Sullivan republican. [volume] (Laporte, Pa.) 1883-1896, 1890-02-14
"GREASERS." F."
MEXICANS WHO LIVE ON OUR
SOUTHWEST BORDER.
They arc Not All Bad, and Live a
Happy, Contented Life-Their
Primitive Husbandry
"A Dance

iIoill tnc Gull Ol CdlllOTuM TO OOTpus
Christi, on the Texas coast, is found a
type of being that is almost an anomaly,
even among our own cosmopolitan classes.
The border Mexican, or ''greaser," has
no nation, yet he is distinctly local. He
is the evolution of that arid and sun
kissed belt characterized by flora and
fauna as acrimonious and as shaggy as
himself and best exemplified by the
cactus, the coyote, and the burro. You
cannot accuse nature of making mis-
take IN his creation, for he is an adapta-
ton that rises superior to adversity. You
will find him picturesque and, when
better known, not at all bad. This
Mexican is far below the nations repre-
sentative, yet he is not the degraded peon
or serf of the land. He is rather what the
peon has become in tie two generations
he has enjoyed the freedom of our Govern
ment, if not wiser, at least less servile.
He is generally admitted to be the result
of fusion for some centuries of the
Spaniard with that mild type of semi
civilized Indian of the Cortez conquests,
but is nearer the Spaniard, whose beauti-
full language, further softened into dia-
lect, he still retains. This may be due
to laziness, but is more probably from
the liquid movement of Indian speech
peculiar to some of the southern tribes,
as shown by the present language of the
Pimas and DIaricopas of southern Ari-
Zona.
There are two classes of Mexican peas
ants, the Labradoes and the Rancheros.
The former are the milder, simpler
people, found sprinl<led along the small
canyons and valleys ON little plots of
bottom land adjacent and irrigated by
simple or community bitches called
acequias, which lead from the streams,
winding along the bank in gradual
way till the streams lower level will per-
NIT them finally to wander over the bot
tom. They bridge no arroyas, build no
dams, arches or culverts, and use only
natures level, water, to give the grade
required for their canals. In engineer
ing ability they are as far behind the
Aztecs, who once inhabited this valley,
as are the present Egyptians behind their
ancestors under Me IS.
A plot of tres supports an en-
tire family of dozen, exclusive of
dogs-as many lore. First, a crop of
melons and cebada (melons and barley !;
later crop of frejoles and calabazas
(Mexican beans and pumpkins). A little
pepper and onions and their commissary
is complete. The Rancheros have more
or less cattle, ponies, sheep or goats, are
less local in their tastes, and
are more hardy, so that it is
among them that is aometimes found
that outlaw element that has made
"Greaser' the synonym for bandit and
has stamped the race as thieving and
treacherous. This character is partly the
result OF traditional sentiment-a spirit
of adventurous resistance to tyranny. On
the Mexican side a man who evades their
outrageous taxes and customs is hero !;
one killed in an attempt to do so, a
martyr. The Government only is the
robber. The men are fine horsemen, of
the firm yet easy border seat, always
using that instrument of torture, the
bocada, or Spanish bit, in the control of
their ponies. Many are experts in tossing
the RATA and some handle revolver we'll
A Pueblo scene is very characteristic.
Adobe buildings, thatched roofs, arbors
beneath which the stone jars left unglazed
for cooling water, and the stone hand
mill for grinding the corn for corn cakes,
called ttortillas. The conservatism of
this people would compare with that of
India. The agricultural methods are
those described in the Bible. Hay is
cut with a hoe, sometimes hand knife
or a sickle; bough whose forks en-
brace the proper angle is their plow, and
their oxen are yoked by lashing pole to
the base of their horns.
A fiesta is usually celebrated by a
'sbaile" or dance. If it be fall and the
night air be cool you will find this hop
inside ''jacal." Everything has been
removed from the house but row of
''sillas" (chairs and boxes), placed
around the sides of the room, which is
lighted by few beds of glowing Goals
placed at intervals on the freshly y-swept,
hard packed earth floor, by few can
dies ccmented to brackets or projecting
adobe bricks by their own wax, and by