USA > Arizona > The marvellous country : or, Three years in Arizona and New Mexico, the Apaches' home > Part 10
USA > New Mexico > The marvellous country : or, Three years in Arizona and New Mexico, the Apaches' home > Part 10
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After convincing him beyond all doubt, by the most posi- tive evidence, that he did not kill the deer, the vaqueros proceeded to dress it, and we feasted that night on the most delicious venison steak we had yet found in the country ; nor did we give Jimmy the credit he so much deserved for killing the deer, until some days later.
One fact impressed us most forcibly during our visit to this portion of the Territory, viz. all the mountains are, to a greater or less extent, exceedingly rich, being filled with valuable deposits of silver and gold. Since our visit, the
181
NEED OF PROTECTION.
Heintzleman mine, like all the others, has been deserted, in consequence of the depredations of the Apaches. Ruins alone mark the place which but a few years since was the home of thrift and industry. How long this state of affairs will continue, who can tell? There is no protection for life or property there, nor can I see how the government can adequately garrison such a vast extent of territory as would be necessary to protect the mining interests in this section of the country. With the experiences of the past, no capi- talists can be found willing to invest their money in specu- lations of so uncertain a character as silver mining, without protection, in Arizona.
There are many other mines equal in value to those I have named, particularly in and around Arrivacca. The Cahua- bia, Bahia, and, in fact, dozens of mines could be mentioned, all rich, and lacking but one thing to make them valuable,- protection. Give the silver mines of Arizona but this, and there can be no doubt but that they would rival the richest silver mines in the world in their productions.
Leaving the Heintzleman mine, we drove to Tubac, where we remained for the night, enjoying the hospitality of the Arizona Mining Company, and early the next morn- ing were on the road once more for Tucson. It was a beau- tiful day, and as we drove along, enjoying the delicious breeze from the mountains, we could but exclaim at the prodigality with which nature had bestowed her fairest gifts
182
JIMMY VINDICATED.
upon a country, whose inhabitants, like Tantalus, were doomed to see, but not to enjoy.
We spent the night with our friend Bill May, who, after administering to the comforts of the inner man, entertained us until a late hour with a history of the wild and adventur- ous life he had led upon the Mexican frontier, he having been one of the few who escaped of the party that formed the Crabbe expedition into Sonora in 1851.
The next morning we again started, and long ere night reached the Papago village, nestled under the shadow of the spires of San Xavier. Here we remained for the night; for the sight of the green fields and waving grain were far preferable to the mud walls and filthy surroundings of Tucson. Jimmy was delighted to see the "king" once again, as he persistently called Old José.
That evening, while we were lying on the grass watching Jimmy prepare the venison steaks for our supper, Dr. Parker said to him,-
"Jimmy, that is the finest venison we have yet seen in the country, and we are really indebted to you for it, for you killed it."
"Did I. shoot that deer mesilf?" asked Jimmy, with the . utmost surprise depicted on his expressive features.
"Yes, Jimmy, you shot it yourself."
"An' the ividence agin me wuz a lie ?" "All a lie, Jimmy."
183
A SPANISH COCK-FIGHT.
"Thin by the powers," said Jimmy, "don't I wish I had thim vicarus here now! To think of 'em thryin' to stael the honor from a stranger in the counthry - and they livin' in it too. Wouldn't I like to give 'em a bit of an ould Irish shillalah, tho'?
The only animosity Jimmy exhibited was towards the unfortunate vaqueros, whose testimony had been manufac- tured by me to suit the occasion; and I very much fear that could he have found them, he would have administered the sound drubbing he threatened, in spite of anything we could do to prevent it.
In the evening we attended vespers for the last time in the old church, and once more listened to the soul- entrancing music of the Papago choralists. After the ser- vice, we witnessed in the yard of the church a regular Spanish "cock-fight," at which silver ounces freely changed hands. Each cock was armed with the old-fashioned Span- ish slasher, a long, thin, steel blade, shaped somewhat like a hook, and most effective in destroying the life of the bird in whose body it is once sheathed.
The priest who officiated at vespers was the owner of the winning cock, his opponent having been brought from Tucson. Of course we congratulated him upon his good fortune, and his hearty "Mil gracias," convinced us that his soul was quite as much with his bird, as it had been with his service.
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CHAPTER XIII.
FTER much deliberation, and many arguments pro and con, Dr. Parker and myself finally decided to leave our wagon and mules at Tucson, in charge of Jimmy, and take the overland mail- coach to the Pimo villages on the Gila,- or swift running water,- from which place we determined to start on our visit to the celebrated "Casas Grandes" situated near that stream, which for many years have engaged the attention of the scientific men and savans of the Pacific coast.
We were not surprised to receive from Jimmy a most earnest, but respectful protest against our leaving him in what he was pleased to term the "divil's own counthry, shure"; and it was a long time before he became reconciled to our making the trip without him.
It was at last decided, however, that he should remain at (184)
185
THE PIMO INDIANS.
the mission of San Xavier, in the Papago settlement; but for the safety of the animals, it was thought best to leave them with Colonel Robinson, at Tucson, who very kindly consented to look after them.
Arrangements having been concluded, we embarked about six o'clock in the morning, in one of Butterfield's coaches, for the Pimo villages, some ninety miles distant. Our ride thither was a most uninteresting one, beneath the scorching rays of the sun, over a hard, gravelly soil, cov- ered with a thick growth of mesquit and cactus; in fact, the whole country was little better than a desert, the only water found upon the route being obtained from the wells which had been dug at the mail stations, for the convenience of watering their stock.
About daylight on the following morning, we arrived at the villages; and, after resting a little, and refreshing our- selves with a very comfortable sort of a breakfast, we started out sight-seeing.
The Pimos have lived upon and cultivated this spot for more than three hundred years. Marco de Niza found them here as far back as 1539. Father Kino also mentions them in his travels; and Savidra, who spent much of his life among the Indians of Sonora and Arizona, speaks of their being directly descended from the Montezuma Indians; and in proof of this assertion, cites the cutting of the hair square across the forehead, and permitting it to grow long behind,
24
186
FERTILITY OF THE SOIL.
a custom that prevails to some extent among fashionable young ladies of the present day, and which was, undoubt- edly, derived from the Montezuma Indians, who have, for many hundred years, followed the practice, and indeed have regarded it as a distinguishing trait of their noble lineage.
As early as 1539, we have accounts of the Pimos living by cultivating the soil; and at the time we visited them, the United States government had just finished the sur- veys of a reservation embracing one hundred square leagues of land, nearly all of which was easily irrigated, conse- quently susceptible of cultivation. This reservation is about twenty-five miles long and seven miles wide, and is situated on both sides of the Gila.
Nearly the whole of the land thus set apart, has been cul- tivated by these Indians for more than three hundred years, and still, without dressing of any kind, yields full thirty- fold in crops. Golonel Grey, whom we met here, and who had surveyed the reservation, assured us that they had at least four hundred miles of acequias already constructed upon the reservation, and for many years had raised fine crops of wheat, corn, tobacco, and cotton. Wheat is sown in January, and harvested in May and June. Cotton and tobacco in February. Two crops are always raised on the same ground in a year.
There are ten of these villages, composed of about seventy-five or a hundred wigwams each. These wigwams
187
WIGWAMS AND FARMING UTENSILS.
are built of small poles, inserted in the ground, and bent at the top to a common centre, interwoven with corn-husks, straw, and rushes, so as to shed the rain, and protect the inmates from the intense heat of the sun. Many of them are also plastered over with mud. The doors are just large enough to enable a person to creep in on hands and knees. The cooking is all done in the open air, beneath a shed or roof.
Every family has a granary, or store-house, which is much larger and better constructed than their huts, and which, in fact, they use for sleeping purposes, as well as for shelter from inclement weather.
There are about six thousand of these Indians, and they have nearly a thousand separate enclosures, which are divided by very excellent fences, made of crooked sticks and mesquit. They have but few animals, and never use the plough, the hoe being the only agricultural implement they possess, except a few carts, which they have obtained from the emigrant trains passing through their villages; and yet, during the year of our visit, they had sold the mail com- pany more than four hundred thousand pounds of wheat, be- sides large quantities of corn, beans, pumpkins, and melons.
When we reflect that this soil has been cultivated for nearly four hundred years that we have knowledge of, with only the hoe, and without dressing, we can form some idea of its fertility and productiveness.
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188
BRAVERY OF THE PEOPLE.
The Pimos are not wanting in courage, and many a sound whipping have the Apaches received at their hands. Their only weapon is the bow and arrow, in the use of which they are very expert. They have always been very friendly to the whites, and have frequently aided them in recovering property stolen by the Apaches, and have also protected emigrant trains through the villages to Fort Yuma, when our government was powerless to do it.
These Indians manufacture certain kinds of pottery-ware, also beautiful baskets, blankets, and cotton-cloth. The work is nearly all done by the women. The men, as a gen- eral thing, go naked, excepting the breech-clout; the women wear about their loins a piece of cotton-cloth, falling to the knees, and fastened at the waist by a girdle, or belt; and usually possess fine, well-developed forms.
We spent the entire day in looking about the villages, and in organizing a party to visit the "Casas Grandes," which are situated near the River, about twenty-five miles above the Pimo villages. Colonel Buckley, the superintendent of the California division of the overland mail, very kindly furnished us with mules and an outfit for the trip, and our numbers were increased by the addition of two Pimos, who were to act as guides, and a Mr. St. John, who had been appointed by the government to superintend and instruct the Pimos in agricultural pursuits.
Our party, consisting of five persons, started early the
189
THE " HOUSES OF MONTEZUMA."
next morning on the trip. Keeping along the bank of the river, travelling through dense groves of mesquit and cotton-wood, we made during the day about eighteen miles, and camped at night in a beautiful grove on the banks of the Gila.
The next morning, after following the course of the river for several miles, we came upon the remains of a very large acequia, which we traced for a long distance, through a plain now overgrown by mesquit, but showing unmistaka- ble evidences of having at some time been extensively cultivated.
All over the plain we found hundreds of branch acequias, together with marks of former habitations, broken pottery- ware, and stone metattes.
About noon we came in sight of three immense build- ings, which our guide assured us were the "houses of Montezuma"; and we could but gaze upon them with won- der and awe, for never before had we seen anything so wonderful as these relics of an extinct race, of whom we have no reliable history, and no knowledge save traditionary legends.
The houses are situated on a slight eminence, and are about three or four hundred feet apart. They are built of a species of concrete, made of mud and gravel, while the timber, or rafters, used in their construction, are of cedar, and well preserved.
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190
MR. BARTLETT'S DESCRIPTION.
The largest of these was, undoubtedly, at the time it was built, four stories in height; and there are walls now stand- ing, to the height of fifty feet.
Mr. Bartlett, who visited these ruins in '52, has given such a full and minute description of them, that I purpose giving it in these pages, well satisfied that the reader can gain a better idea of these remarkable structures than he could do from any description of mine. He says: "The Casas Grandes, or great houses, consist of three buildings, all included within a space of one hundred and fifty yards. The principal and largest one is in the best state of pres- ervation ; its four exterior walls, and most of the inner ones, are still standing. A considerable portion of the upper part of the walls have crumbled away and fallen inwards. Three stories now remain, and there was a fourth, which has nearly all crumbled away. The central portion, or tower, is about ten feet higher than the walls, which at their base are from four to five feet thick. The inside is perpendicular, while the exterior face tapers in a curved line towards the top.
"All the walls are laid with large, square blocks of mud, prepared for the purpose by pressing the material into large boxes about two feet in height and four feet long. When the mud becomes sufficiently hardened, the cases are moved along and again filled, and so on until the whole edifice is completed. The material for the buildings is the mud of
THE CASAS GRANDES IN 1859.
1
191
HOW THEY WERE CONSTRUCTED.
the valley mixed with gravel, which is very adhesive, and when dry, very durable.
"The outer surface of the walls appears to have been plas- tered roughly, but the inside is hard finished. This is done with a composition of adobe, and is still as smooth as when
PLAN AND ELEVATION.
first made, and has quite a polish. On one of the walls are drawn rude figures, but no inscriptions. From the charred ends of the beams that remain in the walls, it is evident the buildings were destroyed by fire.
"Some of the lintels over the doors are formed of sticks of
. 192
HOW THEY WERE CONSTRUCTED.
wood stripped of their bark, but showing no signs of the use of any sharp instrument in their construction. The beams that supported the floors were about five inches in diameter, and placed about the same number of inches apart, and the ends inserted deep in the walls. Most of the apartments are connected by doors, beside which there are circular openings in the upper part of the chambers, to admit light and air."
The ground-plan of the buildings shows that all the apart- ments were long and narrow, and without windows.
The imer rooms were undoubtedly used for store- rooms. There were four entrances to each of the buildings. The door on the western side was but two feet wide and eight feet high; while all the others were three feet wide, and but five feet high, and all tapering towards the top, a peculiarity belonging to the ancient edifices of Central America and Yucatan. With the exception of these doors, there are no exterior openings, save on the western side, where there are circular windows, like those before de- scribed. Over the doorway in the third story, there was a square window, and on either side of this two - circular openings. The southern front has fallen in several places; the other three fronts are quite perfect.
The walls at the base, particularly at the corners, have crumbled away to the extent of twelve or fourteen inches, and are only held together by their great thickness. 1
The moisture in these portions causes disintegration to
193
CAUSE OF THEIR DECAY.
take place more rapidly than in any other part of the build- ings; and in a few years, as these walls become undermined, the whole structure must fall, and become a mere rounded heap, like those that are seen upon the plains around in all directions. A few days' labor spent in restoring the walls at the base with mud and gravel, would render this inter- esting monument as durable as brick, and enable it to stand for a long while. It is known to have existed in its present state for more than a century.
The exterior dimensions of the largest building are fifty feet from north to south, and forty feet from east to west. On the ground-floor are five apartments, those on the north and south sides measuring thirty-two feet by ten feet. All are open to the sky, nor is there any appearance of a stair- way on any of the walls. The means of entrance to the upper apartments was undoubtedly from the outside.
A few hundred feet to the southwest is a second building, in a complete state of ruin, while to the northeast of the main building is a third one, which without doubt was a watch-tower. As far as the eye can reach in every direc- tion, are seen heaps of ruined edifices, with but small por- tions of their walls standing.
To the northwest, about two hundred yards distant, is a circular embankment, from two hundred and forty to three hundred feet in circumference, supposed to be the remains of a corral, or enclosure for cattle.
25
194
SHROUDED IN MYSTERY.
The plains are everywhere strewn with broken pottery and metattes. The pottery is red, white, lead color, and black. The figures are geometrical, formed with taste, and are similar to those found on the Salinas, forty miles north of this place.
The texture of the pottery is very fine, and much of it is painted on the inside, a peculiarity found only here. The origin of these buildings is shrouded in mystery. When first discovered by the carly explorers of the Territory, they were much the same as in their present condition; and the Indians affirmed that they had then been built five hundred years.
One thing is evident, viz. the entire valley of the Gila, as well as that of the Salinas, was at one time densely pop- ulated. The ruined buildings, the acequias, the quantities of pottery found, all prove this supposition. In fact, the whole country for hundreds of miles around shows traces of extinct civilization, and fills the mind of the traveller with the most perplexing questions.
What race of people dwelt here? By whom were these decaying walls erected? Who constructed the many thou- sand miles of acequias? How did they live, and where are they row? are questions that suggest themselves at every step; and as yet they have never been satisfactorily answered.
It seems to me that our government ought to take some
195
PEDRO FONT'S DESCRIPTION.
measures towards solving this great mystery, as well as preserving these monuments of an extinct people.
Father Pedro Font, who, in the years 1775 and 1776, made a journey from Sonora to Monterey in California, visited the ruins, and thus speaks of them in a manuscript copy of his journal, which is to be found in one of the old missions in Los Angeles :-
"The commandant determined that we should rest to-day, and examine the large buildings called Montezuma's Houses, situated one league from the Gila, and three leagues east- southeast from the Laguna.
"We were accompanied by the Governor Uturituc, who gave us the tradition of these houses, which I here give.
"The palace, or house of Montezuma, was built more than five hundred years ago. The buildings were erected by the Aztecs, when, during their transmigration, the devil led them through various countries, until they arrived at the promised land in Mexico; and in their long sojourn, they formed towns and built these edifices.
"The site on which the houses are built is level on all sides, and at a distance of a league from the Gila. They extend for leagues towards the cardinal points, and the land is partially covered with pieces of pots, jars, plates, etc., some common, and others painted in white, blue, and red colors, which is a sign that there has been a large town, inhab'ited by a distinct people from the Pimos of the River
196
ANOTHER TRAVELLER'S ACCOUNT.
Gila, who. do not know how to manufacture such earthen- ware. We made a survey of one building, which we meas- ured with a lance, and the measure I afterwards reduced to geometrical feet, which gave nearly the following results.
"The house forms an oblong square, facing exactly to the four cardinal points, east, west, north, and south. Around it there are ruins, indicating a fence or walls, which surrounded the buildings, particularly in the corners, where it appears there has been some edifice like an in- terior castle, or watch-tower; for in the angle which faces towards the southwest, there stands a ruin with its divis- ions and an upper story. The exterior wall extends from north to south four hundred and twenty feet, and from east to west two hundred and sixty feet. The interior of the house consists of five walls, the three middle ones being of one size, and the two extreme ones longer. The middle ones are ten feet in breadth from east to west, and twenty- six feet in length from north to south. The two extreme ones measure twelve feet from north to south, and thirty- eight from east to west."
Mangi, who, in company with Father Kino, visited the Territory in 1674, says of it: "There was one great edifice, in which our good Father Kino said mass. The principal room is in the middle of four stories, with the adjoining rooms on its four sides of three stories, with the walls two yards in thickness of strong mortar and clay, so smooth
197
EXTENT OF THE POPULATION.
and shining that they appeared like burnished tables, and so polished that they shone like the earthenware of Puebla.
"At the distance of an arbequebus shot, twelve other houses are to be seen, half-fallen, having thick walls, and all the ceilings burnt, except in the lower room of one house, which is of round timbers, smooth and not thick, which appear to be of cedar or savin; and over these, sticks of very equal size, and a cake of mortar, or hard clay, making a roof or ceiling of great ingenuity.
"In the environs are to be seen many other ruins and heaps of broken earth, which circumscribe it two leagues, with much earthenware of plates and pots of fine clay, painted of many colors, and which resemble in form and texture the jars of Guadalajara, in Spain.
"It may be inferred that the population was very large; and that it was of one government, is shown by a canal which comes from the river by the plain, running around for the distance of three leagues, and inclosing the inhabit- ants in its area, being in breadth ten varas,* and about four varas in depth, through which was, perhaps, directed one-third the volume of the river, in such a manner that it might serve for a defensive moat, as well as to supply the wards with water, and irrigate the plantations in the adjacencies."
This was the condition in which Mangi and Father Kino
* Twenty-seven feet.
198
RETURN TO TUCSON.
found these ruins in 1674. In 1775, more than a hundred years later, Father Font describes them. Bartlett describes them as he found them in 1851. The writer found them in about the same condition in 1859, with the exception of the south wall, no part of which was then standing; all the re- maining walls have upon them the hieroglyphics of ambitious Americans, who have greatly defaced the smooth polished surface by inscribing their names or marks upon them.
We were rather desirous of visiting the ruins on the Salinas, about forty miles above those of the "Casas Grandes"; but after repeated assurances from Mr. St. John and our Pimo guides, that the visit with so small a party would be the height of imprudence, and not caring to risk an encounter with the Apaches, we reluctantly turned our backs upon the ruins, en route once more for the Pimo vil- lages, which we reached on the evening of the next day, L quite satisfied with our journey, and anxious to reach Tuc- son, where we hoped to find Jimmy with the mules all safe, and ready to start for the Mesilla.
We were obliged, however, to remain still longer in the villages, as no stage east was due until the following day; so making the best of it, we found comfortable bunks in the station of the mail company, and the next day we spent among the Pimos, learning what we could of their history and manner of living, and gathering much interesting infor- mation concerning them.
CHAPTER XIV.
HE Pimos, the Maricopas, the Cuch- ans, the Mojaves, and Papagoes, are without doubt all "Montezuma Indians," as they call themselves. They all speak a similar language, all cut their hair short in front, wearing it long behind, and all cul- tivate the soil to a greater or less extent,- thereby showing an affinity with the Moquis, Zunis, and other Pueblo Indians in Northern Arizona and New Mexico.
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