The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 66, July 1962 - April, 1963 Page: 456

Southwestern Historical Quarterly

Now I have digressed very much from my history, but as the many
readers may know nothing of life in Mexico, and the habits of the
people which they derived from the Spaniards, I hope it was not
amiss to explain those peculiarities and customs.
To proceed with my story. In San Miguel we again met Fitzgerald,38
Van Ness,37 G. T. Howard,38 Navarro and Geo. W. Kendall, who had
been in durance vile about one month before we arrived there, and
who were with ioo men in advance of us. The balance of the ioo
men for cause unknown to me, were started off on the trip through
Mexico, and the latter retained still in San Miguel.
In San Miguel we were placed in a building surrounded by other
buildings; it being only open to an irrigatory branch where we ob-
tained water; fuel we did not need, for our ration was only a loaf of
bread per day. Kendall and the men mentioned were in a different
house. Our quarters, only a room with the described open court yard,
was well guarded, and only a short distance from the Catholic church.
We were not allowed to have communication with any one.
I will now begin with the extracts from Mr. Kendall's description
of his travels over the Staked Plains.
Would that I could but imitate that excellent and graphic writer;
my future narrative would be so much more interesting. He is the
only one who ever gave us a complete history of the Santa Fe expe-
dition, in fact the only one who ever recorded it; and I, not an ex-
perienced writer, with timidity undertook to refresh my memory and
after more than forty years to give the reader incidents that he could
not know, and some that he thought of little importance, such as
manners, life and customs in Mexico at that time; for though Mexi-
cans are averse to progression and improvements, they must have
learned much since they came in contact with Americans in war,
and later by American railroad enterprises, etc.
[to be concluded]
86Archibald Fitzgerald, an Irish soldier of fortune, had fought in Spain and
would later die in Mexico after being captured by General Adrian Woll in San
Antonio during 1842.
87George F. X. Van Ness, a nineteen year old Virginian, was secretary to the
civil commissioners.
88George Thomas Howard was an experienced Indian fighter who first had
interested Kendall in the expedition while buying supplies in New Orleans.
Howard had been McLeod's aide-de-camp until an officers' meeting requested
McLeod's resignation; at which point Howard resigned.

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