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قراءة كتاب Gregg's Commerce of the Prairies, 1831-1839, part 2
تنويه: تعرض هنا نبذة من اول ١٠ صفحات فقط من الكتاب الالكتروني، لقراءة الكتاب كاملا اضغط على الزر “اشتر الآن"
Gregg's Commerce of the Prairies, 1831-1839, part 2
and Success of the Catholics — The Indian's Heaven — Burial Customs — Ancient Accounts — Depositing the Dead on Scaffolds — Superstition and Witchcraft — Indian Philosophy — Polygamy and other Matrimonial Affairs — Abhorrence of Incest — Difference in Character — Indian Hospitality — Traits of the Ancient Asiatics — Names — Relationship of Different Tribes — Dreadful Decrease of the Indians,
| Causes of Removal West — Annuities, etc. — Dissatisfaction of the Indians — Their Melioration by the Change — Superiority of their present Location — Lands granted to them — Improvements, Agriculture, etc. — Their Slaves — Manufactures — Style of Living, Dress, etc. — Literary Opportunities and Improvements — Choctaw Academy — Harpies and Frauds — Games — Systems of Government — Polygamy — Ancient Laws and Customs — Intemperance — Preventive Measures — A Choctaw Enactment — Marriage and Funeral Customs of the Choctaws — The Creeks — Their Summary Executions — Mourning — Indian Titles — The Northern Tribes — Census of the Frontier Nations, | 299 |
| System of Chiefs — Mode of Warfare — War-Council — The Scalp-dance — The Calumet or Pipe of Peace — Treaties — Public News-criers — Arms of the Indians — Bow and Arrows, etc. — Hunting — Dancing — Language of Signs — Telegraphs — Wigwams or Lodges — Pack-dogs — Costumes — Painting, Tattooing, etc. — Indian Dandies — Manufactures, and Dressing the Buffalo Rug — Indian Diet, Fasting, etc. — Primitive Thomsonians — Their domestic Animals, the Dog and the Horse — Wampum — Their Chronology, | 318 |
| Intermediate Tribes — Their Wigwams and their Hunting Excursions — Dress and Cut of their Hair — The Pawnees — The Osages — Their Roguery — Matrimonial Customs — Accomplished Mourners — Their Superstitions — The Indian Figure — The 'Pawnee Picts' — Wild Tribes — Census — The Comanches — Their Range — Their Sobriety — Their Chiefs, etc. — Female Chastity — Comanche Marriage — Costumes — Horsemanship — Comanche Warfare — Predatory Forays — Martial Ceremonies — Treatment of Captives — Burial and Religious Rites, | 336 |
| Containing such Spanish or Hispano-Mexican words as occur undefined in this work, or recur without definition after having been once translated | 353 |
CHAPTER XII[1]
Government of New Mexico — The Administration of Justice — Judicial Corruption — Prejudices against Americans — Partiality for the English — Anecdote of Governor Armijo and a Trapper — Outrage upon an American Physician — Violence suffered by the American Consul and others — Arbitrary Impositions upon Foreigners — Contribucion de Guerra — The Alcaldes and their System — The Fueros — Mode of punishing Delinquents and Criminals — Mexican System of Slavery — Thieves and Thieveries — Outrage upon an American Merchant — Gambling and Gambling-houses — Game of Monte — Anecdote of a Lady of Fashion — Chuza — Cockpits — Correr el gallo — El Coleo — Fandangoes — Cigarritos. toc
Prior to the adoption of the Sistema Central in the Mexican republic, the province of New Mexico was under a territorial government. The executive was called Gefe Político (political chief), and the Diputacion Provincial very inefficiently supplied the place of a legislature. Under the present system, however, New Mexico being a department, the names of these powers have been changed, but their functions remain very nearly the same. The Gobernador (governor) is appointed by the President for eight years. The legislative power is nominally vested in a Junta Departamental, a kind of state council, with very circumscribed {226} powers, somewhat analogous to, and certainly not more extensive than, those of a board of aldermen with us. But even this shadow of popular representation was 'prorogued' by Gov. Armijo soon after his accession to power (five or six years ago), and has never since been convened; so that [p022] its functions have been arbitrarily exercised by the governor ever since.
The administration of the laws in Northern Mexico constitutes one of the most painful features of her institutions. Justice, or rather judgments, are a common article of traffic; and the hapless litigant who has not the means to soften the claws of the alcalde with a 'silver unction,' is almost sure to get severely scratched in the contest, no matter what may be the justice of his cause, or the uprightness of his character. It is easy to perceive, then, that the poor and the humble stand no chance in a judicial contest with the wealthy and consequential, whose influence, even apart from their facilities for corrupting the court and suborning witnesses, is sufficient to neutralize any amount of plebeian testimony that might be brought against them.
The evil consequences arising from maladministration of justice in New Mexico are most severely felt by foreigners, against whom a strong prejudice prevails throughout the South. Of these, the citizens of the United States are by far the most constant sufferers; an inevitable result of that sinister feeling with which the 'rival republic' views the advancement {227} and