Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1885-08-22

men were searched, their pistols and am
munition first secured, their money
watches, etc. The trunks and treasure-box
of the coach were by no means neglected
and occasionally even worse things oc-
CURED when the salteadores CHANGED to be
in need of new apparel. In such cases
passengers We're generally reduced much
to the condition of our first parents
before fig leaves came into fashion, some
times single garment being kindly left 10
each out of respect to the ladies.
PLUMBER DIVIDED WITH VIRGIN MARY.
But these enlivening incidents of travel
are mostly i'll the past, and to-day one may
journey with comparative safety almost
anywhere in Mexico. Formerly all plum
der was religiously divided with the Virgin
Mary, the robbers hoping thereby to pur-
chase heavens indulgence But in these
degenerate days, when most of the poor
knights are reduced 10 manual labor to
keep the wolf from the door, even churches
are sometimes oYerhauled and the Virgin
herself is robbed as often as ANYBODY
All the highways and bywavs of Mexico
are strewn with thousands of rude crosses.
each with its heap of stones, marking way
side murders. These are especially
numerous along the road to ia
lapa; but the traveller may con-
sole himself with the assurance that
II assassinated, his murderers will tarry
long enough to set up a cross over his re
mains and mutter prayers for his unshriven
soul; and through all the years every
passer by will also say a prayer and toss a
pebble upon his grave in token that the
plous duty has been performed-till such
a mighty pile has accumulated that Gabriel
will be puzzled how TO get him out There
is a small village on this route containing
about thirty houses, eUery one of which was
robbers nest in the good old DAYS but
now that the tramway and steam car have
so demoralized the bandit business. the ex-
knights are living in peaceful responsibility
on the profits of former industry Mr..
John Murphy, whom everybody knows in
these parts, was personally acquainted
with allsthe professional salteadores along
the route, and realized fully that his life
was not worth cent unless he stood in"
with them to a certain extent. The
doughty little lrishman, who is as brave as
lion, though not much bigger than
dwarf, though faithful to the Government
and to the trust reposed i'll him by his
patrons
NEVER BETRAYED ONE OF THE ROBBERS,
Or their haunts; and they, in turn, pro-
tected him and his passengers on many oc-
casions. For many years he made regular
trips from Gull to Capital charging $500 in
gold for carrying a single passenger, and
letters at SIC per Ouncel And ten years ago
il was well worth IT, considering the dan
gers to be encountered, and that each time
the journey was to be made he settled all
his worldly affairs and babe farewell TO wife
and children, expecting never to return.
Lubricate his memory with a drop o the
crayture," and he will entertain you for
l,a I,ath
singular fruit-no less than forty-seven sal
| teadores having gone sllyward suspended
upon it; numerous other trees which served
the same useful purpose; thickets wherein
the murdereTs divided the spoils, and no
end of other cheerful anecdotes for
getting his own experience in the terrible
dungeons of San Juan de Ulloa, in the Vera
Cruz harbor, where he was thrown by or
der of the Government for having (innO-
Gently been first to bring news OF French
successes in the interior!
Forty miles on our journey brings US to
Rinconada, where the mules are changed a
second time. and a good meal is served by
Frenchman in the employ Of the tram
way company, who not only knows good
wines, but how TO compound an omelette
and brown q chicken to perfection.
GENERAL SANTA ANA, by THE WAY.
MOI III lIp4u l4iiS punt VIC Nvt-LC ~
Emerro, the once magnificent country res
idence of General Santa Ana most beau
| tiful spot, perhaps not so productive as
another of his numerous estates. called
Manya de Clavo, farther down in
| the lowlands, but more salubrious.
| In civil wars he had often made 4
stand here, and had learned to appreciate
the loneliness Of the spot long before he
was rich enough to own foot of land any
where-for the mcager pay Of 4 Mexican
officer barely sutices Tor current needs.
Mexico has produced no more remarkable
man than this same Antonio Lopez de
Santa Ana, whom Americans remember by
! his exploits in Texas, as The Butcher of
| the Alamo" During his extraordinary
career he was engaged in no less than eight
pronunciamentOs-dye Of them made by
| himself, and the rest made by others for
! his benefit Twice he was chosen President
| By the anti-CathOlic party, and three times
was made ruler by the opposing ecclesiasti-
cal party. Twice he was banlshed from
| Mexico, and each time recalled and placed
| at the head of affairs Twice, when taken
prisoner his captors held long consulta-
| tons about putting him to death. He was,
| in turn, the candidate Of all parties,
serving all factions faithfully in
turn - but serving himself most
| faithfully at all times. Actively
employed through life as politician and a
! soldier. he yet found time to readjust the
| whole complex system Of Mexican laws,
and in a series of volumes Of autocratic
| DEGREES drew from that chaotic mass sys-
tenn Of jurisprudence that will stand as a
monument to his genius. Yet this great
! soldier, once the idol of the people and the
| richest man III Mexico, died in AFFECT pow
erty in the year 1875.
THE FAMOUS CERRo GoRDo.
About ffty-fve miles from the coast
stands Cerro Gordo, the fat hill famous
| in the annals of the Mexican war, that
| guards the narrow pass through which our
army came. The road is everywhere com
manded, and no other trail is possible
among these wild nights and impossible
| lagoons. General Scott had to throw Skin
mishers on all these ridges before his troops
| could come through the long and perilous
pass, which is lust wide enough for the
road to run. Concerning the passage OF
| Cerro Gordo q celebrated English writer
reluctantly yields our men this faint praise
| That 10000 Americans should have been
| able to get through the mountains at all
and to reach the capital is an astonishing
| thing but after that, their success in the
valley of Mexico followed as matter OF
! course. Never could they have crossed the
| mountains but for a combination of circum-
stances"
Not far from the narrowest portion OF
Cerro Gordo Pass trail DIVORCES to the
left, leading to ridge where cannon are
yet found, and behind which Santa Ana
| lost his leg-his wooden one. That valiant
warrior must have had as many legs as 2
centipede, for already we have had pointed
| to US at least dozen spots where Santa
Ana lost his leg p Hall mile further on,
a few tile-covered, tumble-down and mostly
tenantless shanties constitute the hamlet of
Cerro Gordo.
| At this point the road, which for some
| time has been gradually ascending, leaves