Page 189 - Cooke's Peak - Pasaron Por Aqui

California Column, and Foutts had agreed to send some soldiers along because there were very few men in the party. As his defense, he used the stand- ing order for protecting the transit of emigrants
6
through Indian country.
The year 1866 brought about some positive
changes. Theonsetofwinter,coupledwithlax sanitary measures and improper diet, usually sig-
naled an increase on post hospital sick
ever, Congress had authorized the commissary department,muchtothechagrinoftheposttraders,
to sell soldiers supplies at cost. These stores in-
cluded such exotic items as oysters and canned but-
ter, in addition to more common fare such as canned vegetables, potatoes, and pickles. Near year’s ficers.
end, on December 10, a post office was established at Fort Cummings with Robert V. Newsham, a dis-
CO
The Backwash of the Civil War
Following the expulsion of the Confederates from New Mexico some Unionists, who had been forced to flee, returned. Estevan Ochoa, whom Captain Sherod Hunter had driven from Tucson, returned to that city and managed to recover most of his proper- ty. He soon rebuilt his freighting empire, especially now that General Carleton was keeping the road from Mesilla to Tucson relatively open so the much
On September 8, 1863, Mills wrote his father that he had signed a contract to deliver 5,500 gallons of wine vinegar at $1.70 per gallon and that he already had 1,000 gallons ready for delivery. He and his partner Natt Webb expected to split a profit
61
Mills formed another partnership with Benjamin Shacklett Dowell, for whom he had helped secure federal government amnesty. Dowell owned a race horse named Kit. He and Mills entered challenge races with Mills supply-
•
charged Californian, as its first postmaster.
Figure 44. Fort Bayard - circa 1885. Photo courtesy of the Museum of New Mexico, #52867. 175
Chapter 6
needed supplies could flow to various communities
and military installations. Ochoa formed a partner-
ship with P. R. Tully in 1863, and after the end of the
Civil War they became the largest employer in the
Southwest, except for the mining industry. Despite
occasional major losses to the Apaches, the firm
prospered,andOchoaservedintheupperhouseof
the Arizona Territorial legislature for several
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lists. How- years.
William Wallace Mills was another Union sup-
porterwhofaredwell. Millshadfoughtwiththe
New Mexico Volunteers until the Confederates
were driven out. He returned to El Paso and rented
his and his brother Anson’s houses to Union of-
60
of about $5,000 on the deal.
ing the money to cover the wagers
62
Mills and
younger brother, Ethan Allen, also temporarily took 63
over Hart’s mill.
On the other side of the national dispute, several
prominent citizens of Tucson, El Paso, and other communities were accused of having aided and