Lot
171 
(Trail Letter) Santa Fe, N. Mex./Dec. 1. Cds with inverted month slug on cover to Connecticut with "Paid 3" rate handstamp in circle, cover with some minor edge wear, included is the original enclosure datelined "San Fernandez de Taos, New Mexico, Nov. 22nd, 1855", letter with great contents including,For the first time in my life I am in a country where my mother tongue is not spoken. I can speak the language of the "Greasers" with fluency.
My eyes behold every day some novel spectacle. How can I describe to you these mudwalled villages filled with dirt, jackasses, dogs, fleas, lice and Mexicans? That is but one half the picture - outside, which I rejoice to say is the worse side. According to the free and easy manner of these hospitable people, I have the entree to all these long, low, mudwalled houses, invariably built so as to enclose a square, which I take the liberty to dignify by the name of Courtyard.
Kicking dogs and belaboring donkeys out of my path, I passed the courtyard, enter the low door (stooping and turning my shoulders sideways), and, oh pleasant change! Am in a light cheery room whose neatly white washed walls are adorned with mirrors, crucifixes and most execrable pictures of the saints. I'm not invited to take a chair for the very good reason that there is none, but the fair Signora who is reclining dreamily on yon luxurious bank of gaily colored "Serapes", takes from her pretty mouth the fragrant "cigarrito" and puts it between my lips, points me to the opposite lounge and then as I enjoy the soothing fumes of the "weed" and chat with her about last night's "fandango". Her fair hands are busy making the delicious "tortillas", the dish of eggs and a cup of "Atole" (by the Yankees vulgarly called pudd'n-n-milk) which are to appease my keen appetite and teach me to prize, oh how dearly the sacred rights of Hospitality.
How pretty is my Senorita! The dark "rebosa" half covers her jetty shiny locks, and floats in peaceful folds over her well turned shoulders - her arms are bare and her short dress does not conceal the petite foot, the pride of the Mexican damsel.
The ground is covered with snow and far away to the north I can see the white summits of the Sangre de Cristo rise cold and gloomy between me and my camp in the sunny valley of the Arkansas. To stay, Kit Carson told me, I need not expect to find the snow less than ten feet deep in the passes of those mountains.
The writer was en route from California to Arkansas, Very Fine, a wonderful item.
Estimate $1,000 - 1,500.
Realized: $2,100