USA > Arizona > The marvellous country : or, Three years in Arizona and New Mexico, the Apaches' home > Part 6
USA > New Mexico > The marvellous country : or, Three years in Arizona and New Mexico, the Apaches' home > Part 6
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27
Early the next morning we started. Another day over alkali plains, rocky mesas, and across aroyas and gullies, until just at night we came to a low, green spot, where a little spring gushed forth from the foot of the bluff, and here we halted for the night.
Cochise killed an antelope with his bow and arrows, which furnished us some juicy steaks, far preferable to the hard, dry meat we had provided for the trip.
The next morning we commenced the ascent of the bluff. And here let me disclaim the ability to give the reader any- thing but a faint idea of the scene that burst upon my view, or the experiences of that day's travel.
No tongue ever spoke, no pen ever wrote, that could adequately describe the grandeur and sublimity, as well as the utter desolation, that appalls, while it enchants, the traveller, through the perils that here beset him at every step.
101
THE JOURNEY OF DEATH.
Well did Cochise call it the " Jornada del Muerte," or Journey of Death.
Imagine, if you can, a valley or plain eighty miles in width, and extending for hundreds of miles on either side of you. It is a valley, only because you are surrounded by interminable ranges of mountains; it is a plain, only because there are mountains before you and mountains behind you. To your uneducated eye, it presents a smooth and un- broken surface, yet there is hardly a level spot upon its face. It is a mass of cañons, ravines, ridges, gullies, chasms, and mountains, piled one above another in inextricable confu- sion, in all conceivable shapes, towering above and around you on all sides.
Cathedrals of huge size, castles, rotundas, amphitheatres with domes and towers, are on every hand, while yonder, rising a thousand feet in the air, is a strange resemblance to a mighty organ, with its pipes consisting of huge col- umns of green, white, blue, brown, and pink sandstone towering high above you, with the tops worn by the winds and waters into points seemingly like needles. Count them: there are forty.
While we are wondering what mighty Mechanic constructed this huge instrument, and whose fingers press its wonderful key-board, our guide strikes once more into the path, scarce twelve inches in width, and we move forward again on the Apache trail. We commence to descend the banks of a
102
MAMMOTII CAÑON.
deep ravine, our mules carefully picking their way along, the path constantly impeded by huge boulders of granite, blocks of sandstone, fissures and chasms worn into the earth by floods ages ago. Around you on all sides are to be seen mountain peaks, ranges, mesas, pinnacles, and crags, bald and gray. Yonder stands a castle, with its towers and spires hundreds of feet in height, its walls of blue gray lime- stone mixed with white and red granite, beautifully mottled with shales of every conceivable color. Seemingly but a few miles in front of us we readily imagine we are about ap- proaching some enchanted castle, where we shall not fail to find the rest, as well as food, which we so much need, when we suddenly find ourselves upon the edge of a cañon, two thousand feet in depth.
As we gaze down into the depths of this vast abyss, a feeling of terror creeps over us, as we vainly strive to pierce the deep gloom that shrouds its rocky sides, and verges into total darkness far beneath us.
The walls are perpendicular, and of a blood-red color. No vegetation is anywhere to be seen; nothing but the stones around us, and the grayish white alkali on the sur- face of the plain on which we stand, with its surroundings of crags, pinnacles, towers, and mesas of rock rising far above us, until their summits pierce the clouds on the one side, and this black, yawning abyss just before us.
Cochise moves to the left, and there we find a narrow
103
WE EXPLORE IT.
shelf of rock jutting out from the perpendicular walls, just wide enough to stand upon.
: We follow its course with our eye until it is lost in gloom; and yet this is the only way of crossing the cañon before us.
Cochise now dismounts, and from him I endeavor to learn something of this wonderful gorge which we are about to cross; but, Indian like, he is reticent, and reveals nothing.
He motions to me that we must leave our mules to follow us, and utters the single word adelante, or forward. As we descend into the gloom, we feel as if we were about to bid good-bye to the earth and the sunlight, and to enter the abode of the fiends. Our imagination peoples the chasm with myriads of imps and gnomes.
Just before us, the point of rock standing out so promi- nently resembles a huge giant ready to crush us in his ter- rible grasp for our audacity in presuming to venture within the realms guarded so sedulously by his misshapen form. On, on we go, now avoiding a rock in our path, here sending a pebble over the brink of the abyss at our side. The gloom becomes more intense as we descend. We cast our eyes upwards : a perpendicular wall on either side of us, and far above us a narrow band of light, against which the ragged and scarred edges of the gulf, seemingly almost meeting, stand out in bold relief, giving us the impression
104
THE HAUNTING ECHO.
that we are about to be. crushed between the teeth of two gigantic saws.
Not a sound is to be heard, save the hesitating footsteps of our mules; when suddenly Cochise, who is some distance in advance, utters an oath in Spanish.
The opposite side of the cañon echoes it, and it is carried from side to side, from point to point, from rock to rock, from crag to crag, with fearful distinctness, till it resembles, to our ears, the cries of the demons, who, we are sure, sur- round us, and inhabit this direct descent to the home of Los Infernos.
Still we go on, still continue to descend.
Soon we hear the faint murmur of water, as far below us it forces its way among the rocks and boulders that form the bed of the river, and we feel rejoiced that the poor animals so carefully following us are so soon to be refreshed with a draught of cool water, after their tedious journey over masses of rock, baked clay, and alkali powder.
Instinctively we look behind us, and we sec that they too have heard the grateful sound, and are hurrying along, as though impatient to taste its refreshing coolness.
Then comes the thought, that frequently, when suffering from thirst, mules have been known to stampede at the smell of water. Suppose this should be the case with ours ? What, then, would be our fate ? We cast our eyes over the
105
DESCENT UNDER DIFFICULTIES.
brink of the yawning chasm, and then back upon our mules, as if to measure distance and strength.
The sight of their erect ears, distended nostrils, and glar- ing eyes does not tend to reassure us, and we look in vain for some spot wide enough to enable them to pass us in safety.
Nothing but a solid perpendicular wall above us, and empty space for six hundred feet below.
We must go on. There is no turning back. The gloom increases with every step. The walls around assume in the darkness a thousand grotesque and misshapen forms. The obstacles in our pathway become more frequent and danger- ous. The darkness becomes more and more intense. We can no longer see the path for more than four or five feet ahead of us.
Now, as it abruptly turns an angle, we lose sight of it altogether, and we feel as though the next step might pre- cipitate us into-what ?
And so we go on, hesitating, doubting, fearing, until, after hours of tedious toil, such as I hope never again to experience, we finally reach the bed of the river that has- worn this mighty wrinkle in the face of Mother Earth.
After allowing our thirsty animals time to drink, and filling our canteens and leathern bottles with fresh water, we follow down the bed of the stream for a mile, cautiously feeling our way in the darkness as best we can, stumbling
14
106
DESOLATION.
against boulders of granite, and over stones and masses of trap, that have been precipitated from the vast heights above us, until at length we reach the point where we are to begin the ascent.
Wearily toiling up the steep path, picking our way over rocks and fissures, gullies and stones, all the while gaining light, though losing strength, we at last reach the level of the plain that we left in the morning, to find ourselves in the twilight, only four miles below the point where we began the descent, having been more than ten hours in making the journey.
Here, upon the very brink of this fearful chasm, we throw ourselves upon the ground, declaring we can go. no farther. Here we must camp for the night. No vegetation, no grass for our mules, no water, no food,- nothing but desolation.
. We are no nearer the enchanted castle than we were before we made the passage of this frightful cañon. The pipes of that same grand old organ look down upon us. The same butes, mesas, pillars, towers, and needles of rock, with cañons, ravines, chasms, and fissures, surround us that surrounded us in the morning. Then, we saw them as the beams of the rising sun gilded their summits; now, we see them towering up in the twilight, and assuming a thousand fanciful and grotesque shapes that we had not dreamed they possessed before.
LOWER PORTION OF THE CANON.
107
A TROUBLED SLEEP.
Tired and exhausted, we wrap ourselves in our blankets, and throw ourselves upon the ground to sleep.
To sleep, did I say ?
No; for again the scenes of the day pass in rapid succes- sion before us. Our fears, our doubts, the descent of that perilous path, all a thousand times more fraught with danger than we had imagined at the outset.
While we are debating in our minds whether we shall be able to cross in safety an immense fissure that yawns fright- fully before us, we hear the voice of Cochise saying "ariva," and we awake to a repetition of yesterday's toils.
I am fully aware, kind reader, that I have failed to give you but a faint idea of the perils that beset the traveller into the Apache wilds. I only wish I possessed the pencil of a Bierstadt, that I might portray upon canvas some of the features of the remarkable country which I visited during my two weeks' trip with Cochise.
Another day over a country presenting the same striking characteristics as those over which we had so recently passed. The same alkali powder, fissures, chasms, and turfless soil, relieved only by the misshapen rocks of brown and yellow- ish granite, that seemed to have been thrown together by some terrible convulsion of nature, the power of which no human creature could conceive.
Late in the afternoon, Cochise called my attention to four or five small black specks in the distance, apparently perched
, 108
NON-COMMITTAL.
upon one of those mesas, or truncated mounds, which are so abundant in this country.
Cochise at once recognized them as Apaches, a fact that he communicated to me; but nothing would induce him to enlighten me further on the subject; and as I had literally
THE APACHES' HOME.
taken my "life in my hand, " I felt there was no alternative but to abide the consequences.
Two hours' travel brought us to the top of a bare, rugged bluff, completely indented with fissures and gullies worn into its side by the winds and waters of a thousand years,
109
CASTLES IN THE AIR.
when Cochise abruptly stopped, and pointing over the edge of the bluff, said, as I thought, with no small degree of pride, "Look! Apache home !"
I did look, and the sight which greeted my eyes made an indelible impression upon me.
A beautiful valley, carpeted with a rich green-sward, ex- tending fully three miles in length, and nearly, if not quite, a mile in width, through which a stream, with water clear as crystal, meandered over its bed of pebbles,- its banks skirted with a kind of small willow, whose foliage of yellow- ish green contrasted strangely with the darker shade of the grass, and all surrounded by a range of bluffs, fully a hun- dred fect high, worn into representations of castellated forts, with bastions, scarps, lunettes, gorges, and curtains, till one could almost fancy the whole encompassed by an im- pregnable fortress.
Scattered up and down the valley were the Apache huts, looking, with their yellow thatch, like the inverted halves of so many huge melons.
Before nearly every door a little camp-fire was burning, from which the smoke was lazily ascending, until, losing its density, it was lost in air.
Far towards the upper end of the valley could be seen peacefully grazing a large herd of cattle, ponies, and mules; while near the lower end a few patches of squaw corn loomed up, as though proudly marking the only visible traces of civilization.
110
INDIANS, AHOY!
As I contemplated this really beautiful scene, I could not help contrasting the softness of the picture spread out before me, with the hard, sterile features of the country over which we had just journeyed, and I almost felt that I was about to descend into the "Happy Valley" of Rasselas, instead of into the home of the cruel and blood-thirsty Apaches, who were, in truth, the scourge of the land.
As we stood there motionless upon the top of the bluff, our presence was discovered by some of the Indians in the village, who at once signalled us by a yell; and in an in- stant, it seemed to me, the barking of a thousand dogs, mingled with the shouts of the warriors and the screaming of women and children, heralded our approach.
Cochise gave back an answering yell, and, as if by magic, every sound was hushed, save that the mule of Cochise gave a loud bray, which was instantly answered in a dozen directions by mules in the village.
We quietly descended the steep bluff by one of the paths that was worn into its face, and which seemed to form a complete net-work over it; and I soon found myself among a lot of the dirtiest, filthiest, most degraded-looking set of creatures that I ever saw in the guise of humanity.
The men were naked, except the breech clout and moc- casins; the women had dirty old blankets tied around their waists, and the upper part of the body entirely exposed; while the expression on the faces of all was
1
111
HOSPITABLY TREATED.
cruel and brutal, a look of cunning pervading each coun- tenance.
The women were particularly ugly, fat, and dirty; and I looked in vain for some of the "beautiful squaws" that had been pictured so graphically by Cooper and Lossing. Not one was to be found.
Not a gleam of intelligence nor a line of beauty was to be seen either in the face or form of those around me. As I gazed at them, I almost wished, in the characteristic lan- guage of Jimmy, that I had "been kilt before I started."
There was but one course to pursue, however; to put a bold face on the matter, and be prepared for anything that might happen.
Cochise said a few words to the crowd, in a dialect I did not understand, and then motioned for me to dismount. This I did, and instantly the hands of a dozen warriors were extended to grasp mine, each one muttering his welcome in a low, guttural sound as he shook my hand.
I was shown to a hut which Cochise told me, in Spanish, I was to occupy while there; and the warriors at once com- menced to unsaddle and unpack the animals, which were then turned out to graze upon the luxuriant herbage that surrounded us on all sides. I had a few moments' time to examine the hut in which I was thus domiciled, and found its framework to be poles set, in the ground, and bent over until they reached a common centre, where they were tied together.
112
A GUEST PERFORCE.
The sides were composed of skins, while the roof was formed of bundles of long rushes and tulle, firmly tied together, which had been bleached by the weather almost white. The place seemed to be clean, and Cochise at once proceeded to bring all the articles, even to the huge leathern bottles, into the hut, at the same time assuring me that his tribe were not thieves, like the Mojaves.
After partaking of a hearty supper of pemmican, I spread my blanket, glad of an opportunity to rest after the hard- ships of our tedious journey, quite content that Cochise should share my hut and guard it from intruders.
I was not permitted to enjoy the quiet long, however, for Cochise informed me that some of the braves proposed to have a dance in honor of my visit, and that I would be ex- pected to be present on the festive occasion, and compensate the warriors with a piece of "bacca." Of course I was obliged to submit, which I did with a very poor grace indeed.
Upon going out, we found assembled about a dozen braves around a small fire, who arose upon our approach, and each extended a hand of welcome.
Seating ourselves, two Apaches commenced beating a drum, which was made by tightly drawing a skin of rawhide over the end of a hollow log about three feet in diameter. To the beat of this drum, the braves kept time with a kind of rattle, made of a short piece of wood, from which
113
NOVEL ENTERTAINMENT.
depended eight or ten thongs of rawhide, upon which were strung bears' claws, eagles' claws, deer's feet, bits of bone, and small stones.
These were furiously shaken together, while they kept their bodies swaying to the beating of the drum, and accom- panying the motion by shouting in a high falsetto tone, "Hi yah, hi yah, hoo hoo."
Taken altogether, it was the most diabolical attempt at music to which I ever listened; and glad enough was I to give them their tobacco, and once more reach the shelter of my hut, where, crawling into my blankets, I was soon en- joying
" Tired Nature's sweet restorer, balmy sleep,"
utterly oblivious to the fact that I was surrounded by as villanous a set of fellows as
" Ever cut a throat."
I remained in this state of blissful unconsciousness till long after the sun had risen the next morning, and the whole village was astir.
15
1
CHAPTER VIII.
S I lay in my blanket the next morning, reflecting upon my situation, I was far from experiencing that sense of contentment and repose that had heretofore solaced me in my journey. I became painfully aware of the dangers which threatened me on every hand; and, on the principle, perhaps, that "misery likes company," most sincerely regretted that no one had accompanied me.
Enjoying anything but a contented mind, I arose from my lowly couch, and proceeded, towel in hand, to the little stream that meandered so quietly through the valley, to perform my morning ablutions. This, of course, attracted a crowd of women and children, to whom a piece of soap was as great a curiosity as would be the sight of a live Apache on Broadway. Its philosophy they could not understand. Why wetting it made the beautiful white foam, which they endeavored to catch in their hands as it floated down the
(114)
115
A SAPONACEOUS MYSTERY.
stream, to vanish at their touch, was a mystery beyond their comprehension. Notwithstanding the soap-plant grew all around them in profusion, not one of them knew its value or use.
After satisfying their curiosity as well as I was able, at
SOAP AND WATER.
the expense of a large share of my soap, I returned to my quarters to prepare breakfast, Cochise having faithfully kept guard during my absence, declining the oft-repeated invitations to partake of the messes in their huge camp ket- tles, which were boiling over the fire before the huts.
116
FRIENDS OR FOES?
While making a hasty meal of beef and atole, I became conscious that something of an extraordinary nature was go- ing on in the village. Even Cochise seemed excited as he informed me that the scouts had signalled the approach of a large party of Indians, but whether friendly or otherwise could not as yet be ascertained, so great was their distance from the village. They were probably Apaches, though possibly they might be Mojaves, with which tribe the Apaches were then at war.
Here was a situation which I had not anticipated. To be killed in an Apache village as an Apache, was a fate of which I had never dreamed, even in the wildest surmises as to the probable termination of my earthly career. With as much indifference as I could assume, I asked Cochise his opinion of the advancing party. His reply, "Quien Sabe?" was anything but consoling to me in my present situation.
Regretting the temerity that had induced me to undertake such an expedition, I hastily finished my breakfast, and went out of my hut, to find the larger portion of the people assembled on the top of the bluff, gazing at the approach- ing band. A dozen or so of the braves had sprung on to their ponies and were riding across the plains as fast as their animals could carry them. All was confusion and excitement. Some of the warriors were examining their spear-heads, others their bows and arrows.
117
RETURN OF THE CHIEF.
Cochise soon announced, much to my relief, that it was a portion of their own band, who had gone out under Mangus Colorado, for a raid into Sonora. They had been gone about "a moon"; and judging from the number of cattle and mules driven before them, the raid must have been a successful one.
As soon as it was known that Mangus Colorado was re- turning, the excitement at once subsided. The braves released the lower jaws of their horses from their lariats, and permitted them to stroll at will over the green sward, while they lazily reposed in the sun. The squaws went out to gather fuel and perform such labor as usually falls to the male portion of humanity.
Feeling some misgivings as to the reception I might re- ceive at the hands of Mangus Colorado, I could not refrain from asking Cochise, in as nonchalant a manner as possi- ble, what Mangus Colorado would say to see a white man so quietly domiciled in his village.
"Oh!" said Cochise, "I sent him word as soon as I knew it was he, and you know too, he is the 'white man's friend.' "'
The barking of hundreds of curs, the shouting of braves, with the shrill voices of the women, now announced the appearance, on the top of the bluff, of about thirty warriors.
Under the circumstances, I thought it best to remain out of sight as much as possible until such time as Mangus
118
HIS FRIENDSHIP SECURED.
should in some way evince a knowledge of my presence. This he shortly did by visiting my hut, and, extending his hand, said, in Spanish, "Good day! Gim me 'bacca!'"'
After shaking hands with him, I presented him with some chewing tobacco, also a small bale of smoking tobacco,
MEETING OF MANGUS COLORADO, COCHISE, AND THE AUTHOR.
which latter present not only won his good-will, but secured his friendship.
It was with no small degree of curiosity that I regarded this great chief. IIe was, indeed, as noble a specimen of the Indian race as I had ever seen. More than six feet in
119
A BLOODY TROPHY.
height, straight as an arrow, his physique splendid; his long black hair hung loosely about his shoulders, and was profusely ornamented with eagle feathers; his face was painted with vermilion and ochre, while his sides were striped with green. Upon his feet were a pair of richly wrought moccasins. A heavy red Mackinaw blanket hung from his shoulders, and was fastened at the waist by a silk sash that evidently had once belonged to some officer of the army. His only weapon was a spear, the head made of obsidian, attached by deer sinews to a pole about eight feet long. Altogether, he presented a very picturesque appear- ance, and received the homage paid him by his people with much native dignity.
To the lance of one of the party was fastened what I at first supposed to be a flag of truce; but a closer examination revealed the fact that it was a little child's dress, elaborately embroidered, and of exquisite make and material. Ex- tending it to me, all blood-stained as it was, he signified by signs that the little one who had worn this beautiful tribute of a mother's affection, had been ruthlessly murdered by the same barbarous weapon which he held in his hand, and its soul sent to the "Great Spirit."
The sight of this trophy was anything but an assuring one to me, and I at once resolved that, as soon as circum- stances should permit, I would leave the Apaches and their home. Cochise informed me that the plunder of the expe-
120
PREPARATIONS FOR THE FEAST.
dition amounted to thirty head of cattle, fifty mules, sixteen ponies, and six scalps, which, he took particular pains to impress upon me, were Mexican scalps. He also told me that there was to be a grand feast and scalp-dance in honor of their recent successful raid, and that it would be advisa- ble for me to be present at the ceremonies; that I was perfectly safe; that no one would harm me; that his tribe were not thieves, but Apaches.
Unsatisfactory as these assurances were, I consoled myself as best I could, and accepted his invitation with expressions of pleasure which I was far from experiencing.
I spent the greater portion of the day in strolling about the rancheria, visiting the huts, and conversing with those who understood Spanish. From them I gathered some in- formation concerning the surrounding country. I ascer- tained that the village contained not far from seven hundred inhabitants, and that the home of Mangus Colorado was situated nearly a league to the westward, where he lived, surrounded by about one hundred of his braves and their families. That no white man had ever before visited the rancheria. That the country around abounded in game, and that large quantities of (oro) gold were to be found in the cañons and gulches about five leagues to the north of them.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.