The Wedding Between a Señorita and an American

Journal of Matt Field on the Santa Fe Trail “The women invariably wore veils, slippers without stockings. When invited to a wedding–the bride was a pretty, dark-eyed Mexican lady about 20, the groom, an American: She would pass for handsome among all who do not consider a fair skin absolutely indispensable to beauty. She was well-formed, had the glossiest raven hair, a graceful neck and bust, her complexion was not dark enough to prevent the lighter tint of the rose from showing in her cheek, and her eyes were of that wild, dark, dazzling luster which has something of the fearful in it even while it enchants. She was a creature to love–just such a creature as was calculated to win the impulsive and adventurous young American—and there she sat—with a cigar in her mouth.” (Before the ceremony began she passed the cigar to her mother who resumed smoking it.)