USA > Arizona > History of Arizona, Volume I > Part 6
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events showed the whole business to be criminal stupidity, ending in a bloody catastrophe."
There were, at this time, according to the ac- count, twenty families or settlers or colonists, twelve laborers, twenty-one soldiers and four priests.
On Tuesday, July 17th, 1781, Garces was say- ing mass at Concepcion to a few people, mostly women, when the storm burst. Both padres sur- vived the first outbreak. While the Indians were butchering right and left and looting the houses, both heard confession and administered the sacrament to some in the agony of death. The same day the Indians attacked Padres Diaz and Moreno at Bicuner as they were preparing to say mass, and they, and most of the soldiers, were killed on the first onslaught. Through the influ- ence of Palma, Garces and Father Barranche were preserved from harm until the 19th when they were both beaten to death with clubs. The bodies of the four priests were afterwards recov- ered and laid to rest in one coffin in the church at Tubutama.
"As we have seen, the presidio was trans- ferred from Tubac, in accordance with the regla- mento and instructions of 1772. The change was made in or before 1777, and probably by order of Inspector Hugo Oconor, given during his visit of about 1775, so that the date of the founding of Tucson as a Spanish settlement may be set down as probably 1776. The Indians were quartered in a little pueblo adjoining the presidio, called from this time San Agustin del pueblito de Tucson, the presidio also being some-
EARLY SPANISH MISSIONS AND MISSIONARIES. 75
times called San Agustin. Annals of this place are blank for many years, and practically so down to 1846, since we know only by occasional mention that the presidio maintained its exist- ence; that the garrison numbered in officers and men about 106 men, though the ranks were often not full; and that there was frequent complaint of inadequate arms, ammunition and other sup- plies. We have no statistics, but the population of Tucson and the adjoining districts, in the last years of the period covered by this chapter, may have been about 2,000 including the families of the soldiers."
"Tubac is a name that first appears in 1752, when a presidio was established there. In 1764-7, and for some years later, it was under the command of Captain Juan B. Anza, and had a population of nearly 500. Under orders fol- lowing the reglamento of 1772, the presidio was transferred in 1776-7, to a site farther north, at Tucson. This left the few settlers of the region more exposed to the depredations of the Apaches, and they wished to quit the country, but were prevented from doing so by orders from the government to be enforced by severe penal- ties. They sent in, however, many petitions for a restoration of the presidio, or for an increase of troops, and at a date not exactly recorded, but before 1784, a company of Pima allies was organized and stationed here. Subsequently Spanish soldiers seem to have been added to the garrison, and the law of 1826 provided for a pre- sidial company at Tubac as well as Tucson, though in later years the company seems to have
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been one of infantry. The poet has no other an- nals than an occasional mention of its existence and force. In 1826 a silver mine is spoken of as having been worked for several years. In 1834 all the Arizona establishments were organized as a partido with Tubac, or San Ignacio, as Cabecera. In 1812-3, a rancheria of friendly Apaches lived here. Spiritual interests were at- tended to by the padre of the adjoining mission."
Guevavi, in Jesuit times, called San Miguel and also for a time San Rafael, but by the Fran- ciscans termed Santos Angeles, was a mission which, like Bac, dated back to 1732, or perhaps 1720, and in 1764-7, had 111 neophytes, or with its three visitas, 517. Padre Juan Cristobomo Gil de Bernave was its minister for several years from 1768. He became president of the mis- sions and in 1773 was killed by the Indians of his new mission of Carrizal, Sonora. In 1772, Guevavi had 86 Indians, and with its visitas, 337. The church was a poor affair, and the establish- ment was often raided by Apaches. Before 1784, it was abandoned, and Tumacacori became head of the mission. The visita of San Ignacio Sonoita, or Sonoitac, seems also to have been de- serted before 1784. The name of the latter is still retained, but that of Guevavi seems to have disappeared from modern maps.
"Tumacacori, or San Jose, a visita of Guevavi from Jesuit times, with 199 Indians in 1764-7, and 39 in 1772, was almost in ruins in the latter year, having been attacked in 1769 by the Apaches at midday. But before 1791, a new roof had been put on the church, and from 1784,
EARLY SPANISH MISSIONS AND MISSIONARIES. 77
or earlier San Jose had become a mission instead of a visita. Adobe houses for the neophytes and a wall for their protection were also built. After Padre Gil de Bernave, I have no records of missionaries in charge of this mission, and the adjoining presidio in early times; but Fra Nar- ciso Gutierrez was the minister in 1814-20, Juan B. Estelrio in 1821-2, and Ramon Liberos in 1822-4. The ruins of Tumacacori are still to be seen near Tubac, on the west bank of the river. San Cayetano de Calabazas, the only pueblo de visita that seems to have survived 1784, had 64 neophytes in 1772, but no church or house for the padre, though these were supplied before 1791. In 1828, Calabazas is mentioned as a rancho near which some poor people worked a gold mine. Aribac, or Arivaca, in the west, appears on a doubtful map of 1733, as a pueblo. Anza, in 1774, says it had been deserted since the Pima revolt in 1751, though mines were worked until 1767. In 1777, it is noted as a place rich in mines, and one Ortiz is said to have applied about this time for a grant of the rancho. Zun- iga, in 1835, mentions it as a 'rancho despo- blado.' It may also be noted that in the early part of the present (the nineteenth) century, if not before, the old Terrenate presidio was lo- cated at or near the abandoned mission of Suamca, just south of the Arizona line, and was known as Santa Cruz."
Up to 1811, the military organization was, in every way, effective, but during that year money and food began to be supplied irregularly. "Credits, discounts and paper money began to
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do their work of demoralization; official pecula- tions became rife, and discipline and vigilance began to be relaxed." The Apaches, being hos- tile at heart, and having their regular rations cut off, went upon the warpath as the easiest way to make a living. The friars gradually lost inter- est in the presidios that protected the existence of their missions, and the settlers burdened and harassed by hostile Indians, gave no support to the soldiers and gradually abandoned their ranchos, which were allowed to lapse into the desert and all became desolation.
Don Ignacio Zuniga, several years commander of the northern presidios, in 1835, writing of affairs in Pimeria Alta, gives an excellent ac- count of these disasters and their causes. He declares that since 1820, no less than 5,000 lives have been lost; that at least 100 ranchos, haci- endas, mining camps, and other settlements had been destroyed; that from 3,000 to 4,000 settlers had been obliged to quit the northern frontier, and that in the extreme north absolutely nothing was left but the demoralized garrisons of worth- less soldiers, though in the most recent years, for lack of anything worth plundering and on ac- count of the hostility of the Pimas and Papa- goes, Apache raids had been somewhat less frequent than before. He recommended that control of the temporalities be given over to the friars, that colonists of good character be sent to occupy the deserted northern ranchos; that some of the presidios be moved to better posi- tions and that the Colorado and Gila establish-
EARLY SPANISH MISSIONS AND MISSIONARIES. 79
ments should be founded as proposed in the last century.
In Arizona, all settlements except those at Tuc- son and Bac which were protected by soldiers, were abandoned, but at these two settlements a few soldiers still managed to live. Beyond these, no settlements remained in what is now Arizona. Hamilton says that they were finally abandoned by decree of the government in 1828. Bancroft says the order of expulsion against the Spaniards probably caused the departure of some of the friars in 1827-8 and that the man- agement of the temporalities was taken away from them, and some of the establishments, in- cluding all in Arizona, were abandoned.
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CHAPTER VII. THE SANTA FE TRAIL-EARLY EXPLORATIONS AND EXPLORERS.
LIEUTENANT ZEBULON M. PIKE-AGRICULTURE- MINING - POPULATION - NAVAJOS-IRRIGA- TION-ALBUQUERQUE-SANTA FE-MILITARY GOVERNMENT - COLLY-JAMES PURSLEY - -GOVERNOR ALLENCASTER-FIRST EXPEDI- TION INTO SANTA FE-SUCCEEDING EXPEDI- TIONS-DEVELOPMENT OF SANTA FE TRADE- TROUBLES WITH INDIANS-ARRIVAL OF CAR- AVAN AT SANTA FE-TARIFFS-STAGE ROUTE ESTABLISHED - PIONEERS-JEDEDIAH SMITH -THE PATTIES - BILL WILLIAMS-FELIX AUBREY-PAULINE WEAVER-KIT CARSON- ADVENTURES OF THE PATTIES-BLACK CAN- YON OF THE COLORADO-WILLIAM WOLFSKILL -FELIX AUBREY'S FAMOUS RIDE - BILL WILLIAMS' MOUNTAIN - BILL WILLIAMS' FORK - FREMONT - CARSON'S CONNECTION WITH FREMONT-MEXICAN WAR-GENERAL KEARNY-CAPTAIN GILLESPIE-LIEUTENANT BEALE-BATTLE OF SAN PASCUAL-CARRY- ING OF DISPATCHES BY CARSON AND FIGHTS WITH INDIANS-DEATH OF KIT CARSON- SANTA RITA COPPER MINES-MASSACRE OF APACHES BY JOHNSON - RETALIATION BY APACHES-BENJ. D. WILSON.
The opening of the Santa Fe Trail from Inde- pendence, Missouri, to Santa Fe, has such a bear- ing upon the subsequent explorations in Arizona,
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that I think it proper to give a short description of what is known as the "Commerce of the Prairies," over this trail, and the causes which led up to it.
The first attempt to explore the western boundaries of the United States after the Louisi- ana Purchase, was made by Lieut. Zebulon M. Pike, of the Sixth U. S. Infantry, who, in 1806, was sent with 22 men to explore the country of the Arkansas and Red Rivers, and to establish a good understanding with the Indian tribes, particularly the Comanches. Of this trip, ex- tending as far as Santa Fe, he published a full account in 1810. His book gave to Americans the first information in detail concerning that isolated region of which nothing had been here- tofore known. He describes the territory inhab- ited by the Mexicans in New Mexico as being 400 miles in length, and 50 miles in breadth, along the Rio del Norte, and broken by a desert of more than 250 miles. The fertility of the coun- try, as he regarded it, is of special interest to those who inhabit this section at the present day. "The cotton tree," he says, "is the only tree of this province, except some scrubby pines and cedars at the foot of the mountains. The former borders the banks of the Rio del Norte and its tributary streams. All the rest of the country presents to the eye, a barren wild of poor land, scarcely to be improved by culture, and appears to be only capable of producing sufficient subsist- ence for those animals which live on succulent plants and herbage."
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HISTORY OF ARIZONA.
In reference to mining, he says: "There are no mines known in the province, except one of cop- per, situated in a mountain on the west side of the Rio del Norte in latitude 34 degrees. It is worked and produces 20,000 mule-loads of cop- per annually. It also furnishes that article for the manufactories of nearly all of the internal province. It contains gold, but not quite enough to pay for its extraction, consequently it has not been pursued."
The population of New Mexico at that time, he estimated at 30,000 souls. Of its commerce, he says: "The province sends out about 30,000 sheep annually, tobacco, dressed deer and cabrie (goat) skins, some fur, buffalo robes, salt, and wrought copper vessels of a superior quality.
* * The journey with loaded mules from Santa Fe to Mexico and returning to Santa Fe takes five months."
"They manufacture rough leather, segars, a vast variety and quantity of potters' ware, cot- ton, some coarse woolen cloths, and blankets of a superior quality. All those manufactures are carried on by the civilized Indians, as the Span- iards think it more honorable to be agriculturists than mechanics. The Indians likewise far ex- ceed their conquerors in their genius for an exe- cution of all mechanical operations. New Mexico has the exclusive right of cultivating tobacco."
It is probably from these Indians that the Navajos learned the art of manufacturing the Navajo blanket.
Lieut. Pike devoted considerable space to the irrigation process in the Rio Grande Valley, and
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says: "They cultivate corn, wheat, rye, barley, rice, tobacco, vines and all the common culinary plants cultivated in the same latitude in the United States. They are, however, a century behind us in the art of cultivation; for, notwith- standing their numerous herds of cattle and horses, I have seen them frequently breaking up whole fields with the hoe. Their oxen draw by the horns after the French mode. Their carts are extremely awkward and clumsily made. During the whole of the time we were in New Mexico, I never saw a horse in a vehicle of any description, mules being made use of in carriages as well as for the purposes of labor." It can truly be said that in many parts of Mexico they have not improved on these methods of agricul- ture up to the present time.
Concerning the method of irrigation, he says: "Both above and below Albuquerque, the citi- zens were beginning to open the canals to let in the water of the river to fertilize the plains and fields which border its banks on both sides; where we saw men, women and children of all ages and sexes at the joyful labor which was to crown with rich abundance their future harvest and insure them plenty for the ensuing year. The cultivation of the fields was now commenc- ing and everything appeared to give life and gaiety to the surrounding scenery."
About the irrigation at El Paso, he says: "About two miles above the town of the Paso del Norte, is a bridge over the river, where the road passes to the west side, at which place is a large canal, which takes out an ample supply of water for the purpose of cultivation, which is here car-
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ried on in as great perfection as at any place that I visited in the province. There is a wall bordering the canal the whole way on both sides; to protect it from the animals, and when it ar- rives at the village, it is distributed in such a manner that each person has his fields watered in rotation. At this place were as finely culti- vated fields of wheat and other small grain as I ever saw; also many vineyards, from which was produced the finest wine ever drunk in the coun- try, which was celebrated throughout all the province and was the only wine used on the table of the commanding general."
He thus described Santa Fe: "Situated on the banks of a small creek, which runs west to the Rio del Norte. The length of the capital on the creek may be estimated at one mile; it is but three streets in width. Its appearance from a distance struck my mind with the same effect as a fleet of the flat-bottomed boats which are seen in the spring and fall seasons descending the Ohio river. There are two churches, the magnifi- cence of whose steeples forms a striking con- trast to the miserable appearance of the houses. On the north side of the town is the square of soldiers' houses. The public square is in the center of the town; on the north side of which is situated the palace (as they term it) or gov- ernment house, with the quarters for guards, etc. The other side of the square is occupied by the clergy and public officers. In general the houses have a shed before the front, some of which have a flooring of brick; the consequence is that the streets are very narrow, say in general 25 feet.
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The supposed population is 4,500 souls. * * * The houses are generally only one story high, flat roofs, and have a very mean appearance on the outside, but some of them are richly fur- nished, especially with plate."
"The second cities in the province are Albu- querque and Paso del Norte. The latter is the most southern city of the province, as Tous is the most northern. Between the village of Sibillette and the Paso there is a wilderness of nearly 200 miles."
The government, as described by Lieut. Pike, was: "military in the pure essence of the word, for, although they have their alcaldes, or inferior officers, their judgments are subject to a rever- sion by the military commandantes of districts. The whole male population are subject to mili- tary duty, without pay or emolument, and are obliged to find their own horses, arms and provi- sions. The only thing furnished by the govern- ment is ammunition. * * There is but one troop of dragoons in all New Mexico of the regu- lar force, which is stationed at Santa Fe, and is 100 strong. Of this troop, the governor is al- ways the captain; but they are commanded by a first lieutenant, who is captain by brevet. The men capable of bearing arms in this province may be estimated at 5,000; of these probably 1,000 are completely armed, 1,000 badly, and the rest not at all."
Of the New Mexicans in general, Lieut. Pike says, "that owing to the fact of their being on the frontier and cut off from the more inhabited parts of the kingdom, together with their con-
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tinual wars with some of the savage nations that surround them, they are the bravest and most hardy subjects in New Spain; being generally armed, they know the use of them. Their want of gold and silver renders them laborious, in order that the productions of their labor may be the means of establishing the equilibrium be- tween them and the other provinces where those metals abound. Their isolation and remote situation also cause them to exhibit in a superior degree, the heaven-like qualities of hospitality and kindness."
Lieut. Pike found only two Americans from the States living in New Mexico. At Santa Fe, he found a man named Colly, who was an inter- preter for the Governor, and had been a member of the ill-fated Nolan expedition into Texas. At Santa Fe, also, he discovered one James Pursley and accords him the honor of being "the first American who ever penetrated the immense wilds of Louisiana and showed the Spaniards of New Mexico that neither the savages who sur- round the deserts which divide them from the habitable world, nor the jealous tyrranies of their rulers, was sufficient to prevent the enter- prising spirit of the Americans penetrating the arcanum of their rich establishment in the new world." Pursley was from near Bairdstown, Kentucky, which he left in 1799. In 1805, he, and his two companions, and two Indians were selected as emissaries of a large band of Indian hunters and traders to go to Santa Fe and in- quire if the Spaniards would receive them friendly and enter into trade with them. "This
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being acceded to by the governor (Allencaster) the Indian deputies returned for their bands; but Pursley thought it proper to remain with a civilized people. He arrived at Santa Fe in June, 1805, and had been following his trade, a carpenter, ever since, at which he made a great deal of money, except when working for the officers, who paid him little or nothing. He was a man of strong natural sense and dauntless in- trepidity. He was once near being hanged for making a few pounds of gunpowder, which he innocently did, as he had been accustomed to do in Kentucky, but which is a capital crime in these provinces. He was forbidden to write, but was assured he should have a passport whenever he demanded it, but was obliged to give security that he would not leave the country without per- mission of the government."
Lieut. Pike and the publication of his book gave to Americans the first detailed description of the great wilderness lying to the west of them, and the advantages of establishing a trade with these distant provinces. From his description of the New Mexican country, the attention of traders, merchants and speculators was immedi- ately attracted thereto. The first expedition into Santa Fe was organized in 1812 by Mc- Knight, Beard, Chambers and eight or nine others, who fitted out a trading expedition and reached Santa Fe over practically the same route described by Pike. They reached their destina- tion during the closing days of the revolutionary movement which had been put down by the Roy- alists. They were seized as spies, their goods
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confiscated and they were sent as prisoners to Chihuahua, where they were confined for nine years. In 1821, two of the party returned to the United States, and the reports they made of the country prompted others to embark upon the same enterprise.
From this time may be dated the opening of what afterwards became known as the Santa Fe trail.
About the year 1821, Capt. Becknell, with four companies, started from Franklin, Missouri, fitted out with merchandise to trade with the Comanches. He met a party of Mexican rangers who persuaded him to take his wares to Santa Fe, where they were readily disposed of at an enormous profit. Becknell returned east in the following winter, leaving his companions in Santa Fe, but his accounts stimulated others to similar undertakings.
Col. Cooper, his sons, and a score of his neigh- bors, all Missourians, started in May, 1822, with five thousand dollars' worth of merchandise, which they transported on pack mules to Taos. Capt. Becknell accompanied by about thirty men, in the month of June following, set out upon his second westward trip. To avoid the circuitous route he had followed on the first trip, he left the Arkansas river at "the caches," strik- ing directly for Santa Fe across the unknown desert. Unable to find water, they killed their dogs, and cut off the ears of their mules, quench- ing their thirst by drinking the hot blood of these animals. On the desert they separated in the hope that some of the party might find water.
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Little suspecting that they were almost on the banks of the Cimarron, they determined to at- tempt to retrace their steps to the Arkansas "when they saw a buffalo, his stomach distended with water. The animal was immediately killed, and they quenched their thirst by drinking the filthy water they found in his stomach. Strengthened by this draught, some of the party managed to reach the river, where they filled all the canteens. By degrees the greater sufferers in the party were relieved of their distress, just when death seemed imminent, and the journey was resumed."
The Santa Fe trade may be said to date from 1822. Two years thereafter, merchandise was transported upon the backs of mules and horses. In the same year, 1824, a company of about eighty missionaries set out with a trainload of wares, including both pack mules and wagons, the latter being the first wheeled vehicles to cross the plains. Colonel Marmaduke, afterwards Governor of Missouri, was a member of this party, which carried about thirty thousand dol- lars' worth of merchandise to Santa Fe.
Troubles with the Indians began at an early date, and a demand was made for Government protection, which was met, and in the spring of 1829, Major Riley accompanied an expedition as far as Choteau's Island in the Arkansas. This escort, and one commanded by Captain Wharton in 1834, constituted the only military protection granted the Santa Fe trade until 1843, when Captain Cook commanded large escorts for two caravans as far as the Arkansas river.
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The town of Independence, Missouri, was the center of this trade in 1831, from which point to New Mexico, there was not a human abode on the trail or near it. The "Commerce of the Prai- ries," by Gregg, thus describes the entrance of a caravan into the city of Santa Fe;
"The arrival produced a great deal of bustle and excitement among the natives: 'Los Ameri- canos!' 'Los Carros!' 'La Entrada de la cara- vana!' were to be heard in every direction and crowds of women and boys flocked around to see the new comers; while crowds of leperos hung about as usual to see what they could pilfer. The wagoners were by no means free from excitement at this occasion. Informed of the ordeal they had to pass, they had spent the pre- vious morning in 'rubbing up,' and now they were prepared with clean faces, sleek combed hair, and their choicest Sunday suit, to meet the fair eyes of glistening black that were sure to stare at them as they passed. There was yet another preparation to be made in order to 'show off' to advantage. Each wagoner must tie a brand-new 'cracker' to the lash of his whip; for, on driving through the streets and the plaza pub- lica, every one strives to outvie his comrades in the dexterity with which he flourishes this favor- ite badge of his authority.
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