THE OLD SANTA FE TRAIL, COLONEL HENRY INMAN [well read books .txt] 📗
- Author: COLONEL HENRY INMAN
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There Were Many People Living Who Remembered the Old Lady, And Her
Pathetic Story Of Trials And Sufferings When With The Indians.
The Most Tragic Event In the History Of The Valley Was The Massacre
Of The Provisional Governor Of The Territory Of New Mexico, With
A Number Of Other Americans, Shortly After Its Occupation By The
United states.
Upon General Kearney'S Taking Possession Of Santa Fe, Acting Under
The Authority Of The President, He Established a Civil Government
And Put It Into Operation. Charles Bent Was Appointed governor,
And The Other Offices Filled by Americans And Mexicans Who Were
Rigidly Loyal To The Political Change. At This Time The Command
Of The Troops Devolved upon Colonel Sterling Price, Colonel Doniphan,
Who Ranked him, Having Departed from Santa Fe On An Expedition
Against The Navajoes. Notwithstanding The Apparent Submission Of
The Natives Of New Mexico, There Were Many Malcontents Among Them
And The Pueblo Indians, And Early In december, Some Of The Leaders,
Dissatisfied with The Change In the Order Of Things, Held Secret
Meetings And Formulated plots To Overthrow The Existing Government.
Midnight Of The 24Th Of December Was The Time Appointed for The
Commencement Of Their Revolutionary Work, Which Was To Be Simultaneous
All Over The Country. The Profoundest Secrecy Was To Be Preserved,
And The Most Influential Men, Whose Ambition Induced them To Seek
Preferment, Were Alone To Be Made Acquainted with The Plot. No Woman
Was To Be Privy To It, Lest It Should Be Divulged. The Sound Of
The Church Bell Was To Be The Signal, And At Midnight All Were To
Enter The Plaza At The Same Moment, Seize The Pieces Of Artillery,
And Point Them Into The Streets.
The Time Chosen For The Assault Was Christmas-Eve, When The Soldiers
And Garrison Would Be Indulging In wine And Feasting, And Scattered
About Through The City At The Fandangoes, Not Having Their Arms In
Their Hands. All The Americans, Without Distinction, Throughout
The State, And Such New Mexicans As Had Favoured the American
Government And Accepted office By Appointment Of General Kearney,
Were To Be Massacred or Driven From The Country, And The Conspirators
Were To Seize Upon And Occupy The Government.
The Conspiracy Was Detected in the Following Manner: A Mulatto Girl,
Residing In santa Fe, Had Married one Of The Conspirators, And Had By
Degrees Obtained a Knowledge Of Their Movements And Secret Meetings.
To Prevent The Effusion Of Blood, Which Would Inevitably Be The Result
Of A Revolution, She Communicated to Colonel Price All The Facts
Of Which She Was In possession, And Warned him To Use The Utmost
Vigilance. The Rebellion Was Immediately Suppressed, But The
Restless And Unsatisfied ambition Of The Leaders Of The Conspiracy
Did Not Long Permit Them To Remain Inactive. A Second And Still More
Dangerous Conspiracy Was Formed. The Most Powerful And Influential
Men In the State Favoured the Design, And Even The Officers Of State
And The Priests Gave Their Aid And Counsel. The People Everywhere,
In The Towns, Villages, And Settlements, Were Exhorted to Arm And
Equip Themselves; To Strike For Their Faith, Their Religion, And
Their Altars; And Drive The "Heretics," The "Unjust Invaders Of
The Country," From Their Soil, And With Fire And Sword Pursue Them
To Annihilation. On The 18Th Of January This Rebellion Broke Out
In Every Part Of The State Simultaneously.
On The 14Th Of January, Governor Bent, Believing The Conspiracy
Completely Crushed, With An Escort Of Five Persons--Among Whom Were
The Sheriff And Circuit Attorney--Had Left Santa Fe To Visit His
Family, Who Resided at Fernandez.
On The 19Th, He Was Early Roused from Sleep By The Populace, Who,
With The Aid Of The Pueblos Of Taos, Were Collected in front Of His
Dwelling Striving To Gain Admittance. While They Were Effecting
An Entrance, He, With An Axe, Cut Through An Adobe Wall Into Another
House; And The Mexican Wife Of The Occupant, A Clever Though Shiftless
Canadian, Hearing Him, With All Her Strength Rendered him Assistance.
He Retreated to A Room, But, Seeing No Way Of Escaping From The
Infuriated assailants, Who Fired upon Him From A Window, He Spoke
To His Weeping Wife And Trembling Children, And, Taking Paper
From His Pocket, Endeavoured to Write; But Fast Losing Strength,
He Commended them To God And His Brothers And Fell, Pierced by A
Ball From A Pueblo. Then Rushing In and Tearing Off His Gray-Haired
Scalp, The Indians Bore It Away In triumph.
The Circuit Attorney, T. W. Leal, Was Scalped alive And Dragged
Through The Streets, His Relentless Persecutors Pricking Him With
Lances. After Hours Of Suffering, They Threw Him Aside In the
Inclement Weather, He Imploring Them Earnestly To Kill Him To End
His Misery. A Compassionate Mexican At Last Closed the Tragic Scene
By Shooting Him. Stephen Lee, Brother To The General, Was Killed
On His Own Housetop. Narcisse Beaubien, Son Of The Presiding Judge
Of The District, Hid In an Outhouse With His Indian Slave, At The
Commencement Of The Massacre, Under A Straw-Covered trough.
The Insurgents On The Search, Thinking That They Had Escaped,
Were Leaving, But A Woman Servant Of The Family, Going To The
Housetop, Called to Them, "Kill The Young Ones, And They Will Never
Be Men To Trouble Us." They Swarmed back And, By Cruelly Putting
To Death And Scalping Him And His Slave, Added two More To The List
Of Unfortunate Victims.
The Pueblos And Mexicans, After Their Cruelties At Fernandez De Taos,
Attacked and Destroyed turley'S Ranch On The Arroyo Hondo[27] Twelve
Miles From Fernandez, Or Taos. Arroyo Hondo Runs Along The Base
Of A Ridge Of A Mountain Of Moderate Elevation, Which Divides The
Valley Of Taos From That Of The Rio Colorado, Or Red river, Both
Flowing Into The Del Norte. The Trail From One Place To The Other
Passes Over The Mountain, Which Is Covered with Pine, Cedar, And
A Species Of Dwarf Oak; And Numerous Little Streams Run Through
The Many Canyons.
On The Bank Of One Of The Creeks Was A Mill And Distillery Belonging
To An American Named turley, Who Did A Thriving Business. He Possessed
Herds Of Goats, And Hogs Innumerable; His Barns Were Filled with
Grain, His Mill With Flour, And His Cellars With Whiskey. He Had
A Mexican Wife And Several Children, And He Bore The Reputation Of
Being One Of The Most Generous And Kind-Hearted of Men. In times Of
Scarcity, No One Ever Sought His Aid To Be Turned away Empty-Handed;
His Granaries Were Always Open To The Hungry, And His Purse To
The Poor.
When On Their Road To Turley'S, The Pueblos Murdered two Men, Named
Harwood And Markhead. Markhead Was One Of The Most Successful
Trappers And Daring Men Among The Old Mountaineers. They Were On
Their Way To Taos With Their Pack-Animals Laden With Furs, When The
Savages, Meeting Them, After Stripping Them Of Their Goods, And
Securing Their Arms By Treachery, Made Them Mount Their Mules Under
Pretence Of Conducting Them To Taos, Where They Were To Be Given Up
To The Leaders Of The Insurrection. They Had Hardly Proceeded
A Mile When A Mexican Rode Up Behind Harwood And Discharged his Gun
Into His Back; He Called out To Markhead That He Was Murdered, And
Fell To The Ground Dead.
Markhead, Seeing That His Own Fate Was Sealed, Made No Struggle,
And Was Likewise Shot In the Back With Several Bullets. Both Men
Were Then Stripped naked, Scalped, And Horribly Mutilated; Their
Bodies Thrown Into The Brush To Be Devoured by The Wolves.
These Trappers Were Remarkable Men; Markhead, Particularly, Was
Celebrated in the Mountains For His Courage, Reckless Daring, And
Many Almost Miraculous Escapes When In the Very Hands Of The Indians.
When Some Years Previously He Had Accompanied sir William Drummond
Stewart On One Of His Expeditions Across The Rockies, It Happened
That A Half-Breed indian Employed by Sir William Absconded one Night
With Some Animals, Which Circumstance Annoyed the Nobleman So Much,
As It Disturbed all His Plans, That He Hastily Offered, Never Dreaming
That He Would Be Taken Up, To Give Five Hundred dollars For The Scalp
Of The Thief. The Very Next Evening Markhead Rode Into Camp With The
Hair Of The Luckless Horse-Thief Dangling at The Muzzle Of His Rifle.
The Wild Crowd Of Rebels Rode On To Turley'S Mill. Turley Had Been
Warned of The Impending Uprising, But Had Treated the Report With
Indifference, Until One Morning a Man In his Employ, Who Had Been
Despatched to Santa Fe With Several Mule-Loads Of Whiskey A Few Days
Before, Made His Appearance At The Gate On Horseback, And Hastily
Informing The Inmates Of The Mill That The New Mexicans Had Risen And
Massacred governor Bent And Other Americans, Galloped off. Even Then
Turley Felt Assured that He Would Not Be Molested; But At The
Solicitation Of His Men, He Agreed to Close The Gate Of The Yard
Around Which Were The Buildings Of The Mill And Distillery, And Make
Preparations For Defence.
A Few Hours Afterward A Large Crowd Of Mexicans And Pueblo Indians
Made Their Appearance, All Armed with Guns And Bows And Arrows, And,
Advancing With A White Flag, Summoned turley To Surrender His House
And The Americans In it, Guaranteeing That His Own Life Should Be
Saved, But That Every Other American In the Valley Must Be Destroyed;
That The Governor And All The Americans At Fernandez Had Been Killed,
And That Not One Was To Be Left Alive In all New Mexico.
To This Summons Turley Answered that He Would Never Surrender His
House Nor His Men, And That If They Wanted it Or Them, They Must
Take Them.
The Enemy Then Drew Off, And, After A Short Consultation, Commenced
The Attack. The First Day They Numbered about Five Hundred, But Were
Hourly Reinforced by The Arrival Of Parties Of Indians From The More
Distant Pueblos, And New Mexicans From Fernandez, La Canada, And
Other Places.
The Building Lay At The Foot Of A Gradual Slope In the Sierra, Which
Was Covered with Cedar Bushes. In front Ran The Stream Of The
Arroyo Hondo, About Twenty Yards From One Side Of The Square, And
The Other Side Was Broken Ground Which Rose Abruptly And Formed
The Bank Of The Ravine. In the Rear And Behind The Still-House Was
Some Garden Ground Enclosed by A Small Fence, Into Which A Small
Wicket-Gate Opened from The Corral.
As Soon As The Attack Was Determined upon, The Assailants Scattered
And Concealed themselves Under Cover Of The Rocks And Bushes Which
Surrounded the House. From These They Kept Up An Incessant Fire Upon
Every Exposed portion Of The Building Where They Saw Preparations
For Defence.
The Americans, On Their Part, Were Not Idle; Not A Man But Was An Old
Mountaineer, And Each Had His Trusty Rifle, With A Good Store Of
Ammunition. Whenever One Of The Besiegers Exposed a Hand'S-Breadth
Of His Person, A Ball From An Unerring Barrel Whistled. The Windows
Had Been Blockaded, Loopholes Having Been Left, And Through These
A Lively Fire Was Maintained. Already Several Of The Enemy Had
Bitten The Dust, And Parties Were Seen Bearing Off The Wounded up
The Banks Of The Canada. Darkness Came On, And During The Night
A Continual Fire Was Kept Up On The Mill, Whilst Its Defenders,
Reserving Their Ammunition, Kept Their Posts With Stern And Silent
Determination. The Night Was Spent In casting Balls, Cutting Patches,
And Completing The Defences Of The Building. In the Morning The Fight
Was Renewed, And It Was Found That The Mexicans Had Effected a
Lodgment In a Part Of The Stables, Which Were Separated from The
Other Portions Of The Building By An Open Space Of A Few Feet.
The Assailants, During The Night, Had Sought To Break Down The Wall,
And Thus Enter The Main Building, But The Strength Of The Adobe And
Logs Of Which It Was Composed resisted effectually All Their Attempts.
Those In the Stable Seemed anxious To Regain The Outside, For Their
Position Was Unavailable As A Means Of Annoyance To The Besieged, And
Several Had Darted across The Narrow Space Which Divided it From The
Other Part Of The Building, Which Slightly Projected, And Behind
Which They Were Out Of The Line Of Fire. As Soon, However, As The
Attention Of The Defenders Was Called to This Point, The First Man
Who Attempted to Cross, Who Happened to Be A Pueblo Chief, Was Dropped
On The Instant, And Fell Dead In the Centre Of The Intervening Space.
It Appeared to Be An Object To Recover The Body, For An Indian
Immediately Dashed out To The Fallen Chief, And Attempted to Drag Him
Within The Shelter Of The Wall. The Rifle Which Covered the Spot
Again Poured forth Its Deadly Contents, And The Indian, Springing
Into The Air, Fell Over The Body Of His Chief. Another And Another
Met With A Similar Fate, And At Last Three Rushed to The Spot, And,
Seizing The Body By The Legs And Head, Had Already Lifted it From The
Ground, When Three Puffs Of Smoke Blew From The Barricaded windows,
Followed by The
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