BOGGS' EANCHE. - 81 



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surveyors on tlie eastern banl?:, over a bridge built by tbe 

 settlers who lived in this part of the valley. 



It was a great pleasure to us to find farms and settlements ' 

 here, for they were the first we had met with since leaving 

 civilisation. The banks of the Purgatoii'e are well-timbered 

 on both sideSj not by single rows of cotton-woodsj but by 

 groves of many kinds of trees — box, elders, willows, &c-, 

 amongst which the wild vine, the hop, and other creepers 

 grow luxuriantly, and giA^e an abundance of refreshing shade. 

 The inhabitants of this little settlement formed a wonderful 

 mixture of races ; and when curiosity to see my camera had 

 brought the inhabitants from their adobe houses and log-huts, 

 it would haA^e been difficult to find a more motley gi-oup. 



To this point the ancient wave of Spanish occupation had just 

 reached, and a few families of indolent Mexican half-breeds 

 still remain to represent the Peons of a few years back. Some 

 of them had the woolly heads of' the African ; in others the 

 high cheek-bone and broad mouth of the Indian were the 

 most striking features ; while in some few the lari^e, dark, 



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wise unattractive visage. Then there was Mr. Boggs, a tall, 

 shrewd, energetic TTestern man, bv whose perseverance the fine 



maize 



He gave occupation to all who chose to work, and had already 

 1,000 acres of land under cultivation, besides some fine herds 

 of cattle. Every one knew Boggs' Eanche, which name 

 \ embraced generally the whole settlement. Two or three 

 other Americans, doing business in a small wav, either as 



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* met one of the sons of Colonel Bent, a well-known veteran of 

 , the plains. A few days previously the father had A^isited 

 General Wright at the fort ; he was over sixty, with small 



VOL. I. G 



