OCR Text |
Show I [ 23] 40 - men. The person with whom I was convf'rsing, assured me that some ten or fourteen years ago, a wealthy individual of Santa Fe; who had been admitted to the estufas, or vaults at Pecos, and who had profaned the "eternal fire," had been ever sinee perfectly deranged. October 7.-Again I visited the ruins of the military chapel, in the plaza, in order to make a sketch of a large tablet that. stands back of the altar. This is a beautiful piece of art, and represents the principal Mexican saints. Above all is Santa Maria, then St. Jago, riding over the turbaned heads of his enemies; on the right is St. Juan de Pomasan, the back grQund ornamented with a representation of an aqueduct; under him is St. Francis Xavier, bap· tizing th.e Indians; ancl in the back gr.ound conical huts, such as are built by the rudest tribes. On the left is St. Jose, and below him St. Francisco de Santa Fe, standing on two globes. At the bottom of the tablet are two elliptical spaces, containing the fol· lowing inscriptions: + A DEVOCIONDE SENOR DN. FRANCO. ANT. MARIN DLVALLEGOVE IDES VESPOSA L'.A. MARIA IGNACIA MARTINEZ DE NADORI C.APIN GENDF;S VGARTE ANO TE REINO, E 1761. Which we deciphered as follows: A d evocion de Senor Dn. F~o. Ant. Maria del Valle, governador Y capetan general deste r.emo. Y de Su. esposa Da. Maria Ignacio de Ugarte Aiio Christiano 1761. The church was doubtless erected many )·ears pre· 'VlOUS. • Scatte:ed about through. New Me~ico, .on.e frequently meets with ' fine spectmens of ~rt, particularly od pamtmgs. These were sent over from old Spam; and, at on.e time, the Spaniards used to send over fine .workmen and artists to construct and adorn the churches. My Spamsh landlady has a fine picture of a female saint that I have endeavore~ to. purchase from her; but she conceive~ th~t it represents .the "vugm santissima." It has a dagger sticking in the heart; thi.s I .called her attention to, but she could not be induced to part wtth It. 1 Before proceeding ~urther, I d~em it proper to introduce, at this Pace, th~ notes furmshed by Lteutenant Peck with reference to th~.t ~orhon of New Mexico situated to the nort'h of Santa Fe and Pw Ike b had been. examined by Lieutenant Warner and Lieut~nant ec efore I arn ved. TfJsb notes form an important portion of this report which ~0J e incomplete without them. They properly belong' to the tho Y.of the Work? and should, therefore, be placed in it rather an tn an appendtx. . ' "The name T · · II · cing th h d aos, ongma. y gtven to the region of country em bra-by . e eal waters of a nver of the same name has long since SanuFmervnearsna d eczu stoTmh'. bet en ap· plie· d to the particular settlement of · Is own Is situated at the junction of the two 41 [ 23] · incipal forks of the "Rio de Taos," and 4 or 5 miles from the ~estern base of the Rocky ·ru ountain .range. Like most o~ the New Mexican towns it consists of a collectiOn of mud houses, bmlt around a miserable square or plaza. It contains a mixed population of 700 or 800 souls, and, besides being the capital of the northeastern department, possesses little to i.nterest the traveller. Three miles to the southeast IS another town, of about equal pretensions, called the "Rancho de Taos;" whilst at about the sa~e distance to the northeast is the celebrated "Pueblo de Taos." This village interesting in itself as a curious relic of the Aztecan age, is rend~red still more so by the recent tragic scenes that have been enacted within its walls. One of the northern forks of the Taos river on issuing from the mountains, forms a delightful nook, which the I'ndians early selected as a permanent residence. :By gradual improvement, from year to year, it has finally become o~e of the most formirlable of the artificial strongholds of New Mexi.co. On each side of the little mountain stream is one of those Iinmense "adobe" structures, which rises by successive steps until an irregular pyramidal builJing, seven stories high, presents an almost impregnable tower. Thes~, with the church a~d some few scattering houses; make up the vtllage. The whole Is surrou~ded by an adobe wa11,. strengthened in some places by rough pahsacl e~,. the different parts so arranged, for mutual defence, as. to have eltcited much admiration for the skill of the untaught engmeers. It was to this hitherto impreg.nable position that the insurgents of January 7 1847 retreated after the skirmishes of Canada and Embuda; and he.re 'made a final stand against the. American forces. 'The history of the bloody siege, lengthened resistan~e, and final capture of the place, furnishes sufficient evidt:nce of Its .strength. For weeks in succession they had, in former days, resis~ed the attack of overwhelming numbers of their wild prairie enemies, and never had the place been reduced by their Spanish conquer~rs. :Built of ''adobes " a material almost impenetrable by shot, havmg no external entr~nce except through the roof, which must be reae'hed by moveable ladders, each story. s~a.ller tha.n the ~ne below, irregular in its plan, and the whole JUdtcwusly pterced wtth loop-holes for defence the combination presents a system of for- h' fi cation peculiarly "su'i generis.". . ) These three towns constitute the principal settlements In the valley, though there are some scattering .ho·use.s al?ng the water courses. The valley may be .. eight or .mn~ mi~es m length from east to west anrl. some seven or eight miles m width from north to sout~, embr~cing about sixty square miles. Only a small portion of this is under cultivation or indeed ever can be, as no ram falls here except during the wet' season. It is necessary to irr!g~te all the cultivated land, and the small supply of water fixes .a hmit, aJ?d that a very n.arrow one, to all the tillabl~ land. In P?Int o~ sod, the ~ailey of Taos compares favorably ~Ith other port10ns of New Mexico; and ,though snow is to be seen m every ~onth of the year, on the neighboring mountains wheat and corn npen very well on the plains. These last are th~ staple productions of he country |