I climbed the rickety ladders, by which one
enters these strange dwellings, and bought the great bowls which
these Indians shape in some manner without the assistance of a
potter's wheel, and then bake in their mud ovens.
The pueblo of Tesuque is only nine miles from Santa Fe, and a
pleasant drive, at that; it seemed strange to me that the road
was not lined with tourists. But no, they pass all these wonders
by, in their disinclination to go off the beaten track.
Visiting the pueblos gets to be a craze. Governor and Mrs. Prince
knew them all - the pueblo of Taos, of Santa Clara, San Juan, and
others; and the Governor's collection of great stone idols was a
marvel indeed. He kept them laid out on shelves, which resembled
the bunks on a great vessel, and in an apartment especially
reserved for them, in his residence at Santa Fe, and it was
always with considerable awe that I entered that apartment. The
Governor occupied at that time a low, rambling adobe house, on
Palace Avenue, and this, with its thick walls and low
window-seats, made a fit setting for the treasures they had
gathered.
Later on, the Governor's family occupied the palace (as it is
always called) of the old Spanish Viceroy, a most ancient,
picturesque, yet dignified building, facing the plaza.
The various apartments in this old palace were used for
Government offices when we were stationed there in 1889, and in
one of these rooms, General Lew Wallace, a few years before, had
written his famous book, "Ben Hur."
On the walls were hanging old portraits painted by the Spaniards
in the sixteenth century. They were done on rawhide, and whether
these interesting and historic pictures have been preserved by
our Government I do not know.
The distinguished Anglican clergyman living there taught a small
class of boys, and the "Academy," an excellent school
established by the Presbyterian Board of Missions, afforded good
advantages for the young girls of the garrison. And as we had
found that the Convent of Loretto was not just adapted to the
education of an American child, we withdrew Katharine from that
school and placed her at the Presbyterian Academy.
To be sure, the young woman teacher gave a rousing lecture on
total abstinence once a week; going even so far as to say, that
to partake of apple sauce which had begun to ferment was yielding
to the temptations of Satan. The young woman's arguments made a
disastrous impression upon our children's minds; so much so, that
the rich German Jews whose daughters attended the school
complained greatly; for, as they told us, these girls would
hasten to snatch the decanters from the sideboard, at the
approach of visitors, and hide them, and they began to sit in
judgment upon their elders. Now these men were among the leading
citizens of the town; they were self-respecting and wealthy. They
could not stand these extreme doctrines, so opposed to their life
and their traditions. We informed Miss X. one day that she could
excuse our children from the total abstinence lecture, or we
should be compelled to withdraw them from the school. She said
she could not compel them to listen, but preach she must. She
remained obedient to her orders from the Board, and we could but
respect her for that. Our young daughters were, however, excused
from the lecture.
But our time was not entirely given up to the study of ancient
pottery, for the social life there was delightful. The garrison
was in the centre of the town, the houses were comfortable, and
the streets shaded by old trees. The Tenth Infantry had its
headquarters and two companies there. Every afternoon, the
military band played in the Plaza, where everybody went and sat
on benches in the shade of the old trees, or, if cool, in the
delightful sunshine. The pretty and well-dressed senoritas cast
shy glances at the young officers of the Tenth; but, alas! the
handsome and attractive Lieutenants Van Vliet and Seyburn, and
the more sedate Lieutenant Plummer, could not return these
bewitching glances, as they were all settled in life.
The two former officers had married in Detroit, and both Mrs. Van
Vliet and Mrs. Seyburn did honor to the beautiful city of
Michigan, for they were most agreeable and clever women, and
presided over their army homes with distinguished grace and
hospitality.
The Americans who lived there were all professional people;
mostly lawyers, and a few bankers. I could not understand why so
many Eastern lawyers lived there. I afterwards learned that the
old Spanish land grants had given rise to illimitable and
never-ending litigation.
Every morning we rode across country. There were no fences, but
the wide irrigation ditches gave us a plenty of excitement, and
the riding was glorious. I had no occasion yet to realize that we
had left the line of the army.
A camping trip to the head-waters of the Pecos, where we caught
speckled trout in great abundance in the foaming riffles and
shallow pools of this rushing mountain stream, remaining in camp
a week under the spreading boughs of the mighty pines, added to
the variety and delights of our life there.
With such an existence as this, good health and diversion, the
time passed rapidly by.
It was against the law now for soldiers to marry; the old days of
"laundresses" had passed away. But the trombone player of the
Tenth Infantry band (a young Boston boy) had married a wife, and
now a baby had come to them.
