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Show [ 23] 96 . b t th practicability of going to the United States by the V ramo fa thoue Cane adian, the route I fo 11 o we d I· n 1845 · H. e cautio· ne·d way t tt mpt it as he had been warned by the K10ways of a me lnodt dota e ·nat·10~ of the Camanches to kill all the whites who sett eld tet ermtl to go through the·u country, an d th ere f ore he had shou ta empersons to his trading houses on ''El Rio Caiindiano." not· sehno stainley fpe eling on the part of I d' h b J t~e n 1ans ~s een pro · uce.d rbl:he reat mortality which ~a~ thiS year prev~ded among theu Y.ld g h'ch these sup erstltwus J'eople attnbute to sorcery, scah i in rent,h ew w1h ites have made a great. me d.I c·m e, an d h ave bl own an evil ~;eath upon our children, and they vow to wreak vengeance upon the white man. D b 25 ~As to day is Christmas, we endeavored to make ecem er · . D · h d c · our time pass as pleasantly as poss1ble. . urmg t e ay aptatn Fischer's company of Germans paraded m the plaza; th~y were · 11 t d1 · sc1'pline and excellent order, and have worthtly been m exce en " Th di nified by the soubriquet of the "star ~ompany. ey a!ere· a~ded with pride by ~11 Am.ericans and with awe by the ~extcans. g We were quite anxiOus wtth regard to the safety of Lieutenant W lk . Colonel Price's adJ'utant. He had been sent to arrest Diea ei' . C I l p . ' 0 Archilet; in the evening, whde we were at o one r~ces ua~ters, he entered; he h~d no~ been able to capture the M~x~c~n, ;nd said that while searchwg hts hous.e, the. people of. the ~tctmty collected and manifested the most decided d1sapprobatton?. m !act, they assumed quite a threatening attitude, and seemed half wchned to attack him and his party. . A seconcl detachment was sent off to capture Salezar, that mfa· mous man who cut off the ears of the Texan prisoners who. dted on the route from San Miguel to Chihuahua. . ·. In the evening two other prisoners ~ere brought m; they h~d been exciting the Indians of Santo Dommgo, and had succeeded tn organizing a body of 300 Pueblos, when the plot reached the ears of some officers, who immediately started with a company of menf and appearing suddenly before the to~n, they g~t hold of one 0 principal chiefs and threatened to bnng the artdlery from ~anta ·Fe and level the town with the ground, unless the two Mex1cans were given up., and they were instantly surren.dered. . . At night we walked through !he city; patrols ~ere marchwg tn all directions. During the mght the countersign was changed, which caused us to be arrested by one of the sentinels. Fortud nately, the officer of the .day, Captain Weightman, was near, an relieved us from our prechcament. . December 2Q.-I spent the day in preparations for my JOurneJ~ As the wagon that I had brought had been much wracked br tf rough roads over which it had p;issed, I · therefore exchanged tt 0 ~ another, and procuretl some tools that would be useful in case 0 any breakage. 1· This evening Governor Brent gave an entertainment at theJa. ace, which had formerly been occupied by ex-governor Don dn· uel Armijo. We had all the luxuries of an eastern table, and e lightful champagne in the greatest abundance. Indeed, we con· 97 [ 23 J· 1 ·t as better to revel in the halls of the Arm1jos, than to cl~~f\ni t:e halls of the Montezumas, for the latter were poor unr~ .1. 1 Indians while the former may, perhaps, boast to be of CI VI JZet < ' • A the blood of the Hid a I gos of Casttle an. ~~ rragon. , . December 27.-I had postponed leavmg Santa. Fe unh! Monda . nevertheless, I was obliged to attend to busmess durmg the da~~ I found that some of the men whom I had eng~gecl. had bt>en temp t ecI, by the price that the go.v ernment \vas offec1t ng for mu.l esd, to dispose of those they had obtamed at low rates ~ 1en we passe through Socorro. Men who would thus break t~e1r engagements and promises were no loss to me. So I had t~1e1r places fi.lled by .others; indeed, I had more applicants than I Wished to re.cetve. 1 called to take leave of Colonel Price, a~cl he most. ktndly f~rnished me with copies of all the papers relating to the Intended In-surrection. I now found it impossible to obtain the funds which would be necessary to buy corn, and to defray the expe~ses of my party clown the Missouri river. At length, Mr. St. •Vram generously offered to let me have sufficient for my journey. December 28.-This morning ·we hacl a severe snow storm, which prevented my starting ~t da~light, as. I had intendecl; for I proposed reaching the rums of Pecos m one day. The snow fell heavily, so that we could not see the road; but, as the sky showed signs of the storm clearing a way, I started off my command at g o.0' clock. We had a difficult time clambering up the sterp sides of the mountain. The ground was frozen hard, the rocks slippery with. snow and ice, and our animals, unable to get firm ·footing, were ~onstantly fallin5. When we reached the mountain summit, which 1s about 11 milles from Santa Fe, we found a party of volunteers ·encamped there. They had built large fires of pine logs, and were so busy warming themselves that we could not get a word from them. Still further on, we met the alguazil, Richard Dallum ··who had succeeded in arresiing Salazar. ' Our road was strewed with the carcasses of oxen. Some were half devoured by the wolves and ravens, others had not been dead long, for the birds of prey had only torn out their eyes. Constantly encountering these repulsive sights, we at length reached the canon. from whi~h Armijo so "ingloriously fled," and then en ·campecl In. the ne1gh~orhood of a large train of commissary wagons, which were gomg to Santa Fe. The wagoners had been. grea~ly annoyed by the lnd ians, in crossing the prairies· they told us frtghtful tales of the bold daring of the savages. ' w J?ecember 29.-. T~e sun now ca.me forth from among the clouds, htch he .soon chsstpated, and his warm rays rapidly melted the :~w a~d Ice, which impeded our progress. In several of the dee ete~:~im gorges the lofty crags of granite beetle. so high that a~ h d shadow rests around. In such places the snow and i.:e their af:~~~ulated, and our animals found great difficulty to keep I procured 7 a beautiful jay, "corvus stellarius," and was able t() |
