USA > Arizona > History of Arizona, Vol. VIII > Part 5
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matter how serious or dangerous the situation, even when tied to a mesquite tree to be burned, perhaps, simply because you see something ab- surd, while I see nothing to laugh at under such dangerous situations.'
"While sitting down amongst the bushes and small trees, having been there perhaps an hour or more, I suddenly heard a rustling noise over to my right. Looking quickly in that direction I could see a bunch of Apaches apparently struggling together. They were outside the firelight and I could see but dimly their outlines as they struggled amidst the brushwood. Once or twice I caught the faint glint of arms. All this took place in less time than it takes to tell it, and several shots were fired. Simultaneously with the shooting every infernal imp, big and little, male and female, as it seemed from the great uproar, began yelling and whooping as only the American Indian knows how to whoop. Pandemonium was sure in evidence at that par- ticular moment. In less than a minute after the first shots were fired, not an Indian campfire could be seen along the line, and only the big dance-fire remained to lighten the impish-look- ing scene.
"To realize and to fully comprehend that aw- ful hubbub and scene, it must be seen, as words cannot describe it. Just imagine all the women screaming at their little ones at the top of their voices as they scattered like so many quail into the brush, and the screaming of the women more than supplemented with the whoops and yells of two or three hundred demoniacal, hideously painted savages, all yelling or whooping for the
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lives of the 'white skins.' Truly it was an in- teresting scene to look upon, from a flying machine at a good, safe elevation. That night's scene is vividly impressed upon my mind, and although it is now over forty-two years since it took place, yet I can see it to-day as plainly as I then saw it.
"Shortly after the pandemonium had broken loose, a half dozen young Apaches came to where I was sitting in the brush and said to me, 'Yu- cooshe, Apache donjudah, Apache mata,' which translated, was, 'Go away, the Apaches are bad and will kill.' I went with them, keeping out- side the range of firelight, and the young Apaches forming a line behind and between me and the howling and shooting mob. We made a circuit and arriving at our camp, the young fellows pointed in a certain direction and told me to go, and to-morrow make 'the smoke' on the top of a high hill and they would come to it. The young men then returned to their people. I secured my rifle and canteen and my buckskin sack of pinole, previously described, yet I could not go and leave the other two, if yet alive. I decided to make a sneak on the howling bunch, and try to ascertain if Cooley and Dodd were alive. I made the sneak all right without being observed or recognized by the Apaches. As a pre- caution I took off my hat, and, holding my red blanket well up about my head, the sneak was comparatively easy. All this was a risky piece of business, or piece of foolhardiness, seeing that the young Apaches had assisted me, and pointed out the way for my escape. But I had made up my mind that there were not enough Apaches in
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the country to make me desert my two com- panions, if alive, and I could rescue them. Reaching the outskirts of the mob I stood for a few moments in the semi-obscurity and looked for my fellows. Presently I saw Cooley in the rear of our friendly Coyoteros, and, slightly stooping, I made my way to him. Without speaking, I caught hold of the tail of his coat and gave it a slight jerk. Cooley turned his head and, at first took me to be an Apache until I whispered : 'Get out of this.' We cautiously slipped back and made our way to our camp. I then asked after Dodd and he said, 'I haven't seen him since the row first began, and don't know if he is alive or not. What had we better do ?' Getting our rifles ready for instant use, my advice was to wait a short time to see if Dodd would show up; that the chief of the Pinals had pledged our safety and the return of our ani- mals, and it was best not to be too hasty ; that the chief was for us and he must have an influence and a following, and with our Coyoteros, a majority was on our side. Now that Cooley still lived it was also probable that Dodd also was alive, and it is always best to take matters philosophically and not allow yourself to become 'rattled' however serious the situation. There- fore, I said to Cooley, 'If Dodd don't show up, and if the red fiends make a break, we will give them a hot reception, abandon our outfit, take to the brush, and then it is each one for himself and the devil or the red fiends for the unlucky one who may be caught.'
"We had stood there, rifles in hand, for per- haps fifteen or twenty minutes, watching the VIII-5
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painted imps jumping, yelling, shooting, and altogether making themselves absurdly ridicu- lous, causing us to wonder if we should see an- other sunrise. Presently Dodd came to us, panting, blowing, and mad as a hornet. His dander was up and, cursing the Apaches for all he could think, he snatched up his sixteen-shoot- ing Henry rifle, and had not Cooley caught his arm, Dodd would have fired into the crowd of howling savages, regardless of either friends or enemies. The wrath of Dodd, like that of Achilles, was finally mollified, and, taking off his hat, he exhibited several bulletholes in it, also as many more holes in his coat which were made by the same means. The Apaches had made our friend do some pretty lively dancing, at the same time they amused themselves by shooting bullets through his hat and coat; hence the wrath of Dodd and the name thereafter of .Dodd's Dance.'
"The Apaches possess a grim sense of humor and it is often displayed in an unique manner, and had not the Apaches warned me of their in- tention to kill us, I should have concluded that the whole thing was done to test the courage of the 'white skins.' It seems, however, that quite a large number of the tribe had lost a number of relatives in fights with the troops and others, and they wished to have revenge by killing us, and it was thus the rumpus started.
"That night it was decided among us to 'sleep with one eye open.' Cooley and Dodd lay down near the packs, but I lay down a short distance away among some thick brush. I kept awake as long as I could, listening to the inces-
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sant yelling of the Indians, but finally went to sleep. Awakening early in the morning, I looked about and saw perhaps a hundred war- riors lying in a double circle around our camp. They were the chief's trusted men, and, with our Coyoteros, were placed there on guard to pre- vent our assassination while we slept. Instantly realizing the situation, and hearing some terrific snoring by Cooley and Dodd, the whole matter struck me as being a bit humorous, and I was forced to laugh at it. Jumping up, I went around to the feet of the two snoring men, and, kicking their feet, I velled, 'Get out of this.' The way their blankets flew and the alacrity with which they sprang to their feet with rifles in hand, would sure have surprised Davy Crockett himself. My actions and those of Cooley and Dodd caused our Indian guards to laugh, in which Cooley and Dodd joined as soon as they could get their eyes open to see and com- prehend the situation. Both declared that my kicking them up out of their sound sleep would lessen the length of their lives at least five years.
"Of course we were very thankful to see the rising sun, and Cooley said, 'I didn't expect to see sunrise again.' About eight o'clock the chief, Bah-dah-clah-nah, came down to our camp to talk and laugh over the pleasant ( ?) scenes and events of the past night. However pleas- ant and entertaining they may have been to the chief and his people, we held very radical views to the contrary, and at once requested the chief to have our animals brought in as we wished to push on at once to Camp McDowell. The chief demurred to our great haste, urging us very
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strongly to remain for another night's enter- tainment, and, as a further inducement for us to tarry longer, he said more of his people would be there and a bigger dance would be given. Cooley, being 'talking-man,' said: 'We regret very much the necessity which compels us to hurry forward; otherwise we would esteem it one of our greatest pleasures to remain another night or for a week, to enjoy the delightful entertainments and pleasant sensations which their 'welcome dance' had given us. Neverthe- less, we declined, with regrets, further hospi- tality at this time from the fact that our time was limited and we were forced to hurry on- ward.' After listening to Cooley's soulful, if not very truthful, but diplomatic harangue, Dodd and myself then and there voted Cooley to be the Chief Monumental Liar of the United States, and the puny efforts of Ananias and wife were as the simple prattle of little children com- pared with Cooley's easy flow of prevarications. "The chief appeared to be satisfied with Cooley's (truthful) statements and at once or- dered our animals to be brought in, and we saddled and packed and were on the move by ten o'clock. To protect us while passing through his territory, and until we reached the confines of the Tontos, the chief sent along with us a con- siderable number of his best warriors under a sub-chief. Our Pinal escort travelled with us to the camp of a large body of Tonto warriors under the famous chief Da-chay-ya. As before, however, we were met by a Tonto warrior who led us to the camp of the Tontos, but in this camp there were no women and children, and
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no signs of a 'welcome dance' as was the pro- gram with the Pinals. All the Tontos were in their war paint and, at that time, on the war- path. Arriving at the Tonto encampment, the sub-chief of our Pinal escort formally turned us over to the chief of the Tontos, with whom we made camp that night. The Pinals then with- drew some distance and made camp all to them- selves. There appeared to be a spirit of hauteur existing between the two peoples.
"In the earlier days, before the advent of white settlers, and with no common enemy, the white skins, to fight, the various tribes scrapped one with another, as much to keep up the war spirit, and the practice of their art of war, as for any other purpose. At this time, August, 1869, the whites had been only a few years in the country north of the Gila river. Prescott, then but a little more than five years old, Wick- enburg, Yuma, and Tucson, were about all the towns in Arizona. True, Phoenix had been sur- veyed and platted at this time, but where the city now stands was covered with sagebrush and greasewood. Therefore, the feuds between the Apache tribes had not yet died out, hence the apparent coolness between Pinal and Tonto.
"Early on the following morning the two In- dian parties broke camp, the Pinals returning eastward and the Tontos, under Chief Da-chay- ya, as our escort, continuing westward. Here I wish to remark, by way of parenthesis, that during our previous days' marches, after leav- ing the Pinal camp, known thereafter as 'Dodd's Dance,' that our friend Dodd had seriously proposed that we kill any Indian who
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met us with propositions of any more 'dance welcomes.'
"During our travels with the Tontos nothing worthy of note occurred until we reached the western rim of the Sierra Anchas, a wide range of mountains. At this point we had a magnifi- cent view, the whole valley of Tonto creek lay spread out at our feet, with the Mazatzal range of mountains bordering the valley on the west, in which are the celebrated Four Peaks. At the southern end of the Mazatzals, near the south- eastern base of the Four Peaks, and a short dis- tance below the junction of Tonto Creek and the Salt River, is now located that most wonderful structure, the great Roosevelt Dam and Reservoir.
"We made a halt at the rim while the chief made his 'peace smokes' to notify other Tontos who might be in the intermediate section be- tween us and Camp Reno that our party was not to be molested. Away off to the westward be- yond the valley of Tonto creek, and close up to the eastern base of the Mazatzal range, could be dimly seen a small brown or bare spot, which the chief pointed out and said, 'There are the sol- diers, there your people.' It was Camp Reno. 'You are my friends and can go there in peace,' said the chief. 'I cannot go for I and my peo- ple are even now at war with those white skins, but my warriors over there now will not molest vou. I have signalled to them that you are friends, and when you reach your people do not forget your true friend, Da-chay-ya.' He also said, 'I have desired to live in amity with the
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whites, and all I asked for was the right for me and my people to live.'
"Bidding good-by to Da-chay-ya and his peo- ple, we began the descent of the precipitous side of the Sierra Anchas. In the miles of travel from the rim to Camp Reno, we saw no Indians, although plenty of the freshest sign was seen en route.
"Camp Reno, (long since abandoned) was located two or three miles west of Tonto creek, upon an open mesa that gently sloped down toward the Tonto from the eastern base of the Mazatzals. Upon either side of the camp were two deep brushy ravines containing water. These ravines run parallel to and perhaps two hundred yards distant from the military camp, and they afforded an excellent screen for an enemy approaching the camp.
"After we had ascended from Tonto Creek to the top of the mesa, the military camp was plainly in view, probably three thousand yards away. Our party of thirty-three, all on foot, excepting the cautivo and us three Americans, marched along in plain view of the camp, and while we could see soldiers walking about, not one of them perceived our approach until we had arrived within perhaps three or four hun- dred vards of the camp. Suddenly an alarm was raised and we could see the troops rushing hither and thither, and falling into line under arms; a skirmish line thrown out composed of the commanding officer, the first sergeant, the citizen blacksmith, and the post trader. Oh- serving the excitement in the camp, we halted, and told the Indians to remain where they were
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while we three rode up to the skirmish line. We were within forty yards of the line before they discovered we were whites. The com- manding officer, a Major Collins, who had been standing pretty 'close' to a convenient stack of hay, came out and shook hands, declaring he was 'glad it was no worse, for I fully expected an attack upon the camp.' He appeared to be unduly excited, but was to be excused this time as he arose from a sick bed to repel a supposed assault, there being no other commissioned officer in the camp at the time. I called the Major's attention to the two ravines and said : 'Had an attack been planned, those ravines would have been used.' The Major admitted the correctness of my observations, but said : 'I am too sick to give proper consideration to any matters.'
"At the time the alarm was first given, the tables had just been laid for dinner, and this probably accounts for the bad lookout; and, furthermore, the cattle herd had been attacked only the day before, in which attack one herder had been killed and a soldier wounded; this, too, no doubt, had to do with the great excitement manifested at our approach.
"Major Collins invited us to his tent for din- ner. All used tents, there being only one small adobe hut which was used for ammunition. We sat at the table, but the Major, being sick, took to bed again. Soon after we sat down at the table, we were a little surprised to see a lady enter, having a baby in her arms, who laugh- ingly remarked: 'This is a pretty country for
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a white woman, where she must be locked up in a powderhouse to prevent capture by Indians.'
"We lay over here three days, and two of my party had a strenuous bout with their old-time enemy, John Barleycorn, and, as usual in all such scraps, they were badly; worsted in the encounter. Our Apaches refused to go any fur- ther, but would not give any reason for not car- ing to go on to Camp McDowell, which was only forty-five or fifty miles from Reno. The inter- preter for the camp had told them that Mc- Dowell was full of Pimas and Coco-Maricopas, the hereditary enemies of all Apaches.
"Our Apaches were encamped in the ravine on the north side of the military camp, and on the night of our second day at Reno, the chief asked me to go to his camp. He then told me of his intention to start on the following morning for their rancheria on the Carizo, and tried to persuade me to return with them, saying: 'The people on this side are no good; all the Apaches like you as a brother; let them, (Cooley and Dodd) go on, we don't want them any more, but you go with us to our home.' Finding I was determined to go on to McDowell, the chief said : 'When you come back, go to the top of mountain east of rancheria and make signal smoke, and I will come or send others to you, but be sure to come alone and stay by the smoke until I come to you.' Had I been anything but the young fool that I was, having no business at McDowell, or anywhere else, I would have returned with the Apaches, and in due time, have gone with them for the 'white metal' and, even if ignorant of its true character at the time, I would have
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known after a time. But I didn't, and possibly lost a fortune in those planchas de plata.
"Our Apaches positively refused to go on to Camp McDowell and, on the morning of our third day at Camp Reno, they took the trail back to their rancheria on the Carizo. In order to anticipate Colonel Green and to help Captain Barry out of his difficulty, we deemed it neces- sary to proceed to McDowell. Taking advan- tage of an escort of cavalry, under Colonel Elger, that were going over to McDowell, we accompanied the escort for protection, and, without incident worthy of notice, we reached headquarters of the southern Military District of Arizona in safety.
"The day after our arrival at Camp Mc- Dowell we called upon General Thos. E. Devin and explained the situation at Carizo, and the action of Captain Barry, with an earnest re- quest that the Captain be as leniently dealt with as the case would permit. The General gave us to understand that at the proper time due con- sideration would be given to our statements and all extenuating circumstances bearing upon the matter. Suffice it to say, soon afterwards Colonel Green's charges, specifications, etc., were received at headquarters, but were promptly returned 'disapproved,' and Barry ordered to be returned to duty.
"We remained at McDowell ten or twelve days, and then proceeded to the Salt River, stopping at the ranch of Captain Jack Swilling. Here we separated, Cooley and Dodd going up to Prescott, whilst I remained with Jack, whom I had known some years before."
كروم
C. E. COOLEY.
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Banta thinks the Doc Thorn mine a fable.
The C. E. Cooley mentioned above, after- wards became one of General Crook's most re- liable scouts. He married, according to the Indian custom, two Apache girls, sisters, of the Coyotero, or White Mountain tribe, and, through his influence that tribe to a great ex- tent, became allies of the whites.
In 1874 Mrs. Summerhayes, in her book "Vanished Arizona," gives the following de- scription of Cooley's house at his ranch, not far from Fort Apache :
"Towards night we made camp at Cooley's ranch, and slept inside, on the floor. Cooley was interpreter and scout, and, although he was a white man, he had married a young Indian girl, the daughter of one of the chiefs, and was known as a squaw man. There seemed to be two Indian girls at his ranch; they were both tidy and good looking, and they prepared us a most appetizing supper.
"The ranches had spaces for windows, cov- ered with thin unbleached muslin (or manta as it is always called out there), glass windows be- ing then too great a luxury in that remote place. There were some partitions inside the ranch, but no doors; and, of course, no floors except adobe. Several half-breed children, nearly naked, stood and gazed at us as we prepared for rest. This was interesting and picturesque from many standpoints perhaps, but it did not tend to make me sleepy. I lay gazing into the fire which was smouldering in the corner, and finally I said in a whisper. 'Jack, which girl do you think is Cooley's wife ?'
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""'I don't know,' answered this cross and tired man; and then added, 'Both of 'em, I guess.'
"Now, this was too awful, but I knew he did not intend for me to ask any more questions. I had a difficult time, in those days, reconciling what I saw with what I had been taught was right, and I had to sort over my ideas and deep- rooted prejudices a good many times.
"The two pretty squaws prepared a nice breakfast for us, and we set out, quite refreshed, to travel over the malapais (as the great lava- beds in that part of the country are called)."
The two young squaws mentioned by Mrs. Summerhayes were good cooks and house- keepers, having learned their trade through association with the wives of the officers at Fort Apache.
This remained Cooley's home until the time of his death. Jim Bark, well known in Phoe- nix, and now a resident of Mayer, Arizona, made a visit to Cooley a few years ago, and from him I derive the following :
The house was well built and quite well fur- nished. The ranch had a fine orchard of decid- uous fruits, and besides cattle and horses, Cooley had raised grain and other products, which found a ready market at Fort Apache at good prices. As far as material wealth was concerned, he was well fixed; his children were well educated and well cared for. His two wives ran the house, and, it is said, to a great extent, ran him. Bark relates the following episode which occurred during his visit there :
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"They had some quarrel with Cooley, and to escape their vengeance he climbed upon the roof of the building. One of the squaws threw rocks at him for a while. Coming down after the storm had ceased, he gave me quite a disserta- tion upon the advantages and disadvantages of polygamy."
Bark states that he, Cooley, had grown fleshy, and during his visit Cooley received a letter from a New York firm and read it. It amused him to such an extent that, sitting in his chair in the shade of a tree in front of his house, he be- came so convulsed with laughter that he fell out of the chair and rolled over on the ground, squirming with hilarity. The reason was that the firm, from whom he had ordered a suit of clothes, giving his measurements, replied that they made clothes for men and not for horses. Cooley measured somewhere about sixty inches around the waist. He died on his ranch in the summer of 1917.
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CHAPTER V. THE MILITARY.
REPORT OF MAJOR-GENERAL GEORGE H. THOMAS ON MILITARY AFFAIRS IN ARIZONA-REPORT OF GENERAL ORD-GENERAL ORD'S ACCOUNT OF CAPTAIN BARRY'S DISOBEDIENCE OF OR- DERS - EXPENSE OF SUPPLYING RATIONS TO TROOPS IN ARIZONA - FOURTEEN MILITARY POSTS IN ARIZONA - DESERTION OF TROOPS -POLICY OF EXTERMINATION FOLLOWED BY BOTH MILITARY AND CITIZENS-CONDITIONS IN 1869 DESCRIBED BY BANTA - ESTABLISH- MENT OF CAMP ORD, LATER KNOWN AS FORT APACHE.
Major-General George H. Thomas, command- ing the Department of the Pacific, with head- quarters at San Francisco, in his report to the Adjutant-General of the United States Army, under date of September 27th, 1869, made the following reference to Arizona:
"Having performed duty in Arizona some years past, and then getting familiar with the topography of the country, and not having time to make a personal inspection of my whole com- mand, I have depended upon the report of the inspector-general of the division, and special re- ports of the department commander for infor- mation, and have to report as follows: Fort Yuma, at the junction of the Colorado and Gila rivers, is an important post as a depot of sup- plies for that Territory ; it is garrisoned by one company of infantry, and reported in good con-
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dition. The garrisons at Tucson, Bowie, Grant, Goodwin, McDowell, Verde, Reno, Colorado and Mohave, I considered favorably situated for supervision of the Indian Territory, and have maintained them as found. Camps Willow Grove and Wallen having become useless, the garrisons of these posts, two companies, were used to establish a post at Toll Gate, which com- mands one of the passes most frequented by the Indians in their excursions from the north to the south. Active operations have been contin- ued against the Indians of Arizona during the whole summer, in which the troops displayed great energy and perseverance, and were emin- ently successful-so much so that one tribe, the Hualpais, have sued for peace, and the chief given himself up as a hostage for the future good conduct of the tribe. For details of the operations of the troops in Arizona, your atten- tion is respectfully called to the annual report of Brevet Major-General Ord, the Department Commander, to be forwarded, and the report of the inspector general of the division on Indian Affairs, which has been forwarded direct in obedience to instructions."
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