Apache Raid 2 General Crook, as a kst resort, went by rail road to Guaymas, HermosiUo, and Chihuahua, there to see personally and confer with the Mexican civil and military authorities. The cordial reception extended him by all classes was the best evidence of the high regard in which he was held by the inhabitants of the two afflicted States of Sonora and Chihuahua, and of their readiness to welcome any force he would lead to effect the destruction or removal of the common enemy. Generals Topete and Carbo soldiers of distinction the governors of the two States, and Mayor Zubiran, of Chihuahua, were most earnest in their desire for a removal of savages whose presence was a cloud upon the prosperity of their fellow-citizens. General Crook made no delay in these conferences, but hurried back to Willcox and marched his command thence to the San Bernardino Springs, in the south-east corner of the Territory (Arizona). But serious delays and serious complications were threatened by the intemperate behaviour of an organization calling itself the Tombstone Rangers, which marched in the direction of the San Carlos Agency with the avowed purpose of cleaning out all the Indians there congregated. The chiefs and head men of the Apaches had just caused word to be telegraphed to General Crook that they intended sending htm another hundred of their picked warriors as an assurance and pledge that they were not in sympathy with the Chiricahuas on the warpath. Upon learning of the approach of the Rangers the chiefs prudently deferred the departure of the new levy of scouts until the horizon should clear, and enable them to see what was to be expected from their white neighbours. The whiskey taken along by the Rangers was exhausted in less than ten days, when the organization expired of thirst, to the gratification of the respectable inhabitants of the frontier, who repudiated an interference with the plans of the military commander, respected and esteemed by them for former distinguished services. At this point it may be well to insert an outline of the story told by the Chiricahua captive who had been broughtdown from the San Carlos Agency to Willcox. He said that 30 his name was Pa-nayo-tishn (the Coyote saw him); that he was not a Chiricahua, but a White Mountain Apache of the Dest-chin ( or Red Clay) clan, married to two Chiricahua women, by whom he had had children, and with whose people he had lived for years. He had leftthe Chiricahua stronghold in the mountain called Pa-gotzin-kay some five days journey below Casas Grandes in Chihuahua. From that stronghold the Chiricahuas had been raiding with impunity upon the Mexicans. When pursued they would draw the Mexicans into the depths of the mountains, ambuscade them, and kill them by rolling down rocks from the heights. The Chiricahuas had plenty of horses and cattle, but little food of a vegetable character. They were finely provided with sixteen-shooting breech-loading rifles, but were getting short of ammunition, and had made their recent raid into Arizona, hoping to replenish their supply of cartridges. Dissensions had broken out among the chiefs, some of whom, he thought, would be glad to return to the reservation. In making raids they counted upon riding from sixty to seventy-five miles a day as they stole fresh horses all the time and killed those abandoned. It would be useless to pursue them, but he would lead General Crook back along the trail they had made coming up from Mexico, and he had no doubt the Chiricahuas could be taken by surprise. He had not gone with them of his own free will, but had been compelled to leave the reservation, and had been badly treated while with them. The Chiricahuas left the San Carlos because the agent had stolen their rations, beaten their women, and killed an old squaw. He asserted emphatically that no communication of any kind had been held with the Apaches at San Carlos, every attempt in that direction having been frustrated. The Chiricahuas, according to Pa-nayo-tishn, numbered seventy full-grown warriors and fifty big boys able to fight, with an unknown number ofwomen and children. In their fights with the Mexicans about one hundred and fifty had been killed and captured, principally women and children. The stronghold in the Sierra Madre was described as a dangerous, rocky, almost inaccessible place, having plenty of wood, water, and grass, but no food except what was stolen from the Mexicans. Consequently the Chiricahuas might be starved out General Crook ordered the irons to be struck from the prisoner; to which he demurred, sayng he would prefer to wear shackles for the present, until his conduct should prove his sincerity. A half-dozen prominent scouts promised to guard him and watch him; so the fetters were removed, and Pa-nayo-tishn or Peaches, as the soldiers called him, was installed in the responsible office of guide of the contemplated expedition. By the 22d of April many of the preliminary arrangements had been completed and some of the difficulties anticipated had been smoothed over. Nearly 100 Apache scouts joined the command from the San Carlos Reservation, and in the first hours of night began a war-dance, which continued without a break until the first flush of dawn the next day. They were all in high feather, and entered into the spirit of the occasion with full zest. Not much time need be wasted upon a description of their dresses; they didnt wear any, except breech-clout and moccasins. To the music of an improvised drum and the accompaniment of marrow-freezing yells and shrieks they pirouetted and charged in all directions, swaying their bodies violently, dropping on one knee, then suddenly springing high in air, discharging their pieces,and all the time chanting a rude refrain, in which their own prowess was exalted and that of their enemies alluded to with contempt. Their enthusiasm was not abated by the announcement, quietly diffused, that the medicine men had been hard at work, and had succeeded in making a medicine * which would surely bring the Chiricahuas to grief. n accordance with the agreement entered into with the Mexican authorities, the Ameri can troops were to reach the boundary line not sooner than May 1, the object being to let the restless Chiricahuas quiet down as much as possible, and relax their vigilance, while at the same time it enabled the Mexican troops to get into position for effective co-operation. The convention between our government and that of Mexico, by which a reciprocal cross- ing of the International Boundary was conceded to the troops of the two republics, stipulated that such crossing should be authorized when the troops were in close pursuit of a band of savage Indians, and the crossing was made in the unpopulated or desert parts of said boundary line/ which unpopulated or desert parts laad to be two leagues from any en campment or town of either country. The commander of the troops crossing was to give notice at time of crossing, or before if possible, to the nearest military commander or civil authority of the country entered. The pursuing force was to retire to its own territory as soon as it should have fought the band of which it was in pursuit, or lost the trail; and in no case could it establish itself or remain in the foreign territory for a longer time than necessary to make the pursuit of the band whose trail it had followed/* The weak points of this convention were the imperative stipulation that the troops should return at once after a fight and the ambiguity of the terms close pursuit/* and unpopulated country/* A friendly expedition from the United States might follow close on the heels of a party of depredating Apaches, but, under a rigid construction of the term unpopulated/ haveto turn back when it had reached some miserable hamlet exposed to the full ferocity of savage attack, and most in need of assistance, as afterwards proved to be the case. The complication was not diminished by the orders dispatched by General Sherman on March 31 to General Crook to continue the pursuit of the Chiricahuas without regard to departmental or national boundaries/ 7 Both General Crook and General Topete, anxious to have every difficulty removed which lay in the way of a thorough adjustment of this vexed question, telegraphed to their respective governments asking that a more elastic interpretation be given to the terms of the convention. To this telegram General Crook received re ply that he must abide strictly by the terms of the convention, which could only be changed with the concurrence of the Mexican Senate. But what these terms meant exactly was left ust as much in the dark as before. On the 23d of April General Crook moved out from Willcox, accompanied by the Indian scouts and a force of seven skeleton companies of the Third and Sixth Cavalry, under Colonel James Biddle, guarding a train of wagons, with supplies of ammunition and food for two months. This force, under Colonel Biddle, was to remain in reserve at or near San Bernardino Springs on the Mexican boundary, while its right and left flanks respectively were to be covered by detachments commanded by RaEerty, Vroom, Overton, and Anderson; this disposition affording the best possible protection to the settlements in case any of the Chiricaliuas should make their way to the rear of the detachment penetrating Mexico. A disagreeable sand-storm enveloped the column as it left the line of the Southern Pacific Railroad, preceded by the detachment of Apache scouts. A few words in regard to the peculiar methods of the Apaches in marching and conducting themselves while on a campaign may not be out of place. To veterans of the campaigns of the Civil War familiar with the compact formations of the cavalry and infantry of the Army of the Potomac, the loose, straggling methods of the Apache scouts would appear startling, and yet no soldier would fail to apprehend at a glance that the Apache was the perfect, the ideal, scout of the whole world. When Lieutenant Gatewood, the officer in command, gave the short, jerky order, Ugashe Go! the Apaches started as if shot from a gun, and in a minute or less had covered aspace of one hundred yards front, which distance rapidly widened as they advanced, at a rough, shambling walk, in the direction of Dos Cabezas ( Two Heads ) , the mining camp near which the first halt was to be made. They moved with no semblance of regularity; individual fancy alone governed. Here was a clump of three; not far off two more, and scattered in every point of the compass, singly or in clusters, were these indefatigable scouts, with vision as keen as a hawks, tread as untiring and as stealthy as the panthers, and ears so sensitive that nothing escapes them. An artist, possibly, would object to many of them as undersized, but in all other respects they would satisfy every requirement of anatomical criticism. Their chests were broad, deep, and full; shoulders perfectly straight; limbs well-proportioned, strong, and muscular, without a suggestion of undue heaviness; hands and feet small and taper but wiry; heads well-shaped, and countenances often lit up with a pleasant, good- natured expression, which would be more constant, perhaps, were it not for the savage, untamed cast imparted by the loose, dishevelled, gypsy locks of raven black, held away from the face by a broad, flat band of scarlet cloth. Their eyes were bright, clear, and bold, frequently expressive of the greatest good-humour and satisfaction. Uniforms had been issued, but were donned upon ceremonial occasions only. On the present march each wore a loosely fitting shirt of red, white, or gray stuff, generally of calico, n some gaudy figure, but not infrequently the sombre article of woollen raiment issued to white soldiers. This came down outside a pair of loose cotton drawers, reaching to the moccasins. The moccasins are the most important articles of Apache apparel. In a fight or on a long march they will discard all else, but under any and every circumstance will retain the moccasins. These had been freshly made before leaving Willcox. The Indian to be fitted stands erect upon the ground while a companion traces with a sharp knife the outlines of the sole of his foot upon a piece of rawhide. The legging is made of soft buckskin, attached to the foot and reaching to mid-thigh. For convenience in marching, it is allowed to hang in folds below the knee. The raw-hide sole is prolonged beyond the great toe, and turned upward in a shield, which protects from cactus and sharp stones. A leather belt encircling the waist holds forty rounds of metallic cartridges, and also keeps in place the regulation blue blouse and pantaloons, which are worn upon the person only when the Indian scout is anxious to paralyze the frontier towns or military posts by a display of all his finery. The other trappings of these savage auxiliaries are a Springfield breech-loading rifle, army pattern, a canteen full of water, a butcher knife, an awl in leather case, a pair of tweezers, and a tag. The awl is used for sewing moccasins or work of that kind. With the tweezers the Apache young man carefully picks out each and every hair appearing upon his face. The tag marks his place in the tribe, and is in reality nothing more or less than a revival of a plan adopted during the war of the rebellion for the identification of soldiers belonging to the different corps and divisions. Each male Indian at the San Carlos is tagged and numbered, and a descriptive list, corresponding to the tag kept, with a full recital of all his physical peculiarities. This is the equipment of each and every scout; but there are many, especially the more pious and influential, who carry besides, strapped at the waist, little buckskin bags of Hoddentin, or sacred meal, with which to offer morning and evening sacrifice to the sun or other deity. Others, again, are provided with amulets of lightning-riven twigs, pieces of quartz crystal, petrified wood, concretionary sandstone, galena, or chalchihuitls, or fetiches representing some of their countless planetary gods or Kan, which are regarded as the dead medicine for frustrating the designs of the enemy or warding off arrows and bullets in the heat of action. And a few are happy in the pos session of priceless sashes and shirts of buck skin, upon which are emblazoned the signs of the sun, moon, lightning, rainbow, hail, fire, the water-beetle, butterfly, snake, centipede, and other powers to which they may appeal for aid in the hour of distress. The Apache is an eminently religious person, and the more deviltry he plans the more pronounced does his piety become. he rate of speed attained by the Apaches in marching is about an even four miles an hour on foot, or not quite fast enough to make a horse trot. They keep this up for about fif teen miles, at the end of which distance, if water be encountered and no enemy be sighted, they congregate in bands of from ten to fifteen each, hide in some convenient ravine, sit down, smoke cigarettes, chat and joke, and stretch out in the sunlight, basking like the Negroes of the South. If they want to make a little fire, they kindle one with matches, if they happen to have any with them; if not, a rapid twirl, between the palms, of a hard round stick fitting into a circular hole in another stick of softer fiber, will bring fire in from eight to forty-five seconds. The scouts by this time have painted their faces, daubing them with red ochre, deers blood, or the juice of roasted mescal The object of this is protection from wind and sun, as well as distinctive ornamentation. The first mornings rest of the Apaches was broken by the shrill cry of Choddi! Choddi! (Antelope! Antelope!) and far away on the left the dull slump! slump! of rifles told that the Apaches on that flank were getting fresh meat for the evening meal. Twenty carcasses demonstrated that they were not the worst of shots; neither were they, by any means, bad cooks. When the command reached camp these restless, untiring nomads built in a trice all kinds of rude shelters. Those that had the army dog tents put them up on frame-works of wil low or cotton-wood saplings; others, less fortunate, improvised domiciles of branches covered with grass, or of stones and boards covered with gunny sacks. Before these were finished smoke curled gracefully toward the sky from crackling embers, in front of which, transfixed on wooden spits, were the heads, hearts, and livers of several of the victims of the afternoons chase. Another addition to the spolia opima was a cotton-tailed rabbit, run down by these fleetfooted Bedouins of the Southwest Turkeys and quail are caught in the same manner. Meanwhile a couple of scouts were making bread, the light, thin tortillas of the Mexicans, baked quickly in a pan, and not bad eating. Two others were fraternally occupied in pre paring their bed for the night. Grass was pulled by handfuls, laid upon the ground, and covered with one blanket, another serving as cover. These Indians, with scarcely an exception, sleep with their feet pointed toward little fires, which, they claim, are warm, while the big ones built by the American soldiers, are so hot that they drive people away from them, and, besides, attract the attention of a lurking enemy. At the foot of this bed an Apache was playing on a home-made fiddle, fabricated from the stalk of the mescal, or American aloe. This fiddle has four strings, and emits a sound like the wail of a cat with its tail caught in a fence. But the noble red man likes the music, which perhaps is, after all, not so very much inferior to that of Wagner. Enchanted and stimulated by the concord of sweet sounds, a party of six was playing fierce at the Mexican game of monte, the cards employed being of native manufacture, of horsehide, covered with barbarous figures, and well worthy of a place in any museum. The cooking was by this time ended, and the savages, with genuine hospitality, invited the Americans near them to join in the feast. It was not conducive to appetite to glance at dirty paws tearing bread and meat into fragments; yet the meat thus cooked was tender and juicy, the bread not bad, and the coffee strong and fairly well made. The Apaches squatted nearest to the American guests felt it incumbent upon them to explain everything as the meal progressed. They said this (pointing to the coffee) is Tu-dishishn (black water), and that Zigosti (bread). All this time scouts had been posted commanding every possible line of approach. The Apache dreads surprise. It is his own favorite mode of destroying an enemy, and knowing what he himself can do, he ascribes to his foe no matter how insignificant may be his numbers the same daring, recklessness, agility, and subtlety possessed by himself. These Indian scouts will march thirty-five or forty miles in a day on foot,crossing wide stretches of water less plains upon which a tropical sun beats down with fierceness, or climbing up the faces of precipitous mountains which stretch across this region in every direction. The two great points of superiority of the native or savage soldier over the representative of civilized discipline are his absolute knowl edge of the country and his perfect ability to take care of himself at all times and under all circumstances. Though the rays of the sun pour down from the zenith, or the scorching sirocco blow from the south, the Apache scout trudges along as unconcerned as he was when the cold rain or snow of winter chilled his white comrade to the marrow. He finds foods, and pretty good food too, where the Caucasian would starve. Knowing the habits of wild animals from his earliest youth, he can catch turkeys, quail, rabbits, doves, or field-mice, and, perhaps a prairie-dog or two, which will supply him with meat. For some reason he cannot be induced to touch fish, and bacon or any other product of the hog is eaten only under duress; but the flesh of a horse, mule, or jackass, which has dropped exhausted on the march and been left to die on the trail, is a delicious morsel which the Apache epicure seizes upon wherever possible. The stunted oak, growing on the mountain flanks, furnishes acorns; the Spanish bayonet, a fruit that, when roasted in the ashes of a camp-fire, looks and tastes something like the banana. The whole region of Southern Arizona and Northern Mexico is matted with varieties of the cactus, nearly every one of which is called upon for its tribute of fruit or seed. The broad leaves and stalks of the century-plant called mescal are roasted between hot stones, and the product is rich in saccharine matter and extremely pleasant to the taste. The wild potato and the bulb of the tule are found in the damp mountain meadows; and the nest of the ground-bee is raided remorselessly for its little store of honey. Sunflower-seeds, when ground fine, are rich and nutritious. Walnuts grow in the deep ravines, and strawberries in favourable locations; in the proper season these, with the seeds of wild grasses and wild pumpkins, the gum of the mesquite, or the sweet, soft inner bark of the pine, play their part in staving off the pangs of hunger.
Posted on: Wed, 30 Jul 2014 15:54:49 +0000
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