Marietta daily leader. (Marietta, Ohio) 1895-1906, 1901-04-13
HISTORICAL SKETCH
OF Santa Fe, Which is the Oldest Capital
in America.

Captain S. S. Mathers, now filling
the position of land agent for the Unit
ed States at Santa Fe New Mexico,
has written an interesting letter to be
read at Columbus, o., before Wells
Post campfire, of which Post he is
member. The letter says:
While all eyes are looking toward
Washington, the capitol of the young
giant that has recently taken a posi-
tion in the front rank of nations, it nat
urally fills the American breast with
patriotic pride and exultation as we re
alize that we are no longer a large
healthy infant struggling for existence,
but full grown man and in the full
vigor of manhood. With the marks Of
hundred winters passed over our
| heads they feel that the end of the
| celebration of our first century of our
existence has passed.
These lines are written at the oldest
capitol in America. 1t was the capital
of an Indian tribe long before Colum-
| first European Franciscan Monk Mar
cos of Nizza first discovered the terri
tory of New Mexico, he found an In
dian Pueblo in 1889. ST. Augustine was
founded in 1865. This city had seen
! several centuries come and go before
the birth of our government. st. Au-
| gustine, Florida, and Tucson, Arizona,
| may contest the claim of Santa Fe as
the longest continued European occu-
| patton. There can be no question
| raised as to Santa Fe's claim of beinS
| the Oldest capitol within our boundar-
| les.
Long before the fanatics of Southern
| Europe were making crusades into the
Holy Land for the purpose of restor.
ing the Holy Sepulcher, Santa Fe was
the capital of an empire in extent, if
not in dominion, and it has been the
seat of territorial government contin-
uously since 1850 under Spanish, Mexi
can and American rule
James Parsley, 2 native of BairdS
| Town, KY, was the first American II
visit Santa Fe, which he did in June,
1905. He was one of those roaming
western men who were continuously
pushing forward in search of adven-
| ture and new country, which the early
part of the last century was noted for.
Lieutenant q. NJ. Pike found Parsley
here in 1O7 working at the carpenters
trade, when he (Pike) was brought
here from a recently established mill
tary camp on the Conejos river north
of the New Mexico and Colorado bound
airy line.
Here you will find the customs am
ong the Indians that have been handed
down from past generations. To all
outward appearance they pass as good
Christians and have their children bap-
tized in the most holy faith but in Sc
cret they baptize them with the ancieat
conversation with some of the old In
dians, find that they are Christians
for revenue only.
A short time ago while down in Do
ma Ana county met one of the early
settlers. He was a full-blooded Ems
lishman and had wandered through the
south part of this territory for a'num
ber of years. He gave me interesting
accounts of his early wanderings in the
south and told me at the time he want
ed to go through Old Mexico he had
to represent himself as doctor or he
could not have Travelled in the country,
as they respect the physicians but had
no respect for "Gringoes" or Yankees.
At that time all Americans were called
Yankees. He passed as doctor and
all the medicine he had with him were
So ~, .-.-r -.i'-