Scouting for Mescaleros

Transcription

Journal of the Southwest
Scouting for Mescaleros: The Price Campaign of 1873
Author(s): Lawrence L. Mehren
Source: Arizona and the West, Vol. 10, No. 2 (Summer, 1968), pp. 171-190
Published by: Journal of the Southwest
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SCOUTING
FOR MESCALEROS
THE PRICE CAMPAIGN
edited
LAWRENCE
OF 1873
hy
L. MEHREN
The editor uncovered these reports while doing research on a master's thesis on
the Mescalero Apache Indian Reservation. He is a former Editorial Assistant of
this journal.
On a cool Octoberday in 1873, MajorWilliam Redwood Price1sat
down in his tent on Black Riverin southeasternNew Mexico to compose a reportto his superiors.A rotund little man with a long record
of Indian service, Price had left Fort Bayard2in August with several
troopsof the Eighth Cavalryto check the mountingstockdepredations
committedby MescaleroApaches from the reservationin the White
1Price to Assistant
Adjutant General, District of New Mexico, October 18, 1873, Letters
Received, New Mexico Superintendency [LRNM], Roll 561, Microcopy M-234, Records of
the Bureau of Indian Affairs [BIA], Record
National Archives. William Redwood
Group 75,
Price, born in Ohio, entered the army as Second Lieutenant, Third Pennsylvania Cavalry,
and rose to Brevet Brigider General of Volunteers in the Civil War. Assigned to the Eighth
Cavalry as a Major in 1866, he was brevetted Colonel for gallant service against the Indians
in the Aquarious range in Western Arizona on December 10 and 13, 1868. He died in 1881.
Francis B. Heitman (comp.), Historical Register and Dictionary of the United States Army
(2 vols., Washington, 1903), I, 807.
2 Fort
Bayard, New Mexico, was established in August of 1866 to protect the Pinos Altos
mining district, particularly against the Warm Springs Apaches. Located ten miles east of
the present town of Silver City, and near the base of the Santa Rita Mountains, it was
abandoned as a military post in 1900. Robert W. Frazer, Forts of the West (U. of Oklahoma
Press, 1965), 95-96; T. M. Pearce (ed.), New Mexico Place Names: A Geographical
Dictionary (U. of New Mexico Press, 1965), 58.
[171]
172
ARIZONAandthe WEST
Mountainsnear FortStanton. Emboldenedby the relativeinactivityof
the army and the neglect of their civilian agent, the Mescaleroshad
been rampagingeast to the Pecos River and south to the Texas line,
stealing horsesand mules from outlying ranches,attackingtrail herds,
and occasionallymurderingcitizens.Believingit wouldbe relativelyeasy
to entrapand punish the Mescaleros,Price in Septemberhad sent six
companieson extensivemarchesacrossthe reservationand throughthe
country east and south. The results,however, were disappointing.In
their reports,his commandersspoke only of uneventful, tiring days of
searchingmonotonousplains and of exploring lonely canyons. They
saw few Indians.The wily Apachesrepeatedlymade good their escape.
Armycontactwith the Mescalerosliving in the White Mountains
datedback to 1850. In June of that year LieutenantEnoch Steen3led
an exploringexpeditionfrom Dona Ana on the Rio Grandeeast over
the Organ range, aroundthe southernedge of the White Sands, and
entered the Mescalerodomain. Running into what seemed a superior
forceof Indians,Steenturnedbackto the RioGrandewithoutproceeding
farther. Five years later, in response to claims that Mescaleroswere
depredatingalong the Pecos and down into Texas, CaptainRichardS.
Ewell4 in Januarymarchedfrom FortThorn and inflictedheavy losses
on the Indiansandtheirvillages.The Mescalerosaskedforpeace,andthe
armyestablishedFort Stantonin their domainnear the junctionof the
Bonitoand Ruidosorivers.Placedon the BosqueRedondoReservation5
duringthe Civil War, the Mescalerosby the late 1860s had returnedto
their old haunts, and were soon stealinglivestock.Soldierswere quick
to give chase, but the renegadesescaped south into the Guadalupe
3 Enoch Steen was born in
Kentucky and entered the service as a Second Lieutenant of
Mounted Rangers in 1832. In 1833 he was transferred to the First Dragoons, and rose to
Captain in 1840. In 1861 he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, Second Cavalry (formerly
Second Dragoons), and retired in 1863. He died in 1880. Heitman (comp.), Historical
Register, 1, 419.
4 Richard Stoddert Ewell, a
graduate of West Point in 1840, entered the First Dragoons,
rising to the rank of Captain in 1849. Joining the Confederacy in 1861, he attained the rank
of Lieutenant General. Percy G. Hamlin, Old Bald Head (Strasburg, Virginia: Shenandoah
Publishing House, 1940).
5
Bosque Redondo was established by order of Brigadier General James H. Carleton in the
fall of 1862. The first Indians located there were Mescaleros. By the summer of 1864, over
6,000 Navajos also had been settled on the reserve. Four years later, the Indians had been
moved to new reservations, and the buildings at Bosque Redondo were sold to Lucien B.
Maxwell. James D. Shinkle, Fort Stunner and the Bosque Redondo Indian Reservation
(Roswell, New Mexico: Hall-Poorbough Press, Inc., 1965).
SCOUTING for MESCALEROS
173
Mountains.Despite the fact that in May of 1873 the Mescaleroswere
given a large reservationsouth of Fort Stanton and promisedregular
rations,the depredationscontinued.6
Major Price had arrivedat Fort Stanton with five troopsof the
Eighth Cavalryon August 28. During the precedingweeks, operating
east and north of Fort Bayard,he and his lieutenantshad successfully
trackeddown and recoveredstolen stock from severalWarm Springs
Apache bands.7He was now ready to mount a campaignof a similar
natureagainstthe Mescaleros.Sworncomplaintsthatthese Indianswere
stealing horses, cattle, and mules had been forwardedto Stanton by
citizens who demandedaction.8However, before Price could take the
field, L. Edwin Dudley,9 Superintendentof Indian Affairs for New
Mexico, arrivedto temperhis plans.
SuperintendentDudley foundthe Mescalerosin a belligerentmood.
In the first place, they resented the artificialboundariesimposed on
their way of life and rangeby the new reservation.Furthermore,they
were holding large quantitiesof stock, principallyhorses and mules,
taken fromranchersin the vicinity, particularlyJohn S. Chisum,10the
6C. L. Sonnichsen, The Mescalero Apaches (U. of Oklahoma Press, 1958), 59-134.
7 Price on
May 20 was sent from Santa Fe to command at Fort Bayard, and exercise authority
over the posts in the southern part of New Mexico. Army and Navy Journal [ANJ], May 31,
1873. Beginning in July he had taken decisive action against Warm Springs Apache renegades
who had left the Southern Apache Agency at Tularosa. Price himself led three companies
to Tularosa, arresting a number of Indians for horse stealing. When others fled the Agency,
he overtook two hundred and forced them back to their reserve. Price to Acting Assistant
Adjutant General, District of New Mexico, July 25, 1873, LRNM, Roll 561; Annual Report
of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs [CIA] . . . 1873 (Washington, 1874), 265, 275.
8Post Returns,
August, 1873, Fort Stanton, New Mexico, Returns from U.S. Military Posts
[RMP], Roll 1217, M-617, Record Group 98, National Archives; Report of CIA, 1873, 264.
9Levi Edwin Dudley of New York relieved Nathaniel Pope as Superintendent of Indian
Affairs in New Mexico in December 1872. When Congress failed to provide funds for the
continuance of the New Mexico Superintendency, it was abolished in June of 1874. E. P.
Smith to L. E. Dudley, June 16, 1874, Letters Sent, Office of Indian Affairs [LSOIA],
Roll 118, BIA.
10John
Simpson Chisum, a legendary figure in New Mexico history, established a ranch
headquarters at Bosque Grande, thirty miles south of Fort Sumner, in August of 1867, and
by the 1870s was regarded as one of the largest cattlemen in the West. Marauding Indians
during June of 1868 -August of 1873 stole from him at least 1,188 head of cattle, 392
horses, and 105 mules -a total loss of $96,520. Chisum opposed the Dolan-Riley faction
in the Lincoln County War, and died at Eureka Springs, Arkansas, in December of 1884.
Harwood P. Hinton, "John Simpson Chisum, 1877-84," New Mexico Historical Review
[NMHR], XXXI (July and October, 1956); XXXII (January 1957). Depredation Claim
5388, filed October 29, 1891, by James Chisum, administrator of the estate of John S. Chisum,
ID 5388, United States Court of Claims, Record Group 123, National Archives.
174
ARIZONAand the WEST
largestcattlemanin the area, and were not interestedin losing them.
They were aware,too, that the Mescaleroagent, Samuel B. Bushnell,11
was distinctlyhostile towardsthem, and was constantlycomplainingto
the commanderat Stanton of impending outbreaks.Dudley quickly
perceivedthat he faced an explosivesituation.
On Septemberi and 2, Dudley held extensiveconversationswith
Price. The time was not right to punish the Mescaleros,he declared.
Their reservationwas new and they were trying to settle down. Moreover, the Indians honestly believed that the whites owed them tribute
in the way of horsesand mules. Dudley advocatedinformingthe Mescalerosthat they must remain on the reservation- at the same time
warningthem if they venturedoutsideof it, the militarywould be sent
to bring them back. Pricestatedabruptlythat he had marchedhis command a greatdistance,and that he would not be in that localityagain
soon. He was convincedthat he could hold the Mescaleroson the reservation and compel them to return the stolen stock. With the settlers,
the agent,and the militaryarrayedagainsthim, SuperintendentDudley
weakened.He advisedPrice"totakesuch meansas you think proper,to
12
recoverpropertypreviouslystolen,andto preventfurtherdepredations."
Price immediatelysent Indian runnersto orderthe Mescalerosto
assembleat the Forton the morningof September4. When only three
or four came in, he directedCaptainGeorgeW. Chilson to gatherthe
Indiansat the post. By late afternoon,over three hundredwere assembled. Suddenly,and apparentlywithout previouswarning,Price seized
severalof the Indiansas hostages- and announcedthey would remain
in custody until the stolen livestockwas brought to him. A wave of
consternationswept the reservation.In the days that followed, Mescalerogroupsbegan leaving the reserve,drivingtheir stockwith them.
Most of them headed south to Texas, while smallerpartiesmovedeast
towardsthe Pecos.13
11Samuel B. Bushnell to Price,
September 3, 1873, LRNM, Roll 561; Report of the CIA,
1873, 274-75. Lawrence G. Murphy, Post Trader at Fort Stanton as early as 1868 and no
friend of Bushnell, later remarked: "On my soul I believe he was glad they [Mescaleros] left.
I know he was afraid of them." Murphy to Frederick C. Godfroy, January 14, 1877, LRNM,
Roll 570.
12Report of the CIA, 1873, 264-65; Dudley to Price, September 3, 1873, LRNM, Roll 561.
13Price to P. Willard, Assistant
J.
Adjutant General, District of New Mexico, September 4,
1873, LRNM, Roll 561. From Michigan, George W. Chilson enlisted as a corporal, TwentyFourth Michigan Infantry, in 1862, and rose to First Lieutenant during the Civil War. He
was assigned to the Eighth Cavalry in 1870, and died in 1881. Heitman (comp.), Historical
Register, 1, 299.
175
Price orderedthe companiesat Fort Stanton to preparefor an
extended campaign.Captain James F. Randlett,14with Company D,
movedout first,headingeast towardsthe Pecos. Detachmentsalso were
sent to investigatethe White Mountains and the Sacramentos,and
Price himself left with a large expedition to scout the Guadalupes.
Marchingdown the Felix River in pursuitof a band drivingover one
hundred horses, Randlett crossedthe Pecos, climbed the escarpment
and marchednortheaston the StakedPlains,doubledbackto the Pecos,
and went upriverto the vicinity of Fort Sumner before returningto
Stanton.He found no Indians.Soon after Price reachedthe Pecos, he
dispatchedChilson to search the soaring Guadalupe range. On the
westernslope,the officersurpriseda smallIndianband,killing threeand
capturingsix horses.Price himself was in the saddlealmostconstantly,
leading a force aroundthe southernextensionof the Guadalupesand
into Texas. By Novemberthe troopswere back at Stanton.15
While he may have been successfulin drivingthe hostile Mescaleros from New Mexico, Price failed to realizehis goals of keeping the
Indianson the reservationand compellingthem to returnstolen stock.
In fact, the ease with which the Mescalerosescaped retributionled
Colonel J. Irwin Gregg,16commandingthe Districtof New Mexico, to
statethatunlessthey couldbe broughtto terms,thatareaof New Mexico
would haveto be abandoned.Also, in a sense,Price'soperationsvirtually
negated any constructiveinfluence the MescaleroAgency might have
exercisedover some five hundred Indians from the summerof 1873
until the winter of 1877, when the majorityfinally returnedto the
reservation.17
14James Franklin Randlett, born in New
Hampshire, entered the army as Captain, Third
New Hampshire Infantry, in 1861, and rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the Civil
War. Mustered out in June of 1865, Randlett was assigned to the Eighth Cavalry in 1870
and retired in 1896 with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Heitman (comp.), Historical
Register, I, 815.
15Post Returns,
August-November, 1873, Fort Stanton, RMP.
16John Irvin
Gregg entered the Army as a private in the Second Pennsylvania Infantry in
1846. After the Mexican War, he was commissioned Captain in the Third Cavalry. During
the Civil War he served as Colonel of the Sixteenth Pennsylvania Cavalry, was brevetted six
times, and reached the rank of Major General of Volunteers. Assigned as Colonel, Eighth
Cavalry, in 1866, he retired in 1879, and died in 1892. Heitman (comp.), Historical Register,
I, 477. For Gregg's activities in Arizona, see: Sidney B. Brinckerhoff, Camf Date Creek,
Arizona Territory: Infantry Outmost in the Yavapai Wars, 1867-1873 (Smoke Signal 10:
Tucson Westerners, Fall, 1964). J. Irvin Gregg's endorsement [October 23] on Price's report
of October 18, 1873, LRNM, Roll 561.
17Godfroy to Commissioner of Indian Affairs, March 6, 1878, LRNM, Roll 573.
176
ARIZONAand the WEST
The four reportsthat follow were sent by Pricein the fall of 1873
to his superiorsin Santa Fe.18These reportsillustratethe difficultyof
campaigningagainstIndiansin a rugged,relativelyunknown area.His
forces were constantlyhamperedby a lack of knowledgeabout water
holes, and by a generalunfamiliarityof the country.The Mescaleros,
on the other hand, had greatmobility.Breakinginto small groupsthey
easily replacedjadedmountsby stealinghorsesalong their route. Little
wonderthen that Price found so few Indians.
In preparingthese reportsfor publication,an attempt has been
made to preserveboth the original spelling and other peculiaritiesof
language.However,for purposesof clarity,alterationshave been made
in paragraphingand punctuationso as to renderthe documentsmore
readable.
[PRICE'SREPORT-I]
HeadquartersTroopsoperating
in Southern N.M.
Fort Stanton, N.M.
Sept. 8th, 1873
[Lieutenant J. P. Willard]
Asst. Adjt. General
District of New Mexico
Santa Fe, N.M.
Lieutenant:
I have the honor to report that my interview with these Indians on the 4th
instant resulted in the detention as hostages of "Chino Gordo"19(brother of
18Price to Willard, September 8, October 8, 1873, LRNM, Roll 561.
19The
AN), September 27, 1873, reported the capture of Chena and Santana. This may have
been Cha, a younger brother of Roman. Cha, Roman, Cadete, and Santana were all related.
Cadete is generally considered to be the son of Barranquito, while the others may have been
Cadete's brothers, half-brothers, or cousins. Sonnichsen, Mescalero Apaches, 83, 126, 132n.
The MescaleroApache Agency was housed in the Post TradersStore (toy^)at Fort Stanton
in the early 1870s. By the 1890s the agency had been moved south to Tularosa Creek
(below^). - Fulton Collections, University of Arizona Library.
Southeastern New Mexico in 1873. Map information was drawn
largely from rough sketch submitted by Price with his October report.
177
Roman20 and Cadetta,21dead, the present chief and late chief) and of "Santana,"22son-in-lawof Cadetta. These two are young captains and influential men.
Roman said he would at once go out and get his people and stock together,
and if there was any stolen stock among it, he would turn it over to me if I would
meet him at his camp with not over 20 men the next day. He met me as he agreed.
There were, I should think, between two and three hundred Indians there. The
bucks were insolent and defiant, remained on their horses in a hostile attitude,
with few exceptions. Roman seemed sincere in his efforts to have them return
the stolen stock, [but] they showed no disposition to do it. I told the Captains
that it was their duty to return the stock, that they knew which it was and who
were the thieves.
There was nothing to do but take the initiative. I told Roman to take all
his family and those who wished peace in to the [Mescalero] Agency,23that those
who wished to fight and protect the stolen stock which I knew to be hidden in
20Roman, head chief of the White Mountain Mescaleros after the murder of Cadete in 1872,
seemed genuinely interested in learning the White Man's Way. He was given a silver medal
by President U. S. Grant in October of 1875 for his role in keeping his band on the reservation and for his example in cultivating the soil. Disregarding the advice of the agency
physician, Roman ventured into a neighboring settlement in the midst of a raging epidemic
and died in 1885. Sonnichsen, Mescalero Apaches, 127, 133; Smith to Williamson D.
Crothers, October 4, 1875; and Smith to [Chief] Roman, October 4, 1875, LSOIA, Roll 126.
21Cadete was
recognized by the whites as the chief of the Mescaleros at the death of his
father, Barranquito, in 1857. One of the foremost of all Apache leaders, Cadete was wily,
brave as a gamecock, a dexterous thief, and possessed of great foresight and mental calibre.
He was murdered in La Luz Canyon, near Tularosa, New Mexico, in November of 1872.
Although the murderer was never apprehended, evidence pointed to a quarrel between Cadete
and an interpreter named Juan Cojo, whose body was found twenty miles from the murder site.
Cecil Byron Trammell, "Mescalero Indian Relations in New Mexico, 1865-1885" (M.A.
thesis, University of Oklahoma, 1938), 54-55; A. J. Curtis to Nathaniel Pope, November 30,
1872, Records of the New Mexico Superintendence, Roll 16, BIA.
22Santana had been an important Mescalero leader since about 1830, and his authority
increased greatly after Barranquito's death. Well-muscled, with a broad, calm face and great
dignity of manner, Santana was a vigorous enemy of the white man in the 1850s and 1860s.
Early in the 1870s, he became friendly with a few whites, notablv Dr. Joseph H. Blazer, near
whose home he died of pneumonia in 1877. Sonnichsen, Mescalero Apaches, 123, 126, 132.
Also see A. N. Blazer, "Santana, the Last Chief of the Mescaleros," unpublished manuscript,
University of Arizona Library, Tucson.
23At this time the Mescalero
Agency was located at Fort Stanton in the Post Trader Store of
Lawrence G. Murphy, the acknowledged political and economic boss of Lincoln County.
Inadequate accommodations, friction with the military, and the sale of whisky to the Indians
led the Indian Bureau to relocate the agency at John Copeland's ranch, eight miles southwest
of the Fort, in March of 1875. In November or December of that year the agency was moved
to the vicinity of Blazer's Mill. Bushnell to Smith, June 4, 1873, LRNM, Roll 560; Crothers
to Smith, March 16, December 14, 1875, LRNM, Roll 564.
178
ARIZONAand the WEST
the vicinity might go to the mountains that I would follow them. Roman came
in with about 100, [and] they are now camped within gunshot of the post. This
is twice the number that drew rations when the Superintendent [L. E. Dudley]
was here.
Captain Randlett and [Edmond G.] Fechet's24Cos had alreadymoved along
the eastern base of the SacramentoMountains. Four companies were then at the
Post. I directed Captains [Charles A.] Hartwell25 and Chilson to go to the
divide on the road to [Fort] Selden.26I then took up the trail of the stolen stock
at 12 PM with Capt. [Albert B.] Kauffman27and Lt. [William] Stephenson,28
Cos A and E. The stock was taken over a very circuitous route over the crest of
the White Mountains, thence down the Riodi-Oso, and the trail indicated over
100 animals. [We] followed them all night and until 3 PM, when the[y] crossed
the main road, going S. on the Sacramento Mountains. They have evidently
scatteredand avoided Capt. HartwelFscommand, who was about four miles west
of where they crossed the road. He at once took up the trail with fresh horses
and will pursue and endeavorto recoverthe stock and punish the Indians. I have
made arrangementsto keep after them for fifteen days, having sent that amount
of rations to meet me at Guadalupe Mountains.
I start again today from Dowlings Mill29 to take up the trail and move
forward. The horses and men of those two Companies [A & E], being so tired
after their 18 hours rapid march all the time being drenched with rain, that they
required rest.
I think there need be no apprehension of their being any worse than they
24Bornin
Michigan,EdmondGustaveFechetenteredthe armyas Sergeant,Seventh Michigan
Infantry,in 1861, rose to Second Lieutenantthe next year, and was brevetteda Captain for
braveryat Antietam.Assignedto the Eighth Cavalryin 1866, Fechet had attainedthe rankof
Majorby retirementin 1898. Heitman (comp.), HistoricalRegister,I, 416.
25CharlesA. Hartwell,born in Massachusetts,enteredthe
armyas First Lieutenant,Eleventh
Infantry, rose to Colonel during the Civil War, and won the brevet of BrigadierGeneral.
Assigned to the Eighth Cavalryin 1870, he died in 1881. Ibid., I, 508.
26Fort Selden, New Mexico, was establishedin
May of 1865 to protectthe north-southroute
throughthe Rio GrandeValley. It was locatedon the east bank of the Rio Grande,approximately fifteen miles north of Las Cruces,and was named for Colonel Henry R. Selden, First
New MexicoInfantry.It was abandonedin April of 1889. Frazer,Fortsof the West, 102-103.
27Albert BradfordKauffman,born in
Pennsylvania,entered the army as Sergeant,Eleventh
Infantry,in 1847. On his second re-enlistment,he rose from the rank of Sergeant,Eleventh
MissouriCavalry,to the rankof Majorin 1865. Assignedas a First Lieutenantto the Eighth
Cavalryin 1866, he retiredas a Majorin 1892. Heitman (comp.), HistoricalRegister,I, 586.
28
English-bornWilliam Stephensonenlisted as a private,Thirteenth Infantry, in 1864, was
promotedto First Lieutenant in 1868, and was assigned to the Eighth Cavalry in 1870.
He retiredin 1879 and died in 1898. Ibid., I, 921.
^Dowlin's Mill, located in present-dayRuidoso, New Mexico, was establishedin 1868 or
1869 by Paul Dowlin, a Captain in the New Mexico Volunteers during the Civil War.
He was Post Traderat Fort Stanton from 1873 until he was killed on May 5, 1877, by Jerry
Dillon, a former employee. Dowlin owned a flour mill, sawmill, ranches and livestock.
William A. Keleher, Violence in Lincoln County, 1869-1881: A New Mexico Item (U. of
New Mexico Press, 1957), 19; Eve Ball, Ruidoso:The Last Frontier(San Antonio, Texas:
The Naylor Company, 1963), 6.
179
have been previously. I shall endeavor to give them a good lesson. They fired at
my commandand in every way showed their hostile intentions. They deliberately
killed five head of cattle at Dowlings Mill, 18 miles from here the day they had
a talk with the Superintendent. There are affidavitsof over 200 head of horses
stolen by them during the past month. The Navajoes could buy most any of these
horses for the value of five dollars
[RANDLETT'SREPORT]
Rosewell,30N. M., Sept. 18th, 1873
Colonel [W. R. Price]:
I have the honor to report [that] Mr. [John N.] Copeland31reportedto me
at Whitetail Spring,3235 miles from Stanton on the evening of 7th inst. at
6 o'clock. On the eighth we started towards Guadalupe Mountains. About
9 o'clock struck trail of Indians leading from this point between Dowlins and
Blazer'sMill.33The trail increased in size and we followed until it was evident
there were from 150 to 200 animals making it. We made one halt of two hours,
at about two o'clock, following fast upon the trail until 1 o'clock A. M. of the
9th inst., at which time we lost it in hurrying over a rugged mountain. We did
not unsaddle, but at daybreakfound the trail and started again. Making one halt
of two hours, we marched until 8 o'clock PM, when we again lost the trail. At
30Once a favorite Mescalero camp site, Roswell was named by Van C. Smith, a professional
gambler and stockman, for his father, Roswell Smith. Smith and his partner, Aaron O.
Wilburn, arrived in 1869, shortly after James Patterson, and built two adobe buildings for
a store, post office, and hotel. The site was approximately seven miles west of the junction of
the Pecos and Hondo rivers. James D. Shinkle, Fifty Years of Roswell History, 1867-19 17
(Roswell, New Mexico: Hall-Poorbaugh Press, Inc., 1964), 10-15.
31John N. Copeland, a sometime butcher at the Mescalero Agency, had established his ranch
about 1870. He was appointed sheriff of Lincoln County in April of 1878 by the County
Commissioners to succeed William Brady, who had been murdered in Lincoln. Governor
Samuel Axtell removed Copeland from office about a month later, because of his partisanship
in the Lincoln County War. Philip J. Rasch, "War in Lincoln County," English Westerner's
Brand Book, VI (July 1964), 6, 8; Crothers to Smith, February 16, 1875, LRNM, Roll 564.
32Whitetail
miles
Spring is located on the old Walker Wagon Trail, approximately twenty-five
southeast of Fort Stanton, near the Pajarito Mountains and within the boundaries of the
deer found near
present Mescalero Reservation. The name derives from the many whitetail
there. Pearce (ed.), New Mexico Place Names, 179.
33Blazer's Mill, now a ruin near the present-day Mescalero Agency, had been in operation
intermittently since 1846. It was purchased in 1867 by Dr. Joseph Hoy Blazer, a native of
Pennsylvania who had studied dentistry in St. Louis prior to joining an Iowa cavalry regiment
in the Civil War. Located beside the east-west road from the Pecos to the Rio Grande, the
sawmill was the scene of the fight in 1878 between Andrew L. (Buckshot) Roberts and
a group led by Richard Brewer. Sonnichsen, Mescalero Apaches, 124; Paul A. Blazer, "The
203.
Fight at Blazer's Mill," Arizona and the West, VI (Autumn 1964),
180
ARIZONAand the WEST
daybreak on the 10th we started and at 10 o'clock we arrived at Rio Pecos
stopped, grazed our animals, and got dinner at 1 PM.
Started east on the trail, at eight o'clock went into Camp. At daybreak [September 11] started,followed trail to Llano Estacado(Staked Plains). The Indians
had evidently intended a stopping here at the base of the Mesa to make their
rendezvous.They had arrivedthe evening before us, and had evidently discovered
us from their elevation early in the morning and lit out. They had cut their lodge
poles, and everything showed this to be their intended stopping place. I followed
the trail as far as I could from the plain that evening, and returned to the Spring
Camp.34On leaving this place, the Indians went in every direction, making it
impossible for me to determine which way they intended to rendezvous. The
position they had selected here, if they intended to fight, could not have been
made stronger than nature has fixed it. With very little work they had made a
fortificationof hide near the Mesa. Next day [September 12], after resting until
2 PM, we started back to the Pecos in a N. W. course. Our course the previous
day lay N. E. We camped at 10 o'clock.
Next day at 11 o'clock made Loyds Ranch35 on the Pecos. On the 14th
marched to Rosewell, intending to communicate with you. At 3 o'clock AM on
the 15th, messenger came from Chisum's on the Pecos [Bosque Grande], informing me of Indian depredations, who had come from Staked Plains, crossed the
Pecos, and gone to the reservation. I broke camp at daylight and arrived at
Chisum's at 5 P. M. Next morning Mr. Chisum went with us 18 miles. He learned
that the Indians had captured one of his men, a horse, and a mule, and changed
their course. We took the trail, travelling until 9 P. M. Next morning, 17th, the
trail recrossedthe Pecos towards Staked Plains. My animals were nearly played
out, rations on hand to last only three days, so I came in here [Roswell] last
evening. Learned that Mr. [A. G.] Hennissee36was en route here, and have laid
over for his arrival.
I am satisfiedthat the Indians have principly gone to the plains, at least the
majority of the stock has gone there. Children's moccasins and women's frocks
were found on the trail, evidence that the families had gone there also. I have
decided that if you were here you would direct me to go in that direction. I know
34Comanche Spring, a natural watering place for stock, was a few miles east of present-day
Roswell on the trail that Charles Goodnight and Oliver Loving blazed in 1866. J. Evetts Haley,
Charles Goodnight: Cowman and Plainsman (U. of Oklahoma Press, 1936), 127-39.
35
Lloyd's Ranch was located one mile below the confluence of Salt Creek and the Pecos
River. William A. Keleher, The Fabulous Frontier: Twelve New Mexico Items (New edition,
U. of New Mexico Press, 1962), 58.
36Argalus Garey Hennissee, born in Maryland, entered the army as First Lieutenant, First
Eastern Shore Maryland Infantry, in 1861, and rose to Captain the following year. Commissioned Second Lieutenant, Nineteenth Infantry, in 1867, he was on detached service as
Mescalero Agent from March 31, 1869, until December 31, 1870, when he was assigned to
the Eighth Cavalry. Hennissee retired as a Colonel in 1903. Heitman (comp.), Historical
Register, I, 523; Lawrence R. Murphy (ed.), Indian Agent in New Mexico: The Journal of
Special Agent W. F. M. Amy, 1870 (Santa Fe: Stagecoach Press, 1967), 55.
I8 1
a lake37about 50 miles from the place where these Indians went on to the plains.
I expect to find them there. This is the place where the Comanches38used to
meet cattle herders, and where Cahacar [Caraher]39captured the Pueblos[?].
Lt. Hennissee, who will present this in person, can tell you a good deal about
that section.
I am confident the Mescaleros intend to remain out while they can dispose
of the stolen stock they have on hand, and return to the reservationin small parties
before cold weather. They evidently intend to live off the settlers on the Pecos,
and seem to direct all their venom against Mr. Chisum. He informs me he has
lost 175 head [of] horses in the last six months, and believes the Mescaleros stole
them all. I shall move out to the lake I have mentioned, crossing the plains at
[Fort] Sumner,40making night marches. I know the country, and think I can
flank the thieving scoundrels and by a surprise get at them.
The scout thus far has been very severe on men and animals. I am satisfied,
however, that when my detailed reportis made, it will not however be considered
fruitless. Our course from Stanton was down the River Felix. No water in it until
the road crossesit from Van Smiths.41We crossed the Pecos 35 miles below Van
Smiths and 30 above Seven Rivers.42I do not think many of the Mescalerosare in
the Guadalupe Mountains, but mostly on the plains, and some in the Capitans
37This was
probably Portales Spring, in the vicinity of present-day Portales, New Mexico.
38The Comanchero trade was still active in 1873. New Mexican traders could travel
any one
of three distinct trails from the Pecos Valley to the Staked Plains to barter stolen horses and
cattle with the Comanches. In May of 1871, Randlett had tangled with the Comancheros
on the Staked Plains, capturing a pack train loaded with powder, lead, cloth, and trinkets.
The various expeditions of Ranald S. Mackenzie and William R. Shafter in 1874 and 1875
marked the downfall of the Comanchero trade, which was in eclipse by 1878. J. Evetts Haley,
"The Comanchero Trade," Southwestern Historical Quarterly, XXXVIII (January 1935),
161, 163; Keleher, Violence in Lincoln County, xi.
39This was
probably Irish-born Andrew Patrick Caraher, who entered the army as Captain,
Twenty-Eighth Massachusetts Infantry, in 1861, was assigned to the Eighth Cavalry in 1870,
and died in 1885. In early May of 1871, Caraher left Fort Union, New Mexico, to investigate
Comanchero traffic on the plains to the south and east. He overtook a pack train accompanied
by fifty Comancheros, and captured twenty-three Indians, 700 head of cattle, 12 horses, and
17 burros. Heitman (comp.), Historical Register, I, 281; Chris Emmett, Fort Union and the
Winning of the Southwest (U. of Oklahoma Press, 1965), 356-58.
40Fort Sumner, New Mexico, established in 1862 by Brigadier General James H. Carleton,
was located in the Bosque Redondo on the east bank of the Pecos River, south of the present
town of Fort Sumner. Frazer, Forts of the West, 104.
41Van C. Smith, of Omaha, Nebraska, was well established at Roswell by this time. He held
the beef contract for the Mescaleros for the fiscal year 1873. Keleher, Violence in Lincoln
County, 49, 73.
42Seven Rivers, named for seven branches which flow east into the Pecos River, was settled
by Mexicans at an early date. The first Anglo settler, Dick Reed, set up a trading post there
in the fall of 1867. Other early settlers were Tom Gardner and Hugh Beckwith. The town
became notorious for saloons and cattle rustlers. Lee Myers, "Seven Rivers," Southwesterner,
II (July 1962), 12; F. Stanley [Stanley Francis Louis Crocchiola], The Seven Rivers, New
Mexico, Story (Pep, Texas: Privately Printed, 1963), 4.
182
ARIZONAand the WEST
[CHILSON'SREPORT]
Camp troopsoperatingin Southern N. M.
Gillems Ranch on BlackRiver
October8th, 1873
Field Adjutant
Troopsoperatingin Southern N. M.
Sir:
In obedience to Special Order No. 26, from Headquarters,Troops operating
in Southern N. M., I left seven rivers about noon of the 28th ultimo with Acting
Assistant Surgeon H. S. Turrill,43USA, one engineer soldier and thirty two men,
C. Co. 8th Cavalry, with five (5) days rations, for the purposes of scouting the
44
Guadalupe Mts., taking Mr. [Robert M.] Gilbert, a citizen, as guide.
1st day. Marched to Llano river,45a streamflowing into the Pecos about five
below seven rivers, and camped. Running water for about five or six
miles
(5)
miles below the Camp. Plenty of wood and grass. Distance marched, 18V2miles.
2nd day. Started at 7:20 AM and marched up the creek, finding water in
a tank at about four (4) miles, and again at about 13 miles. Keeping up the dry
bed of the creek, I entered the canon from which it proceededand marched until
dark, when the bed of the canon became so narrow and rocky and the sides so
precipitous,that I could neither proceed any further up or climb out, and turned
back,making a dry camp about three (3) miles below. Distance marched,24 miles.
3rd day. Left at six AM and returned to the last water we had passed, and,
taking dinner, started for Guadalupe Canon, where the guide informed me was
an abundance of running water and a practicableplace to ascend the mountains.
Reached Camp at dark, running water, with large tanks at intervals for about
three miles. Wood and good grazing. Distance travelled, 28 miles.
43Born in Connecticut and
appointed from New York, Henry Stuart Turrill entered the army
as Assistant Surgeon, Seventeenth Connecticut Infantry, in 1864, and rose to the rank of
Lieutenant Colonel and Chief Surgeon of Volunteers before he was honorably discharged in
1899. Heitman (comp.), Historical Register, I, 976.
44Robert M. Gilbert, born in Dixon
County, Tennessee, in 1828, served in the Tennessee
Volunteers during the Mexican War, went to California in 1849, and later joined John
Chisum in Texas. Gilbert settled at Seven Rivers, establishing a ranch on the Pefiasco Creek.
He died at Deming, New Mexico, in 1907. Henry G. Gilbert, "Apaches Ambush Writer's
Father," Southwesterner, II (April 1963), supplement B, 6.
45This
probably is the present-day Rocky Arroyo, which rises on the eastern slopes of the
Guadalupes and flows northeast into the Pecos River.
183
4th day. Finding that I could not in the following two days do more than
to
get the Camp on Black River, and having so far accomplishednothing, I ordered
half rationsonly to be issued, and filling my two water kegs, startedup the canon,
with the intention of crossingthe mountains and ascertainingwhether there were
or had been any Indians in them. Leaving the canon at about five (5) miles and
ascendingthe mountains, I found a large tank of water at about 8 miles, in towards
the mouth of another canon, tributaryto the one I had left. From here I took
a direction S. W. by W., and at about 9 miles found myself on a bluff overlooking
a series of valleys running in a northerly direction from the south point of the
Guadaloupes,and finally emerging through a canon into a valley formed by the
Sacramento,Canada, Huaco, and Cottonwood mountains46on one side, and the
Guadaloupeson the other.
Descending into the second valley through a small canon in a range of hills
dividing it from the first, and turning to the northward, on seeing a small spur
of the hill I discoveredsome horses grazing in my front and a Camp of Indians
near them. Directing Sergeant [James L.] Morris47with 10 mounted men to
charge down the hill and get between the Indian Camp and their horses, I moved
out with the balance dismounted. The Indians, seeing they were cut off from
their horses,left their camp and endeavoredto escape over the hill. One succeeded
in getting away; three were killed. Six horses, all the Indians had, were captured,
one of which was wounded and being unable to travel,was killed. Taking sufficient
rationsof jerked beef, etc. from the Indians supplies to last my command for two
or three days, I caused the balance to be burned. This affair delayed me about
an hour, when I started down the valley to ascertain from what direction the
Indians had come and whether any morewere following. Finding no more Indians
or signs, I turned back with the intention of scouting the mountain further to
the southward. At 8 PM made a dry camp. Distance marched, 31^ miles.
46Canada
possibly refers to the steep ridges forming the western edge of Otero Mesa, north
of the Hueco Mountains and due south of the Sacramento range. The Hueco Mountains
extend north and south across the Texas and New Mexico border, about thirty miles east of
El Paso. Walter Prescott Webb (ed.), The Handbook of Texas (2 vols., Austin: Texas
State Historical Association, 1952), I, 858. On old maps the Cornudas Mountains were
often designated the Sierra de los Alamos, or Cottonwood Mountains. The Cornudas are an
extensive group of detached mountains that lie partly in Hudspeth County, Texas, and partly
in Otero County, New Mexico. Roscoe P. Conkling and Margaret B. Conkling, The Butterfield Overland Mail, 1857-1869 (3 vols., Glendale, California, 1947), I, 399.
47
Sergeant J. L. Morris, who had enlisted at San Francisco, California, September 13, 1869,
was recommended for the Medal of Honor for bravery in fighting Warm Springs Apaches in
July. AN), August 16, 1873. Muster Roll, Company C, Eighth Cavalry, December, 1873,
Records of the Adjutant General Office [AGO], Record Group 94, National Archives.
184
ARIZONAand the WEST
5th day. Startedat 6 AM and marchingup the valley I entered a canon which
I soon found too rough to travel, when I startedto the eastwardup the face of the
mountain, with the intention of scouting northward through the mountain and
endeavoring to strike my trail of the day before- or else, if I found it more
practicable,to cross the mountains to the eastward and strike Black River. After
a steady climb of about four hours up the steep face of the mountains, and having
gained the summit, I found it impracticable to cross to the eastward, it being
composed of the roughest peaks and the most precipitouscanons I had ever seen.
To the northward the route looked very rough but more promising, and I concluded to strike my old trail in that direction, without again descending the
mountains.
After climbing for about three miles, during which time three of my horses,
though they were led, gave out from fatigue, I found it impossible to proceed any
further in that direction. I then had only two alternatives, that of turning back
on my trail, which would endanger the lives of my men and horses, or to descend
the mountain where I was, which seemed to be an equally dangerousproceeding.
I, however, decided to make the descent. After getting about one half mile from
the top, and when the men in the rear seemed to be directly over those in front,
I came to an abrupt descent of about twenty feet which it would have been
impossible, in considerationof the exhausted condition of the men and the shortness of water, to have gotten our animals down over, and equally impossible to
have again ascended the the mountain.
I desire here to mention the admirableconduct of 1st Sergt. James L. Morris,
who, when everything indicated that all the strength a man possessed might be
needed for the preservationof his own life, by his energy and perserverancediscovered a place where the command in keeping to the left for nearly half a mile
on a ledge of rocks could descend to the plains below. Unsaddling and resting
for about an hour, I sent Sergeants [William H.] Grove and [Leonidas S.] Lytle48
and four men ahead on the trail with a pack mule and water kegs to return with
water for the command, and although night came on they traveleduntil 12 oclock
and relieved the command some five miles before it reached the water. This
responsible duty was performedwith a zeal and fidelity worthy of mention, and
not withstanding the extremes of hardship, suffering and fatigue endured by the
whole command for at least 12 consecutive hours, not a man in the command
complained. All performedtheir duty cheerfully, and it would, I think, have been
impossible for the combined strength of men and horses to have done more. Dry
camp. Distance marched, 26 miles.
48
Lytle was recommended for the Medal of Honor for action against the Warm Springs
Apaches in July. Both Grove and Lytle were on their second five year enlistment. Ibid.
185
6th day. Started at daylight and marched to water five miles. Having been
out alreadysix days, and fearing the Commanding Officerwould become anxious
about the safety of the Command, I pushed on after eating and grazing for about
three hours, passing the water in the Guadaloupe Canon and going down the
canon that night about six miles beyond the water. Dry camp. Distance marched,
24^ miles.
7th day. Started at daylight and taking an old and rough but quite distinct
trail leading to the eastward, I finally emerged from the mountains about six
miles from RattlesnakeSprings,49the location of which the guide knew. Resting
about three hours at the springs, I continued the march, reaching this place about
darkof the 4th instant. Distance marched, 23 miles.
I desire to acknowledge the valuable services of Acting Assistant Surgeon
H. S. Turrill, USA, whose conduct was at all times excellent. He was always
cheerful and his servicesto the commandwere not at all confined to his profession;
even suffering himself to alleviate the sufferings of others. In addition to the
names of those alreadymentioned, I desireto call the attentionof the Commanding
Officer to those of Sergeant William H. Grove, Corporals Henry Wills50 and
John S. Harrington, and Privates Edward J. Kinney and Madison H. Burris, all
of whom displayed unlimited zeal in the pursuit and killing of the Indians. The
action of 1st Sergeant James L. Morris in getting between the Indians and their
horses could not have been more intelligently and successfully executed, and
insured the almost complete destructionof the party. The Indian reportedto have
escaped is believed to have been wounded, having been seen to fall twice in
going up the hill.
It is thought that this was a lookout party left behind by the main party to
warn them of the approachof troops,and to keep them posted as to their whereabouts, and that the main party which left the Sacramentomountains have kept
on to the southward towards the Davis or Diablo mountains, as no fresh trails
or tracks even were discovered in the Guadaloupe mountains. The tracks of a
mule and mare and colt were seen on the second day out from Seven Rivers near
the foot of the mountains, apparently leading to the northward towards the
Penasco. The western slope of the mountains is extremely destitute of water,
though grassgrows abundantly. Indians find water in small tanks after rains, but
49Rattlesnake
Spring, on the western slopes of the Guadalupes, supplies water for the Carlsbad Caverns National Park. Harrison's Ranch was located near here in the late 1870s. Pearce
(ed.), New Mexico Place Names, 130; Keleher, Violence in Lincoln County, 349.
50The
ANJ on August 16, 1873, mentioned that Private Henry Wills had been recommended
for the Medal of Honor. Wills and John S. Harrington were promoted to Corporal on July
18, 1873. Private Kinney was serving his second enlistment, while Burris was enlisted at Fort
Selden by Captain Chilson on July 21, 1873. Muster Roll, Company C, AGO.
186
ARIZONAand the WEST
their locality is unknown to anyone else. One was found near the camp of the
party alluded to in my report, but had we not found the Indians there I should
never have thought of looking there for water.
Accompanying please find a sketch of the country marched over, kindly
furnished by Doctor Turrill
[PRICE'SREPORT-II]
Headquarters,Troopsoperatingin SouthernN. M.
BlackRiver, 25 miles W. of Popes Crossing
October8th, 1873
Lieut. J. P. Willard
Asst. Adjt. General
District of New Mexico
Lieutenant:
I have the honor to resume my reportof the operationsof this Command
On Sept. 17th left Dowlings Mill with Cos ACE and K, 8th Cavalry, took the
trail of a large party of Indians leading in a S. E. direction. Captain Randlett
having taken [September 8] the due eastern trail. The trail indicated over 200
animals, and was made some eight or ten days previous. It was rapidly pursued,
but on the morning of the 21st, having no guide that knew the country, I was
obliged to turn back on account of water, returning to tanks on the eastern slope
of Sacramento Mountains. Next day returned to running water at the head of
the Penasco. The Indians had killed and eaten eleven (11) horses on the route
we followed them. Moved down the Penasco and reached Seven Rivers on the
26th ultimo, meeting my five wagons with rations.
On Sept. 28th Capt. Chilson with Co C, and Citizen Gilbert as Guide, with
water kegs was directedto crossand scout the Guadaloupe Mountains, to ascertain
whether the Indians had remained in that stronghold. I moved with the other
three Companies along the S E base of those Mountains to Black River, and on
the 29th taking Cos A and K moved S. W. through Guadaloupe Pass.51When
five miles beyond the Castle Rock,52the main trail of the Indians was again cut,
51
Pinery Station, a stone fort station, had been built in Guadalupe Pass, in the northwest
corner of Culberson County, Texas, by the Butterfield Overland Mail. Located at an elevation
of 5,634 feet, the Pass was a natural route for travelers journeying to and from El Paso.
Conkling and Conkling, The Butterfield Overland Mail, I, 391.
52Price is
referring either to Guadalupe Peak or El Capitan Peak, probably the latter. Guadalupe Peak, also called Cathedral Peak and Signal Peak, reaches 8,751 feet, the highest elevation in Texas. Ibid., I, 390-94.
187
leading along the western slope of the mountains in a S. E. direction. Seeing no
fresh signs of Indians going into or leaving the Guadalupes, I took ten of the
best mounted men and a keg of water and pursued the trail in S. E. direction for
fifty miles - finding sufficient water for this party in small tanks at the head of
the canons. This band of Indians had either gone into the southern end of Davis
Mountain and are now depredatingin Texas, have gone to Old Mexico, or have
circled round and crossed onto the Staked Plains. Capt. Hartwell with the two
Companies returnedto Camp on Black River by way of the Delaware River. [He]
found no fresh indications of Indians.
The only reportreceivedfrom Capt. Randlett is herewith enclosed. His action
is approved.He has rations in a wagon to include the 15th of this month, and is
now on the Staked Plains with his Co., numbering 48 men. The Indians that he
was following committed numerous depredationson the Pecos River, driving off
a large lot of stock and killing two men on the 13th and 16th of Sept. Captain
Chilson'scommandsurpriseda small partyon the Western base of the Guadaloupe
Mountains killing three. They were a lookout party on the main trail of the
Indians. There were no other signs of Indians discoveredin that Range.
I enclose a partial list of depredationscommitted by these Indians in this
immediate vicinity of their Reservation.It will be seen that since April last they
have been almost as openly at war as they are at present. Reports just received at
Stanton state that three bucks and seventeen squaws and children with their
horseshave returnedto the post within the past week, making about one hundred
and seventy five there now. I am in hopes that Capt. Randlett'smovements have
driven them in.
I shall move scouts from here tomorrow S. along the Pecos, and East onto
the Staked Plains and endeavor to find fresh signs of Indians, and discover their
locality. I would request that Posts in Texas be notified that these Indians are
probably in their vicinity, and that they be requested to co-operate from that
direction.
Notes of bearings and distances marched with waters accurately noted will
be forwardedthrough the Engineer Office of the District. I would request that
the latest map of this country be sent to me. The amount of Transportationat
Stanton is too limited to supply my command, if I am obliged to move much
further off. If Wheelers expedition53has ended, I would like some of his best
pack animals. It will be necessary to give these Indians a severe lesson, or this
53
George Montague Wheeler was born in Massachusetts and graduated in 1866 from West
Point. As a Second Lieutenant of Engineers, he served under General E. O. C. Ord in California. Wheeler undertook his famous Colorado River Expedition in 1871, compiling a distinguished record by 1880 as Superintending Engineer of the Geographical Survey of the
Territory west of the 100th Meridan. He retired in June of 1888. George W. Cullum (comp.),
Biographical Register of the Officers and Graduates of the U. S. Military Academy (3 vols.,
Boston, 1891), III, 65-66; William H. Goetzmann, Exploration and Empire: The Explorer
and the Scientist in the Winning of the AmericanWest (New York, 1966), 467-69, 566.
188
ARIZONAand the WEST
valley will have to be abandoned. I will have no difficulty in doing it if I can
find the Indians, but much delay is occassionedin learning the country, as I can
find no guide conversantwith it. The Staked Plains from this point seems to be
an unknown Territory.
I enclose copy of letter received from Agent B. M. Thomas.54I have heard
of no depredations committed in the Western portion of the Territory. Capt.
Fechet, who passedround the Easternand Southern sides of the SacramentoMts.,
thence acrossto the St. Andreas and on to the vicinity of Fort Bayard,has made
no report as yet.
I enclose rough sketch of country with trails of troops and Indians
List of Depredations committed by the Mescallero Apache Indians prior to their
running off the Stanton Reservation.
During April and May a partyof Indians camped on Seven Rivers stole from
Price, Reed & Co.55and others over fifty head of horses and cattle.
May 13th on Black River from Gillem and Briggs56five (5) head of horses.
May 15th stole six head of horses from Texans on way to Texas near Loven's
bend.57They were pursued westwardand the horses recapturednear Guadaloupe
Pass.
54
Benjamin Morris Thomas, agent at the Southern Apache Agency, Tularosa, New Mexico,
was born in Warren County, Indiana, in July of 1843 and came to New Mexico in 1870. He
also served as agent at the Pueblo and Cimmaron agencies, founding the first boarding and
industrial school for the Pueblos. In 1889 he was appointed Secretary of New Mexico and
served in that capacity until his death in 1892. Ralph Emerson Twitchell, Leading Facts of
New Mexican History (5 vols., Cedar Rapids, Iowa: Torch Press, 1911-17), II, 503-504.
55Dick Reed had established a
trading post to cater to the trail drivers and had homesteaded
land by 1868. A post office was established at Reed's Ranch near Seven Rivers on the Pecos
in 1879. PriceO) has not been further identified. Frederick W. Nolan (ed. and comp.) The
Life and Death of John Henry Tunstall (U. of New Mexico Press, 1965), 162-63. Pearce
(ed.), New Mexico Place Names, 131.
56Brigg's Ranch, along the Black River about where Black River Village now stands, was an
early ranch in the area. The Gillem referred to may have been the ex-sheriff of Lincoln County,
L. J. (Jack) Gylam (Gilham, Glym), who was killed in Lincoln, New Mexico, in December
of 1873 during the Horrell War. Lee Myers, "10th Cavalry Arrives at Loving Indian Fight
Site," Southwesterner, II (February 1963), 6; Philip J. Rasch, 'The Horrell War," NMHR,
XXXI (July 1956), 226.
57Loving's Bend, on the Pecos River near the present town of Carlsbad, was named for
Oliver Loving, who in July of 1866 trailed cattle north from Texas with Charles Goodnight.
Attacked by Indians, Loving was wounded and taken to Fort Sumner. His dying request of
Goodnight was: "Take me back to Texas. Don't leave me in foreign soil." James Cox, Historical and Biographical Record of the Cattle Industry (St. Louis: Woodward and Tiernan
Printing Company, 1895), 306-308; Webb (ed.), Handbook of Texas, II, 87.
189
May 14 from McKitrick58at Loven's bend, three head of horses belonging
to Chisum.
June 14 same party with shod horses in possession stole seven yoke of cattle
from Gillem and Briggs on Black River. They were followed in direction of
Reservation.
About June 4th stole 10 head of American shod horses from Survey party
Texas Pacific RR59from a point on the Pecos 15 miles south [of] mouth of the
Delaware.
July 18th stole four horses from Gillem and Briggs [on] Black River which
were seen by different personson the Reservation.
61
August 20th at adobe walls,6040 miles below Popes crossing, 20 Indians
attacked Trig [?] and Chisums herd of horses, who were guarded by three men.
A fight ensued in which over one hundred shots were fired.The Indians captured
all the horses, thirty six in number.
Same date 15 miles south Pope's crossing, attacked Keith62with one man.
Keith, a largeowner of stock,was mortallywounded and shortlyafter died. Positive
proof is made in affidavitsthat these Indians were from the Stanton Reservation.
Sept. 13. Killed Alexander Hwggiws,63one of Chisums men, 18 miles N. W.
of Chisums Ranch.
58Felix McKittrick came west with John Chisum from Texas. A well-known
prankster, he
later moved to Arizona and died on the Blue River. James D. Shinkle, Reminiscences of
Roswell Pioneers (Roswell, New Mexico: Hall-Poorbaugh Press, Inc., 1966), 85-87.
59The Texas and Pacific Railroad
Company, chartered by Congress in February of 1871,
was to run from New Orleans to San Diego. A survey party was sent out as early as June
of 1872, escorted by Company K of the Fourth Cavalry. The troop was relieved of duty
near Pope's Crossing on May 26, 1873, and the survey party was struck by Indians a few
days later. In 1881 the Texas and Pacific, building west from Fort Worth, tied in with the
Southern Pacific near Sierra Blanca, Texas. Ralph N. Traxler, Jr., "Collis P. Huntington
and the Texas and Pacific Railroad Land Grant, NMHR, XXXIV (April 1959), 119-33;
Ernest R. Archambeau (ed.), "Monthly Reports of the Fourth Cavalry, 1872-74," Panhandle Plains Historical Review, XXXVIII 0965),
102-16.
60These walls
ruins
the
Station at Emigrant Crossing
have
been
the
of
old
Butterfield
may
on the east bank of the Pecos, about seventy miles below the New Mexico line. In the late
1850s the station included a large adobe house with a high walled adobe corral attached.
Today, it is under water impounded by the Central Valley Dam project. If not the Emigrant
Crossing site, the ruins may well have been Skillman's Station on the Pecos, forty miles to the
north. Conkling and Conkling, Butterfield Overland Mail, I, 379-87.
61
Pope's Crossing was about seven miles below the present Texas-New Mexico boundary.
It was used by Captain John Pope, Topographical Engineers, who in 1855 established a
semi-permanent camp on the Pecos River while searching for artesian water on the Staked
Plains. The Crossing is covered today by the waters of Red Bluff Lake. Lee Myers, "Pope's
Wells," NMHR, XXXVIII (October 1963), 282-83; Conkling and Conkling, Butterfield
Overland Mail, I, 379-87.
62This
may have been John Kutch, who drove cattle with Goodnight in the summer of 1867
from Texas to New Mexico up the Pecos River. Haley, Charles Goodnight, 168-69, 200.
63The Santa Fe
Weekly New Mexican, October 7, 1873, noted that Indians had killed
Huggins, scalped him, and cut off his nose.
190
ARIZONAand the WEST
Sept. 14 attackedin the night 18 men at Lovens bend. Three days afterwards,
on the 18th near adobe walls, they succeeded in capturing all their horses 40 in
number after a severe fight in which the Indians used several needleguns.
Sept. 16th at mouth Penasco attacked Smiths camp64of eight men guarding
cattle herd, killing Thomas Levine65 and capturing 18 horses.
Sept. 27th Keiths horses 27 in number were stolen from Lovens bend. The
same night stole 5 horses from Hoffmans66Ranch, mouth of Black River. They
were pursued 15 miles southward parallel with Pecos and showed trail of 56
animals
64
Although this was probably Van C. Smith's camp, it may have been that of Richard Smith,
who had a ranch on North Spring River at Roswell. Richard Smith lost forty head of horses
to the Mescaleros in December of 1874. F. Stanley, Fort Stanton (Pampa, Texas: Pampa
Print Shop, 1964), 74-75.
65Thomas Levine has not been further identified.
66Hoffman's Ranch remains unidentified.

Scouting for Mescaleros

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