Histories

"The Bishop set out from Las Vegas on Wednesday, and on Thursday, 23d of September, quietly entered his episcopal city to prepare the way for the coming caravan... On Sunday, 26th, the party... started for Santa Fe where they arrived at four P.M. The people, led by Father Ortiz, and other Mexican priests, went several miles to meet them. As they approached the city, the crowd increased so much that the carriages could scarcely pass through the streets of the ancient metropolis. Triumphal arches had been erected, and the bells of the different churches were pealing. They were received at the door of the cathedral, presented with holy water, and led to the foot of the altar. The Te Deum was sung, accompanied by Mexican music, violin, guitars, etc., and the ceremony terminated with the episcopal blessing. Thence the Sisters were conducted by the Bishop, Vicar-General and clergy to the house prepared for them... and thus ended this long and painful journey, full of accidents and dangers. All felt glad at being finally at home in Santa Fé."

"On the evening of August 1st they reached Willow Springs, a fine watering place a few miles from Westport, and there found the other party, ready to start. ...but they had proceeded only a few miles when one of the wagons broke down, and there they were obliged to camp in order to repair the wagon."

"Though arrived at his destination, the Bishop soon found himself surrounded by great difficulties. Both the clergy and the people were unwilling to acknowledge the new prelate's authority. ...before its annexation to the United States, New Mexico being under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Durango, in Mexico... The saintly Bishop of Durango, Dr. Zubiria, had been advised in time, and had immediately set out for New Mexico, visiting every mission of the diocese, and performing everywhere his episcopal duties. But he had not been consulted in the dismemberment of his diocese, and he felt quite unwilling to quietly stand by it. The clergy had another reason, they had been living at ease twelve hundred miles from their Bishop, and they dreaded the presence of the new prelate among them; I might add, that many of them were utterly opposed to American rule, either civil or ecclesiastical."

"The indefatigable Dr. Lamy set out on horseback, with a solitary guide, for the city of Durango; he had an interview with its Bishop, and everything was settled amicably. Without taking time for rest, he returned, having performed a journey of three thousand miles on horseback."

"In his new diocese he found but few priests, while it was destitute of educational establishments of any kind. The young bishop put his hand to the grand work of building up Catholicity... His adventures and long journeys over the vast plains extending from Kansas City to Fort Union, plains with no inhabitants, then, save wild beasts and roving Indians, border on romance. Though about nine hundred miles in extent, Dr. Lamy crossed these plains twelve times for the welfare of his vast diocese."

"In Santa Fé, old persons relate a fact which shows their faith. The ground was parched for want of water, all the water courses and ditches were dried up, sheep and cattle were in a dying condition, and poverty was staring in the face of the people. But on the day of the Bishop's arrival, a bountiful rain fell, animate and inanimate nature was refreshed, grass sprung up, and the year was one of plenty."

"Afterwards the Sisters obtained, on very reasonable terms, a piece of property in a secluded part of the city, and containing the best looking house in town, and called La Casa Americana, the American house, because it had a shingle roof, all the other roofs in town being flat and covered with earth. An orchard and grounds were laid out, and the Sisters began to occupy their new home in September, 1855."

"Eleven years were thus spent for the Lord, when in 1850, Father Lamy was created by the Holy See, Bishop of Agathon in part. inf. and Vicar Apostolic of New Mexico. No time was to be lost, and so with his usual energy, the young Bishop, only thirty-six years of age, repaired to Cincinnati, was consecrated by Dr. Purcell on the 24th of November, 1850, and immediately after set out to "conquer" his See... Leaving his sister at the hospital of the Sisters of Charity, and his niece, Mother Francisca, then a young lady, at the Ursuline Convent in New Orleans, he embarked alone on a vessel sailing for Galveston..."

"Once, while a guest of Dr. Lamy, I espied some volumes in his library, that seemed to have received a thorough soaking, and looked like veterans battered in war, amid new recruits. I inquired of the venerable Archbishop the meaning of it. His eyes sparkled; a smile lit up his kindly face, and he told me that they were fished out of the waters of the Gulf. With great kindness, and even joy at the remembrance, he described to me his shipwreck, his desolation at having lost everything, till spying quite near the shore one of his trunks drifting seaward, he offered a small sum of money to a young negro boy, who swam to the trunk, and, pushing it before him as he swam shoreward, brought it to land. It was opened. Oh ! in what condition ! The books in my hands were of those saved in that one trunk, all else was lost."

"Bishop Lamy, ever anxious for the good of his diocese, desired to enrich it with devoted Sisters, to teach the young, knowing well that this was the best way to reach the people. Having heard of the self-denial of Father Nerinckx's spiritual children, and of the severe training they had gone through, he concluded that they were the very ones whom Divine Providence had designed for the laborious missions which the Holy See had confided to his care. He applied for a colony of Sisters, and his request was cheerfully granted. Faithful to its traditions, and to the injunctions of its founder, Loretto could not refuse a mission which seemed to promise nothing but hardships and privations."

"After the Mexican Revolution of 1821 and the expulsion of the Spanish Franciscans, the wants of the parishes at first so flourishing under the saintly Friars, were supplied by secular priests sent from Durango. It is easy to understand that all the missions could not be supplied, and that living thousands of miles away from the bishops of the diocese, the discipline must have considerably relaxed."

"New Mexico suffered greatly from the frequent revolutions and pronunciamientos, issued in the mother country. The provincial deputation had given way as a power; a President of the Republic was created in 1825 and Guadalupe Victorio was inaugurated April 1. He was succeeded by Santa Anna in 1833, who himself was overthrown in 1835 and a new constitution adopted. All these revolutions were felt in New Mexico both by the Church and the State, and religious as well as civil progress was retarded."

"Much dissatisfaction was felt with the new constitution and it culminated in a conspiracy by the Indians in 1837, against the governor Albino Perez, and he was assassinated by them... and the half breed Indian Jose Gonzalez, proclaimed provisional governor."

"From its first settlement, the Province of New Mexico had been under the Bishop of Guadalajara. But about 1730, the See of Durango having been erected by the Holy See, all the churches of New Mexico were placed under the care of its Bishop, who for the first time in 1737 visited this vast Province, the northern part of his diocese. From that time, for nearly one hundred years, hardly any Bishop visited this country, till the Most Rev. Zubiria who at great peril and hardship visited the New Mexican part of his diocese."

"One of the first acts of the new Republic was from the Legislature, called "Provincial deputation," April 27th, 1822, which issued a decree to establish public schools, as follows: Resolved, "That the said ayuntamientos [municipalities] be officially notified to complete the formation of primary public schools, as soon as possible, according to the circumstances of each community.""

"On April 5th [1822], Francis Xavier Chaves reached Santa Fé as political chief, and with him a government was inaugurated. The overland trade with the United States virtually dates from the same year."

"It was this dissatisfaction of a part of the people of New Mexico, which gave rise to the famous Texas-Santa Fe expedition, which terminated so disastrously for the Texans. ...Many of those who composed it had nothing else in view than trading, and brought a great amount of merchandise. But this was not the view of General Lamar, the President of the "Lone Star republic." Texas claimed the Rio Grande as her western boundary; many in that eastern half of New Mexico, seemed to desire their coming and throw off the galling yoke of Mexico, and Lamar with his associates, who kept their secret, wished these young men to reduce Santa Fé under the rule of Texas. All know how they were roughly handled by General Armijo, when, after untold hardships, they were met at Apache Canon, made prisoners, and, tied together like cattle, sent to the city of Mexico."

"In the year 1824, Bartolome Baca was sent as political chief, with the instruction of forming one State of Durango, Chihuahua and New Mexico. Baca resided at Chihuahua for a short time. New Mexico became dissatisfied about the new arrangement, and lent an ear to overtures made by the United States to join the American Union."

"Charles Bent was assassinated at Taos, July 17, 1847, and Donaciano Vigil was confirmed in his place; the following years to March, 1851, were without a civil governor, the Territory being successively under the command of J. M. Washington and John Monroe, commandants of the Department."

"This list [of governors]... could be found in the office of the Surveyor General H. M. Atkinson when he was in office."

"Napoleon had passed away, pining on the "Forlorn rock," amid the billows of the Mediterranean, the Bonapartes of Spain had quickly descended the steps of the throne, and the treaty of Paris had restored to the Bourbons the throne of Isabella, the "Catholic," but—oh ! what ruins ! what weakness !"

"Manuel Armijo is the last governor under the Mexican rule. He remained in office till August 18, 1846, when the United States troops took formal possession of New Mexico. By proclamation from General S. W. Kearny, who commanded the troops, Charles Bent was duly appointed the first U. S. Governor of New Mexico."

"August 18, 1846, brings us to the American occupation of New Mexico, by General S. W. Kearny, and to an era of prosperity, both religious and political, for the Territory. New Mexico was so far back, on that year, that it is asserted that "adobe palaces," alone in the Territory had window glass."

"Gabino [Albino] Perez... was a native of the city of Mexico; a man of education, he established schools everywhere. He never missed church on Sunday, going as military commander to the Castrense, or military chapel, and as political chief to the church of San Francisco, now the Cathedral. It is known that the garrison who lived in the Garita near the palace, said their Rosary every day. In order to sustain his schools, he established a commission to levy taxes to pay half of the salary of the teachers, the general government paying the other half. This angered some men of weight in the Territory, and they formed a plot against him in Taos and Rio Arriba. They roused all the Pueblos, of the north, persuading them that the Governor desired all to learn the language of the Americans, in order to deliver them to the strangers. In a short while a thousand men were under arms, massed at Santa Cruz. They marched upon Santa Fé; Perez with twenty-five soldiers went to meet them, and he had the courage to attack them at a place called Puertecito. Two of his officers and some soldiers fell on the field; Perez fled to Santa Fé with some of his officers, closely pursued by the rebels. They at once mounted horses, and started for Mexico on the large road called Camino de Vargas, but the Indians of Santo Domingo were awaiting them, lying in ambuscade."

"Now was the time. The Mexicans assembled in ayuntamientos and ordered away all Spaniards from Mexican soil, and on September 28th, 1821, Mexico published her Declaration of Independence of the Spanish rule. The rising succeeded at once... It was not a bloody revolution, although a few lives were lost here and there, and many a Caballero [Spanish gentleman] returned penniless to the mother country. Even before the uprising of 1821, New Mexico had felt the commotions of the volcano upon which the country stood. In 1812, [Robert Mc]Knight, [James] Baird and [Samuel] Chambers brought merchandise overland [from St. Louis], but were treated as spies [being imprisoned in Chihuahua] and their goods were confiscated. No serious troubles were felt, however, owing to the strength of the governor Joaquin del Real Alencaster."

"Since then the new province has prospered beyond all human expectations, and besides the house of Santa Fé, in which is the novitiate, and which has been called the Convent of Our Lady of Light, it possesses the following houses: The Convent of the Annunciation, in Mora, was established in 1854, whilst Father J. B. Salpointe, now Archbishop of Santa Fé, was parish priest at that place. In 1853 the Convent of St. Joseph was established in Taos, under the care of the Rev. Gabriel Ussel, the parish priest of Taos. The Convent of Our Lady of Guadalupe was first established in Albuquerque in 1866, but that mission was given up in 1869. In the same year was established the Convent of the Immaculate Conception, in Las Vegas. In 1870 the Visitation Academy was established at Las Cruces, through the generosity of the Rt. Rev. J. B. Salpointe, then Vicar Apostolic of Arizona, in whose diocese Las Cruces was included. The Convent of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart was established in 1875 in Bernalillo. Later, in 1879, the Convent of Mount Carmel was established in Socorro. In 1864 the Convent and Academy of Denver was established. The zealous and untiring Father Machebeuf, the pastor of that rising city, and now its worthy Bishop, came himself to Santa Fé, and brought a colony of Sisters to the capital of Colorado. Since then the novitiate of Santa Fé, being unable to supply them with a sufficient number of Sisters, they are supplied from Loretto, and have themselves formed missions at Pueblo, Conejos and elsewhere, spreading everywhere the light of the knowledge of God and the sweet odor of the most exalted virtues."

"Don Gaspar de Sandaval Zerda Silva y Mandoza succeeded Vargas in 1694; he was succeeded himself in 1697 by Don Pedro Rodriguez Cubero, who gave way for the second term of Vargas in 1703. From 1704 to 1710 the Duke of Albuquerque governed the Territory; but during an absence of the Duke of Albuquerque in 1705 we find a governor ad interim in the General Francisco Cuerbo y Valdez. The Marquis de la Penuela was another governor ad interim in 1708, and succeeded the Duke of Albuquerque in 1710 to 1712. He was the first to use the word Nuevo Mexico; all the documents so far give the name feminui la Nueva Mexico. Juan Paez de Hurnado was governor for a short time in 1712, and was ad interim at different other periods. In 1712 Don Fernando de Alencaster Morena y Silva, etc, etc., the Viceroy of New Spain, administered the Territory and visited New Mexico, when he confirmed, as governor, the appointee of King Phillip himself. Juan Ignacio Flores Magallon; who governed five years, entering into office October 5, 1712. In 1721, he was tried at Santa Fé for malfeasance in office, and condemned to pay one hundred dollars costs, but no effects were found wherewith to satisfy the bill of costs, and as the document says: "The governor himself non est inventus [not found]; supposed to be absent in the city of Mexico."

"The following, who was a Capuchin Friar, Don Thomas Velez, was three times governor, during the years from 1749 to 1773, at intervals."

"Still in 1811, we see as governor with headquarters at Chihuahua, Nemecio Salcedo; in 1815 Alberto Maynez, and in 1816, Pedro Maria de Allande."

"Finally, from 1818 to 1822, Facundo Melgares governed the Territory. He is the last governor under the Spanish rule. He is represented by Pike, whom he [under Alencaster]... imprisoned for being an officer, as a "gentleman and gallant soldier.""

"Although Facundo Melgares remained in the Territory till 1822; the New Mexican government sent as "Commanding and political chief," (gefe superior politico) Don Alejo Garcia Conde, in the commencement of the year 1821. He was succeeded as political chief by Antonio Viscarra, who was removed at the end of 1823, and in 1824 Bartolome Baca took the gubernatorial chair to September 13, 1825; when Antonia Narbona, a Canadian by birth, took the chair, followed by Manuel Armijo in 1827; Jose Antonio Chavez in 1828; Santiago Abreu, 1831; Francesco Sarracino, 1833; Mariano Chavez, 1835; Albino Perez, 1837; In January of that year, New Mexico, until then a Territory, was made a department of the Republic [of Mexico], and Perez confirmed as governor. He was assassinated in Santa Fé by the Pueblo Indians on the 9th of August 1837, and on the following day Jose Gonzales, a Pueblo Indian, was proclaimed governor of New Mexico by the insurgents, and as such placed in possession of the "Palace," in Santa Fé. Manuel Armijo, at the head of the military, had him executed on the 27th of January, 1838. Armijo then took the power in his hands, but was subsequently confirmed by the national government of Mexico. He remained governor till 1844, when in January of that year he was suspended from office by the Inspector-General, and Mariano Martinez acted as governor to September 18th, when Jose Chavez superseded him to December, at which epoch Manuel Armijo was again chosen governor."

"I could not pass over in silence the fine chapel and the Academy of Our Lady of Light, built entirely by the energy of Mother Magdalen and the self-abnegation of the Sisters, who many times deprived themselves of the necessary wants of life, in order to be able to erect a suitable temple to the Almighty and an Academy worthy of the high renown of the sister institution of Our Lady of Light. The chapel, commenced in 1873, is built of stone, with veins and arches of the purest Gothic style, constructed entirely of native material. This chapel... is a monument to the devotion of all interested in that great enterprise—a chapel which can compare favorably with the finest in the largest cities of the land. The Academy was commenced in the spring of 1880."

"From 1692 to 1694, and again in 1703, New Mexico was ruled by General Don Diego de Vargas Zapatoz Lujan Ponce de Leon, who signs himself, Marquez de la naba de Brazinas, gobernado, capitan, restorador, conquistador, a sa Casta, reconquissador y poblador castellano, por sa Majestad, etc., etc. (Marquis of the root of Brazinas, governor, captain, general, restaurer, conqueror at his cost, reconquerer, Castilian and Castilian founder for His Majesty, etc. etc.)"

"In the year 1600, Pedro de Peralta was governor, and probably the first who used that title. During that period, according to Shea's Catholic Missions, the country was nearly abandoned by the Spaniards. Still we find General Arguello as governor in 1640, and he defeated the first great insurrection of the Indians. In 1650, General Concha was governor, and he was called upon to quiet the second revolt of the pueblos. He administered the Territory till 1656, when he was relieved by Enrique de Abilu y Pacheco, of whom little is known. General Villanueva administered after him, and his administration which lasted to the year 1675, was disturbed by constant uprisings of the Indians who had found refuge with the Apaches in the Magdalena Mountains. In the year 1675, Juan Francisco Frecenia... had still greater difficulties to contend with than his predecessor. He left the government in the hands of Antonio de Otermin [who was] forced... to return to El Paso in 1680..."

"Time, decay and want of proper care, are rapidly carrying off forever many documents of great importance, sole survivors of many more, which formed a part of the archives of Santa Fé. Papers of value... have disappeared; many others are in a perishing condition, and it is said that in 1846, Governor Armijo used up a large quantity of them for cartridges; and alas! he was not the only one that did it."

"Under the Spanish governments the whole military, civil and ecclesiastical administration was admirably carried out, and the official reports are models of completeness and brevity."

"Many stories are told of what passes in their Estuva, but all this is exaggeration. However, it must be acknowledged that they have... among them many secret societies that no one outside of the pueblo can ever penetrate. They are good tillers of the ground, and some pueblos have great herds of cattle and horses; their principal manufacture consists of pottery. The vases and other article's they make are all of classic and Biblical shapes. These vases are extensively used through the territory."

"The Pueblos, then as now, were a distinct people... They lived in villages, cultivated the soil, and had trades and manufacture. The Navajoes and Apaches of to-day are as easily distinguished from the Pueblos as in the time of the earliest conquerors of New Mexico."

"Learned treatises have been written on the subject; some contending that the Pueblos are of Aztec, others that they are of Toltec origin. ...Their traditions say that they came from the north. ...I think the opinion which says that they are the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, mixed with some Tartars, is not at all improbable. I lately saw a work in which the author tries to prove they were Phonicians and not Jews."

"Classed by dialects, the pueblos of New Mexico, at the period of the arrival of the Spaniards, spoke four separate and distinct languages, called the Tegua, the Piro, the Queres and the Tagnos. This classification has passed away, and today all the Pueblos of New Mexico are divided, as to dialect, into five classes: 1, Sandia, Isleta, Picuris and Taos; 2, Cochiti, Santo Domingo, San Felipe, Santa Ana, Laguna and Acoma; 3, Jemes; 4, Zuni; 5, San Juan, Santa Clara, Nambe, San Ildefonso, Pojuaque and Tezuque. Thus by language, these Indians are nearly all cut off from verbal communication, not only with Mexicans, but with Pueblos of a different dialect."

"The conquest of New Mexico terminated there... At that epoch, the authority of the Spaniards both ecclesiastical and civil, was acknowledged in all the pueblos."

"Faithful to his promise, Vargas built the Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Rosary, and the fulfilment of the vow, commenced then, still continues every year on the Sunday after the Octave of Corpus Christi, by carrying what is most probably the identical statue possessed by Vargas, and called by the people Nuestra Senora de la Victoria, "Our Lady of the Victory," in great pomp, with music and pious chanting, from the Cathedral of St. Francis to the Chapel of the Rosary, and for nine days mass is chanted there, all the people making daily pilgrimages in thanksgiving for the favor received."

"Soon universal peace reigned in New Mexico. Vargas then repaired the churches, and among the first the old church of San Miguel, but did not complete it, and it remained in that state until 1710, when the front tower was built by the Marquez de la Penuela... He built the Rosario, and no doubt, repaired the old Castrense, for his own use. This church was on the spot occupied now by the great merchant houses of Spiegelberg and Don Felipe Delgado. The Cathedral of San Francisco was re-built somewhat later, I think about 1730, long after the removal of Vargas. The church of Guadalupe... being somewhat out of the city, seems to have suffered less than the other churches at the time of the Rebellion."

"I have visited several pueblos in New Mexico; everywhere you find a square, small or large, according to the size of the village; around the "plaza," the dwellings are erected close together, so as to present outwardly an unbroken line of wall to the height of two or three stories. Viewed from the inner square, it presents the appearance of a succession of terraces with doors and windows opening upon them. To go to the house of the governor of Tezuque, for instance, you go up a ladder of about ten feet. There you meet a terrace about six feet wide, and the door of the sleeping apartment opens on that terrace, which has another ladder to go higher. To go to the lower apartments, you place the ladder and descend through a hole; these apartments have no windows, and this hole is the door and the chimney. This description, with slight variations, is applicable to all the pueblo villages..."

"All Christians, priests and seculars, women and children, fell under their blows, except a few of the handsomest maidens whom the warriors reserved for wives. General Otermin, the governor, was unprepared and paralyzed with fear; the capital was besieged by an army, and Otermin with a few followers, unable to defend Santa Fé, resolved to leave it to its fate, and with all the Spaniards fled, and never rested till he reached El Paso, where the Franciscans supported him and his followers for a whole winter. Some of the Spaniards settled in Socorro, desiring to return to Santa Fé in a short time."

"Santa Fé was given up to pillage. The churches were desecrated and partly pulled down. ...The Indians, putting on priestly vestments, were seen riding about the city, drinking from sacred vessels... In other pueblos and villages, the priests and Spaniards, not being aware of the rising, remained quietly in their houses, and were all massacred... then the churches were razed to the ground; the worship of the serpent, with its dances, including the indecent cachina, were prescribed anew to all good Indians, the estufas were reopened, and they were ordered to abandon even the names of their baptism, and take new ones. It was decreed in solemn council that "God, the Father, and Mary, the Mother of the Spaniards were dead, and that the Indian gods alone remained." They made offerings of flour, feathers, corn, tobacco and other articles... After this, all those grim warriors repaired to the little Santa Fé river, and there, divesting themselves of their scant clothing, washed their whole bodies with amole or soap-weed, to "Wash off their baptism.""

"On the 5th of November of the following year, Otermin, equipped by the Franciscans of El Paso, started with an army to reconquer New Mexico. All the old inhabitants of Santa Fé, eager to recover their property, went with him. They suffered greatly while crossing La Jornada del Muerto, where for a distance of ninety miles, water is not to be found, except what collects in holes after a rain. ... It has been named the "Journey of Death," on account of the number of persons killed, either by Mescalero Apache Indians, by want of water, or by storms while crossing it. To-day the A.T.S.F. railroad passes through it, and water has been found in about its center. ... the priests, and in particular, Father Ayeta, of El Paso... baptized many at La Isleta and Sandia, but when the army reached the Pueblo of Cienegilla, near Santa Fé, Juan, a Tozuque Indian, advised them of a plot to destroy them. Afraid of remaining any longer in the country, they set out on their homeward journey and reached El Paso on the 11th of February, 1582."

"Popé visited Bua at night, and under the pretext of communicating to him important secrets, drew him out of the pueblo into a dark spot, and while speaking to him, plunged a knife in his heart. Bua did not expect such a treatment, and was unarmed. He fell with a faint cry, and was soon dispatched and buried secretly by the treacherous Popé."

"It would be out of my purpose to write in detail the successive expeditions of Humana, who on account of his cruelty, had his army almost annihilated by the Quiviras; of Juan de Onate, who brought over three hundred families to settle them in the territory, and established most of them in the country about Santa Cruz and Santa Fé, but obtained permission to reduce "the natives to a state of obedience, which he interpreted by reducing them to slavery." All these facts were written by Padre Geronimo de Yarate Salmeron, a Franciscan who remained eight years in New Mexico..."

"In a few years the Spaniards began to assume the prerogatives of masters; a rule of tyranny and slavery was established. Instead of letting the priests alone to see to the conversion of the Indians, fanatical Spaniards tried to convert them with the sword. In a short time they looked upon the Spaniards with intense hatred; low murmurs followed, and then open revolt. They were arrested and severely punished, but never resigned. Thus it went on for centuries; the Church suffered much in those times, and the conversion of the Indians was greatly retarded. Finally it culminated in the great Rebellion of 1680..."