THE OLD SANTA FE TRAIL - COLONEL HENRY INMAN (surface ebook reader .TXT) 📗
- Author: COLONEL HENRY INMAN
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Most Noteworthy, The Navajo War Of 1823, The Texan Invasion
Of 1842, The American Of 1846, And The Confederate Of 1862.
Within Its Walls Was Imprisoned, In 1809, The American
Explorer Zebulon M. Pike, And Innumerable State Prisoners
Before And Since; And Many A Sentence Of Death Has Been
Pronounced therein And The Accused forthwith Led away And
Shot At The Dictum Of The Man At The Palace. It Has Been
From Time Immemorial The Government House With All Its
Branches Annexed. It Was Such On The Fourth Of July, 1776,
When The American Congress At Independence Hall In
Philadelphia Proclaimed liberty Throughout All The Land,
Not Then, But Now Embracing It. Indeed, This Old Edifice
Has A History. And As The History Of Santa Fe Is The
History Of New Mexico, So Is The History Of The Palace
The History Of Santa Fe.
The Palace Was The Only Building Having Glazed windows. At One End
Was The Government Printing Office, And At The Other, The Guard-House
And Prison. Fearful Stories Were Connected with The Prison.
Edwards[8] Says That He Found, On Examining The Walls Of The
Small Rooms, Locks Of Human Hair Stuffed into Holes, With Rude
Crosses Drawn Over Them.
Fronting The Palace, On The South Side Of The Plaza, Stood The
Remains Of The Capilla De Los Soldados, Or Military Chapel.
The Real Name Of The Church Was "Our Lady Of Light." It Was Said
To Be The Richest Church In the Province, But Had Not Been In use
For A Number Of Years, And The Roof Had Fallen In, Allowing The
Elements To Complete The Work Of Destruction. On Each Side Of The
Altar Was The Remains Of Fine Carving, And A Weather-Beaten Picture
Above Gave Evidence Of Having Been A Beautiful Painting. Over The
Door Was A Large Oblong Slab Of Freestone, Elaborately Carved,
Representing "Our Lady Of Light" Rescuing a Human Being From The
Jaws Of Satan. A Large Tablet, Beautifully Executed in relief,
Stood Behind The Altar, Representing Various Saints, With An
Inscription Stating That It Was Erected by Governor Francisco Antonio
Del Valle And His Wife In 1761.
Church Services Were Held In the Parroquia, Or Parish Church,
Now The Cathedral, Which Had Two Towers Or Steeples, In which Hung
Four Bells. The Music Was Furnished by A Violin And A Triangle.
The Wall Back Of The Altar Was Covered with Innumerable Mirrors,
Paintings, And Bright-Coloured tapestry.
The Exact Date Of The First Settlement Of Santa Fe Is Uncertain.
One Authority Says:
It Was A Primeval Stronghold Before The Spanish Conquest,
And A Town Of Some Importance To The White Race When
Pennsylvania Was A Wilderness And The First Dutch Governor
Of New York Was Slowly Drilling The Knickerbocker Ancestry
In their Difficult Evolutions Around The Town-Pump.
It Is Claimed, On What Is Deemed very Authentic Data By Some, That
Santa Fe Is Really The Oldest Settled town In the United states.
St. Augustine, Florida, Was Established in 1565 And Was Unquestionably
Conceded the Honour Of Antiquity Until The Acquisition Of New Mexico
By The Guadalupe-Hidalgo Treaty. Then, Of Course, Santa Fe Steps
Into The Arena And Carries Off The Laurels. This Claim Of Precedence
For Santa Fe Is Based upon The Statement (Whether Historically Correct
Or Not Is A Question) That When The Spaniards First Entered the Region
From The Southern Portion Of Mexico, About 1542, They Found A Very
Large Pueblo Town On The Present Site Of Santa Fe, And That Its Prior
Existence Extended far Back Into The Vanished centuries. This Is
Contradicted by Other Historians, Who Contend That The Claim Of
Santa Fe To Be The Oldest Town In the United states Rests Entirely
On Imaginary Annals Of An Indian Pueblo Before The Spanish Conquest,
And That There Are But Slight Indications That The Town Was Built
On The Site Of One.[9]
The Reader May Further Satisfy Himself On These Mooted points By
Consulting The Mass Of Historical Literature On New Mexico,
And The Records Of Its Primitive Times Are Not Surpassed in interest
By Those Of Any Other Part Of The Continent. It Was There The
Europeans First Made Great Conquests, And Some Years Prior To The
Landing Of The Pilgrims, A History Of New Mexico, Being The Journal
Of Geronimo De Zarate Salmaron, Was Published by The Church In the
City Of Mexico, Early In 1600. Salmaron Was A Franciscan Monk;
A Most Zealous And Indefatigable Worker. During His Eight Years'
Residence At Jemez, Near Santa Fe, He Claims To Have Baptized over
Eight Thousand Indians, Converts To The Catholic Faith. His Journal
Gives A Description Of The Country, Its Mines, Etc., And Was Made
Public In order That Other Monks Reading It Might Emulate His
Pious Example.
Between 1605 And 1616 Was Founded the Villa Of Santa Fe, Or
San Francisco De La Santa Fe. "Villa," Or Village, Was An Honorary
Title, Always Authorized and Proclaimed by The King. Bancroft Says
That It Was First Officially Mentioned on The 3D Of January, 1617.
The First Immigration To New Mexico Was Under Don Juan De Onate
About 1597, And In a Year Afterward, According To Some Authorities,
Santa Fe Was Settled. The Place, As Claimed by Some Historians,
Was Then Named el Teguayo, A Spanish Adaptation Of The Word "Tegua,"
The Name Of The Pueblo Nation, Which Was Quite Numerous, And Occupied
Santa Fe And The Contiguous Country. It Very Soon, From Its Central
Position And Charming Climate, Became The Leading Spanish Town,
And The Capital Of The Province. The Spaniards, Who Came At First
Into The Country As Friends, And Were Apparently Eager To Obtain
The Good-Will Of The Intelligent Natives, Shortly Began To Claim
Superiority, And To Insist On The Performance Of Services Which Were
Originally Mere Evidences Of Hospitality And Kindness. Little By
Little They Assumed greater Power And Control Over The Indians,
Until In the Course Of Years They Had Subjected a Large Portion Of
Them To Servitude Little Differing From Actual Slavery.
The Impolitic Zeal Of The Monks Gradually Invoked the Spirit Of
Hatred and Resulted in a Rebellion That Drove The Spaniards, In 1680,
From The Country. The Large Number Of Priests Who Were Left In the
Midst Of The Natives Met With Horrible Fates:
Not One Escaped martyrdom. At Zuni, Three Franciscans
Had Been Stationed, And When The News Of The Spanish Retreat
Reached the Town, The People Dragged them From Their Cells,
Stripped and Stoned them, And Afterwards Compelled the
Servant Of One To Finish The Work By Shooting Them. Having
Thus Whetted their Appetite For Cruelty And Vengeance,
The Indians Started to Carry The News Of Their Independence
To Moqui, And Signalized their Arrival By The Barbarous
Murder Of The Two Missionaries Who Were Living There.
Their Bodies Were Left Unburied, As A Prey For The Wild
Beasts. At Jemez They Indulged in every Refinement Of
Cruelty. The Old Priest, Jesus Morador, Was Seized in
His Bed at Night, Stripped naked and Mounted on A Hog,
And Thus Paraded through The Streets, While The Crowd
Shouted and Yelled around. Not Satisfied with This,
They Then Forced him To Carry Them As A Beast Would,
Crawling On His Hands And Feet, Until, From Repeated beating
And The Cruel Tortures Of Sharp Spurs, He Fell Dead In
Their Midst. A Similar Chapter Of Horrors Was Enacted
At Acoma, Where Three Priests Were Stripped, Tied together
With Hair Rope, And So Driven Through The Streets, And
Finally Stoned to Death. Not A Christian Remained free
Within The Limits Of New Mexico, And Those Who Had Been
Dominant A Few Months Before Were Now Wretched and
Half-Starved fugitives, Huddled together In the Rude Huts
Of San Lorenzo.
As Soon As The Spaniards Had Retreated from The Country,
The Pueblo Indians Gave Themselves Up For A Time To
Rejoicing, And To The Destruction Of Everything Which Could
Remind Them Of The Europeans, Their Religion, And Their
Domination. The Army Which Had Besieged santa Fe Quickly
Entered that City, Took Possession Of The Palace As The
Seat Of Government, And Commenced the Work Of Demolition.
The Churches And The Monastery Of The Franciscans Were
Burned with All Their Contents, Amid The Almost Frantic
Acclamations Of The Natives. The Gorgeous Vestments Of
The Priests Had Been Dragged out Before The Conflagration,
And Now Were Worn In derision By Indians, Who Rode Through
The Streets At Full Speed, Shouting For Joy. The Official
Documents And Books In the Palace Were Brought Forth,
And Made Fuel For A Bonfire In the Centre Of The Plaza;
And Here Also They Danced the Cachina, With All The
Accompanying Religious Ceremonies Of The Olden Time.
Everything Imaginable Was Done To Show Their Detestation
Of The Christian Faith And Their Determination To Utterly
Eradicate Even Its Memory. Those Who Had Been Baptized
Were Washed with Amole In the Rio Chiquito, In order To Be
Cleansed from The Infection Of Christianity. All Baptismal
Names Were Discarded, Marriages Celebrated by Christian
Priests Were Annulled, The Very Mention Of The Names Jesus
And Mary Was Made An Offence, And Estuffas Were Constructed
To Take The Place Of Ruined churches.[10]
For Twelve Years, Although Many Abortive Attempts Were Made To
Recapture The Country, The Pueblos Were Left In possession. On The
16Th Of October, 1693, The Victorious Spaniards At Last Entered
Santa Fe, Bearing The Same Banner Which Had Been Carried by Onate When
He Entered the City Just A Century Before. The Conqueror This Time
Was Don Diego De Vargas Zapata Lujan, Whom The Viceroy Of New Spain
Had Appointed governor In the Spring Of 1692, With The Avowed purpose
Of Having New Mexico Reconquered as Speedily As Possible.
Thus It Will Be Seen That The Quaint Old City Has Been The Scene Of
Many Important Historical Events, The Mere Outline Of Which I Have
Recorded here, As This Book Is Not Devoted to The Historical View
Of The Subject.
In Contradistinction To The Quiet, Sleepy Old Santa Fe Of Half
A Century Ago, It Now Presents All The Vigour, Intelligence, And
Bustling Progressiveness Of The Average American City Of To-Day,
Yet Still Smacks Of That Ancient Spanish Regime, Which Gives It
A Charm That Only Its Blended european And Indian Civilization
Could Make Possible After Its Amalgamation With The United states.
The Tourist Will No Longer Find A Drowsy Old Town, And The Plaza
Is No Longer Unfenced and Uncared for. A Beautiful Park Of Trees
Is Surrounded by Low Palings, And Inside The Shady Enclosure,
Under A Group Of Large Cottonwoods, Is A Cenotaph Erected to The
Memory Of The Territory'S Gallant Soldiers Who Fell In the Shock Of
Battle To Save New Mexico To The Union In 1862, And Conspicuous Among
The Names Carved on The Enduring Native Rock Is That Of Kit Carson--
Prince Of Frontiersmen, And One Of Nature'S Noblemen.
Around The Plaza One Sees The American Style Of Architecture And
Hears The Hum Of American Civilization; But Beyond, And Outside
This Pretty Park, The Streets Are Narrow, Crooked, And Have An
Ancient Appearance. There The Old Santa Fe Confronts The Stranger;
Odd, Foreign-Looking, And Flavoured with All The Peculiarities Which
Marked the Era Of Mexican Rule. And Now, Where Once Was Heard The
Excited shouts Of The Idle Crowd, Of "Los Americanos!" "Los Carros!"
"La Entrada De La Caravana!" As The Great Freight Wagons Rolled into
The Streets Of The Old Town From The Missouri, Over The Santa Fe Trail,
The Shrill Whistle Of The Locomotive From Its Trail Of Steel Awakens
The Echoes Of The Mighty Hills.
As May Be Imagined, Great Excitement Always Prevailed whenever A
Caravan Of Goods Arrived in santa Fe. Particularly Was This The Case
Among The Feminine Portion Of The Community. The Quaint Old Town
Turned out Its Mixed population En Masse The Moment The Shouts Went Up
That The Train Was In sight. There Is Nothing There To-Day Comparable
To The Anxious Looks Of The Masses As They Watched the Heavily
Freighted wagons Rolling Into The Town, The Teamsters Dust-Begrimed,
And The Mules Making The Place Hideous With Their Discordant Braying
As They Knew That Their Long Journey Was Ended and Rest Awaited them.
The Importing Merchants Were Obliged to Turn Over To The Custom House
Officials Five Hundred dollars For Every Wagon-Load, Great Or Small;
And No Matter What The Intrinsic Value Of The Goods Might Be,
Salt Or Silk, Velvets Or Sugar, It Was All The Same. The Nefarious
Duty Had To Be Paid Before A Penny'S Worth Could Be Transferred
To Their Counters. Of Course, With The End Of Mexican Rule And
The Acquisition Of The Province By The United states, All Opposition
To The Traffic Of The Old Santa Fe Trail Ended, Traders Were
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