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Show [ 7] 22 mcjo, an ~l reported him self just escaped from 'Taos. TT e brouCYbt the inte lli gence that, yrstcrday, the pro clamation of Gov-er~ or Armijo reached there, call.ing the citiz ens to arms~ and pl acing the '~ h o 1 c co u n ~ r y u n d c r m ~ r t 1 a 1 I a w ; t h a t A r rn i j o has a:;; scm u 1 e d a 11 t h e 1 ucblo .In(l!ans, numbenng abot~t 2,000, ancl all the ci tiz ens capable of bca nng arms; that 300 Mextcan dr<1 goons arriYecl in Santa Fe the day Armij o's proclqm ati on wa s is, ucd, and that 1,200 more were houNy expected; that the M cxi cans to a man were an xi on. for a fight, but that half the Pueb lo lndians were in tlifTc rcnt on the subject, but would be made to fi ght. A succession .of thund er storms pn ssccl ye-. trnlay to the n orth and west, but dul not r eac.h us. The ground in~li catc s re cent rain, ?s al. ~ docs the g ra~s, w]u ch looks as w .the spnng, just sp routi ng . The hills to th e. Jeft, as ncar as I can judgt·, the ame as in the R:ato.n, were of ddfercnt co lored sancl stone, reg ularly stratified, and d1ppmg g,cntly to the cast, top ped by a mural precipi e of cr rcen sto~e. 'Il~e growth on the mountains, piiion and cedar. 0~1 the platns, wlnch are covcrecl. with 1'~ori(l', scarcely a tree i to be ~cen. Y'fe en~amp~d on the l.1ttlc Ci1?arron? an~l observed at night for lat.1tuc~~ and tllne. 7 al~1tudes of lH.;)lans gtvc forth latitude 36o 27 ~0 } 7 on ar c tu~u m the w e~ t! and the same n um bcr on a] ph a aquil ::c m, the cast gn'r: the meruiian by chronometer differences 6h. 58m. 39s. Approximate heig ht 6,027 feet. • Th.e plants of to-day, it~ addition to many of plants heretofore me~t10ned, were the Ery smum Arkansanum, lippa cuneifolia, myoso~ ts glomer~ta, SO rre~\~Cntly found on the plains, lythcrus linean~, ~1yperc1Urn clllptlci.um, several verbenas, and several new vanetles of ~xybaphu , wild sage, and on the stream s a f ·w cottonwood and willows. 1ufust 11.-W c made a long march to-day with the advanced guard an t e 1st dragoon , to the ~ ca t6, 31} miles. The road fl roaches the Ocate, at the ~oot of a .hi gh. blufl' to the north, whercPfi1e river runs through a cauon, mak111g 1l inaccess ible to "nt· n 1 w l tl . · , u r a s. e as-c1e n( 1e nvcr for four or five mt.le "' to wl tl 1 1 ,,, 1ere 1c roat crosses · i_1erc we eft the _road, ~nd at that point, the riv er being clry, co n~ tmu~d to ascend It a mde, and found good gra. s, and, occa. ional]y run~ mg :vat cr. The SC('n cry to-clay was v~ry p rctt y, sometime: appt oach1ng to the grand; the road passed throu crh a u('(·es. ion of Tval lleRy s, an1d ·c rosse· d n·u merous" diYid s" of tll c I;'")'al· 1 0 t ' '- rl c( a an< ca e .1e ayat a IS a lllnpul running str<·am, t en miles from the littl~ C1m~rron, the first of the kind noted, though we h ave been tra-versmg th.c bases of many mountain s for da)'S past. TJ ·t however IS t 1 A · . 1C pa ur c, f t f h no go?c. t pomts two and Jour mil es farther at the oo o . t 1 e mountains, there. a:e sprin gs anct good g rass. 'At the ~ast po.m~ we overtook ~he Infantry, where they 11altcd. About Ivc mdc~ before reachmg the Ocate, the road des cend s into a valley, O\ erhung by confu ed and rugged clifTs whic]1 g'tvc , · of grass an 1 t , b · ' · prom 1se ful va]Jey ~a ra el' ~t, Ot gotug ~}own, '~'C founcl that this bcauti. d • c nl o. out et, .)ut t~rmtnatetl In a salt lake. The lake 1Hs en ow ry an< Its becl 1 , h t · 1 1 · · th ' l . . 1' . v 1 c wtt 1 at lln saline encrustation re e roac IS In{ Jstm ct, and takes a sudden turn to the left: , 23 [7] At this moment we d iscovercc1 c~ om i ng towanls tL, at fuJl speed, Bt' nt's spy-guanl. All tl1 ongbt they had met the cnc !~Y; l 'yas ordered to ride forwarll to meet thrm, follow(•d by 1\1r. Ii 1tzpatnck and two dragoon$. lt proYed to be a fal·c alarm; they had missed their road, a ncl were galloping back to rrgain it. The hill s arc compos d principally of basalt and a porous volca nic ·tone, yery hard, with metallic fracture and lust re, tr~t\r erscd by clykcs of trap . The lava is ~nclcrb)'c<l by.sand tonr ... From the uniform h eight of t h c s c hi 11 s, on c w o u I d t h 1 n k t h c y . o r1 g Ill a 1I y formed the table land, ancl that th(' valleys had been formed by so m e d <-' n u d in o· p r o cess, an < l t h c i r l i rn i t s d ct <' r m i n c <l by t h c a l t c rna t c exi ~ t cncc or n~n -cxi,tencc of the hard c rust of volcanic r ock~. .Matte rs are now hccoming very interesting. Six or <·ig.ht l\1exicatl s were ca ptu r <'d 1a st night, an cl on th cir per ~ ons wa 1 oun d .t.h e proelamation of the Prcfe ·t of Toas, ba eel upon that of ArmiJO , call ing the citizens to anns, to rrpel thf' "American , who were comincr to invade their soil and destroy their property andh'be1·ties;" orderi~g an enrolment .of all citizens o.ver 15 and under 50. It is dcciclcd ly Jess nombastic than any .Niext can paper I have yet seen. Colonel ·.Kearny assembled these prisoners, al together some ten or hl'clve, made a speech to them, and ordered that, when the rear guard of the army should have passed , they should b.e released. 'l'hese men were nol d cft~icnt in form or stature; thctr faces expre ·se cl good nature, bordering on idiocy ; ~h y w,erc m~un ted on little donkies and jennies, guided by clubs tn tcacl of bnclles .. Two more Mexicans, of a better c la~s, were captured to-nrght, or rather they came i11to camp. Their story wa , that they had come out by order of the alralde of the Moro town to.look out. for th ei r standing en mies, the Eutaws, who were reported 111 ~he n<: tghborhood. That th ey had heard of our advance some tun ~ smce, lJut believe(] us to be at the H.ayatla, 22 mill's baek; but. seetng o~r wagons, and having faith in the Ameri c~1nos, they r od~ wt~hout hesttation int o our camp. Wb n they salll they hac1 fa tth tn us, the colonel ordercrl them to shnke hands witlt him. They were ordered to br det ain ed for a clny or twoJ for it WitS .quite evid.cnt to a11. th~y were spies, who had come too sud J en 1 y llll o the •] 1 tt 1 c r a v 111 c m ·wh i<'h we were en campl'd. . Th y appearecl w ·ll pleased, and one of them, after pro cccd111g a f w steps with the g uard, turned back ancl presented the colonel with a fresh cream cheese. ;. :·'l'bc g rass " ·as in Ler pers c1 wi lh a gr c~t var.i. ty of new and ~eautiful flower -tltc a' noth era · ~ta.nl ey })1ntHttdHin; anemone I enn- sylvania · criocronum tomento' sum; cry .t num, Arkan ·anum, & ·&c . '1' he hi 11 ~ w t' r <~ f; par, e l y co v c r c d with c c d a r an <1. p i fw n . A n t e I o P e s and horn ed fro crs in abundance, buL no other animals were seen. ~ . Height of this camp 6,9!6 fl'<.:L . . . . Jlug'ltsl 12.-Thc elder :Mcxic·an was c1tschaJ:ge1l, g1Vtng hun tw:o proclamation:; one for the a1 ('aIde, an other J 0 r th c pco pic of lus town. A message was sent to the alcalde to meet us at the c r os~i n g o f t h c l\ 1 o r o , wit b s c v (' r a 1 o f his chi e f m ' r1. T h c o the r Me X 1- can was retained as a guid . About 12 o'clock the advance was • |
