USA > Arizona > History of Arizona, Vol. VIII > Part 16
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"On the day of my arrival at Camp Grant, finding that no copy of the orders of the War De-
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partment dated Washington, July 18, 1871, had yet been received here by General Crook, I took the liberty of inclosing copies, and also a copy of the instructions of the Interior Depart- ment, to him for his information.
"In our interviews with the chiefs of the Ara- vaipa and Pinal Apaches at Camp Grant we found that, notwithstanding so many of their people had been killed at Camp Grant, they still clung to the Aravaipa and San Pedro Valleys as their home, and would not listen to our proposal to remove them over to the White Mountains. Believing it better, for the sake of peace, that their wishes should be acceded to for the pres- ent, in consultation with the officers of the post we concluded to fix the limits of their reservation as follows: Bounded north by the Gila River; west by a line ten miles from and parallel to the general course of the San Pedro River ; south by a line at right angles to the western boundary, crossing the San Pedro ten miles from Camp Grant; east by a line at right angles to the south- ern boundary, touching the western base of Mount Trumbull, terminating at the Gila River, the northern boundary.
"We carefully instructed the chiefs about these boundaries, impressing it upon their minds that they must not go beyond them; that while within these limits they would be protected and fed; if they went beyond they would become ob- jects of suspicion, and liable to be punished by both citizens and soldiers. They said they under- stood it.
"Our first intention was to limit the bound- aries of the reservation to a distance of ten miles
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square on each side of the post; but as the Gila River on the north did not much exceed that dis- tance, and formed a good natural boundary which the Indians could easily remember, and the country on the east was a barren waste, yielding nothing that the white man cared for, but con- siderable food, such as mescal, mesquite beans, and cactus fruit, of which the Apaches were very fond, we concluded to extend the limits to the Gila River on the north, and the westerly base of Mount Trumbull on the east. The assurances given to us by the officers and citizens most fami- liar with the habits of the Indians before re- ferred to, that they would not leave the reserva- tions if properly fed and cared for, dismissed all doubts from our mind concerning this point.
"Should the Government approve my action in locating this reservation, there are some improve- ments made by several settlers, on the San Pedro, which should be appraised by Government officers and the owners paid for them. Several of the ranches are good adobe buildings, which will be of value for the use of the Indian Depart- ment. While it is true that no claim of pre-emp- tion by settlers holds good as against the Govern- ment, when made on Government land not yet surveyed, yet it is but fair that where the im- provements can be of use to the Government, as in this case, the owners should be compensated.
"As the mountains are barren and the valleys infected with a malarial fever, the tract of country designated above is worth little or noth- ing to anyone but the Indians, who are accli- mated. And as it is absolutely necessary that a certain and well-defined tract shall be first set
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apart for them before we can expect them to leave the highways and other portions of the Territory, it seemed to me that justice, as well as wisdom, suggested that we should select such places as they themselves chose and would reside upon- where we could protect and civilize them.
"That the massacre at Camp Grant fairly il- lustrates the sentiment of a large portion of the people of Arizona and New Mexico on the Indian question, is painfully confirmed by the fact that nearly every newspaper here has either justified or apologized for the act. That the President's 'peace policy,' so popular in the States, does not meet with much approval out here is unquestion- ably true; and any one who comes here to exe- cute it must expect to meet with disapprobation. I have been met with a storm of abuse from these newspapers in their every issue; but, thank God, it does me no harm, and though I have received positive assurances that my life would be in dan- ger if I visited certain localities, yet, as much of this is probably mere bluster, I should go there if my official duties required it.
"Probably I should not have referred to these threats if the Governor of the Territory, A. P. K. Safford, Esq., had not taken the precaution to issue a 'proclamation' in the 'Arizona Citizen,' calling upon the people to treat the commission- ers 'kindly,' as though the governor supposed they were not likely to treat us kindly, unless he took some such extraordinary means as this to induce them to do so. This proclamation con- cludes with the following words: 'If they (the commissioners) come among you entertaining er- roneous opinions upon the Indian question and
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the condition of affairs in this Territory, then, by kindly treatment and fair, truthful representa- tion, you will be enabled to convince them of their errors.' A manifesto so remarkable, that we thought, in kindness to the governor, the less no- tice I took of it the better.
"There is evidently a wrong impression in the minds of the editors of these newspapers concern- ing the object of our visit to these Territories. They seem to think that we have come to 'exam- ine into the Indian Affairs of the Territories' generally; whereas, our instructions from the President, through the Secretary of the Interior, are simply to 'locate the nomadic tribes upon suitable reservations, bringing them under the control of the proper officers of the Indian De- partment, and supplying them with necessary subsistence, clothing, and whatever else may be needed.' "'
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CHAPTER XIII. THE PEACE COMMISSION (Continued).
THE FRONTIERSMAN'S SYMPATHY WITH THE PEACE POLICY-GILA RIVER AGENCY-TONTO APACHES AT CAMP MCDOWELL-REPORT OF J. H. STOUT, SPECIAL INDIAN AGENT-RE- PORT OF COLONEL N. A. M. DUDLEY-REPORT OF CAPTAIN JAMES CURTIS-TALK WITH DA- CHAY-YA AND SHELTER PAU-REPORT OF CAPTAIN NETTERVILLE-REPORT OF COLONEL DUDLEY.
"Camp McDowell, Arizona Territory. "September 24, 1871.
"We left Camp Grant at 6 o'clock, evening, September 19, preferring a night ride to the hot sun across the desert of fifty miles, from the San Pedro to the Gila River. We arrived at Flor- ence, a new and enterprising town, chiefly occu- pied by Americans, on the Gila, by noon the next day. Here I met a number of citizens, and a party of miners who had just returned from an unsuccessful tour of prospecting among the Pinal Mountains near by. They all wished me 'God-speed,' and said they 'hoped before God the President would be successful in his efforts to bring in the Indians upon the reservations.' Nothing could have been kinder than their ex- pressions of hearty good-will toward the present administration. From this I infer that I may have been hasty in my conclusions contained at the close of my last letter, that the 'peace policy' toward the Indians was unpopular in Arizona.
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I arrived at that impression from reading the newspapers of Tucson and Prescott. But I am told that these papers only reflect the opinions of the traders, army contractors, barroom and gambling saloon proprietors of these two towns, who prosper during the war, but that the hardy frontiersman, the miner, poor laboring men of the border, pray for peace, and I believe it.
"Our ride down the dusty valley of the Gila, from Florence to the Pima and Maricopa reser- vation, a distance of twenty-eight miles, in the hot sun, on horseback, the thermometer standing at 135 in the sun, 104 in the shade, was fearful. The men and animals were thoroughly used up.
"GILA RIVER AGENCY.
"The agency building is a good one, though too small for the work to be done. A school house and room for the teacher should be built. Agent Stout and his young wife, the Rev. Mr. Cook, the teacher, and the physician, were at home and at- tending to their duties. Mr. Stout complained of want of means, the remittances received from Superintendent Bendell being too small to meet the quarterly dues for salaries of the officers.
"The chiefs were called together the next day, September 22, and we had a talk with them. Those present were Antonio Azul, the head chief; Swa-mas-kor-si, chief of Ki-ki-mi village; Ki-o-sot, 2nd chief of Ki-ki-mi vil- lage; Ki-co-chin-cane, chief of Shu-uk village; Miguel, chief of Staw-to-nik village; Candela, chief of Stu-ka-ma-soo-satick village; Se-per, chief of Pep-chalk village. I told them that, by the President's directions, I had been sent to
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learn about their troubles, especially with regard to their quarrel with the settlers on Salt River, and the diversion of the supply of water from their acequias, and to inform them that, under your direction, I had set apart reservations for the Apaches. They, in common with the Papa- goes, have been in the habit of raiding on the Apaches, and I informed them that this must cease; that if the Apaches came down there and troubled them they were to defend themselves and punish the Apaches; but that they must not go up to the Apache country and make war on them, unless they were requested to do so, offi- cially, by some Army officer, which request would come through their agent. I told them they must also quit their raids on the white settlers on the Salt River, or else they would be punished. They had made several wholly unprovoked attacks on the settlers on the Salt River, destroying their crops of corn and tearing to pieces their houses and furniture; one poor man, now employed as farm hand at the agency, having lost everything he possessed by them.
"The chiefs replied that they had some bad young men in their tribe, as we had among white men. That they go up Salt River, notwithstand- ing their remonstrances against it; if they got into trouble or were killed they could not help it and no one would be sorry, but that their whole tribe ought not to suffer for it. They have always lived peaceably with the whites and they meant to continue to do so. They said they required more land than the present limits of their reser- vation allowed.
"In their early days they lived more by hunt- ing; deer abounded in that country before the
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white man came, and that with deer meat and mescal they then got along very well, but that now they had to depend for subsistence almost wholly upon farming, and as they now had schools and were rapidly learning the ways of the white man, they needed more land and larger water privi- leges.
"They were always led to suppose that the white men wanted them to kill the Apaches, but that if they knew the boundaries of the Apache reservation, they would keep off from it. I ex- plained the boundaries of the Camp Grant reser- vation and told them that the Apaches com- plained bitterly of the Pimas and Papagoes for their constant warfare upon them and particu- larly of late of the Papagoes for having assisted at the massacre at Camp Grant and carrying off their children into slavery, and again repeated that these feuds must cease. That the President would have peace. They promised to tell their young men, separated from us on very good terms, and, lingering about the agency for some time, rode off well mounted on brisk looking ponies. Most of the tribe seemed quite prosper- ous and independent in their manner; indeed, this last quality they carry so far it becomes rude- ness. They have a very large idea of their own importance and prowess, and I was informed that on one occcasion when Colonel Alexander, who commanded at Camp McDowell, the nearest military post, threatened them with chastisement for some misconduct, they drew up five hundred fighting men of their tribe and dared him to come on. As Colonel Alexander had but one small company of cavalry, he had to forego the chas- tisement.
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"I fear their young men will need a little dis- ciplining before we shall have things run alto- gether smoothly on their reservation, and I sin- cerely hope Congress will make provision to purchase the additional land they really need for their support and comfort.
"The school under Rev. Mr. Cook is hopefully under way, and I think the Government is fortu- nate in securing his efficient and earnest services.
"On my return to Washington I received the following letter from the agent, showing how much the Pimas and Maricopas are suffering from the want of the water of the Gila River, di- verted by the white settlers, and how serious is their dissatisfaction :
"'UNITED STATES INDIAN AGENCY, " 'Gila River Reservation, Arizona Territory. " 'October 19, 1871.
" 'Dear Sir: When you were here it was sup- posed from the amount of water in the bed of the river above here that there would be a sufficient quantity to reach the lower part of this reserve to enable our Indians to irrigate their fields as usual in preparing them for the reception of their crops. Though there was apparently plenty of water for that purpose, and though it continued to rise for a while after you left, it has now fallen to its normal state, and not a drop of it has reached their fields. The time for preparing their lands is now at hand, but having no water they can do nothing.
"'People who have lived on the Gila for years tell me there never was before such a thing as a dry riverbed on this reserve this time of the year.
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As a matter of course, our Indians are very much dissatisfied and blame the settlers who are above us for taking away their water. On Sunday morning last, Chin-kum, a chief of one of the lower villages, and one of the best chiefs in the reserve, came to me and said that for many years he and his people had 'lived from what they planted,' but now they had no water; white men up the river had taken it from them, etc. After spending a few moments in telling me of his wrongs, he made known the object of his visit, which was to obtain leave to take the warriors of his village, numbering one hundred and twenty- seven men, and by force of arms drive the whites from the river.
" 'I was not a little astonished at this manifes- tation, but quietly told Chin-kum he must not go. I spent an hour in telling him of the fearful re- sults which must surely follow such a step, and finally succeeded in inducing him not to go. But he told me this, that he would wait one month, and if the water did not come to them then, he would take his whole village, which numbered one hundred families, and move to the Salt River settlements, where, as he said, there is always water. As the settlers of that vicinity are and have been for years at enmity with these Indians, I assured him that trouble would certainly follow such a step as that, and urged him to remain on the reserve. He went away silenced, but not satisfied, and I have not the slightest doubt that in a month from now he and his village will leave the reservation.
" 'Day before yesterday Ku-vit-ke-chin-e-kum, chief of the Va-Vak village, called and said he
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was going to Salt River with his tribe, as there is no water for his fields. I of course told him not to go, but I am afraid it did no good. There are six or seven other villages on that part of the reserve, which is about the only part of it that can ever be reached by the water, the rest of the land being too high; and if the water does not come soon I think they will all leave.
" 'These Indians have always been well-dis- posed toward our Government, and for years they have served as a protection to travellers on this route from Texas to the Pacific coast. They claim the land lying above them on the Gila, but long since gave it up because they were as- sured that when they needed it they should have it. It seems to me that that time has come, and while these Indians are still friendly to the whites, it would, in my opinion, be a wise plan to give them a portion of the land they claim. A few thousand dollars would do this now, and may, perhaps, avoid an expenditure of ten-fold proportions, in case there should be trouble be- tween them and the citizens here. The super- intendent of Indian Affairs is away on business at San Francisco just now, so I write this to vou. * * * *
"'Very respectfully, &c., "'J. H. STOUT, " 'United States Special Indian Agent. " 'Hon. Vincent Colyer.'
"TONTO APACHES AT CAMP McDOWELL, ARIZONA TERRITORY.
"We left the Pima agency on the evening of the 22d, preferring night riding to the hot sun
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across the desert to McDowell, arriving at Desert Station, twenty-five miles, at four o'clock in the morning, and leaving there at nine in the morn- ing, reached Camp McDowell at nine at night, meeting with a cordial and hospitable reception from General N. A. M. Dudley and the other offi- cers at the post.
"My object in coming here is to open commu- nications with the Tonto Apaches, and for this purpose General Dudley has this morning sent out runners with white flags, and kindled 'a smoke.' I am informed that Da-chay-ya, the able chief of the Tontos, has been in at McDowell several times during the past few years, and that on two occasions he has been dealt with very treacherously ; at one time shot in the back, and at another time attempted to be poisoned by a post doctor; whether he will answer my call re- mains to be seen. A party of Indians was re- ported last evening as having been seen by two straggling soldiers, making signs as if they wished to come in, a few miles below the post. As I had informed the Indians at Camp Grant that I was coming here, and they had sent run- ners up this way, the officers here think that the Indians know it and wish to come in.
"4 p. m. The Indians have kindled their an- swering fires upon the top of the Sierra Ancha- a high mountain twenty miles from here-north- ward, near old Fort Reno. They are evidently in earnest, as the smoke at times is dense, ex- tending at intervals over a distance of a quarter of a mile. We hope to see some of the Tontos here to-night.
"Two companies of the Third United States Cavalry, being part of Colonel Henry's and Gen-
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eral Crook's command, are camped below here under waiting orders.
"I inclose copy of my official letter to General Dudley asking for detachment of soldiers to open communications with the Tonto Apaches, and his reply thereto .- V. C."
"CAMP MCDOWELL, ARIZONA TERRI- TORY,
"September 27, 1871-11 P. M.
"The party with the flag of truce, sent out at my request, by General Dudley, to try to open communications with the Tonto Apaches, re- turned this afternoon, having been only partially successful, as you will see by the report inclosed from Major Curtis. He had seen several In- dians on the hills, exchanged friendly signals with them, and after spending a day immediately surrounded by them, had separated from them without any indications of ill will or molestation. It is very difficult to obtain their confidence so soon after they have been pursued by the soldiers, and as I am now dealing with another band of Apaches, different in their habits, and living quite apart from the Pinals, Coyoteros, Arav- aipas, and the other bands with whom I so re- cently have held friendly intercourse, I am not in the least discouraged at Major Curtis not hav- ing brought in any of the tribe. As you will see from his report he is quite sanguine that they will come in soon.
"In the event that they should come in I have provided that General Dudley, commandant of McDowell, should feed, protect, and otherwise VIII-17
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care for them at this post, until such time as he may have a sufficient number, when he can re- move them to Camp Grant. Meanwhile, in order that they may be thus looked after, I was com- pelled to declare this military reservation, five miles square, a temporary Indian reservation, which I did with the advice of the military offi- cers at this place. As soon as we can see how many of them come in, and learn their wishes as to a locality for their home, I have arranged with General Dudley that he should communicate with the Department, and it can order their re- moval. For the present, I am only anxious to keep them in from the warpath, and to get them to look upon the Government as their friend. Other things will follow.
"That there may be no delay in this, and that every effort may be made to get them in, I re- quested Captain Thomas McGregor, who com- mands a detachment of troops in the field, under marching orders (temporarily suspended) from General Crook, to send out another flag of truce in another direction to the Tonto country.
"Although copies of your instructions of July 21, and orders of War Department July 18 and 31, written at the suggestion of the President, were forwarded to General Crook from Camp Apache, September 7, and have been received there, and an express messenger arrived here from there yesterday, yet no copies were for- warded to the officers here. They are much troubled about it and have written to the general. Fortunately it has made no difference in my progress, as I have gone right on with my work, and the officers here as well as at Camps Grant
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and Apache have not hesitated to carry out these orders. I mention it only that you may fully comprehend the situation. Probably General Crook's movements have disarranged his mail.
"Altogether, I feel greatly encouraged and am confident that in Arizona, and among the Apaches, the President's policy of peace will be as successful as it has been in all other portions of the Indian country.
"I leave for Camp Verde (D. V.) tomorrow. -V. C.
"Since my return to Washington I have re- ceived the following report of the coming in of the Tonto Apaches to Camp McDowell, Arizona Territory :
"'Camp McDowell, Arizona Territory, "'November 2, 1871.
"'Sir: As you will remember, just before you left McDowell I sent Major Curtis out with a white flag to old Fort Reno; he was at the time unsuccessful in his attempt to open communica- tion with them notwithstanding he saw several Indians on the bluffs and hills near him, none of whom showed any hostile demonstrations. He left his flag in the old ruin of a chimney of the stockade, returning to McDowell. This expedi- tion had its good results, as events since have proved. The Tontos saw the soldiers with an emblem of peace. It was a strange sight. Days passed and no Apache visited the post; signal fires were constantly kept burning during the night at the garrison for some time. At last a party of four came in. I received them
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warmly, took them to my quarters, and had a long talk with the principal man among them, 'One-Eyed Riley.' He had been twice in at Mc- Dowell two or three years since, and was recog- nized by Lieutenant Grant, who had, I think, met him at Reno. He said the Tontos wanted to know what the soldiers were going to do; that he had been sent in to find out what the white flag meant in the hands of the soldiers; that if we said peace, they were ready. I assured him that the President wanted all fighting to cease; that he was ready to feed and reasonably to clothe all good Indians who would come in with their families and do right; that I could not talk with him more fully as I wanted to see some of the great men of the tribe; that I would clothe him, give him a good supply of provisions for his party, and he must go out and bring in a good number of chiefs. He asked for six days. I gave him the time, and faithful to the hour he sent in a principal man, who possessed most ex- cellent sense. He said they were all ready for a peace; they were tired living in holes and on the tops of mountains; now their women and chil- dren had to pack all their water two and three miles; they could not go down to the streams at all except at night, for fear of the soldiers; that they had to scatter in parties of two and three to sleep in safety ; that they hid their infants and small children away in the holes among the rocks for safety; even the rabbits were safer than the Indians; that their people were all nearly starv- ing; that they must steal or starve; that the soldiers had driven them away from their corn-
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fields ; game was scarce; they were afraid to go out and hunt. He spoke of his children, four of whom had been killed by the soldiers, with tears running down his cheeks. He wanted to make a big peace, roll a rock on it, and make it last till the rain came and washed the rock level with the land; that God told him he must come into McDowell that day and do all he could to make the big soldiers' hearts like his-ready to do what was right. He said he did not want any blanket that day for he was satisfied that the soldiers now wanted to do right, and he wanted to go back and induce Da-chay-ya and all his captains to come in, and the blankets and clothes would retard his rapid travelling. I have been present at a great many talks with In- dians on the plains the last seventeen years, but I have to acknowledge that I have never seen more feeling or good sense exhibited by an In- dian than this Apache showed. He asked for five days to go and see all his people; said they would take different directions, and get as many to come in as possible. He expressed great fear of the Pimas; did not want them allowed to come into camp while the Apaches were here. I sent a military escort out in their rear, and for- tunate that I did, for some lurking Pimas were lying in wait for them out on the trail, all of whom were brought into camp and told if they even fired at an Apache on the reservation I would shoot them as readily as we had been shooting the Apaches. Up to the time I was re- lieved (Major Curtis has succeeded me in com- mand), I would not permit the Pimas to come
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