They had cause for
great gratulation, for they had achieved a remarkable feat and had won a
great province without the loss of a single man in battle.
By the orders of General Kearney a flag-staff one hundred feet high was
raised in the plaza for the American flag, and the oath of allegiance was
taken by the officials of the town. They were willing enough to take it,
since their new masters left them in office, while the people, who had
been told that they would be robbed and mercilessly treated, hailed the
Americans as deliverers rather than as enemies. The same was the case with
all the surrounding people, who, when they found that they would be paid
for their provisions and be left secure in their homes, settled down in
seeming high good will under the new rule.
[Illustration: OLDEST HOUSE IN THE UNITED STATES, SANTA FE.]
OLDEST HOUSE IN THE UNITED STATES, SANTA FE.
Santa Fe at that time contained about six thousand inhabitants. After St.
Augustine it was the oldest city within the limits of the United States.
When the Spaniards founded it in 1582, it was built on the site of one of
the old Indian pueblos, whose date went back to the earliest history of
the country.
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