Note IV'-35 — Chapter IV · OBSERVATIONS ON NEW SPAIN.[IV'-1]

Gregg, Comm. Pra., II. 1844, p. 114, cites Pike in his own description of Chihuahua, as it appeared to him in 1839, and the two accounts may be here brought together. Noting the regularity of the city in comparison with Santa Fé, the dressing of the best buildings with hewn stone, the paving of some of the streets, and the population of about 10,000, this author continues:

"The most splendid edifice in Chihuahua is the principal church, which is said to equal in architectural grandeur anything of the sort in the republic. The steeples, of which there is one at each front corner, rise over 100 feet above the azotea [roof]. They are composed of very fancifully-carved columns; and in appropriate niches of the frontispiece, which is also an elaborate piece of sculpture, are to be seen a number of statues, as large as life, the whole forming a complete representation of Christ and the 12 Apostles. This church was built about a century ago, by contributions levied upon the mines (particularly those of Santa Eulalia, 15 or 20 miles from the city), which paid over a percentage on all the metal extracted therefrom; a medio [6¼ cents], I believe, being levied upon each marco of eight ounces. In this way, about a million of dollars was raised and expended in some 30 years, the time employed in the construction of the building. It is a curious fact, however, that, notwithstanding the enormous sums of money expended in outward embellishments, there is not a church from thence southward, perhaps, where the interior arrangements bear such striking marks of poverty and neglect. If, however, we are not dazzled by the sight of these costly decorations for which the churches of Southern Mexico are so much celebrated, we have the satisfaction of knowing that the turrets are well provided with bells, a fact of which every person who visits Chihuahua very soon obtains auricular demonstration. One, in particular, is so large and sonorous that it has frequently been heard, so I am informed, at the distance of 25 miles.

"A little below the Plaza Mayor stand the ruins (as they may be called) of San Francisco—the mere skeleton of another great church of hewn stone, which was commenced by the Jesuits previous to their expulsion in 1767, but never finished. By the outlines still traceable amid the desolation which reigns around, it would appear that the plan of this edifice was conceived in a spirit of still greater magnificence than the Parroquia which I have been describing. The abounding architectural treasures that are mouldering and ready to tumble to the ground bear sufficient evidence that the mind which had directed its progress was at once bold, vigorous, and comprehensive.

"This dilapidated building has since been converted into a sort of state prison, particularly for the incarceration of distinguished prisoners. It was here that the principals of the famous Texan Santa Fé Expedition were confined, when they passed through the place, on their way to the City of Mexico. This edifice has also acquired considerable celebrity as having received within its gloomy embraces several of the most distinguished patriots, who were taken prisoners during the first infant struggles for Mexican independence. Among these was the illustrious ecclesiastic, Don Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, who made the first declaration at the village of Dolores, September 16, 1810. He was taken prisoner in March, 1811, some time after his total defeat at Guadalaxara; and being brought to Chihuahua, he was shot on the 30th of July following, in a little square back of the prison, where a plain white monument of hewn stone has been erected to his memory. It consists of an octagon base of about 25 feet in diameter, upon which rises a square, unornamented pyramid to the height of about 30 feet. The monument indeed is not an unapt emblem of the purity and simplicity of the curate's character.

"Among the few remarkable objects which attract the attention of the traveller is a row of columns supporting a large number of stupendous arches which may be seen from the heights, long before approaching the city from the north. This is an aqueduct of considerable magnitude which conveys water from the little river of Chihuahua, to an eminence above the town, whence it is passed through a succession of pipes to the main public square, where it empties itself into a large stone cistern; and by this method the city is supplied with water. This and other public works to be met with in Chihuahua, and in the southern cities, are glorious remnants of the prosperous times of the Spanish empire. No improvements on so exalted a scale have ever been made under the republican government.... ¡Ojalá por los dias felices del Rey!"