d other valuable furs for a supply of it, at a
tremendous sacrifice.

According to the statement of Gregg, the first white settler of
the fertile and picturesque valley was a Spaniard named Pando, who
established himself there about 1745. This primitive pioneer of the
northern part of the Province was constantly exposed to the raids of
the powerful Comanches, but succeeded in creating a temporary friendship
with the tribe by promising his daughter, then a young and beautiful
infant, to the chief in marriage when she arrived at a suitable age. At
the time for the ratification of her father's covenant with the Indians,
however, the maiden stubbornly refused to fulfil her part. The savages,
enraged at the broken faith of the Spaniard, immediately swept down upon
the little settlement and murdered everybody there except the betrothed
girl, whom they carried off into captivity. She was forced to live with
the chief as his wife, but he soon became tired of her and traded
her for another woman with the Pawnees, who, in turn, sold her to a
Frenchman, a resident of St. Louis. It is said that some of the most
respectable families of that city are descended from her, and fifty
years ago there were many people living who remembered the old lady, and
her pathetic story of trials and sufferings when with the Indians.

The most tragic event in the history of the valley was the massacre of
the provisional governor of the Territory of New Mexico, with a number
of other Americans, shortly after its occupation by the United States.

Upon General Kearney's taking possession of Santa Fe, acting under the
authority of the President, he established a civil government and put
it into operation. Charles Bent was appointed governor, and the other
offices filled by Americans and Mexicans who were rigidly loyal to the
political change. At this time the command of the troops devolved
upon Colonel Sterling Price, Colonel Doniphan, who ranked him,
having departed from Santa Fe on an expedition against the Navajoes.
Notwithstanding the apparent submission of the natives of New Mexico,
there were many malcontents among them and the Pueblo Indians, and early
in December, some of the leaders, dissatisfied with the change in the
order of things, held secret meetings and formulated plots to overthrow
the existing government.

Midnight of the 24th of December was the time appointed for the
commencement of their revolutionary work, which was to be simulta