THE OLD SANTA FE TRAIL - COLONEL HENRY INMAN (surface ebook reader .TXT) 📗

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There Were Many People Living Who Remembered the Old Lady, And Her

Pathetic Story Of Trials And Sufferings When With The Indians.

 

 

 

The Most Tragic Event In the History Of The Valley Was The Massacre

Of The Provisional Governor Of The Territory Of New Mexico, With

A Number Of Other Americans, Shortly After Its Occupation By The

United states.

 

 

 

Upon General Kearney'S Taking Possession Of Santa Fe, Acting Under

The Authority Of The President, He Established a Civil Government

And Put It Into Operation.  Charles Bent Was Appointed governor,

And The Other Offices Filled by Americans And Mexicans Who Were

Rigidly Loyal To The Political Change.  At This Time The Command

Of The Troops Devolved upon Colonel Sterling Price, Colonel Doniphan,

Who Ranked him, Having Departed from Santa Fe On An Expedition

Against The Navajoes.  Notwithstanding The Apparent Submission Of

The Natives Of New Mexico, There Were Many Malcontents Among Them

And The Pueblo Indians, And Early In december, Some Of The Leaders,

Dissatisfied with The Change In the Order Of Things, Held Secret

Meetings And Formulated plots To Overthrow The Existing Government.

 

 

 

Midnight Of The 24Th Of December Was The Time Appointed for The

Commencement Of Their Revolutionary Work, Which Was To Be Simultaneous

All Over The Country.  The Profoundest Secrecy Was To Be Preserved,

And The Most Influential Men, Whose Ambition Induced them To Seek

Preferment, Were Alone To Be Made Acquainted with The Plot.  No Woman

Was To Be Privy To It, Lest It Should Be Divulged.  The Sound Of

The Church Bell Was To Be The Signal, And At Midnight All Were To

Enter The Plaza At The Same Moment, Seize The Pieces Of Artillery,

And Point Them Into The Streets.

 

 

 

The Time Chosen For The Assault Was Christmas-Eve, When The Soldiers

And Garrison Would Be Indulging In wine And Feasting, And Scattered

About Through The City At The Fandangoes, Not Having Their Arms In

Their Hands.  All The Americans, Without Distinction, Throughout

The State, And Such New Mexicans As Had Favoured the American

Government And Accepted office By Appointment Of General Kearney,

Were To Be Massacred or Driven From The Country, And The Conspirators

Were To Seize Upon And Occupy The Government.

 

 

 

The Conspiracy Was Detected in the Following Manner: A Mulatto Girl,

Residing In santa Fe, Had Married one Of The Conspirators, And Had By

Degrees Obtained a Knowledge Of Their Movements And Secret Meetings.

To Prevent The Effusion Of Blood, Which Would Inevitably Be The Result

Of A Revolution, She Communicated to Colonel Price All The Facts

Of Which She Was In possession, And Warned him To Use The Utmost

Vigilance.  The Rebellion Was Immediately Suppressed, But The

Restless And Unsatisfied ambition Of The Leaders Of The Conspiracy

Did Not Long Permit Them To Remain Inactive.  A Second And Still More

Dangerous Conspiracy Was Formed.  The Most Powerful And Influential

Men In the State Favoured the Design, And Even The Officers Of State

And The Priests Gave Their Aid And Counsel.  The People Everywhere,

In The Towns, Villages, And Settlements, Were Exhorted to Arm And

Equip Themselves; To Strike For Their Faith, Their Religion, And

Their Altars; And Drive The "Heretics," The "Unjust Invaders Of

The Country," From Their Soil, And With Fire And Sword Pursue Them

To Annihilation.  On The 18Th Of January This Rebellion Broke Out

In Every Part Of The State Simultaneously.

 

 

 

On The 14Th Of January, Governor Bent, Believing The Conspiracy

Completely Crushed, With An Escort Of Five Persons--Among Whom Were

The Sheriff And Circuit Attorney--Had Left Santa Fe To Visit His

Family, Who Resided at Fernandez.

 

 

 

On The 19Th, He Was Early Roused from Sleep By The Populace, Who,

With The Aid Of The Pueblos Of Taos, Were Collected in front Of His

Dwelling Striving To Gain Admittance.  While They Were Effecting

An Entrance, He, With An Axe, Cut Through An Adobe Wall Into Another

House; And The Mexican Wife Of The Occupant, A Clever Though Shiftless

Canadian, Hearing Him, With All Her Strength Rendered him Assistance.

He Retreated to A Room, But, Seeing No Way Of Escaping From The

Infuriated assailants, Who Fired upon Him From A Window, He Spoke

To His Weeping Wife And Trembling Children, And, Taking Paper

From His Pocket, Endeavoured to Write; But Fast Losing Strength,

He Commended them To God And His Brothers And Fell, Pierced by A

Ball From A Pueblo.  Then Rushing In and Tearing Off His Gray-Haired

Scalp, The Indians Bore It Away In triumph.

 

 

 

The Circuit Attorney, T. W. Leal, Was Scalped alive And Dragged

Through The Streets, His Relentless Persecutors Pricking Him With

Lances.  After Hours Of Suffering, They Threw Him Aside In the

Inclement Weather, He Imploring Them Earnestly To Kill Him To End

His Misery.  A Compassionate Mexican At Last Closed the Tragic Scene

By Shooting Him.  Stephen Lee, Brother To The General, Was Killed

On His Own Housetop.  Narcisse Beaubien, Son Of The Presiding Judge

Of The District, Hid In an Outhouse With His Indian Slave, At The

Commencement Of The Massacre, Under A Straw-Covered trough.

The Insurgents On The Search, Thinking That They Had Escaped,

Were Leaving, But A Woman Servant Of The Family, Going To The

Housetop, Called to Them, "Kill The Young Ones, And They Will Never

Be Men To Trouble Us."  They Swarmed back And, By Cruelly Putting

To Death And Scalping Him And His Slave, Added two More To The List

Of Unfortunate Victims.

 

 

 

The Pueblos And Mexicans, After Their Cruelties At Fernandez De Taos,

Attacked and Destroyed turley'S Ranch On The Arroyo Hondo[27] Twelve

Miles From Fernandez, Or Taos.  Arroyo Hondo Runs Along The Base

Of A Ridge Of A Mountain Of Moderate Elevation, Which Divides The

Valley Of Taos From That Of The Rio Colorado, Or Red river, Both

Flowing Into The Del Norte.  The Trail From One Place To The Other

Passes Over The Mountain, Which Is Covered with Pine, Cedar, And

A Species Of Dwarf Oak; And Numerous Little Streams Run Through

The Many Canyons.

 

 

 

On The Bank Of One Of The Creeks Was A Mill And Distillery Belonging

To An American Named turley, Who Did A Thriving Business.  He Possessed

Herds Of Goats, And Hogs Innumerable; His Barns Were Filled with

Grain, His Mill With Flour, And His Cellars With Whiskey.  He Had

A Mexican Wife And Several Children, And He Bore The Reputation Of

Being One Of The Most Generous And Kind-Hearted of Men.  In times Of

Scarcity, No One Ever Sought His Aid To Be Turned away Empty-Handed;

His Granaries Were Always Open To The Hungry, And His Purse To

The Poor.

 

 

 

When On Their Road To Turley'S, The Pueblos Murdered two Men, Named

Harwood And Markhead.  Markhead Was One Of The Most Successful

Trappers And Daring Men Among The Old Mountaineers.  They Were On

Their Way To Taos With Their Pack-Animals Laden With Furs, When The

Savages, Meeting Them, After Stripping Them Of Their Goods, And

Securing Their Arms By Treachery, Made Them Mount Their Mules Under

Pretence Of Conducting Them To Taos, Where They Were To Be Given Up

To The Leaders Of The Insurrection.  They Had Hardly Proceeded

A Mile When A Mexican Rode Up Behind Harwood And Discharged his Gun

Into His Back; He Called out To Markhead That He Was Murdered, And

Fell To The Ground Dead.

 

 

 

Markhead, Seeing That His Own Fate Was Sealed, Made No Struggle,

And Was Likewise Shot In the Back With Several Bullets.  Both Men

Were Then Stripped naked, Scalped, And Horribly Mutilated; Their

Bodies Thrown Into The Brush To Be Devoured by The Wolves.

 

 

 

These Trappers Were Remarkable Men; Markhead, Particularly, Was

Celebrated in the Mountains For His Courage, Reckless Daring, And

Many Almost Miraculous Escapes When In the Very Hands Of The Indians.

When Some Years Previously He Had Accompanied sir William Drummond

Stewart On One Of His Expeditions Across The Rockies, It Happened

That A Half-Breed indian Employed by Sir William Absconded one Night

With Some Animals, Which Circumstance Annoyed the Nobleman So Much,

As It Disturbed all His Plans, That He Hastily Offered, Never Dreaming

That He Would Be Taken Up, To Give Five Hundred dollars For The Scalp

Of The Thief.  The Very Next Evening Markhead Rode Into Camp With The

Hair Of The Luckless Horse-Thief Dangling at The Muzzle Of His Rifle.

 

 

 

The Wild Crowd Of Rebels Rode On To Turley'S Mill.  Turley Had Been

Warned of The Impending Uprising, But Had Treated the Report With

Indifference, Until One Morning a Man In his Employ, Who Had Been

Despatched to Santa Fe With Several Mule-Loads Of Whiskey A Few Days

Before, Made His Appearance At The Gate On Horseback, And Hastily

Informing The Inmates Of The Mill That The New Mexicans Had Risen And

Massacred governor Bent And Other Americans, Galloped off.  Even Then

Turley Felt Assured that He Would Not Be Molested; But At The

Solicitation Of His Men, He Agreed to Close The Gate Of The Yard

Around Which Were The Buildings Of The Mill And Distillery, And Make

Preparations For Defence.

 

 

 

A Few Hours Afterward A Large Crowd Of Mexicans And Pueblo Indians

Made Their Appearance, All Armed with Guns And Bows And Arrows, And,

Advancing With A White Flag, Summoned turley To Surrender His House

And The Americans In it, Guaranteeing That His Own Life Should Be

Saved, But That Every Other American In the Valley Must Be Destroyed;

That The Governor And All The Americans At Fernandez Had Been Killed,

And That Not One Was To Be Left Alive In all New Mexico.

 

 

 

To This Summons Turley Answered that He Would Never Surrender His

House Nor His Men, And That If They Wanted it Or Them, They Must

Take Them.

 

 

 

The Enemy Then Drew Off, And, After A Short Consultation, Commenced

The Attack.  The First Day They Numbered about Five Hundred, But Were

Hourly Reinforced by The Arrival Of Parties Of Indians From The More

Distant Pueblos, And New Mexicans From Fernandez, La Canada, And

Other Places.

 

 

 

The Building Lay At The Foot Of A Gradual Slope In the Sierra, Which

Was Covered with Cedar Bushes.  In front Ran The Stream Of The

Arroyo Hondo, About Twenty Yards From One Side Of The Square, And

The Other Side Was Broken Ground Which Rose Abruptly And Formed

The Bank Of The Ravine.  In the Rear And Behind The Still-House Was

Some Garden Ground Enclosed by A Small Fence, Into Which A Small

Wicket-Gate Opened from The Corral.

 

 

 

As Soon As The Attack Was Determined upon, The Assailants Scattered

And Concealed themselves Under Cover Of The Rocks And Bushes Which

Surrounded the House.  From These They Kept Up An Incessant Fire Upon

Every Exposed portion Of The Building Where They Saw Preparations

For Defence.

 

 

 

The Americans, On Their Part, Were Not Idle; Not A Man But Was An Old

Mountaineer, And Each Had His Trusty Rifle, With A Good Store Of

Ammunition.  Whenever One Of The Besiegers Exposed a Hand'S-Breadth

Of His Person, A Ball From An Unerring Barrel Whistled.  The Windows

Had Been Blockaded, Loopholes Having Been Left, And Through These

A Lively Fire Was Maintained.  Already Several Of The Enemy Had

Bitten The Dust, And Parties Were Seen Bearing Off The Wounded up

The Banks Of The Canada.  Darkness Came On, And During The Night

A Continual Fire Was Kept Up On The Mill, Whilst Its Defenders,

Reserving Their Ammunition, Kept Their Posts With Stern And Silent

Determination.  The Night Was Spent In casting Balls, Cutting Patches,

And Completing The Defences Of The Building.  In the Morning The Fight

Was Renewed, And It Was Found That The Mexicans Had Effected a

Lodgment In a Part Of The Stables, Which Were Separated from The

Other Portions Of The Building By An Open Space Of A Few Feet.

The Assailants, During The Night, Had Sought To Break Down The Wall,

And Thus Enter The Main Building, But The Strength Of The Adobe And

Logs Of Which It Was Composed resisted effectually All Their Attempts.

 

 

 

Those In the Stable Seemed anxious To Regain The Outside, For Their

Position Was Unavailable As A Means Of Annoyance To The Besieged, And

Several Had Darted across The Narrow Space Which Divided it From The

Other Part Of The Building, Which Slightly Projected, And Behind

Which They Were Out Of The Line Of Fire.  As Soon, However, As The

Attention Of The Defenders Was Called to This Point, The First Man

Who Attempted to Cross, Who Happened to Be A Pueblo Chief, Was Dropped

On The Instant, And Fell Dead In the Centre Of The Intervening Space.

It Appeared to Be An Object To Recover The Body, For An Indian

Immediately Dashed out To The Fallen Chief, And Attempted to Drag Him

Within The Shelter Of The Wall.  The Rifle Which Covered the Spot

Again Poured forth Its Deadly Contents, And The Indian, Springing

Into The Air, Fell Over The Body Of His Chief.  Another And Another

Met With A Similar Fate, And At Last Three Rushed to The Spot, And,

Seizing The Body By The Legs And Head, Had Already Lifted it From The

Ground, When Three Puffs Of Smoke Blew From The Barricaded windows,

Followed by The