USA > Arizona > The marvellous country : or, Three years in Arizona and New Mexico, the Apaches' home > Part 13
USA > New Mexico > The marvellous country : or, Three years in Arizona and New Mexico, the Apaches' home > Part 13
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Imagine, if you can, an endless, parched-up waste, with only an occasional patch of grass to be seen; then miles of gray alkali plain, relieved by stretches of earth perfectly
237
THE GREAT PLATEAU.
bare, and so light that the least breath of air drives the dust before it like a simoon, almost suffocating the unfor- tunate traveller who chances to be in its course.
Not a living green shrub to be seen, nor a drop of water to be found upon its surface, save in the lowest spots, where it sometimes collects for a few days, soon becoming stag- nant, and emitting a most offensive odor. Yet this cess- pool is the resort, while it lasts, of both man and beast. Deer, antelope, wolves, and coyotes share with the weary traveller the thickened, stagnant impurities; flocks of birds frequent it; geese, ducks, teal, and, in fact, everything that requires water, partakes of its foul unwholesomeness.
The great plateau certainly presents but few attractions to the wayfarer. Just after reaching the level of the plain, we witnessed a most remarkable mirage.
We saw distinctly reflected animals of all kinds, from the stately giraffe to the homely ox; tents, which we afterwards found standing near the Soldier's Farewell, twenty miles away, were transformed into snow-clad peaks; tufts of grass, into magnificent forest trees; every playa into a beautiful lake, with its rippling waves and showery sprays, while on its banks were terraced citadels, stately columns, and ruined castles, such as might be found in Greece or old Rome. It was a wonderful sight, and one never to be forgotten.
We soon arrived at. Barney Station, where, through the
238
THE SOLDIER'S FAREWELL.
kindness of the keeper, we obtained water and grain for our animals.
After a short rest we again started for the Soldier's Farewell, which we reached just as the sun was setting. The station was situated in the midst of this vast barren plain, and was as desolate and gloomy a place as one would care to find in any country. The nearest water fit to drink was forty miles away, and had to be hauled in hogsheads by mule teams. The stock drank the water that collected in a couple of holes, called tanks, and this is the only watering- place on the route of the Overland Mail across the great plateau on the line of the 32nd parallel.
The whole place and its surroundings were so palpably desolate and forbidding that we no longer wondered at the peculiar name which the station bore.
For myself I could readily imagine with what joy a soldier would utter his farewell to a locality so entirely devoid of attractions. Yet here we were, and here we had to remain for the night.
The next morning we bade adieu to the Soldier's Farewell at an early hour, nor did we feel any pang of regret at the leave-taking. Even our mules seemed to exhibit signs of pleasure at once more starting for the Rio Grande, and gal- loped along the dry, dusty road with a speed that was remark- able. Resting on the Mimbres, the evening of the next day, we finally reached La Mesilla, thankful to have escaped
JOHN ANDREW-SON.
A MIRAGE ON TIIE GRAND PLATEAU.
239
JIMMY IN A NEW ROLE.
the dangers which had encompassed us on all sides, and overjoyed at the opportunity offered for rest after our long and tedious journey.
Jimmy was frantic in his expressions of joy, and many were the fabulous stories he told of his travels through the wilds of Arizona; nor did he forget old José, the "king," as he continued to call him, who always came in for a good share of Jimmy's imaginative descriptions.
We passed a couple of weeks very pleasantly in La Mesilla, where we frequently met the officers stationed at the United States military post, known as Fort Fillmore, situated five miles below the town, on the opposite bank of the river.
Shortly after our arrival here, I was waited upon by a Mr. White of Philadelphia, who informed me that he had recently received the appointment of sutler to the U. S. Military Post of Fort Buchanan; and learning that I had just returned from a visit there, he had called to inquire concerning the state of the roads, condition of the country, whether he should be likely to encounter Indians, etc., etc.
Mr. White stated that he was accompanied by his wife and child; that Mrs. White found it so tedious travelling with his train, he had left it behind; and taking two Mexi- can servants, his ambulance, and four mules, had driven on in advance, intending to reach the fort as soon as possible.
240
A PLEASANT FAMILY.
I urged him to remain over night with us, at the same time informing him that I thought the journey far from a safe one for himself and family.
· After some little hesitation he was induced to remain in Mesilla until the next morning, and we gladly gave him a room in our house, quite delighted with the good fortune that had once more brought us in contact with an American lady; for American ladies in that country are like angels'. visits, few and far between.
I found Mrs. White a charming little woman, about twenty- five years of age, refined, and highly educated. She informed me that this was the first time she had ever left her father's roof for an absence of more than a few weeks at a time; yet now with her babe she had left her luxurious home in the old Quaker City, and for nearly two months had been "roughing it" on the road from Lavacca, Texas, and she appeared overjoyed at the prospect of being so near her fu- ture home, which she was exceedingly anxious to learn all about. Innumerable were the questions she asked concern- ing it, to all of which I gave as favorable replies as possi- ble, descanting largely upon the magnificent climate, the beauties of the Sonoita Valley, and the kindness and hos- pitality of the officers stationed there.
At Mr. White's request I made no mention of the danger to be apprehended from Indians, he deeming it at once unnecessary and injudicious.
241
MASSACRE OF MR. WHITE.
We passed a most enjoyable day in company with Mr. and Mrs. White, and deeply regretted that they could re- main no longer than the morrow with us.
It was nearly noon the next day when they took their departure, the doctor and myself accompanying them some miles on the road, leaving them about three o'clock in the afternoon to pursue their tedious journey, while we returned to Mesilla, delighted with our guests, the doctor declaring in the fulness of his heart that he would willingly ride over to Fort Buchanan any time for the pleasure of spend- ing a day in the presence of such a "right clever" lady as was Mrs. White.
Early the next morning we were awakened by the sound of the great drum as it was beaten in the plaza. As this drum was only beaten for the purpose of arousing the in- habitants to arms, I sprang to my feet, and hastily dressing, made my way to the plaza, where I found assembled about a dozen Mexicans, listening to the tale of a couple of rancheros who had just arrived from the Mimbres.
They told us that about midnight, while coming in from their ranche, they had found the dead bodies of two men, one an American, the other a Mexican, lying by the roadside scalped; and at a little distance from them, the remains of an ambulance; also a fire still burning. Trunks broken open and rifled of their contents were scattered by the roadside, and evidences of a massacre were everywhere visible.
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242
PRISONERS.
The rancheros had brought with them such articles as they could collect, some of which I recognized at once as belonging to Mr. White. The men were confident that the bodies of neither of the women were there, which fact made it evident that they, with the child, had been carried away by the savages.
Requesting the alcalde, who by this time had arrived upon the ground, to have them continue beating the drum . for a time, I mounted a horse and started at once for Fort Fillmore, to inform the officers stationed there of the oc- currence. Meeting Lieutenant Howland of the First Dra- goons near the fort, I reported the facts, to him, and he informed me that as soon as possible he would dispatch a squad of dragoons in pursuit.
Returning to Mesilla I found about fifty Mexicans assem- bled in the plaza with their horses and rifles, ready to start at once in pursuit of the Indians; and knowing well that some delay must necessarily occur before the troops would be ready to accompany them, both the doctor and myself, as well as half a dozen other Americans present, volunteered to go with the party, and urged so strongly the necessity of an immediate start, that Captain Pardilla, the commandant of the Mexican force, gave the necessary orders, and we set forth, accompanied by Don Jesus Armijo, and Don Manuel Chabes, two of the most celebrated Mexi- can guides in the country, as scouts.
243
TO THE RESCUE.
A ride of two hours and a half brought us to the scene of the massacre. The bodies of Mr. White and his servant, the former half devoured by the wolves, lay by the road-side pierced by many arrows and fearfully mangled, while all around were discernible traces of the desperate efforts with which the two men had resisted the attack.
Pausing at the place only long enough to decently bury the bodies, the guides, who had been thoroughly searching the ground in the vicinity of the massacre, discovered that the party consisted of fifteen Indians; that Mrs. White, with her babe and servant, had undoubtedly been carried away with them; and that the whole party had gone in a southerly direction, towards the Florida Mountains in Chihuahua.
Swiftly and silently we sped on our sad errand of mercy. Not a word was spoken; not a sound was heard, save that of our horses' feet as we galloped over the hard, gravelly soil of the plains. Not a moment did we pause, except when the guides dismounted to examine the trail more closely than the rapid nature of our pursuit would permit them to do when mounted. Thus passed the day.
Just before nightfall we came to a beautiful green valley, through which meandered a stream of clear, sparkling water. Here we dismounted, that our tired animals, as well as ourselves, might obtain a little rest after the exhausting journey. It was about eleven o'clock, and some time
244
APACHE CRUELTY.
after the moon had risen, that we again commenced the pursuit.
The trail soon led us through a canon in the mountains, which we followed; and just after daylight we reached a spot where, from the confusion and number of tracks visi- ble, it was evident the savages had halted but a few hours before.
While watering our horses at a little spring which bub- . bled out from under a huge rock close by, one of the Mexi- cans came running up with the dead body of Mrs. White's babe, which he had found lying behind a little bush near the spring, thrust through and through a dozen times with Apache spears. It was indeed a sickening sight. The nude body of this boy-baby, with its gaping, ugly wounds, that silently but eloquently appealed to every spark of manliness in our breasts for revenge upon its foul mur- derers, and the low, excited carrahos of the Mexicans, told more forcibly than words could have done, that the sight had stirred even in their dull breasts unwonted fires of rage.
We decided to push on at once, without waiting, as we had intended, for the military to overtake us; and tarry- ing here barely long enough to rest our animals, we started on the still fresh trail once more.
Two hours' hard riding brought us through the cañon and out into the open plain beyond, when far in the dis- tance our guides pointed to a thin, blue, vapory smoke
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245
A RECONNOISSÄNCE.
ascending from among a range of low picatchos, which scemed to form a portion of the Florida range, whose grace- · ful peaks rose in stately majesty just behind them.
Making a long detour, in order that we might approach their camping-place without detection, we managed to get within a few miles of the spot, when, taking advantage of the shelter afforded by a spur of the mountains that projected far out into the plain, our guides suggested that we should dismount, and permit our horses to rest, while they made a reconnoissänce of the Apaches' camp.
In vain did I urge an immediate attack. Nothing that I could say would alter the determination of the guides, who would permit no one to accompany them, lest a single misstep or a careless word should betray their presence to the wary foe. After enjoining the utmost silence and care upon all, the guides departed; and nothing could be done but wait for their return.
We threw ourselves upon the ground, and gazed into the bright blue dome over our heads, or watched our tired ani- mals as they greedily cropped the green grass, while we lis- tened to marvellous tales told by some of the men of the skill and cunning of the guides who had gone to the enemy's camp.
Thus the long hours dragged wearily on, without any news from the guides. The afternoon was far advanced when one of the men reported that a new smoke had been started
246
WHAT IT REVEALED.
in the same place where we had seen it in the morning, which seemed to indicate that the Indians intended to remain encamped there for the night.
It was almost dark when the guides returned. They re- ported that there were twelve Indians in the camp about four miles distant. They had obtained a good view of it, and saw both Mrs. White and her servant, who, worn out with the toil and fatigue of their terrible journey, were appar- ently sleeping. They anticipated no trouble in rescuing them, but thought it safer not to make the attempt until later in the night, when we should probably find the In- dians asleep. Deferring to the opinions of the guides, we possessed our souls with patience as best we could, anxiously waiting for the hour to come which should determine for weal or woe the fate of the prisoners, while we discussed the plan of attack.
Our party was to be divided so that we might completely surround the Indians, and thus prevent their escape. We were to take position on the sides of the hills which sur- rounded their camp, and at a given signal - the cry of the whip-poor-will twice repeated - each man was to select an Indian and fire; it being hoped that by waiting until a late hour the moon would throw the full light of its rays directly into the camp, thus enabling us to see the con- dition of affairs there.
No signs having been discovered of the military, we
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PLAN OF ATTACK.
mounted our horses about nine o'clock, and quietly rode to a point about a mile distant from the enemy's camp. Here we dismounted, leaving our horses with six men, who were detailed to take charge of them.
The party now separated, the portion in charge of Don - Manuel making a wide detour, in order to reach the oppo- site side of the camp undiscovered, while the rest of us accompanied Don Jesus, and were to wait the expected signal from Don Manuel.
Quietly and expeditiously we made our way to the picatchos, behind which the enemy were encamped. Not a word was spoken; not the sound of a footstep could be heard. Occasionally, as the sharp, quick "st!" of Don Jesus fell upon our ears, we paused to hear his words of caution uttered in whispered tones, or to receive more explicit directions as to the course we were to pursue.
At last we reach the foot of the picatcho, which we are. to cross. It rises rough and dark before us, its outline marked plainly against the light of the moon, which has not yet risen above its top.
. Slowly and cautiously we make our way up its steep side, exercising great care lest the least noise should betray our proximity to the unsuspecting foe upon the other side. Stealthily we creep towards the top of the bluff. Not a breeze moans through the tall pines above our heads; nothing disturbs the death-like silence that reigns
248
A VIEW OF THE ENEMY'S CAMP.
around us; and at last the camp with its occupants is before us.
How eagerly we peer down into it from behind the dark rocks, the shadows of which makes the blackness more in- tense. By the bright light of the moon we can count one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine recumbent forms. Two more are crouching over the embers of the fire, their blankets wrapped tightly around their shoulders, as though for protection from the chill night air; but nowhere can we see the prisoners.
Where can they be? Don Jesus, as though anticipa- ting our question, silently points to a thick clump of pines . but a little distance from the fire; and ere he removes his hand, as though answering the question himself, a tall naked savage steps out into the bright moonlight from this very thicket of pines, and inclining his head in a listening . attitude, hurriedly casts his eyes around the camp. In- stinctively we raise our rifle to our shoulder. But a warning gesture from Don Jesus restrains us from taking advantage of the splendid mark thus presented, and the Indian dis- appears within the shadows of the pines again.
Not a movement is visible in the camp. Not a sound is heard. The hour which drags itself along while we are waiting for the signal from Don Manuel seems an eternity.
Will it never come? At last, from the hill upon the opposite side of the camp, we hear the low, mournful notes
UPPER PORTION OF THE CANON.
249
THE ATTACK.
of a whip-poor-will, so natural and so truthful that it seems to us it must be the cry of the bird itself. But in an instant we hear the sharp click of Don Jesus' rifle, and we ask ourselves the question, - Can that be the signal from Don Manuel? Will it be repeated? In the excitement of the moment we almost forget to breathe. Every sense is on the alert. Yes, there it is again - a low, plaintive, yet per- fectly distinct cry. Now the answer comes from the lips of Don Jesus, to be again repeated from the bluffs beyond; and then the quick, sharp ring of twenty rifles disturbs the still- ness of the night.
In an instant the sides of the hill seem alive with men. As the sound of rolling rocks, the crash of tumbling men, and the yells of excited Mexicans fall upon the ears of the half-awakened savages, they utter a feeble yell of defiance, and we see three or four dusky forms rise from the ground and hastily make their way into the woods.
Pell-mell we rush for the camp; hurriedly we push our way to the thicket of pines, in which we expect to find the prisoners. Are they there? Yes! we can distinguish their forms even through the deep shade of the pine trees. They are asleep. The sound of the struggle has not yet awakened them from the heavy slumber into which they have fallen. We speak. No answer. Can it be death? We place our hands upon the bodies. They are warm; but an indescribable something about them causes us to hastily
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250
MRS. WHITE'S SAD FATE.
call for a torch; and when it is brought, what a sight it reveals. Great God! The remembrance even at this late day causes me to sicken at the horrors revealed by the light of that torch.
Upon the ground lay the bodies of Mrs. White and her servant, pierced with a dozen wounds, from each of which the life-blood was fast ebbing. Both were dead, although the still warm bodies bore testimony to the sad fact that the sound of our rifles had proved their death-knell.
Seven of the Indians were found dead in camp. The rest had fled, no one knew where or whither, leaving everything behind them. A portion of our party was at once dispatched to secure their animals, nineteen in number, and they were shortly loaded with all the plunder of the camp, including the articles stolen from Mrs. White.
A couple o. rude litters were made, by stretching blank- ets over lance-poles, and the bodies tenderly borne to our place of rendezvous. Under the shadows of the cold gray rocks of the Florida Mountains, beneath the tall pines that will ever sing their mournful requiem, we left the bodies of Mrs. White and her servant in one grave. And there they repose to-day,- the elegant, accomplished, and refined mis- tress by the side of her servant, their grave unmarked and unknown.
Sadly we left the lone grave, and returned to our homes
251
ARIZONA AND NEW MEXICO.
upon the Rio Grande. We did not meet the military, as they deemed it useless to follow us.
Nearly a year afterward, a friend in Tucson sent me a portion of the case of a little watch that had been taken from a recently captured Apache. It bore the name of E. J. White.
Reader, my sad tale is told.
While tarrying here, I determined to put into execution a long-cherished plan that I had formed,- to visit the scenes so graphically described by old Father Niza, in his report to the Emperor Charles V., concerning the great city of Cibola (or, as it was called by the Spaniards, Zuni, ) and its inhabitants.
At the time of the author's residence in Arizona, the Ter- ritories of Arizona and New Mexico were one, and as one we propose to regard them, although in the year 1863 our sapient legislators at Washington, knowing about as much of the geographical formation of that country, or the real needs of its inhabitants, as a bear knows about Sunday Schools, declared the eastern boundary of the Territory of Arizona to be an imaginary line, supposed to run somewhere near the thirty-second degree of longitude west from Washı- ington, and giving all that portion of the Territory cast of said line, to New Mexico.
As the Zuni country is situated west of the Rio Grande, and about three hundred and eighty miles northwest from
-
252
THE START FOR ZUNI.
Mcsilla, we determined to ascend the valley of that river, and start upon the expedition either from the town of Albuquerque, or from Santa Fé, as we should find most convenient.
Our government had so recently whipped the Navajoes into a peace, that we anticipated no trouble from them; and the other tribes residing in the country were gen- erally Pueblo Indians, and more disposed to cultivate the soil than take to the war-path; therefore the journey promised to be a pleasant and peaceable one, unless by accident we should encounter some marauding band of Apaches.
After recruiting our animals, and laying in a goodly quantity of camp-stores from the extensive stock of our friends Grandjean and Moran in La Mesilla, and from Hayward and McGrotys at Fort Fillmore, Dr. Parker and myself, with Jimmy as cook, groom, and general factotum, turned our backs upon Mesilla, bound for Albuquerque, two hundred and forty miles distant, from which point we ex- pected to penetrate into the "Zuni country," where we should find the celebrated city of Cibola, which with its six sister cities, De Niza visited as early as 1539, and which Coronado conquered in 1540. Their reports are the first really authentic history of the kingdom, although as early as 1526, nearly a hundred years before the landing of the Pilgrim Fathers, one Don Joseph de Bazemzalles crossed
253
INSCRIPTION ROCK.
the kingdom of Cibola, and penetrated the country as far as the pueblo of Zuni, or what was then known as the city of Cibola. Of his expedition we have no reliable information.
Upon the western slope of the Sierra Madre, and not far from the still existing pueblos of Acoma and Laguna, of which we shall speak in a succeeding chapter of this work, stands a very remarkable rock, called by the Spaniards "El Moro," and by the Americans "Inscription Rock," which is thus described by the Abbé Domenech :-
"The front of this rock, which faces the northeast, is vertical, and of a natural polish up to two hundred and ten feet of its height. On this side the base is covered with Indian hieroglyphics and Spanish inscriptions. The oppo- site declivity has the form of a bastion, and possesses a spring of translucent water, which bubbles up at its foot from amid a circular basin surrounded by verdure. The summit of the rock is of white sandstone, interveined with yellow. It is perpendicularly split in several places, so that at a distance it perfectly resembles the turrets of a moresque castle, from which circumstance it evidently de- rives its name of 'El Moro.' Upon the smooth surface of this rock the Indians, as well as the old Spaniards, were accustomed to record the object or success of their journeys through the country."
The oldest inscription to be found upon it is in the lower left-hand corner, and is almost effaced by time and the
254
WHAT IS FOUND THEREON.
clements, while it is most effectually concealed from care- less eyes by the underbrush which has grown up around it. It is simply this: "Don Joseph de Bazemzalles, 1526."
Lieutenant Simpson, in the report of his explorations through this country in 1849, says: -
"I spent much time, and took great pains, to decipher and interpret many inscriptions upon a very remarkable rock, as well as to arrange them as nearly as possible in their chronological order."
I purpose to give in this work, however, only a few of the many score to be found thercon. The most ancient of all is that of Bazemzalles, in 1526. Then come the following: - "Passed by this place with dispatches, 16th day of April, 1606."
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