, 1897-12-06
HEROES OF BUENA VISTA.
Their Sadly Neglected Burial Ground
Near SaltillO, Mexico.

Their Sadly Neglected Burial Ground
Near SaltillO, Mexico.
The hardy young Americans who left
their comfortable homes in the United
States more than half a century ago and
came to Mexico with General Taylor to
fight against the people of this country
probably did not think that should they
fall i'll battle their bones would be left
to crumblc to dust in an unmarked spot
in this distant land. But today the dead
heroes of the Buena Vista battlefield lie
under but a few feet of earth i'll Il neg
lected place just outside this city. At
the time of their hasty burial their de-
voted comrades evidently sought to
make the spot somewhat sacred by con-
structiug an adobe wall around it. This
wall is fast s%uccumbing TO the ravagcs
of time, and i'll places it is completely
gone. l visited the burial ground of the
dead heroes today. A tram car took me
as far as the pretty San Francisco plaza,
and from there | walked through Il
dirty, narrow street until l came to al
arroyo, Oh the other side of which the
faint marks indicating the cemetery
may be seen. Had ! not received care.
full directions l should have passed the
place unnoticed. On the side toward the
city the wall is entirely gone for tho
most part, and a much travelled wagon
road passes through the place and over
the sacred dead. The place which had
once been inclosed by the adobe wall
embraces probably two acres, but inyes-
tigation shows that many were buried
west of the wall and up close to the ar-
royo.
Some time ago the report was pub.
lished in the press of the United States
that the bones of the buried soldiers
were %protrudins from the ground, and
that the place presented IL siuhcning
spectacle. This report was not strictly
true, but it is undoubtedly Il fact thai
parts of many of the skeletons have
come to the surface. The ground is
strewn with fragments of bones, and il
is evident that they come from the men
who were buried taS~!. None CT these
bones is large. as the heavy traffic
through the place has broken them uI
into small pieces. If any skulls came to
the surface, they We're no doubt quick
- tuhtI W tHt NhtNlldll tIllltith WIN
were about and made innocent play.
things of. Fad they ever appeared they
certainly would not have remained i'll
tact on the surface long. III the arroyo,
through which floods of water pass at
times and wash one side of the burial
ground, there are also lL;ny pieces OF
bones among the rocks. and among
them ! saw an unbroken rib bone which
looked like that of Il human.
There is not Il spear of grass nor u
sign of vegetable life within the in.
closure. 1t is perfectly barren. The
place should certainly receive attention
at the hands Of the United States con.
gress, even if nothing more is done than
to take such steps as will stay the raw.
ages Of time and weather OIL the treach.
crous soil and permit the bodies lying
there to rest un%disturbCd. 1t could east.
ly be made an attractive and even beau.
tiful place by laying it out i'll walks
und planting trees and plants. The II V
ages Of the floods i'll the arroyo on the
soil of the cemetery could be checked
by the building of IL substantial wall
along that side. In addition to the sew.
eral hundred who We're killed in battle,
all Of the soldiers who died in the hos
pital here were also buried thcre.-Mex.
lean Letter i'll st. Louis Globe Democrat.