Page 141 - Cooke's Peak - Pasaron Por Aqui

Chapter 5
The Great Upheaval in the Southwest, 1861-1862
The rising tide of separation between North and
waysoflivelihood. Ofcoursetheyhadafewugly incidents to help them decide on their response to the growing intrusion of miners, ranchers, and farmers in their diminishing homelands. Both ar- mies, when in control of the disputed areas, focused much of their attention on the Indians.
Civil Unrest and the Gathering Storm
The initial unrest during this period came primarily from two sources. First, misdirected pressure against Cochise resulted in a violent confrontation leading to multiple grisly deaths on both sides. Cochise, angry and seeking vengeance, coupled with the already insulted Mangas Coloradas, spread havoc across the Southwest. Second, the southern sympathy felt by many of the Anglos in southern New Mexico Territory would take focus and become manifest. Meetings would be held, proclamations issued, unauthorized governments established, and pressure applied, subtle and otherwise, against ad- herents to the Union and Lincoln.
Despite the cruel beating of Mangas Coloradas at the hands of the Pinos Altos miners, one of the worst humiliations an Apache could suffer, the Indians did not yet seek retribution on everyone. The agree- ment that Cochise had made regarding the safe conduct of the Butterfield coaches was still honored, and Mangas restricted the expression of his hos- tilities mostly to the miners. This soon changed drastically.
John Ward, a rancher, lived in the Sonoita Valley about 12 miles from Fort Buchanan with his com- mon-law wife Jesus Martinez, her 2 children, a boy Feliz (12) and a girl Leodora (10), and their daughter Mary (5 months). The boy was supposedly half Apache, sired by an Indian warrior during his
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South had no
Soon, as in other parts of the country, it was family against family, brother against brother, and some- times father against son. Many of the settlers and miners in west Texas and southern New Mexico Territory were either transplants from one of the southern states or strongly
South. The Civil War shattered all semblance of normalcy in the Southwest, and the Confederacy lost no time in expanding its sphere of influence.
Texans, more successfully repeating Mirabeau Buonaparte Lamar’s 1841 invasion of New Mexico, established the southern half of New Mexico Ter- ritory as the first (and last) Confederate Territory. Indecisive major battles, clear victories in minor engagements, and local partisan aid led to the high- water mark of the Confederacy in the Southwest, but not for long. Denied the capture of their major target, the key depot for the entire military district, and having lost most of their vital supplies, the Texans were forced to retreat.
Had it not been for the Californians, it is conceiv- able that the Confederates would have been able to regroup and resupply in the rich Mesilla Valley and retain a foothold on the far west. Soon after the Texans invaded New Mexico, cognizant Union leaders in Washington and on the coast began or- ganizing for another “invasion” of the Territory, albeit of a slightly more friendly nature. The Califor- nians had fought too long and hard to expand politi- cal and economic relations with the federal government to be seduced by those who espoused ideas of an independent Republic.
Whether the Apaches understood the fratricidal process that was taking place has been debated manytimes. Certainlytheyhadreactedsimilarly during the Mexican Revolution. What is not a debatable issue is that they immediately took ad- vantage of the upheaval to return to their previous
difficulty flowing westward.
sympathized with the