"Sam": or The history of mystery./ By C. W. Webber.

"SAiM:" OR, THE HISTORY OF IMYSTERY.
Light enoug h, and temptation enough, remained however,
to urge the Spaniards to attempt the subjugation of the Califoruia basil; but all that we know certainly of their expedition
is, their unsatisfactory results, and the shadowy reports brought
back by the survivors, of well-built cities in the interior, and
treasures of gold in the encircling mountains of the unconquerable country. On the San Saba, as well as on the Pecos,
there is unquestionably, vast mineral wealth, formerly not
unknown to the Mexicans, but which nothing but the firm,
stable protection of our government, and the enterprising
audacity of our citizens, can liope to wrest from the superstitious control of the Indians.
The wide expanse of country above the Rio Gila, and between that river and the Rio Colorado, as also the territory
next beyond the mountains to the eastward, embracing the
valley of the Rio Grande, and that of the Pecos, early attracted the attention of the Spaniards. No sooner had they
subdued the Aztecs and their dependencies, than they turned
their armed enterprises northward, toward the regions just
indicated, and concerning the mineral riches of which, they
had received, from their first landing in Mexico, many vague
but glowing accounts. The history and results of their enterprises may be thus rapidly summed up.
No sooner had the general subjugation of Mexico and its
immediate dependencies been completed, and its provinces
partitioned among the Spanish leaders, than the attention
of the latter was directed to the unknown region beyond
them, and of the relics and magnificence of which they often
received the most exaggerated accounts. Nuno de Guzman,
to whom had been assigned the governorship of New Gallicia,
comprising the northern division of Mexico, heard many of
their accounts, relating to the countries northward of his
jurisdiction, which excited his curiosity and influenced his
avarice. He had in his service a Tejos (Taos?) Indian, who
told him of a vast northern country, abounding in gold and
silver. Confiding in his accounts, Guzman collected an army,
and in 1530, in less than ten years after Cortez entered the
valley of Anahuac, started for this unknown region. Difficulties intervened, and the death of his Indian guide induced
him to abandon his enterprise, although entertaining implicit
faith in the reports that had reached him.
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