THE OLD SANTA FE TRAIL by COLONEL HENRY INMAN (best fiction novels of all time .TXT) 📕

Against Foreign Invasion, Including, As The

          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