Page 212 - Cooke's Peak - Pasaron Por Aqui

poles only every 200 or more feet, and avoiding the use of civilian labor, the project was under-funded. Reade held meetings with various communities and received the support he needed. He obtained poles from Valencia County and Silver City, and also procured some for half price from Bernalillo Coun- ty. The residents of Las Cruces and Mesilla con- tributed $1,500, and farmers and ranchers along the route hauled the poles free of charge. When the telegraph line reached Fort Cummings in the spring of 1877, an operator was stationed at Sam Lyons’
it.
placetomanage 18Withsimilarcooperationin
Arizona, the line was completed to Silver City by
19
March and to Tucson by May 1877.
The new communication system linking the
military posts of the Southwest was completed none too soon. Trouble with the Indians was gradually building. On August 17, 1876, Apaches raided Joseph Williams and Thomas Cromwell on the Mid- dle Mimbres River. Ten days later either the same Indians or a similar group repeated the act, each time stealing some horses. Cromwell, Williams, and another man trailed the Apaches into the mountain range north of Cooke’s Peak but were repulsed by the Indians. They reported the situation to Captain Charles D. Beyer, who dispatched Second Lieutenant Henry Haviland Wright with 20 Ninth Cavalry troopers and 10 Navajo scouts to pursue the Indians. A few days later they had a sharp engage-
20
ment with about 40 or 50 Apaches.
Several weeks later, Captain Henry Carroll and 25
Ninth Cavalry troopers left Fort Selden for an exten- sive tour through the Floridas, Cooke’s Spring, and Slocum’s Ranch. Carroll had two minor engage- ments with one confirmed kill and only one of his men wounded.21
At this point, the Apaches were apparently operat- ing in small groups and creating disturbances. In Silver City, a freighter named Gonzales reported in September 1876 that he had seen 15 Indians near the old Goodsight stage station and another three in Cooke’s Canyon. It was probably the first party that hit Slocum’s Ranch the same week. When one of the men at Slocum’s pursued an Indian who had stolen a horse, he encountered about 14 warriors and aban-
“
doned the chase.
Late the following month the newspaper reported
that during the past 10 days several Indians had been sighted. Apaches had been spotted at San Augus- tine Springs, Carlee Springs, Jackson’s Ranch on the
Jornada del Muerto, and again at Slocum’s Ranch. The raids had been confined to horse stealing, but the editor foresaw grimmer events. He urged that a militia company be formed to chase the Indians back onto their reservations, and if this was not ac- complished, he predicted that taking citizen’s scalps
23
would be added to the taking of horses
Soldiers stationed at Fort Selden attempted to cur-
tail the Indians’ activities. On October 27, 1876, Second Lieutenant Millard Fillmore Goodwin and 25 Ninth Cavalry troopers picked up a trail of eight ApachesandaherdofhorsesintheFloridasand followed it north where it crossed the road near Slocum’s Ranch. They followed the Indians to Ojo Caliente, above Fort Craig, before they had to return to Fort Selden. The editor of the local press claimed that patrols from Fort Bayard had followed several
24
He further indicated that the Apaches were using the horses for trading in Mexico and were also working at establishing a peace with some of the northern
25
This was a familiar Apache tactic, to establish good rela- tions on one side of the border when planning
trouble on the other.
Captain Beyer, in command at Fort Bayard, sent
detachments against the roving bands of Indians. Beyer dispatched Lieutenant Wright and 11 Ninth Cavalry troopers and 3 Navajo scouts to Fort Cum- mings. About January 28, 1877, Wright and a small mixed detachment killed five Apaches in a fire-fight. The Lieutenant accounted for two Indians with his pistol at point-blank range when the preengagement negotiations broke down. Afterward, he and his
26
command returned to Fort Cummings
Four days later Captain Beyer and another detach-
ment from Fort Bayard clashed with 25 Apaches. There were no confirmed casualties on either side, but the army destroyed the Indians’ supplies and equipment. Captain Beyer recommended that General Edward Hatch, commanding the District of New Mexico, station an officer and 20 men at Fort Cummings. Hatch agreed, but General Pope vetoed the idea.“
Perhaps Pope did not see any necessity for assign- ing soldiers to Fort Cummings, but the newspaper editor at Silver City disagreed. The editor com- plained about the abandonment of Fort Cummings and pointed out the sinister reputation of Cooke’s Canyonanditsvicinity. Lyonsprobablywouldnot
A Period of Relative Peace and Economic Development
198
parties of Indians to the same reservation.
Mexico towns, another ominous indication.