*- — p^ sUL ^^ — A A IN j^oirfchepn (California. mm ii ieimi n row meiico, EMMA H. ADAMS. Author of "Digging the Top Off," and Other Stories. CINCINNATI : W. WL. B. C. PRESS. 1887. * " ^^" ~ Copyright "by -$£ EMMA HILDRETH ADAMS. ¦Si .887. * F867 A3 (sTpetiefulIv" IsJecliceifeflL TO WKSi- SifrK&Ji 3EJ. JJE&Bi^Y, OF Los Angeles, California. IN iTJenjopy oj Llr)r)urr)BepC(i Jjir)dr)zsses. P^EF^CE. THIS little volume consists of a series of letters written to certain Eastern journals — chiefly to the Cleveland "Leader and Herald" — from South ern California, during the year 1884 and a few weeks in the Autumn of 1886. The writer has chosen to present them in chapters, rather than in the form of letters. In a few chapters the letters of the earlier and later sojourn have been mingled, in some instances, at the expense of perfect clearness as to the time. This the writer regrets, but having .strong reasons, thought best to adopt this plan. From its nature, the book is in but slight sense a guide to persons visiting Southern California, al though its pages embrace much reliable information about the country and its people. Still, so rapid are the changes which take place on this part of the coast, that what was true of it in 1884, and even last year, may not be true of it to-day. The writer has aimed to build, out of the many sketches and facts given, a pleasant and readable book. That the work is free from errors she dare uot affirm. E. h. a. 5 COOTEOTS. CHAPTEK. PAGE. I. Westward Bound 9 II. The Southward Run, 16 III. Its To-day and Yesterday, 20 IV. Old Times and Present Resources 26 V. The Church and School-house are the Pio neers, 33 VI. Incidents of the Second Journey, 38 VII. From Deming to Tucson, 44 VIII. Arizona 49 IX. Tucson, 55 X. From Tucson to Los Angeles, 58 XI. The City of Los Angeles, 62 XII. Invalids in Southern Caifornia 73 XIII. What Shall We Wear? 82 XIV. A Former Home of General and Mrs. Hancock, 86 XV. California's Great Historian, 94 XVI. An III Wind that Blew Good, 107 XVII. A Singular Character, 122 XVIII. The Native Californians, 131 XIX. Schools of Los Angeles, 139 XX. A Noble Pioneer, 150 7 8 CONTENTS. CHAPTER. page. XXI. Colonization Schemes, 170 XXII. Vineyards and Orange Groves, 187 XXIII. The Picos and the Surrender of Cahuenga, 200 XXIV. Time Beguiles You, 210 XXV. A Minister to the Lowliest, 217 XXVI. Roses — Pampas Grass — The Datura Ar- borea, 227 XXVII. Women as Cultivators of the Soil, .... 236 XXVIII. San Pedro, 246 XXIX. In the Santiago Canon, 257 XXX. A Wonderful Flower Festival, 267 XXXI. From Los Angeles to San Francisco, . . . 277 TO £^p F50 IN Southern California. i. OJeswwa^d Bound. SOON after dark of a cold December night, 1883, a carriage containing three persons, the writer being one, whirled rapidly over the glistening, snow- covered pavement toward the great Union Depot in C . Two of us had begun the journey to the far-off Pacific coast. The third occupant, after the good-bye and the parting, was to return alone into the city. Of us who were westward bound, one was very ill, and, as it proved, was in a double sense hasten ing towards the sunset. Soon we were nicely settled in the luxurious sleeper. Around us stood a gratifying array of 1 0 THR 0 UGH KANSAS. boxes and baskets, which loving hands had packed with delicacies for the invalid and substantial pro visions for the other. Time sped, and when the clock opposite the train indicated the hour for starting, but two of us were left on board. The wheels began to turn. A man took the cards off the cars and walked away. Then out of the noisy building we rolled, into star-light and snow-light. On we went, past hamlet, and town, and farm, until, soon after sunrise the second morning, we rumbled into Kansas City. Then took place those agreeable little episodes of the trans-continental journey ; the transferring our selves to the shining Pullman of the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe railway, the weighing and re-checking of baggage, and the taking breakfast. This all done, we glided off across the broad, lib erty-loving State of Kansas. Bare and desolate as were the famous plains at that season, they were made intensely interesting by the thrilling expe riences they recalled, connected with overland trav eling in an early day. Dashing along at a rapid rate, well protected from the dust and cold, and as comfortable as if in a parlor, how faintly we real ized the depressing tediousness of toiling over those dreary stretches behind a slow ox-team ! WESTWARD BOUND. 11 Armed cap-a-pie were most of those early ad venturers into the wilds of the West, with patience, hope, and courage. That is a curious and startling element in human nature, which leads men to face danger from choice; to push out from comfort into hardship ; away from privilege into privation. But so have men again and again followed the Star of Empire around the world. The sight of a vast plain, as of a great mount ain, leaves a deep impression upon the mind. Both suggest the possession of mighty power by the Archi tect of the world. As to that, power always im presses us, be it lodged in the wiuds, in steam, in the little plant forcing its way out of the soil, or in the Creator's hand, lifting the rocks up into mount ains, or rolling millions of acres out into plains, level as a floor. As we approached the western verge of the State, the country became first undulating, then hilly, and as we neared the border of Colorado it began to stand upright, while far in the west snow-capped summits appeared. It was a new thing to be able to see objects eighty miles distant, as an attache of our shining car affirmed were some of the snow- cones of the Greenhorn Range. Running on to La Junta, Colorado, where the 12 THROUGH KANSAS. road makes a decided turn towards the south, we soon had a fine view of the summit of Pike's Peak, declared by the conductor to be one hundred and fifty miles to the northward. Suddenly foot-hills, clothed with snow and cedars, sprang up all around us. Then our train began to climb, the upward tendency of our course being very perceptible. We were pushing on towards the Raton Pass, in the mountains of that name. On our right about this time, were discovered the majestic Spanish Peaks, three cones, snow-tipped and looming up finely. Arrived at the base of the rugged Raton Range, the strength of our one engine was insufficient to carry us up to the tunnel through which . the road crosses the summit. Accordingly, "Uncle Ned," one of the largest locomotives in the United States, and certainly a mighty fellow, was marched to the front to "lend a hand." And nobly did he perform the task. Sweeping up that steep grade was a splendid piece of climbing. A strong wind blew down the pass into the giant's face. The car in which we rode strained, creaked, and swayed as we went up and up, turning around this shoulder and around that. Several young ladies in the car were in terror, lest Uncle Ned should lose his foot-hold, and let them go rolling WESTWARD BOUND. 13 down the mountain-side, to become the victims of a second Tehachapi disaster. Happily he was shod for the steep roadway of steel, and no such casualty occurred. If I am correct, it has been the happy privilege of Uncle Ned to pull up to the tunnel in the Raton Pass, every westward-bound passenger train since the completion of the road to this time. Men be come attached to inanimate things, and I was told that the employees of the road have a regard for this engine, much like that a brave general feels for an intelligent horse which has borne him through many a well-fought battle. On the train, much interested in Uncle Ned's struggle for the ascendency, were Mr. James C. Warner and his wife, of Chicago, bound for Mel bourne, Australia. Mr. Warner is an English elec trician, and among that class of scientists is known as an able inventor. He goes to the Fifth Conti nent as the agent of the Western Electric Company, and in the city of Melbourne will superintend the application, to machines already in use, the latest improvements in telephonic apparatus. This com pany, he informed me, controls the system of tele phones now working in that city, and hopes, by promptly attaching thereto every important new 14 THROUGH KANSAS. appliance, to secure a market for its instruments in other towns of Australia. Mr. Warner has more the air of an unpretending farmer than of a devout student in the realm of electricity. The boundary line between Colorado and New Mexico runs through the Raton Tunnel, about mid way of its length. We crossed this line, eight thousand feet above sea-level, a couple of hours after dark. A sensation of descent, as distinct as that we had experienced of ascent in going up, told us the moment we had passed this confine. This brought us into Colfax County, New Mexico, one of the largest and most promising sections of the Territory. It is a well-known stock region of the South-west. During the night our route lay, first, amid austere mountain scenery, and then across broad mesas and plains. In the following sketches, which pertain partic ularly to New Mexico and Arizona, I have mingled the accounts of two trips across the Great American Desert, between which nearly three years inter vened. With the exception of a single episode or two, I have so woven these together as to make them read like the observations of one journey, ignoring dates, and endeavoring only to present clearly the WESTWARD BOUND. 15 facts gleaned. Instead of receiving detriment by the arrangement, it is believed the reader will rather be benefited. Should it appear necessary to intro duce a date at any point for the clearer apprehen sion of the reader, it will be done. II. <5he Southward I^uh. A STAR-ROUTE MAN. DURING the night we drew up at a small town named "Dorsey," after the famous "Star Route" Senator, now a resident of New Mexico. We had supposed this town to be located not far from Mr. Dorsey's great stock farm. But in this we were mistaken. The next station, called Springer, is the nearer his home, and is the place where he always takes the cars when bound on a visit to the outside world. Mr. Dorsey's immense farm, according to a personal acquaintance of the ex-Senator, riding in the seat next us, lies some thirty miles from the railway. Upon it he is now erecting an expensive and handsome residence, "one staircase in which," said the gentleman, "will cost him seven hundred dollars." Mr. Dorsey is the possessor of large flocks and herds, and, not withstanding the taint upon his reputation inflicted 16 ALBUQUERQUE. 17 by the memorable star-route investigation, he exerts some political influence in the Territory. ANTELOPE, A WOLF. While we were speeding over the plains in this county the second time, which was by daylight, some one raised the cry : " See the antelope ! see the antelope !" And on looking out of the windows we saw a small group of the graceful creatures quietly feed ing, a few rods from the train. And not long after, quite as rare a sight was presented, when a savage wolf stalked away from us, over the parched grass. He held his head aloft and appeared as if he did n't care a penny for the comfort of traveling by steam. ALBUQUERQUE. Morning found us at Albuquerque, the largest city in New Mexico, having a population of about ten thousand souls. The place received its name from the Duke of Albuquerque, for four years the Spanish Governor and Captain-general of New Mexico, in the seventeenth century. It is quite noted for the educational advantages it possesses, while, as yet, no efficient system of public schools maintains in the Territory. The Albuquerque Academy is a promising institution, supervised by 18 NEW MEXICO. Protestants. There is also conducted a Catholic school of considerable strength ; while on a farm near the city flourishes the United States Industrial School for Indian Children. To this even juvenile Apaches are admitted without a fear of their getting on the war-path. The school is said to have been modeled after those at Hampton and Carlisle. As certain evidences of its future growth, the city points to its central location ; to the rich val leys lying north and south of it; to its contiguous coal and mineral mines; to its importance as a rail road center, and best of all, to the activity and public spirit of its citizens. The first objects to arrest attention, on our leav ing the train for breakfast, were a dozen or less savage-looking Indians, sitting, standing, lying down, on the broad veranda of the hotel. Men and women were clad in the same costume — heavy woolen blankets wrapped -about the shoulders, and thick leggings tied above the knee. The sky was overclouded, and a fierce wind swept every inch of the piazza. Yet there they remained, bronzed stat ues, silently watching the passengers come and go, until the train pulled out southward. Not the ves tige of a smile, or an emotion, lighted up their coarse features. Possibly their thought was : ALBUQUERQUE. 19 " What wonderful beings these white-skins are !" And possibly: "What thieves and robbers!" But whatever their opinions, they will be spoken only to one another. No sooner does one interested in the human race, enter New Mexico, than he becomes curious in regard to certain Indian tribes dwelling in the Territory. By the term "Indian" I mean, not simply wild Red men, but the inhabitants of both American continents when first invaded by Euro peans. This includes the nations and tribes of the United States, the peoples whom Cortez subjugated in Mexico and Central America, and the race whom Pizarro overthrew in Peru, all of whom ethnolo gists now conveniently group together under the term, "the American race." But arousing a pro- founder curiosity are those earlier peoples, who long preceded the American race, the ruins of whose works are a marvel to-day. Of their mighty builders no reliable account can be given. The very aspect of New Mexico starts trains of thought about those old, old occupants of the land. How long ago they lived, here, in Yucatan, in Peru, no pen can tell. So we turn a leaf and write about the country. III. Its So-Day and ^esujei^day. A. MELANCHOLY LAND — NUMEROUS FORMER INHABITANTS — POPULATION TO-DAY — THE PUEBLO INDIANS — THEIR OLD CITIES — MINING OPERATIONS AND SUCCESSFUL FORM OF GOVERNMENT — THE SPANISH INVASION — NEW MEXICO AS NOW CONSTITUTED. NEW MEXICO is a quaint and singular portion of the United States. Thousands of acres of it are mere dismal stretches of sand. Yet stand where one will, mountain chains enter into the landscape. They push out into the desert in all directions, reckless, apparently, of all law and order ; so that it may truly be said : " Everywhere on its surface the extremes of scenery meet." Though a radiant, sunny region, it is yet a strange and lonely land ; a land given up to silence and the winds. True, one may not now, as did Antonio de Espejo three hundred years ago, " travel fifteen days in the province without meeting any people;" still, even in this year of grace 1883, and employing the mod- 20 ITS TO-DAY AND YESTERDAY. 21 ern mode of progress, one may ride for hours over the desolate wastes and see almost no inhabitants. Occasionally the train dashes past a low adobe hut, far away from any town, but he catches no glimpse of the inmates. There are no faces of children at the little square windows, no forms in the low door way. The ordinary tokens of civilization, seen all along the great railroads throughout the East, are absent here. Corn fields, wheat fields, and orchards are rare, except near the villages, or in the vicinity of the Rio Grande. Nevertheless, it must not be inferred that New Mexico is without population. In 1881 it exceeded in number of inhabitants any other territory of the Union, except the District of Columbia. The cen sus of 1880 gave it nearly 121,000 people, the natives being in strongest force. But what seems a little startling, unless one is conversant with the past history of this part of our country, is, that in Espejo's day New Mexico sustained a much greater multitude of people than at present. In the inter ests of Spain that officer traversed districts which embraced "fourteen, twenty, thirty, and even fifty thousand persons." This was in the northern por tion of the province, however, and these communi ties were assemblages of the Pueblo Indians, a 22 NEW MEXICO. people whom he found to be not only extremely industrious and living peaceably under their ca ciques, but also possessing many of the luxuries of life, practicing numerous arts of civilization, and exhibiting toward strangers an ungrudging hospital ity. A recent report by the Governor of the Ter ritory asserts that ten thousand of these Pueblos now dwell in New Mexico, and offer to the student of ethnology a subject as fascinating as when the Spaniards invaded the land. An intelligent writer upon the times and history of these ancient New Mexicans, says of them, substantially : "They were a nation who lived permanently in homes, some of them in houses built of stone, five lofts in height. They tilled the soil; constructed irrigating ditches to water their corn fields and gardens; made thoughtful provision against famine; wove cloths; wore painted mantles; had articles of dress embroidered in needle-work; used jewelry made of the turquois, emerald, and garnet; and administered wholesome laws, generations before the landing of Columbus." New Mexico abounds in legends and folk-lore relating to this race. And the many remains of ancient towns and cities, planted by its members on her hills, plateaus, and desert borders, tell in some ITS TO-DAY AND YESTERDAY. 23 degree how they lived and have passed away. Old mines, "caved in and covered up," together with "ruined smelters, surrounded by heaps of imperish able slag," evince their knowledge of the minerals with which the mountains teem. The broken pottery, sacred images, and other domestic relics left by them, have rendered New Mexico a delight ful field for the archseologist and antiquarian for nearly a half century past. A district particularly rich in these ancient tokens is the county of Rio Arriba, in the north western part of the territory. Here the traveler finds himself in the old realm of the Cliff Dwellers, where now may be seen the ruins of many of their villages, and where, buried out of sight beneath mounds of slowly accumulated soil, lie numerous others. " Judging by the depth of the earth above them," says one of the officials of that county, "this people must have settled the country thousands of years ago." Some of their ancient cities were of vast extent. Remains of them exist in the valleys, on the mesas, on the mountains, and far up the sides of rocky cliffs, which present an almost perpendic ular front. But between the era of the prosperous Village 24 NEW MEXICO. Indians, and the domination of the Americans in New Mexico, there intervened another nation. It came into the country bearing the gospel of peace in one hand and the sword in the other; came in to vanquish, not to uplift and improve. It built royal edifices, "exacting from the hitherto happy Pueblos" slavish and unrequited labor. And not seldom did it inflict upon them the cruel punishments of the Inquisition. By its rapacious policy was begotten, in the course of years, a spirit of revolt and revenge which, in 1680, turned the peaceful province into a scene of furious incendiarism and bloodshed. Perhaps nowhere on either of the American continents where the Spaniards obtained sway, did they display toward the races they subjugated a greater tyranny, or a more studied treachery, than in the country by themselves called, " The Kingdom and Province of New Mexico," and which then included, besides the New Mexico of our day, the whole of Arizona and a portion of Colorado. The invasion of the Spaniards took place "about one hundred years before the Pilgrims set foot upon Plymouth Rock." Yet to-day the strong and ornate structures they reared, some in ruins, others in comparatively good preservation, occupy many a vantage ground of the region. Thus one finds here ITS TO-DAY AND YESTERDAY. 25 the eloquent works, as well as the living represent atives of two former races, both of which have lost control of the country. All this, and more, tends to throw over the Territory of New Mexico a fas cination and an air of romance which years will fail to dispel. Indeed, in greater or less degree, the same weird interest is aroused by all this dreamy, desert portion of the United States. The vegeta tion is unique. A blue haze veils the mountains. The distances deceive. The mirages are illusions. At the close of the Spanish dominion there succeeded the Mexican rdgfme. This, in turn, was followed by the American occupation in 1848, our Government having acquired New Mexico in that year by the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. IV. OLD (9IMES AND H^ESENffl l^ESOUl^GES. ITS AREA — CHIEF CITIES — OLD CITY OF SANTA FE — GOVERNOR'S RESIDENCE — OLD CHURCH OF SAN MIGUEL — ROCKY MOUNT AIN MEN — RESOURCES OF THE TERRITORY — PRODUCTS — AND FOUR RIVERS. NEW MEXICO, as now constituted, contains an area of 121,201 square miles. Its average breadth is three hundred and sixty-seven miles; its average length, three hundred and thirty-five miles. Among the names of its counties we find the illus trious ones of Lincoln, Grant, and Colfax. Its chief cities are Santa Fe, the capital, Albuquerque, already mentioned, and the point at which the At lantic and Pacific Railway leaves the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe road for San Francisco, Los Vegas, celebrated for its hot springs, Las Cruces, Silver City, Deming, and some others. In age and historic interest, as well as in legend ary charm, Santa Fe, colonized and re-named by the Spaniards in 1598, stands pre-eminent. Prob ably no other spot in all this lower portion of our land is so rich in old Indian traditions, in memories 26 OLD TIMES AND PRESENT RESOURCES. 27 of the relentless Spanish rule, and in reminiscences of the intrepid Rocky Mountain fur traders. Its plaza, streets, buildings, and some special precincts, are eloquent with the deeds of the three races which have successively held sway there. Prior to the Spanish settlement, the place was the governing center for a group of Indian villages which were confederated under one cacique, and enjoyed a remarkable prosperity, if we may credit the testimony of their conquerors. These were vil lages of the gentle "Tanos people," upon whom were executed, after 1662, some of the harsh edicts of the Inquisition. Among the points of attraction belonging to a former day are the old Church of San Miguel, the Cathedral of San Francisco, Fort Marcy, certain old landmarks of the American fur traders, and the structure called the Governor's Residence. The latter is said to be the oldest, and the only building in the United States, preserved since the Spanish sway, which is distinctively called a palace. It is now familiarly known as the Governor's Residence, and is occupied by the American Governor of the Territory. No single feature of the old city excites more interest in the minds of visitors than does this dwelling. 28 NEW MEXICO. It is a one-story, adobe structure, with very thick walls, like all such works left by the Span iards, and is supposed to have been erected by Count Penaloza, chief executive of the province, about 1662. Around it cluster volumes of histor ical associations. One of its distinctions is the great number of titled people which have been entertained within it, in royal state. Considering its location, in the heart of a great country, and the fact that from no direction could it be reached, except by traversing arid stretches of vast extent, or by cross ing mountains rugged and bold, this feature is all the more noteworthy. Among its guests have been envoys of the kings of Spain, Mexican officials, and distinguished citizens of the United States. Penaloza, so runs the history, possessed not only a decided taste for building cities and fine edifices, but also great tact for quelling Indian outbreaks. At the same time, he was not the man to meekly execute all the decrees of the home government. It is related that on one occasion he laid hold of a Spanish commissary-general and confined him in the palace for a week, in the hope that quietude and time for reflection might teach him official modera tion. How he succeeded is not stated. Modern writers have worked away at the ancient OLD TIMES AND PRESENT RESOURCES. 29 Church of San Miguel, until most readers know all about it. The principal facts concerning the struc ture, besides the history wrapped up in it, are the following: It is believed to be the oldest church edifice in the United States. Like scores of similar buildings in Arizona, Old Mexico, and California, it was made of adobe, with walls immensely thick. Its exterior is prison-like. In the general Pueblo emeute of 1680 it suffered partial destruction, but was restored thirty years later. Near it stands a low adobe structure, two stories in height, " known to antedate every other house in our land," it being the only remains of the ancient Pueblo village, or capital, of Analco, which, at Espejo's advent, occupied the present site of Santa Fe. In the early years of this century there flour ished, at times, in Santa Fe such notable Rocky Mountain men as Kit Carson and Captain Zebulon Pike, whose name is perpetuated by that peerless summit, Pike's Peak, and who once languished, for some little time, a prisoner in the famous " palace." Added to these were Jedediah Smith, the two Sou- blette brothers, the Messrs. Fitzpatrick and Bridger, besides a score of less eminent but not less fearless traders, trappers, and adventurers, who, in spite of 30 NEW MEXICO. great obstacles and extreme reverses, built up a rich commerce with Northern Mexico. The resources of New Mexico may be grouped under the heads of grazing, mining, agriculture, as yet carried on to an extent much below the possi bilities, horticulture, in which encouraging begin nings have been made, and endless openings for manufactures. Immense herds of cattle, sheep, goats, and horses range over its boundless pasture tracts. A glimpse of these herds is sometimes ob tained by the traveler as he flits through the Terri tory on the cars. Millions of acres are given up to this purpose. In the mountains of New Mexico lie buried in vast quantities, gold, silver, copper, coal, mica, and numerous other metals. Santa Fe County, embrac ing the celebrated Cerrillos anthracite fields, twenty thousand acres in extent, together with the Callisteo bituminous banks, of equal size, and those of Socorro County, on the eastern side of the Rio Grande, represent the wealth of a kingdom in fuel alone. Donna Ana County, one hundred and fifty miles long, one hundred miles wide, lying on the border of Old Mexico and well watered by the Rio Grande, excels in semi-tropical fruit products. OLD TIMES AND PRESENT RESOURCES. 31 Every thing may be grown there, from apples to strawberries, grown in abundance and to perfection. Onion culture is also a prominent industry of the district. The variety raised is a native of Old Mexico, and has a great reputation for size and fine flavor. In these particulars it surpasses the favorite Bermuda onion. One cultivator of the fragrant (?) edible, says: "An acre of ground will produce thirty thousand onions, averaging one pound in weight, and with skillful husbandry even fifty thou sand pounds may be obtained from the same space. The crop may be marketed on the ground at three cents per pound, and will require the steady labor of one man six months of the year. A conspicuous resource of this county is its gypsum plains, forty miles long by thirty miles wide. The mineral exists in the form of powder, and in some localities is "piled in drifts, from twenty to fifty feet in height." From a distance, it is said, these ridges resemble banks of snow. Its special value lies in its being a fine fertilizer for wheat. Four great rivers, with many lesser streams, water the Territory of New Mexico. The Rio Grande and the Rio Picos flow through its entire length, from north to south, and find their outlet 32 NEW MEXICO. in the Gulf of Mexico. The latter is the more eastern stream, and refreshes Lincoln County, an immense area, embracing about one-fifth of the Territory. Rio Arriba County is another mammoth section. Its altitude above sea-level averages seven thousand feet. Its length is two hundred and fifty miles, its width ninety miles. Through it flows the river San Juan, a strong affluent of the Colorado, and having many large branches of its own. Turning now to the north-eastern corner of the Territory, we behold rolling into populous San Miguel County, from Texas, the Canadian River, an important arm of the Arkansas. With its own multiplied tributaries it nourishes a fine series of fertile valleys. In this section the hills and mount ain slopes bristle with forests of pine and cedar. On the streams are numerous saw-mills, busy cut ting this timber into lumber, thus adding another to the resources of New Mexico. V. ©HE (sHUF^GH AND SGHOOL-I7OUSE AP^E THE E?IONEEI^S. EDUCATION IN THE BROAD WEST — PUEBLO WOMEN — OLD SANTA FE TRAIL — A NEW MEXICAN SUNSET — VENUS. BEFORE resuming the thread of my story, after this long digression, I wish to make one or two remarks on the subject of general education in this and other south-western parts of our country, and to make them in connection with Wallace, the ter minus of a division of the Atchison, Topeka, and s Santa Fe Railway, where are located the company's shops, round-house, and the like. Wallace is a point of interest, also, on account of the liberal provision it has made for the education and relig ious culture of its people, and in these respects it is a typical Western town. It is not unusual in these towns to find the church and school-house going up simultaneously with the dwellings. In deed, in my journeyings I have seen a town-site on which a church, a school-house, and a hotel were among the first buildings erected, and the men laying out the place were of the shrewdest, most 33 34 NEW MEXICO. far-seeing class. Another preliminary step was the grading of the principal streets and the laying of durable pavements. Then followed electric lights, and the next thing was a railway train thunder ing in. It has been reserved for the West, the undefined but prodigious West, to reverse the order of pro ceedings in founding towns and cities. The old plan was for a number of families to appear, one by one, on the scene, erect their habitations and get settled at their various pursuits. Then tardily fol lowed the church edifices and the institutions of learning. Now the latter are the pioneers. They move on, in advance of the people, take possession of the ground, and are ready to begin work when the men and women, the boys and girls, come up. Now returning to our journey: We were some three hours beyond Albuquerque, when, halting at a station in the desert, our car was invaded by a band of Pueblo women carrying baskets of " pin ions," a small nut gathered on the neighboring mountains, and which resembled a variety of brown bean I have frequently seen in Ohio. The fruit was sweet and pleasant to the taste, and was offered us at five cents the tumbler full. These little women THE OLD SANTA FE TRAIL. 35 were a lively company, and flitted to and fro in the car, disposing of their nuts in a very brisk, business like manner. They were clad in indescribable attire, and evidently in expectation of seeing strangers. Each woman wore upon her head about the follow ing articles : A square piece of colored cloth, a gay handkerchief, and a sun-bonnet tied with cord and tassels. The remainder of the costume was simi larly varied, both as to garments and color. There could be little question but that each one had donned her entire wardrobe for the occasion. With their coal-black eyes, alert ways, and pleasant ex pression of countenance, they were agreeable women, notwithstanding their swarthy skin, short stature, and stout bodies. THE OLD SANTA FE TRAIL. Not far to the east of us now, through many miles of the treeless desert, lay the celebrated Santa Fe Trail, formerly pursued by emigrants on their way to the great El Dorado of the West. " For a distance of ninety miles through New Mex ico," said a gentleman familiar with the Territory, "this route crossed not a single stream of running water; and to this part of it was given the name of 'Valley of Death.' And such, indeed, it was. 36 NEW MEXICO. Great numbers of men and animals fell victims to thirst upon its suffocating sands." Here and there the precise locality of the trail was pointed out to us, as we sped down the deso late expanse. Many of the small hamlets which have sprung up because the railroad is here, are as quiet and dreamy as the desert itself. No business is transacting. No hum of manufacturing is heard. No teams are at work. Not a woman is seen abroad in the streets. No child voices ring out through the heated air. And yet this is sunny New Mexico, a land which many people who have not traversed it, suppose to be clothed with verdure, radiant with flowers, and teeming with inhabitants. It was a relief, under the circumstances, to have the long, bright day wear away, and to see the sun go down. Suddenly, thereupon, fully one-quarter of the great arch overhead turned to a brilliant gold color. Half-way up to the zenith this soft ened into a faint pink, while at the horizon it deepened to a rich orange. Soon after, in the midst of the gold, appeared the fair evening star, its soft, silvery beams contrasting strikingly with the glory around. Slowly, then, night dropped her ALBUQUERQUE. 37 curtains, now concealing this range of mountains, and now that. It was nine o'clock. We were in Deming, the south-western terminus of the Atchison and Topeka road. The only hotel was crowded with guests, wait ing for a delayed train on the Southern road. Not a room remained for the passengers from the North. Happily, between the proprietor aud a housekeeper across the plaza there existed a silent partnership in the hotel business, which was made apparent on such occasions. To her house, accordingly, were we marched, an inhospitable wind chilling us to our very bones. Arrived at the place, we were conducted up an outside staircase to our rooms, in none of which was sign of fire, beyond a warm stove-pipe, which passed through one of them from below. This was kindly assigned to the sufferer in my care, and in a short time weariness and desert solitudes were forgotten in sound sleep. VI. Incidents op the Second