USA > Arizona > History of Arizona, Volume I > Part 21
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The town of Yuma was surveyed in 1854, one year after the sale of the territory embraced in the Gadsden Purchase had been agreed upon between the two governments. In reference to this survey, Colonel C. D. Poston, in an article printed in the Overland Monthly, July, 1894, says:
"As the geography of the country was not well understood at the time, it was not presumably
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known to the makers of the treaty that the boundary line would include both banks of the Colorado River in the American boundary, but it does. By a curious turn in the Colorado River, after passing through the gorge between Fort Yuma and the opposite bank, the boundary line of the United States includes both banks of the river to the crossing at Pilot Knob, nearly nine miles. When the State of California was organized in 1850, the constitution adopted the boundary line of Mexico as the boundary line of the State, and consequently assumed jurisdic- tion over the slip of land on the bank of the Colorado River opposite Fort Yuma. When Fort Yuma was established, the commanding officer established a military reservation includ- ing both banks of the Colorado River at its junction with the Gila.
"The boundary line between Mexico and the United States under the treaty of 1848, was run in 1850, and monuments erected on the southern bank of the Colorado, to indicate the possession of the United States.
"While we were encamped on the banks of the Colorado River, in the hot month of July, 1854, we concluded to locate a town site on the slip of land opposite Fort Yuma, and as we were well provided with treaties, maps, surveying in- struments, and stationery, there was not much difficulty in making the location. The actual survey showed 936 acres within the slip, and this was quite large enough for a 'town-site.' A town-site is generally the first evidence of American civilization.
"After locating the town-site at Yuma, there was nothing to do but to cross the desert from
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the Colorado River to San Diego. We made the journey on mules, with extraordinary dis- comfort. At San Diego we were as much re- joiced as the followers of Xenophon to see the sea.
"The townsite was duly registered in San Diego, which could not have been done if both banks of the Colorado River just below its junc- tion with the Gila had not been recognized as being within the jurisdiction of the State of California. The county of San Diego collected taxes from there for many years. After the organization of the Territory of Arizona in 1863, Arizona assumed jurisdiction over the slip, and built a prison there. Congress subsequently made a grant of land included in the slip to the 'Village of Yuma' so that it is a mere question of jurisdiction, not involving the validity of any titles. The question of jurisdiction still remains unsettled, as it requires both an Act of Congress and an Act of the State Legislature to change the boundary line of a sovereign state."
Yuma was the only American occupation within what is now the State of Arizona in 1854. The United States did not take formal military possession of the Gadsden Purchase until 1856, at which time four companies of the First United States Dragoons were stationed at Tuc- son, and afterwards at Calabazas, some fifteen miles above Tubac on the Sonoita, a stream flowing into the Santa Cruz river from the east. Fort Buchanan was established in 1857. It was selected because it was the center of a fine graz- ing country, but was found to be unhealthy on account of malarial fevers which prevailed in
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summer during the rainy season, consequently no permanent buildings were erected. Late in the year 1856 Fort Mohave was established near Beale's crossing of the Colorado, and was gar- risoned by three companies of infantry, and in 1859 Fort Breckenridge was created below the junction of the Aravaipa and the San Pedro, and garrisoned by a part of the troops from Fort Buchanan.
The military at these posts, commanded by able and energetic officers, had many encounters with the Apache Indians, and did much good in protecting the country from the incursions of these savages.
Tucson was the most populous town in Ari- zona, but was without any civil government, Ari- zona, at that time, being a portion of Dona Ana County, New Mexico, the county seat of which was several hundred miles distant. Being thus left without courts or judicial or civil officers, the necessity for a separate territorial govern- ment was urgent. In 1854, New Mexico memo- rialized Congress for the organization of the territory of Arizona. There were three names suggested, namely Pimeria, Gadsonia and Ari- zona. The latter was adopted because it was supposed to be the most euphonious. Nothing was done by Congress in reference to this memorial.
Futile attempts were also made by a few citi- zens of Arizona to have Congress organize a territorial government, the first of which was in 1856, shortly after the United States had taken formal possession of the territory. On August 29th, 1856, a mass meeting or convention was
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held in Tucson, that being then the most import- ant point in Arizona, there being, at that time, no settlements north of the Gila River, and one Nathan P. Cook was chosen as delegate to Con- gress, but he was not admitted to a seat. His credentials were presented to the House of Representatives in 1857, referred to the Terri- torial Committee, which reported them back adversely, and also reported adversely to a ter- ritorial government because of the sparse popu- lation of Arizona at that time. The Committee, however, called attention to the unfortunate condition of the people, without any recognized government, and recommended that a bill be passed organizing a judicial district south of the Gila River, the appointment of a surveyor- general, and the providing of representation at Santa Fe, New Mexico, as well as for the regis- tration of land claims and mining titles. In February, 1857, such a bill was passed by the United States Senate, but was not reached in the House of Representatives before final adjourn- ment. In his message in 1857, President Buchanan recommended a territorial govern- ment for Arizona, and Senator Gwin, in Decem- ber, 1857, introduced a bill to organize such a government for the Gadsden Purchase, under the name of Arizona.
In February, 1858, the Legislature of New Mexico passed resolutions in favor of this meas- ure, but recommended a boundary line north and south on the meridian of 109° west from Greenwich, and the removal of all New Mexican Indians to Northern Arizona. Evidently New Mexico had but little use for the Apaches, and
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was willing that the entire northern part of Arizona should be set aside as a military reser- vation upon which these savages could be herded. Petitions went up from different States and communities, favoring the organization of Ari- zona into a separate territory.
In September, 1857, the people of Arizona had gotten up a new petition, and, in an election held at Tucson, Sylvester Mowry was chosen Dele- gate to Congress. Mowry was not admitted to a seat in Congress, and the bill of Senator Gwin for territorial organization, failed of its passage. Under this bill, the northern line for the Terri- tory of Arizona extended north to 33º 45', and included all southern New Mexico up to the parallel through to the western line of Texas. In 1860 Mowry got out a map of this Arizona, dividing it into four counties, not, however, attaching to them the names by which they are now designated. On the west, what is now known as Yuma County, was called Castle Dome County ; Pima County was called Ewell County, and extended east to the western base of the Chiricahua range of mountains, at Apache Pass. Mesilla County extended eastward to the Rio Grande, and Dona Ana County eastward to the line of Texas. The remainder of what is now embraced in Arizona north of 33º 45', was left to New Mexico, and to the savages inhabiting that wilderness.
If this bill had passed it would have been a very expensive affair, the territorial limits ex- tending from Yuma to the border of Texas, a distance, I think, of something like six hundred or seven hundred miles. Evidently neither New
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Mexico nor Arizona wanted the Apaches. To use a modern vulgarism, the inhabitants of these two sections were willing to "pass the buck."
In 1858 and 1859 Congress was again memo- rialized, and Sylvester Mowry was again elected delegate, but no success attended the efforts of Arizona to secure a territorial organization.
In 1860 an unauthorized Constitutional Con- vention met in Tucson, which held its session from April 2nd to and including April 5th. It was composed of thirty-one delegates, who pro- ceeded "to ordain and establish a provisional constitution to remain in force until Congress shall organize a Territorial Government, and no longer." This convention chose as Governor, Dr. L. S. Owings of Mesilla, and three judicial districts were created. Judges were to be ap- pointed by the Governor, as were also a Lieuten- ant-Governor, an Attorney-General, and some other officials. A Legislature, consisting of nine senators, and eighteen representatives, was to be elected and convened upon the proclamation of the Governor. Measures were taken for organ- izing the militia, and a general election for county officers was called to be held in the month of May. The laws and codes of New Mexico were adopted. The proceedings of the convention, schedule and constitution, and the Governor's inaugural address, were printed in Tucson in what was, so far as known, the first book ever published in Arizona.
Under this provisional government the Gov- ernor made the following appointments: Lieu- tenant-Governor, Ignacio Orantia; Secretary of State, James A. Lucas; Controller, J. H. Wells;
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Treasurer, Mark Aldrich; Marshal, Samuel G. Bean; District Judges, Granville H. Oury (chief justice) ; Samuel H. Cozzens and Edward Mc- Gowan (associate justices) ; District Attorneys, R. H. Glenn, Rees Smith, Thomas J. Mastin; Major General, W. C. Wordsworth; Adjutant- General, Valentine Robinson. Beyond the elec- tion of these, there are no records that the self- constituted list of officials accomplished any- thing. In November of that year, one of the associate justices, Edward McGowan, well known in California for his opposition to the Vigilance Committee in 1855, was elected as Delegate to Congress from the State of Arizona to succeed Sylvester Mowry, but he did not go to Washington, nor ask Congress to allow him to participate in national affairs.
In 1859, another bill was introduced to organ- ize the territory of Arizona, the name having been changed to Arizuma, presumably to satisfy some element in Congress. This bill was re- ported from the Committee of Territorials in 1860. There was much debate upon it, the most of it being in reference to the slavery question, and the bill, like its predecessors, failed of passage.
Bancroft says Jeff Davis introduced this bill, which is an error. The bill was introduced by Senator Green of Missouri. Davis at no time fathered a measure to give a territorial govern- ment to Arizona.
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THE CRABB MASSACRE.
CHAPTER XX. THE CRABB MASSACRE.
HENRY A. CRABB - YGNACIO PESQUIERA - OR- GANIZATION OF EXPEDITION-TREACHERY OF PESQUIERA-SURRENDER OF CRABB'S PARTY AT CABORCA-MASSACRE OF CRABB AND PARTY -JOHN G. CAPRON'S ACCOUNT OF EXPEDI- TION FROM TUCSON TO JOIN CRABB.
Upon the disbanding of the Whig party and the organization of the Native American Know- Nothing party, Henry A. Crabb became its leader in California. He was a man of scholarly attainments, of integrity and moral worth. In the fall election of 1855, the Know-Nothing party carried the State of California and secured a majority in the Legislature. Crabb was a candidate for Senator and was endorsed in caucus by his party. Senator Flint from San Francisco refused to abide by the decision of the caucus because Crabb was a Southern man. This defeated the election at that session of the Legislature. In the fall of 1856, the Know- Nothing Party was defeated and Henry A. Crabb, whose wife was a Miss Ainsa, and whose family had been prominent in Sonora, Mexico, through the persuasion of her brothers, entered into a compact with Ygnacio Pesquiera, who was then in revolt against the Gandara Government of Sonora, to aid him with five hundred to a thou- sand well-armed Americans. These men were to be recruited in California, and were to es- pouse the cause of Pesquiera. Their reward
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was to be a strip of land along the northern por- tion of the State of Sonora for colonization pur- poses, the excuse to be given to the General Government was that these colonists would protect that State against the Apaches. In pur- suance of this agreement, Crabb organized an expedition of about a hundred men, expecting to be followed by others from the State of Cali- fornia. With this meager force he crossed the Colorado and camped for several weeks on the Gila to recruit his animals, and from thence he pushed across the line into Mexican territory. In the meantime Pesquiera had succeeded in driving out the Gandara Government in Sonora, Gandara himself having sought refuge under the Stars and Stripes in Tucson. Under these con- ditions Pesquiera did not require the services of the Americans, and as the prejudices of the Mexicans at that time were very great against our people, and Pesquiera was criticized by his enemies for inviting the Americans into Sonora, he disavowed the entire transaction, and in a flaming proclamation, called upon all Mexicans patriotically to rally to their standards and drive out the invader. Crabb addressed a letter to the Prefect of Altar, saying that he came, not as an enemy, but as a friend, upon the invita- tion of many prominent citizens of the State to bring with him a thousand colonists; that his company of one hundred was the vanguard and the rest would follow very soon ; that he was well aware that the Prefect had given orders to poison wells and to resort to the most inhuman measures of barbaric warfare; that he came with arms in his hands because they had to pass
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through a country infested with Indians, and that it was customary for both Mexicans and Americans always to carry arms in those wild and unsettled countries. He declared that he would proceed to his destination, which was Altar. He diverged somewhat from the road to Altar to the little town of Caborca, still having faith in the plighted word of Pesquiera, and, surrounded by a multitude of enemies, he sur- rendered his command upon the assurance that he and his men would be transported safely across the line to their own country. As soon as they had surrendered, an order was received from Pesquiera to shoot them all. It is said that Gabilonda, who was in command of the Mexican forces, refused to carry out this order, and re- signed his commission, taking with him a boy about 14 years old by the name of Evans, and re- tiring with him to Hermosillo. The Americans were divided into lots of ten, and all shot. The head of Crabb, it is said, was pickled in mescal and sent to the city of Mexico as an evidence of the patriotism of Pesquiera in expelling the Americans from Mexican soil.
In the meantime news was conveyed to Tucson of the desperate straits in which the Crabb party was, and an expedition of 27 men was organ- ized by Charles Tozer and Grant Oury to go to their relief. Before they had formed a junction with Crabb, he and all his party had been exe- cuted, and the relief party fought their way back across the American line, fighting every inch of the way. They arrived in the most forlorn condi- tion, many wounded and sick. Thus ended the last filibustering expedition, if such it can be
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called, from California. The friends of Crabb, in that state, will always hold the name of Pes- quiera in abhorrence, being well convinced that his death was caused by deceit and treachery.
The following account of an expedition from Tucson to join Crabb, by one of its members, John G. Capron, will, no doubt, be of interest to the reader:
"In the winter of 1856-57, there was an agree- ment entered into between the Governor of Sonora, Judge Heydenfeldt and ex-Senator Crabb of California, which was about as follows:
"Governor Pesquiera was to furnish lands for settlement on the Yaqui River for over two hun- dred settlers. Judge Heydenfeldt was to take two hundred or more by vessel from San Fran- cisco to Point Lobos, which is about ninety miles from the town of Caborca in Mexico. This was to be the meeting place of the two forces, Crabb to come down overland with not less than one hundred men, and there make their camp, and Governor Pesquiera would then inform his people that these men were to have a free pass to these lands on the Yaqui River.
"The old Indigo family had a claim on a large tract of land there, and his son-in-law Mr. Ainsa, confirmed the story told me by the two Crabb officers. When the officers told me this tale, I asked them why they should go down there in two separate parties instead of going directly by vessel, to the Yaqui River. Their reply was that they were in hopes of increasing their numbers as they went down by land; also it was the wish of the Governor of Sonora that they should make the trip this way, as he wanted to get as many
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as possible to go, even to the number of five hun- dred, as each of these men was to have one hun- dred and sixty acres of land.
"Two of Crabb's officers left the party and came to Tucson hunting recruits to fill up Crabb's number to one hundred if possible. He got some in Tucson and went on up the Santa Cruz River to Calabasas, where four companies of cavalry under command of Major Stein were camped. I was there with my team arranging to put in hay for the government.
"In my first talk with these two officers, I was a little skeptical about the success of their scheme. Colonel Tozier, who seemed to be the most intimate with Mr. Crabb, told me all the details of the plan, and the object. After con- sulting and talking it over with several men around there, we concluded that we would go down with them to Caborca, and there talk the matter over with Heydenfeldt and Crabb.
"Our understanding was that there would be no possible danger of having to fight our way through Sonora. If we had supposed that we had to filibuster Sonora, none of us would have thought of going. There were twenty-six of us who concluded to accompany them. The names of these men I cannot give in full. Those I remember were: three men from Tucson- Oury, Woods, and one whose name I do not know. My party consisted of a German named Foulke, Green, Thomas, Wilson, and a man from Alabama named Reed, and two young men who were travelling through the country. By 'my party' I mean that we messed together, I hav- ing two pack animals. The party also included
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Chambers, a carpenter, who was the oldest man, a young Texan, called Wilkins-a royally brave fighter; and Forbes, Smith, Slater and Hart. Hart was from Texas, was about forty-five years of age, tall and slim, and a man who never got tired. The two officers, Major Woods and Colonel Tozier, brought the count up to nineteen of the twenty-six, leaving seven unaccounted for.
"The Yaquis had been very firm friends of the former Governor Manuel Gandara, and were constantly making trouble, and Governor Pes- quiera believed that if he could get a large settle- ment of Americans down in their country it would be the means of controlling them. Don Fernando Indigo was at one time very wealthy and was called the Casa Fuerte of Sonora. He claimed large tracts of land in the Yaqui coun- try and would willingly have given a large portion of these to have a strong American settle- ment there. This is what caused the making of the contract between Judge Heydenfeldt and Crabb, and there is no doubt but what it would have been successful if the number specified, two hundred or more men, had arrived at Caborca.
"This party of twenty-six left the fort, I think, about the middle of March, and at the first camp elected our officers. They were: Granville Oury, Captain; Forbes, First Lieu- tenant; Smith, Second Lieutenant. Capron was Sergeant and, of course, had all the work to do.
"Two or three of our party had been through that country before, so we had no trouble to avoid all towns. We found no dwelling places until we arrived at a large ranch called La Posa. The people had all gone into the house and bar-
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ricaded the doors. We made camp there, and while we were eating our lunch a Mexican gentle- man came riding up and saluted us. Our cap- tain, speaking good Spanish, said: 'Come and take lunch with us.' He excused himself and asked where we were going. We told him. Then he asked our object, and we explained the whole matter to him, saying that we were in no way filibustering. He seemed reluctant to say anything, from which we could infer what our reception might be on arrival at Caborca. But we took it for granted from some things he said that Crabb was already there, so we hurried away as soon as possible, and made a rapid march to get there before anything could happen to Crabb.
"On our way we fell in with a young Mexican who had been raised in California and who spoke good English. We asked him to go with us to the town. He said he would rather not, for fear some of his people would think he was helping us. We informed him that we would take him prisoner, and that would relieve him. He said, very pleasantly, 'All right, under that condition I will go with you.'
"He talked very freely about the situation in the town; said Crabb had been there for three or four days, and that there were at least eleven hundred armed men surrounding the town; Crabb had thrown himself into the church and barricaded the doors the best he could. We had heard several cannon shots, and he told us that they had two cannon there and that if they had not already done so, they would soon demolish the church doors and kill Crabb and his party.
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"As we marched down the ravine we came to an open place of about four hundred or five hun- dred yards, and on the opposite side of us the timber was full of armed men. A man, finely mounted, rode out, holding up his hand, came within about one hundred and fifty yards of us, and asked us to send one of our men to meet him and have a talk. Our Captain Oury met him. They talked for some ten minutes, when Oury returned to us. He said they had Crabb secure, and were going to send him under escort out of the country, and if we would deliver up our arms, they would do the same by us. Whether he told us Crabb had already surrendered, I do not remember, but my impression is that he did. We entered into a consultation and told them plainly that we would never deliver up our arms ; that if we could get Crabb to go with us, all right, but under no other condition.
"We then asked the young man with us the best way to get into Caborca and get Crabb, if he had not already surrendered. He told us he thought the best way was to wait until dark, then go down the ravine where the church stood on the bank. We asked him how to get into the church. He said there was, he believed, a door by which we could get into the back end of the church. We tried to induce the young man to go to Crabb and let him know where we were so that he could come out the back door and join us. He said that it would be an impossibility for him even to attempt it. We then concluded that we had no possible way of getting to Crabb, for even if we could reach the rear of the church, how could we enter it? They knew that we were
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close at hand and would be watching every move- ment we made.
"Some of our party criticized Crabb very severely for placing himself in such a position, knowing as he did that the enemy's forces would be constantly augmented and that the enemy would soon murder the last one of them, while by keeping in the open field, he could have made his way through to the Arizona line.
"While waiting in the river bed for night, we were comparatively well protected from their shots, as the brush was thick, and the bank of the stream nearly twenty feet high and steep. But we could not keep our horses from moving, and whenever they would see a movement, they would shoot; consequently all our horses were killed. We were returning their fire, however, and soon they became very cautious how they put their heads over the bank.
"Our first lieutenant, Mr. Forbes, was a little distance from me, and I saw him make a peculiar motion to get near me. I asked him if he were shot. He said yes. I reached him and found he was wounded in the fleshy portion of the thigh. He had a musket ball there, but it was not very deeply imbedded in the flesh. I took out my butcher knife, caught up the ball and flesh, pressed the ball as near the skin as I pos- sibly could, and gave the flesh a slash; but I did not succeed in cutting deeply enough to reach the ball. He said, 'Your knife is the sharpest knife I ever heard of.' Smith told him I should have to give another slash. I cut it again, and out came the ball.
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