Page 81 - Cooke's Peak - Pasaron Por Aqui

United States Government’s show of bad faith in not delivering supplies already promised to the Apaches. The new fort, the presence of numerous surveying and exploring parties, and the influx of miners and settlers combined to trigger the escala- tion of Apache hostilities. After all, if the govern- ment would not let them steal from and fight with the
100
emigrants going to California, and the miners crawl- ing all over the Apaches’ beloved mountains con- tinued to elicit Apache raids on citizens and military personnelalike. Theburdenoffindingsolutions rested primarily with the United States Government which had the force of law and, at least theoretically, the power of enforcement. Finally, the government moved to deal directly with the Indians as authorized
106
by its own laws.
made the Treaty of July 1852, and subsequent agree- ments, urgent.
The Treaty, initially negotiated by Charles Over- man, was concluded by Lieutenant Colonel Edwin Vose Sumner and John Greiner, acting Superinten- dent of Indian Affairs for New Mexico. It was ratified by Congress and signed by President
107
Mexicans, who then was
Those left, in addition to the miners, military, and
left?
Boundary Commission at the copper mines, were isolated settlers and small communities along the Rio Grande, emigrants passing through, and itinerant traders. A few months prior to establishing Fort Webster at the copper mines, rapidly increasing Apache depredations necessitated the construction of Fort Fillmore, initiated on September 23, 1851. This new installation was
located a few miles below Mesilla, on the east side of the Rio Grande, within Hugh Stephenson’s 21,000-acre Brazito Grant. It was initially a jacal structure, but later buildings were constructed of adobe bricks. The troops manning the post during its construction had been withdrawn from the installations at Dona Ana, San Elizario,
Franklin Pierce on March 25, 1853. that
It provided
101
and Franklin.
Despite increased military presence, attacks on
local settlers and emigrants continued and the military received its share of Apache attention. In late January 1852, either the Mimbres or the Gila Apaches attacked a patrol of 14 United States sol- diers west of the Rio Grande, killing 4, wounding 3,
1“
the Mimbres recognize the jurisdiction over them of the United States, establish amity’, avoid depredations against citizens or live- stock, refrain from predatory incursions into Mexico, permit establishment of military posts amongthem,relyuponthejusticeandliberality of the government to establish fair territorial boundaries, and accept such liberal and humane measures affecting them that Washington may deem meet and proper. 108
Several of the Apache chiefs, including Mangas Coloradas, had signed the agreement at the Acoma Pueblo on July 21, 1852, and it may have had a positive effect for some time because reports of major incidents were less frequent until the 1860s. The drovers and herders of the middle and late 1850s do mention a few attacks, mostly west of the Mimbres River, and the stage lines of the late 1850s suffered most of their problems east of Franklin. The military kept busy with routine patrols, con- struction efforts, and the inevitable paper work, if the Indians were quiet, which was not always the case.
In 1853, an unidentified infantryman stationed at Fort Fillmore (who had attended Yale but was not an officer) recorded the recurrence of difficulties with the Indians in his diary. He identified Ponce and Delgadito, now apparently recovered from Ward’s telling shot of nearly two years ago, as head- ing the malcontents.
and running off their stock.
The following month
a government freight-wagon train carrying military
stores was attacked while traveling from Fort
Fillmore to Fort Webster. The mules were killed or
driven off and the wagons plundered. The
teamsters, however, managed to escape with their
103
lives.
With the blame arguably distributed, the Apaches
became so aggressive in early 1852 that they practi-
cally held the Mesilla Valley and surrounding ter-
ritory hostage. In addition, their raids nearly
destroyed any trace of settlement in northern
104
Mexico.
situation, it would be humorous to note that in November, when Marcial Padilla recruited 80 men from El Paso del Norte and picked up 64 more at Mesilla to punish the Apaches, the expedition was temporarily delayed because Apache raids had left the New Mexicans without sufficient mounts. 105
Increased pressure from American settlers,
Were it not for the seriousness of the
Chapter 3
67
The increase of hostile activity