Democratic Sentinel, Volume 8, Number 10, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 4 April 1884 — Life in Santa Fe. [ARTICLE]

Life in Santa Fe.

Thia tittle city is situated upon a plain almost surrounded by high moun; tains, and contains a population of from 6,000 to 8,000, principally Mexican in its character. At least two-thirds, and I think I might safely ear three-fourths, of its inhabitants are Mexicans. The bouses, with the exception of a few built by Americans, are of adobe or sun-dried brick. These houses are generally but one story high, and many of those of the poorer classes have no glass windows; and many of them, indeed, have no windows of any kind, the only opening being the door and top of the" chimney. There are perhaps three or four thousand of these poor Mexicans in Santa Fe, who, to the eye of a stranger, have no visible means of support, and how they manage to exist is one of those mysteries which, as the late lamented Sothern would say, is “what no feller can find out." No matter, however, how poor the Mexican may be, he always has a “burro” (donkey) .and one or two dogs. If he is very poor he has more dogs. I don’t know just how they make these mongrel canines pay, unless they keep them exclusively for their music; but the is the Mexican’s best friend. He “packs” his hay, straw, family, and firewood upon his little servant, who is an example of patience and good-nature. I never could understand just why Job was chosen as a pattern of patience. A. Mexican donkey would beat him out of sight in the patience business. He would never grumble at boils nor over the loss of his relations. It is hard for one to realize that in coming West he is not coming to newly settled country. This, however, is not the fact in coming to tfew Mexico. Santa Fe is one of the oldest cities, if not, indeed, as its inhabitants claim, the oldest city in the United States. It was first visited by the Spaniards in about the year 1542, and the Jesuit missionaries, immediately after that, established a mission there for the Christianization of the native population. Santa Fe was then a city of considerable size when the Spaniards first discovered it. The Church of San Miguel, which is still standing and in a fair state of preservation, was built in the year 1582. It was partially destroyed by lire in 1680, and rebuilt in 1710. It, like all the old Mexican buildings, is built of adobe bricks. The walls are still in a very good condition, and apparently almost as strong as when new. It is an ancientlooking structure, and the belfry is sadly out of repair, so much so that the bell has been removed •from it and now hangs in a little frame inside the church, where it is preserved as a relic. It is of solid copper, and was cast in Spain, as its inscription shows, in the year 1356. It was presented by the good Catholics of that nation to the infant church of the “province of Mexico.” The altar of this church is gavly decorated with pictures, colored tapers, and a crucifix. Two pictures of the Annunciation, one hung on either side of the altar* are very old. The inscription under them assures the visitor they were painted in A. D. 987.