Page 187 - Cooke's Peak - Pasaron Por Aqui

Sandobal and Jose Andrada of the New Mexico Volunteer Infantry took “French leave.” The post commander, Major Julius C. Shaw, filed charges against Privates J esus Mana (or Aparacio) Ortiz and Librado (or Sabarado) Cortez of the same regiment for suspected complicity in the escape. By February 3 Sandobal had been recaptured and was in the lockupindoubleirons. His.accomplice,Andrada, had been killed in the attempt to take him prisoner. Major Shaw experienced a change of heart with regard to charging the two guards for helping the convicts escape. He noted that Ortiz was an old man and because of scarcity of noncommissioned of- ficers, he had been acting corporal of the guard and was ignorant of an order against allowing
absent, with usually about 40 to 45 men actually available for on-post duty. In September, however, the garrison was increased by about 100 men consist- ing of Company C First Cavalry California Volun- teers plus 10 men on temporary assignment. Many citizens were also employed at the post. In addition to personnel such as clerks, a carpenter, blacksmith, and herders, employed by the Quartermaster Department, numerous individuals were employed in freighting and construction. Labor information fromthepostreturnsisshowninTable3. Some construction efforts were devoted to working on officers’ quarters, and some construction efforts were due to an order of July 14 directing that storage
45 be prepared for 100,000 subsistence rations
Table3. Postreturnslaborinformation
Month Teamsters Masons Laborers June 6 3 31 July 7 5 44 August 5 3 38
64 24 42 18 5 1 13 0 -13-
prisoners outside the guard room after dark. Likewise, he was convinced that Cortez really had been struck on the head with a rock while escorting the two men to the
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sinks (outhouse) outside the wall
An opportunity to settle the problem with the
Mimbres Apaches was lost in the spring of 1865. Following Mangas Coloradas’ murder in 1863 and continued pressure by the military, Victorio, Nana, and other leaders appealed to the Indian Agent, Doctor Michael Steck, to come to the Pinos Altos area and negotiate a treaty between themselves and the Whites. Steck prepared to make the overture, but Carleton, citing that hostile Indians were a military responsibility, refused to let him go. Instead Carleton sent Lieutenant Colonel Nelson Henry Davis. Speaking to the Apaches through their cap- tive interpreter, Maria Mendez, Davis told the In- dians they could have peace if they went to the Bosque Redondo. Victorio indicated that his people were tired of war but wanted to see the reservation first. They never showed up, and the
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unrelenting war picked up again.
Partially as a result of continued Apache warfare,
Fort Selden was established on May 8, 1865. The post, 12 miles up the river from Dona Ana, was named for Colonel Henry Raymond Selden. He had served in the Mexican War and in all the major confrontations with the Confederates. He died while in command of Fort Union on February 2, 1865 43 And, while the military was busy establishing new posts, Captain Burkett complained that at Fort
44
Cummings he did not have a single horse fit to ride. In the last half of 1865, there was another spurt of constructionatFortCummings.Uptothattimethe
post had a paper force of 78 men, present and
9 ? 9
Chapter 6
173
September
October
November
December
January
February
(*the civilians were probably replaced by the 12 Privates and a Corporal noted as being on extra duty)
6
0* 0*
Construction, however, remained a secondary
priority of the post commander. Escorting
emigrants, freighters, and others between Fort Cum-
mings and Camp Mimbres or Fort Bowie continued
to be a major effort for the men, as were frequent
patrols through the mountains and desert country
searching for Apaches. In mid-summer Captain
Burkett was well satisfied with his men’s efforts at
clearing out the Apaches. On July 22 he remarked
that the route between Mesilla and Pinos Altos had
never been less dangerous and that, except for one
small band that he was still attempting to destroy,
there was no danger within 100 miles of Fort Cum-
46
mings.
The Apaches were unimpressed with Burkett’s
smug confidence that things were peaceful within his jurisdiction. OnNovember7,theIndiansattacked a sheep ranch in the vicinity of Fort Cummings and