Page 184 - Cooke's Peak - Pasaron Por Aqui

soldiers killed 10 Indians and captured 4 horses. The military casualties were limited to the wounding of a Sergeant Walsh and a farrier recorded only as Burns. 1 On July 24 another military wagon outfit was attacked in Cooke’s Canyon. Lieutenant John Lambert and his men lost 2 wagons and 12 mules, while a Private Queen was killed and a Sergeant Hance (or Hantz) was twice wounded. There was
18
no report on Indian casualties.
It did not take General Carleton long to determine
that he had a serious problem brewing at Cooke’s
Canyon, and he moved quickly to correct the situa-
tion. On August 7 he ordered General West to
consider an appropriate location for an adobe fort
near Cooke’s Spring and to estimate the cost and
time required to construct the facility. It was not
until September 30, however, that a board of officers
was directed to proceed to Cooke’s Spring and
select the site for a post with sufficient space to
house an Infantry company, at least a half-company
of Cavalry, and incorporate protected corrals for
securing the horses and a small beef herd. The
board recommended that the fort be established on
top of the hill next to the old stage station, but due
to later decisions the site was placed much closer to
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the spring.
sufficient level space for the fort and an adjacent hill made it vulnerable to enemy fire. The post cemetery was established later at this site.
Whether the specific site had been selected or not,
by September 30 the name, Fort Cummings, was
agreed upon. Major Joseph Cummings, First New
Mexico Cavalry, was cut down on August 18 while in
pursuit of some Navajo hostiles near Canyon
October 2, Captain Drescher and his men arrived at Cooke’s Spring and established a permanent post there. On the last of the month he reported 46 men, including himself, present.” For the next quarter of a century Fort Cummings, manned by either Califor- nia or New Mexico Volunteers or United States Army regulars, played an important role in the In- dian wars that periodically erupted in the Southwest.
Construction did not start immediately. With only
a few men and fewer tools and supplies, the con-
struction of Fort Cummings did not get under way
until almost the end of the year. The soldiers did
make a couple of trips to abandoned Fort Thorn to
salvage any usable materials overlooked by civilian 24
scavengers.
During November Captain Drescher and his men
were occupied preparing to spend the winter. Several trips were made to Pinos Altos for lumber
5
In addition, with cold weather coming, they built some tem- porary winter quarters. All was not well, however, as Drescher complained to his headquarters at Mesilla that he had been sent the wrong ammunition for his men. The cartridges were too small for the infantry muskets, and they could be rammed down
26
the barrel, paper and all, inviting a misfire.
In December, by order of Captain Drescher, Second Lieutenant Sidney R. DeLong wrote Char- les T. Hayden that no liquor sales “of any descrip- tion” would be allowed about the post and any infractions would be severely punished.” Either one of the early adobe contractors hired by the military had caused a problem or a self-appointed sutler had established a business near Fort Cum-
mings.
With cold weather settled in, Captain Drescher
took off with 40 men on a 20-day patrol looking for Apaches, who had also camped for the winter, and left Lieutenant DeLong in somewhat of a predica- ment. Drescher had taken both teams stationed at the post; therefore the 10 cavalrymen and 10 in- fantrymen left had no way to haul firewood from the nearest point 8 miles away, and they had only one
2
day’s supply when Drescher left DeLong was
probably stretching the truth a little. Later reports indicate that there was plenty of wood four and one-half miles from the spring. DeLong left no record of how he solved his dilemma.
Captain Drescher was not the only one found going out on Indian hunts in the middle of winter. In
Bonito.
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West directed that a lieutenant and 20
The hill next to the station did not offer
men of First Cavalry California Volunteers be sta-
tioned at Fort Cummings and be responsible for the
semi-monthly express between Fort Cummings and
21
Fort Bowie.
Regardless of the directive to establish the new
post with a cavalry lieutenant in charge, it was Cap- tain Valentine Drescher, First Infantry California Volunteers, who left Fort West on September 28 and marched to Cooke’s Spring. Previously he had been in command at Fort West but had incurred West’s disapproval when he did not respond properly when some horses were stolen from the post by Indians. As a result, Carleton ordered Drescher replaced so Drescher turned Fort West over to Captain James
1
H. Whitlock and left for his new assignment.
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On
Fort Cummings: A Guardian of the Road
170
and vigas for construction of the fort.”