50 Ex. Doc. No. 41. 





^ r 



river winds below in a beautiful semicircle^ bending to the west. 

 On either side is excellent grass, apparently untouched, an'd shaded 

 by large cottonwoods. To the west, the hills of Pulvidera form an 

 amphitheatre. The whole picture, the loveliest I have seen in New 

 Mexico, loses nothing by being- projected, from where we stood, 

 against the red walls of the Sierra Grande, which extend from 

 Zandia southward, dividing the waters of the Puerco, of the east, 

 'from those of the Rio Grande. 



I longed to cross these mountains and explore the baunts of f 

 the Apaches, and the hiding place of the Camanches, and look 

 up a nearer route home by the way of the Red river, which | 

 the hunters and n^oyageurs all believe to exist. But onward for 

 California was the word, and he who deviated from the trail of the 

 array must expect a long journey for his jaded beast and several 

 days' separation from his baggage. We were not on an exploring 

 expedition; war was the .object; yet "tve had now marched one 

 thousand miles without fleshing a sabre. 



Arrived at the town of Pulvidera, which we found, as its name 

 implies, covered with dust, we received full accounts of the attack 

 made on the town by the Apaches the day before. The dragoons 

 arrived too late to render assistance. ' . 



About one hundred Indians, well mounted, charged upon the 

 town and drove off all the horses and cattle of the place. The 

 • terrified inhabitants fled to their mud houses, which they barrfcaded. 

 The people of Lamitas, a town two miles below, came to the res- 

 cue, and seized upon the pass between the Sierra Pulvidera and the | 

 Sierra Secoro, The Indians seeing their retreat with the cattle and 







i 



t 



i 



(■^ 



■fl 



u"^ 



goats cut off, fell to work like savages as they were^ killing as 

 many of these as they could, and scampered off over the mountains 

 and cliffs with the horses and mules, which they could more easily 



secure. 



This same band entered the settlements some miles above when 

 we were marching on Santa Fe, and when Armijo had called all 

 the men of the country to its defence. In this forayj besides horses, 

 they carried off fifteen or sixteen of the prettiest women. 



Women, when captured, are taken as wives by those who cap- 

 ture them, but they are treated by the Indian wives of the capturers ^ 

 as slaves, and made to carry w^ood and w^ater; if they chance to be * 

 pretty, or receive too much attention from their lords and maslerSj^ 

 they are, in the absence of the latter, unmercifully beaten and 

 otherwise maltreated. The most unfortunate thing which can befal 

 a, captive w^oman is to be claimed by two persons. In this case, 

 she is either shot or delivered up for indiscriminate violence, 



TheSe banditti will not long revel in scenes of plunder and vio- 

 lence. Yesterday Colonel Doniphan's regiment was directed to 

 march into their country and destroy it. One of their principal 

 settlements, and farming establishments, is said to be nearly due 

 west from here, about two days' march; the road leading througli 

 the formidable pass above noted. 



Yesterday and to-day we came across some unoccupied strips ot 

 ground. Their number yesterday was greater than to-day; f^^' 

 since we passed Pulvidera^ the sand hills encroach on the river au^ 



X 



