4.39 CHIHUAHUA 
this prosperity departed. This remark will also apply 
to California while under the dominion of Mexico. No 
one has ever kept the Indians under such subjection 
as the Jesuits; and when the latter were expelled, all 
control over the former was lost. In every large town 
are seen the fine edifices which were in the course of 
erection by them. Chihuahua possesses one of these, 
a large church and college, the walls of which were 
nearly up. These buildings remain just as they were 
left.* An apartment in the college was the place of 
confinement of the patriot Hidalgo and his associates, 
who were executed here in 1811. It is now a black- 
smith’s shop. 
The city is regularly laid out, with broad and clean 
streets, some of which are paved, and contain hand- 
some and well-built houses, both of stone and adobe. 
When of the latter material, they are plastered or stuc- 
coed, and afterwards colored or whitewashed. Most 
* Christian sects may cavil about their success among the Indian 
tribes; but it is an undeniable fact, that the Jesuits during their sway 
accomplished more than all other religious denominations. They brought 
the tribes of Mexico and California under the most complete subjection, 
and kept them so until their order was suppressed. And how was this 
done? Not by the sword, nor by treaty, nor by presents, nor by In- 
dian agents, who would sacrifice the poor creatures without scruple or 
remorse for their own vile gains. The Indian was taught Christianity, 
with many of the arts of civilized life, and how to sustain himself by 
his labor. By this simple means the Society of Jesus accomplished 
more towards ameliorating the condition of the Indians than the United 
States have done since the settlement of the country. The Jesuits did all 
this from a heartfelt desire to improve the moral and social as well as 
the spiritual condition of this people, and at an expense infinitely less 
than we now pay to agents alone, setting aside the millions annually 
appropriated for indemmities, presents, etc. 
