March 16, 2005: He Gazed Upon Angels, 1855
The Ramona School
from The American Missionary, March 1890

I had the pleasure, in Santa Fé, January 13th, of attending an entertainment given by the Ramona pupils in honor of Miss Platt, one of their teachers. Gov. Prince and his wife, and several of the citizens, were present as invited guests. After the singing of several songs, and a statement made by Prof. Elmore Chase, the Principal, fourteen of the scholars rendered, in the action of nature and the speaking of English, Mrs. Bentley's dialogue, "The Old Year's Vision and the New Year's Message," as found in the January number of The Youth's Temperance Banner. One of the large boys first came in as an old man, clad in a mantle and trembling on a staff, to repeat the "Old Year's Vision." Then came in, one after another, a dozen boys and girls, to recite the greeting of the several months. It was a temperance exhibit, and so each one had a testimony for that cause. January, bearing a New Year's card in hand, declared: "I've promised that not a drop of wine shall touch these temperance lips of mine." February bore a fancy valentine, with an appropriate motto. March lifted aloft a new kite, with "Kites may sail far up in the sky, but on strong drink I'll never get high." July, bearing a flag and a bunch of fire-crackers, declares: "I tell you I mean to celebrate, with something that won't intoxicate:" while December resolves: "No brandy fumes in my Christmas pie; no wine-sauce in my pudding, say I."

Then comes in a beautiful maiden, clad in white and crowned with flowers, to be greeted by a chorus of voices: "The king is dead; long live the queen!" and then to recite the "Message of the New Year."

Then comes another song in English, and then the second unloading of the Christmas tree, which has kept its place in the chapel since its proper day of Christmas cheer. Then the whole occasion is honored by an address from the Governor, in simple words, with smiling face and transparent good feeling. It is not every children's holiday that has a Governor at hand to grace the occasion. As the President of the Board of Trustees which, under the A.M.A. fosters the Ramona, and as Governor of a territory which has nineteen Pueblo villages and the reservations of the Navajoes and the Mescalero and Jicarilla Apaches, he is a faithful friend of the Indians. This is apparent from his first report just made to the Secretary of the Interior. The 21,000 of the Navajoes he reports as possessing 250,000 horses, 500 mules, 1,000 burros, 5,000 cattle, 700,000 sheep and 200,000 goats. Their wool-clip the last year reached 2,100,000 pounds. Here is a grand field for a mission.

J.E. Roy