Rensselaer Republican, Volume 18, Number 48, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 August 1886 — The Field of Buena Vista. [ARTICLE]

The Field of Buena Vista.

The distance from Saltillo to Buena Vista is seven miles, and the charges for a boy and a burro was about 30 cents. The donkey was a small, unassuming, mouse-colored creature with one ear cut short, but the other had size and length enoughfor both, so we couldn’t complain. /The pack-saddle was about two-thirds the burro’s length and bulged out about six inches on both sides. The driver told us of his fine-going qualities, but said he couldn’t understand Americano and that his name was Santiago Santa Anna. All being ready I mounted* Santa Anna and the driver followed behind with the donkey’s tail in one hand and a short stick in the other, which he used to guide us with. There wasn’t no bridle or halter on, as it wasn’t our place to drive. The day was fine and all went well while the boy remained at the helm, but he left his post of duty once and we ran into a thorny chaparral thicket; then all went well again. We met several parties similarly mounted and cared for, while we were overtaken by others, thus the time passed pleasantly away. On the way we passed a number of lone crosses with a pile of stone at their base. These marks the site of a murder and the stones are thrown at the foot of the cross as a mark of respect for the dead. While this post-mortem respect will never restore the stranger to life, home and friends far away, yet the average native believes that it goes far to ameliorate the crime, and hence murderers and brigands often resort to it as a means of imparting peace to their own souls. In due time we reached the hacienda (ranch or farm) of Buena Vista. The battle-ground is located in a narrow mountain pass, where the peaks of the Sierra Madre tower up 2,000 feet into the skies. One side of the pass is obstructed by deep ravines, irrigation ditches, and rocky knolls. On the other side there is a level, rocky, treeless space, with patches of-cactus, wild maguey, thorny little agarita, and a few scrub gincharche bushes. Some of the breastworks are yet to be seen and are in good preservation, and relics of the battle can yet be found on the field. The level plain referred to above is where Col. Jeff. Davis threw his command of Mississippi Rifles into the renowned V form while supporting the Indiana regiment. This move, on the part of Jeff. Davis has been regarded as being a prime cause in turning the tide of battle in favor of the American army. The country in the locality is a rocky, barren, parched region, with scarcely enough of tropical scrub brush to support the flocks of goats that browse in the valley and on ’the mountain side. The landscape view froin the field is lonely and dreary. The bald peaks above the timber line can be seen as far as the eye can reach. There is little appearance of life of any kind. The storms of sand and dust are frequent and fearfully oppressive to man and beast Our Mexican veterans will remember such a cloud was the advance warning to them of the approach of Santa Anna against Buena Vista. These strange and busy scenes, common to the plateaus of Mexico, are pleasant to the inquiring tourist, but far more pleasant to leave than to live among. After spending a day in observation we returned to Saltillo, with a greater respect and deeper sympathy for our soldiers, who met and defeated an enemy more than four times their own number, and that when country, climate and all the clans of the mountains were against them. — Letter from Mexico.