History and government of New Mexico . y unknown until after the coming ofthe Americans in the twenties. Then Taos whisky be-came as famous as El Paso wine. Petty offenses werefrequent; serious crime was rare. The population was composed of two fairly distinctclasses : (1) the old and well-to-do families of pure Spanish A Santa Fe Street Scene in the Forties blood and traditions; and (2) the lower classes, of mixedblood, part Spanish and part Indian. 149. Peonage and Indian Slavery. — From this latterclass came the peons. The peon was not a slave whoseperson might be sold from master to master
History and government of New Mexico . y unknown until after the coming ofthe Americans in the twenties. Then Taos whisky be-came as famous as El Paso wine. Petty offenses werefrequent; serious crime was rare. The population was composed of two fairly distinctclasses : (1) the old and well-to-do families of pure Spanish A Santa Fe Street Scene in the Forties blood and traditions; and (2) the lower classes, of mixedblood, part Spanish and part Indian. 149. Peonage and Indian Slavery. — From this latterclass came the peons. The peon was not a slave whoseperson might be sold from master to master, but an un-fortunate debtor bound by Spanish and Mexican customto voluntary service until his debt was paid. Thepittance of two or three dollars a month which he receivedin goods at his masters price would barely support himself 124 THE HISTORY OF NEW MEXICO and family, if he had a family. And in extreme cases thepoor fellow might work a lifetime, only to find that his debtof fifty or a hundred dollars was still unpaid and that one. The Seven Counties of New Mexico, 1846 After an old government map drawn by order of General Kearny. of his children must enter this unjust servitude for was a slave without the name, but more unfortunatethan the American Negro because no master was respon-sible for his support in sickness or old age. THE MEXICAN PERIOD 125 There was also undisguised Indian slavery. Navajocaptives were the favorites. Girls and women sold forfrom a hundred to three hundred dollars each. 150. Government. — With Mexican independence camenew political customs. In 1822 the people elected themembers of an electoral college to choose a Territoriallegislature and a Deputy to represent New Mexico in theMexican Congress. That was the first general election inNew Mexico. Furthermore, any town of a thousand inhab-itants might have an ayuntamiento (a-yoon-ta-myanto),or popular common council. A judicial system was out-lined by the Constitution of 1836, but never orga
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