Cheyenne transporter. [volume] (Darlington, Indian Terr.) 1879-1886, 1884-03-28
TRAVEL IN MEXICO.
Saltillo to Zacatecas.


Ward in the Troy Budget, are sheer
fabrications, evolved from the imagin
alton of voluble travellers, who thus
add interest to the narration of their
own exploits. BY the regular stage
route there are many discomforts to be
encountered in the way of "bed and
board, and one finds it wise to carry
generous lunch basket along and
supply of blankets-if not gatling
gun or a hammer with which to fight
the vermin which nightly assail him.
In setting out for IacatecaS distance
of over five hundred miles, Betsey and
| received no end of coincidence and
sympathy from all our little world for
the perils and hardships we were about
to undergo. But we never had Il
pleasanter journey in any land than
that seven days ride over the noun
tains and into the heart of the interior.
But we did not patronize the stage
line. The money train as it Is
called, is an established institution,
which everybody travelling in this
direction ought to understand and
profit by. Its conductor, Senor Don
Daniel Sada, is known and loved
throughout the country as genial
gentleman and the brave man who
would protect his passengers and their
property with his life, if need be. For
several years he has made a business
of carrying treasure between the border
and the interior, often to the amount
of half million dollars at Il single
trip. Beside the money and baggage
wagons, the train consists of comfor-
table ambulances fitted up with every
travelling convenience, an armed
escort sufficient for any emergency,
supply a small army. The latter fris-
Ky creatures, harnessed six to each
coach and frequently changed,
whisked us over the hills and val
leys of this wonderland all too
quickly; for the interest never flags
and the gypsy life is a perpetual tonic
for health, appetite and spirit. The
train halts two hours at midday and
stops every night before sunset. Each
resting place is at a rancho or hacienda
where is a house with comfortable beds
for the passengers The campfire is
particularly alluring, the armed guard
posing around it so exactly like the
chorus in an opera that one momentari-
ly expects them to burst out into sing
ing, while fiercely-bearded cooks stir
their concOctions, with great horse
pistols dangling from well-tilled cart
ridge belts in such dangerous proX-
unity to the flames the wonder is we
are not served with human hash for
dinner. Then the eating out-of-doors,
at early morning and balmy evening,
and under the shade of spreading
palms ut noon-day, with cross-legged
stools, camp table, tin plates and other
suitable accessories, is never failing
delight, especially as Senor Sada S
menu includes the very fat of the land,
supplemented by wine, napkins and
all the luXuries of civilization Christ
mas day found us on the road. and YOU
may imagine our visions of Home
Sweet Home, in the mountains of this
summer land, when we could hear
hungry coyotes crying all night long in
the cactus bushes surrounding our
camp. A few miles from Saltillo we
pass Buena Vista, the field made fa-
nous by the American invasion of '46.
The hill held by Taylor is still crowned
by ruined forts and at its foot the ar
royo over which both armies crossed,
once Redeemed by human blood, is now
dry of water. The real battlefield,
Angostura, shows no traces of war 5
alarms, but is now swarming with
pigs, dogs and children, in the midst
of which stands long, low adobe casa
bearing the suggestive name, 'La Re
forma. Two days later we cross the
celebrated mountain pass, Puerle del
Capulin, which was once the favorite
hiding place of Indians, and afterward
of not less murderOus brigands.