USA > Arizona > History of Arizona and New Mexico, 1530-1888, Volume XVII > Part 61
USA > New Mexico > History of Arizona and New Mexico, 1530-1888, Volume XVII > Part 61
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19 The gov. accused Kautz of inefficiency in Ind. warfare against the rene- gades, and in his message of 1877 called on the legisl. to raise a force of militia or Ind. scouts to protect the country, since the military were doing nothing. Ariz. Jour., 1877, p. 233 4. Both parties wrote severe letters for the news- papers, and Safford made an effort to have Kautz removed. The general de- fends himself at length in his regular report of Aug. 15, 1877. U. S. Govt Doc., 45th cong. 2d sess., H. Ex. Doc. ii. 133-49. Hoyt, Leading Events, MS., 15 et seq., says that Kautz was a little later court-martialed and reprimanded for publishing a pamphlet reflecting on Judge-advocate-gen. Dunn. Though the north was generally spoken of as being at peace, Kautz' report shows several expeditions in the C. Verde region, in which 38 Ind. were killed and 42 captured.
570
INDIAN AFFAIRS IN ARIZONA.
band. Further trouble occurred on the reservation, and the general outlook was very discouraging. Mili- tary men were nearly unanimous in the opinion that all these later troubles were due to the disturbance of Crook's plans, the turning-over of the reservations to the Indian bureau in 1874, the unwise concentration of the Apaches at San Carlos, and subsequent mis- management on the part of civil agents with the re- sulting controversies. It is clear that this view of the matter is to a considerable extent well founded.
In 1882 General Crook came back to relieve Gen- eral Willcox, to whom, however, no special fault was imputed. A treaty was made by which Indians might be pursued across the boundary by United States and Mexican troops, respectively. And with Crook's re- turn there came about rather mysteriously, as Dunn remarks, " a reasonable harmony between representa- tives of the Indian bureau and war department in Arizona." He found the reservation Indians sullen, suspicious, and discontented, complaining of wrongs at the hands of their late agent, distracted with rumors of intended attack, disarmment, and removal, and dis- posed to go again on the war-path as a choice of evils. With his old tact the general made them understand that war was just what their enemies desired, and peace their only means of saving their reservation. The old system of strict discipline, metal tags, and frequent roll-calls was restored, and the native police reorganized. Confidence being restored, Crook per- mitted a large number of the Indians to leave the river agency and live in the northern part of the res- ervation without rations. They succeeded so well that about 1,500, or one third of the whole number, were soon living in the north and almost self-sustain- ing.
Meanwhile, Gerónimo and the rest were raiding in Mexico; and in March 1883, Chato with fifty Indians crossed the line and killed a dozen persons in Arizona, including the family of Judge McComas. With about
571
CROOK'S CAMPAIGN.
50 soldiers and 200 Apache scouts, having fortunately secured the services as guide of a chief who had de- serted from the foe, and having made arrangements for the cooperation of the Mexican forces, Crook marched in May to the Apache stronghold in the Sierra Madre-a place never reached by troops before, and which could not have been reached without the services of the guide. A complete surrounding and surprise of the foe was prevented by the hasty firing of the scouts; but Chato's band was defeated with a loss of nine killed and five captives; and the rest entered into negotiations. Finally, they offered to surrender on the condition that past offences should be forgotten, and all be settled on the reservation. Because a successful prosecution of the campaign at this time and in this country was impossible, because to withdraw and await a more convenient opportunity of surprising the foe would involve renewed disaster to the scattered settlers, and because the Chiricahua outbreak had been caused to a considerable extent by unfair treatment, Crook accepted the terms and brought back to San Carlos nearly 400 renegades, including Gerónimo, Chato, Nachez, Loco, and all the chiefs except Juh, who had escaped. For two years these Indians under military management be- haved well, and it was hoped that the Apache ques- tion had been at last settled.20
20 Annual Report of Brigadier-general George Crook, U. S. Army, command- ing department of Arizona, 1883, n. p., 12mo, 17, 1, 2, 3, 12, 1, 3 p .; Id., 1884, 12mo, 10 p. In Ariz. Laws, 1883, p. 292-6, is a memorial of the legisl., ex- planatory of the situation and asking that all the Apaches be removed. An Apache Campaign in the Sierra Madre; an account of the expedition in pursuit of the hostile Chiricahua Apaches in the spring of 1883. By John G. Bourke, Capt. Third Cavalry, etc., N. Y., 1886, 12mo, 112 p., furnishes also a good narrative of Crook's campaign. Crook says: 'From my experience of late years I can state, unhesitatingly, that since the Ind. have learned the strength of our people, in almost every Ind. war which I have known anything about, the prime cause has been, either the failure of our govt to make good its pledges, or the wrongs perpetrated upon them by unscrupulous whites. That Ind. are often robbed of their rations, goods, etc., ... by rascally agents and other un- scrupulous white men, is a fact within the knowledge of any one having relations with them. These are the men who are responsible for this unset- tled state of affairs. Public sentiment in frontier communities does not consider the malicious killing of an Ind. murder, nor the most unblushing plundering theft .. . I have no knowledge of a case on record where a white
572
INDIAN AFFAIRS IN ARIZONA.
Yet once more in the early summer of 1885, Geró- nimo and Nachez, with a part of their Chiricahua warriors, fled from the reservation, and resumed their deadly raiding on the settlers on both sides of the line. No definite reason for the outbreak is known, though the chief's detection in the illicit manufacture of tis- win, the native liquor, has been suggested; and later Gerónimo has talked vaguely of plots against his life. This occurrence, while not affecting the wisdom of Crook's general policy, or proving that past troubles had not been largely due to reservation changes and mismanagement, or even justifying the suspicion that the general had been so far carried away by his theo- ries as to become a dupe of Apache cunning-yet shows clearly enough that even with just and careful treatment under military auspices the Apache could not be trusted, that the problem had not been so near an easy solution as Crook had believed, and that past outbreaks were due in part to inherent savagism. Again, with his accustomed vigor, and with the aid of Apache scouts, under Captain Crawford-who was killed in an unfortunate encounter with Mexicans --- Crook pursued the renegades into Sonora, and in
man has been convicted and punished for defrauding an Indian. I am not an apologist for the Chiricahuas-they are bad Ind., probably the very worst on the continent.' 'An Ind. in his mode of warfare is more than the equal of the white man, and it would be practically impossible with white soldiers to subdue the Chiricahuas in their own haunts.' He thinks the Ind. should own their lands in severalty, as most of them desire. To disarm them he believes impossible and undesirable; they must have arms for protection against lawless whites. 'Their removal would bring on the bloodiest Ind. war this country has ever experienced.' But the general goes much too far in urging that the ballot should be given the Ind. In his report of 1884, after a year of peace, Crook expresses great satisfaction with the progress made, and the prospects, notwithstanding certain obstacles-notably the ex- tortions of traders. One chief, for making warlike speeches, was arrested, tried, and convicted-all by natives-and sent to Cal. for imprisonment. Gerónimo and Nachez are among the most successful farmers. Crops of the season were 3,850,000 lbs. corn, 550,000 lbs. barley, 54,000 lbs. beans, 20,000 lbs. potatoes, 50,000 lbs. wheat, 200,000 pumpkins, and 90,000 melons, in spite of some bad luck caused by freshets.
It should be noted here that there is extant in Arizona a theory that in the campaign of 1883 Gen. Crook, through placing too much confidence in his scouts, found himself really in the power of the Chiricahuas, and was obliged to accept Gerónimo's terms. I have not attached much importance to this theory, thongh the events of 1885-6 tend somewhat to give it plausi- bility.
573
CROOK AND MILES.
March 1886 forced them to promise surrender. £ But before entering Arizona, not obtaining satisfactory guaranties of restoration to reservation life, and fear- ing the punishment his crimes deserved, the wily Gerónimo and his companions effected their escape to ravage the frontier with death and desolation for five months more. This misfortune, or blunder, brought upon Crook a storm of abuse which resulted in his removal; and General Nelson Miles was appointed to take his place. Under the new commander and his subordinates, notable among whom was Captain Lawton, the campaign was continued; and after va- rious delays and contretemps that did not fail to arouse a clamor of popular criticism, the Chiricahua band of some 20 warriors was in August forced to surrender without conditions.
As I write, not only these captives, but all the Chiricahuas and Hot Spring Indians at San Carlos have been sent to Florida. Arizona is again joyful in the belief that her Indian troubles are forever at an end. General Miles is the hero of the day, natu- rally, and justly to the extent that he has well per- formed his duty, but unfairly in so far as his service of a few months is made to outweigh the still more valuable work of Crook for years. Whether Geró- nimo will be hanged, as he should be, is not yet set- tled, and for the welfare of Arizona it is immaterial. There is no reason to doubt that there will be other troubles with the Apaches; but they should not be very serious, especially if the policy of exiling all renegades shall be strictly enforced.
As to the general prospects of the reservation Indians of all tribes, they cannot be said to be encouraging. A mountainous mining country on the national fron- tier, where white men can hardly be made to behave themselves, is not fit for an Indian reservation. It would be better for Arizona that all should be re- moved; and better for the Indians, if there be any region where success with other tribes is at all en-
574
INDIAN AFFAIRS IN ARIZONA.
couraging. Yet the removal would be very difficult, perhaps impossible. Though no real progress has as yet been made, reservation annals furnish many items to indicate seemingly that the seeds of advancement might easily be made to take root. The Indians often show traits of docility, patience, industry, and ambi- tion to improve, of which it would seem advantage might be taken; but with these traits are inextricably mingled others of stupid perversity and savagism that practically bar the way to all improvement; and the monumental capacity for blundering, the rascality, the bigotry, the lack of skill, the fondness for controversy on the part of agents, teachers, missionaries, and all who undertake the management of Indians, have thus far cooperated most effectually against success. Prob- ably no radical change is to be expected in either red men or white; probably a foreign civilization cannot be ingrafted on aboriginal stock; apparently the In- dians, non-progressive savages, ever the victims of injustice, must dwindle in numbers and finally disap- pear; or, at best, the germs of civilization be planted in a few individuals surviving the tribal annihilation. Yet the line of our nation's duty is clear in the mat- ter. The Indians must be fully protected in their rights. Outrages upon them must be promptly and severely punished. Every attempt at improvement must be encouraged. As fast as possible the tribal relation must be broken up. Lands must be given in severalty to all who are capable of utilizing them. Government aid must be mainly in the form of im- plements and instruction and protection. Primary schools must be liberally supported ; but religion must be made a secondary matter. Above all, earnest, honest, practical men must be put in charge and paid for their services. The survival of the fittest must be encouraged. If any must perish, let it be the good-for-nothing; if any are to be helped, let it be those who are disposed to help themselves.
575
OTHER OUTLAWS.
Apaches have not been the only outlaws who have afflicted Arizona. Acts of lawless violence, includ- ing murders, robberies, and lynchings, have been but too common throughout the territory's history. Yet such irregularities have not been greater but rather much less than was to be expected under the peculiar circumstances, in consideration of which Arizona's record is not worse than that of the other western regions. The Indian wars in themselves, during which every citizen's life was in constant danger, tended strongly to establish the habit of reliance on force rather than legal forms for protection from other foes. Desperadoes might always commit out- rages with a fair chance of their being attributed to Indians. The geographic position of the territory contributed to the same result. Mexican outlaws of a peculiarly vicious class frequented the frontier dis- tricts, easily escaping after the commission of crimes into Sonora, where their punishment, by reason of endless complications of international red tape, was generally impracticable. These Mexicans, bad as they were, had like the Indians to bear the responsi- bility for hundreds of offences they never committed. The native population of Spanish race, here as in other border regions of the United States, has often been the object of most unfair treatment. Too often has there been a popular clamor for the expulsion of all Mexicans from some mining camp, innate race prejudice being aggravated by the acts of a few out- laws, and the result being utilized by designing des- peradoes or politicians of another race for the carrying- out of their various designs. A sparsely settled mining country is never a favorable field for the proper enforcement of law; and Arizona for many years, by reason not only of its Indian troubles, but of its undeserved reputation as a desert unfit for homes, was chiefly attractive to the least desirable class of adventurers from California, Nevada, Colorado, and Texas. Again the long and unprotected stage
576
INDIAN AFFAIRS IN ARIZONA.
and express routes over which rich bullion prizes were carried, have furnished especial temptations and facili- ties for highway robbery. And it must be admitted that the combination of national and territorial author- ity has not always been favorable to the administra- tion of justice; and that locally the qualities of energy and bravery required in officers of justice have been too often sought in men more or less identified with the criminal element. It is not my purpose to pre- sent a chronicle of Arizona crimes and criminals, though I append some items and references in a note. While it can hardly be hoped that troubles of this class are at an end, yet constant progress in the right direction and growth of proper public sentiment are to be noted. With railroads, agricultural develop- ment, and increase of law-abiding population, scenes of violence will be more and more confined, as they have been for the most part in late years, to new mining districts and isolated frontier settlements.21
21 Some items on Ariz. committees of vigilance, etc., may be found in my Popular Tribunals, i. 722 et seq. In his message of 1868 the gov. compli- ments the Mex. pop. for their obedience to law and general good character. Down to this time there have been no special complaints of lawlessness except before 1864. In '68, however, the gov. offers a reward of $300 for the arrest of a murderer. Ariz. Jour., 1868, p. 272. From '70 murders and rob- beries attributed to Mex. became frequent on the Gila. Three Amer. were killed at Mission Camp. A reward of $1,000 was offered, and an agent was sent to Sonora, but Gov. Pesqueira declined to give up the criminals. Id., 1871, p. 53 4, 157-9, 163-4, 222-8, 234-8; Hayes' Scraps, Ariz., iii. 101. Baker and family were murdered at Blue Water Station in Dec. "71. Id., iii. 289-91, 312, 315; U. S. Gort Doc., 42d cong. 3d sess., H. Ex. Doc., i. 383-6, 411-12; and many newspaper articles. Four or five murders are noted in '72. There were also complaints on the Sonora side of outrages on Mex. Estrella de Occid., Mar. 29, 1872; Mex., Mem. Rel., 1875, annex 1, p. 3-13. In 1873 there were several vigilance organizations, and also the 1st legal exe- cution-that of one Fernandez at Yuma. Hayes' Scraps, Ariz., v. 165, 169, 188, 199, 210; vi. 160, 167-8, 172, 193; Ariz. Scraps, 165. In 1877 the gov. an- nounced that for 2 years but slight troubles had occurred; yet predicted that with increasing wealth the temptation for robbery would increase; and ad- vised the legislature to continue its appropriations for the arrest of criminals, and to make highway robbery a capital offence. And indeed, from 1878 mur- ders and robberies are frequently catalogued in the newspapers each year. The Mex. do not seem to have been prominently accused in these years, but some corresp. on the subject is found in Mex. Corresp. Diplomática, i. 779-84; U. S. Govt Doc., 46th cong. 2d sess., H. Ex. Doc., i. 734. In '79 the Phoenix stage was robbed 4 times in as many months; Gov. Gosper offered $500 for the killing and $300 for the arrest of a stage robber; and several lynchings are recorded. Ariz. Scraps, 129; Phoenix, Herald, June 25, '80; Prescott Miner, Dec. 3, '80; S. F. Bulletin, Aug. 22, '79; S. F. Chronicle, Aug.
577
ACTS OF VIOLENCE.
23, '79. In '80-2 matters assumed their worst aspect, stage robbers were lynched, cowboys attacked some of the towns, sheriffs and their posses were often resisted, bloody affrays occurred between Amer. and Mex., an emi- grant train was attacked hy robbers, and several legal executions are recorded. Tombstone was a centre of lawless operations, the U. S. marshal was shot, and several bloody fights took place between the desperadoes and scarcely less desperate officers of justice. The citizens were at last fully aroused; money was contributed, and a volunteer force raised; the president of the U. S. issued a proclamation; and in '83 quiet was restored, and the prisons were full. See files of Tombstone and other. newspapers in these years; also Ariz. Jour., 12th legis. ass. 30-2; U. S. Govt Doc., 47th cong. Ist sess., H. Ex. Doc. 188. The last serious trouble was at Bisbee in Dec. '83, when five armed men deliberately and openly robbed a store and killed 5 citizens in cold blood. The 5 culprits were speedily convicted and hanged at Tombstone in March '84; while another accomplice, being condemned to im- prisonment for life, was lynched by citizens in Feb. See Ariz. Hist. (E. & Co.), 154-5; and the newspapers.
HIST. ARIZ, AND N. MEX. 37
1
CHAPTER XXIII. ARIZONAN INDUSTRIES AND INSTITUTIONS.
1864-1886.
MINING-EARLY OPERATIONS-THE GOLD PLACERS-EFFECT OF APACHE WARS-OTHER OBSTACLES-FINAL SUCCESS-STATISTICS-SILVER AND GOLD BELT-THE FOUR GROUPS, MOJAVE, YAVAPAI, GILA, PIMA, AND COCHISE-SOME LOCAL ITEMS-FAMOUS MINES-TOMBSTONE-COPPER MINES-DIAMOND HOAX-MODERN WORKS ON ARIZONA-AGRICULTURE -CLIMATE AND PRODUCTS-STOCK-RAISING-GOVERNMENT LANDS-MEX- ICAN GRANTS-MANUFACTURES AND TRADE-ROADS, STAGES, AND MAILS /-RAILROADS AND TELEGRAPHS-EDUCATION-LIBRARY-HISTORICAL SOCIETY-CHURCHES-NEWSPAPERS.
FROM the time when it first became known to Europeans, Arizona has been especially noted for its mineral wealth. There is no evidence that its mines were ever worked by the aborigines; but by the Spaniards its treasure of precious metals was much talked of, even before being found. It was enough to know that the country was in the mysterious north, and occupied by savage tribes; its wealth was taken for granted. On its partial exploration, however, and the establishment of missions and presidios on its bor- ders early in the eighteenth century, abundant indica- tions of gold and silver were found in all directions. Yet so broad and rich was the mineral field farther south, and so feeble the Spanish tenure in Alta Pime- ría by reason of Indian hostility, that not even the wonderfully rich 'planchas de plata' at the Arizona camp, giving name to the later territory though not within its limits, led to the occupation of the northern parts by miners. As I have already explained, the current traditions of extensive mining in Spanish ( 578 )
579
MINING IN ARIZONA.
times are greatly exaggerated. The Jesuits worked no mines; and in their period, down to 1767, nothing was practically accomplished beyond irregular pros- pecting in connection with military expeditions and the occasional working of a few veins or placers for brief periods, near the presidios. It is doubtful that any traces of such workings have been visible in mod- ern times. Later, however, in about 1790-1815, while the Apaches were comparatively at peace and all industries flourished accordingly, mines were worked on a small scale in several parts of what is now Pima county, and the old shafts and tunnels of this period have sometimes been found, though the extent of such operations has been generally exaggerated. With Mexican independence and a renewal of Apache raids, the mining industry was entirely suspended, only to be resumed in the last years, if at all, on a scale even smaller than before 1790.
Still the fame of hidden wealth remained and mul- tiplied; and on the consummation of the Gadsden purchase in 1854, as we have seen, Americans like Poston and Mowry began to open the mines. East- ern capital was enlisted; several companies were formed; mills and furnaces were put in operation ; and for some six years, in the face of great obstacles -notably that of expensive transportation-the south- ern silver mines were worked with considerable success and brilliant prospects, until interrupted by the war of the rebellion, the withdrawal of troops, and the triumph of the Apaches in 1861. The mining properties were then plundered and destroyed, many miners were killed, and work was entirely suspended, not to be profitably resumed in this region for many years. During this period the Ajo copper mines in Papague- ría were also worked with some success; and on the lower Gila from 1858 gold placers, or dry washings, attracted a thousand miners or more, being somewhat profitably worked for four years, and never entirely abandoned. In 1862 the placer excitement was trans-
580
ARIZONAN INDUSTRIES AND INSTITUTIONS.
ferred northward across the Gila, and up the Colorado to the region where La Paz, Olive City, and Ehren- berg soon came into existence. For several years these Colorado placers attracted a crowd of Califor- nians, and a large amount of coarse gold was obtained; but as a rule the dry washing processes were too tedious for the permanent occupation of any but Mex- icans and Indians; and the Americans pushed their prospecting north-eastward, under the pioneers Pauline Weaver and Joseph Walker, for whom new and rich districts in what is now Yavapai county were named in 1863. Not only was the placer field thus extended, but rich gold and silver bearing veins were found, giv- ing promise of a permanent mining industry for the future.1
Such was the state of affairs in 1864-5, when the territory of Arizona was organized; and the mining
1 The Cal. papers of 1862-3 are full of corresp. on the Colorado placers, and there is a large col. of this corresp. in Hayes' Scrap-books, Ariz., i., passim. The number of miners in 1862 is estimated from 500 to 1,500. Reports are contradictory; but nobody seems to be making much money. There is much discussion of the best routes from Los Angeles, the number of miners return- ing in disgust being apparently about equal to those starting out in high hopes. In 1863-4 the La Paz fields are comparatively deserted for the north and east; and we hear more and more of veins and lodes of gold, silver, and copper. Olive City was then called Olivia. Many discoveries are mentioned in Mojave co., and we hear much of the Moss lode, Eldorado Canon, and Hardyville. The placer excitement ended about 1864, though the deposits continued to be worked, and often with profit. According to Raymond's rept of 1870, the placer gold of the Gila and Colorado fields is of local origin from small gash- veins in slates and greenstone. The gravel is angular and not rounded by water, having little or no earth with it. Only coarse gold had been saved, and there was more left than had been taken out. From 1870 there was a revival of interest in the placers, though they had never been wholly aban- doned. A machine for dry washing was used on the Colorado; and on the Gila a company pumped water into a reservoir on the hills. Hamilton says the Ynma co. placers have yielded over $2,000,000. The census report and King give the placer yield of 1880 as $30,000. Lynx Creek and the Weaver district in Yavapai are said to have produced over $1,000,000 each from gravel; and there were several other rich districts, the placer yield of 1873 being put at $40,000. Richmond Basin, Gila co., was a mnost remark- able placer, over $100,000 in nuggets being picked from the surface, and there being 10 feet of gold-bearing mud on the bed-rock. In the Quijotoa region, Pima co., dry placers have been worked by Mexicans and Pápagos. Extensive placers are mentioned in the Sta Rita Mts. In Graham co., on S. Francisco River, is a broad tract of gravel which is thought to promise well for hydraulic work. Hardly a year has passed without a placer discovery in some part of Ariz., chiefly in Yavapai; and work has been continuous and in a small way profitable, though interrupted often in one section or another by drought. Statistics of production in this branch of mining are naturally very meagre and unreliable
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