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Show TOLTECCAN. 235 PUEBLO CACIQUE. has a governor, a cacique or justice, & fiscal or constable, and a " coun-cil of wise men." Besides these civil officers there is also a war cap-tain, who attends to military affairs. The territorial government will average with that of other Terri-tories. " Since the Occupation," meaning since the Americans took possession, is a phrase in constant use like " Since the war " in the South. After the conquest in 1590-' 95 comes a list of forty- six Span-ish and Mexican captain- generals who governed the country, end-ing with General Manuel Armijo in 1846, who gathered a large army to meet the Americans, marched out to the pass command-ing the country, and then marched back again, abandoning the prov-ince without firing a shot. The Americans took possession, set up a feeble government and passed on ; the Mexicans rose, treacher-ously massacred the officials and several other Americans, and were again subdued. They are now apparently as good " Yankees " as any of us. They are very tenacious of all their old customs in the administra-tion of law. They stipulated for this at the American occupation, and General Kearney, by proclamation, continued all their judicial officers with the same code ; and as the civil or canon law was in force in all Spanish America, it is the common law of New Mexico to- day. Under it the power of parents is practically almost without limits no matter what age their offspring may be. A son who lives with his mother is subject to her orders always, and the alcalde in rural dis.- tricts is occasionally called upon by a woman whose " boy " of twenty-five or thirty has rebelled. In such cases the alcalde goes with his constable, arrests the " boy," puts a riata into the hands of the mother and bids her lay on until the youth roars for mercy. Sometimes a senorita living with an American is punished severely by her mother for some slight to her " man ; " and though he protest, the mother asserts her right. Their lack of enterprise produces ludicrous results. I saw but one Mexican wagon in Santa Fe, and that had broken down. Every thing is transported on the backs of burros, the native breed of asses. |