Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-06-25
A DREARY VIEW.
"A Trip from SaltilIo, Mexico, to the Bat
.tle-Field of Buena Vista.

.tle-Field of Buena Vista.
The distance from Saltillo to Buena
Vista is seven miles, and the charge for
a boy and a burro was about thirty
cents. The donkey was Il small, unas-
Stunning, mouse-colored creature with
II ear cut short, but the other had size
and length enough for both, so we
couldn't complain. The pack-saddle
was about two-thirds the burro's length
and bulged out about six inches on both
sides. The driver told us of his fine go
ing qualities, but said he couldn't I'M
derstand Americana and that his name
was Santiago Santa Anna. All being
ready l mounted Santa Anna and the
driver followed behind with the donkey's
tail in one hand and q short stick in the
other which he used to guide us with.
There was no bride or halter on as it
wasn't our place to drive. The day was
fine and all went well while the boy re-
manned at the helm, but he left his post
of duty once and we ran into a t!,orny
chaparral thickct; then all went well
again. We met several parties SINH
larly mounted and cared for, while
we were overtaken by others.
Thus the time passed pleasantly
away. On the way we passed q
number of lone crosses with a pile of
stone ut their base. These marks the
site of a murder and the stones are
thrown at the foot of the cr as q mark
of respect for the dead. While this
post-mortem respect will never restore
the stranger to life, home and friends
far away, yet the average native believes
that it goes far to ameliorate the crime,
and hence murdcrcrs and brigands often
resort to it as a mean of imparting
peace to their own souls. In due time
we reached the hacienda (ranch orfarm)
of Bucna Vista.
The battle ground is located in a mar
row mountain pass, where the peaks of
the Sierra Madre tower up two thousand
feet into the skies. One side of the pass
is INSTRUCTED by deep ravines, irrigation
bitches and rocky knobs. On the other
side there is q level, rocky, t~reeless
space, with patches of cactus, wild
maguey, thorny little agarita and a few
scrub gincharchc bushes. Some of the
breast-works are yet to be seen and are
in good preservation, and relics
of the battle can yet be found
on the field. The country in the
locality is a rocky, barren, parched
region, with scarcely enough OF
tropical scrub brush to support the
tlocks of goats that browse in the valley
and on the mountain side. The land
scape view from the field is lonely and
dreary. The bald peaks above the tim
Der line can be seen as far as the eye
can reach. There is little appearance
of life of any kind. The storms of
sand and dust are frequent and fear
fully oppressive to man and beast. Our
Mexican veterans will remember that
| such a cloud was the advance warning
to them of the approach of Santa Anna
against Buena Vista. These strange
and dreary scenes, common to the
%platcaus of Mexico, are pleasant to the
| inouiring tourist, but far more pleasant
to leave than to live among. After
spending a day in observation we re-
turned to Saltillo, with Il greater re-
spect and deeper sympathy for our sol
diers. who met and defeated an enemy
more than four times their own num-
Der, and that when country, climate
and all the clan of the mountains were
AGAINST them.-Cor. Detroit Free Press.