Wild Life in the Far West: Being the Personal Adventures of a Border Mountain Man. Captain James Hobbs
heavy train of Mr. Speyers back to Santa Fe, for the starving mules, barely saved alive from the hunger and cold, could not pull much. The oxen were yoked in Mexican fashion, the yoke being lashed to the horns with rawhide, and the different yokes in the same team connected with rawhide ropes. They were driven by a man on each side, with a long stick or pole, having a sharp nail or spur on the end, which was used instead of a whip.
We traveled slowly, enduring much suffering, and at times nearly freezing, till we reached Las Vegas, where we got more men and animals and were much relieved, making the balance of our journey into Santa Fe much easier. Our arrival produced great excitement, and our old friends were all glad to meet us and to learn of our safety.
Speyers, if living, must now (1872) be quite an old man. He has done a heavy business in Kansas City, purchased largely in real estate, and, the last I heard of him, he had acquired a large amount of property. He was of German descent, tall and spare, with keen eyes, and his language, though somewhat broken, was always polite. He had a good reputation as a fair trader, and, at the time he was snowed in at Cimarron creek, the merchants of Santa Fe manifested the live- liest sympathy for him and his men, and showed the respect in which they held him, by doing every thing in their power for his relief. During my long ac- quaintance with him, I found him in all respects, a gentleman.
62 PEG-LEG SMITH IN TROUBLE.
On my arrival at Santa Fe, I went to hunt up my friends, Kit Carson and Peg-leg Smith, finding Kit in a Mexican hotel, and he gave me a cordial welcome. He said Smith was probably in a saloon nearby, and that he had seen him drunk nearly every day since I left. Going over to the saloon, we found Smith in a fracas with two or three Mexicans, and, having un- strapped his wooden leg, he had knocked one Mexican down with it, and was hopping around on one foot, determined to knock down the others. Our arrival put a stop to his warlike demonstrations, and, after he had buckled on his wooden leg, we escorted him to our hotel. There we made him drink a cup of tea, and locked him up in a room to get sober. He was nearly dead with the horrors ; but we kept him con- fined there four days, during which he kept up a yelling that would have astonished a wild Indian. We took him in food and liquor in small quantities, and, at the end of four days, let him out, and kept an eye on him, to prevent the Mexicans killing him.
We amused ourselves here attending several dances, or fandangoes, with Mexican ladies. The last fandango was a terribly exciting affair. At this ball, there were sixty or seventy Americans, most of whom were pretty hard customers,—teamsters, &c. We had hired two Mexican musicians to play all night for three dollars. One of them had a "fiddle" of his own manufacture, and the other an instrument he called a "guitar," but it was big enough to float a man. About midnight, the Mexicans, becoming jealous of the attentions of some of our party to the ladies, and exasperated by the manner in which the attentions were received, attempted to remove their lady friends and close the ball. By this time several of the party were in no
A DANCING GOVERNOR. 63
condition to be dictated to by any one, and, as the result of this attempt to remove the ladies, the room was quickly cleared of the indignant Mexican gents, the ladies willingly remaining, and the door placed in charge of one of our party. The dance then pro- ceeded for a while, the "music" being furnished by a half-way "tiddler" named George Stilts, who after- ward married Kit Carson' s daughter.
After the ejected Mexicans had made an unsuccessful attempt, by the aid of a number of soldiers, to gain admission to the hall, they went to Governor Armijo (governor of the State of New Mexico), who resided at Santa Fe, with a complaint that the Americans were making a disturbance, and they could do nothing with them. The governor, with a strong body-guard, soon appeared on the scene, and demanded admittance, which was granted, on condition that he should leave his guard outside, only bringing his servant in with him. On entering the hall, he was warmly received, and, after partaking of the hospitalities of the party (mostly whisky), he felt in a dancing mood himself, but did not like our music, and so sent for his own musicians.
By the time the music arrived, it was nearly four o'clock, and, as the presence of the governor was considered an event which required many pledges of esteem, the whole party, including the governor and ladies, was in a sad condition, and the dancing was anything but graceful. The doors were not opened till nine o'clock, when those who could re- tired.
There was a wicked joker in the American party, named Gabe Allen, who, when the governor yielded to sleep, had him carried to a room adjoining, and
64 GABE ALLEN.
laid on a bed between two women, who were in the same condition. About nine o'clock, the governor's wife, attended by two soldiers, came in search of him, fearing he might have received some bodily injury at the hands of the revelers. When her anxiety was at the highest pitch, she was conducted by Allen to the room where her husband lay in his drunken stupor. On seeing him and his companions, her anxiety changed to rage, and she "went for" him in a manner that was very pleasing to Allen, in his half- tipsy condition. After some words between the governor and his wife, Allen and I escorted him to his residence, where we left him to the tender mercies of his wife, who would listen to no explanations by Allen, tending to establish the innocence of her hus- band.
Gabe Allen, the perpetrator of this practical joke on the governor, was a tall, slim, light-complexioned man, always ready for a joke or a perilous adventure. I was associated with him much of the time for a number of years. He has acquired considerable property, and is now living at Wilmington, Los An- geles county, California.
A few days afterward, two hundred Mexican troops came from the State of Chihuahua as an escort for a specie-train of pack-mules, in charge of a conductor, which money was delivered to the governor of New Mexico, our friend of the fandango. Two or three days after their arrival at Santa Fe, they called on the governor for payment for their services, which he objected to giving. The soldiers formed on the square, and said they would have their pay or blood. The governor offered them a draft on the State of Chihuahua, which they refused to accept, as their
DIFFICULTY WITH CHIHUAHUA SOLDIERS. 65
orders were to collect pay from him for whom the service was rendered. There were about one hundred and seventy Americans then in Santa Fe, and the governor called on them for assistance. I asked Kit Carson's advice on the matter, and he replied that he thought it was fair to help the governor out of this scrape, as he had befriended us in our difficulty with the Mexicans at the fandango. We all gathered our arms, excepting a few men left as a guard for our teams, wagons, &c., and presented ourselves to the governor, ready for action. By the time we reached the palace, the Chihuahua soldiers, on the plaza in front, were drunk and fighting among themselves. Our American friends, about one hundred strong, formed in line in front of the palace, in connection with about the same number of the governor s troops. The governor now sent word to the officers of the Chihuahua troops that he was ready to fight any time they were.
Gabe Allen and Kit Carson now interfered, and ad- vised a compromise, which was agreed upon, the governor agreeing to advance ration-money sufficient to take the Chihuahua troops home, and to pay thirty- seven and a half cents per day to each soldier for eighteen days of service, which money was immedi- ately distributed, and they were ordered to leave town instanter, or they would be put out. After some little delay and difficulty in the distribution, they moved off, out of the place, toward home, and the governor, being highly pleased, remarked, "It's now my treat." We were all called into his grounds; wines and differ- ent kinds of liquors were set out, and a jolly time commenced. Peg-leg Smith, hopping around on his wooden leg, with his rifle on his shoulder, got drunk
5
66 ENGAGEMENT WITH SPEYERS.
as usual. As we all had our rifles, it was a mixed scene, warlike and yet convivial.
Mr. Speyers finished recruiting his teams, repairing his wagons, &c, and, in the spring of 1841, started his train for Chihuahua.