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Show 7 . * ay a A c Fs & a 7 “= on pea? s ‘ 4 5 - Pras ae Re _— i d Z Ae -.. % J poss a = sais ee ; “ e GT / oe | i o — . ; “22-fe ¥ es age ai « i ne we g —- + gk EE ; ra ee aae API ont IES = F ee ae soa AA 5 we te ates s ‘ ‘ of : “me a NLP en 3 - eA es . eS 2,20 ence - bate ie : gre _ - ¥ ee MEXICAN HISTORY as to the habits of the people, but his stay was of so short duration that his observations on this subject are of little value. He saw nothing of the inner life of the best families of the province, and what he says of the plain people and lower classes was gleaned from a few hours of conversation and association with a class who could not and would not communicate anything to him.*° Pino says that at this time the government and administration of justice were military, the governor also being military chief. There were no ayuntamientos or other municipal bodies, no courts, no taxes, or municipal funds. Each of the eight alealdes gave attention to all matters of local concern, being responsible only to the governor, an appeal from whose decision might be taken to the audiencia of Guadalajara. Pino demanded an audiencia at Chihuahua. The governor had no legal adviser, nor was there a notary in the province. In the administration of the affairs of his office, the governor was assisted by two lieutenants and two alféreces.*”” = a meee ‘ bit 3 ngaetine act ae ae a £5 : s OF NEW sic eo ? ‘ — - 4 ae: aie poem en iS ere RE fo siecle EL a a ee aie cePT ast ak “ “ 2 _~ is : TUT clea Z soe 3 senilitaesi coolly cone zs are ss = — ete., p. 259. On the trip from Santa Fé to Chihuahua, Pike was frequently entertained —in a way —and from some of these entertainments he drew some of his conclusions, which, it would seem, were entirely unwarranted. Pike says that Melgares possessed none of the haughty Castilian pride, but much of the urbanity of the Frenchman, and de- clares that he was one of the few officers or citizens whom he found loyal to the king of Spain, and yet, by innuendo, he seeks to throw aspersions upon the character and customs of the native people by calling attention to one of Mel- gares’s honest efforts to make his journey to Chihuahua as pleasant as possible. “ = * * : ~ ck 3 mae Sas ——— sane a . > ‘ io tee me tem . . os . — agree: : ; <x aa s P ae ee amp ees : f.. — oe is ane eel oe, 609 Pike, Z. M., Explorations, ‘ = oa SPANISH =o or » or i " e e -a ra " o 3 fi 5 Le FACTS RULE, oe ¥ » > o Z h , ¥ S : 7. 4 i Hl ao <9 z ogee - api ox7 j P noe “ x“ . LEADING 1700 TO 1822 477 “ ese. os ae ee fe a see P ; — er . counapininnuners = : —— ealaciiks 8 oi esti _ : oA _ : z ee ones —_ Pe 3 am — , ~ 476 When the command had reached a point south of Alburquerque, and while yet in charge of Lieutenant ’Almanza, they met Melgares near San Fernandez. The latter, knowing Pike’s temperament and dispesition evidently much better than Pike understood the manner of providing entertainment for the ‘‘stranger within their gates,’’ proposed giving a baille for Pike and his companions, and to make sure of the attendance, the notice being very short, Melgares sent out a notice to the alcaldes of several small villages near-by, as follows: ‘‘Send this evening six or eight of your handsomest young girls to the village of St. Fernandez, where I propose giving a fandango, for the entertainment of the American officers arrived today,’’ signed, Don Facundo. As Pike says, this order was punctually obeyed, but to one who has any knowledge whatever of the customs of the people there is no cause for Pike’s saying, as he did, that the order ““portrays more clearly than a chapter of observations the degraded state of the common people.’’ 510 Pino, Pedro Bautista, Noticias de Nuevo Mezico, p. 25, eap. vi: ‘* Tode la provincia esta dividida en ocho aleaidias servidas por sus vecinos, sin sueldo, y Sujetas 4 un gobernador politico y militar, que residen en la capital de Santa Fé, sin asesor ni aun escribano, porque no lo hay en toda la provincia. Tiene como por ayudantes dos tenientes y dos alféreces. _ ‘*De las determinaciones de este gobernador, no hay mas apelaciones en 19 civil y criminal, que 4 la audiencia de Guadalajara, distante como 500 leguas. En lo militar, estuvo muchos afios sujeta al vireinato de México (800 leguas); hasta que se establecié la comandancia general de provincias internas en Chihuahua (240 leguas). z No : . ° 8 se ha podido nunca pensar en impuestos municipales. Tampoe 0 The alcaldes received no pay. At El Paso there was a lieutena nt of the governor who received two thousand dollars salary. The salary of the governor was four thousand dollars per annum. Mr. Pino says that the roads in the province were good; that the highway from New Mexico to the United States was beautiful, crossing the great plains, following in its course many of the rivers along whose banks were many views of magnificent scenery.®1? The military force of the province, as supported by the royal government, consisted of one hundred and twenty-one men, which formed the garrison or veteran company at Santa Fé, of which thirtynine were cavalry, moving to various’ parts of the province, when ordered, or occasion demanded; twelve were guards at the capital, seven were stationed at La Joya de Sevilleta, and the remainder was scattered over the province with the citizen soldiery. The pay of a regular soldier was two hundred and forty dollars. In his E'xposicion, Pino calls the attention of the Spanish government to the fact that the people of New Mexico had always maintained a force of approximately one thousand five hundred men, citizen soldiers, which the settlers had furnished without pay, and had armed and equipped them, at no cost to the royal treasury, thus saving to the king $43,090,000 in the 118 years preceding the making of his report. Pino demanded that the militia be paid as in other provinces, and that five presidios should be established or transferred from the south. But nothing was ever done. In the year 1808, three companies of citizen soldiers were organha habido hasta ahora un cuerpo autorizado para promover asi el establecimiento de una caja 6 cajas de provincias, como para representar 4 nombre de ellas lo conveniente 4 su prosperidad. 0 ‘Los pueblos del Paso son gobernados por un teniente de gobernador militar, con sueldo de 2,000 duros.’’ 512 Pino, Pedro Bautista, Ibid, p. 17. On the the subject of Toads — ¢aminos — Mr. Pino says: ‘‘Los caminos del interior de este territorio, son en lo de los rios, y por poblaciones orillas general cémodos, porque los mas van 4 Jas donde hay mucha hospilidad; todos son carreteros, menos el que conduce 4 Taos por la ruta de la cafiada, pues una sierra elevandisima apenas d& paso por sus desfiladeros 4 los caballos; todos son seguros, y el viajero no camina con el temor de que unsaltador le quite sus intereses 6 de la muerte. es ‘El Camino que conduce 4 los Estados Unidos por la ruta del Missuri, od nae muy hermoso, pues va por llanuras inmensas, y en su mayor sr A ry) de espacio el en variabilidad; suma de vistas presentan que rios de de ne iles, numerosas naciones leguas no se encuentra poblacion, y solo se ven e pi hasta que se ariba 4 las primeras poblaciones del Norte — América * de anglo-amerl dado de Jefferson; anualmente andan este camino caravanas canos. ’’ |