davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The San Francisco call., 1896-10-25
in Mexico

crowded with devout worshipers, while
through the nave and up among the vast
arches of the magnificent cathedral re-
sound such music of the mass as seems of
heaven rather than of earth. No sooner
is the mass concluded than the fun again
grows fast and furious. In the beautiful
Alameda everything betokens holiday.
There, as in the Plaza Mayor, fine mill
tary band plays all day long. The entire
place is given up to the enjoyment of the
pieasure-seeker. There is no prohibitory
keep off the grass; perfect and COM
plete equality reign in the Alameda to-
day. The poor peon and his sweetheart
are as free to stroll and sit upon the green
sward as the elaborately dressed lechuguino
and his nina. The theaters are in full
blast. Every one of them gives a daily
matinee during the continuance of the
festival, even when one of lis days falls on
Sunday. If you want grand opera you
can have it at the Teatro Nacional in the
Gale de Vergara. If your preference is
for opera bouffe you may indulge it at the
Teatro Arbeau in the Calie de San Felipe
Neri.
But greater even than the festivities OF
All Saints day are those OF All Souls day.
For this latter festival the church is said
to be indebted to pilgrim, who, while re-
turning from the Holy Land in 993, was
compelled by storm to land on rocky
isle somewhere between Sicily and Thes-/
salonica, where he found hermit, who
told him that among the cliffs OF the
island was situated the opening into the
under world, through which flames as
cended, while the groans OF the souls tor
tured by evil spirits were plainly audible.
Through this opening the hermit had also
frequently heard the complaints and i'm
precautions of the demons st the number OF
souls that were torn from them by the
prayers and aims of the pious, and they
were especially enraged on that account
against the pious abbot and monks OF
Clugny. After hearing the hermit's tale
the pilgrim proceeded to the monastery OF
Clugny, where he acquainted Abbot Odilo
with what ne had learned, whereupon the
abbot appointed the day Immediately fol-
lowing All SAINTS day to be kept in his
monastery as an annual festival for "all
souls" The observance was quickly
adopted by the whole Catholic world.
There is another account, which repre-
sents the festival to have been established
at Sicily in the year 99S.
In Mexico the festival of All Souls is a
national decoration day, suggesting our
observance of the 30th of May, but while
we decorate only the graves of soldiers, the
Mexicans place flowers, wreaths and all
kinds of elaborate floral designs upon the
last restine-places of all their loved ones
who have passed before them through the
dark valley of the shadow of death. From
arly morn untji dnslk on All Saints 6au
the cemeteries of San Fernando and Do
lores are crowded with people visiting and
decorating the graves of their dead. The
night is given over to general jolliieation.
ALICE DANA BoARDMAN.
The San Francisco call., 1896-10-25

He was allowed to go and went pigeon
toeing his way down the trail leading
toward Table Mountain until, when feel
ing sure of being out of sight of the camp,
he suddenly swung to the right, and be-
hind the shelter of tall greasewood, the
moccasined feet struck out into the In
dian's tireless dog-trot, away from Table
Mountain and toward the hostiles in In
dian Greek Canyon.
But Sacramento Sam had reckoned with
out his host and the aid which science
brought to bear upon white men, 5 strength
of vision when she invented the field glass;
Two of the men watching, glass in hand,
from rise on the plain saw the old spy
chief heading straight for the hostile
camp. After a brief conference with their
comrades they decided that Sam had got
''mixed on the points OF the compass and
needed guide if he expected to reach
Table Mountain that night"
Those were not the days when men
talked much when deciding upon action.
a few terse words before they looked to
their rifles, tightening of girths before
they swung into their saddles, and sar-
donic emile as one of them called back.
wen, 81 AObSi OOJoy we IL put CdCra-
mento Sam on the right trail; goodnight;
see you again before mornin'" And they
did. They came back before dawn. with
tired horses, and each carried fifteen or
twenty pounds of ammunition-powder
caps and bullets-which they said they
found (?) on the trail. They also said that
they had not seen Sacramento Sam. And
their comrades asked no questions. Ger
tain it was that no one else ever saw him
again. 1t was one of the mysterious disap.
pearances OF those troublous times He
never reached Indian Creek Canyon-nei-
ther did he go to Table Mountain. He
vanished bodily from the sight of men
and the world knew him no more.
But the Padre, as he finished his story,
limited that-a dead Indian being a good
Indian-tnere were two men who might
have aided in the apotheosis of Sacra-
mento Sam.
We sat silent moment rejecting upon
the changes brought about by the advent
of the railroad in the protection it gives
the settler.
The signal fires no longer burn by night
upon the mountains. nor by day do the
tall spirals of smoke send a message
across the valley TO threads of smoke that,
answer back. No longer do we lie down
in fear and trembling OF the soft tread of
moccasined feet creeping in the silence of
The San Francisco call., 1896-10-25

them with butter and sugar into pills, and
take at bedtime. Then, if her fortune be
to marry gentleman her sleep will be
filled with golden dreams; if tradesman,
she will dream of odd noises and tumults;
if a traveller, there will be thunder and
lightning disturb her."
In England's northern counties the
"dnmb cake" is made between IL o'clock
and midnight on Hallow Eve. Any number
ofyoung women participate. Each places a
handful of -four on sheet of white paper
and sprinkles it over with pinch of salt.
Then one makes it into dough with spring
water. Each must roll the dough, spread
it out and mark her initials on it with a
new pin. While baking before the fire
each must turn it once, meanwhile sitting
as far from it as possible. All this must
be done before midnight, and when the
The San Francisco call., 1896-10-25

''The old rascal looked pretty sullen an
ugly. but it was no use. We kept him
there; at the point of our rifles making
him lie down in the wagon. 1t wasn't
long before we saw the signal fires burn
ing in the mountains about US. The old
spy-hostile had planned raid, and his
men were only awaiting his return to
come down on US.
I'VE kept him a prisoner. ard they
didn't know where he was, nor what was
to pay, nor anything. Several times
through the night we heard lurk-
ing savages in the brush, but we held
guns on old Tom, and he didn't dare to
call out to'tbem.
"When daylight came-and I can tell
you it seemed long time coming-we
saw that the coast was clear and we got
out of there pretty lively. We took old
Black Rock Tom with us until we were
well on TO the desert, where we could look
out for ourselves. Then we let him go.
AS he got down off the wagon we told
him to Get! and lively, tool You
ought to have seen him go! He was
good sprinter, and we had fine view of
him as he travelled over the level desert.
I'VE got back to Rabbit-hole Pass that
night; and that was the last ever saw OF
Black Rock Tom.
IA short time after that detachment
of soldiers captured him and were taking
him to Fort Churchill to investigate his
case. When they got down to Hank
Sprague's station, some of them went in
to get drink, and left old Black Rock
Tom standing in the doorway. There
were people who afterward said that it
was put-up job between Hank and the
soldiers-for Hank knew that if Tom tried
to get away the soldiers would shoot him =
sure-but however that might be don't
know; anyway, Hank motioned to the
old fellow to run. And run he did. The
soldiers called to him to halt and Hank
yelled Run! run!p
Naturally the Indian took the advice
that suited him best, and-well OF course
the soldiers aid their duty. And that was
the last of Black Rock Tom"
Frank drew the match across his knee
and applied the blaze to the pipe now
held between his teeth, as he said;
And (puff) little Indian boy (puff)
that Hank was raising (puff) concluded
it was about time (puff) for him to go.
too; (puff) so he jumped on Hanks best
horse (puff), and that was the (putf) last
Hank ever saw of that horse"
IDAH MEAoHAM STRoBRIDGE.
The San Francisco call., 1896-10-25

emigrant teams that went by on their way
into California. They had cut quite crop
of hay over at Mud Meadows (the wild
grass used to grow there higher than a
mans head) and had stacked it ready to
haul to Rabbit-hole. But the Indians
were getting pretty bad, and the boys
(there were only two of them) were afraid
TO 60 over after it alone. So they came
down here and got some of US fellows to go
with them-armed, of course. There were
seven of us in all; and we made the trip
from Rabbit-hole Pass across the big
desert to Mud Meadows all right, and
didn't see sign of an Indian.
rand though some one stood guard
that night while the rest slept we heard
no Indians about to disturb Us. Early the
next morning we got our load on and tried
to haul out OF the meadows; but it was
boggy in there, and we got mired, and the
oxen baked, and we had deuce of time
generally, so that it was almost sundown
before we got out of the miry places and
on solid ground, ready for the next days
start. You see, what we hoped to have
done was to get out on the desert where it
was as fat as biIliard-table, and there
along behind and get within shooting
range of US. After we had pulled out to
solid ground, as l say, we unyoked our
oxen and got supper, and it was Just get
ting toward dark when who should come
down to the camp but that old chief devil
of devils, old Black Rock Tom? We knew
him for what he was the most treacher-
Gus old cut-throat that the good Lord ever
let live. We knew that he would Just as
soon send us all to Kingdom Come as to
bring down an antelope, but what could
we do? We knew he was down there for
no good, although he said he was after
tobacco, and that he was heap good In jim
1--WE knew how much stock to take in
his yarn, but we shook hands with him
and told him 'hellol' and gave him some
tobacco, keeping sharp lookout all the
while for stray redskins that might creep
up on us unaware. After he had taken a
pretty thorough survey of our situation
he got up and said, 'Goody-by: 20
now; goody-by, and was about to start
when one OF the boys jumped up and
caught him by the shoulders, saying: :
No You don't, my friend! You'll stay
with us tonight. We couldn't think OF
letting you go back to your ''good Iniins"
tonight Wen just keep you here where
we can keep an eve on you till we get out
OF the country
The San Francisco call., 1896-10-25

~ never had but one experience at close
range with real ont and out bad Indian,
and nothing much came of that; but it
wasn't his fault that kept my scalp"
said Frank c., as he tipped his char
back in the shade of the old adobe wall
and rocked it sideways into comfortable
angle for storytelling.
''It was way back in the sixties. Wait:
I'll tell you about it.' He paused to fill
his briarwood and we composed ourselves
TO the hearing of an interesting story.
We had met together this hot July after
noon, after many years of wandering
through the West, and in the reunion
each of the little group had some instance
to recall of old Nevada days, particularly
of our Indian experiences.
The Padre had just finished recounting
the mysterious disappearance of Sacra-
merto Sam, sub-chief of the Piutes,
whose record as en- extra bad Indian stood
unchallenged. Sam had a choice band of
well-drilled red devils that held the coun-
try out around Indian Greek CANYON, and
who acted under his direct supervision in
any of the outrages perpetrated on the
whites. They kept aloof from settlements,
except on the occasion of raids, and never
made any pretense of friendly attitude
toward the whites. Sacramento Sam,
while in reality their chief, commonly
made his home among the whites in the
capacity of spy.
1t was the Padre who related the cir
cum stances connected with Sans last ap-
pearanee in public on any stage. Sam
had, for a brief period, been unusually
friendly to the whites, which meant, of
course, that he was preparing some dia-
bolicai piece of work. People were sus-
picious, and in consequence on guard.
One day he appeared at camp In the
valley; the object of his visit being, os-
tensibly, to beg some tobacco. Half a
dozen of the boys were there-miners and
teamster or two-and they noticed that
he carried small pack, which consider
ing its size seemed suspiciously heavy.
Two of them engaged his attention, while
two others constituted themselves an in
vestigating committee, the result being
that they found it to contain thirty or
forty pounds of powder, caps and,bullets-
taken no doubt from some murdered
teamster's outfit.
Presently he shook hands n his friend
liest manner, and in his limited vocab
ulary-aided largely by signs-told he was
going to his wickiup among the heap
good Iniins' over at Table Mountain.
The San Francisco call., 1896-10-25

however, by social obserVances, and even
the most devout Christians after attending
mass early in the morning of each day, de-
vote themselves completely for the re-
mainder of the twenty hours to having
a good time.
The night of October 81, All Hallow
Eve, is observed here with a universally
which is not to be met with in our own
country and in very different fashion.
At Z o'clock on that night fancy your
self m ingled with crowd of people who
are pouring along the Gale de San Fran
cisco into the Plaza Mayor, within whose
elegant zocolo a Government military
band is sending forth strains of delicious
music. Both the Plaza Mayor and the
Plaza de la Constitution present a most
brilliant sight. They had been converted
into a temporary fair ground crowded
The San Francisco call., 1896-10-25

and as had gone to these mountains for
my health / was suited exactly.
at was not long until we got into the
dominion of the elk, the Gallatin Basin.
This is little lower than the National
Park, and at this season of the year the
elk are coming down from the snow in
the heights for the milder temperature of
the basin. We were armed with 45-caliber
Winchester rifles, carrying 20 grains of
powder. Besides these, however, we had
one Winchester OF the same cnliber that
carried 90 grains of powder. Thus we were
well equipped for Iong-ianee work.
Unexpectedly to us we saw q great
many elk. for, you know, you often hear a
great deal about the plentifulness OF game,
especially big game, but when you get
The San Francisco call., 1896-10-25
The Halloween Festival.

of vares what strikes a foreigner as
strangest of all are the numerous quaint
articles designed to be purchased as souV-
enirs of the occasion. Students OF ora
English customs have heard oil sori CAKES
a sort of bun which good-natured people
used to prepare in large numbers to give
to children, who used 10 go about from
house to house on Hallow Eve singing
song and demanding the "soul CAKE as d
reward, but the booths in the Plaza Mayor
on Hallow Eve display soul cakes which,
for appropriateness and elaborate design,
far surpass the Halloween buns OF old
England. They consist OF three layers OF
cake so placed as to form three steps.
covered with white icing, and leading up
to chocolate cross at the extremity OF
the topmost layer or step. Upon each OF
the other layers there is some design In
chocolate intended to remind the pur-
chaser of the solemn occasion the
cake was meant to commemorate.
such as skulls, bones and cof-
fms. Catalogues, made of wood
and painted black, from six inches to
two end a half feet in height and from
three inches to two feet square, are also
highly popular article of merchandise.
Some of them consist of several platforms
rising one above the other. elaborately
draped with black cloth and embiazoned
In gilt with crosses, skulls, bones and cof-
fins. There are skeletons of every imag-
Unable size and material upon. the counter
of every booth, some of them poor. cheap
affairs of paper, many of candy and 9TH
ers deliberately constructed of wood and
Joined SO that the pulling of string
wonld cause them 10 dance and caper in
weirdly comical way. Some of them are
fantastically dressed like ballet dancers
and are surrounded by groups of candy
skulls.
All classes seem to have turned out
to purchase these mementos of the time.
Men and women of wealth and culture,
accompanied by beautifully dressed,
merry children, their hands filled with
soul cakes. skeletons, catafalques and
candy skulls, elbow and are elbowed by
the poor poems, who are spending the few
coppers they have laid by so carefully for
the occasion. 1t is a period of universal
merriment and rejoicing-s feast and Joy
GUS carnival without masks. The shouts
and vociferations of the light-hearted
crowd and their boundings and gambols
in the shadow of the grand old cathedral,
which for over 200 years has stood at the
head of the plaza, are such as might at
fist lead one to think that the inmates of
that philanthropic establishment, the
Casa de Locos Qunatic asylum) had forced
the bolts and bars and exchanged their
strait waistcoats for others of more
elastic and becoming model, while above
all there arises from the zocolo strains of
such music as we seldom or never hear in
the States, for the playing of Mexican
Government military band is revelation
of the possibilities of such an organiza-
ton.
The dawn OF November 1, All Saints
day, hnds the half a hundred magnificent
temples of worship which the Catholic
church has reared in the Mexican capital
The San Francisco call., 1896-10-25

two guides and having four pack horses
bearing our equipage and rugged for
bringing out any meat or skins we might
get. The guides were skilled mountaineers,
ready shots and could pitch camp and
get up something steaming hot to eat as
quick as anybody.
THE canyon, which is very wild and
pretty, is at the northwest corner of the
park. Our track led along this canyon
and in many places it was so steep we
could not keep our saddles but had to get
off and walk. Even walking was in places
almost an impossibility. We had to liter
ally crawl along.
the air is very pure there and the sun
shines with rare brightness. l never was
in more hcalthful place, it seemed to me-
The San Francisco call., 1896-10-25

legs and lungs to procure them customers,
go winding through the crowd offering
circles of -four paste fried in oil, which
are laid upon long lath, held in the mid
die to prevent it from breaking. 1t is
surprising TO see how rapidly the laths are
eased of their burdens and the brittle fry
consumed. The kitchen is not far off, and
two cooks, in their shirtsleeves, are busily
engaged in producing fresh supplies. One
of these keeps large iron pan over a
stand of charcoal, where it fries and Kisses
most invltingly, while the other, seated
before vessel filled with water and pan
containing the flour paste, forms the cake
in moment and draws it out into hol-
low ring. Thence he filings it into the
bubbling oil, where it browns and swells
into crisp mouthful.
But in all this heterogeneous collection
The San Francisco call., 1896-10-25

with innumerabe booths, within which
are displayed by the light of thousands
of tallow candles, around which shades of
white paper have been placed to increase
their power, every conceivable variety OF
holiday wares. Nuts, raisins, oranges,
figs, tortillas, bananas, candies, pulque,
cakes. toys, hot sausages and notions are
visible in endless proiusion. There
are occasions when appetite, which
is common to both clowns ana gentle
men, is strangely tempted by such
public ministry and display of eatabies,
and doubtless did not .the mode"
and point of honor-sadly misplaced by
both sexes - whisper forbearanoe more
than one lechuguino (Anglace dude) and
delicate senorita would be seen devouring,
with hearty relish, morsels intended for
the more homely mouths of poems.
Troops of young brats, trusting to their
The San Francisco call., 1896-10-25

there you don't see any. But in this case
we did. There were lots of elk, and they
were as fine as any sportsman could wish
to see.
II saw band after band, but after we had
killed what VIC wanted we shot no more,
for it would be useless, almost criminal,
to kill what we could not use. In short.
we only shot one apiece, and of these one
got away. We trailed this elk for mile
or mile and a half by his blood. If there
had been snow we would have got him,
but as it wis the elk's trail led over dry
ground, in some PLACES covered with
leaves, and we at length lost him. sup
pose, like enough, he died.
full-grown elk is an enormous ami
mal-almost as big as a becf-and fur
The San Francisco call., 1896-10-25
EXCITING SPORT IN TRAILING BIG ELK IN THE GAILATI BASIN

in the Wild region west of the Yellow
stone National Park where 1 have been, :"
said Haswell w. Baldwin of GAINESVILLE,
Ohio, to CALL representative a day or
two ago, 'there are bands of magnificent
elk, bear, blacktailed deer and an oc-
casional ibex. 1t is one of the finest hunt
ing sections on the continent. For elk it
cannot be beat"
Mr.. Baldwin had just arrived from the
mountain wilds.
'lt IS what is known as the Gallatin
Basin and to get there you must go up the
rugged canyon of the Gallatin. distance
of fifty miles was accompanied by II.
d. Atwood of Pittsburg. who is here with
me now. We went on some stout, sure
looted Montana broncos accompanied by
The San Francisco call., 1896-10-25

1--WE were in the basin three days, and
enioyed ourselves to the utmost. Along
our route, and even in the basin. there
were some deserted cabins, and of some OF
these wetook possession. We cooked our
steaks and with some fresh trout from the
streams, with the eatabIes we had brought
along, we had some repasts that were
royal.
"There are plenty of blacktailed Deer in
the basin, too. The day before we ept
there big cinnamon bear was killed. tht
we saw no bear, mainly, l presume. be-
cause We were looking for another and
bigger kind of game.
The basin, | may say, is a sort of
garden OF wonders as regards the fine and
big game OF the country.