Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1885-10-08
a MEXICAN FIESTA.


meAicOt gun ual VI WniCu tno poOpio
never tire. Nearly every little town
has from one to half-a-dozen festas in
year, and the success Of one seems to
be in no wip dependent upon the size
Of the town, The fiesta is generally
held in honor of some saint or tho Vir-
gin, though saints and salvation are the
last things thought Of when II is fairly
under way. In the morning of tho
opening day the cathedral floor may be
thronged with kneeling thousands
whose faces seem radiant with blissful
thoughts OF the hereafter, but during
the rest of the festal week the principal
kneeling and the most interested faces
may be seen at the cockpit aud tho
monte blanket
No festal day in the States has half
the pleasures for the boys that the fiesta
has for the full-grown Mexican. Tho
pure white element takes little part in
IL, except TO make money, and the ny
per class has almost nothing to do with
Il except to look on for little while;
but for the Indian, the half-breed and
the poorer whites IL is nearly all that Is
worth living for, thing that takes pre-
cedence of all else on earth. Hundreds
Of miles the Mexican often travels to il.
sometimes with his whole family
mounted upon donkeys, or in one Of
the ponderous ox-carts used on tho
haciendas. For the fiesta the choicest
game-cocks are saved; 10 raise money
to gamble with the best pig or goat Is
sacrificed, and even the family rations,
except peppers, may be curtailcd.
When he reaches town the Mexican
camps anywhere in the street or on tho
sidewalk, as suits him best, and turns
his donkey loose TO feed on banana
skins, orange peel or the numerous
Castaway scraps of masticated sugar.
cane. which here takes the place held
by the peanut of the American circus.
Some People who have something to
sell erect booths Of thin cloth or ush,
which serve also for saloons and restau-
rants; and in one of these the whole
family lives, eats and sleeps, including
the family dogs, which, OF course, 60
along to the show Some less fortunate
or energetic spread their wares, bottles
or provisions on the ground upon bit
of mat and sleep at night curledup be-
side them.
Gambling is ever the principal part
Of the fiesta. The chicken-hght, the
bull-fght, the dance or the thea,er oc-
cupy but small part OF the day. and
seem mere ripples ON a continuous cur
rent Of gaming. No matter what
crowds may gather at the bull-ring. the
CHEEKY rattle Of the roulette table never
slackens, and around the monte game
the eager faces still beam increasingly.
Long lines OF booths surround the plaza,
in which, as well as upon the ground.
every conceivable device for betting is
employed. from artistically-made ma.
chimes that cost much money, down to
an octagonal stick with alternate sides
Of red and green, over which little boys
of five years old bet their coppers on the
color that will be upward when the stick
stops rolling. Outside OF these gam
bling booths are long lines Of portable
saloons, generally consisting Of two or
three bottles of mescdl or teQuiid-
strong liquors distilled from certain
varieties OF the Spanish bayonci, yucca
or mdgUiJ-- with two or three small
glasses. These are sometimes mounted
on a small stand, sometimes kept in a
basket and often spread upon the
ground beside some gambling game
whose owner can not afford q booth.
The whole may be presided over by
some dark-eyed dame, with sickly-
looking infant slung in a shawl over
her back.
Though the Mexicans are good musi-
clans, they rarely show it upon such
occasions unless the brass band plays
on the plaza But this will seldom be
the case excepting in the larger cities,
whereas the fiesta at its best can be seen
only in the country towns. Here the
dismal wall of that long-suIering mar
tyr, the violin, the shrieSs and groans
of tortured claronet, and the tingle-
bang. tingle-tangle-tum of tie guitar
will be about the only sounds that break
the soft murmur OF me!odious Spanish,
or the gay laughter Of the jolly beggars
at the gaming tables.
Like an old-time English fair, the
Mexican fiesta is the occasion when
every one who has any thing TO sell
brings it forth. Around the plaza and
for hundred yards or more down the
streets that lead TO it are lines Of mats
pread upon the ground, heapcd with
all sorts Of provisions, fruits, candies,
pieces OF sugar-cane, cakes and TOYS.
Shoes, cotton cloth, pottery, tobacco,
peppers, green corn and peanuts may
all be for sale in the same heap; and
the woman who occupies the next
square of ground may deal in live chick
ems. combs, shoe-strlngs, mescdl, silver
iiligree work and old cartridges, no
two Of which would fit the same weap-
on. Every one cooks. eats and sleeps
beside the stock of goods. aud the mol-
ley dresses, the motley wares, the Curl
Gus dishes OF food that are ever cook
ing, and the curious chaileriug for
wares and interchanges of compliments
over oarga OF few cents in value
make tho whole scene through which
one long may wander with little loss Of
interest
Thus the fiesta goes on for two or
ihree days, perhaps, with unabated Wig
DR., the gaming tables crowded nearly
all night the streets aud the plaza
crowded by day and filled by night wiin
0utstretched sleepers. About tn fourth
lay the crowd becomes Wis bly, less.
The losers who can 40 longer borrow.
he poor white who has successfully
ilaked his saddle, his donkeys, his
icrape and his wife's shawl, steal away
On foot. along with the pson who has
lost his sandals in a wager against
sixpence on the whirl OF a hand on a
painted dial. and can not find n taker
!or the tempting offer Of bis shirt against
4 Hdct Ql eentD. In day or two
more the fesfa is over by expira ion Of
he orthodox time, and the crowd scat
.ers. each ore looking hopefully for
ward 10 the next at some other town
San Diego Cor. ~ T. Post.
DRAWING.