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Show [ 23] • 30 " s Miguel " and thence up the valley of th~ Pecos. Near the ce:~ry we n~ticed a number of. tame pigeons; these and chickens were the only fowls that we noticed. . . Our road now lay by the foot of ~ h 1gh b 1 uff th.at raised its st 600 feet above the valley. Its stdes clothed w1th groves of cr~ar and pinon. The groves on each sioe of t~e road were full of ~:ellar jays, (garrulus ~telleri,) re.d shafted flickers,. and r~bins; the woods were vocal with the vaned n?tes of the.se hvely bnds. As we journeyed along we were contmua11y seem_g most motly roups of human beings; sometimes we n:et Ion~ trams of men and g omen mounted on mules; the senoras wtth their heads enveloped · : their "rebosas," the men wi~h th~ir pan~aloons open at the side from their hip .down, t_hus displaying th.eir ~mple dra~ers. of white linen and wtth their heels armed w1th Immense Jinglmg spurs. So~etimes we met single coup1.es mounted on the same mule. Most of these men were armed With naked swords that .lay close against the saddle. At one time we passed a group of Indians; they had pack mul ~s lade~ with buffalo robes and_ meat. T?eir jet black hair was tied up 111 short stumpy queues \Ylth some Jtght colored ribbon. They told me that they were "Teguas" Indtans; that they had been far out on th.e prairies trading with the Camanches and were now going to sell their robes in Santa Fe. A; we neared the ancient village of Pecos, we r.rossed the river in the neighborhood of a fin~ spring, where we found two large trains of wagons; one belonging to Mr. McGoffin, and the otherto Mr. Algier; they were repairing wheels, for the dryness of th~ ~tmosphere is such that nearly all the wagons that cross the prames must here have the tires cut. . In the afternoon I went out upon the hills to see the ancient cathedral of Pecos. The o]d building and the town around it are fast crumbling away under the hand of time. The old church is built in the same style as that of "San Miguel-," the ends of the rafters are carvP<;t in imitation of a scroll; the ground plan of the edifice is that of a cross. It is situated on a hill not far from the winding course of the river. High ridges of mountains appear to converge until they almost meet behind the town, and through a little gap one catches sight of a manificen t range of distant peaks that seem to mingle with the sky. The village of Pecos is famed fo: the residence of a singular ra~e of Indians, about whom many cuneus legends are told. In thetr temples they were said to keep an immense serpent, to which they sacrificed human victims. Others say that they worshiped a per· petual fire, that they believed to have been kindled by Montezuma, and that one of the race was yearly appointed to watch this fire. As the severity of their vigils alwa) s caused the death of the watchers, in time this tribe became extinct. Again, I have been told that some six or eigl1t ?f the~r peo_Ple were left, and that they took the sacred fire and went to l1ve with the Pueblos of Zuni. The. scenog.raphical arran_ge~ent of the surrounding c~untry is remarkably p_t~turesq:ue; the VIew of Pecos, as it now Jies, without the least addttlon, would form a beautiful picture, and more than a • 31 [ 23] picture, (or every cloud, every degree that the sun moves, gi':'es such vaned effe·cts to the landscape, that one has a thousand pictures · but their effects are so fleeting, that although they last long enough to delight the spectator, it would yet perplex the artist to catch these changes. For my part, I tried, and tried in vain, until at last some large night herons came sweeping over my head, and warned me that the shades of evening were drawing on, when I returned to camp. September 27.-Santa Fe is now within 29 miles of us, and we at length feel as if we were about to reach the "ultima thule" of our wishes. Although the road wa difficult on account of the high hills and deep defiles over which we would have to pass, yet I determined to enter Santa Fe this day. I proceeded somewhat faster than the wagons, and before long overtook two Spaniards on their way to the same place. As they knew the route perfectly, I accepted their proffered guidance through the short cuts by the canons in the mountains. At length we reached Armijo's canon. Here we found plenty of cool water, where we all dismounted to allow our mules a little rest, when my friends produced from their walJets some sweet " bizcochos," which they persisted in sharing with me. I by good luck had some huffalo tongue in my pocket, that added not a little to our rural repast. We again mounted, but, before proceeding. far, met a man driving a "carreta." My amigos now signified their intention of stopping some time, and, bidding me" vaya con dios," I left them and hurried on, for a time following the course of the stream which is a ' tribut c. ry of "Rio de Galisteo." , I now left the stream and commenced the steep ascent of the mountains, whose sides are overgrown with the pitch pine and the pinon. On the far side of the steep I met Colonel Ruff, of the Missouri volunteers, returning to the United States, and Judge Houghton, one of thejudges of the supreme court of New Mexico. We stopped to exchange what news we had , and then separated, I with a new impulse to move forward, for I ]earned that Santa Fe was but 12 miles distant. About 5 o'clock I came in sight of a square block of mud buildings one story high. In a little while after, I caught sight of the flag of my country waving proudly over some )ow flat roofed buildings that lay in the valley. I knew this must be Santa Fe. I hurried on, and was soon seated amongst my friends, who looked upon me as one awakened from the dead. 28th.-I was much surprised with the manners of the Mexicans at a funeral. They marched with great rapidity through the streets near the church, with a band of rnus:c. The instruments were principally violins, and these were played fu_riously, sending fort~ wild raging music. The corpse, t~at o.f a child, wa~ expos~d to VIew, decked with rosettes and flauntmg nbands of varrous brd- 1iant hues, and the mourners talked and laughed gaily, which seemed to me most strange. I was told, too, that the tunes played were the same as those which sounded at the fandangoes. In the morning I called upon Governor Bent, who, to all the |
