Page 162 - Cooke's Peak - Pasaron Por Aqui

Roy Bean returned to Mesilla to pay more attention to their multifaceted business. Gamblers used the setting of their saloon, included in their operation, tosetupshopandmaketheirliving. Theyhadan agreement with Sam Bean to place their stake money (and hopefully winnings) in his safe overnight for safekeeping. Sam needed to go to Santa Fe on business so he showed Roy how to open the safe to deposit the gambler’s pokes. When he returned from Santa Fe a few days later the safe was still locked, and Roy was no where to be found. When the safe was opened it was found to be empty, and Sam had to talk and act fast to avoid the gamblers’
wrath. A good horse and saddle were also missing fromthestable. Samindicated
that he never did see much of
personal weapons, and a few provisions, left for the Rio Grande the same day. This action by Hunter was tantamount to a death sentence, because the Apachescontrolledtheentireareaandwerekilling every non-Indian they could find.
The remaining battles and skirmishes fought in New Mexico (Figure 41) had little bearing, directly or indirectly, on the Cooke’s Peak area, with the exception of the involvement of the California Volunteers. In the exceptionally hot dry summer of 1862, the Californians marched across southern Arizona and New Mexico to confront the Con- federates. The advance section of the column would pass by Cooke’s Spring and reach the Rio Grande
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Roy after that.
On February 14, about the
time Captain Hunter was in- structed to secure Tucson, President Jefferson Finis Davis signed into law a bill officially organizing the Confederate
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Territory of Arizona. Various accounts have credited Hunter’s force with strengths from 100 to 200 men. More creditable work, however, places the unit at 15 officers and staff and 59 privates, for a total of 74 men (one of whom died before reaching Tucson). Other units did join Hunter at Tucson from time to time, but
157 on a temporary basis.
Shortly after arriving at Tuc- son on February 28, 1862, Cap- tain Hunter arrested Ammi White and focused his attention on Estevan Ochoa, the success- ful freighter and ardent Unionist. Hunterthreatened Ochoa that unless he took the oath of allegiance to the Con- federacy, Hunter would confis- cate all of Ochoa’s considerable property for the Confederacy and expel him from Tucson. Ochoa refused to cooperate and with only one horse, his
Figure 41. Military operations in New Mexico. Photo courtesy of the Museum of New Mexico, #49369.
Confederate Invasion and Withdrawal
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