6ct. % igos.j 
POREST AND STREAM, 
reat plaza several times a day, drilling 
’)r the occasion. Nothing can, by any possibility be 
■mceived^'more unlike a soldier than _ a Mexican mxMar. 
I'he regular army is composed entirely of In^mns- 
dserable looking pigmies, whose grenadiers are five fee 
igh. Vera Cruz being a show place, and jealous of its 
lorv generally contrives to put decent clothing, V 
mirtion on the regiment detailed to gapison the town; 
itherwise clothing is not considered indispensable tO- ^e 
ilexican soldier. ^ The muskets of the infantry are (that 
; if they have any) condemned Tower muskets, turned 
Lit of the British service years before. I have seen them 
arrying firelocks without locks, and . others with locks 
Ahouf hammers, the lighted errd. of a .cigar being » ed 
a match to ignite the powder in the pan. Uiscipime 
dey have none.^ Courage a Mexican does not possess, 
lut still they have that brutish indifference to death 
/hich could be turned to account if they were well led 
nd officered by men of courage and spirit. 
Toward the end of the rainy seasori Rnxton, with a 
lozo started for the north. He traveled oii horseback, 
nd his way was made difficult by the condition of the 
oads which were heavy from rain, and by the presence 
n the country of troops on their way to the war, which 
nade the accommodations, bad at best still worse. 
Concerning the City of Mexico and its inhabitants o 
he better class he speaks with some enthusiasm but the 
totels were villainous, the city unsafe for strangers after 
light and, at that time, a blonde man— a guero -wa 
'SSkntly taken for a Texan or a Yankee, and was sub- 
ect to attack bv any of the people. 
In the Citv of Mexico Ruxton purchased horses from 
i Yankee horse dealer named Smith, and set out with a 
lack train for the farther north. His account of his 
ravels the difficulties of the way, the inns at which he 
itopped and the cities that he passed through are ex- 
remeiy interesting. Of the manufacture of the national 
irink, pulque, the favorite beverage of the Mexicans, he 
;avs- “The maguey, American aloe — Agava arnmcanq 
S'cultivRed over an extent of country embracing 
;oooo' square miles. In the City of Mexico alone the 
lonsumption of pulque amounts to the 
■ity of 11,000,000 of gallons per annuin, and a consider 
ible revenue from its sale is derived by Government 
The plant attains maturity in a period varying from eig 
to fourteen years, when it flowers, and it is during 
Stage of inflorescence only that the saccharine j uice is ex- 
rafted The central stem which incloses the incipient 
flower 'is then cut off near the bottom, and a cavity or 
basin is discovered, over which the surrounding leaves 
are drawn close and tied. Into this reservoir % l«ice 
distils which otherwise would have risen. to nourish and 
suooort the flower. It is removed three or four times 
during the twenty-four hours, yielding a quantity o 
liquor varying from a quart to a gallon and a hal . 
“The juice is extracted by means of a syphon rnade of 
a species of gourd called acojote, one end of which is 
placed in the liquor, the other in the mouth of a Pe^son, 
who by suction draws up the fluid into the pipe and de 
posits It in the bowls he has with him for the pupos^ 
It is then placed in earthen jars and a little old pulque 
madre de pulque — is added, when it soon ferments, and. 
immediately ready for use. The fermentation occupies 
two or three days, and when it ceases the pulque is in 
fine order. n- n 
“Old pulque has a slightly unpleasant odor which 
heathens have likened to the smell of putrid meat, but , 
when fresh is brisk and sparkling, and the most cooling, 
refreshing and delicious drink ffiat ever was invented for - 
thirsty mortal; and when ghding down the dust-dried 
throat of a way-worn traveler who feels 
liquor distilling through his veins, is 
dwino,: which Mexicans ^psert is preferred by the angels 
ill heaven to ruby wine. ^ i * « 
Wherever Ruxton passed his fair hair and cotnplexion 
and his excellent arms were subjects of wonder; the fost 
to the women and children, the second to the men. His 
double-barreled rifles seem especially to have impressed 
passed further and further north he heard more 
and more concerning the raids of the Indians, and at the 
ranch of La Punta, where he stopped to witness the sport 
of tailing the bull, he heard from one of the inhabitants 
an account of the raid of the previous year, in which a 
number of peones were killed and some women and ch - 
dren carried away to the north. He says : T 
ranchero’s wife described to me the whole scene, and bit-- 
terly accused the men of cowardice in not defending the 
place This woman, with two grown daughters and sev- 
eral smaller children, fled from the rancho before the In- 
dians approached and concealed themselves under a 
wooden bridge which crossed a stream near at hand. Here 
they remained for some hours, half dead with terror. Pres 
ently some Indians approached their place of conceal- 
ment- a young chief stood on the bridge and spoke some 
word; to the others. All this time he had his pie'-cmg; 
eves bent upon their hiding place, and had no doubt dis- 
covered them, but concealed his satisfaction under an-, 
appearance, of indifference. He played with his victims. 
In broken Spanish they heard him express his hope that 
he would be able to discover where the women were 
concealed-that he wanted a^ Mexican wife and some 
scalps.’ Suddenly he jumped from the bridge and thrust 
his lance under it with a savage whoop _; the blade pierced 
the woman’s arm and she shrieked with pain. One by 
one they v/ere drawn from their retreat. 
‘“Dios de mi cfoia.'’— what a moment was this !— said 
the poor creature. Her ' children were surrounded by the 
savaces, brandishing their tomahawks, and she thought 
their last hour was come. But they all escaped with, life, 
and returned to find their houses plundered and the 
corpses of friends and relations strewing the ground. ^ 
‘“Ay de mi!’— what a day was this! F los hombres, 
she continued, ‘qui no sou hombres? —And the naen 
who are not men — where were they? Escondtdos coma 
los ramies’— hidden in holes like the rats. Mire! she 
said, suddenly, and with great excitement , look at these 
two hundred men, well mounted and armed, who are 
now so brave and fierce, running after the poor bulls; if 
twenty Indians were to make their appearance where 
would they be? Vaya! vaya!’ she exclaimed, son 
cobardes’— they are cowards, all of them. . 
“The daughter, who sat at her mother’s feet during the 
recital, as the scenes of the day were recalled to her 
memory, buried her face in her mothers lap and wept 
.with excitement. , i * 
“To return to the toros. In a large corral, at one ot 
which was a little building, erected for the accommoda- 
tion of the lady spectators, were, inclosed upwards ot a 
hundred bulls. Round the corral, were the horsemen, all 
dressed in the picturesque Mexican costume, examining 
the- animals , as they were driven to and fro in the mclo- 
sure, in order to make them wild for the sport— alzar el 
corage. The ranchero himself, and his sons, were ridmg 
among- them, armed with long lances, separating from 
the herd, and driving into another inclosure, the rnost 
active bulls. When all was ready, the bars were with- 
drawn from the entrance of the corral, and a bull driven 
out, who, seeing the wide level plain before hirn, dashe 
off at the top of his speed. With a shout the horseinen 
pursued the flying animal, who, hearing the uproar be- 
hind him, redoubled his speed. Each urges his horse to 
the utmost, and strives to take the lead and be first t 
reach the bull. In such a crowd, of_ course, first-rate 
horsemanship is . required to avoid accidents and secure 
a safe lead. For some minutes the troop ran on in a 
compact mass— a sheet could have covered the lot. En- 
veloped in a cloud of dust, nothing could be seen but the 
bull, some hundred yards ahead, and the rolling doud. 
Presently, w'ith a shout, a horseman emerged from the 
front rank; the wmmen cried ‘Viva!’ as, passing close to 
the stage, he w^as recognized to be the son of the 
ranchera, a boy of twelve years of age, sitting ms 
horse like a bird, and swaying from side to side as_ the 
bull doubled, and the cloud of dust concealed the animal 
from his view. ‘Viva Pepito ! viva!’ shouted his mother, 
as she waved her reboso to encourage the boy ; and the 
little fellow stuck his spurs into his' horse and doubled 
down to his work manfully. But now two others are 
running neck and neck with him, and the race for the 
lead and the first throw is most exciting. The nien shout, 
the women wave their rebosos and cry out thmr names . 
‘Alza Bernardo — por mi amor, Juan Maria — Viva repi- 
tito!’ they scream in intense excitement _ The boy at 
length , loses the lead to a tall, fine-looking Mexican, 
mounted on a fleet and powerful roan _ stallion, who 
gradually but surely forges ahead. At this moment the 
sharp eyes of little Pepe observed the bull to turn at an 
anfoe from his former course, which movement was 
hidden by the dust from the leading horseman. In an 
instant -the boy took advantage of it, and, wheeling his 
horse at a right angle from his original course, cut o_tt 
the bull. Shouts and vivas rent the air at sight of this 
skillful maneuver, and the boy. urging his horse with 
whip and spur, ranged up to the left quarter_ of the bull, 
bending down to seize the tail, and secure it under his • 
ri^ht leg, for the purpose of throwmg_ the animal to the 
o-round. ’ But here Pepe’s strength failed him in a feat 
which requires great power of muscle, and in endeavor- 
ino- to perform it he was jerked out of his saddle and tell 
violently to the ground, stunned and senseless. At least 
a dozen horsemen were now striving hard for the post 
of honor, but the roan distanced them all, and its rider, 
stronger than Pepe, dashed up to the bull, threw Ms ngM 
leg over the tail, which he had seized in his right haifo, 
and wheeling his horse suddenly outwards, upset the 
bull’ in the midst of his career, and the huge animal 
rolled over and over in the dust, bellowing with pain and 
fright.” 
, Pushing northward through Mexico, Ruxton passed 
into a country with fewer and fewer inhabitants, it was 
the borderlapd of the .Republic, where the Indians, con- 
stantly raiding, were killing people, burning villages, and 
driving off stock. The author’s adventures, were fre- 
quent. He was shot at , by his, moso, or servant, who 
desired to possess his, property. He met wagon trains 
coming from Santa Fe, owned and manned by Ameri- 
cans. He' lost his animals, was, often close to Indians, 
yet escaped without fighting them ; .assisted m the rescue 
of a number of American teamsters, who had endeavored 
to strike across the country to reach the United States, 
and many of whom had perished from hunger and thirst 
and finally, while on this good errand, was robbed of all 
his property by thieves, in the little village where he had 
it ft it His journal of travel is pleasantly interspersed 
with traditions of the country and accounts of local ad- 
ventures .of the time. , , vu 
Reaching Chihuahua he found the shops , stocked with 
goods brought from the United States by way of Santa 
Fe it being profitable to drive the wagon trains south 
as ’far as Chihuahua, rather than to sell their loads in 
Santa Fe. -This Santa Fe trade, always subject to great 
risks from , attacks by Indians and other dangers of the 
road, was made still more difficult from the extraordi- 
nary customs duties laid by the Me:?cican officials^, who, , 
without reference to the nature, of , the goods earned, 
assessed a duty of $500 on each wagon, no matter what 
its size or its contents. 
iQf Chihuahua, as it was in those days, Ruxton writes, 
with enthusiasm: “In the _Sierra$jahT mountains^ he 
says,- “are found two species of bears — the common 
black, or American bear, and the grizzly bear of the 
Rocky Mountains. The last are the most numerous, and 
are abundant in the Sierras, in the neighborhood of 
Chihuahua. The camera cimarron — the big-horn or 
Rocky Mountain sheep — is also common on the Cordil- 
lera. Elk, black-tailed deer, cola-prieta (a large species 
of the fallow deer) , the common red deer of America, 
and antelope, abound on all the plains and sierras. Of 
smaller game, peccaries (javali), also called cojamete, 
hares and rabbits are everywhere numerous; and beavers 
are still found in the Gila, the Pechs, the Del Norte and 
their tributary streams. Of birds— the faisem, commonly 
called paisano, ii .species of pheasant; the quail, or rather 
a bird between a quail and a partridge, is abundant; 
while every variety of snipe and plover is found on the 
plains, not forgetting the gruya, of the crane kind, whose 
meat is excellent. There are also two varieties of wolf — 
the white,- or mountain wolf; and the coyote, or small 
wolf of the plains, whose long continued and; melancholy 
howl is an invariable adjunct to a Mexican night en- 
campmCe that the author passed through Chihuahua 
that province was in a state of more or less excitement, 
expecting the advance of the “Americanos” from New 
Mexico. ’ That province had been occupied by the United 
289 
States forces (Santa Fe having been entered Aug. 18, 
1846, by Gen. S. VV. Kearney), and following_ the troops 
was a caravan of 200 traders’ wagons bound for C 11 u 
hua. Ruxton was traveling northward, directly towar, 
the American troops, and bore dispatches for the Ameri- 
can commander ; he was therefore treated with ^treme 
courtesy in Chihuahua and .went on his way. He has 
something to say about the Mexican troops statioried 
here at Chihuahua, whom Colonel Doniphan, two or 
three months later, with goo volunteers defeated with a 
loss of 300 killed and as many wounded, capturing thC 
city of Chihuahua, and without the loss himself of a 
single man in the campaign. As a matter of fact, onC 
man was killed on the United States side while the 
Mexican losses were given as 320 killed, 560 wounded 
and seventy-tw'O prisoners. , E, 1 
It was in November that the author bade adieu t'O 
Chihuahua and set out for Santa Fe. Though the coun- , 
try through which he journeyed was infested with 
Indians, yet now and then a Mexican village was passed, 
occupied by people who were poor both in pocket and in 
spirit, and satisfied merely to live. When the Rio Grande, 
which in old times was commonly called the Del Norte, 
was passed, Ruxton was in what is now the United 
States. It was then Mexican territory, however, and at 
El Paso there were Mexican troops, and also a few , 
American prisoners. From here, for some distance 
northward, Indian sign was constantly seen, _ chiefly of 
Apaches, who made it their business and their pleasure 
to. ravage the region. 
On the Rio Grande, a few days’ journey beyond El Paso, 
a surveying party under the command of Lieutenant , 
Alert, of the United States Engineers, was met with, and 
near him was camped a great part of the traders cardan 
which was on its way to Chihuahua. T.he scene here, 
must have been one of interest. The wagons weie cor- ■ 
railed, making a fort, from which Indians or Mexicans 
could be defied, and the large and wild looking Missouri- 
ans formed a striking contrast to the tiny Mexicans, ; 
with which the author had so long been mingling. The 
American troops in this and neighboring camps were 
volunteers, each one of whom thought himself quite^ as 
good as his commanding officers, and anything like dis- 
cipline was unknown. Buxton was greatly impresse^d by 
this, and commented freely on it, declaring that,_ The 
American can never be made a soldier; his constitution 
will not bear the restraint of discipline; neither will his 
very mistaken notions about liberty^ allow him to sub- 
ject himself to uts necessary control.” 
No doubt the troops which conquered Mexico were a 
good deal of a mob, and won their victories in a great 
measure by the force of individual courage, and through 
the timidity and still greater lack of organization of the 
troops opposed to them. On the other hand, Ruxton 
seems to have felt much admiration for the officers^ in 
command of the regular army. He speaks of West Point, 
and declares that the military education received there 
is one “by which they acquire a praclical^^ as well as 
theoretical knowledge of the science of war”; and that,, 
“as a class, they are probably more distinguished for . 
military knowledge than the officers of any European- 
army;' uniting with this a high chivalrous feeling and a 
most conspicuous .gallantry they have all the essentials 
of the officer and soldier.” _ 
Ruxton spent some time hunting about this camp. One 
day he had a shot at a large panther which he did not,' 
kill, and later he found a turkey roost. After a short de- 
lay ’here he started northward again. One of his ser- 
vants had deserted him some time before, and now he 
sent the other back to Mexico, because he was already-, 
suffering from the severity of the climate. The author’s 
animals had now been traveling so long together that 
they required little or no attention in driving. Of course 
the operation of.'gacking for a single man was slow and 
difficult. Continuing northward he reached Santa. Fe, - 
where, however,, .he did not stop long. 
It was now winter, and the weather cold and snowy, 
but the intrepid traveler had no notion of waiting- for. 
more genial days. He has much to say about the 
Indians in the neighborhood and especially of the 
Pueblos, whose stone villages and peculiar methods of 
life greatly interested him. He found the Mexicans of 
New Mexico no more attractive than those with whom 
he had had to do further, to the southward, but seems to 
have felt a certain respect, if not admiration, for the 
Canadian and American trappers who had married among 
these people. Some of these men advised him strongly 
against making the effort to reach Fort Leavenworth at 
this season of "the year, but he kept on. The journey was 
difficult, however. His animals, natives of the (out: coun- 
try, and of the tropics, were unused to mountain travel ; 
each frozen stream that they came to was a cause of 
delay. The work of getting them on was very laborious, 
and every two or three days Ruxton froze his hands. 
He was now approaching the country of the Utes, who at 
that time were constantly raiding the settlements _ of 
■ northern New Mexico, killing the Mexicans and taking 
their horses. His purpose was to strike the Arkansas 
River near its headwaters, and to reach the Bayou 
Salado, an old rendezvous for trappers, and a great game 
country. The cold of the mountain country grew more 
and more bitter, and the constant winds made it 
almost impossible for the men to keep from freezing. 
Indeed, sometimes the cold was so severe that Ruxton 
found it necessary to put blankets on his animals to keep 
them from perishing. For days at a time snow, wind 
and cold were so severe that it was impossible for the 
author to shoot game near to him, as he could not bend 
his stiffened fingers without a long preliminary effort. 
During a part of his journey f om Red River north 
he had been constantly followed by a large gray wolf, 
which evidently kept with him for the remains of the 
animals killed, and for bits of food left around camp. 
At length the Huerfano River was passed and a little 
later the Greenhorn, where a camp of one white trapper 
and two or three French-Canadians were living. A few 
days later the Arkansas was reached and then the trad- 
ing post known as the Pueblo. Here Ruxton became a 
guest of John Hawkins, a well known mountaineer of 
the time, and here he spent the remainder of the winter 
hunting on the Fontaine-qui-bouille and in the Bayou 
Salado. George Bird Grinnelp. 
[to be concluded.] 
