Part 31

_Prerogatives of the_ WHITES.--The greater or less quantity of European blood, and the skin being more or less clear, are at once decisive of the consideration which a man enjoys in society and of the opinion which he entertains of himself. A white who rides barefooted, fancies that he belongs to the nobility of the country. Colour even establishes a certain equality between those who, as every where happens where civilization is either a little advanced, or in a state of retrograde movement, take pleasure in refining on the prerogatives of race and origin.--When an individual of the lower orders enters into a dispute with one of the titled lords of the country, it is no unusual thing {296} to hear him exclaim to the nobleman, "It is possible that you really thought yourself whiter than I am?" Among the Metis and Mulattoes, there are many individuals who, by their colour, their physiognomy, and their intelligence, might be confounded with the Spaniards; but the law keeps them down in a state of degradation and contempt. Possessing an energetic and ardent character, these men of colour live in a state of constant irritation against the whites; and resentment too often hurries them into vengeance. It frequently occurs, too, that families who are suspected of being of mixed blood, claim, at the high court of justice, a declaration that they appertain to the whites. In this way, very dark colored Mulattoes have had the address to get themselves _whitened_, according to the popular expression. When the judgment of the senses is too palpably in opposition to the solicitations of the applicant, he is forced to content himself with somewhat problematical terms; for, in that case, the sentence simply states, that "such and such individuals may _consider themselves as white_."

NEW-MEXICO.--Many French writers, and, among others, the Abbe Raynal, have spoken in pompous terms of what they term the _Empire of New-Mexico_;[150] and they boast of its extent and riches. Under this denomination they appear to comprehend all the countries between California and Louisiana. But the true signification of this term is confined to a narrow province which, it is true, is 175 leagues in length, but not more than thirty or forty in breadth.

_Towns._--This stripe of country, which borders the Rio del Norte, is thinly peopled; the town of _Santa Fe_ containing 4000 inhabitants; _Albuquerque_, 6000; and _Taos_, 9000, comprise almost one-half of the population. The other half consists of poor colonists, whose scattered hamlets are frequently ravaged by the powerful tribes of Indians who surround them, and overrun the province. It is true that the soil is amongst the finest and most fertile of Spanish America.

_Productions._--Wheat, maize, and delicious fruits, especially {297} grapes, grow most abundantly. The environs of _Passo-del-Norte_, produce the most generous wines. The mountains are covered with pine trees, maples, and oaks. Beasts of prey are met with in great numbers. There are also wild sheep, and particularly elks, or at least large deer, fully the size of a mule, with extremely long horns. According to the Dictionary of _Alcedo_,[151] mines of tin have been discovered. There are several hot springs. Rivers with a saline taste, indicate the existence of rich beds of rock-salt.

_Mountains._--The chain of mountains that border the eastern parts of New Mexico, seem to be of a moderate degree of elevation. There is a pass through them, called the _Puerto de don Fernando_, by which the Paducas have penetrated into New Mexico.[152] Beyond this chain extend immense natural meadows, on which buffaloes and wild horses pasture in innumerable herds. The Americans of the United States hunt these animals, and sometimes pursue them to the very gates of Santa Fe. The principal mountains coast Rio del Norte, following its western banks. Some peaks, or _cerros_, are to be distinguished. Further to the north, in the country of _Nabaho_, the map of Don Alzate has traced mountains with flat summits, denominated in Spanish _mesas_, that is, _tables_.

_The Apache Indians._--The _Apache_ Indians originally inhabited the greater part of New Mexico, and are still a warlike and industrious nation. These implacable enemies of the Spaniards infest the whole eastern boundary of this country, from the black mountains to the confines of Cohahuila, keeping the inhabitants of several provinces in an incessant state of alarm.--There has never been any thing but short skirmishes with them, and although their number has been considerably diminished by wars and frequent famine, the Spaniards are obliged constantly to keep up an establishment of 2000 dragoons, for the purpose of escorting their caravans, protecting their villages, and repelling these attacks, which are perpetually renewed. At first the {298} Spaniards endeavoured to reduce to slavery those who, by the fate of war, fell into their hands; but seeing them indefatigably surmount every obstacle that opposed their return to their dear native mountains, their conquerors adopted the expedient of sending their prisoners to the island of Cuba, where, from the change of climate, they speedily perished. No sooner were the Apaches informed of this circumstance than they refused any longer either to give or receive quarter. From that moment none have ever been taken prisoners, except those who are surprised asleep, or disabled during the combat.

_Manner of making war._--The arrows of the Apaches are three feet long, and are made of reed or cane, into which they sink a piece of hard-wood, with a point made of iron, bone, or stone. They shoot this weapon with such force, that at the distance of 300 paces they can pierce a man. When the arrow is attempted to be drawn out of the wound, the wood detaches itself, and the point remains in the body. Their second offensive weapon is a lance, fifteen feet long. When they charge the enemy they hold this lance with both hands above their head, and, at the same time, guide their horse by pressing him with their knees. Many of them are armed with firelocks, which, as well as the ammunition, have been taken in battle from the Spaniards, who never sell them any. The archers and fusileers combat on foot but the lancers are always on horseback. They make use of a buckler for defence. Nothing can equal the impetuosity and address of their horsemen. They are thunderbolts, whose stroke it is impossible to parry or escape.

We must cease to feel astonished at the invincible resistance which the Apaches oppose to the Spaniards, when we reflect on the fate to which they have subjected those other Indians who have allowed themselves to be converted.

_The Intendency of Mexico._--The intendency of _Mexico_, the principal province of the Empire of Montezuma, formerly extended from one sea to the other; but the district of _Panuco_, {299} having been separated from it, it no longer reaches the gulf of Mexico. The eastern part, situated on the plateau, contains several valleys of a round figure; in the centre of which there are lakes at present dried up, but waters appear formerly to have filled these basins. Dry and deprived of its wood, this plateau is at once subject to an habitual aridity, and to sudden inundations, occasioned by heavy rains and the melting of the snow. Generally speaking, the temperature is not so hot as it is in Spain; in fact, it enjoys a perpetual spring. The mountains with which it is surrounded still abound in cedars and other lofty trees, in gums, drugs, salts, metallic productions, marble and precious stones. The flat country is covered the whole year through with delicate and exquisite fruits, lint, hemp, cotton, tobacco, aniseed, sugar, and cochineal, with which they support an extensive commerce.

_Natural Curiosities._--Besides the numerous volcanoes of which we have already spoken, some natural curiosities are met with. One of the most remarkable is the _Ponte-Dios_, or the bridge of God, a rock, under which the water has hollowed itself a canal, situated about one hundred miles to the southeast of Mexico, near the village of Molcaxac, on the deep river Aquetoyac. Along this natural bridge, the traveller may continue his journey as if he were on a high road. Several cataracts present a romantic appearance. The great cavern of Dante, traversed by a river; the porphyritic organ-pipes of Actopan; and many other singular objects excite the astonishment of the traveller in this mountainous region, where he is obliged to cross foaming rivers upon bridges formed of the fruit of the _Crescentia pinnata_, tied together with ropes of Agava.

_City of Mexico._--On the very ridge of the great Mexican plateau, a chain of porphyritic mountains encloses an oval valley, the general level of which is elevated 6700 feet above the surface of the ocean. Five lakes fill the middle of this valley. To the north of the united lakes of Xochimilco, and Chalco, on the eastern side of the lake Tezcuco, once stood the ancient {300} city of _Mexico_, to which the traveller arrived by causeways constructed on the shallow bottom of the lake. The new city, although placed on the same spot, is situated on firm ground, and at a considerable distance from the lakes, the waters of which have retired, and the town is still intersected by numerous canals, and the public edifices are erected on piles. The draining of the lakes is further continued, by means of a canal which has been opened for that purpose, through the mountains of Sincoq, in order to protect the town from inundations. In many places however, the ground is still soft, and some buildings, amongst others the cathedral, have sunk six feet. The streets are wide and straight, but badly paved. The houses present a magnificent appearance, being built of porphyry and amygdaloid. Several palaces and private mansions have a majestic effect, and its churches glitter with metallic riches. The cathedral surpasses, in this respect, all the churches in the world; the ballustrade which surrounds the great altar being composed of massive silver. A lamp of the same metal, is of so vast a size that three men go into it when it has to be cleaned; and it is enriched with lions' heads, and other ornaments, of pure gold. The statues of the Virgin and the saints are either made of solid silver, or richly gilded, and ornamented with precious stones. Palaces, mansions of great families, beautiful fountains, and extensive squares, adorn the interior of this city. To the north, near the suburbs, is the principal public promenade, or _Alameda_. Round this walk flows a rivulet, forming a fine square, in the middle of which there is a basin with a fountain. Eight alleys of trees terminate here, in the figure of a star. But in consequence of an unfortunate proximity, immediately in front of alameda, the eye discovers the _Quemadero_, a place where Jews and other victims of the terrible Inquisition, were burned alive.

FINIS

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Timothy Flint (1780-1840) was a native of Reading, Massachusetts. Graduated from Harvard College (1800), he became a Congregational minister, and in 1815 went as a missionary to the Far West. Until 1822 his headquarters were at St. Charles, Missouri; in that year he descended the Mississippi in a flatboat and settled in Louisiana, conducting a seminary on Lake Pontchartrain. Ill health compelled him to return to the North (1825), and thereafter he gave his attention to literature. For three years he edited the _Western Review_ at Cincinnati; but later, removing to New York (1833), conducted the _Knickerbocker Magazine_. In addition to publishing a number of romances and biographies of Western life, he was the author of two well-known books on the West: _Recollections of the Last Ten Years Passed in the Valley of the Mississippi_ (1826), and _Condensed History and Geography of the Western States_ (1828).--ED.

[2] Josiah Stoddard Johnston was born in Salisbury, Connecticut (1784), but when a small boy removed with his parents to Washington, Kentucky. He was graduated from Transylvania University (1805), and soon after began the practice of law in Alexandria, a frontier village of Louisiana. Gaining reputation as a lawyer, he served as district judge from 1812-21, was elected to the 17th congress, and in 1823 became a member of the federal senate, where he supported a protective tariff and the other measures advocated by Henry Clay. In 1833, Johnston was killed in the explosion of the steamboat "Lyon," on Red River.--ED.

[3] James Riley (born in Connecticut, 1777, died at sea, 1840) was a sea captain, who experienced some romantic adventures. In 1815 he sailed from Hartford on the brig "Commerce," was shipwrecked on the coast of Africa, and for eighteen months held as a slave by the Arabs until ransomed by the British consul at Mogadove. In 1817, Anthony Bleecker published from Riley's journals _An Authentic Narrative of the Loss of the American Brig Commerce, on the Western Coast of Africa, in the Month of August, 1815 ... with a Description of Tombuctoo_. The book had a wide circulation both in England and America, but until other survivors of the vessel returned and confirmed the account, was popularly supposed to be fictitious. In 1821 Riley settled in Van Wert County, Ohio, founding the town of Willshire, and in 1823 was elected to the legislature. He resumed a seafaring life (1831), and an account of his later voyages and adventures was published by his son (Columbus, 1851).--ED.

[4] This station, five miles northeast of Lexington, had been established in 1779 by four Bryan (later, Bryant) brothers from North Carolina, one of whom married a sister of Daniel Boone. It contained about forty cabins in 1782 when, August 16, it was attacked by a force of Canadians and Indians under the leadership of Simon Girty. Failing to draw the men out of the stockade, as had been planned, the Indians besieged the station until the following day, when they withdrew. For a full account, see Ranck, "Story of Bryant's Station," Filson Club _Publications_, xii.--ED.

[5] For a brief sketch of Colonel Benjamin Logan, see A. Michaux's _Travels_, volume iii of our series, p. 40, note 34.--ED.

[6] An account of the battle of the Blue Licks may be found in Cuming's _Tour_, in our volume iv, pp. 176, 177.--ED.

[7] This expedition, to avenge the battle of the Blue Licks and the attack on Bryant's Station, rendezvoused at the mouth of the Licking. A force of a thousand mounted riflemen under George Rogers Clark marched thence against the Shawnee towns in the neighborhood of the present Chillicothe. These were completely destroyed, the expedition meeting with no resistance.--ED.

[8] A footnote cannot do justice to the services of General George Rogers Clark in Western history. Born in Albemarle County, Virginia (1752), he became a surveyor on the upper Ohio. Serving in Dunmore's campaign in 1774, the following year he settled in Kentucky. Returning to Virginia to urge upon the legislature the conquest of the Illinois territory, he was made a lieutenant-colonel and authorized to raise troops for the undertaking. June 24, 1778, he set out from the Falls of the Ohio, upon his memorable campaign, capturing Kaskaskia July 4, and Vincennes the following February. See Thwaites, _How George Rogers Clark won the Northwest, etc._ (Chicago, 1903). The attack upon the Shawnee towns in 1782 was his last important work; an expedition up the Wabash against Detroit, was undertaken in 1786; but part of the troops mutinied, and Clark was forced to turn back before reaching his destination. He died at his sister's home, "Locust Grove," near Louisville, in February, 1818.--ED.

[9] The war with the Sauk and Foxes was part of the general War of 1812-15. These Indians had in 1804 signed a treaty at St. Louis, by which they surrendered all their lands in Illinois and Wisconsin. But the cession was repudiated by the Rock River band of the united tribes, who eagerly joined with the British in the hope of saving their hunting grounds. The noted warrior Black Hawk accepted a commission in the British army.--ED.

[10] For the early history of St. Charles, see Bradbury's _Travels_, volume v of our series, p. 39, note 9.--ED.

[11] Cap-au-Gris is situated on the Mississippi a few miles above the mouth of Cuivre River. In 1812 Fort Howard was erected near that point, for the protection of the Missouri frontier; its name was in honor of the governor, Benjamin Howard. Fort Howard was a shipping port of some importance until the advent of the railroads into that region, but it now exists only in name. The event here related was an attack upon Fort Howard by Black Hawk and his band, immediately after the siege of Fort Meigs (July, 1813).--ED.

[12] Fort Bellefontaine was established (1805) by General James Wilkinson, governor of Louisiana, on the site of an old Spanish fort named Charles the Prince. It was on the Missouri River, four miles above its junction with the Mississippi, and was occupied by United States troops until the construction of Jefferson Barracks in 1827. For further details, see Thwaites, _Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition_, v, p. 392, note 2.--ED.

[13] Thomas McNair was a son of Robert, a blacksmith living at Troy, about eighteen miles west of Cap-au-Gris; and a nephew of Alexander McNair, governor of Missouri (1820-24). The family had emigrated to St. Louis from Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, about 1800.--ED.

[14] As Pattie obtained his discharge in 1813, he must have yielded his command to Lieutenant John McNair, brother of Thomas, who was stationed at Cap-au-Gris during the latter part of the war. See Goodspeed, _History of Lincoln County, Missouri_ (Chicago, 1888), p. 224.

The Sauk and Foxes signed a treaty of peace in May, 1816, wherein they acknowledged the cession of 1804; but the consequent removal across the Mississippi was one of the causes of the Black Hawk War (1832).--ED.

[15] Gasconade River rises in southern Missouri, and flowing northeast empties into the Missouri about a hundred miles above the latter's junction with the Mississippi.--ED.

[16] Newport, now Dundee, is a small town on the Missouri, at the mouth of Buffalo Creek, some sixty miles above St. Louis.--ED.

[17] This was an important place during the fur-trading era. It was more commonly known as Bellevue, and was situated about nine miles above the mouth of the Platte. The first post was established about 1810, and soon passed into the control of the Missouri Fur Company, under Joshua Pilcher--hence the name of Pilcher's Post. For a sketch of Pilcher, see James's _Long's Expedition_, in our volume xiv, p. 269, note 193.--ED.

[18] Chariton was about two hundred and twenty miles up the Missouri, at the mouth of Chariton River. In 1818 the sale of government land began in that region, and the town sprang up with extraordinary rapidity. Many lots in St. Louis were exchanged for lots in Chariton, but the site of the latter is now a farm.--ED.

[19] This was Cabanne's Post, nine or ten miles (by land) above Omaha. It was established about 1822 for the American Fur Company, by J. P. Cabanne. He remained in charge until 1833, and soon thereafter the company moved its trading station to Bellevue.--ED.

[20] Silvester Pratte was born in St. Louis (1799), the son of Bernard Pratte, a partner in the American Fur Company. He did not return from this expedition, but died in New Mexico; see _post_.--ED.

[21] For the early history of Council Bluffs, see Brackenridge's _Journal_, volume vi of our series, p. 78, note 28.--ED.

[22] For Elkhorn River, see James's _Long's Expedition_, in our volume xiv, p. 240, note 182.--ED.

[23] For the Pawnee Indians, consult Brackenridge's _Journal_, in our volume vi, p. 61, note 17.--ED.

[24] This is not the stream now known as the Little Platte, for which see James's _Long's Expedition_, in our volume xiv, p. 174, note 141. Possibly it was Maple Creek, a stream which rises in the southern part of Stanton County, Nebraska, and flowing westward through Dodge County joins the Elkhorn nearly opposite the town of Fontenelle. At the time of Major Long's expedition (1820), all the Pawnee villages were situated within a few miles of each other, on the Loup fork of the Platte (see volume xv of our series, pp. 144-149), while Pattie finds a Republican Pawnee village within a day's march of the Elkhorn. Probably this was but a temporary village, as Colonel Henry Dodge (1835) and later travellers describe the location on the main Platte (see _Senate Doc._, 24 Cong., 1 sess., 209). Pattie is also the only person who mentions more than one Republican Pawnee village. It seems likely that he erroneously classed as Republican the other Pawnee villages, excepting that of the Loups (which he mentions separately)--namely, the Grand and the Tapage villages.--ED.

[25] The definiteness with which Pattie gives his dates, lends to his account an appearance of accuracy, which an examination of the narrative does not sustain. By his own enumeration of days after leaving Council Bluffs, this should be August 8. There is no indication that Pattie kept a journal, or that he wrote any account of his travels before reaching California.--ED.

[26] For the Pawnee Loups see Bradbury's _Travels_, volume v of our series, p. 78, note 44. An account of the visit of the Pawnee chiefs to Washington may be found in Faux's _Journal_, volume xii of our series, pp. 48-52.--ED.

[27] This is the golden eagle (_Aquila chrysaëtos_). The tail-feathers are about a foot long, and were especially prized by the Indians for decorative purposes.--ED.

[28] This animal is not, correctly speaking, an antelope, but constitutes a separate family. The scientific name, _Antilocapra americana_, was assigned to it (1818) by the naturalist Ord, upon data furnished by Lewis and Clark.--ED.

[29] For the Cheyenne Indians, see Bradbury's _Travels_, volume v of our series, p. 140, note 88.--ED.

[30] Pattie is altogether too far north and west to meet the Osage River. The distance from the Platte makes it fairly certain that he was on the Republican fork of the Kansas. This stream rises in Colorado, and flows eastward across the arid plains of southern Nebraska as far as longitude 98°; it there enters the state of Kansas, and following a southeasterly course unites with the Smoky Hill River at Junction City, to form the Kansas. Its name arose from the fact that the village of the Republican Pawnee was located upon it until about 1815, when these tribesmen joined the Pawnee upon the Platte.--ED.

[31] For a brief description of the Arikara Indians, see Bradbury's _Travels_, volume v of our series, p. 127, note 83.--ED.

[32] Pattie's geography is confused by his apparent ignorance of the Kansas and its branches. Hyde Park is probably a tributary of the Republican--possibly Beaver Creek, which rises in western Kansas and flowing northeasterly discharges into the Republican in Harlan County, Nebraska.--ED.

[33] The journals of Lewis and Clark contain a good description of the prairie dog (_Cynomys_ or _arctomys ludovicianus_). See Thwaites, _Original Journals of the Lewis and Clark Expedition_, index.--ED.

[34] A short account of the Crow Indians may be found in Bradbury's _Travels_, in our volume v, p. 226, note 121.--ED.

[35] Pattie is still among the tributaries of the Kansas. This must be the dividing ridge between the sources of the Republican and Smoky Hill rivers.--ED.

[36] This is the grizzly bear (_Ursus horribilis_), described satisfactorily for the first time by Lewis and Clark, who also called it the white bear.--ED.

[37] Smoky Hill River, the main southern fork of the Kansas, takes its rise in Colorado, and receiving numerous tributaries in its eastward course of nearly four hundred miles, unites with the Republican, to form the Kansas, about one hundred and twenty miles from the mouth of the latter.--ED.

[38] In Cheyenne County, Colorado.--ED.

[39] For the Comanche Indians, see James's _Long's Expedition_, in our volume xvi, p. 233, note 109.--ED.