.<a name="FNanchor_39_39" id="FNanchor_39_39"></a>
+<a href="#Footnote_39_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a></p>
+
+<p>The <dfn>Navajóes</dfn> are supposed to number about 10,000
+souls, and though not the most numerous, they are certainly
+the most important, at least in a historical point of view,
+of all the northern tribes of Mexico. They reside in the
+main range of Cordilleras, 150 to 200 miles west of Santa
+Fé, on the waters of Rio Colorado of California, not far
+from the region, according to historians, from whence the <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg071"></a>[p071]</span>
+{286} Azteques emigrated to Mexico; and there are many
+reasons to suppose them direct descendants from the remnant,
+which remained in the North, of this celebrated
+nation of antiquity. Although they mostly live in rude
+<dfn>jacales</dfn>, somewhat resembling the wigwams of the Pawnees,
+yet, from time immemorial, they have excelled all others
+in their original manufactures: and, as well as the Moquis,
+they are still distinguished for some exquisite styles of cotton
+textures, and display considerable ingenuity in embroidering
+with feathers the skins of animals, according
+to their primitive practice. They now also manufacture
+a singular species of blanket, known as the <dfn>Sarape Navajó</dfn>,
+which is of so close and dense a texture that it will frequently
+hold water almost equal to gum-elastic cloth. It
+is therefore highly prized for protection against the rains.
+Some of the finer qualities are often sold among the Mexicans
+as high as fifty or sixty dollars each.</p>
+
+<p>Notwithstanding the present predatory and somewhat
+unsettled habits of the Navajóes, they cultivate all the
+different grains and vegetables to be found in New Mexico.
+They also possess extensive herds of horses, mules, cattle,
+sheep and goats of their own raising, which are generally
+celebrated as being much superior to those of the Mexicans;
+owing, no doubt, to greater attention to the improvement
+of their stocks.</p>
+
+<p>Though Baron Humboldt<a name="FNanchor_40_40" id="FNanchor_40_40"></a><a href="#Footnote_40_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a> tells us that some missionaries
+were established among this tribe {287} prior to the
+general massacre of 1680, but few attempts to christianize
+them have since been made. They now remain in a state
+of primitive paganism—and not only independent of the
+Mexicans, but their most formidable enemies.<a name="FNanchor_41_41"
+id="FNanchor_41_41"></a><a href="#Footnote_41_41" class="fnanchor">[41]</a>
+<span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg072"></a>[p072]</span></p>
+
+<p> After the establishment of the national independence,
+the government of New Mexico greatly embittered the
+disposition of the neighboring savages, especially the
+Navajoes, by repeated acts of cruelty and ill-faith well
+calculated to provoke hostilities. On one occasion, a
+party consisting of several chiefs and warriors of the Navajoes
+assembled at the Pueblo of Cochiti,<a name="FNanchor_42_42" id="FNanchor_42_42"></a><a href="#Footnote_42_42" class="fnanchor">[42]</a> by invitation
+of the government, to celebrate a treaty of peace; when
+the New Mexicans, exasperated no doubt by the remembrance
+of former outrages, fell upon them unawares and
+put them all to death. It is also related, that about the
+same period, three Indians from the northern mountains
+having been brought as prisoners into Taos, they were
+peremptorily demanded by the Jicarillas, who were their
+bitterest enemies; when the Mexican authorities, dreading
+the resentment of this tribe, quietly complied with the
+barbarous request, suffering the prisoners to be butchered
+in cold blood before their very eyes! No wonder, then,
+that the New Mexicans are so generally warred upon by
+their savage neighbors.</p>
+
+<p>About fifteen years ago, the Navajoes were subjected
+by the energy of Col. Vizcarra, who succeeded in keeping
+them in submission for {288} some time; but since that
+officer's departure from New Mexico, no man has been <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg073"></a>[p073]</span>
+found of sufficient capacity to inspire this daring tribe either
+with respect or fear; so that for the last ten years they have
+ravaged the country with impunity, murdering and destroying
+just as the humor happened to prompt them. When
+the spring of the year approaches, terms of peace are generally
+proposed to the government at Santa Fé, which the
+latter never fails to accept. This amicable arrangement
+enables the wily Indians to sow their crops at leisure, and
+to dispose of the property stolen from the Mexicans during
+their marauding incursions, to advantage; but the close of
+their agricultural labors is generally followed by a renewal
+of hostilities, and the game of rapine and destruction is
+played over again.</p>
+
+<p>Towards the close of 1835, a volunteer corps, which most
+of the leading men in New Mexico joined, was raised for
+the purpose of carrying war into the territory of the Navajoes.
+The latter hearing of their approach, and anxious no doubt
+to save them the trouble of so long a journey, mustered a
+select band of their warriors, who went forth to intercept
+the invaders in a mountain pass, where they lay concealed
+in an ambuscade. The valiant corps, utterly unconscious
+of the reception that awaited them, soon came jogging
+along in scattered groups, indulging in every kind of
+boisterous mirth; when the war-whoop, loud and shrill,
+followed by several shots, threw them all into a state of
+speechless consternation. {289} Some tumbled off their
+horses with fright, others fired their muskets at random: a
+terrific panic had seized everybody, and some minutes
+elapsed before they could recover their senses sufficiently
+to betake themselves to their heels. Two or three persons
+were killed in this ridiculous engagement, the most conspicuous
+of whom was a Capt. Hinófos, who commanded
+the regular troops.<a name="FNanchor_43_43" id="FNanchor_43_43"></a>
+<a href="#Footnote_43_43" class="fnanchor">[43]</a>
+<span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg074"></a>[p074]</span></p>
+
+<p> A very curious but fully authentic anecdote may not be
+inappropriately inserted here, in which this individual was
+concerned. On one occasion, being about to start on a
+belligerent expedition, he directed his orderly-sergeant to
+fill a powder-flask from an unbroached keg of twenty-five
+pounds. The sergeant, having bored a hole with a gimlet,
+and finding that the powder issued too slowly, began to
+look about for something to enlarge the aperture, when his
+eyes haply fell upon an iron poker which lay in a corner of
+the fire-place. To heat the poker and apply it to the hole
+in the keg was the work of but a few moments; when an
+explosion took place which blew the upper part of the
+building into the street, tearing and shattering everything
+else to atoms. Miraculous as their escape may appear, the
+sergeant, as well as the captain who witnessed the whole
+operation, remained more frightened than hurt, although
+they were both very severely scorched and bruised. This
+ingenious sergeant was afterwards Secretary of State to
+Gov. Gonzalez, of revolutionary {290} memory,<a name="FNanchor_44_44" id="FNanchor_44_44"></a><a href="#Footnote_44_44" class="fnanchor">[44]</a> and has
+nearly ever since held a clerkship in some of the offices of
+state, but is now captain in the regular army.</p>
+
+<p>I come now to speak of the <dfn>Apaches</dfn>, the most extensive
+and powerful, yet the most vagrant of all the savage nations
+that inhabit the interior of Northern Mexico. They are
+supposed to number some fifteen thousand souls, although
+they are subdivided into various petty bands, and scattered
+over an immense tract of country. Those that are found
+east of the Rio del Norte are generally known as <dfn>Mezcaleros</dfn>,
+on account of an article of food much in use among them,
+called <dfn>mezcal</dfn>,<a name="FNanchor_45_45" id="FNanchor_45_45"></a><a href="#Footnote_45_45" class="fnanchor">[45]</a> but by far the greatest portion of the nation
+is located in the west, and is mostly known by the sobriquet <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg075"></a>[p075]</span>
+of <dfn>Coyoteros</dfn>, in consequence, it is said, of their eating the
+<dfn>coyote</dfn> or prairie-wolf.<a name="FNanchor_46_46" id="FNanchor_46_46"></a><a href="#Footnote_46_46" class="fnanchor">[46]</a> The Apaches are perhaps more
+given to itinerant habits than any other tribe in Mexico.
+They never construct houses, but live in the ordinary
+wigwam, or tent of skins and blankets. They manufacture
+nothing—cultivate nothing: they seldom resort to the
+chase, as their country is destitute of game—but depend
+almost entirely upon pillage for the support of their immense
+population, some two or three thousand of which are warriors.</p>
+
+<p>For their food, the Apaches rely chiefly upon the flesh of
+the cattle and sheep they can steal from the Mexican ranchos
+and haciendas. They are said, however, to be more fond of
+{291} the meat of the mule than that of any other animal.
+I have seen about encampments which they had recently
+left, the remains of mules that had been slaughtered for
+their consumption. Yet on one occasion I saw their whole
+trail, for many miles, literally strewed with the carcasses of
+these animals, which, it was evident, had not been killed for
+this purpose. It is the practice of the Apache chiefs, as I
+have understood, whenever a dispute arises betwixt their
+warriors relative to the ownership of any particular animal,
+to kill the brute at once, though it be the most valuable of
+the drove; and so check all further cavil. It was to be
+inferred from the number of dead mules they left behind
+them, that the most harmonious relations could not have
+existed between the members of the tribe, at least during
+this period of their journeyings. Like most of the savage
+tribes of North America, the Apaches are passionately fond
+of spirituous liquors, and may frequently be seen, in times <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg076"></a>[p076]</span>
+of peace, lounging about the Mexican villages, in a state of
+helpless inebriety.</p>
+
+<p>The range of this marauding tribe extends over some
+portions of California, most of Sonora, the frontiers of
+Durango, and at certain seasons it even reaches Coahuila:
+Chihuahua, however, has been the mournful theatre of their
+most constant depredations. Every nook and corner of this
+once flourishing state has been subjected to their inroads.
+Such is the imbecility of the local governments, that the
+savages, in order to dispose of {292} their stolen property
+without even a shadow of molestation, frequently enter into
+partial treaties of peace with one department, while they continue
+to wage a war of extermination against the neighboring
+states. This arrangement supplies them with an ever-ready
+market, for the disposal of their booty and the purchase of
+munitions wherewith to prosecute their work of destruction.
+In 1840, I witnessed the departure from Santa Fé of a large
+trading party freighted with engines of war and a great
+quantity of whiskey, intended for the Apaches in exchange
+for mules and other articles of plunder which they had stolen
+from the people of the south. This traffic was not only
+tolerated but openly encouraged by the civil authorities, as
+the highest public functionaries were interested in its success—the
+governor himself not excepted.</p>
+
+<p>The Apaches, now and then, propose a truce to the government
+of Chihuahua, which is generally accepted very
+nearly upon their own terms. It has on some occasions been
+included that the marauders should have a <em>bonâ fide</em> right to
+all their stolen property. A <dfn>venta</dfn> or quit-claim brand, has
+actually been marked by the government upon large numbers
+of mules and horses which the Indians had robbed from
+the citizens. It is hardly necessary to add that these truces
+have rarely been observed by the wily savages longer than <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg077"></a>[p077]</span>
+the time necessary for the disposal of their plunder. As soon
+as more mules were needed for service or for traffic—more
+cattle for beef—more {293} scalps for the war-dance—they
+would invariably return to their deeds of ravage and murder.</p>
+
+<p>The depredations of the Apaches have been of such long
+duration, that, beyond the immediate purlieus of the towns,
+the whole country from New Mexico to the borders of
+Durango is almost entirely depopulated. The haciendas
+and ranchos have been mostly abandoned, and the people
+chiefly confined to towns and cities. To such a pitch has
+the temerity of those savages reached, that small bands of
+three or four warriors have been known to make their appearance
+within a mile of the city of Chihuahua in open day,
+killing the laborers and driving off whole herds of mules and
+horses without the slightest opposition. Occasionally a
+detachment of troops is sent in pursuit of the marauders, but
+for no other purpose, it would seem, than to illustrate the
+imbecility of the former, as they are always sure to make a
+precipitate retreat, generally without even obtaining a
+glimpse of the enemy.<a name="FNanchor_47_47" id="FNanchor_47_47"></a><a href="#Footnote_47_47" class="fnanchor">[47]</a> And yet the columns of a little
+weekly sheet published in Chihuahua always teem with
+flaming accounts of prodigious feats of valor performed by
+the 'army of operations' against <i>los bárbaros</i>: showing how
+"the enemy was pursued with all possible vigor"—how the
+soldiers "displayed the greatest {294} bravery, and the most
+unrestrainable desire to overhaul the dastards," and by what
+extraordinary combinations of adverse circumstances they
+were "compelled to relinquish the pursuit." Indeed, it
+would be difficult to find a braver race of people than the
+<span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg078"></a>[p078]</span>
+<dfn>Chihuahueños</dfn><a name="FNanchor_48_48" id="FNanchor_48_48"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_48_48" class="fnanchor">[48]</a>
+contrive to make themselves appear upon
+paper. When intelligence was received in Chihuahua of the
+famous skirmish with the French, at Vera Cruz, in which
+Santa Anna acquired the glory of losing a leg,<a name="FNanchor_49_49"
+id="FNanchor_49_49"></a><a href="#Footnote_49_49" class="fnanchor">[49]</a>
+the event was
+celebrated with uproarious demonstrations of joy; and the
+next number of the <cite>Noticioso</cite><a name="FNanchor_50_50"
+id="FNanchor_50_50"></a><a href="#Footnote_50_50" class="fnanchor">[50]</a>
+contained a valiant fanfaronade,
+proclaiming to the world the astounding fact, that one
+Mexican was worth four French soldiers in battle: winding
+up with a "<cite>Cancion Patriótica</cite>," of which the following exquisite
+verse was the <i>refrain</i>:</p>
+
+<div class="poetry">
+"<i>Chihuahuenses, la Patria gloriosa<br />
+Otro timbre á su lustre ha añadido</i>;<br />
+<i>Pues la</i>, ıuʌıɔʇɐ lɐ פɐlıɐ ıupoɯɐqlǝ<br />
+Al valor mexicano <i>ha cedido</i>."
+</div>
+
+<p class="continue">Literally translated:</p>
+
+<div class="poetry">
+Chihuahuenses! our glorious country<br />
+Another ray has added to her lustre;<br />
+For the <em>invincible, indomitable Gallia</em><br />
+Has succumbed to Mexican valor.
+</div>
+
+<p>By the inverted letters of "<em>invicta, la Galia indomable</em>,"
+in the third line, the poet gives {295} the world to understand
+that the kingdom of the Gauls had at length been whirled
+topsy-turvy, by the glorious achievements of <em>el valor Mexicano</em>!</p>
+
+<p>From what has been said of the ravages of the Apaches,
+one would be apt to believe them an exceedingly brave people;
+but the Mexicans themselves call them cowards when compared
+with the Comanches; and we are wont to look upon
+the latter as perfect specimens of poltroonery when brought <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg079"></a>[p079]</span>
+in conflict with the Shawnees, Delawares, and the rest of
+our border tribes.<a name="FNanchor_51_51" id="FNanchor_51_51"></a><a href="#Footnote_51_51" class="fnanchor">[51]</a></p>
+
+<p>There was once a celebrated chief called Juan José at
+the head of this tribe, whose extreme cunning and audacity
+caused his name to be dreaded throughout the country.
+What contributed more than anything else to render him a
+dangerous enemy, was the fact of his having received a
+liberal education at Chihuahua, which enabled him, when he
+afterwards rejoined his tribe, to outwit his pursuers, and,
+by robbing the mails, to acquire timely information of every
+expedition that was set on foot against him. The following
+account of the massacre in which he fell may not be
+altogether uninteresting to the reader.</p>
+
+<p>The government of Sonora, desirous to make some
+efforts to check the depredations of the Apaches, issued a
+proclamation, giving a sort of <i>carte blanche</i> patent of 'marque
+and reprisal,' and declaring all the booty that might be
+taken from the savages to be the rightful property of the
+captors. Accordingly, in the {296} spring of 1837, a party
+of some 20 men composed chiefly of foreigners, spurred
+on by the love of gain, and never doubting but the Indians,
+after so many years of successful robberies, must be possessed
+of a vast amount of property, set out with an American
+as their commander, who had long resided in the country.<a name="FNanchor_52_52" id="FNanchor_52_52"></a><a href="#Footnote_52_52" class="fnanchor">[52]</a>
+In a few days they reached a <i>ranchería</i> of about
+fifty warriors with their families, among whom was the <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg080"></a>[p080]</span>
+famous Juan José himself, and three other principal chiefs.
+On seeing the Americans advance, the former at once
+gave them to understand, that, if they had come to fight,
+they were ready to accommodate them; but on being assured
+by the leader, that they were merely bent on a trading
+expedition, a friendly interview was immediately established
+between the parties. The American captain having
+determined to put these obnoxious chiefs to death under
+any circumstances, soon caused a little field-piece which
+had been concealed from the Indians to be loaded with
+chain and canister shot, and to be held in readiness for use.
+The warriors were then invited to the camp to receive a
+present of flour, which was placed within range of the cannon.
+While they were occupied in dividing the contents
+of the bag, they were fired upon and a considerable number
+of their party killed on the spot! The remainder were
+then attacked with small arms, and about twenty slain,
+including Juan José and the other chiefs. Those who
+escaped became afterwards their own avengers in a {297}
+manner which proved terribly disastrous to another party
+of Americans, who happened at the time to be trapping
+on Rio Gila not far distant. The enraged savages resolved
+to take summary vengeance upon these unfortunate trappers;
+and falling upon them, massacred them every one!<a name="FNanchor_53_53" id="FNanchor_53_53"></a><a href="#Footnote_53_53" class="fnanchor">[53]</a>
+They were in all, including several Mexicans, about fifteen
+in number.<a name="FNanchor_54_54" id="FNanchor_54_54"></a>
+<a href="#Footnote_54_54" class="fnanchor">[54]</a>
+<span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg081"></a>[p081]</span></p>
+
+<p> The projector of this scheme had probably been under
+the impression that treachery was justifiable against a
+treacherous enemy. He also believed, no doubt, that the
+act would be highly commended by the Mexicans who
+had suffered so much from the depredations of these notorious
+chiefs. But in this he was sadly mistaken; for the
+affair was received with general reprehension, although
+the Mexicans had been guilty of similar deeds themselves,
+as the following brief episode will sufficiently show.</p>
+
+<p>In the summer of 1839, a few Apache prisoners, among
+whom was the wife of a distinguished {298} chief, were
+confined in the calabozo of Paso del Norte. The bereaved
+chief, hearing of their captivity, collected a band of about
+sixty warriors, and, boldly entering the town, demanded
+the release of his consort and friends. The commandant
+of the place wishing to gain time, desired them to return
+the next morning, when their request would be granted.
+During the night the forces of the country were concentrated;
+notwithstanding, when the Apaches reappeared,
+the troops did not show their faces, but remained concealed,
+while the Mexican commandant strove to beguile the
+Indians into the prison, under pretence of delivering to
+them their friends. The unsuspecting chief and twenty
+others were entrapped in this manner, and treacherously
+dispatched in cold blood: not, however, without some loss
+to the Mexicans, who had four or five of their men killed
+in the fracas. Among these was the commandant himself,
+who had no sooner given the word, "<dfn>¡Maten á los
+carajos!</dfn>" (kill the scoundrels!) than the chief retorted, <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg082"></a>[p082]</span>
+"<dfn>¡Entónces morirás tu primero, carajo!</dfn>" (then you shall
+die first, carajo!) and immediately stabbed him to the
+heart!</p>
+
+<p>But as New Mexico is more remote from the usual haunts
+of the Apaches, and, in fact, as her scanty ranchos present
+a much less fruitful field for their operations than the
+abundant haciendas of the South, the depredations of this
+tribe have extended but little upon that province. The
+only serious incursion that has come within my knowledge,
+was some ten {299} years ago. A band of Apache warriors
+boldly approached the town of Socorro<a name="FNanchor_55_55" id="FNanchor_55_55"></a><a href="#Footnote_55_55" class="fnanchor">[55]</a> on the southern
+border, when a battle ensued between them and the Mexican
+force, composed of a company of regular troops and
+all the militia of the place. The Mexicans were soon completely
+routed and chased into the very streets, suffering
+a loss of thirty-three killed and several wounded. The
+savages bore away their slain, yet their loss was supposed
+to be but six or seven. I happened to be in the vicinity
+of the catastrophe the following day, when the utmost
+consternation prevailed among the inhabitants, who were
+in hourly expectation of another descent from the savages.</p>
+
+<p>Many schemes have been devised from time to time,
+particularly by the people of Chihuahua, to check the
+ravages of the Indians, but generally without success.
+Among these the notorious <dfn>Proyecto de Guerra</dfn>, adopted
+in 1837, stands most conspicuous. By this famous 'war-project'
+a scale of rewards was established, to be paid out
+of a fund raised for that purpose. A hundred dollars
+reward were offered for the scalp of a full grown man,
+fifty for that of a squaw, and twenty-five for that of every
+papoose! To the credit of the republic, however, this
+barbarous <i>proyecto</i> was in operation but a few weeks, and <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg083"></a>[p083]</span>
+never received the sanction of the general government;
+although it was strongly advocated by some of the most
+intelligent citizens of Chihuahua. Yet, pending its existence,
+it was rigidly complied with. I saw myself, on one
+{300} occasion, a detachment of horsemen approach the
+Palacio in Chihuahua, preceded by their commanding
+officer, who bore a fresh scalp upon the tip of his lance,
+which he waved high in the air in exultation of his exploit!
+The next number of our little newspaper contained the
+official report of the affair. The soldiers were pursuing
+a band of Apaches, when they discovered a squaw who
+had lagged far behind in her endeavors to bear away her
+infant babe. They dispatched the mother without commiseration
+and took her scalp, which was the one so 'gallantly'
+displayed as already mentioned! The officer concluded
+his report by adding, that the child had died not
+long after it was made prisoner.</p>
+
+<p>The <dfn>Yutas</dfn> (or <dfn>Eutaws</dfn>, as they are generally styled by
+Americans) are one of the most extensive nations of the
+West, being scattered from the north of New Mexico to the
+borders of Snake river and Rio Colorado, and numbering
+at least ten thousand souls. The habits of the tribe are
+altogether itinerant. A band of about a thousand spend
+their winters mostly in the mountain valleys northward
+of Taos, and the summer season generally in the prairie
+plains to the east, hunting buffalo. The vernacular language
+of the Yutas is said to be distantly allied to that of
+the Navajoes, but it has appeared to me much more guttural,
+having a deep sepulchral sound resembling ventriloquism.
+Although these Indians are nominally at peace
+with the New Mexican government, they do not hesitate
+to lay {301} the hunters and traders who happen to fall in
+with their scouring parties under severe contributions;
+and on some occasions they have been known to proceed <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg084"></a>[p084]</span>
+even to personal violence. A prominent Mexican officer<a name="FNanchor_56_56" id="FNanchor_56_56"></a><a href="#Footnote_56_56" class="fnanchor">[56]</a>
+was scourged not long ago by a party of Yutas, and yet
+the government has never dared to resent the outrage.
+Their hostilities, however, have not been confined to Mexican
+traders, as will be perceived by the sequel.</p>
+
+<p>In the summer of 1837, a small party of but five or six
+Shawnees fell in with a large band of Yutas near the eastern
+borders of the Rocky Mountains, south of Arkansas river.
+At first they were received with every demonstration of
+friendship; but the Yutas, emboldened no doubt by the
+small number of their visitors, very soon concluded to
+relieve them of whatever surplus property they might be
+possessed of. The Shawnees, however, much to the astonishment
+of the marauders, instead of quietly surrendering
+their goods and chattels, offered to defend them; upon
+which a skirmish ensued that actually cost the Yutas several
+of their men, including a favorite chief; while the Shawnees
+made their escape unhurt toward their eastern homes.</p>
+
+<p>A few days after this event, and while the Yutas were
+still bewailing the loss of their people, I happened to pass
+near their <dfn>rancherías</dfn> (temporary village) with a small
+caravan which mustered about thirty-five men. We {302}
+had hardly pitched our camp, when they began to flock
+about us—men, squaws, and papooses—in great numbers;
+but the warriors were sullen and reserved, only now and
+then muttering a curse upon the Americans on account of
+the treatment they had just received from the Shawnees,
+whom they considered as half-castes, and our allies. All
+of a sudden, a young warrior seized a splendid steed which
+belonged to our party, and, leaping upon his back, galloped <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg085"></a>[p085]</span>
+off at full speed. Being fully convinced that, by acquiescing
+in this outrage, we should only encourage them to commit
+others, we resolved at once to make a peremptory demand
+for the stolen horse of their principal chief. Our request
+being treated with contumely, we sent in a warlike declaration,
+and forthwith commenced making preparations
+for descending upon the <i>rancherías</i>. The war-whoop
+resounded immediately in every direction; and as the
+Yutas bear a very high character for bravery and skill,
+the readiness with which they seemed to accept our challenge
+began to alarm our party considerably. We had
+defied them to mortal combat merely by way of bravado,
+without the least expectation that they would put themselves
+to so much inconvenience on our account. It was
+too late, however, to back out of the scrape.</p>
+
+<p>No sooner had the alarm been given than the <i>rancherías</i>
+of the Indians were converted into a martial encampment;
+and while the mounted warriors were exhibiting their
+preliminary {303} feats of horsemanship, the squaws and
+papooses flew like scattered partridges to the rocks and
+clefts of a contiguous precipice. One-third of our party
+being Mexicans, the first step of the Indians was to proclaim
+a general <i>indulto</i> to them, in hopes of reducing our
+force, scanty as it was already. "My Mexican friends,"
+exclaimed in good Spanish, a young warrior who daringly
+rode up within a few rods of us, "we don't wish to hurt
+<em>you</em>; so leave those Americans, for we intend to kill every
+one of <em>them</em>." The Mexicans of our party to whom this
+language was addressed, being rancheros of some mettle,
+only answered, "<em>Al diablo</em>! we have not forgotten how
+you treat us when you catch us alone: now that we are with
+Americans who will defend their rights, expect ample <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg086"></a>[p086]</span>
+retaliation for past insults." In truth, these rancheros
+seemed the most anxious to begin the fight,—a remarkable
+instance of the effects of confidence in companions.</p>
+
+<p>A crisis seemed now fast approaching: two swivels we
+had with us were levelled and primed, and the matches
+lighted. Every man was at his post, with his rifle ready
+for execution, each anxious to do his best, whatever might
+be the result; when the Indians, seeing us determined to
+embrace the chances of war, began to open negotiations.
+An aged squaw, said to be the mother of the principal
+chief, rode up and exclaimed, "My sons! the Americans
+and Yutas have been friends, and our old men wish to
+continue so: it is only a {304} few impetuous and strong-headed
+youths who want to fight." The stolen horse
+having been restored soon after this harangue, peace was
+joyfully proclaimed throughout both encampments, and
+the <i>capitanes</i> exchanged ratifications by a social smoke.</p>
+
+<p>The little tribe of Jicarillas also harbored an enmity
+for the Americans, which, in 1834, broke out into a hostile
+<i>rencontre</i>. They had stolen some animals of a gallant
+young backwoodsman from Missouri, who, with a few
+comrades, pursued the marauders into the mountains and
+regained his property; and a fracas ensuing, an Indian or
+two were killed. A few days afterward all their warriors
+visited Santa Fé in a body, and demanded of the authorities
+there, the delivery of the American offenders to their vengeance.
+Though the former showed quite a disposition
+to gratify the savages as far as practicable, they had not
+helpless creatures to deal with, as in the case of the Indian
+prisoners already related. The foreigners, seeing their
+protection devolved upon themselves, prepared for defence,
+when the savages were fain to depart in peace.</p>
+
+<h3 title="Chapter XVI">
+<a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI</h3>
+
+<p class="subhead"><a id="Pg087"></a> Incidents of a Return Trip from Santa Fé — Calibre of our Party — Return
+Caravans — Remittances — Death of Mr. Langham — Burial
+in the Desert — A sudden Attack — Confusion in the Camp — A
+Wolfish Escort — Scarcity of Buffalo — Unprofitable Delusion — Arrival — Table
+of Camping Sites and Distances — Condition
+of the Town of Independence — The Mormons — Their Dishonesty
+and Immorality — Their high-handed Measures, and a Rising of
+the People — A fatal Skirmish — A chivalrous Parade of the Citizens — Expulsion
+of the Mormons — The Meteoric Shower, and Superstition,
+etc. — Wanderings and Improprieties of the 'Latter-day
+Saints' — Gov. Boggs' Recipe — The City of Nauvoo — Contemplated
+Retribution of the Mormons.<a href="#tocXVI"
+class="toclnk">toc</a></p>
+
+<p>I do not propose to detain the reader with an account
+of my journeyings between Mexico and the United States,
+during the seven years subsequent to my first arrival at
+Santa Fé. I will here merely remark, that I crossed the
+plains to the United States in the falls of 1833 and 1836,
+and returned to Santa Fé with goods each succeeding
+spring. It was only in 1838, however, that I eventually
+closed up my affairs in Northern Mexico, and prepared
+to take my leave of the country, as I then supposed, forever.
+But in this I was mistaken, as will appear in the sequel.</p>
+
+<p>The most usual season for the return of the {306} caravans
+to the United States is the autumn, and not one has elapsed
+since the commencement of the trade which has not witnessed
+some departure from Santa Fé with that destination.
+They have also crossed occasionally in the spring, but
+without any regularity or frequency, and generally in very
+small parties. Even the 'fall companies,' in fact, are
+small when compared with the outward-bound caravans;
+for besides the numbers who remain permanently in the
+country, many of those who trade southward return to
+the United States <i>via</i> Matamoros or some other Southern
+port. The return parties of autumn are therefore comparatively
+small, varying in number from fifty to a hundred <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg088"></a>[p088]</span>
+men. They leave Santa Fé some four or five weeks after
+their arrival—generally about the first of September.
+In these companies there are rarely over thirty or forty
+wagons; for a large portion of those taken out by the annual
+caravans are disposed of in the country.</p>
+
+<p>Some of the traders who go out in the spring, return the
+ensuing fall, because they have the good fortune to sell
+off their stock promptly and to advantage: others are compelled
+to return in the fall to save their credit; nay, to preserve
+their homes, which, especially in the earlier periods,
+have sometimes been mortgaged to secure the payment of
+the merchandise they carried out with them. In such
+cases, their goods were not unfrequently sold at great
+sacrifice, to avoid the penalties which the breaking of their
+engagements at home {307} would involve. New adventurers,
+too, are apt to become discouraged with an
+unanticipated dullness of times, and not unfrequently
+sell off at wholesale for the best price they can get, though
+often at a serious loss. But those who are regularly engaged
+in this trade usually calculate upon employing a
+season—perhaps a year, in closing an enterprise—in
+selling off their goods and making their returns.</p>
+
+<p>The wagons of the return caravans are generally but
+lightly laden: one to two thousand pounds constitute the
+regular return cargo for a single wagon; for not only are
+the teams unable to haul heavy loads, on account of the
+decay of pasturage at this season, but the approaching
+winter compels the traders to travel in greater haste; so
+that this trip is usually made in about forty days. The
+amount of freight, too, from that direction is comparatively
+small. The remittances, as has already been mentioned,
+are chiefly in specie, or gold and silver bullion. The gold
+is mostly <i>dust</i>, from the Placer or gold mine near Santa Fé:<a
+name="FNanchor_57_57" id="FNanchor_57_57"></a><a href="#Footnote_57_57"
+class="fnanchor">[57]</a>
+<span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg089"></a>[p089]</span> the silver
+bullion is all from the mines of the South—chiefly
+from those of Chihuahua. To these returns may
+be added a considerable number of mules and asses—some
+buffalo rugs, furs, and wool,—which last barely
+pays a return freight for the wagons that would otherwise
+be empty. Coarse Mexican blankets, which may be
+obtained in exchange for merchandise, have been sold in
+small quantities to advantage on our border.</p>
+
+<p>{308} On the 4th of April, 1838, we departed from
+Santa Fé. Our little party was found to consist of twenty-three
+Americans, with twelve Mexican servants. We had
+seven wagons, one dearborn, and two small field-pieces,
+besides a large assortment of small-arms. The principal
+proprietors carried between them about $150,000 in specie
+and bullion, being for the most part the proceeds of the
+previous year's adventure.</p>
+
+<p>We moved on at a brisk and joyous pace until we reached
+Ocaté creek, a tributary of the Colorado,<a name="FNanchor_58_58" id="FNanchor_58_58"></a><a href="#Footnote_58_58" class="fnanchor">[58]</a> a distance of a
+hundred and thirty miles from Santa Fé, where we encountered
+a very sudden bereavement in the death of Mr.
+Langham, one of our most respected proprietors. This
+gentleman was known to be in weak health, but no fears
+were entertained for his safety. We were all actively
+engaged in assisting the more heavily laden wagons over
+the miry stream, when he was seized with a fit of apoplexy
+and expired instantly. As we had not the means of giving
+the deceased a decent burial, we were compelled to consign
+him to the earth in a shroud of blankets. A grave was
+accordingly dug on an elevated spot near the north bank
+of the creek, and on the morning of the 13th, ere the sun
+had risen in the east, the mortal remains of this most worthy
+<span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg090"></a>[p090]</span> man and valued friend were deposited in their last abode,—without
+a tomb-stone to consecrate the spot, or an
+epitaph to commemorate his virtues. The deceased was
+from St. Louis, {309} though he had passed the last eleven
+years of his life in Santa Fé, during the whole of which
+period he had seen neither his home nor his relatives.</p>
+
+<p>The melancholy rites being concluded, we resumed our
+line of march. We now continued for several days without
+the occurrence of any important accident or adventure.
+On the 19th we encamped in the Cimarron valley, about
+twelve miles below the Willow Bar. The very sight of
+this desolate region, frequented as it is by the most savage
+tribes of Indians, was sufficient to strike dismay into the
+hearts of our party; but as we had not as yet encountered
+any of them, we felt comparatively at ease. Our mules
+and horses were 'staked' as usual around the wagons, and
+every man, except the watch, betook himself to his blanket,
+in anticipation of a good night's rest. The hour of midnight
+had passed away, and nothing had been heard except
+the tramping of the men on guard, and the peculiar grating
+of the mules' teeth, nibbling the short grass of the valley.
+Ere long, however, one of our sentinels got a glimpse of
+some object moving stealthily along, and as he was straining
+his eyes to ascertain what sort of apparition it could be, a
+loud Indian yell suddenly revealed the mystery. This
+was quickly followed by a discharge of fire-arms, and the
+shrill note of the 'Pawnee whistle,' which at once made
+known the character of our visitors. As usual, the utmost
+confusion prevailed in our camp: some, who had been
+snatched {310} from the land of dreams, ran their heads
+against the wagons—others called out for their guns while
+they had them in their hands. During the height of the
+bustle and uproar, a Mexican servant was observed leaning
+with his back against a wagon, and his fusil elevated at an <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg091"></a>[p091]</span>
+angle of forty-five degrees, cocking and pulling the trigger
+without ceasing, and exclaiming at every snap, "<dfn>Carajo,
+no sirve!</dfn>"—Curse it, it's good for nothing.</p>
+
+<p>The firing still continued—the yells grew fiercer and
+more frequent; and everything betokened the approach of
+a terrible conflict. Meanwhile a number of persons were
+engaged in securing the mules and horses which were
+staked around the encampment; and in a few minutes
+they were all shut up in the <dfn>corral</dfn>—a hundred head or
+more in a pen formed by seven wagons. The enemy
+failing in their principal object—to frighten off our stock,
+they soon began to retreat; and in a few minutes nothing
+more was to be heard of them. All that we could discover
+the next morning was, that none of our party had sustained
+any injury, and that we had not lost a single animal.</p>
+
+<p>The Pawnees have been among the most formidable
+and treacherous enemies of the Santa Fé traders. But
+the former have also suffered a little in turn from the caravans.
+In 1832, a company of traders were approached
+by a single Pawnee chief, who commenced a parley with
+them, when he was shot down by a Pueblo Indian of New
+Mexico who happened {311} to be with the caravan. Though
+this cruel act met with the decided reprobation of the traders
+generally, yet they were of course held responsible for it
+by the Indians.</p>
+
+<p>On our passage this time across the 'prairie ocean'
+which lay before us, we ran no risk of getting bewildered
+or lost, for there was now a plain wagon trail across the
+entire stretch of our route, from the Cimarron to Arkansas
+river.</p>
+
+<p>This track, which has since remained permanent, was
+made in the year 1834. Owing to continuous rains during
+the passage of the caravan of that year, a plain trail was
+then cut in the softened turf, on the most direct route across <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg092"></a>[p092]</span>
+this arid desert, leaving the Arkansas about twenty miles
+above the 'Caches.' This has ever since been the regular
+route of the caravans; and thus a recurrence of those distressing
+sufferings from thirst, so frequently experienced
+by early travellers in that inhospitable region, has been
+prevented.</p>
+
+<p>We forded the Arkansas without difficulty, and pursued
+our journey to the Missouri border with comparative ease;
+being only now and then disturbed at night by the hideous
+howling of wolves, a pack of which had constituted themselves
+into a kind of 'guard of honor,' and followed in our
+wake for several hundred miles—in fact to the very border
+of the settlements. They were at first attracted no doubt
+by the remains of buffalo which were killed by us upon the
+high plains, and {312} afterwards enticed on by an occasional
+fagged animal, which we were compelled to leave behind,
+as well as by the bones and scraps of food, which they
+picked up about our camps. Not a few of them paid the
+penalty of their lives for their temerity.</p>
+
+<p>Had we not fortunately been supplied with a sufficiency
+of meat and other provisions, we might have suffered of
+hunger before reaching the settlements; for we saw no
+buffalo after crossing the Arkansas river. It is true that,
+owing to their disrelish for the long dry grass of the eastern
+prairies, the buffalo are rarely found so far east in autumn
+as during the spring; yet I never saw them so scarce in this
+region before. In fact, at all seasons, they are usually
+very abundant as far east as our point of leaving the Arkansas
+river.</p>
+
+<p>Upon reaching the settlements, I had an opportunity of
+experiencing a delusion which had been the frequent subject
+of remark by travellers on the Prairies before. Accustomed
+as we had been for some months to our little
+mules, and the equally small-sized Mexican ponies, our <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg093"></a>[p093]</span>
+sight became so adjusted to their proportions, that when
+we came to look upon the commonest hackney of our
+frontier horses, it appeared to be almost a monster. I
+have frequently heard exclamations of this kind from the
+new arrivals:—"How the Missourians have improved
+their breed of horses!"—"What a huge gelding!"—"Did
+you ever see such an animal!" This delusion is frequently
+availed of by the frontiersmen {313} to put off their meanest
+horses to these deluded travellers for the most enormous
+prices.</p>
+
+<p>On the 11th of May we arrived at Independence, after
+a propitious journey of only thirty-eight days.<a name="FNanchor_59_59" id="FNanchor_59_59"></a><a href="#Footnote_59_59" class="fnanchor">[59]</a> We
+found the town in a thriving condition, although it had
+come very near being laid waste a few years before by the <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg094"></a>[p094]</span>
+Mormons, who had originally selected this section of the
+country for the site of their New Jerusalem. In this they
+certainly displayed far more taste and good sense than
+they are generally supposed to be endowed {314} with: for
+the rich and beautiful uplands in the vicinity of Independence
+might well be denominated the 'garden spot' of the
+Far West. Their principal motive for preferring the
+border country, however, was no doubt a desire to be in
+the immediate vicinity of the Indians, as the reclamation
+of the 'Lost tribes of Israel' was a part of their pretended
+mission.</p>
+
+<p>Prior to 1833, the Mormons, who were then flocking in
+great swarms to this favored region, had made considerable
+purchases of lots and tracts of land both in the town of
+Independence and in the adjacent country. A general
+depot, profanely styled the 'Lord's Store,' was established,
+from which the faithful were supplied with merchandise
+at moderate prices; while those who possessed any surplus
+of property were expected to deposit it in the same, for the
+benefit of the mass. The Mormons were at first kindly
+received by the good people of the country, who looked
+upon them as a set of harmless fanatics, very susceptible
+of being moulded into good and honest citizens. This
+confidence, however, was not destined to remain long in
+the ascendant, for they soon began to find that the corn
+in their cribs was sinking like snow before the sun-rays,
+and that their hogs and their cattle were by some mysterious
+agency rapidly disappearing. The new-comers also drew
+upon themselves much animadversion in consequence of
+the immorality of their lives, and in particular their disregard
+for the sacred rites of marriage.</p>
+
+<p>{315} Still they continued to spread and multiply, not
+by conversion but by immigration, to an alarming extent;
+and in proportion as they grew strong in numbers, they <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg095"></a>[p095]</span>
+also became more exacting and bold in their pretensions.
+In a little paper printed at Independence under their immediate
+auspices,<a name="FNanchor_60_60" id="FNanchor_60_60"></a><a href="#Footnote_60_60" class="fnanchor">[60]</a> everything was said that could provoke
+hostility between the 'saints' and their 'worldly' neighbors,
+until at last they became so emboldened by impunity, as
+openly to boast of their determination to be the sole proprietors
+of the 'Land of Zion;' a revelation to that effect
+having been made to their prophet.</p>
+
+<p>The people now began to perceive, that, at the rate the
+intruders were increasing, they would soon be able to command
+a majority of the country, and consequently the
+entire control of affairs would fall into their hands. It
+was evident, then, that one of the two parties would in the
+course of time have to abandon the country; for the old
+settlers could not think of bringing up their families in the
+midst of such a corrupt state of society as the Mormons
+were establishing. Still the nuisance was endured very
+patiently, and without any attempt at retaliation, until the
+'saints' actually threatened to eject their opponents by
+main force. This last stroke of impudence at once roused
+the latent spirit of the honest backwoodsmen, some of
+whom were of the pioneer settlers of Missouri, and had
+become familiar with danger in their terrific wars with the
+savages. They were therefore by no {316} means appropriate
+subjects for yielding what they believed to be their
+rights. Meetings were held for the purpose of devising
+means of redress, which only tended to increase the insolence
+of the Mormons. Finally a mob was collected
+which proceeded at once to raze the obnoxious printing
+establishment to the ground, and to destroy all the materials
+they could lay hands upon. One or two of the Mormon
+leaders who fell into the hands of the people, were treated <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg096"></a>[p096]</span>
+to a clean suit of 'tar and feathers,' and otherwise severely
+punished.<a name="FNanchor_61_61" id="FNanchor_61_61"></a><a href="#Footnote_61_61" class="fnanchor">[61]</a> The 'Prophet Joseph,' however, was not then
+in the neighborhood. Having observed the storm-clouds
+gathering apace in the frontier horizon, he very wisely
+remained in Ohio, whence he issued his flaming mandates.</p>
+
+<p>These occurrences took place in the month of October,
+1833, and I reached Independence from Santa Fé while
+the excitement was raging at its highest. The Mormons
+had rallied some ten miles west of the town, where their
+strongest settlements were located. A hostile encounter
+was hourly expected: nay, a skirmish actually took place
+shortly after, in which a respectable lawyer of Independence,
+who had been an active agent against the Mormons,
+was killed. In short, the whole country was in a state of
+dreadful fermentation.</p>
+
+<p>Early on the morning after the skirmish just referred
+to, a report reached Independence that the Mormons were
+marching in a {317} body towards the town, with the intention
+of sacking and burning it. I had often heard the cry
+of "Indians!" announcing the approach of hostile savages,
+but I do not remember ever to have witnessed so much
+consternation as prevailed at Independence on this memorable
+occasion. The note of alarm was sounded far and
+near, and armed men, eager for the fray, were rushing in
+from every quarter. Officers were summarily selected
+without deference to rank or station: the 'spirit-stirring
+drum' and the 'ear-piercing fife' made the air resound with
+music, and a little army of as brave and resolute a set of
+fellows as ever trod a field of battle, was, in a very short
+time, paraded through the streets. After a few preliminary
+exercises, they started for a certain point on the road where
+they intended to await the approach of the Mormons. <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg097"></a>[p097]</span>
+The latter very soon made their appearance, but surprised
+at meeting with so formidable a reception, they never even
+attempted to pull a trigger, but at once surrendered at
+discretion. They were immediately disarmed, and subsequently
+released upon condition of their leaving the country
+without delay.</p>
+
+<p>It was very soon after this affair that the much talked
+of phenomenon of the meteoric shower (on the night of
+November 12th) occurred. This extraordinary visitation
+did not fail to produce its effects upon the superstitious
+minds of a few ignorant people, who began to wonder
+whether, after all, the Mormons might not be in the right;
+and whether this was not a sign sent from heaven as a
+remonstrance for the injustice they had been guilty of
+towards that chosen sect.<a name="FNanchor_62_62" id="FNanchor_62_62"></a><a href="#Footnote_62_62" class="fnanchor">[62]</a> Sometime afterward, a terrible
+misfortune occurred which was in no way calculated to
+allay the superstitious fears of the ignorant. As some
+eight or ten citizens were returning with the ferry-boat
+which had crossed the last Mormons over the Missouri
+river, into Clay county, the district selected for their new
+home, the craft filled with water and sunk in the middle
+of the current; by which accident three or four men were
+drowned!<a name="FNanchor_63_63" id="FNanchor_63_63"></a><a href="#Footnote_63_63" class="fnanchor">[63]</a> It was owing perhaps to the craziness of the
+boat, yet some persons suspected the Mormons of having
+scuttled it by secretly boring auger-holes in the bottom
+just before they had left it.</p>
+
+<p>After sojourning a few months in Clay county, to the
+serious annoyance of the inhabitants (though, in fact, they <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg098"></a>[p098]</span>
+had been kindly received at first), the <i>persecuted</i> 'Latter
+day Saints' were again compelled to shift their quarters
+further off. They now sought to establish themselves in
+the new country of Caldwell, and founded their town of
+Far West, where they lingered in comparative peace for
+a few years.<a name="FNanchor_64_64" id="FNanchor_64_64"></a><a href="#Footnote_64_64" class="fnanchor">[64]</a> As the county began to fill up with settlers
+however, quarrels repeatedly {319} broke out, until at last,
+in 1838, they found themselves again at open war with their
+neighbors. They appear to have set the laws of the state
+at defiance, and to have acted so turbulently throughout,
+that Governor Boggs deemed it necessary to order out a
+large force of state militia to subject them: which was
+easily accomplished without bloodshed. From that time
+the Mormons have harbored a mortal enmity towards the
+Governor: and the attempt which was afterwards made
+to assassinate him at Independence, is generally believed
+to have been instigated, if not absolutely perpetrated, by
+that deluded sect.<a name="FNanchor_65_65" id="FNanchor_65_65"></a><a href="#Footnote_65_65" class="fnanchor">[65]</a></p>
+
+<p>Being once more forced to emigrate, they passed into
+Illinois, where they founded the famous 'City of Nauvoo.'
+It would seem that their reception from the people of this
+state was even more strongly marked with kindness and
+indulgence than it had been elsewhere, being generally
+looked upon as the victims of persecution on account of <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg099"></a>[p099]</span>
+their religious belief; yet it appears that the good people
+of Illinois have since become about as tired of them as were
+any of their former neighbors.<a name="FNanchor_66_66" id="FNanchor_66_66"></a><a href="#Footnote_66_66" class="fnanchor">[66]</a> It seems very clear then,
+that fanatical delusion is not the only sin which stamps
+the conduct of these people with so much obliquity, or they
+would certainly have found permanent friends somewhere;
+whereas it is well known that a general aversion has prevailed
+against them wherever they have sojourned.</p>
+
+<p>Before concluding this chapter, it may be {320} proper
+to remark, that the Mormons have invariably refused to
+sell any of the property they had acquired in Missouri, but
+have on the contrary expressed a firm determination to
+reconquer their lost purchases.<a name="FNanchor_67_67" id="FNanchor_67_67"></a><a href="#Footnote_67_67" class="fnanchor">[67]</a> Of these, a large lot,
+situated on an elevated point at Independence, known as
+the 'Temple Lot,' upon which the 'Temple of Zion' was
+to have been raised,—has lately been 'profaned,' by
+cultivation, having been converted into a corn-field!</p>
+
+<div class="footnotes">
+<h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_35_35" id="Footnote_35_35"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_35_35"><span class="label">[35]</span></a>
+See our volume xix, p. 293, note 116 (Gregg).—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_36_36" id="Footnote_36_36"></a><a href="#FNanchor_36_36"><span class="label">[36]</span></a> The Casa Grande ruin in Pinal County, Arizona, just south of Gila River,
+has been known to antiquarians since the first discovery of the region. The earliest
+detailed description was written after the visit of Father Kuehne (Kino) in 1694.
+American explorers noted it during the passage of 1846; Bartlett's description of
+1854 was the most faithful. For recent accounts, see Cosmos Mindeleff, in U. S.
+Bureau of Ethnology <cite>Reports</cite>, 1891-92, pp. 295-361; 1893-94, pp. 321-349. In
+1889 congress appropriated funds for its preservation and repair, and in 1892 set
+it apart as a public reservation. Modern archæologists discredit any connection
+of its builders with Mexican Aztecs. It is a work of Pueblo Indians, probably of
+the ancestors of the modern Pima—see our volume xviii, p. 200, note 96. This ruin
+should not be confused with one of a like name in Northern Mexico, for which see
+volume xviii of our series, p. 155, note 88.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_37_37" id="Footnote_37_37"></a><a href="#FNanchor_37_37"><span class="label">[37]</span></a> It is uncertain to which ruin Gregg here refers. That of Cebolitta, not far
+from Acoma, answers his description as built of sandstone. There is a small ruin
+at Ojos Bonitos, not far from Zuñi, that may be intended; but the more probable
+is the former, on the well-known trace between Acoma and Zuñi, and of remarkably
+good workmanship in stone.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_38_38" id="Footnote_38_38"></a><a href="#FNanchor_38_38"><span class="label">[38]</span></a> For the Navaho, Apache, and Ute tribes, see our volume xviii, p. 69 (note 41),
+p. 109 (note 60), p. 140 (note 70); for the Kiowa, volume xv, p. 157, note 48; for the
+Comanche, volume xvi, p. 233, note 109.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_39_39" id="Footnote_39_39"></a><a href="#FNanchor_39_39"><span class="label">[39]</span></a>
+ The Jicarrilla (Xicarrilla) are of <i>Athapascan</i> stock, but from the similarity
+of their language are classed as Apache, although they are not known to have had
+any tribal connection with them. Their alliance was more frequently with the
+Ute, with whom they intermarried, and whose customs they assimilated.
+They were a predatory race, and from their vantage ground on the upper waters
+of the Rio Grande, Pecos, and Canadian, caused much annoyance. They are
+now located on a reservation in Rio Arriba County, and number about seven hundred
+and fifty.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_40_40" id="Footnote_40_40"></a><a href="#FNanchor_40_40"><span class="label">[40]</span></a> For Humboldt, see our volume xviii, p. 345, note 136.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_41_41" id="Footnote_41_41"></a><a href="#FNanchor_41_41"><span class="label">[41]</span></a> The Navaho were friendly with the Spaniards until about 1700, when they
+began depredations and cattle lifting, and frequent campaigns against them were
+undertaken. In 1744 a mission was attempted among them, which was abandoned
+after six years' futile efforts. Serious difficulties, however, did not recur until the
+beginning of the nineteenth century. The period of Gregg's sojourn in New
+Mexico was that of greatest hostility. For over twenty-five years the United
+States government had much difficulty with the Navaho. There are yet over
+twenty thousand of these tribesmen on the different reservations, chiefly in Arizona.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_42_42" id="Footnote_42_42"></a><a href="#FNanchor_42_42"><span class="label">[42]</span></a> Cochiti is one of the smaller Queres pueblos, situated on the west side of the
+Rio Grande, almost directly west of Santa Fé. It was near the same spot, at the
+time of the Spanish accession in 1598. The Cochitiaños took part in the rebellions
+of 1680 and 1696, and part of the mutineers were, about 1699, removed to the
+pueblo of Laguna. There are now less than two hundred and fifty inhabitants
+of this Indian village.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_43_43" id="Footnote_43_43"></a><a href="#FNanchor_43_43"><span class="label">[43]</span></a>
+The only other authority for this campaign is A. R.
+Thümmel, <cite>Mexiko und
+die Mexikaner</cite> (Erlangen, 1848), pp. 350, 351.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_44_44" id="Footnote_44_44"></a><a href="#FNanchor_44_44"><span class="label">[44]</span></a>
+ For Governor José Gonzalez and his exploits during the insurrection of 1837
+see preceding volume, ch. vi (Gregg).—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_45_45" id="Footnote_45_45"></a><a href="#FNanchor_45_45"><span class="label">[45]</span></a>
+ <dfn>Mezcal</dfn> is the baked root of the <dfn>maguey</dfn> (<i>agave Americana</i>) and of another
+somewhat similar plant.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_46_46" id="Footnote_46_46"></a><a href="#FNanchor_46_46"><span class="label">[46]</span></a> Like the Jicarrilla, the Mescallero were in reality a distinct tribe, and related
+to the Apache only by linguistic affinities. Since 1865 they have been confined
+upon a reservation in southern New Mexico, where about four hundred still
+exist. The Coyoteros is one of some dozen tribes or bands among the Apache
+proper.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_47_47" id="Footnote_47_47"></a><a href="#FNanchor_47_47"><span class="label">[47]</span></a> It has been credibly asserted, that, during one of these 'bold pursuits,' a band
+of Comanches stopped in the suburbs of a village on Rio Conchos, turned their
+horses into the wheat-fields, and took a comfortable <i>siesta</i>—desirous, it seemed,
+to behold their pursuers face to face; yet, after remaining most of the day, they
+departed without enjoying that pleasure.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_48_48" id="Footnote_48_48"></a><a href="#FNanchor_48_48"><span class="label">[48]</span></a> Or <i>Chihuahuenses</i>, citizens of Chihuahua.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_49_49" id="Footnote_49_49"></a><a href="#FNanchor_49_49"><span class="label">[49]</span></a> During the so-called "Pastry War," for which see our volume xix, p. 274,
+note 101 (Gregg).—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_50_50" id="Footnote_50_50"></a><a href="#FNanchor_50_50"><span
+class="label">[50]</span></a> <cite>Noticioso de Chihuahua</cite> of December 28,
+ 1838.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_51_51" id="Footnote_51_51"></a><a href="#FNanchor_51_51"><span class="label">[51]</span></a> The experience of the United States army with the Apache has not proved
+their cowardice. Since the running of the boundary line after the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo
+(1848) up to 1886, one outbreak after another characterized our
+relations with the Apache. For fifteen years (1871-86) General Crook watched
+the Apache, and after each raid forced them back upon their reservations.
+Geronimo's band, which surrendered in September, 1886, was transported to
+Florida and Alabama.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_52_52" id="Footnote_52_52"></a><a href="#FNanchor_52_52"><span class="label">[52]</span></a> The leader's name was James Johnson, who afterwards removed to California,
+where he died in poverty. See H. H. Bancroft, <cite>History of Arizona and
+New Mexico</cite>, p. 407.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_53_53" id="Footnote_53_53"></a><a href="#FNanchor_53_53"><span class="label">[53]</span></a> Bancroft (<i>op. cit.</i>) relates the escape of Benjamin Wilson, who afterwards
+narrated the event, and the death of the leader, Charles Kemp.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_54_54" id="Footnote_54_54"></a><a href="#FNanchor_54_54"><span class="label">[54]</span></a> The Apaches, previous to this date, had committed but few depredations upon
+foreigners—restrained either by fear or respect. Small parties of the latter were
+permitted to pass the highways of the wilderness unmolested, while large caravans
+of Mexicans suffered frequent attacks. This apparent partiality produced unfounded
+jealousies, and the Americans were openly accused of holding secret
+treaties with the enemy, and even of supplying them with arms and ammunition.
+Although an occasional foreigner engaged in this clandestine and culpable traffic,
+yet the natives themselves embarked in it beyond comparison more extensively,
+as has been noted in another place. This unjust impression against Americans
+was partially effaced as well by the catastrophes mentioned in the text, as by the
+defeat and robbery (in which, however, no American lives were lost), of a small
+party of our people, about the same period, in <cite>La Jornada del Muerto</cite>, on their way
+from Chihuahua to Santa Fé.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_55_55" id="Footnote_55_55"></a><a href="#FNanchor_55_55"><span class="label">[55]</span></a> For Socorro, consult Pattie's <cite>Narrative</cite>, in our volume xviii, p. 86, note
+52.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_56_56" id="Footnote_56_56"></a><a href="#FNanchor_56_56"><span class="label">[56]</span></a> Don Juan Andrés Archuleta, who commanded at the capture of Gen. McLeod's
+division of the Texans.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_57_57" id="Footnote_57_57"></a><a href="#FNanchor_57_57"><span class="label">[57]</span></a> For the placer mines, see our volume xix, p. 304, note 128 (Gregg).—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_58_58" id="Footnote_58_58"></a><a href="#FNanchor_58_58"><span class="label">[58]</span></a> Ocaté Creek is in Mora County, New Mexico, a tributary of the upper waters
+of the Canadian, one of the several streams called Colorado by the Mexicans.
+Because of this name, it was thought (until Long's expedition in 1820) to be the
+headwaters of Red River.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_59_59" id="Footnote_59_59"></a><a href="#FNanchor_59_59"><span
+class="label">[59]</span></a> Having crossed the Prairies between
+Independence and Santa Fé six times,
+I can now present a table of the most notable camping sites, and their respective
+intermediate distances, with approximate accuracy—which may prove acceptable
+to some future travellers. The whole distance has been variously estimated at
+from 750 to 800 miles, yet I feel confident that the aggregate here presented is very
+nearly the true distance.</p>
+
+<table id="fn59table" summary="Independence to Santa Fé camping sites and distances">
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">From <span class="smcap">Independence</span> to</td>
+ <td align="right"><i>M.</i></td>
+ <td align="right"><i>Agg.</i></td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">Round Grove,</td>
+ <td align="right">35</td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">Narrows,</td>
+ <td align="right">30</td>
+ <td align="right">65</td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">110-mile Creek,</td>
+ <td align="right">30</td>
+ <td align="right">95</td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">Bridge Cr.,</td>
+ <td align="right">8</td>
+ <td align="right">103</td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">Big John Spring, (crossing sv'l. Crs.)</td>
+ <td align="right">40</td>
+ <td align="right">143</td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">Council Grove,</td>
+ <td align="right">2</td>
+ <td align="right">145</td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">Diamond Spring,</td>
+ <td align="right">15</td>
+ <td align="right">160</td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">Lost Spring,</td>
+ <td align="right">15</td>
+ <td align="right">175</td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">Cottonwood Cr.,</td>
+ <td align="right">12</td>
+ <td align="right">187</td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">Turkey Cr.,</td>
+ <td align="right">25</td>
+ <td align="right">212</td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">Little Arkansas,</td>
+ <td align="right">17</td>
+ <td align="right">229</td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">Cow Creek,</td>
+ <td align="right">20</td>
+ <td align="right">249</td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">Arkansas River,</td>
+ <td align="right">16</td>
+ <td align="right">265</td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">Walnut Cr., (up Ark. r.)</td>
+ <td align="right">8</td>
+ <td align="right">273</td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">Ash Creek,</td>
+ <td align="right">19</td>
+ <td align="right">292</td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">Pawnee Fork,</td>
+ <td align="right">6</td>
+ <td align="right">298</td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">Coon Creek,</td>
+ <td align="right">33</td>
+ <td align="right">331</td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">Caches,</td>
+ <td align="right">36</td>
+ <td align="right">367</td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">Ford of Arkansas,</td>
+ <td align="right">20</td>
+ <td align="right">387</td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">Sand Cr. (leav. Ark. r.)</td>
+ <td align="right">50</td>
+ <td align="right">437</td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">Cimarron r. (Lower sp.)</td>
+ <td align="right">8</td>
+ <td align="right">445</td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">Middle spr. (up Cim. r.)</td>
+ <td align="right">36</td>
+ <td align="right">481</td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">Willow Bar,</td>
+ <td align="right">26</td>
+ <td align="right">507</td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">Upper Spring,</td>
+ <td align="right">18</td>
+ <td align="right">525</td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">Cold spr. (leav. Cim. r.)</td>
+ <td align="right">5</td>
+ <td align="right">530</td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">M'Nees's Cr.,</td>
+ <td align="right">25</td>
+ <td align="right">555</td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">Rabbit-ear Cr.,</td>
+ <td align="right">20</td>
+ <td align="right">575</td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">Round Mound,</td>
+ <td align="right">8</td>
+ <td align="right">583</td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">Rock Creek,</td>
+ <td align="right">8</td>
+ <td align="right">591</td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">Point of Rocks,</td>
+ <td align="right">19</td>
+ <td align="right">610</td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">Rio Colorado,</td>
+ <td align="right">20</td>
+ <td align="right">630</td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">Ocatè,</td>
+ <td align="right">6</td>
+ <td align="right">636</td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">Santa Clara Spr.,</td>
+ <td align="right">21</td>
+ <td align="right">657</td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">Rio Mora,</td>
+ <td align="right">22</td>
+ <td align="right">679</td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">Rio Gallinas (Vegas),</td>
+ <td align="right">20</td>
+ <td align="right">699</td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">Ojo de Bernal (spr.),</td>
+ <td align="right">17</td>
+ <td align="right">716</td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">San Miguel,</td>
+ <td align="right">6</td>
+ <td align="right">722</td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">Pecos village,</td>
+ <td align="right">23</td>
+ <td align="right">755</td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left"><span class="smcap">Santa Fe</span>,</td>
+ <td align="right">25</td>
+ <td align="right">770</td></tr>
+</table>
+<p><span style="margin-left: 15em;">—<span
+ class="smcap">Gregg.</span></span></p>
+</div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_60_60" id="Footnote_60_60"></a><a href="#FNanchor_60_60"><span class="label">[60]</span></a> This paper, the first printed in Jackson County, was called The Evening and
+Morning Star, the first issue being in June, 1832.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_61_61" id="Footnote_61_61"></a><a href="#FNanchor_61_61"><span class="label">[61]</span></a> This occurred July 20, 1833. Bishop Partridge and Charles Allen were the
+victims of the punishment.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_62_62" id="Footnote_62_62"></a><a href="#FNanchor_62_62"><span class="label">[62]</span></a> In Northern Mexico, as I learned afterwards, the credulity of the superstitious
+was still more severely tried by this celestial phenomenon. Their Church had been
+deprived of some important privileges by the Congress but a short time before, and
+the people could not be persuaded but that the meteoric shower was intended as a
+curse upon the nation in consequence of that sacrilegious act.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_63_63" id="Footnote_63_63"></a><a href="#FNanchor_63_63"><span class="label">[63]</span></a> The following were drowned: James Campbell, George Bradbury, David
+Linch, Thomas Harrington, William Everett, Smallwood Nolan.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_64_64" id="Footnote_64_64"></a><a href="#FNanchor_64_64"><span class="label">[64]</span></a> Far West was begun in 1836; by 1838 there was a Mormon population of
+twelve thousand in and around the city.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_65_65" id="Footnote_65_65"></a><a href="#FNanchor_65_65"><span class="label">[65]</span></a> Lilburn W. Boggs was born in Kentucky in 1798. Early removed to Missouri,
+he became prominent as a trader, pioneer, and political leader. In 1832 he was
+elected lieutenant-governor, serving as the acting-governor during part of his term.
+At its close (1836) he was chosen governor, and served for four years. During
+this term he incurred the animosity of the Mormons, by what was known as his
+"extermination order," issued in October, 1838. The attempt to assassinate
+him at the close of his term of office, at his home in Independence (1841), was
+popularly ascribed to a Mormon fanatic, who was, however, acquitted in the courts.
+In 1846 Governor Boggs led an overland party to California, where he assisted in
+the American occupation. Removed to Napa Valley in 1852, he died there nine
+years later. His wife was a granddaughter of Daniel Boone.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_66_66" id="Footnote_66_66"></a><a href="#FNanchor_66_66"><span class="label">[66]</span></a> The year in which Gregg's book was published (June, 1844), Prophet Joseph
+Smith was killed by a mob in the jail of Carthage, Illinois.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_67_67" id="Footnote_67_67"></a><a href="#FNanchor_67_67"><span class="label">[67]</span></a> After the death of the founder there was dissension in the ranks, one wing
+being headed by his eldest son, Joseph Smith III. The latter founded what is
+known as the Reorganized Church of Latter Day Saints, which repudiates polygamy.
+These were the sectarians who returned to Jackson County, Missouri, where a
+large number now reside.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div></div>
+
+<h3 title="Chapter XVII">
+<a name="CHAPTER_XVII_I68" id="CHAPTER_XVII_I68"></a>CHAPTER
+ XVII {I}<a name="FNanchor_68_68" id="FNanchor_68_68"></a><a
+ href="#Footnote_68_68" class="fnanchor">[68]</a></h3>
+
+<p class="subhead">A Return to Prairie Life — Abandonment of the regular Route — The
+Start — A Suicide — Arrest of a Mulatto for Debt — Cherokee
+'Bankrupt Law' — Chuly, the Creek Indian — The Muster and
+the Introduction — An '<i>Olla Podrida</i>' — Adventure of a 'Down-Easter' — Arrival
+of U.S. Dragoons — Camp Holmes, and the Road — A
+Visit from a Party of Comanches — Tabba-quena, a noted Chief — His
+extraordinary Geographical Talent — Indians set out for
+the 'Capitan Grande,' and we through an Unexplored Region — Rejoined
+by Tabba-quena and his '<i>suite</i>' — Spring Valley — The
+Buffalo Fever — The Chase — A Green-horn Scamper — Prairie Fuel.<a href="#tocXVII"
+class="toclnk">toc</a></p>
+
+<p>An unconquerable propensity to return to prairie life
+inclined me to embark in a fresh enterprise. The blockade <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg100"></a>[p100]</span>
+of the Mexican ports by the French also offered strong
+inducements for undertaking such an expedition in the
+spring of 1839; for as Chihuahua is supplied principally
+through the sea-ports, it was now evident that the place
+must be suffering from great scarcity of goods. Being
+anxious to reach the market before the ports of the Gulf
+were reopened, we deemed it expedient to abandon the
+regular route from {10} Missouri for one wholly untried,
+from the borders of Arkansas, where the pasturage springs
+up nearly a month earlier. It is true, that such an attempt
+to convey heavily laden wagons through an unexplored
+region was attended with considerable risk; but as I was
+familiar with the general character of the plains contiguous
+to the north, I felt little or no apprehension of serious difficulties,
+except from what might be occasioned by regions of
+sandy soil. I have often been asked since, why we did not
+steer directly for Chihuahua, as our trade was chiefly
+destined for that place, instead of taking the circuitous
+route <i>via</i> Santa Fé. I answer, that we dreaded a journey
+across the southern prairies on account of the reputed aridity
+of the country in that direction, and I had no great desire to
+venture directly into a southern port in the present state
+of uncertainty as to the conditions of entry.</p>
+
+<p>Suitable arrangements having been made, and a choice
+stock of about $25,000 worth of goods shipped to Van Buren<a name="FNanchor_69_69" id="FNanchor_69_69"></a><a href="#Footnote_69_69" class="fnanchor">[69]</a>
+on the Arkansas river, we started on the evening of the 21st
+of April, but made very little progress for the first eight days.
+While we were yet but ten or fifteen miles from Van Buren, <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg101"></a>[p101]</span>
+an incident occurred which was attended with very melancholy
+results. A young man named Hays, who had driven
+a wagon for me for several months through the interior of
+Mexico, and thence to the United States in 1838, having
+heard that this expedition was projected, {11} was desirous
+of engaging again in the same employ. I was equally
+desirous to secure his services, as he was well-tried, and had
+proved himself an excellent fellow on those perilous journeys.
+But soon after our outset, and without any apparent reason,
+he expressed an inclination to abandon the trip. I earnestly
+strove to dissuade him from his purpose, and supposed I
+had succeeded. What was my surprise, then, upon my
+return after a few hours' absence in advance of the company,
+to learn that he had secretly absconded! I was now led to
+reflect upon some of his eccentricities, and bethought me of
+several evident indications of slight mental derangement.
+We were, however, but a few miles from the settlements of
+the whites, and in the midst of the civilized Cherokees, where
+there was little or no danger of his suffering; therefore, there
+seemed but little occasion for serious uneasiness on his
+account. As it was believed he had shaped his course back
+to Van Buren, I immediately wrote to our friends there,
+to have search made for him. However, nothing could be
+found of him till the next day, when his hat and coat were
+discovered upon the bank of the Arkansas, near Van Buren,
+which were the last traces ever had of the unfortunate
+Hays! Whether intentionally or accidentally, he was evidently
+drowned.</p>
+
+<p>On the 28th of April we crossed the Arkansas river a few
+miles above the mouth of the Canadian fork.<a name="FNanchor_70_70" id="FNanchor_70_70"></a><a href="#Footnote_70_70" class="fnanchor">[70]</a> We had only
+proceeded {12} a short distance beyond, when a Cherokee
+shop-keeper came up to us with an attachment for debt <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg102"></a>[p102]</span>
+against a free mulatto whom we had engaged as teamster.
+The poor fellow had no alternative but to return with the
+importunate creditor, who committed him at once to the
+care of 'Judge Lynch' for trial. We ascertained afterwards
+that he had been sentenced to 'take the benefit of the bankrupt
+law' after the manner of the Cherokees of that neighborhood.
+This is done by stripping and tying the victim
+to a tree; when each creditor, with a good cowhide or
+hickory switch in his hand, scores the amount of the bill due
+upon his bare back. One stripe for every dollar due is the
+usual process of 'whitewashing;' and as the application of
+the lash is accompanied by all sorts of quaint remarks, the
+exhibition affords no small merriment to those present, with
+the exception, no doubt, of the delinquent himself. After
+the ordeal is over, the creditors declare themselves perfectly
+satisfied: nor could they, as is said, ever be persuaded thereafter
+to receive one red cent of the amount due, even if it
+were offered to them. As the poor mulatto was also in our
+debt, and was perhaps apprehensive that we might exact
+payment in the same currency, he never showed himself
+again.</p>
+
+<p>On the 2d of May we crossed the North Fork of the
+Canadian about a mile from its confluence with the main
+stream. A little westward of this there is a small village of
+{13} Creek Indians, and a shop or two kept by American
+traders.<a name="FNanchor_71_71" id="FNanchor_71_71"></a><a href="#Footnote_71_71" class="fnanchor">[71]</a> An Indian who had quarrelled with his wife,
+came out and proposed to join us, and, to our great surprise,
+carried his proposal into execution. The next morning his
+repentant consort came into our camp, and set up a most
+dismal weeping and howling after her truant husband, who,
+notwithstanding, was neither to be caught by tears nor <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg103"></a>[p103]</span>
+softened by entreaties, but persisted in his determination to
+see foreign countries. His name was Echú-eleh-hadjó (or
+<dfn>Crazy-deer-foot</dfn>), but, for brevity's sake, we always called
+him <dfn>Chuly</dfn>. He was industrious, and possessed many clever
+qualities, though somewhat disposed to commit excesses
+whenever he could procure liquor, which fortunately did
+not occur until our arrival at Santa Fé. He proved to be a
+good and willing hand on the way, but as he spoke no
+English, our communication with him was somewhat
+troublesome. I may as well add here, that, while in Santa
+Fé, he took another freak and joined a volunteer corps,
+chiefly of Americans, organized under one James Kirker to
+fight the Navajó and Apache Indians; the government of
+Chihuahua having guarantied to them all the spoils they
+should take.<a name="FNanchor_72_72" id="FNanchor_72_72"></a><a href="#Footnote_72_72" class="fnanchor">[72]</a> With these our Creek found a few of his 'red
+brethren'—Shawnees and Delawares, who had wandered
+thus far from the frontier of Missouri. After this little
+army was disbanded, Chuly returned home, as I have been
+informed, with a small {14} party who crossed the plains
+directly from Chihuahua.</p>
+
+<p>We had never considered ourselves as perfectly <i>en chemin</i>
+till after crossing the Arkansas river; and as our little party
+experienced no further change, I may now be permitted to
+introduce them collectively to the reader. It consisted of
+thirty-four men, including my brother John Gregg and
+myself. These men had all been hired by us except three,
+two of whom were Eastern-bred boys—a tailor and a silversmith—good-natured,
+clever little fellows, who had thought
+themselves at the 'jumping-off place' when they reached <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg104"></a>[p104]</span>
+Van Buren, but now seemed nothing loth to extend their
+peregrinations a thousand miles or so further, in the hope
+of 'doing' the 'Spaniards,' as the Mexicans are generally
+styled in the West, out of a little surplus of specie. The other
+was a German peddler, who somewhat resembled the
+Dutchman's horse, "put him as you vant, and he ish alvays
+tere;" for he did nothing during the whole journey but
+descant on the value of a chest of trumperies which he carried,
+and with which he calculated, as he expressed it, to
+"py a plenty of te Shpanish tollar." The trip across the
+Prairies cost these men absolutely nothing, inasmuch as we
+furnished them with all the necessaries for the journey, in
+consideration of the additional strength they brought to our
+company.</p>
+
+<p>It is seldom that such a variety of ingredients are found
+mixed up in so small a compass. {15} Here were the representatives
+of seven distinct nations, each speaking his own
+native language, which produced at times a very respectable
+jumble of discordant sounds. There was one Frenchman
+whose volubility of tongue and curious gesticulations, contrasted
+very strangely with the frigidity of two phlegmatic
+wanderers from Germany; while the calm eccentricity of
+two Polish exiles, the stoical look of two sons of the desert
+(the Creek already spoken of, and a Chickasaw), and the
+pantomimic gestures of sundry loquacious Mexicans, contributed
+in no small degree to heighten the effects of the
+picture. The Americans were mostly backwoodsmen, who
+could handle the rifle far better than the whip, but who
+nevertheless officiated as wagoners.</p>
+
+<p>We had fourteen road-wagons, half drawn by mules, the
+others by oxen (eight of each to the team); besides a carriage
+and a Jersey wagon. Then we had two swivels mounted
+upon one pair of wheels; but one of them was attached to
+a movable truckle, so that, upon stopping, it could be transferred <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg105"></a>[p105]</span>
+to the other side of the wagons. One of these was a
+long brass piece made to order, with a calibre of but an inch
+and a quarter, yet of sufficient metal to throw a leaden ball
+to the distance of a mile with surprising accuracy. The
+other was of iron, and a little larger. Besides these, our
+party was well supplied with small arms. The Americans
+mostly had their rifles and a musket in addition, which {16}
+they carried in their wagons, always well charged with ball
+and buckshot. Then my brother and myself were each
+provided with one of Colt's repeating rifles, and a pair of
+pistols of the same, so that we could, if necessary, carry
+thirty-six ready-loaded shots apiece; which alone constituted
+a capacity of defence rarely matched even on the Prairies.</p>
+
+<p>Previous to our departure we had received a promise from
+the war department of an escort of U.S. Dragoons, as far as
+the borders of the Mexican territory; but, upon sending an
+express to Gen. Arbuckle at Fort Gibson to that effect,<a name="FNanchor_73_73" id="FNanchor_73_73"></a><a href="#Footnote_73_73" class="fnanchor">[73]</a> we
+were informed that in consequence of some fresh troubles
+among the Cherokees, it was doubtful whether the force
+could be spared in time. This was certainly no very agreeable
+news, inasmuch as the escort would have been very
+serviceable in assisting to search out a track over the unexplored
+wilderness we had to pass. It was too late, however,
+to recede; and so we resolved at all hazards to pursue our
+journey.
+<span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg106"></a>[p106]</span></p>
+
+<p> We had advanced beyond the furthest settlements of the
+Creeks and Seminoles, and pitched our camp on a bright
+balmy evening, in the border of a delightful prairie, when
+some of the young men, attracted by the prospect of game,
+shouldered their rifles and wended their steps through the
+dense forest which lay contiguous to our encampment.
+Among those that went forth, there was one of the 'down-easters'
+already mentioned, who was much more familiar
+with the interior of {17} a city than of a wilderness forest.
+As the shades of evening were beginning to descend, and all
+the hunters had returned except him, several muskets and
+even our little field-pieces were fired, but without effect.
+The night passed away, and the morning dawned upon the
+encampment, and still he was absent. The firing was then
+renewed; but soon after he was seen approaching, very
+sullen and dejected. He came with a tale of perilous
+adventures and 'hair-breadth 'scapes' upon his lips, which
+somewhat abated the storm of ridicule by which he was at
+first assailed. It seemed that he had heard our firing on
+the previous evening, but believed it to proceed from a contrary
+direction—a very common mistake with persons who
+have become bewildered and lost. Thus deceived and
+stimulated by the fear of Indians (from a party of whom he
+supposed the firing to proceed), he continued his pathless
+wanderings till dark, when, to render his situation still more
+critical, he was attacked by a 'painter'—<dfn>anglicè</dfn>, panther—which
+he actually succeeded in beating off with the breech
+of his gun, and then betook himself to the topmost extremity
+of a tree, where, in order to avoid a similar intrusion, he
+passed the remainder of the night. From a peculiar odor
+with which the shattered gun was still redolent, however, it
+was strongly suspected that the 'terrific painter' was not
+many degrees removed, in affinity, from a——polecat.</p>
+
+<p>We had just reached the extreme edge of {18} the far <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg107"></a>[p107]</span>
+famed 'Cross Timbers,'<a name="FNanchor_74_74" id="FNanchor_74_74"></a><a href="#Footnote_74_74" class="fnanchor">[74]</a> when we were gratified by the
+arrival of forty dragoons, under the command of Lieut.
+Bowman, who had orders to accompany us to the supposed
+boundary of the United States.<a name="FNanchor_75_75"
+id="FNanchor_75_75"></a><a href="#Footnote_75_75" class="fnanchor">[75]</a> On the same evening we
+had the pleasure of encamping together at a place known as
+Camp Holmes, a wild romantic spot in latitude <span class="fraction">35° 5′</span>, and
+but a mile north of the Canadian river. Just at hand there
+was a beautiful spring, where, in 1835, Colonel Mason with a
+force of U. S. troops, had a 'big talk' and still bigger 'smoke'
+with a party of Comanche and Witchita Indians.<a name="FNanchor_76_76" id="FNanchor_76_76"></a><a href="#Footnote_76_76" class="fnanchor">[76]</a> Upon
+the same site Col. Chouteau had also caused to be erected
+not long after, a little stockade fort, where a considerable
+trade was subsequently carried on with the Comanches and
+other tribes of the southwestern prairies. The place had
+now been abandoned, however, since the preceding winter.</p>
+
+<p>From the Arkansas river to Chouteau's Fort, our route
+presented an unbroken succession of grassy plains and fertile
+glades, intersected here and there with woody belts and
+numerous rivulets, most of which, however, are generally
+dry except during the rainy season. As far as Camp Holmes,
+<span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg108"></a>[p108]</span> we had a passable wagon road, which was opened upon the
+occasion of the Indian treaty before alluded to, and was
+afterwards kept open by the Indian traders. Yet, notwithstanding
+the road, this stretch gave us more trouble—presented
+more rugged passes, miry ravines and steep {19}
+ascents—than all the rest of our journey put together.</p>
+
+<p>We had not been long at the Fort, before we received a
+visit from a party of Comanches, who having heard of our
+approach came to greet us a welcome, on the supposition
+that it was their friend Chouteau returning to the fort with
+fresh supplies of merchandise. Great was their grief when
+we informed them that their favorite trader had died at Fort
+Gibson, the previous winter.<a name="FNanchor_77_77" id="FNanchor_77_77"></a><a href="#Footnote_77_77" class="fnanchor">[77]</a> On visiting their wigwams
+and inquiring for their <i>capitan</i>,<a name="FNanchor_78_78" id="FNanchor_78_78"></a><a href="#Footnote_78_78" class="fnanchor">[78]</a> we were introduced to a
+corpulent, squint-eyed old fellow, who certainly had nothing
+in his personal appearance indicative of rank or dignity.
+This was Tábba-quena (or the Big Eagle), a name familiar
+to all the Comanche traders. As we had frequently heard
+that he spoke Spanish fluently, we at once prepared ourselves
+for a social chit-chat; but, on accosting him in that tongue,
+and inquiring whether he could talk Spanish, he merely
+replied '<dfn>Poquito</dfn>,' putting at the same time his forefinger to
+his ear, to signify that he merely understood a little—which
+proved true to a degree, for our communication was chiefly <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg109"></a>[p109]</span>
+by signs. We were now about to launch upon an unknown
+region—our route lay henceforth across that unexplored
+wilderness, of which I have so frequently spoken, without
+either pilot or trail to guide us for nearly 500 miles. We had
+to depend entirely upon {20} our knowledge of the geographical
+position of the country for which we were steering, and
+the indications of a compass and sextant. This was emphatically
+a pioneer trip; such a one also as had, perhaps,
+never before been undertaken—to convey heavily laden
+wagons through a country almost wholly untrod by civilized
+man, and of which <em>we</em>, at least, knew nothing. We were
+therefore extremely anxious to acquire any information our
+visitors might be able to give us; but Tábba-quena being
+by no means experienced in wagon tactics, could only make
+us understand, by gestures, mixed with a little wretched
+Spanish, that the route up the Canadian presented no
+obstacles according to <em>his</em> mode of travelling. He appeared,
+however, very well acquainted with the whole Mexican
+frontier, from Santa Fé to Chihuahua, and even to the Gulf,
+as well as with all the Prairies. During the consultation he
+seemed occasionally to ask the opinions of other chiefs who
+had huddled around him. Finally, we handed him a sheet
+of paper and a pencil, signifying at the same time a desire
+that he would draw us a map of the Prairies. This he very
+promptly executed; and although the draft was somewhat
+rough, it bore, much to our astonishment, quite a map-like
+appearance, with a far more accurate delineation of all the
+principal rivers of the plains—the road from Missouri to
+Santa Fé, and the different Mexican settlements, than is to
+be found in many of the engraved maps of those regions.</p>
+
+<p>{21}Tabba-quena's party consisted of about sixty persons,
+including several squaws and papooses, with a few Kiawa
+chiefs and warriors, who, although of a tribe so entirely distinct,
+are frequently found domiciled among the Comanches.
+As we were about to break up the camp they all started for <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg110"></a>[p110]</span>
+Fort Gibson, for the purpose, as they informed us, of paying
+a visit to the 'Capitan Grande'—a Spanish phrase used by
+many prairie tribes, and applied, in their confused notions
+of rank and power, not only to the President of the United
+States himself, but to the seat of the federal government.
+These they are again apt to confound with Fort Gibson and
+the commanding officer of that station.</p>
+
+<p>On the 18th of May, we set out from Chouteau's fort.
+From this forward our wagons were marched in two lines
+and regularly 'formed' at every camp, so as to constitute a
+fortification and a <i>corral</i> for the stock. This is different
+from the 'forming' of the large caravans. The two front
+wagons are driven up, side by side, with their 'tails' a little
+inclined outward. About half of the rest are drawn up in
+the same manner, but each stopped with the fore-wheel a
+little back of the hind-wheel of the next ahead. The remainder
+are similarly brought up, but inclined inward behind,
+so as nearly to close again at the rear of the pen;
+leaving a gap through which to introduce the stock. Thus
+the <i>corral</i> remains of an ovate form. After the drivers
+become expert the whole is performed in a very short time.</p>
+
+<p>{22}On the following day we were again joined by old
+Tabba-quena, and another Comanche chief, with five or
+six warriors, and as many squaws, including Tab's wife and
+infant son. As we were jogging along in the afternoon, I
+held quite a long conversation in our semi-mute language
+with the squinting old chief. He gave me to understand,
+as well as he could, that his comrades<a name="FNanchor_79_79" id="FNanchor_79_79"></a><a href="#Footnote_79_79" class="fnanchor">[79]</a> had proceeded on
+their journey to see the Capitan Grande, but that he had concluded
+to return home for better horses. He boasted in no
+measured terms of his friendship for the Americans, and <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg111"></a>[p111]</span>
+promised to exert his influence to prevent turbulent and
+unruly spirits of his nation from molesting us. But he
+could not disguise his fears in regard to the Pawnees and
+Osages, who, he said, would be sure to run off with our
+stock while we were asleep at night. When I informed him
+that we kept a strict night-watch, he said, "<dfn>Está bueno</dfn>"
+(that's good), and allowed that our chances for safety were
+not so bad after all.</p>
+
+<p>These friendly Indians encamped with us that night, and
+on the following morning the old chief informed us that some
+of his party had a few "mulas para <dfn>swap</dfn>" (mules to trade;
+for having learned the word <i>swap</i> of some American traders,
+he very ingeniously tacked it at the tail of his little stock of
+Spanish). A barter of five mules was immediately concluded
+{23} upon, much to our advantage, as our teams were
+rather in a weak condition. Old Tab and his party then
+left us to join his band, which, he said, was located on the
+Faux Ouachittâ river, and we never saw aught of them
+more.<a name="FNanchor_80_80" id="FNanchor_80_80"></a><a href="#Footnote_80_80" class="fnanchor">[80]</a></p>
+
+<p>After leaving the Fort we generally kept on the ridge
+between the Canadian and the North Fork, crossing sometimes
+the tributary brooks of the one and sometimes those
+of the others. Having travelled in this manner for about
+eighty miles, we entered one of the most charming prairie
+vales that I have ever beheld, and which in the plenitude
+of our enthusiasm, we named 'Spring Valley,' on account of
+the numerous spring-fed rills and gurgling rivulets that
+greeted the sight in every direction;<a name="FNanchor_81_81" id="FNanchor_81_81"></a><a href="#Footnote_81_81" class="fnanchor">[81]</a> in whose limpid pools
+swarms of trout and perch were carelessly playing. Much
+of the country, indeed, over which we had passed was somewhat
+of a similar character—yet nowhere quite so beautiful.
+I must premise, however, that westward of this, it <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg112"></a>[p112]</span>
+is only the valleys immediately bordering the streams that
+are at all fit for cultivation: the high plains are too dry and
+sandy. But here the soil was dark and mellow, and the
+rich vegetation with which it was clothed plainly indicated
+its fertility. 'Spring Valley' gently inclines towards the
+North Fork, which was at the distance of about five miles
+from our present route. It was somewhere along the border
+of this enchanting vale that a little picket fort was erected in
+{24} 1822, by an unfortunate trader named McKnight, who
+was afterwards betrayed and murdered by the faithless
+Comanches.<a name="FNanchor_82_82" id="FNanchor_82_82"></a><a href="#Footnote_82_82" class="fnanchor">[82]</a> The landscape is beautifully variegated with
+stripes and fringes of timber: while the little herds of buffalo
+that were scattered about in fantastic groups imparted a
+degree of life and picturesqueness to the scene, which it was
+truly delightful to contemplate.</p>
+
+<p>It was three days previous that we had first met with these
+'prairie cattle.' I have often heard backwoodsmen speak
+of the 'buck ague,' but commend me to the 'buffalo fever'
+of the Prairies for novelty and amusement. Very few of
+our party had ever seen a buffalo before in its wild state;
+therefore at the first sight of these noble animals the excitement
+surpassed anything I had ever witnessed before. Some
+of our dragoons, in their eagerness for sport, had managed
+to frighten away a small herd that were quietly feeding at
+some distance, before our 'still hunters,' who had crawled
+towards them, had been able to get within rifle-shot of them.
+No sooner were the movements of our mounted men perceived,
+than the whole extent of country, as far as the eye
+could reach, became perfectly animate with living objects,
+fleeing and scampering in every direction. From the surrounding
+valleys sprang up numerous herds of these animals
+which had hitherto been unobserved, many of which, in their
+indiscriminate flight, passed so near the wagons, that the <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg113"></a>[p113]</span>
+drivers, carried away by the contagious excitement of {25}
+the moment, would leave the teams and keep up a running
+fire after them. I had the good fortune to witness the
+exploits of one of our Northern greenhorns, who, mounted
+upon a sluggish mule, and without any kind of weapon,
+amused himself by chasing every buffalo that came scudding
+along, as if he expected to capture him by laying hold of his
+tail. Plying spur and whip, he would gallop after one
+division till he was left far behind: and then turn to another
+and another, with the same earnestness of purpose, until
+they had all passed out of sight. He finally came back disheartened
+and sullen, with his head hanging down like one
+conscious of having done something supremely ridiculous;
+but still cursing his lazy mule, which, he said, might have
+caught the buffalo, if it had had a mind to.</p>
+
+<p>The next day the buffalo being still more numerous, the
+chase was renewed with greater zest. In the midst of the
+general hurly-burly which ensued, three persons on foot were
+perceived afar off, chasing one herd of buffalo and then
+another, until they completely disappeared. These were
+two of our cooks, the one armed with a pistol, the other with
+a musket, accompanied by Chuly (the Creek), who was
+happily provided with a rifle. We travelled several miles
+without hearing or seeing anything of them. At last, when
+we had almost given them up for lost, Frank, the French
+cook, came trudging in, and his rueful countenance was no
+bad index of the {26} doleful tale he had to relate. Although
+he had been chasing and shooting all day, he had, as he
+expressed it, "no killet one," till eventually he happened
+to stumble upon a wounded calf, which he boldly attacked;
+but as ill luck would have it, the youngster took it into his
+head to give him battle. "Foutre de varment! he butt me
+down," exclaimed the exasperated Frenchman,—"Sacré!
+me plentee scart; but me kill him for all." Chuly and the <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg114"></a>[p114]</span>
+other cook came in soon after, in equally dejected spirits;
+for, in addition to his ill luck in hunting, the latter had been
+lost. The Indian had perhaps killed buffalo with his rifle,
+but he was in no humor to be communicative in his language
+of signs; so nothing was ever known of his adventures.
+One thing seemed pretty certain, that they were all cured of
+the 'buffalo fever.'</p>
+
+<p>On the night after the first buffalo scamper, we encamped
+upon a woodless ravine, and were obliged to resort to 'buffalo
+chips' (dry ordure) for fuel. It is amusing to witness the
+bustle which generally takes place in collecting this offal.
+In dry weather it is an excellent substitute for wood, than
+which it even makes a hotter fire; but when moistened by
+rain, the smouldering pile will smoke for hours before it condescends
+to burn, if it does at all. The buffalo meat which
+the hunter roasts or broils upon this fire, he accounts more
+savory than the steaks dressed by the most delicate cooks in
+civilized life.</p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_68_68" id="Footnote_68_68"></a><a href="#FNanchor_68_68"><span class="label">[68]</span></a> Chapter i of volume ii of the original edition.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_69_69" id="Footnote_69_69"></a><a href="#FNanchor_69_69"><span class="label">[69]</span></a> It is said that Major Long first chose the site of Van Buren for the fort afterwards
+erected at Bellepoint, five miles higher up the river, and known as Fort Smith—see
+our volume xiii, p. 197, note 166. The site was not occupied until after the
+removal of the Cherokee in 1828; the next year it was made a post-office, and in
+1838 the seat for Crawford County, Arkansas. For two decades Van Buren was a
+prosperous frontier town, the home of a large Indian trade. Since the War of
+Secession it has not regained its prestige.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_70_70" id="Footnote_70_70"></a><a href="#FNanchor_70_70"><span class="label">[70]</span></a> The caravan crossed the Arkansas, between the embouchment of the Illinois
+and Canadian rivers, in what is now the Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_71_71" id="Footnote_71_71"></a><a href="#FNanchor_71_71"><span class="label">[71]</span></a> The North Fork of the Canadian unites with the main stream on the boundary
+between the Creek and Cherokee nations. The Creek town of Eufaula is near
+the site mentioned by Gregg.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_72_72" id="Footnote_72_72"></a><a href="#FNanchor_72_72"><span class="label">[72]</span></a> James Kirker, known to the Mexicans as Santiago Querque, was an American
+who led an adventurous life upon the plains. Like several others he embarked in
+Apache warfare for the government of Chihuahua; and was accused, probably unjustly,
+of cheating in the delivery of scalps. He retired in bad humor to his hacienda
+in Sonora; later removing to California, where he died about 1853. See Kendall,
+<cite>Texan Santa Fé Expedition</cite>, ii, pp. 57-59.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_73_73" id="Footnote_73_73"></a><a href="#FNanchor_73_73"><span class="label">[73]</span></a> Matthew Arbuckle was the son of a Virginia pioneer of the same name, who
+participated in the Battle of Point Pleasant in 1774. The son was born in 1776,
+and entered the regular army at the age of twenty-three, passing through all of the
+grades until in 1830 he was, for meritorious services, breveted brigadier-general.
+He died at Fort Smith June 11, 1851.
+</p>
+<p>
+Fort Gibson was erected in 1824 on the left bank of Neosho River, near its
+mouth. The western boundary of Arkansas was in 1825 removed forty miles to
+the west, so that this military post fell within its border. Later (1830), the boundary
+was again replaced at the original limits, whereupon Fort Gibson fell into Cherokee
+territory. Several unavailing efforts were made (1834-38) to have the garrison
+removed to Fort Smith; and after numerous protests by the Cherokee against its
+maintenance within their borders, Fort Gibson was finally abandoned in 1857.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_74_74" id="Footnote_74_74"></a><a href="#FNanchor_74_74"><span
+class="label">[74]</span></a> For the description of the belt of woodland known as Cross Timbers, see
+<i>post</i>, p. 253.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_75_75" id="Footnote_75_75"></a><a href="#FNanchor_75_75"><span class="label">[75]</span></a> Lieutenant James Monroe Bowman entered the West Point military academy
+from Pennsylvania, was made lieutenant in the mounted rangers in 1832, and
+transferred to the dragoons in 1833. For his death (July 21, 1839), see <i>post</i>.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_76_76" id="Footnote_76_76"></a><a href="#FNanchor_76_76"><span class="label">[76]</span></a> Camp Holmes was at the site later occupied by Fort Holmes, in the Creek
+Nation, near its western boundary. In 1849 there was no habitation at this place;
+see <cite>Senate Doc.</cite>, 31 Cong., 1 sess., 12.
+</p>
+<p>
+Richard Barnes Mason was born in Fairfax County, Virginia, in 1797; at the
+age of twenty he entered the army as lieutenant, two years later (1819) became
+captain, and in 1833 major of the 1st dragoons. He was lieutenant-colonel in
+1836, colonel in 1846, and brigadier-general two years later, dying at St. Louis in
+1850. He served in the Black Hawk War, and was first military and civil governor
+of California.
+</p>
+<p>
+For the Comanche, see our volume xvi, p. 233, note 109. For the Wichita, also
+called Pawnee Picts, <i>ibid.</i>, p. 95, note 55.
+</p>
+<p>
+The treaty here alluded to was signed at Camp Holmes, August 24, 1835. If
+Colonel Mason was present it was in a subordinate capacity, as General Arbuckle
+and Montford Stokes were the federal commissioners. The treaty was one of
+peace and friendship between the Comanche, Wichita, and associated bands
+on the one part, and the tribes recently removed to the vicinity—Cherokee,
+Creek, Choctaw, etc.—on the other, the government commissioners acting as
+mediators.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_77_77" id="Footnote_77_77"></a><a href="#FNanchor_77_77"><span class="label">[77]</span></a> Auguste Pierre Chouteau, eldest son of the senior Pierre (for whom see our
+volume xvi, p. 275, note 127) and brother of Pierre (cadet), so well known in connection
+with the Missouri Fur Company, was born at St. Louis in 1786. After
+being educated at West Point, he entered the army, where he was ensign of the 1st
+infantry. In 1809, he resigned, married his cousin Sophie Labadie, and embarked
+in the fur trade, in which he had charge of the Arkansas branch of the business
+until his death at Fort Gibson.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_78_78" id="Footnote_78_78"></a><a href="#FNanchor_78_78"><span class="label">[78]</span></a> Most of the prairie Indians seem to have learned this Spanish word, by which,
+when talking with the whites, all their chiefs are designated.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_79_79" id="Footnote_79_79"></a><a href="#FNanchor_79_79"><span class="label">[79]</span></a> Some of these (principally Kiawas, as I afterwards learned), reached Fort
+Gibson, and received a handsome reward of government presents for their visit.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_80_80" id="Footnote_80_80"></a><a href="#FNanchor_80_80"><span class="label">[80]</span></a> For this stream, see our volume xvi, p. 138, note 66.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_81_81" id="Footnote_81_81"></a><a href="#FNanchor_81_81"><span class="label">[81]</span></a> In Oklahoma, probably not far from the present town of that name.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_82_82" id="Footnote_82_82"></a><a href="#FNanchor_82_82"><span class="label">[82]</span></a> See our volume xix, p. 176, note 13 (Gregg).—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div></div>
+
+<h3 title="Chapter XVIII">
+<a name="CHAPTER_XVIII_II" id="CHAPTER_XVIII_II"></a>
+CHAPTER XVIII {II}</h3>
+
+<p class="subhead">Travelling out of our Latitude — The Buffalo-gnat — A Kiawa and
+Squaw — Indian <i>crim. con.</i> Affair — Extraordinary Mark of Confidence
+in the White Man — A Conflagration — An Espy Shower — Region
+of Gypsum — Our Latitude — A Lilliputian Forest — A
+Party of Comanches — A Visit to a 'Dog Town' — Indian Archery — Arrival
+of Comanche Warriors — A 'Big Talk,' and its Results — Speech
+of the <i>Capitan Mayor</i> — Project of bringing Comanche Chiefs
+to Washington — Return of Lieut. Bowman, and our March resumed — Melancholy
+Reflections — Another Indian Visit — Mexican
+Captives — Voluntary Captivity — A sprightly Mexican Lad — Purchase
+of a Captive — Comanche Trade and Etiquette — Indians
+least dangerous to such as trade with them.<a href="#tocXVIII"
+class="toclnk">toc</a></p>
+
+<p>As it now appeared that we had been forced at least two
+points north of the course we had originally intended to
+steer, by the northern bearing of the Canadian, we made an
+effort to cross a ridge of timber to the south, which, after
+considerable labor, proved successful. Here we found a <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg115"></a>[p115]</span>
+multitude of gravelly, bright-flowing streams, with rich bottoms,
+lined all along with stately white oak, black-walnut,
+mulberry, and other similar growths, that yielded us excellent
+materials for wagon repairs, of which the route from Missouri,
+after passing Council Grove, is absolutely in want.</p>
+
+<p>{28} Although we found the buffalo extremely scarce westward
+of Spring Valley, yet there was no lack of game; for
+every nook and glade swarmed with deer and wild turkeys,
+partridges and grouse. We had also occasion to become
+acquainted with another species of prairie-tenant whose
+visits generally produced impressions that were anything
+but agreeable. I allude to a small black insect generally
+known to prairie travellers as the 'buffalo-gnat.' It not
+only attacks the face and hands, but even contrives to insinuate
+itself under the clothing, upon the breast and arms, and
+other covered parts. Here it fastens itself and luxuriates,
+until completely satisfied. Its bite is so poisonous as to give
+the face, neck, and hands, or any other part of the person
+upon which its affectionate caresses have been bestowed,
+the appearance of a pustulated varioloid. The buffalo-gnat
+is in fact a much more annoying insect than the mosquito,
+and also much more frequently met with on the prairie
+streams.</p>
+
+<p>We now continued our line of march between the Canadian
+and the timbered ridge with very little difficulty. Having
+stopped to 'noon' in a bordering valley, we were quite surprised
+by the appearance of an Indian with no other protection
+than his squaw. From what we could gather by their
+signs, they had been the victims of a 'love scrape.' The
+fellow, whom I found to be a Kiawa, had, according to his
+own account, stolen the wife of another, and then fled to the
+thickets, {29} where he purposed to lead a lonely life, in hopes
+of escaping the vengeance of his incensed predecessor.
+From this, it would appear that affairs of gallantry are not <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg116"></a>[p116]</span>
+evils exclusively confined to civilization. Plausible, however,
+as the Indian's story seemed to be, we had strong suspicions
+that others of his band were not far off; and that
+he, with his 'better half,' had only been skulking about in
+hopes of exercising their 'acquisitiveness' at our expense;
+when, on finding themselves discovered, they deemed it the
+best policy fearlessly to approach us. This singular visit
+afforded a specimen of that confidence with which civilization
+inspires even the most untutored savages. They remained
+with us, in the utmost nonchalance, till the following
+morning.</p>
+
+<p>Shortly after the arrival of the visitors, we were terribly
+alarmed at a sudden prairie conflagration. The old grass
+of the valley in which we were encamped had not been
+burned off, and one of our cooks having unwittingly kindled
+a fire in the midst of it, it spread at once with wonderful
+rapidity; and a brisk wind springing up at the time, the
+flames were carried over the valley, in spite of every effort
+we could make to check them. Fortunately for us, the fire
+had broken out to the leeward of our wagons, and therefore
+occasioned us no damage; but the accident itself was a
+forcible illustration of the danger that might be incurred by
+pitching a camp in the midst of dry grass, and the advantages
+{30} that might be taken by hostile savages in such a
+locality.</p>
+
+<p>After the fire had raged with great violence for a few hours,
+a cloud suddenly obscured the horizon, which was almost immediately
+followed by a refreshing shower of rain: a phenomenon
+often witnessed upon the Prairies after an extensive
+conflagration; and affording a practical exemplification of
+Professor Espy's celebrated theory of artificial showers.<a
+name="FNanchor_83_83" id="FNanchor_83_83"></a>
+<a href="#Footnote_83_83" class="fnanchor">[83]</a>
+<span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg117"></a>[p117]</span></p>
+
+<p> We now continued our journey without further trouble,
+except that of being still forced out of our proper latitude
+by the northern bearing of the Canadian. On the 30th of
+May, however, we succeeded in 'doubling' the spur of the
+Great North Bend.<a name="FNanchor_84_84" id="FNanchor_84_84"></a><a href="#Footnote_84_84" class="fnanchor">[84]</a> Upon ascending the dividing ridge
+again, which at this point was entirely destitute of timber, a
+'prairie expanse' once more greeted our view. This and the
+following day, our route lay through a region that abounded
+in gypsum, from the finest quality down to ordinary plaster.
+On the night of the 31st we encamped on a tributary of the
+North Fork, which we called Gypsum creek, in consequence
+of its being surrounded with vast quantities of that substance.<a name="FNanchor_85_85" id="FNanchor_85_85"></a><a href="#Footnote_85_85" class="fnanchor">[85]</a></p>
+
+<p>Being compelled to keep a reckoning of our latitude, by
+which our travel was partly governed, and the sun being now
+too high at noon for the use of the artificial horizon, we had
+to be guided entirely by observations of the meridian altitude
+of the moon, planets, or {31} fixed stars. At Gypsum creek
+our latitude was <span class="fraction">36° 10′</span>—being the utmost northing we
+had made. As we were now about thirty miles north of the
+parallel of Santa Fé, we had to steer, henceforth, a few
+degrees south of west in order to bring up on our direct
+course.</p>
+
+<p>The following night we encamped in a region covered
+with sandy hillocks, where there was not a drop of water
+to be found: in fact, an immense sand-plain was now
+opening before us, somewhat variegated in appearance, <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg118"></a>[p118]</span>
+being entirely barren of vegetation in some places, while
+others were completely covered with an extraordinarily
+diminutive growth which has been called <dfn>shin-oak</dfn>, and a
+curious plum-bush of equally dwarfish stature. These
+singular-looking plants (undistinguishable at a distance
+from the grass of the prairies) were heavily laden with acorns
+and plums, which, when ripe, are of considerable size
+although the trunks of either were seldom thicker than oat-straws,
+and frequently not a foot high. We also met with the
+same in many other places on the Prairies.</p>
+
+<p>Still the most indispensable requisite, water, was nowhere
+to be found, and symptoms of alarm were beginning to spread
+far and wide among us. When we had last seen the Canadian
+and the North Fork, they appeared to separate in their
+course almost at right angles, therefore it was impossible
+to tell at what distance we were from either. At last {32} my
+brother and myself, who had been scouring the plains during
+the morning without success, finally perceived a deep hollow
+leading in the direction of the Canadian, where we found a
+fine pool of water, and our wagons 'made port' again before
+mid-day; thus quieting all alarm.</p>
+
+<p>Although we had encountered but very few buffalo since
+we left Spring Valley, they now began to make their appearance
+again, though not in very large droves; together with
+the deer and the fleet antelope, which latter struck me as
+being much more tame in this wild section of the Prairies
+than I had seen it elsewhere. The graceful and majestic
+mustang would also now and then sweep across the naked
+country, or come curvetting and capering in the vicinity
+of our little caravan, just as the humor prompted him. But
+what attracted our attention most were the little dog settlements,
+or, as they are more technically called, 'dog towns,'
+so often alluded to by prairie travellers. As we were passing
+through their 'streets,' multitudes of the diminutive inhabitants <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg119"></a>[p119]</span>
+were to be seen among the numerous little hillocks
+which marked their dwellings, where they frisked about, or
+sat perched at their doors, yelping defiance, to our great
+amusement—heedless of the danger that often awaited
+them from the rifles of our party; for they had perhaps never
+seen such deadly weapons before.</p>
+
+<p>On the 5th of June, we found ourselves once more travelling
+on a firm rolling prairie, {33} about the region, as we
+supposed,<a name="FNanchor_86_86" id="FNanchor_86_86"></a><a href="#Footnote_86_86" class="fnanchor">[86]</a> of the boundary between the United States and
+Mexico; when Lieut. Bowman, in pursuance of his instructions,
+began to talk seriously of returning. While the
+wagons were stopped at noon, a small party of us, including
+a few dragoons, advanced some miles ahead to take a survey
+of the route. We had just ascended the highest point of a
+ridge to get a prospect of the country beyond, when we
+descried a herd of buffalo in motion and two or three horsemen
+in hot pursuit. "Mexican Ciboleros!" we all exclaimed
+at once; for we supposed we might now be within the range
+of the buffalo hunters of New Mexico. Clapping spurs to
+our horses, we set off towards them at full speed. As we
+might have expected, our precipitate approach frightened
+them away and we soon lost sight of them altogether. On
+reaching the spot where they had last been seen, we found a
+horse and two mules saddled, all tied to the carcass of a
+slain buffalo which was partly skinned. We made diligent
+search in some copses of small growth, and among the
+adjacent ravines, but could discover no further traces of the
+fugitives. The Indian rigging of the animals, however,
+satisfied us that they were not Mexicans.</p>
+
+<p>We were just about giving up the pursuit, when a solitary
+Indian horseman was espied upon a ridge about a mile from <span
+class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg120"></a>[p120]</span>
+us. My {34} brother and myself set out towards him, but
+on seeing us approach, he began to manifest some fear, and
+therefore my brother advanced alone. As soon as he was
+near enough he cried out "<i>Amigo!</i>" to which the Indian
+replied "<i>Comantz!</i>" and giving himself a thump upon the
+breast, he made a graceful circuit, and came up at full speed,
+presenting his hand in token of friendship. Nothing, however,
+could induce him to return to his animals with us,
+where the rest of our party had remained. He evidently
+feared treachery and foul play. Therefore we retraced our
+steps to the wagons, leaving the Indian's property just as
+we had found it, which, we subsequently discovered, was
+taken away after our departure.</p>
+
+<p>In the afternoon of the same day, five more Indians
+(including a squaw), made their appearance, and having
+been induced by friendly tokens to approach us, they spent
+the night at our encampment. The next morning, we
+expressed a desire, by signs, to be conducted to the nearest
+point on our route where good pasturage and water might
+be found. A sprightly young chief, armed only with his
+bow and arrows, at once undertook the task, while his comrades
+still travelled along in our company. We had not progressed
+far before we found ourselves in the very midst of
+another large 'dog-town.'</p>
+
+<p>The task of describing the social and domestic habits of
+these eccentric little brutes, has been so graphically and
+amusingly executed {35} by the racy and popular pen of G.
+Wilkins Kendall, that any attempt by me would be idle;
+and I feel that the most agreeable service I can do my readers
+is to borrow a paragraph from his alluring "Narrative,"
+describing a scene presented by one of these prairie commonwealths.<a
+name="FNanchor_87_87" id="FNanchor_87_87"></a>
+<a href="#Footnote_87_87" class="fnanchor">[87]</a>
+<span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg121"></a>[p121]</span></p>
+
+<p> "In their habits they are clannish, social, and extremely
+convivial, never living alone like other animals, but, on the
+contrary, always found in villages or large settlements.
+They are a wild, frolicsome, madcap set of fellows when
+undisturbed, uneasy and ever on the move, and appear to
+take especial delight in chattering away the time, and visiting
+from hole to hole to gossip and talk over each other's affairs—at
+least so their actions would indicate.... On
+several occasions I crept close to their villages, without being
+observed, to watch their movements. Directly in the centre
+of one of them I particularly noticed a very large dog, sitting
+in front of the door or entrance to his burrow, and by his
+own actions and those of his neighbors it really seemed as
+though he was the president, mayor, or chief—at all events,
+he was the 'big dog' of the place. For at least an hour I
+secretly watched the operations in this community. During
+that time the large dog I have mentioned received at least a
+dozen visits from his fellow-dogs, which would stop and chat
+with him a few moments, and then run off to their domiciles.
+All this while he never left his post for a moment, and I
+thought I could discover a gravity in his deportment {36} not
+discernible in those by which he was surrounded. Far is it
+from me to say that the visits he received were upon business,
+or had anything to do with the local government of the
+village; but it certainly appeared so. If any animal has a
+system of laws regulating the body politic, it is certainly the
+prairie dog."</p>
+
+<p>As we sat on our horses, looking at these 'village transactions,'
+our Comanche guide drew an arrow for the purpose
+of cutting short the career of a little citizen that sat
+yelping most doggedly in the mouth of his hole, forty or
+fifty paces distant. The animal was almost entirely concealed
+behind the hillock which encompassed the entrance
+of his apartment, so that the dart could not reach it in a <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg122"></a>[p122]</span>
+direct line; but the Indian had resort to a manœuvre which
+caused the arrow to descend with a curve, and in an instant
+it quivered in the body of the poor little quadruped. The
+slayer only smiled at his feat, while we were perfectly astounded.
+There is nothing strange in the rifleman's being
+able to hit his mark with his fine-sighted barrel; but the
+accuracy with which these savages learn to shoot their
+feathered missiles, with such random aim, is almost incomprehensible.
+I had at the same time drawn one of Colt's
+repeating pistols, with a view of paying a similar compliment
+to another dog; when, finding that it excited the curiosity
+of the chief, I fired a few shots in quick succession, as an
+explanation of its virtues. He seemed to {37} comprehend
+the secret instantly, and, drawing his bow once more, he
+discharged a number of arrows with the same rapidity, as a
+palpable intimation that he could shoot as fast with his
+instrument as we could with our patent fire-arms. This
+was not merely a vain show: there was more of reality than
+of romance in his demonstration.</p>
+
+<p>Shortly after this we reached a fresh brook, a tributary of
+the North Fork, which wound its silent course in the midst
+of a picturesque valley, surrounded by romantic hills and
+craggy knobs. Here we pitched our camp: when three of
+our visitors left us for the purpose of going to bring all the
+'capitanes' of their tribe, who were said to be encamped
+at no great distance from us.</p>
+
+<p>Our encampment, which we designated as 'Camp Comanche,'
+was only five or six miles from the North Fork,
+while, to the southward, the main Canadian was but a little
+more distant.<a name="FNanchor_88_88" id="FNanchor_88_88"></a><a href="#Footnote_88_88" class="fnanchor">[88]</a></p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;">
+<a id="Camp-Comanche"></a>
+<img src="images/i125.jpg" width="600" height="342" alt="" />
+<div class="caption">Camp Comanche</div>
+<div class="IlloRtn"><a
+href="#ILLUSTRATIONS_TO_VOLUME_XX">Illustrations List</a></div>
+</div>
+
+<p>After waiting anxiously for the arrival of the Comanche
+chiefs, until our patience was well nigh exhausted, I ascended
+<span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg125"></a>[p125]</span> a high knoll just behind our camp, in company with the
+younger of the two chiefs who had remained with us, to see
+if anything could be discovered. By and by, the Comanche
+pointed anxiously towards the northwest, where he espied a
+party of his people, though at such a great distance, that it
+was some time before I could discern them. With what
+acuteness of vision are these savages endowed! Accustomed
+{38} to the open plains, and like the eagle to look out
+for their prey at immense distances, their optical perception
+is scarcely excelled by that of the king of birds.</p>
+
+<p>The party, having approached still nearer, assembled
+upon an eminence as if for the purpose of reconnoitring;
+but our chief upon the knoll hoisting his blanket, which
+seemed to say, 'come ahead,' they advanced slowly and
+deliberately—very unlike the customary mode of approach
+among all the prairie tribes.</p>
+
+<p>The party consisted of about sixty warriors, at the head
+of whom rode an Indian of small stature and agreeable
+countenance, verging on the age of fifty. He wore the usual
+Comanche dress, but instead of moccasins, he had on a pair
+of long white cotton hose, while upon his bare head waved
+a tall red plume,—a mark of distinction which proclaimed
+him at once the <dfn>capitan mayor</dfn>, or principal chief. We
+addressed them in Spanish, inquiring if they had brought
+an interpreter, when a lank-jawed, grum-looking savage
+announced his readiness to officiate in that capacity. "<dfn>Sabes
+hablar en Español, amigo?</dfn>" (can you talk Spanish, friend?)
+I inquired. "<dfn>Si</dfn>" (yes), he gruffly replied. "Where are
+your people?" "Encamped just above on yonder creek."
+"How many of you are there?" "Oh, a great many—nearly
+all the Comanche nation; for we are <i>en junta</i> to go
+and fight the Pawnees." "Well, can you tell us how far it
+is to Santa Fé?"—But the surly savage cut short my inquiries
+by observing—{39} "<dfn>Ahí platícarémos despues</dfn>"—"We
+will talk about that hereafter." <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg126"></a>[p126]</span></p>
+
+<p>We then showed them a spot a few rods from us, where
+they might encamp so as not to intermix their animals with
+ours; after which all the <i>capitanes</i> were invited to our camp
+to hold a 'big talk.' In a very short time we had ten chiefs
+seated in a circle within our tent, when the pipe, the Indian
+token of peace, was produced: but, doubting perhaps the
+sincerity of our professions, they at first refused to smoke.
+The interpreter, however, remarked as an excuse for their
+conduct, that it was not their custom to smoke until they had
+received some presents: but a few Mexican <i>cigarritos</i> being
+produced, most of them took a whiff, as if under the impression
+that to smoke cigars was no pledge of friendship.</p>
+
+<p>Lieut. Bowman now desired us to broach the subject of
+peace and amity betwixt the Comanches and our people,
+and to invite them to visit the 'Capitan Grande' at Washington,
+and enter into a perpetual treaty to that effect; but they
+would not then converse on the subject. In fact, the interpreter
+inquired, "Are we not at war?—how can we go to
+see the Capitan Grande?" We knew they held themselves
+at war with Mexico and Texas, and probably had mistaken
+us for Texans, which had no doubt caused the interpreter
+to speak so emphatically of their immense numbers. Upon
+this we explained to them that the United States was a distinct
+government {40} and at peace with the Comanches.
+As an earnest of our friendly disposition, we then produced
+some scarlet cloth, with a small quantity of vermilion,
+tobacco, beads, etc., which being distributed among them,
+they very soon settled down into a state of placidness and
+contentment. Indeed, it will be found, that, with wild
+Indians, presents are always the corner-stone of friendship.
+"We are rejoiced," at last said the elder chief with a ceremonious
+air, "our hearts are glad that you have arrived among
+us: it makes our eyes laugh to see Americans walk in our
+land. We will notify our old and young men—our boys <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg127"></a>[p127]</span>
+and our maidens—our women and children,—that they
+may come to trade with you. We hope you will speak well
+of us to your people, that more of them may hunt the way
+to our country, for we like to trade with the white man."
+This was delivered in Comanche, but translated into Spanish
+by the interpreter, who, although a full Indian, had lived
+several years among the Mexicans and spoke that language
+tolerably well. Our 'big talk' lasted several hours, after
+which the Indians retired to sleep. The next morning, after
+renewing their protestations of friendship, they took their
+departure, the principal chief saying, "Tell the Capitan
+Grande that when he pleases to call us we are all ready to
+go to see him."</p>
+
+<p>The project of bringing some of the chiefs of these wild
+prairie tribes to Washington city, has been entertained, but
+never yet carried {41} into effect. The few who have penetrated
+as far as Fort Gibson, or perhaps to a frontier village,
+have probably left with more unfavorable impressions than
+they had before. Believing the former to be our great
+Capital, and the most insignificant among the latter, our
+largest cities, they have naturally come to the conclusion
+that they surpass us in numbers and power, if not in wealth
+and grandeur. I have no doubt that the chiefs of the Comanches
+and other prairie tribes, if rightly managed, might
+be induced to visit our veritable 'Capitan Grande,' and our
+large cities, which would doubtless have a far better effect
+than all the treaties of peace that could be concluded with
+them for an age to come. They would then 'see with their
+own eyes and hear with their own ears' the magnificence
+and power of the whites, which would inspire them at once
+with respect and fear.</p>
+
+<p>This was on the 7th of June. About noon, Lieut. Bowman
+and his command finally took leave of us, and at the same
+time we resumed our forward march. This separation was <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg128"></a>[p128]</span>
+truly painful: not so much on account of the loss we were
+about to experience, in regard to the protection afforded us
+by the troops (which, to say the truth, was more needed now
+than it had ever been before), as for the necessity of parting
+with a friend, who had endeared himself to us all by his
+affable deportment, his social manners and accommodating
+disposition. Ah! little did we think then that we should
+never see that gallant officer more! {42} So young, so robust,
+and so healthy, little did we suspect that the sound of that
+voice which shouted so vigorously in responding to our
+parting salute in the desert, would never greet our ears again!
+But such was Fate's decree! Although he arrived safely
+at Fort Gibson, in a few short weeks he fell a victim to disease.</p>
+
+<p>There were perhaps a few timid hearts that longed to
+return with the dragoons, and ever and anon a wistful
+glance would be cast back at the receding figures in the
+distance. The idea of a handful of thirty-four men having
+to travel without guide or protection through a dreary wilderness,
+peopled by thousands of savages who were just as likely
+to be hostile as friendly, was certainly very little calculated
+to produce agreeable impressions. Much to the credit of
+our men, however, the escort was no sooner out of sight than
+the timorous regained confidence, and all seemed bound
+together by stronger ties than before. All we feared were
+ambuscades or surprise; to guard against which, it was only
+necessary to redouble our vigilance.</p>
+
+<p>On the following day, while we were enjoying our noon's
+rest upon a ravine of the Canadian, several parties of Indians,
+amounting altogether to about three hundred souls, including
+women and children, made their appearance. They belonged
+to the same band of Comanches with whom we had
+had so agreeable an intercourse, and had brought several
+mules in the expectation of driving a trade with us. The
+squaws and papooses {43} were so anxious to gratify their <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg129"></a>[p129]</span>
+curiosity, and so very soon began to give such striking manifestations
+of their pilfering propensities, that, at the request
+of the chiefs, we carried some goods at a little distance,
+where a trade was opened, in hopes of attracting their attention.
+One woman, I observed, still lingered among the
+wagons, who, from certain peculiarities of features, struck
+me very forcibly as not being an Indian. In accordance
+with this impression I addressed her in Spanish, and was
+soon confirmed in all my suspicions. She was from the
+neighborhood of Matamoros, and had been married to a
+Comanche since her captivity. She did not entertain the
+least desire of returning to her own people.</p>
+
+<p>Similar instances of voluntary captivity have frequently
+occurred. Dr. Sibley, in a communication to the War
+Department, in 1805, relates an affecting case, which shows
+how a sensitive female will often prefer remaining with her
+masters, rather than encounter the horrible ordeal of ill-natured
+remarks to which she would inevitably be exposed
+on being restored to civilized life.<a name="FNanchor_89_89" id="FNanchor_89_89"></a><a href="#Footnote_89_89" class="fnanchor">[89]</a> The Comanches, some
+twenty years previous, having kidnapped the daughter of
+the Governor-General of Chihuahua, the latter transmitted
+$1000 to a trader to procure her ransom. This was soon
+effected, but to the astonishment of all concerned, the unfortunate
+girl refused to leave the Indians. She sent word to her
+father, that they had disfigured her by tattooing; that she was
+married and perhaps <i>enceinte</i>; {44} and that she would be
+more unhappy by returning to her father under these circumstances
+than by remaining where she was.</p>
+
+<p>My attention was next attracted by a sprightly lad, ten
+or twelve years old, whose nationality could scarcely be
+detected under his Indian guise. But, though quite 'Indianized,'
+he was exceedingly polite. I inquired of him in Spanish, <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg130"></a>[p130]</span>
+"Are you not a Mexican?" "Yes, sir,—I once was."
+"What is your name?" "Bernardino Saenz, sir, at your
+service." "When and where were you taken?" "About
+four years ago, at the Hacienda de las Animas, near Parral."
+"Shan't we buy you and take you to your people?—we
+are going thither." At this he hesitated a little, and then
+answered in an affecting tone, "<dfn>No, señor; ya soy demasiado
+bruto para vivir entre los Cristianos</dfn>" (O, no, sir; I am now
+too much of a brute to live among Christians); adding that
+his owner was not there, and that he knew the Indian in
+whose charge he came would not sell him.</p>
+
+<p>The Hacienda de las Animas is in the department of
+Chihuahua, some fifteen miles from the city of Parral, a
+much larger place than Santa Fé. Notwithstanding this,
+about three hundred Comanches made a bold inroad into
+the very heart of the settlements—laid waste the unfortunate
+hacienda, killing and capturing a considerable number—and
+remained several days in the neighborhood, committing
+all sorts of outrages. This occurred in 1835. I happened
+to be in Chihuahua {45} at the time, and very well remember
+the bustle and consternation that prevailed. A thousand
+volunteers were raised, commanded by the governor himself,
+who 'hotly pursued' the enemy during their tardy retreat;
+but returned with the usual report—"<dfn>No les pudimos
+alcanzar</dfn>,"—we could not overtake them.</p>
+
+<p>Out of half a dozen Mexican captives that happened to
+be with our new visitors, we only met with one who manifested
+the slightest inclination to abandon Indian life. This
+was a stupid boy about fifteen years of age, who had probably
+been roughly treated on account of his laziness. We very
+soon struck a bargain with his owner, paying about the price
+of a mule for the little outcast, whom I sent to his family as
+soon as we reached Chihuahua. Notwithstanding the <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg131"></a>[p131]</span>
+inherent stupidity of my <i>protégé</i>, I found him abundantly
+grateful—much to his credit be it spoken—for the little
+service I had been able to render him.</p>
+
+<p>We succeeded in purchasing several mules which cost us
+between ten and twenty dollars worth of goods apiece. In
+Comanche trade the main trouble consists in fixing the price
+of the first animal. This being settled by the chiefs, it often
+happens that mule after mule is led up and the price received
+without further cavil. Each owner usually wants a general
+assortment; therefore the price must consist of several items,
+as a blanket, a looking-glass, an awl, a flint, a little tobacco,
+vermillion, beads, etc.</p>
+
+<p>Our trade with the new batch of Comanches {46} being
+over, they now began to depart as they had come, in small
+parties, without bidding us adieu, or even informing us of
+their intention, it being the usual mode of taking leave among
+Indians, to depart <i>sans cérémonie</i>, and as silently as possible.</p>
+
+<p>The Santa Fé caravans have generally avoided every
+manner of trade with the wild Indians, for fear of being
+treacherously dealt with during the familiar intercourse
+which necessarily ensues. This I am convinced is an
+erroneous impression; for I have always found, that savages
+are much less hostile to those with whom they trade, than to
+any other people. They are emphatically fond of traffic,
+and, being anxious to encourage the whites to come among
+them, instead of committing depredations upon those with
+whom they trade, they are generally ready to defend them
+against every enemy.</p>
+
+<h3 title="Chapter XIX">
+<a name="CHAPTER_XIX_III" id="CHAPTER_XIX_III"></a>CHAPTER XIX {III}</h3>
+
+<p class="subhead"><a id="Pg132"></a>
+Ponds and Buffalo Wallows — Valley of the Canadian, and romantic
+Freaks of Nature — Melancholy Adventure of a Party of Traders
+in 1832 — Fears of being lost — Arrival of a Party of <i>Comancheros</i>,
+and their wonderful Stories — Their Peculiarities and Traffic — Bitter
+Water, and the <i>Salitre</i> of New Mexico — Avant-couriers for
+Santa Fé — Patent Fire-arms and their Virtues — Ranchero Ideas
+of Distance, and their Mode of giving Directions — The Angostura,
+and erroneous Notions of the Texans — A new Route revealed — Solitary
+Travel — Supply of Provisions sent back — Arrival at
+Santa Fé — Gov. Armijo, etc. — A 'Flare-up' with His Excellency.<a href="#tocXIX"
+class="toclnk">toc</a></p>
+
+<p>The Comanches having all disappeared, we resumed our
+march, and soon emerged into an open plain or <i>mesa</i> which
+was one of the most monotonous I had ever seen, there being
+not a break, not a hill nor valley, nor even a shrub to obstruct
+the view. The only thing which served to turn us
+from a direct course pursued by the compass, was the innumerable
+ponds which bespeckled the plain, and which
+kept us at least well supplied with water. Many of these
+ponds seem to have grown out of 'buffalo wallows,'—a
+term used on the Prairies to designate a sink made by the
+buffalo's pawing the earth for the purpose of obtaining a
+smooth dusty surface to roll upon.</p>
+
+<p>{48} After three or four days of weary travel over this level
+plain, the picturesque valley of the Canadian burst once
+more upon our view, presenting one of the most magnificent
+sights I had ever beheld. Here rose a perpendicular cliff,
+in all the majesty and sublimity of its desolation;—there
+another sprang forward as in the very act of losing its balance
+and about to precipitate itself upon the vale below;—a little
+further on, a pillar with crevices and cornices so curiously
+formed as easily to be mistaken for the work of art; while
+a thousand other objects grotesquely and fantastically
+arranged, and all shaded in the sky-bound perspective by
+the blue ridge-like brow of the <i>mesa</i> far beyond the Canadian, <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg133"></a>[p133]</span>
+constituted a kind of chaotic space where nature seemed to
+have indulged in her wildest caprices. Such was the confusion
+of ground-swells and eccentric cavities, that it was
+altogether impossible to determine whereabouts the channel
+of the Canadian wound its way among them.</p>
+
+<p>It would seem that these mesas might once have extended
+up to the margin of the stream, leaving a <dfn>cañon</dfn> or chasm
+through which the river flowed, as is still the case in some
+other places. But the basis of the plain not having been
+sufficiently firm to resist the action of the waters, these have
+washed and cut the bordering <dfn>cejas</dfn> or brows into all the
+shapes they now present. The buffalo and other animals
+have no doubt assisted in these transmutations. Their
+deep-worn paths over the {49} brows of the plains, form
+channels for the descending rains; which are soon washed
+into the size of ravines—and even considerable creeks.
+The beds of these continue to be worn down until veins of
+lasting water are opened, and constant-flowing streams thus
+established. Numerous were the embryo rivulets which
+might be observed forming in this way along the borders of
+those streams. The frequent isolated benches and mounds,
+whose tabular summits are on a level with the adjacent
+plains, and appear entirely of a similar formation, indicate
+that the intermediate earth has been washed away, or
+removed by some other process of nature—all seeming to
+give plausibility to our theory.</p>
+
+<p>It was somewhere in this vicinity that a small party of
+Americans experienced a terrible calamity in the winter of
+1832-3, on their way home; and as the incident had the tendency
+to call into play the most prominent features of the Indian
+character, I will digress so far here as to relate the facts.</p>
+
+<p>The party consisted of twelve men, chiefly citizens of
+Missouri. Their baggage and about ten thousand dollars
+in specie were packed upon mules. They took the route of <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg134"></a>[p134]</span>
+the Canadian river, fearing to venture on the northern
+prairies at that season of the year. Having left Santa Fé
+in December, they had proceeded without accident thus
+far, when a large body of Comanches and Kiawas were seen
+advancing towards them. Being well acquainted with the
+treacherous and pusillanimous {50} disposition of those races,
+the traders prepared at once for defence; but the savages
+having made a halt at some distance, began to approach one
+by one, or in small parties, making a great show of friendship
+all the while, until most of them had collected on the spot.
+Finding themselves surrounded in every direction, the
+travellers now began to move on, in hopes of getting rid of
+the intruders: but the latter were equally ready for the start;
+and, mounting their horses, kept jogging on in the same
+direction. The first act of hostility perpetrated by the
+Indians proved fatal to one of the American traders named
+Pratt, who was shot dead while attempting to secure two
+mules which had become separated from the rest. Upon
+this, the companions of the slain man immediately dismounted
+and commenced a fire upon the Indians, which was
+warmly returned, whereby another man of the name of
+Mitchell was killed.</p>
+
+<p>By this time the traders had taken off their packs and piled
+them around for protection; and now falling to work with
+their hands, they very soon scratched out a trench deep
+enough to protect them from the shot of the enemy. The
+latter made several desperate charges, but they seemed too
+careful of their own personal safety, notwithstanding the
+enormous superiority of their numbers, to venture too near
+the rifles of the Americans. In a few hours all the animals of
+the traders were either killed or wounded, but no personal
+damage was done to the remaining ten men, {51} with the
+exception of a wound in the thigh received by one, which
+was not at the time considered dangerous. <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg135"></a>[p135]</span></p>
+
+<p>During the siege, the Americans were in great danger of perishing
+from thirst, as the Indians had complete command of
+all the water within reach. Starvation was not so much to be
+dreaded; because, in case of necessity, they could live on the
+flesh of their slain animals, some of which lay stretched close
+around them. After being pent up for thirty-six hours in this
+horrible hole, during which time they had seldom ventured
+to raise their heads above the surface without being shot at,
+they resolved to make a bold <i>sortie</i> in the night, as any death
+was preferable to the fate which awaited them there. As
+there was not an animal left that was at all in a condition
+to travel, the proprietors of the money gave permission to all
+to take and appropriate to themselves whatever amount each
+man could safely undertake to carry. In this way a few
+hundred dollars were started with, of which, however, but
+little ever reached the United States. The remainder was
+buried deep in the sand, in hopes that it might escape the
+cupidity of the savages; but to very little purpose, for they
+were afterwards seen by some Mexican traders making a
+great display of specie, which was without doubt taken from
+this unfortunate <i>cache</i>.</p>
+
+<p>With every prospect of being discovered, overtaken, and
+butchered, but resolved to sell their lives as dearly as possible,
+they at last {52} emerged from their hiding-place, and moved
+on silently and slowly until they found themselves beyond
+the purlieus of the Indian camps. Often did they look back
+in the direction where from three to five hundred savages
+were supposed to watch their movements, but, much to their
+astonishment, no one appeared to be in pursuit. The
+Indians, believing no doubt that the property of the traders
+would come into their hands, and having no amateur predilection
+for taking scalps at the risk of losing their own,
+appeared willing enough to let the spoliated adventurers
+depart without further molestation. <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg136"></a>[p136]</span></p>
+
+<p>The destitute travellers having run themselves short of
+provisions, and being no longer able to kill game for want
+of materials to load their rifles with, they were very soon
+reduced to the necessity of sustaining life upon roots, and
+the tender bark of trees. After travelling for several days
+in this desperate condition, with lacerated feet, and utter
+prostration of mind and body, they began to disagree among
+themselves about the route to be pursued, and eventually
+separated into two distinct parties. Five of these unhappy
+men steered a westward course, and after a succession of
+sufferings and privations which almost surpassed belief, they
+reached the settlements of the Creek Indians, near the
+Arkansas river, where they were treated with great kindness
+and hospitality. The other five wandered about in the
+greatest state of distress and bewilderment, and only two
+{53} finally succeeded in getting out of the mazes of the
+wilderness. Among those who were abandoned to their
+fate, and left to perish thus miserably, was a Mr. Schenck,
+the same individual who had been shot in the thigh; a gentleman
+of talent and excellent family connections, who was
+a brother, as I am informed, of the Hon. Mr. Schenck, at
+present a member of Congress from Ohio.<a name="FNanchor_90_90" id="FNanchor_90_90"></a><a href="#Footnote_90_90" class="fnanchor">[90]</a></p>
+
+<p>But let us resume our journey. We had for some days,
+while travelling along the course of the Canadian, been in
+anxious expectation of reaching a point from whence there
+was a cart-road to Santa Fé, made by the Ciboleros; but
+being constantly baffled and disappointed in this hope,
+serious apprehensions began to be entertained by some of <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg137"></a>[p137]</span>
+the party that we might after all be utterly lost. In this
+emergency, one of our Mexicans who pretended to be a great
+deal wiser than the rest, insisted that we were pursuing a
+wrong direction, and that every day's march only took us
+further from Santa Fé. There appeared to be so much
+plausibility in his assertion, as he professed a perfect knowledge
+of all the country around, that many of our men were
+almost ready to mutiny,—to take the command from the
+hands of my brother and myself and lead us southward in
+search of the Colorado, into the fearful <i>Llano Estacado</i>,
+where we would probably have perished.<a name="FNanchor_91_91" id="FNanchor_91_91"></a><a href="#Footnote_91_91" class="fnanchor">[91]</a> But our observations
+of the latitude, which we took very frequently, as
+well as the course we were pursuing, completely contradicted
+the {54} Mexican wiseacre. A few days afterwards we were
+overtaken by a party of <dfn>Comancheros</dfn>, or Mexican Comanche
+traders, when we had the satisfaction of learning that we were
+in the right track.</p>
+
+<p>These men had been trading with the band of Comanches
+we had lately met, and learning from them that we had
+passed on, they had hastened to overtake us, so as to obtain
+our protection against the savages, who, after selling their
+animals to the Mexicans, very frequently take forcible
+possession of them again, before the purchasers have been
+able to reach their homes. These parties of <i>Comancheros</i>
+are usually composed of the indigent and rude classes of
+the frontier villages, who collect together, several times a
+year, and launch upon the plains with a few trinkets and
+trumperies of all kinds, and perhaps a bag of bread and
+may-be another of <i>pinole</i>, which they barter away to the
+savages for horses and mules. The entire stock of an individual
+trader very seldom exceeds the value of twenty dollars,
+with which he is content to wander about for several months, <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg138"></a>[p138]</span>
+and glad to return home with a mule or two, as the proceeds
+of his traffic.</p>
+
+<p>These Mexican traders had much to tell us about the
+Comanches: saying, that they were four or five thousand in
+number, with perhaps a thousand warriors, and that the
+fiery young men had once determined to follow and attack
+us; but that the chiefs and sages had deterred them, by
+stating that our cannons {55} could kill to the distance of
+many miles, and shoot through hills and rocks and destroy
+everything that happened to be within their range. The
+main object of our visitors, however, seemed to be to raise
+themselves into importance by exaggerating the perils we
+had escaped from. That they had considered themselves
+in great jeopardy, there could be no doubt whatever, for,
+in their anxiety to overtake us, they came very near killing
+their animals.</p>
+
+<p>It was a war-party of this band of Comanches that paid
+the 'flying visit' to Bent's Fort on the Arkansas river, to
+which Mr. Farnham alludes in his trip to Oregon.<a name="FNanchor_92_92" id="FNanchor_92_92"></a><a href="#Footnote_92_92" class="fnanchor">[92]</a> A
+band of the same Indians also fell in with the caravan from
+Missouri, with whom they were for a while upon the verge
+of hostilities.</p>
+
+<p>The next day we passed the afternoon upon a ravine
+where we found abundance of water, but to our great surprise
+our animals refused to drink. Upon tasting the water,
+we found it exceedingly nauseous and bitter; far more <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg139"></a>[p139]</span>
+repugnant to some palates than a solution of Epsom salts.
+It is true that the water had been a little impregnated with
+the same loathsome substance for several days; but we
+had never found it so bad before. The salinous compound
+which imparts this savor, is found in great abundance in
+the vicinity of the table-plain streams of New Mexico, and
+is known to the natives by the name of <dfn>salitre</dfn>.<a name="FNanchor_93_93" id="FNanchor_93_93"></a><a href="#Footnote_93_93" class="fnanchor">[93]</a> We {56} had
+the good fortune to find in the valley, a few sinks filled by
+recent rains, so that actually we experienced no great inconvenience
+from the want of fresh water. As far as our own
+personal necessities were concerned, we were abundantly
+supplied; it being an unfailing rule with us to carry in each
+wagon a five-gallon keg always filled with water, in order to
+guard against those frightful contingencies which so frequently
+occur on the Prairies. In truth upon leaving one watering
+place, we never knew where we would find the next.</p>
+
+<p>On the 20th of June we pitched our camp upon the north
+bank of the Canadian or Colorado, in latitude <span
+class="fraction">35° 24′</span>
+according to a meridian altitude of Saturn. On the following
+day, I left the caravan, accompanied by three Comancheros,
+and proceeded at a more rapid pace towards Santa
+Fé. This was rather a hazardous journey, inasmuch as we
+were still within the range of the Pawnee and Comanche
+war-parties, and my companions were men in whom I could
+not repose the slightest confidence, except for piloting;
+being fully convinced that in case of meeting with an enemy,
+they would either forsake or deliver me up, just as it might
+seem most conducive to their own interest and safety. All
+I had to depend upon were my fire-arms, which could hardly
+fail to produce an impression in my favor; for, thanks to
+Mr. Colt's invention, I carried thirty-six charges ready-loaded,
+which I could easily fire at the rate of {57} a dozen <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg140"></a>[p140]</span>
+per minute. I do not believe that any band of those timorous
+savages of the western prairies would venture to approach
+even a single man, under such circumstances. If,
+according to an old story of the frontier, an Indian supposed
+that a white man fired both with his tomahawk and scalping
+knife, to account for the execution done by a brace of
+pistols, thirty-six shots discharged in quick succession would
+certainly overawe them as being the effect of some great
+medicine.</p>
+
+<p>As we jogged merrily along, I often endeavored to while
+away the time by catechising my three companions in relation
+to the topography of the wild region we were traversing;
+but I soon found, that, like the Indians, these ignorant
+rancheros have no ideas of distances, except as compared
+with time or with some other distance. They will tell you
+that you may arrive at a given place by the time the sun
+reaches a certain point: otherwise, whether it be but half
+a mile or half a day's ride to the place inquired for, they are
+as apt to apply <dfn>está cerquita</dfn> (it is close by), or <dfn>está lejos</dfn> (it
+is far off), to the one as to the other, just as the impression
+happens to strike them, when compared with some other
+point more or less distant. This often proves a source of
+great annoyance to foreign travellers, as I had an opportunity
+of experiencing before my arrival. In giving directions,
+these people—in fact, the lower classes of Mexicans generally—are
+also in the habit of using very odd gesticulations,
+altogether {58} peculiar to themselves. Instead of
+pointing with their hands and fingers, they generally employ
+the mouth, which is done by thrusting out the lips in the
+direction of the spot, or object, which the inquirer wishes
+to find out—accompanied by <i>aquí</i> or <i>allí está</i>. This habit
+of substituting labial gestures for the usual mode of indicating,
+has grown from the use of the <i>sarape</i>, which keeps
+their hands and arms perpetually confined. <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg141"></a>[p141]</span></p>
+
+<p>From the place where we left the wagons, till we reached
+the <dfn>Angostura</dfn>, or narrows,<a name="FNanchor_94_94" id="FNanchor_94_94"></a><a href="#Footnote_94_94" class="fnanchor">[94]</a> (a distance of 60 miles), we
+had followed a plain cart-road, which seemed everywhere
+passable for wagons. Here, however, we found the point
+of a table plain projecting abruptly against the river, so as
+to render it impossible for wagons to pass without great
+risk. The huge masses of solid rock, which occur in this
+place, and the rugged cliffs or brows of the table lands which
+rise above them, appear to have been mistaken by a detachment
+of the Texan Santa Fé expedition, for spurs of the
+Rocky Mountains; an error which was rational enough, as
+they not unfrequently tower to the height of two thousand
+feet above the valley, and are often as rocky and rough as
+the rudest heaps of trap-rock can make them. By ascending
+the main summit of these craggy promontories, however,
+the eastern ridge of the veritable Rocky Mountains may be
+seen, still very far off in the western horizon, with a widespread
+and apparently level table plain, intervening and
+extending in every direction, {59} as far as the eye can reach;
+for even the deep-cut chasms of the intersecting rivers are
+rarely visible except one be upon their very brink.</p>
+
+<p>Upon expressing my fears that our wagons would not be
+able to pass the <i>Angostura</i> in safety, my comrades informed
+me that there was an excellent route, of which no previous
+mention had been made, passing near the <dfn>Cerro de Tucumcari</dfn>,
+a round mound plainly visible to the southward.<a name="FNanchor_95_95" id="FNanchor_95_95"></a><a href="#Footnote_95_95" class="fnanchor">[95]</a> After
+several vain efforts to induce some of the party to carry a <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg142"></a>[p142]</span>
+note back to my brother, and to pilot the caravan through
+the Tucumcari route, one of them, known as Tio Baca,
+finally proposed to undertake the errand for a bounty of
+ten dollars, besides high wages till they should reach the
+frontier. His conditions being accepted, he set out after
+breakfast, not, however, without previously recommending
+himself to the Virgin Guadalupe, and all the saints in the
+calendar, and desiring us to remember him in our prayers.
+Notwithstanding his fears, however, he arrived in perfect
+safety, and I had the satisfaction of learning afterward that
+my brother found the new route everything he could have
+desired.</p>
+
+<p>I continued my journey westward with my two remaining
+companions; but, owing to their being provided with a relay
+of horses, they very soon left me to make the balance of the
+travel alone—though yet in a region haunted by hostile
+savages. On the following day, about the hour of twelve,
+as I was pursuing a horse-path along the course of the {60}
+Rio Pecos, near the frontier settlements, I met with a shepherd,
+of whom I anxiously inquired the distance to San
+Miguel. "O, it is just there," responded the man of sheep.
+"Don't you see that point of mesa yonder? It is just beyond
+that." This welcome information cheered me greatly; for,
+owing to the extraordinary transparency of the atmosphere,
+it appeared to me that the distance could not exceed two
+or three miles. "<dfn>Está cerquita</dfn>," exclaimed the shepherd
+as I rode off; "<dfn>ahora está V. allá</dfn>"—"it is close by; you will
+soon be there."</p>
+
+<p>I set off at as lively a pace as my jaded steed could carry
+me, confident of taking dinner in San Miguel.<a name="FNanchor_96_96" id="FNanchor_96_96"></a><a href="#Footnote_96_96" class="fnanchor">[96]</a> Every
+ridge I turned I thought must be the last, and thus I jogged
+on, hoping and anticipating my future comforts till the
+shades of evening began to appear; when I descended into <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg143"></a>[p143]</span>
+the valley of the Pecos, which, although narrow, is exceedingly
+fertile and beautifully lined with verdant fields, among
+which stood a great variety of mud cabins. About eight
+o'clock, I called at one of these cottages and again inquired
+the distance to San Miguel; when a swarthy-looking ranchero
+once more saluted mine ears with "<i>Está cerquita; ahora está
+V. allá</i>." Although the distance was designated in precisely
+the same words used by the shepherd eight hours before, I
+had the consolation at least of believing that I was something
+nearer. After spurring on for a couple of miles over
+a rugged road, I at last reached the long-sought village.</p>
+
+<p>{61} The next day, I hired a Mexican to carry some flour
+back to meet the wagons; for our party was by this time
+running short of provisions. In fact, we should long before
+have been in danger of starvation, had it not been for our
+oxen; for we had not seen a buffalo since the day we first
+met with the Comanches. Some of our cattle being in good
+plight, and able, as we were, to spare a few from our teams,
+we made beef of them when urged by necessity: an extra
+advantage in ox teams on these perilous expeditions.</p>
+
+<p>On the 25th of June I arrived safely at Santa Fé,—but
+again rode back to meet the wagons, which did not reach
+the capital till the 4th of July. We did not encounter a very
+favorable reception from 'his majesty,' Gov. Armijo. He
+had just established his arbitrary impost of $500 per wagon,
+which bore rather heavily upon us; for we had an overstock
+of coarse articles which we had merely brought along for
+the purpose of increasing the strength of our company, by
+adding to the number of our wagons.</p>
+
+<p>But these little troubles in a business way, were entirely
+drowned in the joyful sensations arising from our safe arrival,
+after so long and so perilous an expedition. Considering
+the character and our ignorance of the country over which
+we had travelled, we had been exceedingly successful. <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg144"></a>[p144]</span>
+Instances are certainly rare of heavily-laden wagons' having
+been conducted, without a guide, through an unexplored
+desert; and yet we {62} performed the trip without any
+important accident—without encountering any very difficult
+passes—without suffering for food or for water.</p>
+
+<p>We had hoped that at least a few days of rest and quiet
+recreation might have been allowed us after our arrival;
+for relaxation was sorely needed at the end of so long a
+journey and its concomitant privations: but it was ordered
+otherwise. We had scarcely quartered ourselves within the
+town before a grand 'flare-up' took place between Gov.
+Armijo and the foreigners<a name="FNanchor_97_97" id="FNanchor_97_97"></a><a href="#Footnote_97_97" class="fnanchor">[97]</a> in Santa Fé, which, for a little
+while, bid fair to result in open hostilities. It originated in
+the following circumstances.</p>
+
+<p>In the winter of 1837-8, a worthy young American, named
+Daley, was murdered at the Gold Mines, by a couple of
+villains, solely for plunder. The assassins were arrested,
+when they confessed their guilt; but, in a short time, they
+were permitted to run at large again, in violation of every
+principle of justice or humanity. About this time they were
+once more apprehended, however, by the interposition of
+foreigners: and, at the solicitation of the friends of the
+deceased, a memorial from the Americans in Santa Fé was
+presented to Armijo, representing the injustice of permitting
+the murderers of their countrymen to go unpunished; and
+praying that the culprits might {63} be dealt with according
+to law. But the governor affected to consider the affair as
+a conspiracy; and, collecting his ragamuffin militia, attempted
+to intimidate the petitioners. The foreigners were
+now constrained to look to their defence, as they saw that <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg145"></a>[p145]</span>
+no justice was to be expected. Had Armijo persisted,
+serious consequences might have ensued; but seeing the
+'conspirators' firm, he sent an apology, affecting to have
+misconstrued their motives, and promising that the laws
+should be duly executed upon the murderers.</p>
+
+<p>Besides the incentives of justice and humanity, foreigners
+felt a deep interest in the execution of this promise. But a
+few years previous, another person had been assassinated
+and robbed at the same place; yet the authorities having
+taken no interest in the matter, the felons were never discovered;
+and now, should these assassins escape the merited forfeit
+of their atrocious crime, it was evident there would be
+no future security for our lives and property. But the governor's
+<em>due execution of the laws</em> consisted in retaining them
+a year or two in nominal imprisonment, when they were
+again set at liberty. Besides these, other foreigners have
+been murdered in New Mexico with equal impunity:—all
+which contrasts very strikingly with the manner our courts
+of justice have since dealt with those who killed Chavez, in
+1843, on the Santa Fé road.<a name="FNanchor_98_98" id="FNanchor_98_98"></a><a href="#Footnote_98_98" class="fnanchor">[98]</a></p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_83_83" id="Footnote_83_83"></a><a href="#FNanchor_83_83"><span class="label">[83]</span></a> James Pollard Espy (1785-1860), a well-known meteorologist. His collection
+of reports on the weather, while occupied in his experiments, contributed towards
+the founding of the present United States weather-bureau. His theory was, that
+storms could be produced artificially by heating the atmosphere with long-continued
+fires. He published <cite>Philosophy of Storms</cite> (Boston and London, 1841).—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_84_84" id="Footnote_84_84"></a><a href="#FNanchor_84_84"><span class="label">[84]</span></a> About the ninety-ninth meridian, the Canadian extends above the thirty-sixth
+parallel, forming the Great North Bend. The Oklahoma town of Taloga
+is on the southern curve of the bow.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_85_85" id="Footnote_85_85"></a><a href="#FNanchor_85_85"><span class="label">[85]</span></a> The Canadian and its North Fork approach very closely at this point. The
+region between the North Bend and the one hundredth meridian contains much
+gypsum. See James's <cite>Long's Expedition</cite>, in our volume xvi, pp. 141-143.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_86_86" id="Footnote_86_86"></a><a href="#FNanchor_86_86"><span class="label">[86]</span></a> From subsequent observations, this point appears to have been some miles
+west of the 100th degree of longitude.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span>
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>Comment by Ed.</i> See volume xix, p. 217, note 52 (Gregg).</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_87_87" id="Footnote_87_87"></a><a href="#FNanchor_87_87"><span class="label">[87]</span></a> Kendall, <cite>Texan Santa Fé Expedition</cite>, i, p. 192.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_88_88" id="Footnote_88_88"></a><a href="#FNanchor_88_88"><span class="label">[88]</span></a> Camp Comanche would appear to have been in Lipscombe or Ochiltree
+County, Texas.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_89_89" id="Footnote_89_89"></a><a href="#FNanchor_89_89"><span class="label">[89]</span></a> For Dr. John Sibley, see our volume xvii, p. 68, note 60. This anecdote is
+found in his report in <cite>American State Papers</cite>, "Indian Affairs," i, p. 724.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_90_90" id="Footnote_90_90"></a><a href="#FNanchor_90_90"><span class="label">[90]</span></a> Robert C. Schenck was born at Franklin, Ohio, in 1809, graduated from
+Miami University, and practised law at Dayton. After one term in the state
+legislature (1841-42), he was sent to Congress (1843-51), which he left to become
+American minister to Brazil (1851-53). In the War of Secession he attained a
+major-generalship, and resigned to re-enter Congress (1863-70). For six years
+(1870-76) Schenck served as minister to Great Britain, being one of the commissioners
+to adjust the Alabama claims. He died in Washington in 1890. Another
+brother was an admiral in the American navy.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_91_91" id="Footnote_91_91"></a><a href="#FNanchor_91_91"><span class="label">[91]</span></a> Colorado is the usual Spanish term for Red River, which Gregg here intends.
+For Llano Estacado, see his description <i>post</i>, p. 239.—<span class="smcap">Ed</span>.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_92_92" id="Footnote_92_92"></a><a href="#FNanchor_92_92"><span
+class="label">[92]</span></a> Thomas J. Farnham, <cite>Travels in the Great Western Prairie, the Anahuac
+and Rocky Mountains, and in Oregon Territory</cite> (London, 1843), reprinted in
+volume xxvii of our series.
+</p>
+<p>
+Bent's Fort, sometimes called Fort William for its founder Colonel William
+Bent, was situated on the north bank of the Arkansas, between the present towns
+of La Junta and Las Animas, Colorado. Founded in 1829, it was an important
+fur-trade post, and base of supplies for the mountain trail to Santa Fé. The
+United States army of occupation (1846) passed by this post. In 1852, the government
+attempted to purchase the post; but not satisfied with the terms, its owner
+destroyed the stockade.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_93_93" id="Footnote_93_93"></a><a href="#FNanchor_93_93"><span
+class="label">[93]</span></a> Literally <dfn>saltpetre</dfn>; but the
+<dfn>salitre</dfn> of New Mexico is a compound of several
+other salts beside nitre.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_94_94" id="Footnote_94_94"></a><a href="#FNanchor_94_94"><span class="label">[94]</span></a> On the eastern border of San Miguel County, New Mexico, are three peaks
+known as Los Cuervos, or The Crows. The river winding through this high land,
+forms the narrows of which Gregg speaks. Consult Kendall, <cite>Texan Santa Fé
+Expedition</cite>, i, p. 174.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_95_95" id="Footnote_95_95"></a><a href="#FNanchor_95_95"><span class="label">[95]</span></a> Tucumcari Mountain is in eastern Quay County, with a town of the same
+name at its base—a junction on the Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific Railway.
+For an interesting description of this mound, which he likens to the dome of the
+capitol at Washington, see report of James H. Simpson (1849), in <cite>Senate Doc.</cite>,
+31 cong., 2 sess., vi, 12, p. 14.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_96_96" id="Footnote_96_96"></a><a href="#FNanchor_96_96"><span class="label">[96]</span></a> For San Miguel, see our volume xix, p. 253, note 76 (Gregg).—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_97_97" id="Footnote_97_97"></a><a href="#FNanchor_97_97"><span
+class="label">[97]</span></a> Among the New Mexicans, the terms
+<i>foreigner</i> and <i>American</i> are synonymous:
+indeed, the few citizens of other nations to be found there identify themselves with
+those of the United States. All foreigners are known there as <dfn>Americanos</dfn>; but
+south of Chihuahua they are indiscriminately called <dfn>Los Ingleses</dfn>, the
+English.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_98_98" id="Footnote_98_98"></a><a href="#FNanchor_98_98"><span
+class="label">[98]</span></a>
+See post, pp. 227-232.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div></div>
+
+<h3 title="Chapter XX">
+<a name="CHAPTER_XX_IV" id="CHAPTER_XX_IV"></a>CHAPTER XX {IV}</h3>
+
+<p class="subhead">Preparations for a Start to Chihuahua — Ineptness of Married Men
+for the Santa Fé Trade — The Chihuahua Trade — Annoying
+Custom-house Regulations — Mails in New Mexico — Insecurity
+of Correspondence — Outfit and Departure — <i>Derecho de Consumo</i> — Ruins
+of Valverde — 'Towns without Houses' — La Jornada del
+Muerto — Laguna and Ojo del Muerto — A Tradition of the
+<i>Arrieros</i> — Laborious Ferrying and Quagmires — Arrival at Paso
+del Norte — Amenity of the Valley — <i>Sierra Blanca</i> and <i>Los Organos</i> — Face
+of the Country — Seagrass — An accidental River — Laguna
+de Encinillas — Southern Haciendas — Arrival — Character of the
+Route and Soil.<a href="#tocXX"
+class="toclnk">toc</a></p>
+
+<p>After passing the custom-house ordeal, and exchanging
+some of our merchandise for 'Eagle Dollars'—an operation
+which occupied us several weeks, I prepared to set out for <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg146"></a>[p146]</span>
+the Chihuahua market, whither a portion of our stock had
+been designed. Upon this expedition I was obliged to
+depart without my brother, who was laboring under the
+'home fever,' and anxious to return to his family. "He that
+hath wife and children," says Lord Bacon, "hath given
+hostages to fortune; for they are impediments to great enterprises,
+either of virtue or mischief." Men under such bonds
+are peculiarly unfitted for the chequered life of a Santa Fé
+trader. The domestic hearth, {65} with all its sacred and
+most endearing recollections, is sure to haunt them in the
+hour of trial, and almost every step of their journey is apt
+to be attended by melancholy reflections of home and
+domestic dependencies.</p>
+
+<p>Before starting on this new journey I deem it proper to
+make a few observations relative to the general character
+of the <i>Chihuahua Trade</i>. I have already remarked, that
+much surprise has frequently been expressed by those who
+are unacquainted with all the bearings of the case, that the
+Missouri traders should take the circuitous route to Santa
+Fé, instead of steering direct for Chihuahua, inasmuch as
+the greatest portion of their goods is destined for the latter
+city. But as Chihuahua never had any port of entry for
+foreign goods till the last six or eight years, the market of
+that department had to be supplied in a great measure from
+Santa Fé. By opening the ports of El Paso and Presidio
+del Norte,<a name="FNanchor_99_99" id="FNanchor_99_99"></a><a href="#Footnote_99_99" class="fnanchor">[99]</a> the commercial interest was so little affected,
+that when Santa Anna's decree for closing them again was
+issued, the loss was scarcely felt at all.</p>
+
+<p>The mode of transmitting merchandise from the ports
+to the interior, is very different from what it is in the United
+States. It is not enough to have to pass the tedious ordeal <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg147"></a>[p147]</span>
+of custom-houses on the frontier, and we have not only to
+submit to a supervision and repayment of duty on arriving
+at our point of destination, but our cargo is subject to scrutiny
+at every town we have to pass through on our {66} journey.
+Nor would it be advisable to forsake the main route in order
+to avoid this tyrannical system of taxation; because, according
+to the laws of the country, every <i>cargamento</i> which is
+found out of the regular track (except in cases of unavoidable
+necessity), is subject to confiscation, although accompanied
+by the necessary custom-house documents.</p>
+
+<p>There are also other risks and contingencies very little
+dreamed of in the philosophy of the inexperienced trader.
+Before setting out, the entire bill of merchandise has to be
+translated into Spanish; when, duplicates of the translation
+being presented to the custom-house, one is retained, while
+the other, accompanied by the <dfn>guia</dfn> (a sort of clearance or
+mercantile passport), is carried along with the cargo by the
+conductor. The trader can have three points of destination
+named in his <dfn>guia</dfn>, to either of which he may direct his course,
+but to no others: while in the drawing up of the <dfn>factura</dfn>,
+or invoice, the greatest care is requisite, as the slightest mistake,
+even an accidental slip of the pen, might, according
+to the terms of the law, subject the goods to confiscation.<a name="FNanchor_100_100" id="FNanchor_100_100"></a><a href="#Footnote_100_100" class="fnanchor">[100]</a></p>
+
+<p>The <i>guia</i> is not only required on leaving the ports for the
+interior, but is indispensable to the safe conveyance of goods
+from one department of the republic to another: nay, the
+{67} simple transfer of property from town to town, and
+from village to village, in the same department, is attended
+by precisely the same proportion of risk, and requires the
+same punctilious accuracy in the accompanying documents. <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg148"></a>[p148]</span>
+Even the produce and manufactures of the country are
+equally subject to these embarrassing regulations. New
+Mexico has no internal custom-houses, and is therefore exempt
+from this rigorous provision; but from Chihuahua
+south every village has its revenue officers; so that the same
+stock of merchandise sometimes pays the internal duty at
+least half-a-dozen times before the sale is completed.</p>
+
+<p>Now, to procure this same <i>guia</i>, which is the cause of so
+much difficulty and anxiety in the end, is no small affair.
+Before the authorities condescend to draw a single line on
+paper, the merchant must produce an endorser for the
+<dfn>tornaguía</dfn>, which is a certificate from the custom-house to
+which the cargo goes directed, showing that the goods have
+been legally entered there. A failure in the return of this
+document within a prescribed limit of time, subjects the
+endorser to a forfeiture equal to the amount of the impost.
+Much inconvenience and not a little risk are also occasioned
+on this score by the irregularity—I may say, insecurity of
+the mails.</p>
+
+<p>Speaking of mails, I beg leave to observe, that there are no
+conveniences of this kind in New Mexico, except on the
+route from Santa Fé to Chihuahua, and these are very
+{68} irregular and uncertain. Before the Indians had
+obtained such complete possession of the highways through
+the wilderness, the mails between these two cities were carried
+semi-monthly; but now they are much less frequent,
+being mere expresses, in fact, dispatched only when an occasion
+offers. There are other causes, however, besides the
+dread of marauding savages, which render the transportation
+of the mails in New Mexico very insecure: I mean the dishonesty
+of those employed in superintending them. Persons
+known to be inimical to the post-master, or to the 'powers
+that be,' and wishing to forward any communication to the
+South, most generally either wait for private conveyance, <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg149"></a>[p149]</span>
+or send their letters to a post-office (the only one besides
+that of Santa Fé in all New Mexico) some eighty miles
+on the way; thus avoiding an overhauling at the capital.
+Moreover, as the post-rider often carries the key
+of the mail-bag (for want of a supply at the different
+offices), he not unfrequently permits whomsoever will pay
+him a trifling <i>douceur</i>, to examine the correspondence. I
+was once witness to a case of this kind in the Jornada del
+Muerto, where the entire mail was tumbled out upon the
+grass, that an individual might search for letters, for which
+luxury he was charged by the accommodating carrier the
+moderate price of one dollar.</p>
+
+<p>The <dfn>derecho de consumo</dfn> (the internal or consumption
+duty) is an impost averaging nearly twenty per cent. on the
+United States cost of {69} the bill. It supplies the place of a
+direct tax for the support of the departmental government,
+and is decidedly the most troublesome, if not the most oppressive
+revenue system that ever was devised for internal
+purposes. It operates at once as a drawback upon the
+commercial prosperity of the country, and as a potent incentive
+to fraudulent practices. The country people especially
+have resort to every species of clandestine intercourse, to
+escape this galling burden; for, every article of consumption
+they carry to market, whether fish, flesh or fowl, as well as
+fruit and vegetables, is taxed more or less; while another
+impost is levied upon the goods they purchase with the
+proceeds of their sales. This system, so beautifully entangled
+with corruptions, is supported on the ground that it
+supersedes direct taxation, which, in itself, is an evil that
+the 'free and independent' people of Mexico would never
+submit to. Besides the petty annoyances incidental upon
+the laxity of custom-house regulations, no one can travel
+through the country without a passport, which to free-born
+Americans, is a truly insupportable nuisance. <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg150"></a>[p150]</span></p>
+
+<p>Having at last gone through with all the vexatious preparations
+necessary for our journey, on the 22d of August we
+started for Chihuahua. I fitted out myself but six wagons
+for this market, yet joining in company with several other
+traders, our little caravan again amounted to fourteen
+wagons, with about forty men. Though our route lay
+through {70} the interior of Northern Mexico, yet, on account
+of the hostile savages which infest most of the country through
+which we had to pass, it was necessary to unite in caravans of
+respectable strength, and to spare few of those precautions
+for safety which are required on the Prairies.</p>
+
+<p>The road we travelled passes down through the settlements
+of New Mexico for the first hundred and thirty miles, on
+the east side of the Rio del Norte. Nevertheless, as there
+was not an inn of any kind to be found upon the whole route,
+we were constrained to put up with very primitive accommodations.
+Being furnished from the outset, therefore,
+with blankets and buffalo rugs for bedding, we were prepared
+to bivouac, even in the suburbs of the villages, in the
+open air; for in this dry and salubrious atmosphere it is
+seldom that travellers go to the trouble of pitching tents.<a name="FNanchor_101_101" id="FNanchor_101_101"></a><a href="#Footnote_101_101" class="fnanchor">[101]</a>
+When travelling alone, however, or with but a comrade or
+two, I have always experienced a great deal of hospitality
+from the rancheros and villageois of the country. Whatever
+sins these ignorant people may have to answer for, we must
+accord to them at least two glowing virtues—gratitude and
+hospitality. I have suffered like others, however, from one
+very disagreeable custom which prevails {71} among them.
+Instead of fixing a price for the services they bestow upon
+travellers, they are apt to answer, "<dfn>Lo que guste</dfn>," or "<dfn>Lo</dfn> <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg151"></a>[p151]</span>
+<dfn>que le dé la gana</dfn>" (whatever you please, or have a mind to
+give), expecting, of course, that the liberal foreigner will give
+more than their consciences would permit them to exact.</p>
+
+<p>In about ten days' drive we passed the southernmost settlements
+of New Mexico, and twenty or thirty miles further
+down the river we came to the ruins of Valverde. This
+village was founded about twenty years ago, in one of the
+most fertile valleys of the Rio del Norte. It increased
+rapidly in population, until it was invaded by the Navajoes,
+when the inhabitants were obliged to abandon the place
+after considerable loss, and it has never since been repeopled.
+The bottoms of the valley, many of which are of rich alluvial
+loam, have lain fallow ever since, and will perhaps continue
+to be neglected until the genius of civilization shall have
+spread its beneficent influences over the land. This soil is
+the more valuable for cultivation on account of the facilities
+for irrigation which the river affords; as it too frequently
+happens that the best lands of the settlements remain
+unfruitful for want of water.<a name="FNanchor_102_102" id="FNanchor_102_102"></a><a href="#Footnote_102_102" class="fnanchor">[102]</a></p>
+
+<p>Our next camping place deserving of mention was <i>Fray
+Cristóbal</i>, which, like many others on the route, is neither
+town nor village, but a simple isolated point on the river-bank—a
+mere <dfn>parage</dfn>, or camping-ground. We had
+already passed San Pascual, El Contadero, {72} and many
+others, and we could hear Aleman, Robledo, and a dozen
+such spoken of on the way, leading the stranger to imagine
+that the route was lined with flourishing villages. The
+arriero will tell one to hasten—"we must reach San Diego
+before sleeping." We spur on perhaps with redoubled <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg152"></a>[p152]</span>
+vigor, in hopes to rest at a town; but lo! upon arriving,
+we find only a mere watering-place, without open ground
+enough to graze the <i>caballada</i>. Thus every point along
+these wilderness highways used as a camping-site, has
+received a distinctive name, well known to every muleteer
+who travels them. Many of these <dfn>parages</dfn>, without the
+slightest vestige of human improvement, figure upon most
+of the current maps of the day as towns and villages.
+Yet there is not a single settlement (except of very recent
+establishment) from those before mentioned to the vicinity
+of El Paso, a distance of near two hundred miles.</p>
+
+<p>We arrived at Fray Cristóbal<a name="FNanchor_103_103" id="FNanchor_103_103"></a><a href="#Footnote_103_103" class="fnanchor">[103]</a> in the evening, but this
+being the threshold of the famous <i>Jornada del Muerto</i>, we
+deemed it prudent to let our animals rest here until the
+following afternoon. The road over which we had hitherto
+been travelling, though it sometimes traverses upland ridges
+and undulating sections, runs generally near the border of the
+river, and for the most part in its immediate valley: but here
+it leaves the river and passes for nearly eighty miles over a
+table-plain to the eastward of a small ledge of mountains,
+whose western base is hugged {73} by the circuitous channel
+of the Rio del Norte. The craggy cliffs which project from
+these mountains render the eastern bank of the river altogether
+impassable. As the direct route over the plain is
+entirely destitute of water, we took the precaution to fill all
+our kegs at Fray Cristóbal, and late in the afternoon we
+finally set out. We generally find a great advantage in
+travelling through these arid tracts of land in the freshness
+of the evening, as the mules suffer less from thirst, and move <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg153"></a>[p153]</span>
+on in better spirits—particularly in the season of warm
+weather.</p>
+
+<p>Early the next morning we found ourselves at the <dfn>Laguna
+del Muerto</dfn>, or 'Dead Man's Lake,' where there was not even
+a vestige of water. This <i>lake</i> is but a sink in the plain of
+a few rods in diameter, and only filled with water during
+the rainy season. The <i>marshes</i>, which are said by some
+historians to be in this vicinity, are nowhere to be found:
+nothing but the firmest and driest table land is to be seen
+in every direction. To procure water for our thirsty animals
+it is often necessary to make a halt here, and drive them to
+the <dfn>Ojo del Muerto</dfn> (Dead Man's Spring), five or six miles
+to the westward, in the very heart of the mountain ridge that
+lay between us and the river. This region is one of the
+favorite resorts of the Apaches, where many a poor arriero
+has met with an untimely end. The route which leads to the
+spring winds for two or three miles down a narrow cañon or
+gorge, overhung on either side by abrupt precipices, {74} while
+the various clefts and crags, which project their gloomy
+brows over the abyss below, seem to invite the murderous
+savage to deeds of horror and blood.</p>
+
+<p>There is a tradition among the arrieros from which it
+would appear that the only road known in ancient time about
+the region of the <i>Jornada</i>, wound its circuitous course on the
+western side of the river. To save distance, an intrepid
+traveller undertook to traverse this desolate tract of land in
+one day, but having perished in the attempt, it has ever
+after borne the name of <dfn>La Jornada del Muerto</dfn>, 'the Dead
+Man's Journey,' or, more strictly, 'the Day's Journey of the
+Dead Man.' One thing appears very certain, that this
+dangerous pass has cost the life of many travellers in days
+of yore; and when we at last reached Robledo, a camping-site
+upon the river, where we found abundance of wood and
+water, we felt truly grateful that the arid <i>Jornada</i> had not <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg154"></a>[p154]</span>
+been productive of more serious consequences to our party.
+We now found ourselves within the department of Chihuahua,
+as the boundary betwixt it and New Mexico passes
+not far north of Robledo.<a name="FNanchor_104_104" id="FNanchor_104_104"></a><a href="#Footnote_104_104" class="fnanchor">[104]</a></p>
+
+<p>We were still some sixty miles above Paso del Norte, but
+the balance of the road now led down the river valley or
+over the low bordering hills. During our journey between
+this and El Paso we passed the ruins of several settlements,
+which had formerly been the seats of opulence and prosperity,
+but which have since been abandoned in consequence {75} of
+the marauding incursions of the Apaches.</p>
+
+<p>On the 12th of September we reached the usual ford of the
+Rio del Norte, six miles above El Paso; but the river being
+somewhat flushed we found it impossible to cross over with
+our wagons. The reader will no doubt be surprised to
+learn that there is not a single ferry on this 'Great River of
+the North' till we approach the mouth. But how do people
+cross it? Why, during three-fourths of the year it is everywhere
+fordable, and when the freshet season comes on, each
+has to remain on his own side, or swim, for canoes even are
+very rare. But as we could neither swim our wagons and
+merchandise, nor very comfortably wait for the falling of
+the waters, our only alternative was to unload the vehicles,
+and ferry the goods over in a little 'dug-out' about thirty
+feet long and two feet wide, of which we were fortunate
+enough to obtain possession.</p>
+
+<p>We succeeded in finding a place shallow enough to haul
+our empty wagons across: but for this good fortune we should
+have been under the necessity of taking them to pieces (as
+I had before done), and of ferrying them on the 'small craft' <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg155"></a>[p155]</span>
+before mentioned. Half of a wagon may thus be crossed at
+a time, by carefully balancing it upon the canoe, yet there
+is of course no little danger of capsizing during the passage.</p>
+
+<p>This river even when fordable often occasions a great
+deal of trouble, being, like the Arkansas, embarrassed with
+many quicksand {76} mires. In some places, if a wagon is
+permitted to stop in the river but for a moment, it sinks to
+the very body. Instances have occurred where it became
+necessary, not only to drag out the mules by the ears and to
+carry out the loading package by package, but to haul out
+the wagon piece by piece—wheel by wheel.</p>
+
+<p>On the 14th we made our entrance into the town of <i>El
+Paso del Norte</i>,<a name="FNanchor_105_105" id="FNanchor_105_105"></a><a href="#Footnote_105_105" class="fnanchor">[105]</a> which is the northernmost settlement in
+the department of Chihuahua. Here our cargo had to be
+examined by a stern, surly officer, who, it was feared, would
+lay an embargo on our goods upon the slightest appearance
+of irregularity in our papers; but notwithstanding our gloomy
+forebodings, we passed the ordeal without any difficulty.</p>
+
+<p>The valley of El Paso is supposed to contain a population
+of about four thousand inhabitants, scattered over the western
+bottom of the Rio del Norte to the length of ten or twelve
+miles. These settlements are so thickly interspersed with
+vineyards, orchards, and corn-fields, as to present more the
+appearance of a series of plantations than of a town: in fact,
+only a small portion at the head of the valley, where the
+<i>plaza pública</i> and parochial church are located, would seem
+to merit this title. {77} Two or three miles above the <i>plaza</i>
+there is a dam of stone and brush across the river, the purpose
+of which is to turn the current into a dike or canal,
+which conveys nearly half the water of the stream, during a <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg156"></a>[p156]</span>
+low stage, through this well cultivated valley, for the irrigation
+of the soil. Here we were regaled with the finest fruits
+of the season: the grapes especially were of the most exquisite
+flavor. From these the inhabitants manufacture a very
+pleasant wine, somewhat resembling Malaga. A species of
+<dfn>aguardiente</dfn> (brandy) is also distilled from the same fruit,
+which, although weak, is of very agreeable flavor. These
+liquors are known among Americans as 'Pass wine' and
+'Pass whiskey,' and constitute a profitable article of trade,
+supplying the markets of Chihuahua and New Mexico.<a name="FNanchor_106_106"
+id="FNanchor_106_106"></a><a href="#Footnote_106_106" class="fnanchor">[106]</a></p>
+
+<p>As I have said before, the road from Santa Fé to El Paso
+leads partly along the margin of the Rio del Norte, or across
+the bordering hills and plains; but the <i>sierra</i> which separates
+the waters of this river and those of the Rio Pecos was always
+visible on our left. In some places it is cut up into detached
+ridges, one of which is known as <dfn>Sierra Blanca</dfn>, in consequence
+of its summit's being covered with snow till late in
+the spring, and having all {78} the appearance of a glittering
+white cloud. There is another still more picturesque ridge
+further south, called <dfn>Los Organos</dfn>, presenting an immense
+cliff of basaltic pillars, which bear some resemblance to the
+pipes of an <i>organ</i>, whence the mountain derived its name.
+Both these sierras are famous as being the strongholds of the
+much-dreaded Apaches.</p>
+
+<p>The mountains from El Paso northward are mostly clothed
+with pine, cedar, and a dwarfish species of oak. The valleys
+are timbered with cottonwood, and occasionally with <i>mezquite</i>,
+which, however, is rarely found higher up than the
+lower settlements of New Mexico. In the immediate vicinity <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg157"></a>[p157]</span>
+of El Paso there is another small growth called <dfn>tornillo</dfn> (or
+screw-wood), so denominated from a spiral pericarp, which,
+though different in shape, resembles that of the mezquite in
+flavor.<a name="FNanchor_107_107" id="FNanchor_107_107"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_107_107" class="fnanchor">[107]</a>
+The plains and highlands generally are of a
+prairie character, and do not differ materially from those
+of all Northern Mexico, which are almost everywhere completely
+void of timber.</p>
+
+<p>One of the most useful plants to the people of El Paso is
+the <dfn>lechuguilla</dfn>, which abounds on the hills and mountain
+sides of that vicinity, as well as in many other places from
+thence southward.<a name="FNanchor_108_108" id="FNanchor_108_108"></a><a href="#Footnote_108_108" class="fnanchor">[108]</a> Its blades, which resemble those of
+the palmilla, being mashed, scraped, and washed, afford
+very strong fibres like the common Manilla sea-grass, and
+equally serviceable for the manufacture of ropes, and other
+purposes.</p>
+
+<p>{79} After leaving El Paso, our road branched off at an
+angle of about two points to the westward of the river, the
+city of Chihuahua being situated nearly a hundred miles to
+the west of it. At the distance of about thirty miles we
+reached <dfn>Los Médanos</dfn>, a stupendous ledge of sand-hills,
+across which the road passes for about six miles. As teams
+are never able to haul the loaded wagons over this region of
+loose sand, we engaged an <i>atajo</i> of mules at El Paso, upon
+which to convey our goods across. These Médanos consist of
+huge hillocks and ridges of pure sand, in many places without
+a vestige of vegetation. Through the lowest gaps between
+the hills, the road winds its way.</p>
+
+<p>What renders this portion of the route still more unpleasant
+and fatiguing, is the great scarcity of water. All that is to <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg158"></a>[p158]</span>
+be found on the road for the distance of more than sixty
+miles after leaving El Paso, consists in two fetid springs or
+pools, whose water is only rendered tolerable by necessity.
+A little further on, however, we very unexpectedly encountered,
+this time, quite a superabundance of this necessary
+element. Just as we passed Lake Patos,<a name="FNanchor_109_109" id="FNanchor_109_109"></a><a href="#Footnote_109_109" class="fnanchor">[109]</a> we were struck
+with astonishment at finding the road ahead of us literally
+overflowed by an immense body of water, with a brisk current,
+as if some great river had suddenly been conjured into
+existence by the aid of supernatural arts. A considerable
+time elapsed before we could unravel the mystery. At last
+we discovered that a freshet had lately occurred {80} in the
+streams that fed Lake Patos, and caused it to overflow its
+banks, which accounted for this unwelcome visitation. We
+had to flounder through the mud and water for several
+hours, before we succeeded in getting across.</p>
+
+<p>The following day we reached the <dfn>acequia</dfn> below Carrizal,
+a small village with only three or four hundred inhabitants,
+but somewhat remarkable as being the site of a <dfn>presidio</dfn>
+(fort), at which is stationed a company of troops to protect
+the country against the ravages of the Apaches, who, notwithstanding,
+continue to lay waste the ranchos in the
+vicinity, and to depredate at will within the very sight of the
+fort.<a name="FNanchor_110_110" id="FNanchor_110_110"></a><a href="#Footnote_110_110" class="fnanchor">[110]</a></p>
+
+<p>About twelve miles south of Carrizal there is one of the
+most charming warm springs called Ojo Caliente, where we
+arrived the next day. It forms a basin some thirty feet long
+by about half that width, and just deep and warm enough
+for a most delightful bath at all seasons of the year. Were
+this spring (whose outlet forms a bold little rivulet) anywhere <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg159"></a>[p159]</span>
+within the United States, it would doubtless soon be converted
+into a place of fashionable resort. There appears to
+be a somewhat curious phenomenon connected with this
+spring. It proceeds, no doubt, from the little river of
+Cármen, which passes within half a mile, and finally discharges
+itself into the small lake of Patos before mentioned.
+During the dry season, this stream disappears in the sand
+some miles above the spring; and what medium it traverses
+in its subterranean passage to impart {81} to it so high a
+temperature, before breaking out in this fountain, would
+afford to the geologist an interesting subject of inquiry.<a name="FNanchor_111_111" id="FNanchor_111_111"></a><a href="#Footnote_111_111" class="fnanchor">[111]</a></p>
+
+<p>After fording the Rio Cármen, which, though usually
+without a drop of water in its channel, we now found a very
+turbulent stream, we did not meet with any object particularly
+worthy of remark, until we reached the <dfn>Laguna de
+Encinillas</dfn>.<a name="FNanchor_112_112" id="FNanchor_112_112"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_112_112" class="fnanchor">[112]</a>
+This lake is ten or twelve miles long by two
+or three in width, and seems to have no outlet even during
+the greatest freshets, though fed by several small constantly-flowing
+streams from the surrounding mountains. The
+water of this lake during the dry season is so strongly impregnated
+with nauseous and bitter salts, as to render it
+wholly unpalatable to man and beast. The most predominant
+of these noxious substances is a species of alkali, known
+there by the title of <dfn>tequesquite</dfn>. It is often seen oozing out
+from the surface of marshy grounds, about the table plains
+of all Northern Mexico, forming a grayish crust, and is
+extensively used in the manufacture of soap, and sometimes
+by the bakers even for raising bread. Here we had another
+evidence of the alarming effects of the recent flood, the road
+for several miles along the margin of the lake being <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg160"></a>[p160]</span>
+completely inundated. It was, however, in the city of Chihuahua
+itself that the disastrous consequences of the freshet were
+most severely felt. Some inferior houses of <i>adobe</i> were so
+much soaked by the rains, that they tumbled to the ground,
+occasioning the loss of several lives.</p>
+
+<p>{82} The valley of Encinillas is very extensive and fertile,
+and is the locale of one of those princely estates which are
+so abundant further south, and known by the name of
+<dfn>Haciendas</dfn>. It abounds in excellent pasturage, and in
+cattle of all descriptions. In former times, before the
+Apaches had so completely devastated the country, the
+herds which grazed in this beautiful valley presented much
+the appearance of the buffalo of the plains, being almost as
+wild and generally of dark color. Many of the proprietors
+of these princely haciendas pride themselves in maintaining
+a uniformity in the color of their cattle: thus some are found
+stocked with black, others red, others white—or whatsoever
+shade the owner may have taken a fancy to.</p>
+
+<p>As we drew near to Chihuahua, our party had more the
+appearance of a funeral procession than of a band of adventurers,
+about to enter into the full fruition of 'dancing hopes,'
+and the realization of 'golden dreams.' Every one was
+uneasy as to what might be the treatment of the revenue
+officers. For my own part, I had not quite forgotten sundry
+annoyances and trials of temper I had been made to experience
+in the season of 1837, on a similar occasion. Much
+to our surprise, however, as well as delight, we were handled
+with a degree of leniency by the custom-house deities, on
+our arrival, that was almost incomprehensible. But the
+charm which operated in our favor, when understood, was
+very simple. A caravan had left Chihuahua direct {83} for
+the United States, the spring previous, and was daily expected
+back. The officers of the custom-house were already
+compromised by certain cogent arguments to receive the <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg161"></a>[p161]</span>
+proprietors of this caravan with striking marks of favor, and
+the <i>Señor Administrador de Rentas</i>, Zuloaga himself, was
+expecting an <i>ancheta</i> of goods. Therefore, had they treated
+us with their wonted severity, the contrast would have been
+altogether too glaring.<a name="FNanchor_113_113" id="FNanchor_113_113"></a><a href="#Footnote_113_113" class="fnanchor">[113]</a></p>
+
+<p>We arrived at Chihuahua on the first of October, after a
+trip of forty days, with wagons much more heavily laden
+than when we started from the United States. The whole
+distance from Santa Fé to Chihuahua is about 550 miles,—being
+reckoned 320 to Paso del Norte, and 230 from thence
+to Chihuahua. The road from El Paso south is mostly firm
+and beautiful, with the exception of the sand-hills before
+spoken of; and is only rendered disagreeable by the scarcity
+and occasional ill-savor of the water. The route winds over
+an elevated plain among numerous detached ridges of low
+mountains—spurs, as it were, of the main Cordilleras,
+which lie at a considerable distance to the westward. Most
+of these extensive intermediate plains, though in many places
+of fertile looking soil, must remain wholly unavailable for
+agricultural purposes, on account of their natural aridity and
+a total lack of water for irrigation.</p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_99_99" id="Footnote_99_99"></a><a href="#FNanchor_99_99"><span class="label">[99]</span></a> For El Paso, see Pattie's <cite>Narrative</cite>, in our volume xviii, p. 155, note 89.
+</p>
+<p>
+Presidio del Norte is in the Mexican state of Chihuahua, at the mouth of Los
+Conchos River; hence the town is sometimes called Presidio de las Juntas (junction).
+It is one of the oldest posts in northern Mexico.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_100_100" id="Footnote_100_100"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_100_100"><span class="label">[100]</span></a> In confirmation of
+this, it is only necessary to quote the following from the
+<cite>Pauta de Comisos</cite>, Cap. II., Art. 22: "Ni las guias, ni las facturas, ni los pases,
+en todos los casos de que trata este decreto, han de contener enmendadura, raspadura,
+ni entrerenglonadura alguna"—and this under penalty of confiscation.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_101_101" id="Footnote_101_101"></a><a href="#FNanchor_101_101"><span class="label">[101]</span></a> How scant soever our outfit of 'camp comforts' might appear, our Mexican
+muleteers were much more sparely supplied. The exposure endured by this hardy
+race is really surprising. Even in the coldest winter weather, they rarely carry
+more than one blanket apiece—the <dfn>sarape</dfn>, which serves as a cloak during the
+day, and at night is their only 'bed and bedding.'—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_102_102" id="Footnote_102_102"></a><a href="#FNanchor_102_102"><span class="label">[102]</span></a> The precinct of Valverde, on the east bank of the Rio Grande, a few miles
+below Socorro, has now a population of three hundred. Although of considerable
+importance in the early nineteenth century, the town has never been rebuilt since
+Gregg's time. The site was, however, the rendezvous for Doniphan's troops (1846)
+preparatory to his march into Chihuahua. It was also the field for a battle in the
+War of Secession (1862), wherein the Texans won a victory over the Federal
+troops.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_103_103" id="Footnote_103_103"></a><a href="#FNanchor_103_103"><span class="label">[103]</span></a> Fray Cristobal was long an important station in New Mexico; but, as Gregg
+says, never a town of any size, merely a camping place at the beginning of the
+Jornada del Muerto. The latter is well described by Gregg, and was the dreaded
+portion of the journey from north to south until the building of the railway, which
+traverses the larger part of the old caravan route, but leaves the river somewhat
+higher up and returns to it at Rincon, some distance above Robledo.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_104_104" id="Footnote_104_104"></a><a href="#FNanchor_104_104"><span class="label">[104]</span></a> Robledo was on the Rio Grande at the site where the Americans later erected
+Fort Selden.
+</p>
+<p>
+El Paso and the district north had formerly been a part of New Mexico; but
+the act of 1824, reconstituting the northern states, assigned El Paso district to
+Chihuahua, hence the boundary here mentioned.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_105_105" id="Footnote_105_105"></a><a href="#FNanchor_105_105"><span class="label">[105]</span></a> This place is often known among Americans as '<dfn>The Pass</dfn>.' It has been
+suggested in another place, that it took its name from the <i>passing</i> thither of the
+refugees from the massacre of 1680; yet many persons very rationally derive it from
+the <i>passing</i> of the river (<i>el paso del Rio del Norte</i>) between two points of mountains
+which project against it from each side, just above the town.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_106_106" id="Footnote_106_106"></a><a href="#FNanchor_106_106"><span class="label">[106]</span></a> There is very little wine or legitimate <dfn>aguardiente</dfn> manufactured in New
+Mexico. There was not a distillery, indeed, in all the province until established
+by Americans some fifteen or twenty years ago. Since that period, considerable
+quantities of whiskey have been made there, particularly in the vicinity of Taos,—distilled
+mainly from wheat, as this is the cheapest grain the country affords.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_107_107" id="Footnote_107_107"></a><a href="#FNanchor_107_107"><span class="label">[107]</span></a> For the ordinary mesquit, see Pattie's <cite>Narrative</cite>, in our volume xviii, p. 94,
+note 56. The tornillo is <dfn>Prosopis pubescens</dfn>, the fruit of which is often called the
+screw-bean, and used by the Indians both for food and fodder.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_108_108" id="Footnote_108_108"></a><a href="#FNanchor_108_108"><span class="label">[108]</span></a> A particular species of <i>agave</i>, called <i>A. lechuguilla</i>, abounding in the El Paso
+region. See J. N. Rose, "Useful Plants of Mexico," in U. S. Herbarium <cite>Contributions</cite>,
+volume v, no. 4, p. 209.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_109_109" id="Footnote_109_109"></a><a href="#FNanchor_109_109"><span class="label">[109]</span></a> Lake Patos (Lake of Geese), in northern Chihuahua, is the outlet for Rio
+Carmen.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_110_110" id="Footnote_110_110"></a><a href="#FNanchor_110_110"><span class="label">[110]</span></a> Carrizal was founded about 1750, and at one time considered a part of the
+province of New Mexico. It was later made a presidio, or frontier fort, with a
+surrounding wall.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_111_111" id="Footnote_111_111"></a><a href="#FNanchor_111_111"><span class="label">[111]</span></a> Wislizenus found the temperature of these springs 84° Fahrenheit. There is
+now a station called Ojo Calientes, on the Mexican Central Railway, but it is some
+distance from the springs.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_112_112" id="Footnote_112_112"></a><a href="#FNanchor_112_112"><span class="label">[112]</span></a> The size of Laguna de Encinillas (Lake of Live-Oaks) varies greatly with the
+season of drouth or rain.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_113_113" id="Footnote_113_113"></a><a href="#FNanchor_113_113"><span class="label">[113]</span></a> For a brief sketch of Chihuahua, see Pattie's <cite>Narrative</cite>, in our volume xviii,
+p. 153, note 85.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div></div>
+
+<h3 title="Chapter XXI">
+<a name="CHAPTER_XXI_V" id="CHAPTER_XXI_V"></a>CHAPTER XXI {V}</h3>
+
+<p class="subhead"><a id="Pg162"></a>
+Trip from Chihuahua to Aguascalientes, in 1835 — Southern Trade
+and <i>Ferias</i> — Hacienda de la Zarca, and its innumerable Stock — Rio
+Nazas, and Lakes without outlet — Perennial Cotton — Exactions
+for Water and Pasturage — Village of Churches — City of
+Durango and its Peculiarities — Persecution of Scorpions — Negro-ship
+in the ascendant — Robbers and their <i>modus operandi</i> — City
+of Aguascalientes — Bathing Scene — Haste to return to the North — Mexican
+Mule-shoeing — Difficulties and Perplexities — A Friend
+in time of need — Reach Zacatecas — City Accommodations — Hotels
+unfashionable — <i>Locale</i>, Fortifications, etc. of the City of
+Zacatecas — Siege by Santa Anna and his easy-won Victory — At
+Durango again — Civil Warfare among the 'Sovereigns' — Hairbreadth
+'scapes — Troubles of the Road — Safe Arrival at Chihuahua — Character
+of the Southern Country.<a href="#tocXXI"
+class="toclnk">toc</a></p>
+
+<p>The patient reader who may have accompanied me thus
+far, without murmuring at the dryness of some of the details,
+will perhaps pardon me for presenting here a brief account
+of a trip which I made to <i>Aguascalientes</i>, in the interior of
+Northern Mexico, in the year 1835, and which the arrangement
+I have adopted has prevented me from introducing
+before, in its chronological order.</p>
+
+<p>The trade of the South constitutes a very important
+branch of the commerce of the country, in which foreigners,
+as well as natives, {85} are constantly embarking. It is
+customary for most of those who maintain mercantile establishments
+in Chihuahua, to procure assortments of Mexican
+fabrics from the manufactories of Leon, Aguascalientes, and
+other places of the same character in the more southern districts
+of the republic. At certain seasons of the year, here
+are held regular <dfn>ferias</dfn>, at which the people assemble in
+great numbers, as well of sellers as of purchasers. There
+are some eight or ten of these annual fairs held in the republic,
+each of which usually lasts a week or more. It was
+about as much, however, from a desire to behold the sunny
+districts of the South, as for commercial purposes, that I
+undertook this expedition in 1835; and as my engagements
+have not permitted me to revisit this section since, the few <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg163"></a>[p163]</span>
+notes of interest I was then able to collect, seem to come
+more appropriately in this part of my work than in any
+other place that I could readily select.</p>
+
+<p>I set out from Chihuahua on the 26th of February, 1835.
+My party consisted of four men (including myself) and two
+empty wagons—not a very formidable escort to protect
+our persons as well as specie and bullion (the only transmissible
+currency of the country) against the bands of robbers
+which at all times infest that portion of our route that
+lay south of Durango. From Chihuahua to that city the
+road was rendered still more perilous by the constant hostilities
+of the Indians. On the 7th of March, however, we
+arrived, without {86} accident, at the town of Cerro Gordo,
+the northernmost settlement in the department of Durango;
+and the following day we reached La Zarca, which is the
+principal village of one of the most extensive haciendas in
+the North. So immense is the amount of cattle on this
+estate, that, as it was rumored, the proprietor once offered
+to sell the whole hacienda, stock, etc., for the consideration
+alone of fifty cents for each head of cattle found on the estate;
+but that no person has ever yet been able or willing to muster
+sufficient capital to take up the offer. It is very likely, however,
+that if such a proposition was ever made, the proprietor
+intended to include all his stock of rats and mice,
+reptiles and insects—in short, every genus of 'small cattle'
+on his premises. This estate covers a territory of perhaps
+a hundred miles in length, which comprises several flourishing
+villages.</p>
+
+<p>In two days more, we reached Rio Nazas, a beautiful
+little river that empties itself into Lake Cayman.<a name="FNanchor_114_114" id="FNanchor_114_114"></a><a href="#Footnote_114_114" class="fnanchor">[114]</a> Rio <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg164"></a>[p164]</span>
+Nazas has been celebrated for the growth of cotton, which,
+owing to the mildness of the climate, is sometimes planted
+fresh only every three or four years. The light frosts of
+winter seldom destroy more than the upper portion of the
+stalk, so that {87} the root is almost perennial. About
+twenty-five miles further, we stopped at the mining village of
+La Noria, where we were obliged to purchase water for our
+mules—a novel expense to the American traveller, but
+scarcely to be complained of, inasmuch as the water had to
+be drawn from wells with a great deal of labor. It is not
+unusual, also, for the proprietors of haciendas to demand
+remuneration for the pasturage on the open plains, consumed
+by the animals of travellers—a species of exaction
+which one never hears of further north.</p>
+
+<p>Our next stopping-place was Cuencamé, which may well
+be called the Village of Churches: for, although possessing
+a very small population, there are five or six edifices of this
+description.<a name="FNanchor_115_115" id="FNanchor_115_115"></a><a href="#Footnote_115_115" class="fnanchor">[115]</a> As I had business to transact at Durango,
+which is situated forty or fifty miles westward of the main
+Southern road, I now pursued a direct route for that city,
+where I arrived on the 16th of March.</p>
+
+<p>Durango is one of the handsomest cities in the North, with
+a population of about 20,000. It is situated in a level plain,
+surrounded in every direction by low mountains. It presents
+two or three handsome squares, with many fine edifices and
+some really splendid churches. The town is supplied with
+water for irrigating the gardens, and for many other ordinary
+purposes, by several open aqueducts, which lead through
+the streets, from a large spring, a mile or {88} two distant; but
+as these are kept filthy by the offal that is thrown into them,
+the inhabitants who are able to buy it, procure most of their <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg165"></a>[p165]</span>
+water for drinking and culinary purposes, from the <dfn>aguadores</dfn>,
+who pack it, on asses, usually in large jars, from the spring.</p>
+
+<p>This is the first Northern city in which there is to be
+found any evidence of that variety of tropical fruits, for which
+Southern Mexico is so justly famed. Although it was rather
+out of season, yet the market actually teemed with all that
+is most rich and exquisite in this kind of produce. The
+<dfn>maguey</dfn>, from which is extracted the popular beverage called
+<dfn>pulque</dfn>,<a name="FNanchor_116_116" id="FNanchor_116_116"></a><a href="#Footnote_116_116" class="fnanchor">[116]</a> is not only cultivated extensively in the fields, but
+grows wild everywhere upon the plains. This being the
+height of the pulque season, a hundred shanties might be
+seen loaded with jugs and goblets filled with this favorite
+liquor, from its sweetest unfermented state to the grade of
+'hard cider;' while the incessant cries of "Pulque! pulque
+dulce! pulque bueno!" added to the shrill and discordant
+notes of the fruit venders, created a confusion of {89} sounds
+amidst which it was impossible to hear oneself talk.</p>
+
+<p>Durango is also celebrated as being the head-quarters,
+as it were, of the whole scorpion family. During the spring,
+especially, so much are the houses infested by these poisonous
+insects, that many people are obliged to have resort to a
+kind of mosquito-bar, in order to keep them out of their
+beds at night. As an expedient to deliver the city from
+this terrible pest, a society has actually been formed, which
+pays a reward of a <dfn>cuartilla</dfn> (three cents) for every <dfn>alacran</dfn>
+(or scorpion) that is brought to them. Stimulated by the <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg166"></a>[p166]</span>
+desire of gain, the idle boys of the city are always on the
+look-out: so that, in the course of a year, immense numbers
+of this public enemy are captured and slaughtered. The
+body of this insect is of the bulk and cast of a medium spider,
+with a jointed tail one to two inches long, at the end of which
+is a sting whose wounds are so poisonous as often to prove
+fatal to children, and are very painful to adults.</p>
+
+<p>The most extraordinary peculiarity of these scorpions is,
+that they are far less dangerous in the North than in the
+South, which in some manner accounts for the story told
+Capt. Pike, that even those of Durango lose most of their
+venom as soon as they are removed a few miles from the
+city.<a name="FNanchor_117_117" id="FNanchor_117_117"></a><a href="#Footnote_117_117" class="fnanchor">[117]</a></p>
+
+<p>Although we were exceedingly well armed, yet so many
+fearful stories of robberies said to be committed, almost
+daily, on the Southern roads, reached my ears, that before
+{90} leaving Durango, I resolved to add to my 'weapons of
+defence' one of those peculiarly terrible dogs which are sometimes
+to be found in this country, and which are very serviceable
+to travellers situated as I was. Having made my
+wishes known to a free negro from the United States, named
+George, he recommended me to a custom-house officer, and
+a very particular friend of his, as being possessed of the very
+article I was in search of. I accordingly called at the house
+of that functionary, in company with my sable informant,
+and we were ushered into a handsome parlor, where two or
+three well-dressed señoritas sat discussing some of the
+fruitful topics of the day. One of them—the officer's wife,
+as it appeared, and a very comely dame she was—rose immediately,
+and, with a great deal of ceremonious deference,
+saluted <i>Señor Don Jorge</i>, inviting him at the same time to a <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg167"></a>[p167]</span>
+seat, while I was left to remain perfectly unnoticed in my
+standing position. George appeared considerably embarrassed,
+for he had not quite forgotten the customs and manners
+of his native country, and was even yet in the habit of
+treating Americans not only with respect but with humility.
+He therefore declined the tendered distinction, and remarked
+that '<i>el señor</i>' had only come to purchase their dog. Upon
+this, the lady pointed to a kennel in a corner, when the very
+first glimpse of the ferocious animal convinced me that he
+was precisely the sort of a customer I wanted for a companion.
+Having therefore paid {91} down six dollars, the
+stipulated sum of purchase, I bowed myself out of the
+presence of the ladies, not a little impressed with my own
+insignificance, in the eyes of these fair <i>doñas</i>, contrasted
+with the grandeur of my sable companion. But the popularity
+of negroes in Northern Mexico has ceased to be a
+matter of surprise to the traveller.</p>
+
+<p>With regard to <i>Don Jorge</i>, if I was surprised at the marks
+of attention paid him by a white lady, I had cause to be
+much more astonished shortly after. As the sooty don was
+lounging about my wagons, a clever-visaged youth approached
+and placed in his hands a satin stock, with the
+compliments of his sister (the officer's wife), hoping that he
+would accept that trifle, wrought by her own hand, as a
+token of her particular regard! But, notwithstanding these
+marks of distinction (to apply no harsher epithet), George
+was exceedingly anxious to engage in my employ, in whatsoever
+capacity I might choose to take him; for he had
+discovered that such honors were far from affording him a
+livelihood: yet I did not then need his services, and have
+never heard of him since.</p>
+
+<p>On the 22d we left Durango, and after a few days' march
+found ourselves once more in the <i>camino real</i> that led from
+Chihuahua to Zacatecas. All the frightful stories I had <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg168"></a>[p168]</span>
+heard about robbers now began to flash upon my memory,
+which made me regard every man I encountered on the road
+with a very suspicious eye. As all travellers go armed, it
+{92} is impossible to distinguish them from banditti;<a name="FNanchor_118_118" id="FNanchor_118_118"></a><a href="#Footnote_118_118" class="fnanchor">[118]</a> so
+that the unsuspecting traveller is very frequently set upon
+by the very man he had been consorting with in apparent
+good-fellowship, and either murdered on the spot, or dragged
+from his horse with the lazo, and plundered of all that is
+valuable about him.</p>
+
+<p>I have heard it asserted that there is a regular bandit
+trade organized throughout the country, in which some of
+the principal officers of state (and particularly of the judicial
+corps) are not unfrequently engaged. A capital is made up
+by shares, as for any other enterprise, bandits are fitted out
+and instructed where to operate, and at stated periods of the
+year a regular dividend is paid to the stockholders. The
+impunity which these 'gentlemen of the order' almost everywhere
+enjoy in the country, is therefore not to be marvelled
+at. In Durango, during my sojourn there, a well dressed
+caballero was frequently in the habit of entering our <i>meson</i>,
+whom mine host soon pointed out to me as a notorious
+brigand. "Beware of him," said the honest publican; "he
+is prying into your affairs"—and so it turned out; for my
+muleteer informed me that the fellow had been trying to
+pump from him all the particulars in regard to our condition
+and destination. Yet this worthy was not only suffered to
+prowl about unmolested {93} by the authorities, but appeared
+to be on familiar terms with many of the principal dignitaries
+of the city. Notwithstanding all our apprehensions, however,
+we arrived at our place of destination without even
+the novelty of an incident to swell our budget of gossip.
+<span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg169"></a>[p169]</span></p>
+
+<p> The city of Aguascalientes is beautifully situated in a level
+plain, and would appear to contain about twenty thousand
+inhabitants, who are principally engaged in the manufacture
+of <i>rebozos</i> and other textures mostly of cotton.<a name="FNanchor_119_119" id="FNanchor_119_119"></a><a href="#Footnote_119_119" class="fnanchor">[119]</a> As soon
+as I found myself sufficiently at leisure, I visited the famous
+warm spring (<i>ojo caliente</i>) in the suburbs, from which the
+city derives its euphonious name. I followed up the <i>acequia</i>
+that led from the spring—a ditch four or five feet wide,
+through which flowed a stream three or four feet in depth.
+The water was precisely of that agreeable temperature to
+afford the luxury of a good bath, which I had hoped to enjoy;
+but every few paces I found men, women, and children, submerged
+in the acequia; and when I arrived at the basin, it
+was so choked up with girls and full-grown women, who
+were paddling about with all the nonchalance of a gang of
+ducks, that I was forced to relinquish my long-promised
+treat.</p>
+
+<p>It had been originally my intention to continue on to
+Leon, another manufacturing town some seventy or eighty
+miles from Aguascalientes; but, hearing that Santa Anna
+had just arrived there with a large army, on his way to
+Zacatecas to quell an insurrection,<a name="FNanchor_120_120" id="FNanchor_120_120"></a><a href="#Footnote_120_120" class="fnanchor">[120]</a> I {94} felt very little
+curiosity to extend my rambles further. Having, therefore,
+made all my purchases in the shortest possible time, in a
+few days I was again in readiness to start for the North.</p>
+
+<p>That my mules might be in condition for the hard travel
+before me, it was necessary to have them shod: a precaution,
+however, which is seldom used in the north of Mexico, either <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg170"></a>[p170]</span>
+with mules or horses. Owing a little to the peculiar breed,
+but more still no doubt to the dryness of the climate, Mexican
+animals have unusually hard hoofs. Many will travel for
+weeks, and even months, over the firm<a name="FNanchor_121_121" id="FNanchor_121_121"></a><a href="#Footnote_121_121" class="fnanchor">[121]</a> and often rocky
+roads of the interior (the pack-mules carrying their huge
+loads), without any protection whatever to the feet, save
+that which nature has provided. But most of mine being a
+little tender-footed, I engaged Mexican <dfn>herreros</dfn> to fit them
+out in their own peculiar style. Like almost everything
+else of their manufacturing, their mule-shoes are of a rather
+primitive model—broad thin plates, tacked on with large
+club-headed nails. But the expertness of the shoers compensated
+in some degree for the defects of the <i>herraduras</i>.
+It made but little odds how wild and vicious the mule—an
+assistant would draw up his foot in an instant, and soon
+place him <i>hors de combat</i>; and then fixing a nail, the shoer
+{95} would drive it to the head at a single stroke, standing
+usually at full arm's length, while the assistant held the foot.
+Thus in less than half the time I had ever witnessed the execution
+of a similar job before, they had completely shod more
+than twenty of the most unruly brutes—without once
+resorting to the expedient so usual in such cases, of throwing
+the animals upon the ground.</p>
+
+<p>Just as the process of shoeing my mules had been completed,
+a person who proved to be a public officer entered
+the <i>corral</i>, and pointing to the mules, very politely informed
+me that they were wanted by the government to transport
+troops to Zacatecas. "They will be called for to-morrow
+afternoon," he continued; "let them not be removed!" I
+had of course to bow acquiescence to this imperative edict,
+well knowing that all remonstrance would be vain; yet fully <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg171"></a>[p171]</span>
+determined to be a considerable distance on the road northward
+before that 'morrow' should be very far advanced.</p>
+
+<p>But a new difficulty now presented itself. I must procure
+a <dfn>guia</dfn> or passport for my cargo of merchandise, with a
+<i>responsible endorser</i>,—an additional imposition I was wholly
+unprepared for, as I was then ignorant of any law to that
+effect being in force, and had not a single acquaintance in
+the city. I was utterly at a loss what to do: under any other
+circumstances I might have left the amount of the <i>derecho
+de consumo</i> in deposit, as others have been obliged to do on
+similar occasions; but {96} unfortunately I had laid out the
+last dollar of my available means.</p>
+
+<p>As I left the custom-house brooding over these perplexities,
+one of the principal clerks of the establishment slipped a
+piece of paper into my hand containing the following laconic
+notice:—"<dfn>Aguárdeme afuera</dfn>" (wait for me without);—an
+injunction I passively obeyed, although I had not the least
+idea of its purport. The clerk was soon with me, and
+remarked, "You are a stranger in the city, and ignorant of
+our severe revenue laws: meet me in an hour from this at
+my lodgings, and we will devise some remedy for your
+difficulties." It may be well supposed that I did not fail to
+be punctual. I met the obliging officer in his room with a
+handful of blank custom-house <i>pases</i>. It should be understood
+that a <dfn>pase</dfn> only differs from a <i>guia</i> in requiring no
+endorser, but the former can only be extended for amounts
+of goods not exceeding fifty dollars. Taking my bill, he
+very soon filled me up a <i>pase</i> for every package, directing
+each to a different point in the North. "Now," observed
+my amiable friend, "if you are disposed to do a little smuggling,
+these will secure your safety, if you avoid the principal
+cities, till you reach the borders of Chihuahua: if not, you
+may have a friend on the way who will endorse your <i>guia</i>."
+I preferred the latter alternative. I had formed an acquaintance <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg172"></a>[p172]</span>
+with a worthy German merchant in Durango, who, I
+felt convinced, would generously lend his signature to the
+required document.</p>
+
+<p>{97} As the revenue officers of Northern Mexico are not
+celebrated for liberality and disinterestedness, I took it for
+granted that my friend of the custom-house was actuated
+by selfish motives, and therefore proffered him a remuneration
+for the trouble he had taken on my account; but to my
+surprise, he positively refused accepting anything, observing
+that he held it the duty of every honest man to assist his
+fellow creatures in case of difficulty. It is truly a pleasant
+task to bear record of such instances of disinterestedness, in
+the midst of so many contaminating influences.</p>
+
+<p>While speaking of <i>guias</i>, I may as well remark that they
+are also frequently required for specie and always for bullion.
+This is often very annoying to the traveller, not only because
+it is sometimes inconvenient to find an endorser, but because
+the robbers are thus enabled to obtain precise and timely
+information of the funds and route of every traveller; for
+they generally have their agents in all the principal cities,
+who are apt to collude with some of the custom-house clerks,
+and thus procure regular reports of the departures, with the
+amounts of valuables conveyed.</p>
+
+<p>I was not long in taking leave of Aguascalientes, and
+heard nothing more of the impressment of my mules. It
+was not my good fortune, however, to remain for any length
+of time out of trouble. Being anxious to take the city of
+Zacatecas in my route without jeopardizing my goods, I
+took passage by the <i>diligencia</i>, while my wagons continued
+on in {98} the <dfn>camino real</dfn> or main road. On my arrival at
+Zacatecas, I very soon discovered that by leaving 'my bed
+and board' behind with the wagons, I had doomed myself
+to no small inconvenience and privation. It was with the
+greatest difficulty I could obtain a place to lie upon, and <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg173"></a>[p173]</span>
+clean victuals with which to allay my hunger. I could get
+a room, it is true, even for a <i>real</i> per day, in one of those
+great barn-like <i>mesones</i> which are to be met with in all these
+cities, but not one of them was at all furnished. There is
+sometimes, in a corner, a raised platform of mud, much
+resembling a common blacksmith's hearth, which is to supply
+the place of a bedstead, upon which the traveller may
+spread his blankets, if he happen to have any. On this
+occasion I succeeded in borrowing one or two of the stage-driver
+who was a Yankee, and so made out 'pretty comfortably'
+in the sleeping way. These <i>mesones</i> are equally
+ill-prepared to furnish food for the traveller, unless he is
+willing to put up with a dish of <i>frijoles</i> and <i>chile guisado</i> with
+<i>tortillas</i>, all served up in the most filthy manner. I therefore
+sought out a public <i>fonda</i> kept by an Italian, where I procured
+an excellent supper. Fondas, however, are mere
+<i>restaurants</i>, and consequently without accommodations for
+lodging.</p>
+
+<p>Strange as the fact may appear, one may travel fifteen
+hundred miles, and perhaps more, on the main public highway
+through Northern Mexico, without finding a single
+tavern with general accommodations. This, however, may
+{99} be accounted for, by taking into consideration the
+peculiar mode of travelling of the country, which renders
+resorts of this kind almost unnecessary. <i>Arrieros</i> with
+their <i>atajos</i> of pack-mules always camp out, being provided
+with their cooks and stock of provisions, which they
+carry with them. Ordinary travellers generally unite in
+little caravans, for security against robbers and marauders;
+and no caballero ever stirs abroad without a train of servants,
+and a pack-mule to carry his <dfn>cantinas</dfn> (a pair of large wallets
+or leathern boxes), filled with provisions, on the top of which
+is lashed a huge machine containing a mattress and all the
+other 'fixings' for bed furniture. Thus equipped, the <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg174"></a>[p174]</span>
+caballero snaps his fingers at all the <i>hotels garnis</i> of the
+universe, and is perfectly independent in every movement.</p>
+
+<p>The city of Zacatecas, as my readers are doubtless aware,
+is celebrated for its mining interests. Like all other Mexican
+towns of the same class, it originated in small, insignificant
+settlements on the hillsides, in the immediate vicinity of the
+mines, until it gradually grew up to be a large and wealthy
+city, with a population of some 30,000 inhabitants. Its
+locale is a deep ravine formed among rugged mountain
+ridges; and as the houses are mostly built in rows, overtopping
+one another, along the hillsides, some portions of the
+city present all the appearance of a vast amphitheatre.
+Many of the streets are handsomely paved, and two of the
+squares are finely ornamented with curiously carved <i>jets-d'eau</i>,
+{100} which are supplied with water raised by mule
+power, from wells among the adjacent hills. From these
+the city is chiefly furnished with water.</p>
+
+<p>I have already mentioned, that General Santa Anna was
+at this time marching against Zacatecas with a large force.
+It may be remembered that after the General's accession to
+the supreme authority of Mexico (upon the establishment of
+<i>Centralismo</i>), he deemed it expedient to issue a decree abolishing
+the state militia, known as <dfn>Cívicos</dfn>, as being dangerous
+to the liberties of——the <i>dictador</i>. Zacatecas, so far from
+obeying this despotic mandate, publicly called on the
+Cívicos to defend their rights, and Santa Anna was now
+descending upon them with an army double that which the
+city could raise, to enforce their obedience. The <i>Zacatecanos</i>,
+however, were not idle. The militia was pouring in from
+the surrounding villages, and a degree of enthusiasm prevailed
+throughout the city, which seemed to be the presage
+of a successful defence. In fact, the city itself, besides being
+from its location almost impregnable, was completely protected
+by artificial fortifications. The only accessible point <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg175"></a>[p175]</span>
+was by the main road, which led from the south immediately
+up the narrow valley of the ravine. Across this a strong
+wall had been erected some years before, and the road passed
+through a large gate, commanded by a bastion upon the
+hillside above, whence a hundred men well supplied with
+arms and ammunition, might easily cut {101} off thousands
+upon thousands, as fast as they advanced. The city was
+therefore deemed impregnable, and being supplied with provisions
+for a lengthy siege, the patriots were in high spirits.
+A foreign engineer or two had been engaged to superintend
+the fortifications.</p>
+
+<p>Santa Anna reached Zacatecas a few days after my departure.
+As he had no idea of testing the doubtful mettle of
+his army, by an attempt to storm the place, which presented
+so formidable an appearance, he very quietly squatted himself
+down at the village of Guadalupe, three miles below.
+From this point he commenced his operations by throwing
+'missiles' into the city—not of lead, or cast-iron, or any
+such cruel agents of warfare, but <i>bombs of paper</i>, which fell
+among the besieged, and burst with gentle overtures to their
+commanding officers. This novel 'artillery' of the dictator
+produced a perfectly electric effect; for the valor of the
+commandant of the Cívicos rose to such a pitch, that he at
+once marched his forces out of the fortifications, to attack
+the besiegers in the open field—face to face, as true bravery
+required. But on the very first onset, this valiant officer,
+by some mysterious agency which could not be accounted
+for, was suddenly seized with a strange panic, and, with all
+his forces, made a precipitate retreat, fleeing helter-skelter,
+as if all the engines of destruction that were ever invented,
+had been brought to bear upon them; when the victorious
+army of Santa Anna marched into the city without further
+opposition.</p>
+
+<p>{102} This affair is a pretty just sample of most of the <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg176"></a>[p176]</span>
+successful battles of this 'great general.' The treacherous
+collusion of the principal Zacatecas officers was so apparent,
+that they deemed it prudent to fly the city for safety, lest
+the wrath of their incensed fellow-citizens should explode
+upon them. Meanwhile the soldiery amused themselves by
+sacking the city, and by perpetrating every species of outrage
+that their mercenary and licentious appetites could
+devise. Their savage propensities were particularly exercised
+against the few foreigners that were found in the place.</p>
+
+<p>Meanwhile I was journeying very leisurely towards
+Durango, where I arrived on the 21st of April. As the main
+wagon road to the north does not pass through that city, it
+was most convenient and still more prudent for me to leave
+my wagons at a distance: their entrance would have occasioned
+the confiscation of my goods, for the want of the
+'necessary documents,' as already alluded to. But I now
+procured a <i>guia</i> without further difficulty; which was indeed
+a principal object of my present visit to that city.</p>
+
+<p>Before leaving Durango I witnessed one of those civil
+broils which are so common in Mexico. I was not even
+aware that any difficulty had been brewing, till I was waked
+on the morning of the 25th by a report of fire-arms. Stepping
+out to ascertain what was the matter, I perceived the
+<i>azotea</i> of the parochial church occupied by armed men, who
+seemed to be employed in amusing themselves {103} by
+discharging their guns at random upon the people in the
+streets. These <i>bravos</i>, as I was afterwards informed, belonged
+to the bishop's party, or that of the <i>Escoceses</i>, which
+was openly at war with the liberalists, anti-hierarchists, or
+<i>Yorkinos</i>, and were resorting to this summary mode of proceeding,
+in order to bring about a change of affairs; for at
+this time the liberal party had the ascendency in the civil
+government of Durango. <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg177"></a>[p177]</span></p>
+
+<p>Being somewhat curious to have a nearer view of what
+was going on, I walked down past the church, towards a
+crowd which was assembled in a <i>plaza</i> beyond. This movement
+on my part was rather inconsiderate: for foreigners
+were in extremely bad odor with the belligerents; nor had I
+mingled with the multitude many minutes, before a sober-looking
+citizen plucked me by the sleeve, and advised me, if
+I valued my two ears, and did not wish to have my career of
+usefulness cut short prematurely, to stay within doors. Of
+course I needed no further persuasion, and returned at once
+to my lodgings, where I made immediate preparations for a
+speedy departure. As I was proceeding through the streets
+soon afterward, with a cargo of goods, I received, just after
+leaving the custom-house, a very warm salutation from the
+belligerents, which made the dust start from almost under
+my very feet. The <i>cargadores</i> who were carrying my packages
+were no doubt as much frightened as myself. They
+supposed the reason of their shooting at us to be because {104}
+they imagined we were carrying off the <dfn>parque</dfn> (ammunition)
+of the government, which was deposited in the building we
+had just left.</p>
+
+<p>We were soon under way, and very little regret did I feel
+when I fairly lost sight of the city of scorpions. But I was
+not yet wholly beyond the pale of difficulties. Owing to
+the fame of the Indian hostilities in the North, it was almost
+impossible to procure the services of Mexican muleteers for
+the expedition. One I engaged, took the first convenient
+opportunity to escape at night, carrying away a gun with
+which I had armed him; yet I felt grateful that he did not also
+take a mule, as he had the whole <i>caballada</i> under his exclusive
+charge: and soon after, a Mexican wagoner was frightened
+back by the reports of savages.</p>
+
+<p>After a succession of such difficulties, and still greater <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg178"></a>[p178]</span>
+risks from the Indians that infested the route, I was of
+course delighted when I reached Chihuahua, on the 14th of
+May, in perfect safety.<a name="FNanchor_122_122" id="FNanchor_122_122"></a><a href="#Footnote_122_122" class="fnanchor">[122]</a></p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_114_114" id="Footnote_114_114"></a><a href="#FNanchor_114_114"><span class="label">[114]</span></a> The numerous little lakes throughout the interior of Mexico, without outlets
+yet into which rivers are continually flowing, present a phenomenon which seem,
+quite singular to the inhabitants of our humid climates. But the wastage in the
+sand, and still greater by evaporation in those elevated dry regions, is such that
+there are no important rises in the lakes except during unusual freshets.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_115_115" id="Footnote_115_115"></a><a href="#FNanchor_115_115"><span class="label">[115]</span></a> The road passed southeast through the state of Durango, where all these
+small stations may be found on any good map. According to Pike the owner of
+the vast estate near La Zarca was the Marquis de San Miguel.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_116_116" id="Footnote_116_116"></a><a href="#FNanchor_116_116"><span class="label">[116]</span></a> Also, from the <i>Pulque</i> is distilled a spiritous liquor called <dfn>mezcal</dfn>. The
+<dfn>maguey</dfn> (<i>Agave Americana</i>) is besides much used for hedging. It here performs
+the double purpose of a cheap and substantial fence, and of being equally valuable
+for <i>pulque</i>. When no longer serviceable in these capacities, the pulpy stalk is converted,
+by roasting, into a pleasant item of food, while the fibrous blades, being
+suitably dressed, are still more useful. They are manufactured into ropes, bags,
+etc., which resemble those made of the common sea-grass, though the fibres are
+finer. There is one species (which does not produce pulque, however), whose
+fibres, known in that country as <dfn>pita</dfn>, are nearly as fine as dressed hemp, and are
+generally used for sewing shoes, saddlery, and similar purposes.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_117_117" id="Footnote_117_117"></a><a href="#FNanchor_117_117"><span class="label">[117]</span></a>
+See Elliott Coues, <cite>Expeditions of Zebulon M. Pike</cite> (New York, 1895), ii, p.
+763, note 34. That editor identifies the scorpion as <dfn>Androctomus biaculeatus</dfn>, and
+favorably comments on Gregg's sensible explanation of Pike's story.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_118_118" id="Footnote_118_118"></a><a href="#FNanchor_118_118"><span
+class="label">[118]</span></a> Travellers on these public highways not only go 'armed to the teeth,' but
+always carry their weapons exposed. Even my wagoners carried their guns and
+pistols swung upon the pommels of their saddles. At night, as we generally camped
+out, they were laid under our heads, or close by our sides.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_119_119" id="Footnote_119_119"></a><a href="#FNanchor_119_119"><span class="label">[119]</span></a> Aguascalientes is the capital of a small interior Mexican state of the same
+name, now on the line of the Mexican Central Railway. It was founded in 1575,
+and at the close of the eighteenth century was a place of considerable importance.
+During the negotiations for peace between the United States and Mexico (1848),
+a revolution broke out at this place, that was with difficulty subdued.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_120_120" id="Footnote_120_120"></a><a href="#FNanchor_120_120"><span class="label">[120]</span></a> This was part of the centralist revolution, for which see our volume xix, p. 271,
+note 96 (Gregg). Santa Ana himself subdued the opposition in Zacatecas, where
+his soldiers were permitted to plunder widely.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_121_121" id="Footnote_121_121"></a><a href="#FNanchor_121_121"><span class="label">[121]</span></a> Some of these table-plain highways, though of but a dry sandy and clayey
+soil, are as firm as a brick pavement. In some places, for miles, I have
+remarked that the nail-heads of my shod animals would hardly leave any visible
+impression.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div></div>
+
+<h3 title="Chapter XXII">
+<a name="CHAPTER_XXII_VI" id="CHAPTER_XXII_VI"></a>CHAPTER XXII {VI}</h3>
+
+<p class="subhead">Visit to the Mining Town of Jesus-Maria — Critical Roads — Losing
+Speculations — Mine of Santa Juliana — Curious mining Operations — Different
+Modes of working the Ore — The Crushing-mill,
+etc. — <i>Barras de Plata</i> — Value of Bullion — The Silver Trade — Return
+to Chihuahua — Resumption of the regular Narrative — Curious
+Wholesales — Money Table — Redundancy of Copper
+Coin — City of Chihuahua and its Peculiarities — Ecclesiastical
+Architecture — Hidalgo and His Monument — Public Works, and
+their present Declension — <i>Fête</i> in honor of Iturbide — Illiberality
+towards Americans — Shopping Mania — Anti-Masonic <i>Auto de Fe</i>.<a href="#tocXXII"
+class="toclnk">toc</a></p>
+
+<p>Before resuming my regular narrative, I trust the reader
+will pardon me for introducing here a brief account of an
+excursion which I made in the fall of the year 1835, to the
+mining town of Jesus-Maria, one of the most important
+mineral districts in the department of Chihuahua, situated
+about a hundred and fifty miles west of the city, in the very
+heart of the great Cordilleras.<a name="FNanchor_123_123" id="FNanchor_123_123"></a><a href="#Footnote_123_123" class="fnanchor">[123]</a></p>
+
+<p>I had long been desirous of visiting some of the mining
+establishments of Mexico, and seeing a favorable opportunity
+of embarking in a profitable enterprise, I set out from Chihuahua
+on the 15th of October. My party consisted of but
+one American comrade, with {106} a Mexican muleteer—and
+three or four mules freighted with specie to be employed
+in the <i>silver trade</i>: a rather scanty convoy for a route subject
+to the inroads both of savages and robbers. For transportation, <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg179"></a>[p179]</span>
+we generally pack our specie in sacks made of raw
+beef hide, which shrinks upon drying, and thus presses the
+contents so closely as to prevent friction. A pair of these
+packages, usually containing between one and two thousand
+dollars each, constitutes an ordinary mule-load on the mountain
+routes.</p>
+
+<p>The road in this direction leads through the roughest
+mountain passes; and, in some places, it winds so close along
+the borders of precipices, that by a single misstep an animal
+might be precipitated several hundred feet. Mules, however,
+are very surefooted; and will often clamber along the
+most craggy cliffs with nearly as much security as the goat.
+I was shown the projecting edge of a rock over which the
+road had formerly passed. This shelf was perhaps thirty feet
+in length by only two or three in width. The road which leads
+into the town of Jesus-Maria from the west side of the mountain
+is also extremely perilous and steep, and seems almost
+to overhang the houses below. Heavily laden mules have
+sometimes slipped off the track, and tumbled headlong into
+the town. This place is even more pent up between ridges
+than Zacatecas: the valley is narrower and the mountains
+much higher; while, as is the case with that remarkable city,
+the houses are {107} sometimes built in successive tiers, one
+above another; the <i>azoteas</i> of the lower ones forming the
+yard of those above.</p>
+
+<p>The first mine I visited consisted of an immense horizontal
+shaft cut several hundred feet into a hill-side, a short distance
+below the town of Jesus-Maria, upon which the proprietors
+had already sunk, in the brief space of one year,
+the enormous sum of one hundred and twenty thousand
+dollars! Such is often the fate of the speculative miner,
+whose vocation is closely allied to gaming, and equally precarious. <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg180"></a>[p180]</span></p>
+
+<p>The most important mine of Jesus-Maria at this time was
+one called Santa Juliana, which had been the means of
+alternately making and sinking several splendid fortunes.
+This mine had then reached a depth of between eight and
+nine hundred feet, and the operations were still tending
+downwards. The materials were drawn up by mule power
+applied to a windlass: but as the rope attached to it only
+extended half way down, another windlass had been erected
+at the distance of about four hundred feet from the mouth of
+the cavern, which was also worked by mules, and drew the
+ores, etc., from the bottom. On one occasion, as I was
+standing near the aperture of this great pit, watching the
+ascent of the windlass-rope, expecting every moment the
+appearance of the large leathern bucket which they employ
+for drawing up the minerals as well as the rubbish and
+water<a name="FNanchor_124_124" id="FNanchor_124_124"></a><a href="#Footnote_124_124" class="fnanchor">[124]</a> from the bottom, {108} what should greet my vision
+but a mule, puffing and writhing, firmly bound to a huge
+board constructed for the purpose, and looking about as
+demure upon the whole as a sheep under the shears. On
+being untied, the emancipated brute suddenly sprang to
+his feet, and looked around him at the bright scenes of
+the upper world with as much astonishment as Rip Van
+Winkle may be supposed to have felt after waking up from
+his twenty years' sleep.</p>
+
+<p>The ore which is obtained from these mines, if sufficiently
+rich to justify the operation, is transferred to the smelting
+furnaces, where the pure metal is melted down and extracted
+from the virgin fossil. If, on the contrary, the ore is deemed
+of inferior quality, it is then submitted to the process of
+amalgamation.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 373px;">
+<a id="Mule-emerging"></a>
+<img src="images/i183a.png" width="373" height="274" alt="" />
+<div class="caption">Mule emerging from a mine</div>
+
+<a id="Still-Hunting"></a>
+<img src="images/i183b.png" width="373" height="274" alt="" />
+<div class="caption">Still Hunting</div>
+<div class="IlloRtn"><a
+href="#ILLUSTRATIONS_TO_VOLUME_XX">Illustrations List</a></div>
+</div>
+
+<p>{109} The <dfn>moliendas</dfn>, or crushing-mills (<dfn>arrastres</dfn>, as called
+at some mines), employed for the purpose of grinding the <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg183"></a>[p183]</span>
+ores, are somewhat singular machines. A circular (or
+rather annular) cistern of some twenty or thirty feet in
+diameter is dug in the earth, and the sides as well as the
+bottom are lined with hewn stone of the hardest quality.
+Transversely through an upright post which turns upon
+its axis in the centre of the plan, passes a shaft of wood, at
+each end of which are attached by cords one or two grinding-stones
+with smooth flat surfaces, which are dragged (by
+mules fastened to the extremities of the shaft) slowly around
+upon the bottom of the cistern, into which the ore is thrown
+after being pounded into small pieces. It is here ground,
+with the addition of water, into an impalpable mortar, by
+the constant friction of the dragging stones against the sides
+and bottom of the cistern. A suitable quantity of quicksilver
+is perfectly mixed with the mortar; to which are added
+some muriates, sulphates, and other chemical substances, to
+facilitate the amalgamation. The compound is then piled
+up in small heaps, and not disturbed again until this process
+is supposed to be complete, when it is transferred to the
+washing-machine. Those I have observed are very simple,
+consisting of a kind of stone tub, into which a stream of
+water is made to flow constantly, so as to carry off all the
+lighter matter, which is kept stirred up by an upright studded
+with pegs, that revolves in the centre, while the amalgamated
+metals sink {110} to the bottom. Most of the quicksilver is
+then pressed out, and the silver submitted to a burning
+process, by which the remaining portion of mercury is
+expelled.</p>
+
+<p>The silver which is taken from the furnace, generally contains
+an intermixture of gold, averaging from ten to thirty
+per cent.; but what is extracted by amalgamation is mostly
+separated in the washing. While in a liquid state, the gold,
+from its greater specific gravity, mostly settles to the bottom:
+yet it usually retains a considerable alloy of silver. The <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg184"></a>[p184]</span>
+compound is distinguished by the name of <dfn>oroche</dfn>. The
+main portion of the silver generally retains too little gold to
+make it worth separating.</p>
+
+<p>Every species of silver is moulded into <dfn>barras</dfn> or ingots,
+weighing from fifty to eighty pounds each, and usually
+worth between one and two thousand dollars. These are
+assayed by an authorized agent of the government, and
+stamped with their weight and character, which enables the
+holder to calculate their value by a very simple rule. When
+the bullion is thus stamped, it constitutes a species of currency,
+which is much safer for remittances than coin. In
+case of robbery, the <i>barras</i> are easily identified, provided
+the robbers have not had time to mould them into some other
+form. For this reason, people of wealth frequently lay up
+their funds in ingots; and the cellars of some of the <i>ricos</i> of
+the South, are often found teeming with large quantities of
+them, presenting the appearance of a winter's supply of
+firewood.</p>
+
+<p>{111} As the charge for parting the gold and silver at the
+Mexican mints, is generally from one to two dollars, and
+coinage about fifty cents, per pound, this assayed bullion
+yields a profit upon its current value of nearly ten per cent.
+at the United States Mint; but, if unassayed, it generally
+produces an advance of about double that amount upon the
+usual cost at the mines. The exportation of bullion, however,
+is prohibited, except by special license from the general
+government. Still a large quantity is exported in this way,
+and considerable amounts smuggled out through some of
+the ports.</p>
+
+<p>A constant and often profitable business in the 'silver
+trade' is carried on at these mines. As the miners rarely
+fail being in need of ready money, they are generally obliged
+to sell their bullion for coin, and that often at a great sacrifice,
+so as to procure available means to prosecute their mining <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg185"></a>[p185]</span>
+operations. To profit by this trade, as is already mentioned,
+was a principal object of my present visit. Having concluded
+my business transactions, and partially gratified my
+curiosity, I returned to Chihuahua, where I arrived, November
+24, 1835, without being molested either by robbers or
+Indians, though the route is sometimes infested by both
+these classes of independent gentry.</p>
+
+<p>But, as it is now high time I should put an end to this
+digression, I will once more resume my narrative, where it
+was interrupted at my arrival in Chihuahua, on the first of
+October, 1839.</p>
+
+<p>{112} It is usual for each trader, upon his arrival in that
+city, to engage a store-room, and to open and exhibit his
+goods, as well for the purpose of disposing of them at wholesale
+as retail. His most profitable custom is that of the
+petty country merchants from the surrounding villages.
+Some traders, it is true, continue in the retail business for a
+season or more, yet the greater portion are transient dealers,
+selling off at wholesale as soon as a fair bargain is offered.</p>
+
+<p>The usual mode of selling by the lot in Chihuahua is somewhat
+singular. All such cottons as calicoes and other
+prints, bleached, brown and blue domestics both plain and
+twilled, stripes, checks, etc., are rated at two or three <i>reales</i><a name="FNanchor_125_125" id="FNanchor_125_125"></a><a href="#Footnote_125_125" class="fnanchor">[125]</a>
+per <i>vara</i>, without the least reference to quality or cost, and
+the 'general assortment' at 60 to 100 per cent. upon the
+bills of cost, according to the demand. The <i>varage</i> is <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg186"></a>[p186]</span>
+usually estimated by adding eight per cent. to the yardage, but
+the <i>vara</i> being thirty-three inches (nearly), the actual difference
+is more than nine. In these sales, cloths—{113} indeed
+all measurable goods, except ribands and the like, sometimes
+enter at the <i>varage</i> rate. I have heard of some still
+more curious contracts in these measurement sales, particularly
+in Santa Fé, during the early periods of the American
+trade. Everything was sometimes rated by the vara—not
+only all textures, but even hats, cutlery, trinkets, and so on!
+In such cases, very singular disputes would frequently arise
+as to the mode of measuring some particular articles: for
+instance, whether pieces of riband should be measured in
+bulk, or unrolled, and yard by yard; looking-glasses, cross or
+lengthwise; pocket-knives, shut or open; writing-paper, in
+the ream, in the quire, or by the single sheet; and then,
+whether the longer or shorter way of the paper; and so of
+many others.</p>
+
+<p>Before the end of October, 1839, I had an opportunity of
+selling out my stock of goods to a couple of English merchants,
+which relieved me from the delays, to say nothing of
+the inconveniences attending a retail trade: such, for
+instance, as the accumulation of copper coin, which forms
+almost the exclusive currency in petty dealings. Some
+thousands of dollars' worth are frequently accumulated upon
+the hands of the merchant in this way, and as the copper of
+one department is worthless in another, except for its intrinsic
+value, which is seldom more than ten per cent. of
+the nominal value, the holders are subjected to a great deal
+of trouble and annoyance.</p>
+
+<p>With regard to the city, there is but little to {114} be said
+that is either very new or unusually interesting. When
+compared with Santa Fé and all the towns of the North,
+Chihuahua might indeed be pronounced a magnificent place;
+but, compared with the nobler cities of <i>tierra afuera</i>, it sinks <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg187"></a>[p187]</span>
+into insignificance. According to Capt. Pike, the city of
+Chihuahua was founded in 1691. The ground-plan is much
+more regular than that of Santa Fé, while a much greater
+degree of elegance and classic taste has been exhibited in
+the style of the architecture of many buildings; for though
+the bodies be of <i>adobe</i>, all the best houses are cornered with
+hewn stone, and the doors and windows are framed in the
+same. The streets, however, remain nearly in the same
+state as Nature formed them, with the exception of a few
+roughly-paved side-walks. Although situated about a hundred
+miles east of the main chain of the Mexican Cordilleras,
+Chihuahua is surrounded on every side by detached ridges
+of mountains, but none of them of any great magnitude.
+The elevation of the city above the ocean is between four
+and five thousand feet; its latitude is <span class="fraction">28° 36′;</span> and its entire
+population numbers about ten thousand souls.</p>
+
+<p>The most splendid edifice in Chihuahua is the principal
+church, which is said to equal in architectural grandeur anything
+of the sort in the republic. The steeples, of which there
+is one at each front corner, rise over a hundred feet above
+the azotea. They are composed of very fancifully-carved
+columns; and {115} in appropriate niches of the frontispiece,
+which is also an elaborate piece of sculpture, are to be seen
+a number of statues, as large as life, the whole forming a
+complete representation of Christ and the twelve Apostles.
+This church was built about a century ago, by contributions
+levied upon the mines (particularly those of Santa Eulalia,
+fifteen or twenty miles from the city), which paid over a
+per centage on all the metal extracted therefrom; a <i>medio</i>,
+I believe, being levied upon each <i>marco</i> of eight ounces. In
+this way, about a million of dollars was raised and expended
+in some thirty years, the time employed in the construction
+of the building. It is a curious fact, however, that,
+notwithstanding the enormous sums of money expended <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg188"></a>[p188]</span>
+in outward embellishments, there is not a church from
+thence southward, perhaps, where the interior arrangements
+bear such striking marks of poverty and neglect. If,
+however, we are not dazzled by the sight of those costly
+decorations for which the churches of Southern Mexico
+are so much celebrated, we have the satisfaction of knowing
+that the turrets are well provided with bells, a fact of which
+every person who visits Chihuahua very soon obtains auricular
+demonstration. One, in particular, is so large and
+sonorous that it has frequently been heard, so I am informed,
+at the distance of twenty-five miles.</p>
+
+<p>A little below the <i>Plaza Mayor</i> stands the ruins (as they
+may be called) of San Francisco—the mere skeleton of
+another great church {116} of hewn-stone, which was commenced
+by the Jesuits previous to their expulsion in 1767,
+but never finished. By the outlines still traceable amid the
+desolation which reigns around, it would appear that the
+plan of this edifice was conceived in a spirit of still greater
+magnificence than the Parroquia which I have been describing.
+The abounding architectural treasures that are mouldering
+and ready to tumble to the ground, bear sufficient evidence
+that the mind which had directed its progress was at
+once bold, vigorous and comprehensive.</p>
+
+<p>This dilapidated building has since been converted into
+a sort of state prison, particularly for the incarceration of
+distinguished prisoners. It was here that the principals of
+the famous Texan Santa Fé Expedition were confined, when
+they passed through the place, on their way to the city of
+Mexico.<a name="FNanchor_126_126" id="FNanchor_126_126"></a><a href="#Footnote_126_126" class="fnanchor">[126]</a> This edifice has also acquired considerable
+celebrity as having received within its gloomy embraces
+several of the most distinguished patriots, who were taken
+prisoners during the first infant struggles for Mexican independence. <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg189"></a>[p189]</span>
+Among these was the illustrious ecclesiastic,
+Don Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, who made the first declaration
+at the village of Dolores, September 16, 1810.<a name="FNanchor_127_127" id="FNanchor_127_127"></a><a href="#Footnote_127_127" class="fnanchor">[127]</a> He
+was taken prisoner in March, 1811, some time after his total
+defeat at Guadalaxara; and being brought to Chihuahua,
+he was shot on the 30th of July following, in a little square
+back of the prison, where a plain white monument of hewn
+stone {117} has been erected to his memory. It consists of
+an octagon base of about twenty-five feet in diameter, upon
+which rises a square, unornamented pyramid to the height
+of about thirty feet. The monument indeed is not an unapt
+emblem of the purity and simplicity of the curate's character.</p>
+
+<p>Among the few remarkable objects which attract the
+attention of the traveller is a row of columns supporting a
+large number of stupendous arches which may be seen from
+the heights, long before approaching the city from the north.
+This is an aqueduct of considerable magnitude which conveys
+water from the little river of Chihuahua, to an eminence
+above the town, whence it is passed through a succession of
+pipes to the main public square, where it empties itself into
+a large stone cistern; and by this method the city is supplied
+with water. This and other public works to be met with in
+Chihuahua, and in the southern cities, are glorious remnants
+of the prosperous times of the Spanish empire. No improvements
+on so exalted a scale have ever been made under
+the republican government. In fact, everything in this benighted
+country now seems to be on the decline, and the
+plain honest citizen of the old school is not unfrequently
+heard giving vent to his feelings by ejaculating "<dfn>¡Ojalá por
+los dias felices del Rey!</dfn>"—Oh, for the happy days of the
+King! In short, there can be no doubt, that the common
+people enjoyed more ease—more protection against the <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg190"></a>[p190]</span>
+savages—more {118} security in their rights and property—more
+<i>liberty</i>, in truth, under the Spanish dynasty than at
+present.</p>
+
+<p>No better evidence can be found of the extensive operations
+which have been carried on in this the greatest mining
+district of Northern Mexico, than in the little mountains of
+<i>scoria</i> which are found in the suburbs of the city. A great
+number of poor laborers make a regular business of hammering
+to pieces these metallic excrescences, from which they
+collect silver enough to buy their daily bread. An opinion
+has often been expressed by persons well acquainted with
+the subject, that a fair business might be done by working
+this same scoria over again. There are still in operation
+several furnaces in the city, where silver ores extracted from
+the mines of the surrounding mountains are smelted. There
+is also a rough mint in Chihuahua (as there is indeed in all
+the mining departments), yet most of its silver and all of its
+gold have been coined in the cities further south.</p>
+
+<p>When I arrived at Chihuahua, in 1839, a great fête had
+just come off for the double purpose of celebrating the anniversary
+of the Emperor Iturbide's birth day (Sept. 27, 1783),
+and that of his triumphal entrance into the city of Mexico
+in 1821. It will be remembered, that, after Mexico had
+been struggling for independence several years, General
+Iturbide, who had remained a faithful officer of the crown,
+and an active agent in persecuting the champions of Mexican
+liberty, finding {119} himself, about the close of 1820, at the
+head of a large division of the royal army sent against the
+patriot Guerrero, suddenly turned over his whole force to
+the support of the republican cause, and finally succeeded
+in destroying the last vestige of Spanish authority in Mexico.
+How he was afterwards crowned emperor, and subsequently <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg191"></a>[p191]</span>
+dethroned, outlawed by a public decree and eventually
+executed, is all matter of history.<a name="FNanchor_128_128" id="FNanchor_128_128"></a><a href="#Footnote_128_128" class="fnanchor">[128]</a> But it is not generally
+known, I believe, that this unfortunate soldier has since received
+the honors of the Father of the Republic, a dignity
+to which he was probably as much entitled as any one else—absurd
+though the adoption of such a hero as the 'champion
+of liberty,' may appear to 'republicans of the Jefferson
+school.' A <i>grande fête d'hilarité</i> takes place annually, in
+honor of his political canonization, which 'comes off' at the
+date already mentioned. To this great ball, however, no
+Americans were invited, with the exception of a Mexicanized
+denizen or two, whose invitation tickets informed the <i>honored
+party</i> that the price of admission to this famous feast,—a
+ball given by the governor and other magnates of the land,
+in honor of the hero of independence,—was twenty-five
+dollars.</p>
+
+<p>Balls or reunions of this kind, however, seem not as
+frequent in Chihuahua as in New Mexico: and to those
+we hear of, claiming the title of 'fashionable,' Americans
+are very rarely invited. There is, in fact, but little social
+intercourse between foreigners and the natives, {120} except
+in a business way, or with a certain class of the former,
+at the gambling-table. This want of hospitable feelings
+is one of the worst traits in the character of the Chihuahueños,
+and when placed in contrast with the kind and
+courteous treatment those who visit the United States invariably
+experience from the lawgivers of fashion among
+us, their illiberality will appear a hundred fold more
+ungracious. These exclusive laws are the more severely
+felt in Chihuahua, because in that city there are no <i>cafés</i>, <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg192"></a>[p192]</span>
+nor reading rooms, nor in short any favorite public resorts,
+except of a gambling character, at which gentlemen can
+meet to lounge or amuse themselves.</p>
+
+<p>Besides the cock-pit, the gaming-table, and the <dfn>Alameda</dfn>,
+which is the popular promenade for the wealthy and the
+indolent, one of the most favorite pastimes of the females
+generally is shopping; and the most fashionable time for
+this is by candle-light, after they have partaken of their
+chocolate and their <i>cigarritos</i>. The streets and shops are
+literally filled from dusk till nine or ten o'clock; and many
+a time have I seen the counter of a store actually lined till
+a late hour, with the fairest and most fashionable señoritas
+of the city. On such occasions it is not a little painful
+as well as troublesome to be compelled to keep a strict
+eye to the rights of property, not that the dealers are all
+dishonest, but because there never fail to be some present
+who are painfully afflicted with the self-appropriating mania,
+{121} even among the fairest-looking señoritas. This, with
+other purposes no less culpable, has no doubt tended to
+establish the custom of night-shopping.</p>
+
+<p>It may already be generally known perhaps, that the
+predominant party, in Mexico, (and particularly in the
+North), is decidedly anti-masonic. During my stay in
+Chihuahua I had an opportunity to test their antipathy
+for that mysterious brotherhood. This was evinced in
+the seizure of a dozen or two cotton handkerchiefs, which,
+unknown to myself, happened to bear the stamp of the
+'masonic carpet.' These obnoxious articles having attracted
+the attention of some lynx-eyed friars, one day,
+much to my consternation, my store was suddenly invaded
+by the alcalde and some ecclesiastics. The handkerchiefs
+were seized without ceremony, and by an <i>auto de fe</i>, condemned
+to be publicly burned.</p>
+
+<h3 title="Chapter XXIII">
+<a name="CHAPTER_XXIII_VII" id="CHAPTER_XXIII_VII"></a>
+CHAPTER XXIII {VII}</h3>
+
+<p class="subhead"><a id="Pg193"></a>
+Departure for Santa Fé — Straitened for Food — Summary Effort
+to procure Beef — Seizure of one of our Party — Altercation with
+a <i>Rico</i> — His pusillanimous Procedure — Great Preparations in
+Chihuahua for our Arrest — Arrival of Mexican Troops — A polite
+Officer — Myself with three of my Men summoned back to Chihuahua — Amiable
+Conduct of Señor Artalejo — <i>Junta Departmental</i>
+and Discussion of my Affair — Writ of <i>Habeas Corpus</i> not
+in vogue — The Matter adjusted and Passport granted — The <i>Morale</i> — Impunity
+of savage Depredators — Final Start — Company
+of <i>Paseños</i> with their Fruits and Liquors — Arrival at Santa Fé.<a href="#tocXXIII"
+class="toclnk">toc</a></p>
+
+<p>Having closed all my affairs in Chihuahua, and completed
+my preparations for departing, I took my leave of
+that city for the North, on the 31st of October, 1839. I
+was accompanied by a caravan consisting of twenty-two
+wagons (all of which save one belonged to me), and forty
+odd men, armed to the teeth, and prepared for any emergency
+we might be destined to encounter: a precaution
+altogether necessary, in view of the hordes of hostile savages
+which at all times infested the route before us.</p>
+
+<p>We also set out provided with an ample stock of bread
+and other necessaries; for, from the suburbs of Chihuahua
+to the village of {123} Carrizal, a distance of nearly a hundred
+and fifty miles, there are no settlements on the route,
+from whence to procure supplies. To furnish the party
+with meat, I engaged twenty sheep, to be delivered a few
+miles on the way, which were to be driven along for our
+daily consumption. But the contractor having failed,
+we found ourselves entering the wilderness without a morsel
+of meat. The second day our men began to murmur—it
+was surely 'dry living' upon mere bread and coffee: in
+fact, by the time we entered the 'territory' of the Hacienda
+de Encinillas, spoken of in another chapter, they were
+clearly suffering from hunger. I was therefore under the
+necessity of sending three Mexican muleteers of our party <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg194"></a>[p194]</span>
+to <i>lazo</i> a beef from a herd which was grazing at some distance
+from where we had pitched our camp; being one of
+those buffalo-like droves which run so nearly wild upon
+this extensive domain. It had been customary, from time
+immemorial, for travellers when they happened to be distressed
+for meat, to supply their wants out of the wild cattle
+which nominally belonged to this hacienda, reserving to
+themselves the privilege of paying a reasonable price afterwards
+to the proprietor for the damage committed. I
+must say, however, that, although I had travelled over
+the same road nine times, I had never before resorted to
+this summary mode of procuring food; nor should I, on the
+present occasion, have deviated from my regular practice,
+though thus partially authorized by a custom of the {124}
+country, but for the strait in which we found ourselves,
+and the fact that I was confident I should meet either
+with a <i>mayordomo</i> or some of the <i>vaqueros</i>, to whom I could
+pay the value of the beef, before passing beyond the purlieus
+of the hacienda, upon the lands of which we had yet
+to travel for sixty or eighty miles.</p>
+
+<p>The muleteers had just commenced giving chase to the
+cattle, when we perceived several horsemen emerge from
+behind a contiguous eminence, and pursue them at full
+speed. Believing the assailants to be Indians, and seeing
+them shoot at one of the men, chase another, and seize
+the third, bearing him off prisoner, several of us prepared
+to hasten to the rescue, when the other two men came
+running in and informed us that the aggressors were Mexican
+vaqueros. We followed them, notwithstanding, to
+the village of Torreon, five or six miles to the westward,
+where we found a crowd of people already collected around
+our poor friend, who was trembling from head to foot,
+as though he had really fallen into the hands of savages.
+I immediately inquired for the mayordomo, when I was <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg195"></a>[p195]</span>
+informed that the proprietor himself, Don Angel Trias,
+was present. Accordingly I addressed myself to <i>su señoría</i>,
+setting forth the innocence of my servant, and declaring
+myself solely responsible for whatever crime had been
+committed. Trias, however, was immovable in his determination
+to send the boy back to Chihuahua to be tried
+for robbery, and all further expostulation only drew down
+the {125} grossest and coarsest insults upon myself, as
+well as my country, of which he professed no inconsiderable
+knowledge.<a name="FNanchor_129_129" id="FNanchor_129_129"></a><a href="#Footnote_129_129" class="fnanchor">[129]</a></p>
+
+<p>The altercation was at first conducted solely in Spanish;
+but the princely señor growing weary of hearing so many
+unpalatable truths told of himself in the vernacular of his
+own humble and astounded menials, he stepped out from
+among the crowd, and addressed me in English,—a language
+in which he had acquired some proficiency in the
+course of his travels. The change of language by no means
+altered his views, nor abated his pertinacity. At last,
+finding there was nothing to be gained by this war of words,
+I ordered the boy to mount his horse and rejoin the wagons.
+"Beware of the consequences!" vociferated the enraged
+Trias. "Well, let them come," I replied; "here we are."
+But we were suffered to depart in peace with the prisoner.</p>
+
+<p>That the reader may be able to form some idea of the
+pusillanimity of this lordly <i>haciendero</i>, it is only necessary
+to add, that when the altercation took place we were inside
+of the fortifications, from which our egress might easily
+have been prevented by simply closing the outer gate. We <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg196"></a>[p196]</span>
+were surrounded by the whole population of the village,
+besides a {126} small detachment of regular troops, whose
+commandant took a very active part in the controversy,
+and fought most valiantly with his tongue. But the valor
+of the illustrious Señor Don Angel knew a much safer
+course than to vent itself where there was even a remote
+chance of personal risk. His influence could not fail to
+enlist the public in his behalf, and he thought no doubt
+that his battles might just as well be fought by the officers
+of justice as by himself.</p>
+
+<p>Yet ignorant of his designs, and supposing the matter
+would end at this, we continued our march the next day,
+and by the time night approached we were full twenty
+miles from the seat of our late troubles. While at breakfast
+on the following morning we were greatly surprised
+by the appearance of two American gentlemen direct from
+Chihuahua, who had ridden thus far purposely to apprise
+us of what was brewing in the city to our detriment. It
+appeared that Trias had sent an express to the governor
+accusing me of rescuing a culprit from the hands of justice
+by force of arms, and that great preparations were accordingly
+being made to overtake and carry me back. That
+the reader may be able to understand the full extent and
+enormity of my offence, he has only to be informed that
+the proprietor of an hacienda is at once governor, justice
+of the peace, and everything besides which he has a mind
+to fancy himself—a perfect despot within the limits of
+his little dominion. It was, therefore, through contempt
+for <em>his</em> 'excellency' {127} that I had insulted the majesty
+of the laws!</p>
+
+<p>Having expressed my sentiments of gratitude to my worthy
+countrymen for the pains they had taken on my account,
+we again pursued our journey, determined to abide the
+worst. This happened on the 3d of November: on the <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg197"></a>[p197]</span>
+5th we encamped near the Ojo Caliente, a hundred and
+thirty miles from Chihuahua. About eleven o'clock at
+night, a large body of men were seen approaching. They
+very soon passed us, and quietly encamped at a distance
+of several hundred yards. They were over a hundred in
+number.</p>
+
+<p>Nothing further occurred till next morning, when, just
+as I had risen from my pallet, a soldier approached and
+inquired if I was up. In a few minutes he returned with
+a message from <i>El Señor Capitan</i> to know if he could see
+me. Having answered in the affirmative, a very courteous
+and agreeable personage soon made his appearance, who,
+after bowing and scraping until I began to be seriously
+afraid that his body would break in two, finally opened
+his mission by handing me a packet of letters, one of which
+contained an order from the Governor for my immediate
+presence in Chihuahua, together with the three muleteers
+whom I had sent after the cattle; warning me, at the same
+time, not to give cause, by my resistance, for any other
+measure, which might be unpleasant to my person. The
+next document was from Señor Trias himself, in which
+he expressed his regret {128} at having carried the matter
+to such an extreme, and ended with the usual offer of his
+services to facilitate an adjustment. Those, however,
+which most influenced my course, were from Don José
+Artalejo (<dfn>Juez de Hacienda</dfn>, Judge of the Customs, of
+Chihuahua), who offered to become responsible for a
+favorable issue if I would peaceably return; and another
+from a Mr. Sutton, with whom I had formerly been connected
+in business. The manly and upright deportment
+of this gentleman had inspired me with the greatest confidence,
+and therefore caused me to respect his opinions.
+But, besides my obligation to submit to a mandate from
+the government, however arbitrary and oppressive, another <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg198"></a>[p198]</span>
+strong motive which induced me to return, in obedience
+to the Governor's order, was a latent misgiving lest any
+hostile movement on my part, no matter with what justice
+or necessity, might jeopardize the interests if not the lives
+of many of my countrymen in Chihuahua.</p>
+
+<p>With regard to ourselves and our immediate safety, we
+would have found but very little difficulty in fighting our
+way out of the country. We were all well-armed, and
+many appeared even anxious to have a brush with the
+besiegers. However, I informed the captain that I was
+willing to return to Chihuahua, with the three 'criminals,'
+provided we were permitted to go armed and free, as I
+was not aware of having committed any crime to justify
+an arrest. He rejoined that {129} this was precisely in
+accordance with his orders, and politely tendered me an
+escort of five or six soldiers, who should be placed under
+my command, to strengthen us against the Indians, that
+were known to infest our route. Thanking him for his
+favor, I at once started for Chihuahua, leaving the wagons
+to continue slowly on the journey, and the amiable captain
+with his band of <i>valientes</i> to retrace their steps at leisure
+towards the capital.</p>
+
+<p>Late on the evening of the third day, I reached the city,
+and put up at the American Fonda, where I was fortunate
+enough to meet with my friend Artalejo, who at once proposed
+that we should proceed forthwith to the Governor's
+house. When we found ourselves in the presence of his
+excellency, my valued friend began by remarking that I
+had returned according to orders, and that he would answer
+for me with his person and property; and then, without
+even waiting for a reply, he turned to me and expressed a
+hope that I would make his house my residence while I
+remained in the city. I could not, of course, decline so
+friendly an invitation, particularly as I thought it probable <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg199"></a>[p199]</span>
+that, being virtually my bail, he might prefer to have me
+near his person. But, as soon as we reached the street,
+he very promptly removed that suspicion from my mind.
+"I invite you to my house," said he, "as a friend, and not
+as a prisoner. If you have any business to transact, do
+not hold yourself under the least restraint. To-morrow
+I will see the affair satisfactorily settled."</p>
+
+<p>{130} The <dfn>Junta Departamental</dfn>, or State Council, of
+which Señor Artalejo was an influential member, was convened
+the following day. Meanwhile, every American I met
+with expressed a great deal of surprise to see me at liberty,
+as, from the excitement which had existed in the city, they
+expected I would have been lodged in the safest calabozo.
+I was advised not to venture much into the streets, as the
+rabble were very much incensed against me; but, although
+I afterwards wandered about pretty freely, no one offered
+to molest me; in fact, I must do the 'sovereigns of the city'
+the justice to say, that I was never more politely treated
+than during this occasion. Others suggested that, as
+Trias was one of the most wealthy and influential citizens
+of Chihuahua, I had better try to pave my way out of the
+difficulty with <i>plata</i>, as I could stand no chance in law
+against him. To this, however, I strenuously objected.
+I felt convinced that I had been ordered back to Chihuahua
+mainly for purposes of extortion, and I was determined
+that the <i>oficiales</i> should be disappointed. I had unbounded
+confidence in the friendship and integrity of Don José
+Artalejo, who was quite an exception to the general character
+of his countrymen. He was liberal, enlightened and
+honorable, and I shall ever remember with gratitude the
+warm interest he took in my affair, when he could have
+had no other motive for befriending me except what might
+spring from the consciousness of having performed a generous
+action. <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg200"></a>[p200]</span></p>
+
+<p>{131} At first, when the subject of my liberation was
+discussed in the <i>Junta Departamental</i>, the symptoms were
+rather squally, as some bigoted and unruly members of
+the Council seemed determined to have me punished,
+right or wrong. After a long and tedious debate, however,
+my friend brought me the draft of a petition which he
+desired me to copy and sign, and upon the presentation of
+which to the Governor, it had been agreed I should be
+released. This step, I was informed, had been resolved
+upon, because, after mature deliberation, the Council came
+to the conclusion that the proceedings against me had been
+extremely arbitrary and illegal, and that, if I should hereafter
+prosecute the Department, I might recover heavy
+damages. The wholesome lesson which had so lately
+been taught the Mexicans by France, was perhaps the
+cause of the fears of the Chihuahua authorities. A clause
+was therefore inserted in the petition, wherein I was made
+to renounce all intention on my part of ever troubling the
+Department on the subject, and became myself a suppliant
+to have the affair considered as concluded.</p>
+
+<p>This petition I would never have consented to sign, had
+I not been aware of the arbitrary power which was exercised
+over me. Imprisonment, in itself, was of but little consequence;
+but the total destruction of my property, which
+might have been the result of further detention, was an
+evil which I deemed it necessary to ward off, even at a great
+sacrifice {132} of feeling. Moreover, being in duress, no
+forced concession would, of course, be obligatory upon
+me after I resumed my liberty. Again, I felt no very great
+inclination to sue for redress where there was so little prospect
+of procuring anything. I might certainly have represented
+the matter to the Mexican government, and even
+have obtained perhaps the acknowledgment of my claims
+against Chihuahua for damages; but the payment would <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg201"></a>[p201]</span>
+have been extremely doubtful. As to our own Government,
+I had too much experience to rely for a
+moment upon her interposition.</p>
+
+<p>During the progress of these transactions, I strove to
+ascertain the character of the charges made against me;
+but in vain. All I knew was, that I had offended a <i>rico</i>,
+and had been summoned back to Chihuahua at his instance;
+yet whether for 'high treason,' for an attempt at robbery,
+or for contempt to his <i>señoría</i>, I knew not. It is not unusual,
+however, in that 'land of liberty,' for a person to
+be arrested and even confined for weeks without knowing
+the cause. The writ of <i>Habeas Corpus</i> appears unknown
+in the judicial tribunals of Northern Mexico.</p>
+
+<p>Upon the receipt of my petition, the Governor immediately
+issued the following decree, which I translate for
+the benefit of the reader, as being not a bad specimen of
+Mexican grand eloquence:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+
+<p>"In consideration of the memorial which you have this day directed
+to the Superior Government, His Excellency, {133} the Governor,
+has been pleased to issue the following decree:</p>
+
+<p>"'That, as Don Angel Trias has withdrawn his prosecution, so far
+as relates to his personal interests, the Government, using the equity
+with which it ought to look upon faults committed without a deliberate
+intention to infringe the laws, which appears presumable in the
+present case, owing to the memorialist's ignorance of them, the grace
+which he solicits is granted to him; and, in consequence, he is at
+liberty to retire when he chooses: to which end, and that he may
+not be interrupted by the authorities, a copy of this decree will be
+transmitted to him.'</p>
+
+<p>"In virtue of the above, I inclose the said decree to you, for
+the purposes intended.</p>
+
+<p>"God and Liberty. <span style="margin-left:2em;">Chihuahua,
+ Nov. 9, 1839.</span></p>
+
+<p><span style="margin-left:10em;">
+"<span class="smcap">Amado de la Vega</span>, Sec.<br />
+</span></p>
+
+<p>"<span class="smcap">To Don Josiah Gregg</span>."</p>
+</div>
+
+<p>Thus terminated this 'momentous' affair. The moral
+of it may be summed up in a few words. A citizen <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg202"></a>[p202]</span>
+of the United States who, under the faith of treaties, is
+engaged in his business, may be seized and harassed by
+the arbitrary authorities of Chihuahua with perfect impunity,
+because experience has proved that the American
+Government winks at almost every individual outrage, as
+utterly unworthy of its serious consideration. At the same
+time, the Indians may enter, as they frequently do, the
+suburbs of the city,—rob, plunder, and destroy life, without
+a single soldier being raised, or an effort made to bring
+the savage malefactors within the pale of justice. But a
+few days before the occasion of my difficulty at Torreon,
+the Apaches had killed a ranchero or two in the immediate
+neighborhood of the same village; and afterwards, {134}
+at the very time such a bustle was being made in Chihuahua
+to raise troops for my 'special benefit,' the Indians entered
+the corn-fields in the suburbs of the city, and killed several
+<i>labradores</i> who were at work in them. In neither of these
+cases, however, were there any troops at command to
+pursue and chastise the depredators—though a whole
+army was in readiness to persecute our party. The truth
+is, they felt much less reluctance to pursue a band of civil
+traders, who, they were well aware, could not assume a
+hostile attitude, than to be caught in the wake of a band
+of savages, who would as little respect their lives as their
+laws and their property.</p>
+
+<p>Early on the morning of the 10th, I once more, and for
+the last time, and with anything but regret, took my leave
+of Chihuahua, with my companions in trouble. Toward
+the afternoon we met my old friend the captain, with his
+valiant followers, whom I found as full of urbanity as ever—so
+much so, indeed, that he never even asked to see my
+passport.</p>
+
+<p>On the evening of the next day, now in the heart of the
+savage haunts, we were not a little alarmed by the appearance
+of a large body of horsemen in the distance. <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg203"></a>[p203]</span>
+They turned out, however, to be <dfn>Paseños</dfn>, or citizens of the
+Paso del Norte. They were on their way to Chihuahua
+with a number of pack-mules laden with apples, pears,
+grapes, wine, and <dfn>aguardiente</dfn>—proceeds of their productive
+orchards and vineyards. It is from El Paso that
+Chihuahua is chiefly supplied with fruits and {135} liquors,
+which are transported on mules or in carretas. The fruits,
+as well fresh as in a dried state, are thus carried to the
+distant markets. The grapes, carefully dried in the shade,
+make excellent <dfn>pasas</dfn> or raisins, of which large quantities
+are annually prepared for market by the people of that
+delightful town of vineyards and orchards, who, to take
+them altogether, are more sober and industrious than those
+of any other part of Mexico I have visited; and are happily
+less infested by the extremes of wealth and poverty.</p>
+
+<p>On the 13th, I overtook my wagons a few miles south
+of El Paso, whence our journey was continued, without
+any additional casualty, and on the 6th of December we
+reached Santa Fé, in fine health and spirits.</p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_122_122" id="Footnote_122_122"></a><a href="#FNanchor_122_122"><span class="label">[122]</span></a> The distance from Chihuahua to Durango is about five hundred miles, and
+from thence to Aguascalientes it is nearly three hundred—upon the route we
+travelled, which was very circuitous. All the intermediate country resembles, in
+its physical features, that lying immediately north of Chihuahua, which has
+already been described.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_123_123" id="Footnote_123_123"></a><a href="#FNanchor_123_123"><span class="label">[123]</span></a> Jesus-Maria is still a mining town in western Chihuahua, in the heart of a
+sierra of the same name.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_124_124" id="Footnote_124_124"></a><a href="#FNanchor_124_124"><span class="label">[124]</span></a> Water has sometimes accumulated so rapidly in this mine as to stop operations
+for weeks together.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_125_125" id="Footnote_125_125"></a><a href="#FNanchor_125_125"><span class="label">[125]</span></a>
+The Mexican money table
+is as follows: 12 <dfn>granos</dfn> make 1 <dfn>real</dfn>; 8 <i>reales</i>, 1
+<dfn>peso</dfn>, or dollar. These are the divisions used in computation, but instead of <i>granos</i>,
+the copper coins of Chihuahua and many other places, are the <dfn>claco</dfn> or <dfn>jola</dfn> (<span
+class="fraction"><sup>1</sup>⁄<sub>8</sub></span> real)
+and the <dfn>cuartilla</dfn> (<span
+class="fraction"><sup>1</sup>⁄<sub>4</sub></span> real). The silver coins are the <dfn>medio</dfn> (<span
+class="fraction">6<sup>1</sup>⁄<sub>4</sub></span> cents), the <dfn>real</dfn>
+(<span class="fraction">12<sup>1</sup>⁄<sub>2</sub></span>
+cents), the <dfn>peseta</dfn> (2 reales), the <dfn>toston</dfn> or half dollar, and the <i>peso</i> or dollar. The
+gold coins are the <dfn>doblon</dfn> or <dfn>onza</dfn> (doubloon), with the same subdivisions as the
+silver dollar, which are also of the same weight. The par value of the doubloon is
+sixteen dollars; but, as there is no kind of paper currency, gold, as the most convenient
+remittance, usually commands a high premium—sometimes so high,
+indeed, that the doubloon is valued in the North at from eighteen to twenty
+dollars.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_126_126" id="Footnote_126_126"></a><a href="#FNanchor_126_126"><span class="label">[126]</span></a> See Kendall, <cite>Texan Santa Fé Expedition</cite>, ii, pp. 66-73.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_127_127" id="Footnote_127_127"></a><a href="#FNanchor_127_127"><span class="label">[127]</span></a> For Hidalgo, see our volume xix, p. 176, note 11 (Gregg).—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_128_128" id="Footnote_128_128"></a><a href="#FNanchor_128_128"><span class="label">[128]</span></a> For Guerrero and Iturbide see Pattie's <cite>Narrative</cite>, in our volume xviii, p. 314
+(note 130), p. 362 (note 141).—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_129_129" id="Footnote_129_129"></a><a href="#FNanchor_129_129"><span class="label">[129]</span></a> Trias, while yet a youth, was dispatched by his adopted father to take the
+tour of Europe and the United States. He was furnished for 'pocket money' (as
+I have been told) with nearly a hundred <i>barras de plata</i>, each worth a thousand
+dollars or upwards. This money he easily got rid of during his travels, but retained
+most of his innate bigotry and self-importance: and, with his knowledge of the
+superiority of the people among whom he journeyed, grew his hatred for
+foreigners.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div></div>
+
+<h3 title="Chapter XXIV">
+<a name="CHAPTER_XXIV_VIII" id="CHAPTER_XXIV_VIII"></a>
+CHAPTER XXIV [VIII]</h3>
+
+<p class="subhead">Preparations for returning Home — Breaking out of the Small-pox — The
+Start — Our Caravan — Manuel the Comanche — A New
+Route — The Prairie on Fire — Danger to be apprehended from
+these Conflagrations — A Comanche Buffalo-chase — A Skirmish
+with the Pawnees — An intrepid Mexican — The Wounded — Value
+of a thick Skull — Retreat of the Enemy and their Failure — A
+bleak Northwester — Loss of our Sheep — The Llano Estacado
+and Sources of Red River — The Canadian River — Cruelties upon
+Buffalo — Feats at 'Still-hunting' — Mr. Wethered's Adventure — Once
+more on our own Soil — The False Washita — Enter our
+former Trail — Character of the Country over which we had travelled — Arrival
+at Van Buren — The two Routes to Santa Fé — Some
+Advantages of that from Arkansas — Restlessness of Prairie
+Travellers in civilized life, and Propensity for returning to the Wild
+Deserts.<a href="#tocXXIV"
+class="toclnk">toc</a></p>
+
+<p>About the beginning of February, 1840, and just as I
+was making preparations to return to the United States, <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg204"></a>[p204]</span>
+the small-pox broke out among my men, in a manner which
+at first occasioned at least as much astonishment as alarm.
+One of them, who had been vaccinated, having travelled
+in a district where the small-pox prevailed, complained
+of a little fever, which was followed by slight eruptions,
+but so unlike true variolous pustules, that I treated the
+matter very lightly; not even suspecting a varioloid. These
+slight symptoms {137} having passed off, nothing more
+was thought of it until eight or ten days after, when every
+unvaccinated member of our company was attacked by
+that fell disease, which soon began to manifest very malignant
+features. There were no fatal cases, however; yet
+much apprehension was felt, lest the disease should break
+out again on the route; but, to our great joy, we escaped
+this second scourge.</p>
+
+<p>A party that left Santa Fé for Missouri soon afterward,
+was much more unfortunate. On the way, several of their
+men were attacked by the small-pox: some of them died,
+and, others retaining the infection till they approached
+the Missouri frontier, they were compelled to undergo a
+'quarantine' in the bordering prairie, before they were
+permitted to enter the settlements.</p>
+
+<p>On the 25th of February we set out from Santa Fé; but
+owing to some delays, we did not leave San Miguel till
+the 1st of March. As the pasturage was yet insufficient
+for our animals, we here provided ourselves with over six
+hundred bushels of corn, to feed them on the way. This
+time our caravan consisted of twenty-eight wagons, two
+small cannons, and forty-seven men, including sixteen
+Mexicans and a Comanche Indian who acted in the capacity
+of guide.<a name="FNanchor_130_130" id="FNanchor_130_130"></a><a href="#Footnote_130_130" class="fnanchor">[130]</a> Two gentlemen of Baltimore, {138} Messrs. <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg205"></a>[p205]</span>
+S. Wethered and J. R. Ware, had joined our caravan with
+one wagon and three men, making up the aggregate above-mentioned.
+We had also a caballada of more than two
+hundred mules, with nearly three hundred sheep and
+goats. The sheep were brought along partially to supply
+us with meat in case of emergency: the surplusage, however,
+could not fail to command a fair price in the United
+States.</p>
+
+<p>Instead of following the trail of the year before, I determined
+to seek a nearer and better route down the south
+side of the Canadian river, under the guidance of the Comanche;
+by which movement, we had again to travel a distance
+of four hundred miles over an entirely new country. We
+had just passed the Laguna Colorada, where, the following
+year, a division of Texan volunteers, under General McLeod,
+surrendered to Col. Archuleta,<a name="FNanchor_131_131" id="FNanchor_131_131"></a><a href="#Footnote_131_131" class="fnanchor">[131]</a> when our fire was
+carelessly permitted to communicate with the prairie grass.
+As there was a head-wind blowing at the time, we very
+soon got out of reach of the conflagration: but the next day,
+the wind having changed, the fire was again perceived in
+our rear approaching us at a very brisk pace. The terror <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg206"></a>[p206]</span>
+which these prairie conflagrations are calculated to inspire,
+when the grass is tall and dry, as was the case in the present
+instance, has often {139} been described, and though the
+perils of these disasters are not unfrequently exaggerated,
+they are sometimes sufficient to daunt the stoutest heart.
+Mr. Kendall relates a frightful incident of this kind which
+occurred to the Texan Santa Fé Exposition; and all those
+who have crossed the Prairies have had more or less experience
+as to the danger which occasionally threatens the
+caravans from these sweeping visitations. The worst
+evil to be apprehended with those bound for Santa Fé is
+from the explosion of gunpowder, as a keg or two of twenty-five
+pounds each, is usually to be found in every wagon.
+When we saw the fire gaining so rapidly upon us, we had
+to use the whip very unsparingly; and it was only when
+the lurid flames were actually rolling upon the heels of our
+teams, that we succeeded in reaching a spot of short-grass
+prairie, where there was no further danger to be apprehended.</p>
+
+<p>The headway of the conflagration was soon after checked
+by a small stream which traversed our route; and we had
+only emerged fairly from its smoke, on the following day
+(the 9th), when our Comanche guide returned hastily
+from his accustomed post in advance, and informed us that
+he had espied three buffaloes, not far off. They were
+the first we had met with, and, being heartily anxious for
+a change from the dried beef with which we were provided,
+I directed the Comanche, who was by far our surest hunter,
+to prepare at once for the <i>chasse</i>. He said he preferred to
+hunt on {140} horseback and with his bow and arrow; and
+believing my riding-horse the fleetest in company (which,
+by the by, was but a common pony, and thin in flesh withal),
+I dismounted and gave him the bridle, with many charges
+to treat him kindly, as we still had a long journey before <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg207"></a>[p207]</span>
+us. "Don't attempt to kill but one—that will serve us
+for the present!" I exclaimed, as he galloped off. The
+Comanche was among the largest of his tribe—bony and
+muscular—weighing about two hundred pounds: but
+once at his favorite sport, he very quickly forgot my injunction,
+as well as the weakness of my little pony. He
+soon brought down two of his game,—and shyly remarked
+to those who followed in his wake, that, had he not feared
+a scolding from me, he would not have permitted the third
+to escape.</p>
+
+<p>On the evening of the 10th our camp was pitched in
+the neighborhood of a ravine in the prairie, and as the
+night was dark and dreary, the watch tried to comfort
+themselves by building a rousing fire, around which they
+presently drew, and commenced 'spinning long yarns'
+about Mexican fandangoes, and black-eyed damsels. All
+of a sudden the stillness of the night was interrupted by
+a loud report of fire-arms, and a shower of bullets came
+whizzing by the ears of the heedless sentinels. Fortunately,
+however, no one was injured; which must be looked upon
+as a very extraordinary circumstance, when we consider
+what a fair mark our men, thus huddled {141} round a
+blazing fire, presented to the rifles of the Indians. The
+savage yells, which resounded from every part of the ravine,
+bore very satisfactory testimony that this was no false
+alarm; and the 'Pawnee whistle' which was heard in every
+quarter, at once impressed us with the idea of its being a
+band of that famous prairie banditti.</p>
+
+<p>Every man sprang from his pallet with rifle in hand; for,
+upon the Prairies, we always sleep with our arms by our
+sides or under our heads. Our Comanche seemed at first
+very much at a loss what to do. At last, thinking it might
+possibly be a band of his own nation, he began a most
+boisterous harangue in his vernacular tongue, which he <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg208"></a>[p208]</span>
+continued for several minutes; when finding that the enemy
+took no notice of him, and having become convinced also,
+from an occasional Pawnee word which he was able to
+make out, that he had been wasting breath with the mortal
+foes of his race, he suddenly ceased all expostulations, and
+blazed away with his rifle, with a degree of earnestness
+which was truly edifying, as if convinced that that was
+the best he could do for us.</p>
+
+<p>It was now evident that the Indians had taken possession
+of the entire ravine, the nearest points of which were not
+fifty yards from our wagons: a warning to prairie travellers
+to encamp at a greater distance from whatsoever might
+afford shelter for an enemy. The banks of the gully were
+low, but still they formed a very good breastwork, behind
+which {142} the enemy lay ensconced, discharging volleys
+of balls upon our wagons, among which we were scattered.
+At one time we thought of making an attempt to rout them
+from their fortified position; but being ignorant of their
+number, and unable to distinguish any object through
+the dismal darkness which hung all around, we had to
+remain content with firing at random from behind our
+wagons, aiming at the flash of their guns, or in the direction
+whence any noise appeared to emanate. Indeed their
+yelling was almost continuous, breaking out every now
+and then in the most hideous screams and vociferous chattering,
+which were calculated to appal such timorous persons
+as we may have had in our caravan. All their screeching
+and whooping, however, had no effect—they could
+not make our animals break from the enclosure of the
+wagons, in which they were fortunately shut up; which
+was no doubt their principal object for attacking us.</p>
+
+<p>I cannot forbear recording a most daring feat performed
+by a Mexican muleteer, named Antonio Chavez, during
+the hottest of the first onset. Seeing the danger of my <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg209"></a>[p209]</span>
+two favorite riding horses, which were tethered outside
+within a few paces of the savages, he rushed out and brought
+safely in the most valuable of the two, though fusil-balls
+were showering around him all the while. The other
+horse broke his halter and made his escape.</p>
+
+<p>Although sundry scores of shots had been fired at our
+people, we had only two men {143} wounded. One, a
+Mexican, was but slightly injured in the hand, but the
+wound of the other, who was an Italian, bore a more serious
+aspect, and deserves especial mention. He was a short,
+corpulent fellow, and had been nicknamed 'Dutch'—a
+loquacious, chicken-hearted <i>fainéant</i>, and withal in the
+daily habit of gorging himself to such an enormous extent,
+that every alternate night he was on the sick list. On this
+memorable occasion, Dutch had 'foundered' again, and
+the usual prescription of a double dose of Epsom salts had
+been his supper potion. The skirmish had continued
+for about an hour, and although a frightful groaning had
+been heard in Dutch's wagon for some time, no one paid
+any attention to it, as it was generally supposed to be from
+the effects of his dose. At length, however, some one
+cried out, "Dutch is wounded!" I immediately went to
+see him, and found him writhing and twisting himself as
+if in great pain, crying all the time that he was shot. "Shot!—where?"
+I inquired. "Ah! in the head, sir?" "Pshaw!
+Dutch, none of that; you've only bumped your head in
+trying to hide yourself." Upon lighting a match, however,
+I found that a ball had passed through the middle of his
+hat, and that, to my consternation, the top of his head was
+bathed in blood. It turned out, upon subsequent examination,
+that the ball had glanced upon the skull, inflicting
+a serious-looking wound, and so deep that an inch of sound
+skin separated the holes at which the {144} bullet had entered
+and passed out. Notwithstanding I at first apprehended <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg210"></a>[p210]</span>
+a fracture of the scull, it very soon healed, and Dutch was
+'up and about' again in the course of a week.</p>
+
+<p>Although teachers not unfrequently have cause to deplore
+the thickness of their pupils' skulls, Dutch had every
+reason to congratulate himself upon possessing such a
+treasure, as it had evidently preserved him from a more
+serious catastrophe. It appeared he had taken shelter
+in his wagon at the commencement of the attack, without
+reflecting that the boards and sheets were not ball-proof:
+and as Indians, especially in the night, are apt to shoot
+too high, he was in a much more dangerous situation than
+if upon the ground.</p>
+
+<p>The enemy continued the attack for nearly three hours,
+when they finally retired, so as to make good their retreat
+before daylight. As it rained and snowed from that time
+till nine in the morning, their 'sign' was almost entirely
+obliterated, and we were unable to discover whether they
+had received any injury or not. It was evidently a foot
+party, which we looked upon as another proof of their
+being Pawnees; for these famous marauders are well known
+to go forth on their expeditions of plunder without horses,
+although they seldom fail to return well mounted.</p>
+
+<p>Their shot had riddled our wagons considerably: in one
+we counted no less than eight bullet-holes. We had the
+gratification to believe, however, that they did not get a
+single {145} one of our animals: the horse which broke
+away at the first onset, doubtless made his escape; and a
+mule which was too badly wounded to travel, was dispatched
+by the muleteers, lest it should fall into the hands of the
+savages, or into the mouths of the wolves; and they deemed
+it more humane to leave it to be eaten dead than alive.
+We also experienced considerable damage in our stock of
+sheep, a number of them having been devoured by wolves.
+They had been scattered at the beginning of the attack; <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg211"></a>[p211]</span>
+and, in their anxiety to fly from the scene of action, had
+jumped, as it were, into the very jaws of their ravenous
+enemies.</p>
+
+<p>On the 12th of March, we ascended upon the celebrated
+<i>Llano Estacado</i>, and continued along its borders for a few
+days. The second night upon this dreary plain, we experienced
+one of the strongest and bleakest 'northwesters'
+that ever swept across those prairies; during which, our
+flock of sheep and goats, being left unattended, fled over
+the plain, in search of some shelter, it was supposed, from
+the furious element. Their disappearance was not observed
+for some time, and the night being too dark to discern
+anything, we were obliged to defer going in pursuit of them
+till the following morning. After a fruitless and laborious
+search, during which the effects of the mirage proved a
+constant source of annoyance and disappointment, we
+were finally obliged to relinquish the pursuit, and return
+to the caravan without finding one of them.</p>
+
+<p>{146} These severe winds are very prevalent upon the
+great western prairies, though they are seldom quite so
+inclement. At some seasons, they are about as regular
+and unceasing as the 'trade winds' of the ocean. It will
+often blow a gale for days, and even weeks together, without
+slacking for a moment, except occasionally at night. It
+is for this reason, as well as on account of the rains, that
+percussion guns are preferable upon the Prairies, particularly
+for those who understand their use. The winds are
+frequently so severe as to sweep away both sparks and
+priming from a flint lock, and thus render it wholly ineffective.</p>
+
+<p>The following day we continued our march down the
+border of the Llano Estacado. Knowing that our Comanche
+guide was about as familiar with all those great plains as
+a landlord with his premises, I began to question him, <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg212"></a>[p212]</span>
+as we travelled along, concerning the different streams
+which pierced them to the southward. Pointing in that
+direction, he said there passed a water-course, at the distance
+of a hard day's ride, which he designated as a <dfn>cañada</dfn> or
+valley, in which there was always water to be found at
+occasional places, but that none flowed in its channel except
+during the rainy season. This cañada he described
+as having its origin in the Llano Estacado some fifty or
+sixty miles east of Rio Pecos, and about the same distance
+south of the route we came, and that its direction was a
+little south of east, passing to the southward {147} of the
+northern portion of the Witchita mountains, known to
+Mexican Ciboleros and Comancheros as <dfn>Sierra Jumanes</dfn>.
+It was, therefore, evident that this was the principal northern
+branch of Red River. The False Washita, or <dfn>Rio
+Negro</dfn>, as the Mexicans call it, has its rise, as he assured
+me, between the Canadian and this cañada, at no great
+distance of the southeastward of where we were then travelling.</p>
+
+<p>On the 15th, our Comanche guide, being fearful lest we
+should find no water upon the plain, advised us to pursue
+a more northwardly course, so that, after a hard day's
+ride, we again descended the <dfn>ceja</dfn> or brow of the Llano
+Estacado, into the undulating lands which border the
+Canadian; and, on the following day, we found ourselves
+upon the southern bank of that stream.</p>
+
+<p>Although, but a few days' travel above where we now
+were, the Canadian runs pent up in a narrow channel,
+scarcely four rods across, we here found it spread out to
+the width of from three to six hundred yards, and so full
+of sand-bars (only interspersed with narrow rills) as to
+present the appearance of a mere sandy valley instead of
+the bed of a river. In fact, during the driest seasons, the
+water wholly disappears in many places. Captain Boone,
+of the U. S. Dragoons, being upon an exploring expedition <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg213"></a>[p213]</span>
+in the summer of 1843, came to the Canadian about the
+region of our western boundary, where he found the channel
+perfectly dry.<a name="FNanchor_132_132" id="FNanchor_132_132"></a><a href="#Footnote_132_132" class="fnanchor">[132]</a> Notwithstanding {148} it presents the
+face of one of the greatest rivers of the west during freshets,
+yet even then it would not be navigable on account of its
+rapidity and shallowness. It would appear almost incredible
+to those unacquainted with the prairie streams, that a
+river of about 1500 miles in length, and whose head wears
+a cap of perennial snow (having its source in the Rocky
+Mountains), should scarcely be navigable, for even the
+smallest craft, over fifty miles above its mouth.</p>
+
+<p>We pursued our course down the same side of the river
+for several days, during which time we crossed a multitude
+of little streams which flowed into the Canadian from the
+adjoining plains, while others presented nothing but dry
+beds of sand. One of these was so remarkable, on account
+of its peculiarity and size, that we named it 'Dry River.'
+The bed was at least 200 yards wide, yet without a vestige
+of water; notwithstanding, our guide assured us that it
+was a brisk-flowing stream some leagues above: and from
+the drift-wood along its borders, it was evident that, even
+here, it must be a considerable river during freshets.<a name="FNanchor_133_133" id="FNanchor_133_133"></a><a href="#Footnote_133_133" class="fnanchor">[133]</a></p>
+
+<p>While traveling down the course of the Canadian, we
+sometimes found the buffalo very abundant. On one <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg214"></a>[p214]</span>
+occasion, two or three hunters, who were a little in advance
+of the caravan, perceiving a herd quietly grazing in an
+open glade, they 'crawled upon' them after the manner
+of the 'still hunters.' Their first shot having brought down
+a fine {149} fat cow, they slipped up behind her, and, resting
+their guns over her body, shot two or three others, without
+occasioning any serious disturbance or surprise to their
+companions; for, extraordinary as it may appear, if the
+buffalo neither see nor smell the hunter, they will pay but
+little attention to the crack of guns, or to the mortality
+which is being dealt among them.</p>
+
+<p>The slaughter of these animals is frequently carried
+to an excess, which shows the depravity of the human heart
+in very bold relief. Such is the excitement that generally
+prevails at the sight of these fat denizens of the prairies,
+that very few hunters appear able to refrain from shooting
+as long as the game remains within reach of their rifles;
+nor can they ever permit a fair shot to escape them. Whether
+the mere pleasure of taking life is {150} the incentive of
+these brutal excesses, I will not pretend to decide; but
+one thing is very certain, that the buffalo killed yearly on
+these prairies far exceeds the wants of the traveller, or
+what might be looked upon as the exigencies of rational
+sport.<a name="FNanchor_134_134" id="FNanchor_134_134"></a><a href="#Footnote_134_134" class="fnanchor">[134]</a></p>
+
+<p>But in making these observations, I regret that I cannot
+give to my precepts the force of my own example: I have
+not always been able wholly to withstand the cruel temptation.
+Not long after the incident above alluded to, as I
+was pioneering alone, according to my usual practice, at
+a distance of a mile or two ahead of the wagons, in search
+of the best route, I perceived in a glade, a few rods in front <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg215"></a>[p215]</span>
+of me, several protuberances, which at first occasioned
+me no little fright, for I took them, as they loomed dimly
+through the tall grass, for the tops of Indian lodges. But
+I soon discovered they were the huge humps of a herd of
+buffalo, which were quietly grazing.</p>
+
+<p>I immediately alighted, and approached unobserved
+to within forty or fifty yards of the unsuspecting animals.
+Being armed with one of Cochran's nine-chambered rifles,
+I took aim at one that stood broad-side, and 'blazed away.'
+The buffalo threw up their heads and looked about, but
+seeing nothing (for I remained concealed in the grass),
+they again {151} went on grazing as though nothing had
+happened. The truth is, the one I had shot was perhaps
+but little hurt; for, as generally happens with the inexperienced
+hunter—and often with those who know better,
+the first excitement allowing no time for reflection—I
+no doubt aimed too high, so as to lodge the ball in the hump.
+A buffalo's heart lies exceedingly low, so that to strike it
+the shot should enter not over one-fourth of the depth of
+the body above the lower edge of the breast bone.</p>
+
+<p>The brutes were no sooner quiet, than I took another
+and more deliberate aim at my former victim, which resulted
+as before. But believing him now mortally wounded,
+I next fired in quick succession at four others of the gang.
+It occurred to me, by this time, that I had better save my
+remaining three shots; for it was possible enough for my
+firing to attract the attention of strolling savages, who
+might take advantage of my empty gun to make a sortie
+upon me—yet there stood my buffalo, some of them still
+quietly feeding.</p>
+
+<p>As I walked out from my concealment, a party of our
+own men came galloping up from the wagons, considerably
+alarmed. They had heard the six shots, and, not recollecting
+my repeating rifle, supposed I had been attacked <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg216"></a>[p216]</span>
+by Indians, and therefore came to my relief. Upon their
+approach the buffalo all fled, except three which appeared
+badly wounded—one indeed soon fell and expired. The
+other two would doubtless have followed {152} the example
+of the first, had not a hunter, anxious to dispatch them
+more speedily, approached too near; when, regaining
+strength from the excitement, they fled before him, and
+entirely escaped, though he pursued them for a considerable
+distance.</p>
+
+<p>A few days after this occurrence, Mr. Wethered returned
+to the camp one evening with seven buffalo tongues (the
+hunter's usual trophy) swung to his saddle. He said that,
+in the morning, one of the hunters had ungenerously objected
+to sharing a buffalo with him; whereupon Mr. W.
+set out, vowing he would kill buffalo for himself, and 'no
+thanks to any one.' He had not been out long when he
+spied a herd of only seven bulls, quietly feeding near a
+ravine; and slipping up behind the banks, he shot down
+one and then another, until they all lay before him; and
+their seven tongues he brought in to bear testimony of
+his skill.</p>
+
+<p>Not long after crossing Dry River, we ascended the high
+grounds, and soon found ourselves upon the high ridge
+which divides the waters of the Canadian and False Washita,
+whose 'breaks' could be traced descending from the Llano
+Estacado far to the southwest.</p>
+
+<p>By an observation of an eclipse of one of Jupiter's satellites,
+on the night of the 25th of March, in latitude <span
+class="fraction">35° 51′ 30″,</span> I found that we were very near the 100th degree
+of longitude west from Greenwich. On the following day,
+therefore, we celebrated our entrance into the United States
+territory. Those who {153} have never been beyond the
+purlieus of the land of their nativity, can form but a poor
+conception of the joy which the wanderer in distant climes <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg217"></a>[p217]</span>
+experiences on treading once more upon his own native
+soil! Although we were yet far from the abodes of civilization,
+and further still from home, nevertheless the heart
+within us thrilled with exhilarating sensations; for we were
+again in our own territory, breathed our own free atmosphere,
+and were fairly out of reach of the arbitrary power
+which we had left behind us.</p>
+
+<p>As we continued our route upon this narrow dividing
+ridge, we could not help remarking how nearly these streams
+approach each other: in one place they seemed scarcely
+five miles apart. On this account our Comanche guide,
+as well as several Mexicans of our party, who had some
+acquaintance with these prairies, gave it as their opinion
+that the Washita or <i>Rio Negro</i> was in fact a branch of the
+Canadian; for its confluence with Red River was beyond
+the bounds of their peregrinations.</p>
+
+<p>As the forest of Cross Timbers was now beginning to be
+seen in the distance, and fearing we might be troubled to
+find a passway through this brushy region, south of the
+Canadian, we forded this river on the 29th, without the
+slightest trouble, and very soon entered our former trail,
+a little west of Spring Valley. This gave a new and joyful
+impulse to our spirits; for we had been travelling over
+twenty days without even a trail, {154} and through a region
+of which we knew absolutely nothing, except from what we
+could gather from our Comanche pilot. This trail, which
+our wagons had made the previous summer, was still visible,
+and henceforth there was an end to all misgivings.</p>
+
+<p>If we take a retrospective view of the country over which
+we travelled, we shall find but little that can ever present
+attractions to the agriculturist. Most of the low valleys
+of the Canadian, for a distance of five hundred miles, are
+either too sandy or too marshy for cultivation; and the
+upland prairies are, in many places, but little else than <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg218"></a>[p218]</span>
+sand-hills. In some parts, it is true, they are firm and
+fertile, but wholly destitute of timber, with the exception
+of a diminutive branch of the Cross Timbers, which occupies
+a portion of the ridge betwixt the Canadian and the
+North Fork. The Canadian river itself is still more bare
+of timber than the upper Arkansas. In its whole course
+through the plains, there is but little except cottonwood,
+and that very scantily scattered along its banks—in some
+places, for leagues together, not a stick is to be seen. Except
+it be near the Mountains, where the valleys are more
+fertile, it is only the little narrow bottoms which skirt many
+of its tributary rivulets that indicate any amenity. Some
+of these are rich and beautiful in the extreme, timbered
+with walnut, mulberry, oak, elm, hackberry, and occasionally
+cedar about the bluffs.</p>
+
+<p>We now continued our journey without encountering
+any further casualty, except in {155} crossing the Arkansas
+river, where we lost several mules by drowning; and on
+the 22d of April we made our entrance into Van Buren.
+This trip was much more tedious and protracted than I
+had contemplated—owing, in the first part of the journey,
+to the inclemency of the season, and a want of pasturage
+for our animals; and, towards the conclusion, to the frequent
+rains, which kept the route in a miserable condition.</p>
+
+<p>Concerning this expedition, I have only one or two more
+remarks to offer. As regards the two different routes to
+Santa Fé, although Missouri, for various reasons which
+it is needless to explain here, can doubtless retain the
+monopoly of the Santa Fé trade, the route from Arkansas
+possesses many advantages. Besides its being some days'
+travel shorter,<a name="FNanchor_135_135" id="FNanchor_135_135"></a><a href="#Footnote_135_135" class="fnanchor">[135]</a> it is less intersected with large streams;
+there are fewer sandy stretches, and a greater variety of <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg219"></a>[p219]</span>
+wood-skirted brooks, affording throughout the journey
+very agreeable camping-places. Also, as the grass springs
+up nearly a month earlier than in Upper Missouri, caravans
+could start much sooner, and the proprietors would have
+double the time to conduct their mercantile transactions.
+Moreover, the return companies would find better pasturage
+on their way back, and reach their homes before the
+season of frost had far advanced. Again, such as should
+desire to engage in the 'stock {156} trade' would at once
+bring their mules and horses into a more congenial climate—one
+more in accordance with that of their nativity; for
+the rigorous winters of Missouri often prove fatal to the
+unacclimated Mexican animals.</p>
+
+<p>This was my last trip across the Plains, though I made
+an excursion, during the following summer, among the
+Comanche Indians, and other wild tribes, living in the
+heart of the Prairies, but returned without crossing to
+Mexico. The observations made during this trip will
+be found incorporated in the notices, which are to follow,
+of the Prairies and their inhabitants.</p>
+
+<p>Since that time I have striven in vain to reconcile myself
+to the even tenor of civilized life in the United States; and
+have sought in its amusements and its society a substitute
+for those high excitements which have attached me so
+strongly to Prairie life. Yet I am almost ashamed to
+confess that scarcely a day passes without my experiencing
+a pang of regret that I am not now roving at large upon
+those western plains. Nor do I find my taste peculiar;
+for I have hardly known a man, who has ever become
+familiar with the kind of life which I have led for so many
+years, that has not relinquished it with regret.</p>
+
+<p>There is more than one way of explaining this apparent
+incongruity. In the first place—the wild, unsettled and
+independent life of the Prairie trader, makes perfect freedom <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg220"></a>[p220]</span>
+from nearly every kind of social dependence an absolute
+necessity of his being. He is in {157} daily, nay, hourly exposure
+of his life and property, and in the habit of relying
+upon his own arm and his own gun both for protection
+and support. Is he wronged? No court or jury is called
+to adjudicate upon his disputes or his abuses, save his
+own conscience; and no powers are invoked to redress
+them, save those with which the God of Nature has endowed
+him. He knows no government—no laws, save
+those of his own creation and adoption. He lives in no
+society which he must look up to or propitiate. The
+exchange of this untrammelled condition—this sovereign
+independence, for a life in civilization, where both his
+physical and moral freedom are invaded at every turn,
+by the complicated machinery of social institutions, is
+certainly likely to commend itself to but few,—not even
+to all those who have been educated to find their enjoyments
+in the arts and elegancies peculiar to civilized society;—as
+is evinced by the frequent instances of men of letters,
+of refinement and of wealth, voluntarily abandoning society
+for a life upon the Prairies, or in the still more savage
+mountain wilds.</p>
+
+<p>A 'tour on the Prairies' is certainly a <em>dangerous</em> experiment
+for him who would live a quiet contented life at home
+among his friends and relatives: not so dangerous to life
+or health, as prejudicial to his domestic habits. Those
+who have lived pent up in our large cities, know but little
+of the broad, unembarrassed freedom of the Great Western
+Prairies. {158} Viewing them from a snug fire-side, they
+seem crowded with dangers, with labors and with sufferings;
+but once upon them, and these appear to vanish—they
+are soon forgotten.</p>
+
+<p>There is another consideration, which, with most men
+of the Prairies, operates seriously against their reconciliation
+to the habits of civilized life. Though they be <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg221"></a>[p221]</span>
+endowed naturally with the organs of taste and refinement,
+and though once familiar with the ways and practices of
+civilized communities, yet a long absence from such society
+generally obliterates from their minds most of those common
+laws of social intercourse, which are so necessary to
+the man of the world. The awkwardness and the <i>gaucheries</i>
+which ignorance of their details so often involves, are
+very trying to all men of sensitive temperaments. Consequently,
+multitudes rush back to the Prairies, merely
+to escape those criticisms and that ridicule, which they
+know not how to disarm.</p>
+
+<p>It will hardly be a matter of surprise then, when I add,
+that this passion for Prairie life, how paradoxical soever
+it may seem, will be very apt to lead me upon the
+Plains again, to spread my bed with the mustang and the
+buffalo, under the broad canopy of heaven,—there to
+seek to maintain undisturbed my confidence in men, by
+fraternizing with the little prairie dogs and wild colts, and
+the still wilder Indians—the <i>unconquered Sabæans</i> of
+the Great American Deserts.</p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_130_130" id="Footnote_130_130"></a><a href="#FNanchor_130_130"><span
+ class="label">[130]</span></a> Manuel <i>el Comanche</i> was a full Indian,
+ born and bred upon the great prairies.
+Long after having arrived at the state of manhood, he accompanied some Mexican
+<i>Comancheros</i> to the frontier village of San Miguel, where he fell in love with a
+Mexican girl—married her—and has lived in that place, a sober, 'civilized'
+citizen for the last ten or twelve years—endowed with much more goodness of
+heart and integrity of purpose than a majority of his Mexican neighbors. He
+had learned to speak Spanish quite intelligibly, and was therefore an excellent
+Comanche interpreter: and being familiar with every part of the prairies, he was
+very serviceable as a guide.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_131_131" id="Footnote_131_131"></a><a href="#FNanchor_131_131"><span class="label">[131]</span></a> Laguna Colorada is in the northeastern part of what is now Quay County,
+New Mexico, about twelve miles west of Tucumcari Mount.
+</p>
+<p>
+General Hugh McLeod was born in New York in 1814. Graduated at West
+Point, he resigned from the army to offer his services to the Texans in their struggle
+for independence. He also commanded in a campaign against the Cherokee in
+1839. After the unfortunate Texan-Santa Fé expedition, McLeod was imprisoned
+in Mexico for about a year, and finally released at the request of the United States
+government. He served throughout the Mexican War, and joining the Confederate
+army in 1861 died in Virginia the following year.
+</p>
+<p>
+Colonel Juan Andrés Archuleta, to whom McLeod surrendered, was not the
+Archuleta who conspired against the United States in 1846-47.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_132_132" id="Footnote_132_132"></a><a href="#FNanchor_132_132"><span class="label">[132]</span></a> Nathan Boone was the youngest son of the noted pioneer Daniel. Born in
+Kentucky in 1780, he emigrated to Missouri late in the eighteenth century, and
+distinguished himself in frontier service during the War of 1812-15. He made his
+home in St. Charles County, Missouri, and built therein the first stone house, in
+which his father died in 1820. The younger Boone entered the regular army in
+1832, as captain of rangers; the following year saw him in command of a company
+of the 1st dragoons, with whom he saw much frontier service. In 1847 he received
+his majoralty, and in 1850 became lieutenant-colonel. Three years later, he
+resigned from the army, dying at his home in Green County, Missouri, in 1857.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_133_133" id="Footnote_133_133"></a><a href="#FNanchor_133_133"><span class="label">[133]</span></a> Dry River is not laid down on current modern maps. It is in northwestern
+Texas, apparently near the line of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fé Railway,
+in Roberts and Hemphill counties. See our volume XVI, p. 130, note 61; also map
+2 in <cite>Senate Docs.</cite>, 31 cong., 1 sess., 12.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_134_134" id="Footnote_134_134"></a><a href="#FNanchor_134_134"><span class="label">[134]</span></a> The same barbarous propensity is observable in regard to wild horses. Most
+persons appear unable to restrain this wanton inclination to take life, when a mustang
+approaches within rifle-shot. Many a stately steed thus falls a victim to the
+cruelty of man.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_135_135" id="Footnote_135_135"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_135_135"><span class="label">[135]</span></a>
+The latitude of Independence, Mo., is <span class="fraction">39° 8′,</span> while that of Van Buren
+is <span class="fraction">35° 26′,</span>—within a few miles
+of the parallel of Santa Fé: and being on about the same
+meridian as Independence, the distance, of course, is considerably shorter.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div></div>
+
+<h3 title="Chapter XXV: Conclusion of the Santa Fé Trade">
+<a name="CHAPTER_XXV_IX" id="CHAPTER_XXV_IX">CHAPTER XXV {IX}
+<br />CONCLUSION OF THE SANTA FÉ TRADE</a></h3>
+
+<p class="subhead">Decline of Prices — Statistical Table — Chihuahua Trade — Its Extent — Different
+Ports through which Goods are introduced to that
+Market — Expedition between Chihuahua and Arkansas — The
+more recent Incidents of the Santa Fé Caravans — Adventures
+of 1843 — Robbery and Murder of Chavez — Expedition from
+Texas — Defeat of Gen. Armijo's Van-guard — His precipitate
+Retreat — Texan Grievances — Unfortunate Results of Indiscriminate
+Revenge — Want of Discipline among the Texans — Disarmed
+by Capt. Cook — Return of the Escort of U.S. Dragoons,
+and of the Texans — Demands of the Mexican Government — Closing
+of the Santa Fé Trade.<a href="#tocXXV"
+class="toclnk">toc</a></p>
+
+<p>Before proceeding to the graver matters to be presented
+in the succeeding chapters, a few words to those
+who are curious about the history of the Santa Fé trade <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg222"></a>[p222]</span>
+intervening between the conclusion of my personal narrative
+and the closing of the trade by the Mexican government,
+in 1843, may not be amiss.</p>
+
+<p>The Santa Fé trade, though more or less fluctuating
+from its origin, continued to present an average increase
+and growth down to the year 1831. During the same period,
+the prices of goods continued to go down in even a more
+rapid ratio. Since 1831, the rates of {160} sales have continued
+steadily to fall, to the latest period of the trade,
+although there has been no average increase in the number
+of adventurers, or amount of merchandise.<a name="FNanchor_136_136"
+id="FNanchor_136_136"></a><a href="#Footnote_136_136"
+class="fnanchor">[136]</a></p>
+
+<p>{161} From 1831 to the present date, prices have scarcely
+averaged, for medium calicoes, thirty-seven cents, and
+for plain domestic cottons thirty-one cents per yard. Taking <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg223"></a>[p223]</span>
+assortments round, 100 per cent, upon United States
+costs were generally considered excellent sales: many
+stocks have been sold at a much lower rate. The average
+prices of Chihuahua are equally low, yet a brisker demand
+has rendered this the most agreeable and profitable branch
+of the trade.</p>
+
+<p>{162} The first attempt to introduce American goods
+into the more southern markets of Mexico from Santa Fé,
+was made in the year 1824. The amounts were very small,
+however, till towards the year 1831. For a few of the first
+years, the traders were in the habit of conveying small lots
+to Sonora and California; but this branch of the trade has,
+I believe, latterly ceased altogether. Yet the amounts
+transferred to Chihuahua have generally increased; so
+that for the last few years, that trade has consumed very
+nearly half of the entire imports by the Missouri Caravans.</p>
+
+<p>The entire consumption of foreign goods in the department
+of Chihuahua, has been estimated by intelligent
+Mexican merchants, at from two to three millions annually; <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg224"></a>[p224]</span>
+the first cost of which might be set down at nearly one half.
+Of this amount the Santa Fé trade, as will be seen from
+the accompanying table, has not furnished a tenth part;
+the balance being introduced through other ports, viz.:
+<i>Matamoras</i>, whence Chihuahua has received nearly half
+its supplies—<i>Vera Cruz</i> via the city of Mexico, whence
+considerable amounts have been brought to this department—<i>Tampico</i>
+on the Gulf of Mexico, and <i>Mazatlan</i>
+on the Pacific, via Durango, whence the imports have been
+of some importance—while nearly all the west of the
+department, and especially the heavy consumption of the
+mining town of Jesus-Maria, receives most of its supplies
+from the port of <i>Guaymas</i> on the Gulf of {163} California;
+whence, indeed, several stocks of goods have been introduced
+as far as the city of Chihuahua itself. In 1840, a
+large amount of merchandise was transported directly
+from the Red River frontier of Arkansas to Chihuahua; but
+no other expedition has ever been made in that direction.<a
+name="FNanchor_137_138" id="FNanchor_137_138"></a>
+<a href="#Footnote_137_138" class="fnanchor">[137]</a>
+<span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg225"></a>[p225]</span></p>
+
+<p> {164} By far the greatest portion of the introductions
+through the sea-ports just alluded to, have been made
+by British merchants. It is chiefly the preference given
+to American manufacturers, which has enabled the merchandise
+of the Santa Fé adventurers to compete in the
+Southern markets, with goods introduced through the
+sea-ports, which have had the {165} benefit of the drawback.
+In this last respect our traders have labored under
+a very unjust burden.</p>
+
+<p>It is difficult to conceive any equitable reason why merchants
+conveying their goods across the Prairies in wagons,
+should not be as much entitled to the protection of the
+Government, as those who transport them in vessels across
+the ocean. This assistance (with the reopening of the
+ports) might enable our merchants to monopolize the rich
+trade of Chihuahua; and they would obtain a share of
+that of the still richer departments of Durango and Zacatecas,
+as well as some portion of the Sonora and California <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg226"></a>[p226]</span>
+trade. Then rating that of Chihuahua at two millions,
+half that of Durango at the same, and a million from
+Zacatecas, Sonora, etc., it would ascend to the clever amount
+of some five millions of dollars per annum.</p>
+
+<p>In point of revenue, the Santa Fé trade has been
+of but little importance to the government of Mexico.
+Though the amount of duties collected annually at this
+port has usually been fifty to eighty thousand dollars, yet
+nearly one-half has been embezzled by the officers of the
+customs, leaving an average net revenue of perhaps less
+than forty thousand dollars per annum.</p>
+
+<p>It is not an unimportant fact to be known, that, since
+the year 1831, few or none of the difficulties and dangers
+which once environed the Santa Fé adventurer have been
+encountered. No traders have been killed by the {166}
+savages on the regular route, and but few animals stolen
+from the caravans. On the whole, the rates of insurance
+upon adventures in this trade should hardly be as high
+as upon marine adventures between New York and Liverpool.
+While I declare, however, the serious dangers and
+troubles to have been in general so slight, I ought not to
+suppress at least an outline of the difficulties that occurred
+on the Prairies in 1843, which were attended with very
+serious consequences. <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg227"></a>[p227]</span></p>
+
+<p>It had been reported in Santa Fé as early as November,
+1842, that a party of Texans were upon the Prairies, prepared
+to attack any Mexican traders who should cross
+the plains the succeeding spring; and as some Americans
+were accused of being spies, and in collusion with the
+Texans, many were ordered to Santa Fé for examination,
+occasioning a deal of trouble to several innocent persons.
+Than this, however, but little further attention was paid
+to the report, many believing it but another of those rumors
+of Texan invasion which had so often spread useless consternation
+through the country.</p>
+
+<p>So little apprehension appeared to exist, that, in February,
+1843, Don Antonio José Chavez, of New Mexico, left
+Santa Fé for Independence, with but five servants, two
+wagons, and fifty-five mules. He had with him some ten
+or twelve thousand dollars in specie and gold bullion, besides
+a small lot of furs. As the month of March was
+extremely inclement, the little party suffered inconceivably
+{167} from cold and privations. Most of them were frost-bitten,
+and all their animals, except five, perished from
+the extreme severity of the season; on which account Chavez
+was compelled to leave one of his wagons upon the Prairies.
+He had worried along, however, with his remaining wagon
+and valuables, till about the tenth of April, when he found
+himself near the Little Arkansas; at least a hundred miles <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg228"></a>[p228]</span>
+within the territory of the United States. He was there
+met by fifteen men from the border of Missouri, professing
+to be Texan troops, under the command of one John
+M'Daniel. This party had been collected, for the most
+part, on the frontier, by their leader, who was recently
+from Texas, from which government he professed to hold
+a captain's commission. They started no doubt with the
+intention of joining one Col. Warfield (also said to hold a
+Texan commission), who had been upon the Plains near
+the Mountains, with a small party, for several months—with
+the avowed intention of attacking the Mexican traders.</p>
+
+<p>Upon meeting Chavez, however, the party of M'Daniel
+at once determined to make sure of the prize he was possessed
+of, rather than take their chances of a similar booty
+beyond the U. S. boundary. The unfortunate Mexican
+was therefore taken a few miles south of the road, and his
+baggage rifled. Seven of the party then left for the settlements
+with their share of the booty, amounting to some
+four or five hundred dollars apiece; making the journey
+on foot, as their horses had taken {168} a stampede and
+escaped. The remaining eight, soon after the departure
+of their comrades, determined to put Chavez to death,—for
+what cause it would seem difficult to conjecture, as
+he had been, for two days, their unresisting prisoner. Lots
+were accordingly cast to determine which four of the party
+should be the cruel executioners; and their wretched victim
+was taken off a few rods and shot down in cold blood.
+After his murder a considerable amount of gold was found
+about his person, and in his trunk. The body of the unfortunate
+man, together with his wagon and baggage,
+was thrown into a neighboring ravine; and a few of the
+lost animals of the marauders having been found, their
+booty was packed upon them and borne away to the frontier
+of Missouri. <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg229"></a>[p229]</span></p>
+
+<p>Great exertions had been made to intercept this lawless
+band at the outset; but they escaped the vigilance even
+of a detachment of dragoons that had followed them over
+a hundred miles. Yet the honest citizens of the border
+were too much on the alert to permit them to return to
+the interior with impunity. However, five of the whole
+number (including three of the party that killed the man)
+effected their escape, but the other ten were arrested, committed,
+and sent to St. Louis for trial before the United
+States Court. It appears that those who were engaged
+in the killing of Chavez have since been convicted of murder;
+and the others, who were only concerned in the robbery,
+were found guilty {169} of larceny, and sentenced to fine
+and imprisonment.<a name="FNanchor_138_139" id="FNanchor_138_139"></a><a href="#Footnote_138_139" class="fnanchor">[138]</a></p>
+
+<p>About the first of May of the same year, a company of
+a hundred and seventy-five men, under one Col. Snively,
+was organized in the north of Texas, and set out from the
+settlements for the Santa Fé trace. It was at first reported
+that they contemplated a descent upon Santa Fé;
+but their force was evidently too weak to attempt an invasion
+at that crisis. Their prime object, therefore, seems
+to have been to attack and make reprisals upon the Mexicans
+engaged in the Santa Fé trade, who were expected to cross
+the Prairies during the months of May and June.</p>
+
+<p>After the arrival of the Texans upon the Arkansas, they
+were joined by Col. Warfield with a few followers. This
+officer, with about twenty men, had some time previously
+attacked the village of Mora, on the Mexican frontier,
+killing five men (as was reported) and driving off a number
+of horses.<a name="FNanchor_139_140" id="FNanchor_139_140"></a><a href="#Footnote_139_140" class="fnanchor">[139]</a> They were afterwards followed by a party <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg230"></a>[p230]</span>
+of Mexicans, however, who <i>stampeded</i> and carried away,
+not only their own horses, but those of the Texans. Being
+left afoot the latter burned their saddles, and walked to
+Bent's Fort, where they were disbanded; whence Warfield
+passed to Snively's camp, as before mentioned.</p>
+
+<p>The Texans now advanced along the Santa Fé road,
+beyond the sand hills south of the Arkansas, when they
+discovered that a party of Mexicans had passed towards
+the river. They soon came upon them, and a skirmish
+{170} ensuing, eighteen Mexicans were killed, and as many
+wounded, five of whom afterwards died. The Texans
+suffered no injury, though the Mexicans were a hundred
+in number. The rest were all taken prisoners except two,
+who escaped and bore the news to Gen. Armijo, encamped
+with a large force at the Cold Spring, 140 miles beyond.
+As soon as the General received notice of the defeat of his
+vanguard, he broke up his camp most precipitately, and retreated
+to Santa Fé. A gentleman of the caravan which
+passed shortly afterward, informed me that spurs, lareats
+and other scraps of equipage, were found scattered in
+every direction about Armijo's camp—left by his troops
+in the hurly-burly of their precipitate retreat.<a name="FNanchor_140_141" id="FNanchor_140_141"></a><a href="#Footnote_140_141" class="fnanchor">[140]</a></p>
+
+<p>Keeping beyond the territory of the United States, the
+right of the Texans to harass the commerce of Mexicans
+will hardly be denied, as they were at open war: yet another
+consideration, it would seem, should have restrained them
+from aggressions in that quarter. They could not have
+been ignorant that but a portion of the traders were Mexicans—that
+many American citizens were connected in <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg231"></a>[p231]</span>
+the same caravans. The Texans assert, it is true, that the
+lives and property of Americans were to be respected,
+<em>provided</em> they abandoned the Mexicans. But did they
+reflect upon the baseness of the terms they were imposing?
+What American, worthy of the name, to save his own
+interests, or even his life, could deliver up his travelling
+companions {171} to be sacrificed? Then, after having
+abandoned the Mexicans, or betrayed them to their enemy—for
+such an act would have been accounted treachery—where
+would they have gone? They could not then have
+continued on into Mexico; and to have returned to the United
+States with their merchandise, would have been the ruin
+of most of them.</p>
+
+<p>The inhuman outrages suffered by those who were
+captured in New Mexico in 1841, among whom were many
+of the present party, have been pleaded in justification of
+this second Texan expedition. When we take their grievances
+into consideration, we must admit that they palliate,
+and indeed justify almost any species of revenge
+consistent with the laws of Nature and of nations: yet
+whether, under the existing circumstances, this invasion
+of the Prairies was proper or otherwise, I will leave for
+others to determine, as there seems to be a difference of
+opinion on the subject. The following considerations,
+however, will go to demonstrate the unpropitious consequences
+which are apt to result from a system of indiscriminate
+revenge.</p>
+
+<p>The unfortunate Chavez (whose murder, I suppose,
+was perpetrated under pretext of the cruelties suffered by
+the Texans, in the name of whom the party of M'Daniel
+was organized) was of the most wealthy and influential
+family of New Mexico, and one that was anything but
+friendly to the ruling governor, Gen. Armijo. Don Mariano
+Chavez, a brother to the deceased, is a gentleman of very <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg232"></a>[p232]</span>
+amiable {172} character, such as is rarely to be met with
+in that unfortunate land. It is asserted that he furnished
+a considerable quantity of provisions, blankets, etc., to
+Col. Cooke's division of Texan prisoners.<a name="FNanchor_141_142" id="FNanchor_141_142"></a><a href="#Footnote_141_142" class="fnanchor">[141]</a> Señora Chavez
+(the wife of Don Mariano), as is told, crossed the river
+from the village of Padillas, the place of their residence,
+and administered comforts to the unfortunate band of
+Texans.<a name="FNanchor_142_143" id="FNanchor_142_143"></a><a href="#Footnote_142_143" class="fnanchor">[142]</a> Though the murder of young Chavez was
+evidently not sanctioned by the Texans generally, it will,
+notwithstanding, have greatly embittered this powerful
+family against them—a family whose liberal principles
+could not otherwise have been very unfavorable to Texas.<a name="FNanchor_143_144" id="FNanchor_143_144"></a><a href="#Footnote_143_144" class="fnanchor">[143]</a></p>
+
+<p>The attack upon the village of Mora, though of less
+important results, was nevertheless an unpropitiatory movement.
+The inhabitants of that place are generally very
+simple and innocent rancheros and hunters, and, being
+separated by the snowy mountains from the principal
+settlements of New Mexico, their hearts seem ever to have
+been inclined to the Texans. In fact, the village having
+been founded by some American denizens, the Mexican
+inhabitants appear in some degree to have imitated their
+character.</p>
+
+<p>The defeat of Armijo's vanguard was attended by still
+more disastrous consequences, both to the American and
+Texan interest. That division was composed of the militia
+of {173} the North—from about Taos—many of them
+Taos Pueblos. These people had not only remained <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg233"></a>[p233]</span>
+embittered against Gov. Armijo since the revolution of 1837,
+but had always been notably in favor of Texas. So loth
+were they to fight the Texans, that, as I have been assured,
+the governor found it necessary to bind a number of them
+upon their horses, to prevent their escape, till he got them
+fairly upon the Prairies. And yet the poor fellows were
+compelled to suffer the vengeance which was due to their
+guilty general!</p>
+
+<p>When the news of their defeat reached Taos, the friends
+and relatives of the slain—the whole population indeed,
+were incensed beyond measure; and two or three, naturalized
+foreigners who were supposed to favor the cause of
+Texas, and who were in good standing before, were now
+compelled to flee for their lives; leaving their houses and
+property a prey to the incensed rabble. Such appears to
+have been the reaction of public sentiment resulting from
+the catastrophe upon the Prairies!</p>
+
+<p>Had the Texans proceeded differently—had they induced
+the Mexicans to surrender without battle, which
+they might no doubt easily have accomplished, they could
+have secured their services, without question, as guides to
+Gen. Armijo's camp, and that unmitigated tyrant might
+himself have fallen into their hands. The difficulty of
+maintaining order among the Texans was perhaps the
+cause of many of their unfortunate proceedings. {174}
+And no information of the caravan having been obtained,
+a detachment of seventy or eighty men left, to return to
+Texas.</p>
+
+<p>The traders arrived soon after, escorted by about two
+hundred U. S. Dragoons under the command of Capt.
+Cook.<a name="FNanchor_144_145" id="FNanchor_144_145"></a><a href="#Footnote_144_145" class="fnanchor">[144]</a> Col. Snively with a hundred men being then
+encamped on the south side of the Arkansas river, some
+ten to fifteen miles below the point called the 'Caches,' <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg234"></a>[p234]</span>
+he crossed the river and met Capt. Cook, who soon made
+known his intention of disarming him and his companions,—an
+intention which he at once proceeded to put into
+execution. A portion of the Texans, however, deceived the
+American captain in this wise. Having concealed their
+own rifles, which were mostly Colt's repeaters, they delivered
+to Capt. Cook the worthless fusils they had taken
+from the Mexicans; so that, when they were afterwards
+released, they still had their own valuable arms; of which,
+however, so far as the caravan in question was concerned,
+they appear to have had no opportunity of availing themselves.</p>
+
+<p>These facts are mentioned merely as they are said to
+have occurred. Capt. Cook has been much abused by
+the Texans, and accused of having violated a friendly flag—of
+having taken Col. Snively prisoner while on a friendly
+visit. This is denied by Capt. Cook, and by other persons
+who were in company at the time. But apart from the
+means employed by the American commander (the propriety
+or impropriety of which I shall not attempt {175} to
+discuss), the act was evidently the salvation of the Santa
+Fé caravan, of which a considerable portion were Americans.
+Had he left the Texans with their arms, he would doubtless
+have been accused by the traders of escorting them to the
+threshold of danger, and then delivering them over to
+certain destruction, when he had it in his power to secure
+their safety.</p>
+
+<p>Capt. Cook with his command soon after returned to
+the United States,<a name="FNanchor_145_146" id="FNanchor_145_146"></a><a href="#Footnote_145_146" class="fnanchor">[145]</a> and with him some forty of the <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg235"></a>[p235]</span>
+disarmed Texans, many of whom have been represented
+as gentlemen worthy of a better destiny. A large portion
+of the Texans steered directly home from the Arkansas
+river; while from sixty to seventy men, who elected Warfield
+their commander, were organized for the pursuit and
+capture of the caravan, which had already passed on some
+days in advance towards Santa Fé. They pursued in the
+wake of the traders, it is said, as far as the Point of Rocks
+(twenty miles east of the crossing of the Colorado or Canadian),
+but made no attempt upon them<a name="FNanchor_146_147" id="FNanchor_146_147"></a><a href="#Footnote_146_147" class="fnanchor">[146]</a>—whence they
+returned direct to Texas. Thus terminated the 'Second
+Texan Santa Fé Expedition,' as it has been styled; and
+{176} though not so disastrous as the first, it turned out
+nearly as unprofitable.</p>
+
+<p>Although this expedition was composed wholly of Texans,
+or persons not claiming to be citizens of the United States,
+and organized entirely in Texas—and, notwithstanding
+the active measures adopted by the United States government
+to defend the caravans, as well of Mexicans as of Americans,
+against their enemy—Señor Bocanegra, Mexican Minister
+of Foreign Relations, made a formal demand upon the
+United States (as will be remembered), for damages resulting
+from this invasion. In a rejoinder to Gen. Thompson
+(alluding to Snively's company), he says, that "Independence,
+in Missouri, was the starting point of these men."
+The preceding narrative will show the error under which
+the honorable secretary labored.<a name="FNanchor_147_148" id="FNanchor_147_148"></a>
+<a href="#Footnote_147_148" class="fnanchor">[147]</a>
+<span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg236"></a>[p236]</span></p>
+
+<p> A portion of the party who killed Chavez was from the
+frontier of Missouri; but witness the active exertions on
+the border to bring these depredators to justice—and
+then let the contrast be noted betwixt this affair and the
+impunity with which robberies are every day committed
+throughout Mexico, where well-known highwaymen often
+run at large, unmolested either by the citizens or by the
+authorities. What would Señor Bocanegra say if every
+other government were to demand indemnity for all the
+robberies committed upon their citizens in Mexico?</p>
+
+<p>But the most unfortunate circumstance attending this
+invasion of the Prairies—unfortunate {177} at least to the
+United States and to New Mexico—was the closing of
+the Northern ports to foreign commerce, which was doubtless,
+to a great degree, a consequence of the before-mentioned
+expedition, and which of course terminated the
+Santa Fé Trade, at least for the present.<a name="FNanchor_148_149" id="FNanchor_148_149"></a><a href="#Footnote_148_149" class="fnanchor">[148]</a></p>
+
+<p>I am of the impression, however, that little apprehension
+need be entertained, that this decree of Gen. Santa Anna
+will be permitted much longer to continue,<a name="FNanchor_149_150"
+id="FNanchor_149_150"></a><a href="#Footnote_149_150" class="fnanchor">[149]</a>
+unless our
+peaceful relations with Mexico should be disturbed; an
+event, under any circumstances, seriously to be deprecated.
+With the continuation of peace between us, the Mexicans
+will certainly be compelled to open their northern frontier <span
+class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg237"></a>[p237]</span>
+ports, to avoid a revolution in New Mexico, with which
+they are continually threatened while this embargo continues.
+Should the obnoxious decree be repealed, the
+Santa Fé Trade will doubtless be prosecuted again with
+renewed vigor and enterprise.</p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_136_136" id="Footnote_136_136"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_136_136"><span class="label">[136]</span></a>
+Some general statistics of the Santa Fé Trade may prove not wholly without
+interest to the mercantile reader. With this view, I have prepared the following
+table of the probable amounts of merchandise invested in the Santa Fé Trade, from
+1822 to 1843 inclusive, and about the portion of the same transferred to the Southern
+markets (chiefly Chihuahua) during the same period; together with the approximate
+number of wagons, men and proprietors engaged each year.</p>
+
+<table id="SantaFeStats"
+ summary="statistics of the Santa Fé Trade">
+<tr>
+ <th>Years.</th>
+ <th>Amt. Mdse.</th>
+ <th>W'gs.</th>
+ <th>Men.</th>
+ <th>Pro's.</th>
+ <th>T'n to Ch'a.</th>
+ <th>Remarks.</th></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">1822</td>
+ <td align="right">15,000</td>
+ <td></td>
+ <td align="right">70</td>
+ <td align="right">60</td>
+ <td align="right">9,000</td>
+ <td align="left">Pack-animals only used.</td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">1823</td>
+ <td align="right">12,000</td>
+ <td></td>
+ <td align="right">50</td>
+ <td align="right">30</td>
+ <td align="right">3,000</td>
+ <td align="left">Pack-animals only used.</td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">1824</td>
+ <td align="right">35,000</td>
+ <td align="right">26</td>
+ <td align="right">100</td>
+ <td align="right">80</td>
+ <td align="right">3,000</td>
+ <td align="left">Pack-animals and wagons.</td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">1825</td>
+ <td align="right">65,000</td>
+ <td align="right">37</td>
+ <td align="right">130</td>
+ <td align="right">90</td>
+ <td align="right">5,000</td>
+ <td align="left">Pack-animals and wagons.</td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">1826</td>
+ <td align="right">90,000</td>
+ <td align="right">60</td>
+ <td align="right">100</td>
+ <td align="right">70</td>
+ <td align="right">7,000</td>
+ <td align="left">Wagons only henceforth.</td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">1827</td>
+ <td align="right">85,000</td>
+ <td align="right">55</td>
+ <td align="right">90</td>
+ <td align="right">50</td>
+ <td align="right">8,000</td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">1828</td>
+ <td align="right">150,000</td>
+ <td align="right">100</td>
+ <td align="right">200</td>
+ <td align="right">80</td>
+ <td align="right">20,000</td>
+ <td align="left">3 men killed, being the first.</td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">1829</td>
+ <td align="right">60,000</td>
+ <td align="right">30</td>
+ <td align="right">50</td>
+ <td align="right">20</td>
+ <td align="right">5,000</td>
+ <td align="left">1st U.S.Es.—1 trader killed.</td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">1830</td>
+ <td align="right">120,000</td>
+ <td align="right">70</td>
+ <td align="right">140</td>
+ <td align="right">60</td>
+ <td align="right">20,000</td>
+ <td align="left">First oxen used by traders.</td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">1831</td>
+ <td align="right">250,000</td>
+ <td align="right">130</td>
+ <td align="right">320</td>
+ <td align="right">80</td>
+ <td align="right">80,000</td>
+ <td align="left">Two men killed.</td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">1832</td>
+ <td align="right">140,000</td>
+ <td align="right">70</td>
+ <td align="right">150</td>
+ <td align="right">40</td>
+ <td align="right">50,000</td>
+ <td align="left" rowspan="2"
+  class="td183233">
+  Party defeated on Canadian 2 men killed, 3 perished.</td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">1833</td>
+ <td align="right">180,000</td>
+ <td align="right">105</td>
+ <td align="right">185</td>
+ <td align="right">60</td>
+ <td align="right">80,000</td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">1834</td>
+ <td align="right">150,000</td>
+ <td align="right">80</td>
+ <td align="right">160</td>
+ <td align="right">50</td>
+ <td align="right">70,000</td>
+ <td align="left">2d U.S. Escort</td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">1835</td>
+ <td align="right">140,000</td>
+ <td align="right">75</td>
+ <td align="right">140</td>
+ <td align="right">40</td>
+ <td align="right">70,000</td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">1836</td>
+ <td align="right">130,000</td>
+ <td align="right">70</td>
+ <td align="right">135</td>
+ <td align="right">35</td>
+ <td align="right">50,000</td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">1837</td>
+ <td align="right">150,000</td>
+ <td align="right">80</td>
+ <td align="right">160</td>
+ <td align="right">35</td>
+ <td align="right">60,000</td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">1838</td>
+ <td align="right">90,000</td>
+ <td align="right">50</td>
+ <td align="right">100</td>
+ <td align="right">20</td>
+ <td align="right">80,000</td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">1839</td>
+ <td align="right">250,000</td>
+ <td align="right">130</td>
+ <td align="right">250</td>
+ <td align="right">40</td>
+ <td align="right">100,000</td>
+ <td align="left">Arkansas Expedition.</td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">1840</td>
+ <td align="right">50,000</td>
+ <td align="right">30</td>
+ <td align="right">60</td>
+ <td align="right">5</td>
+ <td align="right">10,000</td>
+ <td align="left">Chihuahua Expedition.</td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">1841</td>
+ <td align="right">150,000</td>
+ <td align="right">60</td>
+ <td align="right">100</td>
+ <td align="right">12</td>
+ <td align="right">80,000</td>
+ <td align="left">Texan Santa Fé Expedition.</td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">1842</td>
+ <td align="right">160,000</td>
+ <td align="right">70</td>
+ <td align="right">120</td>
+ <td align="right">15</td>
+ <td align="right">90,000</td></tr>
+<tr>
+ <td align="left">1843</td>
+ <td align="right">450,000</td>
+ <td align="right">230</td>
+ <td align="right">350</td>
+ <td align="right">30</td>
+ <td align="right">300,000</td>
+ <td align="left">3d U.S.Es.—Ports closed.</td></tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>The foregoing table is not given as perfectly accurate, yet it is believed to be
+about as nearly so as any that could be made out at the present day. The column
+marked "Pro's." (Proprietors), though even less precise than the other statistics, presents,
+I think, about the proportion of the whole number engaged each year who
+were owners. At first, as will be seen, almost every individual of each caravan was
+a proprietor, while of late the capital has been held by comparatively few hands.
+In 1843, the greater portion of the traders were New Mexicans, several of whom,
+during the three years previous, had embarked in this trade, of which they bid fair
+to secure a monopoly.</p>
+
+<p>The amount of merchandise transported to Santa Fé each year, is set down at
+its probable cost in the Eastern cities of the United States. Besides freights and
+insurance to Independence, there has been an annual investment, averaging nearly
+twenty-five per cent. upon the cost of the stocks, in wagons, teams, provisions, hire
+of hands, &#38;c., for transportation across the Prairies. A large portion of this
+remaining unconsumed, however, the ultimate loss on the outfit has not been more
+than half of the above amount. Instead of purchasing outfit, some traders prefer
+employing freighters, a number of whom are usually to be found on the frontier of
+Missouri, ready to transport goods to Santa Fé, at ten to twelve cents per pound.
+From thence to Chihuahua the price of freights is six to eight cents—upon mules,
+or in wagons.
+</p>
+<p>
+The average gross returns of the traders has rarely exceeded fifty per cent. upon
+the cost of their merchandise, leaving a net profit of between twenty and forty per
+cent.; though their profits have not unfrequently been under ten per cent.: in fact,
+as has before been mentioned, their adventures have sometimes been losing
+speculations.<a name="FNanchor_A_137" id="FNanchor_A_137"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_A_137" class="fnanchor">[A]</a>—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_A_137" id="Footnote_A_137"></a><a href="#FNanchor_A_137"><span class="label">[A]</span></a> Those who are familiar with Mr. Mayer's very interesting work on Mexico, will observe
+that a portion of the preceding table corresponds substantially with one presented on page
+318 of that work. In justice to myself, I feel compelled to state, that, in 1841, I published,
+in the Galveston "Daily Advertiser," a table of the Santa Fé trade from 1831 to
+1840 inclusive, of which that of Mr. Mayer embraces an exact copy. I have since made
+additions, and corrected it to some extent, but still the correspondence is such as seemed
+to require of me this explanation.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_137_138" id="Footnote_137_138"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_137_138"><span class="label">[137]</span></a>
+With a view to encourage adventurers, the government of Chihuahua agreed
+to reduce the impost duties to a very low rate, in favor of a pioneer enterprise; and
+to furnish an escort of dragoons for the protection of the traders.
+</p>
+<p>
+The expedition was undertaken chiefly by Mexicans; but one American merchant,
+Dr. H. Connelly, having invested capital in it. I obtained from this intelligent
+gentleman a very interesting sketch of the adventures of this pioneer party,
+which I regret that my plan will not permit me to present in detail.
+</p>
+<p>
+The adventurers set out from Chihuahua on the 3d of April, 1839, amidst the
+benisons of the citizens, and with the confident hope of transferring the valuable
+trade of the North to their city. The caravan (including fifty dragoons), consisted
+of over a hundred men, yet only about half a dozen of the number were proprietors.
+Though they had but seven wagons, they brought about seven hundred mules, and
+two or three hundred thousand dollars in specie and bullion, for the purposes of
+their adventure.
+</p>
+<p>
+They took the Presidio del Norte in their route, and then proceeding northwestwardly,
+finally arrived at Fort Towson after a protracted journey of three months;
+but without meeting with any hostile savages, or encountering any serious casualty,
+except getting bewildered, after crossing Red River, which they mistook for the
+Brazos. This caused them to shape their course thence nearly north, in search of
+the former stream, until they reached the Canadian river, where they met with
+some Delaware Indians, of whom they obtained the first correct information of their
+whereabouts; and by whom they were piloted safely to Fort Towson.
+</p>
+<p>
+It had been the intention of these adventurers to return to Chihuahua the ensuing
+fall; but from various accidents and delays, they were unable to get ready until the
+season had too far advanced; which, with an incessant series of rains that followed,
+prevented them from travelling till the ensuing spring. Learning that the Texans
+were friendly disposed towards them, they now turned their course through the
+midst of the northern settlements of that republic. Of the kind treatment they
+experienced during their transit, Dr. Connelly speaks in the following terms: "I
+have never been more hospitably treated, or had more efficient assistance, than was
+given by the citizens of Red River. All seemed to vie with each other in rendering
+us every aid in their power; and our Mexican friends, notwithstanding the hostile
+attitude in which the two countries stood towards each other, were treated with a
+kindness which they still recollect with the warmest feelings of gratitude." This
+forms a very notable contrast with the treatment which the Texan traders, who
+afterwards visited Santa Fé, received at the hands of the Mexicans.
+</p>
+<p>
+The Caravan now consisted of sixty or seventy wagons laden with merchandise,
+and about two hundred and twenty-five men, including their escort of Mexican
+dragoons. They passed the Texan border early in April, and expected to intersect
+their former track beyond the Cross Timbers, but that trail having been partially
+obliterated, they crossed it unobserved, and were several days lost on the waters
+of the Brazos river. Having turned their course south for a few days, however,
+they fortunately discovered their old route at a branch of the Colorado.
+</p>
+<p>
+After this they continued their journey without further casualty; for notwithstanding
+they met with a large body of Comanches, they passed them amicably, and
+soon reached the Rio Pecos. Though very narrow, this stream was too deep to be
+forded, and they were compelled to resort to an expedient characteristic of the
+Prairies. There being not a stick of timber anywhere to be found, of which to make
+even a raft, they buoyed up a wagon-body by binding several empty water-kegs to
+the bottom, which served them the purpose of a ferry-boat.
+</p>
+<p>
+When they reached Presidio del Norte again, they learned that Gov. Irigóyen,
+with whom they had celebrated the contract for a diminution of their duties, had
+died during their absence. A new corps of officers being in power, they were now
+threatened with a charge of full tariff duties. After a delay of forty-five days at the
+Presidio, however, they made a compromise, and entered Chihuahua on the 27th
+of August, 1840.
+</p>
+<p>
+The delays and accumulated expenses of this expedition caused it to result so
+disastrously to the interests of all who were engaged in it, that no other enterprise
+of the kind has since been undertaken.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_138_139" id="Footnote_138_139"></a><a href="#FNanchor_138_139"><span class="label">[138]</span></a> John McDaniel and his brother David were both executed. For the names
+of other participators, consult <cite>Niles' Register</cite>, lxiv, pp. 195, 280. The Texas government
+disclaimed all responsibility for McDaniel.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_139_140" id="Footnote_139_140"></a><a href="#FNanchor_139_140"><span class="label">[139]</span></a> Mora is on a stream of the same name, for which see our volume xix, p. 252, note
+73 (Gregg), and is the seat of Mora County. The first settlement was made in 1832,
+but repulsed by Indians; not until 1840, therefore, could the place be called permanent.
+In the revolution of 1847, Mora was involved against the United States
+whose troops burned the town in reprisal. The present population is about seven
+hundred.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_140_141" id="Footnote_140_141"></a><a href="#FNanchor_140_141"><span class="label">[140]</span></a>
+For a more detailed account of this expedition, see H. Yoakum, <cite>History of
+Texas</cite> (New York, 1856), ii, pp. 399-405.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_141_142" id="Footnote_141_142"></a><a href="#FNanchor_141_142"><span class="label">[141]</span></a> Colonel William G. Cooke, of Texas, appointed one of the commissioners
+to negotiate with the New Mexicans. He was treacherously induced to surrender
+to a force under Dimasio Salezar, at Anton Chico.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_142_143" id="Footnote_142_143"></a><a href="#FNanchor_142_143"><span class="label">[142]</span></a> Padilla is a small village on the eastern side of Rio Grande, a few miles below
+Albuquerque. The Chavez family owned a large ranch, and its younger members
+had been engaged in the American trade for some years.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_143_144" id="Footnote_143_144"></a><a href="#FNanchor_143_144"><span class="label">[143]</span></a> This family is very distinct from one Manuel Chavez (who, though Gov.
+Armijo's nephew, is a very low character), a principal agent in the treacheries
+practised upon the Texan Santa Fé Expedition.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_144_145" id="Footnote_144_145"></a><a href="#FNanchor_144_145"><span class="label">[144]</span></a> Philip St. George Cooke, for whom see volume xix,
+p. 187, note 32 (Gregg).-<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_145_146" id="Footnote_145_146"></a><a href="#FNanchor_145_146"><span class="label">[145]</span></a> As U. S. troops cannot go beyond our boundary, which, on this route is the
+Arkansas river, these escorts afford but little protection to the caravans. Such
+an extensive, uninhabitable waste as the great prairies are, ought certainly to be
+under maritime regulations. Some international arrangements should be made
+between the United States and Texas or Mexico (accordingly as the proprietorship
+of the region beyond our boundary may be settled), whereby the armies of either
+might indiscriminately range upon this desert, as ships of war upon the ocean.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_146_147" id="Footnote_146_147"></a><a href="#FNanchor_146_147"><span class="label">[146]</span></a> For Point of Rocks, see our volume xix, p. 249, note 70 (Gregg).—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_147_148" id="Footnote_147_148"></a><a href="#FNanchor_147_148"><span class="label">[147]</span></a> José Maria Bocanegra was a member of the liberal party in Mexico, who
+came into power under Guerrero in 1829. He was also president ad interim,
+and for some years minister of foreign affairs.
+</p>
+<p>
+Waddy Thompson, of South Carolina, was born in 1798; and after serving
+in the state legislature was member of Congress (1835-41). In 1842 he was made
+minister to Mexico, which position he filled but two years. Upon his return he
+published <cite>Recollections</cite> (New York, 1846). Going to Mexico as an advocate of
+Texas annexation, he returned its opponent, convinced that slavery could not be
+maintained on soil acquired from Mexico. The latter years of his life were devoted
+to cotton-raising in Florida, where he died in 1868.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_148_149" id="Footnote_148_149"></a><a href="#FNanchor_148_149"><span class="label">[148]</span></a> The following is the substance of Santa Anna's decree, dated at his Palace
+of Tacubaya, August 7, 1843:
+</p>
+<p>
+"Article 1st. The frontier custom-houses of Taos, in the department of New
+Mexico, Paso del Norte and Presidio del Norte in that of Chihuahua, are entirely
+closed to all commerce.
+</p>
+<p>
+"Art. 2d. This decree shall take effect within forty-five days after its publication
+in the capital of the Republic."
+</p>
+<p>
+It should be understood that the only port in New Mexico for the introduction
+of foreign goods was nominally Taos, though the custom-house was at Santa Fé,
+where all the entrances were made.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_149_150" id="Footnote_149_150"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_149_150"><span class="label">[149]</span></a>
+These northern ports have since been reopened by decree of March 31, 1844;
+and about ninety wagons, with perhaps $200,000 cost of goods, (and occupying
+150 to 200 men), crossed the plains to Santa Fé, during the following summer and
+fall.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div></div>
+
+<h3 title="Chapter XXVI: Geography of the Prairies">
+<a name="CHAPTER_XXVI_X" id="CHAPTER_XXVI_X"></a>CHAPTER XXVI {X}
+<br />GEOGRAPHY OF THE PRAIRIES</h3>
+
+<p class="subhead">Extent of Prairies — Mountains — <i>Mesas</i> or Table-lands — <i>El
+Llano Estacado — Cañones</i> — Their Annoyance to the early
+Caravans — Immense Gullies — Coal Mines and other geological
+Products — Gypsum — Metallic Minerals — Salines — Capt.
+Boone's Exploration — 'Salt Plain' and 'Salt Rock' — Mr. Sibley's
+Visit — Saline Exudations — Unhabitableness of the high Prairies — Excellent
+Pasturage — Rich border Country sufficient for two
+States — Northern Texas — Rivers of the Prairies — Their Unfitness
+for Navigation — Timber — Cross Timbers — Encroachments of
+the Timber upon the Prairies — Fruits and Flowers — Salubrity of
+Climate.<a href="#tocXXVI" class="toclnk">toc</a></p>
+
+<p>While I have endeavored in the preceding pages to
+give the reader some general idea of life upon the Prairies,
+I feel that I have wholly failed thus far to convey any
+adequate notions of their natural history. I propose in
+the following pages to repair this deficiency as far as I am
+able, and to present a rapid sketch of the vastness of those
+mighty territories; of their physical geography; and of the
+life, as well vegetable as animal, which they sustain. It
+is to be regretted that this ample field for observation
+should have received so little of the consideration of scientific
+men; for there {179} is scarcely a province in the whole
+wide range of Nature's unexplored domains, which is so
+worthy of study, and yet has been so little studied by the
+natural philosopher.</p>
+
+<p>If we look at the Great Western Prairies, independently
+of the political powers to which portions of them respectively
+belong, we shall find them occupying the whole of that <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg238"></a>[p238]</span>
+extensive territory lying between the spurs of the Rocky
+Mountains on the north, and the rivers of Texas on the
+south—a distance of some seven or eight hundred miles
+in one direction; and from the frontiers of Missouri and
+Arkansas on the east to the eastern branches of the southern
+Rocky Mountains on the west—about six hundred miles
+in the transverse direction: the whole comprising an area
+of about 400,000 square miles, some 30,000 of which are
+within the original limits of Texas, and 70,000 in those of
+New Mexico (if we extend them east to the United States
+boundary), leaving about 300,000 in the territory of the
+United States.</p>
+
+<p>This vast territory is not interrupted by any important
+mountainous elevations, except along the borders of the
+great western sierras, and by some low, craggy ridges about
+the Arkansas frontier—skirts of the Ozark mountains.
+There is, it is true, high on the dividing ridge between
+Red River and the False Washita, a range of hills,
+the southwestern portion of which extends about to
+the 100th degree of longitude west from Greenwich; that
+is, to the United States {180} boundary line. These are
+generally called the Witchita mountains, but sometimes
+<dfn>Towyash</dfn> by hunters, perhaps from <dfn>tóyavist</dfn>, the Comanche
+word for mountain. I inquired once of a Comanche
+Indian how his nation designated this range of mountains,
+which was then in sight of us. He answered, "<i>Tóyavist</i>."
+"But this simply means a mountain," I replied. "How do
+you distinguish this from any other mountain?" "There
+are no other mountains in the Comanche territory," he
+rejoined—"none till we go east to your country, or south
+to Texas, or west to the land of the Mexican."</p>
+
+<p>With these exceptions, there are scarcely any elevations
+throughout these immense plains which should be dignified
+by the title of mountains. Those seen by the Texan Santa <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg239"></a>[p239]</span>
+Fé Expedition about the sources of Red River, were without
+doubt the <dfn>cejas</dfn> or brows of the elevated table plains with
+which the Prairies abound, and which, when viewed from
+the plain below, often assume the appearance of formidable
+mountains; but once upon their summit, the spectator sees
+another vast plain before him.</p>
+
+<p>These <i>table lands</i>, or <dfn>mesas</dfn>, as the Mexicans term them,
+of which there are many thousands of square miles lying
+between the frontier of the United States and the Rocky
+Mountains, are level plains, elevated a considerable distance
+above the surrounding country, and may be likened to
+the famous steppes of Asia. They are cut up with numerous
+{181} streams, the largest of which are generally bordered
+for several miles back by hilly uplands, which are
+for the most part sandy, dry and barren.</p>
+
+<p>The most notable of the great <i>plateaux</i> of the Prairies
+is that known to Mexicans as <i>El Llano Estacado</i>, which
+is bounded on the north by the Canadian river—extends
+east about to the United States boundary, including the
+heads of the False Washita and other branches of Red
+River—and spreads southward to the sources of Trinity,
+Brazos and Colorado rivers, and westward to Rio Pecos.
+It is quite an elevated and generally a level plain, without
+important hills or ridges, unless we distinguish as such
+the craggy breaks of the streams which border and pierce
+it. It embraces an area of about 30,000 square miles,
+most of which is without water during three-fourths of the
+year; while a large proportion of its few perennial streams
+are too brackish to drink of.</p>
+
+<p>I have been assured by Mexican hunters and Indians,
+that, from Santa Fé southeastward, there is but one route
+upon which this plain can be safely traversed during the
+dry season; and even some of the watering-places on this
+are at intervals of fifty to eighty miles, and hard to find. <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg240"></a>[p240]</span>
+Hence the Mexican traders and hunters, that they might
+not lose their way and perish from thirst, once staked out
+this route across the plain, it is said; whence it has received
+the name of <dfn>El Llano Estacado</dfn>, or the Staked Plain.</p>
+
+<p>{182} In some places the brows of these <i>mesas</i> approach
+the very borders of the streams. When this occurs on
+both sides, it leaves deep chasms or ravines between, called
+by the Mexicans <dfn>cañones</dfn>, and which abound in the vicinity
+of the mountains. The Canadian river flows through one
+of the most remarkable of these cañones for a distance of
+more than fifty miles—extending from the road of the
+Missouri caravans downward—throughout the whole extent
+of which the gorge is utterly impassable for wagons,
+and almost so for animals.</p>
+
+<p>Intersecting the direct route from Missouri, this cañon
+was a source of great annoyance to some of the pioneers in
+the Santa Fé trade. In 1825, a caravan with a number
+of wagons reached it about five miles below the present
+ford. The party was carelessly moving along, without
+suspecting even a ravine at hand, as the bordering plains
+were exceedingly level, and the opposite margins of equal
+height, when suddenly they found themselves upon the
+very brink of an immense precipice, several hundred
+yards deep, and almost perpendicular on both sides of
+the river. At the bottom of those cliffs, there was, as is
+usually the case, a very narrow but fertile valley, through
+which the river wound its way, sometimes touching the
+one bluff and sometimes the other.</p>
+
+<p>Ignorant of a ford so near above, the caravan turned
+down towards the crossing of the former traders. "We
+travelled fifty miles," {183} says Mr. Stanley, who was
+of the caravan, "the whole of which distance the river is
+bound in by cliffs several hundred feet high, in many places
+nearly perpendicular. We at length came to the termination
+of the table land; but what scene presented itself! <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg241"></a>[p241]</span>
+The valley below could only be reached by descending a
+frightful cliff of from 1200 to 1500 feet, and more or less
+precipitous. After a search of several hours, a practicable
+way was found; and, with the greatest fatigue and exertion,
+by locking wheels, holding on with ropes, and literally
+lifting the wagons down in places, we finally succeeded
+in reaching the bottom.... How did the Canadian and
+other streams in New Mexico sink themselves to such
+immense depths in the solid rock? It seems impossible
+that the water should have worn away the rock while as
+hard as in its present state. What a field of speculation
+for the geologist, in the propositions—Were the chasms
+made for the streams, or did the streams make the chasms?
+Are they not of volcanic origin?"</p>
+
+<p>Nor are the flat prairies always free from this kind of
+annoyance to travellers. They are not unfrequently intersected
+by diminutive chasms or water-cuts, which, though
+sometimes hardly a rod in width, are often from fifty to
+a hundred feet deep. These little cañones are washed
+out by the rains, in their descent to the bordering streams,
+which is soon effected after an opening is once made through
+the surface; for though the clayey {184} foundation is
+exceedingly firm and hard while dry, it seems the most
+soluble of earths, and melts almost as rapidly as snow
+under the action of water. The tenacious turf of the
+'buffalo grass,' however, retains the marginal surface,
+so that the sides are usually perpendicular—indeed,
+often shelving inward at the base, and therefore utterly
+impassable. I have come unsuspectingly upon the verge
+of such a chasm; and though, to a stranger, the appearance
+would indicate the very head of the ravine, I would sometimes
+be compelled to follow its meandering course for
+miles without being able to double its 'breaks.' These
+I have more especially observed high on the borders of the
+Canadian. <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg242"></a>[p242]</span></p>
+
+<p>The geological constitution of the Prairies is exceedingly
+diversified. Along the eastern border, especially towards
+the north, there is an abundance of limestone, interspersed
+with sandstone, slate, and many extensive beds of bituminous
+coal. The coal is particularly abundant in some
+of the regions bordering the Neosho river; where there
+are also said to be a few singular bituminous or 'tar springs,'
+as they are sometimes called by the hunters. There are
+also many other mineral, and particularly sulphur springs,
+to be met with.</p>
+
+<p>Further westward, the sandstone prevails; but some of
+the table plains are based upon strata of a sort of friable
+calcareous rock, which has been denominated 'rotten limestone:'
+yet along the borders of the mountains the base of
+the plains seems generally {185} to be of trap and greenstone.
+From the waters of Red River to the southwest
+corner of Missouri, throughout the range of the Ozark
+mountains, granite, limestone, flint and sandstone prevail.
+But much of the middle portion of the Prairies is without
+any apparent rocky foundation—we sometimes travel
+for days in succession without seeing even as much as a
+pebble.</p>
+
+<p>On passing towards Santa Fé in 1839, and returning
+in 1840, I observed an immense range of plaster of Paris,
+both north and south of the Canadian river, and between
+thirty and fifty miles east of the United States western
+boundary. The whole country seemed based upon this
+fossil, and cliffs and huge masses of it were seen in every
+direction. It ranges from the coarsest compact sulphate
+of lime or ordinary plaster, to the most transparent gypsum
+or selenite, of which last there is a great abundance. By
+authentic accounts from other travellers, this range of
+gypsum extends, in a direction nearly north, almost to the
+Arkansas river. <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg243"></a>[p243]</span></p>
+
+<p>Of metallic minerals, iron, lead, and perhaps copper, are
+found on the borders of the Prairies; and it is asserted
+that several specimens of silver ores have been met with
+on our frontier, as well as about the Witchita and the Rocky
+Mountains. Gold has also been found, no doubt, in different
+places; yet it is questionable whether it has anywhere
+been discovered in sufficient abundance to render it worth
+the seeking. Some trappers have reported {186} an extensive
+gold region about the sources of the Platte river;
+yet, although recent search has been made, it has not been
+discovered.<a name="FNanchor_150_151" id="FNanchor_150_151"></a><a href="#Footnote_150_151" class="fnanchor">[150]</a></p>
+
+<p>The most valuable perhaps, and the most abundant
+mineral production of the Prairies is <i>Salt</i>. In the Choctaw
+country, on the waters of Red River, there are two salt-works
+in operation; and in the Cherokee nation salt springs
+are numerous, three or four of which are now worked on
+a small scale; yet a sufficient quantity of salt might easily
+be produced to supply even the adjoining States. The
+<i>Grand Saline</i>, about forty miles above Fort Gibson, near
+the Neosho river, was considered a curiosity of its kind,
+before its natural beauties were effaced by 'improvements.'<a name="FNanchor_151_152" id="FNanchor_151_152"></a><a href="#Footnote_151_152" class="fnanchor">[151]</a>
+In the border of a little valley, a number of small salt springs
+break out, around the orifice of each of which was formed,
+in the shape of a pot, a kind of calcareous saline concretion.
+None of the springs are very bold, but the water is strong,
+and sufficiently abundant for extensive works.</p>
+
+<p>There have been several <dfn>Salines</dfn>, or mines (if we may
+so term them) of pure salt, discovered in different parts
+of the Prairies. The most northern I have heard of, is <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg244"></a>[p244]</span>
+fifty or sixty miles west of the Missouri river, and thirty
+or forty south of the Platte, near a tributary called the
+Saline; where the Otoes and other Indians procure salt.
+It is described as resembling the <i>salinas</i> of New Mexico,
+and the quantity of salt as inexhaustible. South of the
+Arkansas river and a degree or two further {187} westward,
+there are several of these salines, which are perhaps still
+more extensive.</p>
+
+<p>I have been favored with some extracts from the journal
+of Capt. Nathan Boone<a name="FNanchor_152_153" id="FNanchor_152_153"></a><a href="#Footnote_152_153" class="fnanchor">[152]</a> of the United States' Dragoons,
+who made an exploring tour through those desolate regions
+during the summer of 1843. In his journey, between
+the Canadian and Upper Arkansas, he found efflorescent
+salt in many places, as well as a superabundance of strongly
+impregnated salt-water; but, besides these, he visited
+two considerable salines.</p>
+
+<p>Of the first, which he calls the 'Salt Plain,' he remarks,
+that "the approach was very gratifying, and from the
+appearance one might expect to find salt in a solid mass,
+for the whole extent of the plain, of several feet in thickness."
+This is situated in the forks of the Salt Fork of
+the Arkansas. The plain is described as being level as a
+floor, and evidently sometimes overflowed by the streams
+which border it. Yet the extent of salt, it would seem,
+did not realize Capt. Boone's anticipations, as he remarks
+that it was covered "with the slightest possible
+film of crystallized salt on the surface, enough to make
+it white." But he explored only a small portion of the
+plain, which was very extensive.
+<span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg245"></a>[p245]</span></p>
+
+<p> However, the most wonderful saline is the great <i>Salt
+Rock</i>, which he found further to the {188} southwestward,
+on the main Red Fork. "The whole cove on the right
+of the two forks of the river," says Capt. Boone, "appears
+to be one immense salt spring of water so much concentrated,
+that, as soon as it reaches the point of breaking
+forth, it begins depositing its salt. In this way a large
+crust, or rock is formed all over the bottom for perhaps
+160 acres. Digging through the sand for a few inches
+anywhere in this space, we could find the solid salt, so
+hard that there was no means in our power of getting up
+a block of it. We broke our mattock in the attempt. In
+many places, through this rock-salt crust the water boiled
+up as clear as crystal ... but so salt that our hands,
+after being immersed in it and suffered to dry, became as
+white as snow. Thrusting the arm down into these holes,
+they appeared to be walled with salt as far down as one
+could reach. The cliffs which overhang this place are
+composed of red clay and gypsum, and capped with a
+stratum of the latter.... We found this salt a little
+bitter from the impurities it contained, probably Epsom
+salts principally." As it is overhung with sulphate of lime,
+and perhaps also based upon the same, might not this
+'salt-rock' be heavily impregnated with this mineral, occasioning
+its excessive hardness? Capt. Boone also speaks
+of gypsum in various other places, both north and south
+of this, during his travel.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Sibley (then of Fort Osage), who was quite familiar
+with the western prairies, visited {189} a saline, over thirty
+years ago, which would seem to be the 'Salt Plain' first
+mentioned by Capt. Boone. The former, it is true, found
+the salt much more abundant than as described by the
+latter; but this may be owing to Capt. Boone's not having <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg246"></a>[p246]</span>
+penetrated as far as the point alluded to by Mr. Sibley,—whose
+description is in the following language:<a name="FNanchor_153_154" id="FNanchor_153_154"></a><a href="#Footnote_153_154" class="fnanchor">[153]</a></p>
+
+<p>"The Grand Saline is situated about 280 miles southwest
+of Fort Osage, between two forks of a small branch
+of the Arkansas, one of which washes its southern extremity,
+and the other, the principal one, runs nearly parallel,
+within a mile of its opposite side. It is a hard level
+plain of reddish colored sand, and of an irregular or mixed
+figure. Its greatest length is from northwest to southeast,
+and its circumference about thirty miles. From the appearance
+of the driftwood that is scattered over, it would
+seem the whole plain is at times inundated by the overflowing
+of the streams that pass near it. This plain is
+entirely covered in dry hot weather, from two to six inches
+deep, with a crust of beautiful clean white salt, of a quality
+rather superior to the imported blown salt. It bears a
+striking resemblance to a field of brilliant snow after a
+rain, with a light crust on its top."</p>
+
+<p>This is, in extent and appearance, nearly as described
+by several hunters and Indian traders with whom I have
+conversed. Col. Logan, a worthy former agent of the
+Creek Indians,<a name="FNanchor_154_155" id="FNanchor_154_155"></a><a href="#Footnote_154_155" class="fnanchor">[154]</a> {190} visited no doubt the same, not far
+from the same period; and he describes it in a similar manner—only
+representing the depth of the salt as greater.
+Everywhere that he dug through the stratum of earth about
+the margin, at the depth of a few inches he came to a <i>rock
+of solid salt</i>, which induced him to believe that the whole
+country thereabouts was based upon a stratum of 'rock salt.' <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg247"></a>[p247]</span>
+This was of a reddish cast, partaking of the color of the surface
+of the surrounding country. Mr. Sibley remarks that
+"the distance to a navigable branch of Arkansas is about
+eighty miles"—referring perhaps to the Red Fork; though
+the saline is no doubt at a still less distance from the main
+stream.</p>
+
+<p>With such inexhaustible mines of salt within two or
+three days' journey of the Arkansas river, and again within
+the same distance of the Missouri, which would cost no
+further labor than the digging it up and the transporting
+of it to boats for freighting it down those streams, it seems
+strange that they should lie idle, while we are receiving
+much of our supplies of this indispensable commodity from
+abroad.</p>
+
+<p>Besides the <i>salines</i> already mentioned, there is one high
+on the Canadian river, some two hundred miles east of
+Santa Fé. Also, it is said, there are some to be found on
+the waters of Red River; and numerous others are no
+doubt scattered throughout the same regions, which have
+never been discovered.</p>
+
+<p>Many of the low valleys of all the western {191} streams
+(Red River as well as Arkansas and its branches), are
+impregnated with salinous qualities, and, during wet
+weather, ooze saltish exudations, which effloresce in a thin
+scum. This is sometimes pure salt, but more frequently
+compounded of different salts—not only of the muriate,
+but of the sulphate of soda, and perhaps magnesia; often
+strongly tinctured with nitre. Some of the waters of these
+sections (particularly when stagnant) are so saturated
+with this compound during dry weather, that they are
+insupportable even for brutes—much to the consternation
+of a forlorn traveller. In these saline flats nothing
+grows but hard wiry grass, which a famished beast will
+scarcely eat. <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg248"></a>[p248]</span></p>
+
+<p>It is from these exudations, as well as from the salines
+or salt plains before mentioned, that our western waters,
+especially from Arkansas to Red River, acquire their
+brackishness during the low seasons; and not from the
+mountains, as some have presumed. Such as issue from
+thence are there as pure, fresh and crystalline as snow-fed
+rills and icy fountains can make them.</p>
+
+<p>It will now readily be inferred that the Great Prairies
+from Red River to the western sources of the Missouri,
+are, as has before been intimated, chiefly uninhabitable—not
+so much for want of wood (though the plains are altogether
+naked), as of soil and of water; for though some
+of the plains appear of sufficiently fertile soil, they are
+mostly of a sterile character, and all too dry to be cultivated.
+{192} These great steppes seem only fitted for the
+haunts of the mustang, the buffalo, the antelope, and their
+migratory lord, the prairie Indian. Unless with the
+progressive influence of time, some favorable mutation
+should be wrought in nature's operations, to revive the
+plains and upland prairies, the occasional fertile valleys
+are too isolated and remote to become the abodes of
+civilized man.</p>
+
+<p>Like the table plains of Northern Mexico, these high
+prairies could at present only be made available for grazing
+purposes, and that in the vicinity of the water-courses.
+The grass with which they are mostly clothed, is of a superior
+quality. The celebrated 'buffalo grass' is of two kinds,
+both of which are species of the <dfn>grama</dfn> of New Mexico,
+and equally nutritious at all seasons. It is the same, I
+believe, that is called 'mezquite grass' in Texas, from the
+mezquite tree which grows there in the same dry regions
+with it. Of this unequalled pasturage the great western
+prairies afford a sufficiency to graze cattle for the supply
+of all the United States. It is particularly adapted to <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg249"></a>[p249]</span>
+sheep-raising, as is shown by example of the same species
+in New Mexico.</p>
+
+<p>But from the general sterility and unhabitableness of
+the Prairies is excepted, as will be understood, that portion,
+already alluded to, which borders our western frontier.
+The uplands from the Arkansas boundary to the Cross
+Timbers, are everywhere beautifully interspersed with
+isolated prairies and glades, many of which are fertile,
+though some are {193} too flat, and consequently inclined
+to be marshy. The valleys of the streams are principally
+of a rich loam, rather subject to inundations, but mostly
+tillable. The timbered uplands are mostly of fair quality,
+except on the broken ridges and mountainous sections
+before referred to. Some of the uplands, however, known
+usually as 'post-oak flats,' like the marshy prairies, seem
+to be based upon quick-sand. The soil is of a dead unproductive
+character, and covered with small lumps or mounds
+of various sizes, and of irregular shapes.</p>
+
+<p>The country lying west of Missouri, which includes
+the sources of the Neosho, the Verdigris, the Marais-des-Cygnes
+and other branches of the Osage, and the lower
+sections of the Kansas river, vies with any portion of the
+Far West in the amenity of its upland prairies—in the
+richness of its alluvial bottoms—in the beauty and freshness
+of its purling rills and rivulets—and in the salubrity
+of its atmosphere.</p>
+
+<p>We have here then, along the whole border, a strip of
+country, averaging at least two hundred miles wide by
+five hundred long—and even more if we extend it up the
+Missouri river—affording territory for two States, respectable
+in size, and though more scant in timber, yet more
+fertile, in general, than the two conterminous States of
+Missouri and Arkansas. But most of this delightful region
+has been ceded to the different tribes of the Frontier Indians. <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg250"></a>[p250]</span></p>
+
+<p>{194} Concerning that portion of the Prairies which
+lies south of Red River, in Northern Texas, I learn from
+some interesting memoranda, politely furnished me by
+Dr. Henry Connelly, one of the principals of the pioneer
+expedition from Chihuahua to Arkansas, of which I have
+already spoken, that, besides some beautiful lands among
+the Cross Timbers, there is a great deal of delightful country
+still further west, of a part of which that gentleman
+holds the following language:—"Between the Brazos and
+Red River, there is surely the most beautiful and picturesque
+region I have ever beheld. I saw some of the finest timber,
+generally oak—not that scrubby oak which characterizes
+so much of the Texan territory—but large black and
+bur-oak; such as would answer all the purposes for which
+the largest timber is useful. Between those two rivers,
+no doubt there is destined to be one of the most dense and
+prosperous settlements. The fertility of the soil is not
+exceeded by any I have seen; and, from the high and undulating
+character of the country, there can be no doubt
+of its being very healthy."</p>
+
+<p>To the westward of Rio Brazos, and south of some
+sandy and saline regions which border the upper portions
+of this stream, the same enterprising traveller represents
+many of the valleys as rich and beautiful, and the uplands
+as being in many places sparsely timbered with mezquite
+trees. This is particularly the case on the sources of the
+Colorado, where the country is delightfully watered. But
+immediately {195} north of this sets in that immense desert
+region of the Llano Estacado.</p>
+
+<p>The chief natural disadvantage to which the Great
+Western Prairies are exposed, consists in the absence of
+navigable streams. Throughout the whole vast territory
+which I have been attempting to describe, there is not a
+single river, except the Missouri, which is navigable during <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg251"></a>[p251]</span>
+the whole season. The remaining streams, in their course
+through the plains, are and must continue to be, for all
+purposes of commerce, comparatively useless.</p>
+
+<p>The chief of these rivers are the Missouri, the Arkansas,
+and Red River, with their numerous tributaries. The
+principal western branches of the Missouri are the Yellow
+Stone, the Platte and the Kansas. Small 'flats' and 'buffalo
+boats' have passed down the two former for a considerable
+distance, during high water; but they are never
+navigable to any extent by steamboats.</p>
+
+<p>The <i>Arkansas</i> river penetrates far into the Rocky Mountains,
+its ramifications, interlocking with some of the waters
+of the Missouri, Columbia, San Buenaventura, Colorado
+of the West, and Rio del Norte.<a name="FNanchor_155_156" id="FNanchor_155_156"></a><a href="#Footnote_155_156" class="fnanchor">[155]</a> The channel of this
+stream, in its course through the Prairies, is very wide and
+shallow, with banks in many places hardly five feet above
+low water. It will probably measure nearly 2000 miles
+in length, from its source to the frontier of Arkansas. It
+is called <i>Rio Napeste</i> by the Mexicans; but among the
+early French voyagers it acquired the name of <i>Arkansas</i>,
+or rather {196} <i>Akansa</i>,<a name="FNanchor_156_157" id="FNanchor_156_157"></a><a href="#Footnote_156_157" class="fnanchor">[156]</a> from a tribe of the Dahcotah or
+Osage stock, who lived near its mouth. This river has
+numerous tributaries, some of which are of great length,
+yet there is not one that is at all navigable, except the <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg252"></a>[p252]</span>
+Neosho from the north, which has been descended by small
+boats for at least a hundred miles.</p>
+
+<p><i>Red River</i> is much shorter and narrower from the frontier
+westward than the Arkansas, bearing but little over half
+the volume of water. Even in its serpentine course it can
+hardly exceed 1200 miles from the Arkansas boundary to
+its source. This river rises in the table plains of the Llano
+Estacado, and has not, as I have been assured by traders
+and hunters, any mountainous elevations about its source
+of any consequence;<a name="FNanchor_157_158" id="FNanchor_157_158"></a><a href="#Footnote_157_158" class="fnanchor">[157]</a> although we are continually hearing
+the inhabitants of its lower borders speak of the "<i>June
+freshets</i> produced by the melting of the snow in the mountains."</p>
+
+<p>The upper portions of this river, and emphatically from
+the mouth of the False Washita (or Faux Ouachittâ) upward,
+present little or no facilities for navigation; being
+frequently spread out over sand-bars to the width of several
+hundred yards. A very credible Indian trader, who had
+been on Red River {197} some two hundred miles above
+the False Washita, informed me, that, while in some places
+he found it not over fifty yards wide, in others it was at least
+five hundred. This and most other prairie streams have
+commonly very low banks with remarkably shallow channels,
+which, during droughts, sometimes go dry in their
+transit through the sandy plains.<a name="FNanchor_158_159" id="FNanchor_158_159"></a>
+<a href="#Footnote_158_159" class="fnanchor">[158]</a>
+<span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg253"></a>[p253]</span></p>
+
+<p> It would be neither interesting nor profitable to present
+to my readers a detailed account of all the tributaries of
+the three principal rivers already mentioned. They may
+be {198} found for the most part laid down, with their
+bearings and relative magnitudes, upon the map which
+accompanies this work. It is only necessary to say in
+addition, that none of them can ever be availed of to any
+considerable extent for purposes of navigation.</p>
+
+<p>With regard to the productions of the soil of these regions,
+the reader will probably have formed, in the main, a tolerably
+correct idea already; nevertheless a few further specifications
+may not be altogether unacceptable.</p>
+
+<p>The timber of that portion of the United States territory
+which is included between the Arkansas frontier and the
+Cross Timbers, throughout the highlands, is mostly oak
+of various kinds, of which black-jack and post-oak predominate,
+as these, and especially the former, seem only
+capable of withstanding the conflagrations to which they
+are exposed, and therefore abound along the prairie borders.
+The black-jack presents a blackened, scrubby appearance,
+with harsh rugged branches—partly on account of being
+so often scorched and crisped by the prairie fires. About
+the streams we find an intermixture of elm, hackberry, <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg254"></a>[p254]</span>
+peccan (or pecan), ash, walnut, mulberry, cherry, persimmon,
+cottonwood, sycamore, birch, etc., with varieties
+of hickory, gum, dogwood, and the like. All of the foregoing,
+except paccan, gum and dogwood, are also found
+west of Missouri, where, although the uplands are almost
+wholly prairie, the richest growths predominate in the
+valleys.</p>
+
+<p>{199} In many of the rich bottoms from the Canadian
+to Red River, for a distance of one or two hundred miles
+west of the frontier, is found the celebrated <dfn>bois-d'arc</dfn>
+(literally, <i>bow-wood</i>), usually corrupted in pronunciation
+to <i>bowdark</i>. It was so named by the French on account
+of its peculiar fitness for <i>bows</i>. This tree is sometimes
+found with a trunk two or three feet in diameter, but,
+being much branched, it is rarely over forty or fifty feet
+high. The leaves are large, and it bears a fruit a little
+resembling the orange in general appearance, though
+rougher and larger, being four or five inches in diameter;
+but it is not used for food. The wood is of a beautiful
+light orange color, and, though coarse, is susceptible of
+polish. It is one of the hardest, firmest and most durable
+of timbers, and is much used by wagon-makers and millwrights,
+as well as by the wild Indians, who make bows
+of the younger growths.<a name="FNanchor_159_160" id="FNanchor_159_160"></a><a href="#Footnote_159_160" class="fnanchor">[159]</a></p>
+
+<p>On the Arkansas and especially its southern tributaries
+as far west as the Verdigris, and up those of Red River
+nearly to the False Washita, the bottoms are mostly covered
+with cane. And scattered over all the south to about
+the same distance westward, the sassafras abounds, which
+grows here in every kind of soil and locality.</p>
+
+<p>The celebrated <i>Cross Timbers</i>, of which frequent mention
+has been made, extend from the Brazos, or perhaps from
+the Colorado of Texas, across the sources of Trinity, traversing <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg255"></a>[p255]</span>
+Red River above the False Washita, and thence {200}
+west of north, to the Red Fork of Arkansas, if not further.
+It is a rough hilly range of country, and, though not mountainous,
+may perhaps be considered a prolongation of that
+chain of low mountains which pass to the northward of
+Bexar and Austin city in Texas.<a name="FNanchor_160_161" id="FNanchor_160_161"></a><a href="#Footnote_160_161" class="fnanchor">[160]</a></p>
+
+<p>The Cross Timbers vary in width from five to thirty
+miles, and entirely cut off the communication betwixt the
+interior prairies and those of the great plains. They may
+be considered as the 'fringe' of the great prairies, being
+a continuous brushy strip, composed of various kinds of
+undergrowth; such as black-jacks, post-oaks, and in some
+places hickory, elm, etc., intermixed with a very diminutive
+dwarf oak, called by the hunters 'shin-oak.' Most of the
+timber appears to be kept small by the continual inroads
+of the 'burning prairies;' for, being killed almost annually,
+it is constantly replaced by scions of undergrowth; so that
+it becomes more and more dense every reproduction. In
+some places, however, the oaks are of considerable size,
+and able to withstand the conflagrations. The underwood
+is so matted in many places with grape-vines, greenbriars,
+etc., as to form almost impenetrable 'roughs,' which
+serve as hiding-places for wild beasts, as well as wild Indians;
+and would, in savage warfare, prove almost as formidable
+as the hammocks of Florida.</p>
+
+<p>South of the Canadian, a branch of these Cross Timbers
+projects off westward, extending across this stream, and
+up its course for 100 {201} miles or so, from whence, it
+inclines northwest beyond the North Fork, and ultimately
+ceases, no doubt, in the great sandy plains in that direction.
+<span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg256"></a>[p256]</span></p>
+
+<p> The region of the Cross Timbers is generally well-watered;
+and is interspersed with romantic and fertile tracts. The
+bottoms of the tributaries of Red River, even for some
+distance west of the Cross Timbers (perhaps almost to
+the U. S. boundary), are mostly very fertile, and timbered
+with narrow stripes of elm, hackberry, walnut, hickory,
+mulberry, bur-oak and other rich growths.</p>
+
+<p>But further north, and west of the Cross Timbers, even
+the streams are nearly naked. The Cimarron river for
+more than a hundred miles is absolutely without timber;
+and the Arkansas, for so large a stream, is remarkably
+scant. The southern border, being protected from the
+prairie fires by a chain of sand-hills, which extends for two
+hundred miles along it, is not so bare as the northern bank;
+though even here it is only skirted with occasional sparsely
+set groves of cottonwood in the nooks and bends. It is
+upon the abundance of islands which intersperse its channel,
+that the greatest quantity of timber (though purely
+cottonwood) is to be found; yet withal, there are stretches
+of miles without a tree in view. The banks of the Canadian
+are equally naked; and, having fewer islands, the river
+appears still more barren. In fact, there is scarce anything
+else but cottonwood, and that very sparsely scattered
+{202} along the streams, throughout most of the far-western
+prairies.</p>
+
+<p>It is unquestionably the prairie conflagrations that keep
+down the woody growth upon most of the western uplands.
+The occasional skirts and fringes which have escaped their
+rage, have been protected by the streams they border. Yet
+may not the time come when these vast plains will be
+covered with timber? It would seem that the prairie
+region, long after the discovery of America, extended to
+the very banks of the Mississippi. Father Marquette,
+in a voyage down this river, in 1673, after passing below <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg257"></a>[p257]</span>
+the mouth of the Ohio, remarks:—"The banks of the
+river began to be covered with high trees, which hindered
+us from observing the country as we had done all along;
+but we judged from the bellowing of the oxen [buffalo] that
+the meadows are very near."<a name="FNanchor_161_162" id="FNanchor_161_162"></a><a href="#Footnote_161_162" class="fnanchor">[161]</a>—Indeed, there are parts
+of the southwest now thickly set with trees of good size,
+that, within the remembrance of the oldest inhabitants,
+were as naked as the prairie plains; and the appearance
+of the timber in many other sections indicates that it has
+grown up within less than a century. In fact, we are now
+witnessing the encroachment of the timber upon the prairies,
+wherever the devastating conflagrations have ceased their
+ravages.</p>
+
+<p>The high plains seem too dry and lifeless to produce
+timber; yet might not the vicissitudes of nature operate a
+change likewise upon the seasons? Why may we not suppose
+{203} that the genial influences of civilization—that
+extensive cultivation of the earth—might contribute to the
+multiplication of showers, as it certainly does of fountains?
+Or that the shady groves, as they advance upon the prairies,
+may have some effect upon the seasons? At least, many
+old settlers maintain that the droughts are becoming less
+oppressive in the West. The people of New Mexico also
+assure us that the rains have much increased of latter
+years, a phenomenon which the vulgar superstitiously
+attribute to the arrival of the Missouri traders. Then
+may we not hope that these sterile regions might yet be
+thus revived and fertilized, and their surface covered one
+day by flourishing settlements to the Rocky Mountains?</p>
+
+<p>With regard to fruits, the Prairies are of course not very
+plentifully supplied. West of the border, however, for
+nearly two hundred miles, they are covered, in many places, <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg258"></a>[p258]</span>
+with the wild strawberry; and the groves lining the streams
+frequently abound in grapes, plums, persimmons, mulberries,
+peccans, hackberries, and other 'sylvan luxuries.'
+The high prairies beyond, however, are very bare of fruits.
+The prickly pear may be found over most of the dry plains;
+but this is neither very palatable nor wholesome, though
+often eaten by travellers for want of other fruits. Upon
+the branches of the Canadian, North Fork, and Cimarron,
+there are, in places, considerable quantities of excellent
+plums, grapes, choke-cherries, gooseberries, and
+currants—of the {204} latter there are three kinds, black, red, and
+white. About the ravines and marshy grounds (particularly
+towards the east) there are different kinds of small
+onions, with which the traveller may season his fresh meats.
+On the plains, also, I have met with a species resembling
+garlic in flavor.</p>
+
+<p>But the flowers are among the most interesting products
+of the frontier prairies. These gay meadows wear their
+most fanciful piebald robes from the earliest spring till
+divested of them by the hoary frosts of autumn. When
+again winter has fled, but before the grassy green appears,
+or other vegetation has ventured to peep above the earth,
+they are bespeckled in many places with a species of <i>erythronium</i>,
+a pretty lilaceous little flower, which springs
+from the ground already developed, between a pair of
+lanceolate leaves, and is soon after in full bloom.<a name="FNanchor_162_163" id="FNanchor_162_163"></a><a href="#Footnote_162_163" class="fnanchor">[162]</a> But
+the floriferous region only extends about two hundred
+miles beyond the border: the high plains are nearly as
+destitute of flowers as they are of fruits.</p>
+
+<p>The <i>climate</i> of most parts of the Prairies is no doubt
+healthy in the extreme; for a purer atmosphere is hardly
+to be found. But the cold rains of the 'wet season,' and
+the colder snows of winter, with the annoying winds <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg259"></a>[p259]</span>
+that prevail at nearly all times, often render it very unpleasant.
+It can hardly be said, it is true, that the Prairies
+have their regular 'dry and rainy seasons;' yet the summers
+are often so droughty, that, unless some change should
+{205} be effected in nature's functions, cultivators would
+generally find it necessary, no doubt, to resort to irrigation.
+That portion, however, which is conterminous with our
+western border, and to the distance of nearly two hundred
+miles westward, in every respect resembles the adjacent
+States of Missouri and Arkansas in climate. The south
+is a little disposed to chills and fevers; but the northern
+portion is as healthy as the most salubrious uplands of
+Missouri.</p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_150_151" id="Footnote_150_151"></a><a href="#FNanchor_150_151"><span class="label">[150]</span></a> This discovery was verified by the finding of gold near Denver in 1858. A
+reader of Gregg's book, in the St. Louis Mercantile Library, wrote upon the margin
+in 1858, opposite this paragraph: "The truth of this report has been verified
+this year."—Chittenden, <cite>Fur-Trade</cite>, ii, p. 486.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_151_152" id="Footnote_151_152"></a><a href="#FNanchor_151_152"><span class="label">[151]</span></a> For an early description of the Grand Saline, see Bradbury's <cite>Travels</cite>, in our
+volume v, pp. 192, 193.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_152_153" id="Footnote_152_153"></a><a href="#FNanchor_152_153"><span class="label">[152]</span></a> Capt. Boone is a son of the late Col. Daniel Boone, the celebrated pioneer
+of the West. Being of practical habits, and of extensive experience upon those
+deserts, much weight is due to his observations.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_153_154" id="Footnote_153_154"></a><a href="#FNanchor_153_154"><span class="label">[153]</span></a> Brackenbridge's [Brackenridge's] Voyage up the Missouri River, p. 205.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span>
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>Comment by Ed.</i> See our volume vi, p. 153, note 54; also our volume v, pp.
+191-194.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_154_155" id="Footnote_154_155"></a><a href="#FNanchor_154_155"><span class="label">[154]</span></a> James Logan was appointed agent among the Creeks shortly after their
+final removal to Indian Territory (about 1838), and was replaced about 1842.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_155_156" id="Footnote_155_156"></a><a href="#FNanchor_155_156"><span class="label">[155]</span></a> Gregg probably takes this information from Pike's journals. In his edition
+thereof, Elliott Coues claims (ii, p. 733, note 18) that San Buenaventura River
+was a myth of this early period. Pike describes it as emptying into the Pacific
+north of California; but upon his map it runs into a nameless salt lake, and is
+probably to be identified with Sevier River.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_156_157" id="Footnote_156_157"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_156_157"><span class="label">[156]</span></a>
+A stranger would be led to suppose we were without a system of orthography,
+from the fact of our so generally adopting the French spelling of Indian names,
+whereby all sight is soon lost of the original. The French first corrupt them, and
+we, by adapting our pronunciation to their orthography, at once transform them
+into new names. Thus 'polite usage' has converted into <i>Arkan´sas</i> the plural
+of the primitive <i>Arkansa</i> or <i>Arkonsah</i>; though an approximate, <i>Ar´kansaw</i>, is still
+the current 'vulgar' pronunciation. <i>Osage</i> and a great many others have suffered
+similar metamorphoses.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_157_158" id="Footnote_157_158"></a><a href="#FNanchor_157_158"><span class="label">[157]</span></a> For the exploration of the sources of Red River, see our volume xvi, p. 85,
+note 52. Gregg would appear to be one of the first correctly to locate the headwaters
+of this stream.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_158_159" id="Footnote_158_159"></a><a href="#FNanchor_158_159"><span class="label">[158]</span></a> Of all the rivers of this character, the Cimarron, being on the route from
+Missouri to Santa Fé, has become the most famous. Its water disappears in the
+sand and reappears again, in so many places, that some travellers have contended
+that it 'ebbs and flows' periodically. This is doubtless owing to the fact, that
+the little current which may flow above the sand in the night, or in cloudy weather,
+is kept dried up, in an unshaded channel, during the hot sunny days. But in some
+places the sand is so porous that the water never flows above it, except during
+freshets.
+</p>
+<p>
+I was once greatly surprised upon encountering one of these sandy sections of the
+river after a tremendous rain-storm. Our caravan was encamped at the 'Lower
+Cimarron Spring:' and, a little after night-fall, a dismal, murky cloud was seen
+gathering in the western horizon, which very soon came lowering upon us, driven
+by a hurricane, and bringing with it one of those tremendous bursts of thunder
+and lightning, and rain, which render the storms of the Prairies, like those of the
+tropics, so terrible. Hail-stones, as large as turkeys' eggs, and torrents of rain
+soon drenched the whole country; and so rapidly were the banks of the river
+overflowed, that the most active exertions were requisite to prevent the mules that
+were 'staked' in the valley from drowning. Next morning, after crossing the
+neck of a bend, we were, at the distance of about three miles, upon the river-bank
+again; when, to our astonishment, the wetted sand, and an occasional pool, fast
+being absorbed, were the only vestiges of the recent flood—no water was flowing
+there!
+</p>
+<p>
+In these sandy stretches of the Cimarron, and other similar 'dry streams,'
+travellers procure water by excavating basins in the channel, a few feet deep, into
+which the water is filtrated from the saturated sand.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_159_160" id="Footnote_159_160"></a><a href="#FNanchor_159_160"><span class="label">[159]</span></a> This is the shrub now known as Osage orange
+(<i>Maclura aurantiaca</i>).—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_160_161" id="Footnote_160_161"></a><a href="#FNanchor_160_161"><span class="label">[160]</span></a> Bexar is the older name for San Antonio, Texas, which was founded (1718)
+as a presidio and mission to the memory of San Antonio de Bejar (Bexar). Austin
+was laid out (1839) as the capital of the independent state of Texas. See George
+P. Garrison, <cite>Texas</cite> (New York, 1902).—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_161_162" id="Footnote_161_162"></a><a href="#FNanchor_161_162"><span class="label">[161]</span></a> See Thwaites, <cite>Jesuit Relations</cite>, lix, for Marquette's
+journal. This quotation
+is found on p. 149.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_162_163" id="Footnote_162_163"></a><a href="#FNanchor_162_163"><span class="label">[162]</span></a> Commonly known as dog-toothed violet.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div></div>
+
+<h3 title="Chapter XXVII: Animals of the Prairies">
+<a name="CHAPTER_XXVII_XI" id="CHAPTER_XXVII_XI"></a>CHAPTER XXVII {XI}
+<br />ANIMALS OF THE PRAIRIES</h3>
+
+<p class="subhead">The Mustang or Wild Horse — Capturing him by 'Creasing,' and with
+the Lazo — Horse-flesh — The Buffalo — Its Appearance — Excellence
+of its Meat — General Utility to the Indian and Traveller — Prospect
+of its Extinction — Hunting the Buffalo with Bow and
+Arrows, the Lance, etc. — 'Still-hunting' — The Buffalo ferocious
+only when wounded — Butchering, etc. — The Gray Wolf — Its
+Modes of killing Buffalo — Their great Numbers — A 'Wolf-scrape' — The
+Prairie Wolf, or 'Jackal of the Prairies' — Elk, Deer and
+Bear — The Antelope — The Bighorn — The Prairie Dog — Owls
+and Rattlesnakes — The Horned Frog — Fowls — Bees, etc.<a href="#tocXXVII"
+class="toclnk">toc</a></p>
+
+<p>The zoology of the Prairies has probably attracted more
+attention than any other feature of their natural history.
+This has not arisen altogether from the peculiar interest
+the animals of the Prairies possess; but they constitute
+so considerable a portion of the society of the traveller
+who journeys among them, that they get to hold somewhat
+the same place in his estimation that his fellow-creatures
+would occupy if he were in civilization. Indeed, the
+animals are <i>par éminence</i> the communities of the Prairies.</p>
+
+<p>By far the most noble of these, and therefore {207} the <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg260"></a>[p260]</span>
+best entitled to precedence in the brief notice I am able
+to present of the animals of those regions, is the <dfn>mustang</dfn><a name="FNanchor_163_164" id="FNanchor_163_164"></a><a href="#Footnote_163_164" class="fnanchor">[163]</a>
+or wild horse of the Prairies. As he is descended from the
+stock introduced into America by the first Spanish colonists,
+he has no doubt a partial mixture of Arabian blood. Being
+of domestic origin, he is found of various colors, and sometimes
+of a beautiful piebald.</p>
+
+<p>It is a singular fact in the economy of nature, that all
+<em>wild</em> animals of the same species should have one uniform
+color (with only occasional but uniform differences between
+males and females); while that of the <em>domestic</em> animals,
+whether quadruped or fowl, is more or less diversified.</p>
+
+<p>The beauty of the mustang is proverbial. One in particular
+has been celebrated by hunters, of which marvellous
+stories are told. He has been represented as a medium-sized
+stallion of perfect symmetry, milk-white, save a pair
+of black ears—a natural 'pacer,' and so fleet, it has been
+said, as to leave far behind every horse that had been tried
+in pursuit of him, without breaking his 'pace.' But I
+infer that this story is somewhat mythical, from the difficulty
+which one finds in fixing the abiding place of its
+equine hero. He is familiarly known, by common report,
+all over the great Prairies. The trapper celebrates him
+in the vicinity of the northern Rocky {208} Mountains;
+the hunter, on the Arkansas, or in the midst of the Plains;
+while others have him pacing at the rate of half a mile a
+minute on the borders of Texas. It is hardly a matter
+of surprise, then, that a creature of such an ubiquitary
+existence should never have been caught.</p>
+
+<p>The wild horses are generally well-formed, with trim and
+clean limbs; still their elegance has been much exaggerated
+by travellers, because they have seen them at large, abandoned <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg261"></a>[p261]</span>
+to their wild and natural gaiety. Then, it is true, they
+appear superb indeed; but when caught and tamed, they
+generally dwindle down to ordinary ponies. Large droves
+are very frequently seen upon the Prairies, sometimes of
+hundreds together, gambolling and curvetting within a
+short distance of the caravans. It is sometimes difficult
+to keep them from dashing among the loose stock of the
+traveller, which would be exceedingly dangerous; for, once
+together, they are hard to separate again, particularly if
+the number of mustangs is much the greatest. It is a
+singular fact, that the gentlest wagon-horse (even though
+quite fagged with travel), once among a drove of mustangs,
+will often acquire in a few hours all the intractable wildness
+of his untamed companions.</p>
+
+<p>The mustang is sometimes taken by the cruel expedient
+of 'creasing,' which consists in shooting him through the
+upper <i>crease</i> of the neck, above the cervical vertebræ;
+when, the ball cutting a principal nerve, he falls as suddenly
+{209} as if shot in the brain, and remains senseless
+for a few minutes, during which he is secured with a rope.
+He soon recovers from the shock, however, and springs to
+his feet, but finds himself deprived of his liberty. He is
+easily tamed after this, and the wound heals without leaving
+any physical injury. But 'creasing' is so nice an operation
+that many are killed in the attempt. If the ball pass a
+little too low, it fractures a vertebra and kills the poor
+brute instantly.</p>
+
+<p>But the most usual mode, among the Mexicans and
+Indians, of taking the <dfn>mesteña</dfn> (as the former call these
+animals), is with the lazo. They pursue them on fleet
+horses, and great numbers are thus noosed and tamed.
+The mustang has been taken in Texas in considerable
+numbers by preparing a strong pen at some passway or
+crossing of a river, into which they are frightened and
+caught. <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg262"></a>[p262]</span></p>
+
+<p>Upon the plains, I once succeeded in separating a gay-looking
+stallion from his herd of <i>mesteñas</i>, upon which he
+immediately joined our <i>caballada</i>, and was directly lazoed
+by a Mexican. As he curvetted at the end of the rope, or
+would stop and gaze majestically at his subjecters, his
+symmetrical proportions attracted the attention of all;
+and our best jockeys at once valued him at five hundred
+dollars. But it appeared that he had before been tamed,
+for he soon submitted to the saddle, and in a few days
+dwindled down to scarce a twenty-dollar hackney.</p>
+
+<p>Prairie travellers have often been reduced {210} to the
+necessity of eating the flesh of the mustang; and, when
+young and tender, it has been accounted savory enough;
+but, when of full age, it is said to be exceedingly rancid,
+particularly when fat. They are sometimes hunted by
+Mexicans for their oil, which is used by the curriers.</p>
+
+<p>The <i>buffalo</i>, though making no pretensions to the elegance
+and symmetry of the mustang, is by far the most important
+animal of the Prairies to the traveller. It is sufficiently
+well known that these animals bear but little resemblance
+to the buffalo of India; but that they are a species of bison,
+or <dfn>bos Americanus</dfn>, according to naturalists. They are
+called <dfn>Cíbolos</dfn> by the Mexicans; and it would certainly
+have prevented ambiguity, had they been distinguished
+by some other name than buffalo with us.</p>
+
+<p>Their dusky black color becomes much paler during
+the season of long hair.<a name="FNanchor_164_165"
+ id="FNanchor_164_165"></a><a href="#Footnote_164_165"
+ class="fnanchor">[164]</a> The phenomenon of a white
+buffalo has frequently been remarked upon the Prairies;
+but as the white skin is said to have been used in the
+mystic ceremonies of many of the northern tribes of
+Indians, this probably created such a demand for them,
+that they have become nearly extinct. Their unusual <span
+ class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg263"></a>[p263]</span>
+color has commonly been considered a <i>lusus naturæ</i>, yet
+it is probable that they stand in about the same relation
+to the black or brown buffalo that black sheep do to white
+ones. The horns of {211} the buffalo are short and black,
+and almost concealed under the frightfully shaggy frontlets
+of long woolly hair that crown the foreheads of the bulls;
+which, with the goat-like beard, and ill-shapen hump,
+form the chief distinction between them and the domestic
+cattle: in fact, they are so nearly of the same species that
+they will breed together; though the offspring, like the
+mule, is said to be unfruitful. Between the males and
+females there is still a greater disproportion in size than
+among the domestic cattle. A buffalo cow is about as
+heavy as a common ox, while a large fat bull will weigh
+perhaps double as much.</p>
+
+<p>These are very gregarious animals. At some seasons,
+however, the cows rather incline to keep to themselves;
+at other times they are mostly seen in the centre of the
+gang, while the bulls are scattered around, frequently to
+a considerable distance, evidently guarding the cows and
+calves. And on the outskirts of the buffalo range, we
+are apt to meet with small gangs of bulls alone, a day or
+two's travel distant, as though performing the office of
+'piquet guards' for the main herds.</p>
+
+<p>The flesh of the buffalo is, I think, as fine as any meat
+I ever tasted: the old hunter will not admit that there is
+anything equal to it. Much of its apparent savoriness,
+however, results perhaps from our sharpened 'prairie
+appetites,' and our being usually upon salt provisions
+awhile before obtaining it. The {212} flesh is of coarser
+texture than beef, more juicy, and the fat and lean better
+distributed. This meat is also very easy of digestion,<a name="FNanchor_165_166" id="FNanchor_165_166"></a><a href="#Footnote_165_166" class="fnanchor">[165]</a> <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg264"></a>[p264]</span>
+possessing even aperient qualities. The circumstance that
+bulls of all ages, if fat, make good beef, is a further proof
+of the superiority of buffalo meat. These are generally
+selected for consumption in the winter and early spring,
+when the cows, unless barren, are apt to be poor; but during
+most of the year, the latter are the fattest and tenderest
+meat. Of these, the udder is held as hardly second to
+the tongue in delicacy. But what the tail of the beaver
+is to the trapper, the tongue of the buffalo is to the hunter.
+Next to this are the 'marrow-bones,' the tender-loins, and
+the hump-ribs. Instead of a gristly substance, as sometimes
+stated, the hump is produced by a convex tier of
+vertical ribs, which project from the spine, forming a gradual
+curve over the shoulders: those of the middle being sometimes
+nearly two feet in length. The 'veal' is rarely good,
+being generally poor, owing to the scanty supply of milk
+which their dams afford, and to their running so much
+from hunters and wolves.</p>
+
+<p>This animal furnishes almost the exclusive food of the
+prairie Indians, as well as covering for their wigwams
+and most of their clothing; also their bedding, ropes, bags
+for their meat, &#38;c.; sinews for bow-strings, for sewing
+moccasins, leggins, and the like; besides {213} sustenance
+for the numerous travellers and trappers who range upon
+their grazing regions. Were they only killed for food,
+however, their natural increase would perhaps replenish
+the loss: yet the continual and wanton slaughter of them
+by travellers and hunters, and the still greater havoc
+made among them by the Indians, not only for meat, but
+often for the skins and tongues alone (for which they find
+a ready market among their traders), are fast reducing
+their numbers, and must ultimately effect their total annihilation
+from the continent. It is believed that the annual <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg265"></a>[p265]</span>
+'export' of <i>buffalo rugs</i><a name="FNanchor_166_167" id="FNanchor_166_167"></a><a href="#Footnote_166_167" class="fnanchor">[166]</a> from the Prairies and bordering
+'buffalo range,' is about a hundred thousand: and the
+number killed wantonly, or exclusively for meat, is no
+doubt still greater, as the skins are fit to dress scarcely
+half the year. The vast extent of the prairies upon which
+they now pasture is no argument against the prospect of
+their total extinction, when we take into consideration the
+extent of country from which they have already disappeared;
+for it is well known, that, within the recollection of our
+oldest pioneers, they were nearly as abundant east of the
+Mississippi as they now are upon the western prairies; and
+from history we learn, that they once ranged to the Atlantic
+coast. Even within thirty years, they were abundant
+over much of the present States of Missouri and Arkansas;
+yet they are now rarely seen within two hundred miles of
+the frontier. Indeed, upon the high {214} plains they
+have very sensibly decreased within the last ten years.
+Nevertheless, the number of buffalo upon the Prairies is
+still immense. But, as they incline to migrate <i>en masse</i>
+from place to place, it sometimes happens, that, for several
+days' travel together, not a single one is to be met with;
+but, in other places, many thousands are often seen at one
+view.</p>
+
+<p>The Indians, as well as Mexicans, hunt the buffalo
+mostly with the bow and arrows. For this purpose they
+train their fleetest horses to run close beside him; and,
+when near enough, with almost unerring aim, they pierce
+him with their arrows, usually behind the short ribs, ranging
+forward, which soon disables and brings him to the
+ground. When an arrow has been ill-directed, or does
+not enter deep enough, and even sometimes when it has
+penetrated a vital part, but is needed to use again, the <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg266"></a>[p266]</span>
+hunter sometimes rides up and draws it out while the
+animal is yet running. An athletic Indian will not unfrequently
+discharge his darts with such force, that I have
+seen them (30 inches long) wholly buried in the body of
+a buffalo: and I have been assured by hunters that the
+arrows, missing the bones, have been known to pass entirely
+through the huge carcass and fall upon the ground.</p>
+
+<p>The dexterity acquired by these wild hunters in shooting
+the buffalo, is very surprising. On one occasion, upon
+the prairies, a party of Witchita Indians were encamped
+near us; and {215} a drove of buffalo passing in the vicinity,
+I requested a chief to take my horse and kill one 'upon
+the shares.' He delighted in the sport: so, gathering his
+arrows, he mounted the pony, which was slow, and withal
+very lean, and giving chase, in a few minutes he had two
+buffaloes lying upon the plain, and two others went off so
+badly wounded, that, with a little exertion, they might
+have been secured.</p>
+
+<p>But the dexterity of the Comanches in the buffalo chase
+is perhaps superior to that of any other tribe. The Mexican
+<i>Ciboleros</i>, however, are scarcely if at all inferior to the
+Indians in this sport. I once went on a hunting expedition
+with a Cibolero, who carried no arms except his bow and
+arrows and a butcher's knife. Espying a herd of buffalo,
+he put spurs to his horse, and, though I followed as fast as
+a mule I rode could trudge, when I came up with him,
+after a chase of two or three miles, he had the buffalo partly
+skinned! This was rather unusual dispatch, to be sure,
+for the animal oftener lingers awhile after receiving the
+fatal dart.</p>
+
+<p>In the chase, the experienced hunter singles out the
+fattest buffalo as his victim, and having given him a mortal
+wound, he in like manner selects another, and so on, till
+the plain is sometimes literally strewed with carcasses. <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg267"></a>[p267]</span></p>
+
+<p>It seems that Capt. Bonneville<a name="FNanchor_167_168" id="FNanchor_167_168"></a><a href="#Footnote_167_168" class="fnanchor">[167]</a> marvelled greatly that
+some Indians, during his peregrinations in the Rocky
+Mountains, should have {216} killed buffalo "without
+guns or arrows, and with only an old spear;" and he was
+no doubt mistaken in supposing "that they had chased the
+herds of buffalo at full speed, until they tired them down,
+when they easily dispatched them with the spear:" for
+both Indians and Mexicans often chase with a long-handled
+spear or lance, which, if the horse be well trained, is still
+a more expeditious mode of killing them than with the
+bow and arrow. An expert lancer will enter a drove, and
+drawing up alongside, will pierce buffalo after buffalo
+until several are brought down.</p>
+
+<p>In default of bow or lance, they chase with the fusil, but
+seldom so successfully as with the former weapons. The
+Americans generally prefer 'running' with the horseman's
+pistol; yet the Indian is apt to kill double as many with
+his arrows or lance.</p>
+
+<p>In all these modes of hunting, the buffalo is sometimes
+dangerous; for, becoming enraged from his wounds, he
+will often make desperate lunges at his pursuer; and,
+if the horse be not well trained, he may be himself disembowelled,
+leaving his rider at the mercy of the buffalo, <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg268"></a>[p268]</span>
+as has happened on some occasions. But if the steed
+understand his business, he will dodge the animal with
+the expertness of a fencer.</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo calves (but not full-grown buffalo) are often
+taken with the lazo by Mexicans and Indians; yet, being
+separated from their dams and the droves during chases,
+these simple little creatures not unfrequently take up with
+{217} the riding animals of the hunters, and follow them
+to the camp as tamely as though they were their dams.
+If provided with domestic cows, they may be raised without
+much difficulty.</p>
+
+<p>Some of the northern Indians, particularly the Assiniboins,<a name="FNanchor_168_169" id="FNanchor_168_169"></a><a href="#Footnote_168_169" class="fnanchor">[168]</a>
+are said to practise still a distinct mode of taking
+the buffalo. A staunch pound is erected at some convenient
+point, and, after a course of mystic rites by their
+medicine-men, they start upon the enterprise. A gang
+of buffalo is frightened towards the pen, while an Indian,
+covered with one of their woolly skins, runs at a distance
+ahead. Being seen by the animals, they mistake him
+for one of their kind, and follow him into the pen. Once
+secured in the enclosure, they leisurely dispatch them with
+their arrows, as they are said to believe it would offend
+the Great Spirit and render future hunts unpropitious to
+use fire arms in killing their imprisoned game.</p>
+
+<p>However, of all other modes, our backwoodsmen prefer
+'still-hunting'—that is, stealing upon their game afoot
+with the rifle. Buffalo are much more easily approached
+than deer. When the hunter perceives a herd at rest, or
+quietly feeding, he crawls upon them behind a bank, a
+shrub, or a tuft of grass, with the greatest facility, provided
+he 'has the wind of them,' as hunters say—that is, if the
+wind blows from the buffalo; but if the reverse, he will <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg269"></a>[p269]</span>
+find it impossible to approach them, however securely
+he may have {218} concealed himself from their sight. In
+fact, their scent being acute, they seem to depend more
+upon it than their sight; for if a gang of buffalo be frightened,
+from any quarter whatever, they are apt to shape their
+course against the wind, that they may scent an enemy
+in their way.</p>
+
+<p>If the hunter succeed in 'bringing down' his first shot,
+he may frequently kill several out of the same herd; for,
+should the game neither see nor smell him, they may hear
+the rifle-cracks, and witness their companions fall one
+after another, without heeding, except to raise their heads,
+and perhaps start a little at each report. They would seem
+to fancy that the fallen are only lying down to rest, and
+they are loth to leave them. On one occasion, upon the
+Cimarron river, I saw some ten or a dozen buffaloes lying
+upon a few acres of ground, all of which had been shot
+from the same herd by a couple of our hunters. Had
+not the gang been frightened by the approaching caravan,
+perhaps a dozen more of them might have fallen.</p>
+
+<p>A dexterous hunter will sometimes 'crawl upon' a gang
+of buffalo, on a perfectly level plain. As their sight is
+at best not acute, and is always more or less obscured by
+the shaggy hair of their foreheads, they will hardly observe
+an approaching enemy when they are feeding, unless the
+wind bears them the scent. The hunter is, therefore, careful
+to 'have the wind' of them, and crawls slowly and closely
+upon the ground, until within gun-shot. If {219} he bring
+down the first, the others will perhaps retire a little, when
+he may sometimes approach behind the fallen buffalo,
+and shoot several others.</p>
+
+<p>The tenacity of these animals for life is often very extraordinary.
+When one receives even a mortal shot, he
+frequently appears not hurt—he seems to disdain to <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg270"></a>[p270]</span>
+flinch—but will curl his tail and step about as though
+he neither felt nor feared anything! If left undisturbed,
+however, he begins to stagger, and in a few moments expires:
+but if provoked, he might run for miles before he
+would fall. I have seen a party of hunters around a wounded
+and enraged bull, fire, at a few paces distance, a dozen
+or two shots, aimed at his very heart, without their seeming
+to have any effect till his anger cooled, when in an instant
+he would lie lifeless upon the ground. In such cases,
+the inexperienced hunter often aims to shoot them in the
+brain, but without success. Owing not only to the thickness
+of the scull, but to the matted wool upon it, I have
+never witnessed an instance of a rifle-ball's penetrating
+to the brain of a buffalo bull.</p>
+
+<p>The 'still-hunter' must needs be upon his guard; for the
+wounded buffalo is prone to make battle, upon the too near
+approach of his enemy. With a little presence of mind,
+however, his attacks are easily shunned. If he makes a
+lunge, the pedestrian hunter has only to wheel abruptly
+to one side; for the animal is apt to pass on in a direct line.
+I have never heard of a serious accident of the {220} kind;
+yet some frightful though amusing incidents have occurred
+in such cases.</p>
+
+<p>The buffalo never attacks, however, except when wounded.
+Even the largest droves (the opinion of some travellers
+to the contrary notwithstanding), though in the wildest
+career, are easily turned from their course by a single man
+who may intercept their way. I have crouched in the tall
+grass in the direct route of a frighted gang, when, firing
+at them on their near approach, they would spread in consternation
+to either side. Still their advance is somewhat
+frightful—their thundering rumble over the dry plain—their
+lion-like fronts and dangling beards—their open
+mouths and hanging tongues—as they come on, puffing <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg271"></a>[p271]</span>
+like a locomotive engine at every bound, does at first make
+the blood settle a little heavy about the heart.</p>
+
+<p>The gait of these animals is a clumsy gallop, and any
+common pony can overtake them in the chase; though,
+as the hunter would express it, they 'lumber' over the ground
+rather deceivingly. The cows are usually much faster
+than the bulls. It has been the remark of travellers that
+the buffalo jumps up from the ground differently from
+any other animal. The horse rises upon his fore feet
+first, and the cow upon her hind feet, but the buffalo seems
+to spring up on them all at once.</p>
+
+<p>American hunters, as well as Indians, to butcher the
+buffalo, generally turn it upon the belly, and commence
+on the back. The {221} hump-ribs, tender-loins, and
+a few other choice bits being appropriated, the remainder
+is commonly left for the wolves. The skin is chiefly used for
+buffalo rugs, but for which it is only preserved by the
+Indians during fall and winter (and then rarely but
+from the cows and bullocks), when the hair is long and
+woolly. I have never seen the buffalo hide tanned, but
+it seems too porous and spongy to make substantial
+leather. Were it valuable, thousands of hides might be
+saved that are annually left to the wolves upon the Prairies.</p>
+
+<p>Although the buffalo is the largest, he has by no means
+the control among the prairie animals: the sceptre of authority
+has been lodged with the large <i>gray wolf</i>. Though but
+little larger than the wolf of the United States, he is much
+more ferocious. The same species abound throughout
+the north of Mexico, where they often kill horses, mules
+and cattle of all sizes; and on the Prairies they make considerable
+havoc among the buffalo.</p>
+
+<p>Many curious tales are told of the wiles and expedients
+practised by these animals to secure their prey. Some <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg272"></a>[p272]</span>
+assert that they collect in companies, and chase a buffalo
+by turns, till he is fatigued, when they join and soon dispatch
+him: others, that, as the buffalo runs with the tongue
+hanging out, they snap at it in the chase till it is torn off,
+which preventing him from eating, he is reduced by starvation,
+and soon overpowered: others, that, while running,
+they gnaw and lacerate {222} the legs and ham-strings till
+they disable him, and then he is killed by the gang. Be
+this as it may, certain it is that they overcome many of the
+largest buffaloes, employing perhaps different means of
+subduing them, and among these is doubtless the last
+mentioned, for I have myself seen them with the muscles
+of the thighs cruelly mangled—a consequence no doubt
+of some of these attacks. Calves are constantly falling
+victims to the rapacity of these wolves; yet, when herds
+of buffalo are together, they defend their offspring with
+great bravery.</p>
+
+<p>Though the color of this wolf is generally a dirty gray,
+it is sometimes met with nearly white. I am of opinion,
+however, that the diversity of color originates chiefly from
+the different ages of the hair, and the age and condition
+of the animal itself. The few white wolves I have seen,
+have been lean, long-haired, and apparently very old.
+There are immense numbers of them upon the Prairies.
+Droves are frequently to be seen following in the wake of
+caravans, hunting companies, and itinerant Indian bands,
+for weeks together—not, like the jackal, so much to disinter
+the dead (though this they sometimes do), as to feast
+upon the abandoned carcasses of the buffalo which are
+so often wantonly killed and wasted. Unless in these cases,
+they are rarely seen, except in the neighborhood of buffalo;
+therefore, when the hungry traveller meets with wolves, he
+feels some assurance that supplies of his favorite game
+are at hand. <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg273"></a>[p273]</span></p>
+
+<p>{223} I have never known these animals, rapacious as
+they are, [to] extend their attacks to man, though they probably
+would, if very hungry and a favorable opportunity
+presented itself. I shall not soon forget an adventure with
+one of them, many years ago, on the frontier of Missouri.
+Riding near the prairie border, I perceived one of the
+largest and fiercest of the gray species, which had just
+descended from the west, and seemed famished to desperation.
+I at once prepared for a chase; and, being without
+arms, I caught up a cudgel, when I betook me valiantly
+to the charge, much stronger, as I soon discovered, in
+my cause than in my equipment. The wolf was in no
+humor to flee, however, but boldly met me full half-way.
+I was soon disarmed, for my club broke upon the animal's
+head. He then 'laid to' my horse's legs, which, not relishing
+the conflict, gave a plunge and sent me whirling
+over his head, and made his escape, leaving me and the
+wolf at close quarters. I was no sooner upon my feet than
+my antagonist renewed the charge; but, being without
+weapon, or any means of awakening an emotion of terror,
+save through his imagination, I took off my large black
+hat, and using it for a shield, began to thrust it towards
+his gaping jaws. My <i>ruse</i> had the desired effect; for, after
+springing at me a few times, he wheeled about and trotted
+off several paces, and stopped to gaze at me. Being apprehensive
+that he might change his mind and return to the
+attack, and conscious that, under the {224} compromise,
+I had the best of the bargain, I very resolutely—— took
+to my heels, glad of the opportunity of making a drawn
+game, though I had myself given the challenge.</p>
+
+<p>There is a small species called the <dfn>prairie wolf</dfn> on the
+frontier, and <dfn>coyote</dfn><a name="FNanchor_169_170" id="FNanchor_169_170"></a><a href="#Footnote_169_170" class="fnanchor">[169]</a> by the Mexicans, which is also found <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg274"></a>[p274]</span>
+in immense numbers on the Plains. It is rather smaller
+than an ordinary dog, nearly the color of the common gray
+wolf, and though as rapacious as the larger kind, it seems
+too cowardly to attack stout game. It therefore lives upon
+the remains of buffalo killed by hunters and by the large
+wolves, added to such small game as hares, prairie dogs,
+etc., and even reptiles and insects. It will lie for hours
+beside a 'dog-hole,' watching for the appearance of the
+little animal, which no sooner peeps out than the enemy
+pounces upon it.</p>
+
+<p>The coyote has been denominated the 'jackal of the
+Prairies;' indeed, some have reckoned it really a species
+of that animal, yet it would seem improperly, as this creature
+{225} partakes much less of the nature of the jackal than
+of the common wolf. Still, however noisy the former may
+be, he cannot exceed the prairie wolf. Like ventriloquists,
+a pair of these will represent a dozen distinct voices in such
+quick succession—will bark, chatter, yelp, whine, and
+howl in such variety of note, that one would fancy a score
+of them at hand. This, added to the long and doleful
+bugle-note of the large wolf, which often accompanies it,
+sometimes makes a night upon the Prairies perfectly hideous.—Some
+hunters assert that the coyote and the dog will
+breed together. Be this as it may, certain it is that the
+Indian dogs have a wonderfully wolfish appearance.</p>
+
+<p>The <i>elk</i> as well as the <i>deer</i> is found somewhat abundant <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg275"></a>[p275]</span>
+upon the Arkansas river, as high as the Santa Fé road,
+but from thence westward they are both very scarce; for
+these animals do not resort to the high prairie plains. Further
+south, however, in the prairies bordering the brushy
+tributaries of the Canadian and Red River, deer are exceedingly
+plenty—herds of hundreds are sometimes seen
+together; but in these southern regions there are but few
+elks.</p>
+
+<p>About the thickety streams above-mentioned, as well
+as among the Cross Timbers, the <i>black bear</i> is very common,
+living chiefly upon acorns and other fruits. The grape
+vines and the branches of the scrubby oaks, and plum-bushes,
+are in some places so torn and broken by the
+bear in pursuit of fruits, that a stranger {226} would conclude
+a violent hurricane had passed among them.</p>
+
+<p>That species of gazelle known as the <i>antelope</i> is very
+numerous upon the high plains. This beautiful animal,
+though reckoned a link between the deer and goat, is certainly
+much nearest the latter. It is about the size and
+somewhat of the figure of a large goat. Its horns also
+resemble those of the latter, being likewise persistent;
+but they are more erect, and have a short prong projecting
+in front. The ground of this animal's color a little resembles
+that of the common deer, but it is variegated with a
+whitish section or two on each side.</p>
+
+<p>The antelope is most remarkable for its fleetness: not
+bounding like the deer, but skimming over the ground
+as though upon skates. The fastest horse will rarely
+overtake them. I once witnessed an effort to catch one
+that had a hind-leg broken, but it far outstripped our
+fleetest 'buffalo-horse.' It is, therefore, too swift to be
+hunted in the chase. I have seen dogs run after this animal,
+but they would soon stop and turn about, apparently much
+ashamed of being left so far behind. <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg276"></a>[p276]</span></p>
+
+<p>The flesh of the antelope is, like that of the goat, rather
+coarse, and but little esteemed: consequently, no great
+efforts are made to take them. Being as wild as fleet,
+the hunting of them is very difficult, except they be entrapped
+by their curiosity. Meeting a stranger, they seem
+loth to leave him until they have fully found him out. They
+will often {227} take a circuit around the object of their
+curiosity, usually approaching nearer and nearer, until
+within rifle-shot—frequently stopping to gaze. Also, they
+are often decoyed with a scarlet coat, or a red handkerchief
+attached to the tip of a ramrod, which will sometimes
+allure them within reach of the hunter's aim. But this
+interesting animal, like the buffalo, is now very rarely seen
+within less than 200 miles of the frontier: though early
+voyagers tell us that it once frequented as far east as the
+Mississippi.</p>
+
+<p>The <i>bighorn</i> (<dfn>carnero cimarron</dfn>, as called by the Mexicans,
+and sometimes known to trappers as the mountain sheep),
+so abundant in most of the Rocky Mountain chain, is found
+in the spurs and table-plain cliffs about the sources of the
+Cimarron river (whence this stream acquired its name),
+as well as in the highland gorges, and other parts of those
+mountain borders. Its flesh is said to be excellent, and
+is preferred by many hunters to venison. It is larger than
+a common sheep, and covered with brownish hair instead
+of wool—darker than the deer, but whitish on the belly.
+It is most remarkable for its huge spiral horns, resembling
+in shape and curvature those of the sheep, but sometimes
+over three feet long, and four to six inches in diameter at
+the base.<a name="FNanchor_170_171" id="FNanchor_170_171"></a>
+<a href="#Footnote_170_171" class="fnanchor">[170]</a>
+<span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg277"></a>[p277]</span></p>
+
+<p>{228} The bighorn is quite celebrated for its agility, and
+its habit of secluding itself among the most inaccessible
+mountain crags. It seems to delight in perching and
+capering upon the very verge of the most frightful precipices
+and overhanging cliffs, and in skipping from rock
+to rock, regardless of the yawning chasms, hundreds of
+feet in depth, which intervene. In fact, when pursued,
+it does not hesitate, as I have been assured, to leap from
+a cliff into a valley a hundred or more feet below, where,
+lighting upon its huge horns, it springs to its feet uninjured;
+for the neck is so thick and strong as to support the greatest
+shock the animal's weight can bring upon it. Being exceedingly
+timorous, it rarely descends to the valleys, but
+feeds and sleeps about such craggy fastnesses as are inaccessible
+to the wolves and other animals of prey. This
+animal seems greatly to resemble the <i>moufflon</i> of Buffon,
+in color, figure and horns, but the <i>chamois</i> in habits.</p>
+
+<p>But of all the prairie animals, by far the most curious,
+and by no means the least celebrated, is the little <i>prairie
+dog</i>. This singular quadruped is but little larger than a
+common squirrel, its body being nearly a foot long, with a
+tail of three or four inches. The color ranges from brown
+to a dirty yellow. The flesh, though often eaten by travellers,
+is not esteemed savory. It was denominated the
+'barking squirrel,' the 'prairie ground-squirrel,' etc., by
+early explorers, with much more apparent propriety than
+the present established {229} name. Its yelp, which resembles
+that of the little toy-dog, seems its only canine
+attribute. It rather appears to occupy a middle ground
+betwixt the rabbit and squirrel—like the former in feeding
+and burrowing—like the latter in frisking, flirting, sitting
+erect, and somewhat so in its barking.</p>
+
+<p>The prairie dog has been reckoned by some naturalists
+a species of the marmot (<i>arctomys ludoviciana</i>); yet it seems <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg278"></a>[p278]</span>
+to possess scarce any other quality in common with this
+animal except that of burrowing. Some have supposed,
+it is true, that like the marmot, they lie torpid during the
+cold season; and it is observed in 'Long's Expedition,'
+that, "as they pass the winter in a lethargic state, they
+lay up no provisions," &#38;c.: but this is no doubt erroneous;
+for I have the concurrent testimony of several persons,
+who have been upon the Prairies in winter, that, like rabbits
+and squirrels, they issue from their holes every soft day;
+and therefore lay up no doubt a hoard of 'hay' (as there
+is rarely anything else to be found in the vicinity of their
+towns) for winter's use.</p>
+
+<p>A collection of their burrows has been termed by travellers
+a 'dog town,' which comprises from a dozen or so, to
+some thousands in the same vicinity; often covering an
+area of several square miles. They generally locate upon
+firm dry plains, coated with fine short grass, upon which
+they feed; for they are no doubt exclusively herbivorous.
+But even when tall coarse grass surrounds, they seem commonly
+to destroy this within their 'streets,' {230} which
+are nearly always found 'paved' with a fine species suited
+to their palates. They must need but little water, if any
+at all, as their 'towns' are often, indeed generally, found
+in the midst of the most arid plains—unless we suppose
+they dig down to subterranean fountains. At least they
+evidently burrow remarkably deep. Attempts either to
+dig or drown them out of their holes have generally proved
+unsuccessful.</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;">
+<a id="Dog-Town"></a>
+<img src="images/i281.jpg" width="600" height="344" alt="" />
+<div class="caption">"Dog Town," or Settlement of Prairie Dogs</div>
+<div class="IlloRtn"><a
+href="#ILLUSTRATIONS_TO_VOLUME_XX">Illustrations List</a></div>
+</div>
+
+<p>Approaching a 'village,' the little dogs may be observed
+frisking about the 'streets'—passing from dwelling to
+dwelling apparently on visits—sometimes a few clustered
+together as though in council—here feeding upon the
+tender herbage—there cleansing their 'houses,' or brushing
+the little hillock about the door—yet all quiet. Upon
+<span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg281"></a>[p281]</span> seeing a stranger, however, each streaks it to its home,
+but is apt to stop at the entrance, and spread the general
+alarm by a succession of shrill yelps, usually sitting erect.
+Yet at the report of a gun or the too near approach of the
+visitor, they dart down and are seen no more till the cause
+of alarm seems to have disappeared.</p>
+
+<p>Two other animals appear to live in communion with the
+prairie dogs—the <i>rattle-snake</i> and a small <i>owl</i>;<a name="FNanchor_171_172" id="FNanchor_171_172"></a><a href="#Footnote_171_172" class="fnanchor">[171]</a> but both
+are no doubt intruders, resorting to these burrows for
+shelter, and to feed, it is presumed, upon the 'pups' of the
+inmates.</p>
+
+<p>{231} Rattle-snakes are exceedingly abundant upon these
+plains: scores of them are sometimes killed in the course
+of a day's travel; yet they seem remarkably harmless, for
+I have never witnessed an instance of a man's being bitten,
+though they have been known to crawl even into the beds
+of travellers.<a name="FNanchor_172_173" id="FNanchor_172_173"></a><a href="#Footnote_172_173" class="fnanchor">[172]</a> Mules are sometimes bitten by them,
+yet very rarely, though they must daily walk over considerable
+numbers.</p>
+
+<p>The <dfn>horned frog</dfn>, as modern travellers have christened
+it, or horned lizard,<a name="FNanchor_173_174" id="FNanchor_173_174"></a><a
+href="#Footnote_173_174" class="fnanchor">[173]</a> as those of earlier times more rationally
+called it, is the most famed and curious reptile of the
+plains. Like the prairie dog, it is only found in the dry
+regions, often many miles from water. It no doubt lives
+nearly, if not wholly, without drink. Its food probably
+consists chiefly of ants and other insects; though many
+Mexicans will have it, that the <dfn>camaleon</dfn> (as they call it)
+<dfn>vive del aire</dfn>—lives upon the air. It has been kept several <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg282"></a>[p282]</span>
+months without partaking of a particle of aliment. I once
+took a pair of them upon the far-western plains, which I
+shut up in a box and carried to one of the eastern cities,
+where they were kept for several months before they died,—without
+having taken food or water, though repeatedly
+offered them.</p>
+
+<p>{232} The whole length of the horned frog is from two
+to five inches—body flatted horizontally, oval-shaped,
+and between one and two inches wide in the middle. The
+back is beautifully variegated, with white and brown, and
+sometimes a yellowish purple. The belly is whitish and
+covered with brown specks. It acquired its name from
+a pair of short horns projecting from the top of the head—with
+other smaller horny protuberances upon the head and
+body. It has a short tail, which gives it a lizard-like appearance.
+It is a very inoffensive creature, and may be
+handled with perfect impunity, notwithstanding its uncouth
+appearance, and sometimes vicious demonstrations.</p>
+
+<p>As birds mostly incline to the timbered regions, there
+is but a scant variety to be met with upon the plains. About
+the Cross Timbers and indeed on all the brushy creeks,
+especially to the southward, are quantities of wild <i>turkeys</i>,
+which are frequently seen ranging in large flocks in the
+bordering prairies. That species of American grouse,
+known west as the <i>prairie-hen</i>, is very abundant on the
+frontier, and is quite destructive, in autumn, to the prairie
+corn-fields. This fowl is rarely seen over two hundred
+miles beyond the border. <i>Partridges</i> are found about as
+far west; but their number is quite limited anywhere beyond
+the precincts of the settlements. About the streams
+there are different species of geese and ducks, as well as
+both sand-hill and white cranes: also flocks of a species
+of plover and {233} curlew. Add to these numbers of
+hawks and ravens, and we have most of the fowls of the <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg283"></a>[p283]</span>
+Prairies. Flocks of the latter follow in the wake of caravans
+with even greater constancy than wolves.</p>
+
+<p>The <i>bee</i>, among Western pioneers, is the proverbial precursor
+of the Anglo-American population: in fact, the
+aborigines of the frontier have generally corroborated
+the notion; for they used to say, they knew the whites were
+not far behind, when bees appeared among them. This
+partial coincidence, I suppose, is the result of their emigration
+westward being at nearly an even pace with that
+of the settlers. As yet no honey-bees seem to have been
+discovered as far westward as any part of the Rocky Mountains.
+They are scattered, however, to the distance of
+two or three hundred miles west of the Missouri and Arkansas
+frontier, where there is timber affording them suitable
+habitations. On the Santa Fé route but few have been
+found beyond the Council Grove.</p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_163_164" id="Footnote_163_164"></a><a href="#FNanchor_163_164"><span
+class="label">[163]</span></a> <i>Mustang</i> would most naturally seem a corruption of the Spanish adjective
+<dfn>mostrenco</dfn> (without owner), but the Mexicans call wild horses <dfn>mesteñas</dfn>, a synonyme
+in one of its senses with <dfn>mostrenco</dfn>.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_164_165" id="Footnote_164_165"></a><a href="#FNanchor_164_165"><span class="label">[164]</span></a> The bulls usually shed in the spring, from the shoulders back, but not in
+front, which imparts to them quite a lion-like appearance.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_165_166" id="Footnote_165_166"></a><a href="#FNanchor_165_166"><span class="label">[165]</span></a> It has often been remarked by travellers, that
+however much buffalo meat
+one may eat, no inconvenience is ever suffered from it.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_166_167" id="Footnote_166_167"></a><a href="#FNanchor_166_167"><span class="label">[166]</span></a> Often, but it would seem improperly, called
+'buffalo <i>robes</i>.'—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_167_168" id="Footnote_167_168"></a><a href="#FNanchor_167_168"><span class="label">[167]</span></a> Benjamin Louis Eulalie de Bonneville was born in France in 1796. At an
+early age he came to America with his mother, where he was cared for by Thomas
+Paine, who secured for him a cadetship in the United States Military Academy, from
+which he was graduated in 1819, when he entered the army. During Lafayette's
+visit of 1825, Bonneville was detailed as his aide. He was later stationed on the
+Western frontier, and obtaining leave of absence (1831) planned an extensive
+fur-trading and exploring expedition. This is the journey graphically described
+by Washington Irving, in <cite>Rocky Mountains, or Scenes, Incidents and Adventures
+in the far West, digested from the journal of B. L. E. Bonneville of the army of the
+United States</cite> (Phila., 1837). Bonneville was absent from civilization for three
+years (1832-35), and wandered as far west as the Columbia. His trading venture
+was but moderately successful, and he returned to army life, participating in both
+the Seminole and Mexican wars, in the latter of which he was severely wounded.
+During the War of Secession, he was stationed chiefly at frontier posts, being
+breveted brigadier-general in 1865. He died at Fort Smith in 1878.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_168_169" id="Footnote_168_169"></a><a href="#FNanchor_168_169"><span class="label">[168]</span></a> For the Assiniboin consult our volume xiv, p. 275,
+note 197.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_169_170" id="Footnote_169_170"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_169_170"><span class="label">[169]</span></a>
+<i>Canis latrans</i>, a distinction to which its
+noisiness emphatically entitles it.
+Clavigero says of this animal: "El <i>coyotl, ó coyote</i>,
+como dicen los Españoles,
+es una fiera semejante al lobo en la voracidad, á la zorra en la astucia, al perro
+en la forma, y en otras propiedades al <i>adive</i>, ó <i>chacal</i>; por lo que algunos escritores
+Megicanos lo han numerado entre varias de aquellas especias; pero es indudable
+que se diferencia de todas ellas," etc.—<cite>Hist. Ant. de Még. Tom. I. p. 40.</cite>
+</p>
+<p>
+A similar propensity is observable among us to refer nearly all American animals
+to European species, whereas but very few that are legitimately indigenous to this
+continent, agree in every particular to those of the Old World. It would surely
+have contributed to the copiousness and euphony of the language, as well as to
+perspicuity in the distinction of species, had we, like the Mexicans, retained the
+Indian names of our indigenous animals.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_170_171" id="Footnote_170_171"></a><a href="#FNanchor_170_171"><span class="label">[170]</span></a> Mr. Irving furnishes the following dimensions of a male of this species:
+"From the nose to the base of the tail, five feet; length of the tail, four inches;
+girth of the body, four feet; height, three feet eight inches," &#38;c.—<cite>Rocky Mts.,
+Vol. I., p.</cite> 48.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_171_172" id="Footnote_171_172"></a><a href="#FNanchor_171_172"><span class="label">[171]</span></a> This has been called the <i>Coquimbo owl</i>. Its note, whether natural or imitative,
+much resembles that of the prairie dog.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_172_173" id="Footnote_172_173"></a><a href="#FNanchor_172_173"><span class="label">[172]</span></a> Though I never saw it tried, it has been said that snakes will not crawl over
+a hair-rope stretched upon the ground, and that consequently these form good
+barriers to keep these reptiles out of a bed.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_173_174" id="Footnote_173_174"></a><a href="#FNanchor_173_174"><span class="label">[173]</span></a> Orbicular lizard, as it has been technically denominated. It would seem
+a species of chameleon, having apparently some, though very little, variability of
+color.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div></div>
+
+<h3 title="Chapter XXVIII: Aborigines of America">
+<a name="CHAPTER_XXVIII_XII" id="CHAPTER_XXVIII_XII"></a>
+CHAPTER XXVIII {XII}
+<br />ABORIGINES OF AMERICA</h3>
+
+<p class="subhead">Indian Cosmogony — Traditions of Origin — Identity of Religious
+Notions — Adoration of the Sun — Shawnee Faith — Anecdote of
+Tecumseh — Legendary Traditions — Missionaries, and Success
+of the Catholics — The Indian's Heaven — Burial Customs — Ancient
+Accounts — Depositing the Dead on Scaffolds — Superstition
+and Witchcraft — Indian Philosophy — Polygamy and other
+Matrimonial Affairs — Abhorrence of Incest — Difference in Character — Indian
+Hospitality — Traits of the Ancient Asiatics — Names — Relationship
+of Different Tribes — Dreadful Decrease
+of the Indians.<a href="#tocXXVIII"
+class="toclnk">toc</a></p>
+
+<p>It will hardly be expected from a work making so little
+pretension as this to scientific accuracy and completeness,
+that the remarks which my plan necessarily leads me to
+make, concerning the aborigines of western America,
+should be either critical or comprehensive. Neither can
+I feel that it is a topic which I am at liberty wholly to disregard.
+The opportunities which I have enjoyed for <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg284"></a>[p284]</span>
+obtaining a knowledge of the character and habits of the
+western Indians have been such, that I trust that a brief
+account of them may prove in some measure new, and not
+altogether uninteresting to a portion of my readers. Impressed
+with this belief, I propose, in the few {235} following
+pages, to record such facts as shall seem to be most novel,
+and to corroborate, in my humble measure, occasional
+others which have before been related. With this view,
+I shall proceed to notice, in the present chapter, such leading
+characteristics of the aborigines generally, as shall
+seem most noteworthy; and then, in those that follow, ask
+the reader's attention to many peculiarities which make the
+most conspicuous differences between them.</p>
+
+<p>No aboriginal nation or people has ever yet been discovered,
+to my knowledge, which has not professed to
+have a mysterious ancestry of a mythical character. It
+is interesting to mark the analogies and the differences
+between their various systems. Although among some
+tribes who have lived much in communication with the
+whites, their cosmogony has been confounded very much
+with the Mosaic or Scripture account, so that it is now
+often difficult to distinguish clearly the aboriginal from
+the imported, yet all the Americo-Indian tribes have more
+or less preserved their traditions on this subject. The
+old full-blood Choctaws, for instance, relate that the first
+of their tribe issued from a cave in Nunnewaya or Bending
+Mountain, in the 'Old Nation,' east of the Mississippi;
+yet this tradition has but little currency among the young
+men and mixed-bloods of the tribe. The minute account
+of this supposed origin cannot now be readily procured;
+yet some idea may be formed of it from a kindred tradition
+among {236} the Mandans which has been preserved to
+us by Lewis and Clark, and is thus related: <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg285"></a>[p285]</span></p>
+
+<p>"The whole nation resided in one large village under
+ground near a subterraneous lake: a grape vine extended
+its roots down to their habitation and gave them a view of
+the light: some of the most adventurous climbed up the
+vine, and were delighted with the sight of the earth, which
+they found covered with buffalo, and rich with every kind
+of fruits: returning with the grapes they had gathered, their
+countrymen were so pleased with the taste of them that
+their whole nation resolved to leave their dull residence for
+the charms of the upper regions; men, women and children
+ascended by means of the vine; but when about half the
+nation had reached the surface of the earth, a corpulent
+woman who was clambering up the vine broke it with her
+weight, and closed upon herself and the rest of the nation,
+the light of the sun."<a name="FNanchor_174_175" id="FNanchor_174_175"></a><a href="#Footnote_174_175" class="fnanchor">[174]</a></p>
+
+<p>Besides the Mandans it seems that other neighboring
+tribes had somewhat analogous notions of their origin.
+An early explorer relates that the Osages believed that
+their fore-fathers grew from a snail, which, having become
+a man, married the daughter of a beaver, whence sprang
+the present race.</p>
+
+<p>The resemblance of the American Indians to each other,
+however, is not more conspicuous in anything than in their
+religious opinions. They seem to have no well-defined
+creeds: yet there are very few but profess a faith in some
+sort of First Cause—a Great {237} Spirit, a Master of
+Life, who rules the destinies of the world. Though the
+different nations have not always typified their deity by
+the same objects, yet by far the greater number seem to
+have fixed upon the sun as the fit object of their adoration.<a name="FNanchor_175_176" id="FNanchor_175_176"></a><a href="#Footnote_175_176" class="fnanchor">[175]</a>
+"Next to <dfn>Virachocha</dfn>, or their supreme God," says Father <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg286"></a>[p286]</span>
+Acosta,<a name="FNanchor_176_177" id="FNanchor_176_177"></a><a href="#Footnote_176_177" class="fnanchor">[176]</a> speaking of the Indians of Peru, "that which
+most commonly they have and do adore amongst the Infidells
+is the Sunne." Many of the Mexican tribes<a name="FNanchor_177_178" id="FNanchor_177_178"></a><a href="#Footnote_177_178" class="fnanchor">[177]</a> profess
+the same faith, and particularly those of New Mexico,
+as has already been mentioned. This seems also the
+most current among the Comanches and other wild tribes
+of the Prairies: and the Choctaws and several other nations
+of the frontier appear at least to have held the sun in great
+veneration.</p>
+
+<p>But of all the Indian tribes, none appear to have ascribed
+to the 'fountain of light' more of the proper attributes of
+deity than the Shawnees. They argue, with some plausibility,
+that the sun animates everything—therefore, he is
+clearly the Master of Life, or the Great Spirit; and that
+everything is produced originally from the bosom of the
+earth—therefore, she is the mother of creation. The
+following anecdote<a name="FNanchor_178_179" id="FNanchor_178_179"></a><a href="#Footnote_178_179" class="fnanchor">[178]</a> (as told to me by a gentleman of
+integrity), which transpired upon {238} the occasion of an
+interview of Tecumseh with Gen. Harrison, is as illustrative
+of the religious opinions of the Shawnees, as it is characteristic
+of the hauteur and independent spirit of that celebrated <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg287"></a>[p287]</span>
+Shawnee chief. The General, having called Tecumseh
+for a 'talk,' desired him to take a seat, saying, "Come
+here, Tecumseh, and sit by your father." "You my
+father?" replied the chief, with a stern air—"No! yonder
+sun is my father (pointing towards it), and the earth is
+my mother; so I will rest on her bosom"—and immediately
+seated himself upon the ground, according to Indian
+custom.</p>
+
+<p>But though the Shawnees consider the sun the type,
+if not the essence, of the Great Spirit, many also believe in
+an evil genius, who makes all sorts of bad things, to counterbalance
+those made by the Good Spirit. For instance,
+when the latter made a sheep, a rose, wholesome herbs, etc.,
+the bad spirit matched them with a wolf, a thorn, poisonous
+plants, and the like. They also appear to think there
+is a kind of purgatory in which the spirits of the wicked
+may be cleansed before entering into their elysium.</p>
+
+<p>The worship of all the aborigines seems to consist chiefly
+in feasting and dancing. A worthy missionary among the
+Shawnees related to me the following legendary tradition,
+as explanatory of their ideas of another world, and the
+institution of their worship, which may serve as a fair
+sample of the traditions of many other tribes.</p>
+
+<p>{239} In days of yore (say the Shawnees) there lived a
+pious brother and an affectionate sister, who were inordinately
+attached to each other. It came to pass that the
+sister sickened and died, and was carried to the world of
+spirits. The good brother was inconsolable, and for a
+while refused to eat or drink, or to partake of any kind of
+nourishment: he wished to follow his beloved sister. At
+length he resolved to set out in search of her; so he commenced
+his pilgrimage toward the setting sun. Steadily
+pursuing the same course for days and moons together,
+he at last came to where the sky and earth meet; and finding <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg288"></a>[p288]</span>
+an opening, he ascended into the upper regions. He
+now turned his course towards the rising sun, which he
+continued, above the sky, till he came to the abode of his
+grandfather—which seems but another name for one of
+the good spirits. This sage, knowing his errand, gave
+him 'medicine' to transform him into a spirit, that he
+might pass through the celestial courts. He also gave him
+instructions how to proceed, and where he would find his
+sister. He said she would be at a dance; and when she
+rose to join in the amusement, he must seize and ensconce
+her in the hollow of a reed with which he was furnished,
+and cover the orifice with the end of his finger.</p>
+
+<p>After an arduous peregrination through the land of
+spirits, the brother found and secured his sister as directed.
+He returned with his charge to the habitation of his grandfather,
+who gave another 'medicine' to transform {240}
+them both into material beings again, that they might
+revisit their brothers on earth. The sage also explained
+to them the mysteries of heaven and the sacred rites of
+worship, that they might instruct their tribe therein. When
+about to start back, the venerable spirit told them that the
+route by which the brother had come was very circuitous—there
+was a much nearer way; and opening a trap-door
+through the sky, they beheld their native town just below
+them. So the good brother and sister descended; and
+returning home, a great feast was celebrated, accompanied
+by a solemn dance—in accordance with the grandfather's
+instructions. Thus originated, as they say, the sacred
+dances and other religious ceremonies now in practice.</p>
+
+<p>As they believe the Indian heaven separate, and essentially
+different and distinct from that of the whites, and as
+they do not wish their people divided, this has often occasioned
+a serious opposition to the labors of the missionaries.<a name="FNanchor_179_180" id="FNanchor_179_180"></a><a href="#Footnote_179_180" class="fnanchor">[179]</a> <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg289"></a>[p289]</span>
+For the purpose of thwarting the {241} measures of these,
+a noted anti-christian sage 'played off,' a few years ago,
+the following 'vision.' Being very ill (as they relate), this
+sage, to all appearance, died, and became stiff and cold,
+except a spot upon his breast, which still retained the heat
+of life. In this state he remained a day or more, when he
+again breathed and returned among the living: and calling
+his friends about him, he related the scenes he had witnessed.
+He had ascended to the Indian's heaven, he said, which he
+described as usual: a fine country, abounding in all sorts
+of game, and everything an Indian could desire. There
+he met with his grandfather, who said to him, "It is meet,
+my son, that thou return to the earth, and warn thy brothers
+against the dangers that await them. Tell them to beware
+of the religion of the white man: that every Indian who
+embraces it is obliged to take the road to the white man's
+heaven; and yet no red man is permitted to enter there,
+but will have to wander about forever without a resting-place."</p>
+
+<p>The identity of the notions which the different tribes
+have conceived of a future existence, and the character of
+the 'world of spirits,' seems still more general. They <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg290"></a>[p290]</span>
+fancy {242} heaven but another material world, superior,
+it is true, yet resembling this—a kind of elysian vale, or
+paradise—a 'happy hunting-ground,' abounding in game
+and all their comforts of life, which may be procured without
+labor. This elysium they generally seem to locate
+'upon the sky,' which they fancy a material solid vault.
+It appears impossible for them, in their pristine barbarism,
+to conceive of a spiritual existence, or of a world differing
+materially from that which they see around them.</p>
+
+<p>Father Hennepin (writing about 1680) relates, that the
+northern Indians inquired about the manner of living in
+heaven, and remarks: "When I made answer that they
+live there without eating or drinking, 'We will not go
+thither,' said they, 'because we must not eat;' and when
+I have added that there would be no occasion for food there,
+they clapt their hands to their mouths, as a sign of admiration,
+and said, '<em>Thou art a great liar!—is there anything
+can live without eating?</em>'"<a name="FNanchor_180_181" id="FNanchor_180_181"></a><a href="#Footnote_180_181" class="fnanchor">[180]</a></p>
+
+<p>Similar opinions, among many different tribes, I have
+heard declared in direct terms; yet, did we want further
+testimony, some of their burial customs and funeral rites
+would seem to indicate their ideas of the future state. The
+Cherokees, Choctaws, Creeks, Kansas, and kindred tribes,
+besides many others, or perhaps most others of the frontier,
+have been accustomed to inter the most valuable property
+of the deceased and many necessaries with them. "Their
+whole property was buried {243} with them,"<a name="FNanchor_181_182" id="FNanchor_181_182"></a><a href="#Footnote_181_182" class="fnanchor">[181]</a> says an
+intelligent Cherokee, in some manuscript notes concerning
+his ancestors, I have in my possession: and I have been
+assured by creditable natives, that, within their recollection <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg291"></a>[p291]</span>
+they have seen, at these burials, provisions, salt, and other
+necessaries, interred with the dead for their long journey.</p>
+
+<p>There are very few of the prairie Indians but practise
+something of this kind: many kill the favorite hunting-horses,
+and deposit the arms, etc., of the deceased, for
+his use in the chase, when he arrives at the 'happy hunting
+ground.' We are also informed by Capt. Bonneville, and
+other travellers, that this is practised by some, if not all,
+of the natives beyond the Rocky Mountains. The same
+is told of the Navajoes, Apaches, and other uncatholicized
+tribes of the north of Mexico.</p>
+
+<p>Peter Martyr, a learned and celebrated protestant divine,
+who wrote his "Decades of the Newe Worlde"<a name="FNanchor_182_183" id="FNanchor_182_183"></a><a href="#Footnote_182_183" class="fnanchor">[182]</a> towards
+the middle of the sixteenth century, observes that, "in
+many places of the firme lande, when any of the kynges
+dye, all his householde servauntes, as well women as men
+which have continually served hym, kyl themselves, beleavynge,
+as they are taught by the devyl <i>Tuyra</i>, that they
+which kyll themselves when the kynge dyeth, go with hym
+to heaven and serve hym in the same place and office as
+they dyd before on {244} the earth whyle he lyved.<a name="FNanchor_183_184" id="FNanchor_183_184"></a><a href="#Footnote_183_184" class="fnanchor">[183]</a> And
+that all that refuse so to doo, when after they dye by theyr
+naturall death or otherwyse, theyr soules to dye with theyr
+bodyes, and to bee dissolved into ayer and become nothynge
+as do the soules of hogges, byrdes or fysshes, or other brute <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg292"></a>[p292]</span>
+beastes."<a name="FNanchor_184_185" id="FNanchor_184_185"></a><a href="#Footnote_184_185" class="fnanchor">[184]</a> In corroboration of a similar custom among
+the natives along the Mississippi, in 1542, Herrera relates,<a name="FNanchor_185_186" id="FNanchor_185_186"></a><a href="#Footnote_185_186" class="fnanchor">[185]</a>
+that, after the death of Fernando de Soto, and his party
+had set out westward, they were joined by a youth, who
+stated that he had fled to escape being buried with his lord
+who had died; which was the practice in that country.
+Travellers from the upper lakes to the Mississippi speak
+of similar customs, at an early day, among the tribes of that
+quarter.</p>
+
+<p>It would appear that they believe everything, both animate
+and inanimate—beasts, arms, ornaments, etc.—to
+possess immortal attributes, subject to resurrection in
+the world of spirits. However, did not their motives seem
+so well defined by the direct allusions to their notions of
+futurity, we might suppose, as is frequently urged, that the
+burying of property, slaves, etc., with the deceased, was
+only intended as a mark of respect; which, indeed, is hardly
+more irrational than the custom {245} of interring costly
+garniture and appendages with the dead among us.</p>
+
+<p>Some of the modes of burial adopted by the American
+aborigines are different, I believe, from those of any other
+people. Though, as among civilized nations, even the
+wildest tribes sometimes inter in ordinary graves, yet they
+frequently deposit their dead, in a sitting and even in a
+standing posture, in pits, caves, and hollow trees; and
+occasionally, they lay the corpse out upon scaffolds suspended
+from the branches of trees, or resting upon them
+where they will admit of it, so as to be out of reach of the
+wolves and other beasts.</p>
+
+<p>I was once, with a little caravan, travelling up the course
+of the Arkansas river, when, a thunder-storm coming up <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg293"></a>[p293]</span>
+suddenly, and night drawing near, we turned the wagons
+as soon as we could, to the river-bank, to encamp. The
+bustle of ungearing and securing the teams before they
+should be frightened by the tempest, was hardly over,
+when we discovered a platform suspended above our heads,
+upon the branches of a cottonwood, which, upon examination,
+was found to contain an Indian corpse, from whose
+bones the putrid flesh had not yet separated!</p>
+
+<p>This mode of disposing of the dead would seem once
+to have been quite extensive; for, as well as upon the western
+prairies, it formerly prevailed among the Potawatomies
+of the north, and the Choctaws of the south, at least while
+on their expeditions. In this case, if practicable, they
+would leave a band of {246} aged men, known as bone-pickers,'
+to clean the bones, when the flesh decayed, and
+carry them to their village for interment.</p>
+
+<p>Barbarians are generally superstitious to an extreme,
+believing in hobgoblins, witchcraft, legerdemain and all
+sorts of mummeries.<a name="FNanchor_186_187" id="FNanchor_186_187"></a><a href="#Footnote_186_187" class="fnanchor">[186]</a> Like many grandmothers in backwoods
+life, they delight in recounting the extraordinary
+apparitions, transmigrations, sorceries, etc., which they
+pretend to have witnessed. Nothing seems too absurd for
+their belief. Among many other cases of similar cast,
+an intelligent Potawatomie once assured me that he had
+witnessed the death of one of his nation, who had received <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg294"></a>[p294]</span>
+a stab in his side with a knife (probably in some illicit
+adventure); and it being unknown to his friends how the
+wound had been inflicted, it was currently reported and
+believed, that from their {247} present home on the frontier
+of Missouri, he had visited the 'Old Nation' in Michigan,<a name="FNanchor_187_188" id="FNanchor_187_188"></a><a href="#Footnote_187_188" class="fnanchor">[187]</a>
+poisoned an enemy there, received the fatal stab,
+and returned and died, all in one day.</p>
+
+<p>If you tell an Indian that such things are absurd and
+impossible, he is apt to answer, "It may be so with the white
+man, but how do you know it to be impossible with the
+Indian? You tell us many strange things which happened
+to your fathers—we don't contradict them, though we
+believe such things never could have happened to the red
+man." Or, they will reply, perhaps, as they did to Father
+Hennepin in a similar case: "Fie, thou knowest not what
+thou sayest; thou may'st know what has passed in thy own
+Country, for thy Ancestors have told thee of them; but thou
+canst not know what has passed in ours before the Spirits
+(that is to say the Europeans) came hither."</p>
+
+<p>In their matrimonial customs there is also a similarity
+among most of the American savages. Polygamy seems
+once to have been universal; and I believe still is so among
+the uncivilized tribes. Every man takes as many wives
+as he can obtain, or is able to support. The squaws, however,
+the more willingly consent to this multiplicity, as it
+affords additional helpmates in their labors. Polygamy
+among these savages would appear, indeed, not altogether
+an unwise provision. At least it seems palliated with such <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg295"></a>[p295]</span>
+a belligerent people, who lose so many males in their continual
+wars, leaving a great surplus of females; and {248}
+where the duties of the latter are so numerous and so severe.</p>
+
+<p>The custom of buying wives, or at least making large
+presents to their parents, has always been very general;
+and still exists, not only among the more savage, but even
+with many of the partially civilized nations. Yet, notwithstanding
+their depravity in other respects, there is one
+thing truly remarkable in their marriages. All modern
+observers seem to agree with the ancient authors, that they
+universally abhor incestuous connections. Among the
+Creeks, even the marrying of cousins was punished by
+cutting off the ears. The Cherokees (according to some
+manuscript notes which I have of an intelligent member
+of the tribe) were prohibited from marrying in their own
+clans (i. e. kindred) under penalty of death; and their clans
+themselves were their executioners. But, although the
+Indians thus so strictly prohibit marriage within the degree
+of consanguinity, it is not so with those of affinity among
+many tribes. The Otoes, Kansas, and others of the same
+stock, will not only marry several sisters, but their deceased
+brothers' wives; in fact, this last seems considered a duty
+so that the orphan children of the brother may not be without
+a protector.<a name="FNanchor_188_189" id="FNanchor_188_189"></a><a href="#Footnote_188_189" class="fnanchor">[188]</a></p>
+
+<p>While the aborigines of the New World {249} have been
+noted above almost every other uncivilized nation in history,
+for their vindictiveness and cruelty towards their enemies,
+there are, in these attributes, wide differences apparent
+among them. The Indians along the Pacific coast, as
+well as in most of Mexico, were always more mild and
+peaceable than those of the United States. Hence it is, <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg296"></a>[p296]</span>
+in fact, that the Spaniards did not meet with that formidable
+resistance to their conquests which they encountered among
+the fiery tribes of Florida, or that relentless and desperate
+hostility which the Anglo-Americans experienced in the
+first settlement of most parts of the United States.</p>
+
+<p>But in the common trait of hospitality to strangers all
+the western tribes are alike distinguished. The traveller
+who is thrown upon their charity, is almost universally
+received and treated with the greatest kindness; and,
+though they might pilfer him to the skin, and even place
+his person in jeopardy, if he show want of confidence in
+them, and endeavor to conceal his effects, yet his property
+is generally secure when under their charge: they appear
+to consider a breach of confidence one of the greatest crimes.</p>
+
+<p>Among the wild tribes, as well as among most of the
+unadulterated border Indians, to set something to eat before
+a friend, and even a stranger, immediately upon his arrival
+at a lodge or a cabin, is deemed not only an act of hospitality
+but of necessary etiquette; and a refusal to partake is looked
+upon as an unfriendly {250} token—an insult, in fact, to
+the family. Travellers are often severely taxed to preserve
+the good feeling of their hosts in this particular, especially
+among the prairie Indians. One at all fastidious in matters
+of diet, would find it hard to relish food from a greasy hornspoon
+which every urchin had been using; and then to
+ladle it out of a pot which had been common for all the
+papooses and pups of the premises: or to partake from a
+slice rolled up in a musty skin, or a dirtier blanket. And
+yet an apology even of having already dined half-a-dozen
+times would scarcely palliate the insult of a refusal. Though
+one visit fifty lodges in the course of a day, he must taste
+the food of every one.</p>
+
+<p>The Indian system of chiefs, which still prevails, and
+is nearly the same everywhere, except with the Cherokees, <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg297"></a>[p297]</span>
+Choctaws, Chickasaws, and the Creeks to a degree, seems
+to bear a strong resemblance to that of the patriarchs of
+old; which, with their clans so analogous to those of our
+forefathers, perhaps affords as strong a proof as any other
+of their Asiatic origin.<a name="FNanchor_189_190" id="FNanchor_189_190"></a><a href="#Footnote_189_190" class="fnanchor">[189]</a> To this might be added their
+{251} mode of naming;<a name="FNanchor_190_191" id="FNanchor_190_191"></a><a href="#Footnote_190_191" class="fnanchor">[190]</a> for the Indians universally apply <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg298"></a>[p298]</span>
+names significant of acts, qualities, beasts, birds, etc., to
+their offspring,—a practice which seems to have prevailed
+generally among the ancient Asiatics. Surnames have
+only been adopted by educated families {252} and mixed-bloods
+of the border nations, and are generally taken from
+their missionaries or some favorite friends; except they
+inherit surnames from parents of white extraction.</p>
+
+<p>That the Indians of America are decreasing in numbers is
+very well known, but many are dwindling away, perhaps,
+at a more rapid pace than is generally suspected. The
+number of the Osages, it is confidently believed, has diminished
+fifty per cent. within the last ten years: the once
+powerful tribe of Missouries is now reduced to a mere
+remnant; while the Mandans, as a nation, have become
+entirely extinct: and others have shared or bid fair soon
+to share the same fate. This has resulted partially from
+the ravages of the small-pox and other diseases, yet as much
+no doubt from the baneful effects of intoxicating liquors.
+On this account, their diminution has generally been less
+in proportion as they are more remote from the whites.
+But the 'red man' has suffered from his intercourse with the
+whites not in this respect alone. The incentives to luxury
+and avarice continually presented by them, have had a very
+pernicious influence. Formerly the savages were contented
+with the indispensables of life—generally sober,
+just and charitable; but now they will sacrifice their comfort—risk
+their lives, and commit the most atrocious outrages
+to gratify their vanity and lusts—to bedeck themselves
+with gewgaws and finery.</p>
+
+<h3 title="Chapter XXIX: The Frontier Indians">
+<a name="CHAPTER_XXIX_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XXIX_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XXIX {XIII}
+<br />THE FRONTIER INDIANS</h3>
+
+<p class="subhead"><a id="Pg299"></a>
+Causes of Removal West — Annuities, etc. — Dissatisfaction of the
+Indians — Their Melioration by the Change — Superiority of their
+present Location — Lands granted to them — Improvements, Agriculture,
+etc. — Their Slaves — Manufactures — Style of Living,
+Dress, etc. — Literary Opportunities and Improvements — Choctaw
+Academy — Harpies and Frauds — Games — Systems of Government —
+Polygamy — Ancient
+Laws and Customs — Intemperance — Preventive
+Measures — A Choctaw Enactment — Marriage
+and Funeral Customs of the Choctaws — The Creeks — Their
+Summary Executions — Mourning — Indian Titles — The Northern
+Tribes — Census of the Frontier Nations.<a href="#tocXXIX"
+class="toclnk">toc</a></p>
+
+<p>For the purpose of a somewhat more discriminating
+notice of the Indian tribes beyond our western border—for
+it is to those I intend my remarks, in these pages, to be
+strictly confined—I will distinguish them, according to
+the prevailing classification of the West, as 'Frontier' or
+'Border Indians,' which title includes those occupying that
+district lying west of and immediately adjoining Arkansas
+and Missouri, and known as the <dfn>Indian Territory</dfn>; and
+the 'Wild Tribes' or 'Prairie Indians,' by which are meant
+those who are found west of the others, and who range
+those immense {254} plains from the borders of the Indian
+Territory to the Rocky Mountains. Of these I will speak
+in their order.</p>
+
+<p>The most important of the frontier tribes, as is well
+known, are the Cherokees, Choctaws and Chickasaws,
+Creeks and Seminoles, Shawnees, Delawares, etc. It is
+equally well known that most of these tribes were removed
+from within the States, not less because of the vicious propensities
+which they contracted and the imposition to which
+they were continually exposed, than on account of the
+difficulty of maintaining peaceful relations between them
+and our own citizens, while they remained in their midst.
+Their situation within the States certainly presented quite <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg300"></a>[p300]</span>
+an anomaly in government—independent powers within
+the limits of others claiming sovereign jurisdiction.<a name="FNanchor_191_192" id="FNanchor_191_192"></a><a href="#Footnote_191_192" class="fnanchor">[191]</a></p>
+
+<p>A mistaken philanthropy—mistaken for want of a full
+knowledge of all the bearings of the subject—among some
+people, has occasioned much censure upon this branch
+of the policy of our government. But were we to take into
+consideration the treatment of other nations towards the
+aborigines of America, that of the United States, when
+placed in contrast, would certainly present a very benevolent
+aspect. They have always been removed by their
+own consent, obtained through their chiefs and councils;
+and have not only been given equal amounts of land, west
+of the border, but have generally been removed and furnished
+a year's subsistence {255} at the expense of the government,
+and received valuable equivalents beside, in utensils
+and other necessaries, and in regular annuities. These
+are sums, generally in money, annually paid, for a series
+of years, to the several tribes, proportioned usually to the
+size of the tribe and the amount of territory acquired from
+it. This institution of annuities, however, though intended
+as the most charitable, has doubtless been the most injurious
+branch of the policy of the United States towards the Indians.
+Being thus afforded the means of living without much labor,
+they have neglected manufactures, and even agriculture,
+to a considerable degree, and many of them have acquired <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg301"></a>[p301]</span>
+confirmed habits of indolence and dissipation; and now
+that their annuities are growing short, they are being left
+destitute, without the energy, the industry, or the means
+wherewith to procure a livelihood.</p>
+
+<p>But, notwithstanding the constant efforts of the general
+government to make them comfortable, and the immense
+sums of money which have been paid them, and their being
+located in regions far better suited to their wants and their
+habits of life than those they abandoned, many of them
+appear greatly dissatisfied with the change and with the
+government; which seems painfully demonstrative of that
+perverse, restless disposition, which appears ever to have
+characterized the conduct of half-civilized nations.</p>
+
+<p>One ostensible reason for their unwillingness {256} to
+remove, has been a reluctance to abandon their native
+homes and the 'graves of their fathers.' Many fabulous
+legends are told of the attachment of the Indian to his
+native soil, yet but few who are acquainted with their
+habitudes, will place much stress on this. Their own
+traditions, as well as experience, have shown, that, when
+left to themselves, they incline to migrate; of which the
+Azteques of Mexico, and the Osages, with others of our
+border, afford striking examples: in fact, there is scarcely
+a tribe on the frontier which has not its traditions of migrations
+at some period. The Shawnees say their forefathers
+emigrated from the south to the regions north of the Ohio—the
+Creeks, as well as many of the Choctaws, that they
+were originally from west of the Mississippi—besides
+many other cases.</p>
+
+<p>But, with regard to this passage of our country's history,
+I will merely say, in addition, that, so far as I am able to
+judge, the condition of the 'red man' has been very materially
+bettered by the change. The lands they at present
+occupy are, for the most part, of a more fertile character <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg302"></a>[p302]</span>
+than those which they have left. The climate is equally
+or perhaps more healthy, in general; notwithstanding the
+dreadful mortality which afflicted many of them shortly
+after their removal—a calamity which was attributable,
+primarily, to the change of climate, as well as to the change
+of habits which their new dwelling-places involved; and
+secondarily, to the too abundant use of {257} spirituous
+liquors, with which they were frequently provided by both
+native and white peddlers and traders, before any measures,
+efficient enough to check the evil, were taken either by
+themselves or by the general government. But, although
+the latter cause still prevails to some degree, I have little
+doubt that the average mortality among the frontier tribes,
+at present, is less than it was before their removal.</p>
+
+<p>To each tribe has generally been granted a greater number
+of acres, with definite metes and boundaries, than had
+been ceded by them east of the Mississippi. It is deemed
+unnecessary, however, to swell this brief notice with a statement
+of the several amounts of land given to each tribe,
+and their localities, as these may be seen with sufficient
+accuracy and definiteness by consulting the map which
+accompanies this work.</p>
+
+<p>The lands of each tribe are the property of the Indian
+commonwealth; and, therefore, even among the most
+civilized of them, the settler has a title only in his improvement,
+which he holds by occupancy, and can sell at pleasure.
+To prevent collisions in improvements, the first occupant
+is entitled to a certain distance in every direction. Among
+the Cherokees, no one can build within a quarter of a mile
+of the house or field of another: so, to extend their possessions,
+the more wealthy sometimes make several isolated
+improvements, scattered in different directions, within half
+a mile of each other. <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg303"></a>[p303]</span></p>
+
+<p>{258} The game in the interspersed forests having now
+become scarce, and that of the western prairies being too
+remote, the frontier Indians have generally turned their
+attention to agriculture, and to the raising of stock; and
+most of them have large numbers of horses, cattle, and
+hogs.</p>
+
+<p>Some of these Indians, particularly of the southern nations,
+have very extensive farms: but the mass of their population
+extend their culture no further than they seem compelled
+by necessity. The traveller, passing through the Cherokee
+Nation, is struck with the contrast between an occasional
+stately dwelling, with an extensive farm attached, and the
+miserable hovels of the indigent, sometimes not ten feet
+square, with a little patch of corn, scarce large enough for
+a family garden. In fact, among all the tribes who have
+no slaves, what little there is of cultivation, is mostly the
+work of the women. Scattered through the country, one
+continually encounters dilapidated huts with trifling improvements,
+which have been abandoned by the owners
+for some fancy they may have taken to some other location
+at a distance, better adapted, as they think, to the promotion
+of their comfort, and upon which they may live
+with less labor.</p>
+
+<p>Most of the labor among the wealthier classes of Cherokees,
+Choctaws, Chickasaws, Creeks and Seminoles, is
+done by negro slaves; for they have all adopted substantially
+the Southern system of slavery.<a name="FNanchor_192_193" id="FNanchor_192_193"></a><a href="#Footnote_192_193" class="fnanchor">[192]</a> Some individuals
+of these nations own over fifty slaves each: {259} but they <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg304"></a>[p304]</span>
+are the only slaveholders of the frontier tribes, except very
+few among the Shawnees.</p>
+
+<p>With some tribes, and particularly among the lower
+classes of the Creeks, they are inclined to settle in 'towns,'
+as they are called,—making large fields, which are cultivated
+in common, and the produce proportionally distributed.
+But these 'towns' are rather settlements than
+villages, being but sparse clusters of huts without any
+regularity. Indeed, there is not, I believe, a regularly
+laid out town in all the Indian country, nor a place that
+could even merit the name of a village; except Doaksville
+near Fort Towson, and perhaps Park Hill in the Cherokee
+Nation.<a name="FNanchor_193_194" id="FNanchor_193_194"></a><a href="#Footnote_193_194" class="fnanchor">[193]</a></p>
+
+<p>Besides agriculture, most of the frontier tribes attend
+a little to manufactures, though with no greater energy.
+The women have generally learned to spin, weave and
+sew, at which they occupy themselves, occasionally, during
+recess from the labors of the field. But very few of the
+men acquire mechanical arts or follow trades of any kind:
+their carpenter, wheelwright and smith work is done by
+a few mechanics provided the several tribes in accordance
+with treaty stipulations. To each tribe is furnished in
+particular one or more blacksmiths from the United States.</p>
+
+<p>These frontier Indians for the most part live in cabins
+of logs, like those of our backwoods settlers; and many of
+them are undistinguishable, except in color, language,
+and to some degree in costume, from the poorer {260}
+classes of their white neighbors. Even in dress and
+language the more civilized are fast conforming to the latter.
+In many families, especially of the Cherokees, the <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg305"></a>[p305]</span>
+English tongue only is spoken; and great numbers of these,
+as well as of the Choctaws and Chickasaws, dress according
+to the American fashions: but the ruder portions of even
+these, the most enlightened nations, as is also the case
+with nearly all of the northern tribes, wear the hunting-shirt,
+sometimes of buckskin, but now more commonly
+of calico, cotton plaid or linsey. Instead of using hats,
+they wreathe about their heads a fancy-colored shawl or
+handkerchief. Neither do the women of these classes
+wear bonnets, but leave their heads exposed, or protected
+only with a shawl, somewhat after the manner of the Mexican
+females; to the lower classes of whom, indeed, the
+mixed-bloods of these Indians bear a strong resemblance.
+Their most usual dress is a short petticoat of cotton goods,
+or as frequently with the tribes of the north, of coarse red
+or blue broad-cloth.</p>
+
+<p>The literary opportunities afforded to the border tribes
+are so important in their consequences as to deserve some
+notice. To each tribe has been granted, by the United
+States, a school fund, generally somewhat proportioned
+to the extent of the tribe. The Cherokees and Choctaws
+seem to have availed themselves of this provision to the
+greatest advantage. These funds are for the most part
+invested in American stocks, and the proceeds {261} appropriated
+to educational uses, establishing schools, etc.<a name="FNanchor_194_195" id="FNanchor_194_195"></a><a href="#Footnote_194_195" class="fnanchor">[194]</a> <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg306"></a>[p306]</span>
+The tuition is, I believe, in every case, free to the Indians;
+and yet it is painful to know that comparatively few of the
+common classes will send their children.</p>
+
+<p>The most extensive literary institution which has ever
+been in operation, for the benefit of the 'red man,' was
+the 'Choctaw Academy,' established in Kentucky, and
+supported by a common fund of several different tribes.
+It was not as successful, however, as was anticipated by
+its projectors; and is now being transferred and merged
+into an academy near Fort Towson, in the Choctaw country,
+wholly supported out of the Choctaw fund. This Academy
+proved very unsatisfactory to many of the tribes concerned.
+They said, with apparent justice, that their boys, educated
+there, forgot all their customs, their language, their relatives,
+their national attachments; and, in exchange, often
+acquired indolent and effeminate, if not vicious habits;
+and were rendered {262} unfit to live among their people,
+or to earn a maintenance by labor. There seems but little
+doubt that the funds of each tribe might be employed to a
+much better advantage in their own country. The influence
+of the institutions would there be more likely to
+extend to all classes; and by gradual, the only practicable
+means, a change might be wrought upon the nation.<a name="FNanchor_195_196" id="FNanchor_195_196"></a><a href="#Footnote_195_196" class="fnanchor">[195]</a></p>
+
+<p>It is one of the calamities incident to the state of ignorance
+in which most of these poor Indians remain, and their close,
+indeed political connection with the more civilized people <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg307"></a>[p307]</span>
+of the United States, that they are continually preyed upon
+by the unprincipled harpies who are ever prowling through
+their country, ready to seize every opportunity of deceiving
+and defrauding them out of their money or effects.<a name="FNanchor_196_197" id="FNanchor_196_197"></a><a href="#Footnote_196_197" class="fnanchor">[196]</a> {263}
+The most depraving agencies employed to this end are
+the ministration of intoxicating drinks, and gaming, of
+both which the Indians are passionately fond, and by
+which they are frequently robbed of their money as soon
+almost as received.</p>
+
+<p>Apart from the usual games at cards, dice, etc., the Indians
+of the border have some peculiar games of their own, as
+well at cards as otherwise. Among these the most celebrated
+is the 'Ball Play,' which resembles, in some respects,
+the old-fashioned game of <dfn>bandy</dfn>. The wagers are usually
+laid upon beating the majority of a given number, a dozen
+or more of these games; and large amounts in horses,
+blankets, and other goods, and even money, are frequently
+staked upon the result.</p>
+
+<p>Besides the ball play, <i>dancing</i> is a most favorite amusement
+of these tribes, indeed of all the frontier as well as
+prairie Indians. They formerly had many kinds of dances,—the
+green-corn dance, the medicine, the eagle, the scalp
+and the war dances. But these are now only practised
+by the ruder portions of the border nations and the less
+improved tribes; among whom may still be witnessed
+frequently their genuine aboriginal frolics. <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg308"></a>[p308]</span></p>
+
+<p>The green-corn dance generally lasts several {264} days,
+commencing when the new crop begins to ripen. A large
+arbor of green branches is usually prepared, and numerous
+parties of both sexes dance in a body to their native songs
+and rude instrumental music, accompanied by their monotonous
+"heh! heh! heh!" with a chorus of yells at intervals;
+and their movements are attended with the most comical
+gesticulations. Having passed through a course of 'purification'
+by drinking a decoction of certain stimulant herbs,
+prepared by their medicine-men, and put out all the fires,
+they strike fire anew by rubbing sticks together; and a
+quantity of corn, pulse and other fruits of the season, being
+cooked with the 'new fire,' the dance is closed with a general
+feast. Each family, as it is said, then takes a supply from
+the 'new breed' of fire. A more interesting and salutary
+influence of this custom, which is said to prevail among
+some tribes at this festival, is the cancelling or composing
+of all old difficulties and disputes.</p>
+
+<p>The most advanced of these border nations, the <i>Cherokees</i>
+and the united tribes of the <i>Choctaws</i> and <i>Chickasaws</i>,
+have adopted systems of government, which are based upon <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg309"></a>[p309]</span>
+the constitutions of our States. The Cherokee being the
+most complete, some account of it may not be out of place
+in this connection.</p>
+
+<p>A council or convention of the wise men of the nation
+was convened on the first of July, 1839, who framed a
+constitution, of which the following are the general features,
+it being somewhat similar to one previously adopted in
+{265} the 'Old Nation.' The three powers, legislative,
+executive and judicial, are distinguished and established.
+The legislative consists of a National Committee and
+Council. The former is composed of two and the latter
+of three members from each of the eight or ten districts
+into which the nation was to be divided—elected for two
+years by the people. They convene annually on the first
+Monday in October, and each house elects a presiding
+officer out of its own body. Bills are introduced, discussed
+and passed according to parliamentary usage.</p>
+
+<p>The executive, called Principal Chief, and an assistant
+chief, are elected for four years by the people. The executive
+has the usual veto and pardoning power. He is assisted
+by an 'Executive Council' of five, and the common
+cabinet of secretaries. The judiciary consists of a Supreme
+and Circuit Court, and the ordinary justices of the peace.
+Trial by jury is secured; and the common law of England
+appears to have been generally adopted. Religious toleration
+is guarantied, but no person can hold a civil office who
+denies the existence of a God, and a future state of rewards
+and punishments.<a name="FNanchor_197_198" id="FNanchor_197_198"></a><a href="#Footnote_197_198" class="fnanchor">[197]</a></p>
+
+<p>According to laws subsequently enacted by the same
+council, the punishment for murder is death; and for an
+attempt to kill, a fine correspondent to the damage, for the
+benefit of the injured party: for rape, a hundred lashes—but <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg310"></a>[p310]</span>
+for infanticide, only twenty-five to fifty!<a name="FNanchor_198_199" id="FNanchor_198_199"></a><a href="#Footnote_198_199" class="fnanchor">[198]</a> Whipping
+seems the punishment {266} for all inferior crimes; which
+is the same with the Choctaws and Creeks, among whom
+the executioners are called the 'light-horse,' a kind of
+police-guard, also formerly in use by the Cherokees, but
+now their place is supplied by a common sheriff and <i>posse</i>.</p>
+
+<p>As is to be inferred from their institutions, the Cherokees
+stand first among the 'red men' in refinement, though in
+industry, morality, and sobriety, they are no doubt excelled
+by the Choctaws and Chickasaws, who are reckoned the
+most quiet and Christian-like Indians of the border.</p>
+
+<p>No laws have yet been passed to enforce the payment of
+debts, except by the Cherokees; and these found it necessary
+to suspend their operation for two years. Even the
+most improved have not prohibited polygamy by any law;
+though, from the example of the whites and of the more
+civilized among them, as well as the exertions of the missionaries,
+it is growing out of repute with most of the border
+nations. It is still occasionally practised, however; and
+the ruder classes among them all, I believe, sometimes still
+take any number of wives, and divorce them at pleasure.
+But the more enlightened are married by preachers, or
+authorized civil officers.</p>
+
+<p>With the united nation of Choctaws and Chickasaws,
+the executive power is vested in four chiefs, called in Choctaw
+<dfn>mingoes</dfn>, who are selected one from each of the districts
+into which the country is divided, {267} and of which the
+Chickasaw tribe constitutes one.<a name="FNanchor_199_200" id="FNanchor_199_200"></a><a href="#Footnote_199_200" class="fnanchor">[199]</a> These chiefs are vested
+with the usual veto and pardoning powers, and are elected <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg311"></a>[p311]</span>
+for four years. Most of their other constitutional provisions
+resemble those of the Cherokees. The Choctaws,
+as well as the Creeks, punish the crime of murder with
+death by shooting, which is generally executed immediately
+after trial, by the 'light-horse.'</p>
+
+<p>It has become evident, however, that written laws and
+courts of justice, judges and juries, are still rather in advance
+of the state of civilization of the ruder classes, even
+among these most enlightened tribes. It has been found
+very difficult to bring them under their subordination.
+They have had, notwithstanding, a salutary effect in many
+cases, and especially with regard to murder. Among
+most of these nations (as well as the wild tribes), it was
+formerly the custom to leave the punishment of homicide
+to the relatives of the murdered. With the Choctaws
+and Cherokees, in particular, the entire clan or
+family of the murderer were held responsible for the crime;
+and though the real offender might escape, the bereaved
+family had a right to kill any one of his nearest relatives
+that could be found, up to the most remote kindred. There
+seemed no exceptions for accidental homicide, or killing
+in self-defence: the Mosaic precept of 'life for life' must
+be fulfilled, unless satisfactorily commuted. This savage
+custom had at least one salutary effect, however: the relatives
+themselves, instead of assisting {268} the escape, as
+so often occurs in civilized life, were generally the first
+to apprehend and bring the fugitive criminal to justice.</p>
+
+<p>But among the Choctaws, at least, any one might take
+the place of the murderer, and in the death of the substitute
+the law was satisfied, and the true criminal remained exempt.
+An intelligent and creditable Choctaw related to
+me an affecting incident, for the truth of which he vouched.
+An Indian had remained responsible for the appearance,
+on a certain day, of his brother, who had killed a man. <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg312"></a>[p312]</span>
+When the day arrived, the murderer exhibited some reluctance
+to fulfil the pledge, when the other said to him: "My
+brother, you are no brave—you are afraid to die—stay
+here and take care of my family—I will die in your place:"
+whereupon he immediately attended the appointed spot,
+and was executed accordingly.</p>
+
+<p>The highest honor known among them, in fact, being
+that of a 'great brave,' it reflected the greatest credit to
+meet death boldly. Instead of being visited by his tribe
+with infamy for the crime he had committed, it rather
+tended to make his name illustrious, if he met the consequences
+without fear or flinching: whereas, any effort to
+avoid death was attributed to cowardice. It would have
+been esteemed quite as ignominious for the murderer to
+flee the established forfeit of his life, as for a 'gentleman'
+under the 'civilized code of honor,' to back out from a
+duel.</p>
+
+<p>But among most of the frontier, as also the {269} wild
+tribes, a commutation, though not honorable to the perpetrator,
+was and still is permitted, except by the Cherokees
+and Choctaws. Any recompense which would satisfy the
+bereft family, released the murderer from further penalty.</p>
+
+<p>There is scarcely any temptation which the Indian
+tribes have to encounter so frequently, and so seriously
+fatal to their social improvement, as intemperance. Of
+this they are conscious themselves, and most of them have
+adopted measures for prohibiting the introduction of ardent
+spirits among them, and for checking the propensity to
+use them, with various degrees of success. Among the
+Choctaws, a law was passed upon this subject, which,
+though not entirely, was measurably successful; and the
+spirit which effected its passage was worthy of the most
+exalted state of civilization.</p>
+
+<p>It seems that the tribe had generally become sensible <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg313"></a>[p313]</span>
+of the pernicious influences of strong drink upon their
+prosperity and happiness, and had attempted various
+plans for its suppression, without success. At last, it was
+determined by the chiefs, captains, and head men, to strike
+a blow which should reach the very root of the evil at once.
+A council was called, and many and long were the speeches
+which were made, and much enthusiasm was created
+against the monster 'Whiskey,' and all his brood of compound
+enormities. Still every one seemed loth to move
+his arrest and execution. Finally, a {270} captain of more
+than ordinary temerity arose, and offered a resolution that
+each and every individual who should thenceforward dare to
+introduce any of the liquid curses into their country, should
+be punished with a hundred lashes on his bare back, and
+the liquor be poured out. This was passed, after some
+slight changes, by acclamation: but, with a due sense of
+the injustice of <i>ex-post-facto</i> restrictions, all those who had
+liquors on hand were permitted to sell them. The council
+adjourned; but the members soon began to canvass among
+each other the pernicious consequences which might result
+from the protracted use of the whiskey already in the shops,
+and therefore concluded the quicker it was drank up, the
+more promptly would the evil be over: so, falling to, in less
+than two hours Bacchus never mustered a drunker troop
+than were these same temperance legislators. The consequences
+of their determination were of lasting importance
+to them. The law, with some slight improvements, has ever
+since been rigorously enforced.</p>
+
+<p>Among most of the Indian tribes the daughter has very
+little to do with the selection of her husband. The parents
+usually require to be satisfied first, and their permission
+being secured the daughter never presumes to offer any
+important resistance. There is a post-nuptial custom
+peculiar to the full-blood Indians of the Choctaws, which <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg314"></a>[p314]</span>
+deserves particular notice. For years, and perhaps for
+life, {271} after the marriage of her daughter, the mother
+is forbidden to look upon her son-in-law. Though they
+converse together, he must be hidden from her by a
+wall, a tent, a curtain, or, when nothing else offers, by
+covering the eyes. During their emigration, it is said
+these poor superstitious matrons were put to infinite trouble
+so as not to infract this custom. While travelling, or in
+camp often without tents, the mother-in-law was afraid to
+raise her head or open her eyes, lest they should meet the
+interdicted object.</p>
+
+<p>It is another peculiarity, which they have in common
+with some of the more northern tribes, that the Choctaw
+wife, of the 'old school,' can never call her husband by
+name. But if they have offspring—she calls him "my
+son's father;" or, more commonly using the child's name,
+when, if Ok-le-no-wa, for instance, she calls the husband
+"Ok-le-no-wa's father." And yet another oddity regarding
+names: the ignorant Choctaw seems to have a superstitious
+aversion to telling his own name: indeed it appears
+impossible to get it from him, unless he have an acquaintance
+present, whom he will request to tell it for him.</p>
+
+<p>In burials, the civilized Choctaws follow the customs of
+the whites, but the ruder classes still preserve their aboriginal
+usages. According to these, a painted pole with a
+flag is stuck up at the grave, which usually remains three
+months. During this period they have regular mourning
+exercises every morning and evening; and are always prompt
+to avail themselves, {272} at any other hour of the day, of
+the assistance of any friend who may visit them to help
+them to weep. At the end of the prescribed term, the
+friends of the bereft family attend a feast at their house,
+and, after dancing all night, the next morning visit the
+grave and pull down the pole; which is called 'the <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg315"></a>[p315]</span>
+pole-pulling.' After this all mourning ceases, and the family
+is permitted to join in the usual amusements and festivities
+of the tribe, which was not allowable before.</p>
+
+<p>Though the <i>Creeks</i><a name="FNanchor_200_201" id="FNanchor_200_201"></a><a href="#Footnote_200_201" class="fnanchor">[200]</a> are generally a very industrious
+people, raising an abundance of corn and vegetables, yet
+they are quite behind their neighbors, of whom I have been
+speaking, as well politically as in a social and literary view.
+Their executive consists of two principal chiefs, and their
+legislature or council of about forty minor chiefs or captains,
+who are also, <i>ex officio</i>, justices of the peace.<a name="FNanchor_201_202" id="FNanchor_201_202"></a><a href="#Footnote_201_202" class="fnanchor">[201]</a> They
+have no trial by jury, and their judicial proceedings are
+exceedingly summary—frequently without witnesses; for
+the warriors are generally too proud to deny a charge, lest
+it be construed into cowardice. Executions sometimes
+take place within an hour after the commencement of trial.
+Murder, rape and a third conviction of stealing are punished
+with death, usually by shooting; but, in case of homicide,
+if claimed by the relatives of the {273} deceased, the criminal
+is executed with the same kind of weapon, or, if possible,
+the very same, with which he committed the murder.</p>
+
+<p>Most inferior crimes, as has been mentioned, are punished
+by whipping: for the first offence of stealing, fifty
+lashes; for the second, a hundred and ears cropped. Adultery
+is punished by cutting off both the nose and ears of
+the adulteress; but the husband has a right to say if the
+law shall be executed: in fact, he is generally the executioner,
+and that often without trial. Notwithstanding
+the severity of these laws, they are for the most part rigorously
+enforced; though a commutation satisfactory to the <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg316"></a>[p316]</span>
+aggrieved is still permitted to release the offender. Their
+laws, in cases of accidental homicide, are still more barbarously
+rigid than those of the other nations.</p>
+
+<p>The obsequies of the Creeks are peculiar in this,—that
+at the moment an Indian expires, a gun is discharged.
+Their graves are generally under the floors of their dwellings,
+and a husband's is apt to be under the bed of his
+widow. The fate of the unfortunate relict is miserable
+enough in any country, but among the Creeks her doom
+is barbarously rigorous. She remains in strict mourning
+for four years,<a name="FNanchor_202_203" id="FNanchor_202_203"></a><a href="#Footnote_202_203" class="fnanchor">[202]</a> with dishevelled hair and without {274}
+combing,—unless the relatives of the deceased interfere;
+whereby it is sometimes put an end to in a few months,
+provided the sincerity of her grief be evident and her conduct
+meritorious. In their mourning, however, they do
+not weep and cry with such clamorous vehemence as the
+Choctaws and others. But the Shawnees and Delawares
+are still more celebrated for quiet mourning.<a name="FNanchor_203_204" id="FNanchor_203_204"></a><a href="#Footnote_203_204" class="fnanchor">[203]</a> As warlike
+nations, they appear to disdain to mourn and wail aloud,
+as is the practice among the greater portion of the savage
+tribes.</p>
+
+<p>Though these people have no family names, they generally
+take a kind of honorary title or <i>sobriquet</i>, as is also the
+case with the wild tribes, upon the occurrence of any important
+incident, or the performance of a meritorious feat.
+A singular mode of inheritance prevails among the Cherokees,
+the Creeks, and perhaps others. Though the women
+in other respects are mostly held as very inferior beings,
+the clans are all reckoned by them: the children pertain to <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg317"></a>[p317]</span>
+the mother, and the estates descend through the female
+branch of the family. They say it is easy enough to verify
+the mothers of families, but it is difficult to identify the
+fathers.</p>
+
+<p>The remaining tribes, inhabiting the more northern
+frontier, as well as the Seminoles who are located among
+the Creeks, possess so few distinct or striking characteristics,
+and, indeed, are mostly so few in number, that a particular
+notice of them seems hardly to be required. Suffice it to
+say, that all of them, {275} as I believe, still retain their
+ancient systems of arbitrary chiefs and councils of sages
+and braves, nearly in their primitive state; and that the
+greater portion of them live in log huts, and cultivate the
+soil to a considerable extent. Though the Shawnees,
+Delawares, and Kickapoos, are among the most agricultural
+of the northern Indians, yet a few of these spend the
+greater portion of their time on the Prairies in hunting and
+in trading with the wild tribes.<a name="FNanchor_204_205" id="FNanchor_204_205"></a><a href="#Footnote_204_205" class="fnanchor">[204]</a></p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_174_175" id="Footnote_174_175"></a><a href="#FNanchor_174_175"><span class="label">[174]</span></a> Consult Thwaites, <cite>Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition</cite>,
+(New York, 1904-05) v, p. 347.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_175_176" id="Footnote_175_176"></a><a href="#FNanchor_175_176"><span class="label">[175]</span></a> The consensus of modern opinion is, that the Indians worshipped the sun
+only as a symbol. They were in a stage neither monotheistic nor pantheistic,
+but recognized all manifestations of the unseen, without a sense of personal unity.
+Consult on this subject, J. W. Powell, "Mythology of North American Indians,"
+in U. S. Bureau of Ethnology <cite>Report</cite>, 1879-80, pp. 17-56; D. G. Brinton, <cite>Myths
+of the New World</cite> (third edition, Philadelphia, 1896); R. M. Dorman, <cite>Origin of
+Primitive Superstitions among the Aborigines of America</cite> (Phila., 1881).—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_176_177" id="Footnote_176_177"></a><a href="#FNanchor_176_177"><span class="label">[176]</span></a> José de Acosta, a Jesuit historian (1539-1600), born in Spain, was missionary
+to Peru for many years. Upon his return to Spain he published <cite>Historia Natural
+y Moral de las Indias</cite> (Seville, 1590), both in Latin and Spanish. An English
+translation appeared in 1604.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_177_178" id="Footnote_177_178"></a><a href="#FNanchor_177_178"><span class="label">[177]</span></a> Clavigero asserts of the Indians of Mexico, that their first heaven (that of
+the warriors, &#38;c.) they called "<dfn>la casa del sol</dfn>" (the house of the sun), which luminary
+they worshipped every morning at sunrise.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_178_179" id="Footnote_178_179"></a><a href="#FNanchor_178_179"><span class="label">[178]</span></a> I have since met with the same, in substance, related by Mr. Schoolcraft.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span>
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>Comment by Ed.</i> Henry Rowe Schoolcraft (1793-1864), for many years Indian
+agent at Mackinac, and a prolific writer on Indian subjects.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_179_180" id="Footnote_179_180"></a><a href="#FNanchor_179_180"><span class="label">[179]</span></a> The Shawnees have four missionary establishments among them, viz. a
+Methodist, Baptist, Moravian, and Quaker. There are also missionaries of different
+sects among most of the tribes of the border, the labors of whom have been
+attended with some degree of success. There is, I believe, but one Catholic Mission
+upon the frontier, which is among the Potawatomies, about a thousand of whom
+have embraced this faith. The Catholics, however, appear to have succeeded
+better than most other denominations, in their missionary efforts. It is so in Mexico,
+so in Canada, and appears so everywhere else that they have undertaken the Christianization
+of the heathen. I would not be understood to attribute this to any
+intrinsic superiority of their religion, but to the peculiarities of its forms and ceremonies.
+The pageantry of their worship, the palpable representation of the
+divine mysteries by the introduction of images, better accords with their pristine
+idolatry, than a more spiritual faith. Catholics, indeed, have had the sagacity
+to permit the Indians (at least in some countries) to interweave many of their
+own heathen ceremonies with the sacred Christian rites, forming a singular <i>mêlée</i>
+of Romish and pagan worship, which is especially the case in Mexico. Also, the
+less rigid Catholic creed and customs do not debar them from their wonted favorite
+amusements, not to say vices. It is therefore that whole tribes sometimes simultaneously
+embrace this imposing creed.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_180_181" id="Footnote_180_181"></a><a href="#FNanchor_180_181"><span class="label">[180]</span></a> See Thwaites, <cite>Hennepin's New Discovery</cite> (Chicago, 1903), ii, pp. 537,
+538.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_181_182" id="Footnote_181_182"></a><a href="#FNanchor_181_182"><span class="label">[181]</span></a> Adair, who resided forty years with the southern Indians, previous to 1775,
+speaks of the same among them all.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span>
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>Comment by Ed.</i> Consult J. Long's <cite>Voyages</cite> in our volume ii, p. 64, note 31.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_182_183" id="Footnote_182_183"></a>
+<a href="#FNanchor_182_183"><span class="label">[182]</span></a>
+Peter Martyr de Anghiera (1457 (?)-1526) was the first historian of
+the new world. Born in North Italy, he went to Rome in 1477, in the
+train of Cardinal Ascanio Sforza. Ten years later he was invited
+to Spain, where he became tutor to the royal children, and later
+protonothary and royal historiographer. his <cite>Decades</cite>
+(<cite>De Rebus Oceanicis et Novo Orbe Decades</cite>) first
+appearing in 1530, are a prime source for the early history
+of America, he having known and conversed with the Spanish
+discoverers.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_183_184" id="Footnote_183_184"></a><a href="#FNanchor_183_184"><span class="label">[183]</span></a> Also Clavigero speaks of similar beliefs and practices among the Mexican
+Indians, particularly in the obsequies of the kings; and adds—"El número de
+víctimas correspondía á la grandeza del funeral, y, segun algunos autores, llegaban
+á veces á doscientas."—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_184_185" id="Footnote_184_185"></a><a href="#FNanchor_184_185"><span class="label">[184]</span></a> Edition of 1555, translated from the Latin, fol. 181.—In another place, the
+same author also says they buried corn, etc., with the dead, for their use in the
+world to come.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_185_186" id="Footnote_185_186"></a><a href="#FNanchor_185_186"><span class="label">[185]</span></a> For Herrera, see our volume xix, p. 258, note 79 (Gregg).—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_186_187" id="Footnote_186_187"></a><a href="#FNanchor_186_187"><span class="label">[186]</span></a> The Indians often so imposed upon the credulous ancients as to make them
+believe they had direct communication with Satan. The learned divine, Peter
+Martyr, has a whole chapter "Of the familiaritie which certeyne of the Indians
+have with the devyll, and howe they receave answere of hym of thynges to coome:"
+and very seriously and philosophically concludes, that, "the devyll beynge so
+auncient an Astronomer, knowethe the tymes of thynges, and seeth howe they are
+naturally directed:" to which he appends numerous instances of the evil spirit's
+revelations of the "tymes of thynges to coome" to his ministers, the magi. And
+even as late as 1721, Father Charlevoix gravely says, an instance he relates, and
+many others that he "knows, which are equally certain, prove that the Devil is
+sometimes concerned in the magic of the Savages." The Choctaws, and perhaps
+some others, used to punish witchcraft with all the rigor of our own ancestors,
+putting poor creatures to death upon the slightest proof of their tampering with
+the black art: but this barbarity is now prohibited by their more civilized laws.
+Yet the more barbarous tribes still have their conjurers and medicine-men, who
+deal in auguries and mystic ceremonies; which, with their dances, constitute the
+greater part of their worship.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_187_188" id="Footnote_187_188"></a><a href="#FNanchor_187_188"><span
+class="label">[187]</span></a> For the early habitat of the Potawatomi, consult Croghan's
+<cite>Journals</cite>, in
+our volume i, p. 115 note 84.—<i>Ed.</i></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_188_189" id="Footnote_188_189"></a><a href="#FNanchor_188_189"><span class="label">[188]</span></a> Clavigero remarks of the Indians of Mexico, "Estaba severamante prohibido
+.&#160;&#160;.&#160;&#160;.&#160;&#160;todo enlace matrimonial, entre parientes en primer grado de consanguinidad,
+ó de afinidad, excepto entre cuñados."—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_189_190" id="Footnote_189_190"></a><a href="#FNanchor_189_190"><span class="label">[189]</span></a> The origin of the American Indians has been discussed by too many able
+writers for me to enter into it here: nor will I attempt to show the general traits
+of similarity that are to be observed in their various languages: yet it may interest
+an occasional reader, to be informed of the relations of consanguinity which subsist
+between many of the different Indian tribes. They may be arranged principally
+under the following heads: 1. The Dahcotah stock, which is by far the most
+extensive of those indigenous west of the Mississippi. It embraces the Arkansas
+(of which the Quapaws are now the only remnant), the Osages, Kansas or Kaws,
+Iowas, Winnebagoes, Otoes, Missouries, Omahas, Poncas, and the various bands
+of the Sioux: all of whom speak a language still traceable to the same origin, though
+some of them have been separated for several centuries. I call these indigenous
+to the West, because most of them have been so from the period of the earliest
+explorers on the Mississippi; yet the tradition among them is that they came from
+about the northern lakes; which appears corroborated by the fact, that the language
+of the Naudowessies, Assiniboins, and perhaps others in that quarter, shows them
+to be of the same family.—2. The different bands of the Comanches and Shoshonies
+or Snakes, constitute another extensive stock, speaking one language.—3. The
+Blackfeet, Gros Ventres or Minnatarees, Crows and Arrapahoes, speak dialects
+of another.—4. The Pawnees and Rickaras of the north, and the Wacoes, Wichitas,
+Towockanoes, Towyash and Keechyes, of Red River, are of the same origin.
+The Chayennes, originally from near Lake Winnipeg, and the Kiawas (or Caiguas,
+according to Mexican orthography), appear unallied to any of the foregoing nations.—5.
+Of those from the north and east, the Algonquin stock appears most extensive,—embracing
+the Potawatomies, Ottawas, Chippewas, Knisteneaux, Crees,
+Sacs and Foxes; with whom the Delawares have also been classed, though their
+language would now appear very distinct.—6. The Wyandots, Senecas, and
+others of the Six Nations, are of the Huron or Iroquois.—7. The Shawnees and
+Kickapoos are of one stock.—8. The Kaskaskias, Piorias, Piankeshaws and
+Weaws, are descendants of the Miamies.—9. The Choctaws and Chickasaws
+are nearly the same people.—10. The Creeks and Seminoles—though old authors
+speak of the Creeks as being akin to the Choctaws, yet there is now but little relationship
+to be traced in their language; while that of the Cherokees appears
+entirely <i>sui generis</i>.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span>
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>Comment by Ed.</i> On this subject consult J. W. Powell, "Indian Linguistic
+Families of America north of Mexico" in U. S. Bureau of Ethnology
+<cite>Report</cite>, 1885-86. Gregg is unusually correct in his classification, but nevertheless
+has fallen into a few errors.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_190_191" id="Footnote_190_191"></a><a
+href="#FNanchor_190_191"><span class="label">[190]</span></a>
+The <i>tribes</i> often take the names of the seceding chiefs
+who originate them,
+or are called from some circumstance attending their separation; but frequently
+they assume a name from an important word in their languages: thus <i>Choctaw</i>
+and <i>Chickasaw</i> are said to have been the names of chiefs; <dfn>Seminole</dfn> (or <i>Seminóleh</i>)
+and <i>Pioria</i> imply runaways or seceders; while <i>Illinois</i>, in the language of that
+ancient tribe, and <dfn>Lunnapáe</dfn>, by which the Delawares distinguish themselves,
+signify <i>man</i>. This last is perhaps most common; for, as each nations holds itself
+superior to all others, its members call themselves <i>men</i>, in contradistinction to
+<i>boys</i> or <i>squaws</i>, as they are wont to denominate their enemies.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_191_192" id="Footnote_191_192"></a><a href="#FNanchor_191_192"><span class="label">[191]</span></a> Pressure of the white population upon the southern tribes, induced them to
+migrate to the west of the Mississippi, a movement which began with detached
+parties of Choctaw as early as 1805. In 1824 President Monroe recommended
+their removal, and in 1830 Jackson ordered it. Large bands of these Indians had
+already received lands in Arkansas; wherefore, in 1832, Indian Territory was set
+apart for the tribes and removals thither began. The Choctaw, Chickasaw, and
+Creek made but little difficulty; the Cherokee and Seminole opposed the removal.
+The former were forcibly ejected (1836-38), and by 1839 were united on their
+present site in Indian Territory. The Seminole resistance led to the war with
+that people (1835-42), in which a large portion of the tribesmen perished. The
+remainder were finally united in Indian Territory in 1846.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_192_193" id="Footnote_192_193"></a><a href="#FNanchor_192_193"><span class="label">[192]</span></a> The civilized tribes had been slave-holders before their removal to Indian
+Territory. At the outbreak of the War of Secession their sympathies were with
+the Confederacy, with whom the Cherokee made a treaty October 7, 1861. Early
+in 1863, however, they abolished slavery by law, and the large majority of their
+regiments went over to the Union side. A constitutional amendment in 1866,
+forever abolished slavery or involuntary servitude, except for crime. See <cite>Constitution
+and Laws of Cherokee Nation</cite>.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_193_194" id="Footnote_193_194"></a><a href="#FNanchor_193_194"><span class="label">[193]</span></a> Neither of these places has developed into towns of importance, although
+both are still on the map of Indian Territory. By an act of 1898, towns were to
+be incorporated, and town sites surveyed. In 1900, the largest town was Ardmore,
+in the Chickasaw Nation. There were seven towns of more than two thousand
+population, and twelve more exceeding one thousand.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_194_195" id="Footnote_194_195"></a><a href="#FNanchor_194_195"><span class="label">[194]</span></a> Their schools are mostly conducted in English, yet among some tribes they
+are often taught in their native languages. As in other respects, the Cherokees
+have made the greatest advancement in a literary point. Their singular system
+of characters representing syllables, invented by an illiterate native, is no doubt
+known to most of my readers. In these characters, a considerable number of
+books have been printed in their vernacular tongue. Many Cherokees, however,
+as well as Choctaws, have received good English educations. In the language of
+the latter also a great number of books have been published, but in which the common
+letter is used. A few books have also been printed in the languages of the
+Creeks, Wyandots, Potawatomies, and Ottawas, Shawnees, Delawares, and some
+in the different dialects of Osage, Kansas, Otoes, etc. There is now a printing-office
+in operation at Park Hill, in the Cherokee Nation, and another among the
+Shawnees at the Baptist Mission.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_195_196" id="Footnote_195_196"></a><a href="#FNanchor_195_196"><span class="label">[195]</span></a> By the treaty of 1825 with the Choctaw, a fund of six thousand dollars per
+year for twenty years was to be allotted for the use of schools. The Indians requested
+that a portion of this fund might be used to educate boys at a distance
+from home. This was a cherished plan of Colonel Richard M. Johnson, who was
+chosen sponsor for the new academy, and began the erection of buildings near
+his home at Great Crossings, in Scott County, Kentucky, where the first boys
+were received in the autumn of 1825. Baptist co-operation was enlisted, and Rev.
+Thomas Henderson chosen first principal of Choctaw Academy. At first the
+school flourished, and Indian boys from many other tribes were sent to Kentucky,
+until at one time the academy had an enrollment of more than one hundred and
+fifty lads. In consequence of the dissatisfaction which Gregg here describes
+the Choctaw and other Southern Indians began to withdraw their boys about 1842,
+and the school's usefulness terminated. Consult <cite>House Ex. Docs.</cite>, 26 Cong.,
+2 sess., 109. The civilized tribes now maintain several higher boarding schools
+and academies in the territory. The Choctaw and Chickasaw each have five;
+the Cherokee two at Tallequah, in which the nation is much interested.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_196_197" id="Footnote_196_197"></a><a href="#FNanchor_196_197"><span class="label">[196]</span></a> By no means the least considerable of the frauds practised upon the frontier
+Indians, have been by contractors and government agents. The character of
+these impositions may be inferred from the following instance, as it is told, and
+very generally believed, upon the southwestern frontier.
+</p>
+<p>
+It had been pretty well known, that some of those who had been in the habit
+of contracting to furnish with subsistence several of the southern tribes, in the
+year 1838 <i>et seq.</i>, had been imposing most grossly upon the Indians as well as the
+Government, in the way of 'short rations' and other delinquencies, which resulted
+in the gain of a very large sum to the parties concerned. About the close of their
+operations, one of the <i>employés</i>, who was rather more cunning than the principals,
+took it into his head, on account of some ill-treatment he had suffered, to make
+an <i>exposé</i> of their transactions. He happened to hold a letter of instructions
+(which were of course of a confidential character), wherein were set forth the
+processes by which these frauds were to be practised. And to turn the affair
+to his particular profit, he threatened the parties with a complete exposure, unless
+a satisfactory <i>gratification</i> should interpose. A compromise being indispensable
+to the welfare of 'all whom it concerned,' a negotiation was soon set on foot: but
+the 'noisy customer' was not silenced, until he was paid $13,500 in cash; whereupon
+he delivered up the obnoxious 'papers,' and agreed to abscond. Some
+notice of the facts of this case are said to have been brought to the knowledge of
+the Government; and how it has escaped an investigation—and, more especially,
+how it escaped the attention of the Superintendent of that immediate district,
+have been matters of great surprise to those who had a knowledge of the particulars.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_197_198" id="Footnote_197_198"></a><a href="#FNanchor_197_198"><span class="label">[197]</span></a> See <cite>Constitution and Laws of Cherokee Nation</cite>, published at Tallequah.
+The constitution was signed at the latter place, September 6, 1839.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_198_199" id="Footnote_198_199"></a><a href="#FNanchor_198_199"><span class="label">[198]</span></a> These laws have now been changed, and correspond to those of the United
+States.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_199_200" id="Footnote_199_200"></a><a href="#FNanchor_199_200"><span class="label">[199]</span></a> In 1837, the Chickasaw bought an interest in Choctaw lands; but in 1855
+they purchased from the latter tribe the right of self-government, and established
+a Chickasaw Nation. Their constitution, drawn in 1867, is liberal, being closely
+modelled on that of the United States.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_200_201" id="Footnote_200_201"></a><a href="#FNanchor_200_201"><span class="label">[200]</span></a>
+These Indians call themselves <i>Muscogee</i> or <i>Muscóhgeh</i>. They acquired
+the name of <i>Creeks</i>, by the whites, from the great number of small streams that
+intersect the country which they formerly inhabited—being first called, "Indians
+of the country of <i>creeks</i>."—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_201_202" id="Footnote_201_202"></a><a href="#FNanchor_201_202"><span class="label">[201]</span></a> The Creeks established a republican government in 1867, modelled upon
+that of the neighboring tribes.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_202_203" id="Footnote_202_203"></a><a href="#FNanchor_202_203"><span class="label">[202]</span></a> This custom seems to have descended from antiquity. Adair, prior to
+1775, writes, that "The Muscohge widows are obliged to live a chaste single life
+for the space of four years; and the Chikkasah women, for the term of three, at
+the risk of the law of adultery being executed against the recusants." But I have
+not heard this custom spoken of among the Chickasaws at the present day.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_203_204" id="Footnote_203_204"></a><a href="#FNanchor_203_204"><span class="label">[203]</span></a> The Delaware and Shawnee removed from Kansas in 1866-67, and 1869
+respectively, and became incorporated with the Cherokee Nation. The Delaware,
+however, still maintain a form of tribal autonomy.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_204_205" id="Footnote_204_205"></a><a href="#FNanchor_204_205"><span class="label">[204]</span></a> No complete census has been taken of the frontier Indians since their removal;
+but the aggregate population of those settled west of the border, exclusive of the
+Osages, Kansas, and others of the north (who are more appropriately ranked
+among the Prairie Indians), is 76,664, according to the report of the Commissioner
+of Indian Affairs for the year 1844. Of these there are reckoned of Cherokees,
+25,911; Choctaws, 12,410; Chickasaws, 4,111; Creeks, 24,594; Seminoles, or Florida
+Indians, 3,136; Senecas from Sandusky, 125; Senecas and Shawnees, 211; Quapaws,
+400; Wyandots, 585; Potawatomies, Chippewas and Ottawas, located on the
+waters of the Osage, 2,028; Kaskaskias and Piorias, 150; Piankeshaws, 98; Weaws,
+176; Shawnees, 887; Delawares, 1,059; Stockbridges, Munsees, &#38;c., 278; Kickapoos,
+505; In addition to these, there still remain east of the Mississippi, of Cherokees,
+1,000; Choctaws, 7,000, (but which are now, January, 1845, in progress of
+emigration); Chickasaws, 20; Creeks, 744; Potawatomies, &#38;c., 92; Weaws, 30;
+besides some entire remnant tribes.
+</p>
+<p>
+Many of the foregoing amounts, however, have been standing numbers in the
+tables of the reports of the Indian Department, ever since the removal of these
+tribes, and as it is known that most of them have been on the decline, the above
+aggregate is no doubt excessive. For instance, instead of 25,911, as given in the
+report for the Cherokees, their very intelligent agent, Governor Butler, reckoned
+them, in 1842, at only about 18,000: the Creeks in place of 24,594, have, in like
+manner, been set down at about 20,000; and in the 'Choctaw Almanac' for 1843, I
+find the population of that nation rated at 12,690, instead of 15,177, as stated in
+the Commissioner's report for the same year.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div></div>
+
+<h3 title="Chapter XXX: Indians of the Prairies">
+<a name="CHAPTER_XXX_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XXX_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XXX {XIV}
+
+<br />INDIANS OF THE PRAIRIES</h3>
+
+<p class="subhead"><a id="Pg318"></a>
+System of Chiefs — Mode of Warfare — War-Council — The Scalp-dance — The
+Calumet or Pipe of Peace — Treaties — Public News-criers — Arms
+of the Indians — Bow and Arrows, etc. — Hunting — Dancing — Language
+of Signs — Telegraphs — Wigwams or
+Lodges — Pack-dogs — Costumes — Painting, Tattooing, etc. — Indian
+Dandies — Manufactures, and Dressing the Buffalo Rug — Indian
+Diet, Feasting, etc. — Primitive Thomsonians — Their domestic Animals,
+the Dog and the Horse — Wampum — Their Chronology.<a href="#tocXXX"
+class="toclnk">toc</a></p>
+
+<p>Those savage hordes which may be considered as the
+Prairie Indians proper, have made little or no perceptible
+progress in civilization. They mostly live by plunder
+and the chase: a few eke out a subsistence by agriculture.
+They consist of various distinct tribes, but among whom
+there is a greater diversity of language than of habitudes.
+I would not have it understood, however, that all the customs
+of every band are entirely similar: it is this assumption,
+together with the practice of setting down as standing
+customs what they have observed on some particular occasions,
+that has frequently created such a discrepancy between
+the accounts of transient travellers.</p>
+
+<p>{277} There is scarcely a prairie tribe, however limited
+in numbers, but is subdivided into petty bands, each under
+the immediate control of its own chief. Their systems of
+government are frequently compounded of the patriarchal
+and military. The most influential heads of families
+exercise a petty rule, which often extends beyond their own
+household to a circle of adherents. Several of these clans,
+bound by the ties of consanguinity or friendship, are apt
+to come under the control, by common consent, of some
+more influential chief, who may have gained celebrity in
+their wars; but a regular hereditary descent seems rarely
+established. These petty bands seldom unite under one
+general leader, except for the common defence, when <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg319"></a>[p319]</span>
+threatened with danger. Occasionally there springs up a
+master spirit—a great brave and a great sage, who is able
+to unite his whole tribe, in which he is generally aided by
+a sufficient knack at sorcerous tricks to give him the character
+of a great 'medicine-man.'</p>
+
+<p>War seems to be the element of the prairie Indians,
+notwithstanding but few possess much intrinsic bravery.
+They are, in fact, the most cowardly savages east of the
+Rocky Mountains, bearing but little similitude in this
+respect to the aborigines of the interior of the United States.
+They rarely attack an enemy except with a decided advantage;
+for the prospect of losing even a single warrior will
+often deter them from undertaking the most flattering
+adventure. It is true that, in addition {278} to their timidity,
+they are restrained by the fact that the loss of a man often
+casts a gloom upon the most brilliant victory, and throws
+a whole clan into mourning. On this account they generally
+attack by surprise, and in the night, when all are presumed
+to be asleep; having care, if against a formidable enemy,
+that it be long enough before the morning dawn to allow
+them to retire beyond reach of pursuit before daylight.
+When the moon rises at a late hour, just before she appears,
+is a favorite time; for then they will have a gleam of light
+by which to collect and drive off the prize of stock which
+they may be able to frighten away. These prowling parties
+around a camp sometimes employ a species of signals in
+imitation of wolves, owls and other nocturnal animals, by
+which they communicate with each other—mimicking
+so to the life as not to give alarm to unsuspecting travellers.</p>
+
+<p>War is seldom concluded upon, or even a campaign
+undertaken, without a general council, in which all the
+chiefs and most distinguished braves and sages assemble.
+After all are seated in a circle, the pipe is passed around
+until their brains are sufficiently soothed to enable them <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg320"></a>[p320]</span>
+to consult the Great Spirit, and take freely into advisement
+the important matters under consideration. Therefore the
+tobacco smoke is usually blown upwards, as a propitiatory
+incense to the invoked spirits or genii who dwell 'upon the
+sky.' In this operation the smoke is generally inhaled
+into {279} the lungs, and discharged in murky streams
+from the olfactories. If a council be preparatory to a campaign,
+the warriors sometimes catch the tobacco smoke
+in the hand, anointing their bodies with it; which they
+fancy renders them, if not invulnerable, at least far more
+secure from the darts of their enemies.</p>
+
+<p>Although in their warfare they employ every wile and
+stratagem, and faithless subterfuge, to deceive their enemies,
+and in battle are relentless and cruel in the extreme, yet
+they seldom resort to those horrid punishments and tortures
+upon their prisoners which were wont to be inflicted
+by the savages of the interior of the United States, during
+their early wars with the whites. The practice of burning
+their captives alive, said to have prevailed many years ago
+among some prairie tribes, seems now to have grown quite
+out of use.</p>
+
+<p>Upon returning from a campaign after a defeat, the
+village resounds for many days with the lamentations, the
+shrieks and wailings of the women and children; in which,
+not only the bereft families, but all the relatives and most
+of the friends of the deceased join. If, on the contrary, the
+warriors have been successful, and bring home scalps of
+their enemies, all join in their most famous festival, the
+scalp-dance. In this fête the savage trophies are usually
+elevated upon a pole in the centre of the dance; or perhaps
+the brave captors retain them in their hands, tossing and
+swinging them about their heads; at the same time vehemently
+apostrophizing these ghastly representatives {280}
+of their enemies, with the most taunting and insulting <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg321"></a>[p321]</span>
+bravadoes; branding the nation with cowardice and effeminacy;
+daring them to come forward and revenge the
+blood of their slain; then concluding with scoffs and exulting
+yells at the dastardly silence of their enemies, whom
+they represent as afraid to whisper a note of vengeance
+against their superiors and masters, the triumphing conquerors.
+After the warriors have become fatigued, the
+squaws and children generally continue the barbarous
+festivity; in the midst of which some vainglorious brave
+will rise perhaps, and repeat the apostrophic fanfaronades,
+representing that the very squaws and papooses hold them
+in cowering submission, and that henceforth these only
+will be sent to subdue them; their warriors being reserved
+for more noble enemies. These brutal rites and rodomontades
+being concluded, the scalps are handed to their
+owners, who cure and paint them for future war-dances
+and other kindred ceremonies.</p>
+
+<p>When a tribe wishes to celebrate a treaty of peace with
+an enemy, a number of their warriors, as ambassadors, or
+perhaps a whole band, move to the neighborhood, and
+send the calumet or pipe of peace, which supplies the place
+of the flag of truce among civilized nations:<a name="FNanchor_205_206" id="FNanchor_205_206"></a><a href="#Footnote_205_206" class="fnanchor">[205]</a> though, when
+the embassy {281} is to the whites, a flag usually accompanies,
+as they have learned that this is our token of peace.
+The overture being accepted, the chiefs and principals of
+each band meet in council, sometimes in a wigwam, if there <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg322"></a>[p322]</span>
+be a suitable one, else in the open air, taking their seats,
+as usual, upon their haunches in a circle proportioned to
+the number. If there be presents—and these are an
+indispensable earnest of friendship from the whites—the
+essence, the seal of the treaty, without which negotiation
+is vain—these are laid in the centre. A personage in the
+capacity of an orderly sergeant then lights the calumet,
+which he hands to a principal chief, who, before smoking,
+usually points the stem towards the four cardinal points,
+and towards the heavens and the earth—then takes
+a certain number of whiffs (generally about three), and
+passing it to the next, who draws an equal number of
+whiffs, it thus continues around the circle, in the direction
+of the sun, each sending fumid {282} currents upward from
+the nozzle. It seems looked upon as sacrilege for a person
+to pass before the pipe while the chiefs are smoking; and
+the heedless or impudent are sometimes severely punished
+for the act. The 'big talk' follows, and the presents are
+distributed by a chief who exercises the office of commissary.
+But in the petty truces among each other, presents
+are scarcely expected, except they be claimed by the more
+powerful party as a matter of tribute.</p>
+
+<p>Travellers and hunters are generally obliged to hold a
+treaty or 'big talk' with every band of prairie Indians they
+may encounter, if they wish to maintain friendly relations
+with them. Treaties have also been held, at different
+periods, with most of the wild tribes, by agents of the U. S. <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg323"></a>[p323]</span>
+Government, yet for the most part with but very little effect—they
+generally forget or disregard them by the time
+the presents they may have received are consumed.</p>
+
+<p>These treaties, as well as other council deliberations,
+are generally promulgated by a sort of public crier, who
+proclaims the stipulations and resolutions from lodge to
+lodge; and the event is preserved in the memory of the
+sages to future generations. Among some of the tribes
+their memory is assisted by the famous 'wampum belt,'
+which is a list or belt made of wampum beads, so interwoven
+in hieroglyphic figures as to form a record of important
+events. Others preserve the same by hieroglyphic
+paintings on their buffalo rugs, and the like.</p>
+
+<p>{283} The <i>arms</i> of the wild Indians are chiefly the bow
+and arrows, with the use of which they become remarkably
+expert. A dexterous savage will lay a wager, at short
+shots, against many riflemen. Indeed, there is hardly
+any more effective weapon than the bow and arrow in the
+hands of an expert archer. While the musketeer will load
+and fire once, the bowman will discharge a dozen arrows,
+and that, at distances under fifty yards, with an accuracy
+nearly equal to the rifle. In a charge, they are eminently
+serviceable; for the Indian seems to discharge his arrows
+with about as much certainty when running at full speed
+as when standing.</p>
+
+<p>The usual length of the Indian bow is about three feet,
+though it is sometimes as much as four. It is generally
+made of elastic wood, yet elk's horn is occasionally used.
+Those of the latter are made of two of the longest and
+straightest shafts, which, being shaved down to the necessary
+proportions, are united by lapping their ends together
+and binding them firmly with sinew. Bows have also
+been made, in the same manner, of a pair of buffalo ribs;
+but as well these as those of elk-horn, are rather items of <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg324"></a>[p324]</span>
+curiosity than of service: at least, they are not equal to bows
+of the bois-d'arc tree. Even the backs of the <i>wooden</i> bows
+are often lined the whole length with a broad strip of sinew,
+and the whole wrapped with shreds of the same. The
+arrows are generally about thirty inches long, and pointed
+with iron, though the primitive {284} flint points are still
+met with among some of the wildest tribes.</p>
+
+<p>Besides these, the lance or spear, the use of which they
+may have learned from the Mexicans, is an effective weapon
+in the charge as well as the chase. Many are also provided
+with the Northwestern fusil, and some have rifles. Very
+few, however, have acquired the dexterity of our frontier
+Indians with this deadly weapon. But no Indian deems
+his equipage complete without a 'scalping-knife;' yet
+among the western prairie Indians the tomahawk is but
+little known. These employ, in its stead, the war-club
+or 'war-hawk,' which are bludgeons with an encased stone
+for a head in the former, and with a transverse blade or
+spike in its place in the latter. Many are provided with
+shields of raw buffalo or elk skin, upon which are frequently
+painted some rude hieroglyphical devices representing the
+enemies they have slain, as well as any other notable exploits
+of which they can boast. Such as are without these
+have their titles to renown recorded commonly upon the
+handles of their hatchets, their war-clubs, or perhaps tattooed
+upon their breasts or arms.</p>
+
+<p>Besides war, <i>hunting</i> seems the only creditable employment
+in which a warrior can engage. Every other labor
+is put upon the squaws; and even when a party of hunters
+set out, they generally provide themselves with enough of
+these 'menials' to take charge of the meat: the Indian
+only deigns to shoot {285} down the game; the squaws
+not only have it to cure and pack, but to skin and dress. <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg325"></a>[p325]</span></p>
+
+<p>Except such tribes as are expert with the rifle, very few
+of the prairie Indians hunt other game than the buffalo:
+not, as some have presumed, because they deem all small
+game too ignoble for them, but because the former is at
+once easiest taken, and affords the most bounteous supply
+of food. The antelope is too wild and fleet for their mode
+of hunting, and is only occasionally taken by stratagem;
+while the deer, as difficult to take in the chase, is less easily
+entrapped. But, mounted upon their trained steeds, and
+with the arrow or lance, they are not to be excelled in the
+chase. A few of them, let loose among a herd of buffalo,
+will soon have the plain strewed with their carcasses.</p>
+
+<p>Among the amusements of the Indians generally, <i>dancing</i>
+is perhaps the most favorite. Besides a war accompaniment,
+it is practised as a recreation, and often connected
+with their worship. Their social frolics, in which the
+squaws are commonly permitted to join, are conducted
+with less ferocity of manner than their war dances; though
+even these are accompanied with the wildest and most
+comical gesticulations, and songs full at once of mirth
+and obscenity. In these, as well as in the war and scalp
+dances, a sort of little drum and a shrill squeaking pipe
+are their common instruments of music.</p>
+
+<p>As so many tongues, entirely different, are spoken by
+the prairie Indians, a 'language of {286} signs' has become
+the general medium of communication between the different
+nations. This system of signs has been brought to such perfection
+among them, that the most intricate correspondence
+seems to be intelligibly conducted by such as have acquired
+a proficiency in this 'dumb language.'</p>
+
+<p>Their systems of telegraphs are very peculiar, and though
+they might seem impracticable at first, yet so thoroughly
+are they understood by the savages, that it is availed of <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg326"></a>[p326]</span>
+frequently to immense advantage. The most remarkable
+is by raising smokes, by which many important facts are
+communicated to a considerable distance—and made
+intelligible by the manner, size, number or repetition of the
+smokes, which are commonly raised by firing spots of dry
+grass. When travelling, they will also pile heaps of stones
+upon mounds or conspicuous points, so arranged as to be
+understood by their passing comrades; and sometimes
+they set up the bleached buffalo heads, which are everywhere
+scattered over those plains, to indicate the direction
+of their march, and many other facts which may be communicated
+by those simple signs.</p>
+
+<p>Almost every tribe has some peculiarity in the construction
+of their lodges or wigwams, in the manner of arranging
+their camps, and in the different items of dress,
+by any or all which peculiarities the experienced traveller
+is able to recognize the tribe of their owner. If a moccasin,
+or other article of apparel be {287} found, he at once
+designates the nation to which it belongs—even a track
+is often sufficient to identify them.<a name="FNanchor_206_207" id="FNanchor_206_207"></a><a href="#Footnote_206_207" class="fnanchor">[206]</a> Also by the 'sign,'
+and especially the remains of fires, he determines the interval
+elapsed since their departure, with remarkable accuracy.</p>
+
+<p>The lodges are composed of a frame of small poles or
+rods, covered usually with buffalo skins, which receive but
+little further preparation than the currying off of the hair.
+Some give their lodges a round wagon-top shape, as those
+of the Osages, which commonly consist of a frame of bent
+rods, resembling wagon-bows, and covered with skins,
+the bark of trees, or, as is generally the case in their villages,
+with grass and earth. Again, some dispose the poles in
+two parallel lines, and incline them against a ridge-pole, <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg327"></a>[p327]</span>
+which gives the wigwam the shape of a house-roof: others,
+planting small rods in a circle, to swine the points together
+as to resemble, in some degree, when covered, a rounded
+hay-mow: but by far the most general style, among the
+wild tribes, of constructing their wigwams, is by planting
+the lodge-poles so as to enclose a circular area of from ten
+to twenty feet in diameter (the size depending upon the
+number of the family); and the tops being brought together,
+it forms a conical frame, which is closely covered with
+skins, except an aperture in the apex for the escape of the
+{288} smoke. This is the style of the Comanches and most
+other tribes of the great plains. The doors of the lodges
+being closed with a skin, they are kept very comfortable
+in winter with but little fire. This is kindled in the centre,
+and a hole is left in the vertex of the lodge, through which
+the smoke is discharged so freely, that the interior is but
+seldom infected by it.</p>
+
+<p>These lodges are always pitched or set up by the squaws,
+and with such expedition, that, upon the stopping of an
+itinerant band, a town springs up in a desert valley in a
+few minutes, as if by enchantment. The lodge-poles are
+often neatly prepared, and carried along from camp to
+camp. In conveying them, one end frequently drags on
+the ground; whereby the trail is known to be that of a band
+with families, as war parties never carry lodge-poles. The
+Chayennes, Sioux and some other northern tribes, often
+employ dogs for carrying and dragging their lodge covers
+and poles; indeed for conveying most of their light baggage:
+but, for ordinary travelling purposes and packing their
+more weighty baggage, they use horses. So few navigable
+waters traverse the Prairies, that none of the Indians of
+the high plains have learned the use of canoes or water-craft
+of any kind.</p>
+
+<p>There is some variety in the dress in vogue among the <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg328"></a>[p328]</span>
+different tribes; though they all use moccasins, leggins,
+flap or breech-clout, and, when not in active pursuits,
+they generally wrap their bodies in buffalo rugs, blankets
+or {289} mantles of strouding, according to their wealth
+or opportunities. Some of the northern tribes display
+considerable ingenuity and taste in the manufacture of
+moccasins. But this is the work of the women, who often
+embroider them with beads and colored porcupine quills,
+in a most beautiful manner. The <dfn>leggin</dfn> is a buckskin
+or cloth covering for the leg and thigh, as of the pantaloon.
+A superfluous list is usually left outside the seam, which,
+if of skin, is slitted into long tassels, or if of cloth, the wide
+border remains entire, to dangle and flap upon the exterior
+of the legs. A strip of strouding (that is, coarse broad-cloth)
+about a foot in width and a yard or more long, constitutes
+the most usual flap; which being passed betwixt the
+legs, the ends are secured under the belt around the waist,
+whence the leggins are suspended. As the flap is sometimes
+near two yards long, a surplusage of half a yard or
+more at each end is sometimes left dangling down before
+and behind.</p>
+
+<p>The Indians use no head-dress, but support the bleakest
+rains and hottest suns of those bare plains with naked
+heads. Nevertheless, their coarse black hair seems 'fertilized'
+by exposure; for they rarely become gray till an
+exceeding old age; and I do not recollect to have ever seen
+a bald Indian. Their eyesight also, they retain in extraordinary
+vigor, notwithstanding the want of protection
+even of the eye-lashes and brows (which are plucked out),
+and in spite of the constant use of apparently deleterious
+paints around the edges {290} of the lids. Though using
+no regular head-dress, they sometimes wear, as a temporary
+ornament, a fantastic cap of skins; and it is not unusual
+to see a brave with the entire shaggy frontlet of a buffalo, <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg329"></a>[p329]</span>
+horns and all, set upon his head—which, with his painted
+face, imparts a diabolical ferocity to his aspect.</p>
+
+<p>The Indians of the Plains, almost without exception,
+wear long hair, which dangles in clotted tresses over the
+shoulders—besmeared with gum, grease and paints, and
+ornamented with feathers and trinkets. But most of those
+intermediate tribes nearer our border, trim their hair in a
+peculiar manner.</p>
+
+<p>Vermillion seems almost indispensable to the Indian's
+toilet; but in default of this they paint with colored earths.
+When going to war, they bedaub their bodies with something
+black—mud, charcoal or gunpowder, which gives
+them a frightful appearance. But 'ornamental' painting
+is much more gay and fanciful. The face, and sometimes
+arms and breast are oddly striped and chequered, interspersed
+with shades of yellow and white clay, as well as
+occasional black, though the latter is chiefly appropriated
+to war. Especial pains are taken to tip the eyelids most
+gaily with vermillion.</p>
+
+<p>Besides painting, most of the tribes tattoo—some sparingly,
+while others make their faces, breasts, and particularly
+their arms, perfectly piebald. This seems practised
+to some extent by all the savages from the Atlantic {291}
+to the Pacific. Figures are pierced in the skin with any
+sharp pointed instrument—often the keen prickles of
+the cactus—and pulverized charcoal or gunpowder, or
+sometimes the coloring juice of a plant, is rubbed into
+the fresh punctures, which leaves a lasting stain.</p>
+
+<p>The most usual female dress is of the style worn by the
+Comanche squaws, which is described in speaking of that
+nation. With respect to dress and other ornaments, however,
+the order of the civilized world is reversed among
+the Indians. The 'fair sex' paint less than the men—use
+fewer ornaments generally, and particularly, wear <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg330"></a>[p330]</span>
+no pendants in the ears. While a savage beauty pays
+but little attention to her person, a 'brave' will spend as
+much time at his toilet as a French belle, in the adjustment
+of his ornaments—his paint, trinkets, beads and
+other gewgaws. A mirror is his idol: no warrior is
+equipped without this indispensable toilet companion,
+which he very frequently consults. He usually takes it
+from its original case, and sets it in a large fancifully carved
+frame of wood, which is always carried about him. He is
+also rarely without his tweezers, whether of a fold of tin, of
+hardened wood, or of spirally twisted wire, with which
+he carefully eradicates, not only his beard, eye-lashes and
+brows, but every villous particle from his body, as fast
+as it appears; for everything of the kind is considered
+as extremely unbecoming a warrior. It is on this account
+that Indians {292} have frequently been represented as
+naturally beardless.</p>
+
+<p>All Indians are passionately fond of beads, trinkets
+and gewgaws of every kind. The men often cut up the
+rim of the ears in a frightful manner to admit their pendants
+of beads, plate, shells, etc.; and even strips of lead
+are sometimes twined around the separated rim, by the
+weight of which the detached portion of the ear is frequently
+swagged down some inches. It is not unusual to see near
+half a pound even of beads and 'jewelry' swung to each
+ear; and among some tribes, also a large quantity to the
+nose. The hair is likewise garnished with the same, and
+the neck with strings of beads, bear's claws, and the like;
+while the arms are profusely ornamented with bracelets
+of wire or plated metal. The 'braves' are those who
+commonly deck themselves with the most gaudy trappings,
+and would usually be taken by a stranger for the chiefs of
+the band, who, on the other hand, are often apparelled
+in the most ordinary manner. <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg331"></a>[p331]</span></p>
+
+<p>The squaws are, in every sense of the word the slaves of
+the men. They are called upon to perform every toilsome
+service—to carry wood and make fires—to skin and dress
+the meat and prepare the food—to herd, drive up, saddle
+and unsaddle their lords' horses—to pitch and strike the
+lodges—to pack up the baggage, and often indeed to
+carry heavy loads during travel—in short, everything
+else pretty much but fight and hunt, which the {293} Indian
+boasts of, as being his peculiar, if not his sole vocations.</p>
+
+<p>What little of manufacturing is done among the Indians
+is also the work of the women. They prepare the different
+articles of apparel. In embroidering moccasins and their
+leathern petticoats, etc., their greatest skill, particularly
+among the northern tribes, is exhibited. But the most
+extensive article of their manufacture is the <i>buffalo rug</i>,
+which they not only prepare for their own use, but which constitutes
+the largest item of their traffic with the Indian traders.
+These are dressed and cured exclusively by the squaws.</p>
+
+<p>To dress a buffalo rug, the first step is to 'flesh' the skin,
+or neatly scrape from the inner surface every carneous
+particle. This is generally done with an instrument of
+bone, cut something in the shape of a small adz, with a
+serrate edge. For this operation the skin is sometimes
+suspended in a frame upon the branch of a tree, or a fork
+of the lodge—though more commonly, perhaps, stretched
+with pegs upon the smooth ground, with the flesh-side up.
+After it dries, the spongy surface of the skin is neatly curried
+off with another adz-shaped bone or handle of wood,
+with a flat bit of iron transversely set for the blade, which
+is edged after the manner of a currier's instrument. The
+surface is then besmeared with brains (which the Canadians
+call <dfn>mettre à la cervelle</dfn>), and rolled up with the flesh-side
+in, in which condition it is left for two or three days. The
+brains of the same {294} animals are generally used; those <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg332"></a>[p332]</span>
+of a buffalo being more than sufficient to dress his own
+hide. The pores of the skin being fully penetrated by
+the brains, it is again wetted, and softened by continual
+working and rubbing till it dries. To facilitate this last
+operation, it is sometimes stretched in a frame and suspended
+before a fire, when the inner surface is scraped
+with the serrated adz before mentioned, and finished off
+by assiduous rubbing with a pumice-stone, if that article
+can be had; if not, by passing the skin by small sections
+rapidly back and forth over a slack cord.</p>
+
+<p>Buffalo rugs are often observed with a seam in the middle.
+This is caused by cutting them in two, partly for
+convenience in dressing them, and partly to take out the
+hollow occasioned by the hump, particularly of the bulls.
+The hump of the cow being less, their skins generally bear
+dressing without being cut. The hide is frequently split
+in two, however, in skinning the animal, the Indians preferring
+to commence on the back.</p>
+
+<p>The buffalo skin is often dressed without the wool. To
+this end the hide is soaked in water till the hair is loosened,
+when it is 'curried' and 'brained,' and softened as above.
+Of these dressed buffalo skins (known among Mexicans
+as <dfn>anta blanca</dfn>) is made a considerable portion of the Indian
+clothing for both sexes—even the petticoats of the females;
+though these prefer buckskin when they can procure it.</p>
+
+<p>The chief aliment of the Prairie Indians is {295} flesh,
+though in default of this they often sustain themselves
+for weeks together upon roots, herbs and fruits. The buffalo
+are the common herds of these savages, affording them
+'food, raiment and shelter.' It seems there were anciently
+occasional cannibal tribes<a name="FNanchor_207_208" id="FNanchor_207_208"></a><a href="#Footnote_207_208" class="fnanchor">[207]</a> in those regions, but not a <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg333"></a>[p333]</span>
+vestige of cannibalism, as I believe, now remains; except
+such an inhuman appetite may be ascribed to some of
+the more savage warriors, who, as I have heard, in the
+delirium of exultant victory, have been known to devour
+the hearts of their bravest victims, at once to satiate their
+blood-thirsty propensities, and to appropriate to themselves,
+as they fancy, the valor of the slain enemy.</p>
+
+<p>However, they make food of nearly every animal of their
+country, and often of insects and even the filthiest vermin.
+By some tribes, grasshoppers, locusts and the like are
+collected and dried for future use. Among nearly all the
+northern tribes, the flesh of the dog<a name="FNanchor_208_209" id="FNanchor_208_209"></a><a href="#Footnote_208_209" class="fnanchor">[208]</a> is considered as the
+greatest delicacy; so much so, indeed, that when a favorite
+visitor is expected to dine, they are sure to have served
+up for him the choicest pieces from some one of the many
+fat whelps which pertain to every lodge. In this way
+travellers have often been {296} constrained to eat Indian
+dog-meat, and which, prejudice apart, is by no means an
+unsavory viand; but the flesh of the wolf, and even the
+American dog, is generally said to be ill-flavored and sometimes
+insupportable. The polecat is also a favorite food
+among the Indians; and though the celebrated Irving,
+during a "Tour on the Prairies," seems to claim a deal
+of credit for having "plumped into the river" a dressed
+polecat, whereby he prevented an Osage from "disgracing"
+their fire by the cooking of it, yet all travellers who have
+tasted the flesh of this animal have pronounced it fine, and
+of exquisite relish.<a name="FNanchor_209_210" id="FNanchor_209_210"></a><a href="#Footnote_209_210" class="fnanchor">[209]</a> "The flesh of the skunk," observes
+Dr. James, in his account of Maj. Long's Expedition, "we <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg334"></a>[p334]</span>
+sometimes had dressed for dinner, and found it remarkably
+rich and delicate food."</p>
+
+<p>These wild tribes are without other kitchen utensils than
+an occasional kettle. They sometimes broil their meats,
+but often eat them raw. A savage will feast upon the
+warm carcass of the buffalo; selecting bits of the tenderloin,
+liver, etc., and it is not uncommon to see him use the gall
+as sauce! Feasting is one of their favorite enjoyments;
+though their ability to endure hunger almost exceeds belief.
+They will fast a week and yet retain their strength and
+vigor: but then when they do procure food again, it seems
+as if they never would be satiated.</p>
+
+<p>The Indians of the Prairies have become acquainted
+with the medical virtues of many of their indigenous plants,
+which are often {297} used in connection with the vapor
+sweat, and cold bath: wherefore we may consider them as
+the primitive Thomsonians.<a name="FNanchor_210_211" id="FNanchor_210_211"></a><a href="#Footnote_210_211" class="fnanchor">[210]</a> After a profuse sweating,
+assisted by decoctions of sudorific herbs, in a tight lodge
+filled with vapor by pouring water over heated stones, and
+while still dripping, they will leap into a pool of cold water,
+and afterwards wrap themselves in a buffalo rug. This
+course has proved successful in some diseases, and extraordinary
+cures have thus been performed: but in other
+cases, and especially in the small-pox, it has been attended
+with horrible fatality. They frequently let blood for disease,
+which is oftenest performed with the keen edge of a
+flint: and though they sometimes open a vein, they more
+commonly make their incisions indiscriminately. They
+have great faith in their 'medicine men,' who pretend to
+cure the sick with conjurations and charms; and the Comanches
+and many others often keep up an irksome, monotonous
+singing over the diseased person, to frighten away <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg335"></a>[p335]</span>
+the evil spirit which is supposed to torment him: all of
+which, from its effect upon the imagination, often tends,
+no doubt, to hasten recovery.</p>
+
+<p>These Indians keep no domestic animals, except horses,
+mules, and dogs. With the latter every lodge is abundantly
+supplied; yet, as has already been shown, they are more
+useful appendages than the annoying packs which so often
+infest the country cabins, and frequently the villages, in
+the United States. {298} Horses, however, constitute the
+chief wealth of the prairie Indian. These are the incentives
+to most of their predatory excursions. The tribes of the
+north in particular, as well as the white trappers, frequently
+maintain their horses, during winter, upon the tender
+bark of the sweet cottonwood, the <i>populus angulata</i> of the
+Mississippi valley.</p>
+
+<p>The western savages know nothing of the value of money.
+The wampum bead, it is true, among a few tribes, somewhat
+resembles a currency: for, being generally esteemed,
+it acquires a value in proportion to size, and sometimes
+passes from hand to hand, in exchange for necessaries.
+The legitimate wampum is only of shells, and was of aboriginal
+manufacture; being small long tubes with an ovate
+surface, or sometimes simply cylindrical; and handsomely
+polished: but imitations of glass or porcelain seem now
+the most common. The color is generally white, though
+sometimes blue or striped.</p>
+
+<p>These Indians have no knowledge of the divisions of
+time, except by palpable distinctions; as days, moons and
+years; which last they commonly represent as so many
+springs, or falls of the leaves, or as often by winters, that
+is, frosts or snows. Distances are represented by days'
+journey, which are oftener designated by camps or 'sleeps.'
+When a day's journey is spoken of in general terms, it is
+meant that of a band in regular travel, which rarely exceeds
+twenty miles.</p>
+
+<h3 title="Chapter XXXI: Indians of the Prairies">
+<a name="CHAPTER_XXXI_XV" id="CHAPTER_XXXI_XV"></a>CHAPTER XXXI [XV]
+<br />INDIANS OF THE PRAIRIES</h3>
+
+<p class="subhead"><a id="Pg336"></a>
+Intermediate Tribes — Their Wigwams and their Hunting Excursions — Dress
+and Cut of their Hair — The Pawnees — The Osages — Their
+Roguery — Matrimonial Customs — Accomplished Mourners — Their
+Superstitions — The Indian Stature — The 'Pawnee Picts' — Wild
+Tribes — Census — The Comanches — Their Range — Their
+Sobriety — Their Chiefs, etc. — Female Chastity — Comanche
+Marriage — Costumes — Horsemanship — Comanche Warfare — Predatory
+Forays — Martial Ceremonies — Treatment of Captives — Burial
+and Religious Rites.<a href="#tocXXXI"
+class="toclnk">toc</a></p>
+
+<p>The tribes inhabiting near the borders of the frontier
+Indians differ from those that range the far-western prairies
+in several traits of general character. The former have
+their fixed villages, and, for the most part, combine the
+pursuits of agriculture and the chase. They form, indeed,
+a sort of intermediate class between the frontier and the
+wild tribes, resembling the one or the other in all important
+particulars. I will merely notice in this place a few of the
+characteristics by which the more conspicuous of these
+tribes are distinguished.</p>
+
+<p>Their village wigwams differ from the lodges of the
+wilder tribes, in their being {300} much more substantial,
+and usually covered with grass and earth instead of skins.
+The Indians commonly remain in their villages during
+the inclement portion of the winter; yet most of them spend
+the early spring upon the Prairies in buffalo-hunting;
+as well as such portions of the summer and autumn as are
+not occupied in the cultivation and gathering of their crops,
+which they secure in <i>caches</i> till their return.</p>
+
+<p>In dress they differ but little from the wilder tribes,
+except that, having more communication with the whites,
+they make greater use of our fabrics—blankets, coarse
+cloths, calicoes and the like. Their most striking peculiarity
+consists in the cut of their hair. Most of them, <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg337"></a>[p337]</span>
+instead, like the Indians of the Plains, of wearing the hair
+long, trim and arrange it in the most fantastic style. In
+the care bestowed upon this part of their toilet, they cannot
+be excelled by the most <i>soigneux</i> of civilized dandies.
+They shave a large portion of the head, but leave a fanciful
+lock upon the crown as a scalp-crest (an indispensable
+trophy for the enemy), which is in general gorgeously
+bedecked with painted feathers and gewgaws.</p>
+
+<p>The <i>Pawnees</i>, who now have their principal village
+on the Loup Fork of the Platte river, are perhaps the most
+famous of these tribes. Small bands of their war-parties
+roam on foot through every portion of the Prairies, often
+to the Mexican frontier, though they generally contrive
+to return well mounted. {301} When upon these expeditions,
+they may properly enough be considered the Ishmaelites
+of the Prairies—their hands are against every
+man, and every man's hand is against them. They will
+skulk about in the vicinity of a prize of mules or horses
+for several days unsuspected, till a favorable opportunity
+offers to pounce upon them.</p>
+
+<p>This nation is divided into four principal bands, the
+Grand Pawnees (or <i>Grand Pans</i>, as called by the Canadians),
+the Republics, the Mahas or Loups, and the Tapage or
+Noisy Pawnees. Their relatives, the Rickaras, are now
+considered a distinct tribe.<a name="FNanchor_211_212" id="FNanchor_211_212"></a><a href="#Footnote_211_212" class="fnanchor">[211]</a></p>
+
+<p>The <i>Osages</i> are at present the most important western
+branch of the Dahcotah stock, after the Sioux. There
+are two bands of them, the Big and Little Osages.<a name="FNanchor_212_213" id="FNanchor_212_213"></a><a href="#Footnote_212_213" class="fnanchor">[212]</a>
+Though the Pawnees stand most prominent as prairie
+marauders, these are unsurpassed in simple rogueries.
+Expertness at stealing appears indeed to constitute a part <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg338"></a>[p338]</span>
+of their faith, and an all-important branch of education,
+in which degrees are conferred in true 'academic order;'
+for I have been assured, that, in their councils, the claims
+of the candidates to the honors of rogueship are duly considered,
+and to the most proficient is awarded an honorary
+badge—the right to wear a fancy feather stuck athwart
+his scalp-crest.</p>
+
+<p>The habitudes of the Osages do not appear to have
+undergone any material change, notwithstanding the exertions
+of the government and the missionaries to civilize
+and to christianize {302} them. Some of their matrimonial
+customs are very curious and rather peculiar. The eldest
+daughter seems not only 'heiress apparent,' but, when
+married, becomes absolute owner of the entire property
+and household of her parents—family and all. While
+single, however, she has no authority, but is herself held
+as a piece of merchantable property, estimated somewhat
+as in civilized life, in proportion to her 'charms,' and to
+the value of her 'hereditaments.' She is therefore kept
+under the strictest watch by her parents, that she may not
+diminish her worth by any improper conduct.</p>
+
+<p>When some warrior 'beau' has taken a fancy to the
+heiress and wishes to possess her and her estate of sisters,
+dogs, rugs and household, he takes his finest horses, (and
+if she be a 'belle' he need not attempt it unless he have
+some of the noblest), and tying them at her lodge door
+departs without saying a word; leaving them, like a slow-match,
+silently to effect his purpose. After the 'pretender'
+has disappeared, the matron of the premises and her lord
+inspect the valuables, the 'demure damsel' barely venturing
+a sly peep through some crevice of the wigwam. If the
+offer be found unworthy, the horses are sent back to the
+owner as silently as they came, or maybe with some apology,
+provided he be a warrior whom they are afraid of offending. <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg339"></a>[p339]</span>
+But if accepted, the father takes instead some of his own
+horses and ties them at the door of the proposer, as a token
+of admission. If the {303} parties be without horses, some
+other valuables are employed in lieu. After this the marriage
+is solemnized with a joyous fête, and their primitive
+ceremonies.</p>
+
+<p>But now the son-in-law is fully indemnified for his heavy
+'disbursement' in the <i>purchase</i> of his bride; for he at once
+becomes possessor of the entire wealth of his father-in-law—master
+of the family-lodge and all the household: if
+there be a dozen younger daughters, they are all <i>de droit</i>—his
+wives or slaves as we may choose to consider them:
+in fact, the 'heiress' herself seems in the same predicament,
+and the wife among them all who may have the tact
+to gain the husband's affections, generally becomes mistress
+of the 'harem.' From the refuse of this estate of 'fair
+ones' the indigent warriors and inferior Indians who are
+not able to purchase an 'heiress' are apt to supply themselves
+with wives upon a cheaper scale.<a name="FNanchor_213_214" id="FNanchor_213_214"></a><a href="#Footnote_213_214" class="fnanchor">[213]</a></p>
+
+<p>The Osages bury their dead according to the usual
+Indian mode; and, though it seems always to have been
+the custom among most {304} savage nations, to keep up
+a chorus of hideous cries and yells for a long while after
+the death of a relative, yet the Osages are by far the most
+accomplished mourners of them all. Being once encamped
+near a party of them, I was awakened at the dawn of day <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg340"></a>[p340]</span>
+by the most doleful, piteous, heart-rending howls and
+lamentations. The apparently distressed mourners would
+cry with a protracted expiration till completely out of breath.
+For some instants he seemed to be in the very last agonies:
+then he would recover breath with a smothered, gurgling
+inspiration: and thus he continued for several minutes,
+giving vent to every variety of hideous and terrific sounds.
+Looking around, I perceived the weeper standing with
+his face towards the faint gleam which flitted from the
+still obscured sun. This was perhaps his idol; else he
+was standing thus because his deceased relation lay in
+that direction. A full 'choir' of these mourners (which
+is always joined by the howls and yelps of their myriads
+of dogs), imparts the most frightful horror to a wilderness
+camp.</p>
+
+<p>It is considered among these as well as other 'crying'
+tribes, quite a merit to be a graceful weeper: it becomes
+even a profitable vocation to those whose eyes and lungs
+are most capacious of such things. If you tell an Osage
+that you have lost a kinsman or friend for whom you wish
+him to mourn, he will undertake the service for a trifling
+reward—and acquit himself with more 'credit'—more
+to the spirit than the best tragic {305} actor. He will
+mimic every exterior indication of grief and the most heart-felt
+wailing, till the tears trickle in torrents down his cheeks.<a name="FNanchor_214_215" id="FNanchor_214_215"></a><a href="#Footnote_214_215" class="fnanchor">[214]</a></p>
+
+<p>The Osages seem generally to worship a good and evil
+spirit, and to believe in the most usual Indian paradise.
+No people can have more implicit faith in witchcraft and
+all kinds of sorcery and superstitions—such as holding
+converse with deceased friends or relations—appointing
+a time to die, etc.: and instances are related of their fancying <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg341"></a>[p341]</span>
+themselves thus called to the world of spirits, which
+would so powerfully affect the imagination as to cause them
+to pine away, and sometimes die even to the appointed day.</p>
+
+<p>Owing partially, no doubt, to the burdensome life they
+lead, the squaws of all the tribes are, for the most part,
+much more inclined to corpulency than the men. They
+are generally chubby and ill-favored, while the males are
+usually tall, erect, well-turned and active. For their
+proverbial straightness, however, the Osages are perhaps
+more famous than any of the other prairie Indians.</p>
+
+<p>The <i>Wacoes</i>, <i>Witchitas</i> and their kindred tribes on Red
+River, are, for the most part, a very indigent race. They
+are chiefly remarkable for their profuse tatooing, whereby
+they have sometimes acquired the title of 'Pawnee Picts:'
+the females particularly make a perfect calico of the whole
+under-jaw, breast and arms, and the mammæ are fancifully
+ornamented with rings and rays. The tattoo, in fact,
+seems to constitute the chief female ornament {306} of
+these tribes; for their only gown consists of about a yard
+and a half of strouding, or else a small dressed skin, suspended
+from the waist, and constituting a sort of primitive
+petticoat. The upper portion of the body remains uncovered,
+except by a blanket or small skin, thrown loosely
+over the shoulders. The men are often without any other
+vesture than the flap, and sometimes a buffalo rug or blanket.</p>
+
+<p>As the remaining tribes of this intermediate class present
+few or no distinctive characteristics, we will pass at once
+to the consideration of the <i>wild tribes</i> proper<a name="FNanchor_215_216" id="FNanchor_215_216"></a><a href="#Footnote_215_216" class="fnanchor">[215]</a> of the Great <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg342"></a>[p342]</span>
+Western Prairies. These neither cultivate the soil nor
+live in fixed villages, but lead a roving life in pursuit of
+plunder and game, and without ever submitting themselves
+to that repose—to those fixed habits, which must always
+precede any progress in civilization. But as the <i>Comanches</i>
+are the only tribe of these 'wandering Arabs' of the Plains
+which {307} present any distinguishing features of interest—any
+prominent points of national character—the remarks
+that follow will be devoted almost exclusively to
+them.</p>
+
+<p>The relationship of the Comanches to the Snakes or
+Shoshonies, shows them to have descended from the north:
+in fact, it is but half a century since their range was from
+the Arkansas river northward; but at present this stream
+is their <i>ultima Thule</i>. Yet they even now acknowledge
+no boundaries, but call themselves the lords of the entire
+Prairies—all others are but 'tenants at will.' They
+lead a wandering sort of life, betaking themselves whithersoever
+the seasons or the habits of the buffalo, their chief
+object of pursuit, may lead them. Although during summer
+they are not unfrequently found as far north as the
+Arkansas river, their winters they usually pass about the
+head branches of the Brazos and Colorado rivers of Texas.</p>
+
+<p>In their domestic habits, these Indians, for the most
+part, resemble the other wild tribes; yet in some respects
+they differ materially. One of the most interesting traits
+of difference is to be found in their distaste for ardent <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg343"></a>[p343]</span>
+spirits: but few of them can be induced to taste a drop of
+intoxicating liquors; thus forming an exception, I believe,
+to the entire race of the 'red man,' who appears to have a
+constitutional appetite for strong drinks. The frontier
+as well as the prairie tribes—the Mexican as well as the
+Mountain Indians—all are equally slaves to their use.</p>
+
+<p>{308} The Comanches are divided into numerous petty
+bands, each under the control of its own particular chief.
+When a chief becomes old and care-worn, he exercises
+but the 'civil authority' of his clan; while his son, if deemed
+worthy, otherwise some distinguished brave, assumes,
+by 'common consent,' the functions of war-chief. As is
+the case with all barbarous tribes, their chiefs assume
+every judicial and executive authority. Complaints are
+made to them and sentence summarily pronounced, and
+often as summarily executed. For most offences, the chief,
+if he considers his authority sufficiently well established,
+freely uses the rod upon his subjects. He rarely attempts
+this, however, upon noted warriors or 'braves,' whose
+influence and resentment he may have reason to fear. The
+punishment of murder among these, as among most of
+the savage nations, devolves upon the bereaved relatives,
+who are free to pursue and punish the perpetrators according
+to their own liking, which is seldom short of death.
+But the offended party, if disposed to compromise, has
+also the privilege of accepting a commutation and releasing
+the murderer.</p>
+
+<p>The husband seems to have complete power over the
+destinies of his wife and children. For adultery, his punishment
+is most usually to cut off the nose or ears,<a name="FNanchor_216_217" id="FNanchor_216_217"></a><a href="#Footnote_216_217" class="fnanchor">[216]</a> or {309}
+both; and he may even take the life of his unfaithful wife <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg344"></a>[p344]</span>
+with impunity. The squaw who has been mutilated for
+such a cause, is <i>ipso facto</i> divorced, and, it is said, for ever
+precluded from marrying again. The consequence is,
+that she becomes a confirmed harlot in the tribe. Owing
+in part, no doubt, to such severity in their customs, the
+Comanche squaws have ever been noted for their chastity.
+This may result also, in some degree, from the circumstance,
+that the Comanche husbands, fathers and brothers, seldom
+or never subject their wives, daughters and sisters, to that
+debasing traffic practised among so many of the northern
+nations.</p>
+
+<p>Like other wild tribes, the Comanches tolerate polygamy,
+the chiefs and braves sometimes taking as many as eight
+or ten wives at a time. Three is considered the usual
+number, however, for 'subjects' or common warriors,
+and nine for the chiefs. Their marriage ceremonies vary
+in different bands; but the following has been represented
+as the most usual. Unlike most other tribes, the consent
+of the maiden has to be obtained. This done, the lover,
+from apparent delicacy, goes not to the father of his intended,
+but, in accordance with a custom which prevails
+among some other tribes, communicates his desire to an
+uncle or other aged relative, who enters into the marriage
+contract. The parties, however, are not yet fully betrothed;
+but, as a test of the submission of the bride to the service
+of her proposed lord, the latter ties his riding-horse {310}
+at her lodge door. If she turn him loose, she has resolved
+finally to reject him; but if she lead him to the <i>caballada</i>,
+it is an unequivocal agreement to take the charge of his
+horses and other property; and the marriage is soon concluded.
+The 'uncle' now communicates the engagement
+to the chief, who causes the 'bans' to be published, that
+no other wooer may interfere. As the horse is with them
+the type of every important interest, the bridegroom next <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg345"></a>[p345]</span>
+proceeds to kill the least valuable one he is possessed of;
+and, taking out the heart, hangs it at the door of his betrothed,
+who takes and roasts it, and then dividing it into
+two parts, each eats a half, which perfects the bond of
+wedlock. The heart of the buffalo or other animal may
+perhaps be substituted, if the bridegroom has not a superabundance
+of horses. Should the circumstances of the
+parties admit of it, the marriage is usually celebrated with
+feasting and dances; though, in general, the Comanches
+are less fond of dancing than most other Indians.</p>
+
+<p>The Comanche dress consists of the usual leggins, moccasins,
+flap and blanket or robe. Many wear in addition
+a kind of leathern jerkin, or tight jacket closed before.
+Their moccasins differ from those of other tribes, by having
+a lengthy tassel of leathern fringes attached to the heels,
+which trail the ground as they walk. Instead of this fringe,
+the tassels sometimes consists of the tail of a polecat or
+some other animal. When he can procure {311} it, the
+young warrior is wont to wear a mantle and leggins of
+strouding. Both of these articles, according to the 'latest
+fashions,' should be one-half red, the other blue. The
+bi-colored mantle, as well as the blanket or buffalo rug,
+is carelessly thrown over the shoulders, and must be long
+enough to drag the ground; for they seem to have an instinct
+for the 'regal grandeur of a sweeping gown.'</p>
+
+<p>Though all the far-western Indians wear their hair long,
+the Comanche seems to take most pride in the voluminousness
+of his 'tresses,' and the length of his <i>queue</i>, which is
+sometimes eked out with buffalo or other hair, till its tip
+reaches the ground, and is bedaubed with gum, grease and
+paint, and decorated with beads and other gewgaws. We
+are not to think that foppery and coxcombry are generated
+exclusively in civilized life. I am sure I never saw a vainer
+creature than a Comanche brave in full costume, of dress, <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg346"></a>[p346]</span>
+trinkets and paint. He steps as if he disdained the very
+ground upon which he walks.</p>
+
+<p>The dress of the Comanche squaw is usually a kind of
+loose gown or tunic of leather, or cotton if it can be procured,
+which hangs from the shoulders and is bound around
+the waist with a girdle; thus presenting a resemblance in
+its appearance to our ordinary female costume. They
+wear moccasins, to which short leggins are attached, and
+which constitute a sort of leathern hose. They are not
+permitted to wear long hair: that 'manly' prerogative
+would be degraded by such an {312} association. It is
+therefore kept docked so as scarcely to reach the shoulders.</p>
+
+<p>A style of dress similar to that of the Comanche females,
+is worn by those of most of the erratic tribes. The squaws
+of the north usually embroider their leathern frocks in a
+fanciful manner with colored porcupine quills and beads,
+and bedeck the borders with rattling shells, tags, hawk-bells,
+and the like. Such as have the fortune to marry
+Canadian or American trappers, are those who usually
+dress most gaily.</p>
+
+<p>The prairie Indians generally are an equestrian race;
+yet in horsemanship the Comanches stand decidedly preeminent;
+and can only be equalled by the Northern Mexicans,
+and perhaps the Arabs. Like the latter, they dote
+upon their steeds: one had as well undertake to purchase
+a Comanche's child as his favorite riding-horse. They
+have a peculiar mark for their animals: every one which has
+pertained to them may always be recognized by a slit in
+the tip of each ear; a practice apparently universal among
+all their tribe.</p>
+
+<p>In their warlike expeditions they avail themselves of their
+equestrian skill with wonderful success. As they always
+fight on horseback, they depend chiefly upon the charge,
+at which they use their arrows and javelins with wonderful <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg347"></a>[p347]</span>
+efficacy.<a name="FNanchor_217_218" id="FNanchor_217_218"></a><a href="#Footnote_217_218" class="fnanchor">[217]</a> On such occasions a Comanche will often throw
+himself upon {313} the opposite side of his charger, so as
+to be protected from the darts of the enemy; and, while
+clinging there, he will discharge his arrows with extraordinary
+dexterity from underneath his horse's neck. Different
+from the 'prowling' tribes, they seldom attack at night,
+or in timbered or rough regions; for they would then be
+unable to manœuvre their coursers to advantage.</p>
+
+<p>Although not meriting the title of brave Indians, they
+are held by the Mexicans as the most valiant of their border:
+but when they come in contact with Americans or any of
+our frontier tribes, they generally appear timid and cowardly.
+Their predatory forays are therefore directed mostly
+westward. They make continual inroads upon the whole
+eastern frontier of Mexico, from Chihuahua to the coast;
+driving off immense numbers of horses and mules, and
+killing the citizens they may encounter, or making them
+prisoners—particularly the females and boys. Of the
+latter they make slaves, to perform such menial service
+as usually pertains to the squaws, particularly the herding
+of the stock. It is perhaps this alleviation of their labor by
+slaves, that has contributed to elevate the Comanche women
+above those of many of the northern tribes. Of their
+female captives they often make wives; a fate which has
+befallen some of those taken from Texas.</p>
+
+<p>Strange as it may appear, their captives frequently become
+attached to their masters and to the savage life, and
+with difficulty are {314} induced to leave them after a few
+years' captivity. In fact, these prisoners, it is said, in time
+often turn out to be the most formidable savages. Combining
+the subtlety of the Mexican with the barbarity of
+the Indian, they sometimes pilot into their native frontier <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg348"></a>[p348]</span>
+and instigate horrid outrages. The department of Chihuahua
+has been the greatest sufferer from their inroads.</p>
+
+<p>But, though at continual war with the south of the republic,
+for many years the Comanches have cultivated
+peace with the New Mexicans—not only because the
+poverty of the country offers fewer inducements for their
+inroads, but because it is desirable, as with the interior
+Mexican tribes, to retain some friendly point with which
+to keep an amicable intercourse and traffic. Parties of
+them have therefore sometimes entered the settlements
+of New Mexico for trading purposes; while every season
+numerous bands of New Mexicans, known as <i>Comancheros</i>,
+supplied with arms, ammunitions, trinkets, provisions
+and other necessaries, launch upon the Prairies to barter
+for mules, and the different fruits of their ravages upon
+the south.</p>
+
+<p>This powerful nation, combined with the petty southern
+tribes, has also waged an almost unceasing warfare upon
+Texas, ever since her independence. War-parties have
+frequently penetrated to the very heart of the settlements,
+perpetrating murderous outrages, and bearing away into
+captivity numerous women and children. They have
+entered {315} the city of Austin, then the seat of government,
+in open day; and, at other times, have been known
+to descend to the very seacoast, committing many frightful
+depredations. "On the 8th of August, 1840," writes a
+friend who resided at Linnville, on Matagorda Bay, "several
+hundred Comanches came down from the mountains,
+and charged upon us without the least notice. They
+burned and made a perfect destruction of the village and
+everything pertaining to it."<a name="FNanchor_218_219" id="FNanchor_218_219"></a>
+<a href="#Footnote_218_219" class="fnanchor">[218]</a>
+<span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg349"></a>[p349]</span></p>
+
+<p> Besides continual hostilities with Mexico and Texas, the
+Comanches are at war with most of the Indians of the
+Mexican interior, as also with the tribes of the more northern
+prairies—and particularly the Arrapahoes and Chayennes,
+with whom they have many bloody rencounters.<a name="FNanchor_219_220" id="FNanchor_219_220"></a><a href="#Footnote_219_220" class="fnanchor">[219]</a> But
+they generally remain on friendly terms with the petty
+tribes of the south, whom, indeed, they seem to hold as their
+vassals.</p>
+
+<p>As these Indians always go to war on horseback, several
+days are often spent previous to a campaign in equestrian
+exercises and ceremonies, which seem partly to supply the
+place of the war-dance of other tribes; though they sometimes
+join in preparatory dances also. It is not an unusual
+custom, when a campaign is in agitation, for a band of about
+twenty Comanche maidens to chant, for three nights in
+succession, the victories of their ancestors, the valor of their
+brothers and cotemporaries, and the individual prowess
+of all such young warriors as they consider should engage in
+{316} the contemplated enterprise: and all those designated
+by the serenading band are held as drafted for the <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg350"></a>[p350]</span>
+campaign. Fired by the encomiums and excitations of the
+'fair <i>cantatrices</i>,' they fly at once to the standard of their
+favorite chief: and the ceremony is concluded by a war-dance.</p>
+
+<p>Upon their return from a successful expedition, the
+'war-worn corps' halts on some elevation at a distance
+from the village, and a herald is sent forward to announce
+their arrival. Thereupon, one of their most respectable
+and aged matrons issues forth to receive them, carrying
+with her a very long-handled lance kept for the purpose.
+On the top of this the victorious Indians fasten all the
+scalps they may have taken, so arranged that each shall
+be conspicuous. The matron squaw then approaches the
+wigwams, holding her scalp-garnished lance high in the
+air, and chanting some favorite war-legend. She is soon
+joined by other squaws and Indian lasses, who dance
+around as the procession moves through the entire circuit
+of the village. If the victory has been brilliant, the dancing
+and feasting are apt to be kept up for several days, all
+parties joining in the general jubilee.</p>
+
+<p>If the conquerors bring any prisoners with them, these
+have to encounter the scourgings and insults of the squaws
+and children. Each seems entitled to a blow, a kick, a
+pinch, a bite, or whatever simple punishment they may
+choose to inflict upon the unfortunate captives. This
+done, they are delivered {317} over to the captors as slaves,
+and put to the service and drudgery of the camp.</p>
+
+<p>After their first entrance it seems rare for them to treat
+their captives with much cruelty: though an instance was
+related to me by some Mexican prisoners, of a very barbarous
+massacre which they witnessed during their captivity.
+Two white men, supposed to be Texans, were
+tied to a stake, and a number of their marksmen, retiring
+to a distance and using the naked bodies of their victims <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg351"></a>[p351]</span>
+as targets, began wantonly to fire at them, and continued
+their horrid sport, until some fatal balls put an end to their
+sufferings! The capture of these had probably been attended
+with some aggravating circumstances, which induced
+the savages to resort to this cruel method of satiating
+their revenge.</p>
+
+<p>If a campaign has been unsuccessful, the warriors separate
+upon their return, and drop into the village one by
+one. Nothing is now heard for several days, but the wailings
+and howlings of the bereft relatives and friends. They
+will also scarify their arms and legs, and subject themselves
+to other carnal mortifications of the most powerful
+character. On these occasions their previous captives,
+and particularly such as may belong to the nation of their
+victorious enemy, are sure to be roughly treated, and sometimes
+massacred by the enraged relatives of the slain.</p>
+
+<p>When a Comanche dies, a similar course of mourning
+is practised; and he is usually wrapped in his best blankets
+or robes, and interred {318} with most of his 'jewelry' and
+other articles of esteem; accompanying which, it is said,
+an awl and some moccasin leather is generally added, as
+a provision, it would appear, for his use during his long
+journey to the 'happy hunting ground' beyond the grave.
+They also kill the favorite horses of the deceased, which
+are often buried by his side, doubtless with the same object.</p>
+
+<p>The religious notions of the Comanches resemble, in
+most particulars, those of the other prairie tribes; yet they
+appear to have an occasional peculiarity. Some say the
+dry buffalo head or cranium is their idol. True it is that
+they show it great reverence, and use it in many of their
+mystic ceremonies. The Pawnees also hold these buffalo
+heads, with which the plains are strewed, in great reverence;
+and usually for many leagues around, these skulls are set
+up facing towards their villages, in the belief that the herds <span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg352"></a>[p352]</span>
+of buffalo will thus be conducted by them into their neighborhood.<a name="FNanchor_220_221" id="FNanchor_220_221"></a><a href="#Footnote_220_221" class="fnanchor">[220]</a>
+Of the Comanches the sun is no doubt the
+principal deity. When preparing for a campaign, it is
+said they do not fail to place their arms betimes every
+morning on the east side of their lodges, that they may
+receive the blessing of the fountain of light at his first appearance.
+This indeed seems the usual time for offering
+their devotions to the sun, of many tribes of the American
+aborigines.</p>
+
+<div class="footnotes"><h4>FOOTNOTES:</h4>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_205_206" id="Footnote_205_206"></a><a href="#FNanchor_205_206"><span class="label">[205]</span></a> This seems to have been of ancient and general use among the savages of
+North America. "I must speak here of the <i>Calumet</i>," remarks Father Marquette,
+"the most mysterious thing in the world. The sceptres of our kings are not so
+much respected; for the savages have such a deference for this pipe, that one may
+call it <i>the god of peace and war, and the arbiter of life and death</i>. One, with this
+calumet, may venture amongst his enemies, and in the hottest engagement they
+lay down their arms before this sacred pipe." The deference is perhaps not so
+great at the present day, though the 'pipe of peace' is still very much respected.
+Even the ashes from the calumet seem to be held sacred; for, usually after smoking,
+the pipe is emptied in some corner of the lodge specially allotted for the purpose.
+But as they have generally learned that smoking is not practised by the whites
+on these occasions, it is now not commonly held important for us to smoke with
+them; but presents are expected instead. Anciently, however, they were more
+strict; for, in another place, the same author (in 1673) relates:—"As soon as we
+sat down, they presented us, according to custom, their <i>calumet</i>, which one must
+needs accept, for else he should be lookt upon as an enemy, or a meer brute; however,
+it is not necessary to smoak, and provided one puts it to his mouth,
+it is enough."—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span>
+</p>
+<p>
+<i>Comment by Ed.</i> See Thwaites, <cite>Jesuit Relations</cite>, lix, pp. 117, 119, 131.</p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_206_207" id="Footnote_206_207"></a><a href="#FNanchor_206_207"><span class="label">[206]</span></a> As many tribes make their moccasins of different shapes—some with hooked
+toes, others broad—some with the seam on the bottom, etc., there is always a
+palpable difference in the tracks.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_207_208" id="Footnote_207_208"></a><a href="#FNanchor_207_208"><span class="label">[207]</span></a> A diminutive tribe on the Texas border, called Tonkewas, made food of
+human flesh within the present century, and, it may be of late years, though I have
+not heard it mentioned.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_208_209" id="Footnote_208_209"></a><a href="#FNanchor_208_209"><span class="label">[208]</span></a> Dogs seem always to have been a favorite article of food among the aborigines
+of different parts. Father Marquette, in his voyage down the Mississippi in 1673,
+remarks of an Indian feast, "The third service was a huge Dog, whom they killed
+on purpose," &#38;c.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_209_210" id="Footnote_209_210"></a><a href="#FNanchor_209_210"><span class="label">[209]</span></a> See Irving, <cite>Tour on the Prairies</cite>, pp. 83, 84.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_210_211" id="Footnote_210_211"></a><a href="#FNanchor_210_211"><span class="label">[210]</span></a> Dr. Samuel Thomson (1769-1843), a New England physician, advocated
+a method of treating fevers and similar diseases by means of steaming.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_211_212" id="Footnote_211_212"></a><a href="#FNanchor_211_212"><span class="label">[211]</span></a> For the Pawnee groups and habitat, see Pattie's <cite>Narrative</cite>, in our volume
+xviii, p. 40, note 24. For the Arikara, consult Bradbury's <cite>Travels</cite>, in our volume
+v, p. 127, note 83.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_212_213" id="Footnote_212_213"></a><a href="#FNanchor_212_213"><span class="label">[212]</span></a> For the Osage see our volume v, p. 50, note 22.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_213_214" id="Footnote_213_214"></a><a href="#FNanchor_213_214"><span class="label">[213]</span></a> The custom of taking all the sisters of a family is also said to be common
+among the Kansas, Omahas and other kindred tribes; indeed it appears to have
+prevailed from the earliest ages among all the Dahcotah family as well as many
+Algonquins and most other tribes about the great Lakes. Mons. La Salle, in his
+trip from these to the Mississippi in 1673, remarks of the savages of those regions:
+"They marry several Wives, and commonly all Sisters, if they can, thinking they
+agree better in their Family." Hennepin, Charlevoix and others speak of the
+same custom. Murray also mentions something of the kind among the Pawnees.
+Forbes alludes to the same in California. But I am uninformed, whether, in
+these several instances, the husband's right was only <i>de facto</i>, or <i>de jure</i> as among
+the Osages, to all the younger sisters.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_214_215" id="Footnote_214_215"></a><a href="#FNanchor_214_215"><span class="label">[214]</span></a> Note Bradbury's experience with the mourning Osage, in our volume v, pp.
+63, 64.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_215_216" id="Footnote_215_216"></a><a href="#FNanchor_215_216"><span class="label">[215]</span></a> The population of the intermediate tribes, according to the Report of the
+Commissioner of Indian Affairs, for 1844 is as follows: Pawnees, 12,500 souls
+(though some experienced traders rate them at only about 5,000); Rickaras, 1,200;
+Chippewas, Potawatomies and Ottawas of the North, 2,298; Sacs and Foxes,
+2,762; Winnebagoes, 2,183; Iowas, 470; Poncas, 777; Omahas, 1,301; Otoes and
+Missouries, 931; Kansas, 1,700; Osages, 4,102;—besides of Caddoes and Inyes
+about 500; Wacoes, Witchitas, Towockanoes, Towyashes and Keechyes, 1,000;
+who maintain themselves chiefly in Northern Texas. The wild tribes proper of
+the Prairies, are, the Comanches, consisting of about 10,000 souls; Kiawas, 2,000;
+Apaches, 100; Arrapahoes, 2,000; Chayennes, 2,000; besides many others to the
+north and westward, who rarely descend within the regions to the notice of which
+these pages are confined. As these tribes would doubtless average at least three-fifths
+females, they could hardly turn out one-fifth of their numbers in warriors,
+though this is the usual rule of estimating them by men of Indian experience.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_216_217" id="Footnote_216_217"></a><a href="#FNanchor_216_217"><span class="label">[216]</span></a> This custom was perhaps once quite extensive. It prevails among the
+Creeks to the present day, and was anciently practised by other southern nations;
+and "Among the Miamis," says Father Charlevoix, "the Husband has a right
+to cut off his wife's nose if she runs away from him."—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_217_218" id="Footnote_217_218"></a><a href="#FNanchor_217_218"><span class="label">[217]</span></a> The Comanches employ usually short-handled javelins or lances, declaring,
+like the Spartan mother, that cowards only need long weapons.—<span class="smcap">Gregg.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_218_219" id="Footnote_218_219"></a><a href="#FNanchor_218_219"><span class="label">[218]</span></a> The Comanche had been hostile to the Spanish in Texas, preventing its
+settlement, and about 1757 destroying the mission of San Saba. In 1785 the
+troops were obliged to retire into the Alamo at San Antonio, in order to be secured
+from their raids. The Texans were at first friendly with the Comanche; but in
+1832 a Mexican deputation visited the border tribes, and incited them against
+the Texans. Open war broke out in 1837, and several battles were fought. In
+February, 1840, twelve chiefs with a numerous retinue came to San Antonio to
+make peace. Refusing to deliver up their white captives, troops were set upon
+them, and in the ensuing mêlée all the chiefs and twenty other Indians were killed.
+The Comanche retired to plan revenge. Early in August, they advanced, avoiding
+Austin and San Antonio, and fell upon the town of Victoria. The inhabitants
+resisting, about fifteen of them were killed. When the Indians reached Linnville,
+a village of only five houses, its inhabitants fled to a ship in the bay, whereupon
+the hamlet was destroyed. A pursuing party under General Felix Houston defeated
+the natives, and recovered the white prisoners. In September, an expedition
+headed by Colonel John Moore attained the Comanche village high up on
+the Colorado River, and severely chastised them, killing one hundred and twenty-eight,
+and capturing thirty-two. After this the Comanche avoided the Texans
+for some years.—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_219_220" id="Footnote_219_220"></a><a href="#FNanchor_219_220"><span
+ class="label">[219]</span></a> For the Arapaho, consult
+James's <cite>Long's Expedition</cite>, our volume xv, p. 157,
+note 48. A brief notice of the Cheyenne is in our volume v, p. 140, note 88.—<span
+class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div>
+
+<div class="footnote">
+
+<p><a name="Footnote_220_221" id="Footnote_220_221"></a><a href="#FNanchor_220_221"><span
+class="label">[220]</span></a> Most of the plains Indians had superstitions regarding the buffalo. Consult
+on this subject, James O. Dorsey, "Study of Siouan Cults," in U. S. Bureau of
+Ethnology <cite>Reports</cite>, 1889-90, pp. 361-544; George A. Dorsey, <cite>Traditions of the
+Skidi Pawnee</cite> (Boston and New York, 1904).—<span class="smcap">Ed.</span></p></div></div>
+
+<h3 title="Glossary">
+<a name="GLOSSARY" id="GLOSSARY"></a>GLOSSARY</h3>
+
+<p class="subhead"><a id="Pg353"></a>
+<span class="smcap">Containing such Spanish or Hispano-Mexican words
+as occur undefined in this work, or recur
+without definition after having been once
+translated.</span><a href="#tocGlossary"
+class="toclnk">toc</a></p>
+
+<ul id="ulglossary">
+<li class="first"><dfn>A</dfn>, <dfn>al</dfn>, to, to the.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Abajo</dfn>, down, under, below.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Acequia</dfn>, ditch, canal.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Adelantado</dfn>, governor of a province.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>A dios</dfn>, adieu, farewell.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Administrador de Rentas</dfn>, a custom-house officer.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Adobe</dfn>, a sort of unburnt brick.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Afuera</dfn>, without, abroad.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Aguador</dfn>, water-carrier.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Aguardiente</dfn>, brandy.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Alacran</dfn>, scorpion.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Alameda</dfn>, public walk, with rows of trees, usually the <i>álamo</i>.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Alamo</dfn> (in Mexico), cotton-wood.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Alcalde</dfn>, justice of the peace.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Alegria</dfn>, mirth; a plant.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Allí</dfn>, there.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Amigo</dfn>, friend.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Ancheta</dfn>, adventure of goods.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Angelito</dfn>, little angel.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Angostura</dfn>, narrowness.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Aparejo</dfn>, sort of pack-saddle.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Aquí</dfn>, here.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Arancel</dfn>, tariff.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Armas</dfn>, arms.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Arriba</dfn>, up, above.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Arriero</dfn>, muleteer.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Asambléa</dfn>, assembly.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Astucia</dfn>, cunning, artifice.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Atajo</dfn>, drove of pack mules, &#38;c.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Atole</dfn>, sort of thick gruel.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Auto</dfn>, act, edict.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Ayotéa</dfn>, flat roof, terrace.</li>
+
+
+<li class="first"><dfn>Baile</dfn>, ball, dance.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Bandolin</dfn>, species of small guitar.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Bárbaro</dfn>, barbarous; a savage.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Barra</dfn>, ingot, bar of silver, &#38;c.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Baston</dfn>, staff, cane.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Blanco</dfn>, white.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Bolsa</dfn>, pocket, purse.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Bonanza</dfn>, prosperity.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Bonito</dfn>, pretty.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Bota</dfn>, boot, leggin.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Bravo</dfn>, brave, bold.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Bueno</dfn>, good.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Burro</dfn>, ass.</li>
+
+
+<li class="first"><dfn>Caballada</dfn>, drove of horses, &#38;c.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Caballero</dfn>, gentleman, knight.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Caballo</dfn>, horse.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Cacique</dfn>, Indian chief or prince.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Café</dfn>, coffee; coffee-house.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Calabozo</dfn>, dungeon, jail.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Caliente</dfn>, warm, hot.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Camino</dfn>, road.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Campo</dfn>, field, camp.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Campo santo</dfn>, cemetery without a church.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Cancion</dfn>, song, poem.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Cañada</dfn>, valley.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Cañon</dfn>, deep gorge or ravine; cannon.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Capilla</dfn>, chapel.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Capitan</dfn>, captain.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Carajo</dfn>, an oath; scoundrel.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Caravana</dfn>, caravan.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Cárcel</dfn>, prison, jail.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Carga</dfn>, load.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Cargador</dfn>, carrier.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Cargamento</dfn>, cargo.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Carnero</dfn>, male sheep.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Carreta</dfn>, cart.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Carro</dfn>, wagon, &#38;c.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Casa</dfn>, house.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Cautivo</dfn>, captive.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Ceja</dfn>, brow.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Centralismo</dfn>, central government.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Cerro</dfn>, mound.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Chacal</dfn>, jackal.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Chico</dfn>, small; small person.
+<span class="xxpgno"><a id="Pg354"></a>[p354]</span></li>
+
+<li><dfn>Chile</dfn>, red pepper.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Cibolero</dfn>, buffalo-hunter.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Cibolo</dfn>, the American buffalo.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Cigarrito</dfn>, little cigar.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Cigarro</dfn>, cigar.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Cimarron</dfn>, wild.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Claco</dfn>, small copper coin.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Coche</dfn>, coach.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Cocina</dfn>, kitchen.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Cocinera</dfn>, female cook.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Cola</dfn>, tail; glue.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Colorado</dfn>, red.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Comanchero</dfn>, Comanche trader.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Comiso</dfn>, confiscation.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Consumo</dfn>, consumption.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Contra-revolucion</dfn>, counter-revolution.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Cordillera</dfn>, chain of mountains.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Corral</dfn>, yard, pen.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Correr</dfn>, to run.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Coyote</dfn>, prairie-wolf.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Crepúsculo</dfn>, dawn, twilight.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Cristo</dfn>, Christ.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Cruz</dfn>, cross.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Cuñado</dfn>, brother-in-law.</li>
+
+
+<li class="first"><dfn>De</dfn>, <dfn>del</dfn>, of, of the, &#38;c.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Decreto</dfn>, decree.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Derecho</dfn>, tax; right.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Descubrimiento</dfn>, discovery.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Dia</dfn>, day.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Diablo</dfn>, devil.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Dictador</dfn>, dictator.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Diligencia</dfn>, diligence; stage-coach.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Dios</dfn>, God.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Doblon</dfn>, doubloon.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Domingingo</dfn>, Sunday; Dominic.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Doña</dfn>, Madam, Mrs., Miss.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Dorado</dfn>, gilt.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Dos</dfn>, two.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Dulce</dfn>, sweet.</li>
+
+
+<li class="first"><dfn>Eclesiástico</dfn>, ecclesiastical.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>El</dfn>, the; he, him.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Enáguas</dfn>, sort of petticoat.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>En junta</dfn>, in council.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Enmendadura</dfn>, enmendation.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Entrada</dfn>, entrance.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Entrerenglonadura</dfn>, interlineation.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Escritor</dfn>, writer.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Escuadron</dfn>, squadron.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Español</dfn>, Spanish; Spaniard.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Está</dfn>, is, he is, it is, &#38;c.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Estacado</dfn>, staked.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Estrangero</dfn>, stranger, foreigner.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Estufa</dfn>, cell; stove.</li>
+
+
+<li class="first"><dfn>Factura</dfn>, invoice.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Fandango</dfn>, dance; ball.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Fiera</dfn>, wild beast.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Fe</dfn>, faith.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Feria</dfn>, fair.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Fierro</dfn>, iron; branding-iron, &#38;c.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Fiesta</dfn>, feast.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Fonda</dfn>, eating-house, inn.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Fraile</dfn>, <dfn>Fray</dfn>, friar.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Frijol</dfn>, bean.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Fueros</dfn>, chartered privileges.</li>
+
+
+<li class="first"><dfn>Gachupin</dfn>, Spaniard in America.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Gallina</dfn>, hen.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Gallo</dfn>, cock.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Ganado</dfn>, cattle.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Gefe</dfn>, chief.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Gobernador</dfn>, governor.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Gobernadorcillo</dfn>, petty governor, or chief.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Gobierno</dfn>, government.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Grama</dfn>, species of grass.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Gran</dfn>, <dfn>grande</dfn>, great, large.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Grandeza</dfn>, greatness, grandeur.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Grano</dfn>, grain.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Gauge</dfn>, gourd, flask.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Guardia</dfn>, guard, watch; watch-house.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Guerra</dfn>, war.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Guia</dfn>, sort of passport for goods.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Guisado</dfn>, cooked, stewed.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Guitarra</dfn>, guitar.</li>
+
+
+<li class="first"><dfn>Hacienda</dfn>, estate; lands; treasure.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Haciendero</dfn>, proprietor of an hacienda.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Herradura</dfn>, horse-shoe.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Herrero</dfn>, blacksmith.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Hidalgo</dfn>, nobleman.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Hoja</dfn>, leaf, husk, &#38;c.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Hombre</dfn>, man.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Hombre bueno</dfn>, arbitrator.</li>
+
+
+<li class="first"><dfn>Ilustrísimo</dfn>, most illustrious.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Imprenta</dfn>, printing-office.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Inocente</dfn>, innocent.</li>
+
+
+<li class="first"><dfn>Jacal</dfn>, hut, wigwam.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Jola</dfn>, copper coin, penny.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Jornada</dfn>, day's travel; journey.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Juez</dfn>, judge.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Junta</dfn>, council; union.</li>
+
+
+<li class="first"><dfn>La</dfn>, <dfn>las</dfn>, the; her, it, them.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Labor</dfn>, labor; field; mining-pit.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Labrador</dfn>, laborer, farmer.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Ladron</dfn>, thief, robber.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Laguna</dfn>, lake.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Lanzada</dfn>, thrust with a lance.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Layador</dfn>, nooser.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Lazito</dfn>, little lazo.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Lazo</dfn>, noosing rope.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Legua</dfn>, league.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Lépero</dfn>, vagabond, <i>sans-culotte</i>.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Ley</dfn>, law.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Limosnero</dfn>, beggar.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Llano</dfn>, plain; prairie; smooth.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Lo</dfn>, <dfn>los</dfn>, the; it, them, &#38;c.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Lobo</dfn>, wolf.</li>
+
+
+<li class="first"><dfn>Madre</dfn>, mother.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Manifiesto</dfn>, manifest; bill of goods presented to the custom-house.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Manta</dfn>, covering; cotton-cloth.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Marco</dfn>, weight of eight ounces; mark.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Mayor</dfn>, great, superior.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Mayordomo</dfn>, overseer.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Médano</dfn>, sand-hill.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Medio</dfn>, half; picayune.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Menor</dfn>, less, inferior.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Mesa</dfn>, table; table-plain.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Meson</dfn>, inn, hotel.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Mestizo</dfn>, mongrel.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Mezquite</dfn>, a tree, acacia.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Mi</dfn>, <dfn>mis</dfn>, my.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Militar</dfn>, military.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Monte</dfn>, a game; grove; mount.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Mora</dfn>, mulberry.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Muerto</dfn>, dead; dead man.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Mula</dfn>, mule; unsalable item.</li>
+
+
+<li class="first"><dfn>Negro</dfn>, black; a black person.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Noria</dfn>, machine for drawing water; well.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Norte</dfn>, north.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Noticioso</dfn>, giving information.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Número</dfn>, number.</li>
+
+
+<li class="first"><dfn>Oficial</dfn>, official; officer.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Ojo</dfn>, eye; spring of water.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Oro</dfn>, gold.</li>
+
+
+<li class="first"><dfn>Padre</dfn>, father; priest.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Padrino</dfn>, godfather, sponsor.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Paisano</dfn>, countryman.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Palacio</dfn>, palace.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Panza</dfn>, paunch.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Papa</dfn>, pope; potato.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Parage</dfn>, place; camping-site.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Pariente</dfn>, relative, kin.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Parroquia</dfn>, parish; parish church.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Pasa</dfn>, raisin.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Paséo</dfn>, pleasure walk or ride.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Paso</dfn>, pass, passage; step.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Pastor</dfn>, pastor; shepherd.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Patio</dfn>, court, enclosed yard.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Pato</dfn>, duck.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Patriótico</dfn>, patriotic.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Pauta</dfn>, rule, model.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Pelo</dfn>, hair.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Penitencia</dfn>, penance, penitence.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Perro</dfn>, dog.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Peso</dfn>, dollar; weight.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Piedra</dfn>, stone.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Pinole</dfn>, food of parched Indian meal stirred in water.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Placer</dfn>, pleasure; gold region.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Plata</dfn>, silver.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Plaza</dfn>, square; place; village.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Poquito</dfn>, very little.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Portal</dfn>, porch, corridor.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Perfecto</dfn>, perfect.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Presidio</dfn>, garrison, fort.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Presto</dfn>, quick, soon.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Profano</dfn>, profane.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Pronunciamento</dfn>, act of making a public declaration.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Proyecto</dfn>, project, plan.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Público</dfn>, public.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Pueblo</dfn>, people; Catholic Indians, &#38;c.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Puerta</dfn>, door.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Puro</dfn>, pure; pure tobacco cigar.</li>
+
+
+<li class="first"><dfn>Ranchera</dfn>, country woman.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Ranchería</dfn>, village of wild Indians.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Ranchero</dfn>, inhabitant of a rancho.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Rancho</dfn>, stock-farm.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Raspadura</dfn>, erasure; rasping.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Real</dfn>, a coin; royal, real, grand.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Rebozo</dfn>, muffler, species of scarf.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Remedio</dfn>, remedy, medicine.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Rey</dfn>, king.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Rico</dfn>, rich; rich man.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Rio</dfn>, river.</li>
+
+
+<li class="first"><dfn>Sala</dfn>, hall, parlor.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Salina</dfn>, salt pond or pit.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>San</dfn>, <dfn>santo</dfn>, <dfn>santa</dfn>, saint, holy.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Sandía</dfn>, watermelon.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Sangre</dfn>, blood.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Santísimo</dfn>, most holy.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Saquéo</dfn>, sack, pillage.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Sarape</dfn>, sort of blanket.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Semana</dfn>, week.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Señor</dfn>, sir, Mr.; lord.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Señora</dfn>, Madam, Mrs.; lady.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Señoría</dfn>, lordship.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Señoría ilustrísima</dfn>, title of a bishop, &#38;c.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Señorita</dfn>, madam, miss, Mrs., &#38;c.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Sierra</dfn>, ridge of mountains; saw.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Siesta</dfn>, afternoon's sleep.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Silla</dfn>, chair; saddle.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Sistema</dfn>, system.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Sol</dfn>, sun.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Soldado</dfn>, soldier.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Sombrero</dfn>, hat.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Sonoreño</dfn>, citizen of Sonora.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Su</dfn>, <dfn>sus</dfn>, his, her, its, their.</li>
+
+
+<li class="first"><dfn>Tarde</dfn>, evening.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Tierra</dfn>, country, land.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Tierra Afuera</dfn> (in Mexico), the exterior, or country near the coast, &#38;c.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Tilma</dfn>, Indian mantle.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Tio</dfn>, uncle.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Todo</dfn>, all, every, whole.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Tonillo</dfn>, screw.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Tortilla</dfn>, thin cake, diminutive of <dfn>torta</dfn>, cake, loaf.</li>
+
+<li class="first"><dfn>Un</dfn>, <dfn>uno</dfn>, a, one.</li>
+
+<li class="first"><dfn>Vado</dfn>, ford.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Valiente</dfn>, valiant, brave.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Valle</dfn>, valley, dale.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Vaquero</dfn>, cowherd.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Vaquita</dfn>, diminutive of <dfn>vaca</dfn>, cow.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Vara</dfn>, Spanish yard of 33 inches.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Venta</dfn>, sale; sale-brand; inn.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Verdadero</dfn>, true.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Verde</dfn>, green.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Vicio</dfn>, vice.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Viernes</dfn>, Friday.</li>
+
+<li class="first"><dfn>Y</dfn>, <dfn>é</dfn>, and.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Yeso</dfn>, gypsum.</li>
+
+
+<li class="first"><dfn>Zambo</dfn>, offspring of the Indian and negro.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Zaguan</dfn>, entry, porch.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Zarco</dfn>, light blue.</li>
+
+<li><dfn>Zorra</dfn>, fox.</li>
+</ul>
+
+<div class="transnote">
+<a id="TRANSCRIBER_NOTE"></a>TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE:
+
+<p>Original spelling and grammar has mostly been retained. Figures
+were moved from within paragraphs to between paragraphs. Footnotes
+were moved to the ends of chapters. This 1905 edition is an annotated
+reprint of "Part II of Gregg's Commerce of the Prairies, 1831-1839";
+the pagination of the latter document is shown herein as a number
+enclosed in curly brackets, e.g. {226}. The pagination of the
+1905 publication is shown in square brackets, e.g. [p009]. <span
+class="smcap">Small caps</span> are not well supported in mobile
+formats, so they are reinforced with an underline herein.</p>
+
+<p>The Transcriber created the cover page, and hereby
+places it in the public domain.</p>
+
+<p>Page <a href="#Pg078">78</a>: the phrase "invicta, la Galia indomable" is printed upside
+down. This was not a mistake, as it is explained in a following
+paragraph. This has been reproduced herein as well as possible
+("ıuʌıɔʇɐ lɐ פɐlıɐ ıupoɯɐqlǝ"), using Unicode characters. Some of
+these characters may not be properly displayed in all browsers and
+fonts.</p>
+
+<p>Footnote <a href="#Footnote_59_59">59</a>:
+the original large table was broken into two pieces.</p>
+
+<p>Page <a href="#Pg099">99</a>: "ofthe regular Route" was changed to "of the regular Route".</p>
+
+<p>Page <a href="#Pg144">144</a>: "consipracy" was changed to "conspiracy".</p>
+
+<p>Page <a href="#Pg145">145</a>: "futurese curity" to "future security".</p>
+
+<p>Page <a href="#Pg168">168</a>: an initial quotation mark was added to "he is prying into
+ your affairs".</p>
+
+<p>Page <a href="#Pg173">173</a>: "mattrass" to "mattress".</p>
+
+<p>Footnote <a href="#Footnote_123_123">123</a>: "Jesus Maria" changed to "Jesus-Maria".</p>
+
+<p>Page <a href="#Pg193">193</a>: "invogue" to "in vogue".</p>
+
+<p>Page <a href="#Pg208">208</a>: "discharging valleys" to "discharging volleys".</p>
+
+<p>Footnote <a href="#Footnote_136_136">136</a>: Several instances of "do." (abbreviation for "ditto")
+were replaced by repeated text.</p>
+
+<p>Page <a href="#Pg268">268</a>: "Assinaboins" to "Assiniboins", to match the footnote.
+The more usual modern spelling seems to be "Assiniboine"
+("Assiniboines", plural).</p>
+
+<p>Page <a href="#Pg274">274</a>: "dolefu" to "doleful".</p>
+
+<p>Page <a href="#Pg296">296</a>: "resistence" to "resistance".</p>
+
+<p>Page <a href="#Pg320">320</a>: "tancy" to "fancy".</p>
+</div>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Early Western Travels 1748-1846,
+Volume XX, by Various
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EARLY WESTERN TRAVELS ***
+
+***** This file should be named 44205-h.htm or 44205-h.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
+        http://www.gutenberg.org/4/4/2/0/44205/
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+</body>
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+</html>
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@@ -0,0 +1,12814 @@
+Project Gutenberg's Early Western Travels 1748-1846, Volume XX, by Various
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Early Western Travels 1748-1846, Volume XX
+       Part II of Gregg's Commerce of the Prairies, 1831-1839
+
+Author: Various
+
+Editor: Reuben Gold Thwaites
+
+Release Date: November 17, 2013 [EBook #44205]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EARLY WESTERN TRAVELS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by RichardW, Greg Bergquist and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
+file was produced from images generously made available
+by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ Early Western Travels
+
+ 1748-1846
+
+ Volume XX
+
+ [Illustration: Indian alarm on the Cimarron River]
+
+
+
+
+ Early Western Travels
+ 1748-1846
+
+
+ A Series of Annotated Reprints of some of the best
+ and rarest contemporary volumes of travel, descriptive
+ of the Aborigines and Social and
+ Economic Conditions in the Middle
+ and Far West, during the Period
+ of Early American Settlement
+
+ Edited with Notes, Introductions, Index, etc., by
+ Reuben Gold Thwaites, LL. D.
+
+ Editor of "The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents", "Original
+ Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition", "Hennepin's
+ New Discovery," etc.
+
+ Volume XX
+ Part II of Gregg's Commerce of the Prairies, 1831-1839
+
+ [Illustration]
+
+ Cleveland, Ohio
+ The Arthur H. Clark Company
+ 1905
+
+
+
+
+ COPYRIGHT 1905, BY
+ THE ARTHUR H. CLARK COMPANY
+
+ ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
+
+ The Lakeside Press
+ R. R. DONNELLEY & SONS COMPANY
+ CHICAGO
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS OF VOLUME XX
+
+
+  COMMERCE OF THE PRAIRIES; or, The Journal of a Santa Fe
+    Trader, during Eight Expeditions across the Great Western
+    Prairies, and a Residence of nearly Nine Years in Northern
+    Mexico. (Part II: Chapters xii-xvi of Volume I, and all
+    of Volume II of original.) _Josiah Gregg._
+
+  Author's Table of Contents                                        13
+
+  Text of Part II:                                                  21
+
+
+
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS TO VOLUME XX
+
+
+  "Indian Alarm on the Cimarron River" _Frontispiece_
+
+  "Map of the Interior of Northern Mexico" _Facing_                 21
+
+  Medal of Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe de Mexico (text cut)         40
+
+  "Camp Comanche"                                                  123
+
+  Mule emerging from a mine; Still Hunting (text cuts in
+    original)                                                      181
+
+  "'Dog Town,' or Settlement of Prairie Dogs"                      279
+
+
+
+
+  PART II OF GREGG'S COMMERCE OF THE PRAIRIES, OR THE
+    JOURNAL OF A SANTA FE TRADER--1831-1839
+
+  Reprint of chapters xii-xvi of Volume I, and all of Volume
+    II of the second edition: New York, 1845
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+  CHAPTER XII
+
+  Government of New Mexico -- The Administration of Justice
+    -- Judicial Corruption -- Prejudices against Americans
+    -- Partiality for the English -- Anecdote of Governor
+    Armijo and a Trapper -- Outrage upon an American
+    Physician -- Violence suffered by the American Consul
+    and others -- Arbitrary Impositions upon Foreigners --
+    _Contribucion de Guerra_ -- The Alcaldes and their
+    System -- The _Fueros_ -- Mode of punishing Delinquents
+    and Criminals -- Mexican System of Slavery -- Thieves
+    and Thieveries Outrage upon an American Merchant --
+    Gambling and Gambling-houses -- Game of _Monte_ --
+    Anecdote of a Lady of Fashion -- _Chuza_ -- Cockpits --
+    _Correr el gallo_ -- _El Coleo_ -- Fandangoes --
+    _Cigarritos_,                                                   21
+
+  CHAPTER XIII
+
+  Military Hierarchy of Mexico -- Religious Superstitions --
+    Legend of _Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe_ -- A profane
+    Version of the Story -- A curious Plan for manufacturing
+    Water -- Saints and Images -- Processions -- How to make
+    it Rain -- The Sacred Host -- Fanaticism and Murder --
+    Honors paid to a Bishop -- Servility to Priests --
+    Attendance at Public Worship -- New Mexicans in Church
+    -- The Vesper Bells -- Passion Week and the Ceremonies
+    pertaining thereto -- Ridiculous _Penitencia_ --
+    Whitewashing of Criminals -- Matrimonial Connexions and
+    Mode of Contracting them -- Restrictions upon Lovers --
+    Onerous Fees paid for Marriages and Burials -- Anecdote
+    of a _Ranchero_ -- Ditto of a Servant and of a Widow,
+    illustrative of Priestly Extortion -- Modes of Burial,
+    and Burial Ground of the Heretics,                              37
+
+  CHAPTER XIV
+
+  The Pueblos -- Their Character for Sobriety, Honesty, and
+    Industry -- Traditional descent from Montezuma -- Their
+    Languages -- Former and present Population -- The Pueblo
+    of Pecos -- Singular Habits of that ill-fated Tribe --
+    Curious Tradition -- Montezuma and the Sun -- Legend of
+    a Serpent -- Religion and government -- Secret Council
+    -- Laws and Customs -- Excellent Provisions against
+    Demoralization -- Primitive Pastimes of the Pueblos --
+    Their Architecture -- Singular Structures of Taos, and
+    other novel Fortifications -- Primitive state of the
+    Arts among the Pueblos -- Style of Dress, Weapons, etc.
+    -- Their Diet -- The _Guayave_,                                 54
+
+  {xvi} CHAPTER XV
+
+  The wild Tribes of New Mexico -- Speculative Theories --
+    Clavigero and the _Azteques_ -- Pueblo Bonito and other
+    Ruins -- Probable Relationship between the _Azteques_
+    and Tribes of New Mexico -- The several Nations of this
+    Province -- _Navajoes_ and _Azteques_ -- Manufactures of
+    the former -- Their Agriculture, Religion, etc. --
+    Mexican Cruelty to the Indians and its Consequences --
+    Inroads of the Navajoes -- Exploits of a Mexican Army --
+    How to make a Hole in a powder-keg -- The _Apaches_ and
+    their character -- Their Food -- Novel Mode of settling
+    Disputes -- Range of their marauding Excursions --
+    Indian Traffic and imbecile Treaties -- Devastation of
+    the Country -- Chihuahua Rodomontades -- Juan Jose, a
+    celebrated Apache Chief, and his tragical End, etc. --
+    Massacre of Americans in Retaliation -- A tragical
+    Episode -- _Proyecto de Guerra_ and a 'gallant' Display
+    -- The _Yutas_ and their Hostilities -- A personal
+    Adventure with them, but no Bloodshed -- The Jicarillas,        67
+
+  CHAPTER XVI
+
+  Incidents of a Return Trip from Santa Fe -- Calibre of our
+    Party -- Return Caravans -- Remittances -- Death of Mr.
+    Langham -- Burial in the Desert -- A sudden Attack --
+    Confusion in the Camp -- The Pawnees -- A Wolfish Escort
+    -- Scarcity of Buffalo -- Unprofitable Delusion --
+    Arrival -- Table of Camping Sites and Distances --
+    Condition of the Town of Independence -- The Mormons --
+    Their Dishonesty and Immorality -- Their high-handed
+    Measures, and a Rising of the People -- A fatal Skirmish
+    -- A chivalrous Parade of the Citizens -- Expulsion of
+    the Mormons -- The Meteoric Shower, and Superstition,
+    etc. -- Wanderings and Improprieties of the 'Latter-day
+    Saints' -- Gov. Boggs' Recipe -- The City of Nauvoo --
+    Contemplated Retribution of the Mormons,                        87
+
+  CHAPTER XVII {I of Vol. II, original ed.}
+
+  A Return to Prairie Life -- Abandonment of the regular
+    Route -- The Start -- A Suicide -- Arrest of a Mulatto
+    for Debt -- Cherokee 'Bankrupt Law' -- Chuly, the Creek
+    Indian -- The Muster and the Introduction -- An '_Olla
+    Podrida_' -- Adventure of a 'Down-Easter' -- Arrival of
+    U. S. Dragoons -- Camp Holmes, and the Road -- A Visit
+    from a Party of Comanches -- Tabba-quena, a noted Chief
+    -- His extraordinary Geographical Talent -- Indians set
+    out for the 'Capitan Grande,' and we through an
+    unexplored Region -- Rejoined by Tabba-quena and his
+    '_suite_' -- Spring Valley -- The Buffalo Fever -- The
+    Chase -- A Green-horn Scamper -- Prairie Fuel,                  99
+
+  CHAPTER XVIII {II of Vol. II}
+
+  Travelling out of our Latitude -- The Buffalo-gnat -- A
+    Kiawa and Squaw -- Indian _crim. con._ Affair --
+    Extraordinary Mark of confidence in the White Man -- A
+    Conflagration -- An Espy Shower -- Region of Gypsum --
+    Our Latitude -- A Lilliputian Forest -- A Party of
+    Comanches -- A Visit to a 'Dog-Town' -- Indian Archery
+    -- Arrival of Comanche Warriors -- A 'Big Talk' and its
+    Results -- Speech of the _Capitan Mayor_ -- Project of
+    bringing Comanche Chiefs to Washington -- Return of
+    Lieut. Bowman, and our March resumed -- Melancholy
+    Reflections -- Another Indian Visit -- Mexican Captives
+    -- Voluntary Captivity -- A sprightly Mexican Lad --
+    Purchase of a Captive -- Comanche Trade and Etiquette --
+    Indians least dangerous to such as trade with them,            114
+
+  CHAPTER XIX {III of Vol. II}
+
+  Ponds and Buffalo Wallows -- Valley of the Canadian, and
+    romantic Freaks of Nature -- Formation of Ravines --
+    Melancholy Adventure of a Party of Traders in 1832 --
+    Fears of our being lost -- Arrival of a Party of
+    _Comancheros_, and their wonderful Stories -- Their
+    Peculiarities and Traffic -- Bitter Water, and the
+    _Salitre_ of New Mexico -- Avant-couriers for Santa Fe
+    -- Patent Fire-arms and their Virtues -- Ranchero Ideas
+    of Distance, and their Mode of giving Directions -- The
+    Angostura, and erroneous Notions of the Texans -- A new
+    Route revealed -- Solitary Travel -- Supply of
+    Provisions sent back -- Arrival at Santa Fe -- Gov.
+    Armijo, etc. -- A 'Flare-up' with His Excellency,              132
+
+  CHAPTER XX {IV of Vol. II}
+
+  Preparations for a Start to Chihuahua -- Ineptness of
+    Married Men for the Santa Fe Trade -- Annoying
+    Custom-house Regulations -- Mails in New Mexico --
+    Insecurity of Correspondence -- Outfit and Departure --
+    _Derecho de Consumo_ -- Ruins of Valverde -- 'Towns
+    without Houses' -- La Jornado del Muerto -- Laguna and
+    Ojo del Muerto -- A Tradition of the _Arrieros_ --
+    Laborious Ferrying and Quagmires -- Arrival at Paso del
+    Norte -- Amenity of the Valley -- _Sierra Blanca_ and
+    _Los Organos_ -- Face of the Country -- Seagrass --
+    Medanos or Sand-hills -- An accidental River -- Carrizal
+    -- Ojo Caliente -- Laguna de Encinillas -- Southern
+    Haciendas -- Arrival -- Character of the Route and Soil,       145
+
+  CHAPTER XXI {V of Vol. II}
+
+  Trip from Chihuahua to Aguascalientes, in 1835 -- Southern
+    Trade and _Ferias_ -- Hacienda de la Zarca, and its
+    innumerable Stock -- Rio Nazas, and Lakes without outlet
+    -- Perennial Cotton -- Exactions for Water and Pasturage
+    -- Village of Churches -- City of Durango and its
+    Peculiarities -- Fruits, Pulque, etc. -- Persecution of
+    Scorpions -- Negro-ship in the ascendant -- Robbers and
+    their _modus operandi_ -- City of Aguascalientes --
+    Bathing Scene -- Haste to return to the North -- Mexican
+    Mule-shoeing -- Difficulties and Perplexities -- A
+    Friend in time of need -- Reach Zacatecas -- City
+    Accommodations -- Hotels unfashionable -- _Locale_,
+    Fortifications, etc., of the City of Zacatecas -- Siege
+    by Santa Anna and his easy-won Victory -- At Durango
+    again -- Civil Warfare among the 'Sovereigns' --
+    Hairbreadth 'scapes -- Troubles of the Road -- Safe
+    Arrival at Chihuahua -- Character of the Southern
+    Country,                                                       162
+
+  CHAPTER XXII {VI of Vol. II}
+
+  Visit to the Mining Town of Jesus-Maria -- Critical Roads
+    -- Character of the Town -- Losing Speculations -- Mine
+    of Santa Juliana -- Curious mining Operations --
+    Different Modes of working the Ore -- The Crushing-mill,
+    etc. -- _Barras de Plata_ -- Value of Bullion -- The
+    Silver Trade -- Return to Chihuahua -- Resumption of the
+    regular Narrative -- Curious Wholesales -- Money Table
+    -- Redundancy of Copper Coin -- City of Chihuahua and
+    its Peculiarities -- Ecclesiastical Architecture --
+    Hidalgo and his Monument -- Public Works, and their
+    present Declension -- _Fete_ in honor of Iturbide --
+    Illiberality towards Americans -- Shopping Mania --
+    Anti-Masonic _Auto de Fe_,                                     178
+
+  CHAPTER XXIII {VII of Vol. II}
+
+  Departure for Santa Fe -- Straitened for Food -- Summary
+    Effort to procure Beef -- Seizure of one of our Party --
+    Altercation with a _Rico_ -- His pusillanimous Procedure
+    -- Great Preparations in Chihuahua for our Arrest --
+    Arrival of Mexican Troops -- A polite Officer -- Myself
+    with three of my Men summoned back to Chihuahua --
+    Amiable Conduct of Senor Artalejo -- _Junta_
+    _Departmental_ and Discussion of my Affair -- Writ of
+    _Habeas Corpus_ not in vogue -- The Matter adjusted and
+    Passports granted -- The _Morale_ -- Impunity of savage
+    Depredations -- Final Start -- Company of _Pasenos_ with
+    their Fruits and Liquors -- Arrival at Santa Fe,               193
+
+  CHAPTER XXIV {VIII of Vol. II}
+
+  Preparations for returning Home -- Breaking out of the
+    Small-pox -- The Start -- Our Caravan -- Manuel the
+    Comanche -- A new Route -- The Prairie on Fire -- Danger
+    to be apprehended from these Conflagrations -- A
+    Comanche Buffalo-chase -- A Skirmish with the Pawnees --
+    An intrepid Mexican -- The Wounded -- Value of a thick
+    Skull -- Retreat of the Enemy and their Failure -- A
+    bleak Northwester -- Loss of our Sheep -- The Llano
+    Estacado and Sources of Red River -- The Canadian River
+    -- Cruelties upon Buffalo -- Feats at 'Still Hunting' --
+    Mr. Wethered's Adventure -- Once more on our own Soil --
+    The False Washita -- Enter our former Trail -- Character
+    of the Country over which we had travelled -- Arrival at
+    Van Buren -- The two Routes to Santa Fe -- Some
+    Advantages of that from Arkansas -- Restlessness of
+    Prairie Travellers in civilized Life, and Propensity for
+    returning to the Wild Deserts,                                 203
+
+  CHAPTER XXV {IX of Vol. II}
+  CONCLUSION OF THE SANTA FE TRADE
+
+  Decline of Prices -- Statistical Table -- Chihuahua Trade
+    -- Its Extent -- Different Ports through which Goods are
+    introduced to that Market -- Expedition between
+    Chihuahua and Arkansas -- The Drawback -- The more
+    recent Incidents of the Santa Fe Caravans -- Adventures
+    of 1843 -- Robbery and Murder of Chavez -- Expedition
+    from Texas -- Defeat of Gen. Armijo's Van-guard -- His
+    precipitate Retreat -- Texan Grievances -- Unfortunate
+    Results of indiscriminate Revenge -- Want of discipline
+    among the Texans -- Disarmed by Capt. Cook -- Return of
+    the Escort of U. S. Dragoons, and of the Texans --
+    Demands of the Mexican Government -- Closing of the
+    Santa Fe Trade,                                                221
+
+  CHAPTER XXVI {X of Vol. II}
+  GEOGRAPHY OF THE PRAIRIES
+
+  Extent of the Prairies -- Mountains -- _Mesas_ or
+    Table-lands -- _El Llano Estacado_ -- _Canones_ -- Their
+    Annoyance to the early Caravans -- Immense Gullies --
+    Coal Mines and other Geological Products -- Gypsum --
+    Metallic Minerals -- Salines -- Capt. Boone's
+    Exploration -- 'Salt Plain' and 'Salt Rock' -- Mr.
+    Sibley's Visit -- Saline Exudations -- Unhabitableness
+    of the high Prairies -- Excellent Pasturage -- Rich
+    border Country sufficient for two States -- Northern
+    Texas -- Rivers of the Prairies -- Their Unfitness for
+    Navigation -- Timber -- Cross Timbers -- Encroachments
+    of the Timber upon the Prairies -- Fruits and Flowers --
+    Salubrity of Climate,                                          237
+
+  CHAPTER XXVII {XI of Vol. II}
+  ANIMALS OF THE PRAIRIES
+
+  The Mustang or Wild Horse -- Capturing him by 'Creasing,'
+    and with the Lazo -- Horse-flesh -- The Buffalo -- Its
+    Appearance -- Excellence of its Meat -- General Utility
+    to the Indian and Traveller -- Prospect of its
+    Extinction -- Hunting the Buffalo with Bow and Arrows,
+    the Lance, etc. -- 'Still-hunting' -- The Buffalo
+    ferocious only when wounded -- Butchering, etc. -- The
+    Gray Wolf -- Its Modes of killing Buffalo -- Their great
+    numbers -- A 'Wolf scrape' -- The Prairie Wolf, or
+    'Jackal of the Prairies' -- The Elk, Deer and Bear --
+    The Antelope -- The Bighorn -- The Prairie Dog -- Owls
+    and Rattlesnakes -- The Horned Frog -- Fowls -- Bees,
+    etc.,                                                          259
+
+  CHAPTER XXVIII {XII of Vol. II}
+  ABORIGINES OF AMERICA
+
+  Indian Cosmogony -- Traditions of Origin -- Identity of
+    Religious Notions -- Adoration of the Sun -- Shawnee
+    Faith -- Anecdote of Tecumseh -- Legendary Traditions --
+    Missionaries, and Success of the Catholics -- The
+    Indian's Heaven -- Burial Customs -- Ancient Accounts --
+    Depositing the Dead on Scaffolds -- Superstition and
+    Witchcraft -- Indian Philosophy -- Polygamy and other
+    Matrimonial Affairs -- Abhorrence of Incest --
+    Difference in Character -- Indian Hospitality -- Traits
+    of the Ancient Asiatics -- Names -- Relationship of
+    Different Tribes -- Dreadful Decrease of the Indians,          283
+
+  CHAPTER XXIX {XIII of Vol. II}
+  THE FRONTIER INDIANS
+
+  Causes of Removal West -- Annuities, etc. --
+    Dissatisfaction of the Indians -- Their Melioration by
+    the Change -- Superiority of their present Location --
+    Lands granted to them -- Improvements, Agriculture,
+    etc. -- Their Slaves -- Manufactures -- Style of Living,
+    Dress, etc. -- Literary Opportunities and Improvements
+    -- Choctaw Academy -- Harpies and Frauds -- Games --
+    Systems of Government -- Polygamy -- Ancient Laws and
+    Customs -- Intemperance -- Preventive Measures -- A
+    Choctaw Enactment -- Marriage and Funeral Customs of the
+    Choctaws -- The Creeks -- Their Summary Executions --
+    Mourning -- Indian Titles -- The Northern Tribes --
+    Census of the Frontier Nations,                                299
+
+  CHAPTER XXX {XIV of Vol. II}
+  INDIANS OF THE PRAIRIES
+
+  System of Chiefs -- Mode of Warfare -- War-Council -- The
+    Scalp-dance -- The Calumet or Pipe of Peace -- Treaties
+    -- Public News-criers -- Arms of the Indians -- Bow and
+    Arrows, etc. -- Hunting -- Dancing -- Language of Signs
+    -- Telegraphs -- Wigwams or Lodges -- Pack-dogs --
+    Costumes -- Painting, Tattooing, etc. -- Indian Dandies
+    -- Manufactures, and Dressing the Buffalo Rug -- Indian
+    Diet, Fasting, etc. -- Primitive Thomsonians -- Their
+    domestic Animals, the Dog and the Horse -- Wampum --
+    Their Chronology,                                              318
+
+  CHAPTER XXXI {XV of Vol. II}
+  INDIANS OF THE PRAIRIES
+
+  Intermediate Tribes -- Their Wigwams and their Hunting
+    Excursions -- Dress and Cut of their Hair -- The Pawnees
+    -- The Osages -- Their Roguery -- Matrimonial Customs --
+    Accomplished Mourners -- Their Superstitions -- The
+    Indian Figure -- The 'Pawnee Picts' -- Wild Tribes --
+    Census -- The Comanches -- Their Range -- Their Sobriety
+    -- Their Chiefs, etc. -- Female Chastity -- Comanche
+    Marriage -- Costumes -- Horsemanship -- Comanche Warfare
+    -- Predatory Forays -- Martial Ceremonies -- Treatment
+    of Captives -- Burial and Religious Rites,                     336
+
+  GLOSSARY.
+
+  Containing such Spanish or Hispano-Mexican words as occur
+    undefined in this work, or recur without definition
+    after having been once translated                              353
+
+
+[Illustration: MAP OF THE INTERIOR OF NORTHERN MEXICO.]
+
+
+
+
+ COMMERCE OF THE PRAIRIES
+ {PART II}
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII[1]
+
+Government of New Mexico -- The Administration of Justice --
+  Judicial Corruption -- Prejudices against Americans -- Partiality
+  for the English -- Anecdote of Governor Armijo and a Trapper --
+  Outrage upon an American Physician -- Violence suffered by the
+  American Consul and others -- Arbitrary Impositions upon Foreigners
+  -- _Contribucion de Guerra_ -- The Alcaldes and their System --
+  The _Fueros_ -- Mode of punishing Delinquents and Criminals --
+  Mexican System of Slavery -- Thieves and Thieveries -- Outrage upon
+  an American Merchant -- Gambling and Gambling-houses -- Game of
+  _Monte_ -- Anecdote of a Lady of Fashion -- _Chuza_ -- Cockpits --
+  _Correr_ _el gallo_ -- El Coleo -- Fandangoes -- _Cigarritos_.
+
+
+Prior to the adoption of the _Sistema Central_ in the Mexican
+republic, the province of New Mexico was under a territorial
+government. The executive was called _Gefe Politico_ (political
+chief), and the _Diputacion Provincial_ very inefficiently supplied
+the place of a legislature. Under the present system, however, New
+Mexico being a _department_, the names of these powers have been
+changed, but their functions remain very nearly the same. The
+_Gobernador_ (governor) is appointed by the President for eight years.
+The legislative power is nominally vested in a _Junta Departamental_,
+a kind of state council, with very circumscribed {226} powers,
+somewhat analogous to, and certainly not more extensive than, those of
+a board of aldermen with us. But even this shadow of popular
+representation was 'prorogued' by Gov. Armijo soon after his accession
+to power (five or six years ago), and has never since been convened;
+so that [Pg022] its functions have been arbitrarily exercised by the
+governor ever since.
+
+The administration of the laws in Northern Mexico constitutes one of
+the most painful features of her institutions. Justice, or rather
+judgments, are a common article of traffic; and the hapless litigant
+who has not the means to soften the claws of the alcalde with a
+'silver unction,' is almost sure to get severely scratched in the
+contest, no matter what may be the justice of his cause, or the
+uprightness of his character. It is easy to perceive, then, that the
+poor and the humble stand no chance in a judicial contest with the
+wealthy and consequential, whose influence, even apart from their
+facilities for corrupting the court and suborning witnesses, is
+sufficient to neutralize any amount of plebeian testimony that might
+be brought against them.
+
+The evil consequences arising from maladministration of justice in New
+Mexico are most severely felt by foreigners, against whom a strong
+prejudice prevails throughout the South. Of these, the citizens of the
+United States are by far the most constant sufferers; an inevitable
+result of that sinister feeling with which the 'rival republic' views
+the advancement {227} and superiority of her more industrious
+neighbors. It is a notorious fact, that while the English are
+universally treated with comparative consideration and respect, the
+Americans residing in the southern parts of the republic are
+frequently taunted with the effeminacy of their government and its
+want of decision. So openly has this preference for British subjects
+been manifested, and so thoroughly conscious have the Americans become
+of the humiliating fact, that when a mercantile firm, consisting of an
+American and an Englishman, has occasion to present a memorial of any
+description, or to sue either for an act of favor or of justice from
+the nation, the application is sure [Pg023] to be made in the name of
+the latter, knowing it will thus be more likely to command proper
+attention.
+
+Few men, perhaps, have done more to jeopard the interests of American
+traders, or to bring the American character itself into contempt, than
+Armijo, the present arbitrary governor of New Mexico. I am happy to
+say, however, that in the midst of his many oppressions, he was once
+at least obliged to 'knock under' to one of those bold and daring
+spirits of the Rocky Mountains whom obstacles rather energize than
+subdue. This was about the year 1828, during Armijo's previous
+governorship. A law was then in existence which had been enacted by
+the general Congress prohibiting foreigners from trapping beaver in
+the Mexican territory, under penalty of confiscation, etc.; but as
+there were no native {228} trappers in New Mexico, Gov. Baca and his
+successor (Narbona) thought it expedient to extend licenses to
+foreigners, in the name of citizens, upon condition of their taking a
+certain proportion of Mexicans to learn the art of trapping. In
+pursuance of this disposition, Gov. Narbona extended a license to one
+Ewing Young, who was accompanied by a Mr. Sublette, brother of Capt.
+Wm. Sublette, and almost equally celebrated for his mountain
+adventures.[2] [Pg024] Previous to the return of this party from
+their trapping expedition, Armijo had succeeded Narbona in office, and
+they were informed that it was his intention to seize their furs. To
+prevent this, they deposited them at a neighboring village, where they
+were afterwards discovered, seized, and confiscated. The furs being
+damp, they were spread out in the sun before the _Guardia_, in Santa
+Fe, when Sublette, perceiving two packs of beaver which had been his
+own property, got by honest labor, instantly seized them and carried
+them away before the eyes of the whole garrison, and concealed both
+them and his own person in a house opposite. The entire military force
+was immediately put in requisition, and a general search made for the
+offender and his prize; but in vain: indeed, if the truth must be
+spoken, the troops seemed to have as little desire to find Sublette as
+the latter had of being found; for his character was too well known to
+leave any room for hope that his capture could be effected without a
+great deal {229} of trouble. In the meanwhile, Armijo raved, and
+threatened the Americans for not ferreting out their countryman and
+delivering him over to justice. Failing to produce any impression by
+blustering, however, he caused a couple of cannons to be pointed at
+the house where the offender was supposed to be concealed, declaring
+at the same time that he would batter it down; but all to no purpose.
+Mr. Sublette finally conveyed his furs in safety to the frontier, and
+thence to the United States. [Pg025]
+
+The following anecdote affords another illustration of
+Armijo's summary mode of dealing with Americans. In the fall of 1840,
+a gross outrage was committed upon a physician from Massachusetts
+(said to be a gentleman of unexceptionable deportment), who was
+travelling through the country for his health. He had loaned nine
+hundred dollars to a person of the name of Tayon, who afterwards
+borrowed the same amount of another foreigner and repaid this debt.
+The doctor then left for the South, where he intended to pass the
+winter, being afflicted with a pulmonary disease. But the individual
+who had lent Tayon the money, being informed that he was insolvent,
+applied to Gov. Armijo for an order to compel the doctor to return,
+expecting thereby to make him reimburse the money. The order overtook
+him at the village of Algodones,[3] near forty miles from Santa Fe,
+where he was at once arrested by the alcalde, and detained some time,
+ignorant even of the offence for which he was doing penance. {230} In
+the meantime, the American Consul at Santa Fe, having been informed of
+what had taken place, procured a counter-order from the governor for
+the release of the prisoner. When the alcalde of Algodones received
+this document, he determined at once that so extraordinary an act of
+justice should cost the foreigner some trifle. Accordingly, another
+order was forged on the spot, commanding that he should be taken to
+the capital--yet a 'gentle hint' was given, that his liberty might be
+purchased by the payment of two hundred dollars. Being in a land of
+strangers, among whom he had but little hope of receiving fair play,
+the doctor resolved to pay the amount demanded, and fly to Chihuahua,
+where he would at least be safe from Armijo's clutches. Having been
+informed, however, of the fraud [Pg026] practised by the alcalde,
+before he had proceeded far on his journey, he returned and made an
+attempt to bring the delinquent officer to justice, but altogether
+without success.
+
+But perhaps the most glaring outrages upon American citizens were
+committed in 1841, upon the occasion of the capture of the Texan Santa
+Fe Expedition. In Taos, a poor deaf and dumb U. S. creole Frenchman
+was beaten to death in open day. In San Miguel, the alcalde, at the
+head of a mob, entered the store of a Mr. Rowland, whom he robbed of a
+considerable amount of merchandise.[4] At the same time, the greatest
+excitement raged in Santa Fe against Americans, whose lives appeared
+in imminent danger; and a most {231} savage attack was made upon our
+excellent Consul, Manuel Alvarez, Esq., who had always taken an active
+interest in the welfare of American citizens.[5]
+
+A few minutes after the governor had departed for San Miguel, to
+encounter the Texans, a fellow named Martin, his nephew and
+confidential agent, aided by a band of ferocious _sans culottes_, and
+armed with a large knife, secretly entered the house of the Consul,
+who perceived him in time, however, to avert the blow; yet he received
+a severe wound in the face during the scuffle that ensued: the rabble
+running in at the same time, and vociferating, "_Saquenlo ajuera!
+matenlo!_"--Drag him out! kill him! Mr. Alvarez doubtless [Pg027]
+owed his preservation partially to the consternation with which the
+failure of their clandestine attempt at his life inspired the cowardly
+ruffians. Instead of being punished for this diabolical act, the
+principal assassin, on the contrary, was soon after promoted in the
+army.
+
+The outrage did not end here, however; for on the Consul's demanding
+his passport for the United States, it was refused for nearly a month;
+thus detaining him until the cold season had so far advanced, that, of
+his party (about fifteen in number), two perished from the cold; and
+not one arrived without being more or less frost-bitten--some very
+severely--besides suffering a loss of about fifty animals from the
+same cause.
+
+Although these and other daring outrages have been duly represented to
+our Government, {232} it does not appear that any measures of redress
+have yet been taken.
+
+With a view of oppressing our merchants, Gov. Armijo had, as early as
+1839, issued a decree exempting all the natives from the tax imposed
+on store-houses, shops, etc., throwing the whole burden of impost upon
+foreigners and naturalized citizens; a measure clearly and
+unequivocally at variance with the treaties and stipulations entered
+into between the United States and Mexico. A protest was presented
+without effect; when our Consul, finding all remonstrances useless,
+forwarded a memorial to the American Minister at Mexico,[6] who,
+although the vital interests of American citizens were at stake,
+deemed the affair of too little importance, perhaps, and therefore
+appears to have paid no attention to it. But this system of levying
+excessive taxes upon foreigners, is by no means an original invention
+of Gov. Armijo. In 1835, the government of Chihuahua having levied a
+_contribucion de guerra_ for raising means to make [Pg028] war upon
+the savages, who were laying waste the surrounding country, foreign
+merchants, with an equal disregard for their rights and the
+obligations of treaties, were taxed twenty-five dollars each per
+month; while the native merchants, many of whom possessed large
+haciendas, with thousands of stock, for the especial protection of
+which these taxes were chiefly imposed, paid only from five to ten
+dollars each. Remonstrances were presented to the governor, but in
+vain. In his official {233} reply, that functionary declared, "_que el
+gobierno cree arreglado el reparto de sus respectivas contribuciones_,"
+--the government believes your respective contributions in accordance
+with justice--which concluded the correspondence, and the Americans
+paid their twenty-five dollars per month.
+
+The only tribunals of 'justice' in New Mexico are those of the
+ordinary _alcaldes_ or justices of the peace; and an appeal from them
+is carried to the Supreme Court in the department of Chihuahua. The
+course of litigation is exceedingly simple and summary. The plaintiff
+makes his verbal complaint or demand before the alcalde, who orders
+him to summon the defendant, which is done by simply saying, "_Le
+llama el alcalde_" (the alcalde calls you) into his presence, the
+applicant acting thus in the double capacity of constable and
+complainant. The summons is always verbal, and rarely for a future
+time--instant attendance being expected. Should the defendant refuse
+to obey this simple mandate (which, by the bye, is a very rare
+occurrence), the alcalde sends his _baston de justicia_, his staff of
+justice, an ordinary walking-cane, distinguished only by a peculiar
+black silk tassel. This never fails to enforce compliance, for a
+refusal to attend after being shown the staff, would be construed into
+a contempt of court, and punished accordingly. The witnesses are
+sometimes sworn upon a cross cut on the _baston de justicia_, or more
+frequently, perhaps, upon a cross [Pg029] formed with {234} the
+finger and thumb. Generally speaking, however, the process of
+examination is gone through without a single oath being administered;
+and in the absence of witnesses, the alcalde often proceeds to
+sentence upon the simple statements of the contending parties. By a
+species of mutual agreement, the issue of a suit is sometimes referred
+to _hombres buenos_ (arbitrators), which is the nearest approximation
+that is made to trial by jury. In judicial proceedings, however, but
+little, or rather no attention is paid to any code of laws; in fact,
+there is scarcely one alcalde in a dozen who knows what a law is, or
+who ever saw a law-book. Their decisions, when not influenced by
+corrupt agencies, are controlled by the prevailing customs of the
+country.
+
+In the administration of justice, there are three distinct and
+privileged jurisdictions, known as _fueros_:[7] the _eclesiastico_,
+which provides that no member of the clergy, at least of the rank of
+curate and upwards, shall ever be arraigned before a civil tribunal,
+but shall be tried by their superiors in the order; the _militar_,
+which makes a similar provision in favor not only of commissioned
+officers, but of every common soldier from the ranks; and the _civil_
+or ordinary courts, for all cases in which the defendants are laymen.
+These _fueros_ have hitherto maintained the ecclesiastical and
+military classes in perfect independence of the civil authorities. The
+_civil_, in fact, remains in some degree subordinate to the other two
+_fueros_; for it can, under no circumstances, {235} have any
+jurisdiction whatever over them; while the lay plaintiff, in the
+privileged tribunals of these, may, if unsuccessful, have judgment
+entered up against him: a consequence that can never follow the suits
+of the ecclesiastical or military orders before the civil tribunals.
+The judgments of the latter, in [Pg030] such cases, would be void. It
+is no wonder, then, that the cause of freedom in Mexico has made so
+little progress.
+
+Imprisonment is almost the only sort of punishment resorted to in the
+North. For debt, petit larceny, highway robbery, and murder, the usual
+sentence is "_A la carcel_" (to jail), where a person is likely to
+remain about as long for inability to pay _dos reales_, as for the
+worst of crimes: always provided he has not the means to pacify the
+offended majesty of the law. I never heard of but one execution for
+murder in New Mexico, since the declaration of independence. The most
+desperate and blood-stained criminals escape with impunity, after a
+few weeks of incarceration, unless the prosecutor happens to be a
+person of great influence; in which case, the prisoner is detained in
+the _calabozo_ at will, even when the offence committed has been of a
+trivial character. Notwithstanding this laxity in the execution of the
+laws, there are few murders of any kind committed.
+
+In case of debt, as before remarked, the delinquent is sent to
+jail--provided the creditor will not accept his services. If he will,
+however, the debtor becomes _nolens volens_ the {236} servant of the
+creditor till the debt is satisfied; and, serving, as he does, at very
+reduced wages, his expenses for clothing, and other necessaries, but
+too often retain him in perpetual servitude. This system does not
+operate, however, upon the higher classes, yet it acts with terrible
+severity upon the unfortunate poor, whose condition is but little
+better, if not worse indeed than that of the slaves of the South. They
+labor for fixed wages, it is true; but all they can earn is hardly
+sufficient to keep them in the coarsest clothing and pay their
+contingent expenses. Men's wages range from two to five dollars a
+month, and those of women from fifty cents to two dollars; in payment
+of which, they rarely receive any money; but instead thereof, articles
+of apparel and other necessaries at the most exorbitant prices. The
+consequence is that the [Pg031] servant soon accumulates a debt which
+he is unable to pay--his wages being often engaged for a year or two
+in advance. Now, according to the usages, if not the laws of the
+country, he is bound to serve his master until all arrearages are
+liquidated; and is only enabled to effect an exchange of masters, by
+engaging another to pay his debt, to whom he becomes in like manner
+bound.
+
+As I have already remarked, capital crimes and highway robberies are
+of comparatively rare occurrence in the North, but in smaller
+delinquencies, such as pilfering and petty rogueries of every shade
+and description, the common classes can very successfully compete
+{237} with any other people. Nothing indeed can be left exposed or
+unguarded without great danger of its being immediately stolen. No
+husbandman would think of leaving his axe or his hoe, or anything else
+of the slightest value, lying out over night. Empty wagons are often
+pillaged of every movable piece of iron, and even the wheels have been
+carried away. Pieces of merchandise are frequently purloined from the
+shelves, when they happen to be in reach. In Chihuahua, goods have
+actually been snatched from the counter while being exposed to the
+inspection of a pretended purchaser. I once had a trick of this kind
+played upon me by a couple of boys, who made their escape through a
+crowd of spectators with their booty exposed. In vain I cried
+"_Agarren a los ladrones!_" (catch the thieves!) not a single
+individual moved to apprehend them. I then proffered the goods stolen,
+to any person who might succeed in bringing the rogues to me, but to
+no purpose. In fact there seems to exist a great deal of repugnance,
+even among the better classes, to apprehending thieves; as if the mere
+act of informing against them was considered dishonorable. I heard a
+very respectable caballero once remark that he had seen a man purloin
+certain articles of merchandise, but he could not be induced to give
+[Pg032] up his name; observing, "O, I can't think of exposing the poor
+fellow!"
+
+The impunity with which delinquencies of this description are every
+day committed is {238} perhaps in some degree, the consequence of
+those severe enactments, such as the _Leyes de las Indias_ (the laws
+of the Indies), which rendered many thefts and robberies punishable
+with death.[8] The magistracy contracted the habit of frequently
+winking at crime, rather than resort to the barbarous expedients
+prescribed by the letter of the law. The utmost that can be gained now
+by public prosecution, is the recovery of the stolen property, if that
+be anywhere to be found, and occasionally a short period of
+imprisonment for the culprit. This is more particularly the case when
+the prosecutor happens to be a foreigner; while on the other hand, if
+he be the party accused, he is likely to be subjected to very severe
+treatment. A remarkable circumstance of this kind occurred in
+Chihuahua in the year 1835. One of our most respectable Missouri
+merchants had bought a mule of a stranger, but the animal was soon
+after claimed by a third person, who proved that it had been stolen
+from him. The Missourian would have been perfectly satisfied to lose
+the mule, and end the matter there; but to the surprise of all, he was
+directly summoned before an alcalde, and forthwith sentenced to jail:
+the partial judge having labored to fix the theft upon the innocent
+purchaser, while the real culprit, who was a native, was permitted to
+go at large.
+
+The love of gambling also deserves to be noticed as a distinguishing
+propensity of these people. Indeed it may well be said, without any
+undue stretch of imagination, that [Pg033] shop-lifting, {239}
+pocket-picking, and other elegant pastimes of the same kindred, are
+the legitimate offspring, especially among the lower classes, of that
+passion for gaming, which in Mexico more than anywhere else--to use
+Madame Calderon's language[9]--"is impregnated with the
+constitution--in man, woman, and child." It prevails in the lowly hut,
+as well as in the glittering saloon; nor is the sanctity of the gown
+nor the dignity of station sufficient proof against the fascinations
+of this exciting vice. No one considers it a degradation to be seen
+frequenting a _monte bank_: the governor himself and his lady, the
+grave magistrate and the priestly dignity, the gay caballero and the
+titled senora may all be seen staking their doubloons upon the turn of
+a card; while the humbler ranchero, the hired domestic and the ragged
+pauper, all press with equal avidity to test their fortune at the same
+shrine. There are other games at cards practised among these people,
+depending more upon skill; but that of _el monte_, being one
+exclusively of chance, seems to possess an all-absorbing attraction,
+difficult to be conceived by the uninitiated spectator.
+
+The following will not only serve to show the light in which gambling
+is held by all classes of society, but to illustrate the purifying
+effects of wealth upon character. Some twelve or fifteen years ago
+there lived (or rather roamed) in Taos a certain female of very loose
+habits, known as _La Tules_. Finding it difficult to obtain the means
+of living in that {240} district, she finally extended her wanderings
+to the capital. She there became a constant attendant on one of those
+pandemoniums where the favorite game of _monte_ was dealt _pro bono
+publico_. Fortune, at first, did not seem inclined [Pg034] to smile
+upon her efforts, and for some years she spent her days in lowliness
+and misery. At last her luck turned, as gamblers would say, and on one
+occasion she left the bank with a spoil of several hundred dollars!
+This enabled her to open a bank of her own, and being favored by a
+continuous run of good fortune, she gradually rose higher and higher
+in the scale of affluence, until she found herself in possession of a
+very handsome fortune. In 1843, she sent to the United States some ten
+thousand dollars to be invested in goods. She still continues her
+favorite 'amusement,' being now considered the most expert 'monte
+dealer' in all Santa Fe. She is openly received in the first circles
+of society: I doubt, in truth, whether there is to be found in the
+city a lady of more fashionable reputation than this same Tules, now
+known as Senora Dona Gertrudes Barcelo.
+
+Among the multitude of games which seem to constitute the real
+business of life in New Mexico, that of _chuza_ evidently presents the
+most attractions to ladies; and they generally lay very heavy wagers
+upon the result. It is played with little balls, and bears some faint
+resemblance to what is called _roulette_. Bull-baiting and
+cock-fighting, about which so much has been said by every traveller in
+Mexico, {241} are also very popular 'amusements' in the North, and
+generally lead to the same excesses and the same results as gaming.
+The cock-pit rarely fails to be crowded on Sundays and other feast
+days; on which occasions the church, the ball-room, the
+gambling-house, and the cock-pit look like so many opposition
+establishments; for nothing is more common than to see people going
+from one place to another by alternate fits, just as devotional
+feeling or love of pleasure happens to prompt them.
+
+One of the most attractive sports of the rancheros and the peasantry,
+and that which, more than any other, calls for the exercise of skill
+and dexterity, is that called _correr el gallo_, [Pg035] practised
+generally on St. John's day. A common cock or hen is tied by the feet
+to some swinging limb of a tree, so as to be barely within the reach
+of a man on horseback: or the fowl is buried alive in a small pit in
+the ground leaving only the head above the surface. In either case,
+the racers, passing at full speed, grapple the head of the fowl, which
+being well greased, generally slips out of their fingers. As soon as
+some one, more dextrous than the rest, has succeeded in tearing it
+loose, he claps spurs to his steed, and endeavors to escape with the
+prize. He is hotly pursued, however, by the whole sporting crew, and
+the first who overtakes him tries to get possession of the fowl, when
+a strife ensues, during which the poor chicken is torn into atoms.
+Should the holder of the trophy be able to outstrip his pursuers, he
+carries {242} it to a crowd of fair spectators and presents it to his
+mistress, who takes it to the fandango which usually follows, as a
+testimony of the prowess of her lover.
+
+Among the vaqueros, and even among persons of distinction, _el coleo_
+(tailing) is a much nobler exercise than the preceding, and is also
+generally reserved for days of festivity. For this sport the most
+untractable ox or bull is turned loose upon a level common, when all
+the parties who propose to join in the amusement, being already
+mounted, start off in pursuit of him. The most successful rider, as
+soon as he gets near enough to the bull, seizes him by the tail, and
+with a sudden man[oe]uvre, whirls him topsy-turvy upon the plain--to the
+no little risk of breaking his own neck, should his horse stumble or
+be tripped by the legs of the falling bull.
+
+Respecting _fandangos_, I will observe that this term, as it is used
+in New Mexico, is never applied to any particular dance, but is the
+usual designation for those ordinary assemblies where dancing and
+frolicking are carried on; _baile_ (or ball) being generally applied
+to those of a higher grade. The former especially are very frequent;
+for nothing is more [Pg036] general, throughout the country, and with
+all classes than dancing. From the gravest priest to the buffoon--from
+the richest nabob to the beggar--from the governor to the
+ranchero--from the soberest matron to the flippant belle--from the
+grandest _senora_ to the _cocinera_--all partake of this exhilarating
+{243} amusement. To judge from the quantity of tuned instruments which
+salute the ear almost every night in the week, one would suppose that
+a perpetual carnival prevailed everywhere. The musical instruments
+used at the _bailes_ and _fandangos_ are usually the fiddle and
+_bandolin_, or _guitarra_, accompanied in some villages by the _tombe_
+or little Indian drum. The musicians occasionally acquire considerable
+proficiency in the use of these instruments. But what most oddly
+greets, and really outrages most Protestant ears, is the accompaniment
+of divine service with the very same instruments, and often with the
+same tunes.
+
+Of all the petty vices practised by the New Mexicans, the _vicio
+inocente_ of smoking among ladies, is the most intolerable; and yet it
+is a habit of which the loveliest and the most refined equally
+partake. The _puro_ or _cigarro_[10] is seen in the mouths of all: it
+is handed round in the parlor, and introduced at the dinner
+table--even in the ball-room it is presented to ladies as regularly as
+any {244} other species of 'refreshment;' and in the dance the
+senorita may often be seen whirling round with a lighted _cigarrito_
+in her mouth. The belles of the Southern cities are very frequently
+furnished [Pg037] with _tenazitas de oro_ (little golden tongs), to
+hold the cigar with, so as to prevent their delicate fingers from
+being polluted either with the stain or scent of tobacco; forgetting
+at the same time its disagreeable effects upon the lips and breath.
+
+Notwithstanding their numerous vices, however, I should do the New
+Mexicans the justice to say that they are but little addicted to
+inebriety and its attendant dissipations. Yet this doubtlessly results
+to a considerable degree from the dearness of spirituous liquors,
+which virtually places them beyond the reach of the lower classes.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[1] Chapter xii of volume i of the original edition.--ED.
+
+[2] Both Bartolome Baca (Vaca) and Narbona were Mexican officers. The
+former, whose term of office was from 1823 to September, 1825,
+belonged to a New Mexican family, and was one of the captains of the
+companies organized in 1808. Antonio Narbona came (1805) from the
+province of Chihuahua, as lieutenant of soldiers sent to repel a
+Navaho raid. He was governor, September, 1825, to May 1827. In 1843 he
+was colonel of an expedition against the Apache in Arizona.
+
+Ewing Young was a native of Knox County, Tennessee. He early went west
+for hunting and trapping, having passports for Mexican territory
+signed at Washington in 1828-29. In these years he made his first
+overland trip from New Mexico to California, where he aided the padres
+of San Jose in an expedition against revolted neophytes. In 1829 he
+returned to New Mexico, married a Taos woman, and again (1831) set out
+for California. There in 1834 he met Hall Kelley, and was persuaded to
+accompany him to Oregon, where he formed one of the first American
+settlements in the Chehalem Valley, tributary to the Willamette. A
+journey to California in 1836, to purchase cattle, resulted in
+stocking the Oregon pioneers. Young's Oregon settlement prospered; he
+erected saw and grist mills, and upon his death (1841) the
+administration of his estate was the occasion of the first tentative
+experiment in civil government in Oregon. In after years, a son
+Joachim came from New Mexico, and laid successful claim to the
+property, which was paid by the state.
+
+Milton J. Sublette was a younger brother of William (for whom see our
+volume xix, p. 221, note 55, Gregg) and himself a noted trapper and
+trader, operating chiefly in the Rocky Mountains. In 1833 he entered
+into arrangements with Nathaniel Wyeth (see our volume xxi), but the
+next year was compelled to retire because of injury to a leg, which
+caused his death at Fort Laramie, December 19, 1836.--ED.
+
+[3] Algodones is a small Mexican town in Sandoval County, about
+fifteen miles above Albuquerque. It is now a station on the Atchison,
+Topeka, and Santa Fe Railway, and has promise of becoming a junction
+with the Santa Fe Central.--ED.
+
+[4] Thomas Rowland, a native Pennsylvanian, had been a resident of New
+Mexico for a number of years, and had married there. His brother John
+was accused of complicity with the Texans, which led to the attack
+upon Rowland's property. This was shortly restored to him, as his
+friends were influential in official circles. See George W. Kendall,
+_Narrative of the Texan Santa Fe Expedition_ (New York, 1844), i, pp.
+271, 272, 332. John Rowland led a party of immigrants to California
+(1841), where he became a leading American pioneer.--ED.
+
+[5] Manuel Alvarez was a native of Spain, who showed much enterprise
+in establishing the trade between the United States and New Mexico. In
+1839 he was appointed United States consul at Santa Fe, an office
+which he held until the American conquest. In 1849 he took part in the
+new state movement, and was by the suffrages of the people elected
+governor; but Congress having erected New Mexico into a territory, the
+state government lapsed.--ED.
+
+[6] Powhattan Ellis, for notice of whom, see our volume xix, p. 274,
+note 100 (Gregg).--ED.
+
+[7] Originally a _fuero_ was any form of charter or privilege granted
+to a kingdom, province, town, or person. _Fueros_ played great part in
+the constitutional development of Spain and her colonies.--ED.
+
+[8] The "Laws of the Indies," or the codification of the ordinances,
+acts, etc., passed by the Council of the Indies and other
+administrative Spanish authorities for the government of the colonies,
+was first issued at Madrid in 1681, under the title _Recopilacion de
+Leyes de los Reynos de Indias_. A fourth edition, under the direction
+of the Council of the Indies, issued in 1791.--ED.
+
+[9] Madame Frances Erskine Inglis Calderon de la Barca was a
+Scotchwoman married to a Spaniard who was minister to the United
+States, and later to Mexico. While in the latter country, she
+published _Life in Mexico_ (London, 1843), an interesting, racy series
+of letters on the manners and customs of Spanish America.--ED.
+
+[10] The _puro_ is a common cigar of _pure_ tobacco; but the term
+_cigarro_ or _cigarrito_ is applied to those made of cut tobacco
+rolled up in a strip of paper or corn-husk. The latter are by far in
+the most general use in New Mexico, even among the men, and are those
+only smoked by the females. In this province cigarros are rarely sold
+in the shops, being generally manufactured by every one just as they
+are needed. Their expertness in this 'accomplishment' is often
+remarkable. The mounted vaquero will take out his _guagito_ (his
+little tobacco-flask), his packet of _hojas_ (or prepared husks), and
+his flint, steel, etc.,--make his cigarrito, strike fire and commence
+smoking in a minute's time--all while at full speed: and the next
+minute will perhaps lazo the wildest bull without interrupting his
+smoke.--GREGG.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+Military Hierarchy of Mexico -- Religious Superstitions -- Legend of
+  _Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe_ -- A profane version of the Story -- A
+  curious Plan for manufacturing Water -- Saints and Images --
+  Processions -- How to make it Rain -- The Sacred Host -- Fanaticism
+  and Murder -- Honors paid to a Bishop -- Servility to Priests --
+  Attendance at Public Worship -- New Mexicans in Church -- The Vesper
+  Bells -- Passion Week and the Ceremonies pertaining thereto --
+  Ridiculous _Penitencia_ -- Whitewashing of Criminals -- Matrimonial
+  Connexions and Mode of Contracting them -- Restrictions upon Lovers
+  -- Onerous Fees paid for Marriages and Burials -- Anecdote of a
+  _Ranchero_ -- Ditto of a Servant and a Widow, illustrative of
+  Priestly Extortion -- Modes of Burial, and Burial Ground of the
+  Heretics.
+
+
+The Mexicans seem the legitimate descendants of the subjects of 'His
+Most Catholic Majesty;' for the Romish faith is not only the religion
+established by law, but the only one tolerated by the constitution: a
+system of republican liberty wholly incomprehensible to the
+independent and tolerant spirits of the United States. Foreigners only
+of other creeds, in accordance with treaty stipulations, can worship
+privately within their own houses.[11] The Mexicans, indeed, talk of a
+'union of Church and State:' they should rather say a 'union of Church
+and Army;' for, as has {246} [Pg038] already been shown, the civil
+authority is so nearly merged in the military and the ecclesiastical,
+that the government, if not a military hierarchy, is something so near
+akin that it is difficult to draw the distinction. As Mr. Mayer[12]
+very appropriately remarks, you are warned of the double dominion of
+the army and the church "by the constant sound of the drum and the
+bell, which ring in your ears from morn to midnight, and drown the
+sounds of industry and labor."
+
+In the variety and grossness of popular superstitions, Northern Mexico
+can probably compete with any civilized country in the world. Others
+may have their extravagant traditions, their fanatical prejudices,
+their priestly impostures, but here the popular creed seems to be the
+embodiment of as much that is fantastic and improbable in idolatrous
+worship, as it is possible to clothe in the garb of a religious faith.
+It would fill volumes to relate one-half of the wonderful miracles and
+extraordinary apparitions said to have occurred during and since the
+conquest of the Indian Pueblos and their conversion to the Romish
+faith. Their character may be inferred from the following national
+legend of _La Maravillosa Aparicion de Nuestra Senora de
+Guadalupe--anglice_, the marvellous apparition of Our Lady of
+Guadalupe,--which, in some one of its many traditionary shapes, is
+generally believed throughout the republic. I have seen some half a
+dozen written versions of this celebrated tradition, and heard about
+as many oral {247} ones; but no two agree in all the particulars.
+However, that which has received most currency informs us, that, on
+the 12th of December, 1531, an Indian called Juan Diego, while passing
+over the barren hill of Tepeyacac (about a league northward [Pg039]
+from the city of Mexico), in quest of medicinal herbs, had his
+attention suddenly arrested by the fragrance of flowers, and the sound
+of delightful music; and on looking up, he saw an angelic sort of
+figure directly before him. Being terrified he attempted to flee; but
+the apparition calling to him by name, "Juan Diego," said she, "go
+tell the bishop to have me a place of worship erected on this very
+spot." The Indian replied that he could not return, as he was seeking
+_remedios_ for a dying relative. But the figure bade him to do as
+commanded, and have no further care about his relative--that he was
+then well. Juan Diego went to the city, but being unable to procure an
+audience from the bishop, he concluded he had been acting under a
+delusion, and again set off for his _remedios_. Upon ascending the
+same hill, however, the apparition again accosted him, and hearing his
+excuse, upbraided him for his want of faith and energy; and said,
+"Tell the bishop that it is Guadalupe, the Virgin Mary, come to dwell
+amongst and protect the Mexicans, who sends thee." The Indian,
+returning again to the city, forced his way into the presence of the
+bishop, who, like a good sensible man, received the messenger with
+jeers, and treated him as a maniac; {248} telling him finally to bring
+some sign, which, if really the Mother of God, his directress could
+readily furnish.
+
+The perplexed Indian left the bishop's presence resolved to avoid
+further molestation from his spiritual acquaintance, by taking another
+route; yet, when near the place of his first meeting, he again
+encountered the apparition, who, hearing the result of his mission,
+ordered him to climb a naked rock hard by, and collect a bouquet of
+flowers which he would find growing there. Juan Diego, albeit without
+faith, obeyed, when, to his surprise he found the flowers referred to,
+and brought them to the Virgin, who, throwing them into his _tilma_,
+commanded him to carry them to the bishop; saying, [Pg040] "When he
+sees these he will believe, as he well knows that flowers do not bloom
+at this season, much less upon that barren rock." The humble messenger
+now with more courage sought the bishop's presence, and threw out the
+blooming credentials of his mission before him; when lo! to the
+astonishment of all, and to the entire conviction of his _Senoria
+ilustrisima_, the perfect image of the apparition appeared imprinted
+on the inside of the _tilma_.[13]
+
+The reverend Prelate now fully acknowledged the divinity of the
+picture, and in a {249} conclave of ecclesiastics convened for the
+purpose, he pronounced it the image of _La verdadera Virgen_ and
+protectress of Mexico. A splendid chapel was soon after erected upon
+the spot designated in the mandate, in which the miraculous painting
+was deposited, where it is preserved to the present day. In the
+suburbs of every principal city in the republic, there is now a chapel
+specially dedicated to _Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe_, where coarse
+resemblances of the original picture are to be seen. Rough paintings
+of the same, of various dimensions, are also to be met with in nearly
+every dwelling, from the palace to the most miserable hovel. The
+image, with an adapted [Pg041] motto, has also been stamped upon
+medals, which are swung about the necks of the faithful.[14]
+
+[Illustration]
+
+{250} As a further confirmation of the miracle, it is also told, that
+when Juan Diego returned to his home, he found his relative in good
+health--that he had suddenly risen from the last extremity about the
+time of the former's meeting with the Virgin.
+
+Now comes the profane version of the story, which the skeptical have
+set afloat, as the most reasonable one; but against which, in the name
+of orthodoxy, I feel bound to enter my protest. To the better
+understanding of this 'explanatory tradition,' it may be necessary to
+premise that the name of Guadalupe was already familiar to the
+Spaniards, the Virgin Mary having, it is said, long before appeared in
+Spain, under the same title; on which occasion an order of monks,
+styled _Frailes Guadalupanos_, had been instituted. One of these
+worthy fathers who had been sent as a missionary to Mexico, finding
+the Indians rather stubborn and unyielding, conceived the plan of
+flattering their national vanity by fabricating a saint suited for the
+occasion. The Guadalupano had a poor friend who was an excellent
+painter, to whom he said, one day, "Take this tilma"--presenting him
+one of the coarsest and most slazy texture {251} (a sort of _manta de
+guangoche_); "paste it upon canvass, and paint me thereon the
+handsomest effigy of Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe that your fancy can
+portray." When [Pg042] this was done according to order, and the
+tilma separated from the canvass, the picture appeared somewhat
+miraculous. Viewed very closely, it showed exceedingly dim; but upon
+receding to some distance, so that the eye could embrace a larger
+field of the open texture, it appeared quite distinct and beautiful.
+This effect is often alluded to at the present day, and easily as it
+might be accounted for upon philosophical principles, I have heard
+many an ignorant Mexican declare, that _la Santisima Virgen_ concealed
+herself from such as profaned her shrine by a too near approach, and
+only shone forth in all her brilliancy to those who kept at a
+respectful distance. But in conclusion, the story relates, that a
+suitable damsel being selected and decked out to represent the Virgin,
+the affair was played off as it has been narrated.
+
+As regards the miracle of the fresh flowers in December the _profanos_
+say, that there was nothing very wonderful about it, as flowers were
+known to bloom in the lowlands, and only a few leagues from the spot
+where the affair took place, at all seasons of the year; implying that
+these had been engrafted upon the rock for the occasion. There are
+some who go so far as to insinuate that the bishop and other
+ecclesiastics were privy to the whole affair, and that every
+precaution had been {252} taken to see the Indian who played first
+fiddle in the matter, provided with a tilma, similar to the one on
+which the image of the Virgin was painted, and that this was artfully
+slipped in the place of the former, which the Indian had doffed when
+he climbed the rock after the flowers.--I have not seen the original
+portrait, but most of the copies and imitations I have met with,
+represent the Virgin with that peculiarly tawny complexion which was
+probably deemed indispensable to conciliate the prejudices of the
+aborigines. [Pg043]
+
+The reader may reconcile the foregoing discrepancies in the best way
+he can; all that I have to add is, that the apparition having been
+canonized by the Pope, a belief in it now constitutes as much a part
+of the religious faith of the Mexicans, as any article of the
+Apostolic Creed. To judge from the blind and reverential awe in which
+the Virgin Guadalupe is held by the lowly and the ignorant, one would
+suppose her to be the first person in the Divinity, for to her their
+vows are directed, their prayers offered up, and all their confessions
+made.
+
+Among the many traditions implicitly believed in by the people, and
+which tend to obstruct the advancement of knowledge, there is one
+equally as amusing and extravagant as the foregoing, which has been
+gravely recounted by the present Vicar of New Mexico and ex-delegate
+to Congress. During the memorable insurrection of 1680, the Pueblo of
+San Felipe was about the only one that {253} remained faithful to the
+Spaniards in all the North. It was during that exciting period that
+the padre of another Pueblo took refuge among them. Being besieged by
+their neighbors and their communication with the water entirely cut
+off, they applied for advice to the reverend padre, who bade them not
+despair, as he had it in his power to supply them with water. He then
+began to pray very fervently, after which he opened a vein in each of
+his arms, from whence there flowed two such copious streams of water
+that all fears of being reduced by thirst were completely allayed![15]
+[Pg044]
+
+It is a part of the superstitious blindness of these people to
+believe that every one of their legion of canonized saints possesses
+the power of performing certain miracles; and their aid is generally
+invoked on all occasions of sickness and distress. The kindest office,
+therefore, that the friends of a sick person can perform, is to bring
+forward the image of some of those saints whose healing powers have
+been satisfactorily tested. The efficacy of these superstitious
+remedies will not be difficult to account for, when the powerful
+influence of the imagination upon disease is taken into consideration.
+
+The images of patron saints are never put in such general requisition,
+however, as in seasons of severe drought. The priests, being generally
+expert at guessing the approach of a pluvial period, take good care
+not to make confident promises till they have substantial {254} reason
+to anticipate a speedy fulfilment of their prophecies. When the
+fitting season draws nigh, they carry out the image of Nuestra Senora
+de Guadalupe, or that of some other favorite saint, and parade about
+the streets, the fields and the meadows, followed by all the men,
+women, and children of the neighborhood, in solemn procession. Should
+the clouds condescend to vouchsafe a supply of rain within a week or
+two of this general humiliation, no one ever thinks of begrudging the
+scores of dollars that have been paid to the priests for bringing
+about so happy a result.
+
+Speaking of processions, I am reminded of another peculiar custom so
+prevalent in Mexico, that it never fails to attract the attention of
+strangers. This is the passage of the Sacred Host to the residence of
+persons dangerously ill, for the purpose of administering to them the
+Extreme Unction. In New Mexico, however, this procession is not
+attended with so much ostentatious display as it is in the South, the
+paradise of ecclesiastics, where [Pg045] it is conveyed in a black
+coach drawn by a pair of black mules, accompanied by armed soldiers
+and followed by crowds of _leperos_ of all sexes and ages. During the
+procession of the Host, two church-bells of different tones are kept
+sounding by alternate strokes. Also the carriage is always preceded by
+a bell-man tinkling a little bell in regular time, to notify all
+within hearing of its approach, that they may be prepared to pay it
+due homage. When {255} this bell is heard, all those that happen to be
+within sight of the procession, though at ever so great a distance,
+instantly kneel and remain in that position till it has passed out of
+sight. On these occasions, if an American happens to be within
+hearing, he endeavors to avoid the _cortege_, by turning the corner of
+a street or entering a shop or the house of a friend; for although it
+may be expedient, and even rational, to conform with the customs and
+ceremonies of these countries we are sojourning in, very few
+Protestants would feel disposed to fall on their knees before a coach
+freighted with frail mortals pretending to represent the Godhead! I am
+sorry to say that non-compliants are frequently insulted and sometimes
+pelted with stones by the rabble. Even a foreign artisan was once
+massacred in the Mexican metropolis because he refused to come out of
+his shop, where he was kneeling, and perform the act of genuflexion in
+the street!
+
+This abject idolatry sometimes takes a still more humiliating aspect,
+and descends to the worship of men in the capacity of religious
+rulers. On the occasion of the Bishop of Durango's visit to Santa Fe
+in 1833, an event which had not taken place for a great many years,
+the infatuated population hailed his arrival with as much devotional
+enthusiasm as if it had been the second advent of the Messiah.
+Magnificent preparations were made everywhere for his reception: the
+streets were swept, the roads and [Pg046] bridges on his route
+repaired {256} and decorated; and from every window in the city there
+hung such a profusion of fancy curtains and rich cloths that the
+imagination was carried back to those glowing descriptions of
+enchanted worlds which one reads of in the fables of necromancers. I
+must observe, however, that there is a custom in all the towns of
+Mexico (which it would not be safe to neglect), providing that
+whenever a religious procession takes place, all the doors and windows
+facing the street along which it is to pass, shall be decorated with
+shawls, carpets, or fancy cloths, according to the means and
+capabilities of the proprietor. During the bishop's sojourn in Santa
+Fe, which, to the great joy of the inhabitants, lasted for several
+weeks, he never appeared in the streets but that 'all true Catholics'
+who were so fortunate as to obtain a glimpse of his _Senoria
+Ilustrisima_ immediately dropped upon their knees, and never moved
+from that position till the mitred priest had either vouchsafed his
+benediction or had disappeared. Even the principal personages of the
+city would not venture to address him till they had first knelt at his
+feet and kissed his 'pastoral ring.' This, however, is only a
+heightened picture of what occurs every day in the intercourse between
+the rancheros and the common padres of the country. The slavish
+obsequiousness of the lower classes towards these pampered priests is
+almost incredible.
+
+No people are more punctual in their attendance upon public worship,
+or more exact {257} in the performance of the external rites of
+religion, than the New Mexicans. A man would about as soon think of
+venturing in twenty fathoms of water without being able to swim, as of
+undertaking a journey without hearing mass first. These religious
+exercises, however, partake but seldom of the character of true
+devotion; for people may be seen chattering or tittering while in the
+act of crossing themselves, or muttering [Pg047] some formal prayer.
+Indeed, it is the common remark of strangers, that they are wont to
+wear much graver countenances while dancing at a fandango than during
+their devotional exercises at the foot of the altar. In nothing,
+however, is their observance of the outward forms of religion more
+remarkable than in their deportment every day towards the close of
+twilight, when the large bell of the _Parroquia_ peals for _la
+oracion_, or vespers.[16] All conversation is instantly suspended--all
+labor ceases--people of all classes, whether on foot or on horseback,
+make a sudden halt--even the laden porter, groaning under the weight
+of an insupportable burden, stops in the midst of his career and
+stands still. An almost breathless silence reigns throughout the town,
+disturbed only by the occasional sibilations of the devout multitude:
+all of which, accompanied by the slow heavy peals of a large sonorous
+bell, afford a scene truly solemn and appropriate. At the expiration
+of about two minutes the charm is suddenly broken by the clatter of
+livelier-toned bells; and a _buenas {258} tardes_ (good evening) to
+those present closes the ceremony: when _presto_, all is bustle and
+confusion again--the colloquial chit-chat is resumed--the smith plies
+upon his anvil with redoubled energy--the clink of the hammer
+simultaneously resounds in every direction--the wayfarers are again in
+motion,--both pleasure and business, in short, assume their respective
+sway.
+
+Although the Catholics have a saint for each day in the year, the
+number of canonized _fiestas_ in which labor is prohibited has been
+somewhat reduced in Mexico. _La Semana Santa_, or Passion Week, is
+perhaps the period when the religious feeling, such as it is, is most
+fully excited: [Pg048] _Viernes Santo_ (Good Friday), especially, is
+observed with great pomp and splendor. An image of Christ large as
+life, nailed to a huge wooden cross, is paraded through the streets,
+in the midst of an immense procession, accompanied by a glittering
+array of carved images, representing the Virgin Mary, Mary Magdalene,
+and several others; while the most notorious personages of antiquity,
+who figured at that great era of the World's history,--the centurion
+with a band of guards, armed with lances, and apparelled in the
+costume supposed to have been worn in those days,--may be seen
+bestriding splendidly caparisoned horses, in the breathing reality of
+flesh and blood. Taking it all in all, this spectacle,--the ceremonies
+and man[oe]uvres which attend its career through the densely crowded and
+ornamented {259} streets,--are calculated to produce impressions of a
+most confused description, in which regret and melancholy may be said
+to form no inconsiderable share.
+
+It has been customary for great malefactors to propitiate Divine
+forgiveness by a cruel sort of _penitencia_, which generally takes
+place during the _Semana Santa_. I once chanced to be in the town of
+Tome[17] on Good Friday, when my attention was arrested by a man
+almost naked, bearing, in imitation of Simon, a huge cross upon his
+shoulders, which, though constructed of the lightest wood, must have
+weighed over a hundred pounds. The long end dragged upon the ground,
+as we have seen it represented in sacred pictures, and about the
+middle swung a stone of immense dimensions, appended there for the
+purpose of making the task more laborious. Not far behind followed
+another equally destitute of clothing, with his whole body wrapped in
+chains and cords, which seemed buried in the [Pg049] muscles, and
+which so cramped and confined him that he was scarcely able to keep
+pace with the procession. The person who brought up the rear presented
+a still more disgusting aspect. He walked along with a patient and
+composed step, while another followed close behind belaboring him
+lustily with a whip, which he flourished with all the satisfaction of
+an amateur; but as the lash was pointed only with a tuft of untwisted
+sea-grass, its application merely served to keep open the wounds upon
+the penitent's {260} back, which had been scarified, as I was
+informed, with the keen edge of a flint, and was bleeding most
+profusely. The blood was kept in perpetual flow by the stimulating
+juice of certain herbs, carried by a third person, into which the
+scourger frequently dipped his lash. Although the actors in this
+tragical farce were completely muffled, yet they were well known to
+many of the by-standers, one of whom assured me that they were three
+of the most notorious rascals in the country. By submitting to this
+species of penance, they annually received complete absolution of
+their past year's sins, and, thus 'purified,' entered afresh on the
+old career of wickedness and crime.
+
+In New Mexico, the institution of marriage changes the legal rights of
+the parties, but it scarcely affects their moral obligations. It is
+usually looked upon as a convenient cloak for irregularities, which
+society less willingly tolerates in the lives of unmarried women. Yet
+when it is considered that the majority of matches are forced and
+ill-assorted, some idea may be formed of the little incitement that is
+given to virtue. There are very few parents who would stoop to consult
+a young lady's wishes before concluding a marriage contract, nor would
+maidens, generally, ever dream of a matrimonial connection unless
+proposed first by the father. The lover's proposals are, upon the same
+principle, made in writing direct to the parents themselves, [Pg050]
+and without the least deference to the wishes or inclinations {261} of
+the young lady whose hand is thus sought in marriage. The tender
+emotions engendered between lovers during walks and rambles along the
+banks of silent streams, are never experienced in this country; for
+the sexes are seldom permitted to converse or be together alone. In
+short, instances have actually occurred when the betrothed couple have
+never seen each other till brought to the altar to be joined in
+wedlock.
+
+Among the humbler classes, there are still more powerful causes
+calculated to produce irregularity of life; not the least of which is
+the enormous fee that must be paid to the curate for tying the
+matrimonial knot. This system of extortion is carried so far as to
+amount very frequently to absolute prohibition: for the means of the
+bridegroom are often insufficient for the exigency of the occasion;
+and the priests seldom consent to join people in wedlock until the
+money has been secured to them. The curates being without control, the
+marriage rates are somewhat irregular, but they usually increase in
+proportion to the character of the ceremonies and to the circumstances
+of the parties. The lowest (about twenty dollars) are adapted to the
+simplest form, solemnized in church at mass; but with the excuse of
+any extra service and ceremonies, particularly if performed at a
+private house, the fees are increased often as high as several hundred
+dollars: I have heard of $500 being paid for a marriage ceremony. The
+following communication, which {262} appeared in a Chihuahua paper
+under the signature of "_Un Ranchero_" affords some illustration of
+the grievances of the plebeians in this respect. Literally translated
+it runs thus:
+
+  "_Messrs. Editors of the Noticioso de Chihuahua:_
+
+  "Permit me, through your paper, to say a few words in print, as
+  those of my pen have been unsuccessfully employed [Pg051] with the
+  _curas_ of Allende and Jimenez, to whom I applied the other day for
+  the purpose of ascertaining their legal charge to marry one of my
+  sons. The following simple and concise answer is all that I have
+  been able to elicit from either of these ecclesiastics:--'_The_
+  _marriage fees are a hundred and nineteen dollars_.' I must confess
+  that I was completely suffocated when I heard this outrageous demand
+  upon my poor purse; and did I not pride myself on being a true
+  Apostolic Roman Catholic, and were it not that the charming graces
+  of my intended daughter-in-law have so captivated my son that
+  nothing but marriage will satisfy him, I would assuredly advise him
+  to contrive some other arrangement with his beloved, which might not
+  be so ruinous to our poor purse; for reflect that $119 are the life
+  and all of a poor ranchero. If nothing else will do, I shall have to
+  sell my few cows (_mis vaquitas_) to help my son out of this
+  difficulty."--The 'Ranchero' then appeals to the Government to
+  remedy such evils, by imposing some salutary restrictions upon the
+  clergy; and concludes by saying, "If this is not done, I will {263}
+  never permit either of my remaining three sons to marry."
+
+This article was certainly an effort of boldness against the
+priesthood, which may have cost the poor 'Ranchero' a sentence of
+ex-communication. Few of his countrymen would venture on a similar act
+of temerity; and at least nine-tenths profess the most profound
+submission to their religious rulers. Being thus bred to look upon
+their priests as infallible and holy samples of piety and virtue, we
+should not be so much surprised at the excesses of the 'flock' when a
+large portion of the _pastores_, the padres themselves, are foremost
+in most of the popular vices of the country: first at the
+fandango--first at the gaming table--first at the cock-pit--first at
+bacchanalian orgies--and [Pg052] by no means last in the contraction
+of those _liaisons_ which are so emphatically prohibited by their
+vows.
+
+The baptismal and burial fees (neither of which can be avoided without
+incurring the charge of heresy) are also a great terror to the
+candidates for married life. "If I marry," says the poor yeoman, "my
+family must go unclad to baptize my children; and if any of them
+should die, we must starve ourselves to pay the burial charges." The
+fee for baptism, it is true, is not so exorbitant, and in accordance
+to custom, is often paid by the _padrino_ or sponsor; but the burial
+costs are almost equally extravagant with those of marriage, varying
+in proportion to the age and {264} circumstances of the deceased. A
+faithful Mexican servant in my employ at Chihuahua, once solicited
+forty dollars to bury his mother. Upon my expressing some surprise at
+the exorbitancy of the amount, he replied--"That is what the cura
+demands, sir, and if I do not pay it my poor mother will remain
+unburied!" Thus this man was obliged to sacrifice several months'
+wages, to pamper the avarice of a vicious and mercenary priest. On
+another occasion, a poor widow in Santa Fe, begged a little medicine
+for her sick child: "Not," said the disconsolate mother, "that the
+life of the babe imports me much, for I know the _angelito_ will go
+directly to heaven; but what shall I do to pay the priest for burying
+it? He will take my house and all from me--and I shall be turned
+desolate into the street!"--and so saying, she commenced weeping
+bitterly.
+
+Indigent parents are thus frequently under the painful necessity of
+abandoning and disowning their deceased children, to avoid the
+responsibility of burial expenses. To this end the corpse is sometimes
+deposited in some niche or corner of the church during the night; and
+upon being [Pg053] found in the morning, the priest is bound to inter
+it gratis, unless the parent can be discovered, in which case the
+latter would be liable to severe castigation, besides being bound to
+pay the expenses.
+
+Children that have not been baptized are destined, according to the
+popular faith, to a kind of negative existence in the world of {265}
+spirits, called _Limbo_, where they remain for ever without either
+suffering punishment or enjoying happiness. Baptized infants, on the
+other hand, being considered without sin, are supposed to enter at
+once into the joys of heaven. The deceased child is then denominated
+an _angelito_ (a little angel), and is interred with joy and mirth
+instead of grief and wailing. It is gaudily bedecked with fanciful
+attire and ornaments of tinsel and flowers; and being placed upon a
+small bier, it is carried to the grave by four children as gaily
+dressed as their circumstances will allow; accompanied by musicians
+using the instruments and playing the tunes of the fandangos; and the
+little procession is nothing but glee and merriment.
+
+In New Mexico the lower classes are very rarely, if ever, buried in
+coffins: the corpse being simply wrapped in a blanket, or some other
+covering, and in that rude attire consigned to its last home. It is
+truly shocking to a sensitive mind to witness the inhuman treatment to
+which the remains of the dead are sometimes subjected. There being
+nothing to indicate the place of the previous graves, it not
+unfrequently happens that the partially decayed relics of a corpse are
+dug up and forced to give place to the more recently deceased, when
+they are again thrown with the earth into the new grave with perfect
+indifference. The operation of filling up the grave especially, is
+particularly repulsive; the earth being pounded down with a large
+maul, {266} as fast as it is thrown in upon the unprotected corpse,
+with a force sufficient to crush a delicate frame to atoms. [Pg054]
+
+As the remains of heretics are not permitted to pollute either the
+church-yard or _Campo Santo_, those Americans who have died in Santa
+Fe, have been buried on a hill which overlooks the town to the
+northward. The corpses have sometimes been disinterred and robbed of
+the shroud in which they were enveloped; so that, on a few occasions,
+it has been deemed expedient to appoint a special watch for the
+protection of the grave.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[11] Religious freedom, and entire separation of church and state,
+were secured in Mexico, after a long and bitter struggle, by the
+constitution of 1873.--ED.
+
+[12] Brantz Mayer (1809-79), a native of Baltimore, Maryland,
+historian and diplomat. In 1843 he was secretary of legation at
+Mexico, and upon his return published _Mexico as it was and as it is_
+(New York, 1844), to which book Gregg here refers. Mayer was the
+author of several other works, both on Mexico and American history,
+and founder of the Maryland Historical Society.--ED.
+
+[13] This is a kind of mantle or loose covering worn by the Indians,
+which, in the present instance, was made of the coarse filaments of a
+species of maguey, and a little resembled the common coffee sacks. The
+painting, as it necessarily must be on such a material, is said to be
+coarse, and represents the Virgin covered with a blue robe bespangled
+with stars.--GREGG.
+
+[14] The accompanying cut represents both sides of a medal of
+"_Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe de Mexico_," of which, as I have been
+informed, 216,000 were struck at Birmingham in the year 1831, designed
+for the Mexican market. Similar medals are worn by nearly nine-tenths
+of the population of Northern Mexico. On one side, as will be seen,
+the Virgin is represented in her star-spangled robe, supported by a
+cherub and the moon under her feet: a design, which, it has been
+suggested, was most probably drawn from Revelation xii. 1. The date,
+"A. 1805," is that perhaps of some one of the innumerable miracles,
+which, according to fame in Mexico, have been wrought by the Virgin
+Guadalupe. The motto, "_Non fecit taliter omni nationi_" (She "hath
+not dealt so with any nation") which is found on the reverse of the
+medal, is extracted from Psalm cxlvii. 20.--GREGG.
+
+[15] This story is apochryphal, since the pueblo was besieged neither
+during the revolt of 1680 nor that of 1696. The pueblo of San Felipe
+is of Queres origin, and was known in the seventeenth century. Its
+first friar was Cristobal Quinones, who died in 1609. The pueblo was
+faithful to the Spanish, its people killing none of that nation during
+the revolt. It now occupied its fourth site in Sandoval County, at the
+foot of a mesa which is crowned with the ruins of an earlier site. It
+is the southernmost pueblo of Queres stock, and had (1903) a
+population of five hundred and sixteen.--ED.
+
+[16] The Parroquia, or cathedral of Santa Fe, stands upon the site of,
+and partially incorporates the early building of 1627. It is built of
+light brown stone, and flanked by two bell towers.--ED.
+
+[17] Tome is a town on the east bank of the Rio Grande, some distance
+below Albuquerque. It was at one time the seat of Valencia County, and
+in 1900 had a population of about eight hundred.--ED.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+The Pueblos -- Their Character for Sobriety, Honesty, and Industry --
+  Traditional Descent from Montezuma -- Their Languages -- Former and
+  present Population -- The Pueblo of Pecos -- Singular Habits of that
+  ill-fated Tribe -- Curious Tradition -- Montezuma and the Sun --
+  Legend of a Serpent -- Religion and Government -- Secret Council --
+  Laws and Customs -- Excellent Provisions against Demoralization --
+  Primitive Pastimes of the Pueblos -- Their Architecture -- Singular
+  Structures of Taos, and other novel Fortifications -- Primitive
+  state of the Arts among the Pueblos -- Style of Dress, Weapons, etc.
+  -- Their Diet -- The _Guayave_.
+
+
+Allusion has so frequently been made to the aboriginal tribes of New
+Mexico, known as _Los Pueblos_, that I think I shall not be
+trespassing too much upon the patience of the reader, in glancing
+rapidly at some of the more conspicuous features of their national
+habits and character.
+
+Although the term _Pueblo_ in Spanish literally means the _people_,
+and their _towns_, it is here specifically applied to the
+_Christianized Indians_ (as well as their villages)--to those
+aborigines whom the Spaniards not only subjected to their laws, but to
+an acknowledgment of the Romish faith, and upon whom they forced
+baptism and the cross in exchange for {268} the vast possessions of
+which they robbed them. All that was left them was, to each Pueblo a
+league or two of land situated around their villages, the conquerors
+reserving to themselves at least ninety-nine hundredths of the whole
+domain as a requital for their generosity. [Pg055]
+
+When these regions were first discovered it appears that the
+inhabitants lived in comfortable houses and cultivated the soil, as
+they have continued to do up to the present time. Indeed, they are now
+considered the best horticulturists in the country, furnishing most of
+the fruits and a large portion of the vegetable supplies that are to
+be found in the markets. They were until very lately the only people
+in New Mexico who cultivated the grape. They also maintain at the
+present time considerable herds of cattle, horses, etc. They are, in
+short, a remarkably sober and industrious race, conspicuous for
+morality and honesty, and very little given to quarrelling or
+dissipation, except when they have had much familiar intercourse with
+the Hispano-Mexican population.
+
+Most of these Pueblos call themselves the descendants of Montezuma,
+although it would appear that they could only have been made
+acquainted with the history of that monarch, by the Spaniards; as this
+province is nearly two thousand miles from the ancient kingdom of
+Mexico. At the time of the conquest they must have been a very
+powerful people--numbering near a hundred villages, as existing {269}
+ruins would seem to indicate; but they are now reduced to about
+twenty, which are scattered in various parts of the territory.[18]
+
+There are but three or four different languages spoken among them, and
+these, indeed, may be distantly allied to each other. Those of Taos,
+Picuris, Isleta, and perhaps some others, speak what has been called
+the _Piro_ language. A large portion of the others, viz., those of San
+Juan, Santa [Pg056] Clara, Nambe, Pojuaque, Tezuque, and some others,
+speak _Tegua_, having all been originally known by this general name;
+and those of Cochiti, Santo Domingo, San Felipe, and perhaps Sandia,
+speak the same tongue, though they seem formerly to have been
+distinguished as _Queres_. The numerous tribes that inhabited the
+highlands between Rio del Norte and Pecos, as those of Pecos, Cienega,
+Galisteo, etc., were known anciently as _Tagnos_, but these are now
+all extinct; yet their language is said to be spoken by those of Jemez
+and others of that section. Those further to the westward[19] {270}
+are perhaps allied to the Navajoes. Though all these Pueblos speak
+their native languages among themselves, a great many of them possess
+a smattering of Spanish, sufficient to carry on their intercourse with
+the Mexicans.[20]
+
+The population of these Pueblos will average nearly five hundred souls
+each (though some hardly exceed one hundred), making an aggregate of
+nine or ten thousand. At the time of the original conquest, at the
+close of the sixteenth century, they were, as has been mentioned,
+much, [Pg057] perhaps ten-fold, more numerous.[21] Ancient ruins are
+now to be seen scattered in every quarter of the territory: of some,
+entire stone walls are yet standing, while others are nearly or quite
+obliterated, many of them being now only known by their names which
+history or tradition has preserved to us. Numbers were no doubt
+destroyed during the insurrection of 1680, and the petty internal
+strifes which followed.
+
+Several of these Pueblos have been converted into Mexican villages, of
+which that of _Pecos_ is perhaps the most remarkable instance. What
+with the massacres of the second conquest, and the inroads of the
+Comanches, they gradually dwindled away, till they found themselves
+reduced to about a dozen, comprising all ages and sexes; and it was
+only a few years ago that they abandoned the home of their fathers and
+joined the Pueblo of Jemez.
+
+Many curious tales are told of the singular habits of this ill-fated
+tribe, which must no {271} doubt have tended to hasten its utter
+annihilation. A tradition was prevalent among them that Montezuma had
+kindled a holy fire, and enjoined their ancestors not to suffer it to
+be extinguished until he should return to deliver his people from the
+yoke of the Spaniards. In pursuance of these commands, a constant
+watch had been maintained for ages to prevent the fire from going out;
+and, as tradition further informed them, that Montezuma would appear
+with the sun, the deluded Indians were to be seen every clear morning
+upon the terraced roofs of their houses, attentively watching for the
+appearance of the 'king of light,' in hopes of seeing him 'cheek by
+jowl' with their immortal sovereign. I have [Pg058] myself descended
+into the famous _estufas_, or subterranean vaults, of which there were
+several in the village, and have beheld this consecrated fire,
+silently smouldering under a covering of ashes, in the basin of a
+small altar. Some say that they never lost hope in the final coming of
+Montezuma until, by some accident or other, or a lack of a sufficiency
+of warriors to watch it, the fire became extinguished; and that it was
+this catastrophe that induced them to abandon their villages, as I
+have before observed.
+
+The task of tending the sacred fire was, it is said, allotted to the
+warriors. It is further related, that they took the watch by turns for
+two successive days and nights, without partaking of either food,
+water, or sleep; while some assert, that instead of being restricted
+to {272} two days, each guard continued with the same unbending
+severity of purpose until exhaustion, and very frequently death, left
+their places to be filled by others. A large portion of those who came
+out alive were generally so completely prostrated by the want of
+repose and the inhalation of carbonic gas that they very soon died;
+when, as the vulgar story asseverates, their remains were carried to
+the den of a monstrous serpent, which kept itself in excellent
+condition by feeding upon these delicacies. This huge snake (invented
+no doubt by the lovers of the marvellous to account for the constant
+disappearance of the Indians) was represented as the idol which they
+worshipped, and as subsisting entirely upon the flesh of his devotees:
+live infants, however, seemed to suit his palate best. The story of
+this wonderful serpent was so firmly believed in by many ignorant
+people, that on one occasion I heard an honest ranchero assert, that
+upon entering the village very early on a winter's morning, he saw the
+huge trail of the reptile in the snow, as large as that of a dragging
+ox. [Pg059]
+
+This village, anciently so renowned, lies twenty-five miles eastward
+of Santa Fe, and near the _Rio Pecos_, to which it gave name. Even so
+late as ten years ago, when it contained a population of fifty to a
+hundred souls, the traveller would oftentimes perceive but a solitary
+Indian, a woman, or a child, standing here and there like so many
+statues upon the roofs of their houses, with their eyes fixed on {273}
+the eastern horizon, or leaning against a wall or a fence, listlessly
+gazing at the passing stranger; while at other times not a soul was to
+be seen in any direction, and the sepulchral silence of the place was
+only disturbed by the occasional barking of a dog, or the cackling of
+hens.[22]
+
+No other Pueblo appears to have adopted this extraordinary
+superstition: like Pecos, however, they have all held Montezuma to be
+their perpetual sovereign. It would likewise appear that they all
+worship the sun; for it is asserted to be their regular practice to
+turn the face towards the east at sunrise.[23] They profess the
+Catholic faith, however, of which, nevertheless, they cannot be
+expected to understand anything beyond the formalities; as [Pg060]
+but very few of their Mexican neighbors and teachers can boast of
+more.
+
+Although nominally under the jurisdiction of the federal government,
+as Mexican citizens, many features of their ancient customs are still
+retained, as well in their civil rule as in their religion. Each
+Pueblo is under the control of a _cacique_ or _gobernadorcillo_,
+chosen from among their own sages, and commissioned by the governor of
+New Mexico. The cacique, when any public business is to be transacted,
+collects together the principal chiefs of the Pueblo in an _estufa_,
+or cell, usually under ground, and there lays before them the subjects
+of debate, which are generally settled by the opinion of the majority.
+No Mexican is admitted to these councils, nor do the {274} subjects of
+discussion ever transpire beyond the precincts of the cavern. The
+council has also charge of the interior police and tranquility of the
+village.[24] One of their regulations is to appoint a secret watch for
+the purpose of keeping down disorders and vices of every description,
+and especially to keep an eye over the young men and women of the
+village. When any improper intercourse among them is detected, the
+parties are immediately carried to the council, and the cacique
+intimates to them that they must be wedded forthwith. Should the girl
+be of bad character, and the man, [Pg061] therefore, unwilling to
+marry her, they are ordered to keep separate under penalty of the
+lash. Hence it is, that the females of these Pueblos are almost
+universally noted for their chastity and modest deportment.[25]
+
+They also elect a _capitan de guerra_, a kind of commander-in-chief of
+the warriors, whose office it is to defend their homes and their
+interests both in the field and in the council chamber.[26] Though not
+very warlike, these Pueblos are generally valiant, and well skilled in
+the strategies of Indian warfare; and although they have been branded
+with cruelty and ferocity, yet they can hardly be said to surpass the
+Mexicans in this respect: both, in times of war, pay but little regard
+either to age or sex. I have been told that when the Pueblos return
+from their belligerent expeditions, instead of going directly to their
+homes, they always visit their council cell first. Here {275} they
+undress, dance, and carouse, frequently for two days in succession
+before seeing their families.
+
+Although the Pueblos are famous for hospitality and industry, they
+still continue in the rudest state of ignorance, having neither books
+nor schools among them, as none of their languages have been reduced
+to rules, and very few of their children are ever taught in
+Spanish.[27] A degree of primitiveness characterizes all their
+amusements, which bear a strong similarity to those of the wilder
+tribes. Before the New Mexican government had become so much [Pg062]
+impoverished, there was wont to be held in the capital on the 16th of
+September of every year, a national celebration of the declaration of
+Independence, to which the Pueblos were invited. The warriors and
+youths of each nation with a proportionate array of dusky damsels
+would appear on these occasions, painted and ornamented in accordance
+with their aboriginal customs, and amuse the inhabitants with all
+sorts of grotesque feats and native dances. Each Pueblo generally had
+its particular uniform dress and its particular dance. The men of one
+village would sometimes disguise themselves as elks, with horns on
+their heads, moving on all-fours, and mimicking the animal they were
+attempting to personate. Others would appear in the garb of a turkey,
+with large heavy wings, and strut about in imitation of that bird. But
+the Pecos tribe, already reduced to seven men, always occasioned most
+diversion. {276} Their favorite exploit was, each to put on the skin
+of a buffalo, horns, tail, and all, and thus accoutred scamper about
+through the crowd, to the real or affected terror of all the ladies
+present, and to the great delight of the boys.
+
+The Pueblo villages are generally built with more regularity than
+those of the Mexicans, and are constructed of the same materials as
+were used by them in the most primitive ages. Their dwelling-houses,
+it is true, are not so spacious as those of the Mexicans, containing
+very seldom more than two or three small apartments upon the ground
+floor, without any court-yard, but they have generally a much loftier
+appearance, being frequently two stories high and sometimes more. A
+very curious feature in these buildings, is, that there is most
+generally no direct communication between the street and the lower
+rooms, into which they descend by a trap-door from the upper story,
+the latter being accessible by means of ladders. Even the entrance to
+the upper stories is frequently at the roof. This style of [Pg063]
+building seems to have been adopted for security against their
+marauding neighbors of the wilder tribes, with whom they were often at
+war. When the family had all been housed at night, the ladder was
+drawn up, and the inmates were thus shut up in a kind of fortress,
+which bid defiance to the scanty implements of warfare used by the
+wild Indians.
+
+Though this was their most usual style of architecture, there still
+exists a Pueblo of Taos, {277} composed, for the most part, of but two
+edifices of very singular structure--one on each side of a creek, and
+formerly communicating by a bridge. The base-story is a mass of near
+four hundred feet long, a hundred and fifty wide, and divided into
+numerous apartments, upon which other tiers of rooms are built, one
+above another, drawn in by regular grades, forming a pyramidal pile of
+fifty or sixty feet high, and comprising some six or eight stories.
+The outer rooms only seem to be used for dwellings, and are lighted by
+little windows in the sides, but are entered through trap-doors in the
+_azoteas_ or roofs. Most of the inner apartments are employed as
+granaries and store-rooms, but a spacious hall in the centre of the
+mass, known as the _estufa_, is reserved for their secret councils.
+These two buildings afford habitations, as is said, for over six
+hundred souls.[28] There is likewise an edifice in the Pueblo of
+Picuris[29] of the same class, and some of those of Moqui are also
+said to be similar.
+
+Some of these villages were built upon rocky eminences deemed almost
+inaccessible: witness for instance [Pg064] the ruins of the ancient
+Pueblo of San Felipe, which may be seen towering upon the very verge
+of a precipice several hundred feet high, whose base is washed by the
+swift current of the Rio del Norte. The still existing Pueblo of Acoma
+also stands upon an isolated mound whose whole area is occupied by the
+village, being fringed all around by a precipitous _ceja_ or cliff.
+{278} The inhabitants enter the village by means of ladders, and by
+steps cut into the solid rock upon which it is based.[30]
+
+At the time of the conquest, many of these Pueblos manufactured some
+singular textures of cotton and other materials; but with the loss of
+their liberty, they seem to have lost most of their arts and
+ingenuity; so that the finer specimens of native fabrics are now only
+to be met with among the Moquis and Navajoes, who still retain their
+independence. The Pueblos, however, make some of the ordinary classes
+of blankets and _tilmas_,[31] as well as other woolen stuffs. They
+also manufacture, according to their aboriginal art, both for their
+own consumption, and for the purpose of traffic, a species of
+earthenware not much inferior to the coarse crockery of our common
+potters. The pots made of this material stand fire remarkably well,
+and are the universal substitutes for all the purposes of cookery,
+even among the Mexicans, for the iron castings of this country, which
+are utterly unknown there. Rude as this kind of crockery is, it
+nevertheless evinces a great deal of skill, considering that it is
+made entirely [Pg065] without lathe or any kind of machinery. It is
+often fancifully painted with colored earths and the juice of a plant
+called _guaco_, which brightens by burning. They also work a singular
+kind of wicker-ware, of which some bowls (if they may be so called)
+are so closely platted, {279} that, once swollen by dampness, they
+serve to hold liquids, and are therefore light and convenient vessels
+for the purposes of travellers.[32]
+
+The dress of many of the Pueblos has become assimilated in some
+respects to that of the common Mexicans; but by far the greatest
+portion still retain most of their aboriginal costume. The Taosas and
+others of the north somewhat resemble the prairie tribes in this
+respect; but the Pueblos to the south and west of Santa Fe dress in a
+different style, which is said to be similar in many respects to that
+of the aboriginal inhabitants of the city of Mexico. The moccasin is
+the only part of the prairie suit that appears common to them all, and
+of both sexes. They mostly wear a kind of short breeches and long
+stockings, the use of which they most probably acquired from the
+Spaniards. The _saco_, a species of woollen jacket without sleeves,
+completes their exterior garment; except during inclement seasons,
+when they make use of the tilma. Very few of them have hats or
+head-dress of any kind; and they generally wear their hair
+long--commonly fashioned into a _queue_, wrapped with some colored
+stuff. The squaws of the northern tribes dress pretty much like those
+of the Prairies; but the usual costume of the females of the southern
+and western Pueblos is a handsome kind of small blanket of dark
+color, [Pg066] which is drawn under one arm and tacked over the other
+shoulder, leaving both arms free and naked. It is generally {280} worn
+with a cotton chemise underneath and is bound about the waist with a
+girdle. We rarely if ever see a thorough-bred Pueblo woman in Mexican
+dress.[33]
+
+The weapons most in use among the Pueblos are the bow and arrow, with
+a long-handled lance and occasionally a fusil. The rawhide shield is
+also much used, which, though of but little service against fire-arms,
+serves to ward off the arrow and lance.
+
+The aliment of these Indians is, in most respects, similar to that of
+the Mexicans; in fact, as has been elsewhere remarked, the latter
+adopted with their utensils numerous items of aboriginal diet. The
+_tortilla_, the _atole_, the _pinole_,[34] and many others, together
+with the use of _chile_, are from the Indians. Some of the wilder
+tribes make a peculiar kind of _pinole_, by grinding the bean of the
+mezquite tree into flour, which is then used as that of corn. And
+besides the tortilla they make another singular kind of bread, if we
+may so style it, called _guayave_, a roll of which so much resembles a
+'hornets' nest,' that by strangers it is often designated by this
+title. It is usually made of Indian corn prepared and ground as for
+tortillas, and diluted into a thin paste. {281} I once happened to
+enter an Indian hut where a young girl of the family was baking
+_guayaves_. She was sitting by a fire, over which a large flat stone
+was heating, with a crock of prepared paste by her side. She [Pg067]
+thrust her hand into the paste, and then wiped it over the heated
+stone. What adhered to it was instantly baked and peeled off. She
+repeated this process at the rate of a dozen times or more per minute.
+Observing my curiosity, the girl handed me one of the 'sheets,'
+silently; for she seemed to understand but her native tongue. I found
+it pleasant enough to the taste; though when cold, as I have learned
+by experience, it is, like the cold tortilla, rather tough and
+insipid. They are even thinner than wafers; and some dozens, being
+folded in a roll, constitute the laminate composition before
+mentioned. Being thus preserved, they serve the natives for months
+upon their journeys.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[18] On the subject of Pueblo Indians, consult T. Donaldson, _Moqui
+Pueblo Indians of Arizona and Pueblo Indians of New Mexico_
+(Washington, 1893), extra bulletin of eleventh census; John T. Short,
+North _Americans of Antiquity_ (New York, 1880); A. F. A. Bandelier,
+Archaeological Institute of America _Papers_, American Series, i-iv; N.
+O. G. Nordenskiold, _Cliff-dwellers of the Mesa Verde_ (Chicago and
+Stockholm, 1893); C. F. Lummis, _Land of Poco Tiempo_ (New York,
+1893).--ED.
+
+[19] Of these, the Pueblo of Zuni has been celebrated for honesty and
+hospitality. The inhabitants mostly profess the Catholic faith, but
+have now no curate. They cultivate the soil, manufacture, and possess
+considerable quantities of stock. Their village is over 150 miles west
+of the Rio del Norte, on the waters of the Colorado of the West, and
+is believed to contain between 1,000 and 1,500 souls. The "seven
+Pueblos of Moqui" (as they are called) are a similar tribe living a
+few leagues beyond. They formerly acknowledged the government and
+religion of the Spaniards, but have long since rejected both, and live
+in a state of independence and paganism. Their dwellings, however,
+like those of Zuni, are similar to those of the interior Pueblos, and
+they are equally industrious and agricultural, and still more
+ingenious in their manufacturing. The language of the _Moquis_ or
+_Moquinos_ is said to differ but little from that of the
+Navajoes.--GREGG.
+
+_Comment by Ed._ For the Moki (properly Hopi), see Pattie's
+_Narrative_, in our volume xviii, p. 130, note 64. The articles by
+Frank H. Cushing in American Bureau of Ethnology _Reports_ first
+directed attention to the Zuni; consult also Bandelier, "Outline of
+Documentary History of Zuni Tribe," in _Journal of American Ethnology
+and Archaeology_ (Boston, 1891-94), iii.
+
+[20] On the linguistic stocks of the pueblos, consult our volume xix,
+p. 266, note 90 (Gregg).--ED.
+
+[21] Bandelier, "Final Report," Archaeological Institute of America
+_Papers_, American Series, iii, pp. 121-136, considers the pueblo
+population at the time of the Spanish conquest to have been about
+twenty-five thousand. The present population of New Mexican pueblos,
+exclusive of the Moki, is about nine thousand.--ED.
+
+[22] The pueblo of Pecos was situated thirty miles southeast of Santa
+Fe, and at the close of the seventeenth century had a population of
+two thousand, being the largest pueblo in either New Mexico or
+Arizona. It was visited as early as 1540 by Alvarado, a lieutenant of
+Coronado. In 1598, the inhabitants rendered submission to Onate, and a
+mission was established among them for which a large church was built
+in the seventeenth century, its ruins being still conspicuous. In the
+revolt of 1680 the Pecos remained neutral; but soon thereafter decline
+in numbers set in, and by 1837 but eighteen adults were left. A fever
+swept away the majority of these, when in 1840 the remnant of five men
+sold their lands to the government, and retired to their kinsmen at
+Jemez. A son of the tribe was found in 1880 among the Mexicans of the
+village of Pecos, a small, comparatively modern town. Bandelier
+discredits the Montezuma myth, which he considers a Spanish-Mexican
+importation. See Archaeological Institute of America _Papers_, American
+Series, i, pp. 110-125. He found among the ruins, however, evidences
+of the existence of the sacred fire.--ED.
+
+[23] The Pueblo Indians still cling to many features of aboriginal
+worship. The sun-father and moon-mother are revered--not the orbs
+themselves, but the spiritual beings residing therein. Consult on this
+subject, Bandelier, _op. cit._, iii, pp. 276-316.--ED.
+
+[24] The office of the cacique is in essence religious; but as
+religion is interwoven with the entire life of the Pueblos, he is in a
+sense a civil official as well. He is chosen because of fitness,
+frequently on the nomination of his predecessor, and his education in
+the mysteries and secrets of his people is exacting. The office is for
+life, unless terminated by improper behavior, when the cacique may be
+deposed. The candidate sometimes declines the office because of the
+severity of the duties, which involve much fasting and abnegation.
+
+The _estufa_ is not always subterranean. It originated before the
+introduction of Christian family life, in a common home for the male
+members of the pueblo. It has become the council house of the tribe.
+Some pueblos contain more than one; unless rites are in progress, it
+is a bare, rude room usually unornamented. For details, consult John
+G. Bourke, _Snake Dance of the Moquis of Arizona_ (New York,
+1884).--ED.
+
+[25] Matrimonial relations among these people have been much modified
+by the introduction of Christianity, and the requirements of the
+friars, so that the monogamous family is now the rule among the
+sedentary Indians; although there are still in force certain clan
+restrictions in the choice of the mate.--ED.
+
+[26] Although the Pueblos have, since the subjugation of the Apache,
+engaged in no wars, a war-captain is each year selected by the
+cacique, who has, as Gregg relates, certain protective and religious
+functions.--ED.
+
+[27] Primary schools were established for several pueblos, about 1872,
+but met with opposition from priests, who did not desire Indian
+children to learn English. There are in the territory at present
+(1903), about eighteen day-schools, and two industrial boarding
+schools.--ED.
+
+[28] For a brief sketch of the history of Taos, see our volume xviii,
+p. 73, note 44. The Taos communal architecture is of the primitive
+type; after the Spanish conquest, the separate houses of the other
+pueblos were gradually adopted.--ED.
+
+[29] Picuries is one of the northern group. Like Taos, it is of Tiguan
+stock, and participated in the history of the region, being visited by
+one of Coronado's party in 1540. It yielded to Onate in 1598, took
+part in the revolts of 1680 and 1696, and in the uprising against the
+Americans in 1848. The pueblo was formerly much larger than at
+present, its population now consisting of only about a hundred poor
+and rather unprogressive Indians. It is in Taos County about seventy
+miles north of Santa Fe.--ED.
+
+[30] Acoma is a Queres pueblo, built upon a cliff, about seventy miles
+southwest of Santa Fe, in Valencia County. Because of its
+inaccessibility, and the charm of its situation, it has been much
+noted. Coronado described it in his journey of 1540--see George P.
+Winship, _Journey of Coronado_ (New York, 1904); and here a great
+battle was fought between Spaniards and Acomans in 1599. The pueblo
+took part in the revolts of 1680 and 1696; but has since lived
+quietly, and has at present a population of about six hundred.--ED.
+
+[31] The _tilma_ of the North is a sort of small but durable blanket,
+worn by the Indians as a mantle.--GREGG.
+
+[32] Recent authorities do not consider the decline of domestic arts a
+sign of deterioration among the Pueblos. They taught the Navaho to
+weave, and now purchase blankets from the latter. Pottery is still
+manufactured among the New Mexican pueblos. See on these subjects
+Washington Matthews, "Navaho Weavers," in U. S. Bureau of Ethnology
+_Report_, 1881-82, pp. 371-391; and William H. Holmes, "Pottery of the
+Ancient Pueblos," _ibid._, 1882-83, pp. 265-358.--ED.
+
+[33] The Pueblos still retain their native dress, which is
+picturesque, healthful, convenient, and often relatively costly--a
+woman's costume sometimes being worth as much as twenty-five
+dollars.--ED.
+
+[34] _Pinole_ is in effect the _cold-flour_ of our hunters. It is the
+meal of parched Indian corn, prepared for use by stirring it up with a
+little cold water. This food seems also to have been of ancient use
+among the aborigines of other parts of America. Father Charlevoix, in
+1721, says of the savages about the northern lakes, that they "reduce
+[the maize] to Flour which they call _Farine froide_ (cold Flour), and
+this is the best Provision that can be made for Travellers."--GREGG.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+The wild Tribes of New Mexico -- Speculative Theories -- Clavigero and
+  the _Azteques_ -- Pueblo Bonito and other Ruins -- Probable
+  Relationship between the _Azteques_ and tribes of New Mexico -- The
+  several Nations of this Province -- _Navajoes_ and _Azteques_ --
+  Manufactures of the former -- Their Agriculture, Religion, etc. --
+  Mexican Cruelty to the Indians and its Consequences -- Inroads of
+  the Navajoes -- Exploits of a Mexican Army -- How to make a Hole in
+  a Powder-keg -- The _Apaches_ and their Character -- Their Food --
+  Novel Mode of settling Disputes -- Range of their marauding
+  Excursions -- Indian Traffic and imbecile Treaties -- Devastation of
+  the Country -- Chihuahua Rodomontades -- Juan Jose, a celebrated
+  Apache Chief, and his tragical End, etc. -- Massacre of Americans in
+  Retaliation -- A tragical Episode -- _Proyecto de Guerra_ and a
+  'gallant' Display -- The _Yutas_ and their Hostilities -- A personal
+  Adventure with them, but no blood shed -- Jicarillas.
+
+
+All the Indians of New Mexico not denominated Pueblos--not professing
+the Christian religion--are ranked as _wild tribes_, although these
+include some who have made great advances in arts, manufactures and
+agriculture. Those who are at all acquainted with the ancient history
+of Mexico, will recollect that, according to the traditions of the
+aborigines, all the principal tribes of Anahuac descended from the
+North: and that those of Mexico, especially [Pg068] the Azteques,
+emigrated {283} from the north of California, or northwest of New
+Mexico. Clavigero, the famous historian heretofore alluded to,[35]
+speaking of this emigration, observes, that the _Azteques_, or Mexican
+Indians, who were the last settlers in the country of Anahuac, lived
+until about the year 1160 of the Christian era in Aztlan, a country
+situated to the north of the Gulf of California; as is inferred from
+the route of their peregrinations, and from the information afterwards
+acquired by the Spaniards in their expeditions through those
+countries. He then proceeds to show by what incentives they were
+probably induced to abandon their native land; adding that whatever
+may have been the motive, no doubt can possibly exist as to the
+journey's having actually been performed. He says that they travelled
+in a southeastwardly direction towards the Rio Gila, where they
+remained for some time--the ruins of their edifices being still to be
+seen, upon its banks. They then struck out for a point over two
+hundred and fifty miles to the northwest of Chihuahua in about 29 deg. of
+N. latitude, where they made another halt. This place is known by the
+name of _Casas Grandes_[36] (big houses), on account of a large
+edifice which still stands on the spot, and which, according to the
+general tradition of those regions, was erected by the Mexican
+Indians, during their [Pg069] wanderings. The building is constructed
+after the plan of those in New Mexico, with three stories, covered
+with an _azotea_ or terrace, and without door or entrance {284} into
+the lower story. A hand ladder is also used as a means of
+communication with the second story.
+
+Even allowing that the traditions upon which Clavigero founded his
+theoretical deductions are vague and uncertain, there is sufficient
+evidence in the ruins that still exist to show that those regions were
+once inhabited by a far more enlightened people than are now to be
+found among the aborigines. Of such character are the ruins of _Pueblo
+Bonito_, in the direction of Navajo, on the borders of the
+Cordilleras; the houses being generally built of slabs of fine-grit
+sand-stone, a material utterly unknown in the present architecture of
+the North.[37] Although some of these structures are very massive and
+spacious, they are generally cut up into small irregular rooms, many
+of which yet remain entire, being still covered, with the _vigas_ or
+joists remaining nearly sound under the _azoteas_ of earth; and yet
+their age is such that there is no tradition which gives any account
+of their origin. But there have been no images or sculptured work of
+any kind found about them. Besides these, many other ruins (though
+none so perfect) are scattered over the plains and among the
+mountains. What is very remarkable is, that a portion of them are
+situated at a great distance from any water; so that the inhabitants
+must have depended entirely upon rain, as is the case with the Pueblo
+of Acoma at the present day.
+
+The general appearance of Pueblo Bonito, {285} as well as that of the
+existing buildings of Moqui in the [Pg070] same mountainous regions,
+and other Pueblos of New Mexico, resembles so closely the ruins of
+Casas Grandes, that we naturally come to the conclusion that the
+founders of each must have descended from the same common stock. The
+present difference between their language and that of the Indians of
+Mexico, when we take into consideration the ages that have passed away
+since their separation, hardly presents any reasonable objection to
+this hypothesis.
+
+The principal wild tribes which inhabit or extend their incursions or
+peregrinations upon the territory of New Mexico, are the _Navajoes_,
+the _Apaches_, the _Yutas_, the _Caiguas_ or Kiawas, and the
+_Comanches_.[38] Of the latter I will speak in another place. The two
+first are from one and the same original stock, there being, even at
+the present day, no very important difference in their language. The
+Apaches are divided into numerous petty tribes, of one of which an
+insignificant band, called Jicarillas, inhabiting the mountains north
+of Taos, is an isolated and miserable remnant.[39]
+
+The _Navajoes_ are supposed to number about 10,000 souls, and though
+not the most numerous, they are certainly the most important, at least
+in a historical point of view, of all the northern tribes of Mexico.
+They reside in the main range of Cordilleras, 150 to 200 miles west of
+Santa Fe, on the waters of Rio Colorado of California, not far from
+the region, according to historians, from whence the [Pg071] {286}
+Azteques emigrated to Mexico; and there are many reasons to suppose
+them direct descendants from the remnant, which remained in the North,
+of this celebrated nation of antiquity. Although they mostly live in
+rude _jacales_, somewhat resembling the wigwams of the Pawnees, yet,
+from time immemorial, they have excelled all others in their original
+manufactures: and, as well as the Moquis, they are still distinguished
+for some exquisite styles of cotton textures, and display considerable
+ingenuity in embroidering with feathers the skins of animals,
+according to their primitive practice. They now also manufacture a
+singular species of blanket, known as the _Sarape Navajo_, which is of
+so close and dense a texture that it will frequently hold water almost
+equal to gum-elastic cloth. It is therefore highly prized for
+protection against the rains. Some of the finer qualities are often
+sold among the Mexicans as high as fifty or sixty dollars each.
+
+Notwithstanding the present predatory and somewhat unsettled habits of
+the Navajoes, they cultivate all the different grains and vegetables
+to be found in New Mexico. They also possess extensive herds of
+horses, mules, cattle, sheep and goats of their own raising, which are
+generally celebrated as being much superior to those of the Mexicans;
+owing, no doubt, to greater attention to the improvement of their
+stocks.
+
+Though Baron Humboldt[40] tells us that some missionaries were
+established among this tribe {287} prior to the general massacre of
+1680, but few attempts to christianize them have since been made. They
+now remain in a state of primitive paganism--and not only independent
+of the Mexicans, but their most formidable enemies.[41] [Pg072]
+
+After the establishment of the national independence, the
+government of New Mexico greatly embittered the disposition of the
+neighboring savages, especially the Navajoes, by repeated acts of
+cruelty and ill-faith well calculated to provoke hostilities. On one
+occasion, a party consisting of several chiefs and warriors of the
+Navajoes assembled at the Pueblo of Cochiti,[42] by invitation of the
+government, to celebrate a treaty of peace; when the New Mexicans,
+exasperated no doubt by the remembrance of former outrages, fell upon
+them unawares and put them all to death. It is also related, that
+about the same period, three Indians from the northern mountains
+having been brought as prisoners into Taos, they were peremptorily
+demanded by the Jicarillas, who were their bitterest enemies; when the
+Mexican authorities, dreading the resentment of this tribe, quietly
+complied with the barbarous request, suffering the prisoners to be
+butchered in cold blood before their very eyes! No wonder, then, that
+the New Mexicans are so generally warred upon by their savage
+neighbors.
+
+About fifteen years ago, the Navajoes were subjected by the energy of
+Col. Vizcarra, who succeeded in keeping them in submission for {288}
+some time; but since that officer's departure from New Mexico, no man
+has been [Pg073] found of sufficient capacity to inspire this daring
+tribe either with respect or fear; so that for the last ten years they
+have ravaged the country with impunity, murdering and destroying just
+as the humor happened to prompt them. When the spring of the year
+approaches, terms of peace are generally proposed to the government at
+Santa Fe, which the latter never fails to accept. This amicable
+arrangement enables the wily Indians to sow their crops at leisure,
+and to dispose of the property stolen from the Mexicans during their
+marauding incursions, to advantage; but the close of their
+agricultural labors is generally followed by a renewal of hostilities,
+and the game of rapine and destruction is played over again.
+
+Towards the close of 1835, a volunteer corps, which most of the
+leading men in New Mexico joined, was raised for the purpose of
+carrying war into the territory of the Navajoes. The latter hearing of
+their approach, and anxious no doubt to save them the trouble of so
+long a journey, mustered a select band of their warriors, who went
+forth to intercept the invaders in a mountain pass, where they lay
+concealed in an ambuscade. The valiant corps, utterly unconscious of
+the reception that awaited them, soon came jogging along in scattered
+groups, indulging in every kind of boisterous mirth; when the
+war-whoop, loud and shrill, followed by several shots, threw them all
+into a state of speechless consternation. {289} Some tumbled off their
+horses with fright, others fired their muskets at random: a terrific
+panic had seized everybody, and some minutes elapsed before they could
+recover their senses sufficiently to betake themselves to their heels.
+Two or three persons were killed in this ridiculous engagement, the
+most conspicuous of whom was a Capt. Hinofos, who commanded the
+regular troops.[43] [Pg074]
+
+A very curious but fully authentic anecdote may not be
+inappropriately inserted here, in which this individual was concerned.
+On one occasion, being about to start on a belligerent expedition, he
+directed his orderly-sergeant to fill a powder-flask from an
+unbroached keg of twenty-five pounds. The sergeant, having bored a
+hole with a gimlet, and finding that the powder issued too slowly,
+began to look about for something to enlarge the aperture, when his
+eyes haply fell upon an iron poker which lay in a corner of the
+fire-place. To heat the poker and apply it to the hole in the keg was
+the work of but a few moments; when an explosion took place which blew
+the upper part of the building into the street, tearing and shattering
+everything else to atoms. Miraculous as their escape may appear, the
+sergeant, as well as the captain who witnessed the whole operation,
+remained more frightened than hurt, although they were both very
+severely scorched and bruised. This ingenious sergeant was afterwards
+Secretary of State to Gov. Gonzalez, of revolutionary {290}
+memory,[44] and has nearly ever since held a clerkship in some of the
+offices of state, but is now captain in the regular army.
+
+I come now to speak of the _Apaches_, the most extensive and powerful,
+yet the most vagrant of all the savage nations that inhabit the
+interior of Northern Mexico. They are supposed to number some fifteen
+thousand souls, although they are subdivided into various petty bands,
+and scattered over an immense tract of country. Those that are found
+east of the Rio del Norte are generally known as _Mezcaleros_, on
+account of an article of food much in use among them, called
+_mezcal_,[45] but by far the greatest portion of the nation is located
+in the west, and is mostly known by the sobriquet [Pg075] of
+_Coyoteros_, in consequence, it is said, of their eating the _coyote_
+or prairie-wolf.[46] The Apaches are perhaps more given to itinerant
+habits than any other tribe in Mexico. They never construct houses,
+but live in the ordinary wigwam, or tent of skins and blankets. They
+manufacture nothing--cultivate nothing: they seldom resort to the
+chase, as their country is destitute of game--but depend almost
+entirely upon pillage for the support of their immense population,
+some two or three thousand of which are warriors.
+
+For their food, the Apaches rely chiefly upon the flesh of the cattle
+and sheep they can steal from the Mexican ranchos and haciendas. They
+are said, however, to be more fond of {291} the meat of the mule than
+that of any other animal. I have seen about encampments which they had
+recently left, the remains of mules that had been slaughtered for
+their consumption. Yet on one occasion I saw their whole trail, for
+many miles, literally strewed with the carcasses of these animals,
+which, it was evident, had not been killed for this purpose. It is the
+practice of the Apache chiefs, as I have understood, whenever a
+dispute arises betwixt their warriors relative to the ownership of any
+particular animal, to kill the brute at once, though it be the most
+valuable of the drove; and so check all further cavil. It was to be
+inferred from the number of dead mules they left behind them, that the
+most harmonious relations could not have existed between the members
+of the tribe, at least during this period of their journeyings. Like
+most of the savage tribes of North America, the Apaches are
+passionately fond of spirituous liquors, and may frequently be seen,
+in times [Pg076] of peace, lounging about the Mexican villages, in a
+state of helpless inebriety.
+
+The range of this marauding tribe extends over some portions of
+California, most of Sonora, the frontiers of Durango, and at certain
+seasons it even reaches Coahuila: Chihuahua, however, has been the
+mournful theatre of their most constant depredations. Every nook and
+corner of this once flourishing state has been subjected to their
+inroads. Such is the imbecility of the local governments, that the
+savages, in order to dispose of {292} their stolen property without
+even a shadow of molestation, frequently enter into partial treaties
+of peace with one department, while they continue to wage a war of
+extermination against the neighboring states. This arrangement
+supplies them with an ever-ready market, for the disposal of their
+booty and the purchase of munitions wherewith to prosecute their work
+of destruction. In 1840, I witnessed the departure from Santa Fe of a
+large trading party freighted with engines of war and a great quantity
+of whiskey, intended for the Apaches in exchange for mules and other
+articles of plunder which they had stolen from the people of the
+south. This traffic was not only tolerated but openly encouraged by
+the civil authorities, as the highest public functionaries were
+interested in its success--the governor himself not excepted.
+
+The Apaches, now and then, propose a truce to the government of
+Chihuahua, which is generally accepted very nearly upon their own
+terms. It has on some occasions been included that the marauders
+should have a _bona fide_ right to all their stolen property. A
+_venta_ or quit-claim brand, has actually been marked by the
+government upon large numbers of mules and horses which the Indians
+had robbed from the citizens. It is hardly necessary to add that these
+truces have rarely been observed by the wily savages longer than
+[Pg077] the time necessary for the disposal of their plunder. As soon
+as more mules were needed for service or for traffic--more cattle for
+beef--more {293} scalps for the war-dance--they would invariably
+return to their deeds of ravage and murder.
+
+The depredations of the Apaches have been of such long duration, that,
+beyond the immediate purlieus of the towns, the whole country from New
+Mexico to the borders of Durango is almost entirely depopulated. The
+haciendas and ranchos have been mostly abandoned, and the people
+chiefly confined to towns and cities. To such a pitch has the temerity
+of those savages reached, that small bands of three or four warriors
+have been known to make their appearance within a mile of the city of
+Chihuahua in open day, killing the laborers and driving off whole
+herds of mules and horses without the slightest opposition.
+Occasionally a detachment of troops is sent in pursuit of the
+marauders, but for no other purpose, it would seem, than to illustrate
+the imbecility of the former, as they are always sure to make a
+precipitate retreat, generally without even obtaining a glimpse of the
+enemy.[47] And yet the columns of a little weekly sheet published in
+Chihuahua always teem with flaming accounts of prodigious feats of
+valor performed by the 'army of operations' against _los barbaros_:
+showing how "the enemy was pursued with all possible vigor"--how the
+soldiers "displayed the greatest {294} bravery, and the most
+unrestrainable desire to overhaul the dastards," and by what
+extraordinary combinations of adverse circumstances they were
+"compelled to relinquish the pursuit." Indeed, it would be difficult
+to find a braver race of people than the [Pg078] _Chihuahuenos_[48]
+contrive to make themselves appear upon paper. When intelligence was
+received in Chihuahua of the famous skirmish with the French, at Vera
+Cruz, in which Santa Anna acquired the glory of losing a leg,[49] the
+event was celebrated with uproarious demonstrations of joy; and the
+next number of the _Noticioso_[50] contained a valiant fanfaronade,
+proclaiming to the world the astounding fact, that one Mexican was
+worth four French soldiers in battle: winding up with a "_Cancion
+Patriotica_," of which the following exquisite verse was the
+_refrain_:
+
+  "_Chihuahuenses, la Patria gloriosa_
+  _Otro timbre a su lustre ha anadido;_
+  _Pues la_, invicta la Galia indomable
+  AL VALOR MEXICANO _ha cedido_."
+
+Literally translated:
+
+  Chihuahuenses! our glorious country
+  Another ray has added to her lustre;
+  For the _invincible, indomitable Gallia_
+  Has succumbed to Mexican valor.
+
+By the inverted letters of "_invicta, la Galia indomable_," in the
+third line, the poet gives {295} the world to understand that the
+kingdom of the Gauls had at length been whirled topsy-turvy, by the
+glorious achievements of _el valor Mexicano_!
+
+From what has been said of the ravages of the Apaches, one would be
+apt to believe them an exceedingly brave people; but the Mexicans
+themselves call them cowards when compared with the Comanches; and we
+are wont to look upon the latter as perfect specimens of poltroonery
+when brought [Pg079] in conflict with the Shawnees, Delawares, and
+the rest of our border tribes.[51]
+
+There was once a celebrated chief called Juan Jose at the head of this
+tribe, whose extreme cunning and audacity caused his name to be
+dreaded throughout the country. What contributed more than anything
+else to render him a dangerous enemy, was the fact of his having
+received a liberal education at Chihuahua, which enabled him, when he
+afterwards rejoined his tribe, to outwit his pursuers, and, by robbing
+the mails, to acquire timely information of every expedition that was
+set on foot against him. The following account of the massacre in
+which he fell may not be altogether uninteresting to the reader.
+
+The government of Sonora, desirous to make some efforts to check the
+depredations of the Apaches, issued a proclamation, giving a sort of
+_carte blanche_ patent of 'marque and reprisal,' and declaring all the
+booty that might be taken from the savages to be the rightful property
+of the captors. Accordingly, in the {296} spring of 1837, a party of
+some 20 men composed chiefly of foreigners, spurred on by the love of
+gain, and never doubting but the Indians, after so many years of
+successful robberies, must be possessed of a vast amount of property,
+set out with an American as their commander, who had long resided in
+the country.[52] In a few days they reached a _rancheria_ of about
+fifty warriors with their families, among whom was the [Pg080] famous
+Juan Jose himself, and three other principal chiefs. On seeing the
+Americans advance, the former at once gave them to understand, that,
+if they had come to fight, they were ready to accommodate them; but on
+being assured by the leader, that they were merely bent on a trading
+expedition, a friendly interview was immediately established between
+the parties. The American captain having determined to put these
+obnoxious chiefs to death under any circumstances, soon caused a
+little field-piece which had been concealed from the Indians to be
+loaded with chain and canister shot, and to be held in readiness for
+use. The warriors were then invited to the camp to receive a present
+of flour, which was placed within range of the cannon. While they were
+occupied in dividing the contents of the bag, they were fired upon and
+a considerable number of their party killed on the spot! The remainder
+were then attacked with small arms, and about twenty slain, including
+Juan Jose and the other chiefs. Those who escaped became afterwards
+their own avengers in a {297} manner which proved terribly disastrous
+to another party of Americans, who happened at the time to be trapping
+on Rio Gila not far distant. The enraged savages resolved to take
+summary vengeance upon these unfortunate trappers; and falling upon
+them, massacred them every one![53] They were in all, including
+several Mexicans, about fifteen in number.[54] [Pg081]
+
+The projector of this scheme had probably been under the
+impression that treachery was justifiable against a treacherous enemy.
+He also believed, no doubt, that the act would be highly commended by
+the Mexicans who had suffered so much from the depredations of these
+notorious chiefs. But in this he was sadly mistaken; for the affair
+was received with general reprehension, although the Mexicans had been
+guilty of similar deeds themselves, as the following brief episode
+will sufficiently show.
+
+In the summer of 1839, a few Apache prisoners, among whom was the wife
+of a distinguished {298} chief, were confined in the calabozo of Paso
+del Norte. The bereaved chief, hearing of their captivity, collected a
+band of about sixty warriors, and, boldly entering the town, demanded
+the release of his consort and friends. The commandant of the place
+wishing to gain time, desired them to return the next morning, when
+their request would be granted. During the night the forces of the
+country were concentrated; notwithstanding, when the Apaches
+reappeared, the troops did not show their faces, but remained
+concealed, while the Mexican commandant strove to beguile the Indians
+into the prison, under pretence of delivering to them their friends.
+The unsuspecting chief and twenty others were entrapped in this
+manner, and treacherously dispatched in cold blood: not, however,
+without some loss to the Mexicans, who had four or five of their men
+killed in the fracas. Among these was the commandant himself, who had
+no sooner given the word, "_iMaten a los carajos!_" (kill the
+scoundrels!) than the chief retorted, [Pg082] "_iEntonces moriras tu
+primero, carajo!_" (then you shall die first, carajo!) and immediately
+stabbed him to the heart!
+
+But as New Mexico is more remote from the usual haunts of the Apaches,
+and, in fact, as her scanty ranchos present a much less fruitful field
+for their operations than the abundant haciendas of the South, the
+depredations of this tribe have extended but little upon that
+province. The only serious incursion that has come within my
+knowledge, was some ten {299} years ago. A band of Apache warriors
+boldly approached the town of Socorro[55] on the southern border, when
+a battle ensued between them and the Mexican force, composed of a
+company of regular troops and all the militia of the place. The
+Mexicans were soon completely routed and chased into the very streets,
+suffering a loss of thirty-three killed and several wounded. The
+savages bore away their slain, yet their loss was supposed to be but
+six or seven. I happened to be in the vicinity of the catastrophe the
+following day, when the utmost consternation prevailed among the
+inhabitants, who were in hourly expectation of another descent from
+the savages.
+
+Many schemes have been devised from time to time, particularly by the
+people of Chihuahua, to check the ravages of the Indians, but
+generally without success. Among these the notorious _Proyecto de
+Guerra_, adopted in 1837, stands most conspicuous. By this famous
+'war-project' a scale of rewards was established, to be paid out of a
+fund raised for that purpose. A hundred dollars reward were offered
+for the scalp of a full grown man, fifty for that of a squaw, and
+twenty-five for that of every papoose! To the credit of the republic,
+however, this barbarous _proyecto_ was in operation but a few weeks,
+and [Pg083] never received the sanction of the general government;
+although it was strongly advocated by some of the most intelligent
+citizens of Chihuahua. Yet, pending its existence, it was rigidly
+complied with. I saw myself, on one {300} occasion, a detachment of
+horsemen approach the Palacio in Chihuahua, preceded by their
+commanding officer, who bore a fresh scalp upon the tip of his lance,
+which he waved high in the air in exultation of his exploit! The next
+number of our little newspaper contained the official report of the
+affair. The soldiers were pursuing a band of Apaches, when they
+discovered a squaw who had lagged far behind in her endeavors to bear
+away her infant babe. They dispatched the mother without commiseration
+and took her scalp, which was the one so 'gallantly' displayed as
+already mentioned! The officer concluded his report by adding, that
+the child had died not long after it was made prisoner.
+
+The _Yutas_ (or _Eutaws_, as they are generally styled by Americans)
+are one of the most extensive nations of the West, being scattered
+from the north of New Mexico to the borders of Snake river and Rio
+Colorado, and numbering at least ten thousand souls. The habits of the
+tribe are altogether itinerant. A band of about a thousand spend their
+winters mostly in the mountain valleys northward of Taos, and the
+summer season generally in the prairie plains to the east, hunting
+buffalo. The vernacular language of the Yutas is said to be distantly
+allied to that of the Navajoes, but it has appeared to me much more
+guttural, having a deep sepulchral sound resembling ventriloquism.
+Although these Indians are nominally at peace with the New Mexican
+government, they do not hesitate to lay {301} the hunters and traders
+who happen to fall in with their scouring parties under severe
+contributions; and on some occasions they have been known to proceed
+[Pg084] even to personal violence. A prominent Mexican officer[56] was
+scourged not long ago by a party of Yutas, and yet the government has
+never dared to resent the outrage. Their hostilities, however, have
+not been confined to Mexican traders, as will be perceived by the
+sequel.
+
+In the summer of 1837, a small party of but five or six Shawnees fell
+in with a large band of Yutas near the eastern borders of the Rocky
+Mountains, south of Arkansas river. At first they were received with
+every demonstration of friendship; but the Yutas, emboldened no doubt
+by the small number of their visitors, very soon concluded to relieve
+them of whatever surplus property they might be possessed of. The
+Shawnees, however, much to the astonishment of the marauders, instead
+of quietly surrendering their goods and chattels, offered to defend
+them; upon which a skirmish ensued that actually cost the Yutas
+several of their men, including a favorite chief; while the Shawnees
+made their escape unhurt toward their eastern homes.
+
+A few days after this event, and while the Yutas were still bewailing
+the loss of their people, I happened to pass near their _rancherias_
+(temporary village) with a small caravan which mustered about
+thirty-five men. We {302} had hardly pitched our camp, when they began
+to flock about us--men, squaws, and papooses--in great numbers; but
+the warriors were sullen and reserved, only now and then muttering a
+curse upon the Americans on account of the treatment they had just
+received from the Shawnees, whom they considered as half-castes, and
+our allies. All of a sudden, a young warrior seized a splendid steed
+which belonged to our party, and, leaping upon his back, galloped
+[Pg085] off at full speed. Being fully convinced that, by acquiescing
+in this outrage, we should only encourage them to commit others, we
+resolved at once to make a peremptory demand for the stolen horse of
+their principal chief. Our request being treated with contumely, we
+sent in a warlike declaration, and forthwith commenced making
+preparations for descending upon the _rancherias_. The war-whoop
+resounded immediately in every direction; and as the Yutas bear a very
+high character for bravery and skill, the readiness with which they
+seemed to accept our challenge began to alarm our party considerably.
+We had defied them to mortal combat merely by way of bravado, without
+the least expectation that they would put themselves to so much
+inconvenience on our account. It was too late, however, to back out of
+the scrape.
+
+No sooner had the alarm been given than the _rancherias_ of the
+Indians were converted into a martial encampment; and while the
+mounted warriors were exhibiting their preliminary {303} feats of
+horsemanship, the squaws and papooses flew like scattered partridges
+to the rocks and clefts of a contiguous precipice. One-third of our
+party being Mexicans, the first step of the Indians was to proclaim a
+general _indulto_ to them, in hopes of reducing our force, scanty as
+it was already. "My Mexican friends," exclaimed in good Spanish, a
+young warrior who daringly rode up within a few rods of us, "we don't
+wish to hurt _you_; so leave those Americans, for we intend to kill
+every one of _them_." The Mexicans of our party to whom this language
+was addressed, being rancheros of some mettle, only answered, "_Al
+diablo_! we have not forgotten how you treat us when you catch us
+alone: now that we are with Americans who will defend their rights,
+expect ample [Pg086] retaliation for past insults." In truth, these
+rancheros seemed the most anxious to begin the fight,--a remarkable
+instance of the effects of confidence in companions.
+
+A crisis seemed now fast approaching: two swivels we had with us were
+levelled and primed, and the matches lighted. Every man was at his
+post, with his rifle ready for execution, each anxious to do his best,
+whatever might be the result; when the Indians, seeing us determined
+to embrace the chances of war, began to open negotiations. An aged
+squaw, said to be the mother of the principal chief, rode up and
+exclaimed, "My sons! the Americans and Yutas have been friends, and
+our old men wish to continue so: it is only a {304} few impetuous and
+strong-headed youths who want to fight." The stolen horse having been
+restored soon after this harangue, peace was joyfully proclaimed
+throughout both encampments, and the _capitanes_ exchanged
+ratifications by a social smoke.
+
+The little tribe of Jicarillas also harbored an enmity for the
+Americans, which, in 1834, broke out into a hostile _rencontre_. They
+had stolen some animals of a gallant young backwoodsman from Missouri,
+who, with a few comrades, pursued the marauders into the mountains and
+regained his property; and a fracas ensuing, an Indian or two were
+killed. A few days afterward all their warriors visited Santa Fe in a
+body, and demanded of the authorities there, the delivery of the
+American offenders to their vengeance. Though the former showed quite
+a disposition to gratify the savages as far as practicable, they had
+not helpless creatures to deal with, as in the case of the Indian
+prisoners already related. The foreigners, seeing their protection
+devolved upon themselves, prepared for defence, when the savages were
+fain to depart in peace.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+Incidents of a Return Trip from Santa Fe -- Calibre of our Party --
+  Return Caravans -- Remittances -- Death of Mr. Langham -- Burial in
+  the Desert -- A sudden Attack -- Confusion in the Camp -- A Wolfish
+  Escort -- Scarcity of Buffalo -- Unprofitable Delusion -- Arrival
+  -- Table of Camping Sites and Distances -- Condition of the Town
+  of Independence -- The Mormons -- Their Dishonesty and Immorality
+  -- Their high-handed Measures, and a Rising of the People -- A
+  fatal Skirmish -- A chivalrous Parade of the Citizens -- Expulsion
+  of the Mormons -- The Meteoric Shower, and Superstition, etc. --
+  Wanderings and Improprieties of the 'Latter-day Saints' -- Gov.
+  Boggs' Recipe -- The City of Nauvoo -- Contemplated Retribution of
+  the Mormons.
+
+
+I do not propose to detain the reader with an account of my
+journeyings between Mexico and the United States, during the seven
+years subsequent to my first arrival at Santa Fe. I will here merely
+remark, that I crossed the plains to the United States in the falls of
+1833 and 1836, and returned to Santa Fe with goods each succeeding
+spring. It was only in 1838, however, that I eventually closed up my
+affairs in Northern Mexico, and prepared to take my leave of the
+country, as I then supposed, forever. But in this I was mistaken, as
+will appear in the sequel.
+
+The most usual season for the return of the {306} caravans to the
+United States is the autumn, and not one has elapsed since the
+commencement of the trade which has not witnessed some departure from
+Santa Fe with that destination. They have also crossed occasionally in
+the spring, but without any regularity or frequency, and generally in
+very small parties. Even the 'fall companies,' in fact, are small when
+compared with the outward-bound caravans; for besides the numbers who
+remain permanently in the country, many of those who trade southward
+return to the United States _via_ Matamoros or some other Southern
+port. The return parties of autumn are therefore comparatively small,
+varying in number from fifty to a hundred [Pg088] men. They leave
+Santa Fe some four or five weeks after their arrival--generally about
+the first of September. In these companies there are rarely over
+thirty or forty wagons; for a large portion of those taken out by the
+annual caravans are disposed of in the country.
+
+Some of the traders who go out in the spring, return the ensuing fall,
+because they have the good fortune to sell off their stock promptly
+and to advantage: others are compelled to return in the fall to save
+their credit; nay, to preserve their homes, which, especially in the
+earlier periods, have sometimes been mortgaged to secure the payment
+of the merchandise they carried out with them. In such cases, their
+goods were not unfrequently sold at great sacrifice, to avoid the
+penalties which the breaking of their engagements at home {307} would
+involve. New adventurers, too, are apt to become discouraged with an
+unanticipated dullness of times, and not unfrequently sell off at
+wholesale for the best price they can get, though often at a serious
+loss. But those who are regularly engaged in this trade usually
+calculate upon employing a season--perhaps a year, in closing an
+enterprise--in selling off their goods and making their returns.
+
+The wagons of the return caravans are generally but lightly laden: one
+to two thousand pounds constitute the regular return cargo for a
+single wagon; for not only are the teams unable to haul heavy loads,
+on account of the decay of pasturage at this season, but the
+approaching winter compels the traders to travel in greater haste; so
+that this trip is usually made in about forty days. The amount of
+freight, too, from that direction is comparatively small. The
+remittances, as has already been mentioned, are chiefly in specie, or
+gold and silver bullion. The gold is mostly _dust_, from the Placer or
+gold mine near Santa Fe:[57] [Pg089] the silver bullion is all from
+the mines of the South--chiefly from those of Chihuahua. To these
+returns may be added a considerable number of mules and asses--some
+buffalo rugs, furs, and wool,--which last barely pays a return freight
+for the wagons that would otherwise be empty. Coarse Mexican blankets,
+which may be obtained in exchange for merchandise, have been sold in
+small quantities to advantage on our border.
+
+{308} On the 4th of April, 1838, we departed from Santa Fe. Our little
+party was found to consist of twenty-three Americans, with twelve
+Mexican servants. We had seven wagons, one dearborn, and two small
+field-pieces, besides a large assortment of small-arms. The principal
+proprietors carried between them about $150,000 in specie and bullion,
+being for the most part the proceeds of the previous year's adventure.
+
+We moved on at a brisk and joyous pace until we reached Ocate creek, a
+tributary of the Colorado,[58] a distance of a hundred and thirty
+miles from Santa Fe, where we encountered a very sudden bereavement in
+the death of Mr. Langham, one of our most respected proprietors. This
+gentleman was known to be in weak health, but no fears were
+entertained for his safety. We were all actively engaged in assisting
+the more heavily laden wagons over the miry stream, when he was seized
+with a fit of apoplexy and expired instantly. As we had not the means
+of giving the deceased a decent burial, we were compelled to consign
+him to the earth in a shroud of blankets. A grave was accordingly dug
+on an elevated spot near the north bank of the creek, and on the
+morning of the 13th, ere the sun had risen in the east, the mortal
+remains of this most worthy [Pg090] man and valued friend were
+deposited in their last abode,--without a tomb-stone to consecrate the
+spot, or an epitaph to commemorate his virtues. The deceased was from
+St. Louis, {309} though he had passed the last eleven years of his
+life in Santa Fe, during the whole of which period he had seen neither
+his home nor his relatives.
+
+The melancholy rites being concluded, we resumed our line of march. We
+now continued for several days without the occurrence of any important
+accident or adventure. On the 19th we encamped in the Cimarron valley,
+about twelve miles below the Willow Bar. The very sight of this
+desolate region, frequented as it is by the most savage tribes of
+Indians, was sufficient to strike dismay into the hearts of our party;
+but as we had not as yet encountered any of them, we felt
+comparatively at ease. Our mules and horses were 'staked' as usual
+around the wagons, and every man, except the watch, betook himself to
+his blanket, in anticipation of a good night's rest. The hour of
+midnight had passed away, and nothing had been heard except the
+tramping of the men on guard, and the peculiar grating of the mules'
+teeth, nibbling the short grass of the valley. Ere long, however, one
+of our sentinels got a glimpse of some object moving stealthily along,
+and as he was straining his eyes to ascertain what sort of apparition
+it could be, a loud Indian yell suddenly revealed the mystery. This
+was quickly followed by a discharge of fire-arms, and the shrill note
+of the 'Pawnee whistle,' which at once made known the character of our
+visitors. As usual, the utmost confusion prevailed in our camp: some,
+who had been snatched {310} from the land of dreams, ran their heads
+against the wagons--others called out for their guns while they had
+them in their hands. During the height of the bustle and uproar, a
+Mexican servant was observed leaning with his back against a wagon,
+and his fusil elevated at an [Pg091] angle of forty-five degrees,
+cocking and pulling the trigger without ceasing, and exclaiming at
+every snap, "_Carajo, no sirve!_"--Curse it, it's good for nothing.
+
+The firing still continued--the yells grew fiercer and more frequent;
+and everything betokened the approach of a terrible conflict.
+Meanwhile a number of persons were engaged in securing the mules and
+horses which were staked around the encampment; and in a few minutes
+they were all shut up in the _corral_--a hundred head or more in a pen
+formed by seven wagons. The enemy failing in their principal
+object--to frighten off our stock, they soon began to retreat; and in
+a few minutes nothing more was to be heard of them. All that we could
+discover the next morning was, that none of our party had sustained
+any injury, and that we had not lost a single animal.
+
+The Pawnees have been among the most formidable and treacherous
+enemies of the Santa Fe traders. But the former have also suffered a
+little in turn from the caravans. In 1832, a company of traders were
+approached by a single Pawnee chief, who commenced a parley with them,
+when he was shot down by a Pueblo Indian of New Mexico who happened
+{311} to be with the caravan. Though this cruel act met with the
+decided reprobation of the traders generally, yet they were of course
+held responsible for it by the Indians.
+
+On our passage this time across the 'prairie ocean' which lay before
+us, we ran no risk of getting bewildered or lost, for there was now a
+plain wagon trail across the entire stretch of our route, from the
+Cimarron to Arkansas river.
+
+This track, which has since remained permanent, was made in the year
+1834. Owing to continuous rains during the passage of the caravan of
+that year, a plain trail was then cut in the softened turf, on the
+most direct route across [Pg092] this arid desert, leaving the
+Arkansas about twenty miles above the 'Caches.' This has ever since
+been the regular route of the caravans; and thus a recurrence of those
+distressing sufferings from thirst, so frequently experienced by early
+travellers in that inhospitable region, has been prevented.
+
+We forded the Arkansas without difficulty, and pursued our journey to
+the Missouri border with comparative ease; being only now and then
+disturbed at night by the hideous howling of wolves, a pack of which
+had constituted themselves into a kind of 'guard of honor,' and
+followed in our wake for several hundred miles--in fact to the very
+border of the settlements. They were at first attracted no doubt by
+the remains of buffalo which were killed by us upon the high plains,
+and {312} afterwards enticed on by an occasional fagged animal, which
+we were compelled to leave behind, as well as by the bones and scraps
+of food, which they picked up about our camps. Not a few of them paid
+the penalty of their lives for their temerity.
+
+Had we not fortunately been supplied with a sufficiency of meat and
+other provisions, we might have suffered of hunger before reaching the
+settlements; for we saw no buffalo after crossing the Arkansas river.
+It is true that, owing to their disrelish for the long dry grass of
+the eastern prairies, the buffalo are rarely found so far east in
+autumn as during the spring; yet I never saw them so scarce in this
+region before. In fact, at all seasons, they are usually very abundant
+as far east as our point of leaving the Arkansas river.
+
+Upon reaching the settlements, I had an opportunity of experiencing a
+delusion which had been the frequent subject of remark by travellers
+on the Prairies before. Accustomed as we had been for some months to
+our little mules, and the equally small-sized Mexican ponies, our
+[Pg093] sight became so adjusted to their proportions, that when we
+came to look upon the commonest hackney of our frontier horses, it
+appeared to be almost a monster. I have frequently heard exclamations
+of this kind from the new arrivals:--"How the Missourians have
+improved their breed of horses!"--"What a huge gelding!"--"Did you
+ever see such an animal!" This delusion is frequently availed of by
+the frontiersmen {313} to put off their meanest horses to these
+deluded travellers for the most enormous prices.
+
+On the 11th of May we arrived at Independence, after a propitious
+journey of only thirty-eight days.[59] We found the town in a thriving
+condition, although it had come very near being laid waste a few years
+before by the [Pg094] Mormons, who had originally selected this
+section of the country for the site of their New Jerusalem. In this
+they certainly displayed far more taste and good sense than they are
+generally supposed to be endowed {314} with: for the rich and
+beautiful uplands in the vicinity of Independence might well be
+denominated the 'garden spot' of the Far West. Their principal motive
+for preferring the border country, however, was no doubt a desire to
+be in the immediate vicinity of the Indians, as the reclamation of the
+'Lost tribes of Israel' was a part of their pretended mission.
+
+Prior to 1833, the Mormons, who were then flocking in great swarms to
+this favored region, had made considerable purchases of lots and
+tracts of land both in the town of Independence and in the adjacent
+country. A general depot, profanely styled the 'Lord's Store,' was
+established, from which the faithful were supplied with merchandise at
+moderate prices; while those who possessed any surplus of property
+were expected to deposit it in the same, for the benefit of the mass.
+The Mormons were at first kindly received by the good people of the
+country, who looked upon them as a set of harmless fanatics, very
+susceptible of being moulded into good and honest citizens. This
+confidence, however, was not destined to remain long in the ascendant,
+for they soon began to find that the corn in their cribs was sinking
+like snow before the sun-rays, and that their hogs and their cattle
+were by some mysterious agency rapidly disappearing. The new-comers
+also drew upon themselves much animadversion in consequence of the
+immorality of their lives, and in particular their disregard for the
+sacred rites of marriage.
+
+{315} Still they continued to spread and multiply, not by conversion
+but by immigration, to an alarming extent; and in proportion as they
+grew strong in numbers, they [Pg095] also became more exacting and
+bold in their pretensions. In a little paper printed at Independence
+under their immediate auspices,[60] everything was said that could
+provoke hostility between the 'saints' and their 'worldly' neighbors,
+until at last they became so emboldened by impunity, as openly to
+boast of their determination to be the sole proprietors of the 'Land
+of Zion;' a revelation to that effect having been made to their
+prophet.
+
+The people now began to perceive, that, at the rate the intruders were
+increasing, they would soon be able to command a majority of the
+country, and consequently the entire control of affairs would fall
+into their hands. It was evident, then, that one of the two parties
+would in the course of time have to abandon the country; for the old
+settlers could not think of bringing up their families in the midst of
+such a corrupt state of society as the Mormons were establishing.
+Still the nuisance was endured very patiently, and without any attempt
+at retaliation, until the 'saints' actually threatened to eject their
+opponents by main force. This last stroke of impudence at once roused
+the latent spirit of the honest backwoodsmen, some of whom were of the
+pioneer settlers of Missouri, and had become familiar with danger in
+their terrific wars with the savages. They were therefore by no {316}
+means appropriate subjects for yielding what they believed to be their
+rights. Meetings were held for the purpose of devising means of
+redress, which only tended to increase the insolence of the Mormons.
+Finally a mob was collected which proceeded at once to raze the
+obnoxious printing establishment to the ground, and to destroy all the
+materials they could lay hands upon. One or two of the Mormon leaders
+who fell into the hands of the people, were treated [Pg096] to a
+clean suit of 'tar and feathers,' and otherwise severely punished.[61]
+The 'Prophet Joseph,' however, was not then in the neighborhood.
+Having observed the storm-clouds gathering apace in the frontier
+horizon, he very wisely remained in Ohio, whence he issued his flaming
+mandates.
+
+These occurrences took place in the month of October, 1833, and I
+reached Independence from Santa Fe while the excitement was raging at
+its highest. The Mormons had rallied some ten miles west of the town,
+where their strongest settlements were located. A hostile encounter
+was hourly expected: nay, a skirmish actually took place shortly
+after, in which a respectable lawyer of Independence, who had been an
+active agent against the Mormons, was killed. In short, the whole
+country was in a state of dreadful fermentation.
+
+Early on the morning after the skirmish just referred to, a report
+reached Independence that the Mormons were marching in a {317} body
+towards the town, with the intention of sacking and burning it. I had
+often heard the cry of "Indians!" announcing the approach of hostile
+savages, but I do not remember ever to have witnessed so much
+consternation as prevailed at Independence on this memorable occasion.
+The note of alarm was sounded far and near, and armed men, eager for
+the fray, were rushing in from every quarter. Officers were summarily
+selected without deference to rank or station: the 'spirit-stirring
+drum' and the 'ear-piercing fife' made the air resound with music, and
+a little army of as brave and resolute a set of fellows as ever trod a
+field of battle, was, in a very short time, paraded through the
+streets. After a few preliminary exercises, they started for a certain
+point on the road where they intended to await the approach of the
+Mormons. [Pg097] The latter very soon made their appearance, but
+surprised at meeting with so formidable a reception, they never even
+attempted to pull a trigger, but at once surrendered at discretion.
+They were immediately disarmed, and subsequently released upon
+condition of their leaving the country without delay.
+
+It was very soon after this affair that the much talked of phenomenon
+of the meteoric shower (on the night of November 12th) occurred. This
+extraordinary visitation did not fail to produce its effects upon the
+superstitious minds of a few ignorant people, who began to wonder
+whether, after all, the Mormons might not be in the right; and whether
+this was not a sign sent from heaven as a remonstrance for the
+injustice they had been guilty of towards that chosen sect.[62]
+Sometime afterward, a terrible misfortune occurred which was in no way
+calculated to allay the superstitious fears of the ignorant. As some
+eight or ten citizens were returning with the ferry-boat which had
+crossed the last Mormons over the Missouri river, into Clay county,
+the district selected for their new home, the craft filled with water
+and sunk in the middle of the current; by which accident three or four
+men were drowned![63] It was owing perhaps to the craziness of the
+boat, yet some persons suspected the Mormons of having scuttled it by
+secretly boring auger-holes in the bottom just before they had left
+it.
+
+After sojourning a few months in Clay county, to the serious annoyance
+of the inhabitants (though, in fact, they [Pg098] had been kindly
+received at first), the _persecuted_ 'Latter day Saints' were again
+compelled to shift their quarters further off. They now sought to
+establish themselves in the new country of Caldwell, and founded their
+town of Far West, where they lingered in comparative peace for a few
+years.[64] As the county began to fill up with settlers however,
+quarrels repeatedly {319} broke out, until at last, in 1838, they
+found themselves again at open war with their neighbors. They appear
+to have set the laws of the state at defiance, and to have acted so
+turbulently throughout, that Governor Boggs deemed it necessary to
+order out a large force of state militia to subject them: which was
+easily accomplished without bloodshed. From that time the Mormons have
+harbored a mortal enmity towards the Governor: and the attempt which
+was afterwards made to assassinate him at Independence, is generally
+believed to have been instigated, if not absolutely perpetrated, by
+that deluded sect.[65]
+
+Being once more forced to emigrate, they passed into Illinois, where
+they founded the famous 'City of Nauvoo.' It would seem that their
+reception from the people of this state was even more strongly marked
+with kindness and indulgence than it had been elsewhere, being
+generally looked upon as the victims of persecution on account of
+[Pg099] their religious belief; yet it appears that the good people of
+Illinois have since become about as tired of them as were any of their
+former neighbors.[66] It seems very clear then, that fanatical
+delusion is not the only sin which stamps the conduct of these people
+with so much obliquity, or they would certainly have found permanent
+friends somewhere; whereas it is well known that a general aversion
+has prevailed against them wherever they have sojourned.
+
+Before concluding this chapter, it may be {320} proper to remark, that
+the Mormons have invariably refused to sell any of the property they
+had acquired in Missouri, but have on the contrary expressed a firm
+determination to reconquer their lost purchases.[67] Of these, a large
+lot, situated on an elevated point at Independence, known as the
+'Temple Lot,' upon which the 'Temple of Zion' was to have been
+raised,--has lately been 'profaned,' by cultivation, having been
+converted into a corn-field!
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[35] See our volume xix, p. 293, note 116 (Gregg).--ED.
+
+[36] The Casa Grande ruin in Pinal County, Arizona, just south of Gila
+River, has been known to antiquarians since the first discovery of the
+region. The earliest detailed description was written after the visit
+of Father Kuehne (Kino) in 1694. American explorers noted it during
+the passage of 1846; Bartlett's description of 1854 was the most
+faithful. For recent accounts, see Cosmos Mindeleff, in U. S. Bureau
+of Ethnology _Reports_, 1891-92, pp. 295-361; 1893-94, pp. 321-349. In
+1889 congress appropriated funds for its preservation and repair, and
+in 1892 set it apart as a public reservation. Modern archaeologists
+discredit any connection of its builders with Mexican Aztecs. It is a
+work of Pueblo Indians, probably of the ancestors of the modern
+Pima--see our volume xviii, p. 200, note 96. This ruin should not be
+confused with one of a like name in Northern Mexico, for which see
+volume xviii of our series, p. 155, note 88.--ED.
+
+[37] It is uncertain to which ruin Gregg here refers. That of
+Cebolitta, not far from Acoma, answers his description as built of
+sandstone. There is a small ruin at Ojos Bonitos, not far from Zuni,
+that may be intended; but the more probable is the former, on the
+well-known trace between Acoma and Zuni, and of remarkably good
+workmanship in stone.--ED.
+
+[38] For the Navaho, Apache, and Ute tribes, see our volume xviii, p.
+69 (note 41), p. 109 (note 60), p. 140 (note 70); for the Kiowa,
+volume xv, p. 157, note 48; for the Comanche, volume xvi, p. 233, note
+109.--ED.
+
+[39] The Jicarrilla (Xicarrilla) are of _Athapascan_ stock, but from
+the similarity of their language are classed as Apache, although they
+are not known to have had any tribal connection with them. Their
+alliance was more frequently with the Ute, with whom they
+intermarried, and whose customs they assimilated. They were a
+predatory race, and from their vantage ground on the upper waters of
+the Rio Grande, Pecos, and Canadian, caused much annoyance. They are
+now located on a reservation in Rio Arriba County, and number about
+seven hundred and fifty.--ED.
+
+[40] For Humboldt, see our volume xviii, p. 345, note 136.--ED.
+
+[41] The Navaho were friendly with the Spaniards until about 1700,
+when they began depredations and cattle lifting, and frequent
+campaigns against them were undertaken. In 1744 a mission was
+attempted among them, which was abandoned after six years' futile
+efforts. Serious difficulties, however, did not recur until the
+beginning of the nineteenth century. The period of Gregg's sojourn in
+New Mexico was that of greatest hostility. For over twenty-five years
+the United States government had much difficulty with the Navaho.
+There are yet over twenty thousand of these tribesmen on the different
+reservations, chiefly in Arizona.--ED.
+
+[42] Cochiti is one of the smaller Queres pueblos, situated on the
+west side of the Rio Grande, almost directly west of Santa Fe. It was
+near the same spot, at the time of the Spanish accession in 1598. The
+Cochitianos took part in the rebellions of 1680 and 1696, and part of
+the mutineers were, about 1699, removed to the pueblo of Laguna. There
+are now less than two hundred and fifty inhabitants of this Indian
+village.--ED.
+
+[43] The only other authority for this campaign is A. R. Thuemmel,
+_Mexiko und die Mexikaner_ (Erlangen, 1848), pp. 350, 351.--ED.
+
+[44] For Governor Jose Gonzalez and his exploits during the
+insurrection of 1837 see preceding volume, ch. vi (Gregg).--ED.
+
+[45] _Mezcal_ is the baked root of the _maguey_ (_agave Americana_)
+and of another somewhat similar plant.--GREGG.
+
+[46] Like the Jicarrilla, the Mescallero were in reality a distinct
+tribe, and related to the Apache only by linguistic affinities. Since
+1865 they have been confined upon a reservation in southern New
+Mexico, where about four hundred still exist. The Coyoteros is one of
+some dozen tribes or bands among the Apache proper.--ED.
+
+[47] It has been credibly asserted, that, during one of these 'bold
+pursuits,' a band of Comanches stopped in the suburbs of a village on
+Rio Conchos, turned their horses into the wheat-fields, and took a
+comfortable _siesta_--desirous, it seemed, to behold their pursuers
+face to face; yet, after remaining most of the day, they departed
+without enjoying that pleasure.--GREGG.
+
+[48] Or _Chihuahuenses_, citizens of Chihuahua.--GREGG.
+
+[49] During the so-called "Pastry War," for which see our volume xix,
+p. 274, note 101 (Gregg).--ED.
+
+[50] _Noticioso de Chihuahua_ of December 28, 1838.--GREGG.
+
+[51] The experience of the United States army with the Apache has not
+proved their cowardice. Since the running of the boundary line after
+the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo (1848) up to 1886, one outbreak after
+another characterized our relations with the Apache. For fifteen years
+(1871-86) General Crook watched the Apache, and after each raid forced
+them back upon their reservations. Geronimo's band, which surrendered
+in September, 1886, was transported to Florida and Alabama.--ED.
+
+[52] The leader's name was James Johnson, who afterwards removed to
+California, where he died in poverty. See H. H. Bancroft, _History of
+Arizona and New Mexico_, p. 407.--ED.
+
+[53] Bancroft (_op. cit._) relates the escape of Benjamin Wilson, who
+afterwards narrated the event, and the death of the leader, Charles
+Kemp.--ED.
+
+[54] The Apaches, previous to this date, had committed but few
+depredations upon foreigners--restrained either by fear or respect.
+Small parties of the latter were permitted to pass the highways of the
+wilderness unmolested, while large caravans of Mexicans suffered
+frequent attacks. This apparent partiality produced unfounded
+jealousies, and the Americans were openly accused of holding secret
+treaties with the enemy, and even of supplying them with arms and
+ammunition. Although an occasional foreigner engaged in this
+clandestine and culpable traffic, yet the natives themselves embarked
+in it beyond comparison more extensively, as has been noted in another
+place. This unjust impression against Americans was partially effaced
+as well by the catastrophes mentioned in the text, as by the defeat
+and robbery (in which, however, no American lives were lost), of a
+small party of our people, about the same period, in _La Jornada del
+Muerto_, on their way from Chihuahua to Santa Fe.--GREGG.
+
+[55] For Socorro, consult Pattie's _Narrative_, in our volume xviii,
+p. 86, note 52.--ED.
+
+[56] Don Juan Andres Archuleta, who commanded at the capture of Gen.
+McLeod's division of the Texans.--GREGG.
+
+[57] For the placer mines, see our volume xix, p. 304, note 128
+(Gregg).--ED.
+
+[58] Ocate Creek is in Mora County, New Mexico, a tributary of the
+upper waters of the Canadian, one of the several streams called
+Colorado by the Mexicans. Because of this name, it was thought (until
+Long's expedition in 1820) to be the headwaters of Red River.--ED.
+
+[59] Having crossed the Prairies between Independence and Santa Fe six
+times, I can now present a table of the most notable camping sites,
+and their respective intermediate distances, with approximate
+accuracy--which may prove acceptable to some future travellers. The
+whole distance has been variously estimated at from 750 to 800 miles,
+yet I feel confident that the aggregate here presented is very nearly
+the true distance.
+
+ From INDEPENDENCE to                     _M._       _Agg._
+ Round Grove,                              35
+ Narrows,                                  30           65
+ 110-mile Creek,                           30           95
+ Bridge Cr.,                                8          103
+ Big John Spring, (crossing sv'l. Crs.)    40          143
+ Council Grove,                             2          145
+ Diamond Spring,                           15          160
+ Lost Spring,                              15          175
+ Cottonwood Cr.,                           12          187
+ Turkey Cr.,                               25          212
+ Little Arkansas,                          17          229
+ Cow Creek,                                20          249
+ Arkansas River,                           16          265
+ Walnut Cr., (up Ark. r.)                   8          273
+ Ash Creek,                                19          292
+ Pawnee Fork,                               6          298
+ Coon Creek,                               33          331
+ Caches,                                   36          367
+ Ford of Arkansas,                         20          387
+ Sand Cr. (leav. Ark. r.)                  50          437
+ Cimarron r. (Lower sp.)                    8          445
+ Middle spr. (up Cim. r.)                  36          481
+ Willow Bar,                               26          507
+ Upper Spring,                             18          525
+ Cold spr. (leav. Cim. r.)                  5          530
+ M'Nees's Cr.,                             25          555
+ Rabbit-ear Cr.,                           20          575
+ Round Mound,                               8          583
+ Rock Creek,                                8          591
+ Point of Rocks,                           19          610
+ Rio Colorado,                             20          630
+ Ocate,                                     6          636
+ Santa Clara Spr.,                         21          657
+ Rio Mora,                                 22          679
+ Rio Gallinas (Vegas),                     20          699
+ Ojo de Bernal (spr.),                     17          716
+ San Miguel,                                6          722
+ Pecos village,                            23          755
+ SANTA FE,                                 25          770
+
+                                              --GREGG.
+
+[60] This paper, the first printed in Jackson County, was called The
+Evening and Morning Star, the first issue being in June, 1832.--ED.
+
+[61] This occurred July 20, 1833. Bishop Partridge and Charles Allen
+were the victims of the punishment.--ED.
+
+[62] In Northern Mexico, as I learned afterwards, the credulity of the
+superstitious was still more severely tried by this celestial
+phenomenon. Their Church had been deprived of some important
+privileges by the Congress but a short time before, and the people
+could not be persuaded but that the meteoric shower was intended as a
+curse upon the nation in consequence of that sacrilegious act.--GREGG.
+
+[63] The following were drowned: James Campbell, George Bradbury,
+David Linch, Thomas Harrington, William Everett, Smallwood Nolan.--ED.
+
+[64] Far West was begun in 1836; by 1838 there was a Mormon population
+of twelve thousand in and around the city.--ED.
+
+[65] Lilburn W. Boggs was born in Kentucky in 1798. Early removed to
+Missouri, he became prominent as a trader, pioneer, and political
+leader. In 1832 he was elected lieutenant-governor, serving as the
+acting-governor during part of his term. At its close (1836) he was
+chosen governor, and served for four years. During this term he
+incurred the animosity of the Mormons, by what was known as his
+"extermination order," issued in October, 1838. The attempt to
+assassinate him at the close of his term of office, at his home in
+Independence (1841), was popularly ascribed to a Mormon fanatic, who
+was, however, acquitted in the courts. In 1846 Governor Boggs led an
+overland party to California, where he assisted in the American
+occupation. Removed to Napa Valley in 1852, he died there nine years
+later. His wife was a granddaughter of Daniel Boone.--ED.
+
+[66] The year in which Gregg's book was published (June, 1844),
+Prophet Joseph Smith was killed by a mob in the jail of Carthage,
+Illinois.--ED.
+
+[67] After the death of the founder there was dissension in the ranks,
+one wing being headed by his eldest son, Joseph Smith III. The latter
+founded what is known as the Reorganized Church of Latter Day Saints,
+which repudiates polygamy. These were the sectarians who returned to
+Jackson County, Missouri, where a large number now reside.--ED.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII {I}[68]
+
+A Return to Prairie Life -- Abandonment of the regular Route -- The
+  Start -- A Suicide -- Arrest of a Mulatto for Debt -- Cherokee
+  'Bankrupt Law' -- Chuly, the Creek Indian -- The Muster and the
+  Introduction -- An '_Olla Podrida_' -- Adventure of a 'Down-Easter'
+  -- Arrival of U.S. Dragoons -- Camp Holmes, and the Road -- A Visit
+  from a Party of Comanches -- Tabba-quena, a noted Chief -- His
+  extraordinary Geographical Talent -- Indians set out for the
+  'Capitan Grande,' and we through an Unexplored Region -- Rejoined by
+  Tabba-quena and his '_suite_' -- Spring Valley -- The Buffalo Fever
+  -- The Chase -- A Green-horn Scamper -- Prairie Fuel.
+
+
+An unconquerable propensity to return to prairie life inclined me to
+embark in a fresh enterprise. The blockade [Pg100] of the Mexican
+ports by the French also offered strong inducements for undertaking
+such an expedition in the spring of 1839; for as Chihuahua is supplied
+principally through the sea-ports, it was now evident that the place
+must be suffering from great scarcity of goods. Being anxious to reach
+the market before the ports of the Gulf were reopened, we deemed it
+expedient to abandon the regular route from {10} Missouri for one
+wholly untried, from the borders of Arkansas, where the pasturage
+springs up nearly a month earlier. It is true, that such an attempt to
+convey heavily laden wagons through an unexplored region was attended
+with considerable risk; but as I was familiar with the general
+character of the plains contiguous to the north, I felt little or no
+apprehension of serious difficulties, except from what might be
+occasioned by regions of sandy soil. I have often been asked since,
+why we did not steer directly for Chihuahua, as our trade was chiefly
+destined for that place, instead of taking the circuitous route _via_
+Santa Fe. I answer, that we dreaded a journey across the southern
+prairies on account of the reputed aridity of the country in that
+direction, and I had no great desire to venture directly into a
+southern port in the present state of uncertainty as to the conditions
+of entry.
+
+Suitable arrangements having been made, and a choice stock of about
+$25,000 worth of goods shipped to Van Buren[69] on the Arkansas river,
+we started on the evening of the 21st of April, but made very little
+progress for the first eight days. While we were yet but ten or
+fifteen miles from Van Buren, [Pg101] an incident occurred which was
+attended with very melancholy results. A young man named Hays, who had
+driven a wagon for me for several months through the interior of
+Mexico, and thence to the United States in 1838, having heard that
+this expedition was projected, {11} was desirous of engaging again in
+the same employ. I was equally desirous to secure his services, as he
+was well-tried, and had proved himself an excellent fellow on those
+perilous journeys. But soon after our outset, and without any apparent
+reason, he expressed an inclination to abandon the trip. I earnestly
+strove to dissuade him from his purpose, and supposed I had succeeded.
+What was my surprise, then, upon my return after a few hours' absence
+in advance of the company, to learn that he had secretly absconded! I
+was now led to reflect upon some of his eccentricities, and bethought
+me of several evident indications of slight mental derangement. We
+were, however, but a few miles from the settlements of the whites, and
+in the midst of the civilized Cherokees, where there was little or no
+danger of his suffering; therefore, there seemed but little occasion
+for serious uneasiness on his account. As it was believed he had
+shaped his course back to Van Buren, I immediately wrote to our
+friends there, to have search made for him. However, nothing could be
+found of him till the next day, when his hat and coat were discovered
+upon the bank of the Arkansas, near Van Buren, which were the last
+traces ever had of the unfortunate Hays! Whether intentionally or
+accidentally, he was evidently drowned.
+
+On the 28th of April we crossed the Arkansas river a few miles above
+the mouth of the Canadian fork.[70] We had only proceeded {12} a short
+distance beyond, when a Cherokee shop-keeper came up to us with an
+attachment for debt [Pg102] against a free mulatto whom we had
+engaged as teamster. The poor fellow had no alternative but to return
+with the importunate creditor, who committed him at once to the care
+of 'Judge Lynch' for trial. We ascertained afterwards that he had been
+sentenced to 'take the benefit of the bankrupt law' after the manner
+of the Cherokees of that neighborhood. This is done by stripping and
+tying the victim to a tree; when each creditor, with a good cowhide or
+hickory switch in his hand, scores the amount of the bill due upon his
+bare back. One stripe for every dollar due is the usual process of
+'whitewashing;' and as the application of the lash is accompanied by
+all sorts of quaint remarks, the exhibition affords no small merriment
+to those present, with the exception, no doubt, of the delinquent
+himself. After the ordeal is over, the creditors declare themselves
+perfectly satisfied: nor could they, as is said, ever be persuaded
+thereafter to receive one red cent of the amount due, even if it were
+offered to them. As the poor mulatto was also in our debt, and was
+perhaps apprehensive that we might exact payment in the same currency,
+he never showed himself again.
+
+On the 2d of May we crossed the North Fork of the Canadian about a
+mile from its confluence with the main stream. A little westward of
+this there is a small village of {13} Creek Indians, and a shop or two
+kept by American traders.[71] An Indian who had quarrelled with his
+wife, came out and proposed to join us, and, to our great surprise,
+carried his proposal into execution. The next morning his repentant
+consort came into our camp, and set up a most dismal weeping and
+howling after her truant husband, who, notwithstanding, was neither to
+be caught by tears nor [Pg103] softened by entreaties, but persisted
+in his determination to see foreign countries. His name was
+Echu-eleh-hadjo (or _Crazy-deer-foot_), but, for brevity's sake, we
+always called him _Chuly_. He was industrious, and possessed many
+clever qualities, though somewhat disposed to commit excesses whenever
+he could procure liquor, which fortunately did not occur until our
+arrival at Santa Fe. He proved to be a good and willing hand on the
+way, but as he spoke no English, our communication with him was
+somewhat troublesome. I may as well add here, that, while in Santa Fe,
+he took another freak and joined a volunteer corps, chiefly of
+Americans, organized under one James Kirker to fight the Navajo and
+Apache Indians; the government of Chihuahua having guarantied to them
+all the spoils they should take.[72] With these our Creek found a few
+of his 'red brethren'--Shawnees and Delawares, who had wandered thus
+far from the frontier of Missouri. After this little army was
+disbanded, Chuly returned home, as I have been informed, with a small
+{14} party who crossed the plains directly from Chihuahua.
+
+We had never considered ourselves as perfectly _en chemin_ till after
+crossing the Arkansas river; and as our little party experienced no
+further change, I may now be permitted to introduce them collectively
+to the reader. It consisted of thirty-four men, including my brother
+John Gregg and myself. These men had all been hired by us except
+three, two of whom were Eastern-bred boys--a tailor and a
+silversmith--good-natured, clever little fellows, who had thought
+themselves at the 'jumping-off place' when they reached [Pg104] Van
+Buren, but now seemed nothing loth to extend their peregrinations a
+thousand miles or so further, in the hope of 'doing' the 'Spaniards,'
+as the Mexicans are generally styled in the West, out of a little
+surplus of specie. The other was a German peddler, who somewhat
+resembled the Dutchman's horse, "put him as you vant, and he ish
+alvays tere;" for he did nothing during the whole journey but descant
+on the value of a chest of trumperies which he carried, and with which
+he calculated, as he expressed it, to "py a plenty of te Shpanish
+tollar." The trip across the Prairies cost these men absolutely
+nothing, inasmuch as we furnished them with all the necessaries for
+the journey, in consideration of the additional strength they brought
+to our company.
+
+It is seldom that such a variety of ingredients are found mixed up in
+so small a compass. {15} Here were the representatives of seven
+distinct nations, each speaking his own native language, which
+produced at times a very respectable jumble of discordant sounds.
+There was one Frenchman whose volubility of tongue and curious
+gesticulations, contrasted very strangely with the frigidity of two
+phlegmatic wanderers from Germany; while the calm eccentricity of two
+Polish exiles, the stoical look of two sons of the desert (the Creek
+already spoken of, and a Chickasaw), and the pantomimic gestures of
+sundry loquacious Mexicans, contributed in no small degree to heighten
+the effects of the picture. The Americans were mostly backwoodsmen,
+who could handle the rifle far better than the whip, but who
+nevertheless officiated as wagoners.
+
+We had fourteen road-wagons, half drawn by mules, the others by oxen
+(eight of each to the team); besides a carriage and a Jersey wagon.
+Then we had two swivels mounted upon one pair of wheels; but one of
+them was attached to a movable truckle, so that, upon stopping, it
+could be transferred [Pg105] to the other side of the wagons. One of
+these was a long brass piece made to order, with a calibre of but an
+inch and a quarter, yet of sufficient metal to throw a leaden ball to
+the distance of a mile with surprising accuracy. The other was of
+iron, and a little larger. Besides these, our party was well supplied
+with small arms. The Americans mostly had their rifles and a musket in
+addition, which {16} they carried in their wagons, always well charged
+with ball and buckshot. Then my brother and myself were each provided
+with one of Colt's repeating rifles, and a pair of pistols of the
+same, so that we could, if necessary, carry thirty-six ready-loaded
+shots apiece; which alone constituted a capacity of defence rarely
+matched even on the Prairies.
+
+Previous to our departure we had received a promise from the war
+department of an escort of U.S. Dragoons, as far as the borders of the
+Mexican territory; but, upon sending an express to Gen. Arbuckle at
+Fort Gibson to that effect,[73] we were informed that in consequence
+of some fresh troubles among the Cherokees, it was doubtful whether
+the force could be spared in time. This was certainly no very
+agreeable news, inasmuch as the escort would have been very
+serviceable in assisting to search out a track over the unexplored
+wilderness we had to pass. It was too late, however, to recede; and so
+we resolved at all hazards to pursue our journey. [Pg106]
+
+We had advanced beyond the furthest settlements of the Creeks
+and Seminoles, and pitched our camp on a bright balmy evening, in the
+border of a delightful prairie, when some of the young men, attracted
+by the prospect of game, shouldered their rifles and wended their
+steps through the dense forest which lay contiguous to our encampment.
+Among those that went forth, there was one of the 'down-easters'
+already mentioned, who was much more familiar with the interior of
+{17} a city than of a wilderness forest. As the shades of evening were
+beginning to descend, and all the hunters had returned except him,
+several muskets and even our little field-pieces were fired, but
+without effect. The night passed away, and the morning dawned upon the
+encampment, and still he was absent. The firing was then renewed; but
+soon after he was seen approaching, very sullen and dejected. He came
+with a tale of perilous adventures and 'hair-breadth 'scapes' upon his
+lips, which somewhat abated the storm of ridicule by which he was at
+first assailed. It seemed that he had heard our firing on the previous
+evening, but believed it to proceed from a contrary direction--a very
+common mistake with persons who have become bewildered and lost. Thus
+deceived and stimulated by the fear of Indians (from a party of whom
+he supposed the firing to proceed), he continued his pathless
+wanderings till dark, when, to render his situation still more
+critical, he was attacked by a 'painter'--_anglice_, panther--which he
+actually succeeded in beating off with the breech of his gun, and then
+betook himself to the topmost extremity of a tree, where, in order to
+avoid a similar intrusion, he passed the remainder of the night. From
+a peculiar odor with which the shattered gun was still redolent,
+however, it was strongly suspected that the 'terrific painter' was not
+many degrees removed, in affinity, from a----polecat.
+
+We had just reached the extreme edge of {18} the far [Pg107] famed
+'Cross Timbers,'[74] when we were gratified by the arrival of forty
+dragoons, under the command of Lieut. Bowman, who had orders to
+accompany us to the supposed boundary of the United States.[75] On the
+same evening we had the pleasure of encamping together at a place
+known as Camp Holmes, a wild romantic spot in latitude 35 deg. 5', and but
+a mile north of the Canadian river. Just at hand there was a beautiful
+spring, where, in 1835, Colonel Mason with a force of U. S. troops,
+had a 'big talk' and still bigger 'smoke' with a party of Comanche and
+Witchita Indians.[76] Upon the same site Col. Chouteau had also caused
+to be erected not long after, a little stockade fort, where a
+considerable trade was subsequently carried on with the Comanches and
+other tribes of the southwestern prairies. The place had now been
+abandoned, however, since the preceding winter.
+
+From the Arkansas river to Chouteau's Fort, our route presented an
+unbroken succession of grassy plains and fertile glades, intersected
+here and there with woody belts and numerous rivulets, most of which,
+however, are generally dry except during the rainy season. As far as
+Camp Holmes, [Pg108] we had a passable wagon road, which was opened
+upon the occasion of the Indian treaty before alluded to, and was
+afterwards kept open by the Indian traders. Yet, notwithstanding the
+road, this stretch gave us more trouble--presented more rugged passes,
+miry ravines and steep {19} ascents--than all the rest of our journey
+put together.
+
+We had not been long at the Fort, before we received a visit from a
+party of Comanches, who having heard of our approach came to greet us
+a welcome, on the supposition that it was their friend Chouteau
+returning to the fort with fresh supplies of merchandise. Great was
+their grief when we informed them that their favorite trader had died
+at Fort Gibson, the previous winter.[77] On visiting their wigwams and
+inquiring for their _capitan_,[78] we were introduced to a corpulent,
+squint-eyed old fellow, who certainly had nothing in his personal
+appearance indicative of rank or dignity. This was Tabba-quena (or the
+Big Eagle), a name familiar to all the Comanche traders. As we had
+frequently heard that he spoke Spanish fluently, we at once prepared
+ourselves for a social chit-chat; but, on accosting him in that
+tongue, and inquiring whether he could talk Spanish, he merely replied
+'_Poquito_,' putting at the same time his forefinger to his ear, to
+signify that he merely understood a little--which proved true to a
+degree, for our communication was chiefly [Pg109] by signs. We were
+now about to launch upon an unknown region--our route lay henceforth
+across that unexplored wilderness, of which I have so frequently
+spoken, without either pilot or trail to guide us for nearly 500
+miles. We had to depend entirely upon {20} our knowledge of the
+geographical position of the country for which we were steering, and
+the indications of a compass and sextant. This was emphatically a
+pioneer trip; such a one also as had, perhaps, never before been
+undertaken--to convey heavily laden wagons through a country almost
+wholly untrod by civilized man, and of which _we_, at least, knew
+nothing. We were therefore extremely anxious to acquire any
+information our visitors might be able to give us; but Tabba-quena
+being by no means experienced in wagon tactics, could only make us
+understand, by gestures, mixed with a little wretched Spanish, that
+the route up the Canadian presented no obstacles according to _his_
+mode of travelling. He appeared, however, very well acquainted with
+the whole Mexican frontier, from Santa Fe to Chihuahua, and even to
+the Gulf, as well as with all the Prairies. During the consultation he
+seemed occasionally to ask the opinions of other chiefs who had
+huddled around him. Finally, we handed him a sheet of paper and a
+pencil, signifying at the same time a desire that he would draw us a
+map of the Prairies. This he very promptly executed; and although the
+draft was somewhat rough, it bore, much to our astonishment, quite a
+map-like appearance, with a far more accurate delineation of all the
+principal rivers of the plains--the road from Missouri to Santa Fe,
+and the different Mexican settlements, than is to be found in many of
+the engraved maps of those regions.
+
+{21}Tabba-quena's party consisted of about sixty persons, including
+several squaws and papooses, with a few Kiawa chiefs and warriors,
+who, although of a tribe so entirely distinct, are frequently found
+domiciled among the Comanches. As we were about to break up the camp
+they all started for [Pg110] Fort Gibson, for the purpose, as they
+informed us, of paying a visit to the 'Capitan Grande'--a Spanish
+phrase used by many prairie tribes, and applied, in their confused
+notions of rank and power, not only to the President of the United
+States himself, but to the seat of the federal government. These they
+are again apt to confound with Fort Gibson and the commanding officer
+of that station.
+
+On the 18th of May, we set out from Chouteau's fort. From this forward
+our wagons were marched in two lines and regularly 'formed' at every
+camp, so as to constitute a fortification and a _corral_ for the
+stock. This is different from the 'forming' of the large caravans. The
+two front wagons are driven up, side by side, with their 'tails' a
+little inclined outward. About half of the rest are drawn up in the
+same manner, but each stopped with the fore-wheel a little back of the
+hind-wheel of the next ahead. The remainder are similarly brought up,
+but inclined inward behind, so as nearly to close again at the rear of
+the pen; leaving a gap through which to introduce the stock. Thus the
+_corral_ remains of an ovate form. After the drivers become expert the
+whole is performed in a very short time.
+
+{22}On the following day we were again joined by old Tabba-quena, and
+another Comanche chief, with five or six warriors, and as many squaws,
+including Tab's wife and infant son. As we were jogging along in the
+afternoon, I held quite a long conversation in our semi-mute language
+with the squinting old chief. He gave me to understand, as well as he
+could, that his comrades[79] had proceeded on their journey to see the
+Capitan Grande, but that he had concluded to return home for better
+horses. He boasted in no measured terms of his friendship for the
+Americans, and [Pg111] promised to exert his influence to prevent
+turbulent and unruly spirits of his nation from molesting us. But he
+could not disguise his fears in regard to the Pawnees and Osages, who,
+he said, would be sure to run off with our stock while we were asleep
+at night. When I informed him that we kept a strict night-watch, he
+said, "_Esta bueno_" (that's good), and allowed that our chances for
+safety were not so bad after all.
+
+These friendly Indians encamped with us that night, and on the
+following morning the old chief informed us that some of his party had
+a few "mulas para _swap_" (mules to trade; for having learned the word
+_swap_ of some American traders, he very ingeniously tacked it at the
+tail of his little stock of Spanish). A barter of five mules was
+immediately concluded {23} upon, much to our advantage, as our teams
+were rather in a weak condition. Old Tab and his party then left us to
+join his band, which, he said, was located on the Faux Ouachitta
+river, and we never saw aught of them more.[80]
+
+After leaving the Fort we generally kept on the ridge between the
+Canadian and the North Fork, crossing sometimes the tributary brooks
+of the one and sometimes those of the others. Having travelled in this
+manner for about eighty miles, we entered one of the most charming
+prairie vales that I have ever beheld, and which in the plenitude of
+our enthusiasm, we named 'Spring Valley,' on account of the numerous
+spring-fed rills and gurgling rivulets that greeted the sight in every
+direction;[81] in whose limpid pools swarms of trout and perch were
+carelessly playing. Much of the country, indeed, over which we had
+passed was somewhat of a similar character--yet nowhere quite so
+beautiful. I must premise, however, that westward of this, it [Pg112]
+is only the valleys immediately bordering the streams that are at all
+fit for cultivation: the high plains are too dry and sandy. But here
+the soil was dark and mellow, and the rich vegetation with which it
+was clothed plainly indicated its fertility. 'Spring Valley' gently
+inclines towards the North Fork, which was at the distance of about
+five miles from our present route. It was somewhere along the border
+of this enchanting vale that a little picket fort was erected in {24}
+1822, by an unfortunate trader named McKnight, who was afterwards
+betrayed and murdered by the faithless Comanches.[82] The landscape is
+beautifully variegated with stripes and fringes of timber: while the
+little herds of buffalo that were scattered about in fantastic groups
+imparted a degree of life and picturesqueness to the scene, which it
+was truly delightful to contemplate.
+
+It was three days previous that we had first met with these 'prairie
+cattle.' I have often heard backwoodsmen speak of the 'buck ague,' but
+commend me to the 'buffalo fever' of the Prairies for novelty and
+amusement. Very few of our party had ever seen a buffalo before in its
+wild state; therefore at the first sight of these noble animals the
+excitement surpassed anything I had ever witnessed before. Some of our
+dragoons, in their eagerness for sport, had managed to frighten away a
+small herd that were quietly feeding at some distance, before our
+'still hunters,' who had crawled towards them, had been able to get
+within rifle-shot of them. No sooner were the movements of our mounted
+men perceived, than the whole extent of country, as far as the eye
+could reach, became perfectly animate with living objects, fleeing and
+scampering in every direction. From the surrounding valleys sprang up
+numerous herds of these animals which had hitherto been unobserved,
+many of which, in their indiscriminate flight, passed so near the
+wagons, that the [Pg113] drivers, carried away by the contagious
+excitement of {25} the moment, would leave the teams and keep up a
+running fire after them. I had the good fortune to witness the
+exploits of one of our Northern greenhorns, who, mounted upon a
+sluggish mule, and without any kind of weapon, amused himself by
+chasing every buffalo that came scudding along, as if he expected to
+capture him by laying hold of his tail. Plying spur and whip, he would
+gallop after one division till he was left far behind: and then turn
+to another and another, with the same earnestness of purpose, until
+they had all passed out of sight. He finally came back disheartened
+and sullen, with his head hanging down like one conscious of having
+done something supremely ridiculous; but still cursing his lazy mule,
+which, he said, might have caught the buffalo, if it had had a mind
+to.
+
+The next day the buffalo being still more numerous, the chase was
+renewed with greater zest. In the midst of the general hurly-burly
+which ensued, three persons on foot were perceived afar off, chasing
+one herd of buffalo and then another, until they completely
+disappeared. These were two of our cooks, the one armed with a pistol,
+the other with a musket, accompanied by Chuly (the Creek), who was
+happily provided with a rifle. We travelled several miles without
+hearing or seeing anything of them. At last, when we had almost given
+them up for lost, Frank, the French cook, came trudging in, and his
+rueful countenance was no bad index of the {26} doleful tale he had to
+relate. Although he had been chasing and shooting all day, he had, as
+he expressed it, "no killet one," till eventually he happened to
+stumble upon a wounded calf, which he boldly attacked; but as ill luck
+would have it, the youngster took it into his head to give him battle.
+"Foutre de varment! he butt me down," exclaimed the exasperated
+Frenchman,--"Sacre! me plentee scart; but me kill him for all." Chuly
+and the [Pg114] other cook came in soon after, in equally dejected
+spirits; for, in addition to his ill luck in hunting, the latter had
+been lost. The Indian had perhaps killed buffalo with his rifle, but
+he was in no humor to be communicative in his language of signs; so
+nothing was ever known of his adventures. One thing seemed pretty
+certain, that they were all cured of the 'buffalo fever.'
+
+On the night after the first buffalo scamper, we encamped upon a
+woodless ravine, and were obliged to resort to 'buffalo chips' (dry
+ordure) for fuel. It is amusing to witness the bustle which generally
+takes place in collecting this offal. In dry weather it is an
+excellent substitute for wood, than which it even makes a hotter fire;
+but when moistened by rain, the smouldering pile will smoke for hours
+before it condescends to burn, if it does at all. The buffalo meat
+which the hunter roasts or broils upon this fire, he accounts more
+savory than the steaks dressed by the most delicate cooks in civilized
+life.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[68] Chapter i of volume ii of the original edition.--ED.
+
+[69] It is said that Major Long first chose the site of Van Buren for
+the fort afterwards erected at Bellepoint, five miles higher up the
+river, and known as Fort Smith--see our volume xiii, p. 197, note 166.
+The site was not occupied until after the removal of the Cherokee in
+1828; the next year it was made a post-office, and in 1838 the seat
+for Crawford County, Arkansas. For two decades Van Buren was a
+prosperous frontier town, the home of a large Indian trade. Since the
+War of Secession it has not regained its prestige.--ED.
+
+[70] The caravan crossed the Arkansas, between the embouchment of the
+Illinois and Canadian rivers, in what is now the Cherokee Nation,
+Indian Territory.--ED.
+
+[71] The North Fork of the Canadian unites with the main stream on the
+boundary between the Creek and Cherokee nations. The Creek town of
+Eufaula is near the site mentioned by Gregg.--ED.
+
+[72] James Kirker, known to the Mexicans as Santiago Querque, was an
+American who led an adventurous life upon the plains. Like several
+others he embarked in Apache warfare for the government of Chihuahua;
+and was accused, probably unjustly, of cheating in the delivery of
+scalps. He retired in bad humor to his hacienda in Sonora; later
+removing to California, where he died about 1853. See Kendall, _Texan
+Santa Fe Expedition_, ii, pp. 57-59.--ED.
+
+[73] Matthew Arbuckle was the son of a Virginia pioneer of the same
+name, who participated in the Battle of Point Pleasant in 1774. The
+son was born in 1776, and entered the regular army at the age of
+twenty-three, passing through all of the grades until in 1830 he was,
+for meritorious services, breveted brigadier-general. He died at Fort
+Smith June 11, 1851.
+
+Fort Gibson was erected in 1824 on the left bank of Neosho River, near
+its mouth. The western boundary of Arkansas was in 1825 removed forty
+miles to the west, so that this military post fell within its border.
+Later (1830), the boundary was again replaced at the original limits,
+whereupon Fort Gibson fell into Cherokee territory. Several unavailing
+efforts were made (1834-38) to have the garrison removed to Fort
+Smith; and after numerous protests by the Cherokee against its
+maintenance within their borders, Fort Gibson was finally abandoned in
+1857.--ED.
+
+[74] For the description of the belt of woodland known as Cross
+Timbers, see _post_, p. 253.--ED.
+
+[75] Lieutenant James Monroe Bowman entered the West Point military
+academy from Pennsylvania, was made lieutenant in the mounted rangers
+in 1832, and transferred to the dragoons in 1833. For his death (July
+21, 1839), see _post_.--ED.
+
+[76] Camp Holmes was at the site later occupied by Fort Holmes, in the
+Creek Nation, near its western boundary. In 1849 there was no
+habitation at this place; see _Senate Doc._, 31 Cong., 1 sess., 12.
+
+Richard Barnes Mason was born in Fairfax County, Virginia, in 1797; at
+the age of twenty he entered the army as lieutenant, two years later
+(1819) became captain, and in 1833 major of the 1st dragoons. He was
+lieutenant-colonel in 1836, colonel in 1846, and brigadier-general two
+years later, dying at St. Louis in 1850. He served in the Black Hawk
+War, and was first military and civil governor of California.
+
+For the Comanche, see our volume xvi, p. 233, note 109. For the
+Wichita, also called Pawnee Picts, _ibid._, p. 95, note 55.
+
+The treaty here alluded to was signed at Camp Holmes, August 24, 1835.
+If Colonel Mason was present it was in a subordinate capacity, as
+General Arbuckle and Montford Stokes were the federal commissioners.
+The treaty was one of peace and friendship between the Comanche,
+Wichita, and associated bands on the one part, and the tribes recently
+removed to the vicinity--Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, etc.--on the other,
+the government commissioners acting as mediators.--ED.
+
+[77] Auguste Pierre Chouteau, eldest son of the senior Pierre (for
+whom see our volume xvi, p. 275, note 127) and brother of Pierre
+(cadet), so well known in connection with the Missouri Fur Company,
+was born at St. Louis in 1786. After being educated at West Point, he
+entered the army, where he was ensign of the 1st infantry. In 1809, he
+resigned, married his cousin Sophie Labadie, and embarked in the fur
+trade, in which he had charge of the Arkansas branch of the business
+until his death at Fort Gibson.--ED.
+
+[78] Most of the prairie Indians seem to have learned this Spanish
+word, by which, when talking with the whites, all their chiefs are
+designated.--GREGG.
+
+[79] Some of these (principally Kiawas, as I afterwards learned),
+reached Fort Gibson, and received a handsome reward of government
+presents for their visit.--GREGG.
+
+[80] For this stream, see our volume xvi, p. 138, note 66.--ED.
+
+[81] In Oklahoma, probably not far from the present town of that
+name.--ED.
+
+[82] See our volume xix, p. 176, note 13 (Gregg).--ED.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII {II}
+
+Travelling out of our Latitude -- The Buffalo-gnat -- A Kiawa and
+  Squaw -- Indian _crim. con._ Affair -- Extraordinary Mark of
+  Confidence in the White Man -- A Conflagration -- An Espy Shower --
+  Region of Gypsum -- Our Latitude -- A Lilliputian Forest -- A Party
+  of Comanches -- A Visit to a 'Dog Town' -- Indian Archery -- Arrival
+  of Comanche Warriors -- A 'Big Talk,' and its Results -- Speech of
+  the _Capitan Mayor_ -- Project of bringing Comanche Chiefs to
+  Washington -- Return of Lieut. Bowman, and our March resumed --
+  Melancholy Reflections -- Another Indian Visit -- Mexican Captives
+  -- Voluntary Captivity -- A sprightly Mexican Lad -- Purchase of a
+  Captive -- Comanche Trade and Etiquette -- Indians least dangerous
+  to such as trade with them.
+
+
+As it now appeared that we had been forced at least two points north
+of the course we had originally intended to steer, by the northern
+bearing of the Canadian, we made an effort to cross a ridge of timber
+to the south, which, after considerable labor, proved successful. Here
+we found a [Pg115] multitude of gravelly, bright-flowing streams,
+with rich bottoms, lined all along with stately white oak,
+black-walnut, mulberry, and other similar growths, that yielded us
+excellent materials for wagon repairs, of which the route from
+Missouri, after passing Council Grove, is absolutely in want.
+
+{28} Although we found the buffalo extremely scarce westward of Spring
+Valley, yet there was no lack of game; for every nook and glade
+swarmed with deer and wild turkeys, partridges and grouse. We had also
+occasion to become acquainted with another species of prairie-tenant
+whose visits generally produced impressions that were anything but
+agreeable. I allude to a small black insect generally known to prairie
+travellers as the 'buffalo-gnat.' It not only attacks the face and
+hands, but even contrives to insinuate itself under the clothing, upon
+the breast and arms, and other covered parts. Here it fastens itself
+and luxuriates, until completely satisfied. Its bite is so poisonous
+as to give the face, neck, and hands, or any other part of the person
+upon which its affectionate caresses have been bestowed, the
+appearance of a pustulated varioloid. The buffalo-gnat is in fact a
+much more annoying insect than the mosquito, and also much more
+frequently met with on the prairie streams.
+
+We now continued our line of march between the Canadian and the
+timbered ridge with very little difficulty. Having stopped to 'noon'
+in a bordering valley, we were quite surprised by the appearance of an
+Indian with no other protection than his squaw. From what we could
+gather by their signs, they had been the victims of a 'love scrape.'
+The fellow, whom I found to be a Kiawa, had, according to his own
+account, stolen the wife of another, and then fled to the thickets,
+{29} where he purposed to lead a lonely life, in hopes of escaping the
+vengeance of his incensed predecessor. From this, it would appear that
+affairs of gallantry are not [Pg116] evils exclusively confined to
+civilization. Plausible, however, as the Indian's story seemed to be,
+we had strong suspicions that others of his band were not far off; and
+that he, with his 'better half,' had only been skulking about in hopes
+of exercising their 'acquisitiveness' at our expense; when, on finding
+themselves discovered, they deemed it the best policy fearlessly to
+approach us. This singular visit afforded a specimen of that
+confidence with which civilization inspires even the most untutored
+savages. They remained with us, in the utmost nonchalance, till the
+following morning.
+
+Shortly after the arrival of the visitors, we were terribly alarmed at
+a sudden prairie conflagration. The old grass of the valley in which
+we were encamped had not been burned off, and one of our cooks having
+unwittingly kindled a fire in the midst of it, it spread at once with
+wonderful rapidity; and a brisk wind springing up at the time, the
+flames were carried over the valley, in spite of every effort we could
+make to check them. Fortunately for us, the fire had broken out to the
+leeward of our wagons, and therefore occasioned us no damage; but the
+accident itself was a forcible illustration of the danger that might
+be incurred by pitching a camp in the midst of dry grass, and the
+advantages {30} that might be taken by hostile savages in such a
+locality.
+
+After the fire had raged with great violence for a few hours, a cloud
+suddenly obscured the horizon, which was almost immediately followed
+by a refreshing shower of rain: a phenomenon often witnessed upon the
+Prairies after an extensive conflagration; and affording a practical
+exemplification of Professor Espy's celebrated theory of artificial
+showers.[83] [Pg117]
+
+We now continued our journey without further trouble, except
+that of being still forced out of our proper latitude by the northern
+bearing of the Canadian. On the 30th of May, however, we succeeded in
+'doubling' the spur of the Great North Bend.[84] Upon ascending the
+dividing ridge again, which at this point was entirely destitute of
+timber, a 'prairie expanse' once more greeted our view. This and the
+following day, our route lay through a region that abounded in gypsum,
+from the finest quality down to ordinary plaster. On the night of the
+31st we encamped on a tributary of the North Fork, which we called
+Gypsum creek, in consequence of its being surrounded with vast
+quantities of that substance.[85]
+
+Being compelled to keep a reckoning of our latitude, by which our
+travel was partly governed, and the sun being now too high at noon for
+the use of the artificial horizon, we had to be guided entirely by
+observations of the meridian altitude of the moon, planets, or {31}
+fixed stars. At Gypsum creek our latitude was 36 deg. 10'--being the
+utmost northing we had made. As we were now about thirty miles north
+of the parallel of Santa Fe, we had to steer, henceforth, a few
+degrees south of west in order to bring up on our direct course.
+
+The following night we encamped in a region covered with sandy
+hillocks, where there was not a drop of water to be found: in fact, an
+immense sand-plain was now opening before us, somewhat variegated in
+appearance, [Pg118] being entirely barren of vegetation in some
+places, while others were completely covered with an extraordinarily
+diminutive growth which has been called _shin-oak_, and a curious
+plum-bush of equally dwarfish stature. These singular-looking plants
+(undistinguishable at a distance from the grass of the prairies) were
+heavily laden with acorns and plums, which, when ripe, are of
+considerable size although the trunks of either were seldom thicker
+than oat-straws, and frequently not a foot high. We also met with the
+same in many other places on the Prairies.
+
+Still the most indispensable requisite, water, was nowhere to be
+found, and symptoms of alarm were beginning to spread far and wide
+among us. When we had last seen the Canadian and the North Fork, they
+appeared to separate in their course almost at right angles, therefore
+it was impossible to tell at what distance we were from either. At
+last {32} my brother and myself, who had been scouring the plains
+during the morning without success, finally perceived a deep hollow
+leading in the direction of the Canadian, where we found a fine pool
+of water, and our wagons 'made port' again before mid-day; thus
+quieting all alarm.
+
+Although we had encountered but very few buffalo since we left Spring
+Valley, they now began to make their appearance again, though not in
+very large droves; together with the deer and the fleet antelope,
+which latter struck me as being much more tame in this wild section of
+the Prairies than I had seen it elsewhere. The graceful and majestic
+mustang would also now and then sweep across the naked country, or
+come curvetting and capering in the vicinity of our little caravan,
+just as the humor prompted him. But what attracted our attention most
+were the little dog settlements, or, as they are more technically
+called, 'dog towns,' so often alluded to by prairie travellers. As we
+were passing through their 'streets,' multitudes of the diminutive
+inhabitants [Pg119] were to be seen among the numerous little
+hillocks which marked their dwellings, where they frisked about, or
+sat perched at their doors, yelping defiance, to our great
+amusement--heedless of the danger that often awaited them from the
+rifles of our party; for they had perhaps never seen such deadly
+weapons before.
+
+On the 5th of June, we found ourselves once more travelling on a firm
+rolling prairie, {33} about the region, as we supposed,[86] of the
+boundary between the United States and Mexico; when Lieut. Bowman, in
+pursuance of his instructions, began to talk seriously of returning.
+While the wagons were stopped at noon, a small party of us, including
+a few dragoons, advanced some miles ahead to take a survey of the
+route. We had just ascended the highest point of a ridge to get a
+prospect of the country beyond, when we descried a herd of buffalo in
+motion and two or three horsemen in hot pursuit. "Mexican Ciboleros!"
+we all exclaimed at once; for we supposed we might now be within the
+range of the buffalo hunters of New Mexico. Clapping spurs to our
+horses, we set off towards them at full speed. As we might have
+expected, our precipitate approach frightened them away and we soon
+lost sight of them altogether. On reaching the spot where they had
+last been seen, we found a horse and two mules saddled, all tied to
+the carcass of a slain buffalo which was partly skinned. We made
+diligent search in some copses of small growth, and among the adjacent
+ravines, but could discover no further traces of the fugitives. The
+Indian rigging of the animals, however, satisfied us that they were
+not Mexicans.
+
+We were just about giving up the pursuit, when a solitary Indian
+horseman was espied upon a ridge about a mile from [Pg120] us. My
+{34} brother and myself set out towards him, but on seeing us
+approach, he began to manifest some fear, and therefore my brother
+advanced alone. As soon as he was near enough he cried out "_Amigo!_"
+to which the Indian replied "_Comantz!_" and giving himself a thump
+upon the breast, he made a graceful circuit, and came up at full
+speed, presenting his hand in token of friendship. Nothing, however,
+could induce him to return to his animals with us, where the rest of
+our party had remained. He evidently feared treachery and foul play.
+Therefore we retraced our steps to the wagons, leaving the Indian's
+property just as we had found it, which, we subsequently discovered,
+was taken away after our departure.
+
+In the afternoon of the same day, five more Indians (including a
+squaw), made their appearance, and having been induced by friendly
+tokens to approach us, they spent the night at our encampment. The
+next morning, we expressed a desire, by signs, to be conducted to the
+nearest point on our route where good pasturage and water might be
+found. A sprightly young chief, armed only with his bow and arrows, at
+once undertook the task, while his comrades still travelled along in
+our company. We had not progressed far before we found ourselves in
+the very midst of another large 'dog-town.'
+
+The task of describing the social and domestic habits of these
+eccentric little brutes, has been so graphically and amusingly
+executed {35} by the racy and popular pen of G. Wilkins Kendall, that
+any attempt by me would be idle; and I feel that the most agreeable
+service I can do my readers is to borrow a paragraph from his alluring
+"Narrative," describing a scene presented by one of these prairie
+commonwealths.[87] [Pg121]
+
+"In their habits they are clannish, social, and extremely
+convivial, never living alone like other animals, but, on the
+contrary, always found in villages or large settlements. They are a
+wild, frolicsome, madcap set of fellows when undisturbed, uneasy and
+ever on the move, and appear to take especial delight in chattering
+away the time, and visiting from hole to hole to gossip and talk over
+each other's affairs--at least so their actions would indicate.... On
+several occasions I crept close to their villages, without being
+observed, to watch their movements. Directly in the centre of one of
+them I particularly noticed a very large dog, sitting in front of the
+door or entrance to his burrow, and by his own actions and those of
+his neighbors it really seemed as though he was the president, mayor,
+or chief--at all events, he was the 'big dog' of the place. For at
+least an hour I secretly watched the operations in this community.
+During that time the large dog I have mentioned received at least a
+dozen visits from his fellow-dogs, which would stop and chat with him
+a few moments, and then run off to their domiciles. All this while he
+never left his post for a moment, and I thought I could discover a
+gravity in his deportment {36} not discernible in those by which he
+was surrounded. Far is it from me to say that the visits he received
+were upon business, or had anything to do with the local government of
+the village; but it certainly appeared so. If any animal has a system
+of laws regulating the body politic, it is certainly the prairie dog."
+
+As we sat on our horses, looking at these 'village transactions,' our
+Comanche guide drew an arrow for the purpose of cutting short the
+career of a little citizen that sat yelping most doggedly in the mouth
+of his hole, forty or fifty paces distant. The animal was almost
+entirely concealed behind the hillock which encompassed the entrance
+of his apartment, so that the dart could not reach it in a [Pg122]
+direct line; but the Indian had resort to a man[oe]uvre which caused the
+arrow to descend with a curve, and in an instant it quivered in the
+body of the poor little quadruped. The slayer only smiled at his feat,
+while we were perfectly astounded. There is nothing strange in the
+rifleman's being able to hit his mark with his fine-sighted barrel;
+but the accuracy with which these savages learn to shoot their
+feathered missiles, with such random aim, is almost incomprehensible.
+I had at the same time drawn one of Colt's repeating pistols, with a
+view of paying a similar compliment to another dog; when, finding that
+it excited the curiosity of the chief, I fired a few shots in quick
+succession, as an explanation of its virtues. He seemed to {37}
+comprehend the secret instantly, and, drawing his bow once more, he
+discharged a number of arrows with the same rapidity, as a palpable
+intimation that he could shoot as fast with his instrument as we could
+with our patent fire-arms. This was not merely a vain show: there was
+more of reality than of romance in his demonstration.
+
+Shortly after this we reached a fresh brook, a tributary of the North
+Fork, which wound its silent course in the midst of a picturesque
+valley, surrounded by romantic hills and craggy knobs. Here we pitched
+our camp: when three of our visitors left us for the purpose of going
+to bring all the 'capitanes' of their tribe, who were said to be
+encamped at no great distance from us.
+
+Our encampment, which we designated as 'Camp Comanche,' was only five
+or six miles from the North Fork, while, to the southward, the main
+Canadian was but a little more distant.[88]
+
+[Illustration: Camp Comanche]
+
+After waiting anxiously for the arrival of the Comanche chiefs, until
+our patience was well nigh exhausted, I ascended [Pg125] a high
+knoll just behind our camp, in company with the younger of the two
+chiefs who had remained with us, to see if anything could be
+discovered. By and by, the Comanche pointed anxiously towards the
+northwest, where he espied a party of his people, though at such a
+great distance, that it was some time before I could discern them.
+With what acuteness of vision are these savages endowed! Accustomed
+{38} to the open plains, and like the eagle to look out for their prey
+at immense distances, their optical perception is scarcely excelled by
+that of the king of birds.
+
+The party, having approached still nearer, assembled upon an eminence
+as if for the purpose of reconnoitring; but our chief upon the knoll
+hoisting his blanket, which seemed to say, 'come ahead,' they advanced
+slowly and deliberately--very unlike the customary mode of approach
+among all the prairie tribes.
+
+The party consisted of about sixty warriors, at the head of whom rode
+an Indian of small stature and agreeable countenance, verging on the
+age of fifty. He wore the usual Comanche dress, but instead of
+moccasins, he had on a pair of long white cotton hose, while upon his
+bare head waved a tall red plume,--a mark of distinction which
+proclaimed him at once the _capitan mayor_, or principal chief. We
+addressed them in Spanish, inquiring if they had brought an
+interpreter, when a lank-jawed, grum-looking savage announced his
+readiness to officiate in that capacity. "_Sabes hablar en Espanol,
+amigo?_" (can you talk Spanish, friend?) I inquired. "_Si_" (yes), he
+gruffly replied. "Where are your people?" "Encamped just above on
+yonder creek." "How many of you are there?" "Oh, a great many--nearly
+all the Comanche nation; for we are _en junta_ to go and fight the
+Pawnees." "Well, can you tell us how far it is to Santa Fe?"--But the
+surly savage cut short my inquiries by observing--{39} "_Ahi
+platicaremos despues_"--"We will talk about that hereafter." [Pg126]
+
+We then showed them a spot a few rods from us, where they might encamp
+so as not to intermix their animals with ours; after which all the
+_capitanes_ were invited to our camp to hold a 'big talk.' In a very
+short time we had ten chiefs seated in a circle within our tent, when
+the pipe, the Indian token of peace, was produced: but, doubting
+perhaps the sincerity of our professions, they at first refused to
+smoke. The interpreter, however, remarked as an excuse for their
+conduct, that it was not their custom to smoke until they had received
+some presents: but a few Mexican _cigarritos_ being produced, most of
+them took a whiff, as if under the impression that to smoke cigars was
+no pledge of friendship.
+
+Lieut. Bowman now desired us to broach the subject of peace and amity
+betwixt the Comanches and our people, and to invite them to visit the
+'Capitan Grande' at Washington, and enter into a perpetual treaty to
+that effect; but they would not then converse on the subject. In fact,
+the interpreter inquired, "Are we not at war?--how can we go to see
+the Capitan Grande?" We knew they held themselves at war with Mexico
+and Texas, and probably had mistaken us for Texans, which had no doubt
+caused the interpreter to speak so emphatically of their immense
+numbers. Upon this we explained to them that the United States was a
+distinct government {40} and at peace with the Comanches. As an
+earnest of our friendly disposition, we then produced some scarlet
+cloth, with a small quantity of vermilion, tobacco, beads, etc., which
+being distributed among them, they very soon settled down into a state
+of placidness and contentment. Indeed, it will be found, that, with
+wild Indians, presents are always the corner-stone of friendship. "We
+are rejoiced," at last said the elder chief with a ceremonious air,
+"our hearts are glad that you have arrived among us: it makes our eyes
+laugh to see Americans walk in our land. We will notify our old and
+young men--our boys [Pg127] and our maidens--our women and
+children,--that they may come to trade with you. We hope you will
+speak well of us to your people, that more of them may hunt the way to
+our country, for we like to trade with the white man." This was
+delivered in Comanche, but translated into Spanish by the interpreter,
+who, although a full Indian, had lived several years among the
+Mexicans and spoke that language tolerably well. Our 'big talk' lasted
+several hours, after which the Indians retired to sleep. The next
+morning, after renewing their protestations of friendship, they took
+their departure, the principal chief saying, "Tell the Capitan Grande
+that when he pleases to call us we are all ready to go to see him."
+
+The project of bringing some of the chiefs of these wild prairie
+tribes to Washington city, has been entertained, but never yet carried
+{41} into effect. The few who have penetrated as far as Fort Gibson,
+or perhaps to a frontier village, have probably left with more
+unfavorable impressions than they had before. Believing the former to
+be our great Capital, and the most insignificant among the latter, our
+largest cities, they have naturally come to the conclusion that they
+surpass us in numbers and power, if not in wealth and grandeur. I have
+no doubt that the chiefs of the Comanches and other prairie tribes, if
+rightly managed, might be induced to visit our veritable 'Capitan
+Grande,' and our large cities, which would doubtless have a far better
+effect than all the treaties of peace that could be concluded with
+them for an age to come. They would then 'see with their own eyes and
+hear with their own ears' the magnificence and power of the whites,
+which would inspire them at once with respect and fear.
+
+This was on the 7th of June. About noon, Lieut. Bowman and his command
+finally took leave of us, and at the same time we resumed our forward
+march. This separation was [Pg128] truly painful: not so much on
+account of the loss we were about to experience, in regard to the
+protection afforded us by the troops (which, to say the truth, was
+more needed now than it had ever been before), as for the necessity of
+parting with a friend, who had endeared himself to us all by his
+affable deportment, his social manners and accommodating disposition.
+Ah! little did we think then that we should never see that gallant
+officer more! {42} So young, so robust, and so healthy, little did we
+suspect that the sound of that voice which shouted so vigorously in
+responding to our parting salute in the desert, would never greet our
+ears again! But such was Fate's decree! Although he arrived safely at
+Fort Gibson, in a few short weeks he fell a victim to disease.
+
+There were perhaps a few timid hearts that longed to return with the
+dragoons, and ever and anon a wistful glance would be cast back at the
+receding figures in the distance. The idea of a handful of thirty-four
+men having to travel without guide or protection through a dreary
+wilderness, peopled by thousands of savages who were just as likely to
+be hostile as friendly, was certainly very little calculated to
+produce agreeable impressions. Much to the credit of our men, however,
+the escort was no sooner out of sight than the timorous regained
+confidence, and all seemed bound together by stronger ties than
+before. All we feared were ambuscades or surprise; to guard against
+which, it was only necessary to redouble our vigilance.
+
+On the following day, while we were enjoying our noon's rest upon a
+ravine of the Canadian, several parties of Indians, amounting
+altogether to about three hundred souls, including women and children,
+made their appearance. They belonged to the same band of Comanches
+with whom we had had so agreeable an intercourse, and had brought
+several mules in the expectation of driving a trade with us. The
+squaws and papooses {43} were so anxious to gratify their [Pg129]
+curiosity, and so very soon began to give such striking manifestations
+of their pilfering propensities, that, at the request of the chiefs,
+we carried some goods at a little distance, where a trade was opened,
+in hopes of attracting their attention. One woman, I observed, still
+lingered among the wagons, who, from certain peculiarities of
+features, struck me very forcibly as not being an Indian. In
+accordance with this impression I addressed her in Spanish, and was
+soon confirmed in all my suspicions. She was from the neighborhood of
+Matamoros, and had been married to a Comanche since her captivity. She
+did not entertain the least desire of returning to her own people.
+
+Similar instances of voluntary captivity have frequently occurred. Dr.
+Sibley, in a communication to the War Department, in 1805, relates an
+affecting case, which shows how a sensitive female will often prefer
+remaining with her masters, rather than encounter the horrible ordeal
+of ill-natured remarks to which she would inevitably be exposed on
+being restored to civilized life.[89] The Comanches, some twenty years
+previous, having kidnapped the daughter of the Governor-General of
+Chihuahua, the latter transmitted $1000 to a trader to procure her
+ransom. This was soon effected, but to the astonishment of all
+concerned, the unfortunate girl refused to leave the Indians. She sent
+word to her father, that they had disfigured her by tattooing; that
+she was married and perhaps _enceinte_; {44} and that she would be
+more unhappy by returning to her father under these circumstances than
+by remaining where she was.
+
+My attention was next attracted by a sprightly lad, ten or twelve
+years old, whose nationality could scarcely be detected under his
+Indian guise. But, though quite 'Indianized,' he was exceedingly
+polite. I inquired of him in Spanish, [Pg130] "Are you not a
+Mexican?" "Yes, sir,--I once was." "What is your name?" "Bernardino
+Saenz, sir, at your service." "When and where were you taken?" "About
+four years ago, at the Hacienda de las Animas, near Parral." "Shan't
+we buy you and take you to your people?--we are going thither." At
+this he hesitated a little, and then answered in an affecting tone,
+"_No, senor; ya soy demasiado bruto para vivir entre los Cristianos_"
+(O, no, sir; I am now too much of a brute to live among Christians);
+adding that his owner was not there, and that he knew the Indian in
+whose charge he came would not sell him.
+
+The Hacienda de las Animas is in the department of Chihuahua, some
+fifteen miles from the city of Parral, a much larger place than Santa
+Fe. Notwithstanding this, about three hundred Comanches made a bold
+inroad into the very heart of the settlements--laid waste the
+unfortunate hacienda, killing and capturing a considerable number--and
+remained several days in the neighborhood, committing all sorts of
+outrages. This occurred in 1835. I happened to be in Chihuahua {45} at
+the time, and very well remember the bustle and consternation that
+prevailed. A thousand volunteers were raised, commanded by the
+governor himself, who 'hotly pursued' the enemy during their tardy
+retreat; but returned with the usual report--"_No les pudimos
+alcanzar_,"--we could not overtake them.
+
+Out of half a dozen Mexican captives that happened to be with our new
+visitors, we only met with one who manifested the slightest
+inclination to abandon Indian life. This was a stupid boy about
+fifteen years of age, who had probably been roughly treated on account
+of his laziness. We very soon struck a bargain with his owner, paying
+about the price of a mule for the little outcast, whom I sent to his
+family as soon as we reached Chihuahua. Notwithstanding the [Pg131]
+inherent stupidity of my _protege_, I found him abundantly
+grateful--much to his credit be it spoken--for the little service I
+had been able to render him.
+
+We succeeded in purchasing several mules which cost us between ten and
+twenty dollars worth of goods apiece. In Comanche trade the main
+trouble consists in fixing the price of the first animal. This being
+settled by the chiefs, it often happens that mule after mule is led up
+and the price received without further cavil. Each owner usually wants
+a general assortment; therefore the price must consist of several
+items, as a blanket, a looking-glass, an awl, a flint, a little
+tobacco, vermillion, beads, etc.
+
+Our trade with the new batch of Comanches {46} being over, they now
+began to depart as they had come, in small parties, without bidding us
+adieu, or even informing us of their intention, it being the usual
+mode of taking leave among Indians, to depart _sans ceremonie_, and as
+silently as possible.
+
+The Santa Fe caravans have generally avoided every manner of trade
+with the wild Indians, for fear of being treacherously dealt with
+during the familiar intercourse which necessarily ensues. This I am
+convinced is an erroneous impression; for I have always found, that
+savages are much less hostile to those with whom they trade, than to
+any other people. They are emphatically fond of traffic, and, being
+anxious to encourage the whites to come among them, instead of
+committing depredations upon those with whom they trade, they are
+generally ready to defend them against every enemy.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX {III}
+
+Ponds and Buffalo Wallows -- Valley of the Canadian, and romantic
+  Freaks of Nature -- Melancholy Adventure of a Party of Traders in
+  1832 -- Fears of being lost -- Arrival of a Party of _Comancheros_,
+  and their wonderful Stories -- Their Peculiarities and Traffic --
+  Bitter Water, and the _Salitre_ of New Mexico -- Avant-couriers for
+  Santa Fe -- Patent Fire-arms and their Virtues -- Ranchero Ideas of
+  Distance, and their Mode of giving Directions -- The Angostura, and
+  erroneous Notions of the Texans -- A new Route revealed -- Solitary
+  Travel -- Supply of Provisions sent back -- Arrival at Santa Fe --
+  Gov. Armijo, etc. -- A 'Flare-up' with His Excellency.
+
+
+The Comanches having all disappeared, we resumed our march, and soon
+emerged into an open plain or _mesa_ which was one of the most
+monotonous I had ever seen, there being not a break, not a hill nor
+valley, nor even a shrub to obstruct the view. The only thing which
+served to turn us from a direct course pursued by the compass, was the
+innumerable ponds which bespeckled the plain, and which kept us at
+least well supplied with water. Many of these ponds seem to have grown
+out of 'buffalo wallows,'--a term used on the Prairies to designate a
+sink made by the buffalo's pawing the earth for the purpose of
+obtaining a smooth dusty surface to roll upon.
+
+{48} After three or four days of weary travel over this level plain,
+the picturesque valley of the Canadian burst once more upon our view,
+presenting one of the most magnificent sights I had ever beheld. Here
+rose a perpendicular cliff, in all the majesty and sublimity of its
+desolation;--there another sprang forward as in the very act of losing
+its balance and about to precipitate itself upon the vale below;--a
+little further on, a pillar with crevices and cornices so curiously
+formed as easily to be mistaken for the work of art; while a thousand
+other objects grotesquely and fantastically arranged, and all shaded
+in the sky-bound perspective by the blue ridge-like brow of the _mesa_
+far beyond the Canadian, [Pg133] constituted a kind of chaotic space
+where nature seemed to have indulged in her wildest caprices. Such was
+the confusion of ground-swells and eccentric cavities, that it was
+altogether impossible to determine whereabouts the channel of the
+Canadian wound its way among them.
+
+It would seem that these mesas might once have extended up to the
+margin of the stream, leaving a _canon_ or chasm through which the
+river flowed, as is still the case in some other places. But the basis
+of the plain not having been sufficiently firm to resist the action of
+the waters, these have washed and cut the bordering _cejas_ or brows
+into all the shapes they now present. The buffalo and other animals
+have no doubt assisted in these transmutations. Their deep-worn paths
+over the {49} brows of the plains, form channels for the descending
+rains; which are soon washed into the size of ravines--and even
+considerable creeks. The beds of these continue to be worn down until
+veins of lasting water are opened, and constant-flowing streams thus
+established. Numerous were the embryo rivulets which might be observed
+forming in this way along the borders of those streams. The frequent
+isolated benches and mounds, whose tabular summits are on a level with
+the adjacent plains, and appear entirely of a similar formation,
+indicate that the intermediate earth has been washed away, or removed
+by some other process of nature--all seeming to give plausibility to
+our theory.
+
+It was somewhere in this vicinity that a small party of Americans
+experienced a terrible calamity in the winter of 1832-3, on their way
+home; and as the incident had the tendency to call into play the most
+prominent features of the Indian character, I will digress so far here
+as to relate the facts.
+
+The party consisted of twelve men, chiefly citizens of Missouri. Their
+baggage and about ten thousand dollars in specie were packed upon
+mules. They took the route of [Pg134] the Canadian river, fearing to
+venture on the northern prairies at that season of the year. Having
+left Santa Fe in December, they had proceeded without accident thus
+far, when a large body of Comanches and Kiawas were seen advancing
+towards them. Being well acquainted with the treacherous and
+pusillanimous {50} disposition of those races, the traders prepared at
+once for defence; but the savages having made a halt at some distance,
+began to approach one by one, or in small parties, making a great show
+of friendship all the while, until most of them had collected on the
+spot. Finding themselves surrounded in every direction, the travellers
+now began to move on, in hopes of getting rid of the intruders: but
+the latter were equally ready for the start; and, mounting their
+horses, kept jogging on in the same direction. The first act of
+hostility perpetrated by the Indians proved fatal to one of the
+American traders named Pratt, who was shot dead while attempting to
+secure two mules which had become separated from the rest. Upon this,
+the companions of the slain man immediately dismounted and commenced a
+fire upon the Indians, which was warmly returned, whereby another man
+of the name of Mitchell was killed.
+
+By this time the traders had taken off their packs and piled them
+around for protection; and now falling to work with their hands, they
+very soon scratched out a trench deep enough to protect them from the
+shot of the enemy. The latter made several desperate charges, but they
+seemed too careful of their own personal safety, notwithstanding the
+enormous superiority of their numbers, to venture too near the rifles
+of the Americans. In a few hours all the animals of the traders were
+either killed or wounded, but no personal damage was done to the
+remaining ten men, {51} with the exception of a wound in the thigh
+received by one, which was not at the time considered dangerous.
+[Pg135]
+
+During the siege, the Americans were in great danger of perishing from
+thirst, as the Indians had complete command of all the water within
+reach. Starvation was not so much to be dreaded; because, in case of
+necessity, they could live on the flesh of their slain animals, some
+of which lay stretched close around them. After being pent up for
+thirty-six hours in this horrible hole, during which time they had
+seldom ventured to raise their heads above the surface without being
+shot at, they resolved to make a bold _sortie_ in the night, as any
+death was preferable to the fate which awaited them there. As there
+was not an animal left that was at all in a condition to travel, the
+proprietors of the money gave permission to all to take and
+appropriate to themselves whatever amount each man could safely
+undertake to carry. In this way a few hundred dollars were started
+with, of which, however, but little ever reached the United States.
+The remainder was buried deep in the sand, in hopes that it might
+escape the cupidity of the savages; but to very little purpose, for
+they were afterwards seen by some Mexican traders making a great
+display of specie, which was without doubt taken from this unfortunate
+_cache_.
+
+With every prospect of being discovered, overtaken, and butchered, but
+resolved to sell their lives as dearly as possible, they at last {52}
+emerged from their hiding-place, and moved on silently and slowly
+until they found themselves beyond the purlieus of the Indian camps.
+Often did they look back in the direction where from three to five
+hundred savages were supposed to watch their movements, but, much to
+their astonishment, no one appeared to be in pursuit. The Indians,
+believing no doubt that the property of the traders would come into
+their hands, and having no amateur predilection for taking scalps at
+the risk of losing their own, appeared willing enough to let the
+spoliated adventurers depart without further molestation. [Pg136]
+
+The destitute travellers having run themselves short of provisions,
+and being no longer able to kill game for want of materials to load
+their rifles with, they were very soon reduced to the necessity of
+sustaining life upon roots, and the tender bark of trees. After
+travelling for several days in this desperate condition, with
+lacerated feet, and utter prostration of mind and body, they began to
+disagree among themselves about the route to be pursued, and
+eventually separated into two distinct parties. Five of these unhappy
+men steered a westward course, and after a succession of sufferings
+and privations which almost surpassed belief, they reached the
+settlements of the Creek Indians, near the Arkansas river, where they
+were treated with great kindness and hospitality. The other five
+wandered about in the greatest state of distress and bewilderment, and
+only two {53} finally succeeded in getting out of the mazes of the
+wilderness. Among those who were abandoned to their fate, and left to
+perish thus miserably, was a Mr. Schenck, the same individual who had
+been shot in the thigh; a gentleman of talent and excellent family
+connections, who was a brother, as I am informed, of the Hon. Mr.
+Schenck, at present a member of Congress from Ohio.[90]
+
+But let us resume our journey. We had for some days, while travelling
+along the course of the Canadian, been in anxious expectation of
+reaching a point from whence there was a cart-road to Santa Fe, made
+by the Ciboleros; but being constantly baffled and disappointed in
+this hope, serious apprehensions began to be entertained by some of
+[Pg137] the party that we might after all be utterly lost. In this
+emergency, one of our Mexicans who pretended to be a great deal wiser
+than the rest, insisted that we were pursuing a wrong direction, and
+that every day's march only took us further from Santa Fe. There
+appeared to be so much plausibility in his assertion, as he professed
+a perfect knowledge of all the country around, that many of our men
+were almost ready to mutiny,--to take the command from the hands of my
+brother and myself and lead us southward in search of the Colorado,
+into the fearful _Llano Estacado_, where we would probably have
+perished.[91] But our observations of the latitude, which we took very
+frequently, as well as the course we were pursuing, completely
+contradicted the {54} Mexican wiseacre. A few days afterwards we were
+overtaken by a party of _Comancheros_, or Mexican Comanche traders,
+when we had the satisfaction of learning that we were in the right
+track.
+
+These men had been trading with the band of Comanches we had lately
+met, and learning from them that we had passed on, they had hastened
+to overtake us, so as to obtain our protection against the savages,
+who, after selling their animals to the Mexicans, very frequently take
+forcible possession of them again, before the purchasers have been
+able to reach their homes. These parties of _Comancheros_ are usually
+composed of the indigent and rude classes of the frontier villages,
+who collect together, several times a year, and launch upon the plains
+with a few trinkets and trumperies of all kinds, and perhaps a bag of
+bread and may-be another of _pinole_, which they barter away to the
+savages for horses and mules. The entire stock of an individual trader
+very seldom exceeds the value of twenty dollars, with which he is
+content to wander about for several months, [Pg138] and glad to
+return home with a mule or two, as the proceeds of his traffic.
+
+These Mexican traders had much to tell us about the Comanches: saying,
+that they were four or five thousand in number, with perhaps a
+thousand warriors, and that the fiery young men had once determined to
+follow and attack us; but that the chiefs and sages had deterred them,
+by stating that our cannons {55} could kill to the distance of many
+miles, and shoot through hills and rocks and destroy everything that
+happened to be within their range. The main object of our visitors,
+however, seemed to be to raise themselves into importance by
+exaggerating the perils we had escaped from. That they had considered
+themselves in great jeopardy, there could be no doubt whatever, for,
+in their anxiety to overtake us, they came very near killing their
+animals.
+
+It was a war-party of this band of Comanches that paid the 'flying
+visit' to Bent's Fort on the Arkansas river, to which Mr. Farnham
+alludes in his trip to Oregon.[92] A band of the same Indians also
+fell in with the caravan from Missouri, with whom they were for a
+while upon the verge of hostilities.
+
+The next day we passed the afternoon upon a ravine where we found
+abundance of water, but to our great surprise our animals refused to
+drink. Upon tasting the water, we found it exceedingly nauseous and
+bitter; far more [Pg139] repugnant to some palates than a solution of
+Epsom salts. It is true that the water had been a little impregnated
+with the same loathsome substance for several days; but we had never
+found it so bad before. The salinous compound which imparts this
+savor, is found in great abundance in the vicinity of the table-plain
+streams of New Mexico, and is known to the natives by the name of
+_salitre_.[93] We {56} had the good fortune to find in the valley, a
+few sinks filled by recent rains, so that actually we experienced no
+great inconvenience from the want of fresh water. As far as our own
+personal necessities were concerned, we were abundantly supplied; it
+being an unfailing rule with us to carry in each wagon a five-gallon
+keg always filled with water, in order to guard against those
+frightful contingencies which so frequently occur on the Prairies. In
+truth upon leaving one watering place, we never knew where we would
+find the next.
+
+On the 20th of June we pitched our camp upon the north bank of the
+Canadian or Colorado, in latitude 35 deg. 24' according to a meridian
+altitude of Saturn. On the following day, I left the caravan,
+accompanied by three Comancheros, and proceeded at a more rapid pace
+towards Santa Fe. This was rather a hazardous journey, inasmuch as we
+were still within the range of the Pawnee and Comanche war-parties,
+and my companions were men in whom I could not repose the slightest
+confidence, except for piloting; being fully convinced that in case of
+meeting with an enemy, they would either forsake or deliver me up,
+just as it might seem most conducive to their own interest and safety.
+All I had to depend upon were my fire-arms, which could hardly fail to
+produce an impression in my favor; for, thanks to Mr. Colt's
+invention, I carried thirty-six charges ready-loaded, which I could
+easily fire at the rate of {57} a dozen [Pg140] per minute. I do not
+believe that any band of those timorous savages of the western
+prairies would venture to approach even a single man, under such
+circumstances. If, according to an old story of the frontier, an
+Indian supposed that a white man fired both with his tomahawk and
+scalping knife, to account for the execution done by a brace of
+pistols, thirty-six shots discharged in quick succession would
+certainly overawe them as being the effect of some great medicine.
+
+As we jogged merrily along, I often endeavored to while away the time
+by catechising my three companions in relation to the topography of
+the wild region we were traversing; but I soon found, that, like the
+Indians, these ignorant rancheros have no ideas of distances, except
+as compared with time or with some other distance. They will tell you
+that you may arrive at a given place by the time the sun reaches a
+certain point: otherwise, whether it be but half a mile or half a
+day's ride to the place inquired for, they are as apt to apply _esta
+cerquita_ (it is close by), or _esta lejos_ (it is far off), to the
+one as to the other, just as the impression happens to strike them,
+when compared with some other point more or less distant. This often
+proves a source of great annoyance to foreign travellers, as I had an
+opportunity of experiencing before my arrival. In giving directions,
+these people--in fact, the lower classes of Mexicans generally--are
+also in the habit of using very odd gesticulations, altogether {58}
+peculiar to themselves. Instead of pointing with their hands and
+fingers, they generally employ the mouth, which is done by thrusting
+out the lips in the direction of the spot, or object, which the
+inquirer wishes to find out--accompanied by _aqui_ or _alli esta_.
+This habit of substituting labial gestures for the usual mode of
+indicating, has grown from the use of the _sarape_, which keeps their
+hands and arms perpetually confined. [Pg141]
+
+From the place where we left the wagons, till we reached the
+_Angostura_, or narrows,[94] (a distance of 60 miles), we had followed
+a plain cart-road, which seemed everywhere passable for wagons. Here,
+however, we found the point of a table plain projecting abruptly
+against the river, so as to render it impossible for wagons to pass
+without great risk. The huge masses of solid rock, which occur in this
+place, and the rugged cliffs or brows of the table lands which rise
+above them, appear to have been mistaken by a detachment of the Texan
+Santa Fe expedition, for spurs of the Rocky Mountains; an error which
+was rational enough, as they not unfrequently tower to the height of
+two thousand feet above the valley, and are often as rocky and rough
+as the rudest heaps of trap-rock can make them. By ascending the main
+summit of these craggy promontories, however, the eastern ridge of the
+veritable Rocky Mountains may be seen, still very far off in the
+western horizon, with a widespread and apparently level table plain,
+intervening and extending in every direction, {59} as far as the eye
+can reach; for even the deep-cut chasms of the intersecting rivers are
+rarely visible except one be upon their very brink.
+
+Upon expressing my fears that our wagons would not be able to pass the
+_Angostura_ in safety, my comrades informed me that there was an
+excellent route, of which no previous mention had been made, passing
+near the _Cerro de Tucumcari_, a round mound plainly visible to the
+southward.[95] After several vain efforts to induce some of the party
+to carry a [Pg142] note back to my brother, and to pilot the caravan
+through the Tucumcari route, one of them, known as Tio Baca, finally
+proposed to undertake the errand for a bounty of ten dollars, besides
+high wages till they should reach the frontier. His conditions being
+accepted, he set out after breakfast, not, however, without previously
+recommending himself to the Virgin Guadalupe, and all the saints in
+the calendar, and desiring us to remember him in our prayers.
+Notwithstanding his fears, however, he arrived in perfect safety, and
+I had the satisfaction of learning afterward that my brother found the
+new route everything he could have desired.
+
+I continued my journey westward with my two remaining companions; but,
+owing to their being provided with a relay of horses, they very soon
+left me to make the balance of the travel alone--though yet in a
+region haunted by hostile savages. On the following day, about the
+hour of twelve, as I was pursuing a horse-path along the course of the
+{60} Rio Pecos, near the frontier settlements, I met with a shepherd,
+of whom I anxiously inquired the distance to San Miguel. "O, it is
+just there," responded the man of sheep. "Don't you see that point of
+mesa yonder? It is just beyond that." This welcome information cheered
+me greatly; for, owing to the extraordinary transparency of the
+atmosphere, it appeared to me that the distance could not exceed two
+or three miles. "_Esta cerquita_," exclaimed the shepherd as I rode
+off; "_ahora esta V. alla_"--"it is close by; you will soon be there."
+
+I set off at as lively a pace as my jaded steed could carry me,
+confident of taking dinner in San Miguel.[96] Every ridge I turned I
+thought must be the last, and thus I jogged on, hoping and
+anticipating my future comforts till the shades of evening began to
+appear; when I descended into [Pg143] the valley of the Pecos, which,
+although narrow, is exceedingly fertile and beautifully lined with
+verdant fields, among which stood a great variety of mud cabins. About
+eight o'clock, I called at one of these cottages and again inquired
+the distance to San Miguel; when a swarthy-looking ranchero once more
+saluted mine ears with "_Esta cerquita; ahora esta V. alla_." Although
+the distance was designated in precisely the same words used by the
+shepherd eight hours before, I had the consolation at least of
+believing that I was something nearer. After spurring on for a couple
+of miles over a rugged road, I at last reached the long-sought
+village.
+
+{61} The next day, I hired a Mexican to carry some flour back to meet
+the wagons; for our party was by this time running short of
+provisions. In fact, we should long before have been in danger of
+starvation, had it not been for our oxen; for we had not seen a
+buffalo since the day we first met with the Comanches. Some of our
+cattle being in good plight, and able, as we were, to spare a few from
+our teams, we made beef of them when urged by necessity: an extra
+advantage in ox teams on these perilous expeditions.
+
+On the 25th of June I arrived safely at Santa Fe,--but again rode back
+to meet the wagons, which did not reach the capital till the 4th of
+July. We did not encounter a very favorable reception from 'his
+majesty,' Gov. Armijo. He had just established his arbitrary impost of
+$500 per wagon, which bore rather heavily upon us; for we had an
+overstock of coarse articles which we had merely brought along for the
+purpose of increasing the strength of our company, by adding to the
+number of our wagons.
+
+But these little troubles in a business way, were entirely drowned in
+the joyful sensations arising from our safe arrival, after so long and
+so perilous an expedition. Considering the character and our ignorance
+of the country over which we had travelled, we had been exceedingly
+successful. [Pg144] Instances are certainly rare of heavily-laden
+wagons' having been conducted, without a guide, through an unexplored
+desert; and yet we {62} performed the trip without any important
+accident--without encountering any very difficult passes--without
+suffering for food or for water.
+
+We had hoped that at least a few days of rest and quiet recreation
+might have been allowed us after our arrival; for relaxation was
+sorely needed at the end of so long a journey and its concomitant
+privations: but it was ordered otherwise. We had scarcely quartered
+ourselves within the town before a grand 'flare-up' took place between
+Gov. Armijo and the foreigners[97] in Santa Fe, which, for a little
+while, bid fair to result in open hostilities. It originated in the
+following circumstances.
+
+In the winter of 1837-8, a worthy young American, named Daley, was
+murdered at the Gold Mines, by a couple of villains, solely for
+plunder. The assassins were arrested, when they confessed their guilt;
+but, in a short time, they were permitted to run at large again, in
+violation of every principle of justice or humanity. About this time
+they were once more apprehended, however, by the interposition of
+foreigners: and, at the solicitation of the friends of the deceased, a
+memorial from the Americans in Santa Fe was presented to Armijo,
+representing the injustice of permitting the murderers of their
+countrymen to go unpunished; and praying that the culprits might {63}
+be dealt with according to law. But the governor affected to consider
+the affair as a conspiracy; and, collecting his ragamuffin militia,
+attempted to intimidate the petitioners. The foreigners were now
+constrained to look to their defence, as they saw that [Pg145] no
+justice was to be expected. Had Armijo persisted, serious consequences
+might have ensued; but seeing the 'conspirators' firm, he sent an
+apology, affecting to have misconstrued their motives, and promising
+that the laws should be duly executed upon the murderers.
+
+Besides the incentives of justice and humanity, foreigners felt a deep
+interest in the execution of this promise. But a few years previous,
+another person had been assassinated and robbed at the same place; yet
+the authorities having taken no interest in the matter, the felons
+were never discovered; and now, should these assassins escape the
+merited forfeit of their atrocious crime, it was evident there would
+be no future security for our lives and property. But the governor's
+_due execution of the laws_ consisted in retaining them a year or two
+in nominal imprisonment, when they were again set at liberty. Besides
+these, other foreigners have been murdered in New Mexico with equal
+impunity:--all which contrasts very strikingly with the manner our
+courts of justice have since dealt with those who killed Chavez, in
+1843, on the Santa Fe road.[98]
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[83] James Pollard Espy (1785-1860), a well-known meteorologist. His
+collection of reports on the weather, while occupied in his
+experiments, contributed towards the founding of the present United
+States weather-bureau. His theory was, that storms could be produced
+artificially by heating the atmosphere with long-continued fires. He
+published _Philosophy of Storms_ (Boston and London, 1841).--ED.
+
+[84] About the ninety-ninth meridian, the Canadian extends above the
+thirty-sixth parallel, forming the Great North Bend. The Oklahoma town
+of Taloga is on the southern curve of the bow.--ED.
+
+[85] The Canadian and its North Fork approach very closely at this
+point. The region between the North Bend and the one hundredth
+meridian contains much gypsum. See James's _Long's Expedition_, in our
+volume xvi, pp. 141-143.--ED.
+
+[86] From subsequent observations, this point appears to have been
+some miles west of the 100th degree of longitude.--GREGG.
+
+_Comment by Ed._ See volume xix, p. 217, note 52 (Gregg).
+
+[87] Kendall, _Texan Santa Fe Expedition_, i, p. 192.--ED.
+
+[88] Camp Comanche would appear to have been in Lipscombe or Ochiltree
+County, Texas.--ED.
+
+[89] For Dr. John Sibley, see our volume xvii, p. 68, note 60. This
+anecdote is found in his report in _American State Papers_, "Indian
+Affairs," i, p. 724.--ED.
+
+[90] Robert C. Schenck was born at Franklin, Ohio, in 1809, graduated
+from Miami University, and practised law at Dayton. After one term in
+the state legislature (1841-42), he was sent to Congress (1843-51),
+which he left to become American minister to Brazil (1851-53). In the
+War of Secession he attained a major-generalship, and resigned to
+re-enter Congress (1863-70). For six years (1870-76) Schenck served as
+minister to Great Britain, being one of the commissioners to adjust
+the Alabama claims. He died in Washington in 1890. Another brother was
+an admiral in the American navy.--ED.
+
+[91] Colorado is the usual Spanish term for Red River, which Gregg
+here intends. For Llano Estacado, see his description _post_, p.
+239.--ED.
+
+[92] Thomas J. Farnham, _Travels in the Great Western Prairie, the
+Anahuac and Rocky Mountains, and in Oregon Territory_ (London, 1843),
+reprinted in volume xxvii of our series.
+
+Bent's Fort, sometimes called Fort William for its founder Colonel
+William Bent, was situated on the north bank of the Arkansas, between
+the present towns of La Junta and Las Animas, Colorado. Founded in
+1829, it was an important fur-trade post, and base of supplies for the
+mountain trail to Santa Fe. The United States army of occupation
+(1846) passed by this post. In 1852, the government attempted to
+purchase the post; but not satisfied with the terms, its owner
+destroyed the stockade.--ED.
+
+[93] Literally _saltpetre_; but the _salitre_ of New Mexico is a
+compound of several other salts beside nitre.--GREGG.
+
+[94] On the eastern border of San Miguel County, New Mexico, are three
+peaks known as Los Cuervos, or The Crows. The river winding through
+this high land, forms the narrows of which Gregg speaks. Consult
+Kendall, _Texan Santa Fe Expedition_, i, p. 174.--ED.
+
+[95] Tucumcari Mountain is in eastern Quay County, with a town of the
+same name at its base--a junction on the Chicago, Rock Island, and
+Pacific Railway. For an interesting description of this mound, which
+he likens to the dome of the capitol at Washington, see report of
+James H. Simpson (1849), in _Senate Doc._, 31 cong., 2 sess., vi, 12,
+p. 14.--ED.
+
+[96] For San Miguel, see our volume xix, p. 253, note 76 (Gregg).--ED.
+
+[97] Among the New Mexicans, the terms _foreigner_ and _American_ are
+synonymous: indeed, the few citizens of other nations to be found
+there identify themselves with those of the United States. All
+foreigners are known there as _Americanos_; but south of Chihuahua
+they are indiscriminately called _Los Ingleses_, the English.--GREGG.
+
+[98] See post, pp. 227-232.--ED.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX {IV}
+
+Preparations for a Start to Chihuahua -- Ineptness of Married Men for
+  the Santa Fe Trade -- The Chihuahua Trade -- Annoying Custom-house
+  Regulations -- Mails in New Mexico -- Insecurity of Correspondence
+  -- Outfit and Departure -- _Derecho de Consumo_ -- Ruins of Valverde
+  -- 'Towns without Houses' -- La Jornada del Muerto -- Laguna and Ojo
+  del Muerto -- A Tradition of the _Arrieros_ -- Laborious Ferrying
+  and Quagmires -- Arrival at Paso del Norte -- Amenity of the Valley
+  -- _Sierra Blanca_ and _Los Organos_ -- Face of the Country --
+  Seagrass -- An accidental River -- Laguna de Encinillas -- Southern
+  Haciendas -- Arrival -- Character of the Route and Soil.
+
+
+After passing the custom-house ordeal, and exchanging some of our
+merchandise for 'Eagle Dollars'--an operation which occupied us
+several weeks, I prepared to set out for [Pg146] the Chihuahua
+market, whither a portion of our stock had been designed. Upon this
+expedition I was obliged to depart without my brother, who was
+laboring under the 'home fever,' and anxious to return to his family.
+"He that hath wife and children," says Lord Bacon, "hath given
+hostages to fortune; for they are impediments to great enterprises,
+either of virtue or mischief." Men under such bonds are peculiarly
+unfitted for the chequered life of a Santa Fe trader. The domestic
+hearth, {65} with all its sacred and most endearing recollections, is
+sure to haunt them in the hour of trial, and almost every step of
+their journey is apt to be attended by melancholy reflections of home
+and domestic dependencies.
+
+Before starting on this new journey I deem it proper to make a few
+observations relative to the general character of the _Chihuahua
+Trade_. I have already remarked, that much surprise has frequently
+been expressed by those who are unacquainted with all the bearings of
+the case, that the Missouri traders should take the circuitous route
+to Santa Fe, instead of steering direct for Chihuahua, inasmuch as the
+greatest portion of their goods is destined for the latter city. But
+as Chihuahua never had any port of entry for foreign goods till the
+last six or eight years, the market of that department had to be
+supplied in a great measure from Santa Fe. By opening the ports of El
+Paso and Presidio del Norte,[99] the commercial interest was so little
+affected, that when Santa Anna's decree for closing them again was
+issued, the loss was scarcely felt at all.
+
+The mode of transmitting merchandise from the ports to the interior,
+is very different from what it is in the United States. It is not
+enough to have to pass the tedious ordeal [Pg147] of custom-houses on
+the frontier, and we have not only to submit to a supervision and
+repayment of duty on arriving at our point of destination, but our
+cargo is subject to scrutiny at every town we have to pass through on
+our {66} journey. Nor would it be advisable to forsake the main route
+in order to avoid this tyrannical system of taxation; because,
+according to the laws of the country, every _cargamento_ which is
+found out of the regular track (except in cases of unavoidable
+necessity), is subject to confiscation, although accompanied by the
+necessary custom-house documents.
+
+There are also other risks and contingencies very little dreamed of in
+the philosophy of the inexperienced trader. Before setting out, the
+entire bill of merchandise has to be translated into Spanish; when,
+duplicates of the translation being presented to the custom-house, one
+is retained, while the other, accompanied by the _guia_ (a sort of
+clearance or mercantile passport), is carried along with the cargo by
+the conductor. The trader can have three points of destination named
+in his _guia_, to either of which he may direct his course, but to no
+others: while in the drawing up of the _factura_, or invoice, the
+greatest care is requisite, as the slightest mistake, even an
+accidental slip of the pen, might, according to the terms of the law,
+subject the goods to confiscation.[100]
+
+The _guia_ is not only required on leaving the ports for the interior,
+but is indispensable to the safe conveyance of goods from one
+department of the republic to another: nay, the {67} simple transfer
+of property from town to town, and from village to village, in the
+same department, is attended by precisely the same proportion of risk,
+and requires the same punctilious accuracy in the accompanying
+documents. [Pg148] Even the produce and manufactures of the country
+are equally subject to these embarrassing regulations. New Mexico has
+no internal custom-houses, and is therefore exempt from this rigorous
+provision; but from Chihuahua south every village has its revenue
+officers; so that the same stock of merchandise sometimes pays the
+internal duty at least half-a-dozen times before the sale is
+completed.
+
+Now, to procure this same _guia_, which is the cause of so much
+difficulty and anxiety in the end, is no small affair. Before the
+authorities condescend to draw a single line on paper, the merchant
+must produce an endorser for the _tornaguia_, which is a certificate
+from the custom-house to which the cargo goes directed, showing that
+the goods have been legally entered there. A failure in the return of
+this document within a prescribed limit of time, subjects the endorser
+to a forfeiture equal to the amount of the impost. Much inconvenience
+and not a little risk are also occasioned on this score by the
+irregularity--I may say, insecurity of the mails.
+
+Speaking of mails, I beg leave to observe, that there are no
+conveniences of this kind in New Mexico, except on the route from
+Santa Fe to Chihuahua, and these are very {68} irregular and
+uncertain. Before the Indians had obtained such complete possession of
+the highways through the wilderness, the mails between these two
+cities were carried semi-monthly; but now they are much less frequent,
+being mere expresses, in fact, dispatched only when an occasion
+offers. There are other causes, however, besides the dread of
+marauding savages, which render the transportation of the mails in New
+Mexico very insecure: I mean the dishonesty of those employed in
+superintending them. Persons known to be inimical to the post-master,
+or to the 'powers that be,' and wishing to forward any communication
+to the South, most generally either wait for private conveyance,
+[Pg149] or send their letters to a post-office (the only one besides
+that of Santa Fe in all New Mexico) some eighty miles on the way; thus
+avoiding an overhauling at the capital. Moreover, as the post-rider
+often carries the key of the mail-bag (for want of a supply at the
+different offices), he not unfrequently permits whomsoever will pay
+him a trifling _douceur_, to examine the correspondence. I was once
+witness to a case of this kind in the Jornada del Muerto, where the
+entire mail was tumbled out upon the grass, that an individual might
+search for letters, for which luxury he was charged by the
+accommodating carrier the moderate price of one dollar.
+
+The _derecho de consumo_ (the internal or consumption duty) is an
+impost averaging nearly twenty per cent. on the United States cost of
+{69} the bill. It supplies the place of a direct tax for the support
+of the departmental government, and is decidedly the most troublesome,
+if not the most oppressive revenue system that ever was devised for
+internal purposes. It operates at once as a drawback upon the
+commercial prosperity of the country, and as a potent incentive to
+fraudulent practices. The country people especially have resort to
+every species of clandestine intercourse, to escape this galling
+burden; for, every article of consumption they carry to market,
+whether fish, flesh or fowl, as well as fruit and vegetables, is taxed
+more or less; while another impost is levied upon the goods they
+purchase with the proceeds of their sales. This system, so beautifully
+entangled with corruptions, is supported on the ground that it
+supersedes direct taxation, which, in itself, is an evil that the
+'free and independent' people of Mexico would never submit to. Besides
+the petty annoyances incidental upon the laxity of custom-house
+regulations, no one can travel through the country without a passport,
+which to free-born Americans, is a truly insupportable nuisance.
+[Pg150]
+
+Having at last gone through with all the vexatious preparations
+necessary for our journey, on the 22d of August we started for
+Chihuahua. I fitted out myself but six wagons for this market, yet
+joining in company with several other traders, our little caravan
+again amounted to fourteen wagons, with about forty men. Though our
+route lay through {70} the interior of Northern Mexico, yet, on
+account of the hostile savages which infest most of the country
+through which we had to pass, it was necessary to unite in caravans of
+respectable strength, and to spare few of those precautions for safety
+which are required on the Prairies.
+
+The road we travelled passes down through the settlements of New
+Mexico for the first hundred and thirty miles, on the east side of the
+Rio del Norte. Nevertheless, as there was not an inn of any kind to be
+found upon the whole route, we were constrained to put up with very
+primitive accommodations. Being furnished from the outset, therefore,
+with blankets and buffalo rugs for bedding, we were prepared to
+bivouac, even in the suburbs of the villages, in the open air; for in
+this dry and salubrious atmosphere it is seldom that travellers go to
+the trouble of pitching tents.[101] When travelling alone, however, or
+with but a comrade or two, I have always experienced a great deal of
+hospitality from the rancheros and villageois of the country. Whatever
+sins these ignorant people may have to answer for, we must accord to
+them at least two glowing virtues--gratitude and hospitality. I have
+suffered like others, however, from one very disagreeable custom which
+prevails {71} among them. Instead of fixing a price for the services
+they bestow upon travellers, they are apt to answer, "_Lo que guste_,"
+or "_Lo_ [Pg151] _que le de la gana_" (whatever you please, or have a
+mind to give), expecting, of course, that the liberal foreigner will
+give more than their consciences would permit them to exact.
+
+In about ten days' drive we passed the southernmost settlements of New
+Mexico, and twenty or thirty miles further down the river we came to
+the ruins of Valverde. This village was founded about twenty years
+ago, in one of the most fertile valleys of the Rio del Norte. It
+increased rapidly in population, until it was invaded by the Navajoes,
+when the inhabitants were obliged to abandon the place after
+considerable loss, and it has never since been repeopled. The bottoms
+of the valley, many of which are of rich alluvial loam, have lain
+fallow ever since, and will perhaps continue to be neglected until the
+genius of civilization shall have spread its beneficent influences
+over the land. This soil is the more valuable for cultivation on
+account of the facilities for irrigation which the river affords; as
+it too frequently happens that the best lands of the settlements
+remain unfruitful for want of water.[102]
+
+Our next camping place deserving of mention was _Fray Cristobal_,
+which, like many others on the route, is neither town nor village, but
+a simple isolated point on the river-bank--a mere _parage_, or
+camping-ground. We had already passed San Pascual, El Contadero, {72}
+and many others, and we could hear Aleman, Robledo, and a dozen such
+spoken of on the way, leading the stranger to imagine that the route
+was lined with flourishing villages. The arriero will tell one to
+hasten--"we must reach San Diego before sleeping." We spur on perhaps
+with redoubled [Pg152] vigor, in hopes to rest at a town; but lo!
+upon arriving, we find only a mere watering-place, without open ground
+enough to graze the _caballada_. Thus every point along these
+wilderness highways used as a camping-site, has received a distinctive
+name, well known to every muleteer who travels them. Many of these
+_parages_, without the slightest vestige of human improvement, figure
+upon most of the current maps of the day as towns and villages. Yet
+there is not a single settlement (except of very recent establishment)
+from those before mentioned to the vicinity of El Paso, a distance of
+near two hundred miles.
+
+We arrived at Fray Cristobal[103] in the evening, but this being the
+threshold of the famous _Jornada del Muerto_, we deemed it prudent to
+let our animals rest here until the following afternoon. The road over
+which we had hitherto been travelling, though it sometimes traverses
+upland ridges and undulating sections, runs generally near the border
+of the river, and for the most part in its immediate valley: but here
+it leaves the river and passes for nearly eighty miles over a
+table-plain to the eastward of a small ledge of mountains, whose
+western base is hugged {73} by the circuitous channel of the Rio del
+Norte. The craggy cliffs which project from these mountains render the
+eastern bank of the river altogether impassable. As the direct route
+over the plain is entirely destitute of water, we took the precaution
+to fill all our kegs at Fray Cristobal, and late in the afternoon we
+finally set out. We generally find a great advantage in travelling
+through these arid tracts of land in the freshness of the evening, as
+the mules suffer less from thirst, and move [Pg153] on in better
+spirits--particularly in the season of warm weather.
+
+Early the next morning we found ourselves at the _Laguna del Muerto_,
+or 'Dead Man's Lake,' where there was not even a vestige of water.
+This _lake_ is but a sink in the plain of a few rods in diameter, and
+only filled with water during the rainy season. The _marshes_, which
+are said by some historians to be in this vicinity, are nowhere to be
+found: nothing but the firmest and driest table land is to be seen in
+every direction. To procure water for our thirsty animals it is often
+necessary to make a halt here, and drive them to the _Ojo del Muerto_
+(Dead Man's Spring), five or six miles to the westward, in the very
+heart of the mountain ridge that lay between us and the river. This
+region is one of the favorite resorts of the Apaches, where many a
+poor arriero has met with an untimely end. The route which leads to
+the spring winds for two or three miles down a narrow canon or gorge,
+overhung on either side by abrupt precipices, {74} while the various
+clefts and crags, which project their gloomy brows over the abyss
+below, seem to invite the murderous savage to deeds of horror and
+blood.
+
+There is a tradition among the arrieros from which it would appear
+that the only road known in ancient time about the region of the
+_Jornada_, wound its circuitous course on the western side of the
+river. To save distance, an intrepid traveller undertook to traverse
+this desolate tract of land in one day, but having perished in the
+attempt, it has ever after borne the name of _La Jornada del Muerto_,
+'the Dead Man's Journey,' or, more strictly, 'the Day's Journey of the
+Dead Man.' One thing appears very certain, that this dangerous pass
+has cost the life of many travellers in days of yore; and when we at
+last reached Robledo, a camping-site upon the river, where we found
+abundance of wood and water, we felt truly grateful that the arid
+_Jornada_ had not [Pg154] been productive of more serious
+consequences to our party. We now found ourselves within the
+department of Chihuahua, as the boundary betwixt it and New Mexico
+passes not far north of Robledo.[104]
+
+We were still some sixty miles above Paso del Norte, but the balance
+of the road now led down the river valley or over the low bordering
+hills. During our journey between this and El Paso we passed the ruins
+of several settlements, which had formerly been the seats of opulence
+and prosperity, but which have since been abandoned in consequence
+{75} of the marauding incursions of the Apaches.
+
+On the 12th of September we reached the usual ford of the Rio del
+Norte, six miles above El Paso; but the river being somewhat flushed
+we found it impossible to cross over with our wagons. The reader will
+no doubt be surprised to learn that there is not a single ferry on
+this 'Great River of the North' till we approach the mouth. But how do
+people cross it? Why, during three-fourths of the year it is
+everywhere fordable, and when the freshet season comes on, each has to
+remain on his own side, or swim, for canoes even are very rare. But as
+we could neither swim our wagons and merchandise, nor very comfortably
+wait for the falling of the waters, our only alternative was to unload
+the vehicles, and ferry the goods over in a little 'dug-out' about
+thirty feet long and two feet wide, of which we were fortunate enough
+to obtain possession.
+
+We succeeded in finding a place shallow enough to haul our empty
+wagons across: but for this good fortune we should have been under the
+necessity of taking them to pieces (as I had before done), and of
+ferrying them on the 'small craft' [Pg155] before mentioned. Half of
+a wagon may thus be crossed at a time, by carefully balancing it upon
+the canoe, yet there is of course no little danger of capsizing during
+the passage.
+
+This river even when fordable often occasions a great deal of trouble,
+being, like the Arkansas, embarrassed with many quicksand {76} mires.
+In some places, if a wagon is permitted to stop in the river but for a
+moment, it sinks to the very body. Instances have occurred where it
+became necessary, not only to drag out the mules by the ears and to
+carry out the loading package by package, but to haul out the wagon
+piece by piece--wheel by wheel.
+
+On the 14th we made our entrance into the town of _El Paso del
+Norte_,[105] which is the northernmost settlement in the department of
+Chihuahua. Here our cargo had to be examined by a stern, surly
+officer, who, it was feared, would lay an embargo on our goods upon
+the slightest appearance of irregularity in our papers; but
+notwithstanding our gloomy forebodings, we passed the ordeal without
+any difficulty.
+
+The valley of El Paso is supposed to contain a population of about
+four thousand inhabitants, scattered over the western bottom of the
+Rio del Norte to the length of ten or twelve miles. These settlements
+are so thickly interspersed with vineyards, orchards, and corn-fields,
+as to present more the appearance of a series of plantations than of a
+town: in fact, only a small portion at the head of the valley, where
+the _plaza publica_ and parochial church are located, would seem to
+merit this title. {77} Two or three miles above the _plaza_ there is a
+dam of stone and brush across the river, the purpose of which is to
+turn the current into a dike or canal, which conveys nearly half the
+water of the stream, during a [Pg156] low stage, through this well
+cultivated valley, for the irrigation of the soil. Here we were
+regaled with the finest fruits of the season: the grapes especially
+were of the most exquisite flavor. From these the inhabitants
+manufacture a very pleasant wine, somewhat resembling Malaga. A
+species of _aguardiente_ (brandy) is also distilled from the same
+fruit, which, although weak, is of very agreeable flavor. These
+liquors are known among Americans as 'Pass wine' and 'Pass whiskey,'
+and constitute a profitable article of trade, supplying the markets of
+Chihuahua and New Mexico.[106]
+
+As I have said before, the road from Santa Fe to El Paso leads partly
+along the margin of the Rio del Norte, or across the bordering hills
+and plains; but the _sierra_ which separates the waters of this river
+and those of the Rio Pecos was always visible on our left. In some
+places it is cut up into detached ridges, one of which is known as
+_Sierra Blanca_, in consequence of its summit's being covered with
+snow till late in the spring, and having all {78} the appearance of a
+glittering white cloud. There is another still more picturesque ridge
+further south, called _Los Organos_, presenting an immense cliff of
+basaltic pillars, which bear some resemblance to the pipes of an
+_organ_, whence the mountain derived its name. Both these sierras are
+famous as being the strongholds of the much-dreaded Apaches.
+
+The mountains from El Paso northward are mostly clothed with pine,
+cedar, and a dwarfish species of oak. The valleys are timbered with
+cottonwood, and occasionally with _mezquite_, which, however, is
+rarely found higher up than the lower settlements of New Mexico. In
+the immediate vicinity [Pg157] of El Paso there is another small
+growth called _tornillo_ (or screw-wood), so denominated from a spiral
+pericarp, which, though different in shape, resembles that of the
+mezquite in flavor.[107] The plains and highlands generally are of a
+prairie character, and do not differ materially from those of all
+Northern Mexico, which are almost everywhere completely void of
+timber.
+
+One of the most useful plants to the people of El Paso is the
+_lechuguilla_, which abounds on the hills and mountain sides of that
+vicinity, as well as in many other places from thence southward.[108]
+Its blades, which resemble those of the palmilla, being mashed,
+scraped, and washed, afford very strong fibres like the common Manilla
+sea-grass, and equally serviceable for the manufacture of ropes, and
+other purposes.
+
+{79} After leaving El Paso, our road branched off at an angle of about
+two points to the westward of the river, the city of Chihuahua being
+situated nearly a hundred miles to the west of it. At the distance of
+about thirty miles we reached _Los Medanos_, a stupendous ledge of
+sand-hills, across which the road passes for about six miles. As teams
+are never able to haul the loaded wagons over this region of loose
+sand, we engaged an _atajo_ of mules at El Paso, upon which to convey
+our goods across. These Medanos consist of huge hillocks and ridges of
+pure sand, in many places without a vestige of vegetation. Through the
+lowest gaps between the hills, the road winds its way.
+
+What renders this portion of the route still more unpleasant and
+fatiguing, is the great scarcity of water. All that is to [Pg158] be
+found on the road for the distance of more than sixty miles after
+leaving El Paso, consists in two fetid springs or pools, whose water
+is only rendered tolerable by necessity. A little further on, however,
+we very unexpectedly encountered, this time, quite a superabundance of
+this necessary element. Just as we passed Lake Patos,[109] we were
+struck with astonishment at finding the road ahead of us literally
+overflowed by an immense body of water, with a brisk current, as if
+some great river had suddenly been conjured into existence by the aid
+of supernatural arts. A considerable time elapsed before we could
+unravel the mystery. At last we discovered that a freshet had lately
+occurred {80} in the streams that fed Lake Patos, and caused it to
+overflow its banks, which accounted for this unwelcome visitation. We
+had to flounder through the mud and water for several hours, before we
+succeeded in getting across.
+
+The following day we reached the _acequia_ below Carrizal, a small
+village with only three or four hundred inhabitants, but somewhat
+remarkable as being the site of a _presidio_ (fort), at which is
+stationed a company of troops to protect the country against the
+ravages of the Apaches, who, notwithstanding, continue to lay waste
+the ranchos in the vicinity, and to depredate at will within the very
+sight of the fort.[110]
+
+About twelve miles south of Carrizal there is one of the most charming
+warm springs called Ojo Caliente, where we arrived the next day. It
+forms a basin some thirty feet long by about half that width, and just
+deep and warm enough for a most delightful bath at all seasons of the
+year. Were this spring (whose outlet forms a bold little rivulet)
+anywhere [Pg159] within the United States, it would doubtless soon be
+converted into a place of fashionable resort. There appears to be a
+somewhat curious phenomenon connected with this spring. It proceeds,
+no doubt, from the little river of Carmen, which passes within half a
+mile, and finally discharges itself into the small lake of Patos
+before mentioned. During the dry season, this stream disappears in the
+sand some miles above the spring; and what medium it traverses in its
+subterranean passage to impart {81} to it so high a temperature,
+before breaking out in this fountain, would afford to the geologist an
+interesting subject of inquiry.[111]
+
+After fording the Rio Carmen, which, though usually without a drop of
+water in its channel, we now found a very turbulent stream, we did not
+meet with any object particularly worthy of remark, until we reached
+the _Laguna de Encinillas_.[112] This lake is ten or twelve miles long
+by two or three in width, and seems to have no outlet even during the
+greatest freshets, though fed by several small constantly-flowing
+streams from the surrounding mountains. The water of this lake during
+the dry season is so strongly impregnated with nauseous and bitter
+salts, as to render it wholly unpalatable to man and beast. The most
+predominant of these noxious substances is a species of alkali, known
+there by the title of _tequesquite_. It is often seen oozing out from
+the surface of marshy grounds, about the table plains of all Northern
+Mexico, forming a grayish crust, and is extensively used in the
+manufacture of soap, and sometimes by the bakers even for raising
+bread. Here we had another evidence of the alarming effects of the
+recent flood, the road for several miles along the margin of the lake
+being [Pg160] completely inundated. It was, however, in the city of
+Chihuahua itself that the disastrous consequences of the freshet were
+most severely felt. Some inferior houses of _adobe_ were so much
+soaked by the rains, that they tumbled to the ground, occasioning the
+loss of several lives.
+
+{82} The valley of Encinillas is very extensive and fertile, and is
+the locale of one of those princely estates which are so abundant
+further south, and known by the name of _Haciendas_. It abounds in
+excellent pasturage, and in cattle of all descriptions. In former
+times, before the Apaches had so completely devastated the country,
+the herds which grazed in this beautiful valley presented much the
+appearance of the buffalo of the plains, being almost as wild and
+generally of dark color. Many of the proprietors of these princely
+haciendas pride themselves in maintaining a uniformity in the color of
+their cattle: thus some are found stocked with black, others red,
+others white--or whatsoever shade the owner may have taken a fancy to.
+
+As we drew near to Chihuahua, our party had more the appearance of a
+funeral procession than of a band of adventurers, about to enter into
+the full fruition of 'dancing hopes,' and the realization of 'golden
+dreams.' Every one was uneasy as to what might be the treatment of the
+revenue officers. For my own part, I had not quite forgotten sundry
+annoyances and trials of temper I had been made to experience in the
+season of 1837, on a similar occasion. Much to our surprise, however,
+as well as delight, we were handled with a degree of leniency by the
+custom-house deities, on our arrival, that was almost incomprehensible.
+But the charm which operated in our favor, when understood, was very
+simple. A caravan had left Chihuahua direct {83} for the United
+States, the spring previous, and was daily expected back. The officers
+of the custom-house were already compromised by certain cogent
+arguments to receive the [Pg161] proprietors of this caravan with
+striking marks of favor, and the _Senor Administrador de Rentas_,
+Zuloaga himself, was expecting an _ancheta_ of goods. Therefore, had
+they treated us with their wonted severity, the contrast would have
+been altogether too glaring.[113]
+
+We arrived at Chihuahua on the first of October, after a trip of forty
+days, with wagons much more heavily laden than when we started from
+the United States. The whole distance from Santa Fe to Chihuahua is
+about 550 miles,--being reckoned 320 to Paso del Norte, and 230 from
+thence to Chihuahua. The road from El Paso south is mostly firm and
+beautiful, with the exception of the sand-hills before spoken of; and
+is only rendered disagreeable by the scarcity and occasional ill-savor
+of the water. The route winds over an elevated plain among numerous
+detached ridges of low mountains--spurs, as it were, of the main
+Cordilleras, which lie at a considerable distance to the westward.
+Most of these extensive intermediate plains, though in many places of
+fertile looking soil, must remain wholly unavailable for agricultural
+purposes, on account of their natural aridity and a total lack of
+water for irrigation.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[99] For El Paso, see Pattie's _Narrative_, in our volume xviii, p.
+155, note 89.
+
+Presidio del Norte is in the Mexican state of Chihuahua, at the mouth
+of Los Conchos River; hence the town is sometimes called Presidio de
+las Juntas (junction). It is one of the oldest posts in northern
+Mexico.--ED.
+
+[100] In confirmation of this, it is only necessary to quote the
+following from the _Pauta de Comisos_, Cap. II., Art. 22: "Ni las
+guias, ni las facturas, ni los pases, en todos los casos de que trata
+este decreto, han de contener enmendadura, raspadura, ni
+entrerenglonadura alguna"--and this under penalty of confiscation.
+--GREGG.
+
+[101] How scant soever our outfit of 'camp comforts' might appear, our
+Mexican muleteers were much more sparely supplied. The exposure
+endured by this hardy race is really surprising. Even in the coldest
+winter weather, they rarely carry more than one blanket apiece--the
+_sarape_, which serves as a cloak during the day, and at night is
+their only 'bed and bedding.'--GREGG.
+
+[102] The precinct of Valverde, on the east bank of the Rio Grande, a
+few miles below Socorro, has now a population of three hundred.
+Although of considerable importance in the early nineteenth century,
+the town has never been rebuilt since Gregg's time. The site was,
+however, the rendezvous for Doniphan's troops (1846) preparatory to
+his march into Chihuahua. It was also the field for a battle in the
+War of Secession (1862), wherein the Texans won a victory over the
+Federal troops.--ED.
+
+[103] Fray Cristobal was long an important station in New Mexico; but,
+as Gregg says, never a town of any size, merely a camping place at the
+beginning of the Jornada del Muerto. The latter is well described by
+Gregg, and was the dreaded portion of the journey from north to south
+until the building of the railway, which traverses the larger part of
+the old caravan route, but leaves the river somewhat higher up and
+returns to it at Rincon, some distance above Robledo.--ED.
+
+[104] Robledo was on the Rio Grande at the site where the Americans
+later erected Fort Selden.
+
+El Paso and the district north had formerly been a part of New Mexico;
+but the act of 1824, reconstituting the northern states, assigned El
+Paso district to Chihuahua, hence the boundary here mentioned.--ED.
+
+[105] This place is often known among Americans as '_The Pass_.' It
+has been suggested in another place, that it took its name from the
+_passing_ thither of the refugees from the massacre of 1680; yet many
+persons very rationally derive it from the _passing_ of the river (_el
+paso del Rio del Norte_) between two points of mountains which project
+against it from each side, just above the town.--GREGG.
+
+[106] There is very little wine or legitimate _aguardiente_
+manufactured in New Mexico. There was not a distillery, indeed, in all
+the province until established by Americans some fifteen or twenty
+years ago. Since that period, considerable quantities of whiskey have
+been made there, particularly in the vicinity of Taos,--distilled
+mainly from wheat, as this is the cheapest grain the country
+affords.--GREGG.
+
+[107] For the ordinary mesquit, see Pattie's _Narrative_, in our
+volume xviii, p. 94, note 56. The tornillo is _Prosopis pubescens_,
+the fruit of which is often called the screw-bean, and used by the
+Indians both for food and fodder.--ED.
+
+[108] A particular species of _agave_, called _A. lechuguilla_,
+abounding in the El Paso region. See J. N. Rose, "Useful Plants of
+Mexico," in U. S. Herbarium _Contributions_, volume v, no. 4, p.
+209.--ED.
+
+[109] Lake Patos (Lake of Geese), in northern Chihuahua, is the outlet
+for Rio Carmen.--ED.
+
+[110] Carrizal was founded about 1750, and at one time considered a
+part of the province of New Mexico. It was later made a presidio, or
+frontier fort, with a surrounding wall.--ED.
+
+[111] Wislizenus found the temperature of these springs 84 deg.
+Fahrenheit. There is now a station called Ojo Calientes, on the
+Mexican Central Railway, but it is some distance from the
+springs.--ED.
+
+[112] The size of Laguna de Encinillas (Lake of Live-Oaks) varies
+greatly with the season of drouth or rain.--ED.
+
+[113] For a brief sketch of Chihuahua, see Pattie's _Narrative_, in
+our volume xviii, p. 153, note 85.--ED.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI {V}
+
+Trip from Chihuahua to Aguascalientes, in 1835 -- Southern Trade
+  and _Ferias_ -- Hacienda de la Zarca, and its innumerable Stock
+  -- Rio Nazas, and Lakes without outlet -- Perennial Cotton --
+  Exactions for Water and Pasturage -- Village of Churches -- City
+  of Durango and its Peculiarities -- Persecution of Scorpions
+  -- Negro-ship in the ascendant -- Robbers and their _modus_
+  _operandi_ -- City of Aguascalientes -- Bathing Scene -- Haste to
+  return to the North -- Mexican Mule-shoeing -- Difficulties and
+  Perplexities -- A Friend in time of need -- Reach Zacatecas -- City
+  Accommodations -- Hotels unfashionable -- _Locale_, Fortifications,
+  etc. of the City of Zacatecas -- Siege by Santa Anna and his
+  easy-won Victory -- At Durango again -- Civil Warfare among the
+  'Sovereigns' -- Hairbreadth 'scapes -- Troubles of the Road -- Safe
+  Arrival at Chihuahua -- Character of the Southern Country.
+
+
+The patient reader who may have accompanied me thus far, without
+murmuring at the dryness of some of the details, will perhaps pardon
+me for presenting here a brief account of a trip which I made to
+_Aguascalientes_, in the interior of Northern Mexico, in the year
+1835, and which the arrangement I have adopted has prevented me from
+introducing before, in its chronological order.
+
+The trade of the South constitutes a very important branch of the
+commerce of the country, in which foreigners, as well as natives, {85}
+are constantly embarking. It is customary for most of those who
+maintain mercantile establishments in Chihuahua, to procure
+assortments of Mexican fabrics from the manufactories of Leon,
+Aguascalientes, and other places of the same character in the more
+southern districts of the republic. At certain seasons of the year,
+here are held regular _ferias_, at which the people assemble in great
+numbers, as well of sellers as of purchasers. There are some eight or
+ten of these annual fairs held in the republic, each of which usually
+lasts a week or more. It was about as much, however, from a desire to
+behold the sunny districts of the South, as for commercial purposes,
+that I undertook this expedition in 1835; and as my engagements have
+not permitted me to revisit this section since, the few [Pg163] notes
+of interest I was then able to collect, seem to come more
+appropriately in this part of my work than in any other place that I
+could readily select.
+
+I set out from Chihuahua on the 26th of February, 1835. My party
+consisted of four men (including myself) and two empty wagons--not a
+very formidable escort to protect our persons as well as specie and
+bullion (the only transmissible currency of the country) against the
+bands of robbers which at all times infest that portion of our route
+that lay south of Durango. From Chihuahua to that city the road was
+rendered still more perilous by the constant hostilities of the
+Indians. On the 7th of March, however, we arrived, without {86}
+accident, at the town of Cerro Gordo, the northernmost settlement in
+the department of Durango; and the following day we reached La Zarca,
+which is the principal village of one of the most extensive haciendas
+in the North. So immense is the amount of cattle on this estate, that,
+as it was rumored, the proprietor once offered to sell the whole
+hacienda, stock, etc., for the consideration alone of fifty cents for
+each head of cattle found on the estate; but that no person has ever
+yet been able or willing to muster sufficient capital to take up the
+offer. It is very likely, however, that if such a proposition was ever
+made, the proprietor intended to include all his stock of rats and
+mice, reptiles and insects--in short, every genus of 'small cattle' on
+his premises. This estate covers a territory of perhaps a hundred
+miles in length, which comprises several flourishing villages.
+
+In two days more, we reached Rio Nazas, a beautiful little river that
+empties itself into Lake Cayman.[114] Rio [Pg164] Nazas has been
+celebrated for the growth of cotton, which, owing to the mildness of
+the climate, is sometimes planted fresh only every three or four
+years. The light frosts of winter seldom destroy more than the upper
+portion of the stalk, so that {87} the root is almost perennial. About
+twenty-five miles further, we stopped at the mining village of La
+Noria, where we were obliged to purchase water for our mules--a novel
+expense to the American traveller, but scarcely to be complained of,
+inasmuch as the water had to be drawn from wells with a great deal of
+labor. It is not unusual, also, for the proprietors of haciendas to
+demand remuneration for the pasturage on the open plains, consumed by
+the animals of travellers--a species of exaction which one never hears
+of further north.
+
+Our next stopping-place was Cuencame, which may well be called the
+Village of Churches: for, although possessing a very small population,
+there are five or six edifices of this description.[115] As I had
+business to transact at Durango, which is situated forty or fifty
+miles westward of the main Southern road, I now pursued a direct route
+for that city, where I arrived on the 16th of March.
+
+Durango is one of the handsomest cities in the North, with a
+population of about 20,000. It is situated in a level plain,
+surrounded in every direction by low mountains. It presents two or
+three handsome squares, with many fine edifices and some really
+splendid churches. The town is supplied with water for irrigating the
+gardens, and for many other ordinary purposes, by several open
+aqueducts, which lead through the streets, from a large spring, a mile
+or {88} two distant; but as these are kept filthy by the offal that is
+thrown into them, the inhabitants who are able to buy it, procure most
+of their [Pg165] water for drinking and culinary purposes, from the
+_aguadores_, who pack it, on asses, usually in large jars, from the
+spring.
+
+This is the first Northern city in which there is to be found any
+evidence of that variety of tropical fruits, for which Southern Mexico
+is so justly famed. Although it was rather out of season, yet the
+market actually teemed with all that is most rich and exquisite in
+this kind of produce. The _maguey_, from which is extracted the
+popular beverage called _pulque_,[116] is not only cultivated
+extensively in the fields, but grows wild everywhere upon the plains.
+This being the height of the pulque season, a hundred shanties might
+be seen loaded with jugs and goblets filled with this favorite liquor,
+from its sweetest unfermented state to the grade of 'hard cider;'
+while the incessant cries of "Pulque! pulque dulce! pulque bueno!"
+added to the shrill and discordant notes of the fruit venders, created
+a confusion of {89} sounds amidst which it was impossible to hear
+oneself talk.
+
+Durango is also celebrated as being the head-quarters, as it were, of
+the whole scorpion family. During the spring, especially, so much are
+the houses infested by these poisonous insects, that many people are
+obliged to have resort to a kind of mosquito-bar, in order to keep
+them out of their beds at night. As an expedient to deliver the city
+from this terrible pest, a society has actually been formed, which
+pays a reward of a _cuartilla_ (three cents) for every _alacran_ (or
+scorpion) that is brought to them. Stimulated by the [Pg166] desire
+of gain, the idle boys of the city are always on the look-out: so
+that, in the course of a year, immense numbers of this public enemy
+are captured and slaughtered. The body of this insect is of the bulk
+and cast of a medium spider, with a jointed tail one to two inches
+long, at the end of which is a sting whose wounds are so poisonous as
+often to prove fatal to children, and are very painful to adults.
+
+The most extraordinary peculiarity of these scorpions is, that they
+are far less dangerous in the North than in the South, which in some
+manner accounts for the story told Capt. Pike, that even those of
+Durango lose most of their venom as soon as they are removed a few
+miles from the city.[117]
+
+Although we were exceedingly well armed, yet so many fearful stories
+of robberies said to be committed, almost daily, on the Southern
+roads, reached my ears, that before {90} leaving Durango, I resolved
+to add to my 'weapons of defence' one of those peculiarly terrible
+dogs which are sometimes to be found in this country, and which are
+very serviceable to travellers situated as I was. Having made my
+wishes known to a free negro from the United States, named George, he
+recommended me to a custom-house officer, and a very particular friend
+of his, as being possessed of the very article I was in search of. I
+accordingly called at the house of that functionary, in company with
+my sable informant, and we were ushered into a handsome parlor, where
+two or three well-dressed senoritas sat discussing some of the
+fruitful topics of the day. One of them--the officer's wife, as it
+appeared, and a very comely dame she was--rose immediately, and, with
+a great deal of ceremonious deference, saluted _Senor Don Jorge_,
+inviting him at the same time to a [Pg167] seat, while I was left to
+remain perfectly unnoticed in my standing position. George appeared
+considerably embarrassed, for he had not quite forgotten the customs
+and manners of his native country, and was even yet in the habit of
+treating Americans not only with respect but with humility. He
+therefore declined the tendered distinction, and remarked that '_el
+senor_' had only come to purchase their dog. Upon this, the lady
+pointed to a kennel in a corner, when the very first glimpse of the
+ferocious animal convinced me that he was precisely the sort of a
+customer I wanted for a companion. Having therefore paid {91} down six
+dollars, the stipulated sum of purchase, I bowed myself out of the
+presence of the ladies, not a little impressed with my own
+insignificance, in the eyes of these fair _donas_, contrasted with the
+grandeur of my sable companion. But the popularity of negroes in
+Northern Mexico has ceased to be a matter of surprise to the
+traveller.
+
+With regard to _Don Jorge_, if I was surprised at the marks of
+attention paid him by a white lady, I had cause to be much more
+astonished shortly after. As the sooty don was lounging about my
+wagons, a clever-visaged youth approached and placed in his hands a
+satin stock, with the compliments of his sister (the officer's wife),
+hoping that he would accept that trifle, wrought by her own hand, as a
+token of her particular regard! But, notwithstanding these marks of
+distinction (to apply no harsher epithet), George was exceedingly
+anxious to engage in my employ, in whatsoever capacity I might choose
+to take him; for he had discovered that such honors were far from
+affording him a livelihood: yet I did not then need his services, and
+have never heard of him since.
+
+On the 22d we left Durango, and after a few days' march found
+ourselves once more in the _camino real_ that led from Chihuahua to
+Zacatecas. All the frightful stories I had [Pg168] heard about
+robbers now began to flash upon my memory, which made me regard every
+man I encountered on the road with a very suspicious eye. As all
+travellers go armed, it {92} is impossible to distinguish them from
+banditti;[118] so that the unsuspecting traveller is very frequently
+set upon by the very man he had been consorting with in apparent
+good-fellowship, and either murdered on the spot, or dragged from his
+horse with the lazo, and plundered of all that is valuable about him.
+
+I have heard it asserted that there is a regular bandit trade
+organized throughout the country, in which some of the principal
+officers of state (and particularly of the judicial corps) are not
+unfrequently engaged. A capital is made up by shares, as for any other
+enterprise, bandits are fitted out and instructed where to operate,
+and at stated periods of the year a regular dividend is paid to the
+stockholders. The impunity which these 'gentlemen of the order' almost
+everywhere enjoy in the country, is therefore not to be marvelled at.
+In Durango, during my sojourn there, a well dressed caballero was
+frequently in the habit of entering our _meson_, whom mine host soon
+pointed out to me as a notorious brigand. "Beware of him," said the
+honest publican; "he is prying into your affairs"--and so it turned
+out; for my muleteer informed me that the fellow had been trying to
+pump from him all the particulars in regard to our condition and
+destination. Yet this worthy was not only suffered to prowl about
+unmolested {93} by the authorities, but appeared to be on familiar
+terms with many of the principal dignitaries of the city.
+Notwithstanding all our apprehensions, however, we arrived at our
+place of destination without even the novelty of an incident to swell
+our budget of gossip. [Pg169]
+
+The city of Aguascalientes is beautifully situated in a level
+plain, and would appear to contain about twenty thousand inhabitants,
+who are principally engaged in the manufacture of _rebozos_ and other
+textures mostly of cotton.[119] As soon as I found myself sufficiently
+at leisure, I visited the famous warm spring (_ojo caliente_) in the
+suburbs, from which the city derives its euphonious name. I followed
+up the _acequia_ that led from the spring--a ditch four or five feet
+wide, through which flowed a stream three or four feet in depth. The
+water was precisely of that agreeable temperature to afford the luxury
+of a good bath, which I had hoped to enjoy; but every few paces I
+found men, women, and children, submerged in the acequia; and when I
+arrived at the basin, it was so choked up with girls and full-grown
+women, who were paddling about with all the nonchalance of a gang of
+ducks, that I was forced to relinquish my long-promised treat.
+
+It had been originally my intention to continue on to Leon, another
+manufacturing town some seventy or eighty miles from Aguascalientes;
+but, hearing that Santa Anna had just arrived there with a large army,
+on his way to Zacatecas to quell an insurrection,[120] I {94} felt
+very little curiosity to extend my rambles further. Having, therefore,
+made all my purchases in the shortest possible time, in a few days I
+was again in readiness to start for the North.
+
+That my mules might be in condition for the hard travel before me, it
+was necessary to have them shod: a precaution, however, which is
+seldom used in the north of Mexico, either [Pg170] with mules or
+horses. Owing a little to the peculiar breed, but more still no doubt
+to the dryness of the climate, Mexican animals have unusually hard
+hoofs. Many will travel for weeks, and even months, over the firm[121]
+and often rocky roads of the interior (the pack-mules carrying their
+huge loads), without any protection whatever to the feet, save that
+which nature has provided. But most of mine being a little
+tender-footed, I engaged Mexican _herreros_ to fit them out in their
+own peculiar style. Like almost everything else of their
+manufacturing, their mule-shoes are of a rather primitive model--broad
+thin plates, tacked on with large club-headed nails. But the
+expertness of the shoers compensated in some degree for the defects of
+the _herraduras_. It made but little odds how wild and vicious the
+mule--an assistant would draw up his foot in an instant, and soon
+place him _hors de combat_; and then fixing a nail, the shoer {95}
+would drive it to the head at a single stroke, standing usually at
+full arm's length, while the assistant held the foot. Thus in less
+than half the time I had ever witnessed the execution of a similar job
+before, they had completely shod more than twenty of the most unruly
+brutes--without once resorting to the expedient so usual in such
+cases, of throwing the animals upon the ground.
+
+Just as the process of shoeing my mules had been completed, a person
+who proved to be a public officer entered the _corral_, and pointing
+to the mules, very politely informed me that they were wanted by the
+government to transport troops to Zacatecas. "They will be called for
+to-morrow afternoon," he continued; "let them not be removed!" I had
+of course to bow acquiescence to this imperative edict, well knowing
+that all remonstrance would be vain; yet fully [Pg171] determined to
+be a considerable distance on the road northward before that 'morrow'
+should be very far advanced.
+
+But a new difficulty now presented itself. I must procure a _guia_ or
+passport for my cargo of merchandise, with a _responsible
+endorser_,--an additional imposition I was wholly unprepared for, as I
+was then ignorant of any law to that effect being in force, and had
+not a single acquaintance in the city. I was utterly at a loss what to
+do: under any other circumstances I might have left the amount of the
+_derecho de consumo_ in deposit, as others have been obliged to do on
+similar occasions; but {96} unfortunately I had laid out the last
+dollar of my available means.
+
+As I left the custom-house brooding over these perplexities, one of
+the principal clerks of the establishment slipped a piece of paper
+into my hand containing the following laconic notice:--"_Aguardeme
+afuera_" (wait for me without);--an injunction I passively obeyed,
+although I had not the least idea of its purport. The clerk was soon
+with me, and remarked, "You are a stranger in the city, and ignorant
+of our severe revenue laws: meet me in an hour from this at my
+lodgings, and we will devise some remedy for your difficulties." It
+may be well supposed that I did not fail to be punctual. I met the
+obliging officer in his room with a handful of blank custom-house
+_pases_. It should be understood that a _pase_ only differs from a
+_guia_ in requiring no endorser, but the former can only be extended
+for amounts of goods not exceeding fifty dollars. Taking my bill, he
+very soon filled me up a _pase_ for every package, directing each to a
+different point in the North. "Now," observed my amiable friend, "if
+you are disposed to do a little smuggling, these will secure your
+safety, if you avoid the principal cities, till you reach the borders
+of Chihuahua: if not, you may have a friend on the way who will
+endorse your _guia_." I preferred the latter alternative. I had formed
+an acquaintance [Pg172] with a worthy German merchant in Durango,
+who, I felt convinced, would generously lend his signature to the
+required document.
+
+{97} As the revenue officers of Northern Mexico are not celebrated for
+liberality and disinterestedness, I took it for granted that my friend
+of the custom-house was actuated by selfish motives, and therefore
+proffered him a remuneration for the trouble he had taken on my
+account; but to my surprise, he positively refused accepting anything,
+observing that he held it the duty of every honest man to assist his
+fellow creatures in case of difficulty. It is truly a pleasant task to
+bear record of such instances of disinterestedness, in the midst of so
+many contaminating influences.
+
+While speaking of _guias_, I may as well remark that they are also
+frequently required for specie and always for bullion. This is often
+very annoying to the traveller, not only because it is sometimes
+inconvenient to find an endorser, but because the robbers are thus
+enabled to obtain precise and timely information of the funds and
+route of every traveller; for they generally have their agents in all
+the principal cities, who are apt to collude with some of the
+custom-house clerks, and thus procure regular reports of the
+departures, with the amounts of valuables conveyed.
+
+I was not long in taking leave of Aguascalientes, and heard nothing
+more of the impressment of my mules. It was not my good fortune,
+however, to remain for any length of time out of trouble. Being
+anxious to take the city of Zacatecas in my route without jeopardizing
+my goods, I took passage by the _diligencia_, while my wagons
+continued on in {98} the _camino real_ or main road. On my arrival at
+Zacatecas, I very soon discovered that by leaving 'my bed and board'
+behind with the wagons, I had doomed myself to no small inconvenience
+and privation. It was with the greatest difficulty I could obtain a
+place to lie upon, and [Pg173] clean victuals with which to allay my
+hunger. I could get a room, it is true, even for a _real_ per day, in
+one of those great barn-like _mesones_ which are to be met with in all
+these cities, but not one of them was at all furnished. There is
+sometimes, in a corner, a raised platform of mud, much resembling a
+common blacksmith's hearth, which is to supply the place of a
+bedstead, upon which the traveller may spread his blankets, if he
+happen to have any. On this occasion I succeeded in borrowing one or
+two of the stage-driver who was a Yankee, and so made out 'pretty
+comfortably' in the sleeping way. These _mesones_ are equally
+ill-prepared to furnish food for the traveller, unless he is willing
+to put up with a dish of _frijoles_ and _chile guisado_ with
+_tortillas_, all served up in the most filthy manner. I therefore
+sought out a public _fonda_ kept by an Italian, where I procured an
+excellent supper. Fondas, however, are mere _restaurants_, and
+consequently without accommodations for lodging.
+
+Strange as the fact may appear, one may travel fifteen hundred miles,
+and perhaps more, on the main public highway through Northern Mexico,
+without finding a single tavern with general accommodations. This,
+however, may {99} be accounted for, by taking into consideration the
+peculiar mode of travelling of the country, which renders resorts of
+this kind almost unnecessary. _Arrieros_ with their _atajos_ of
+pack-mules always camp out, being provided with their cooks and stock
+of provisions, which they carry with them. Ordinary travellers
+generally unite in little caravans, for security against robbers and
+marauders; and no caballero ever stirs abroad without a train of
+servants, and a pack-mule to carry his _cantinas_ (a pair of large
+wallets or leathern boxes), filled with provisions, on the top of
+which is lashed a huge machine containing a mattress and all the other
+'fixings' for bed furniture. Thus equipped, the [Pg174] caballero
+snaps his fingers at all the _hotels garnis_ of the universe, and is
+perfectly independent in every movement.
+
+The city of Zacatecas, as my readers are doubtless aware, is
+celebrated for its mining interests. Like all other Mexican towns of
+the same class, it originated in small, insignificant settlements on
+the hillsides, in the immediate vicinity of the mines, until it
+gradually grew up to be a large and wealthy city, with a population of
+some 30,000 inhabitants. Its locale is a deep ravine formed among
+rugged mountain ridges; and as the houses are mostly built in rows,
+overtopping one another, along the hillsides, some portions of the
+city present all the appearance of a vast amphitheatre. Many of the
+streets are handsomely paved, and two of the squares are finely
+ornamented with curiously carved _jets-d'eau_, {100} which are
+supplied with water raised by mule power, from wells among the
+adjacent hills. From these the city is chiefly furnished with water.
+
+I have already mentioned, that General Santa Anna was at this time
+marching against Zacatecas with a large force. It may be remembered
+that after the General's accession to the supreme authority of Mexico
+(upon the establishment of _Centralismo_), he deemed it expedient to
+issue a decree abolishing the state militia, known as _Civicos_, as
+being dangerous to the liberties of----the _dictador_. Zacatecas, so
+far from obeying this despotic mandate, publicly called on the Civicos
+to defend their rights, and Santa Anna was now descending upon them
+with an army double that which the city could raise, to enforce their
+obedience. The _Zacatecanos_, however, were not idle. The militia was
+pouring in from the surrounding villages, and a degree of enthusiasm
+prevailed throughout the city, which seemed to be the presage of a
+successful defence. In fact, the city itself, besides being from its
+location almost impregnable, was completely protected by artificial
+fortifications. The only accessible point [Pg175] was by the main
+road, which led from the south immediately up the narrow valley of the
+ravine. Across this a strong wall had been erected some years before,
+and the road passed through a large gate, commanded by a bastion upon
+the hillside above, whence a hundred men well supplied with arms and
+ammunition, might easily cut {101} off thousands upon thousands, as
+fast as they advanced. The city was therefore deemed impregnable, and
+being supplied with provisions for a lengthy siege, the patriots were
+in high spirits. A foreign engineer or two had been engaged to
+superintend the fortifications.
+
+Santa Anna reached Zacatecas a few days after my departure. As he had
+no idea of testing the doubtful mettle of his army, by an attempt to
+storm the place, which presented so formidable an appearance, he very
+quietly squatted himself down at the village of Guadalupe, three miles
+below. From this point he commenced his operations by throwing
+'missiles' into the city--not of lead, or cast-iron, or any such cruel
+agents of warfare, but _bombs of paper_, which fell among the
+besieged, and burst with gentle overtures to their commanding
+officers. This novel 'artillery' of the dictator produced a perfectly
+electric effect; for the valor of the commandant of the Civicos rose
+to such a pitch, that he at once marched his forces out of the
+fortifications, to attack the besiegers in the open field--face to
+face, as true bravery required. But on the very first onset, this
+valiant officer, by some mysterious agency which could not be
+accounted for, was suddenly seized with a strange panic, and, with all
+his forces, made a precipitate retreat, fleeing helter-skelter, as if
+all the engines of destruction that were ever invented, had been
+brought to bear upon them; when the victorious army of Santa Anna
+marched into the city without further opposition.
+
+{102} This affair is a pretty just sample of most of the [Pg176]
+successful battles of this 'great general.' The treacherous collusion
+of the principal Zacatecas officers was so apparent, that they deemed
+it prudent to fly the city for safety, lest the wrath of their
+incensed fellow-citizens should explode upon them. Meanwhile the
+soldiery amused themselves by sacking the city, and by perpetrating
+every species of outrage that their mercenary and licentious appetites
+could devise. Their savage propensities were particularly exercised
+against the few foreigners that were found in the place.
+
+Meanwhile I was journeying very leisurely towards Durango, where I
+arrived on the 21st of April. As the main wagon road to the north does
+not pass through that city, it was most convenient and still more
+prudent for me to leave my wagons at a distance: their entrance would
+have occasioned the confiscation of my goods, for the want of the
+'necessary documents,' as already alluded to. But I now procured a
+_guia_ without further difficulty; which was indeed a principal object
+of my present visit to that city.
+
+Before leaving Durango I witnessed one of those civil broils which are
+so common in Mexico. I was not even aware that any difficulty had been
+brewing, till I was waked on the morning of the 25th by a report of
+fire-arms. Stepping out to ascertain what was the matter, I perceived
+the _azotea_ of the parochial church occupied by armed men, who seemed
+to be employed in amusing themselves {103} by discharging their guns
+at random upon the people in the streets. These _bravos_, as I was
+afterwards informed, belonged to the bishop's party, or that of the
+_Escoceses_, which was openly at war with the liberalists,
+anti-hierarchists, or _Yorkinos_, and were resorting to this summary
+mode of proceeding, in order to bring about a change of affairs; for
+at this time the liberal party had the ascendency in the civil
+government of Durango. [Pg177]
+
+Being somewhat curious to have a nearer view of what was going on, I
+walked down past the church, towards a crowd which was assembled in a
+_plaza_ beyond. This movement on my part was rather inconsiderate: for
+foreigners were in extremely bad odor with the belligerents; nor had I
+mingled with the multitude many minutes, before a sober-looking
+citizen plucked me by the sleeve, and advised me, if I valued my two
+ears, and did not wish to have my career of usefulness cut short
+prematurely, to stay within doors. Of course I needed no further
+persuasion, and returned at once to my lodgings, where I made
+immediate preparations for a speedy departure. As I was proceeding
+through the streets soon afterward, with a cargo of goods, I received,
+just after leaving the custom-house, a very warm salutation from the
+belligerents, which made the dust start from almost under my very
+feet. The _cargadores_ who were carrying my packages were no doubt as
+much frightened as myself. They supposed the reason of their shooting
+at us to be because {104} they imagined we were carrying off the
+_parque_ (ammunition) of the government, which was deposited in the
+building we had just left.
+
+We were soon under way, and very little regret did I feel when I
+fairly lost sight of the city of scorpions. But I was not yet wholly
+beyond the pale of difficulties. Owing to the fame of the Indian
+hostilities in the North, it was almost impossible to procure the
+services of Mexican muleteers for the expedition. One I engaged, took
+the first convenient opportunity to escape at night, carrying away a
+gun with which I had armed him; yet I felt grateful that he did not
+also take a mule, as he had the whole _caballada_ under his exclusive
+charge: and soon after, a Mexican wagoner was frightened back by the
+reports of savages.
+
+After a succession of such difficulties, and still greater [Pg178]
+risks from the Indians that infested the route, I was of course
+delighted when I reached Chihuahua, on the 14th of May, in perfect
+safety.[122]
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[114] The numerous little lakes throughout the interior of Mexico,
+without outlets yet into which rivers are continually flowing, present
+a phenomenon which seem, quite singular to the inhabitants of our
+humid climates. But the wastage in the sand, and still greater by
+evaporation in those elevated dry regions, is such that there are no
+important rises in the lakes except during unusual freshets.--GREGG.
+
+[115] The road passed southeast through the state of Durango, where
+all these small stations may be found on any good map. According to
+Pike the owner of the vast estate near La Zarca was the Marquis de San
+Miguel.--ED.
+
+[116] Also, from the _Pulque_ is distilled a spiritous liquor called
+_mezcal_. The _maguey_ (_Agave Americana_) is besides much used for
+hedging. It here performs the double purpose of a cheap and
+substantial fence, and of being equally valuable for _pulque_. When no
+longer serviceable in these capacities, the pulpy stalk is converted,
+by roasting, into a pleasant item of food, while the fibrous blades,
+being suitably dressed, are still more useful. They are manufactured
+into ropes, bags, etc., which resemble those made of the common
+sea-grass, though the fibres are finer. There is one species (which
+does not produce pulque, however), whose fibres, known in that country
+as _pita_, are nearly as fine as dressed hemp, and are generally used
+for sewing shoes, saddlery, and similar purposes.--GREGG.
+
+[117] See Elliott Coues, _Expeditions of Zebulon M. Pike_ (New York,
+1895), ii, p. 763, note 34. That editor identifies the scorpion as
+_Androctomus biaculeatus_, and favorably comments on Gregg's sensible
+explanation of Pike's story.--ED.
+
+[118] Travellers on these public highways not only go 'armed to the
+teeth,' but always carry their weapons exposed. Even my wagoners
+carried their guns and pistols swung upon the pommels of their
+saddles. At night, as we generally camped out, they were laid under
+our heads, or close by our sides.--GREGG.
+
+[119] Aguascalientes is the capital of a small interior Mexican state
+of the same name, now on the line of the Mexican Central Railway. It
+was founded in 1575, and at the close of the eighteenth century was a
+place of considerable importance. During the negotiations for peace
+between the United States and Mexico (1848), a revolution broke out at
+this place, that was with difficulty subdued.--ED.
+
+[120] This was part of the centralist revolution, for which see our
+volume xix, p. 271, note 96 (Gregg). Santa Ana himself subdued the
+opposition in Zacatecas, where his soldiers were permitted to plunder
+widely.--ED.
+
+[121] Some of these table-plain highways, though of but a dry sandy
+and clayey soil, are as firm as a brick pavement. In some places, for
+miles, I have remarked that the nail-heads of my shod animals would
+hardly leave any visible impression.--GREGG.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII {VI}
+
+Visit to the Mining Town of Jesus-Maria -- Critical Roads -- Losing
+  Speculations -- Mine of Santa Juliana -- Curious mining Operations
+  -- Different Modes of working the Ore -- The Crushing-mill, etc. --
+  _Barras de Plata_ -- Value of Bullion -- The Silver Trade -- Return
+  to Chihuahua -- Resumption of the regular Narrative -- Curious
+  Wholesales -- Money Table -- Redundancy of Copper Coin -- City of
+  Chihuahua and its Peculiarities -- Ecclesiastical Architecture --
+  Hidalgo and His Monument -- Public Works, and their present
+  Declension -- _Fete_ in honor of Iturbide -- Illiberality towards
+  Americans -- Shopping Mania -- Anti-Masonic _Auto de Fe_.
+
+
+Before resuming my regular narrative, I trust the reader will pardon
+me for introducing here a brief account of an excursion which I made
+in the fall of the year 1835, to the mining town of Jesus-Maria, one
+of the most important mineral districts in the department of
+Chihuahua, situated about a hundred and fifty miles west of the city,
+in the very heart of the great Cordilleras.[123]
+
+I had long been desirous of visiting some of the mining establishments
+of Mexico, and seeing a favorable opportunity of embarking in a
+profitable enterprise, I set out from Chihuahua on the 15th of
+October. My party consisted of but one American comrade, with {106} a
+Mexican muleteer--and three or four mules freighted with specie to be
+employed in the _silver trade_: a rather scanty convoy for a route
+subject to the inroads both of savages and robbers. For
+transportation, [Pg179] we generally pack our specie in sacks made of
+raw beef hide, which shrinks upon drying, and thus presses the
+contents so closely as to prevent friction. A pair of these packages,
+usually containing between one and two thousand dollars each,
+constitutes an ordinary mule-load on the mountain routes.
+
+The road in this direction leads through the roughest mountain passes;
+and, in some places, it winds so close along the borders of
+precipices, that by a single misstep an animal might be precipitated
+several hundred feet. Mules, however, are very surefooted; and will
+often clamber along the most craggy cliffs with nearly as much
+security as the goat. I was shown the projecting edge of a rock over
+which the road had formerly passed. This shelf was perhaps thirty feet
+in length by only two or three in width. The road which leads into the
+town of Jesus-Maria from the west side of the mountain is also
+extremely perilous and steep, and seems almost to overhang the houses
+below. Heavily laden mules have sometimes slipped off the track, and
+tumbled headlong into the town. This place is even more pent up
+between ridges than Zacatecas: the valley is narrower and the
+mountains much higher; while, as is the case with that remarkable
+city, the houses are {107} sometimes built in successive tiers, one
+above another; the _azoteas_ of the lower ones forming the yard of
+those above.
+
+The first mine I visited consisted of an immense horizontal shaft cut
+several hundred feet into a hill-side, a short distance below the town
+of Jesus-Maria, upon which the proprietors had already sunk, in the
+brief space of one year, the enormous sum of one hundred and twenty
+thousand dollars! Such is often the fate of the speculative miner,
+whose vocation is closely allied to gaming, and equally precarious.
+[Pg180]
+
+The most important mine of Jesus-Maria at this time was one called
+Santa Juliana, which had been the means of alternately making and
+sinking several splendid fortunes. This mine had then reached a depth
+of between eight and nine hundred feet, and the operations were still
+tending downwards. The materials were drawn up by mule power applied
+to a windlass: but as the rope attached to it only extended half way
+down, another windlass had been erected at the distance of about four
+hundred feet from the mouth of the cavern, which was also worked by
+mules, and drew the ores, etc., from the bottom. On one occasion, as I
+was standing near the aperture of this great pit, watching the ascent
+of the windlass-rope, expecting every moment the appearance of the
+large leathern bucket which they employ for drawing up the minerals as
+well as the rubbish and water[124] from the bottom, {108} what should
+greet my vision but a mule, puffing and writhing, firmly bound to a
+huge board constructed for the purpose, and looking about as demure
+upon the whole as a sheep under the shears. On being untied, the
+emancipated brute suddenly sprang to his feet, and looked around him
+at the bright scenes of the upper world with as much astonishment as
+Rip Van Winkle may be supposed to have felt after waking up from his
+twenty years' sleep.
+
+The ore which is obtained from these mines, if sufficiently rich to
+justify the operation, is transferred to the smelting furnaces, where
+the pure metal is melted down and extracted from the virgin fossil.
+If, on the contrary, the ore is deemed of inferior quality, it is then
+submitted to the process of amalgamation.
+
+[Illustration: Mule emerging from a mine]
+
+[Illustration: Still Hunting]
+
+{109} The _moliendas_, or crushing-mills (_arrastres_, as called at
+some mines), employed for the purpose of grinding the [Pg183] ores,
+are somewhat singular machines. A circular (or rather annular) cistern
+of some twenty or thirty feet in diameter is dug in the earth, and the
+sides as well as the bottom are lined with hewn stone of the hardest
+quality. Transversely through an upright post which turns upon its
+axis in the centre of the plan, passes a shaft of wood, at each end of
+which are attached by cords one or two grinding-stones with smooth
+flat surfaces, which are dragged (by mules fastened to the extremities
+of the shaft) slowly around upon the bottom of the cistern, into which
+the ore is thrown after being pounded into small pieces. It is here
+ground, with the addition of water, into an impalpable mortar, by the
+constant friction of the dragging stones against the sides and bottom
+of the cistern. A suitable quantity of quicksilver is perfectly mixed
+with the mortar; to which are added some muriates, sulphates, and
+other chemical substances, to facilitate the amalgamation. The
+compound is then piled up in small heaps, and not disturbed again
+until this process is supposed to be complete, when it is transferred
+to the washing-machine. Those I have observed are very simple,
+consisting of a kind of stone tub, into which a stream of water is
+made to flow constantly, so as to carry off all the lighter matter,
+which is kept stirred up by an upright studded with pegs, that
+revolves in the centre, while the amalgamated metals sink {110} to the
+bottom. Most of the quicksilver is then pressed out, and the silver
+submitted to a burning process, by which the remaining portion of
+mercury is expelled.
+
+The silver which is taken from the furnace, generally contains an
+intermixture of gold, averaging from ten to thirty per cent.; but what
+is extracted by amalgamation is mostly separated in the washing. While
+in a liquid state, the gold, from its greater specific gravity, mostly
+settles to the bottom: yet it usually retains a considerable alloy of
+silver. The [Pg184] compound is distinguished by the name of
+_oroche_. The main portion of the silver generally retains too little
+gold to make it worth separating.
+
+Every species of silver is moulded into _barras_ or ingots, weighing
+from fifty to eighty pounds each, and usually worth between one and
+two thousand dollars. These are assayed by an authorized agent of the
+government, and stamped with their weight and character, which enables
+the holder to calculate their value by a very simple rule. When the
+bullion is thus stamped, it constitutes a species of currency, which
+is much safer for remittances than coin. In case of robbery, the
+_barras_ are easily identified, provided the robbers have not had time
+to mould them into some other form. For this reason, people of wealth
+frequently lay up their funds in ingots; and the cellars of some of
+the _ricos_ of the South, are often found teeming with large
+quantities of them, presenting the appearance of a winter's supply of
+firewood.
+
+{111} As the charge for parting the gold and silver at the Mexican
+mints, is generally from one to two dollars, and coinage about fifty
+cents, per pound, this assayed bullion yields a profit upon its
+current value of nearly ten per cent. at the United States Mint; but,
+if unassayed, it generally produces an advance of about double that
+amount upon the usual cost at the mines. The exportation of bullion,
+however, is prohibited, except by special license from the general
+government. Still a large quantity is exported in this way, and
+considerable amounts smuggled out through some of the ports.
+
+A constant and often profitable business in the 'silver trade' is
+carried on at these mines. As the miners rarely fail being in need of
+ready money, they are generally obliged to sell their bullion for
+coin, and that often at a great sacrifice, so as to procure available
+means to prosecute their mining [Pg185] operations. To profit by this
+trade, as is already mentioned, was a principal object of my present
+visit. Having concluded my business transactions, and partially
+gratified my curiosity, I returned to Chihuahua, where I arrived,
+November 24, 1835, without being molested either by robbers or
+Indians, though the route is sometimes infested by both these classes
+of independent gentry.
+
+But, as it is now high time I should put an end to this digression, I
+will once more resume my narrative, where it was interrupted at my
+arrival in Chihuahua, on the first of October, 1839.
+
+{112} It is usual for each trader, upon his arrival in that city, to
+engage a store-room, and to open and exhibit his goods, as well for
+the purpose of disposing of them at wholesale as retail. His most
+profitable custom is that of the petty country merchants from the
+surrounding villages. Some traders, it is true, continue in the retail
+business for a season or more, yet the greater portion are transient
+dealers, selling off at wholesale as soon as a fair bargain is
+offered.
+
+The usual mode of selling by the lot in Chihuahua is somewhat
+singular. All such cottons as calicoes and other prints, bleached,
+brown and blue domestics both plain and twilled, stripes, checks,
+etc., are rated at two or three _reales_[125] per _vara_, without the
+least reference to quality or cost, and the 'general assortment' at 60
+to 100 per cent. upon the bills of cost, according to the demand. The
+_varage_ is [Pg186] usually estimated by adding eight per cent. to
+the yardage, but the _vara_ being thirty-three inches (nearly), the
+actual difference is more than nine. In these sales, cloths--{113}
+indeed all measurable goods, except ribands and the like, sometimes
+enter at the _varage_ rate. I have heard of some still more curious
+contracts in these measurement sales, particularly in Santa Fe, during
+the early periods of the American trade. Everything was sometimes
+rated by the vara--not only all textures, but even hats, cutlery,
+trinkets, and so on! In such cases, very singular disputes would
+frequently arise as to the mode of measuring some particular articles:
+for instance, whether pieces of riband should be measured in bulk, or
+unrolled, and yard by yard; looking-glasses, cross or lengthwise;
+pocket-knives, shut or open; writing-paper, in the ream, in the quire,
+or by the single sheet; and then, whether the longer or shorter way of
+the paper; and so of many others.
+
+Before the end of October, 1839, I had an opportunity of selling out
+my stock of goods to a couple of English merchants, which relieved me
+from the delays, to say nothing of the inconveniences attending a
+retail trade: such, for instance, as the accumulation of copper coin,
+which forms almost the exclusive currency in petty dealings. Some
+thousands of dollars' worth are frequently accumulated upon the hands
+of the merchant in this way, and as the copper of one department is
+worthless in another, except for its intrinsic value, which is seldom
+more than ten per cent. of the nominal value, the holders are
+subjected to a great deal of trouble and annoyance.
+
+With regard to the city, there is but little to {114} be said that is
+either very new or unusually interesting. When compared with Santa Fe
+and all the towns of the North, Chihuahua might indeed be pronounced a
+magnificent place; but, compared with the nobler cities of _tierra
+afuera_, it sinks [Pg187] into insignificance. According to Capt.
+Pike, the city of Chihuahua was founded in 1691. The ground-plan is
+much more regular than that of Santa Fe, while a much greater degree
+of elegance and classic taste has been exhibited in the style of the
+architecture of many buildings; for though the bodies be of _adobe_,
+all the best houses are cornered with hewn stone, and the doors and
+windows are framed in the same. The streets, however, remain nearly in
+the same state as Nature formed them, with the exception of a few
+roughly-paved side-walks. Although situated about a hundred miles east
+of the main chain of the Mexican Cordilleras, Chihuahua is surrounded
+on every side by detached ridges of mountains, but none of them of any
+great magnitude. The elevation of the city above the ocean is between
+four and five thousand feet; its latitude is 28 deg. 36'; and its entire
+population numbers about ten thousand souls.
+
+The most splendid edifice in Chihuahua is the principal church, which
+is said to equal in architectural grandeur anything of the sort in the
+republic. The steeples, of which there is one at each front corner,
+rise over a hundred feet above the azotea. They are composed of very
+fancifully-carved columns; and {115} in appropriate niches of the
+frontispiece, which is also an elaborate piece of sculpture, are to be
+seen a number of statues, as large as life, the whole forming a
+complete representation of Christ and the twelve Apostles. This church
+was built about a century ago, by contributions levied upon the mines
+(particularly those of Santa Eulalia, fifteen or twenty miles from the
+city), which paid over a per centage on all the metal extracted
+therefrom; a _medio_, I believe, being levied upon each _marco_ of
+eight ounces. In this way, about a million of dollars was raised and
+expended in some thirty years, the time employed in the construction
+of the building. It is a curious fact, however, that, notwithstanding
+the enormous sums of money expended [Pg188] in outward embellishments,
+there is not a church from thence southward, perhaps, where the
+interior arrangements bear such striking marks of poverty and neglect.
+If, however, we are not dazzled by the sight of those costly
+decorations for which the churches of Southern Mexico are so much
+celebrated, we have the satisfaction of knowing that the turrets are
+well provided with bells, a fact of which every person who visits
+Chihuahua very soon obtains auricular demonstration. One, in
+particular, is so large and sonorous that it has frequently been
+heard, so I am informed, at the distance of twenty-five miles.
+
+A little below the _Plaza Mayor_ stands the ruins (as they may be
+called) of San Francisco--the mere skeleton of another great church
+{116} of hewn-stone, which was commenced by the Jesuits previous to
+their expulsion in 1767, but never finished. By the outlines still
+traceable amid the desolation which reigns around, it would appear
+that the plan of this edifice was conceived in a spirit of still
+greater magnificence than the Parroquia which I have been describing.
+The abounding architectural treasures that are mouldering and ready to
+tumble to the ground, bear sufficient evidence that the mind which had
+directed its progress was at once bold, vigorous and comprehensive.
+
+This dilapidated building has since been converted into a sort of
+state prison, particularly for the incarceration of distinguished
+prisoners. It was here that the principals of the famous Texan Santa
+Fe Expedition were confined, when they passed through the place, on
+their way to the city of Mexico.[126] This edifice has also acquired
+considerable celebrity as having received within its gloomy embraces
+several of the most distinguished patriots, who were taken prisoners
+during the first infant struggles for Mexican independence. [Pg189]
+Among these was the illustrious ecclesiastic, Don Miguel Hidalgo y
+Costilla, who made the first declaration at the village of Dolores,
+September 16, 1810.[127] He was taken prisoner in March, 1811, some
+time after his total defeat at Guadalaxara; and being brought to
+Chihuahua, he was shot on the 30th of July following, in a little
+square back of the prison, where a plain white monument of hewn stone
+{117} has been erected to his memory. It consists of an octagon base
+of about twenty-five feet in diameter, upon which rises a square,
+unornamented pyramid to the height of about thirty feet. The monument
+indeed is not an unapt emblem of the purity and simplicity of the
+curate's character.
+
+Among the few remarkable objects which attract the attention of the
+traveller is a row of columns supporting a large number of stupendous
+arches which may be seen from the heights, long before approaching the
+city from the north. This is an aqueduct of considerable magnitude
+which conveys water from the little river of Chihuahua, to an eminence
+above the town, whence it is passed through a succession of pipes to
+the main public square, where it empties itself into a large stone
+cistern; and by this method the city is supplied with water. This and
+other public works to be met with in Chihuahua, and in the southern
+cities, are glorious remnants of the prosperous times of the Spanish
+empire. No improvements on so exalted a scale have ever been made
+under the republican government. In fact, everything in this benighted
+country now seems to be on the decline, and the plain honest citizen
+of the old school is not unfrequently heard giving vent to his
+feelings by ejaculating "_iOjala por los dias felices del Rey!_"--Oh,
+for the happy days of the King! In short, there can be no doubt, that
+the common people enjoyed more ease--more protection against the
+[Pg190] savages--more {118} security in their rights and
+property--more _liberty_, in truth, under the Spanish dynasty than at
+present.
+
+No better evidence can be found of the extensive operations which have
+been carried on in this the greatest mining district of Northern
+Mexico, than in the little mountains of _scoria_ which are found in
+the suburbs of the city. A great number of poor laborers make a
+regular business of hammering to pieces these metallic excrescences,
+from which they collect silver enough to buy their daily bread. An
+opinion has often been expressed by persons well acquainted with the
+subject, that a fair business might be done by working this same
+scoria over again. There are still in operation several furnaces in
+the city, where silver ores extracted from the mines of the
+surrounding mountains are smelted. There is also a rough mint in
+Chihuahua (as there is indeed in all the mining departments), yet most
+of its silver and all of its gold have been coined in the cities
+further south.
+
+When I arrived at Chihuahua, in 1839, a great fete had just come off
+for the double purpose of celebrating the anniversary of the Emperor
+Iturbide's birth day (Sept. 27, 1783), and that of his triumphal
+entrance into the city of Mexico in 1821. It will be remembered, that,
+after Mexico had been struggling for independence several years,
+General Iturbide, who had remained a faithful officer of the crown,
+and an active agent in persecuting the champions of Mexican liberty,
+finding {119} himself, about the close of 1820, at the head of a large
+division of the royal army sent against the patriot Guerrero, suddenly
+turned over his whole force to the support of the republican cause,
+and finally succeeded in destroying the last vestige of Spanish
+authority in Mexico. How he was afterwards crowned emperor, and
+subsequently [Pg191] dethroned, outlawed by a public decree and
+eventually executed, is all matter of history.[128] But it is not
+generally known, I believe, that this unfortunate soldier has since
+received the honors of the Father of the Republic, a dignity to which
+he was probably as much entitled as any one else--absurd though the
+adoption of such a hero as the 'champion of liberty,' may appear to
+'republicans of the Jefferson school.' A _grande fete d'hilarite_
+takes place annually, in honor of his political canonization, which
+'comes off' at the date already mentioned. To this great ball,
+however, no Americans were invited, with the exception of a
+Mexicanized denizen or two, whose invitation tickets informed the
+_honored party_ that the price of admission to this famous feast,--a
+ball given by the governor and other magnates of the land, in honor of
+the hero of independence,--was twenty-five dollars.
+
+Balls or reunions of this kind, however, seem not as frequent in
+Chihuahua as in New Mexico: and to those we hear of, claiming the
+title of 'fashionable,' Americans are very rarely invited. There is,
+in fact, but little social intercourse between foreigners and the
+natives, {120} except in a business way, or with a certain class of
+the former, at the gambling-table. This want of hospitable feelings is
+one of the worst traits in the character of the Chihuahuenos, and when
+placed in contrast with the kind and courteous treatment those who
+visit the United States invariably experience from the lawgivers of
+fashion among us, their illiberality will appear a hundred fold more
+ungracious. These exclusive laws are the more severely felt in
+Chihuahua, because in that city there are no _cafes_, [Pg192] nor
+reading rooms, nor in short any favorite public resorts, except of a
+gambling character, at which gentlemen can meet to lounge or amuse
+themselves.
+
+Besides the cock-pit, the gaming-table, and the _Alameda_, which is
+the popular promenade for the wealthy and the indolent, one of the
+most favorite pastimes of the females generally is shopping; and the
+most fashionable time for this is by candle-light, after they have
+partaken of their chocolate and their _cigarritos_. The streets and
+shops are literally filled from dusk till nine or ten o'clock; and
+many a time have I seen the counter of a store actually lined till a
+late hour, with the fairest and most fashionable senoritas of the
+city. On such occasions it is not a little painful as well as
+troublesome to be compelled to keep a strict eye to the rights of
+property, not that the dealers are all dishonest, but because there
+never fail to be some present who are painfully afflicted with the
+self-appropriating mania, {121} even among the fairest-looking
+senoritas. This, with other purposes no less culpable, has no doubt
+tended to establish the custom of night-shopping.
+
+It may already be generally known perhaps, that the predominant party,
+in Mexico, (and particularly in the North), is decidedly anti-masonic.
+During my stay in Chihuahua I had an opportunity to test their
+antipathy for that mysterious brotherhood. This was evinced in the
+seizure of a dozen or two cotton handkerchiefs, which, unknown to
+myself, happened to bear the stamp of the 'masonic carpet.' These
+obnoxious articles having attracted the attention of some lynx-eyed
+friars, one day, much to my consternation, my store was suddenly
+invaded by the alcalde and some ecclesiastics. The handkerchiefs were
+seized without ceremony, and by an _auto de fe_, condemned to be
+publicly burned.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII {VII}
+
+Departure for Santa Fe -- Straitened for Food -- Summary Effort to
+  procure Beef -- Seizure of one of our Party -- Altercation with
+  a _Rico_ -- His pusillanimous Procedure -- Great Preparations in
+  Chihuahua for our Arrest -- Arrival of Mexican Troops -- A polite
+  Officer -- Myself with three of my Men summoned back to Chihuahua
+  -- Amiable Conduct of Senor Artalejo -- _Junta Departmental_ and
+  Discussion of my Affair -- Writ of _Habeas Corpus_ not in vogue
+  -- The Matter adjusted and Passport granted -- The _Morale_ --
+  Impunity of savage Depredators -- Final Start -- Company of
+  _Pasenos_ with their Fruits and Liquors -- Arrival at Santa Fe.
+
+
+Having closed all my affairs in Chihuahua, and completed my
+preparations for departing, I took my leave of that city for the
+North, on the 31st of October, 1839. I was accompanied by a caravan
+consisting of twenty-two wagons (all of which save one belonged to
+me), and forty odd men, armed to the teeth, and prepared for any
+emergency we might be destined to encounter: a precaution altogether
+necessary, in view of the hordes of hostile savages which at all times
+infested the route before us.
+
+We also set out provided with an ample stock of bread and other
+necessaries; for, from the suburbs of Chihuahua to the village of
+{123} Carrizal, a distance of nearly a hundred and fifty miles, there
+are no settlements on the route, from whence to procure supplies. To
+furnish the party with meat, I engaged twenty sheep, to be delivered a
+few miles on the way, which were to be driven along for our daily
+consumption. But the contractor having failed, we found ourselves
+entering the wilderness without a morsel of meat. The second day our
+men began to murmur--it was surely 'dry living' upon mere bread and
+coffee: in fact, by the time we entered the 'territory' of the
+Hacienda de Encinillas, spoken of in another chapter, they were
+clearly suffering from hunger. I was therefore under the necessity of
+sending three Mexican muleteers of our party [Pg194] to _lazo_ a beef
+from a herd which was grazing at some distance from where we had
+pitched our camp; being one of those buffalo-like droves which run so
+nearly wild upon this extensive domain. It had been customary, from
+time immemorial, for travellers when they happened to be distressed
+for meat, to supply their wants out of the wild cattle which nominally
+belonged to this hacienda, reserving to themselves the privilege of
+paying a reasonable price afterwards to the proprietor for the damage
+committed. I must say, however, that, although I had travelled over
+the same road nine times, I had never before resorted to this summary
+mode of procuring food; nor should I, on the present occasion, have
+deviated from my regular practice, though thus partially authorized by
+a custom of the {124} country, but for the strait in which we found
+ourselves, and the fact that I was confident I should meet either with
+a _mayordomo_ or some of the _vaqueros_, to whom I could pay the value
+of the beef, before passing beyond the purlieus of the hacienda, upon
+the lands of which we had yet to travel for sixty or eighty miles.
+
+The muleteers had just commenced giving chase to the cattle, when we
+perceived several horsemen emerge from behind a contiguous eminence,
+and pursue them at full speed. Believing the assailants to be Indians,
+and seeing them shoot at one of the men, chase another, and seize the
+third, bearing him off prisoner, several of us prepared to hasten to
+the rescue, when the other two men came running in and informed us
+that the aggressors were Mexican vaqueros. We followed them,
+notwithstanding, to the village of Torreon, five or six miles to the
+westward, where we found a crowd of people already collected around
+our poor friend, who was trembling from head to foot, as though he had
+really fallen into the hands of savages. I immediately inquired for
+the mayordomo, when I was [Pg195] informed that the proprietor
+himself, Don Angel Trias, was present. Accordingly I addressed myself
+to _su senoria_, setting forth the innocence of my servant, and
+declaring myself solely responsible for whatever crime had been
+committed. Trias, however, was immovable in his determination to send
+the boy back to Chihuahua to be tried for robbery, and all further
+expostulation only drew down the {125} grossest and coarsest insults
+upon myself, as well as my country, of which he professed no
+inconsiderable knowledge.[129]
+
+The altercation was at first conducted solely in Spanish; but the
+princely senor growing weary of hearing so many unpalatable truths
+told of himself in the vernacular of his own humble and astounded
+menials, he stepped out from among the crowd, and addressed me in
+English,--a language in which he had acquired some proficiency in the
+course of his travels. The change of language by no means altered his
+views, nor abated his pertinacity. At last, finding there was nothing
+to be gained by this war of words, I ordered the boy to mount his
+horse and rejoin the wagons. "Beware of the consequences!" vociferated
+the enraged Trias. "Well, let them come," I replied; "here we are."
+But we were suffered to depart in peace with the prisoner.
+
+That the reader may be able to form some idea of the pusillanimity of
+this lordly _haciendero_, it is only necessary to add, that when the
+altercation took place we were inside of the fortifications, from
+which our egress might easily have been prevented by simply closing
+the outer gate. We [Pg196] were surrounded by the whole population of
+the village, besides a {126} small detachment of regular troops, whose
+commandant took a very active part in the controversy, and fought most
+valiantly with his tongue. But the valor of the illustrious Senor Don
+Angel knew a much safer course than to vent itself where there was
+even a remote chance of personal risk. His influence could not fail to
+enlist the public in his behalf, and he thought no doubt that his
+battles might just as well be fought by the officers of justice as by
+himself.
+
+Yet ignorant of his designs, and supposing the matter would end at
+this, we continued our march the next day, and by the time night
+approached we were full twenty miles from the seat of our late
+troubles. While at breakfast on the following morning we were greatly
+surprised by the appearance of two American gentlemen direct from
+Chihuahua, who had ridden thus far purposely to apprise us of what was
+brewing in the city to our detriment. It appeared that Trias had sent
+an express to the governor accusing me of rescuing a culprit from the
+hands of justice by force of arms, and that great preparations were
+accordingly being made to overtake and carry me back. That the reader
+may be able to understand the full extent and enormity of my offence,
+he has only to be informed that the proprietor of an hacienda is at
+once governor, justice of the peace, and everything besides which he
+has a mind to fancy himself--a perfect despot within the limits of his
+little dominion. It was, therefore, through contempt for _his_
+'excellency' {127} that I had insulted the majesty of the laws!
+
+Having expressed my sentiments of gratitude to my worthy countrymen
+for the pains they had taken on my account, we again pursued our
+journey, determined to abide the worst. This happened on the 3d of
+November: on the [Pg197] 5th we encamped near the Ojo Caliente, a
+hundred and thirty miles from Chihuahua. About eleven o'clock at
+night, a large body of men were seen approaching. They very soon
+passed us, and quietly encamped at a distance of several hundred
+yards. They were over a hundred in number.
+
+Nothing further occurred till next morning, when, just as I had risen
+from my pallet, a soldier approached and inquired if I was up. In a
+few minutes he returned with a message from _El Senor Capitan_ to know
+if he could see me. Having answered in the affirmative, a very
+courteous and agreeable personage soon made his appearance, who, after
+bowing and scraping until I began to be seriously afraid that his body
+would break in two, finally opened his mission by handing me a packet
+of letters, one of which contained an order from the Governor for my
+immediate presence in Chihuahua, together with the three muleteers
+whom I had sent after the cattle; warning me, at the same time, not to
+give cause, by my resistance, for any other measure, which might be
+unpleasant to my person. The next document was from Senor Trias
+himself, in which he expressed his regret {128} at having carried the
+matter to such an extreme, and ended with the usual offer of his
+services to facilitate an adjustment. Those, however, which most
+influenced my course, were from Don Jose Artalejo (_Juez de Hacienda_,
+Judge of the Customs, of Chihuahua), who offered to become responsible
+for a favorable issue if I would peaceably return; and another from a
+Mr. Sutton, with whom I had formerly been connected in business. The
+manly and upright deportment of this gentleman had inspired me with
+the greatest confidence, and therefore caused me to respect his
+opinions. But, besides my obligation to submit to a mandate from the
+government, however arbitrary and oppressive, another [Pg198] strong
+motive which induced me to return, in obedience to the Governor's
+order, was a latent misgiving lest any hostile movement on my part, no
+matter with what justice or necessity, might jeopardize the interests
+if not the lives of many of my countrymen in Chihuahua.
+
+With regard to ourselves and our immediate safety, we would have found
+but very little difficulty in fighting our way out of the country. We
+were all well-armed, and many appeared even anxious to have a brush
+with the besiegers. However, I informed the captain that I was willing
+to return to Chihuahua, with the three 'criminals,' provided we were
+permitted to go armed and free, as I was not aware of having committed
+any crime to justify an arrest. He rejoined that {129} this was
+precisely in accordance with his orders, and politely tendered me an
+escort of five or six soldiers, who should be placed under my command,
+to strengthen us against the Indians, that were known to infest our
+route. Thanking him for his favor, I at once started for Chihuahua,
+leaving the wagons to continue slowly on the journey, and the amiable
+captain with his band of _valientes_ to retrace their steps at leisure
+towards the capital.
+
+Late on the evening of the third day, I reached the city, and put up
+at the American Fonda, where I was fortunate enough to meet with my
+friend Artalejo, who at once proposed that we should proceed forthwith
+to the Governor's house. When we found ourselves in the presence of
+his excellency, my valued friend began by remarking that I had
+returned according to orders, and that he would answer for me with his
+person and property; and then, without even waiting for a reply, he
+turned to me and expressed a hope that I would make his house my
+residence while I remained in the city. I could not, of course,
+decline so friendly an invitation, particularly as I thought it
+probable [Pg199] that, being virtually my bail, he might prefer to
+have me near his person. But, as soon as we reached the street, he
+very promptly removed that suspicion from my mind. "I invite you to my
+house," said he, "as a friend, and not as a prisoner. If you have any
+business to transact, do not hold yourself under the least restraint.
+To-morrow I will see the affair satisfactorily settled."
+
+{130} The _Junta Departamental_, or State Council, of which Senor
+Artalejo was an influential member, was convened the following day.
+Meanwhile, every American I met with expressed a great deal of
+surprise to see me at liberty, as, from the excitement which had
+existed in the city, they expected I would have been lodged in the
+safest calabozo. I was advised not to venture much into the streets,
+as the rabble were very much incensed against me; but, although I
+afterwards wandered about pretty freely, no one offered to molest me;
+in fact, I must do the 'sovereigns of the city' the justice to say,
+that I was never more politely treated than during this occasion.
+Others suggested that, as Trias was one of the most wealthy and
+influential citizens of Chihuahua, I had better try to pave my way out
+of the difficulty with _plata_, as I could stand no chance in law
+against him. To this, however, I strenuously objected. I felt
+convinced that I had been ordered back to Chihuahua mainly for
+purposes of extortion, and I was determined that the _oficiales_
+should be disappointed. I had unbounded confidence in the friendship
+and integrity of Don Jose Artalejo, who was quite an exception to the
+general character of his countrymen. He was liberal, enlightened and
+honorable, and I shall ever remember with gratitude the warm interest
+he took in my affair, when he could have had no other motive for
+befriending me except what might spring from the consciousness of
+having performed a generous action. [Pg200]
+
+{131} At first, when the subject of my liberation was discussed in the
+_Junta Departamental_, the symptoms were rather squally, as some
+bigoted and unruly members of the Council seemed determined to have me
+punished, right or wrong. After a long and tedious debate, however, my
+friend brought me the draft of a petition which he desired me to copy
+and sign, and upon the presentation of which to the Governor, it had
+been agreed I should be released. This step, I was informed, had been
+resolved upon, because, after mature deliberation, the Council came to
+the conclusion that the proceedings against me had been extremely
+arbitrary and illegal, and that, if I should hereafter prosecute the
+Department, I might recover heavy damages. The wholesome lesson which
+had so lately been taught the Mexicans by France, was perhaps the
+cause of the fears of the Chihuahua authorities. A clause was
+therefore inserted in the petition, wherein I was made to renounce all
+intention on my part of ever troubling the Department on the subject,
+and became myself a suppliant to have the affair considered as
+concluded.
+
+This petition I would never have consented to sign, had I not been
+aware of the arbitrary power which was exercised over me.
+Imprisonment, in itself, was of but little consequence; but the total
+destruction of my property, which might have been the result of
+further detention, was an evil which I deemed it necessary to ward
+off, even at a great sacrifice {132} of feeling. Moreover, being in
+duress, no forced concession would, of course, be obligatory upon me
+after I resumed my liberty. Again, I felt no very great inclination to
+sue for redress where there was so little prospect of procuring
+anything. I might certainly have represented the matter to the Mexican
+government, and even have obtained perhaps the acknowledgment of my
+claims against Chihuahua for damages; but the payment would [Pg201]
+have been extremely doubtful. As to our own Government, I had too much
+experience to rely for a moment upon her interposition.
+
+During the progress of these transactions, I strove to ascertain the
+character of the charges made against me; but in vain. All I knew was,
+that I had offended a _rico_, and had been summoned back to Chihuahua
+at his instance; yet whether for 'high treason,' for an attempt at
+robbery, or for contempt to his _senoria_, I knew not. It is not
+unusual, however, in that 'land of liberty,' for a person to be
+arrested and even confined for weeks without knowing the cause. The
+writ of _Habeas Corpus_ appears unknown in the judicial tribunals of
+Northern Mexico.
+
+Upon the receipt of my petition, the Governor immediately issued the
+following decree, which I translate for the benefit of the reader, as
+being not a bad specimen of Mexican grand eloquence:
+
+"In consideration of the memorial which you have this day directed to
+the Superior Government, His Excellency, {133} the Governor, has been
+pleased to issue the following decree:
+
+"'That, as Don Angel Trias has withdrawn his prosecution, so far as
+relates to his personal interests, the Government, using the equity
+with which it ought to look upon faults committed without a deliberate
+intention to infringe the laws, which appears presumable in the
+present case, owing to the memorialist's ignorance of them, the grace
+which he solicits is granted to him; and, in consequence, he is at
+liberty to retire when he chooses: to which end, and that he may not
+be interrupted by the authorities, a copy of this decree will be
+transmitted to him.'
+
+"In virtue of the above, I inclose the said decree to you, for the
+purposes intended.
+
+"God and Liberty. Chihuahua, Nov. 9, 1839.
+
+  "AMADO DE LA VEGA, Sec.
+
+  "TO DON JOSIAH GREGG."
+
+Thus terminated this 'momentous' affair. The moral of it may be summed
+up in a few words. A citizen [Pg202] of the United States who, under
+the faith of treaties, is engaged in his business, may be seized and
+harassed by the arbitrary authorities of Chihuahua with perfect
+impunity, because experience has proved that the American Government
+winks at almost every individual outrage, as utterly unworthy of its
+serious consideration. At the same time, the Indians may enter, as
+they frequently do, the suburbs of the city,--rob, plunder, and
+destroy life, without a single soldier being raised, or an effort made
+to bring the savage malefactors within the pale of justice. But a few
+days before the occasion of my difficulty at Torreon, the Apaches had
+killed a ranchero or two in the immediate neighborhood of the same
+village; and afterwards, {134} at the very time such a bustle was
+being made in Chihuahua to raise troops for my 'special benefit,' the
+Indians entered the corn-fields in the suburbs of the city, and killed
+several _labradores_ who were at work in them. In neither of these
+cases, however, were there any troops at command to pursue and
+chastise the depredators--though a whole army was in readiness to
+persecute our party. The truth is, they felt much less reluctance to
+pursue a band of civil traders, who, they were well aware, could not
+assume a hostile attitude, than to be caught in the wake of a band of
+savages, who would as little respect their lives as their laws and
+their property.
+
+Early on the morning of the 10th, I once more, and for the last time,
+and with anything but regret, took my leave of Chihuahua, with my
+companions in trouble. Toward the afternoon we met my old friend the
+captain, with his valiant followers, whom I found as full of urbanity
+as ever--so much so, indeed, that he never even asked to see my
+passport.
+
+On the evening of the next day, now in the heart of the savage haunts,
+we were not a little alarmed by the appearance of a large body of
+horsemen in the distance. [Pg203] They turned out, however, to be
+_Pasenos_, or citizens of the Paso del Norte. They were on their way
+to Chihuahua with a number of pack-mules laden with apples, pears,
+grapes, wine, and _aguardiente_--proceeds of their productive orchards
+and vineyards. It is from El Paso that Chihuahua is chiefly supplied
+with fruits and {135} liquors, which are transported on mules or in
+carretas. The fruits, as well fresh as in a dried state, are thus
+carried to the distant markets. The grapes, carefully dried in the
+shade, make excellent _pasas_ or raisins, of which large quantities
+are annually prepared for market by the people of that delightful town
+of vineyards and orchards, who, to take them altogether, are more
+sober and industrious than those of any other part of Mexico I have
+visited; and are happily less infested by the extremes of wealth and
+poverty.
+
+On the 13th, I overtook my wagons a few miles south of El Paso, whence
+our journey was continued, without any additional casualty, and on the
+6th of December we reached Santa Fe, in fine health and spirits.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[122] The distance from Chihuahua to Durango is about five hundred
+miles, and from thence to Aguascalientes it is nearly three
+hundred--upon the route we travelled, which was very circuitous. All
+the intermediate country resembles, in its physical features, that
+lying immediately north of Chihuahua, which has already been
+described.--GREGG.
+
+[123] Jesus-Maria is still a mining town in western Chihuahua, in the
+heart of a sierra of the same name.--ED.
+
+[124] Water has sometimes accumulated so rapidly in this mine as to
+stop operations for weeks together.--GREGG.
+
+[125] The Mexican money table is as follows: 12 _granos_ make 1
+_real_; 8 _reales_, 1 _peso_, or dollar. These are the divisions used
+in computation, but instead of _granos_, the copper coins of Chihuahua
+and many other places, are the _claco_ or _jola_ (1/8 real) and the
+_cuartilla_ (1/4 real). The silver coins are the _medio_ (6-1/4
+cents), the _real_ (12-1/2 cents), the _peseta_ (2 reales), the
+_toston_ or half dollar, and the _peso_ or dollar. The gold coins are
+the _doblon_ or _onza_ (doubloon), with the same subdivisions as the
+silver dollar, which are also of the same weight. The par value of the
+doubloon is sixteen dollars; but, as there is no kind of paper
+currency, gold, as the most convenient remittance, usually commands a
+high premium--sometimes so high, indeed, that the doubloon is valued
+in the North at from eighteen to twenty dollars.--GREGG.
+
+[126] See Kendall, _Texan Santa Fe Expedition_, ii, pp. 66-73.--ED.
+
+[127] For Hidalgo, see our volume xix, p. 176, note 11 (Gregg).--ED.
+
+[128] For Guerrero and Iturbide see Pattie's _Narrative_, in our
+volume xviii, p. 314 (note 130), p. 362 (note 141).--ED.
+
+[129] Trias, while yet a youth, was dispatched by his adopted father
+to take the tour of Europe and the United States. He was furnished for
+'pocket money' (as I have been told) with nearly a hundred _barras de
+plata_, each worth a thousand dollars or upwards. This money he easily
+got rid of during his travels, but retained most of his innate bigotry
+and self-importance: and, with his knowledge of the superiority of the
+people among whom he journeyed, grew his hatred for foreigners.
+--GREGG.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV [VIII]
+
+Preparations for returning Home -- Breaking out of the Small-pox --
+  The Start -- Our Caravan -- Manuel the Comanche -- A New Route --
+  The Prairie on Fire -- Danger to be apprehended from these
+  Conflagrations -- A Comanche Buffalo-chase -- A Skirmish with the
+  Pawnees -- An intrepid Mexican -- The Wounded -- Value of a thick
+  Skull -- Retreat of the Enemy and their Failure -- A bleak
+  Northwester -- Loss of our Sheep -- The Llano Estacado and Sources
+  of Red River -- The Canadian River -- Cruelties upon Buffalo --
+  Feats at 'Still-hunting' -- Mr. Wethered's Adventure -- Once more on
+  our own Soil -- The False Washita -- Enter our former Trail --
+  Character of the Country over which we had travelled -- Arrival at
+  Van Buren -- The two Routes to Santa Fe -- Some Advantages of that
+  from Arkansas -- Restlessness of Prairie Travellers in civilized
+  life, and Propensity for returning to the Wild Deserts.
+
+
+About the beginning of February, 1840, and just as I was making
+preparations to return to the United States, [Pg204] the small-pox
+broke out among my men, in a manner which at first occasioned at least
+as much astonishment as alarm. One of them, who had been vaccinated,
+having travelled in a district where the small-pox prevailed,
+complained of a little fever, which was followed by slight eruptions,
+but so unlike true variolous pustules, that I treated the matter very
+lightly; not even suspecting a varioloid. These slight symptoms {137}
+having passed off, nothing more was thought of it until eight or ten
+days after, when every unvaccinated member of our company was attacked
+by that fell disease, which soon began to manifest very malignant
+features. There were no fatal cases, however; yet much apprehension
+was felt, lest the disease should break out again on the route; but,
+to our great joy, we escaped this second scourge.
+
+A party that left Santa Fe for Missouri soon afterward, was much more
+unfortunate. On the way, several of their men were attacked by the
+small-pox: some of them died, and, others retaining the infection till
+they approached the Missouri frontier, they were compelled to undergo
+a 'quarantine' in the bordering prairie, before they were permitted to
+enter the settlements.
+
+On the 25th of February we set out from Santa Fe; but owing to some
+delays, we did not leave San Miguel till the 1st of March. As the
+pasturage was yet insufficient for our animals, we here provided
+ourselves with over six hundred bushels of corn, to feed them on the
+way. This time our caravan consisted of twenty-eight wagons, two small
+cannons, and forty-seven men, including sixteen Mexicans and a
+Comanche Indian who acted in the capacity of guide.[130] Two gentlemen
+of Baltimore, {138} Messrs. [Pg205] S. Wethered and J. R. Ware, had
+joined our caravan with one wagon and three men, making up the
+aggregate above-mentioned. We had also a caballada of more than two
+hundred mules, with nearly three hundred sheep and goats. The sheep
+were brought along partially to supply us with meat in case of
+emergency: the surplusage, however, could not fail to command a fair
+price in the United States.
+
+Instead of following the trail of the year before, I determined to
+seek a nearer and better route down the south side of the Canadian
+river, under the guidance of the Comanche; by which movement, we had
+again to travel a distance of four hundred miles over an entirely new
+country. We had just passed the Laguna Colorada, where, the following
+year, a division of Texan volunteers, under General McLeod,
+surrendered to Col. Archuleta,[131] when our fire was carelessly
+permitted to communicate with the prairie grass. As there was a
+head-wind blowing at the time, we very soon got out of reach of the
+conflagration: but the next day, the wind having changed, the fire was
+again perceived in our rear approaching us at a very brisk pace. The
+terror [Pg206] which these prairie conflagrations are calculated to
+inspire, when the grass is tall and dry, as was the case in the
+present instance, has often {139} been described, and though the
+perils of these disasters are not unfrequently exaggerated, they are
+sometimes sufficient to daunt the stoutest heart. Mr. Kendall relates
+a frightful incident of this kind which occurred to the Texan Santa Fe
+Exposition; and all those who have crossed the Prairies have had more
+or less experience as to the danger which occasionally threatens the
+caravans from these sweeping visitations. The worst evil to be
+apprehended with those bound for Santa Fe is from the explosion of
+gunpowder, as a keg or two of twenty-five pounds each, is usually to
+be found in every wagon. When we saw the fire gaining so rapidly upon
+us, we had to use the whip very unsparingly; and it was only when the
+lurid flames were actually rolling upon the heels of our teams, that
+we succeeded in reaching a spot of short-grass prairie, where there
+was no further danger to be apprehended.
+
+The headway of the conflagration was soon after checked by a small
+stream which traversed our route; and we had only emerged fairly from
+its smoke, on the following day (the 9th), when our Comanche guide
+returned hastily from his accustomed post in advance, and informed us
+that he had espied three buffaloes, not far off. They were the first
+we had met with, and, being heartily anxious for a change from the
+dried beef with which we were provided, I directed the Comanche, who
+was by far our surest hunter, to prepare at once for the _chasse_. He
+said he preferred to hunt on {140} horseback and with his bow and
+arrow; and believing my riding-horse the fleetest in company (which,
+by the by, was but a common pony, and thin in flesh withal), I
+dismounted and gave him the bridle, with many charges to treat him
+kindly, as we still had a long journey before [Pg207] us. "Don't
+attempt to kill but one--that will serve us for the present!" I
+exclaimed, as he galloped off. The Comanche was among the largest of
+his tribe--bony and muscular--weighing about two hundred pounds: but
+once at his favorite sport, he very quickly forgot my injunction, as
+well as the weakness of my little pony. He soon brought down two of
+his game,--and shyly remarked to those who followed in his wake, that,
+had he not feared a scolding from me, he would not have permitted the
+third to escape.
+
+On the evening of the 10th our camp was pitched in the neighborhood of
+a ravine in the prairie, and as the night was dark and dreary, the
+watch tried to comfort themselves by building a rousing fire, around
+which they presently drew, and commenced 'spinning long yarns' about
+Mexican fandangoes, and black-eyed damsels. All of a sudden the
+stillness of the night was interrupted by a loud report of fire-arms,
+and a shower of bullets came whizzing by the ears of the heedless
+sentinels. Fortunately, however, no one was injured; which must be
+looked upon as a very extraordinary circumstance, when we consider
+what a fair mark our men, thus huddled {141} round a blazing fire,
+presented to the rifles of the Indians. The savage yells, which
+resounded from every part of the ravine, bore very satisfactory
+testimony that this was no false alarm; and the 'Pawnee whistle' which
+was heard in every quarter, at once impressed us with the idea of its
+being a band of that famous prairie banditti.
+
+Every man sprang from his pallet with rifle in hand; for, upon the
+Prairies, we always sleep with our arms by our sides or under our
+heads. Our Comanche seemed at first very much at a loss what to do. At
+last, thinking it might possibly be a band of his own nation, he began
+a most boisterous harangue in his vernacular tongue, which he [Pg208]
+continued for several minutes; when finding that the enemy took no
+notice of him, and having become convinced also, from an occasional
+Pawnee word which he was able to make out, that he had been wasting
+breath with the mortal foes of his race, he suddenly ceased all
+expostulations, and blazed away with his rifle, with a degree of
+earnestness which was truly edifying, as if convinced that that was
+the best he could do for us.
+
+It was now evident that the Indians had taken possession of the entire
+ravine, the nearest points of which were not fifty yards from our
+wagons: a warning to prairie travellers to encamp at a greater
+distance from whatsoever might afford shelter for an enemy. The banks
+of the gully were low, but still they formed a very good breastwork,
+behind which {142} the enemy lay ensconced, discharging volleys of
+balls upon our wagons, among which we were scattered. At one time we
+thought of making an attempt to rout them from their fortified
+position; but being ignorant of their number, and unable to
+distinguish any object through the dismal darkness which hung all
+around, we had to remain content with firing at random from behind our
+wagons, aiming at the flash of their guns, or in the direction whence
+any noise appeared to emanate. Indeed their yelling was almost
+continuous, breaking out every now and then in the most hideous
+screams and vociferous chattering, which were calculated to appal such
+timorous persons as we may have had in our caravan. All their
+screeching and whooping, however, had no effect--they could not make
+our animals break from the enclosure of the wagons, in which they were
+fortunately shut up; which was no doubt their principal object for
+attacking us.
+
+I cannot forbear recording a most daring feat performed by a Mexican
+muleteer, named Antonio Chavez, during the hottest of the first onset.
+Seeing the danger of my [Pg209] two favorite riding horses, which
+were tethered outside within a few paces of the savages, he rushed out
+and brought safely in the most valuable of the two, though fusil-balls
+were showering around him all the while. The other horse broke his
+halter and made his escape.
+
+Although sundry scores of shots had been fired at our people, we had
+only two men {143} wounded. One, a Mexican, was but slightly injured
+in the hand, but the wound of the other, who was an Italian, bore a
+more serious aspect, and deserves especial mention. He was a short,
+corpulent fellow, and had been nicknamed 'Dutch'--a loquacious,
+chicken-hearted _faineant_, and withal in the daily habit of gorging
+himself to such an enormous extent, that every alternate night he was
+on the sick list. On this memorable occasion, Dutch had 'foundered'
+again, and the usual prescription of a double dose of Epsom salts had
+been his supper potion. The skirmish had continued for about an hour,
+and although a frightful groaning had been heard in Dutch's wagon for
+some time, no one paid any attention to it, as it was generally
+supposed to be from the effects of his dose. At length, however, some
+one cried out, "Dutch is wounded!" I immediately went to see him, and
+found him writhing and twisting himself as if in great pain, crying
+all the time that he was shot. "Shot!--where?" I inquired. "Ah! in the
+head, sir?" "Pshaw! Dutch, none of that; you've only bumped your head
+in trying to hide yourself." Upon lighting a match, however, I found
+that a ball had passed through the middle of his hat, and that, to my
+consternation, the top of his head was bathed in blood. It turned out,
+upon subsequent examination, that the ball had glanced upon the skull,
+inflicting a serious-looking wound, and so deep that an inch of sound
+skin separated the holes at which the {144} bullet had entered and
+passed out. Notwithstanding I at first apprehended [Pg210] a fracture
+of the scull, it very soon healed, and Dutch was 'up and about' again
+in the course of a week.
+
+Although teachers not unfrequently have cause to deplore the thickness
+of their pupils' skulls, Dutch had every reason to congratulate
+himself upon possessing such a treasure, as it had evidently preserved
+him from a more serious catastrophe. It appeared he had taken shelter
+in his wagon at the commencement of the attack, without reflecting
+that the boards and sheets were not ball-proof: and as Indians,
+especially in the night, are apt to shoot too high, he was in a much
+more dangerous situation than if upon the ground.
+
+The enemy continued the attack for nearly three hours, when they
+finally retired, so as to make good their retreat before daylight. As
+it rained and snowed from that time till nine in the morning, their
+'sign' was almost entirely obliterated, and we were unable to discover
+whether they had received any injury or not. It was evidently a foot
+party, which we looked upon as another proof of their being Pawnees;
+for these famous marauders are well known to go forth on their
+expeditions of plunder without horses, although they seldom fail to
+return well mounted.
+
+Their shot had riddled our wagons considerably: in one we counted no
+less than eight bullet-holes. We had the gratification to believe,
+however, that they did not get a single {145} one of our animals: the
+horse which broke away at the first onset, doubtless made his escape;
+and a mule which was too badly wounded to travel, was dispatched by
+the muleteers, lest it should fall into the hands of the savages, or
+into the mouths of the wolves; and they deemed it more humane to leave
+it to be eaten dead than alive. We also experienced considerable
+damage in our stock of sheep, a number of them having been devoured by
+wolves. They had been scattered at the beginning of the attack;
+[Pg211] and, in their anxiety to fly from the scene of action, had
+jumped, as it were, into the very jaws of their ravenous enemies.
+
+On the 12th of March, we ascended upon the celebrated _Llano
+Estacado_, and continued along its borders for a few days. The second
+night upon this dreary plain, we experienced one of the strongest and
+bleakest 'northwesters' that ever swept across those prairies; during
+which, our flock of sheep and goats, being left unattended, fled over
+the plain, in search of some shelter, it was supposed, from the
+furious element. Their disappearance was not observed for some time,
+and the night being too dark to discern anything, we were obliged to
+defer going in pursuit of them till the following morning. After a
+fruitless and laborious search, during which the effects of the mirage
+proved a constant source of annoyance and disappointment, we were
+finally obliged to relinquish the pursuit, and return to the caravan
+without finding one of them.
+
+{146} These severe winds are very prevalent upon the great western
+prairies, though they are seldom quite so inclement. At some seasons,
+they are about as regular and unceasing as the 'trade winds' of the
+ocean. It will often blow a gale for days, and even weeks together,
+without slacking for a moment, except occasionally at night. It is for
+this reason, as well as on account of the rains, that percussion guns
+are preferable upon the Prairies, particularly for those who
+understand their use. The winds are frequently so severe as to sweep
+away both sparks and priming from a flint lock, and thus render it
+wholly ineffective.
+
+The following day we continued our march down the border of the Llano
+Estacado. Knowing that our Comanche guide was about as familiar with
+all those great plains as a landlord with his premises, I began to
+question him, [Pg212] as we travelled along, concerning the different
+streams which pierced them to the southward. Pointing in that
+direction, he said there passed a water-course, at the distance of a
+hard day's ride, which he designated as a _canada_ or valley, in which
+there was always water to be found at occasional places, but that none
+flowed in its channel except during the rainy season. This canada he
+described as having its origin in the Llano Estacado some fifty or
+sixty miles east of Rio Pecos, and about the same distance south of
+the route we came, and that its direction was a little south of east,
+passing to the southward {147} of the northern portion of the Witchita
+mountains, known to Mexican Ciboleros and Comancheros as _Sierra
+Jumanes_. It was, therefore, evident that this was the principal
+northern branch of Red River. The False Washita, or _Rio Negro_, as
+the Mexicans call it, has its rise, as he assured me, between the
+Canadian and this canada, at no great distance of the southeastward of
+where we were then travelling.
+
+On the 15th, our Comanche guide, being fearful lest we should find no
+water upon the plain, advised us to pursue a more northwardly course,
+so that, after a hard day's ride, we again descended the _ceja_ or
+brow of the Llano Estacado, into the undulating lands which border the
+Canadian; and, on the following day, we found ourselves upon the
+southern bank of that stream.
+
+Although, but a few days' travel above where we now were, the Canadian
+runs pent up in a narrow channel, scarcely four rods across, we here
+found it spread out to the width of from three to six hundred yards,
+and so full of sand-bars (only interspersed with narrow rills) as to
+present the appearance of a mere sandy valley instead of the bed of a
+river. In fact, during the driest seasons, the water wholly disappears
+in many places. Captain Boone, of the U. S. Dragoons, being upon an
+exploring expedition [Pg213] in the summer of 1843, came to the
+Canadian about the region of our western boundary, where he found the
+channel perfectly dry.[132] Notwithstanding {148} it presents the face
+of one of the greatest rivers of the west during freshets, yet even
+then it would not be navigable on account of its rapidity and
+shallowness. It would appear almost incredible to those unacquainted
+with the prairie streams, that a river of about 1500 miles in length,
+and whose head wears a cap of perennial snow (having its source in the
+Rocky Mountains), should scarcely be navigable, for even the smallest
+craft, over fifty miles above its mouth.
+
+We pursued our course down the same side of the river for several
+days, during which time we crossed a multitude of little streams which
+flowed into the Canadian from the adjoining plains, while others
+presented nothing but dry beds of sand. One of these was so
+remarkable, on account of its peculiarity and size, that we named it
+'Dry River.' The bed was at least 200 yards wide, yet without a
+vestige of water; notwithstanding, our guide assured us that it was a
+brisk-flowing stream some leagues above: and from the drift-wood along
+its borders, it was evident that, even here, it must be a considerable
+river during freshets.[133]
+
+While traveling down the course of the Canadian, we sometimes found
+the buffalo very abundant. On one [Pg214] occasion, two or three
+hunters, who were a little in advance of the caravan, perceiving a
+herd quietly grazing in an open glade, they 'crawled upon' them after
+the manner of the 'still hunters.' Their first shot having brought
+down a fine {149} fat cow, they slipped up behind her, and, resting
+their guns over her body, shot two or three others, without
+occasioning any serious disturbance or surprise to their companions;
+for, extraordinary as it may appear, if the buffalo neither see nor
+smell the hunter, they will pay but little attention to the crack of
+guns, or to the mortality which is being dealt among them.
+
+The slaughter of these animals is frequently carried to an excess,
+which shows the depravity of the human heart in very bold relief. Such
+is the excitement that generally prevails at the sight of these fat
+denizens of the prairies, that very few hunters appear able to refrain
+from shooting as long as the game remains within reach of their
+rifles; nor can they ever permit a fair shot to escape them. Whether
+the mere pleasure of taking life is {150} the incentive of these
+brutal excesses, I will not pretend to decide; but one thing is very
+certain, that the buffalo killed yearly on these prairies far exceeds
+the wants of the traveller, or what might be looked upon as the
+exigencies of rational sport.[134]
+
+But in making these observations, I regret that I cannot give to my
+precepts the force of my own example: I have not always been able
+wholly to withstand the cruel temptation. Not long after the incident
+above alluded to, as I was pioneering alone, according to my usual
+practice, at a distance of a mile or two ahead of the wagons, in
+search of the best route, I perceived in a glade, a few rods in front
+[Pg215] of me, several protuberances, which at first occasioned me no
+little fright, for I took them, as they loomed dimly through the tall
+grass, for the tops of Indian lodges. But I soon discovered they were
+the huge humps of a herd of buffalo, which were quietly grazing.
+
+I immediately alighted, and approached unobserved to within forty or
+fifty yards of the unsuspecting animals. Being armed with one of
+Cochran's nine-chambered rifles, I took aim at one that stood
+broad-side, and 'blazed away.' The buffalo threw up their heads and
+looked about, but seeing nothing (for I remained concealed in the
+grass), they again {151} went on grazing as though nothing had
+happened. The truth is, the one I had shot was perhaps but little
+hurt; for, as generally happens with the inexperienced hunter--and
+often with those who know better, the first excitement allowing no
+time for reflection--I no doubt aimed too high, so as to lodge the
+ball in the hump. A buffalo's heart lies exceedingly low, so that to
+strike it the shot should enter not over one-fourth of the depth of
+the body above the lower edge of the breast bone.
+
+The brutes were no sooner quiet, than I took another and more
+deliberate aim at my former victim, which resulted as before. But
+believing him now mortally wounded, I next fired in quick succession
+at four others of the gang. It occurred to me, by this time, that I
+had better save my remaining three shots; for it was possible enough
+for my firing to attract the attention of strolling savages, who might
+take advantage of my empty gun to make a sortie upon me--yet there
+stood my buffalo, some of them still quietly feeding.
+
+As I walked out from my concealment, a party of our own men came
+galloping up from the wagons, considerably alarmed. They had heard the
+six shots, and, not recollecting my repeating rifle, supposed I had
+been attacked [Pg216] by Indians, and therefore came to my relief.
+Upon their approach the buffalo all fled, except three which appeared
+badly wounded--one indeed soon fell and expired. The other two would
+doubtless have followed {152} the example of the first, had not a
+hunter, anxious to dispatch them more speedily, approached too near;
+when, regaining strength from the excitement, they fled before him,
+and entirely escaped, though he pursued them for a considerable
+distance.
+
+A few days after this occurrence, Mr. Wethered returned to the camp
+one evening with seven buffalo tongues (the hunter's usual trophy)
+swung to his saddle. He said that, in the morning, one of the hunters
+had ungenerously objected to sharing a buffalo with him; whereupon Mr.
+W. set out, vowing he would kill buffalo for himself, and 'no thanks
+to any one.' He had not been out long when he spied a herd of only
+seven bulls, quietly feeding near a ravine; and slipping up behind the
+banks, he shot down one and then another, until they all lay before
+him; and their seven tongues he brought in to bear testimony of his
+skill.
+
+Not long after crossing Dry River, we ascended the high grounds, and
+soon found ourselves upon the high ridge which divides the waters of
+the Canadian and False Washita, whose 'breaks' could be traced
+descending from the Llano Estacado far to the southwest.
+
+By an observation of an eclipse of one of Jupiter's satellites, on the
+night of the 25th of March, in latitude 35 deg. 51' 30'', I found that we
+were very near the 100th degree of longitude west from Greenwich. On
+the following day, therefore, we celebrated our entrance into the
+United States territory. Those who {153} have never been beyond the
+purlieus of the land of their nativity, can form but a poor conception
+of the joy which the wanderer in distant climes [Pg217] experiences
+on treading once more upon his own native soil! Although we were yet
+far from the abodes of civilization, and further still from home,
+nevertheless the heart within us thrilled with exhilarating
+sensations; for we were again in our own territory, breathed our own
+free atmosphere, and were fairly out of reach of the arbitrary power
+which we had left behind us.
+
+As we continued our route upon this narrow dividing ridge, we could
+not help remarking how nearly these streams approach each other: in
+one place they seemed scarcely five miles apart. On this account our
+Comanche guide, as well as several Mexicans of our party, who had some
+acquaintance with these prairies, gave it as their opinion that the
+Washita or _Rio Negro_ was in fact a branch of the Canadian; for its
+confluence with Red River was beyond the bounds of their
+peregrinations.
+
+As the forest of Cross Timbers was now beginning to be seen in the
+distance, and fearing we might be troubled to find a passway through
+this brushy region, south of the Canadian, we forded this river on the
+29th, without the slightest trouble, and very soon entered our former
+trail, a little west of Spring Valley. This gave a new and joyful
+impulse to our spirits; for we had been travelling over twenty days
+without even a trail, {154} and through a region of which we knew
+absolutely nothing, except from what we could gather from our Comanche
+pilot. This trail, which our wagons had made the previous summer, was
+still visible, and henceforth there was an end to all misgivings.
+
+If we take a retrospective view of the country over which we
+travelled, we shall find but little that can ever present attractions
+to the agriculturist. Most of the low valleys of the Canadian, for a
+distance of five hundred miles, are either too sandy or too marshy for
+cultivation; and the upland prairies are, in many places, but little
+else than [Pg218] sand-hills. In some parts, it is true, they are
+firm and fertile, but wholly destitute of timber, with the exception
+of a diminutive branch of the Cross Timbers, which occupies a portion
+of the ridge betwixt the Canadian and the North Fork. The Canadian
+river itself is still more bare of timber than the upper Arkansas. In
+its whole course through the plains, there is but little except
+cottonwood, and that very scantily scattered along its banks--in some
+places, for leagues together, not a stick is to be seen. Except it be
+near the Mountains, where the valleys are more fertile, it is only the
+little narrow bottoms which skirt many of its tributary rivulets that
+indicate any amenity. Some of these are rich and beautiful in the
+extreme, timbered with walnut, mulberry, oak, elm, hackberry, and
+occasionally cedar about the bluffs.
+
+We now continued our journey without encountering any further
+casualty, except in {155} crossing the Arkansas river, where we lost
+several mules by drowning; and on the 22d of April we made our
+entrance into Van Buren. This trip was much more tedious and
+protracted than I had contemplated--owing, in the first part of the
+journey, to the inclemency of the season, and a want of pasturage for
+our animals; and, towards the conclusion, to the frequent rains, which
+kept the route in a miserable condition.
+
+Concerning this expedition, I have only one or two more remarks to
+offer. As regards the two different routes to Santa Fe, although
+Missouri, for various reasons which it is needless to explain here,
+can doubtless retain the monopoly of the Santa Fe trade, the route
+from Arkansas possesses many advantages. Besides its being some days'
+travel shorter,[135] it is less intersected with large streams; there
+are fewer sandy stretches, and a greater variety of [Pg219]
+wood-skirted brooks, affording throughout the journey very agreeable
+camping-places. Also, as the grass springs up nearly a month earlier
+than in Upper Missouri, caravans could start much sooner, and the
+proprietors would have double the time to conduct their mercantile
+transactions. Moreover, the return companies would find better
+pasturage on their way back, and reach their homes before the season
+of frost had far advanced. Again, such as should desire to engage in
+the 'stock {156} trade' would at once bring their mules and horses
+into a more congenial climate--one more in accordance with that of
+their nativity; for the rigorous winters of Missouri often prove fatal
+to the unacclimated Mexican animals.
+
+This was my last trip across the Plains, though I made an excursion,
+during the following summer, among the Comanche Indians, and other
+wild tribes, living in the heart of the Prairies, but returned without
+crossing to Mexico. The observations made during this trip will be
+found incorporated in the notices, which are to follow, of the
+Prairies and their inhabitants.
+
+Since that time I have striven in vain to reconcile myself to the even
+tenor of civilized life in the United States; and have sought in its
+amusements and its society a substitute for those high excitements
+which have attached me so strongly to Prairie life. Yet I am almost
+ashamed to confess that scarcely a day passes without my experiencing
+a pang of regret that I am not now roving at large upon those western
+plains. Nor do I find my taste peculiar; for I have hardly known a
+man, who has ever become familiar with the kind of life which I have
+led for so many years, that has not relinquished it with regret.
+
+There is more than one way of explaining this apparent incongruity. In
+the first place--the wild, unsettled and independent life of the
+Prairie trader, makes perfect freedom [Pg220] from nearly every kind
+of social dependence an absolute necessity of his being. He is in
+{157} daily, nay, hourly exposure of his life and property, and in the
+habit of relying upon his own arm and his own gun both for protection
+and support. Is he wronged? No court or jury is called to adjudicate
+upon his disputes or his abuses, save his own conscience; and no
+powers are invoked to redress them, save those with which the God of
+Nature has endowed him. He knows no government--no laws, save those of
+his own creation and adoption. He lives in no society which he must
+look up to or propitiate. The exchange of this untrammelled
+condition--this sovereign independence, for a life in civilization,
+where both his physical and moral freedom are invaded at every turn,
+by the complicated machinery of social institutions, is certainly
+likely to commend itself to but few,--not even to all those who have
+been educated to find their enjoyments in the arts and elegancies
+peculiar to civilized society;--as is evinced by the frequent
+instances of men of letters, of refinement and of wealth, voluntarily
+abandoning society for a life upon the Prairies, or in the still more
+savage mountain wilds.
+
+A 'tour on the Prairies' is certainly a _dangerous_ experiment for him
+who would live a quiet contented life at home among his friends and
+relatives: not so dangerous to life or health, as prejudicial to his
+domestic habits. Those who have lived pent up in our large cities,
+know but little of the broad, unembarrassed freedom of the Great
+Western Prairies. {158} Viewing them from a snug fire-side, they seem
+crowded with dangers, with labors and with sufferings; but once upon
+them, and these appear to vanish--they are soon forgotten.
+
+There is another consideration, which, with most men of the Prairies,
+operates seriously against their reconciliation to the habits of
+civilized life. Though they be [Pg221] endowed naturally with the
+organs of taste and refinement, and though once familiar with the ways
+and practices of civilized communities, yet a long absence from such
+society generally obliterates from their minds most of those common
+laws of social intercourse, which are so necessary to the man of the
+world. The awkwardness and the _gaucheries_ which ignorance of their
+details so often involves, are very trying to all men of sensitive
+temperaments. Consequently, multitudes rush back to the Prairies,
+merely to escape those criticisms and that ridicule, which they know
+not how to disarm.
+
+It will hardly be a matter of surprise then, when I add, that this
+passion for Prairie life, how paradoxical soever it may seem, will be
+very apt to lead me upon the Plains again, to spread my bed with the
+mustang and the buffalo, under the broad canopy of heaven,--there to
+seek to maintain undisturbed my confidence in men, by fraternizing
+with the little prairie dogs and wild colts, and the still wilder
+Indians--the _unconquered Sabaeans_ of the Great American Deserts.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[130] Manuel _el Comanche_ was a full Indian, born and bred upon the
+great prairies. Long after having arrived at the state of manhood, he
+accompanied some Mexican _Comancheros_ to the frontier village of San
+Miguel, where he fell in love with a Mexican girl--married her--and
+has lived in that place, a sober, 'civilized' citizen for the last ten
+or twelve years--endowed with much more goodness of heart and
+integrity of purpose than a majority of his Mexican neighbors. He had
+learned to speak Spanish quite intelligibly, and was therefore an
+excellent Comanche interpreter: and being familiar with every part of
+the prairies, he was very serviceable as a guide.--GREGG.
+
+[131] Laguna Colorada is in the northeastern part of what is now Quay
+County, New Mexico, about twelve miles west of Tucumcari Mount.
+
+General Hugh McLeod was born in New York in 1814. Graduated at West
+Point, he resigned from the army to offer his services to the Texans
+in their struggle for independence. He also commanded in a campaign
+against the Cherokee in 1839. After the unfortunate Texan-Santa Fe
+expedition, McLeod was imprisoned in Mexico for about a year, and
+finally released at the request of the United States government. He
+served throughout the Mexican War, and joining the Confederate army in
+1861 died in Virginia the following year.
+
+Colonel Juan Andres Archuleta, to whom McLeod surrendered, was not the
+Archuleta who conspired against the United States in 1846-47.--ED.
+
+[132] Nathan Boone was the youngest son of the noted pioneer Daniel.
+Born in Kentucky in 1780, he emigrated to Missouri late in the
+eighteenth century, and distinguished himself in frontier service
+during the War of 1812-15. He made his home in St. Charles County,
+Missouri, and built therein the first stone house, in which his father
+died in 1820. The younger Boone entered the regular army in 1832, as
+captain of rangers; the following year saw him in command of a company
+of the 1st dragoons, with whom he saw much frontier service. In 1847
+he received his majoralty, and in 1850 became lieutenant-colonel.
+Three years later, he resigned from the army, dying at his home in
+Green County, Missouri, in 1857.--ED.
+
+[133] Dry River is not laid down on current modern maps. It is in
+northwestern Texas, apparently near the line of the Atchison, Topeka
+and Santa Fe Railway, in Roberts and Hemphill counties. See our volume
+XVI, p. 130, note 61; also map 2 in _Senate Docs._, 31 cong., 1 sess.,
+12.--ED.
+
+[134] The same barbarous propensity is observable in regard to wild
+horses. Most persons appear unable to restrain this wanton inclination
+to take life, when a mustang approaches within rifle-shot. Many a
+stately steed thus falls a victim to the cruelty of man.--GREGG.
+
+[135] The latitude of Independence, Mo., is 39 deg. 8', while that of Van
+Buren is 35 deg. 26',--within a few miles of the parallel of Santa Fe: and
+being on about the same meridian as Independence, the distance, of
+course, is considerably shorter.--GREGG.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV {IX} CONCLUSION OF THE SANTA FE TRADE
+
+Decline of Prices -- Statistical Table -- Chihuahua Trade -- Its
+  Extent -- Different Ports through which Goods are introduced to that
+  Market -- Expedition between Chihuahua and Arkansas -- The more
+  recent Incidents of the Santa Fe Caravans -- Adventures of 1843 --
+  Robbery and Murder of Chavez -- Expedition from Texas -- Defeat of
+  Gen. Armijo's Van-guard -- His precipitate Retreat -- Texan
+  Grievances -- Unfortunate Results of Indiscriminate Revenge -- Want
+  of Discipline among the Texans -- Disarmed by Capt. Cook -- Return
+  of the Escort of U.S. Dragoons, and of the Texans -- Demands of the
+  Mexican Government -- Closing of the Santa Fe Trade.
+
+
+Before proceeding to the graver matters to be presented in the
+succeeding chapters, a few words to those who are curious about the
+history of the Santa Fe trade [Pg222] intervening between the
+conclusion of my personal narrative and the closing of the trade by
+the Mexican government, in 1843, may not be amiss.
+
+The Santa Fe trade, though more or less fluctuating from its origin,
+continued to present an average increase and growth down to the year
+1831. During the same period, the prices of goods continued to go down
+in even a more rapid ratio. Since 1831, the rates of {160} sales have
+continued steadily to fall, to the latest period of the trade,
+although there has been no average increase in the number of
+adventurers, or amount of merchandise.[136]
+
+{161} From 1831 to the present date, prices have scarcely averaged,
+for medium calicoes, thirty-seven cents, and for plain domestic
+cottons thirty-one cents per yard. Taking [Pg223] assortments round,
+100 per cent, upon United States costs were generally considered
+excellent sales: many stocks have been sold at a much lower rate. The
+average prices of Chihuahua are equally low, yet a brisker demand has
+rendered this the most agreeable and profitable branch of the trade.
+
+{162} The first attempt to introduce American goods into the more
+southern markets of Mexico from Santa Fe, was made in the year 1824.
+The amounts were very small, however, till towards the year 1831. For
+a few of the first years, the traders were in the habit of conveying
+small lots to Sonora and California; but this branch of the trade has,
+I believe, latterly ceased altogether. Yet the amounts transferred to
+Chihuahua have generally increased; so that for the last few years,
+that trade has consumed very nearly half of the entire imports by the
+Missouri Caravans.
+
+The entire consumption of foreign goods in the department of
+Chihuahua, has been estimated by intelligent Mexican merchants, at
+from two to three millions annually; [Pg224] the first cost of which
+might be set down at nearly one half. Of this amount the Santa Fe
+trade, as will be seen from the accompanying table, has not furnished
+a tenth part; the balance being introduced through other ports, viz.:
+_Matamoras_, whence Chihuahua has received nearly half its
+supplies--_Vera Cruz_ via the city of Mexico, whence considerable
+amounts have been brought to this department--_Tampico_ on the Gulf of
+Mexico, and _Mazatlan_ on the Pacific, via Durango, whence the imports
+have been of some importance--while nearly all the west of the
+department, and especially the heavy consumption of the mining town of
+Jesus-Maria, receives most of its supplies from the port of _Guaymas_
+on the Gulf of {163} California; whence, indeed, several stocks of
+goods have been introduced as far as the city of Chihuahua itself. In
+1840, a large amount of merchandise was transported directly from the
+Red River frontier of Arkansas to Chihuahua; but no other expedition
+has ever been made in that direction.[137] [Pg225]
+
+{164} By far the greatest portion of the introductions through
+the sea-ports just alluded to, have been made by British merchants. It
+is chiefly the preference given to American manufacturers, which has
+enabled the merchandise of the Santa Fe adventurers to compete in the
+Southern markets, with goods introduced through the sea-ports, which
+have had the {165} benefit of the drawback. In this last respect our
+traders have labored under a very unjust burden.
+
+It is difficult to conceive any equitable reason why merchants
+conveying their goods across the Prairies in wagons, should not be as
+much entitled to the protection of the Government, as those who
+transport them in vessels across the ocean. This assistance (with the
+reopening of the ports) might enable our merchants to monopolize the
+rich trade of Chihuahua; and they would obtain a share of that of the
+still richer departments of Durango and Zacatecas, as well as some
+portion of the Sonora and California [Pg226] trade. Then rating that
+of Chihuahua at two millions, half that of Durango at the same, and a
+million from Zacatecas, Sonora, etc., it would ascend to the clever
+amount of some five millions of dollars per annum.
+
+In point of revenue, the Santa Fe trade has been of but little
+importance to the government of Mexico. Though the amount of duties
+collected annually at this port has usually been fifty to eighty
+thousand dollars, yet nearly one-half has been embezzled by the
+officers of the customs, leaving an average net revenue of perhaps
+less than forty thousand dollars per annum.
+
+It is not an unimportant fact to be known, that, since the year 1831,
+few or none of the difficulties and dangers which once environed the
+Santa Fe adventurer have been encountered. No traders have been killed
+by the {166} savages on the regular route, and but few animals stolen
+from the caravans. On the whole, the rates of insurance upon
+adventures in this trade should hardly be as high as upon marine
+adventures between New York and Liverpool. While I declare, however,
+the serious dangers and troubles to have been in general so slight, I
+ought not to suppress at least an outline of the difficulties that
+occurred on the Prairies in 1843, which were attended with very
+serious consequences. [Pg227]
+
+It had been reported in Santa Fe as early as November, 1842, that a
+party of Texans were upon the Prairies, prepared to attack any Mexican
+traders who should cross the plains the succeeding spring; and as some
+Americans were accused of being spies, and in collusion with the
+Texans, many were ordered to Santa Fe for examination, occasioning a
+deal of trouble to several innocent persons. Than this, however, but
+little further attention was paid to the report, many believing it but
+another of those rumors of Texan invasion which had so often spread
+useless consternation through the country.
+
+So little apprehension appeared to exist, that, in February, 1843, Don
+Antonio Jose Chavez, of New Mexico, left Santa Fe for Independence,
+with but five servants, two wagons, and fifty-five mules. He had with
+him some ten or twelve thousand dollars in specie and gold bullion,
+besides a small lot of furs. As the month of March was extremely
+inclement, the little party suffered inconceivably {167} from cold and
+privations. Most of them were frost-bitten, and all their animals,
+except five, perished from the extreme severity of the season; on
+which account Chavez was compelled to leave one of his wagons upon the
+Prairies. He had worried along, however, with his remaining wagon and
+valuables, till about the tenth of April, when he found himself near
+the Little Arkansas; at least a hundred miles [Pg228] within the
+territory of the United States. He was there met by fifteen men from
+the border of Missouri, professing to be Texan troops, under the
+command of one John M'Daniel. This party had been collected, for the
+most part, on the frontier, by their leader, who was recently from
+Texas, from which government he professed to hold a captain's
+commission. They started no doubt with the intention of joining one
+Col. Warfield (also said to hold a Texan commission), who had been
+upon the Plains near the Mountains, with a small party, for several
+months--with the avowed intention of attacking the Mexican traders.
+
+Upon meeting Chavez, however, the party of M'Daniel at once determined
+to make sure of the prize he was possessed of, rather than take their
+chances of a similar booty beyond the U. S. boundary. The unfortunate
+Mexican was therefore taken a few miles south of the road, and his
+baggage rifled. Seven of the party then left for the settlements with
+their share of the booty, amounting to some four or five hundred
+dollars apiece; making the journey on foot, as their horses had taken
+{168} a stampede and escaped. The remaining eight, soon after the
+departure of their comrades, determined to put Chavez to death,--for
+what cause it would seem difficult to conjecture, as he had been, for
+two days, their unresisting prisoner. Lots were accordingly cast to
+determine which four of the party should be the cruel executioners;
+and their wretched victim was taken off a few rods and shot down in
+cold blood. After his murder a considerable amount of gold was found
+about his person, and in his trunk. The body of the unfortunate man,
+together with his wagon and baggage, was thrown into a neighboring
+ravine; and a few of the lost animals of the marauders having been
+found, their booty was packed upon them and borne away to the frontier
+of Missouri. [Pg229]
+
+Great exertions had been made to intercept this lawless band at the
+outset; but they escaped the vigilance even of a detachment of
+dragoons that had followed them over a hundred miles. Yet the honest
+citizens of the border were too much on the alert to permit them to
+return to the interior with impunity. However, five of the whole
+number (including three of the party that killed the man) effected
+their escape, but the other ten were arrested, committed, and sent to
+St. Louis for trial before the United States Court. It appears that
+those who were engaged in the killing of Chavez have since been
+convicted of murder; and the others, who were only concerned in the
+robbery, were found guilty {169} of larceny, and sentenced to fine and
+imprisonment.[138]
+
+About the first of May of the same year, a company of a hundred and
+seventy-five men, under one Col. Snively, was organized in the north
+of Texas, and set out from the settlements for the Santa Fe trace. It
+was at first reported that they contemplated a descent upon Santa Fe;
+but their force was evidently too weak to attempt an invasion at that
+crisis. Their prime object, therefore, seems to have been to attack
+and make reprisals upon the Mexicans engaged in the Santa Fe trade,
+who were expected to cross the Prairies during the months of May and
+June.
+
+After the arrival of the Texans upon the Arkansas, they were joined by
+Col. Warfield with a few followers. This officer, with about twenty
+men, had some time previously attacked the village of Mora, on the
+Mexican frontier, killing five men (as was reported) and driving off a
+number of horses.[139] They were afterwards followed by a party
+[Pg230] of Mexicans, however, who _stampeded_ and carried away, not
+only their own horses, but those of the Texans. Being left afoot the
+latter burned their saddles, and walked to Bent's Fort, where they
+were disbanded; whence Warfield passed to Snively's camp, as before
+mentioned.
+
+The Texans now advanced along the Santa Fe road, beyond the sand hills
+south of the Arkansas, when they discovered that a party of Mexicans
+had passed towards the river. They soon came upon them, and a skirmish
+{170} ensuing, eighteen Mexicans were killed, and as many wounded,
+five of whom afterwards died. The Texans suffered no injury, though
+the Mexicans were a hundred in number. The rest were all taken
+prisoners except two, who escaped and bore the news to Gen. Armijo,
+encamped with a large force at the Cold Spring, 140 miles beyond. As
+soon as the General received notice of the defeat of his vanguard, he
+broke up his camp most precipitately, and retreated to Santa Fe. A
+gentleman of the caravan which passed shortly afterward, informed me
+that spurs, lareats and other scraps of equipage, were found scattered
+in every direction about Armijo's camp--left by his troops in the
+hurly-burly of their precipitate retreat.[140]
+
+Keeping beyond the territory of the United States, the right of the
+Texans to harass the commerce of Mexicans will hardly be denied, as
+they were at open war: yet another consideration, it would seem,
+should have restrained them from aggressions in that quarter. They
+could not have been ignorant that but a portion of the traders were
+Mexicans--that many American citizens were connected in [Pg231] the
+same caravans. The Texans assert, it is true, that the lives and
+property of Americans were to be respected, _provided_ they abandoned
+the Mexicans. But did they reflect upon the baseness of the terms they
+were imposing? What American, worthy of the name, to save his own
+interests, or even his life, could deliver up his travelling
+companions {171} to be sacrificed? Then, after having abandoned the
+Mexicans, or betrayed them to their enemy--for such an act would have
+been accounted treachery--where would they have gone? They could not
+then have continued on into Mexico; and to have returned to the United
+States with their merchandise, would have been the ruin of most of
+them.
+
+The inhuman outrages suffered by those who were captured in New Mexico
+in 1841, among whom were many of the present party, have been pleaded
+in justification of this second Texan expedition. When we take their
+grievances into consideration, we must admit that they palliate, and
+indeed justify almost any species of revenge consistent with the laws
+of Nature and of nations: yet whether, under the existing
+circumstances, this invasion of the Prairies was proper or otherwise,
+I will leave for others to determine, as there seems to be a
+difference of opinion on the subject. The following considerations,
+however, will go to demonstrate the unpropitious consequences which
+are apt to result from a system of indiscriminate revenge.
+
+The unfortunate Chavez (whose murder, I suppose, was perpetrated under
+pretext of the cruelties suffered by the Texans, in the name of whom
+the party of M'Daniel was organized) was of the most wealthy and
+influential family of New Mexico, and one that was anything but
+friendly to the ruling governor, Gen. Armijo. Don Mariano Chavez, a
+brother to the deceased, is a gentleman of very [Pg232] amiable {172}
+character, such as is rarely to be met with in that unfortunate land.
+It is asserted that he furnished a considerable quantity of
+provisions, blankets, etc., to Col. Cooke's division of Texan
+prisoners.[141] Senora Chavez (the wife of Don Mariano), as is told,
+crossed the river from the village of Padillas, the place of their
+residence, and administered comforts to the unfortunate band of
+Texans.[142] Though the murder of young Chavez was evidently not
+sanctioned by the Texans generally, it will, notwithstanding, have
+greatly embittered this powerful family against them--a family whose
+liberal principles could not otherwise have been very unfavorable to
+Texas.[143]
+
+The attack upon the village of Mora, though of less important results,
+was nevertheless an unpropitiatory movement. The inhabitants of that
+place are generally very simple and innocent rancheros and hunters,
+and, being separated by the snowy mountains from the principal
+settlements of New Mexico, their hearts seem ever to have been
+inclined to the Texans. In fact, the village having been founded by
+some American denizens, the Mexican inhabitants appear in some degree
+to have imitated their character.
+
+The defeat of Armijo's vanguard was attended by still more disastrous
+consequences, both to the American and Texan interest. That division
+was composed of the militia of {173} the North--from about Taos--many
+of them Taos Pueblos. These people had not only remained [Pg233]
+embittered against Gov. Armijo since the revolution of 1837, but had
+always been notably in favor of Texas. So loth were they to fight the
+Texans, that, as I have been assured, the governor found it necessary
+to bind a number of them upon their horses, to prevent their escape,
+till he got them fairly upon the Prairies. And yet the poor fellows
+were compelled to suffer the vengeance which was due to their guilty
+general!
+
+When the news of their defeat reached Taos, the friends and relatives
+of the slain--the whole population indeed, were incensed beyond
+measure; and two or three, naturalized foreigners who were supposed to
+favor the cause of Texas, and who were in good standing before, were
+now compelled to flee for their lives; leaving their houses and
+property a prey to the incensed rabble. Such appears to have been the
+reaction of public sentiment resulting from the catastrophe upon the
+Prairies!
+
+Had the Texans proceeded differently--had they induced the Mexicans to
+surrender without battle, which they might no doubt easily have
+accomplished, they could have secured their services, without
+question, as guides to Gen. Armijo's camp, and that unmitigated tyrant
+might himself have fallen into their hands. The difficulty of
+maintaining order among the Texans was perhaps the cause of many of
+their unfortunate proceedings. {174} And no information of the caravan
+having been obtained, a detachment of seventy or eighty men left, to
+return to Texas.
+
+The traders arrived soon after, escorted by about two hundred U. S.
+Dragoons under the command of Capt. Cook.[144] Col. Snively with a
+hundred men being then encamped on the south side of the Arkansas
+river, some ten to fifteen miles below the point called the 'Caches,'
+[Pg234] he crossed the river and met Capt. Cook, who soon made known
+his intention of disarming him and his companions,--an intention which
+he at once proceeded to put into execution. A portion of the Texans,
+however, deceived the American captain in this wise. Having concealed
+their own rifles, which were mostly Colt's repeaters, they delivered
+to Capt. Cook the worthless fusils they had taken from the Mexicans;
+so that, when they were afterwards released, they still had their own
+valuable arms; of which, however, so far as the caravan in question
+was concerned, they appear to have had no opportunity of availing
+themselves.
+
+These facts are mentioned merely as they are said to have occurred.
+Capt. Cook has been much abused by the Texans, and accused of having
+violated a friendly flag--of having taken Col. Snively prisoner while
+on a friendly visit. This is denied by Capt. Cook, and by other
+persons who were in company at the time. But apart from the means
+employed by the American commander (the propriety or impropriety of
+which I shall not attempt {175} to discuss), the act was evidently the
+salvation of the Santa Fe caravan, of which a considerable portion
+were Americans. Had he left the Texans with their arms, he would
+doubtless have been accused by the traders of escorting them to the
+threshold of danger, and then delivering them over to certain
+destruction, when he had it in his power to secure their safety.
+
+Capt. Cook with his command soon after returned to the United
+States,[145] and with him some forty of the [Pg235] disarmed Texans,
+many of whom have been represented as gentlemen worthy of a better
+destiny. A large portion of the Texans steered directly home from the
+Arkansas river; while from sixty to seventy men, who elected Warfield
+their commander, were organized for the pursuit and capture of the
+caravan, which had already passed on some days in advance towards
+Santa Fe. They pursued in the wake of the traders, it is said, as far
+as the Point of Rocks (twenty miles east of the crossing of the
+Colorado or Canadian), but made no attempt upon them[146]--whence they
+returned direct to Texas. Thus terminated the 'Second Texan Santa Fe
+Expedition,' as it has been styled; and {176} though not so disastrous
+as the first, it turned out nearly as unprofitable.
+
+Although this expedition was composed wholly of Texans, or persons not
+claiming to be citizens of the United States, and organized entirely
+in Texas--and, notwithstanding the active measures adopted by the
+United States government to defend the caravans, as well of Mexicans
+as of Americans, against their enemy--Senor Bocanegra, Mexican
+Minister of Foreign Relations, made a formal demand upon the United
+States (as will be remembered), for damages resulting from this
+invasion. In a rejoinder to Gen. Thompson (alluding to Snively's
+company), he says, that "Independence, in Missouri, was the starting
+point of these men." The preceding narrative will show the error under
+which the honorable secretary labored.[147] [Pg236]
+
+A portion of the party who killed Chavez was from the
+frontier of Missouri; but witness the active exertions on the border
+to bring these depredators to justice--and then let the contrast be
+noted betwixt this affair and the impunity with which robberies are
+every day committed throughout Mexico, where well-known highwaymen
+often run at large, unmolested either by the citizens or by the
+authorities. What would Senor Bocanegra say if every other government
+were to demand indemnity for all the robberies committed upon their
+citizens in Mexico?
+
+But the most unfortunate circumstance attending this invasion of the
+Prairies--unfortunate {177} at least to the United States and to New
+Mexico--was the closing of the Northern ports to foreign commerce,
+which was doubtless, to a great degree, a consequence of the
+before-mentioned expedition, and which of course terminated the Santa
+Fe Trade, at least for the present.[148]
+
+I am of the impression, however, that little apprehension need be
+entertained, that this decree of Gen. Santa Anna will be permitted
+much longer to continue,[149] unless our peaceful relations with
+Mexico should be disturbed; an event, under any circumstances,
+seriously to be deprecated. With the continuation of peace between us,
+the Mexicans will certainly be compelled to open their northern
+frontier [Pg237] ports, to avoid a revolution in New Mexico, with
+which they are continually threatened while this embargo continues.
+Should the obnoxious decree be repealed, the Santa Fe Trade will
+doubtless be prosecuted again with renewed vigor and enterprise.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[136] Some general statistics of the Santa Fe Trade may prove not
+wholly without interest to the mercantile reader. With this view, I
+have prepared the following table of the probable amounts of
+merchandise invested in the Santa Fe Trade, from 1822 to 1843
+inclusive, and about the portion of the same transferred to the
+Southern markets (chiefly Chihuahua) during the same period; together
+with the approximate number of wagons, men and proprietors engaged
+each year.
+
+  ------|--------|-----|-----|----|-------|-----------------------------
+  Years.   Amt.   W'gs. Men. Pro's. T'n to    Remarks.
+          Mdse.                     Ch'a.
+  ------|--------|-----|-----|----|-------|-----------------------------
+   1822   15,000         70   60    9,000  Pack-animals only used.
+   1823   12,000         50   30    3,000  Pack-animals only used.
+   1824   35,000   26   100   80    3,000  Pack-animals and wagons.
+   1825   65,000   37   130   90    5,000  Pack-animals and wagons.
+   1826   90,000   60   100   70    7,000  Wagons only henceforth.
+   1827   85,000   55    90   50    8,000
+   1828  150,000  100   200   80   20,000 3 men killed, being the first.
+   1829   60,000   30    50   20    5,000  1st U.S.Es.--1 trader killed.
+   1830  120,000   70   140   60   20,000  First oxen used by traders.
+   1831  250,000  130   320   80   80,000  Two men killed.
+   1832  140,000   70   150   40   50,000  {Party defeated on Canadian
+   1833  180,000  105   185   60   80,000  {2 men killed, 3 perished.
+   1834  150,000   80   160   50   70,000  2d U.S. Escort
+   1835  140,000   75   140   40   70,000
+   1836  130,000   70   135   35   50,000
+   1837  150,000   80   160   35   60,000
+   1838   90,000   50   100   20   80,000
+   1839  250,000  130   250   40  100,000  Arkansas Expedition.
+   1840   50,000   30    60    5   10,000  Chihuahua Expedition.
+   1841  150,000   60   100   12   80,000  Texan Santa Fe Expedition.
+   1842  160,000   70   120   15   90,000
+   1843  450,000  230   350   30  300,000  3d U.S.Es.--Ports closed.
+  ------|--------|-----|-----|----|-------|-----------------------------
+
+The foregoing table is not given as perfectly accurate, yet it is
+believed to be about as nearly so as any that could be made out at the
+present day. The column marked "Pro's." (Proprietors), though even
+less precise than the other statistics, presents, I think, about the
+proportion of the whole number engaged each year who were owners. At
+first, as will be seen, almost every individual of each caravan was a
+proprietor, while of late the capital has been held by comparatively
+few hands. In 1843, the greater portion of the traders were New
+Mexicans, several of whom, during the three years previous, had
+embarked in this trade, of which they bid fair to secure a monopoly.
+
+The amount of merchandise transported to Santa Fe each year, is set
+down at its probable cost in the Eastern cities of the United States.
+Besides freights and insurance to Independence, there has been an
+annual investment, averaging nearly twenty-five per cent. upon the
+cost of the stocks, in wagons, teams, provisions, hire of hands, &c.,
+for transportation across the Prairies. A large portion of this
+remaining unconsumed, however, the ultimate loss on the outfit has not
+been more than half of the above amount. Instead of purchasing outfit,
+some traders prefer employing freighters, a number of whom are usually
+to be found on the frontier of Missouri, ready to transport goods to
+Santa Fe, at ten to twelve cents per pound. From thence to Chihuahua
+the price of freights is six to eight cents--upon mules, or in wagons.
+
+The average gross returns of the traders has rarely exceeded fifty per
+cent. upon the cost of their merchandise, leaving a net profit of
+between twenty and forty per cent.; though their profits have not
+unfrequently been under ten per cent.: in fact, as has before been
+mentioned, their adventures have sometimes been losing speculations.[A]
+--GREGG.
+
+[A] Those who are familiar with Mr. Mayer's very interesting work on
+Mexico, will observe that a portion of the preceding table corresponds
+substantially with one presented on page 318 of that work. In justice
+to myself, I feel compelled to state, that, in 1841, I published, in
+the Galveston "Daily Advertiser," a table of the Santa Fe trade from
+1831 to 1840 inclusive, of which that of Mr. Mayer embraces an exact
+copy. I have since made additions, and corrected it to some extent,
+but still the correspondence is such as seemed to require of me this
+explanation.
+
+[137] With a view to encourage adventurers, the government of
+Chihuahua agreed to reduce the impost duties to a very low rate, in
+favor of a pioneer enterprise; and to furnish an escort of dragoons
+for the protection of the traders.
+
+The expedition was undertaken chiefly by Mexicans; but one American
+merchant, Dr. H. Connelly, having invested capital in it. I obtained
+from this intelligent gentleman a very interesting sketch of the
+adventures of this pioneer party, which I regret that my plan will not
+permit me to present in detail.
+
+The adventurers set out from Chihuahua on the 3d of April, 1839,
+amidst the benisons of the citizens, and with the confident hope of
+transferring the valuable trade of the North to their city. The
+caravan (including fifty dragoons), consisted of over a hundred men,
+yet only about half a dozen of the number were proprietors. Though
+they had but seven wagons, they brought about seven hundred mules, and
+two or three hundred thousand dollars in specie and bullion, for the
+purposes of their adventure.
+
+They took the Presidio del Norte in their route, and then proceeding
+northwestwardly, finally arrived at Fort Towson after a protracted
+journey of three months; but without meeting with any hostile savages,
+or encountering any serious casualty, except getting bewildered, after
+crossing Red River, which they mistook for the Brazos. This caused
+them to shape their course thence nearly north, in search of the
+former stream, until they reached the Canadian river, where they met
+with some Delaware Indians, of whom they obtained the first correct
+information of their whereabouts; and by whom they were piloted safely
+to Fort Towson.
+
+It had been the intention of these adventurers to return to Chihuahua
+the ensuing fall; but from various accidents and delays, they were
+unable to get ready until the season had too far advanced; which, with
+an incessant series of rains that followed, prevented them from
+travelling till the ensuing spring. Learning that the Texans were
+friendly disposed towards them, they now turned their course through
+the midst of the northern settlements of that republic. Of the kind
+treatment they experienced during their transit, Dr. Connelly speaks
+in the following terms: "I have never been more hospitably treated, or
+had more efficient assistance, than was given by the citizens of Red
+River. All seemed to vie with each other in rendering us every aid in
+their power; and our Mexican friends, notwithstanding the hostile
+attitude in which the two countries stood towards each other, were
+treated with a kindness which they still recollect with the warmest
+feelings of gratitude." This forms a very notable contrast with the
+treatment which the Texan traders, who afterwards visited Santa Fe,
+received at the hands of the Mexicans.
+
+The Caravan now consisted of sixty or seventy wagons laden with
+merchandise, and about two hundred and twenty-five men, including
+their escort of Mexican dragoons. They passed the Texan border early
+in April, and expected to intersect their former track beyond the
+Cross Timbers, but that trail having been partially obliterated, they
+crossed it unobserved, and were several days lost on the waters of the
+Brazos river. Having turned their course south for a few days,
+however, they fortunately discovered their old route at a branch of
+the Colorado.
+
+After this they continued their journey without further casualty; for
+notwithstanding they met with a large body of Comanches, they passed
+them amicably, and soon reached the Rio Pecos. Though very narrow,
+this stream was too deep to be forded, and they were compelled to
+resort to an expedient characteristic of the Prairies. There being not
+a stick of timber anywhere to be found, of which to make even a raft,
+they buoyed up a wagon-body by binding several empty water-kegs to the
+bottom, which served them the purpose of a ferry-boat.
+
+When they reached Presidio del Norte again, they learned that Gov.
+Irigoyen, with whom they had celebrated the contract for a diminution
+of their duties, had died during their absence. A new corps of
+officers being in power, they were now threatened with a charge of
+full tariff duties. After a delay of forty-five days at the Presidio,
+however, they made a compromise, and entered Chihuahua on the 27th of
+August, 1840.
+
+The delays and accumulated expenses of this expedition caused it to
+result so disastrously to the interests of all who were engaged in it,
+that no other enterprise of the kind has since been undertaken.
+--GREGG.
+
+[138] John McDaniel and his brother David were both executed. For the
+names of other participators, consult _Niles' Register_, lxiv, pp.
+195, 280. The Texas government disclaimed all responsibility for
+McDaniel.--ED.
+
+[139] Mora is on a stream of the same name, for which see our volume
+xix, p. 252, note 73 (Gregg), and is the seat of Mora County. The
+first settlement was made in 1832, but repulsed by Indians; not until
+1840, therefore, could the place be called permanent. In the
+revolution of 1847, Mora was involved against the United States whose
+troops burned the town in reprisal. The present population is about
+seven hundred.--ED.
+
+[140] For a more detailed account of this expedition, see H. Yoakum,
+_History of Texas_ (New York, 1856), ii, pp. 399-405.--ED.
+
+[141] Colonel William G. Cooke, of Texas, appointed one of the
+commissioners to negotiate with the New Mexicans. He was treacherously
+induced to surrender to a force under Dimasio Salezar, at Anton
+Chico.--ED.
+
+[142] Padilla is a small village on the eastern side of Rio Grande, a
+few miles below Albuquerque. The Chavez family owned a large ranch,
+and its younger members had been engaged in the American trade for
+some years.--ED.
+
+[143] This family is very distinct from one Manuel Chavez (who, though
+Gov. Armijo's nephew, is a very low character), a principal agent in
+the treacheries practised upon the Texan Santa Fe Expedition.--GREGG.
+
+[144] Philip St. George Cooke, for whom see volume xix, p. 187, note
+32 (Gregg).-ED.
+
+[145] As U. S. troops cannot go beyond our boundary, which, on this
+route is the Arkansas river, these escorts afford but little
+protection to the caravans. Such an extensive, uninhabitable waste as
+the great prairies are, ought certainly to be under maritime
+regulations. Some international arrangements should be made between
+the United States and Texas or Mexico (accordingly as the
+proprietorship of the region beyond our boundary may be settled),
+whereby the armies of either might indiscriminately range upon this
+desert, as ships of war upon the ocean.--GREGG.
+
+[146] For Point of Rocks, see our volume xix, p. 249, note 70
+(Gregg).--ED.
+
+[147] Jose Maria Bocanegra was a member of the liberal party in
+Mexico, who came into power under Guerrero in 1829. He was also
+president ad interim, and for some years minister of foreign affairs.
+
+Waddy Thompson, of South Carolina, was born in 1798; and after serving
+in the state legislature was member of Congress (1835-41). In 1842 he
+was made minister to Mexico, which position he filled but two years.
+Upon his return he published _Recollections_ (New York, 1846). Going
+to Mexico as an advocate of Texas annexation, he returned its
+opponent, convinced that slavery could not be maintained on soil
+acquired from Mexico. The latter years of his life were devoted to
+cotton-raising in Florida, where he died in 1868.--ED.
+
+[148] The following is the substance of Santa Anna's decree, dated at
+his Palace of Tacubaya, August 7, 1843:
+
+"Article 1st. The frontier custom-houses of Taos, in the department of
+New Mexico, Paso del Norte and Presidio del Norte in that of
+Chihuahua, are entirely closed to all commerce.
+
+"Art. 2d. This decree shall take effect within forty-five days after
+its publication in the capital of the Republic."
+
+It should be understood that the only port in New Mexico for the
+introduction of foreign goods was nominally Taos, though the
+custom-house was at Santa Fe, where all the entrances were
+made.--GREGG.
+
+[149] These northern ports have since been reopened by decree of March
+31, 1844; and about ninety wagons, with perhaps $200,000 cost of
+goods, (and occupying 150 to 200 men), crossed the plains to Santa Fe,
+during the following summer and fall.--GREGG.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI {X}
+
+GEOGRAPHY OF THE PRAIRIES
+
+Extent of Prairies -- Mountains -- _Mesas_ or Table-lands -- _El_
+  _Llano Estacado_ -- _Canones_ -- Their Annoyance to the early
+  Caravans -- Immense Gullies -- Coal Mines and other geological
+  Products -- Gypsum -- Metallic Minerals -- Salines -- Capt. Boone's
+  Exploration -- 'Salt Plain' and 'Salt Rock' -- Mr. Sibley's Visit --
+  Saline Exudations -- Unhabitableness of the high Prairies --
+  Excellent Pasturage -- Rich border Country sufficient for two States
+  -- Northern Texas -- Rivers of the Prairies -- Their Unfitness for
+  Navigation -- Timber -- Cross Timbers -- Encroachments of the Timber
+  upon the Prairies -- Fruits and Flowers -- Salubrity of Climate.
+
+
+While I have endeavored in the preceding pages to give the reader some
+general idea of life upon the Prairies, I feel that I have wholly
+failed thus far to convey any adequate notions of their natural
+history. I propose in the following pages to repair this deficiency as
+far as I am able, and to present a rapid sketch of the vastness of
+those mighty territories; of their physical geography; and of the
+life, as well vegetable as animal, which they sustain. It is to be
+regretted that this ample field for observation should have received
+so little of the consideration of scientific men; for there {179} is
+scarcely a province in the whole wide range of Nature's unexplored
+domains, which is so worthy of study, and yet has been so little
+studied by the natural philosopher.
+
+If we look at the Great Western Prairies, independently of the
+political powers to which portions of them respectively belong, we
+shall find them occupying the whole of that [Pg238] extensive
+territory lying between the spurs of the Rocky Mountains on the north,
+and the rivers of Texas on the south--a distance of some seven or
+eight hundred miles in one direction; and from the frontiers of
+Missouri and Arkansas on the east to the eastern branches of the
+southern Rocky Mountains on the west--about six hundred miles in the
+transverse direction: the whole comprising an area of about 400,000
+square miles, some 30,000 of which are within the original limits of
+Texas, and 70,000 in those of New Mexico (if we extend them east to
+the United States boundary), leaving about 300,000 in the territory of
+the United States.
+
+This vast territory is not interrupted by any important mountainous
+elevations, except along the borders of the great western sierras, and
+by some low, craggy ridges about the Arkansas frontier--skirts of the
+Ozark mountains. There is, it is true, high on the dividing ridge
+between Red River and the False Washita, a range of hills, the
+southwestern portion of which extends about to the 100th degree of
+longitude west from Greenwich; that is, to the United States {180}
+boundary line. These are generally called the Witchita mountains, but
+sometimes _Towyash_ by hunters, perhaps from _toyavist_, the Comanche
+word for mountain. I inquired once of a Comanche Indian how his nation
+designated this range of mountains, which was then in sight of us. He
+answered, "_Toyavist_." "But this simply means a mountain," I replied.
+"How do you distinguish this from any other mountain?" "There are no
+other mountains in the Comanche territory," he rejoined--"none till we
+go east to your country, or south to Texas, or west to the land of the
+Mexican."
+
+With these exceptions, there are scarcely any elevations throughout
+these immense plains which should be dignified by the title of
+mountains. Those seen by the Texan Santa [Pg239] Fe Expedition about
+the sources of Red River, were without doubt the _cejas_ or brows of
+the elevated table plains with which the Prairies abound, and which,
+when viewed from the plain below, often assume the appearance of
+formidable mountains; but once upon their summit, the spectator sees
+another vast plain before him.
+
+These _table lands_, or _mesas_, as the Mexicans term them, of which
+there are many thousands of square miles lying between the frontier of
+the United States and the Rocky Mountains, are level plains, elevated
+a considerable distance above the surrounding country, and may be
+likened to the famous steppes of Asia. They are cut up with numerous
+{181} streams, the largest of which are generally bordered for several
+miles back by hilly uplands, which are for the most part sandy, dry
+and barren.
+
+The most notable of the great _plateaux_ of the Prairies is that known
+to Mexicans as _El Llano Estacado_, which is bounded on the north by
+the Canadian river--extends east about to the United States boundary,
+including the heads of the False Washita and other branches of Red
+River--and spreads southward to the sources of Trinity, Brazos and
+Colorado rivers, and westward to Rio Pecos. It is quite an elevated
+and generally a level plain, without important hills or ridges, unless
+we distinguish as such the craggy breaks of the streams which border
+and pierce it. It embraces an area of about 30,000 square miles, most
+of which is without water during three-fourths of the year; while a
+large proportion of its few perennial streams are too brackish to
+drink of.
+
+I have been assured by Mexican hunters and Indians, that, from Santa
+Fe southeastward, there is but one route upon which this plain can be
+safely traversed during the dry season; and even some of the
+watering-places on this are at intervals of fifty to eighty miles, and
+hard to find. [Pg240] Hence the Mexican traders and hunters, that
+they might not lose their way and perish from thirst, once staked out
+this route across the plain, it is said; whence it has received the
+name of _El Llano Estacado_, or the Staked Plain.
+
+{182} In some places the brows of these _mesas_ approach the very
+borders of the streams. When this occurs on both sides, it leaves deep
+chasms or ravines between, called by the Mexicans _canones_, and which
+abound in the vicinity of the mountains. The Canadian river flows
+through one of the most remarkable of these canones for a distance of
+more than fifty miles--extending from the road of the Missouri
+caravans downward--throughout the whole extent of which the gorge is
+utterly impassable for wagons, and almost so for animals.
+
+Intersecting the direct route from Missouri, this canon was a source
+of great annoyance to some of the pioneers in the Santa Fe trade. In
+1825, a caravan with a number of wagons reached it about five miles
+below the present ford. The party was carelessly moving along, without
+suspecting even a ravine at hand, as the bordering plains were
+exceedingly level, and the opposite margins of equal height, when
+suddenly they found themselves upon the very brink of an immense
+precipice, several hundred yards deep, and almost perpendicular on
+both sides of the river. At the bottom of those cliffs, there was, as
+is usually the case, a very narrow but fertile valley, through which
+the river wound its way, sometimes touching the one bluff and
+sometimes the other.
+
+Ignorant of a ford so near above, the caravan turned down towards the
+crossing of the former traders. "We travelled fifty miles," {183} says
+Mr. Stanley, who was of the caravan, "the whole of which distance the
+river is bound in by cliffs several hundred feet high, in many places
+nearly perpendicular. We at length came to the termination of the
+table land; but what scene presented itself! [Pg241] The valley below
+could only be reached by descending a frightful cliff of from 1200 to
+1500 feet, and more or less precipitous. After a search of several
+hours, a practicable way was found; and, with the greatest fatigue and
+exertion, by locking wheels, holding on with ropes, and literally
+lifting the wagons down in places, we finally succeeded in reaching
+the bottom.... How did the Canadian and other streams in New Mexico
+sink themselves to such immense depths in the solid rock? It seems
+impossible that the water should have worn away the rock while as hard
+as in its present state. What a field of speculation for the
+geologist, in the propositions--Were the chasms made for the streams,
+or did the streams make the chasms? Are they not of volcanic origin?"
+
+Nor are the flat prairies always free from this kind of annoyance to
+travellers. They are not unfrequently intersected by diminutive chasms
+or water-cuts, which, though sometimes hardly a rod in width, are
+often from fifty to a hundred feet deep. These little canones are
+washed out by the rains, in their descent to the bordering streams,
+which is soon effected after an opening is once made through the
+surface; for though the clayey {184} foundation is exceedingly firm
+and hard while dry, it seems the most soluble of earths, and melts
+almost as rapidly as snow under the action of water. The tenacious
+turf of the 'buffalo grass,' however, retains the marginal surface, so
+that the sides are usually perpendicular--indeed, often shelving
+inward at the base, and therefore utterly impassable. I have come
+unsuspectingly upon the verge of such a chasm; and though, to a
+stranger, the appearance would indicate the very head of the ravine, I
+would sometimes be compelled to follow its meandering course for miles
+without being able to double its 'breaks.' These I have more
+especially observed high on the borders of the Canadian. [Pg242]
+
+The geological constitution of the Prairies is exceedingly
+diversified. Along the eastern border, especially towards the north,
+there is an abundance of limestone, interspersed with sandstone,
+slate, and many extensive beds of bituminous coal. The coal is
+particularly abundant in some of the regions bordering the Neosho
+river; where there are also said to be a few singular bituminous or
+'tar springs,' as they are sometimes called by the hunters. There are
+also many other mineral, and particularly sulphur springs, to be met
+with.
+
+Further westward, the sandstone prevails; but some of the table plains
+are based upon strata of a sort of friable calcareous rock, which has
+been denominated 'rotten limestone:' yet along the borders of the
+mountains the base of the plains seems generally {185} to be of trap
+and greenstone. From the waters of Red River to the southwest corner
+of Missouri, throughout the range of the Ozark mountains, granite,
+limestone, flint and sandstone prevail. But much of the middle portion
+of the Prairies is without any apparent rocky foundation--we sometimes
+travel for days in succession without seeing even as much as a pebble.
+
+On passing towards Santa Fe in 1839, and returning in 1840, I observed
+an immense range of plaster of Paris, both north and south of the
+Canadian river, and between thirty and fifty miles east of the United
+States western boundary. The whole country seemed based upon this
+fossil, and cliffs and huge masses of it were seen in every direction.
+It ranges from the coarsest compact sulphate of lime or ordinary
+plaster, to the most transparent gypsum or selenite, of which last
+there is a great abundance. By authentic accounts from other
+travellers, this range of gypsum extends, in a direction nearly north,
+almost to the Arkansas river. [Pg243]
+
+Of metallic minerals, iron, lead, and perhaps copper, are found on the
+borders of the Prairies; and it is asserted that several specimens of
+silver ores have been met with on our frontier, as well as about the
+Witchita and the Rocky Mountains. Gold has also been found, no doubt,
+in different places; yet it is questionable whether it has anywhere
+been discovered in sufficient abundance to render it worth the
+seeking. Some trappers have reported {186} an extensive gold region
+about the sources of the Platte river; yet, although recent search has
+been made, it has not been discovered.[150]
+
+The most valuable perhaps, and the most abundant mineral production of
+the Prairies is _Salt_. In the Choctaw country, on the waters of Red
+River, there are two salt-works in operation; and in the Cherokee
+nation salt springs are numerous, three or four of which are now
+worked on a small scale; yet a sufficient quantity of salt might
+easily be produced to supply even the adjoining States. The _Grand
+Saline_, about forty miles above Fort Gibson, near the Neosho river,
+was considered a curiosity of its kind, before its natural beauties
+were effaced by 'improvements.'[151] In the border of a little valley,
+a number of small salt springs break out, around the orifice of each
+of which was formed, in the shape of a pot, a kind of calcareous
+saline concretion. None of the springs are very bold, but the water is
+strong, and sufficiently abundant for extensive works.
+
+There have been several _Salines_, or mines (if we may so term them)
+of pure salt, discovered in different parts of the Prairies. The most
+northern I have heard of, is [Pg244] fifty or sixty miles west of the
+Missouri river, and thirty or forty south of the Platte, near a
+tributary called the Saline; where the Otoes and other Indians procure
+salt. It is described as resembling the _salinas_ of New Mexico, and
+the quantity of salt as inexhaustible. South of the Arkansas river and
+a degree or two further {187} westward, there are several of these
+salines, which are perhaps still more extensive.
+
+I have been favored with some extracts from the journal of Capt.
+Nathan Boone[152] of the United States' Dragoons, who made an
+exploring tour through those desolate regions during the summer of
+1843. In his journey, between the Canadian and Upper Arkansas, he
+found efflorescent salt in many places, as well as a superabundance of
+strongly impregnated salt-water; but, besides these, he visited two
+considerable salines.
+
+Of the first, which he calls the 'Salt Plain,' he remarks, that "the
+approach was very gratifying, and from the appearance one might expect
+to find salt in a solid mass, for the whole extent of the plain, of
+several feet in thickness." This is situated in the forks of the Salt
+Fork of the Arkansas. The plain is described as being level as a
+floor, and evidently sometimes overflowed by the streams which border
+it. Yet the extent of salt, it would seem, did not realize Capt.
+Boone's anticipations, as he remarks that it was covered "with the
+slightest possible film of crystallized salt on the surface, enough to
+make it white." But he explored only a small portion of the plain,
+which was very extensive. [Pg245]
+
+However, the most wonderful saline is the great _Salt Rock_,
+which he found further to the {188} southwestward, on the main Red
+Fork. "The whole cove on the right of the two forks of the river,"
+says Capt. Boone, "appears to be one immense salt spring of water so
+much concentrated, that, as soon as it reaches the point of breaking
+forth, it begins depositing its salt. In this way a large crust, or
+rock is formed all over the bottom for perhaps 160 acres. Digging
+through the sand for a few inches anywhere in this space, we could
+find the solid salt, so hard that there was no means in our power of
+getting up a block of it. We broke our mattock in the attempt. In many
+places, through this rock-salt crust the water boiled up as clear as
+crystal ... but so salt that our hands, after being immersed in it and
+suffered to dry, became as white as snow. Thrusting the arm down into
+these holes, they appeared to be walled with salt as far down as one
+could reach. The cliffs which overhang this place are composed of red
+clay and gypsum, and capped with a stratum of the latter.... We found
+this salt a little bitter from the impurities it contained, probably
+Epsom salts principally." As it is overhung with sulphate of lime, and
+perhaps also based upon the same, might not this 'salt-rock' be
+heavily impregnated with this mineral, occasioning its excessive
+hardness? Capt. Boone also speaks of gypsum in various other places,
+both north and south of this, during his travel.
+
+Mr. Sibley (then of Fort Osage), who was quite familiar with the
+western prairies, visited {189} a saline, over thirty years ago, which
+would seem to be the 'Salt Plain' first mentioned by Capt. Boone. The
+former, it is true, found the salt much more abundant than as
+described by the latter; but this may be owing to Capt. Boone's not
+having [Pg246] penetrated as far as the point alluded to by Mr.
+Sibley,--whose description is in the following language:[153]
+
+"The Grand Saline is situated about 280 miles southwest of Fort Osage,
+between two forks of a small branch of the Arkansas, one of which
+washes its southern extremity, and the other, the principal one, runs
+nearly parallel, within a mile of its opposite side. It is a hard
+level plain of reddish colored sand, and of an irregular or mixed
+figure. Its greatest length is from northwest to southeast, and its
+circumference about thirty miles. From the appearance of the driftwood
+that is scattered over, it would seem the whole plain is at times
+inundated by the overflowing of the streams that pass near it. This
+plain is entirely covered in dry hot weather, from two to six inches
+deep, with a crust of beautiful clean white salt, of a quality rather
+superior to the imported blown salt. It bears a striking resemblance
+to a field of brilliant snow after a rain, with a light crust on its
+top."
+
+This is, in extent and appearance, nearly as described by several
+hunters and Indian traders with whom I have conversed. Col. Logan, a
+worthy former agent of the Creek Indians,[154] {190} visited no doubt
+the same, not far from the same period; and he describes it in a
+similar manner--only representing the depth of the salt as greater.
+Everywhere that he dug through the stratum of earth about the margin,
+at the depth of a few inches he came to a _rock of solid salt_, which
+induced him to believe that the whole country thereabouts was based
+upon a stratum of 'rock salt.' [Pg247] This was of a reddish cast,
+partaking of the color of the surface of the surrounding country. Mr.
+Sibley remarks that "the distance to a navigable branch of Arkansas is
+about eighty miles"--referring perhaps to the Red Fork; though the
+saline is no doubt at a still less distance from the main stream.
+
+With such inexhaustible mines of salt within two or three days'
+journey of the Arkansas river, and again within the same distance of
+the Missouri, which would cost no further labor than the digging it up
+and the transporting of it to boats for freighting it down those
+streams, it seems strange that they should lie idle, while we are
+receiving much of our supplies of this indispensable commodity from
+abroad.
+
+Besides the _salines_ already mentioned, there is one high on the
+Canadian river, some two hundred miles east of Santa Fe. Also, it is
+said, there are some to be found on the waters of Red River; and
+numerous others are no doubt scattered throughout the same regions,
+which have never been discovered.
+
+Many of the low valleys of all the western {191} streams (Red River as
+well as Arkansas and its branches), are impregnated with salinous
+qualities, and, during wet weather, ooze saltish exudations, which
+effloresce in a thin scum. This is sometimes pure salt, but more
+frequently compounded of different salts--not only of the muriate, but
+of the sulphate of soda, and perhaps magnesia; often strongly
+tinctured with nitre. Some of the waters of these sections
+(particularly when stagnant) are so saturated with this compound
+during dry weather, that they are insupportable even for brutes--much
+to the consternation of a forlorn traveller. In these saline flats
+nothing grows but hard wiry grass, which a famished beast will
+scarcely eat. [Pg248]
+
+It is from these exudations, as well as from the salines or salt
+plains before mentioned, that our western waters, especially from
+Arkansas to Red River, acquire their brackishness during the low
+seasons; and not from the mountains, as some have presumed. Such as
+issue from thence are there as pure, fresh and crystalline as snow-fed
+rills and icy fountains can make them.
+
+It will now readily be inferred that the Great Prairies from Red River
+to the western sources of the Missouri, are, as has before been
+intimated, chiefly uninhabitable--not so much for want of wood (though
+the plains are altogether naked), as of soil and of water; for though
+some of the plains appear of sufficiently fertile soil, they are
+mostly of a sterile character, and all too dry to be cultivated. {192}
+These great steppes seem only fitted for the haunts of the mustang,
+the buffalo, the antelope, and their migratory lord, the prairie
+Indian. Unless with the progressive influence of time, some favorable
+mutation should be wrought in nature's operations, to revive the
+plains and upland prairies, the occasional fertile valleys are too
+isolated and remote to become the abodes of civilized man.
+
+Like the table plains of Northern Mexico, these high prairies could at
+present only be made available for grazing purposes, and that in the
+vicinity of the water-courses. The grass with which they are mostly
+clothed, is of a superior quality. The celebrated 'buffalo grass' is
+of two kinds, both of which are species of the _grama_ of New Mexico,
+and equally nutritious at all seasons. It is the same, I believe, that
+is called 'mezquite grass' in Texas, from the mezquite tree which
+grows there in the same dry regions with it. Of this unequalled
+pasturage the great western prairies afford a sufficiency to graze
+cattle for the supply of all the United States. It is particularly
+adapted to [Pg249] sheep-raising, as is shown by example of the same
+species in New Mexico.
+
+But from the general sterility and unhabitableness of the Prairies is
+excepted, as will be understood, that portion, already alluded to,
+which borders our western frontier. The uplands from the Arkansas
+boundary to the Cross Timbers, are everywhere beautifully interspersed
+with isolated prairies and glades, many of which are fertile, though
+some are {193} too flat, and consequently inclined to be marshy. The
+valleys of the streams are principally of a rich loam, rather subject
+to inundations, but mostly tillable. The timbered uplands are mostly
+of fair quality, except on the broken ridges and mountainous sections
+before referred to. Some of the uplands, however, known usually as
+'post-oak flats,' like the marshy prairies, seem to be based upon
+quick-sand. The soil is of a dead unproductive character, and covered
+with small lumps or mounds of various sizes, and of irregular shapes.
+
+The country lying west of Missouri, which includes the sources of the
+Neosho, the Verdigris, the Marais-des-Cygnes and other branches of the
+Osage, and the lower sections of the Kansas river, vies with any
+portion of the Far West in the amenity of its upland prairies--in the
+richness of its alluvial bottoms--in the beauty and freshness of its
+purling rills and rivulets--and in the salubrity of its atmosphere.
+
+We have here then, along the whole border, a strip of country,
+averaging at least two hundred miles wide by five hundred long--and
+even more if we extend it up the Missouri river--affording territory
+for two States, respectable in size, and though more scant in timber,
+yet more fertile, in general, than the two conterminous States of
+Missouri and Arkansas. But most of this delightful region has been
+ceded to the different tribes of the Frontier Indians. [Pg250]
+
+{194} Concerning that portion of the Prairies which lies south of Red
+River, in Northern Texas, I learn from some interesting memoranda,
+politely furnished me by Dr. Henry Connelly, one of the principals of
+the pioneer expedition from Chihuahua to Arkansas, of which I have
+already spoken, that, besides some beautiful lands among the Cross
+Timbers, there is a great deal of delightful country still further
+west, of a part of which that gentleman holds the following
+language:--"Between the Brazos and Red River, there is surely the most
+beautiful and picturesque region I have ever beheld. I saw some of the
+finest timber, generally oak--not that scrubby oak which characterizes
+so much of the Texan territory--but large black and bur-oak; such as
+would answer all the purposes for which the largest timber is useful.
+Between those two rivers, no doubt there is destined to be one of the
+most dense and prosperous settlements. The fertility of the soil is
+not exceeded by any I have seen; and, from the high and undulating
+character of the country, there can be no doubt of its being very
+healthy."
+
+To the westward of Rio Brazos, and south of some sandy and saline
+regions which border the upper portions of this stream, the same
+enterprising traveller represents many of the valleys as rich and
+beautiful, and the uplands as being in many places sparsely timbered
+with mezquite trees. This is particularly the case on the sources of
+the Colorado, where the country is delightfully watered. But
+immediately {195} north of this sets in that immense desert region of
+the Llano Estacado.
+
+The chief natural disadvantage to which the Great Western Prairies are
+exposed, consists in the absence of navigable streams. Throughout the
+whole vast territory which I have been attempting to describe, there
+is not a single river, except the Missouri, which is navigable during
+[Pg251] the whole season. The remaining streams, in their course
+through the plains, are and must continue to be, for all purposes of
+commerce, comparatively useless.
+
+The chief of these rivers are the Missouri, the Arkansas, and Red
+River, with their numerous tributaries. The principal western branches
+of the Missouri are the Yellow Stone, the Platte and the Kansas. Small
+'flats' and 'buffalo boats' have passed down the two former for a
+considerable distance, during high water; but they are never navigable
+to any extent by steamboats.
+
+The _Arkansas_ river penetrates far into the Rocky Mountains, its
+ramifications, interlocking with some of the waters of the Missouri,
+Columbia, San Buenaventura, Colorado of the West, and Rio del
+Norte.[155] The channel of this stream, in its course through the
+Prairies, is very wide and shallow, with banks in many places hardly
+five feet above low water. It will probably measure nearly 2000 miles
+in length, from its source to the frontier of Arkansas. It is called
+_Rio Napeste_ by the Mexicans; but among the early French voyagers it
+acquired the name of _Arkansas_, or rather {196} _Akansa_,[156] from a
+tribe of the Dahcotah or Osage stock, who lived near its mouth. This
+river has numerous tributaries, some of which are of great length, yet
+there is not one that is at all navigable, except the [Pg252] Neosho
+from the north, which has been descended by small boats for at least a
+hundred miles.
+
+_Red River_ is much shorter and narrower from the frontier westward
+than the Arkansas, bearing but little over half the volume of water.
+Even in its serpentine course it can hardly exceed 1200 miles from the
+Arkansas boundary to its source. This river rises in the table plains
+of the Llano Estacado, and has not, as I have been assured by traders
+and hunters, any mountainous elevations about its source of any
+consequence;[157] although we are continually hearing the inhabitants
+of its lower borders speak of the "_June freshets_ produced by the
+melting of the snow in the mountains."
+
+The upper portions of this river, and emphatically from the mouth of
+the False Washita (or Faux Ouachitta) upward, present little or no
+facilities for navigation; being frequently spread out over sand-bars
+to the width of several hundred yards. A very credible Indian trader,
+who had been on Red River {197} some two hundred miles above the False
+Washita, informed me, that, while in some places he found it not over
+fifty yards wide, in others it was at least five hundred. This and
+most other prairie streams have commonly very low banks with
+remarkably shallow channels, which, during droughts, sometimes go dry
+in their transit through the sandy plains.[158] [Pg253]
+
+It would be neither interesting nor profitable to present to
+my readers a detailed account of all the tributaries of the three
+principal rivers already mentioned. They may be {198} found for the
+most part laid down, with their bearings and relative magnitudes, upon
+the map which accompanies this work. It is only necessary to say in
+addition, that none of them can ever be availed of to any considerable
+extent for purposes of navigation.
+
+With regard to the productions of the soil of these regions, the
+reader will probably have formed, in the main, a tolerably correct
+idea already; nevertheless a few further specifications may not be
+altogether unacceptable.
+
+The timber of that portion of the United States territory which is
+included between the Arkansas frontier and the Cross Timbers,
+throughout the highlands, is mostly oak of various kinds, of which
+black-jack and post-oak predominate, as these, and especially the
+former, seem only capable of withstanding the conflagrations to which
+they are exposed, and therefore abound along the prairie borders. The
+black-jack presents a blackened, scrubby appearance, with harsh rugged
+branches--partly on account of being so often scorched and crisped by
+the prairie fires. About the streams we find an intermixture of elm,
+hackberry, [Pg254] peccan (or pecan), ash, walnut, mulberry, cherry,
+persimmon, cottonwood, sycamore, birch, etc., with varieties of
+hickory, gum, dogwood, and the like. All of the foregoing, except
+paccan, gum and dogwood, are also found west of Missouri, where,
+although the uplands are almost wholly prairie, the richest growths
+predominate in the valleys.
+
+{199} In many of the rich bottoms from the Canadian to Red River, for
+a distance of one or two hundred miles west of the frontier, is found
+the celebrated _bois-d'arc_ (literally, _bow-wood_), usually corrupted
+in pronunciation to _bowdark_. It was so named by the French on
+account of its peculiar fitness for _bows_. This tree is sometimes
+found with a trunk two or three feet in diameter, but, being much
+branched, it is rarely over forty or fifty feet high. The leaves are
+large, and it bears a fruit a little resembling the orange in general
+appearance, though rougher and larger, being four or five inches in
+diameter; but it is not used for food. The wood is of a beautiful
+light orange color, and, though coarse, is susceptible of polish. It
+is one of the hardest, firmest and most durable of timbers, and is
+much used by wagon-makers and millwrights, as well as by the wild
+Indians, who make bows of the younger growths.[159]
+
+On the Arkansas and especially its southern tributaries as far west as
+the Verdigris, and up those of Red River nearly to the False Washita,
+the bottoms are mostly covered with cane. And scattered over all the
+south to about the same distance westward, the sassafras abounds,
+which grows here in every kind of soil and locality.
+
+The celebrated _Cross Timbers_, of which frequent mention has been
+made, extend from the Brazos, or perhaps from the Colorado of Texas,
+across the sources of Trinity, traversing [Pg255] Red River above the
+False Washita, and thence {200} west of north, to the Red Fork of
+Arkansas, if not further. It is a rough hilly range of country, and,
+though not mountainous, may perhaps be considered a prolongation of
+that chain of low mountains which pass to the northward of Bexar and
+Austin city in Texas.[160]
+
+The Cross Timbers vary in width from five to thirty miles, and
+entirely cut off the communication betwixt the interior prairies and
+those of the great plains. They may be considered as the 'fringe' of
+the great prairies, being a continuous brushy strip, composed of
+various kinds of undergrowth; such as black-jacks, post-oaks, and in
+some places hickory, elm, etc., intermixed with a very diminutive
+dwarf oak, called by the hunters 'shin-oak.' Most of the timber
+appears to be kept small by the continual inroads of the 'burning
+prairies;' for, being killed almost annually, it is constantly
+replaced by scions of undergrowth; so that it becomes more and more
+dense every reproduction. In some places, however, the oaks are of
+considerable size, and able to withstand the conflagrations. The
+underwood is so matted in many places with grape-vines, greenbriars,
+etc., as to form almost impenetrable 'roughs,' which serve as
+hiding-places for wild beasts, as well as wild Indians; and would, in
+savage warfare, prove almost as formidable as the hammocks of Florida.
+
+South of the Canadian, a branch of these Cross Timbers projects off
+westward, extending across this stream, and up its course for 100
+{201} miles or so, from whence, it inclines northwest beyond the North
+Fork, and ultimately ceases, no doubt, in the great sandy plains in
+that direction. [Pg256]
+
+The region of the Cross Timbers is generally well-watered; and
+is interspersed with romantic and fertile tracts. The bottoms of the
+tributaries of Red River, even for some distance west of the Cross
+Timbers (perhaps almost to the U. S. boundary), are mostly very
+fertile, and timbered with narrow stripes of elm, hackberry, walnut,
+hickory, mulberry, bur-oak and other rich growths.
+
+But further north, and west of the Cross Timbers, even the streams are
+nearly naked. The Cimarron river for more than a hundred miles is
+absolutely without timber; and the Arkansas, for so large a stream, is
+remarkably scant. The southern border, being protected from the
+prairie fires by a chain of sand-hills, which extends for two hundred
+miles along it, is not so bare as the northern bank; though even here
+it is only skirted with occasional sparsely set groves of cottonwood
+in the nooks and bends. It is upon the abundance of islands which
+intersperse its channel, that the greatest quantity of timber (though
+purely cottonwood) is to be found; yet withal, there are stretches of
+miles without a tree in view. The banks of the Canadian are equally
+naked; and, having fewer islands, the river appears still more barren.
+In fact, there is scarce anything else but cottonwood, and that very
+sparsely scattered {202} along the streams, throughout most of the
+far-western prairies.
+
+It is unquestionably the prairie conflagrations that keep down the
+woody growth upon most of the western uplands. The occasional skirts
+and fringes which have escaped their rage, have been protected by the
+streams they border. Yet may not the time come when these vast plains
+will be covered with timber? It would seem that the prairie region,
+long after the discovery of America, extended to the very banks of the
+Mississippi. Father Marquette, in a voyage down this river, in 1673,
+after passing below [Pg257] the mouth of the Ohio, remarks:--"The
+banks of the river began to be covered with high trees, which hindered
+us from observing the country as we had done all along; but we judged
+from the bellowing of the oxen [buffalo] that the meadows are very
+near."[161]--Indeed, there are parts of the southwest now thickly set
+with trees of good size, that, within the remembrance of the oldest
+inhabitants, were as naked as the prairie plains; and the appearance
+of the timber in many other sections indicates that it has grown up
+within less than a century. In fact, we are now witnessing the
+encroachment of the timber upon the prairies, wherever the devastating
+conflagrations have ceased their ravages.
+
+The high plains seem too dry and lifeless to produce timber; yet might
+not the vicissitudes of nature operate a change likewise upon the
+seasons? Why may we not suppose {203} that the genial influences of
+civilization--that extensive cultivation of the earth--might
+contribute to the multiplication of showers, as it certainly does of
+fountains? Or that the shady groves, as they advance upon the
+prairies, may have some effect upon the seasons? At least, many old
+settlers maintain that the droughts are becoming less oppressive in
+the West. The people of New Mexico also assure us that the rains have
+much increased of latter years, a phenomenon which the vulgar
+superstitiously attribute to the arrival of the Missouri traders. Then
+may we not hope that these sterile regions might yet be thus revived
+and fertilized, and their surface covered one day by flourishing
+settlements to the Rocky Mountains?
+
+With regard to fruits, the Prairies are of course not very plentifully
+supplied. West of the border, however, for nearly two hundred miles,
+they are covered, in many places, [Pg258] with the wild strawberry;
+and the groves lining the streams frequently abound in grapes, plums,
+persimmons, mulberries, peccans, hackberries, and other 'sylvan
+luxuries.' The high prairies beyond, however, are very bare of fruits.
+The prickly pear may be found over most of the dry plains; but this is
+neither very palatable nor wholesome, though often eaten by travellers
+for want of other fruits. Upon the branches of the Canadian, North
+Fork, and Cimarron, there are, in places, considerable quantities of
+excellent plums, grapes, choke-cherries, gooseberries, and
+currants--of the {204} latter there are three kinds, black, red, and
+white. About the ravines and marshy grounds (particularly towards the
+east) there are different kinds of small onions, with which the
+traveller may season his fresh meats. On the plains, also, I have met
+with a species resembling garlic in flavor.
+
+But the flowers are among the most interesting products of the
+frontier prairies. These gay meadows wear their most fanciful piebald
+robes from the earliest spring till divested of them by the hoary
+frosts of autumn. When again winter has fled, but before the grassy
+green appears, or other vegetation has ventured to peep above the
+earth, they are bespeckled in many places with a species of
+_erythronium_, a pretty lilaceous little flower, which springs from
+the ground already developed, between a pair of lanceolate leaves, and
+is soon after in full bloom.[162] But the floriferous region only
+extends about two hundred miles beyond the border: the high plains are
+nearly as destitute of flowers as they are of fruits.
+
+The _climate_ of most parts of the Prairies is no doubt healthy in the
+extreme; for a purer atmosphere is hardly to be found. But the cold
+rains of the 'wet season,' and the colder snows of winter, with the
+annoying winds [Pg259] that prevail at nearly all times, often render
+it very unpleasant. It can hardly be said, it is true, that the
+Prairies have their regular 'dry and rainy seasons;' yet the summers
+are often so droughty, that, unless some change should {205} be
+effected in nature's functions, cultivators would generally find it
+necessary, no doubt, to resort to irrigation. That portion, however,
+which is conterminous with our western border, and to the distance of
+nearly two hundred miles westward, in every respect resembles the
+adjacent States of Missouri and Arkansas in climate. The south is a
+little disposed to chills and fevers; but the northern portion is as
+healthy as the most salubrious uplands of Missouri.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[150] This discovery was verified by the finding of gold near Denver
+in 1858. A reader of Gregg's book, in the St. Louis Mercantile
+Library, wrote upon the margin in 1858, opposite this paragraph: "The
+truth of this report has been verified this year."--Chittenden,
+_Fur-Trade_, ii, p. 486.--ED.
+
+[151] For an early description of the Grand Saline, see Bradbury's
+_Travels_, in our volume v, pp. 192, 193.--ED.
+
+[152] Capt. Boone is a son of the late Col. Daniel Boone, the
+celebrated pioneer of the West. Being of practical habits, and of
+extensive experience upon those deserts, much weight is due to his
+observations.--GREGG.
+
+[153] Brackenbridge's [Brackenridge's] Voyage up the Missouri River,
+p. 205.--GREGG.
+
+_Comment by Ed._ See our volume vi, p. 153, note 54; also our volume
+v, pp. 191-194.
+
+[154] James Logan was appointed agent among the Creeks shortly after
+their final removal to Indian Territory (about 1838), and was replaced
+about 1842.--ED.
+
+[155] Gregg probably takes this information from Pike's journals. In
+his edition thereof, Elliott Coues claims (ii, p. 733, note 18) that
+San Buenaventura River was a myth of this early period. Pike describes
+it as emptying into the Pacific north of California; but upon his map
+it runs into a nameless salt lake, and is probably to be identified
+with Sevier River.--ED.
+
+[156] A stranger would be led to suppose we were without a system of
+orthography, from the fact of our so generally adopting the French
+spelling of Indian names, whereby all sight is soon lost of the
+original. The French first corrupt them, and we, by adapting our
+pronunciation to their orthography, at once transform them into new
+names. Thus 'polite usage' has converted into _Arkan'sas_ the plural
+of the primitive _Arkansa_ or _Arkonsah_; though an approximate,
+_Ar'kansaw_, is still the current 'vulgar' pronunciation. _Osage_ and
+a great many others have suffered similar metamorphoses.--GREGG.
+
+[157] For the exploration of the sources of Red River, see our volume
+xvi, p. 85, note 52. Gregg would appear to be one of the first
+correctly to locate the headwaters of this stream.--ED.
+
+[158] Of all the rivers of this character, the Cimarron, being on the
+route from Missouri to Santa Fe, has become the most famous. Its water
+disappears in the sand and reappears again, in so many places, that
+some travellers have contended that it 'ebbs and flows' periodically.
+This is doubtless owing to the fact, that the little current which may
+flow above the sand in the night, or in cloudy weather, is kept dried
+up, in an unshaded channel, during the hot sunny days. But in some
+places the sand is so porous that the water never flows above it,
+except during freshets.
+
+I was once greatly surprised upon encountering one of these sandy
+sections of the river after a tremendous rain-storm. Our caravan was
+encamped at the 'Lower Cimarron Spring:' and, a little after
+night-fall, a dismal, murky cloud was seen gathering in the western
+horizon, which very soon came lowering upon us, driven by a hurricane,
+and bringing with it one of those tremendous bursts of thunder and
+lightning, and rain, which render the storms of the Prairies, like
+those of the tropics, so terrible. Hail-stones, as large as turkeys'
+eggs, and torrents of rain soon drenched the whole country; and so
+rapidly were the banks of the river overflowed, that the most active
+exertions were requisite to prevent the mules that were 'staked' in
+the valley from drowning. Next morning, after crossing the neck of a
+bend, we were, at the distance of about three miles, upon the
+river-bank again; when, to our astonishment, the wetted sand, and an
+occasional pool, fast being absorbed, were the only vestiges of the
+recent flood--no water was flowing there!
+
+In these sandy stretches of the Cimarron, and other similar 'dry
+streams,' travellers procure water by excavating basins in the
+channel, a few feet deep, into which the water is filtrated from the
+saturated sand.--GREGG.
+
+[159] This is the shrub now known as Osage orange (_Maclura
+aurantiaca_).--ED.
+
+[160] Bexar is the older name for San Antonio, Texas, which was
+founded (1718) as a presidio and mission to the memory of San Antonio
+de Bejar (Bexar). Austin was laid out (1839) as the capital of the
+independent state of Texas. See George P. Garrison, _Texas_ (New York,
+1902).--ED.
+
+[161] See Thwaites, _Jesuit Relations_, lix, for Marquette's journal.
+This quotation is found on p. 149.--ED.
+
+[162] Commonly known as dog-toothed violet.--ED.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII {XI}
+
+ANIMALS OF THE PRAIRIES
+
+The Mustang or Wild Horse -- Capturing him by 'Creasing,' and with
+  the Lazo -- Horse-flesh -- The Buffalo -- Its Appearance --
+  Excellence of its Meat -- General Utility to the Indian and
+  Traveller -- Prospect of its Extinction -- Hunting the Buffalo with
+  Bow and Arrows, the Lance, etc. -- 'Still-hunting' -- The Buffalo
+  ferocious only when wounded -- Butchering, etc. -- The Gray Wolf --
+  Its Modes of killing Buffalo -- Their great Numbers -- A
+  'Wolf-scrape' -- The Prairie Wolf, or 'Jackal of the Prairies' --
+  Elk, Deer and Bear -- The Antelope -- The Bighorn -- The Prairie Dog
+  -- Owls and Rattlesnakes -- The Horned Frog -- Fowls -- Bees, etc.
+
+
+The zoology of the Prairies has probably attracted more attention than
+any other feature of their natural history. This has not arisen
+altogether from the peculiar interest the animals of the Prairies
+possess; but they constitute so considerable a portion of the society
+of the traveller who journeys among them, that they get to hold
+somewhat the same place in his estimation that his fellow-creatures
+would occupy if he were in civilization. Indeed, the animals are _par
+eminence_ the communities of the Prairies.
+
+By far the most noble of these, and therefore {207} the [Pg260] best
+entitled to precedence in the brief notice I am able to present of the
+animals of those regions, is the _mustang_[163] or wild horse of the
+Prairies. As he is descended from the stock introduced into America by
+the first Spanish colonists, he has no doubt a partial mixture of
+Arabian blood. Being of domestic origin, he is found of various
+colors, and sometimes of a beautiful piebald.
+
+It is a singular fact in the economy of nature, that all _wild_
+animals of the same species should have one uniform color (with only
+occasional but uniform differences between males and females); while
+that of the _domestic_ animals, whether quadruped or fowl, is more or
+less diversified.
+
+The beauty of the mustang is proverbial. One in particular has been
+celebrated by hunters, of which marvellous stories are told. He has
+been represented as a medium-sized stallion of perfect symmetry,
+milk-white, save a pair of black ears--a natural 'pacer,' and so
+fleet, it has been said, as to leave far behind every horse that had
+been tried in pursuit of him, without breaking his 'pace.' But I infer
+that this story is somewhat mythical, from the difficulty which one
+finds in fixing the abiding place of its equine hero. He is familiarly
+known, by common report, all over the great Prairies. The trapper
+celebrates him in the vicinity of the northern Rocky {208} Mountains;
+the hunter, on the Arkansas, or in the midst of the Plains; while
+others have him pacing at the rate of half a mile a minute on the
+borders of Texas. It is hardly a matter of surprise, then, that a
+creature of such an ubiquitary existence should never have been
+caught.
+
+The wild horses are generally well-formed, with trim and clean limbs;
+still their elegance has been much exaggerated by travellers, because
+they have seen them at large, abandoned [Pg261] to their wild and
+natural gaiety. Then, it is true, they appear superb indeed; but when
+caught and tamed, they generally dwindle down to ordinary ponies.
+Large droves are very frequently seen upon the Prairies, sometimes of
+hundreds together, gambolling and curvetting within a short distance
+of the caravans. It is sometimes difficult to keep them from dashing
+among the loose stock of the traveller, which would be exceedingly
+dangerous; for, once together, they are hard to separate again,
+particularly if the number of mustangs is much the greatest. It is a
+singular fact, that the gentlest wagon-horse (even though quite fagged
+with travel), once among a drove of mustangs, will often acquire in a
+few hours all the intractable wildness of his untamed companions.
+
+The mustang is sometimes taken by the cruel expedient of 'creasing,'
+which consists in shooting him through the upper _crease_ of the neck,
+above the cervical vertebrae; when, the ball cutting a principal nerve,
+he falls as suddenly {209} as if shot in the brain, and remains
+senseless for a few minutes, during which he is secured with a rope.
+He soon recovers from the shock, however, and springs to his feet, but
+finds himself deprived of his liberty. He is easily tamed after this,
+and the wound heals without leaving any physical injury. But
+'creasing' is so nice an operation that many are killed in the
+attempt. If the ball pass a little too low, it fractures a vertebra
+and kills the poor brute instantly.
+
+But the most usual mode, among the Mexicans and Indians, of taking the
+_mestena_ (as the former call these animals), is with the lazo. They
+pursue them on fleet horses, and great numbers are thus noosed and
+tamed. The mustang has been taken in Texas in considerable numbers by
+preparing a strong pen at some passway or crossing of a river, into
+which they are frightened and caught. [Pg262]
+
+Upon the plains, I once succeeded in separating a gay-looking stallion
+from his herd of _mestenas_, upon which he immediately joined our
+_caballada_, and was directly lazoed by a Mexican. As he curvetted at
+the end of the rope, or would stop and gaze majestically at his
+subjecters, his symmetrical proportions attracted the attention of
+all; and our best jockeys at once valued him at five hundred dollars.
+But it appeared that he had before been tamed, for he soon submitted
+to the saddle, and in a few days dwindled down to scarce a
+twenty-dollar hackney.
+
+Prairie travellers have often been reduced {210} to the necessity of
+eating the flesh of the mustang; and, when young and tender, it has
+been accounted savory enough; but, when of full age, it is said to be
+exceedingly rancid, particularly when fat. They are sometimes hunted
+by Mexicans for their oil, which is used by the curriers.
+
+The _buffalo_, though making no pretensions to the elegance and
+symmetry of the mustang, is by far the most important animal of the
+Prairies to the traveller. It is sufficiently well known that these
+animals bear but little resemblance to the buffalo of India; but that
+they are a species of bison, or _bos Americanus_, according to
+naturalists. They are called _Cibolos_ by the Mexicans; and it would
+certainly have prevented ambiguity, had they been distinguished by
+some other name than buffalo with us.
+
+Their dusky black color becomes much paler during the season of long
+hair.[164] The phenomenon of a white buffalo has frequently been
+remarked upon the Prairies; but as the white skin is said to have been
+used in the mystic ceremonies of many of the northern tribes of
+Indians, this probably created such a demand for them, that they have
+become nearly extinct. Their unusual [Pg263] color has commonly been
+considered a _lusus naturae_, yet it is probable that they stand in
+about the same relation to the black or brown buffalo that black sheep
+do to white ones. The horns of {211} the buffalo are short and black,
+and almost concealed under the frightfully shaggy frontlets of long
+woolly hair that crown the foreheads of the bulls; which, with the
+goat-like beard, and ill-shapen hump, form the chief distinction
+between them and the domestic cattle: in fact, they are so nearly of
+the same species that they will breed together; though the offspring,
+like the mule, is said to be unfruitful. Between the males and females
+there is still a greater disproportion in size than among the domestic
+cattle. A buffalo cow is about as heavy as a common ox, while a large
+fat bull will weigh perhaps double as much.
+
+These are very gregarious animals. At some seasons, however, the cows
+rather incline to keep to themselves; at other times they are mostly
+seen in the centre of the gang, while the bulls are scattered around,
+frequently to a considerable distance, evidently guarding the cows and
+calves. And on the outskirts of the buffalo range, we are apt to meet
+with small gangs of bulls alone, a day or two's travel distant, as
+though performing the office of 'piquet guards' for the main herds.
+
+The flesh of the buffalo is, I think, as fine as any meat I ever
+tasted: the old hunter will not admit that there is anything equal to
+it. Much of its apparent savoriness, however, results perhaps from our
+sharpened 'prairie appetites,' and our being usually upon salt
+provisions awhile before obtaining it. The {212} flesh is of coarser
+texture than beef, more juicy, and the fat and lean better
+distributed. This meat is also very easy of digestion,[165] [Pg264]
+possessing even aperient qualities. The circumstance that bulls of all
+ages, if fat, make good beef, is a further proof of the superiority of
+buffalo meat. These are generally selected for consumption in the
+winter and early spring, when the cows, unless barren, are apt to be
+poor; but during most of the year, the latter are the fattest and
+tenderest meat. Of these, the udder is held as hardly second to the
+tongue in delicacy. But what the tail of the beaver is to the trapper,
+the tongue of the buffalo is to the hunter. Next to this are the
+'marrow-bones,' the tender-loins, and the hump-ribs. Instead of a
+gristly substance, as sometimes stated, the hump is produced by a
+convex tier of vertical ribs, which project from the spine, forming a
+gradual curve over the shoulders: those of the middle being sometimes
+nearly two feet in length. The 'veal' is rarely good, being generally
+poor, owing to the scanty supply of milk which their dams afford, and
+to their running so much from hunters and wolves.
+
+This animal furnishes almost the exclusive food of the prairie
+Indians, as well as covering for their wigwams and most of their
+clothing; also their bedding, ropes, bags for their meat, &c.; sinews
+for bow-strings, for sewing moccasins, leggins, and the like; besides
+{213} sustenance for the numerous travellers and trappers who range
+upon their grazing regions. Were they only killed for food, however,
+their natural increase would perhaps replenish the loss: yet the
+continual and wanton slaughter of them by travellers and hunters, and
+the still greater havoc made among them by the Indians, not only for
+meat, but often for the skins and tongues alone (for which they find a
+ready market among their traders), are fast reducing their numbers,
+and must ultimately effect their total annihilation from the
+continent. It is believed that the annual [Pg265] 'export' of
+_buffalo rugs_[166] from the Prairies and bordering 'buffalo range,'
+is about a hundred thousand: and the number killed wantonly, or
+exclusively for meat, is no doubt still greater, as the skins are fit
+to dress scarcely half the year. The vast extent of the prairies upon
+which they now pasture is no argument against the prospect of their
+total extinction, when we take into consideration the extent of
+country from which they have already disappeared; for it is well
+known, that, within the recollection of our oldest pioneers, they were
+nearly as abundant east of the Mississippi as they now are upon the
+western prairies; and from history we learn, that they once ranged to
+the Atlantic coast. Even within thirty years, they were abundant over
+much of the present States of Missouri and Arkansas; yet they are now
+rarely seen within two hundred miles of the frontier. Indeed, upon the
+high {214} plains they have very sensibly decreased within the last
+ten years. Nevertheless, the number of buffalo upon the Prairies is
+still immense. But, as they incline to migrate _en masse_ from place
+to place, it sometimes happens, that, for several days' travel
+together, not a single one is to be met with; but, in other places,
+many thousands are often seen at one view.
+
+The Indians, as well as Mexicans, hunt the buffalo mostly with the bow
+and arrows. For this purpose they train their fleetest horses to run
+close beside him; and, when near enough, with almost unerring aim,
+they pierce him with their arrows, usually behind the short ribs,
+ranging forward, which soon disables and brings him to the ground.
+When an arrow has been ill-directed, or does not enter deep enough,
+and even sometimes when it has penetrated a vital part, but is needed
+to use again, the [Pg266] hunter sometimes rides up and draws it out
+while the animal is yet running. An athletic Indian will not
+unfrequently discharge his darts with such force, that I have seen
+them (30 inches long) wholly buried in the body of a buffalo: and I
+have been assured by hunters that the arrows, missing the bones, have
+been known to pass entirely through the huge carcass and fall upon the
+ground.
+
+The dexterity acquired by these wild hunters in shooting the buffalo,
+is very surprising. On one occasion, upon the prairies, a party of
+Witchita Indians were encamped near us; and {215} a drove of buffalo
+passing in the vicinity, I requested a chief to take my horse and kill
+one 'upon the shares.' He delighted in the sport: so, gathering his
+arrows, he mounted the pony, which was slow, and withal very lean, and
+giving chase, in a few minutes he had two buffaloes lying upon the
+plain, and two others went off so badly wounded, that, with a little
+exertion, they might have been secured.
+
+But the dexterity of the Comanches in the buffalo chase is perhaps
+superior to that of any other tribe. The Mexican _Ciboleros_, however,
+are scarcely if at all inferior to the Indians in this sport. I once
+went on a hunting expedition with a Cibolero, who carried no arms
+except his bow and arrows and a butcher's knife. Espying a herd of
+buffalo, he put spurs to his horse, and, though I followed as fast as
+a mule I rode could trudge, when I came up with him, after a chase of
+two or three miles, he had the buffalo partly skinned! This was rather
+unusual dispatch, to be sure, for the animal oftener lingers awhile
+after receiving the fatal dart.
+
+In the chase, the experienced hunter singles out the fattest buffalo
+as his victim, and having given him a mortal wound, he in like manner
+selects another, and so on, till the plain is sometimes literally
+strewed with carcasses. [Pg267]
+
+It seems that Capt. Bonneville[167] marvelled greatly that some
+Indians, during his peregrinations in the Rocky Mountains, should have
+{216} killed buffalo "without guns or arrows, and with only an old
+spear;" and he was no doubt mistaken in supposing "that they had
+chased the herds of buffalo at full speed, until they tired them down,
+when they easily dispatched them with the spear:" for both Indians and
+Mexicans often chase with a long-handled spear or lance, which, if the
+horse be well trained, is still a more expeditious mode of killing
+them than with the bow and arrow. An expert lancer will enter a drove,
+and drawing up alongside, will pierce buffalo after buffalo until
+several are brought down.
+
+In default of bow or lance, they chase with the fusil, but seldom so
+successfully as with the former weapons. The Americans generally
+prefer 'running' with the horseman's pistol; yet the Indian is apt to
+kill double as many with his arrows or lance.
+
+In all these modes of hunting, the buffalo is sometimes dangerous;
+for, becoming enraged from his wounds, he will often make desperate
+lunges at his pursuer; and, if the horse be not well trained, he may
+be himself disembowelled, leaving his rider at the mercy of the
+buffalo, [Pg268] as has happened on some occasions. But if the steed
+understand his business, he will dodge the animal with the expertness
+of a fencer.
+
+Buffalo calves (but not full-grown buffalo) are often taken with the
+lazo by Mexicans and Indians; yet, being separated from their dams and
+the droves during chases, these simple little creatures not
+unfrequently take up with {217} the riding animals of the hunters, and
+follow them to the camp as tamely as though they were their dams. If
+provided with domestic cows, they may be raised without much
+difficulty.
+
+Some of the northern Indians, particularly the Assiniboins,[168] are
+said to practise still a distinct mode of taking the buffalo. A
+staunch pound is erected at some convenient point, and, after a course
+of mystic rites by their medicine-men, they start upon the enterprise.
+A gang of buffalo is frightened towards the pen, while an Indian,
+covered with one of their woolly skins, runs at a distance ahead.
+Being seen by the animals, they mistake him for one of their kind, and
+follow him into the pen. Once secured in the enclosure, they leisurely
+dispatch them with their arrows, as they are said to believe it would
+offend the Great Spirit and render future hunts unpropitious to use
+fire arms in killing their imprisoned game.
+
+However, of all other modes, our backwoodsmen prefer
+'still-hunting'--that is, stealing upon their game afoot with the
+rifle. Buffalo are much more easily approached than deer. When the
+hunter perceives a herd at rest, or quietly feeding, he crawls upon
+them behind a bank, a shrub, or a tuft of grass, with the greatest
+facility, provided he 'has the wind of them,' as hunters say--that is,
+if the wind blows from the buffalo; but if the reverse, he will
+[Pg269] find it impossible to approach them, however securely he may
+have {218} concealed himself from their sight. In fact, their scent
+being acute, they seem to depend more upon it than their sight; for if
+a gang of buffalo be frightened, from any quarter whatever, they are
+apt to shape their course against the wind, that they may scent an
+enemy in their way.
+
+If the hunter succeed in 'bringing down' his first shot, he may
+frequently kill several out of the same herd; for, should the game
+neither see nor smell him, they may hear the rifle-cracks, and witness
+their companions fall one after another, without heeding, except to
+raise their heads, and perhaps start a little at each report. They
+would seem to fancy that the fallen are only lying down to rest, and
+they are loth to leave them. On one occasion, upon the Cimarron river,
+I saw some ten or a dozen buffaloes lying upon a few acres of ground,
+all of which had been shot from the same herd by a couple of our
+hunters. Had not the gang been frightened by the approaching caravan,
+perhaps a dozen more of them might have fallen.
+
+A dexterous hunter will sometimes 'crawl upon' a gang of buffalo, on a
+perfectly level plain. As their sight is at best not acute, and is
+always more or less obscured by the shaggy hair of their foreheads,
+they will hardly observe an approaching enemy when they are feeding,
+unless the wind bears them the scent. The hunter is, therefore,
+careful to 'have the wind' of them, and crawls slowly and closely upon
+the ground, until within gun-shot. If {219} he bring down the first,
+the others will perhaps retire a little, when he may sometimes
+approach behind the fallen buffalo, and shoot several others.
+
+The tenacity of these animals for life is often very extraordinary.
+When one receives even a mortal shot, he frequently appears not
+hurt--he seems to disdain to [Pg270] flinch--but will curl his tail
+and step about as though he neither felt nor feared anything! If left
+undisturbed, however, he begins to stagger, and in a few moments
+expires: but if provoked, he might run for miles before he would fall.
+I have seen a party of hunters around a wounded and enraged bull,
+fire, at a few paces distance, a dozen or two shots, aimed at his very
+heart, without their seeming to have any effect till his anger cooled,
+when in an instant he would lie lifeless upon the ground. In such
+cases, the inexperienced hunter often aims to shoot them in the brain,
+but without success. Owing not only to the thickness of the scull, but
+to the matted wool upon it, I have never witnessed an instance of a
+rifle-ball's penetrating to the brain of a buffalo bull.
+
+The 'still-hunter' must needs be upon his guard; for the wounded
+buffalo is prone to make battle, upon the too near approach of his
+enemy. With a little presence of mind, however, his attacks are easily
+shunned. If he makes a lunge, the pedestrian hunter has only to wheel
+abruptly to one side; for the animal is apt to pass on in a direct
+line. I have never heard of a serious accident of the {220} kind; yet
+some frightful though amusing incidents have occurred in such cases.
+
+The buffalo never attacks, however, except when wounded. Even the
+largest droves (the opinion of some travellers to the contrary
+notwithstanding), though in the wildest career, are easily turned from
+their course by a single man who may intercept their way. I have
+crouched in the tall grass in the direct route of a frighted gang,
+when, firing at them on their near approach, they would spread in
+consternation to either side. Still their advance is somewhat
+frightful--their thundering rumble over the dry plain--their lion-like
+fronts and dangling beards--their open mouths and hanging tongues--as
+they come on, puffing [Pg271] like a locomotive engine at every
+bound, does at first make the blood settle a little heavy about the
+heart.
+
+The gait of these animals is a clumsy gallop, and any common pony can
+overtake them in the chase; though, as the hunter would express it,
+they 'lumber' over the ground rather deceivingly. The cows are usually
+much faster than the bulls. It has been the remark of travellers that
+the buffalo jumps up from the ground differently from any other
+animal. The horse rises upon his fore feet first, and the cow upon her
+hind feet, but the buffalo seems to spring up on them all at once.
+
+American hunters, as well as Indians, to butcher the buffalo,
+generally turn it upon the belly, and commence on the back. The {221}
+hump-ribs, tender-loins, and a few other choice bits being
+appropriated, the remainder is commonly left for the wolves. The skin
+is chiefly used for buffalo rugs, but for which it is only preserved
+by the Indians during fall and winter (and then rarely but from the
+cows and bullocks), when the hair is long and woolly. I have never
+seen the buffalo hide tanned, but it seems too porous and spongy to
+make substantial leather. Were it valuable, thousands of hides might
+be saved that are annually left to the wolves upon the Prairies.
+
+Although the buffalo is the largest, he has by no means the control
+among the prairie animals: the sceptre of authority has been lodged
+with the large _gray wolf_. Though but little larger than the wolf of
+the United States, he is much more ferocious. The same species abound
+throughout the north of Mexico, where they often kill horses, mules
+and cattle of all sizes; and on the Prairies they make considerable
+havoc among the buffalo.
+
+Many curious tales are told of the wiles and expedients practised by
+these animals to secure their prey. Some [Pg272] assert that they
+collect in companies, and chase a buffalo by turns, till he is
+fatigued, when they join and soon dispatch him: others, that, as the
+buffalo runs with the tongue hanging out, they snap at it in the chase
+till it is torn off, which preventing him from eating, he is reduced
+by starvation, and soon overpowered: others, that, while running, they
+gnaw and lacerate {222} the legs and ham-strings till they disable
+him, and then he is killed by the gang. Be this as it may, certain it
+is that they overcome many of the largest buffaloes, employing perhaps
+different means of subduing them, and among these is doubtless the
+last mentioned, for I have myself seen them with the muscles of the
+thighs cruelly mangled--a consequence no doubt of some of these
+attacks. Calves are constantly falling victims to the rapacity of
+these wolves; yet, when herds of buffalo are together, they defend
+their offspring with great bravery.
+
+Though the color of this wolf is generally a dirty gray, it is
+sometimes met with nearly white. I am of opinion, however, that the
+diversity of color originates chiefly from the different ages of the
+hair, and the age and condition of the animal itself. The few white
+wolves I have seen, have been lean, long-haired, and apparently very
+old. There are immense numbers of them upon the Prairies. Droves are
+frequently to be seen following in the wake of caravans, hunting
+companies, and itinerant Indian bands, for weeks together--not, like
+the jackal, so much to disinter the dead (though this they sometimes
+do), as to feast upon the abandoned carcasses of the buffalo which are
+so often wantonly killed and wasted. Unless in these cases, they are
+rarely seen, except in the neighborhood of buffalo; therefore, when
+the hungry traveller meets with wolves, he feels some assurance that
+supplies of his favorite game are at hand. [Pg273]
+
+{223} I have never known these animals, rapacious as they are, [to]
+extend their attacks to man, though they probably would, if very
+hungry and a favorable opportunity presented itself. I shall not soon
+forget an adventure with one of them, many years ago, on the frontier
+of Missouri. Riding near the prairie border, I perceived one of the
+largest and fiercest of the gray species, which had just descended
+from the west, and seemed famished to desperation. I at once prepared
+for a chase; and, being without arms, I caught up a cudgel, when I
+betook me valiantly to the charge, much stronger, as I soon
+discovered, in my cause than in my equipment. The wolf was in no humor
+to flee, however, but boldly met me full half-way. I was soon
+disarmed, for my club broke upon the animal's head. He then 'laid to'
+my horse's legs, which, not relishing the conflict, gave a plunge and
+sent me whirling over his head, and made his escape, leaving me and
+the wolf at close quarters. I was no sooner upon my feet than my
+antagonist renewed the charge; but, being without weapon, or any means
+of awakening an emotion of terror, save through his imagination, I
+took off my large black hat, and using it for a shield, began to
+thrust it towards his gaping jaws. My _ruse_ had the desired effect;
+for, after springing at me a few times, he wheeled about and trotted
+off several paces, and stopped to gaze at me. Being apprehensive that
+he might change his mind and return to the attack, and conscious that,
+under the {224} compromise, I had the best of the bargain, I very
+resolutely---- took to my heels, glad of the opportunity of making a
+drawn game, though I had myself given the challenge.
+
+There is a small species called the _prairie wolf_ on the frontier,
+and _coyote_[169] by the Mexicans, which is also found [Pg274] in
+immense numbers on the Plains. It is rather smaller than an ordinary
+dog, nearly the color of the common gray wolf, and though as rapacious
+as the larger kind, it seems too cowardly to attack stout game. It
+therefore lives upon the remains of buffalo killed by hunters and by
+the large wolves, added to such small game as hares, prairie dogs,
+etc., and even reptiles and insects. It will lie for hours beside a
+'dog-hole,' watching for the appearance of the little animal, which no
+sooner peeps out than the enemy pounces upon it.
+
+The coyote has been denominated the 'jackal of the Prairies;' indeed,
+some have reckoned it really a species of that animal, yet it would
+seem improperly, as this creature {225} partakes much less of the
+nature of the jackal than of the common wolf. Still, however noisy the
+former may be, he cannot exceed the prairie wolf. Like ventriloquists,
+a pair of these will represent a dozen distinct voices in such quick
+succession--will bark, chatter, yelp, whine, and howl in such variety
+of note, that one would fancy a score of them at hand. This, added to
+the long and doleful bugle-note of the large wolf, which often
+accompanies it, sometimes makes a night upon the Prairies perfectly
+hideous.--Some hunters assert that the coyote and the dog will breed
+together. Be this as it may, certain it is that the Indian dogs have a
+wonderfully wolfish appearance.
+
+The _elk_ as well as the _deer_ is found somewhat abundant [Pg275]
+upon the Arkansas river, as high as the Santa Fe road, but from thence
+westward they are both very scarce; for these animals do not resort to
+the high prairie plains. Further south, however, in the prairies
+bordering the brushy tributaries of the Canadian and Red River, deer
+are exceedingly plenty--herds of hundreds are sometimes seen together;
+but in these southern regions there are but few elks.
+
+About the thickety streams above-mentioned, as well as among the Cross
+Timbers, the _black bear_ is very common, living chiefly upon acorns
+and other fruits. The grape vines and the branches of the scrubby
+oaks, and plum-bushes, are in some places so torn and broken by the
+bear in pursuit of fruits, that a stranger {226} would conclude a
+violent hurricane had passed among them.
+
+That species of gazelle known as the _antelope_ is very numerous upon
+the high plains. This beautiful animal, though reckoned a link between
+the deer and goat, is certainly much nearest the latter. It is about
+the size and somewhat of the figure of a large goat. Its horns also
+resemble those of the latter, being likewise persistent; but they are
+more erect, and have a short prong projecting in front. The ground of
+this animal's color a little resembles that of the common deer, but it
+is variegated with a whitish section or two on each side.
+
+The antelope is most remarkable for its fleetness: not bounding like
+the deer, but skimming over the ground as though upon skates. The
+fastest horse will rarely overtake them. I once witnessed an effort to
+catch one that had a hind-leg broken, but it far outstripped our
+fleetest 'buffalo-horse.' It is, therefore, too swift to be hunted in
+the chase. I have seen dogs run after this animal, but they would soon
+stop and turn about, apparently much ashamed of being left so far
+behind. [Pg276]
+
+The flesh of the antelope is, like that of the goat, rather coarse,
+and but little esteemed: consequently, no great efforts are made to
+take them. Being as wild as fleet, the hunting of them is very
+difficult, except they be entrapped by their curiosity. Meeting a
+stranger, they seem loth to leave him until they have fully found him
+out. They will often {227} take a circuit around the object of their
+curiosity, usually approaching nearer and nearer, until within
+rifle-shot--frequently stopping to gaze. Also, they are often decoyed
+with a scarlet coat, or a red handkerchief attached to the tip of a
+ramrod, which will sometimes allure them within reach of the hunter's
+aim. But this interesting animal, like the buffalo, is now very rarely
+seen within less than 200 miles of the frontier: though early voyagers
+tell us that it once frequented as far east as the Mississippi.
+
+The _bighorn_ (_carnero cimarron_, as called by the Mexicans, and
+sometimes known to trappers as the mountain sheep), so abundant in
+most of the Rocky Mountain chain, is found in the spurs and
+table-plain cliffs about the sources of the Cimarron river (whence
+this stream acquired its name), as well as in the highland gorges, and
+other parts of those mountain borders. Its flesh is said to be
+excellent, and is preferred by many hunters to venison. It is larger
+than a common sheep, and covered with brownish hair instead of
+wool--darker than the deer, but whitish on the belly. It is most
+remarkable for its huge spiral horns, resembling in shape and
+curvature those of the sheep, but sometimes over three feet long, and
+four to six inches in diameter at the base.[170] [Pg277]
+
+{228} The bighorn is quite celebrated for its agility, and its
+habit of secluding itself among the most inaccessible mountain crags.
+It seems to delight in perching and capering upon the very verge of
+the most frightful precipices and overhanging cliffs, and in skipping
+from rock to rock, regardless of the yawning chasms, hundreds of feet
+in depth, which intervene. In fact, when pursued, it does not
+hesitate, as I have been assured, to leap from a cliff into a valley a
+hundred or more feet below, where, lighting upon its huge horns, it
+springs to its feet uninjured; for the neck is so thick and strong as
+to support the greatest shock the animal's weight can bring upon it.
+Being exceedingly timorous, it rarely descends to the valleys, but
+feeds and sleeps about such craggy fastnesses as are inaccessible to
+the wolves and other animals of prey. This animal seems greatly to
+resemble the _moufflon_ of Buffon, in color, figure and horns, but the
+_chamois_ in habits.
+
+But of all the prairie animals, by far the most curious, and by no
+means the least celebrated, is the little _prairie dog_. This singular
+quadruped is but little larger than a common squirrel, its body being
+nearly a foot long, with a tail of three or four inches. The color
+ranges from brown to a dirty yellow. The flesh, though often eaten by
+travellers, is not esteemed savory. It was denominated the 'barking
+squirrel,' the 'prairie ground-squirrel,' etc., by early explorers,
+with much more apparent propriety than the present established {229}
+name. Its yelp, which resembles that of the little toy-dog, seems its
+only canine attribute. It rather appears to occupy a middle ground
+betwixt the rabbit and squirrel--like the former in feeding and
+burrowing--like the latter in frisking, flirting, sitting erect, and
+somewhat so in its barking.
+
+The prairie dog has been reckoned by some naturalists a species of the
+marmot (_arctomys ludoviciana_); yet it seems [Pg278] to possess
+scarce any other quality in common with this animal except that of
+burrowing. Some have supposed, it is true, that like the marmot, they
+lie torpid during the cold season; and it is observed in 'Long's
+Expedition,' that, "as they pass the winter in a lethargic state, they
+lay up no provisions," &c.: but this is no doubt erroneous; for I have
+the concurrent testimony of several persons, who have been upon the
+Prairies in winter, that, like rabbits and squirrels, they issue from
+their holes every soft day; and therefore lay up no doubt a hoard of
+'hay' (as there is rarely anything else to be found in the vicinity of
+their towns) for winter's use.
+
+A collection of their burrows has been termed by travellers a 'dog
+town,' which comprises from a dozen or so, to some thousands in the
+same vicinity; often covering an area of several square miles. They
+generally locate upon firm dry plains, coated with fine short grass,
+upon which they feed; for they are no doubt exclusively herbivorous.
+But even when tall coarse grass surrounds, they seem commonly to
+destroy this within their 'streets,' {230} which are nearly always
+found 'paved' with a fine species suited to their palates. They must
+need but little water, if any at all, as their 'towns' are often,
+indeed generally, found in the midst of the most arid plains--unless
+we suppose they dig down to subterranean fountains. At least they
+evidently burrow remarkably deep. Attempts either to dig or drown them
+out of their holes have generally proved unsuccessful.
+
+[Illustration: "Dog Town," or Settlement of Prairie Dogs]
+
+Approaching a 'village,' the little dogs may be observed frisking
+about the 'streets'--passing from dwelling to dwelling apparently on
+visits--sometimes a few clustered together as though in council--here
+feeding upon the tender herbage--there cleansing their 'houses,' or
+brushing the little hillock about the door--yet all quiet. Upon
+[Pg281] seeing a stranger, however, each streaks it to its home,
+but is apt to stop at the entrance, and spread the general alarm by a
+succession of shrill yelps, usually sitting erect. Yet at the report
+of a gun or the too near approach of the visitor, they dart down and
+are seen no more till the cause of alarm seems to have disappeared.
+
+Two other animals appear to live in communion with the prairie
+dogs--the _rattle-snake_ and a small _owl_;[171] but both are no doubt
+intruders, resorting to these burrows for shelter, and to feed, it is
+presumed, upon the 'pups' of the inmates.
+
+{231} Rattle-snakes are exceedingly abundant upon these plains: scores
+of them are sometimes killed in the course of a day's travel; yet they
+seem remarkably harmless, for I have never witnessed an instance of a
+man's being bitten, though they have been known to crawl even into the
+beds of travellers.[172] Mules are sometimes bitten by them, yet very
+rarely, though they must daily walk over considerable numbers.
+
+The _horned frog_, as modern travellers have christened it, or horned
+lizard,[173] as those of earlier times more rationally called it, is
+the most famed and curious reptile of the plains. Like the prairie
+dog, it is only found in the dry regions, often many miles from water.
+It no doubt lives nearly, if not wholly, without drink. Its food
+probably consists chiefly of ants and other insects; though many
+Mexicans will have it, that the _camaleon_ (as they call it) _vive del
+aire_--lives upon the air. It has been kept several [Pg282] months
+without partaking of a particle of aliment. I once took a pair of them
+upon the far-western plains, which I shut up in a box and carried to
+one of the eastern cities, where they were kept for several months
+before they died,--without having taken food or water, though
+repeatedly offered them.
+
+{232} The whole length of the horned frog is from two to five
+inches--body flatted horizontally, oval-shaped, and between one and
+two inches wide in the middle. The back is beautifully variegated,
+with white and brown, and sometimes a yellowish purple. The belly is
+whitish and covered with brown specks. It acquired its name from a
+pair of short horns projecting from the top of the head--with other
+smaller horny protuberances upon the head and body. It has a short
+tail, which gives it a lizard-like appearance. It is a very
+inoffensive creature, and may be handled with perfect impunity,
+notwithstanding its uncouth appearance, and sometimes vicious
+demonstrations.
+
+As birds mostly incline to the timbered regions, there is but a scant
+variety to be met with upon the plains. About the Cross Timbers and
+indeed on all the brushy creeks, especially to the southward, are
+quantities of wild _turkeys_, which are frequently seen ranging in
+large flocks in the bordering prairies. That species of American
+grouse, known west as the _prairie-hen_, is very abundant on the
+frontier, and is quite destructive, in autumn, to the prairie
+corn-fields. This fowl is rarely seen over two hundred miles beyond
+the border. _Partridges_ are found about as far west; but their number
+is quite limited anywhere beyond the precincts of the settlements.
+About the streams there are different species of geese and ducks, as
+well as both sand-hill and white cranes: also flocks of a species of
+plover and {233} curlew. Add to these numbers of hawks and ravens, and
+we have most of the fowls of the [Pg283] Prairies. Flocks of the
+latter follow in the wake of caravans with even greater constancy than
+wolves.
+
+The _bee_, among Western pioneers, is the proverbial precursor of the
+Anglo-American population: in fact, the aborigines of the frontier
+have generally corroborated the notion; for they used to say, they
+knew the whites were not far behind, when bees appeared among them.
+This partial coincidence, I suppose, is the result of their emigration
+westward being at nearly an even pace with that of the settlers. As
+yet no honey-bees seem to have been discovered as far westward as any
+part of the Rocky Mountains. They are scattered, however, to the
+distance of two or three hundred miles west of the Missouri and
+Arkansas frontier, where there is timber affording them suitable
+habitations. On the Santa Fe route but few have been found beyond the
+Council Grove.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[163] _Mustang_ would most naturally seem a corruption of the Spanish
+adjective _mostrenco_ (without owner), but the Mexicans call wild
+horses _mestenas_, a synonyme in one of its senses with
+_mostrenco_.--GREGG.
+
+[164] The bulls usually shed in the spring, from the shoulders back,
+but not in front, which imparts to them quite a lion-like
+appearance.--GREGG.
+
+[165] It has often been remarked by travellers, that however much
+buffalo meat one may eat, no inconvenience is ever suffered from
+it.--GREGG.
+
+[166] Often, but it would seem improperly, called 'buffalo
+_robes_.'--GREGG.
+
+[167] Benjamin Louis Eulalie de Bonneville was born in France in 1796.
+At an early age he came to America with his mother, where he was cared
+for by Thomas Paine, who secured for him a cadetship in the United
+States Military Academy, from which he was graduated in 1819, when he
+entered the army. During Lafayette's visit of 1825, Bonneville was
+detailed as his aide. He was later stationed on the Western frontier,
+and obtaining leave of absence (1831) planned an extensive fur-trading
+and exploring expedition. This is the journey graphically described by
+Washington Irving, in _Rocky Mountains, or Scenes, Incidents and
+Adventures in the far West, digested from the journal of B. L. E.
+Bonneville of the army of the United States_ (Phila., 1837).
+Bonneville was absent from civilization for three years (1832-35), and
+wandered as far west as the Columbia. His trading venture was but
+moderately successful, and he returned to army life, participating in
+both the Seminole and Mexican wars, in the latter of which he was
+severely wounded. During the War of Secession, he was stationed
+chiefly at frontier posts, being breveted brigadier-general in 1865.
+He died at Fort Smith in 1878.--ED.
+
+[168] For the Assiniboin consult our volume xiv, p. 275, note
+197.--ED.
+
+[169] _Canis latrans_, a distinction to which its noisiness
+emphatically entitles it. Clavigero says of this animal: "El _coyotl_,
+_o coyote_, como dicen los Espanoles, es una fiera semejante al lobo en
+la voracidad, a la zorra en la astucia, al perro en la forma, y en
+otras propiedades al _adive_, o _chacal_; por lo que algunos
+escritores Megicanos lo han numerado entre varias de aquellas
+especias; pero es indudable que se diferencia de todas ellas,"
+etc.--_Hist. Ant. de Meg. Tom. I. p. 40._
+
+A similar propensity is observable among us to refer nearly all
+American animals to European species, whereas but very few that are
+legitimately indigenous to this continent, agree in every particular
+to those of the Old World. It would surely have contributed to the
+copiousness and euphony of the language, as well as to perspicuity in
+the distinction of species, had we, like the Mexicans, retained the
+Indian names of our indigenous animals.--GREGG.
+
+[170] Mr. Irving furnishes the following dimensions of a male of this
+species: "From the nose to the base of the tail, five feet; length of
+the tail, four inches; girth of the body, four feet; height, three
+feet eight inches," &c.--_Rocky Mts., Vol. I., p._ 48.--GREGG.
+
+[171] This has been called the _Coquimbo owl_. Its note, whether
+natural or imitative, much resembles that of the prairie dog.--GREGG.
+
+[172] Though I never saw it tried, it has been said that snakes will
+not crawl over a hair-rope stretched upon the ground, and that
+consequently these form good barriers to keep these reptiles out of a
+bed.--GREGG.
+
+[173] Orbicular lizard, as it has been technically denominated. It
+would seem a species of chameleon, having apparently some, though very
+little, variability of color.--GREGG.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII {XII}
+
+ABORIGINES OF AMERICA
+
+Indian Cosmogony -- Traditions of Origin -- Identity of Religious
+  Notions -- Adoration of the Sun -- Shawnee Faith -- Anecdote of
+  Tecumseh -- Legendary Traditions -- Missionaries, and Success of the
+  Catholics -- The Indian's Heaven -- Burial Customs -- Ancient
+  Accounts -- Depositing the Dead on Scaffolds -- Superstition and
+  Witchcraft -- Indian Philosophy -- Polygamy and other Matrimonial
+  Affairs -- Abhorrence of Incest -- Difference in Character -- Indian
+  Hospitality -- Traits of the Ancient Asiatics -- Names --
+  Relationship of Different Tribes -- Dreadful Decrease of the
+  Indians.
+
+
+It will hardly be expected from a work making so little pretension as
+this to scientific accuracy and completeness, that the remarks which
+my plan necessarily leads me to make, concerning the aborigines of
+western America, should be either critical or comprehensive. Neither
+can I feel that it is a topic which I am at liberty wholly to
+disregard. The opportunities which I have enjoyed for [Pg284]
+obtaining a knowledge of the character and habits of the western
+Indians have been such, that I trust that a brief account of them may
+prove in some measure new, and not altogether uninteresting to a
+portion of my readers. Impressed with this belief, I propose, in the
+few {235} following pages, to record such facts as shall seem to be
+most novel, and to corroborate, in my humble measure, occasional
+others which have before been related. With this view, I shall proceed
+to notice, in the present chapter, such leading characteristics of the
+aborigines generally, as shall seem most noteworthy; and then, in
+those that follow, ask the reader's attention to many peculiarities
+which make the most conspicuous differences between them.
+
+No aboriginal nation or people has ever yet been discovered, to my
+knowledge, which has not professed to have a mysterious ancestry of a
+mythical character. It is interesting to mark the analogies and the
+differences between their various systems. Although among some tribes
+who have lived much in communication with the whites, their cosmogony
+has been confounded very much with the Mosaic or Scripture account, so
+that it is now often difficult to distinguish clearly the aboriginal
+from the imported, yet all the Americo-Indian tribes have more or less
+preserved their traditions on this subject. The old full-blood
+Choctaws, for instance, relate that the first of their tribe issued
+from a cave in Nunnewaya or Bending Mountain, in the 'Old Nation,'
+east of the Mississippi; yet this tradition has but little currency
+among the young men and mixed-bloods of the tribe. The minute account
+of this supposed origin cannot now be readily procured; yet some idea
+may be formed of it from a kindred tradition among {236} the Mandans
+which has been preserved to us by Lewis and Clark, and is thus
+related: [Pg285]
+
+"The whole nation resided in one large village under ground near a
+subterraneous lake: a grape vine extended its roots down to their
+habitation and gave them a view of the light: some of the most
+adventurous climbed up the vine, and were delighted with the sight of
+the earth, which they found covered with buffalo, and rich with every
+kind of fruits: returning with the grapes they had gathered, their
+countrymen were so pleased with the taste of them that their whole
+nation resolved to leave their dull residence for the charms of the
+upper regions; men, women and children ascended by means of the vine;
+but when about half the nation had reached the surface of the earth, a
+corpulent woman who was clambering up the vine broke it with her
+weight, and closed upon herself and the rest of the nation, the light
+of the sun."[174]
+
+Besides the Mandans it seems that other neighboring tribes had
+somewhat analogous notions of their origin. An early explorer relates
+that the Osages believed that their fore-fathers grew from a snail,
+which, having become a man, married the daughter of a beaver, whence
+sprang the present race.
+
+The resemblance of the American Indians to each other, however, is not
+more conspicuous in anything than in their religious opinions. They
+seem to have no well-defined creeds: yet there are very few but
+profess a faith in some sort of First Cause--a Great {237} Spirit, a
+Master of Life, who rules the destinies of the world. Though the
+different nations have not always typified their deity by the same
+objects, yet by far the greater number seem to have fixed upon the sun
+as the fit object of their adoration.[175] "Next to _Virachocha_, or
+their supreme God," says Father [Pg286] Acosta,[176] speaking of the
+Indians of Peru, "that which most commonly they have and do adore
+amongst the Infidells is the Sunne." Many of the Mexican tribes[177]
+profess the same faith, and particularly those of New Mexico, as has
+already been mentioned. This seems also the most current among the
+Comanches and other wild tribes of the Prairies: and the Choctaws and
+several other nations of the frontier appear at least to have held the
+sun in great veneration.
+
+But of all the Indian tribes, none appear to have ascribed to the
+'fountain of light' more of the proper attributes of deity than the
+Shawnees. They argue, with some plausibility, that the sun animates
+everything--therefore, he is clearly the Master of Life, or the Great
+Spirit; and that everything is produced originally from the bosom of
+the earth--therefore, she is the mother of creation. The following
+anecdote[178] (as told to me by a gentleman of integrity), which
+transpired upon {238} the occasion of an interview of Tecumseh with
+Gen. Harrison, is as illustrative of the religious opinions of the
+Shawnees, as it is characteristic of the hauteur and independent
+spirit of that celebrated [Pg287] Shawnee chief. The General, having
+called Tecumseh for a 'talk,' desired him to take a seat, saying,
+"Come here, Tecumseh, and sit by your father." "You my father?"
+replied the chief, with a stern air--"No! yonder sun is my father
+(pointing towards it), and the earth is my mother; so I will rest on
+her bosom"--and immediately seated himself upon the ground, according
+to Indian custom.
+
+But though the Shawnees consider the sun the type, if not the essence,
+of the Great Spirit, many also believe in an evil genius, who makes
+all sorts of bad things, to counterbalance those made by the Good
+Spirit. For instance, when the latter made a sheep, a rose, wholesome
+herbs, etc., the bad spirit matched them with a wolf, a thorn,
+poisonous plants, and the like. They also appear to think there is a
+kind of purgatory in which the spirits of the wicked may be cleansed
+before entering into their elysium.
+
+The worship of all the aborigines seems to consist chiefly in feasting
+and dancing. A worthy missionary among the Shawnees related to me the
+following legendary tradition, as explanatory of their ideas of
+another world, and the institution of their worship, which may serve
+as a fair sample of the traditions of many other tribes.
+
+{239} In days of yore (say the Shawnees) there lived a pious brother
+and an affectionate sister, who were inordinately attached to each
+other. It came to pass that the sister sickened and died, and was
+carried to the world of spirits. The good brother was inconsolable,
+and for a while refused to eat or drink, or to partake of any kind of
+nourishment: he wished to follow his beloved sister. At length he
+resolved to set out in search of her; so he commenced his pilgrimage
+toward the setting sun. Steadily pursuing the same course for days and
+moons together, he at last came to where the sky and earth meet; and
+finding [Pg288] an opening, he ascended into the upper regions. He
+now turned his course towards the rising sun, which he continued,
+above the sky, till he came to the abode of his grandfather--which
+seems but another name for one of the good spirits. This sage, knowing
+his errand, gave him 'medicine' to transform him into a spirit, that
+he might pass through the celestial courts. He also gave him
+instructions how to proceed, and where he would find his sister. He
+said she would be at a dance; and when she rose to join in the
+amusement, he must seize and ensconce her in the hollow of a reed with
+which he was furnished, and cover the orifice with the end of his
+finger.
+
+After an arduous peregrination through the land of spirits, the
+brother found and secured his sister as directed. He returned with his
+charge to the habitation of his grandfather, who gave another
+'medicine' to transform {240} them both into material beings again,
+that they might revisit their brothers on earth. The sage also
+explained to them the mysteries of heaven and the sacred rites of
+worship, that they might instruct their tribe therein. When about to
+start back, the venerable spirit told them that the route by which the
+brother had come was very circuitous--there was a much nearer way; and
+opening a trap-door through the sky, they beheld their native town
+just below them. So the good brother and sister descended; and
+returning home, a great feast was celebrated, accompanied by a solemn
+dance--in accordance with the grandfather's instructions. Thus
+originated, as they say, the sacred dances and other religious
+ceremonies now in practice.
+
+As they believe the Indian heaven separate, and essentially different
+and distinct from that of the whites, and as they do not wish their
+people divided, this has often occasioned a serious opposition to the
+labors of the missionaries.[179] [Pg289] For the purpose of thwarting
+the {241} measures of these, a noted anti-christian sage 'played off,'
+a few years ago, the following 'vision.' Being very ill (as they
+relate), this sage, to all appearance, died, and became stiff and
+cold, except a spot upon his breast, which still retained the heat of
+life. In this state he remained a day or more, when he again breathed
+and returned among the living: and calling his friends about him, he
+related the scenes he had witnessed. He had ascended to the Indian's
+heaven, he said, which he described as usual: a fine country,
+abounding in all sorts of game, and everything an Indian could desire.
+There he met with his grandfather, who said to him, "It is meet, my
+son, that thou return to the earth, and warn thy brothers against the
+dangers that await them. Tell them to beware of the religion of the
+white man: that every Indian who embraces it is obliged to take the
+road to the white man's heaven; and yet no red man is permitted to
+enter there, but will have to wander about forever without a
+resting-place."
+
+The identity of the notions which the different tribes have conceived
+of a future existence, and the character of the 'world of spirits,'
+seems still more general. They [Pg290] fancy {242} heaven but another
+material world, superior, it is true, yet resembling this--a kind of
+elysian vale, or paradise--a 'happy hunting-ground,' abounding in game
+and all their comforts of life, which may be procured without labor.
+This elysium they generally seem to locate 'upon the sky,' which they
+fancy a material solid vault. It appears impossible for them, in their
+pristine barbarism, to conceive of a spiritual existence, or of a
+world differing materially from that which they see around them.
+
+Father Hennepin (writing about 1680) relates, that the northern
+Indians inquired about the manner of living in heaven, and remarks:
+"When I made answer that they live there without eating or drinking,
+'We will not go thither,' said they, 'because we must not eat;' and
+when I have added that there would be no occasion for food there, they
+clapt their hands to their mouths, as a sign of admiration, and said,
+'_Thou art a great liar!--is there anything can live without
+eating?_'"[180]
+
+Similar opinions, among many different tribes, I have heard declared
+in direct terms; yet, did we want further testimony, some of their
+burial customs and funeral rites would seem to indicate their ideas of
+the future state. The Cherokees, Choctaws, Creeks, Kansas, and kindred
+tribes, besides many others, or perhaps most others of the frontier,
+have been accustomed to inter the most valuable property of the
+deceased and many necessaries with them. "Their whole property was
+buried {243} with them,"[181] says an intelligent Cherokee, in some
+manuscript notes concerning his ancestors, I have in my possession:
+and I have been assured by creditable natives, that, within their
+recollection [Pg291] they have seen, at these burials, provisions,
+salt, and other necessaries, interred with the dead for their long
+journey.
+
+There are very few of the prairie Indians but practise something of
+this kind: many kill the favorite hunting-horses, and deposit the
+arms, etc., of the deceased, for his use in the chase, when he arrives
+at the 'happy hunting ground.' We are also informed by Capt.
+Bonneville, and other travellers, that this is practised by some, if
+not all, of the natives beyond the Rocky Mountains. The same is told
+of the Navajoes, Apaches, and other uncatholicized tribes of the north
+of Mexico.
+
+Peter Martyr, a learned and celebrated protestant divine, who wrote
+his "Decades of the Newe Worlde"[182] towards the middle of the
+sixteenth century, observes that, "in many places of the firme lande,
+when any of the kynges dye, all his householde servauntes, as well
+women as men which have continually served hym, kyl themselves,
+beleavynge, as they are taught by the devyl _Tuyra_, that they which
+kyll themselves when the kynge dyeth, go with hym to heaven and serve
+hym in the same place and office as they dyd before on {244} the earth
+whyle he lyved.[183] And that all that refuse so to doo, when after
+they dye by theyr naturall death or otherwyse, theyr soules to dye
+with theyr bodyes, and to bee dissolved into ayer and become nothynge
+as do the soules of hogges, byrdes or fysshes, or other brute [Pg292]
+beastes."[184] In corroboration of a similar custom among the natives
+along the Mississippi, in 1542, Herrera relates,[185] that, after the
+death of Fernando de Soto, and his party had set out westward, they
+were joined by a youth, who stated that he had fled to escape being
+buried with his lord who had died; which was the practice in that
+country. Travellers from the upper lakes to the Mississippi speak of
+similar customs, at an early day, among the tribes of that quarter.
+
+It would appear that they believe everything, both animate and
+inanimate--beasts, arms, ornaments, etc.--to possess immortal
+attributes, subject to resurrection in the world of spirits. However,
+did not their motives seem so well defined by the direct allusions to
+their notions of futurity, we might suppose, as is frequently urged,
+that the burying of property, slaves, etc., with the deceased, was
+only intended as a mark of respect; which, indeed, is hardly more
+irrational than the custom {245} of interring costly garniture and
+appendages with the dead among us.
+
+Some of the modes of burial adopted by the American aborigines are
+different, I believe, from those of any other people. Though, as among
+civilized nations, even the wildest tribes sometimes inter in ordinary
+graves, yet they frequently deposit their dead, in a sitting and even
+in a standing posture, in pits, caves, and hollow trees; and
+occasionally, they lay the corpse out upon scaffolds suspended from
+the branches of trees, or resting upon them where they will admit of
+it, so as to be out of reach of the wolves and other beasts.
+
+I was once, with a little caravan, travelling up the course of the
+Arkansas river, when, a thunder-storm coming up [Pg293] suddenly, and
+night drawing near, we turned the wagons as soon as we could, to the
+river-bank, to encamp. The bustle of ungearing and securing the teams
+before they should be frightened by the tempest, was hardly over, when
+we discovered a platform suspended above our heads, upon the branches
+of a cottonwood, which, upon examination, was found to contain an
+Indian corpse, from whose bones the putrid flesh had not yet
+separated!
+
+This mode of disposing of the dead would seem once to have been quite
+extensive; for, as well as upon the western prairies, it formerly
+prevailed among the Potawatomies of the north, and the Choctaws of the
+south, at least while on their expeditions. In this case, if
+practicable, they would leave a band of {246} aged men, known as
+bone-pickers,' to clean the bones, when the flesh decayed, and carry
+them to their village for interment.
+
+Barbarians are generally superstitious to an extreme, believing in
+hobgoblins, witchcraft, legerdemain and all sorts of mummeries.[186]
+Like many grandmothers in backwoods life, they delight in recounting
+the extraordinary apparitions, transmigrations, sorceries, etc., which
+they pretend to have witnessed. Nothing seems too absurd for their
+belief. Among many other cases of similar cast, an intelligent
+Potawatomie once assured me that he had witnessed the death of one of
+his nation, who had received [Pg294] a stab in his side with a knife
+(probably in some illicit adventure); and it being unknown to his
+friends how the wound had been inflicted, it was currently reported
+and believed, that from their {247} present home on the frontier of
+Missouri, he had visited the 'Old Nation' in Michigan,[187] poisoned
+an enemy there, received the fatal stab, and returned and died, all in
+one day.
+
+If you tell an Indian that such things are absurd and impossible, he
+is apt to answer, "It may be so with the white man, but how do you
+know it to be impossible with the Indian? You tell us many strange
+things which happened to your fathers--we don't contradict them,
+though we believe such things never could have happened to the red
+man." Or, they will reply, perhaps, as they did to Father Hennepin in
+a similar case: "Fie, thou knowest not what thou sayest; thou may'st
+know what has passed in thy own Country, for thy Ancestors have told
+thee of them; but thou canst not know what has passed in ours before
+the Spirits (that is to say the Europeans) came hither."
+
+In their matrimonial customs there is also a similarity among most of
+the American savages. Polygamy seems once to have been universal; and
+I believe still is so among the uncivilized tribes. Every man takes as
+many wives as he can obtain, or is able to support. The squaws,
+however, the more willingly consent to this multiplicity, as it
+affords additional helpmates in their labors. Polygamy among these
+savages would appear, indeed, not altogether an unwise provision. At
+least it seems palliated with such [Pg295] a belligerent people, who
+lose so many males in their continual wars, leaving a great surplus of
+females; and {248} where the duties of the latter are so numerous and
+so severe.
+
+The custom of buying wives, or at least making large presents to their
+parents, has always been very general; and still exists, not only
+among the more savage, but even with many of the partially civilized
+nations. Yet, notwithstanding their depravity in other respects, there
+is one thing truly remarkable in their marriages. All modern observers
+seem to agree with the ancient authors, that they universally abhor
+incestuous connections. Among the Creeks, even the marrying of cousins
+was punished by cutting off the ears. The Cherokees (according to some
+manuscript notes which I have of an intelligent member of the tribe)
+were prohibited from marrying in their own clans (i. e. kindred) under
+penalty of death; and their clans themselves were their executioners.
+But, although the Indians thus so strictly prohibit marriage within
+the degree of consanguinity, it is not so with those of affinity among
+many tribes. The Otoes, Kansas, and others of the same stock, will not
+only marry several sisters, but their deceased brothers' wives; in
+fact, this last seems considered a duty so that the orphan children of
+the brother may not be without a protector.[188]
+
+While the aborigines of the New World {249} have been noted above
+almost every other uncivilized nation in history, for their
+vindictiveness and cruelty towards their enemies, there are, in these
+attributes, wide differences apparent among them. The Indians along
+the Pacific coast, as well as in most of Mexico, were always more mild
+and peaceable than those of the United States. Hence it is, [Pg296]
+in fact, that the Spaniards did not meet with that formidable
+resistance to their conquests which they encountered among the fiery
+tribes of Florida, or that relentless and desperate hostility which
+the Anglo-Americans experienced in the first settlement of most parts
+of the United States.
+
+But in the common trait of hospitality to strangers all the western
+tribes are alike distinguished. The traveller who is thrown upon their
+charity, is almost universally received and treated with the greatest
+kindness; and, though they might pilfer him to the skin, and even
+place his person in jeopardy, if he show want of confidence in them,
+and endeavor to conceal his effects, yet his property is generally
+secure when under their charge: they appear to consider a breach of
+confidence one of the greatest crimes.
+
+Among the wild tribes, as well as among most of the unadulterated
+border Indians, to set something to eat before a friend, and even a
+stranger, immediately upon his arrival at a lodge or a cabin, is
+deemed not only an act of hospitality but of necessary etiquette; and
+a refusal to partake is looked upon as an unfriendly {250} token--an
+insult, in fact, to the family. Travellers are often severely taxed to
+preserve the good feeling of their hosts in this particular,
+especially among the prairie Indians. One at all fastidious in matters
+of diet, would find it hard to relish food from a greasy hornspoon
+which every urchin had been using; and then to ladle it out of a pot
+which had been common for all the papooses and pups of the premises:
+or to partake from a slice rolled up in a musty skin, or a dirtier
+blanket. And yet an apology even of having already dined half-a-dozen
+times would scarcely palliate the insult of a refusal. Though one
+visit fifty lodges in the course of a day, he must taste the food of
+every one.
+
+The Indian system of chiefs, which still prevails, and is nearly the
+same everywhere, except with the Cherokees, [Pg297] Choctaws,
+Chickasaws, and the Creeks to a degree, seems to bear a strong
+resemblance to that of the patriarchs of old; which, with their clans
+so analogous to those of our forefathers, perhaps affords as strong a
+proof as any other of their Asiatic origin.[189] To this might be
+added their {251} mode of naming;[190] for the Indians universally
+apply [Pg298] names significant of acts, qualities, beasts, birds,
+etc., to their offspring,--a practice which seems to have prevailed
+generally among the ancient Asiatics. Surnames have only been adopted
+by educated families {252} and mixed-bloods of the border nations, and
+are generally taken from their missionaries or some favorite friends;
+except they inherit surnames from parents of white extraction.
+
+That the Indians of America are decreasing in numbers is very well
+known, but many are dwindling away, perhaps, at a more rapid pace than
+is generally suspected. The number of the Osages, it is confidently
+believed, has diminished fifty per cent. within the last ten years:
+the once powerful tribe of Missouries is now reduced to a mere
+remnant; while the Mandans, as a nation, have become entirely extinct:
+and others have shared or bid fair soon to share the same fate. This
+has resulted partially from the ravages of the small-pox and other
+diseases, yet as much no doubt from the baneful effects of
+intoxicating liquors. On this account, their diminution has generally
+been less in proportion as they are more remote from the whites. But
+the 'red man' has suffered from his intercourse with the whites not in
+this respect alone. The incentives to luxury and avarice continually
+presented by them, have had a very pernicious influence. Formerly the
+savages were contented with the indispensables of life--generally
+sober, just and charitable; but now they will sacrifice their
+comfort--risk their lives, and commit the most atrocious outrages to
+gratify their vanity and lusts--to bedeck themselves with gewgaws and
+finery.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX {XIII}
+
+THE FRONTIER INDIANS
+
+Causes of Removal West -- Annuities, etc. -- Dissatisfaction of
+  the Indians -- Their Melioration by the Change -- Superiority of
+  their present Location -- Lands granted to them -- Improvements,
+  Agriculture, etc. -- Their Slaves -- Manufactures -- Style of
+  Living, Dress, etc. -- Literary Opportunities and Improvements
+  -- Choctaw Academy -- Harpies and Frauds -- Games -- Systems of
+  Government -- Polygamy -- Ancient Laws and Customs -- Intemperance
+  -- Preventive Measures -- A Choctaw Enactment -- Marriage and
+  Funeral Customs of the Choctaws -- The Creeks -- Their Summary
+  Executions -- Mourning -- Indian Titles -- The Northern Tribes --
+  Census of the Frontier Nations.
+
+
+For the purpose of a somewhat more discriminating notice of the Indian
+tribes beyond our western border--for it is to those I intend my
+remarks, in these pages, to be strictly confined--I will distinguish
+them, according to the prevailing classification of the West, as
+'Frontier' or 'Border Indians,' which title includes those occupying
+that district lying west of and immediately adjoining Arkansas and
+Missouri, and known as the _Indian Territory_; and the 'Wild Tribes'
+or 'Prairie Indians,' by which are meant those who are found west of
+the others, and who range those immense {254} plains from the borders
+of the Indian Territory to the Rocky Mountains. Of these I will speak
+in their order.
+
+The most important of the frontier tribes, as is well known, are the
+Cherokees, Choctaws and Chickasaws, Creeks and Seminoles, Shawnees,
+Delawares, etc. It is equally well known that most of these tribes
+were removed from within the States, not less because of the vicious
+propensities which they contracted and the imposition to which they
+were continually exposed, than on account of the difficulty of
+maintaining peaceful relations between them and our own citizens,
+while they remained in their midst. Their situation within the States
+certainly presented quite [Pg300] an anomaly in government--
+independent powers within the limits of others claiming sovereign
+jurisdiction.[191]
+
+A mistaken philanthropy--mistaken for want of a full knowledge of all
+the bearings of the subject--among some people, has occasioned much
+censure upon this branch of the policy of our government. But were we
+to take into consideration the treatment of other nations towards the
+aborigines of America, that of the United States, when placed in
+contrast, would certainly present a very benevolent aspect. They have
+always been removed by their own consent, obtained through their
+chiefs and councils; and have not only been given equal amounts of
+land, west of the border, but have generally been removed and
+furnished a year's subsistence {255} at the expense of the government,
+and received valuable equivalents beside, in utensils and other
+necessaries, and in regular annuities. These are sums, generally in
+money, annually paid, for a series of years, to the several tribes,
+proportioned usually to the size of the tribe and the amount of
+territory acquired from it. This institution of annuities, however,
+though intended as the most charitable, has doubtless been the most
+injurious branch of the policy of the United States towards the
+Indians. Being thus afforded the means of living without much labor,
+they have neglected manufactures, and even agriculture, to a
+considerable degree, and many of them have acquired [Pg301] confirmed
+habits of indolence and dissipation; and now that their annuities are
+growing short, they are being left destitute, without the energy, the
+industry, or the means wherewith to procure a livelihood.
+
+But, notwithstanding the constant efforts of the general government to
+make them comfortable, and the immense sums of money which have been
+paid them, and their being located in regions far better suited to
+their wants and their habits of life than those they abandoned, many
+of them appear greatly dissatisfied with the change and with the
+government; which seems painfully demonstrative of that perverse,
+restless disposition, which appears ever to have characterized the
+conduct of half-civilized nations.
+
+One ostensible reason for their unwillingness {256} to remove, has
+been a reluctance to abandon their native homes and the 'graves of
+their fathers.' Many fabulous legends are told of the attachment of
+the Indian to his native soil, yet but few who are acquainted with
+their habitudes, will place much stress on this. Their own traditions,
+as well as experience, have shown, that, when left to themselves, they
+incline to migrate; of which the Azteques of Mexico, and the Osages,
+with others of our border, afford striking examples: in fact, there is
+scarcely a tribe on the frontier which has not its traditions of
+migrations at some period. The Shawnees say their forefathers
+emigrated from the south to the regions north of the Ohio--the Creeks,
+as well as many of the Choctaws, that they were originally from west
+of the Mississippi--besides many other cases.
+
+But, with regard to this passage of our country's history, I will
+merely say, in addition, that, so far as I am able to judge, the
+condition of the 'red man' has been very materially bettered by the
+change. The lands they at present occupy are, for the most part, of a
+more fertile character [Pg302] than those which they have left. The
+climate is equally or perhaps more healthy, in general;
+notwithstanding the dreadful mortality which afflicted many of them
+shortly after their removal--a calamity which was attributable,
+primarily, to the change of climate, as well as to the change of
+habits which their new dwelling-places involved; and secondarily, to
+the too abundant use of {257} spirituous liquors, with which they were
+frequently provided by both native and white peddlers and traders,
+before any measures, efficient enough to check the evil, were taken
+either by themselves or by the general government. But, although the
+latter cause still prevails to some degree, I have little doubt that
+the average mortality among the frontier tribes, at present, is less
+than it was before their removal.
+
+To each tribe has generally been granted a greater number of acres,
+with definite metes and boundaries, than had been ceded by them east
+of the Mississippi. It is deemed unnecessary, however, to swell this
+brief notice with a statement of the several amounts of land given to
+each tribe, and their localities, as these may be seen with sufficient
+accuracy and definiteness by consulting the map which accompanies this
+work.
+
+The lands of each tribe are the property of the Indian commonwealth;
+and, therefore, even among the most civilized of them, the settler has
+a title only in his improvement, which he holds by occupancy, and can
+sell at pleasure. To prevent collisions in improvements, the first
+occupant is entitled to a certain distance in every direction. Among
+the Cherokees, no one can build within a quarter of a mile of the
+house or field of another: so, to extend their possessions, the more
+wealthy sometimes make several isolated improvements, scattered in
+different directions, within half a mile of each other. [Pg303]
+
+{258} The game in the interspersed forests having now become scarce,
+and that of the western prairies being too remote, the frontier
+Indians have generally turned their attention to agriculture, and to
+the raising of stock; and most of them have large numbers of horses,
+cattle, and hogs.
+
+Some of these Indians, particularly of the southern nations, have very
+extensive farms: but the mass of their population extend their culture
+no further than they seem compelled by necessity. The traveller,
+passing through the Cherokee Nation, is struck with the contrast
+between an occasional stately dwelling, with an extensive farm
+attached, and the miserable hovels of the indigent, sometimes not ten
+feet square, with a little patch of corn, scarce large enough for a
+family garden. In fact, among all the tribes who have no slaves, what
+little there is of cultivation, is mostly the work of the women.
+Scattered through the country, one continually encounters dilapidated
+huts with trifling improvements, which have been abandoned by the
+owners for some fancy they may have taken to some other location at a
+distance, better adapted, as they think, to the promotion of their
+comfort, and upon which they may live with less labor.
+
+Most of the labor among the wealthier classes of Cherokees, Choctaws,
+Chickasaws, Creeks and Seminoles, is done by negro slaves; for they
+have all adopted substantially the Southern system of slavery.[192]
+Some individuals of these nations own over fifty slaves each: {259}
+but they [Pg304] are the only slaveholders of the frontier tribes,
+except very few among the Shawnees.
+
+With some tribes, and particularly among the lower classes of the
+Creeks, they are inclined to settle in 'towns,' as they are
+called,--making large fields, which are cultivated in common, and the
+produce proportionally distributed. But these 'towns' are rather
+settlements than villages, being but sparse clusters of huts without
+any regularity. Indeed, there is not, I believe, a regularly laid out
+town in all the Indian country, nor a place that could even merit the
+name of a village; except Doaksville near Fort Towson, and perhaps
+Park Hill in the Cherokee Nation.[193]
+
+Besides agriculture, most of the frontier tribes attend a little to
+manufactures, though with no greater energy. The women have generally
+learned to spin, weave and sew, at which they occupy themselves,
+occasionally, during recess from the labors of the field. But very few
+of the men acquire mechanical arts or follow trades of any kind: their
+carpenter, wheelwright and smith work is done by a few mechanics
+provided the several tribes in accordance with treaty stipulations. To
+each tribe is furnished in particular one or more blacksmiths from the
+United States.
+
+These frontier Indians for the most part live in cabins of logs, like
+those of our backwoods settlers; and many of them are undistinguishable,
+except in color, language, and to some degree in costume, from the
+poorer {260} classes of their white neighbors. Even in dress and
+language the more civilized are fast conforming to the latter. In many
+families, especially of the Cherokees, the [Pg305] English tongue
+only is spoken; and great numbers of these, as well as of the Choctaws
+and Chickasaws, dress according to the American fashions: but the
+ruder portions of even these, the most enlightened nations, as is also
+the case with nearly all of the northern tribes, wear the
+hunting-shirt, sometimes of buckskin, but now more commonly of calico,
+cotton plaid or linsey. Instead of using hats, they wreathe about
+their heads a fancy-colored shawl or handkerchief. Neither do the
+women of these classes wear bonnets, but leave their heads exposed, or
+protected only with a shawl, somewhat after the manner of the Mexican
+females; to the lower classes of whom, indeed, the mixed-bloods of
+these Indians bear a strong resemblance. Their most usual dress is a
+short petticoat of cotton goods, or as frequently with the tribes of
+the north, of coarse red or blue broad-cloth.
+
+The literary opportunities afforded to the border tribes are so
+important in their consequences as to deserve some notice. To each
+tribe has been granted, by the United States, a school fund, generally
+somewhat proportioned to the extent of the tribe. The Cherokees and
+Choctaws seem to have availed themselves of this provision to the
+greatest advantage. These funds are for the most part invested in
+American stocks, and the proceeds {261} appropriated to educational
+uses, establishing schools, etc.[194] [Pg306] The tuition is, I
+believe, in every case, free to the Indians; and yet it is painful to
+know that comparatively few of the common classes will send their
+children.
+
+The most extensive literary institution which has ever been in
+operation, for the benefit of the 'red man,' was the 'Choctaw
+Academy,' established in Kentucky, and supported by a common fund of
+several different tribes. It was not as successful, however, as was
+anticipated by its projectors; and is now being transferred and merged
+into an academy near Fort Towson, in the Choctaw country, wholly
+supported out of the Choctaw fund. This Academy proved very
+unsatisfactory to many of the tribes concerned. They said, with
+apparent justice, that their boys, educated there, forgot all their
+customs, their language, their relatives, their national attachments;
+and, in exchange, often acquired indolent and effeminate, if not
+vicious habits; and were rendered {262} unfit to live among their
+people, or to earn a maintenance by labor. There seems but little
+doubt that the funds of each tribe might be employed to a much better
+advantage in their own country. The influence of the institutions
+would there be more likely to extend to all classes; and by gradual,
+the only practicable means, a change might be wrought upon the
+nation.[195]
+
+It is one of the calamities incident to the state of ignorance in
+which most of these poor Indians remain, and their close, indeed
+political connection with the more civilized people [Pg307] of the
+United States, that they are continually preyed upon by the
+unprincipled harpies who are ever prowling through their country,
+ready to seize every opportunity of deceiving and defrauding them out
+of their money or effects.[196] {263} The most depraving agencies
+employed to this end are the ministration of intoxicating drinks, and
+gaming, of both which the Indians are passionately fond, and by which
+they are frequently robbed of their money as soon almost as received.
+
+Apart from the usual games at cards, dice, etc., the Indians of the
+border have some peculiar games of their own, as well at cards as
+otherwise. Among these the most celebrated is the 'Ball Play,' which
+resembles, in some respects, the old-fashioned game of _bandy_. The
+wagers are usually laid upon beating the majority of a given number, a
+dozen or more of these games; and large amounts in horses, blankets,
+and other goods, and even money, are frequently staked upon the
+result.
+
+Besides the ball play, _dancing_ is a most favorite amusement of these
+tribes, indeed of all the frontier as well as prairie Indians. They
+formerly had many kinds of dances,--the green-corn dance, the
+medicine, the eagle, the scalp and the war dances. But these are now
+only practised by the ruder portions of the border nations and the
+less improved tribes; among whom may still be witnessed frequently
+their genuine aboriginal frolics. [Pg308]
+
+The green-corn dance generally lasts several {264} days, commencing
+when the new crop begins to ripen. A large arbor of green branches is
+usually prepared, and numerous parties of both sexes dance in a body
+to their native songs and rude instrumental music, accompanied by
+their monotonous "heh! heh! heh!" with a chorus of yells at intervals;
+and their movements are attended with the most comical gesticulations.
+Having passed through a course of 'purification' by drinking a
+decoction of certain stimulant herbs, prepared by their medicine-men,
+and put out all the fires, they strike fire anew by rubbing sticks
+together; and a quantity of corn, pulse and other fruits of the
+season, being cooked with the 'new fire,' the dance is closed with a
+general feast. Each family, as it is said, then takes a supply from
+the 'new breed' of fire. A more interesting and salutary influence of
+this custom, which is said to prevail among some tribes at this
+festival, is the cancelling or composing of all old difficulties and
+disputes.
+
+The most advanced of these border nations, the _Cherokees_ and the
+united tribes of the _Choctaws_ and _Chickasaws_, have adopted systems
+of government, which are based upon [Pg309] the constitutions of our
+States. The Cherokee being the most complete, some account of it may
+not be out of place in this connection.
+
+A council or convention of the wise men of the nation was convened on
+the first of July, 1839, who framed a constitution, of which the
+following are the general features, it being somewhat similar to one
+previously adopted in {265} the 'Old Nation.' The three powers,
+legislative, executive and judicial, are distinguished and
+established. The legislative consists of a National Committee and
+Council. The former is composed of two and the latter of three members
+from each of the eight or ten districts into which the nation was to
+be divided--elected for two years by the people. They convene annually
+on the first Monday in October, and each house elects a presiding
+officer out of its own body. Bills are introduced, discussed and
+passed according to parliamentary usage.
+
+The executive, called Principal Chief, and an assistant chief, are
+elected for four years by the people. The executive has the usual veto
+and pardoning power. He is assisted by an 'Executive Council' of five,
+and the common cabinet of secretaries. The judiciary consists of a
+Supreme and Circuit Court, and the ordinary justices of the peace.
+Trial by jury is secured; and the common law of England appears to
+have been generally adopted. Religious toleration is guarantied, but
+no person can hold a civil office who denies the existence of a God,
+and a future state of rewards and punishments.[197]
+
+According to laws subsequently enacted by the same council, the
+punishment for murder is death; and for an attempt to kill, a fine
+correspondent to the damage, for the benefit of the injured party: for
+rape, a hundred lashes--but [Pg310] for infanticide, only twenty-five
+to fifty![198] Whipping seems the punishment {266} for all inferior
+crimes; which is the same with the Choctaws and Creeks, among whom the
+executioners are called the 'light-horse,' a kind of police-guard,
+also formerly in use by the Cherokees, but now their place is supplied
+by a common sheriff and _posse_.
+
+As is to be inferred from their institutions, the Cherokees stand
+first among the 'red men' in refinement, though in industry, morality,
+and sobriety, they are no doubt excelled by the Choctaws and
+Chickasaws, who are reckoned the most quiet and Christian-like Indians
+of the border.
+
+No laws have yet been passed to enforce the payment of debts, except
+by the Cherokees; and these found it necessary to suspend their
+operation for two years. Even the most improved have not prohibited
+polygamy by any law; though, from the example of the whites and of the
+more civilized among them, as well as the exertions of the
+missionaries, it is growing out of repute with most of the border
+nations. It is still occasionally practised, however; and the ruder
+classes among them all, I believe, sometimes still take any number of
+wives, and divorce them at pleasure. But the more enlightened are
+married by preachers, or authorized civil officers.
+
+With the united nation of Choctaws and Chickasaws, the executive power
+is vested in four chiefs, called in Choctaw _mingoes_, who are
+selected one from each of the districts into which the country is
+divided, {267} and of which the Chickasaw tribe constitutes one.[199]
+These chiefs are vested with the usual veto and pardoning powers, and
+are elected [Pg311] for four years. Most of their other
+constitutional provisions resemble those of the Cherokees. The
+Choctaws, as well as the Creeks, punish the crime of murder with death
+by shooting, which is generally executed immediately after trial, by
+the 'light-horse.'
+
+It has become evident, however, that written laws and courts of
+justice, judges and juries, are still rather in advance of the state
+of civilization of the ruder classes, even among these most
+enlightened tribes. It has been found very difficult to bring them
+under their subordination. They have had, notwithstanding, a salutary
+effect in many cases, and especially with regard to murder. Among most
+of these nations (as well as the wild tribes), it was formerly the
+custom to leave the punishment of homicide to the relatives of the
+murdered. With the Choctaws and Cherokees, in particular, the entire
+clan or family of the murderer were held responsible for the crime;
+and though the real offender might escape, the bereaved family had a
+right to kill any one of his nearest relatives that could be found, up
+to the most remote kindred. There seemed no exceptions for accidental
+homicide, or killing in self-defence: the Mosaic precept of 'life for
+life' must be fulfilled, unless satisfactorily commuted. This savage
+custom had at least one salutary effect, however: the relatives
+themselves, instead of assisting {268} the escape, as so often occurs
+in civilized life, were generally the first to apprehend and bring the
+fugitive criminal to justice.
+
+But among the Choctaws, at least, any one might take the place of the
+murderer, and in the death of the substitute the law was satisfied,
+and the true criminal remained exempt. An intelligent and creditable
+Choctaw related to me an affecting incident, for the truth of which he
+vouched. An Indian had remained responsible for the appearance, on a
+certain day, of his brother, who had killed a man. [Pg312] When the
+day arrived, the murderer exhibited some reluctance to fulfil the
+pledge, when the other said to him: "My brother, you are no brave--you
+are afraid to die--stay here and take care of my family--I will die in
+your place:" whereupon he immediately attended the appointed spot, and
+was executed accordingly.
+
+The highest honor known among them, in fact, being that of a 'great
+brave,' it reflected the greatest credit to meet death boldly. Instead
+of being visited by his tribe with infamy for the crime he had
+committed, it rather tended to make his name illustrious, if he met
+the consequences without fear or flinching: whereas, any effort to
+avoid death was attributed to cowardice. It would have been esteemed
+quite as ignominious for the murderer to flee the established forfeit
+of his life, as for a 'gentleman' under the 'civilized code of honor,'
+to back out from a duel.
+
+But among most of the frontier, as also the {269} wild tribes, a
+commutation, though not honorable to the perpetrator, was and still is
+permitted, except by the Cherokees and Choctaws. Any recompense which
+would satisfy the bereft family, released the murderer from further
+penalty.
+
+There is scarcely any temptation which the Indian tribes have to
+encounter so frequently, and so seriously fatal to their social
+improvement, as intemperance. Of this they are conscious themselves,
+and most of them have adopted measures for prohibiting the
+introduction of ardent spirits among them, and for checking the
+propensity to use them, with various degrees of success. Among the
+Choctaws, a law was passed upon this subject, which, though not
+entirely, was measurably successful; and the spirit which effected its
+passage was worthy of the most exalted state of civilization.
+
+It seems that the tribe had generally become sensible [Pg313] of the
+pernicious influences of strong drink upon their prosperity and
+happiness, and had attempted various plans for its suppression,
+without success. At last, it was determined by the chiefs, captains,
+and head men, to strike a blow which should reach the very root of the
+evil at once. A council was called, and many and long were the
+speeches which were made, and much enthusiasm was created against the
+monster 'Whiskey,' and all his brood of compound enormities. Still
+every one seemed loth to move his arrest and execution. Finally, a
+{270} captain of more than ordinary temerity arose, and offered a
+resolution that each and every individual who should thenceforward
+dare to introduce any of the liquid curses into their country, should
+be punished with a hundred lashes on his bare back, and the liquor be
+poured out. This was passed, after some slight changes, by
+acclamation: but, with a due sense of the injustice of _ex-post-facto_
+restrictions, all those who had liquors on hand were permitted to sell
+them. The council adjourned; but the members soon began to canvass
+among each other the pernicious consequences which might result from
+the protracted use of the whiskey already in the shops, and therefore
+concluded the quicker it was drank up, the more promptly would the
+evil be over: so, falling to, in less than two hours Bacchus never
+mustered a drunker troop than were these same temperance legislators.
+The consequences of their determination were of lasting importance to
+them. The law, with some slight improvements, has ever since been
+rigorously enforced.
+
+Among most of the Indian tribes the daughter has very little to do
+with the selection of her husband. The parents usually require to be
+satisfied first, and their permission being secured the daughter never
+presumes to offer any important resistance. There is a post-nuptial
+custom peculiar to the full-blood Indians of the Choctaws, which
+[Pg314] deserves particular notice. For years, and perhaps for life,
+{271} after the marriage of her daughter, the mother is forbidden to
+look upon her son-in-law. Though they converse together, he must be
+hidden from her by a wall, a tent, a curtain, or, when nothing else
+offers, by covering the eyes. During their emigration, it is said
+these poor superstitious matrons were put to infinite trouble so as
+not to infract this custom. While travelling, or in camp often without
+tents, the mother-in-law was afraid to raise her head or open her
+eyes, lest they should meet the interdicted object.
+
+It is another peculiarity, which they have in common with some of the
+more northern tribes, that the Choctaw wife, of the 'old school,' can
+never call her husband by name. But if they have offspring--she calls
+him "my son's father;" or, more commonly using the child's name, when,
+if Ok-le-no-wa, for instance, she calls the husband "Ok-le-no-wa's
+father." And yet another oddity regarding names: the ignorant Choctaw
+seems to have a superstitious aversion to telling his own name: indeed
+it appears impossible to get it from him, unless he have an
+acquaintance present, whom he will request to tell it for him.
+
+In burials, the civilized Choctaws follow the customs of the whites,
+but the ruder classes still preserve their aboriginal usages.
+According to these, a painted pole with a flag is stuck up at the
+grave, which usually remains three months. During this period they
+have regular mourning exercises every morning and evening; and are
+always prompt to avail themselves, {272} at any other hour of the day,
+of the assistance of any friend who may visit them to help them to
+weep. At the end of the prescribed term, the friends of the bereft
+family attend a feast at their house, and, after dancing all night,
+the next morning visit the grave and pull down the pole; which is
+called 'the [Pg315] pole-pulling.' After this all mourning ceases,
+and the family is permitted to join in the usual amusements and
+festivities of the tribe, which was not allowable before.
+
+Though the _Creeks_[200] are generally a very industrious people,
+raising an abundance of corn and vegetables, yet they are quite behind
+their neighbors, of whom I have been speaking, as well politically as
+in a social and literary view. Their executive consists of two
+principal chiefs, and their legislature or council of about forty
+minor chiefs or captains, who are also, _ex officio_, justices of the
+peace.[201] They have no trial by jury, and their judicial proceedings
+are exceedingly summary--frequently without witnesses; for the
+warriors are generally too proud to deny a charge, lest it be
+construed into cowardice. Executions sometimes take place within an
+hour after the commencement of trial. Murder, rape and a third
+conviction of stealing are punished with death, usually by shooting;
+but, in case of homicide, if claimed by the relatives of the {273}
+deceased, the criminal is executed with the same kind of weapon, or,
+if possible, the very same, with which he committed the murder.
+
+Most inferior crimes, as has been mentioned, are punished by whipping:
+for the first offence of stealing, fifty lashes; for the second, a
+hundred and ears cropped. Adultery is punished by cutting off both the
+nose and ears of the adulteress; but the husband has a right to say if
+the law shall be executed: in fact, he is generally the executioner,
+and that often without trial. Notwithstanding the severity of these
+laws, they are for the most part rigorously enforced; though a
+commutation satisfactory to the [Pg316] aggrieved is still permitted
+to release the offender. Their laws, in cases of accidental homicide,
+are still more barbarously rigid than those of the other nations.
+
+The obsequies of the Creeks are peculiar in this,--that at the moment
+an Indian expires, a gun is discharged. Their graves are generally
+under the floors of their dwellings, and a husband's is apt to be
+under the bed of his widow. The fate of the unfortunate relict is
+miserable enough in any country, but among the Creeks her doom is
+barbarously rigorous. She remains in strict mourning for four
+years,[202] with dishevelled hair and without {274} combing,--unless
+the relatives of the deceased interfere; whereby it is sometimes put
+an end to in a few months, provided the sincerity of her grief be
+evident and her conduct meritorious. In their mourning, however, they
+do not weep and cry with such clamorous vehemence as the Choctaws and
+others. But the Shawnees and Delawares are still more celebrated for
+quiet mourning.[203] As warlike nations, they appear to disdain to
+mourn and wail aloud, as is the practice among the greater portion of
+the savage tribes.
+
+Though these people have no family names, they generally take a kind
+of honorary title or _sobriquet_, as is also the case with the wild
+tribes, upon the occurrence of any important incident, or the
+performance of a meritorious feat. A singular mode of inheritance
+prevails among the Cherokees, the Creeks, and perhaps others. Though
+the women in other respects are mostly held as very inferior beings,
+the clans are all reckoned by them: the children pertain to [Pg317]
+the mother, and the estates descend through the female branch of the
+family. They say it is easy enough to verify the mothers of families,
+but it is difficult to identify the fathers.
+
+The remaining tribes, inhabiting the more northern frontier, as well
+as the Seminoles who are located among the Creeks, possess so few
+distinct or striking characteristics, and, indeed, are mostly so few
+in number, that a particular notice of them seems hardly to be
+required. Suffice it to say, that all of them, {275} as I believe,
+still retain their ancient systems of arbitrary chiefs and councils of
+sages and braves, nearly in their primitive state; and that the
+greater portion of them live in log huts, and cultivate the soil to a
+considerable extent. Though the Shawnees, Delawares, and Kickapoos,
+are among the most agricultural of the northern Indians, yet a few of
+these spend the greater portion of their time on the Prairies in
+hunting and in trading with the wild tribes.[204]
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[174] Consult Thwaites, _Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark
+Expedition_, (New York, 1904-05) v, p. 347.--ED.
+
+[175] The consensus of modern opinion is, that the Indians worshipped
+the sun only as a symbol. They were in a stage neither monotheistic
+nor pantheistic, but recognized all manifestations of the unseen,
+without a sense of personal unity. Consult on this subject, J. W.
+Powell, "Mythology of North American Indians," in U. S. Bureau of
+Ethnology _Report_, 1879-80, pp. 17-56; D. G. Brinton, _Myths of the
+New World_ (third edition, Philadelphia, 1896); R. M. Dorman, _Origin
+of Primitive Superstitions among the Aborigines of America_ (Phila.,
+1881).--ED.
+
+[176] Jose de Acosta, a Jesuit historian (1539-1600), born in Spain,
+was missionary to Peru for many years. Upon his return to Spain he
+published _Historia Natural y Moral de las Indias_ (Seville, 1590),
+both in Latin and Spanish. An English translation appeared in
+1604.--ED.
+
+[177] Clavigero asserts of the Indians of Mexico, that their first
+heaven (that of the warriors, &c.) they called "_la casa del sol_"
+(the house of the sun), which luminary they worshipped every morning
+at sunrise.--GREGG.
+
+[178] I have since met with the same, in substance, related by Mr.
+Schoolcraft.--GREGG.
+
+_Comment by Ed._ Henry Rowe Schoolcraft (1793-1864), for many years
+Indian agent at Mackinac, and a prolific writer on Indian subjects.
+
+[179] The Shawnees have four missionary establishments among them,
+viz. a Methodist, Baptist, Moravian, and Quaker. There are also
+missionaries of different sects among most of the tribes of the
+border, the labors of whom have been attended with some degree of
+success. There is, I believe, but one Catholic Mission upon the
+frontier, which is among the Potawatomies, about a thousand of whom
+have embraced this faith. The Catholics, however, appear to have
+succeeded better than most other denominations, in their missionary
+efforts. It is so in Mexico, so in Canada, and appears so everywhere
+else that they have undertaken the Christianization of the heathen. I
+would not be understood to attribute this to any intrinsic superiority
+of their religion, but to the peculiarities of its forms and
+ceremonies. The pageantry of their worship, the palpable
+representation of the divine mysteries by the introduction of images,
+better accords with their pristine idolatry, than a more spiritual
+faith. Catholics, indeed, have had the sagacity to permit the Indians
+(at least in some countries) to interweave many of their own heathen
+ceremonies with the sacred Christian rites, forming a singular _melee_
+of Romish and pagan worship, which is especially the case in Mexico.
+Also, the less rigid Catholic creed and customs do not debar them from
+their wonted favorite amusements, not to say vices. It is therefore
+that whole tribes sometimes simultaneously embrace this imposing
+creed.--GREGG.
+
+[180] See Thwaites, _Hennepin's New Discovery_ (Chicago, 1903), ii,
+pp. 537, 538.--ED.
+
+[181] Adair, who resided forty years with the southern Indians,
+previous to 1775, speaks of the same among them all.--GREGG.
+
+_Comment by Ed._ Consult J. Long's _Voyages_ in our volume ii, p. 64,
+note 31.
+
+[182] Peter Martyr de Anghiera (1457 (?)-1526) was the first historian
+of the New World. Born in North Italy, he went to Rome in 1477, in the
+train of Cardinal Ascanio Sforza. Ten years later he was invited to
+Spain, where he became tutor to the royal children, and later
+protonothary and royal historiographer. His _Decades_ (_De Rebus
+Oceanicis et Novo Orbe Decades_) first appearing in 1530, are a prime
+source for the early history of America, he having known and conversed
+with the Spanish discoverers.--ED.
+
+[183] Also Clavigero speaks of similar beliefs and practices among the
+Mexican Indians, particularly in the obsequies of the kings; and
+adds--"El numero de victimas correspondia a la grandeza del funeral,
+y, segun algunos autores, llegaban a veces a doscientas."--GREGG.
+
+[184] Edition of 1555, translated from the Latin, fol. 181.--In
+another place, the same author also says they buried corn, etc., with
+the dead, for their use in the world to come.--GREGG.
+
+[185] For Herrera, see our volume xix, p. 258, note 79 (Gregg).--ED.
+
+[186] The Indians often so imposed upon the credulous ancients as to
+make them believe they had direct communication with Satan. The
+learned divine, Peter Martyr, has a whole chapter "Of the familiaritie
+which certeyne of the Indians have with the devyll, and howe they
+receave answere of hym of thynges to coome:" and very seriously and
+philosophically concludes, that, "the devyll beynge so auncient an
+Astronomer, knowethe the tymes of thynges, and seeth howe they are
+naturally directed:" to which he appends numerous instances of the
+evil spirit's revelations of the "tymes of thynges to coome" to his
+ministers, the magi. And even as late as 1721, Father Charlevoix
+gravely says, an instance he relates, and many others that he "knows,
+which are equally certain, prove that the Devil is sometimes concerned
+in the magic of the Savages." The Choctaws, and perhaps some others,
+used to punish witchcraft with all the rigor of our own ancestors,
+putting poor creatures to death upon the slightest proof of their
+tampering with the black art: but this barbarity is now prohibited by
+their more civilized laws. Yet the more barbarous tribes still have
+their conjurers and medicine-men, who deal in auguries and mystic
+ceremonies; which, with their dances, constitute the greater part of
+their worship.--GREGG.
+
+[187] For the early habitat of the Potawatomi, consult Croghan's
+_Journals_, in our volume i, p. 115 note 84.--_Ed._
+
+[188] Clavigero remarks of the Indians of Mexico, "Estaba severamante
+prohibido .  .  .  todo enlace matrimonial, entre parientes en primer
+grado de consanguinidad, o de afinidad, excepto entre cunados."
+--GREGG.
+
+[189] The origin of the American Indians has been discussed by too
+many able writers for me to enter into it here: nor will I attempt to
+show the general traits of similarity that are to be observed in their
+various languages: yet it may interest an occasional reader, to be
+informed of the relations of consanguinity which subsist between many
+of the different Indian tribes. They may be arranged principally under
+the following heads: 1. The Dahcotah stock, which is by far the most
+extensive of those indigenous west of the Mississippi. It embraces the
+Arkansas (of which the Quapaws are now the only remnant), the Osages,
+Kansas or Kaws, Iowas, Winnebagoes, Otoes, Missouries, Omahas, Poncas,
+and the various bands of the Sioux: all of whom speak a language still
+traceable to the same origin, though some of them have been separated
+for several centuries. I call these indigenous to the West, because
+most of them have been so from the period of the earliest explorers on
+the Mississippi; yet the tradition among them is that they came from
+about the northern lakes; which appears corroborated by the fact, that
+the language of the Naudowessies, Assiniboins, and perhaps others in
+that quarter, shows them to be of the same family.--2. The different
+bands of the Comanches and Shoshonies or Snakes, constitute another
+extensive stock, speaking one language.--3. The Blackfeet, Gros
+Ventres or Minnatarees, Crows and Arrapahoes, speak dialects of
+another.--4. The Pawnees and Rickaras of the north, and the Wacoes,
+Wichitas, Towockanoes, Towyash and Keechyes, of Red River, are of the
+same origin. The Chayennes, originally from near Lake Winnipeg, and
+the Kiawas (or Caiguas, according to Mexican orthography), appear
+unallied to any of the foregoing nations.--5. Of those from the north
+and east, the Algonquin stock appears most extensive,--embracing the
+Potawatomies, Ottawas, Chippewas, Knisteneaux, Crees, Sacs and Foxes;
+with whom the Delawares have also been classed, though their language
+would now appear very distinct.--6. The Wyandots, Senecas, and others
+of the Six Nations, are of the Huron or Iroquois.--7. The Shawnees and
+Kickapoos are of one stock.--8. The Kaskaskias, Piorias, Piankeshaws
+and Weaws, are descendants of the Miamies.--9. The Choctaws and
+Chickasaws are nearly the same people.--10. The Creeks and
+Seminoles--though old authors speak of the Creeks as being akin to the
+Choctaws, yet there is now but little relationship to be traced in
+their language; while that of the Cherokees appears entirely _sui
+generis_.--GREGG.
+
+_Comment by Ed._ On this subject consult J. W. Powell, "Indian
+Linguistic Families of America north of Mexico" in U. S. Bureau of
+Ethnology _Report_, 1885-86. Gregg is unusually correct in his
+classification, but nevertheless has fallen into a few errors.
+
+[190] The _tribes_ often take the names of the seceding chiefs who
+originate them, or are called from some circumstance attending their
+separation; but frequently they assume a name from an important word
+in their languages: thus _Choctaw_ and _Chickasaw_ are said to have
+been the names of chiefs; _Seminole_ (or _Seminoleh_) and _Pioria_
+imply runaways or seceders; while _Illinois_, in the language of that
+ancient tribe, and _Lunnapae_, by which the Delawares distinguish
+themselves, signify _man_. This last is perhaps most common; for, as
+each nations holds itself superior to all others, its members call
+themselves _men_, in contradistinction to _boys_ or _squaws_, as they
+are wont to denominate their enemies.--GREGG.
+
+[191] Pressure of the white population upon the southern tribes,
+induced them to migrate to the west of the Mississippi, a movement
+which began with detached parties of Choctaw as early as 1805. In 1824
+President Monroe recommended their removal, and in 1830 Jackson
+ordered it. Large bands of these Indians had already received lands in
+Arkansas; wherefore, in 1832, Indian Territory was set apart for the
+tribes and removals thither began. The Choctaw, Chickasaw, and Creek
+made but little difficulty; the Cherokee and Seminole opposed the
+removal. The former were forcibly ejected (1836-38), and by 1839 were
+united on their present site in Indian Territory. The Seminole
+resistance led to the war with that people (1835-42), in which a large
+portion of the tribesmen perished. The remainder were finally united
+in Indian Territory in 1846.--ED.
+
+[192] The civilized tribes had been slave-holders before their removal
+to Indian Territory. At the outbreak of the War of Secession their
+sympathies were with the Confederacy, with whom the Cherokee made a
+treaty October 7, 1861. Early in 1863, however, they abolished slavery
+by law, and the large majority of their regiments went over to the
+Union side. A constitutional amendment in 1866, forever abolished
+slavery or involuntary servitude, except for crime. See _Constitution
+and Laws of Cherokee Nation_.--ED.
+
+[193] Neither of these places has developed into towns of importance,
+although both are still on the map of Indian Territory. By an act of
+1898, towns were to be incorporated, and town sites surveyed. In 1900,
+the largest town was Ardmore, in the Chickasaw Nation. There were
+seven towns of more than two thousand population, and twelve more
+exceeding one thousand.--ED.
+
+[194] Their schools are mostly conducted in English, yet among some
+tribes they are often taught in their native languages. As in other
+respects, the Cherokees have made the greatest advancement in a
+literary point. Their singular system of characters representing
+syllables, invented by an illiterate native, is no doubt known to most
+of my readers. In these characters, a considerable number of books
+have been printed in their vernacular tongue. Many Cherokees, however,
+as well as Choctaws, have received good English educations. In the
+language of the latter also a great number of books have been
+published, but in which the common letter is used. A few books have
+also been printed in the languages of the Creeks, Wyandots,
+Potawatomies, and Ottawas, Shawnees, Delawares, and some in the
+different dialects of Osage, Kansas, Otoes, etc. There is now a
+printing-office in operation at Park Hill, in the Cherokee Nation, and
+another among the Shawnees at the Baptist Mission.--GREGG.
+
+[195] By the treaty of 1825 with the Choctaw, a fund of six thousand
+dollars per year for twenty years was to be allotted for the use of
+schools. The Indians requested that a portion of this fund might be
+used to educate boys at a distance from home. This was a cherished
+plan of Colonel Richard M. Johnson, who was chosen sponsor for the new
+academy, and began the erection of buildings near his home at Great
+Crossings, in Scott County, Kentucky, where the first boys were
+received in the autumn of 1825. Baptist co-operation was enlisted, and
+Rev. Thomas Henderson chosen first principal of Choctaw Academy. At
+first the school flourished, and Indian boys from many other tribes
+were sent to Kentucky, until at one time the academy had an enrollment
+of more than one hundred and fifty lads. In consequence of the
+dissatisfaction which Gregg here describes the Choctaw and other
+Southern Indians began to withdraw their boys about 1842, and the
+school's usefulness terminated. Consult _House Ex. Docs._, 26 Cong., 2
+sess., 109. The civilized tribes now maintain several higher boarding
+schools and academies in the territory. The Choctaw and Chickasaw each
+have five; the Cherokee two at Tallequah, in which the nation is much
+interested.--ED.
+
+[196] By no means the least considerable of the frauds practised upon
+the frontier Indians, have been by contractors and government agents.
+The character of these impositions may be inferred from the following
+instance, as it is told, and very generally believed, upon the
+southwestern frontier.
+
+It had been pretty well known, that some of those who had been in the
+habit of contracting to furnish with subsistence several of the
+southern tribes, in the year 1838 _et seq._, had been imposing most
+grossly upon the Indians as well as the Government, in the way of
+'short rations' and other delinquencies, which resulted in the gain of
+a very large sum to the parties concerned. About the close of their
+operations, one of the _employes_, who was rather more cunning than
+the principals, took it into his head, on account of some
+ill-treatment he had suffered, to make an _expose_ of their
+transactions. He happened to hold a letter of instructions (which were
+of course of a confidential character), wherein were set forth the
+processes by which these frauds were to be practised. And to turn the
+affair to his particular profit, he threatened the parties with a
+complete exposure, unless a satisfactory _gratification_ should
+interpose. A compromise being indispensable to the welfare of 'all
+whom it concerned,' a negotiation was soon set on foot: but the 'noisy
+customer' was not silenced, until he was paid $13,500 in cash;
+whereupon he delivered up the obnoxious 'papers,' and agreed to
+abscond. Some notice of the facts of this case are said to have been
+brought to the knowledge of the Government; and how it has escaped an
+investigation--and, more especially, how it escaped the attention of
+the Superintendent of that immediate district, have been matters of
+great surprise to those who had a knowledge of the particulars.
+--GREGG.
+
+[197] See _Constitution and Laws of Cherokee Nation_, published at
+Tallequah. The constitution was signed at the latter place, September
+6, 1839.--ED.
+
+[198] These laws have now been changed, and correspond to those of the
+United States.--ED.
+
+[199] In 1837, the Chickasaw bought an interest in Choctaw lands; but
+in 1855 they purchased from the latter tribe the right of
+self-government, and established a Chickasaw Nation. Their
+constitution, drawn in 1867, is liberal, being closely modelled on
+that of the United States.--ED.
+
+[200] These Indians call themselves _Muscogee_ or _Muscohgeh_. They
+acquired the name of _Creeks_, by the whites, from the great number of
+small streams that intersect the country which they formerly
+inhabited--being first called, "Indians of the country of
+_creeks_."--GREGG.
+
+[201] The Creeks established a republican government in 1867, modelled
+upon that of the neighboring tribes.--ED.
+
+[202] This custom seems to have descended from antiquity. Adair, prior
+to 1775, writes, that "The Muscohge widows are obliged to live a
+chaste single life for the space of four years; and the Chikkasah
+women, for the term of three, at the risk of the law of adultery being
+executed against the recusants." But I have not heard this custom
+spoken of among the Chickasaws at the present day.--GREGG.
+
+[203] The Delaware and Shawnee removed from Kansas in 1866-67, and
+1869 respectively, and became incorporated with the Cherokee Nation.
+The Delaware, however, still maintain a form of tribal autonomy.--ED.
+
+[204] No complete census has been taken of the frontier Indians since
+their removal; but the aggregate population of those settled west of
+the border, exclusive of the Osages, Kansas, and others of the north
+(who are more appropriately ranked among the Prairie Indians), is
+76,664, according to the report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs
+for the year 1844. Of these there are reckoned of Cherokees, 25,911;
+Choctaws, 12,410; Chickasaws, 4,111; Creeks, 24,594; Seminoles, or
+Florida Indians, 3,136; Senecas from Sandusky, 125; Senecas and
+Shawnees, 211; Quapaws, 400; Wyandots, 585; Potawatomies, Chippewas
+and Ottawas, located on the waters of the Osage, 2,028; Kaskaskias and
+Piorias, 150; Piankeshaws, 98; Weaws, 176; Shawnees, 887; Delawares,
+1,059; Stockbridges, Munsees, &c., 278; Kickapoos, 505; In addition to
+these, there still remain east of the Mississippi, of Cherokees,
+1,000; Choctaws, 7,000, (but which are now, January, 1845, in progress
+of emigration); Chickasaws, 20; Creeks, 744; Potawatomies, &c., 92;
+Weaws, 30; besides some entire remnant tribes.
+
+Many of the foregoing amounts, however, have been standing numbers in
+the tables of the reports of the Indian Department, ever since the
+removal of these tribes, and as it is known that most of them have
+been on the decline, the above aggregate is no doubt excessive. For
+instance, instead of 25,911, as given in the report for the Cherokees,
+their very intelligent agent, Governor Butler, reckoned them, in 1842,
+at only about 18,000: the Creeks in place of 24,594, have, in like
+manner, been set down at about 20,000; and in the 'Choctaw Almanac'
+for 1843, I find the population of that nation rated at 12,690,
+instead of 15,177, as stated in the Commissioner's report for the same
+year.--GREGG.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX {XIV}
+
+INDIANS OF THE PRAIRIES
+
+System of Chiefs -- Mode of Warfare -- War-Council -- The
+  Scalp-dance -- The Calumet or Pipe of Peace -- Treaties -- Public
+  News-criers -- Arms of the Indians -- Bow and Arrows, etc. --
+  Hunting -- Dancing -- Language of Signs -- Telegraphs -- Wigwams
+  or Lodges -- Pack-dogs -- Costumes -- Painting, Tattooing, etc.
+  -- Indian Dandies -- Manufactures, and Dressing the Buffalo
+  Rug -- Indian Diet, Feasting, etc. -- Primitive Thomsonians --
+  Their domestic Animals, the Dog and the Horse -- Wampum -- Their
+  Chronology.
+
+
+Those savage hordes which may be considered as the Prairie Indians
+proper, have made little or no perceptible progress in civilization.
+They mostly live by plunder and the chase: a few eke out a subsistence
+by agriculture. They consist of various distinct tribes, but among
+whom there is a greater diversity of language than of habitudes. I
+would not have it understood, however, that all the customs of every
+band are entirely similar: it is this assumption, together with the
+practice of setting down as standing customs what they have observed
+on some particular occasions, that has frequently created such a
+discrepancy between the accounts of transient travellers.
+
+{277} There is scarcely a prairie tribe, however limited in numbers,
+but is subdivided into petty bands, each under the immediate control
+of its own chief. Their systems of government are frequently
+compounded of the patriarchal and military. The most influential heads
+of families exercise a petty rule, which often extends beyond their
+own household to a circle of adherents. Several of these clans, bound
+by the ties of consanguinity or friendship, are apt to come under the
+control, by common consent, of some more influential chief, who may
+have gained celebrity in their wars; but a regular hereditary descent
+seems rarely established. These petty bands seldom unite under one
+general leader, except for the common defence, when [Pg319]
+threatened with danger. Occasionally there springs up a master
+spirit--a great brave and a great sage, who is able to unite his whole
+tribe, in which he is generally aided by a sufficient knack at
+sorcerous tricks to give him the character of a great 'medicine-man.'
+
+War seems to be the element of the prairie Indians, notwithstanding
+but few possess much intrinsic bravery. They are, in fact, the most
+cowardly savages east of the Rocky Mountains, bearing but little
+similitude in this respect to the aborigines of the interior of the
+United States. They rarely attack an enemy except with a decided
+advantage; for the prospect of losing even a single warrior will often
+deter them from undertaking the most flattering adventure. It is true
+that, in addition {278} to their timidity, they are restrained by the
+fact that the loss of a man often casts a gloom upon the most
+brilliant victory, and throws a whole clan into mourning. On this
+account they generally attack by surprise, and in the night, when all
+are presumed to be asleep; having care, if against a formidable enemy,
+that it be long enough before the morning dawn to allow them to retire
+beyond reach of pursuit before daylight. When the moon rises at a late
+hour, just before she appears, is a favorite time; for then they will
+have a gleam of light by which to collect and drive off the prize of
+stock which they may be able to frighten away. These prowling parties
+around a camp sometimes employ a species of signals in imitation of
+wolves, owls and other nocturnal animals, by which they communicate
+with each other--mimicking so to the life as not to give alarm to
+unsuspecting travellers.
+
+War is seldom concluded upon, or even a campaign undertaken, without a
+general council, in which all the chiefs and most distinguished braves
+and sages assemble. After all are seated in a circle, the pipe is
+passed around until their brains are sufficiently soothed to enable
+them [Pg320] to consult the Great Spirit, and take freely into
+advisement the important matters under consideration. Therefore the
+tobacco smoke is usually blown upwards, as a propitiatory incense to
+the invoked spirits or genii who dwell 'upon the sky.' In this
+operation the smoke is generally inhaled into {279} the lungs, and
+discharged in murky streams from the olfactories. If a council be
+preparatory to a campaign, the warriors sometimes catch the tobacco
+smoke in the hand, anointing their bodies with it; which they fancy
+renders them, if not invulnerable, at least far more secure from the
+darts of their enemies.
+
+Although in their warfare they employ every wile and stratagem, and
+faithless subterfuge, to deceive their enemies, and in battle are
+relentless and cruel in the extreme, yet they seldom resort to those
+horrid punishments and tortures upon their prisoners which were wont
+to be inflicted by the savages of the interior of the United States,
+during their early wars with the whites. The practice of burning their
+captives alive, said to have prevailed many years ago among some
+prairie tribes, seems now to have grown quite out of use.
+
+Upon returning from a campaign after a defeat, the village resounds
+for many days with the lamentations, the shrieks and wailings of the
+women and children; in which, not only the bereft families, but all
+the relatives and most of the friends of the deceased join. If, on the
+contrary, the warriors have been successful, and bring home scalps of
+their enemies, all join in their most famous festival, the
+scalp-dance. In this fete the savage trophies are usually elevated
+upon a pole in the centre of the dance; or perhaps the brave captors
+retain them in their hands, tossing and swinging them about their
+heads; at the same time vehemently apostrophizing these ghastly
+representatives {280} of their enemies, with the most taunting and
+insulting [Pg321] bravadoes; branding the nation with cowardice and
+effeminacy; daring them to come forward and revenge the blood of their
+slain; then concluding with scoffs and exulting yells at the dastardly
+silence of their enemies, whom they represent as afraid to whisper a
+note of vengeance against their superiors and masters, the triumphing
+conquerors. After the warriors have become fatigued, the squaws and
+children generally continue the barbarous festivity; in the midst of
+which some vainglorious brave will rise perhaps, and repeat the
+apostrophic fanfaronades, representing that the very squaws and
+papooses hold them in cowering submission, and that henceforth these
+only will be sent to subdue them; their warriors being reserved for
+more noble enemies. These brutal rites and rodomontades being
+concluded, the scalps are handed to their owners, who cure and paint
+them for future war-dances and other kindred ceremonies.
+
+When a tribe wishes to celebrate a treaty of peace with an enemy, a
+number of their warriors, as ambassadors, or perhaps a whole band,
+move to the neighborhood, and send the calumet or pipe of peace, which
+supplies the place of the flag of truce among civilized nations:[205]
+though, when the embassy {281} is to the whites, a flag usually
+accompanies, as they have learned that this is our token of peace. The
+overture being accepted, the chiefs and principals of each band meet
+in council, sometimes in a wigwam, if there [Pg322] be a suitable
+one, else in the open air, taking their seats, as usual, upon their
+haunches in a circle proportioned to the number. If there be
+presents--and these are an indispensable earnest of friendship from
+the whites--the essence, the seal of the treaty, without which
+negotiation is vain--these are laid in the centre. A personage in the
+capacity of an orderly sergeant then lights the calumet, which he
+hands to a principal chief, who, before smoking, usually points the
+stem towards the four cardinal points, and towards the heavens and the
+earth--then takes a certain number of whiffs (generally about three),
+and passing it to the next, who draws an equal number of whiffs, it
+thus continues around the circle, in the direction of the sun, each
+sending fumid {282} currents upward from the nozzle. It seems looked
+upon as sacrilege for a person to pass before the pipe while the
+chiefs are smoking; and the heedless or impudent are sometimes
+severely punished for the act. The 'big talk' follows, and the
+presents are distributed by a chief who exercises the office of
+commissary. But in the petty truces among each other, presents are
+scarcely expected, except they be claimed by the more powerful party
+as a matter of tribute.
+
+Travellers and hunters are generally obliged to hold a treaty or 'big
+talk' with every band of prairie Indians they may encounter, if they
+wish to maintain friendly relations with them. Treaties have also been
+held, at different periods, with most of the wild tribes, by agents of
+the U. S. [Pg323] Government, yet for the most part with but very
+little effect--they generally forget or disregard them by the time the
+presents they may have received are consumed.
+
+These treaties, as well as other council deliberations, are generally
+promulgated by a sort of public crier, who proclaims the stipulations
+and resolutions from lodge to lodge; and the event is preserved in the
+memory of the sages to future generations. Among some of the tribes
+their memory is assisted by the famous 'wampum belt,' which is a list
+or belt made of wampum beads, so interwoven in hieroglyphic figures as
+to form a record of important events. Others preserve the same by
+hieroglyphic paintings on their buffalo rugs, and the like.
+
+{283} The _arms_ of the wild Indians are chiefly the bow and arrows,
+with the use of which they become remarkably expert. A dexterous
+savage will lay a wager, at short shots, against many riflemen.
+Indeed, there is hardly any more effective weapon than the bow and
+arrow in the hands of an expert archer. While the musketeer will load
+and fire once, the bowman will discharge a dozen arrows, and that, at
+distances under fifty yards, with an accuracy nearly equal to the
+rifle. In a charge, they are eminently serviceable; for the Indian
+seems to discharge his arrows with about as much certainty when
+running at full speed as when standing.
+
+The usual length of the Indian bow is about three feet, though it is
+sometimes as much as four. It is generally made of elastic wood, yet
+elk's horn is occasionally used. Those of the latter are made of two
+of the longest and straightest shafts, which, being shaved down to the
+necessary proportions, are united by lapping their ends together and
+binding them firmly with sinew. Bows have also been made, in the same
+manner, of a pair of buffalo ribs; but as well these as those of
+elk-horn, are rather items of [Pg324] curiosity than of service: at
+least, they are not equal to bows of the bois-d'arc tree. Even the
+backs of the _wooden_ bows are often lined the whole length with a
+broad strip of sinew, and the whole wrapped with shreds of the same.
+The arrows are generally about thirty inches long, and pointed with
+iron, though the primitive {284} flint points are still met with among
+some of the wildest tribes.
+
+Besides these, the lance or spear, the use of which they may have
+learned from the Mexicans, is an effective weapon in the charge as
+well as the chase. Many are also provided with the Northwestern fusil,
+and some have rifles. Very few, however, have acquired the dexterity
+of our frontier Indians with this deadly weapon. But no Indian deems
+his equipage complete without a 'scalping-knife;' yet among the
+western prairie Indians the tomahawk is but little known. These
+employ, in its stead, the war-club or 'war-hawk,' which are bludgeons
+with an encased stone for a head in the former, and with a transverse
+blade or spike in its place in the latter. Many are provided with
+shields of raw buffalo or elk skin, upon which are frequently painted
+some rude hieroglyphical devices representing the enemies they have
+slain, as well as any other notable exploits of which they can boast.
+Such as are without these have their titles to renown recorded
+commonly upon the handles of their hatchets, their war-clubs, or
+perhaps tattooed upon their breasts or arms.
+
+Besides war, _hunting_ seems the only creditable employment in which a
+warrior can engage. Every other labor is put upon the squaws; and even
+when a party of hunters set out, they generally provide themselves
+with enough of these 'menials' to take charge of the meat: the Indian
+only deigns to shoot {285} down the game; the squaws not only have it
+to cure and pack, but to skin and dress. [Pg325]
+
+Except such tribes as are expert with the rifle, very few of the
+prairie Indians hunt other game than the buffalo: not, as some have
+presumed, because they deem all small game too ignoble for them, but
+because the former is at once easiest taken, and affords the most
+bounteous supply of food. The antelope is too wild and fleet for their
+mode of hunting, and is only occasionally taken by stratagem; while
+the deer, as difficult to take in the chase, is less easily entrapped.
+But, mounted upon their trained steeds, and with the arrow or lance,
+they are not to be excelled in the chase. A few of them, let loose
+among a herd of buffalo, will soon have the plain strewed with their
+carcasses.
+
+Among the amusements of the Indians generally, _dancing_ is perhaps
+the most favorite. Besides a war accompaniment, it is practised as a
+recreation, and often connected with their worship. Their social
+frolics, in which the squaws are commonly permitted to join, are
+conducted with less ferocity of manner than their war dances; though
+even these are accompanied with the wildest and most comical
+gesticulations, and songs full at once of mirth and obscenity. In
+these, as well as in the war and scalp dances, a sort of little drum
+and a shrill squeaking pipe are their common instruments of music.
+
+As so many tongues, entirely different, are spoken by the prairie
+Indians, a 'language of {286} signs' has become the general medium of
+communication between the different nations. This system of signs has
+been brought to such perfection among them, that the most intricate
+correspondence seems to be intelligibly conducted by such as have
+acquired a proficiency in this 'dumb language.'
+
+Their systems of telegraphs are very peculiar, and though they might
+seem impracticable at first, yet so thoroughly are they understood by
+the savages, that it is availed of [Pg326] frequently to immense
+advantage. The most remarkable is by raising smokes, by which many
+important facts are communicated to a considerable distance--and made
+intelligible by the manner, size, number or repetition of the smokes,
+which are commonly raised by firing spots of dry grass. When
+travelling, they will also pile heaps of stones upon mounds or
+conspicuous points, so arranged as to be understood by their passing
+comrades; and sometimes they set up the bleached buffalo heads, which
+are everywhere scattered over those plains, to indicate the direction
+of their march, and many other facts which may be communicated by
+those simple signs.
+
+Almost every tribe has some peculiarity in the construction of their
+lodges or wigwams, in the manner of arranging their camps, and in the
+different items of dress, by any or all which peculiarities the
+experienced traveller is able to recognize the tribe of their owner.
+If a moccasin, or other article of apparel be {287} found, he at once
+designates the nation to which it belongs--even a track is often
+sufficient to identify them.[206] Also by the 'sign,' and especially
+the remains of fires, he determines the interval elapsed since their
+departure, with remarkable accuracy.
+
+The lodges are composed of a frame of small poles or rods, covered
+usually with buffalo skins, which receive but little further
+preparation than the currying off of the hair. Some give their lodges
+a round wagon-top shape, as those of the Osages, which commonly
+consist of a frame of bent rods, resembling wagon-bows, and covered
+with skins, the bark of trees, or, as is generally the case in their
+villages, with grass and earth. Again, some dispose the poles in two
+parallel lines, and incline them against a ridge-pole, [Pg327] which
+gives the wigwam the shape of a house-roof: others, planting small
+rods in a circle, to swine the points together as to resemble, in some
+degree, when covered, a rounded hay-mow: but by far the most general
+style, among the wild tribes, of constructing their wigwams, is by
+planting the lodge-poles so as to enclose a circular area of from ten
+to twenty feet in diameter (the size depending upon the number of the
+family); and the tops being brought together, it forms a conical
+frame, which is closely covered with skins, except an aperture in the
+apex for the escape of the {288} smoke. This is the style of the
+Comanches and most other tribes of the great plains. The doors of the
+lodges being closed with a skin, they are kept very comfortable in
+winter with but little fire. This is kindled in the centre, and a hole
+is left in the vertex of the lodge, through which the smoke is
+discharged so freely, that the interior is but seldom infected by it.
+
+These lodges are always pitched or set up by the squaws, and with such
+expedition, that, upon the stopping of an itinerant band, a town
+springs up in a desert valley in a few minutes, as if by enchantment.
+The lodge-poles are often neatly prepared, and carried along from camp
+to camp. In conveying them, one end frequently drags on the ground;
+whereby the trail is known to be that of a band with families, as war
+parties never carry lodge-poles. The Chayennes, Sioux and some other
+northern tribes, often employ dogs for carrying and dragging their
+lodge covers and poles; indeed for conveying most of their light
+baggage: but, for ordinary travelling purposes and packing their more
+weighty baggage, they use horses. So few navigable waters traverse the
+Prairies, that none of the Indians of the high plains have learned the
+use of canoes or water-craft of any kind.
+
+There is some variety in the dress in vogue among the [Pg328]
+different tribes; though they all use moccasins, leggins, flap or
+breech-clout, and, when not in active pursuits, they generally wrap
+their bodies in buffalo rugs, blankets or {289} mantles of strouding,
+according to their wealth or opportunities. Some of the northern
+tribes display considerable ingenuity and taste in the manufacture of
+moccasins. But this is the work of the women, who often embroider them
+with beads and colored porcupine quills, in a most beautiful manner.
+The _leggin_ is a buckskin or cloth covering for the leg and thigh, as
+of the pantaloon. A superfluous list is usually left outside the seam,
+which, if of skin, is slitted into long tassels, or if of cloth, the
+wide border remains entire, to dangle and flap upon the exterior of
+the legs. A strip of strouding (that is, coarse broad-cloth) about a
+foot in width and a yard or more long, constitutes the most usual
+flap; which being passed betwixt the legs, the ends are secured under
+the belt around the waist, whence the leggins are suspended. As the
+flap is sometimes near two yards long, a surplusage of half a yard or
+more at each end is sometimes left dangling down before and behind.
+
+The Indians use no head-dress, but support the bleakest rains and
+hottest suns of those bare plains with naked heads. Nevertheless,
+their coarse black hair seems 'fertilized' by exposure; for they
+rarely become gray till an exceeding old age; and I do not recollect
+to have ever seen a bald Indian. Their eyesight also, they retain in
+extraordinary vigor, notwithstanding the want of protection even of
+the eye-lashes and brows (which are plucked out), and in spite of the
+constant use of apparently deleterious paints around the edges {290}
+of the lids. Though using no regular head-dress, they sometimes wear,
+as a temporary ornament, a fantastic cap of skins; and it is not
+unusual to see a brave with the entire shaggy frontlet of a buffalo,
+[Pg329] horns and all, set upon his head--which, with his painted
+face, imparts a diabolical ferocity to his aspect.
+
+The Indians of the Plains, almost without exception, wear long hair,
+which dangles in clotted tresses over the shoulders--besmeared with
+gum, grease and paints, and ornamented with feathers and trinkets. But
+most of those intermediate tribes nearer our border, trim their hair
+in a peculiar manner.
+
+Vermillion seems almost indispensable to the Indian's toilet; but in
+default of this they paint with colored earths. When going to war,
+they bedaub their bodies with something black--mud, charcoal or
+gunpowder, which gives them a frightful appearance. But 'ornamental'
+painting is much more gay and fanciful. The face, and sometimes arms
+and breast are oddly striped and chequered, interspersed with shades
+of yellow and white clay, as well as occasional black, though the
+latter is chiefly appropriated to war. Especial pains are taken to tip
+the eyelids most gaily with vermillion.
+
+Besides painting, most of the tribes tattoo--some sparingly, while
+others make their faces, breasts, and particularly their arms,
+perfectly piebald. This seems practised to some extent by all the
+savages from the Atlantic {291} to the Pacific. Figures are pierced in
+the skin with any sharp pointed instrument--often the keen prickles of
+the cactus--and pulverized charcoal or gunpowder, or sometimes the
+coloring juice of a plant, is rubbed into the fresh punctures, which
+leaves a lasting stain.
+
+The most usual female dress is of the style worn by the Comanche
+squaws, which is described in speaking of that nation. With respect to
+dress and other ornaments, however, the order of the civilized world
+is reversed among the Indians. The 'fair sex' paint less than the
+men--use fewer ornaments generally, and particularly, wear [Pg330] no
+pendants in the ears. While a savage beauty pays but little attention
+to her person, a 'brave' will spend as much time at his toilet as a
+French belle, in the adjustment of his ornaments--his paint, trinkets,
+beads and other gewgaws. A mirror is his idol: no warrior is equipped
+without this indispensable toilet companion, which he very frequently
+consults. He usually takes it from its original case, and sets it in a
+large fancifully carved frame of wood, which is always carried about
+him. He is also rarely without his tweezers, whether of a fold of tin,
+of hardened wood, or of spirally twisted wire, with which he carefully
+eradicates, not only his beard, eye-lashes and brows, but every
+villous particle from his body, as fast as it appears; for everything
+of the kind is considered as extremely unbecoming a warrior. It is on
+this account that Indians {292} have frequently been represented as
+naturally beardless.
+
+All Indians are passionately fond of beads, trinkets and gewgaws of
+every kind. The men often cut up the rim of the ears in a frightful
+manner to admit their pendants of beads, plate, shells, etc.; and even
+strips of lead are sometimes twined around the separated rim, by the
+weight of which the detached portion of the ear is frequently swagged
+down some inches. It is not unusual to see near half a pound even of
+beads and 'jewelry' swung to each ear; and among some tribes, also a
+large quantity to the nose. The hair is likewise garnished with the
+same, and the neck with strings of beads, bear's claws, and the like;
+while the arms are profusely ornamented with bracelets of wire or
+plated metal. The 'braves' are those who commonly deck themselves with
+the most gaudy trappings, and would usually be taken by a stranger for
+the chiefs of the band, who, on the other hand, are often apparelled
+in the most ordinary manner. [Pg331]
+
+The squaws are, in every sense of the word the slaves of the men. They
+are called upon to perform every toilsome service--to carry wood and
+make fires--to skin and dress the meat and prepare the food--to herd,
+drive up, saddle and unsaddle their lords' horses--to pitch and strike
+the lodges--to pack up the baggage, and often indeed to carry heavy
+loads during travel--in short, everything else pretty much but fight
+and hunt, which the {293} Indian boasts of, as being his peculiar, if
+not his sole vocations.
+
+What little of manufacturing is done among the Indians is also the
+work of the women. They prepare the different articles of apparel. In
+embroidering moccasins and their leathern petticoats, etc., their
+greatest skill, particularly among the northern tribes, is exhibited.
+But the most extensive article of their manufacture is the _buffalo
+rug_, which they not only prepare for their own use, but which
+constitutes the largest item of their traffic with the Indian traders.
+These are dressed and cured exclusively by the squaws.
+
+To dress a buffalo rug, the first step is to 'flesh' the skin, or
+neatly scrape from the inner surface every carneous particle. This is
+generally done with an instrument of bone, cut something in the shape
+of a small adz, with a serrate edge. For this operation the skin is
+sometimes suspended in a frame upon the branch of a tree, or a fork of
+the lodge--though more commonly, perhaps, stretched with pegs upon the
+smooth ground, with the flesh-side up. After it dries, the spongy
+surface of the skin is neatly curried off with another adz-shaped bone
+or handle of wood, with a flat bit of iron transversely set for the
+blade, which is edged after the manner of a currier's instrument. The
+surface is then besmeared with brains (which the Canadians call
+_mettre a la cervelle_), and rolled up with the flesh-side in, in
+which condition it is left for two or three days. The brains of the
+same {294} animals are generally used; those [Pg332] of a buffalo
+being more than sufficient to dress his own hide. The pores of the
+skin being fully penetrated by the brains, it is again wetted, and
+softened by continual working and rubbing till it dries. To facilitate
+this last operation, it is sometimes stretched in a frame and
+suspended before a fire, when the inner surface is scraped with the
+serrated adz before mentioned, and finished off by assiduous rubbing
+with a pumice-stone, if that article can be had; if not, by passing
+the skin by small sections rapidly back and forth over a slack cord.
+
+Buffalo rugs are often observed with a seam in the middle. This is
+caused by cutting them in two, partly for convenience in dressing
+them, and partly to take out the hollow occasioned by the hump,
+particularly of the bulls. The hump of the cow being less, their skins
+generally bear dressing without being cut. The hide is frequently
+split in two, however, in skinning the animal, the Indians preferring
+to commence on the back.
+
+The buffalo skin is often dressed without the wool. To this end the
+hide is soaked in water till the hair is loosened, when it is
+'curried' and 'brained,' and softened as above. Of these dressed
+buffalo skins (known among Mexicans as _anta blanca_) is made a
+considerable portion of the Indian clothing for both sexes--even the
+petticoats of the females; though these prefer buckskin when they can
+procure it.
+
+The chief aliment of the Prairie Indians is {295} flesh, though in
+default of this they often sustain themselves for weeks together upon
+roots, herbs and fruits. The buffalo are the common herds of these
+savages, affording them 'food, raiment and shelter.' It seems there
+were anciently occasional cannibal tribes[207] in those regions, but
+not a [Pg333] vestige of cannibalism, as I believe, now remains;
+except such an inhuman appetite may be ascribed to some of the more
+savage warriors, who, as I have heard, in the delirium of exultant
+victory, have been known to devour the hearts of their bravest
+victims, at once to satiate their blood-thirsty propensities, and to
+appropriate to themselves, as they fancy, the valor of the slain
+enemy.
+
+However, they make food of nearly every animal of their country, and
+often of insects and even the filthiest vermin. By some tribes,
+grasshoppers, locusts and the like are collected and dried for future
+use. Among nearly all the northern tribes, the flesh of the dog[208]
+is considered as the greatest delicacy; so much so, indeed, that when
+a favorite visitor is expected to dine, they are sure to have served
+up for him the choicest pieces from some one of the many fat whelps
+which pertain to every lodge. In this way travellers have often been
+{296} constrained to eat Indian dog-meat, and which, prejudice apart,
+is by no means an unsavory viand; but the flesh of the wolf, and even
+the American dog, is generally said to be ill-flavored and sometimes
+insupportable. The polecat is also a favorite food among the Indians;
+and though the celebrated Irving, during a "Tour on the Prairies,"
+seems to claim a deal of credit for having "plumped into the river" a
+dressed polecat, whereby he prevented an Osage from "disgracing" their
+fire by the cooking of it, yet all travellers who have tasted the
+flesh of this animal have pronounced it fine, and of exquisite
+relish.[209] "The flesh of the skunk," observes Dr. James, in his
+account of Maj. Long's Expedition, "we [Pg334] sometimes had dressed
+for dinner, and found it remarkably rich and delicate food."
+
+These wild tribes are without other kitchen utensils than an
+occasional kettle. They sometimes broil their meats, but often eat
+them raw. A savage will feast upon the warm carcass of the buffalo;
+selecting bits of the tenderloin, liver, etc., and it is not uncommon
+to see him use the gall as sauce! Feasting is one of their favorite
+enjoyments; though their ability to endure hunger almost exceeds
+belief. They will fast a week and yet retain their strength and vigor:
+but then when they do procure food again, it seems as if they never
+would be satiated.
+
+The Indians of the Prairies have become acquainted with the medical
+virtues of many of their indigenous plants, which are often {297} used
+in connection with the vapor sweat, and cold bath: wherefore we may
+consider them as the primitive Thomsonians.[210] After a profuse
+sweating, assisted by decoctions of sudorific herbs, in a tight lodge
+filled with vapor by pouring water over heated stones, and while still
+dripping, they will leap into a pool of cold water, and afterwards
+wrap themselves in a buffalo rug. This course has proved successful in
+some diseases, and extraordinary cures have thus been performed: but
+in other cases, and especially in the small-pox, it has been attended
+with horrible fatality. They frequently let blood for disease, which
+is oftenest performed with the keen edge of a flint: and though they
+sometimes open a vein, they more commonly make their incisions
+indiscriminately. They have great faith in their 'medicine men,' who
+pretend to cure the sick with conjurations and charms; and the
+Comanches and many others often keep up an irksome, monotonous singing
+over the diseased person, to frighten away [Pg335] the evil spirit
+which is supposed to torment him: all of which, from its effect upon
+the imagination, often tends, no doubt, to hasten recovery.
+
+These Indians keep no domestic animals, except horses, mules, and
+dogs. With the latter every lodge is abundantly supplied; yet, as has
+already been shown, they are more useful appendages than the annoying
+packs which so often infest the country cabins, and frequently the
+villages, in the United States. {298} Horses, however, constitute the
+chief wealth of the prairie Indian. These are the incentives to most
+of their predatory excursions. The tribes of the north in particular,
+as well as the white trappers, frequently maintain their horses,
+during winter, upon the tender bark of the sweet cottonwood, the
+_populus angulata_ of the Mississippi valley.
+
+The western savages know nothing of the value of money. The wampum
+bead, it is true, among a few tribes, somewhat resembles a currency:
+for, being generally esteemed, it acquires a value in proportion to
+size, and sometimes passes from hand to hand, in exchange for
+necessaries. The legitimate wampum is only of shells, and was of
+aboriginal manufacture; being small long tubes with an ovate surface,
+or sometimes simply cylindrical; and handsomely polished: but
+imitations of glass or porcelain seem now the most common. The color
+is generally white, though sometimes blue or striped.
+
+These Indians have no knowledge of the divisions of time, except by
+palpable distinctions; as days, moons and years; which last they
+commonly represent as so many springs, or falls of the leaves, or as
+often by winters, that is, frosts or snows. Distances are represented
+by days' journey, which are oftener designated by camps or 'sleeps.'
+When a day's journey is spoken of in general terms, it is meant that
+of a band in regular travel, which rarely exceeds twenty miles.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI [XV]
+
+INDIANS OF THE PRAIRIES
+
+Intermediate Tribes -- Their Wigwams and their Hunting Excursions
+  -- Dress and Cut of their Hair -- The Pawnees -- The Osages --
+  Their Roguery -- Matrimonial Customs -- Accomplished Mourners --
+  Their Superstitions -- The Indian Stature -- The 'Pawnee Picts'
+  -- Wild Tribes -- Census -- The Comanches -- Their Range -- Their
+  Sobriety -- Their Chiefs, etc. -- Female Chastity -- Comanche
+  Marriage -- Costumes -- Horsemanship -- Comanche Warfare --
+  Predatory Forays -- Martial Ceremonies -- Treatment of Captives --
+  Burial and Religious Rites.
+
+
+The tribes inhabiting near the borders of the frontier Indians differ
+from those that range the far-western prairies in several traits of
+general character. The former have their fixed villages, and, for the
+most part, combine the pursuits of agriculture and the chase. They
+form, indeed, a sort of intermediate class between the frontier and
+the wild tribes, resembling the one or the other in all important
+particulars. I will merely notice in this place a few of the
+characteristics by which the more conspicuous of these tribes are
+distinguished.
+
+Their village wigwams differ from the lodges of the wilder tribes, in
+their being {300} much more substantial, and usually covered with
+grass and earth instead of skins. The Indians commonly remain in their
+villages during the inclement portion of the winter; yet most of them
+spend the early spring upon the Prairies in buffalo-hunting; as well
+as such portions of the summer and autumn as are not occupied in the
+cultivation and gathering of their crops, which they secure in
+_caches_ till their return.
+
+In dress they differ but little from the wilder tribes, except that,
+having more communication with the whites, they make greater use of
+our fabrics--blankets, coarse cloths, calicoes and the like. Their
+most striking peculiarity consists in the cut of their hair. Most of
+them, [Pg337] instead, like the Indians of the Plains, of wearing the
+hair long, trim and arrange it in the most fantastic style. In the
+care bestowed upon this part of their toilet, they cannot be excelled
+by the most _soigneux_ of civilized dandies. They shave a large
+portion of the head, but leave a fanciful lock upon the crown as a
+scalp-crest (an indispensable trophy for the enemy), which is in
+general gorgeously bedecked with painted feathers and gewgaws.
+
+The _Pawnees_, who now have their principal village on the Loup Fork
+of the Platte river, are perhaps the most famous of these tribes.
+Small bands of their war-parties roam on foot through every portion of
+the Prairies, often to the Mexican frontier, though they generally
+contrive to return well mounted. {301} When upon these expeditions,
+they may properly enough be considered the Ishmaelites of the
+Prairies--their hands are against every man, and every man's hand is
+against them. They will skulk about in the vicinity of a prize of
+mules or horses for several days unsuspected, till a favorable
+opportunity offers to pounce upon them.
+
+This nation is divided into four principal bands, the Grand Pawnees
+(or _Grand Pans_, as called by the Canadians), the Republics, the
+Mahas or Loups, and the Tapage or Noisy Pawnees. Their relatives, the
+Rickaras, are now considered a distinct tribe.[211]
+
+The _Osages_ are at present the most important western branch of the
+Dahcotah stock, after the Sioux. There are two bands of them, the Big
+and Little Osages.[212] Though the Pawnees stand most prominent as
+prairie marauders, these are unsurpassed in simple rogueries.
+Expertness at stealing appears indeed to constitute a part [Pg338] of
+their faith, and an all-important branch of education, in which
+degrees are conferred in true 'academic order;' for I have been
+assured, that, in their councils, the claims of the candidates to the
+honors of rogueship are duly considered, and to the most proficient is
+awarded an honorary badge--the right to wear a fancy feather stuck
+athwart his scalp-crest.
+
+The habitudes of the Osages do not appear to have undergone any
+material change, notwithstanding the exertions of the government and
+the missionaries to civilize and to christianize {302} them. Some of
+their matrimonial customs are very curious and rather peculiar. The
+eldest daughter seems not only 'heiress apparent,' but, when married,
+becomes absolute owner of the entire property and household of her
+parents--family and all. While single, however, she has no authority,
+but is herself held as a piece of merchantable property, estimated
+somewhat as in civilized life, in proportion to her 'charms,' and to
+the value of her 'hereditaments.' She is therefore kept under the
+strictest watch by her parents, that she may not diminish her worth by
+any improper conduct.
+
+When some warrior 'beau' has taken a fancy to the heiress and wishes
+to possess her and her estate of sisters, dogs, rugs and household, he
+takes his finest horses, (and if she be a 'belle' he need not attempt
+it unless he have some of the noblest), and tying them at her lodge
+door departs without saying a word; leaving them, like a slow-match,
+silently to effect his purpose. After the 'pretender' has disappeared,
+the matron of the premises and her lord inspect the valuables, the
+'demure damsel' barely venturing a sly peep through some crevice of
+the wigwam. If the offer be found unworthy, the horses are sent back
+to the owner as silently as they came, or maybe with some apology,
+provided he be a warrior whom they are afraid of offending. [Pg339]
+But if accepted, the father takes instead some of his own horses and
+ties them at the door of the proposer, as a token of admission. If the
+{303} parties be without horses, some other valuables are employed in
+lieu. After this the marriage is solemnized with a joyous fete, and
+their primitive ceremonies.
+
+But now the son-in-law is fully indemnified for his heavy
+'disbursement' in the _purchase_ of his bride; for he at once becomes
+possessor of the entire wealth of his father-in-law--master of the
+family-lodge and all the household: if there be a dozen younger
+daughters, they are all _de droit_--his wives or slaves as we may
+choose to consider them: in fact, the 'heiress' herself seems in the
+same predicament, and the wife among them all who may have the tact to
+gain the husband's affections, generally becomes mistress of the
+'harem.' From the refuse of this estate of 'fair ones' the indigent
+warriors and inferior Indians who are not able to purchase an
+'heiress' are apt to supply themselves with wives upon a cheaper
+scale.[213]
+
+The Osages bury their dead according to the usual Indian mode; and,
+though it seems always to have been the custom among most {304} savage
+nations, to keep up a chorus of hideous cries and yells for a long
+while after the death of a relative, yet the Osages are by far the
+most accomplished mourners of them all. Being once encamped near a
+party of them, I was awakened at the dawn of day [Pg340] by the most
+doleful, piteous, heart-rending howls and lamentations. The apparently
+distressed mourners would cry with a protracted expiration till
+completely out of breath. For some instants he seemed to be in the
+very last agonies: then he would recover breath with a smothered,
+gurgling inspiration: and thus he continued for several minutes,
+giving vent to every variety of hideous and terrific sounds. Looking
+around, I perceived the weeper standing with his face towards the
+faint gleam which flitted from the still obscured sun. This was
+perhaps his idol; else he was standing thus because his deceased
+relation lay in that direction. A full 'choir' of these mourners
+(which is always joined by the howls and yelps of their myriads of
+dogs), imparts the most frightful horror to a wilderness camp.
+
+It is considered among these as well as other 'crying' tribes, quite a
+merit to be a graceful weeper: it becomes even a profitable vocation
+to those whose eyes and lungs are most capacious of such things. If
+you tell an Osage that you have lost a kinsman or friend for whom you
+wish him to mourn, he will undertake the service for a trifling
+reward--and acquit himself with more 'credit'--more to the spirit than
+the best tragic {305} actor. He will mimic every exterior indication
+of grief and the most heart-felt wailing, till the tears trickle in
+torrents down his cheeks.[214]
+
+The Osages seem generally to worship a good and evil spirit, and to
+believe in the most usual Indian paradise. No people can have more
+implicit faith in witchcraft and all kinds of sorcery and
+superstitions--such as holding converse with deceased friends or
+relations--appointing a time to die, etc.: and instances are related
+of their fancying [Pg341] themselves thus called to the world of
+spirits, which would so powerfully affect the imagination as to cause
+them to pine away, and sometimes die even to the appointed day.
+
+Owing partially, no doubt, to the burdensome life they lead, the
+squaws of all the tribes are, for the most part, much more inclined to
+corpulency than the men. They are generally chubby and ill-favored,
+while the males are usually tall, erect, well-turned and active. For
+their proverbial straightness, however, the Osages are perhaps more
+famous than any of the other prairie Indians.
+
+The _Wacoes_, _Witchitas_ and their kindred tribes on Red River, are,
+for the most part, a very indigent race. They are chiefly remarkable
+for their profuse tatooing, whereby they have sometimes acquired the
+title of 'Pawnee Picts:' the females particularly make a perfect
+calico of the whole under-jaw, breast and arms, and the mammae are
+fancifully ornamented with rings and rays. The tattoo, in fact, seems
+to constitute the chief female ornament {306} of these tribes; for
+their only gown consists of about a yard and a half of strouding, or
+else a small dressed skin, suspended from the waist, and constituting
+a sort of primitive petticoat. The upper portion of the body remains
+uncovered, except by a blanket or small skin, thrown loosely over the
+shoulders. The men are often without any other vesture than the flap,
+and sometimes a buffalo rug or blanket.
+
+As the remaining tribes of this intermediate class present few or no
+distinctive characteristics, we will pass at once to the consideration
+of the _wild tribes_ proper[215] of the Great [Pg342] Western
+Prairies. These neither cultivate the soil nor live in fixed villages,
+but lead a roving life in pursuit of plunder and game, and without
+ever submitting themselves to that repose--to those fixed habits,
+which must always precede any progress in civilization. But as the
+_Comanches_ are the only tribe of these 'wandering Arabs' of the
+Plains which {307} present any distinguishing features of
+interest--any prominent points of national character--the remarks that
+follow will be devoted almost exclusively to them.
+
+The relationship of the Comanches to the Snakes or Shoshonies, shows
+them to have descended from the north: in fact, it is but half a
+century since their range was from the Arkansas river northward; but
+at present this stream is their _ultima Thule_. Yet they even now
+acknowledge no boundaries, but call themselves the lords of the entire
+Prairies--all others are but 'tenants at will.' They lead a wandering
+sort of life, betaking themselves whithersoever the seasons or the
+habits of the buffalo, their chief object of pursuit, may lead them.
+Although during summer they are not unfrequently found as far north as
+the Arkansas river, their winters they usually pass about the head
+branches of the Brazos and Colorado rivers of Texas.
+
+In their domestic habits, these Indians, for the most part, resemble
+the other wild tribes; yet in some respects they differ materially.
+One of the most interesting traits of difference is to be found in
+their distaste for ardent [Pg343] spirits: but few of them can be
+induced to taste a drop of intoxicating liquors; thus forming an
+exception, I believe, to the entire race of the 'red man,' who appears
+to have a constitutional appetite for strong drinks. The frontier as
+well as the prairie tribes--the Mexican as well as the Mountain
+Indians--all are equally slaves to their use.
+
+{308} The Comanches are divided into numerous petty bands, each under
+the control of its own particular chief. When a chief becomes old and
+care-worn, he exercises but the 'civil authority' of his clan; while
+his son, if deemed worthy, otherwise some distinguished brave,
+assumes, by 'common consent,' the functions of war-chief. As is the
+case with all barbarous tribes, their chiefs assume every judicial and
+executive authority. Complaints are made to them and sentence
+summarily pronounced, and often as summarily executed. For most
+offences, the chief, if he considers his authority sufficiently well
+established, freely uses the rod upon his subjects. He rarely attempts
+this, however, upon noted warriors or 'braves,' whose influence and
+resentment he may have reason to fear. The punishment of murder among
+these, as among most of the savage nations, devolves upon the bereaved
+relatives, who are free to pursue and punish the perpetrators
+according to their own liking, which is seldom short of death. But the
+offended party, if disposed to compromise, has also the privilege of
+accepting a commutation and releasing the murderer.
+
+The husband seems to have complete power over the destinies of his
+wife and children. For adultery, his punishment is most usually to cut
+off the nose or ears,[216] or {309} both; and he may even take the
+life of his unfaithful wife [Pg344] with impunity. The squaw who has
+been mutilated for such a cause, is _ipso facto_ divorced, and, it is
+said, for ever precluded from marrying again. The consequence is, that
+she becomes a confirmed harlot in the tribe. Owing in part, no doubt,
+to such severity in their customs, the Comanche squaws have ever been
+noted for their chastity. This may result also, in some degree, from
+the circumstance, that the Comanche husbands, fathers and brothers,
+seldom or never subject their wives, daughters and sisters, to that
+debasing traffic practised among so many of the northern nations.
+
+Like other wild tribes, the Comanches tolerate polygamy, the chiefs
+and braves sometimes taking as many as eight or ten wives at a time.
+Three is considered the usual number, however, for 'subjects' or
+common warriors, and nine for the chiefs. Their marriage ceremonies
+vary in different bands; but the following has been represented as the
+most usual. Unlike most other tribes, the consent of the maiden has to
+be obtained. This done, the lover, from apparent delicacy, goes not to
+the father of his intended, but, in accordance with a custom which
+prevails among some other tribes, communicates his desire to an uncle
+or other aged relative, who enters into the marriage contract. The
+parties, however, are not yet fully betrothed; but, as a test of the
+submission of the bride to the service of her proposed lord, the
+latter ties his riding-horse {310} at her lodge door. If she turn him
+loose, she has resolved finally to reject him; but if she lead him to
+the _caballada_, it is an unequivocal agreement to take the charge of
+his horses and other property; and the marriage is soon concluded. The
+'uncle' now communicates the engagement to the chief, who causes the
+'bans' to be published, that no other wooer may interfere. As the
+horse is with them the type of every important interest, the
+bridegroom next [Pg345] proceeds to kill the least valuable one he is
+possessed of; and, taking out the heart, hangs it at the door of his
+betrothed, who takes and roasts it, and then dividing it into two
+parts, each eats a half, which perfects the bond of wedlock. The heart
+of the buffalo or other animal may perhaps be substituted, if the
+bridegroom has not a superabundance of horses. Should the
+circumstances of the parties admit of it, the marriage is usually
+celebrated with feasting and dances; though, in general, the Comanches
+are less fond of dancing than most other Indians.
+
+The Comanche dress consists of the usual leggins, moccasins, flap and
+blanket or robe. Many wear in addition a kind of leathern jerkin, or
+tight jacket closed before. Their moccasins differ from those of other
+tribes, by having a lengthy tassel of leathern fringes attached to the
+heels, which trail the ground as they walk. Instead of this fringe,
+the tassels sometimes consists of the tail of a polecat or some other
+animal. When he can procure {311} it, the young warrior is wont to
+wear a mantle and leggins of strouding. Both of these articles,
+according to the 'latest fashions,' should be one-half red, the other
+blue. The bi-colored mantle, as well as the blanket or buffalo rug, is
+carelessly thrown over the shoulders, and must be long enough to drag
+the ground; for they seem to have an instinct for the 'regal grandeur
+of a sweeping gown.'
+
+Though all the far-western Indians wear their hair long, the Comanche
+seems to take most pride in the voluminousness of his 'tresses,' and
+the length of his _queue_, which is sometimes eked out with buffalo or
+other hair, till its tip reaches the ground, and is bedaubed with gum,
+grease and paint, and decorated with beads and other gewgaws. We are
+not to think that foppery and coxcombry are generated exclusively in
+civilized life. I am sure I never saw a vainer creature than a
+Comanche brave in full costume, of dress, [Pg346] trinkets and paint.
+He steps as if he disdained the very ground upon which he walks.
+
+The dress of the Comanche squaw is usually a kind of loose gown or
+tunic of leather, or cotton if it can be procured, which hangs from
+the shoulders and is bound around the waist with a girdle; thus
+presenting a resemblance in its appearance to our ordinary female
+costume. They wear moccasins, to which short leggins are attached, and
+which constitute a sort of leathern hose. They are not permitted to
+wear long hair: that 'manly' prerogative would be degraded by such an
+{312} association. It is therefore kept docked so as scarcely to reach
+the shoulders.
+
+A style of dress similar to that of the Comanche females, is worn by
+those of most of the erratic tribes. The squaws of the north usually
+embroider their leathern frocks in a fanciful manner with colored
+porcupine quills and beads, and bedeck the borders with rattling
+shells, tags, hawk-bells, and the like. Such as have the fortune to
+marry Canadian or American trappers, are those who usually dress most
+gaily.
+
+The prairie Indians generally are an equestrian race; yet in
+horsemanship the Comanches stand decidedly preeminent; and can only be
+equalled by the Northern Mexicans, and perhaps the Arabs. Like the
+latter, they dote upon their steeds: one had as well undertake to
+purchase a Comanche's child as his favorite riding-horse. They have a
+peculiar mark for their animals: every one which has pertained to them
+may always be recognized by a slit in the tip of each ear; a practice
+apparently universal among all their tribe.
+
+In their warlike expeditions they avail themselves of their equestrian
+skill with wonderful success. As they always fight on horseback, they
+depend chiefly upon the charge, at which they use their arrows and
+javelins with wonderful [Pg347] efficacy.[217] On such occasions a
+Comanche will often throw himself upon {313} the opposite side of his
+charger, so as to be protected from the darts of the enemy; and, while
+clinging there, he will discharge his arrows with extraordinary
+dexterity from underneath his horse's neck. Different from the
+'prowling' tribes, they seldom attack at night, or in timbered or
+rough regions; for they would then be unable to man[oe]uvre their
+coursers to advantage.
+
+Although not meriting the title of brave Indians, they are held by the
+Mexicans as the most valiant of their border: but when they come in
+contact with Americans or any of our frontier tribes, they generally
+appear timid and cowardly. Their predatory forays are therefore
+directed mostly westward. They make continual inroads upon the whole
+eastern frontier of Mexico, from Chihuahua to the coast; driving off
+immense numbers of horses and mules, and killing the citizens they may
+encounter, or making them prisoners--particularly the females and
+boys. Of the latter they make slaves, to perform such menial service
+as usually pertains to the squaws, particularly the herding of the
+stock. It is perhaps this alleviation of their labor by slaves, that
+has contributed to elevate the Comanche women above those of many of
+the northern tribes. Of their female captives they often make wives; a
+fate which has befallen some of those taken from Texas.
+
+Strange as it may appear, their captives frequently become attached to
+their masters and to the savage life, and with difficulty are {314}
+induced to leave them after a few years' captivity. In fact, these
+prisoners, it is said, in time often turn out to be the most
+formidable savages. Combining the subtlety of the Mexican with the
+barbarity of the Indian, they sometimes pilot into their native
+frontier [Pg348] and instigate horrid outrages. The department of
+Chihuahua has been the greatest sufferer from their inroads.
+
+But, though at continual war with the south of the republic, for many
+years the Comanches have cultivated peace with the New Mexicans--not
+only because the poverty of the country offers fewer inducements for
+their inroads, but because it is desirable, as with the interior
+Mexican tribes, to retain some friendly point with which to keep an
+amicable intercourse and traffic. Parties of them have therefore
+sometimes entered the settlements of New Mexico for trading purposes;
+while every season numerous bands of New Mexicans, known as
+_Comancheros_, supplied with arms, ammunitions, trinkets, provisions
+and other necessaries, launch upon the Prairies to barter for mules,
+and the different fruits of their ravages upon the south.
+
+This powerful nation, combined with the petty southern tribes, has
+also waged an almost unceasing warfare upon Texas, ever since her
+independence. War-parties have frequently penetrated to the very heart
+of the settlements, perpetrating murderous outrages, and bearing away
+into captivity numerous women and children. They have entered {315}
+the city of Austin, then the seat of government, in open day; and, at
+other times, have been known to descend to the very seacoast,
+committing many frightful depredations. "On the 8th of August, 1840,"
+writes a friend who resided at Linnville, on Matagorda Bay, "several
+hundred Comanches came down from the mountains, and charged upon us
+without the least notice. They burned and made a perfect destruction
+of the village and everything pertaining to it."[218] [Pg349]
+
+Besides continual hostilities with Mexico and Texas, the
+Comanches are at war with most of the Indians of the Mexican interior,
+as also with the tribes of the more northern prairies--and
+particularly the Arrapahoes and Chayennes, with whom they have many
+bloody rencounters.[219] But they generally remain on friendly terms
+with the petty tribes of the south, whom, indeed, they seem to hold as
+their vassals.
+
+As these Indians always go to war on horseback, several days are often
+spent previous to a campaign in equestrian exercises and ceremonies,
+which seem partly to supply the place of the war-dance of other
+tribes; though they sometimes join in preparatory dances also. It is
+not an unusual custom, when a campaign is in agitation, for a band of
+about twenty Comanche maidens to chant, for three nights in
+succession, the victories of their ancestors, the valor of their
+brothers and cotemporaries, and the individual prowess of all such
+young warriors as they consider should engage in {316} the
+contemplated enterprise: and all those designated by the serenading
+band are held as drafted for the [Pg350] campaign. Fired by the
+encomiums and excitations of the 'fair _cantatrices_,' they fly at
+once to the standard of their favorite chief: and the ceremony is
+concluded by a war-dance.
+
+Upon their return from a successful expedition, the 'war-worn corps'
+halts on some elevation at a distance from the village, and a herald
+is sent forward to announce their arrival. Thereupon, one of their
+most respectable and aged matrons issues forth to receive them,
+carrying with her a very long-handled lance kept for the purpose. On
+the top of this the victorious Indians fasten all the scalps they may
+have taken, so arranged that each shall be conspicuous. The matron
+squaw then approaches the wigwams, holding her scalp-garnished lance
+high in the air, and chanting some favorite war-legend. She is soon
+joined by other squaws and Indian lasses, who dance around as the
+procession moves through the entire circuit of the village. If the
+victory has been brilliant, the dancing and feasting are apt to be
+kept up for several days, all parties joining in the general jubilee.
+
+If the conquerors bring any prisoners with them, these have to
+encounter the scourgings and insults of the squaws and children. Each
+seems entitled to a blow, a kick, a pinch, a bite, or whatever simple
+punishment they may choose to inflict upon the unfortunate captives.
+This done, they are delivered {317} over to the captors as slaves, and
+put to the service and drudgery of the camp.
+
+After their first entrance it seems rare for them to treat their
+captives with much cruelty: though an instance was related to me by
+some Mexican prisoners, of a very barbarous massacre which they
+witnessed during their captivity. Two white men, supposed to be
+Texans, were tied to a stake, and a number of their marksmen, retiring
+to a distance and using the naked bodies of their victims [Pg351] as
+targets, began wantonly to fire at them, and continued their horrid
+sport, until some fatal balls put an end to their sufferings! The
+capture of these had probably been attended with some aggravating
+circumstances, which induced the savages to resort to this cruel
+method of satiating their revenge.
+
+If a campaign has been unsuccessful, the warriors separate upon their
+return, and drop into the village one by one. Nothing is now heard for
+several days, but the wailings and howlings of the bereft relatives
+and friends. They will also scarify their arms and legs, and subject
+themselves to other carnal mortifications of the most powerful
+character. On these occasions their previous captives, and
+particularly such as may belong to the nation of their victorious
+enemy, are sure to be roughly treated, and sometimes massacred by the
+enraged relatives of the slain.
+
+When a Comanche dies, a similar course of mourning is practised; and
+he is usually wrapped in his best blankets or robes, and interred
+{318} with most of his 'jewelry' and other articles of esteem;
+accompanying which, it is said, an awl and some moccasin leather is
+generally added, as a provision, it would appear, for his use during
+his long journey to the 'happy hunting ground' beyond the grave. They
+also kill the favorite horses of the deceased, which are often buried
+by his side, doubtless with the same object.
+
+The religious notions of the Comanches resemble, in most particulars,
+those of the other prairie tribes; yet they appear to have an
+occasional peculiarity. Some say the dry buffalo head or cranium is
+their idol. True it is that they show it great reverence, and use it
+in many of their mystic ceremonies. The Pawnees also hold these
+buffalo heads, with which the plains are strewed, in great reverence;
+and usually for many leagues around, these skulls are set up facing
+towards their villages, in the belief that the herds [Pg352] of
+buffalo will thus be conducted by them into their neighborhood.[220]
+Of the Comanches the sun is no doubt the principal deity. When
+preparing for a campaign, it is said they do not fail to place their
+arms betimes every morning on the east side of their lodges, that they
+may receive the blessing of the fountain of light at his first
+appearance. This indeed seems the usual time for offering their
+devotions to the sun, of many tribes of the American aborigines.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[205] This seems to have been of ancient and general use among the
+savages of North America. "I must speak here of the _Calumet_,"
+remarks Father Marquette, "the most mysterious thing in the world. The
+sceptres of our kings are not so much respected; for the savages have
+such a deference for this pipe, that one may call it _the god of peace
+and war, and the arbiter of life and death_. One, with this calumet,
+may venture amongst his enemies, and in the hottest engagement they
+lay down their arms before this sacred pipe." The deference is perhaps
+not so great at the present day, though the 'pipe of peace' is still
+very much respected. Even the ashes from the calumet seem to be held
+sacred; for, usually after smoking, the pipe is emptied in some corner
+of the lodge specially allotted for the purpose. But as they have
+generally learned that smoking is not practised by the whites on these
+occasions, it is now not commonly held important for us to smoke with
+them; but presents are expected instead. Anciently, however, they were
+more strict; for, in another place, the same author (in 1673)
+relates:--"As soon as we sat down, they presented us, according to
+custom, their _calumet_, which one must needs accept, for else he
+should be lookt upon as an enemy, or a meer brute; however, it is not
+necessary to smoak, and provided one puts it to his mouth, it is
+enough."--GREGG.
+
+_Comment by Ed._ See Thwaites, _Jesuit Relations_, lix, pp. 117, 119,
+131.
+
+[206] As many tribes make their moccasins of different shapes--some
+with hooked toes, others broad--some with the seam on the bottom,
+etc., there is always a palpable difference in the tracks.--GREGG.
+
+[207] A diminutive tribe on the Texas border, called Tonkewas, made
+food of human flesh within the present century, and, it may be of late
+years, though I have not heard it mentioned.--GREGG.
+
+[208] Dogs seem always to have been a favorite article of food among
+the aborigines of different parts. Father Marquette, in his voyage
+down the Mississippi in 1673, remarks of an Indian feast, "The third
+service was a huge Dog, whom they killed on purpose," &c.--GREGG.
+
+[209] See Irving, _Tour on the Prairies_, pp. 83, 84.--ED.
+
+[210] Dr. Samuel Thomson (1769-1843), a New England physician,
+advocated a method of treating fevers and similar diseases by means of
+steaming.--ED.
+
+[211] For the Pawnee groups and habitat, see Pattie's _Narrative_, in
+our volume xviii, p. 40, note 24. For the Arikara, consult Bradbury's
+_Travels_, in our volume v, p. 127, note 83.--ED.
+
+[212] For the Osage see our volume v, p. 50, note 22.--ED.
+
+[213] The custom of taking all the sisters of a family is also said to
+be common among the Kansas, Omahas and other kindred tribes; indeed it
+appears to have prevailed from the earliest ages among all the
+Dahcotah family as well as many Algonquins and most other tribes about
+the great Lakes. Mons. La Salle, in his trip from these to the
+Mississippi in 1673, remarks of the savages of those regions: "They
+marry several Wives, and commonly all Sisters, if they can, thinking
+they agree better in their Family." Hennepin, Charlevoix and others
+speak of the same custom. Murray also mentions something of the kind
+among the Pawnees. Forbes alludes to the same in California. But I am
+uninformed, whether, in these several instances, the husband's right
+was only _de facto_, or _de jure_ as among the Osages, to all the
+younger sisters.--GREGG.
+
+[214] Note Bradbury's experience with the mourning Osage, in our
+volume v, pp. 63, 64.--ED.
+
+[215] The population of the intermediate tribes, according to the
+Report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, for 1844 is as follows:
+Pawnees, 12,500 souls (though some experienced traders rate them at
+only about 5,000); Rickaras, 1,200; Chippewas, Potawatomies and
+Ottawas of the North, 2,298; Sacs and Foxes, 2,762; Winnebagoes,
+2,183; Iowas, 470; Poncas, 777; Omahas, 1,301; Otoes and Missouries,
+931; Kansas, 1,700; Osages, 4,102;--besides of Caddoes and Inyes about
+500; Wacoes, Witchitas, Towockanoes, Towyashes and Keechyes, 1,000;
+who maintain themselves chiefly in Northern Texas. The wild tribes
+proper of the Prairies, are, the Comanches, consisting of about 10,000
+souls; Kiawas, 2,000; Apaches, 100; Arrapahoes, 2,000; Chayennes,
+2,000; besides many others to the north and westward, who rarely
+descend within the regions to the notice of which these pages are
+confined. As these tribes would doubtless average at least
+three-fifths females, they could hardly turn out one-fifth of their
+numbers in warriors, though this is the usual rule of estimating them
+by men of Indian experience.--GREGG.
+
+[216] This custom was perhaps once quite extensive. It prevails among
+the Creeks to the present day, and was anciently practised by other
+southern nations; and "Among the Miamis," says Father Charlevoix, "the
+Husband has a right to cut off his wife's nose if she runs away from
+him."--GREGG.
+
+[217] The Comanches employ usually short-handled javelins or lances,
+declaring, like the Spartan mother, that cowards only need long
+weapons.--GREGG.
+
+[218] The Comanche had been hostile to the Spanish in Texas,
+preventing its settlement, and about 1757 destroying the mission of
+San Saba. In 1785 the troops were obliged to retire into the Alamo at
+San Antonio, in order to be secured from their raids. The Texans were
+at first friendly with the Comanche; but in 1832 a Mexican deputation
+visited the border tribes, and incited them against the Texans. Open
+war broke out in 1837, and several battles were fought. In February,
+1840, twelve chiefs with a numerous retinue came to San Antonio to
+make peace. Refusing to deliver up their white captives, troops were
+set upon them, and in the ensuing melee all the chiefs and twenty
+other Indians were killed. The Comanche retired to plan revenge. Early
+in August, they advanced, avoiding Austin and San Antonio, and fell
+upon the town of Victoria. The inhabitants resisting, about fifteen of
+them were killed. When the Indians reached Linnville, a village of
+only five houses, its inhabitants fled to a ship in the bay, whereupon
+the hamlet was destroyed. A pursuing party under General Felix Houston
+defeated the natives, and recovered the white prisoners. In September,
+an expedition headed by Colonel John Moore attained the Comanche
+village high up on the Colorado River, and severely chastised them,
+killing one hundred and twenty-eight, and capturing thirty-two. After
+this the Comanche avoided the Texans for some years.--ED.
+
+[219] For the Arapaho, consult James's _Long's Expedition_, our volume
+xv, p. 157, note 48. A brief notice of the Cheyenne is in our volume
+v, p. 140, note 88.--ED.
+
+[220] Most of the plains Indians had superstitions regarding the
+buffalo. Consult on this subject, James O. Dorsey, "Study of Siouan
+Cults," in U. S. Bureau of Ethnology _Reports_, 1889-90, pp. 361-544;
+George A. Dorsey, _Traditions of the Skidi Pawnee_ (Boston and New
+York, 1904).--ED.
+
+
+
+
+GLOSSARY
+
+  [Pg353] CONTAINING SUCH SPANISH OR HISPANO-MEXICAN WORDS
+    AS OCCUR UNDEFINED IN THIS WORK, OR RECUR WITHOUT
+    DEFINITION AFTER HAVING BEEN ONCE TRANSLATED.
+
+
+  _A_, _al_, to, to the.
+
+  _Abajo_, down, under, below.
+
+  _Acequia_, ditch, canal.
+
+  _Adelantado_, governor of a province.
+
+  _A dios_, adieu, farewell.
+
+  _Administrador de Rentas_, a custom-house officer.
+
+  _Adobe_, a sort of unburnt brick.
+
+  _Afuera_, without, abroad.
+
+  _Aguador_, water-carrier.
+
+  _Aguardiente_, brandy.
+
+  _Alacran_, scorpion.
+
+  _Alameda_, public walk, with rows of trees, usually the
+    _alamo_.
+
+  _Alamo_ (in Mexico), cotton-wood.
+
+  _Alcalde_, justice of the peace.
+
+  _Alegria_, mirth; a plant.
+
+  _Alli_, there.
+
+  _Amigo_, friend.
+
+  _Ancheta_, adventure of goods.
+
+  _Angelito_, little angel.
+
+  _Angostura_, narrowness.
+
+  _Aparejo_, sort of pack-saddle.
+
+  _Aqui_, here.
+
+  _Arancel_, tariff.
+
+  _Armas_, arms.
+
+  _Arriba_, up, above.
+
+  _Arriero_, muleteer.
+
+  _Asamblea_, assembly.
+
+  _Astucia_, cunning, artifice.
+
+  _Atajo_, drove of pack mules, &c.
+
+  _Atole_, sort of thick gruel.
+
+  _Auto_, act, edict.
+
+  _Ayotea_, flat roof, terrace.
+
+
+  _Baile_, ball, dance.
+
+  _Bandolin_, species of small guitar.
+
+  _Barbaro_, barbarous; a savage.
+
+  _Barra_, ingot, bar of silver, &c.
+
+  _Baston_, staff, cane.
+
+  _Blanco_, white.
+
+  _Bolsa_, pocket, purse.
+
+  _Bonanza_, prosperity.
+
+  _Bonito_, pretty.
+
+  _Bota_, boot, leggin.
+
+  _Bravo_, brave, bold.
+
+  _Bueno_, good.
+
+  _Burro_, ass.
+
+
+  _Caballada_, drove of horses, &c.
+
+  _Caballero_, gentleman, knight.
+
+  _Caballo_, horse.
+
+  _Cacique_, Indian chief or prince.
+
+  _Cafe_, coffee; coffee-house.
+
+  _Calabozo_, dungeon, jail.
+
+  _Caliente_, warm, hot.
+
+  _Camino_, road.
+
+  _Campo_, field, camp.
+
+  _Campo santo_, cemetery without a church.
+
+  _Cancion_, song, poem.
+
+  _Canada_, valley.
+
+  _Canon_, deep gorge or ravine; cannon.
+
+  _Capilla_, chapel.
+
+  _Capitan_, captain.
+
+  _Carajo_, an oath; scoundrel.
+
+  _Caravana_, caravan.
+
+  _Carcel_, prison, jail.
+
+  _Carga_, load.
+
+  _Cargador_, carrier.
+
+  _Cargamento_, cargo.
+
+  _Carnero_, male sheep.
+
+  _Carreta_, cart.
+
+  _Carro_, wagon, &c.
+
+  _Casa_, house.
+
+  _Cautivo_, captive.
+
+  _Ceja_, brow.
+
+  _Centralismo_, central government.
+
+  _Cerro_, mound.
+
+  _Chacal_, jackal.
+
+  _Chico_, small; small person. [Pg354] _Chile_, red
+    pepper.
+
+  _Cibolero_, buffalo-hunter.
+
+  _Cibolo_, the American buffalo.
+
+  _Cigarrito_, little cigar.
+
+  _Cigarro_, cigar.
+
+  _Cimarron_, wild.
+
+  _Claco_, small copper coin.
+
+  _Coche_, coach.
+
+  _Cocina_, kitchen.
+
+  _Cocinera_, female cook.
+
+  _Cola_, tail; glue.
+
+  _Colorado_, red.
+
+  _Comanchero_, Comanche trader.
+
+  _Comiso_, confiscation.
+
+  _Consumo_, consumption.
+
+  _Contra-revolucion_, counter-revolution.
+
+  _Cordillera_, chain of mountains.
+
+  _Corral_, yard, pen.
+
+  _Correr_, to run.
+
+  _Coyote_, prairie-wolf.
+
+  _Crepusculo_, dawn, twilight.
+
+  _Cristo_, Christ.
+
+  _Cruz_, cross.
+
+  _Cunado_, brother-in-law.
+
+
+  _De_, _del_, of, of the, &c.
+
+  _Decreto_, decree.
+
+  _Derecho_, tax; right.
+
+  _Descubrimiento_, discovery.
+
+  _Dia_, day.
+
+  _Diablo_, devil.
+
+  _Dictador_, dictator.
+
+  _Diligencia_, diligence; stage-coach.
+
+  _Dios_, God.
+
+  _Doblon_, doubloon.
+
+  _Domingingo_, Sunday; Dominic.
+
+  _Dona_, Madam, Mrs., Miss.
+
+  _Dorado_, gilt.
+
+  _Dos_, two.
+
+  _Dulce_, sweet.
+
+
+  _Eclesiastico_, ecclesiastical.
+
+  _El_, the; he, him.
+
+  _Enaguas_, sort of petticoat.
+
+  _En junta_, in council.
+
+  _Enmendadura_, enmendation.
+
+  _Entrada_, entrance.
+
+  _Entrerenglonadura_, interlineation.
+
+  _Escritor_, writer.
+
+  _Escuadron_, squadron.
+
+  _Espanol_, Spanish; Spaniard.
+
+  _Esta_, is, he is, it is, &c.
+
+  _Estacado_, staked.
+
+  _Estrangero_, stranger, foreigner.
+
+  _Estufa_, cell; stove.
+
+
+  _Factura_, invoice.
+
+  _Fandango_, dance; ball.
+
+  _Fiera_, wild beast.
+
+  _Fe_, faith.
+
+  _Feria_, fair.
+
+  _Fierro_, iron; branding-iron, &c.
+
+  _Fiesta_, feast.
+
+  _Fonda_, eating-house, inn.
+
+  _Fraile_, _Fray_, friar.
+
+  _Frijol_, bean.
+
+  _Fueros_, chartered privileges.
+
+
+  _Gachupin_, Spaniard in America.
+
+  _Gallina_, hen.
+
+  _Gallo_, cock.
+
+  _Ganado_, cattle.
+
+  _Gefe_, chief.
+
+  _Gobernador_, governor.
+
+  _Gobernadorcillo_, petty governor, or chief.
+
+  _Gobierno_, government.
+
+  _Grama_, species of grass.
+
+  _Gran_, _grande_, great, large.
+
+  _Grandeza_, greatness, grandeur.
+
+  _Grano_, grain.
+
+  _Gauge_, gourd, flask.
+
+  _Guardia_, guard, watch; watch-house.
+
+  _Guerra_, war.
+
+  _Guia_, sort of passport for goods.
+
+  _Guisado_, cooked, stewed.
+
+  _Guitarra_, guitar.
+
+
+  _Hacienda_, estate; lands; treasure.
+
+  _Haciendero_, proprietor of an hacienda.
+
+  _Herradura_, horse-shoe.
+
+  _Herrero_, blacksmith.
+
+  _Hidalgo_, nobleman.
+
+  _Hoja_, leaf, husk, &c.
+
+  _Hombre_, man.
+
+  _Hombre bueno_, arbitrator.
+
+
+  _Ilustrisimo_, most illustrious.
+
+  _Imprenta_, printing-office.
+
+  _Inocente_, innocent.
+
+
+  _Jacal_, hut, wigwam.
+
+  _Jola_, copper coin, penny.
+
+  _Jornada_, day's travel; journey.
+
+  _Juez_, judge.
+
+  _Junta_, council; union.
+
+
+  _La_, _las_, the; her, it, them.
+
+  _Labor_, labor; field; mining-pit.
+
+  _Labrador_, laborer, farmer.
+
+  _Ladron_, thief, robber.
+
+  _Laguna_, lake.
+
+  _Lanzada_, thrust with a lance.
+
+  _Layador_, nooser.
+
+  _Lazito_, little lazo.
+
+  _Lazo_, noosing rope.
+
+  _Legua_, league.
+
+  _Lepero_, vagabond, _sans-culotte_.
+
+  _Ley_, law.
+
+  _Limosnero_, beggar.
+
+  _Llano_, plain; prairie; smooth.
+
+  _Lo_, _los_, the; it, them, &c.
+
+  _Lobo_, wolf.
+
+
+  _Madre_, mother.
+
+  _Manifiesto_, manifest; bill of goods presented to the
+    custom-house.
+
+  _Manta_, covering; cotton-cloth.
+
+  _Marco_, weight of eight ounces; mark.
+
+  _Mayor_, great, superior.
+
+  _Mayordomo_, overseer.
+
+  _Medano_, sand-hill.
+
+  _Medio_, half; picayune.
+
+  _Menor_, less, inferior.
+
+  _Mesa_, table; table-plain.
+
+  _Meson_, inn, hotel.
+
+  _Mestizo_, mongrel.
+
+  _Mezquite_, a tree, acacia.
+
+  _Mi_, _mis_, my.
+
+  _Militar_, military.
+
+  _Monte_, a game; grove; mount.
+
+  _Mora_, mulberry.
+
+  _Muerto_, dead; dead man.
+
+  _Mula_, mule; unsalable item.
+
+
+  _Negro_, black; a black person.
+
+  _Noria_, machine for drawing water; well.
+
+  _Norte_, north.
+
+  _Noticioso_, giving information.
+
+  _Numero_, number.
+
+
+  _Oficial_, official; officer.
+
+  _Ojo_, eye; spring of water.
+
+  _Oro_, gold.
+
+
+  _Padre_, father; priest.
+
+  _Padrino_, godfather, sponsor.
+
+  _Paisano_, countryman.
+
+  _Palacio_, palace.
+
+  _Panza_, paunch.
+
+  _Papa_, pope; potato.
+
+  _Parage_, place; camping-site.
+
+  _Pariente_, relative, kin.
+
+  _Parroquia_, parish; parish church.
+
+  _Pasa_, raisin.
+
+  _Paseo_, pleasure walk or ride.
+
+  _Paso_, pass, passage; step.
+
+  _Pastor_, pastor; shepherd.
+
+  _Patio_, court, enclosed yard.
+
+  _Pato_, duck.
+
+  _Patriotico_, patriotic.
+
+  _Pauta_, rule, model.
+
+  _Pelo_, hair.
+
+  _Penitencia_, penance, penitence.
+
+  _Perro_, dog.
+
+  _Peso_, dollar; weight.
+
+  _Piedra_, stone.
+
+  _Pinole_, food of parched Indian meal stirred in water.
+
+  _Placer_, pleasure; gold region.
+
+  _Plata_, silver.
+
+  _Plaza_, square; place; village.
+
+  _Poquito_, very little.
+
+  _Portal_, porch, corridor.
+
+  _Perfecto_, perfect.
+
+  _Presidio_, garrison, fort.
+
+  _Presto_, quick, soon.
+
+  _Profano_, profane.
+
+  _Pronunciamento_, act of making a public declaration.
+
+  _Proyecto_, project, plan.
+
+  _Publico_, public.
+
+  _Pueblo_, people; Catholic Indians, &c.
+
+  _Puerta_, door.
+
+  _Puro_, pure; pure tobacco cigar.
+
+
+  _Ranchera_, country woman.
+
+  _Rancheria_, village of wild Indians.
+
+  _Ranchero_, inhabitant of a rancho.
+
+  _Rancho_, stock-farm.
+
+  _Raspadura_, erasure; rasping.
+
+  _Real_, a coin; royal, real, grand.
+
+  _Rebozo_, muffler, species of scarf.
+
+  _Remedio_, remedy, medicine.
+
+  _Rey_, king.
+
+  _Rico_, rich; rich man.
+
+  _Rio_, river.
+
+
+  _Sala_, hall, parlor.
+
+  _Salina_, salt pond or pit.
+
+  _San_, _santo_, _santa_, saint, holy.
+
+  _Sandia_, watermelon.
+
+  _Sangre_, blood.
+
+  _Santisimo_, most holy.
+
+  _Saqueo_, sack, pillage.
+
+  _Sarape_, sort of blanket.
+
+  _Semana_, week.
+
+  _Senor_, sir, Mr.; lord.
+
+  _Senora_, Madam, Mrs.; lady.
+
+  _Senoria_, lordship.
+
+  _Senoria ilustrisima_, title of a bishop, &c.
+
+  _Senorita_, madam, miss, Mrs., &c.
+
+  _Sierra_, ridge of mountains; saw.
+
+  _Siesta_, afternoon's sleep.
+
+  _Silla_, chair; saddle.
+
+  _Sistema_, system.
+
+  _Sol_, sun.
+
+  _Soldado_, soldier.
+
+  _Sombrero_, hat.
+
+  _Sonoreno_, citizen of Sonora.
+
+  _Su_, _sus_, his, her, its, their.
+
+
+  _Tarde_, evening.
+
+  _Tierra_, country, land.
+
+  _Tierra Afuera_ (in Mexico), the exterior, or country near
+    the coast, &c.
+
+  _Tilma_, Indian mantle.
+
+  _Tio_, uncle.
+
+  _Todo_, all, every, whole.
+
+  _Tonillo_, screw.
+
+  _Tortilla_, thin cake, diminutive of _torta_, cake, loaf.
+
+
+  _Vado_, ford.
+
+  _Valiente_, valiant, brave.
+
+  _Valle_, valley, dale.
+
+  _Vaquero_, cowherd.
+
+  _Vaquita_, diminutive of _vaca_, cow.
+
+  _Vara_, Spanish yard of 33 inches.
+
+  _Venta_, sale; sale-brand; inn.
+
+  _Verdadero_, true.
+
+  _Verde_, green.
+
+  _Vicio_, vice.
+
+  _Viernes_, Friday.
+
+
+  _Un_, _uno_, a, one.
+
+
+  _Y_, _e_, and.
+
+  _Yeso_, gypsum.
+
+
+  _Zambo_, offspring of the Indian and negro.
+
+  _Zaguan_, entry, porch.
+
+  _Zarco_, light blue.
+
+  _Zorra_, fox.
+
+
+
+
+TRANSCRIBER NOTE:
+
+
+Original spelling and grammar has mostly been retained. Figures were
+moved from within paragraphs to between paragraphs. Footnotes were
+moved to the ends of chapters. This 1905 edition is an annotated
+reprint of "Part II of Gregg's Commerce of the Prairies, 1831-1839";
+the pagination of the latter document is shown herein as a number
+enclosed in curly brackets, e.g. {226}. The pagination of the 1905
+publication is shown in square brackets, e.g. [Pg009]. In this
+Latin-1 version, the "oe ligature" character is indicated by "[oe]".
+
+Page 78: the phrase "invicta la Galia indomable" was printed upside
+down in the third line of the verse. This was not a mistake, as it
+is explained in a following paragraph. However, no method exists
+to reproduce this inversion as the Latin-1 text required for the
+present version. Other versions, which use Unicode text, may show the
+inverted characters as originally intended.
+
+Footnote 59: the original large table was broken into two pieces.
+
+Page 99: "ofthe regular Route" was changed to "of the regular Route".
+
+Page 144: "consipracy" was changed to "conspiracy".
+
+Page 145: "futurese curity" to "future security".
+
+Page 168: an initial quotation mark was added to "he is prying into
+your affairs".
+
+Page 173: "mattrass" to "mattress".
+
+Footnote 123: "Jesus Maria" changed to "Jesus-Maria".
+
+Page 193: "invogue" to "in vogue".
+
+Page 208: "discharging valleys" to "discharging volleys".
+
+Footnote 136: Several instances of "do." (abbreviation for "ditto")
+replaced by repeated text. Also, a Remark that applies to two years
+1832 and 1833 is indicated herein
+
+ "{Party defeated on Canadian
+  {2 men killed, 3 perished."
+
+The original replaced the two "{" by a single double-height "{".
+
+Page 268: "Assinaboins" to "Assiniboins", to match the footnote. The
+more usual modern spelling seems to be "Assiniboine" ("Assiniboines",
+plural).
+
+Page 274: "dolefu" to "doleful".
+
+Page 296: "resistence" to "resistance".
+
+Page 320: "tancy" to "fancy".
+
+In this simple .txt version, italics are _indicated by underscoring_.
+Small caps are converted to uppercase.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Early Western Travels 1748-1846,
+Volume XX, by Various
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EARLY WESTERN TRAVELS ***
+
+***** This file should be named 44205.txt or 44205.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
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