The Tehua pueblos are six in number, extending from San Juan to Tesuque, and embracing besides these two, Santa Clara, San Ildefonso, Pojuaque, and Nambe. They are compactly located in a district of moderate size, and really form one community, similar in language, customs, and traditions. In this matter of location they differ very much from the Tihua nation, which includes the Indians of Taos and Picuris in the north with those of Isleta in the south; or the Jemez-Pecos people, who before the abandonment of Pecos, lived in those far-separated pueblos, with many of different language and lineage between.

It was the Tehua nation that was first touched by the influence of Spanish civilization and the Christian religion; because Onate, in selecting the choicest location for his colonization, placed both his first capital at San Gabriel and the permanent seat of government at Santa Fe within the territory of the Tehua Indians.

Down to that time we know practically nothing of their history. Coronado himself never visited the Tehua country, and his captains, like Barrio- Nuevo, only made rapid tours of exploration. Espejo

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and Castano visited these pueblos, but nothing resulted from their expeditions. But Onate settled in the midst of the nation, and found the people so hospitable and helpful that he gave the name of "Caballeros" to those with whom he came into most immediate contact.

We have seen in the preliminary chapter on Colonization, that the new settlement was established on July 12, 1598, by the advance guard of Onate's expedition; that by August 18th the entire company had arrived; and that every one then took part in the building of their church, as the first and most important work. Its dedication, on October 8th, was made as elaborate and impressive as possible, and then followed the week of festivities, and the "universal meeting of all the Earth," all intended to impress the Indian mind with the power and knowledge of the Spaniards and the beauty of their religion; and finally, settling down to systematic work, the Franciscan comisario, Padre Alonso Martinez, divided New Mexico into seven missionary districts and appointed one of his clergy to the charge of each.

To the province of the Tehuas was assigned Fr. Cristoval de Salazar and he proceeded without delay to the toilsome duties of his position; with the advantage, however, of the companionship of the comisario and other Spaniards at San Gabriel, which his brethren in more remote districts could not enjoy in their complete isolation. The succeeding history of the Missions at San Juan, Santa Clara,

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and Nambe will require separate chapters, but the other Tehua pueblos will be grouped together for consideration here.

23.1. SAN ILDEFONSO
Church building was evidently considered of primary importance and engaged the earliest attention of all the missionaries. When we remember that these Franciscan monks went alone into communities with whose language even they were not acquainted, without money or any other material inducement to offer, and succeeded not only in securing a hearing, but in persuading the people to give their time and labor to the building of temples for a new religion, their success is remarkable. Within thirty years, according to the report of Benavides, eight pueblos in this Tehua district had churches or chapels adequate for the service of the Christian religion, and in three places there were also conventos or houses for the residence of the priest and the accommodation of visiting clergy and lay helpers, all "very fine" he says," especially that at San Ildefonso on which the Religious who founded it expended great care."

The two places having churches, in addition to the six Tehua pueblos still existing, were no doubt Cuyamangue and probably San Gabriel, in which the church built in 1598 was very likely still used by the Indians and adjacent settlers; and the three supplied with conventos, were very certainly, San Ildefonso, San Juan, and Nambe.

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The Mission at San Ildefonso became at an early day the center of Franciscan activity in the north, and the adjoining buildings which still existed there until recent changes, showed the number of persons that it was arranged to accommodate when necessary. However, all this does not seem to have had any effect in preventing the San Ildefonso Indians from joining with their racial brethren in the revolt of 1680 and the destruction of the Franciscans. Fr. Luis de Morales was at that time the priest in charge there and had lived among the people for a considerable time and apparently was much beloved, and with him as his assistant was a younger brother named Antonio Sanches de Pro, who had come from Mexico only three years before. The tradition is that both were massacred in the church while serving at the altar.

When De Vargas appeared for the reconquest in 1693, the Indians of San Ildefonso and the adjacent pueblos made a determined resistance, and all the warriors gathered on the summit of the Mesita which was practically impregnable to the arms of those days. A siege was unsuccessful, but was renewed in the succeeding spring, when the Spaniards attempted its capture on March 4th, having brought two of the cannon of that day across the country from Santa Fe for that purpose. Unfortunately, both pieces of artillery burst at the first attempted discharge. A furious assault was made on the natural fortress on the 11th, but was repulsed, and a week afterwards the siege was abandoned.

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Even after the general pacification of the province the Indians of San Ildefonso took part in the attempted uprising of 1696 and killed both their own priest and a visiting brother. Fr. Francisco Corvera was then in charge of the Mission and on June 4th received a visit from Fr. Antonio Moreno, then the missionary at Nambe. In the night while both were sleeping in the convento, the Indians barred the doors and windows of both that building and the church to which it was an adjunct, and then set fire to both buildings, and the two priests were suffocated by the smoke. Soon after the complete restoration of Spanish authority the church at San Ildefonso was rebuilt very near the site of the older structure, and a mound of earth still marks the location of the latter. The new church remained practically unaltered until a few years ago, when the prevailing spirit of change and innovation succeeded in making several substantial alterations. The old Mission is in possession of a number of interesting and valuable Spanish paintings, and two or three of the very rare pictures on elk skin or buffalo hide which were made in the early missionary days when it was impossible to obtain enough pictures on canvas for the use of the new churches.

Although near the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, San Ildefonso has never been overrun by tourists, and everything remains as in pristine days. The principal annual festival, which occurs on the saint's day of San Ildefonso, in January, is an interesting celebration, usually attended by a considerable number

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of tourists from Santa Fe The illustration of the pueblo which accompanies this chapter shows a ceremonial dance in full progress, on the level plaza in front of the church, and looks across the Rio Grande to the Jemez Mountains on the west.

23.2. TESUQUE
Of Tesuque and Pojuaque there is not much to say. Both have been gradually losing in population during the last hundred years, until it has seemed that at least one of these old historic towns might follow the fate of Cuyamangue which was situated between them, and become extinct. In 1805, according to the census taken by Governor Alencaster, Tesuque contained 131 inhabitants, now reduced to almost an exact one hundred, and Pojuaque had 100, which have dwindled to a single dozen.

Their history has been similar to that of their neighbors, except that, being so near the capital and surrounded by Mexican ranches, they have been somewhat more influenced by their immediate environment.

At the time of the Pueblo Revolution of 1680 it was from Tesuque that the arrangements for the simultaneous destruction of all the Spaniards, which had been so carefully planned and their secrecy so well preserved, were revealed just in advance of the fatal day. Two Indians, named Catua and Omtua, gave the information to the Spanish officials; but their treachery was discovered by the other Indians of Tesuque on August 9th, and instantly swift messengers

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carried word to every pueblo that the secret was known and that the rising must take place without delay.

The very first blow was struck in Tesuque itself on the evening of that day, when a Spaniard named Cristobal de Herrera was killed there. The next morning, the Rev. Padre Juan Bautista Pio and a soldier named Pedro Hidalgo suffered a sudden attack. Tesuque was then within the parish of Santa Fe, and was served, in religious matters, by a priest sent out from the capital. For some time it had been in the spiritual charge of Father Pio and on the morning of August 10th he had started at daylight, with a soldier as a companion, to say mass in the pueblo. On arriving at Tesuque they were surprised to find the town deserted, and proceeded along the road in search of some explanation. About a mile from the pueblo they met some of the Indians of Tesuque with others from Cuyamangue, all armed and covered with war paint. Father Pio said "What does this mean, my children; are you crazy?" and went on ahead to summon some of the others to return. Soon he entered a ravine, and a few minutes later two Indians emerged, one carrying a kind of shield which belonged to the padre and the other spotted with blood. They and others approached Hidalgo and took from him his sword and hat, but being on horseback, he succeeded in shaking them off and escaped.

In the remarkable sermon preached in the cathedral in the City of Mexico, on March 20, 1681, before

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the viceroy, in commemoration of the Franciscan martyrs of the Pueblo Revolution, Dr. Isidro Sarinana y Cuenca, the most eloquent orator of the Seraphic Order, speaks especially of this martyrdom, placing the name of Father Pio at the head of the list of those killed, and adding "If confederatedcruelty was wickedly pursuing innocence, it is clear that there had to be a Pio as the first target of the arrows which infidelity and apostasy shot against the Christian religion."

Tesuque is less than nine miles from Santa Fe, and therefore by far the most easily reached of all

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of the pueblos by the ordinary tourist. While the constant stream of visitors which this naturally brings to the village has turned the attention of some of the Indians from their regular agricultural pursuits to the furnishing of curios for the strangers who drive out to their village, and may have dulled somewhat the usual Pueblo spirit of hospitality, yet the pueblo itself has preserved all of its natural characteristics and should certainly be visited by all who cannot afford time to see one of the larger Indian towns. It gives an excellent idea of the peculiar architecture and customs of this ancient people, who have brought down to the twentieth century the life which their forefathers lived four hundred years ago, and thus present to our observation a living picture of American life as it was in the days of Ferdinand and Isabella, of Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth.

The accompanying picture shows the Church of San Diego at Tesuque on a day when a number of tourists are visiting the pueblo.

23.3. POJUAQUE
The old church, perched on a hill-top, and a few surrounding houses of the ancient style, are all that remain of the once flourishing pueblo of Pojuaque. The adjacent road, which is the main thoroughfare from Santa Fe to the north, curves around the hill in order to escape a heavy grade, and so the pueblo and its Mission Church are often passed without being observed. But the view from the hill itself includes

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one of the greenest of agricultural valleys, with the picturesque river winding down from the mountains to the Rio Grande, and also the high peaks, snow-clad through most of the year, forming the eastern horizon.

The church is quaint and free from the vandalism of modern innovation, and thus possesses much more of interest to the intelligent and appreciative visitor than the most sumptuous structures of a recent day. No blood of priest or monk stains the history of this peaceful mission, no story of the martyrdom of some devoted minister of Christ comes to mar the record of the baptisms and marriages and deaths of the generations which here have lived and died. But history tells us that on the fatal August day, so long ago, the Spaniards residing in the valley, who were warned, fled to the capital and that those who remained were destroyed or made captive. Among those who suffered were Captain Francisco Ximenes and his family and a man named Jose de Goitia; and among the missing, that is, those who remained in captivity, were Dona Petronila de Silva and her children.

What remains of the pueblo of Pojuaque is situated eighteen miles from Santa Fe, close to the main highway which leads to the north. The visitor will be well repaid who will turn aside at least for a brief resting time, and visit the little known, but entirely unspoiled Mission Church of this ancient pueblo.

The ancient Tehua pueblo of Caypa received the baptism of its new name of "San Juan de los Caballeros" on the same day that we count as the birthday of New Mexico--July 12, 1598. This complimentary title from Onate, came, as we are told in the epic of Villagra, as a recognition of the courtesy and hospitality shown by the Indians of Caypa to the Spanish colonists, in vacating the houses on the west side of the Rio Grande for the accommodation of the strangers.

There is in the folk-lore of the Indians an ancient legend according to which this coming of the Spaniards really reunited the whole family of the Tehuas of San Juan. It tells us that in the time of "Long Ago," when the Indians were migrating by slow stages from the far Northwest, the Tehuas were divided into two great classes, known as the Summer People and the Winter People. In passing down the valley of the Rio Grande, part of the nation chose to remain in the wide valleys near the mouth of the Chama River, while others went to similar locations below the Santa Cruz, and still others preferred the hilly region farther to the east. Of those who settled in the fertile valley near the Chama, the Summer

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People chose the west side of the Rio Grande, in Yuque Yunque, and the Winter People, the east side, at Caypa. In order that there should be no division, the good spirits built a bridge by laying a long feather of a parrot from one side of the river and an equally long feather of a magpie from the other. As soon as they met, the people began to cross, and so continued to live in brotherhood until a wicked spirit of evil caused the feathers to turn over, and the bridge was destroyed. But when the Spaniards came and desired to make their capital at Yunque, the Indians welcomed them and gave them all the houses of the Summer People for their own, and those at Caypa brought their brethren back across the river and gave them half of their houses and their fields, and so reunited both the Summer and the Winter People in the one pueblo of San Juan.

To change from tradition to history, we have already learned the narrative of the settlement at San Gabriel, of the building of the first church and of the great festival that succeeded. We know that seven years afterward, the seat of government was moved to Santa Fe and the pueblo of San Juan resumed its position of preëminence, which had been somewhat overshadowed by the brief glories of San Gabriel. One of the first churches was erected there and it soon became the permanent residence of a priest, with its convento and all the facilities for missionary work. At all times it was to be counted among the prosperous pueblos and the only charge lodged against its people was that they were proud and apt to be overbearing to their Indian neighbors.

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When, in after years, the grievances of the Indians became acute and revolts against ill treatment only brought defeat and punishment, everyone recognized that the two requisites for success were leadership and organization. In the excitement which followed the punishment of forty- seven Indians for alleged witchcraft in 1675, there suddenly came into public notice the man apparently best fitted to control. He was from this pueblo of San Juan, and his name was Poe-pec, abbreviated in general use, to Po-pee. He was a man of great ability, and his zeal in the cause of his people was so intense that on a mere suspicion that his son-in-law, Nicolas Bua, who was the governor of the pueblo, was disloyal, he killed him with his own hand.

Thus San Juan became the center of the great conspiracy which culminated in the Revolution of 1680; and on the general uprising there was the same destruction of the church and its property here as in all the rest of New Mexico.

The new church, erected after the reconquest, was the one which with slight changes endured down to the present era, and is the subject of the illustration, reproduced from an official photograph by Hillers taken nearly forty years ago.

This church was long and narrow, like all of the older ones in New Mexico, where the width is always limited by the length of the vigas, or cross timbers, as one timber stretches directly across from side to side. For this reason the interior of the churches cannot exceed twenty-five feet in width, and that is the usual distance from wall to wall in the larger religious

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edifices. Any augumentation in size has to be made by an increase in length. The vigas in nearly all the important old churches are carefully selected logs of uniform size, in some cases round as they are naturally left when the bark is removed, and in others hewn to a square. Sometimes they are left with a plane surface, and in others are ornamented by carvings from end to end; but in almost every case the short timbers which project from the walls on either side as supports, are quite elaborately carved, being frequently cut into the form of a graceful curve and add very much to the architectural effect of the interior.

No better example of this style of architecture existed in New Mexico than in this old Mission at San Juan.

The large vigas are generally about two and a half feet apart, and in this church the number which supported the roof, from the door to the chancel, was thirty-seven. As is usual, there was one very elaborately carved riga of great size, and a photograph showing the central decoration of this, and specially made for the purpose, is reproduced here in order to give a correct idea of this class of ancient New Mexican work.

For more than a generation the history of the old Mission of San Juan has been identified with the life work of its faithful pastor, Rev. Camille Seux, universally known as Padre Camilo. He is now almost the only survivor of the young clergymen brought from France by Bishop Lamy in the early days, and

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he has remained during his long ministry in this one parish devoting his entire life to its people.

Unlike many of the clergy, he came from a family of ample means, and it has been the delight of his life to pour out of his abundance to the Mission entrustedto his care. His first benefaction was in the renovation of the old church and the improvement of its roof; then he erected the beautiful Chapel of Our Lady of Lourdes, built of the rare reddish volcanic

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rock found west of the Rio Grande,--an architectural jewel set down on the edge of a desert. This was dedicated on the 19th of June, 1890. His next work was to embellish the plaza between the old church and the new chapel with a charming statueof the Virgin Mary, as the Immaculate Conception, brought from Paris and artistically placed on a lofty pedestal of appropriate design.

"Yo soy la Concepcion Inmaculada"

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An engraving of this is presented to illustrate the generous offerings of this beloved pastor. Not satisfied with all this, he next built a parish house, corresponding to the old Spanish convento, not only sufficient for local needs but sufficiently commodious to accommodate all the priests of the diocese; and here at frequent intervals, he welcomes all who come, especially the French priests, who rejoice in these reunions from isolated fields of labor; and with most generous hospitality provides for every want. Within the last few years, as the culmination of his work of faith and love, and with such assistance as others chose to give, he has built an entirely new parish church to be a special memorial of his life of devotion.

Regretting, as we must, that this entailed the destruction of the old historic Mission, where the Indians were first taught to pray and generations have joined in Christian worship, yet no one can fall to revere the devotion which has thus laid its gifts upon the altar, and has made of this little Indian pueblo a center of ecclesiastical artistic beauty.

The pueblo of San Juan is one of prosperity and happiness; its people are industrious, well governed, and progressive. Its population has increased in the century from 1805 to 1905, from 185 to more than double that number.

Its principal festival, on June 24th, is the occasion of a vast influx of visitors from the vicinity and from abroad, and should not be missed by any tourist who can arrange to be present. The exercises

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are alternated from year to year, there being a ceremonial tabla dance at one festival and races and games at the succeeding one. No one who can attend will fail to receive a welcome, for whatever other change may have taken place during the three centuries since the coming of Onate, there has been no diminution in the unvarying cordiality and courtesy of the simple people of this ancient pueblo, which then brought to them the title of "Los Caballeros."

About three leagues south of San Juan, on the opposite bank of the Rio Grande, but below the two branches, the Chama and Santa Cruz, which add largely to its volume, stands the pueblo of Santa Clara.

The agricultural land around it is of small area, but its industrious people long ago sought out the fertile spots along the winding course of the Santa Clara River, in its well shaded canon, and there made their summer homes and their fruitful fields.

Its Indian name is Kah-po, and the ordinary mortal loses some of his implicit faith in the infallibility of the professional ethnologist when he finds three authors of distinction differing so widely in their interpretation of this name as to give these varied translations: "Enclosed water," "Wild Rose," and "Eyeball"! The reader thus has the advantage of the right of choice.

Santa Clara, though not one of the larger pueblos, yet is not at all decadent; on the contrary its population has increased about twenty per cent in the last century. In addition to its grant, made by the Spanish authorities after the Pueblo Revolution, it enjoys a "reservation" made within recent years in

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Washington, which includes the Santa Clara canon. The original grant was the usual square measured from the church, and included both sides of the Rio Grande, but in some way which is practical even if not legal, the Indians have ceded their rights to the eastern side and confine themselves to the western.

The town is an irregular oblong, built around a plaza, with lines of corrals outside of what we may call the "residential quarter." The church was situated at the northeast corner of the village beyond the line of the houses.

Among the older buildings are several two stories in height, but, as in other pueblos, the newer houses are of but one story, and are entered "American fashion" by modern doors. We have the direct statement of Father Benavides that he built the original church there in 1629. That was situated a little southeast of the present location and the spot can still be distinguished by the mound of earth remaining there.

The church which was recently destroyed was erected shortly after the reconquest by De Vargas, and had a set of rooms for the accommodation of the priest on the south side. These rooms were decorated with rude carvings, generally of animals, and they contained in old wooden chests a number of ancient ecclesiastical vestments and a quantity of time-worn documents which probably contained matter of much interest if they could have been examined, but which the Indian sacristan always watched with a most jealous eye.

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The church itself was very large and one of the best specimens of the old Franciscan Missions. It was cruciform in shape, the nave being 105 feet long below the transept, the transept eighteen feet wide,and the chancel twelve feet in depth, making a total length of 135 feet. The most conspicuous feature of the church was its great entrance, eight feet wide and ten feet high. This was furnished with two massive doors which were only opened on grand occasions,

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each of which was divided into ten deeply indented squares, containing escutcheons in high relief. In one of these great doors was cut a smaller door about three feet by six, which was the usual entrance-way into the church. The front wall of the church was run up about ten feet above the roof to a point in the center and another at each corner, with a square opening beneath the Central point, in which the bell was hung; the whole uniting to give the building an attractive architectural appearance. The roof was flat and supported by enormous vigas which extended beyond the walls and afforded partial protection in times of protracted rain.

The church was so massively built that apparently it would last for ages; but the very confidence thus inspired caused its destruction. The spirit of innovation reached even to Santa Clara, and a promise of a roof that would never leak was sufficient inducement for a change. So the old timbers were removed and a modern roof placed on the adobe walls; and alas! when the storm came, the great building which had withstood the vicissitudes of centuries fell with a great crash, as did its sister church in Nambe; and one of the historic landmarks of New Mexico was gone forever.

The annual festival of Santa Clara is on the saint's day of its patrona, which is August 12th. Excursions are usually run from Santa Fe and sometimes from Alamosa; and the pueblo is easy of access in many ways. As this festival comes only one week after the fiesta of Santo Domingo, it is rather

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overshadowed so far as long-distance travelers are concerned; but they are scarcely missed, for all the inhabitants of Rio Arriba, men, women, and children, have been waiting anxiously for weeks for the arrival of the day. All business is suspended, nothing is allowed to interfere with Santa Clara Day, and fromearly dawn the roads are lined with pilgrims bound for the popular shrine. It is safe to say that not a horse within thirty miles is left at home; every young man rides, at top speed, to the fiesta.

The Pueblo celebration is usually a tabla dance, carefully executed, but inferior to that of Santo Domingo

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for lack of numbers. And when the dance is over all the young horsemen of the county indulge in wild races, and excitement runs high until the festivities cease from very exhaustion. It is well worth the seeing, and no one who is within any reasonable distance should miss the chance.

Fortunately, though the old church is gone, we can present an excellent picture of the edifice, with the surrounding walled campo santo, as it was before the modernizing spirit made any change; and another, of the great double door with its twenty raised escutcheons. Some day, perhaps; there will be a reaction; and these pictures will preserve the old models unchanged.

Though but a few miles from the main thoroughfare, Nambeacute; is one of the least visited of the Indian pueblos. It can easily be reached by following the Nambe River a few miles to the eastward, from Pojuaque; or by going almost directly north from the Rio Tesuque near the crossing of the main road from Santa Fe.

Like some of the neighboring pueblos, it is in its decadence, but this did not detract from its interest down to the time when its fine old Mission Church was unfortunately destroyed. According to a census near the end of the eighteenth century, Nambeacute; had a population of 180; by Governor Alencaster's enumeration of 1805 it contained 143 persons, and the number is now reduced to 75 or 80.

All this is sad, but the destruction of the great church, and the similar loss at Santa Clark, are far more so. They were two of the finest Specimens of the old Franciscan Missions; and both were lost through an ill-directed ambition to modernize the antique, There could not be a better illustration of the futility of trying to "put new wine into old bottles," which was condemned by the parable nineteen hundred years ago. If they had been intelligently repaired

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by replacing any decayed viga by a new one, or even if they had been let alone altogether, both churches would be intact today; but the attempt to change the roofs entirely from the construction adapted to the adobe walls, brought them quickly to the ground, and deprived New Mexico of two of its most interesting historic Objects, and two of its most valuable assets.

Nambe was the seat of one of the first of the Franciscan Missions in New Mexico after the colonization of the country in 1598. As stated in the preceding chapter on the Tehua pueblos, the Tehua missionary district was placed in charge of Rev. Cristobal de Salazar, and the work of converting the Indians began with great vigor. In this report written in 1629, Benavides states that among the Tehuas there were eight pueblos with churches and three with conventos or clergy houses, one of these latter undoubtedly being Nambe. It was then a large pueblo and the priest stationed there had charge of Pojuaque and other small communities.

Notwithstanding all this apparent success, when the shock of revolt came, the result was exactly the same here as elsewhere, and Fr. Tomas de Torres, a native of Mexico, who was the priest in charge of the Mission, was killed without any hesitation. Of course the church was destroyed with all its contents, as everywhere else in New Mexico.

Then the usual reaction came, after the twelve years of anarchy and the reconquest, and on April 23, 1695, Governor De Vargas records in his diary as follows:

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"Namb"--April 23, 1695--Went to Nambeacute; with the Very Reverend Father Custodian, Fr. Francisco de Vargas, and the people being assembled in the plaza in front of the Chapel and the house adjoining for the minister, I told them I had come to instal the Reverend Father who was to be there to aid them and administer the sacraments, and I gave possession of said chapel and house to the Rev. Father Antonio de Acevedo."

We can hear the people shout their loud acclaims as the spectacular ceremony proceeded! The men are forgiven, the children are baptized and all is well!

Again the pendulum swings and we have another change. In just a year there is a new priest at Nambe, and on the 4th of June he makes a little trip to San Ildefonso to visit his friend, Father Corvera, there. And, as is narrated elsewhere, in the night the good people set fire to the priest's house where they were asleep, having first carefully closed all avenues of escape, and the two Franciscans are suffocated to death. Whether the people of Nambe joined with those of San Ildefonso in this deliberate murder, we do not know; but we will hope that it was not so.

Then the church was rebuilt, at least sufficiently for necessary services, and so continued for more than thirty years; but it evidently was not as large as was needed nor equal in grandeur to what was desired, for suddenly a benefactor appeared, full of public spirit and a desire to serve God and the people

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and perpetuate his name. It was no less than the governor himself, Juan Domingo de Bustamante, one of the few governors to serve for two full terms. The Marquis de la Penuela when governor had rebuilt the San Miguel Chapel in Santa Fe, but that was a small building and the walls were still standing; but Governor Bustamante built a great church, fully a hundred feet long, and with walls of almost unparallelled thickness, and all "at his own cost." That is the church that stood for more than one hundred and eighty years and should be standing yet.

We present an engraving of this church from a photograph made shortly before its downfall, which shows its wide entrance and massive walls; and we add a description of the church as the author found it at the same period.

"The church is a very large edifice, built of adobe, and the first glimpse at its scarred sides shows its antiquity. The constant wearing of water for over a century and a half has made lines and seams down through the adobes, and if they had not been of extraordinary thickness would long since have washed them away. But the church with its solid walls was evidently built when labor and material were plentiful, and when religious fervor and zeal did not permit any but the most substantial work in a temple of the Most High.

"We pass through the enclosed yard in front, with its high adobe walls, past a high double cross of roughly hewn wood, and approach the entrance. There are two immense doors, quaintly carved by the crude tools of the beginning of the last century,

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and in one of these is a small door which is used on ordinary occasions which do not warrant the trouble of opening the more ponderous portals. The adobe buildings adjoining the church and now falling into decay tell of the days when this was a convento inhabited by a number of devoted Franciscan Friars, who went forth from this center to preach the Christian faith in all directions. Now, alas, the church is only opened for religious services about six times in the year, when the priest from Santa Cruz, who has a parish as large as a diocese, comes to say mass and attend to the spiritual welfare of this part of his flock.

"We enter the church, and find the interior of large proportions, fully one hundred feet in length and as wide as the style of architecture with its fiat roof will permit. On the right hangs a picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the central figure being surrounded by four others in miniature, and on the left is a quaint old confessional, surmounted by a skull.

The altar piece is very modern, and of crudest art, being executed by Indians of the pueblo itself. Nothing could be more startling than its extreme brightness of color, scarlet and blue predominating, the coloring being solid, without shading. The recent date, 1885, gives hope that time will tone down the general effect to something more appropriate in the 'dim, religious light.' On the left of the altar is a picture of San Francisco, being crowned by an angel, a familiar subject in these churches planted by his devoted followers, this picture having been executed by a Mexican of the neighboring town of Pojuaque.

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"The church, taken altogether, has a bare appearance, but the spirit of modern improvement has invaded even its quiet precincts, and before another year, its hard smooth earthen floor will be replaced with one of boards. Near the door, together with candlesticks, and other needful utensils is a matraca or rattle of unique design, called by the pueblos 'pahpone'. A flat piece of board about the size of the metallic part of a shovel is perforated by a dozen holes, and from each of these hangs by a short cord a little wooden tube. The whole when vigorously rattled produces a sound which can be easily heard throughout the entire pueblo, and it is used to call the faithful to church during Lent when the more joyful bells are not allowed to ring.

"Close to the door on the first great square viga which supports the gallery is the most interesting feature of the church, being the inscription which tells of the erection of the building. This is of considerable length, extending entirely across the church, and was deeply graven in the wood. Untold coverings of whitewash have filled the lines so that most of the letters are almost illegible, but the date 1729 is still easily to be distinguished.

"The entire inscription, put into modern Spanish with the abbreviations removed, reads as follows--'Esta Iglesia la hizo a su costa el Senor General Don Juan Domingo de Bustamante, siendo gobernador y capitan- general. Ano de 1729'--'This Church was erected, at his own cost, by the Senor General Don Juan Domingo de Bustamante, he being governor and captain-general. In the year 1729.'"

Santa Cruz was never a mission nor the site of an ancient pueblo. After the Spanish colonization, a settlement gradually developed there on account of its excellent situation and fertile lands, but without any organized government and under the religious charge of the missionary at San Juan. At the Pueblo Revolution in 1680, the Spanish population was destroyed, some being killed, a few reserved as captives, and others succeeding in joining their countrymen at Santa Fe or on the retreat to El Paso. During the twelve years of Pueblo control the houses and fields abandoned by the Spaniards were occupied by Tanos Indians from the pueblos of Galisteo, San Lazaro, and San Cristobal, and they had established quite a large community at the time of the reconquest under De Vargas.

In 1694, when the families of the refugees at El Paso returned to Santa Fe, together with new colonists from Mexico, the governor was much embarrassed to find suitable accommodations for them and to arrange for their permanent settlement. Sixty-six families arrived on June 23, 1694, and had to be temporarily sheltered in the crowded houses of the capital, to the great discomfort of all concerned. As

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the best solution of the difficulty, and in the line of the permanent colonization that was desired, it was finally decided to establish another villa, or Spanish town with a regular municipal government, and Santa Cruz was selected as the most desirable place. This made it necessary to remove the Indians who were then located there, and this entailed many difficulties and long negotiations not necessary to be narrated here. The location was exceedingly desirable and the Indians strenuously objected to a return to their own pueblo or even to the vicinity of Chimayo; but De Vargas was firm in the matter and all that could be conceded was a delay so as to make the removal less distasteful.

This was the first Spanish town established after the founding of the capital at Santa Fe, and has been referred to somewhat in the chapter on Albuquerque, which was the only subsequent villa. In the journal of De Vargas, he says: "And I constituted it as the first new settlement and gave it the honorary title of Villa Nueva de Santa Cruz de los Espanoles Mejicanos del Rey Nuestro Senor Carlos Segundo."

As matter of favor the actual occupation of the town by the new settlers was postponed until the next spring. On April 19, 1695, Governor De Vargas issued a proclamation commanding all the colonists to leave Santa Fe on the next Thursday at 10 A.M. and added, "and I will then have in the plaza of the city the pack-mules I now have and will also furnish some horses to mount in part those who

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may need them, and I will aid them in all things, assuring them that a ration of beef and corn shall not be wanting as well as half a fanega of corn to each family for planting."

This proclamation was "published" in the two plazas of the city by Sebastian Rodriguez, negro drummer, in a loud and intelligible voice, in presence of a large concourse of people. On the appointed day, April 21st, the migration took place and the new settlement was established; being known in all documents of the time and for a century thereafter as "La Villa Nueva de Santa Cruz de la Canada." The priest who accompanied the settlers and was placed in charge of the new villa was Rev. Antonio Moreno; and he lost no time in stirring up the people to perform their first public duty by erecting a church.

From its foundation down to the time of the American Occupation in 1846, Santa Cruz enjoyed the distinction of being one of the very few villas in New Mexico--only two till the founding of Albuquerque in 1706, and three thereafter. During much of that period it was the headquarters of the Northern District of the Territory, and especially during the Mexican era, from 1822 to 1846, was of much political importance.

Probably the church built by the first settlers was not very substantial, as we find in the archives an order from the governor dated June 15, 1733, giving to the inhabitants of Santa Cruz permission to build a new church "at their own cost, the present one

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being in ruins."cords preserved in this parish, however, extend back of this date and must have been made in the original church and parish house erected in 1695.

special feature of interest in Santa Cruz is its great church, which many consider the best existing specimen of the early Franciscan Missions. We can confidently assume that it was built in accordance with the official action of 1733 and probably finished by the end of that year. Not only the building itself but its varied contents are of great interest, and the set of church records preserved in this parish is among the most perfect in the Southwest.

course occasional changes are made in the arrangement of pictures and other ornaments, but the following description, prepared by the author some years ago, is believed to be complete, and everything mentioned therein can be found by the interested visitor, though perhaps not in the precise place then indicated.

27.1. THE CHURCH
This church is considered the largest in New Mexico, and is full of objects of interest to the antiquarian and the artist, as well as the devout Christian. The present edifice is built in the usual form of a cross, consisting chiefly of the church proper and two chapels, of Our Lady of Carmel on the north, and of San Francisco on the south, the sacristy and baptistery being behind the chapel of Our Lady of Carmel.

In the nave, until recently, were six very fine old

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Spanish paintings on one side, and an equal number of Mexican pictures just opposite, forming a most marked contrast. The former have now been placed in other positions. The Mexican pictures, which are still on the north side, consist of seven in all. The lower tier represents Our Lady of Sorrows, St. Joseph, and St. Stephen; above them is a representation of the crucifixion with a saint on each side, and surmounting all, a picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

On the opposite side, in a niche fifteen feet long by eight feet high, is a representation of Christ in the Tomb; and near it are two figures, one of Our Lord, and one of Our Lady of Carmel, the latter in an embroidered silk robe. Neither of these possesses artistic merit; but near them is the most beautiful specimen of antique wood carving in the Territory, being a statuette of St. Francis. It has, unfortunately, lost the hands, but is a most interesting example of Spanish seventeenth century art. The altar piece consists of a number of separate paintings. In the center is a statue of the Virgin and Child, and above them a large cross. On the south side of the statue are pictures of Santa Teresa, with a dove, and St. Joseph and the Child; and on the north San Francisco Javier and Santa Barbara. Above the former is a Holy Family, including San Joaquin and Santa Ana; and above the latter two angels. To the south of the altar is a picture of King Ferdinand; and on the north, St. Jerome.

In the Chapel of St. Francis, sometimes called the

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chapel of the Penitentes, is a wooden statue of St. Francis three and one- half feet high, and a small Mexican picture of the nativity. In the Chapel of Our Lady of Carmel is a beautiful modern image of the Virgin, crowned; and on each side a painting on metal, one of St. Anthony of Padua, and one of St. Joseph. Behind the statute, and partially hidden from view, is a picture of Our Lady of Carmel.

The doors which lead to this chapel are very curious, being made in elaborate panels, and painted blue, red, and yellow. In the sacristy attached to this chapel are a great many ornaments of Mexican manufacture, which, with the growth of a more refined taste, or from their becoming broken, have been discarded from time to time. Among them are two angels of the Last Judgment, with long trumpets, said to have been made at Chimayo, and a number of paintings on wood, including a Holy Family, San Francisco, Senora de Guadalupe, etc. The walls of the chapels are four and one-half feet thick, and those of the church in some places still thicker.

In the main sacristy are several of the Spanish paintings which were originally in the nave of the church; and many other interesting articles. Among these are:

Two companion pictures of large size--one of the Virgin and Child, and one of St. Joseph and the Child; the Archangel Gabriel; Our Lady of Sorrows; a smaller picture of San Joaquin; the Coronation of the Blessed Virgin by the Holy Spirit. All of these pictures are of artistic merit, and probably

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were brought from Spain at an early day. Several, and especially the last, bear evident traces of the school of Murillo. The Banner of the Confraternity of the Blessed Sacrament; two ancient candlesticks of tin, each eight feet high; a baptismal font of beaten copper, two feet in diameter, with a silver conch-shell; a matraca of wood, used instead of a bell to call the congregation during the last three days of Lent; a pyx of solid silver, heavily gilt; magnificent sacerdotal vestments embroidered in gold and silver. Among the most interesting books preserved in the church are the following:

1. "Libro de Casamientos de la Villa Nueva de Santa Cruz, Ano 1726."

Record of marriages of the new town of Santa Cruz. This was commenced by "Padre Predicator fray Manuel de Sopena," and the frontispiece is a picture, in elaborate pen-and-ink work, of the marriage of the Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph.

2. Libro de Difuntos de la Mission de San Diego de los Jemez.

The record of deaths at Jemez, beginning August, 1720. This was kept by Father Francisco C. J. Delgado, "Notary of the Holy Office of the Inquisition."

3. Record of deaths at Santa Cruz, 1726, with three title-pages in curious penwork.

The book contains many interesting documents, as, for example, a letter from the king of Spain as to Indian affairs, in 1769.

This church was the central seat of the Confraternity of Our Lady of Carmel, and contains a register

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of all of its members, "made by authority of the Pope and the Bishop of Durango," in 1760, and a curious record of its property and expenses, dated 1768.

The two illustrations accompanying this chapter are from recent photographs, one showing the exterior of the venerable church with its immediate surroundings, and the other, the interior as now existing. The latter is somewhat marred by the presence of modern stoves with long and rather unsightly pipes extending to the roof, but this disfigurement must be charged to the account of the desire for personal comfort which the latter-day church attendants seem to consider necessary.

Chimayo is one of the most secluded villages in New Mexico. It is situated in a valley in the foot-hills on the western side of the main range of the Rocky Mountains, here called the Sangre de Cristo range. The surrounding hills break the winds and afford protection against storms, so that it has one of the most delightful climates in New Mexico. In a general way the location of the town is quite similar to that of Santa Fe, and the climate is of the same general character.

This shelter from wintry blasts has a beneficial effect on fruit, so that crops of early blooming varieties, such as apricots and Japanese plums, which are very precarious elsewhere, are seldom lost here; in fact it is proverbial that the apricot crop of Chimayo is always beyond danger. The number of old apricot trees is large, and the output in favorable seasons is really surprising. The same is true of the small sweet Mexican apples that are raised there in large quantities; and both kinds of fruit find a ready sale, especially in years when the fruit is destroyed in the less favored parts of the country. Lovers of fruit are always sure, no matter how destructive the late frosts may have been elsewhere,

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that sooner or later they will see a line of burros each laden with two boxes containing the small but welcome apricots and apples which everyone recognizes as the product of Chimayo.

It would be difficult to find a population more entirely cut off from the vices and frivolities of the world, as well as from its newer conveniences and luxuries, than that of Chimayo. The people are contented to live almost entirely on the products of their own valley. Money is little needed where requirements for happiness are so few; and the community illustrates the philosophy of content, which proclaims that happiness in not attained by the multiplication of possessions, but by the satisfaction of a few real wants of man, and the absence of desire for anything that is unattained.

Truly it is a happy valley of contentment and satisfaction and peace. And here under the very shadow of great mountains, is found the subject of this chapter, universally known as the "Santuario."

It is not a mission to Indians, for there are no Indians there; nor has it the fame of great antiquity; and yet it is probably known more widely among those of Spanish descent in the Southwest than the largest church or the richest cathedral, and it draws its devotees from a greater radius than could be reached by the most eloquent of preachers. Any general description of notable New Mexican churches which did not give due prominence to the Santuario of Chimayo would be far from perfect; for it is unique. It is a shrine for the cure of disease,

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and a visit to its healing precincts is the last hope of many a despairing invalid. In southern Europe there are many such resorts, but in this portion of the United States the Santuario stands alone.

Every day throughout the year, men, women, and children from all directions, from Colorado on the north to Chihuahua and Sonora on the south, may be seen approaching the shrine, in carriages, in wagons, on horses, on burros, or on foot; but all inspired with full faith in the supernatural remedial power that is here manifested, and high hopes that a good Providence will vouchsafe life and health to the suffering pilgrim. It is not a rare occurrence to see whole families coming in a commodious coach to bring some little one deformed from birth or injured by accident, whose case is beyond the curative power of the most skilful physician, and for whom the only hope is in the merciful interposition of supernatural power.

How and when the healing virtues of the sacred earth of this favored spot were first manifested, not even tradition tells us, and we will not pursue history further back than the time of the erection of the present church.

In the beginning of the nineteenth century there was a pious citizen of Chimayo on whom Providence had bestowed greater temporal prosperity than on his neighbors, and who wished to show his appreciation of his blessings in some notable way. So on the spot where for long years wonderful cures had been performed by the strange virtue of the soil, he

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built a church to the glory of God. It was finished in 1816, amid general rejoicing that there should be a suitable tabernacle for worship and for the giving of thanks for the blessings of restored health and strength.

The name of this man was Bernardo Abeyta; and the church which he erected was sixty feet in length by twenty-four in width, with massive walls more than three feet in thickness.

When Don Bernardo died, he left the church, which was his own property, to his only daughter, Carmen, who had married a member of the Chares family. All through her life this church was her most choice possession; from time to time she added to its adornment, and with pious hands kept it in perfect condition worthy of a house of God. Day by day she welcomed the pilgrims who came from far and near, and with unfailing sympathy did all that was in her power to alleviate the sufferings of old and young who were brought to this healing shrine.

Troublous times arose in her days to try her soul. The old Mexican priesthood, amiable and easy going, had been the friends of her father and of her youth; and encouraged the faith of the people which had such wonderful results in almost miraculous cures. The earlier French priests were similarly friendly, and one, whom the writer knew, even wrote and published a pamphlet containing special prayers to be used in connection with the pilgrimage. But at length came a young man fresh from the seminary,

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full of the importance of his office and of the power which it possessed, and insisted that the Santuario property should be given absolutely to the Church authorities. In vain the amiable owner explained that it was her patrimony, coming down from her father and that her support was obtained from the voluntary offerings of those who were benefited by its healing power. But nothing less than an absolute conveyance of the property would suffice. Her refusal brought threats and finally a practical excommunication, the youthful autocrat refusing to baptize, marry, or bury any of the family until his demands were complied with. Still the good woman maintained her independence, and at last the priest was removed to another field and harmonious relations were again restored. Since then she has died and the "Santuario" has descended to her daughter, Maria de los Angeles Chaves, who is the present possessor.

Meanwhile, while times and customs change, there is no diminution in the popularity of this ancient shrine, and it is no rare occurrence for a hundred pilgrims to visit it in a single day.

The usual method of obtaining the hoped-for benefit, is to take a small amount of the sacred earth and make a kind of tea or drink of it, a single spoonful of which is often sufficient to produce the desired result. However we may account for these strange effects, there can be no doubt that hundreds of persons all over the Southwest attribute their present good health to the benignant influence derived from

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a pilgrimage to the Santuario of Chimayo. Those who come long distances usually take back with them a small quantity of the earth as a safeguard for the future; or in some cases of disease so severe that the patient cannot be brought to the Santuario, sufficient earth is carried to the faithful invalid to effect the cure.

One of the most reliable authorities in the State informs me that in his young days it was usual for parties making the pilgrimage to Chimayo from a distance, to take with them, on their return, a sufficient amount of earth to allay the violence of storms for a considerable time; and that the custom was, when a storm became fierce, to throw a few grains of earth into the blazing fire and when the smoke reached the top of the chimney the fury of the elements abated, and if there was lightning, its magic influence changed its course to another direction.

The illustrations accompanying this chapter show the exterior of the church with its mountain background, and the interior with all of the altar pictures and the carved supports of the vigas of the ceiling.

If the question should be asked, "What was the largest town in the present United States four hundred years ago?" it would seem as if an answer should not be difficult; and yet not one person in a thousand, probably not one in ten thousand, could respond correctly. In most cases considerable investigation would be necessary before the fact was ascertained that the subject of this chapter, the pueblo of Pecos, was that town.

Unfortunately only its ruins remain, but they have much historic interest, and the time is within the memory of living men when it was still inhabited and its great Mission Church stood as one of the most striking monuments of the missionary zeal of the Franciscan friars.

As the traveler from the east, on the "Santa Fe," after leaving Las Vegas, gradually ascends to the high altitude of the divide at Glorieta, his attention is arrested by the immense sign-board placed by the railroad company on the north side of the track, drawing attention to these ruins, which are then in full view on the opposite bank of the Pecos River. Not much is now to be seen at that distance but the massive remains of the great church, red in color,

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and the long array of large gray stones which mark the foundations of the ancient pueblo and show how extensive was its area.

The history of Pecos is of absorbing interest, from our first acquaintance with it in 1540 to its pathetic abandonment exactly three centuries later, in 1840. The first news of its existence that came to any white man, was when Coronado's little army was resting, in July, 1540, at Cibola, the modern Zuni, and awaiting the return of the exploring party under Cardenas, that had been sent by Coronado to visit the Moqui towns, and the wonderful Grand Canon of the Colorado. It was then that a company of strangers from the far east presented themselves, under command of a man of much intelligence and charm of manner, known in history only as Bigotes, because his mustache was his noticeable feature. He came as an envoy to welcome the Spaniards and invite them to his city.

In the different chronicles of Coronado's expedition, we have very. full descriptions of this pueblo, then called Cicuic, and of its people; the former describing the peculiar architecture of the great three-storied communal dwellings built in the terrace form, the circular subterranean estufas, and other characteristic features, and the latter dwelling on the fine character of the people, their personal honesty, industry, and amiability, and the excellence of their local government. Bigotes, their most striking representative, stands out as a man of admirable character; and his imprisonment by Coronado, under the

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influence of the deceptive Turk, is one of the blots on the reputation of that adventurous general.

After Coronado's retreat, forty years passed before another white man visited the great pueblo on the Pecos, and then Espejo came for but a brief visit.

When finally the colonization of New Mexico took place under Onate, that energetic leader lost no time in making himself acquainted with the most important city in all his wide domain. We have seen elsewhere that the date of the settlement of San Gabriel as the capital of the new province was July 12, 1598, and we find that less than two weeks thereafter, on July 25th, Onate arrived at Pecos, in order to explore the country and become acquainted with the people. It is in connection with this visit that we find the name "Pecos" first used as the proper title of this town, and Mr. Bandelier explains this by saying that Pecos was no doubt the Queres name of the place, and that Onate, who approached it from the Queres pueblos and accompanied by persons from those towns, naturally adopted the name which they used. At all events the chief aboriginal town of the Southwest is henceforth always known in history as the pueblo of Pecos.

A few days later, when the Franciscan comisario divided all of New Mexico into missionary districts, Pecos was made the headquarters of the most easterly division and placed in charge of Fr. Francisco de San Miguel. That was the era of rapid church building and Pecos was one of the first missions in which a church was erected. The population being

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large, it was easy to obtain the necessary labor, and thus the building was constructed without great difficulty. All the descriptions that we have of it speak of its large dimensions. In the report of Benavides, in 1630, which we so often quote as the best early authority, he refers to Pecos as follows:

"A pueblo of the Jemez nation and language, situated four leages north from the Tanos pueblos (San Cristobal, etc.) containing more than 2,000 souls and a very splendid temple and convento of beautiful workmanship," and in another description of the same period we are told that the church had six towers.

At the time of the Revolution of 1680, the priest who had been in charge of the Mission for a number of years was Fernando de Velasco, well advanced in age. We are told that on the fatal 10th of August he left the pueblo early in the morning in order to notify Father Bernal, who lived at Galisteo, that he had received secret information of an impending uprising of the Indians. The rebellious natives who went to his cloister soon after, to take his life, found the room empty, but followed his trail until he was overtaken in a field near Galisteo, and there they killed him with arrows. The church and convento were immediately destroyed and every vestige of the Christian faith exterminated.

During the twelve years of the Pueblo Revolution, Pecos suffered greatly from the constant incursions of the wild tribes of the Plains and the difficulties which arose among the Pueblo Indians themselves;

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and in the reconquest by De Vargas, its people made no stubborn resistance to the Spaniards and finally became friends and allies. As soon as it could be accomplished, the church and surrounding buildings for the clergy were rebuilt and for a long period were the center of one of the most important missions in the province. The structure was very large, with massive walls of extraordinary thickness, and the woodwork was considered at least the equal in the size of the vigas and gateways, and the elaborate nature of the carvings, of any in New Mexico.

Thus it remained until the abandonment of the pueblo by its remaining inhabitants in 1840; but then, being left without even a caretaker, the destruction of the great buildings was rapid. Every "vecino" who desired a massive timber or one with ornamentation upon it, naturally came to the Pecos church as to a mine of wealth; and every stranger who desired a memento of the great building around which clustered such a volume of romance, carried off whatever best suited his aesthetic taste.

The geographical situation of Pecos is really the key to its history and its final destruction. It was the eastern outpost of the Pueblo civilization and exposed to the constant attacks of the warlike tribes of the Plains. Its great buildings, with the storehouses of the products of its industrious people, were naturally objects of the cupidity of the nomadic tribes which raised no crops and possessed no winter supplies. Scarcely a year passed that it was not subjected to attack, and while it could usually repel

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the foe, yet such warfare necessarily entailed a gradual loss, which in time reduced the population from several thousand to a mere handful. At length the time came when there were barely sufficient men left to comply with the most essential points of their religious ceremonials. A universally believed tradition is that the sacred fire in the innermost estufa had never been suffered to die out for a single moment during the long centuries of existence of the pueblo, and that the people believed that the direst of misfortunes would immediately follow its extinguishment. But even the sacred duty of its maintenance had become a burden, and the day seemed near when it would be impossible.

Just at that time of darkness and almost of despair, there suddenly appeared a company of visitors from afar -- not strangers, but rather brethren. It was a delegation sent from the pueblo of Jemez, from which the founders of Pecos had originally come; men of the same blood and language and traditions. They came with a message of love and invitation. They had heard how the people of Pecos had suffered from wars and pestilence until reduced almost to extinction, and they had been sent to invite the survivors to leave the scene of their misfortunes and unite with their ancient brethren at Jemez; not as visitors or sojourners, but as part of the same people; and to have equal rights in all things with the old inhabitants of the pueblo so that all might again become one nation. Solemnly the question was debated, as it involved the total abandonment

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of their old life, but finally the warmth of the promised welcome, and the impossibility of sustaining themselves longer, prevailed, and the invitation was accepted.

The once proud pueblo of Pecos had become reduced to thirteen inhabitants, eight men and five women; and in the pleasant days of 1840, taking with them their household gods and most cherished possessions,

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they started on the pilgrimage to their new home, west of the great mountains and the great river, in the land of their fathers. Here they were received with joy and acclamation, homes were furnished for their immediate occupation, fields set apart for their use and they were incorporated into the community in all matters of government. Two of their number subsequently became governors of Jemez, and the lives of all were free from alarms of warfare or fear of extinction. In 1890 two of the thirteen pilgrims still survived, and in 1904 one of their number, Agustin Peco, was yet alive. Their descendants still celebrate one of the distinctive festivals of Pecos and they cherish with great veneration a small statue of the Virgin which they brought with them from the old church of the pueblo, and look upon as their special patrona. A picture on a wooden slab, with a representation in high relief of the Virgin as Our Lady of Light, was carried to Jemez on the migration, and remained in possession of Agustin, until 1882, when it was obtained by the author and has since remained in Santa Fe. This has been photographed several times, and a halftone reproduction is presented among the illustrations of this chapter.

When the American "Army of the West" marched over the Santa Fe Trail in 1846, the ruins of this pueblo excited much attention, and in the report made by Colonel Emory there is not only a description of their appearance but an engraving which shows exactly their condition at that time. This

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engraving is reproduced as one of the illustrations of this chapter. The other illustration is from a photograph taken in 1880, and shows the disintegration that had taken place during the intervening thirty-four years.

Almost at the same date, Adolf F. Bandelier, then beginning his career as an archæologist, spent several months at this pueblo, and made a report, accompanied by plans, which may be said to be exhaustive, and has since been the accepted authority as to these ruins. While this report does not show the breadth of vision and power of comparison which longer experience afterwards made characteristic of its author, yet its scrupulous attention to details makes it a finality so far as localities and measurements are concerned.

The great Mission Churches which were built in this half desert region east of the Rio Grande Valley, in the first half of the Seventeenth century, exist now only in their ruins; but as such they are the most majestic existing monuments of the zeal of the mission-builders of that day.

In fact the ruins of Abo, Cuara, and the so-called Gran Quivira, are altogether the most striking that are found in the Southwest, and a visit to any one of them will well repay a transcontinental journey, even if nothing else is accomplished.

The section of the country in which they are situated is a region by itself, separated from the valley of the Rio Grande by the almost continuous range of the Manzano Mountains, and from the more distant valley of the Pecos by the great stretch of plain conraining no running streams and so little surface water in any form that for a long time it was regarded as a desert. This Salinas region is about fifty miles in length from north to south, with Chililí as the northern point and Gran Quivira as the southern, and about twenty miles in width. On the east are the Salinas or Salt Lakes, which have been the main source of salt supply for a great extent of

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country, not only ever since the Spanish occupation, but from time immemorial among the native Indians.

The first definite mention that we have of them is during Onate's celebrated march up the Rio Grande Valley in June, 1598. After the arduous journey from Paso del Norte, the little army rested in an Indian village a short distance above the pueblo of Teipana, which they had renamed Socorro; and, during that period, a small party was sent out under the Zaldivar brothers, Juan and Vicente, who were the nephews of Onate and his trusted lieutenants, to explore the country across the mountains to the eastward and especially Abo and the region of the Salt Lakes. The Indians there were of the same Piro family as those in the Rio Grande Valley from Senecu (now San Antonio) to Sevilleta, though in subsequent histories they are generally distinguished from their Rio Grande brothers by the name of Tompiros.

Benavides, writing about 1630, calls all the people of the Salinas region Tompiros, even including Chililí. In the section of his great work devoted to the "Nation Tompiros," he commences as follows: "Leaving the Rio del Norte and proceeding from the Queres nation ten leagues to the eastward, the Tompiros nation commences at its first pueblo of Chililí and extends more than fifteen leagues, with fourteen or fifteen pueblos in which are more than ten thousand souls, with six very good churches and conventos." But subsequent historians draw a line between the north and south pueblos, and class the

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former as belonging to the Tehuas and the latter to the Tompiros. Escalante, writing in 1778 of the destruction of these towns, says that it was brought about a little before the Pueblo Revolution of 1680 by the continual invasions of the wild Apaches, whodestroyed "Chililí, Tajique and Quarac of the Tehua Indians, and Abo, Jumanos and Tabira of the Tompiros." The probability is that the Piros had settled to some extent in the northern towns, even if

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they were nominally Tehuan, for Benavides could not well have been mistaken; and their churches, judging from the great ruins, were similar in material and construction to those of the Piros, and entirely different from those of the more northern Tehuas.

These churches were all established between 1625 and 1630. In the latter year Benavides spoke of six large churches with "conventos" adjoining for the priests, and that is as many of that class of central stations as existed at any time; Escalante, nearly a century and a half after, enumerates the same six, with their names.

They were exposed continually to the assaults of the nomadic tribes from the eastern plains, and in this respect were situated quite similarly to the pueblo of Pecos. Year after year the Salinas region was invaded by the restless Indians of the Plains, who looked with covetous eyes on the accumulated stores of grain and other provisions which the patient industry of the Pueblos had succeeded in gathering from their semi-arid fields.

All the authorities credit Father Francisco Acevedo with the building of the churches at Abo, Tenabo, and Tabira. He came to New Mexico with Father Perea in 1628, and must have begun his work immediately, for Benavides went to Spain and made his report to the king in 1630, and he mentions these churches as having been built already. Abo was the center of the parish and the residence of the priest, Tenabo and Tabira being "visitas" which

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the priests visited at regular intervals. In the only description that we have which gives any estimated population, Abo is credited with 800 inhabitants.

The great ruins existing at Abo, Cuara, and Tabira are all of the same character, and they are different in their architecture from any others built under Spanish influence in New Mexico. The walls are constructed of comparatively small, thin stones, and there is a notable resemblance between them and the walls found in the ruins of northwestern New Mexico, in the Chaco Canon and at several places in San Juan County. The latter ruins all antedate the Spanish occupation, they are purely aboriginal, and the Indians of the Salinas region, when called upon to build the great churches which are now their monument, perpetuated the aboriginal style of architecture instead of adopting anything from the Spaniards. An illustration is presented showing the style of construction which is practically the same throughout all that region, where stone suitable for the purpose was abundant and easily obtained.

The great size of their churches has led to the belief that large cities existed there at the time when they were erected, and from this has arisen much discussion as to the means of livelihood of a large population in such a semi-arid region, and especially as to the supply of water. Much ingenuity has been employed in devising theories to suit the supposed circumstances; but the explicit statement in the "Cronica" of Vetancur, that Abo only contained 800 inhabitants should put an end to the discussion. A

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population no larger than that could subsist very comfortably on the amount of water that was available.

A description of the three great ruins which constitute the special attraction to this Salinas region is reserved for separate chapters.

30.1. TORREONS
On account of the constant danger of attack from the wild Indians of the Plains, the greatest vigilance had to be observed in the Salinas Valley as well as in other frontier settlements. Even the towns in

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the valley of the Rio Grande were not safe from their attacks, although so much better protected by mountain ranges and by their more compact population. Thus Tome, though in the very center of the settlements in the Rio Abajo, was suddenly attacked and practically the entire population killed or carried into captivity, and the Apaches who afterwards destroyed the Salinas towns penetrated to Senecu in 1675 and left it a desolation. The pueblo of Tajique was destroyed about the same time, the priest escaping with some difficulty.

As the best available protection, the people in exposed localities built torreons, or round towers, to serve both as lookouts and as places of refuge. These are still found in various places which were on the frontier of the old settlements, always carefully located in commanding positions from which a wide expanse of territory could be kept under observation. Generally they were built of stone, but in some cases of adobe, and they were invariably circular with but a small door for entrance and holes in the wall near the top for the sentinel's watchful observation and for firing on the approaching foe when he came within reach of the firearms of that day. In northwestern New Mexico, where the pioneer settlers on the exposed frontier along the line of the Chama were constantly suffering from the raids of the Utes and the Navajos, many of these torreons were built and their remains are still to be seen either in ruin or transformed into storehouses or granaries to meet the changed condition of these days of security and peace.

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On all of the exposed frontiers these old torreons are found, telling of the anxious life of the Spanish pioneer, and forming an interesting and picturesque addition to rural scenery. From its dangerous situation on the border of the Great Plains, the Salinas region had especial need of these watchtowers of defense, and the illustration, which is from a photograph of a torreon near Manzano, gives an excellent idea of the appearance of those which were built of stone, the only modern alteration being the large door in place of the small original entrance.

The Christian epoch in the history of the Salinas pueblos was a brief one. No one knows by whom these towns were founded nor how long they had existed. There they were when the Spanish colonisis first came under Onate in 1598; and they may have been in their decadence even then on account of their frontier situation and the constant attacks of the wild Apaches of the Plains, similar to those which subsequently destroyed them.

But we do know when they came to an end, and that the last ones were abandoned between 1675 and 1680; and supposing that the first preaching of Christianity among them was very soon after they had been included in the vast missionary district assigned Fray Francisco de San Miguel by the apportionment made at San Gabriel, the length of the Christian period would be only three-quarters of a century. Practically, it was considerably shorter, for the district assigned Fray Francisco was principally that of Pecos with nine pueblos, and while the Salinas country was included it must have had scant attention in those earlier days, and that condition necessarily continued until more clergy arrived so

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that each town of any importance could have its own resident missionary.

A few dates are well established and stand out clearly as historical landmarks. The great church at Abo was built about 1629 by Father Acevedo, who died here in 1644. It was destroyed about 1678.

Abo was the headquarters of the missionary work among the Piros or Tompiros, and in an enumeration of the towns, Tabira and Tenabo are distinctly mentioned as being "visitas" of the church of Abo. On all the maps of that period San Gregorio de Abo is the only town which is represented in the Salinas region. Yet as stated in the preceding chapter, its population is said to have been no larger than 800.

The first expedition in modern times for the examination of the great Salinas ruins, was that undertaken in December, 1853, by Major James H. Carleton, U.S.A., at that time stationed at Albuquerque. This was the same officer who, ten years later, made the celebrated march from the Pacific to the Rio Grande, across the Arizona desert, as commander of the California column, and was for a number of years thereafter at the head of military affairs in New Mexico.

Major Carleton left Albuquerque on December 14th, following the route by Casa Colorada and the Abo Pass, and arrived at the pueblo of Abo on the afternoon of the 17th. From there he proceeded to Cuaro, a measured distance of twelve miles, 760 yards, in a direction somewhat east of north; and after investigations there and a trip to the celebrated

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orchard at Manzano, rode in a general southeastern direction to the Gran Quivira, a distance of about thirty-eight miles.

No subsequent travelers have given more accurate or interesting descriptions of the great Salinas ruins, and these have the additional advantage of being made in advance of the slow but constant disintegration of half a century. We are therefore glad to present extracts from his report, with regard to all three of the great ruined missions, with such subsequent information as may seem of value and interest.

Of the great Mission of Abo he says:

"The ruins of Abo consist of a large church and the vestiges of many other buildings, which are now but little else than long heaps of stones with here and there portions of walls projecting above the surrounding rubbish. There is yet standing enough of the church to give one a knowledge of the form and magnitude of the building when in its prime. The ground plan is in the form of a cross. The great entrance was in the southern end. From there to the head of the cross, where the altar was doubtless situated, it is 132 feet inside. This, the nave of the church, is 32 feet in width. The transept is 41 feet in length and 23 feet wide, and is 66 feet from the doorway."

"The walls are of great thickness, and their height is, at this day, in over half the structure, all of 50 feet. The upper edge of these walls is cut into battlements. The church as well as the neighboring buildings, was built of a stratified dark red sandstone,

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such as crops out along the creek and sides of the hills. The pieces of stone do not average over two and one-half inches in thickness and are not generally over one foot in length. We saw not a single dressed stone about the ruins. These stones are laid in mortar made of the ordinary soil from the groundimmediately at hand. The roof of the church was evidently supported by beams and covered with earth, as in the present churches throughout New Mexico. The walls over the doors and windows, so far as we could observe, had been supported by beams

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of wood. When these were destroyed, the stone fell down. The woodwork of the church was evidently destroyed by being burned. Wherever in the walls portions of beams still remain, they are found charred and blackened by fire.

"The extent of an exterior wall, which, from appearances, once surrounded the church and the town, was about 942 feet north and south with an average width east and west of say 450 feet."

In the latter part of the "eighties," Prof. Charles Longuemare, of Socorro, in company with Father Lestra of that city, made a complete examination of all three of the great ruins, and wrote a series of descriptive articles on the subject, which appeared in the Bullion, of which he was editor. The following extract supplements in certain points the more detailed report of Major Carleton:

"The ruins of the old pueblo of Abo are striking for their magnitude and the interest which they inspire by their surrounding topography and the grand ruins of the old Franciscan church which rears up before the vision of the approaching traveler fully forty feet in the air. The walls vary from four to ten feet in thickness and measure 130 feet in length and 35 feet in width.

"The old ruined edifice stands at the north extremity of the main pueblo, which is built in the form of a parallelogram 1,000 feet by 300, and was evidently built of two-story stone dwellings, the outside walls acting at the same time as fortifications with

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only one opening at the south extremity pierced for an entrance."

The present day traveler can reach this remarkable ruin with more ease than either Major Carleton or Prof. Longuemare, as the line of the "Belch Cutoff" passes within a comparatively short distance; or, by taking Mountainair as a center, all three of the famous ruins can be reached by pleasant separate trips.

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The name of this pueblo is written either Quarra or Cuara, the pronunciation being the same for either form, and the former representing the older as the latter does the more modern style of Spanish spelling.

The original Indian name was Quarac and it appears in that form in many early documents, but gradually the final "c" was dropped, while the accent was continued on the second syllable and therefore designated on the final vowel, as in many similar cases of proper names. Villagra for Villagran; Carnue for Carnuel; Po-Pe for Poc-Pec, etc., are familiar illustrations of this kind of abbreviation.

Cuara is situated twelve and a half miles from Abo and about four and a half miles southeast from Manzano, and is easily reached from Mountainair. One of the earliest descriptions of this pueblo tells us that it was populated by six hundred Indians of the Tihua nation, who spoke the Piros language, and who were converted to Christianity by Padre Estevan de Perea. The building of the church, however, is attributed to Padre Acevedo, in the year 1629. The pueblo was just on the border between the Tihuas on the north and the Piros on the south, and

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doubtless its people were made up from both nations. It was an important mission, and from its convento the zealous Franciscans served some of the Jumanos Indians living fifteen leagues away on the eastern plains.

It was the center of the missionary labors of Fr. Geronimo de la Llama, and here that indefatigable missionary died in 1659 and was buried in the church he loved so well. Just a hundred years afterwards Governor Marin del Valle made a personal visit to the ruins of this pueblo in search of the bones of this venerated missionary, and through the tradition still held by some old Indians of the vicinity, succeeded in finding them where they had been interred in the church, and carried them with all respect to Santa Fe, where with much ceremony they were deposited in a coffin in the wall of the parish church. This is commemorated by the Spanish inscription, still legible, which when translated reads as follows:

"Here rest the bones of the venerable P. Fray Geronimo de la Llama, an apostolic man of the order of St. Francis. These bones were unearthed from the ruins of the old Mission of Quarac, in the Province of Las Salinas, on April 1st, 1759."

The career of this mission was unfortunately short-lived. Soon after 1670 the constant attacks of the Apaches began to tell on the Salinas pueblos and we are told that Cuara was the first to be abandoned, many of its people going to Tajique and afterwards to Isleta; and others to Socoro and Alamillo. All of the pueblos in this region were abandoned before

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1678, according to Escalante, who names Quarac, Abo, and Tabira among those thus destroyed. Thus the mission work which had erected these great churches of stone, was brought to an end almost in a moment.

The description of the Cuara ruins as given in the report of Major Carleton, in 1853, is as follows:

"These ruins appear to be similar to those of Abo, whether as to their antiquity, the skill in their construction, their state of preservation or the material of which they are built.

"The church at Quarra is not so long by thirty feet as that of Abo. We found one room here, probably a cloister attached to the church, which was in a good state of preservation. The beams that supported the roof were blackened by age. They were square and smooth and supported under each end by shorter pieces of wood, carved into regularly curved lines and scrolls. The earth upon the roof was sustained by small straight poles, well finished and laid in herring-bone fashion upon these beams."

Prof. Longuemare, about 1886, says of Cuara:

"This Pueblo is not as extensive as that of Abo, but in other respects resembles it very closely. The ruins of the red church built in the form of a Latin cross, constructed of red sandstone, are not a whit less interesting than those of Abo. In dimensions it is 100 feet in length by 35 feet in width, and what remains of the wall is about 40 feet in height, their width being from 4 to 10 feet. Before its destruction it must have been a most elegant structure with its two towers and battlements."

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Our own measurements do not differ materially from the above, but they go somewhat further into detail and furnish all the data necessary to make an accurate ground plan of the church. The followingfigures represent the distances in the interior of the building, and in calculating outside dimensions, it must always be remembered that the walls are about four and a half feet in thickness, so that to ascertain the length or width of the entire edifice it will be

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necessary to add nine feet to the interior measurement.

The length of the nave, from door to transept, is 64 feet; the width of the transept 24 feet; the depth of the chancel 15 feet; making the total length of the interior 103 feet. The width of the nave is 27 feet; the length of the transepts from wall to wall is 48 feet; the recessed chancel is 16 feet wide in front and only 8 feet in the rear against the back wall. The thickness of the outer wall of the church is generally 4½ feet, but it varies from 4 to 5 feet in different places.

The walls are irregular blocks of red sandstone, the separate pieces being from one inch to four inches thick and very few of them exceeding a square foot in size. From these facts, the enormous number of pieces of sandstone used in the construction, and the time required in laying them, can be imagined. Around the church are long lines of ruins of houses bearing witness to a large resident population.

The ruins of Cuara are so remarkable that we present three illustrations of them, showing not only the large extent, but the great height of this ancient mission. These clearly show the peculiar construction, of thin flat stones.

The Gran Quivira, as it has been called for over a hundred years, is by far the best known of the Salinas pueblos, and in fact is the most celebrated ruin in all of the Southwest. This is not strange, as it is altogether the largest ruin of any Christian temple that exists in the United States; and connected with it from the first, there has been the glamor of romance and the strange charm of mystery, which adds tenfold to ordinary interest.

How and when it first received its deceptive title of "Gran Quivira" we may never know; there are dozens of traditions and theories and imaginings. From the days of Coronado the name of "Quivira" had been associated with the idea of a great unknown city, of wealth and splendor, situated somewhere on the Eastern Plains; and it is not at all unlikely that when some party from the Rio Grande Valley, in search of game or gold, crossed the mountains and the wilderness lying to the east, and was suddenly amazed by the apparition of a dead city, silent and tenantless, but bearing the evidences of large population, of vast resources, of architectural knowledge, mechanical skill, and wonderful energy, they should have associated with it the stories heard from childhood

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of the mythical center of riches and power, and called the new-found wonder the Oran Quivira.

There were no descendants of its old inhabitants to tell its true name, and apparently no knowledge in the Rio Grande Valley of the fate of the cities ofthe Salt Lake region or even any recollection of their existence.

So the new name went unchallenged; and when, after the American Occupation, historians arose like

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General W. W. H. Davis, and explorers, like Major Carleton, who had read of the march of Coronado to the Eastern Plains in search of the glories of Quivira and knew of the Gran Quivira ruins in the center of New Mexico, it was not strange that they should have been sorely puzzled to reconcile the geographical contradiction involved in the supposed identity of these two distant places. It required years to clear up this mystery and to show that the name of Gran Quivira was simply a mistake and misnomer, and that the Salinas ruin and the goal of Coronado's journey were hundreds of miles apart. To Mr. Bandelier more than to any other is due this disillusion.

Meanwhile the true history of Tabira,--the real name of the Gran Quivira,-- was not difficult; but it was slow in being known. In reality it was not greatly different from that of the other Salinas pueblos with which we are already familiar. Tabira was the most southerly outpost of the Piros or Tompiros division of the Pueblo civilization, and in direct contact with the Jumanos and other Indians of the Plains. This region was first revealed to European knowledge at the end of the sixteenth century and opened to Christian influences by the Franciscan missionaries in the beginning of the seventeenth. A little more than half a century covers the whole portion of its history with which we are acquainted.

Its first Mission Church, the ruins of which are still perfectly distinct, was built about 1629 under the enthusiastic leadership of Padre Francisco de Acevedo,

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and for a while the mission was conducted as a visita of Abo, where the priest in charge resided.

Then, as its importance increased, and it became itself a center for missionary effort among the Jumanos and the Apaches, it had its own clergy, andfinally, not far from 1650, the foundations were laid of the great church and monastery, whose ruins are still among the wonders of the western world.

Then came with increasing violence the attacks on

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all the Salinas pueblos by the Apaches of the Plains; in 1675 they even penetrated to the Rio Grande Valley, carrying consternation and destruction among the Piros pueblos of that usually peaceful region. This was the beginning of the end; one after another of the Salinas towns was destroyed or abandoned, and finally even Tabira itself, with its great church still unfinished, became a victim to the violence and rapacity of the invaders.

From then until the present--much more than two hundred years--the great stone structures, monuments to the industry, the skill, and the devotion of the old inhabitants, have stood, in sunshine and in storm, exposed to the ceaseless disintegration of time and the elements, but by the massiveness of their architecture almost defying those agents of destruction.

There is no more impressive sight on American soil than the outlines of those great buildings, silent and alone, against the evening sky; and it is no wonder that stories of the marvelous and the supernatural should cluster around them.

Every traveler to the Southwest has almost exhausted language in their description; but we prefer to use again the plain words of Major Carleton, because they antedate the changes of more recent days, and also because to him belongs the credit of being, so far as this region is concerned, the first of American explorers.

He says:

"We found the ruins of Oran Quivira to consist of

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the remains of a large church, with a monastery attached to it; a smaller church or chapel; and the ruins of a town extending 900 feet in a direction east and west and 300 feet north and south. All thesebuildings had been constructed of the dark blue limestone which is found in the vicinity.

"The church is 140 feet long, outside, with the walls nearly six feet in thickness. It stands longitudinally West 15 degrees South, with the great entrance

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in the eastern end. The altar was in the western end. Like the churches at Abö and Cuara it is constructed in the form of a cross. From the doorway to the transept it is 84 feet, 7 inches; across the transept it is 21 feet, 6 inches; and from thence to the head of the cross, 22 feet, 7 inches, making the total length inside 128 feet, 8 inches. The width of the nave is 27 feet; the length, inside of the short arm of the cross, is 36 feet. A gallery extended along the body of the church for the first 24 feet. Some of the beams which sustained it and the remains of two of the pillars that stood along under the end of it which was nearest to the altar, are still here; the beams in a tolerably good state of preservation, but the pillars very much decayed; they are of pine wood and are very elaborately carved.

"There is also what might be called an entablature supporting each side of the gallery and deeply embedded in the main wall of the church; this is 24 feet long, by 18 inches or two feet in width; it is carved very beautifully, indeed, and exhibits not only skill but exquisite taste in the construction of the figures. The beams are square and carved on three sides.

"The stone of which the great church was built was not hewn nor even roughly dressed, but the smoothest side of each piece was laid to the surface with great care. We saw no one piece in all the ruins over a foot in length. The walls of the church are now about thirty feet in height. It was estimated that originally the building was all of fifty feet in height.

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"The chapel is 130 feet from the church. It is 118 feet long, outside, and 32 in width; its walls are 3 feet, 8 inches in thickness; it is apparently in a better state of preservation than the church."

The building called by Major Carleton the "chapel" is the old church built by Acevedo in 1629.

To attempt any complete description of religious affairs or edifices in New Mexico, without mention of the Penitentes, would be to omit their most curious and unique feature. This secret society has existed for many years, and though disapproved by successive archbishops since the coming of Bishop Lamy in 1851, yet it continues to flourish in various sections of New Mexico, especially those that are remote from the railroads and modern influences. Geographically the society is confined to the northerly half of the State, and principally to the counties of Taos, Colfax, Rio Arriba, Mora, San Miguel, Sandoval, and Valencia. It extends into the southern counties of Colorado, which were settled years ago from New Mexico and constituted a part of it until included within the boundaries of the Centennial State when it was organized in 1876; and seems to be more powerful there than in any part of New Mexico itself.

The fundamental principle of these people is that sin can only be expiated by suffering, and that forgiveness can most surely be obtained by self- inflicted torture. Particularly are they to follow the sufferings of the Saviour on Mount Calvary, to the foot of

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the cross; and sometimes even by being raised upon the cross itself. While they hold secret meetings throughout the year, the more severe ceremonies and the processions which afford the only opportunity for outsiders to witness their sufferings, occur during the last week in Lent, increasing in intensity, especially from Wednesday, through Holy Thursday to a culmination on Good Friday. There have been many descriptions written of these ceremonies by those who have witnessed them.

The houses in which the Penitentes hold their meetings are called Moradas, and are usually plain adobe buildings, with no windows whatever, and only one small door as an entrance. Above the door, upon the flat roof, is placed a simple cross, which is

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the only sign that the building is dedicated to religious purposes. Sometimes the Moradas are built in the outskirts of a village, or by an adjacent roadside, in plain view, and with no attempt at secrecy; but others are placed on one side of a deep arroyo or canon, in a bend which cuts it off entirely from general observation. When thus located, in a rocky locality, the Morada itself is built of stone rather than of adobe. The two photographs that are presented in this connection illustrate these two classes of buildings, one showing a plain Morada of adobe in the vicinity of the town of Taos, and the other being a picture of the ruins of a stone Morada deserted a few years ago, situated on the north side of a winding arroyo, about two miles north of Espanola, and which although near the main thoroughfare is yet entirely out of the sight of passing travelers.

The origin of the Penitentes of New Mexico has been the subject of much discussion for many years. The most obvious explanation was that they were a survival of the Flagellantes who flourished in various parts of Europe in the Middle Ages. This sect or society first made its appearance in Italy in the year 1210, and the superstition grew with amazing rapidity. St. Justin of Padua, in describing their rise, says that this religious excitement first appeared in Perugia, and soon overspread nearly all of Italy. Men of all ranks of life were affected, and old and young were to be seen following processions in the streets, many of them only half clad, but all carrying scourges made of leather thongs with which

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they lashed themselves on their backs until they were covered with blood; all the while weeping and imploring the forgiveness of God for all their sins. Not only in the day time, but also at night, hundreds and thousands of these penitents ran about the streets carrying lighted candles into the churches, where they prostrated themselves before the altar in an agony of grief and contrition. It seemed as if a kind of spiritual excitement permeated the whole people; and though the whole civil and ecclesiastical authorities frowned upon the movement, it could not be suppressed, but rather increased in its intensity. In 1260 a hermit of Perugia named Ranier organized the movement which had before been spasmodic, and soon the Flagellantes to the number of ten thousand were marching through the country bearing banners and crosses.

They soon spread across the Alps into Switzerland and Germany and found followers in Alsace, Bohemia, and Poland. The occurrence of the plague which raged in Germany in 1349 seemed to increase their zeal and the extravagance of their actions. The Chronicle of Albert of Strasburg tells us that a crowd of them would come to some public place, and then, placing themselves within a circle drawn on the ground, they stripped, leaving on their bodies only a breech cloth. They then walked with arms outstretched like a cross around and around the circle, finally prostrating themselves on the ground, and then rose, each striking his neighbor with a scourge armed with knots and four iron points, regulating their blows by the singing of hymns.

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In some places they were called the Brothers of the Cross, and in others the Fraternity of the Flagellantes, but everywhere they seemed carried away with a tide of distracting frenzy. So extravagant were their actions that Pope Clement VI issued a bull against them, and the German bishops forbade their assemblages. This had an effect for a while, but in 1414 a leader appeared, named Conrad, who claimed to have a divine revelation commending the practice of public flagellation, and preached that there was no salvation but by a baptism of blood through the institution of scourging. At one time the Inquisition took action against the sect and caused ninety-one members to be burned at one time at Sangerhusen; but strangely enough the delusion, though temporarily quelled, soon broke out afresh.

In the sixteenth century there arose a great number of flagellating penitential companies, distinguished as White, Black, and Gray Penitents, and the movement became so strong that it included many nobles among its adherents and even King Henry III inscribed himself as an honorary member, and finally himself organized a new penitential brotherhood which was inaugurated with great pomp on March 25, 1575.

To a greater or less extent the Flagellantes were found in all southern Europe during the next century, and had processions on certain festivals in Italy, Spain, and Portugal. The idea of those who believe that there is a connection between the Flagellantes of Europe and the present Penitentes of New

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Mexico, is that the principles and practices of the society were brought across the ocean at an early day, and when they died out in the central parts of Mexico they still survived in the rural districts of New Mexico, where the people were isolated from newideas and continued to hold the beliefs and customs of their ancestors. The prevailing opinion however is that the Penitentes are a continuation and survival of the Third Order of St. Francis. That the

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Franciscans had introduced customs which could easily be exaggerated and corrupted into the Penitente excesses, even at a very early date, is evident from the words of Benavides, the great Franciscan custodian, in his celebrated report to the king in 1630; who quotes an Indian wizard, who was opposed to Christianity, saying, "You Spaniards and Christians are crazy and desire us to be so also. You are so crazy that you go along through the streets lashing yourselves like madmen, shedding blood," to which Benavides adds: "He must have seen some disciplinary procession of Holy Week, in some Christian Pueblo."

The Third Order of St. Francis is composed of laymen, and was very general among the people of New Mexico during all of the Spanish era. The Franciscan priests naturally and properly encouraged the growth of the Third Order, which sought to carry the principles of St. Francis of Assisi into the life of the laity; and for two centuries nearly every leading citizen became a member of the Third Order. This is seen by reading the wills made during that period, nearly all of which state that the testator was a member, and direct that the funeral shall be of a modest character according to the rules of the order. The usual form is substantially as follows: "I direct that when God, our Lord, shall see fit to call me out of this present life, my body be enshrouded in the habit of our father, San Francisco, of whose Third Order I am a brother, and that my funeral be modest [humilde]." This continued until

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the Mexican Revolution, when the Franciscans were forced to leave the field of their labors, and their supervision of those who constituted the Third Order. Thus left without regular government, but wishing to continue their organization, it would be natural that the old members should adopt such rules as seemed necessary, and almost equally natural that in time their zeal and enthusiasm would bring about excesses which would increase year by year. They called the society "The Brotherhood of our Father Jesus Christ," and sometimes "The Brotherhood of the Blood of Christ."

The principal officer was called Hermano Mayor--Chief Brother--and the members were divided into three degrees, to each of which there was an interesting initiatory ceremony. Those of the First Degree were only allowed to be present at meetings and to take part in devotional exercises; those of the Second Degree could hold office; and those of the Third Degree were strongly obligated to practice voluntary punishment, and to shed their own blood. All members were marked with a deeply cut cross on the back, made by a sharp piece of flint, and this wound was expected to be kept open during forty days. On each Ash Wednesday, all members were expected to reopen this cross and keep it open until Good Friday. It is during Holy Week, and particularly from Wednesday to Friday, that the special exercises take place, together with the processions and representations of the crucifixion. The most usual penance is with a braided rope of yucca (soap weed)

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or of cactus, terminating with a knot or ball of cactus, with which they whip themselves, throwing the cord first over one naked shoulder and then over the other, in such a way that the thorny extremity strikes in the same place in the middle of the back, which in a short time becomes a mass of gore; and the torment is almost insupportable. This is self- administered, sometimes within the Morada and sometimes in a procession, the penitents being preceded by a couple of musicians, who keep up a continual chant, and followed by a small company of friends to support the suffering in case they fall or faint.

The same procedure takes place in the penance of carrying the cross, which in some localities is the most usual. These crosses are made of roughly hewn logs of pine and are of great weight. The writer has counted as many as twenty of them piled against the wall of a morada in Taos, and the largest measured over seventeen feet in length. The end with the cross piece is placed on the naked shoulder of the penitent, the other end dragging on the ground; and he is then to carry it to some designated point, usually on a top of a hill, which represents Calvary. A rough road, through stones and other obstructions, is usually selected and the sufferer is soon exhausted by the weight, but must bear his burden until the goal is reached. Falls are frequent, and there have been reports of deaths from exhaustion, but these may be exaggerations.

Much ingenuity is shown in devising new forms of penance. In one Morada, in a sandy locality east of

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the Rio Grande, there is a kind of hand-cart or wheelbarrow with two small wheels, which easily sink to their centers. In this is a skeleton surmounted by a human skull, and when used, the cart is filled with stones so as to add to its weight. It is drawn by lines of cord that are carried over the shoulders and under the arms of the penitent, who is without clothes above the waist. In a very short time the cords cut through the skin and into the flesh, and

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then every foot of progress through the sand is a torture; but the prescribed distance has to be traveled regardless of the agony inflicted. Nothing but a feeling of fanatical enthusiasm and an absolute conviction that by such temporal suffering they are gaining forgiveness of sins and earning heavenly rewards, could induce any human beings voluntarily to endure such sufferings; and yet there never seems to be a lack of participants.

The Church authorities have repeatedly endeavored to suppress the society, or at any rate regulate its action. Archbishop Salpointe issued a stringent order on the subject on March 31, 1889; but while the Penitentes claim to be zealous members of the Church, the practices have continued almost unabated,

The illustrations, as above stated, represent an adobe Morada of the ordinary style in Taos County, and the ruins of the stone Morada, now deserted, at Angostura in Rio Arriba County.