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| Geronimo |
ARMY LETTER # 12
A Trip to Arizona to Guard Indians.
Fort Union, N. M., Sept. 16, 1886.
The company to which
your correspondent belongs received orders on the 2nd of September to go out
into Arizona to guard two tribes of Indians, the Chirichuas, and Warm Spring
Apaches, who were being removed from their reservation to Fort Marion, Florida.
The former is the tribe to which Geronimo, the leader of the band of Indians
who have committed so many depredations in the last year and a half belongs.
On the 3d inst. we packed up our camp
baggage, consisting of ten days rations, one tent for four men, camp kettles,
and utensils; each man was allowed to take one change of clothing, two
blankets, one shelter tent, and one hundred rounds of ammunition; we marched
nine miles to the railroad station at Watrous on the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa
Fe R. R. and boarded a train at 8 P. M. and rode all night, reached the city of
Albuquerque in the morning; there changed cars for the Atlantic, and Pacific road,
and reached Holbrook, Arizona, our destination, 412 miles, in the afternoon, and
went into camp to wait for the Indians to be marched in.
The country through which we passed is very
mountainous, and picturesque. We crossed two ranges of the Rockies: The
Glorietta range between Las Vegas and Albuquerque in New Mexico [where] the
pass is 7,577 feet above tide water, and the Rocky Range proper which is called
the Continental Divide where the rivers begin to flow towards the Pacific
Ocean; its pass is 7,287 feet high. The Glorietta range is a succession of
small peaks, covered with a small growth of pines which present a faint view.
The Continental Divide is a barren rocky range of a yellow sand stone formation
broken up in all kinds of forms, which at a distance look like ruins of
churches, castles, and columns that look as if they were monuments hewn by
hands.
We crossed the broad and fertile valley of
the Rio Grande at Albuquerque where a tribe of the Pueblo Indians live; they
are semi-civilized, and live in adobe houses, till their land, raise stock and
excellent fruit. I never saw better melons, grapes, peaches, pears and other
fruits, than they brought on the cars to sell. They are prosperous and wealthy,
which proves that the Indians can be civilized, or made peaceable.
The Indians in their native state are so
near allied to the wild beast that they hunt and feed upon, that they partake
of the nature of animals although they are susceptible of an education, but
they must first be subdued by the strong arm of the government, by the means of
its army, and kept under control, and then they can be reached by missionaries
and educated in the ways of civilization. The best way to accomplish this is to
take all their children away from them, and send them to common schools and
Christian churches and thus brought under Christian influences; their savage
spirits will soon pass away.
But I digress. We arrived at Holbrook, Arizona
Territory, on the 4th inst., and went into camp in the village and stayed there
until the Indians were brought in on Sunday the 12th inst. The Indians were all
of the two tribes of Chirichuas and Warm Spring Apaches except Geronimo's band
35 in number, who surrendered to Capt. Lawton in Old Mexico. The Indians
were brought 90 miles by five companies of the 10th Colored Cavalry, and one
company of the 22nd Infantry, and went into camp about one mile above the
village. They are a bad set, 403 in number, sixty of them are bucks and the
remainder are squaws, and children; some are well dressed after their style
while others are half nude, and all were very filthy, and one can easily imagine
what condition 400 Indians would be when crowded into eight emigrant cars. They
were very easy to manage, and all seemed glad to get on the cars, supposing
they were going to Washington to see the President.
The Indians held a great pow wow the night
after they came there which was very amusing. They were formed in a circle, the
bucks on one side and the squaws on the other. Both bucks and squaws have their
faces painted red which makes them look hideous. The young squaws are dressed in
dancing dresses which are adorned with beads and other ornaments that make them
appear very well. The squaws first advanced with a sprightly step to the
warriors directly opposite them, then they retreat followed by warriors who keep
up a song, and whoop which is impossible to describe, until they are exhausted,
and during all this time an Indian is pounding on a drum that they call a tom tom.
They kept it up nearly all night, and made such a noise that I could hear them
at our camp a mile away.
The next day at noon the Indians were all loaded
on the cars. They made a grotesque appearance; the squaws all rushed for the cars,
loaded down with baggage enough for a donkey to carry, while the bucks stood
around and did nothing but give grunts of satisfaction. At last they were all loaded on the cars, and
the whole of our company were put on guard, we standing on the platforms of the
cars as we could not stand the stench inside. However the Indians were very
orderly, so that we had no trouble, or accident, although the road was in very
bad condition, on account of the late heavy rains which had caused several bad washouts
of the road.
Our company expected to guard the Indians
all the way to Florida but when we arrived at Alburquerque we met Gen. Miles,
the Commander of this Department, when it was ordered that Co. E of the 22nd
Infantry and Co. K of the 8th Infantry should take charge of the Indians and
take them to Florida, so we were relieved and came home arriving at our post on
the night of the 14th, all safe and sound. Many of us were greatly disappointed
at not taking the journey to Florida.
J. T. H. [These initials represent a person native to Cortland County as evidenced by prior letters--CC editor.]
J. T. H. [These initials represent a person native to Cortland County as evidenced by prior letters--CC editor.]
LATE NEWS ITEMS.
Conductor Harrison and Engineer Brewer of the excursion train in the
collision at Silver Creek, have both been indicted for manslaughter by the
Grand Jury of Mayville. They were held to bail in $3,000 each. The cases may be
tried next month.[Reference train wreck with several fatalities on Sept. 14,
1886, near Buffalo, N. Y.—CC editor.]
The grandest demonstration ever attempted in
the Southwest was successfully carried out on Tuesday at Albuquerque, N. M., in
honor of General Miles and his staff in recognition of the suppression of the
Apaches.
Lieutenant William H. Scheutze, United
States Navy, who was sent to Lena Delta to distribute presents made by the
Government to the natives who rendered assistance to the Jeannette survivors, has returned to Washington. The recipients of
the presents were greatly surprised, and celebrated the event tumultuously by
firing of guns and otherwise. [Reference Cmdr. George Washington DeLong: http://www.jeffpaine.blogspot.com/2011/10/george-washington-delong.html ]
Mrs. Olive Cleveland Clarke, of Springfield,
Mass., a relative of President Cleveland, on Sunday celebrated her one-hundred and
first birthday. She is a well preserved old lady, reads easily and has full control
of her faculties. She has a brother in Skaneateles, Lewis W. Cleveland, nearly
92 years old, and a sister, Mrs. Howard C. King, in Otisco, aged 97. Mr.
Cleveland and his wife joined Mrs. Clarke in celebrating her birthday. She has
a son, the Rev. Mr. Clarke, 76 years old. Her father died at 80, and her mother
at 104 years and six months.
CORTLAND AND VICINITY.
Robert Bushby has been appointed agent of
the U. S. Express company in this village, and will have his office in the Wallace
Building. Gillett & Barrows will deliver express matter as heretofore.
Commencing to-day the Erie Express company
will commence business in Cortland, running over the E. C. & N. road, connecting
with the Erie R. R. at Elmira. So once more, Cortland will have competing express
lines. Whether or not it will have the effect of lessening rates remains to be
seen.
On and after to-day the Raymond House at
Little York will be closed to guests as Mr. Raymond is going to renovate and
re-build the house in order to better accommodate boarders next season. His
spacious barns will be open however, and boats to let until cold weather closes
up the lake. All the difference there will be is that parties coming there this
fall cannot be accommodated with meals, as the tearing out of the house will
make it impossible for the proper waiting on of guests.
To make sure that they were furnishing
consumers with wholesome water Mr. Richardson, superintendent of the water [works]
company, caused the tank to be emptied for the purpose of cleaning on Friday
afternoon of last week. It was feared that the sides would be covered with
'dirt' and same, but upon entering the tank it was found free from all deleterious
matter. With the exception of about a bushel of clean sand on the bottom it was
as free from foreign substances as when first put into use. Consumers can
congratulate themselves on having wholesome water to drink.
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