The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1881-12-31
DROWSY OLD SANTA FL.
A Lazy Latitude and QUAINT old Town.
at is not dead but sleepeth, "


been able to keep awake long enough to find out
what Is gong on or whom it belongs to. Nearly
three hundred years have passed since 1t dropped
into It's profound sumber and ever since IL has
been dreaming the sunny days away. During its
long "suuozc" Kingdoms have risen and fallen
and empires tottcrcd to the ground, aud even its
own form Of government has changed many
times, but Santa Fc sleeps on.
at is funny old town. and seeing ii one is
reminded OF Mark Twaiu's comments on Tan
gicr: at seems like profenation to laugh and
Jest and handy the frivolous chat OF our day amid
its hoary relies Only the stately phraseology
and measured speech Of the sons OF the prophet
are suited to II venerable antiquity like THIS.
Here is u crumbling wall that was old when Co
lumbus discovered America; was old when Peter
the Hermit reused the l,nightly men Of the Mid.
die Ages to arm for the first crusade; WAS old
when Charlamague aud his paadns beleagured
enchanted castles, and battled with giants and
rcn in the tabled days OF o!den time; was old
when Christ and his disciples walked the earth;
stood where it stands to-day when the lips II
Memnon were vocal, and men bought and sold in
the streets Of ancient Thcbes.' But Santa Fc Is
not as old as Tangier; and just now old it is no
one knows, for It's foundation is lost in the mist
Of ages. 1t was the home of the Aztec and his
predecessors centuries before the new world was
discovered II was u prlmcval stronghold before
the Spanish conquest, and lOurishiug city be
fore Plymouth had name, and a town OF as
great importance as now when Pennsylvania
was wilderness and the Dutch governor was
slowly drilling The knckerbocker ancestry In
the difficult evolution Of marching around the
town pump. At all events it claims the name
of being the oldest city in the United States, q
claim that is easily admitted when we consider
that it was populous "Indian Pueblo when the
first Spaniards entered America through MeXi.
90, forty-iye years after Columbus discovered the
Western Continent, and invaded this region and
made Santa Fc their capital, as it had been the
capital Of the Montezumas centuries before
them" But the history Of The City Of Holy
Faith, which is the religious name Of Santa Fe,
is an eventual one, as ever since the advent Of
the Spaniards to within recent period its annals
have been stained with violence, contention and
bloodshed. AID yc; during all these ages and
trlbulations Santa Fe has not changed in charac-
ter or STYLE but is much the same old town that
it was three hundred years ago. There are the
same irregular narrow streets as of Old; the same
old mud covered tat.roofed ado5es that have
stood for 50 many ages and are likely 10 remain
for ages yet 10 come, # let alone, built Of sun.
dried brick made of mud and straw precisely as
brick were made in the days Of Pharoah; the
same swarthy dark eyed population. speaking
A.. a..
grind II mill precisely rs the women ground in
Palestine in the long ago; drawing water from
wells with rope and bucket rs Jacob did when
he kept his tlocks. Their dress and clothes are
oi the most primitive style and fashion. The
women wear shawls over their heads and faces,
sitting around on walks and piazzas, talking and
chatting and smoking cigarettes all the day long.
The men with their dusty faces almost covered
with a broad brlmmcd sombrcro, driving burro
with load Of wood, which they spend all day
cutting, another bringing to town, third stand
ing about waiting for purchaser und fourth
in returning home; and all they get is twenty five
cents for the load But all show the print.
tive ways and methods as derived from the abo.
rhymes, which foreign influences may have mod
flied but not changed
Santa Fe as well "a being the oldest city ON the
American continent is also the oldest; but IN re-
ahty is nothing more than a collection of mud
hus called "adohcs," with sprukling here and
there of modern structures. But Santa fe Is ex.
clusivcly Mexican, and a Mexican town or vii.
lagc in style Of architecture may be impressive
bat IL is not at all enchanting and what it looks
| like is hard TO convey in writing. But--as sta.
ed in previous lctter-suppose you take II few
hundred large sized dry goods boxes, cover them
over with mud, leaving Il small hole for door
and place link of sewer pipe for chimney,
scatter them about on the ground without any
regard to streets, and you have a Mexican village
No trees, no shrubs, no Hover gardens, no gras
sy plats or anything Of that nature relieves the
monotosy. Vary this little, enlarge the size o
the boxes, sandwich them few and far between
with n modern structure, and place them all on
broad plain with high barren mountains in the
back ground and you have Santa Fe. But TO b,
more illustrative, the houses are for the mos
part adobes, and an adobe is one story sQuar,
house, built of sun-dred bricks, each about 81,
inches wide, three inches thick and about lively,
inches long, these are placed one above the 9th
er, Ar In our brick-ped cities, until the requsit,
height is reached, which Is about seven feet
leaving a place for door but seldom for win
dow. The roof is Hat and covered with frou
three to four feet of dirt to keep out the we
when it rains. This, when complete, is Al
adobe house, front view. The main entranc,
opens on an interior square upon which all tn,
rooms in the house open. Their houses are con
yenient, being all on the ground floor and from
the thickness of the walls are cool in summe
and warm in winter. Seen at distance the
present the appearance Of sliced brick.kilns, or
fleet Of fiat boats moored at the foot OF noun
ltain."
THE PLAZA,
Ior square round which all centers, and like Rom
all streets lead there, contains an area Of abou
,wo acres, enclosed with a wooden fence. an
l. =.