The Scouting Expeditions of McCulloch's Texas Rangers; or, the Summer and Fall Campaign of the Army of the United States in Mexico--1846; including Skirmishes with the Mexicans, and an accurate detail of the Storming of Monterey; also the Daring Scouts at Buena Vista together with anecdotes, incidents, descriptions of country, and sketches of the lives of the celebrated partisan chiefs, Hays, McCulloch, and Walker. Page: 36
251 p. : ill. ; 20 cm.View a full description of this book.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
36 MEXICAN WOMEN.
Their principal employment is in weaving blankets, which they
do very ingeniously, assorting the colours with great taste. They
card the wool and spin from the distaff, as our mothers did in
ancient times. Some of the blankets of their manufacture, are
extremely beautiful, and cost as high as a hundred dollars. Having
no books to read, and being totally illiterate, with few exceptions,
they spend their afternoons in hunting among each others'
tresses of long black hair; they have no combs, and use a kind
of straw brush, with which they part the hair, in order to find
the objects of their industrious search. They bathe every morning
and evening in crowds in the river, and indeed are more lacking
in modesty than in virtue.
The women generally washed for us-charging one dollar per
dozen without ironing, and two dollars if ironed. I was surprised,
however, to see with what neatness they did up the clothes.
Sefora Juan Sanches, havingtwo good-looking daughters, received
the principal custom. The houses were generally miserably furnished.
Some, however, were quite neat. They have very
pretty worked cushions, which, on entering a house, they always
place in a chair for you to sit on. They generally treated us
kindly, but were very suspicious and distrustful: and whenever
there were Mexican men about, they would refuse to converse
with us. The women keep the money and the treasure of their
husbands. which is generally hid in the ground; and there are
many stories about .arge sums having been found in digging about
old rqnchos
CHAPTER V.
News of the War reaches Texas-Formation of Capt. McCulloch's Company
of Rangers-March to Corpus Christi-The Ford of the Laguna del Madre
-Padre's Island-Uncle Tilley-The Carankawa Indians-Arrival at Point
Isabel-March to Matamoras-Scout towards Linares-Incidents--Capture
of the Mexican Mail-Arrival at Reynoso.
COMARGO about this time presented a scene of as busy an aspect
as any commercial city. Steamers were daily arriving with subsistence,
stores, and munitions of war. There might have been
frequently seen four or five steamers at a time at the landing, besides
the ferry boats which were constantly crossing and recrossing
the river. The banks were crowded with barrels and boxes,
and teams rattled along at as dangerous a rate as in one of our
great cities. The whole of the Second Division of the army,
under Gen. Worth, had arrived, and every thing told that great
preparations were making for stirring events, the character of
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This book can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Book.
Reid, Samuel C., Jr. The Scouting Expeditions of McCulloch's Texas Rangers; or, the Summer and Fall Campaign of the Army of the United States in Mexico--1846; including Skirmishes with the Mexicans, and an accurate detail of the Storming of Monterey; also the Daring Scouts at Buena Vista together with anecdotes, incidents, descriptions of country, and sketches of the lives of the celebrated partisan chiefs, Hays, McCulloch, and Walker., book, 1859; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth38096/m1/40/: accessed April 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Austin History Center, Austin Public Library.