Page 197 - Cooke's Peak - Pasaron Por Aqui

that had been constructed on the Fort Cummings
open arrest. Alcoholism, especially in the medical department, had become a problem, and desertions wereonasharpincrease. Anexampleofthelatter occurred when Fifteenth Infantry Captain Alfred Hedberg sent half his cavalry detachment (three men) and a mounted infantryman, to patrol Cooke’s Canyon,andtheydecidedtokeepongoing. When they did not return within a reasonable amount of time, Hedberg personally pursued them until it was too dark to track them. He then returned to the post about midnight after covering nearly 50 miles. The deserters’ trail was headed for Mexico; so Hedberg held little hope of seeing the men, their government mounts, or their equipment again.
Hedberg’s capability of continuing to patrol the area around the fort was nearly nil. The cavalry sergeant was under arrest, and one of the two remaining privates was constantly sick and unfit for active service. It was little wonder that Hedberg
P‘3 requested some replacements as soon as possible.
The requirement to escort the mails apparently was not removed in spite of Hedburg’s report that there was a lack of personnel to perform the task. On December 7, Second Lieutenant Edmund T. Ryan wrote (for Captain Hedberg) to the mail agents indicating that cooperation was forthcoming. The agents were to furnish a light wagon and har- ness, and the military would furnish the animals, escort, and driver for the leg between Fort Cum-
124
mings and Barney’s Station to the west.
Late in 1869, a change was made in the designated post trader. Newsham sold his store at Fort Cum- mings and opened a new store in the little com-
military reservation. pressman,JohnJones,hadinveigledthegeneralinto permitting him to build a house and corral at Cooke’s Spring. Moore claimed that Jones (by now deceased) built the adobe structure after Fort Cum- mings was established, and had used military labor and transportation, but Jones had claimed that he had filed a preemption claim two years earlier.
Whatever the facts, there was a house on the reser- vation that Moore wanted removed or appropriated
and Marcus Herring. 119
Moore notified Sam Jones of his intentions and
appropriated the house on August 1, 1869, even though Moore had been informed that Sam Jones
118 for military use.
Apparently Carleton’s ex-
Jones apparently had become involved in a counterfeiting operation and had com- mitted suicide in either Las Cruces or Mesilla. In his will he left his house to Samuel J. Jones of Mesilla
intended to take possession of the
use. Indeed, Jones somehow got the military decision reversed, and he not only claimed the house but also apparently was able to transfer ownership
120
of it to others at a later date.
Captain Moore’s problems with citizens on the
post were not confined to John Jones and his heirs. The beef contractor, John Crouch, was not keeping his herds corralled at night and frequently did not assign a herder to them during the day. Moore was concerned that the cattle were acting as bait for
This was
The Surgeon General’s report was also critical of the many piles of garbage behind the post trader’s buildings and in the general area. The report noted that the spring was sometimes contaminated by animal and vegetable matter, living and dead. On the positive side the report also indicated that there was a post garden where corn, cabbage, onions, melons,andpeasweregrown. “
Throughout 1869, there was evidence of increasing tension at Fort Cummings. Officers were quarrel- ing among themselves, and charges and counter charges were filed. Frequently one or more of the officers fulfilled their duties while they were under
“thieving Indians near the post.”
probably the same beef contractor that the Surgeon General was concerned with because large pools of water standing between the butcher’s house and the post trader’s buildings constituted a potential health hazard.
munity at the crossing of the Mimbres River.
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house for his own
1
Chapter 6
183
probably can be assumed that he sold his holdings at
Fort Cummings to Jacob Applezoller, the survivor
of the Mesilla Confederate lynching, because Ap-
plezoller was appointed the new post trader on
December 30, and the following day he was ap-
i P6 pointed postmaster.
Danger to the officers of the command did not always come from the Indians. A military train for Fort Craig had stopped overnight at Cooke’s Spring on March 28, 1870. One of the escorts, Private Charles E. Roberts, attempted to steal a hog from the post butcher the next morning. The officer of the day was informed of this attempt and he caught Roberts in the act. When the officer pursued him, Roberts drew his pistol and threatened him. The
It