Page 83 - Cooke's Peak - Pasaron Por Aqui

the job, Navajo style, by squashing the Apache’s head with a large
114 rock.
An attempt was initiated to control the Mimbres and Gila Apaches by means other than military force. An Indian agency was created with its head- quarters near Fort Thorn, and on May 9, 1854, Dr. Michael Steck, a former surgeon with the Army of
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the West, was named agent.
fair with the Indians, later insisted that many of the depredations reported in New Mexico were not the work of Indians, whom the settlers invariably ac- cused. He claimed that Mexicans and other desperadoes were responsible for so much lawless- ness at the time that one could seldom be certain who was stealing from whom. Nevertheless, the government moved toward further isolation and
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confinement of the Apaches.
On August 12, 1854, James Bell, a young cattle
drover from Texas, described the town of Santa Barbara and Fort Thorn. He recorded that the town consisted of 8 to 10 houses of Mexican style (and of an inferior quality) and that the fort and surrounding buildings were constructed of adobe and covered
Steck, who would be
Chapter 3
Figure 24. Fort Thorn, New Mexico. Photo courtesy of the Museum of New Mexico, #1819.
much more ground than did the town. He also noted
that several hundred-thousand adobe bricks
covered the ground near the fort and were to be used
r 117 tor some government purpose.
The government continued its policy of contain- ment of the Apaches and made another treaty with them in April 1855 (after failing to achieve Congres- sional ratification of a document signed by negotiators in 1853). This instrument, for the first time, was aimed at getting the Mimbres and Mes- caleros to cede large amounts of their land and confining them to reservations. The Indians were to retain about 2,000 to 2,500 square miles for their exclusive use, whereas each tribe relinquished claim to5or6timesthatmuchterritory. Many,including Mangas Coloradas, were understandably reluctant
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to sign the document.
Governor Meriwether’s attempts to secure ratified
treaties with the Apaches bore some fruit in that about 300 Mimbres, under Cuchillo Negro and other leaders, took up farming near the Agency under the paternal guidance of Steck. Nearly 500 more Gilas remained relatively quiet along their river and planted corn, only occasionally collecting subsis- tence from Steck.
Delgadito, also by now expressing a friendly face to the Americans and Agent Steck, had the misfor-
miles southeast of the fort, the troops clashed with the Indians in a brief but sharp action in which Lieutenant Bell downed Lobo with several pistol shots, and one of his men Finished
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