USA > Arizona > Arizona, prehistoric, aboriginal, pioneer, modern; the nation's youngest commonwealth within a land of ancient culture, Vol. I > Part 35
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mountain homes in Sonora." At several points there were recommendations for the formation of volunteer companies that should act independently against the Apaches.
Florence and other points demanded that all Apache Indians should be removed from the Territory and the San Carlos reservation abolished and if this be not done that the army be withdrawn and the settlers be permitted to defend themselves. The contribution from Yuma was of especially vigorous tone. In it was claimed that Government officials "apparently ever have been guided in their treatment of hostile Indians by religious sentimentalists and romantic female emotionalists who have derived their knowledge of Indian character from perusals of the novels of Fenimore Cooper and other hypochondriac fictionists and who believe that the Bible, done up in a wrapper of kindness and sweetmeats, is the only instrument which should be used in the subjugation of the savage but noble red men of the forest." The Chiricahuas were called mur- derers by instinct and fiends by choice and the policy of the Government was claimed responsible for their work. It was also respectfully suggested "that religion is about as much use to a Chiricahua Apache in his present mental condition as a pair of Mexican spurs would he in rafting a Hottentot across a river and that Fenimore Cooper probably never saw an Indian."
Globe was particularly severe upon the military, who were declared to have the mark of cowardice stamped deeply on their actions by their failure to accept engagements afforded them. The temporizing policy of General Crook was declared to have been the cause of the loss of many valuable lives and it was recommended that he be transferred from the military command of Arizona.
Lochiel resolved that "we, as American citizens, look with unutterable horror upon the management of Indian affairs as conducted in Arizona for the last twenty years that the policy of feeding and amusing Indians on reservations in the country of their nativity, and in sight of their favorite haunts, surrounding a farming population, enterprising ranchers, prospectors and miners, thus plac- ing the settlers at the mercy of the savages whenever these said savages become incensed by the robberies of thieving Indian agents, the cupidity of traders, or the incompetency of the United States officers, is a disgrace to the civilization of the age, a mockery upon justice, a stab at every principle of republican government and an insult to the American name."
There was a practical note about the resolutions at Nogales, where Señor Don Manual Martinez, "our respected neighbor," was thanked for his offer for militia purposes of the use of fifty well-broken saddle horses, and where it was resolved that the American and Mexican citizens at once form themselves into a frontier company for defensive and active work against the Apache Indians. Clifton considered the policy of General Crook vacillating, temporizing and damnable. From all of this may be gathered that the people of Arizona were somewhat dissatisfied with the southwestern administration of Indian affairs.
Much to the scandal of the Indian Rights Association, in February, 1886, in the Silver City Southwest Sentinel was found the following advertisement :
$250 REWARD-The above reward will be paid by the Board of County Commissioners of Grant County to any citizen of said county for each and every renegade Apache killed by such citizen, on presentation to said board of the scalp of such Indian.
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A SECOND DRIVE INTO MEXICO
Late in December, 1885, General Crook started another drive against the Indians in Mexico, mainly with Apache scouts, in pursuance of his well-known policy. At the head of the expedition was placed that gallant soldier and expert handler of Indians, Capt. Emmett Crawford, with a staff including Lieuts. M. P. Maus, W. H. Shipp, S. L. Faison and Dr. T. B. Davis, Tom Horn and J. H. Harrison serving with the scouts. It was understood this move had the direct sanction of General Sheridan. The hostile Chiricaluas were chased far down into southeastern Sonora to a point beyond Moctezuma, where the fugitives at last, driven from their camps by an unexpected attack, sent word asking a peace talk.
Then occurred one of the most distressing episodes of southwestern military history. A command of Mexican soldiery, mainly comprising southern Indians, approached stealthily and on the morning of January 11, 1886, opened fire on Crawford's scouts. There was natural assumption that the Mexicans had mis- taken the scouts for hostiles, so Crawford and his officers, restraining the fire of their men, ran out on an eminence, waved their hats and shouted "Ameri- canos." But the fire continued, clearly showing direct animus against the Americans. Then the scouts returned the fire, killing four Mexicans and wounding several. In the midst of the engagement, Crawford still stood up and waved a white handkerchief, only to fall back mortally wounded, with a bullet through his head. Then the scouts, who had learned to appreciate their leader's sterling worth, keen sense of justice and intrepid nature, could hardly be held back by Lieutenant Maus from closing in on the Mexicans, for all were ablaze with the single thought of vengeance for what appeared like downright murder, without reference to the wounding of Tom Horn and several scouts. Captain Crawford was taken to Nacozari, where he died on the 18th. Apologies were made by Major Corridor, the Mexican commander, but were not considered sufficient by the American officers.
Nachis and Chihuahua, through their mouthpiece, Geronimo, expressed wil- lingness to quit the warpath, but insisted on seeing their friend, General Crook. This was agreed upon, the conference to take place two months later at Funnel Cañon, twenty-five miles below the line. So the two bodies of troops and scouts marched northward, but separately. The Indians possibly utilized the time, for there was little cessation in the reports of Indian murders and robbery through the Sierra Madres. One band even attacked the large town of Cumpas.
The conference was held as scheduled. General Crook, who seemed to bave taken all precautions for safety at this time, advised the Indians that their surrender could not be upon the same terms as theretofore, back to San Carlos with their weapons and loot undisturbed. The hostile bucks were to be sent away from Arizona with their families, practically in confinement for an un- specified number of years. If the proposition did not suit them, they could get back into the mountains and the campaign against them would be resumed with vigor.
The Apache troubles had caused such comment that President Cleveland had directed that he be kept informed of all developments. The proposed terms were submitted to him by General Sheridan and were disapproved. The Gen- eral telegraphed Crook, March 30, that, "The President could not assent to
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the surrender of the hostiles on the basis of two years imprisonment east and then a return to the Arizona reservation." He gave instructions that Crook again enter into negotiations for unconditional surrender of the Indians, with only the assurance that their lives would be spared, and Crook was directed by Sheridan "to take every precaution against the escape of the hostiles, which must not be allowed under any circumstances. You must make at once such disposition of your troops as will insure against further hostilities by complet- ing the destruction of the hostiles unless these terms are acceded to."
The President's ultimatum was conveyed to a few of the chiefs, who pre- sented themselves at the intrenched military camp. To the conference Crook took Captains Bourke and Roberts, Lieutenant Maus, Faison, and Shipp, Doctor Davis, C. M. Straus, of Tucsom, C. S. Fly, a Tombstone photographer, and Messrs. Moore and Dailey, with Besias Montoya and José Concepcion as inter- preters. The principal Indians present were Nachis, Chihuahua, Geronimo and Kutli.
HOSTILES OFFER TO SURRENDER
The three principal chiefs made formal offer of unconditional surrender. Chihuahua made a longer address than even the loquacious Geronimo. Pos- sibly he was a bit sarcastic, if his remarks have been correctly interpreted, for, after stating that he surrendered because Crook had never lied to him, he said, "You may be our God; you must be the one who makes the green pasture, who sends the rain, who commands the winds. You must be the one who sends the fresh fruit that comes on the trees every year. There are many men in the world who are big chiefs, commanding many people, but you, I think, are the greatest of them all or you would not have come out here to see us."
Crook had brought with him none other than Kaetena, who had been returned from Alcatraz, where he had been imprisoned for a few of his many crimes and the hostile chiefs expressed gratification at seeing him again alive.
The formal surrender was on May 27, 1886. On the following morning the soldiery and Indians started for Bowie. General Crook, with his unfortunate disposition to regard Indian promises as binding, seemed to have made no move toward disarming or otherwise making sure of his captives. It is probable also that the force he had taken southward with him was not sufficient so to do. It is possible that the Indians really intended to carry out the provisions of the agreement, but another element intervened, and Nachis and Geronimo, with a score of their followers, were lost on the night of the 29th.
HOW WHISKEY RUINED A GOOD CAMPAIGN
The element referred to was mescal, which had been brought into the camp by a Swiss named Tribolet, who lived near Fronteras. According to General Crook's report, "The man Tribolet brought three five-gallon demijohns of whiskey within three miles of camp and sold it for $100. On the morning of the 28th, when the move baek was commeneed, Nachis was drunk in camp. On the march, Geronimo and Kutla and three other bucks got so drunk they could not sit up on their horses. Lieutenant Maus, on seeing all the men drunk, went and knocked in the whiskey barrels and turned out the grog. The night fol- lowing this Geronimo left. This action is attributed to Tribolet following them
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and, through the Mexicans, making them believe they were all to be hanged and thus inducing them to leave." In the same connection Bourke wrote that Frank Leslie told him at San Bernardino ranch that he had seen Tribolet sell more than thirty gallons of mescal to the Chiricahuas. Upon being remonstrated with, the wretch boasted that he could have sold $100 worth that day at $10 a gallon in silver. It is evident that without consideration of the murders and rapine that would ensue, this frontier "bootlegger" saw in peace only a check to his exorbitant profits in the sale of his soul-destroying stuff.
Tribolet owned a ranch two miles north of Fronteras a number of years later. A branch of the Guggenheims operated a small smelter at Nacozari Viejo, six miles from Nacozari. Tribolet, with the Presidente of Fronteras, was charged with conspiring to hold up the stage that was carrying the company's pay roll of 6,000 Mexican dollars. The robbery was done by four deputies, about six miles south of Fronteras, and the Mexican driver was killed. The American own- ers of the mine promptly complained to President Diaz, who made immediate demand upon the Governor of Sonora for the punishment of the guilty parties. A force from Arispe captured the Presidente, Tribolet and two of the actual stage robbers, the latter turning state's evidence. The four prisoners were started under guard for Arispe, but they never reached there. There was the usual explanation, "They tried to escape." That was the end of the whole affair, for justice had been administered through the very convenient Mexican form of "la ley fuga." Complaint over this was made to the United States De- partment of State by American relatives, but investigation was dropped just as soon as the identity of Tribolet was established as that of the individual who had sold the liquor that had precipitated another Indian revolt.
According to General Crook, in an interview at Bowie with Herbert Brown, "This whole Apache business is full of complications that defy the best-directed efforts to surmount. I have had secret service men in Mexico who made special reports of the fact that the Mexicans traded with the Apaches at Casas Grandes and Nacori. They traded a watch and some jewelry at one place and United States and Mexican money. They took two kegs of Mexican silver dollars amount- ing to $1,000 from a pack mule in Samaniego's train about three months ago. They steal stock from this side and sell it in Mexico; they do the same on this side, vice versa. This is the trade that has built up Nacori. The two years that the Indians were on the reservation this town was nearly deserted, while now it is booming. When the Mexicans were remonstrated with, they said it was their own country and they would do as they pleased."
The hostiles who surrendered at Funnel Canon numbered ninety-two. Crook rather pathetically observed that evidently the surrender was not because of fear of privation, "as they looked fat and were well supplied with everything. When they rode into camp, equipped with the finest saddles, serapes and horses they could steal, with plenty of money, they presented a great contrast with my scouts that were getting but $13 a month."
The escape of Nachis and Geronimo was a short distance south of the San Bernardino ranch on the line and about twenty miles north of Funnel Canon. Twenty-two bucks and thirteen squaws left, abandoning their horses and prop- erty and taking only their arms. They probably figured that horses and provisions were to be found at every Mexican ranch. Two of the bucks returned a few days
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later, presumably after they had become sober. In the band of Chiricahuas were left only thirteen men and half-grown boys, the balance being women and chil- dren. The eighty remaining were escorted by Lieutenant Faison to Bowie, which was reached April 2, 1886. About the same time there were received at the post, with all due honor, the remains of the gallant Captain Crawford.
CROOK'S DEFENSE TO HIS SUPERIORS
General Crook was saddened and dispirited by the escape of the principal Indians and the second failure of his attempts at pacification. Also he was resent- ful of the attitude of his superiors, who he felt had called upon him for a breach of trust and the violation of a solemn treaty. Not until a couple of days after Nachis and Geronimo had left did he receive the telegram from General Sheridan directing him to prevent any escape whatever. In justice to General Crook, it is felt that his reply to the Lieutenant-General should be inserted in full :
There can be no doubt that the scouts were thoroughly loyal and would have prevented the hostiles leaving had it been possible. When they left their camp with our scouts, they scattered over the country so as to make surprise impossible, and they selected their camp with this in view, nor would they all remain in camp at one time. They kept more or less full of mescal. To enable you to clearly understand the situation, it should be remembered that the hostiles had an agreement with Lieutenant Maus that they were to be met by me twenty-five miles below the line, and that no regular troops were to be present. While I was very averse to such an arrangement, I had to abide by it as it had already been entered into. We found them in a camp on a rocky hill about five hundred yards from Lieutenant Mans, in such a position that 1,000 men could not have surrounded them with any possibility of capturing them. They were able, upon the approach of any enemy being signalled, to scatter and escape through dozens of ravines and canons which would shelter them from pursuit until they reached the higher ranges in the vicinity. They were armed to the teeth, having the most improved arms and all the ammunition they could carry. Lieutenant Maus with Apache scouts was camped at the nearest point the hostiles would agree to his approach- ing. Even had I been disposed to betray the confidence they placed in me it would have been simply an impossibility to get white troops to that point either by day or by night without their knowledge, and had I attempted to do this the whole band would have stampeded back to the mountains. So suspicious were they that never more than from five to eight of the men came into our camp at one time, and to have attempted the arrest of these would have stampeded the others to the mountains.
General Sheridan responded :
I do not see what you can now do except to concentrate your troops at the best points and give protection to the people. Geronimo will undoubtedly enter upon other raids of murder and robbery, and as the offensive campaign against him with scouts has failed, would it not be best to take up the defensive, and give protection to the business interests of Arizona and New Mexico?
THE GENERAL'S RESIGNATION ACCEPTED
To this Crook sent the following final dispatch that ended his connection with the Military Department of Arizona :
It has been my aim throughout present operations to afford the greatest amount of protection to life and property interests, and troops have been stationed accordingly. Troops cannot protect property beyond a radius of one-half mile from camp. If offensive opera- tions against the Indians are not resumed, they may remain quietly in the mountains for an indefinite time without crossing the line, and yet their very presence there will be a constant menace, and require the troops in this Department to be at all times in position to repel sud-
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den raids; and so long as any remain out they will form a nucleus for disaffected Indians from the different agencies in Arizona and New Mexico to join. That the operations of the scouts in Mexico have not proved so successful as was hoped is due to the enormous diffi- culties they have been compelled to encounter, from the nature of the Indians they have been hunting, and the character of the country in which they have operated, and of which persons not thoroughly conversant with the character of both can have no conception. I believe that the plan upon which I have conducted operations is the one most likely to prove successful in the end. It may be, however, that I am too much wedded to my own views in the matter, and as I have spent nearly eight years of the hardest work of my life in this Department, I respectfully request that I may now be relieved from its command.
There can be no doubt that Crook firmly believed that the only way to fight an Indian successfully was by the help of Indians and he could see no way out of the difficulty that confronted him without what he considered treachery toward the Indians on the one hand and disobedience to his superior officers on the other. General Crook's resignation of command was promptly accepted and he was ordered to an eastern command.
Crook had great respect for the endurance and fighting ability of the Apaches and has been quoted as saying :
I have come in contact with almost every tribe of Indians, but have never seen the equal to these Apaches, especially the Chiricahuas. They are absolutely indefatigable and do not seem to tire. They live on food that we would starve on. When they go into camp they will leave scouts and outposts six or seven miles behind. They will travel a hundred miles a day over the roughest country imaginable. The country is so immense that if they are ever caught it will be the merest accident. A million men cannot take them. Their little camp at Funnel Cañon could never have been captured by a thousand men. When I left Omaha I knew what the task was before me. Formerly when the Indians were poorly armed they were more easily subdned; but now that they have breech-loading guns, every rock is a fortress and ten men would be killed in trying to kill one of them. This was Custer's mis- take; he failed to calculate the difference in the arms with which the Indians were supplied. Old Indian fighters back east fail to realize this same fact.
DEPORTATION OF CHIHUAHUA'S BAND
Chihuahua's band of fifteen men, thirty-three women and twenty-nine chil- dren, with inclusion of one of the wives and a daughter of Geronimo, left Bowie station April 10, 1886, under command of Lieutenant Richards, for Fort Marion, Florida. Just before the departure of the Indians, the Sheriff of Cochise County came on the scene with warrants for Chihuahua and for Nana, who was of the band. though old and decrepit. But the Indians were protected as prisoners of war and the Sheriff had to return with the warrant unsatisfied.
In this connection reference should be made to the case of Byalile and the other Navajo chiefs imprisoned in later years at Fort Huachuca by much the same process, declared illegal in the federal courts. It is interesting to speculate upon the possible results had such a decision been promulgated by the courts before the time of this capture in 1886, for the court in later years simply followed out the contention of Arizona generally that there was no state of war with the Apaches -that the Apaches simply were criminals who had committed crimes of robbery, murder and worse upon residents of the Territory and who should be tried in the federal courts for crimes committed on reservations and in the territorial district courts for crimes committed beyond the limits of the reservations.
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A second Apache shipment eastward of thirteen individuals was made in July, 1886, including Chatto, who was considered none the less bloodthirsty because he had refused to join the Geronimo party and who officially was charged with im- plication in more than fifty murders, including that of the MeComas family. The Indians were taken under the protection of the War Department, extended to Chatto when the suggestion was made that he be tried for his notorious and bloody crimes. The Indians, and especially Chatto, made strong objection to deportation, but they appreciated that there were worse things than living east in idleness when told that the only other alternative was to turn them over to the mercy of the civil authorities in Arizona. This baker's dozen of Chiricahuas was followed in September by nearly all the rest of the band, 382 men, women and children being shipped eastward to Fort Marion from Fort Wingate.
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CHAPTER XX END OF THE APACHE WARS
General Miles in Command-Capture of Geronimo's Band-Deportation of the Chirica- huas-Reynolds' Murder-Escape and Depredations of the Kid-Peace at Last, after Centuries of Bloodshed.
Crook's successor, Gen. Nelson A. Miles, arrived April 11, 1886, at Fort Bowie and there assumed command of the Department of Arizona. He had had large experience against Indians in the Northwest and was of acknowledged large ability. Instructed by the War Department to exterminate the hostiles at any cost, he promptly reorganized the campaign and started the task of distributing about 6,000 troops, a quarter of the available United States army, sent him for the dual purpose of protecting the border settlements and of carrying on a vigorous and unrelenting pursuit. At last enough soldiers had been sent for the task.
When the Chiricahua band started northward from Mexico, still in the moun- tains were left fourteen bucks and eight squaws, mainly Janos Apaches, headed by Chico and Mangas, who had been co-operating with Nachis, but who refused to surrender. This was not illogical as they were on their native heath and had established amicable commercial relations with Mexicans in a number of towns.
Nachis and Geronimo, after their escape, gathering into their band all the bronco Indians of the hills, started on the same old familiar methods of ambush and murder. Well armed and hardy, they covered even seventy-five miles a day, apparently with keen enjoyment of the game, usually eluding with ease the heavily equipped soldiery sent after them and treating with contempt all efforts toward capture made by the Mexicans. Rather notable was their action, April 27, on the upper Santa Cruz, where they murdered Mrs. Ed. Peck and her child and a young man named Owens and rode away with Peck's niece, and yet spared Peck himself, taking his shoes and telling him to run. The Indians may have intended to kill him as he ran, but missed him in their target practice. The following day the ranch of the famous Yank Bartlett, near Oro Blanco, was raided by an Indian band, from which Phil Shanahan had a narrow escape, managing, though wounded, to reach the Bartlett house. In a fight that fol- lowed Bartlett also was wounded by a bullet in the shoulder. That night Bart- lett's son made his way to Oro Blanco and not only secured assistance for the wounded men at the ranch, but was in time to send messengers throughout the neighborhood and thus to save the lives of Shanahan's family at a nearby ranch.
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