Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1880-11-24
LIFE IN NEW MEXICO.
New York Tribune.

SANTA FE, N. NJ, August 31-The
native Mexican population of the Terri
tory partakes more than of the character
of it's Indian than of it's Spanish ancestry.
The Pueblos, who have probably
changed as little as any of the aborigines
of this country who have lived in con-
stant contact with European civilization
although that civilization has been of
rude kind, taught the Spaniards, with
whom their women intermarried how to
build mud houses and the art of irrigat-
ing the arid fields, while the latter in re-
turn gave to the Indians their language
and religion; and the two peoples have,
for the last 200 years, lived side by side,
pursuing substantially the same occupa-
tions, and occasionally at with each other
until about forty years ago, remaining
distinct in spite of their frequent inter
marriages. The people of the Indian
towns, apparently, are to-day as pure
blooded as their ancestors two centuries
ago, although they have, in the mean
time furnished wives for generations of
Spaniards and Mexicans.
presume that there is no town in the
United States, certainly none of equal
size with Sante Fe in the streets of which
as many Indians may be seen every day
in the week as in this The Pueblos
have not adopted European customes, but
still dress in blankets and leggings, with
bright-colored handkerchiefs tied about
their heads. They live chiefly by agri-
culture and stock-raising, and contribute
not little to the supply of the city with
meat fruit and vegetables. 1t is daily
occurrence for Pueblo Indians to come
to Santa Fe from a distance of twenty or
thirty miles, bringing a quarter of a beet,
dressed sheep, hundred pounds of
'kitchen-garden sauce" firewood, apples,
peaches, or grapes, or a few pieces of In
| dian pottery upon their burros. They
! peddle their wares about the streets and
drive very sharp bargains with their Gus
toners. As rule they look as intelli-
gent Mexicans, and some of the latter
could not be distinguished from them if
they did not wear the garments of civili-
zatlon. L have seen some startlingly
strong faces among the Indians-faces
upon which the lines denoting character
are very deeply drawn, and faces that
would arrest attention wherever they
might be seen.
The Pueblo Indians, although not as
numerous as when this country was dis
covered, are not, | believe, dying out
What the effect OF the building of rail
roads and the introduction of American
civilization may be, no one eau tell. The
ruins of their former cities are freuGent-
ly stumbled upon as one travels over the
| the country, and it is by no means un-
common to find, far from any present set
Elements, mounds that seem to be almost
entirely composed of the fragments ofan-
cient Indian pottery. At San Marco
Spring, about twenty miles south ofSanta
Fe, there are some of these mounds, in
which every spadeful of earth that is
turned up contains half a dozen such
relics, and friend who was walking over
them with me the other day found frag-
ment OF an old bell as large as mans
hand, upon which remained some of the
ornamentation cast upon it as sharp in
outline as though it had only yesterday
come from the mould We also saw the
foundation of the old corrals, and gather
ed many fragments of pottery, the char
acter of which is entirely different from
that now made. 1t may be that an In
dian village has existed on the spot since
the Spanish reconquest in 1892, and that
the bell of which was found a fragment
was once upon a Pueblo church or chapel.
The more probable theory, we thought,
If the ancient character Of the pottery
picked up near it is established, is that
the bell was taken from one of the Span
ish towns after the Indian revolt of 1880;
| h =
that time destroyed the churches and car
ried away and broke up the bells, and it
may be that the Indian town itself was
torn down when the Spanish returned, or
in subsequent war.
In addition to the Pueblos, small bands
of Navajo Indians are frequently seen in
the streets Of Santa Fe selling blankets
of their own manufacture. They are
larger and nobler-looking Indians than
the Pueblos, and are rich in ponies, sheep
and cattle. Their reservation is in the
western part of the Territory, but as they
are allowed to visit the towns for the pur-
pose OF traffic | have seen only one
small company of the Navajos about the
city since came to Santa Fe, and the
reason, as have been told, is that the
present is their hunting season. and they
are in the mountains in search of game
The Navajos, as have already said, are
now at peace with the white people, and
it is to be hoped that they will never
again be provoked to hostility. They
are described by those who know them
best as noble specimens of red men,
brave, honorable and proud. They have
given much trouble, both to Mexicans
and Americans, during the last 800 years;
but in addition to their wealth in focks
and herds they are experts in chase, and
now carry on a considerable trade in
blankets and skins with the merchants of
Santa Fe and other towns in New Mexi-