While we know our northern friends may not feel it, in the South, Spring is
here. So we thought we'd share a few of our gardening sites appropriate
for this time of the year. Along with gardening, there's grilling, and getting
ready to diet so that you can fit back into that bathing suit this summer!
The Apaches in Spanish Times
THE first mention made of the Apaches is by
Castañeda in his report, The Journey of
Coronado. The Spaniards encountered them
near Chichilticalli, the famous "red house,"
believed by Bandelier to have been in the
neighborhood of modern Fort Thomas, Arizona.
Castañeda says this house must "have been
destroyed by the people of the district, who
are the most barbarous people that have yet
been seen. They live by hunting."
The next reference to the Apaches occurs in
1541 and is found in Castañeda Report.
Coronado's army, after spending some time at
Pecos in northeastern New Mexico, set out to
find Quivira. The Spaniards had marched ten
days beyond the Pecos River in a
northeasterly direction when they "came to
some settlements of people who lived like
Arabs and who are called Querechos in that
region. . . . These people follow the cows,
hunting them and tanning the skins to take
to the settlements in the winter to sell,
since they go there to pass the winter, each
company going to those which are nearest. .
. . That they were intelligent is evident
from the fact that although they conversed
by means of signs they made themselves
understood so well there is no need of an
interpreter. . . . These people are called
Querechos. . . . They have better figures
than the Pueblo Indians, are better
warriors, and are more feared." (Castañeda.
The Journey of Coronado. Chicago, Laidlaw)
Castañeda states further that these Indians
dried the flesh of the buffalo, powdered it,
and made a kind of soup of it. They ate raw
flesh, also. They skinned the buffalo with
remarkable quickness and skill with a piece
of flint as large as a man's finger, which
they tied to a stick and used as a knife.
They gave this flint instrument an edge with
their own teeth. The Spaniards saw a village
consisting of two hundred tents, made of
buffalo skins, tanned white, so that they
looked like army tents. The whole living of
these people came from the buffaloes. From
the skins they clothed themselves and made
shoes; and they wove rope from the long
shaggy hair. Their dogs were of good size
and were trained to serve as beasts of
burden. Whenever a band moved, pack saddles
were placed on the dogs and fastened with
leather thongs. From thirty to fifty pounds
was placed on each dog; and the tent poles,
covered with the tent which served as a net
into which various camp articles could be
thrown, were tied onto the pack saddle at
the sides, so that they would drag behind.
If the loads got disarranged, the dogs would
howl, in this way calling someone to come
and fix them right. In 1583, mention is made
by Espejo's party of the Querecho Indians, a
mountain tribe hostile toward the tillers of
the soil who lived at Acoma.
One more reference to the Apaches as first
known to the white man must suffice. Oñate
came in contact with them in 1569, during
his travels in New Mexico; and it is in
accounts of his expedition, published in
1599, that we have for the first time the
word Apache (enemy) applied to this people.
In one document, Obediencia San Juan
Baptista, the spelling of the name is
"Apaches"; while in another, Carta Escripta,
the word appears as "Apiches": "es infinita
gente los Apiches de que tambien hemos visto
algunos."
In The Memorial of Fray Alonso Benavides, a
missionary Franciscan priest in New Mexico,
printed at Madrid in 1630, we get a rather
comprehensive account of the Apaches as they
existed at the time. This report was
compiled for the King of Spain. Benavides
refers to all the outlying native tribes in
New Mexico as Apaches, and he classifies
them as Gila Apaches, Navajo Apaches, and
Apaches Vaqueros. Even then they were a
terror to other native tribes, but as yet
they had given the Spaniards little trouble.
At one time Benavides speaks of them as "the
huge Apache nation," and in another place
alludes to them as the largest tribe of the
world. The fact is, Benavides greatly
exaggerates the Indian population of New
Mexico in his day. He does this through
ignorance rather than with the desire to
deceive; but of course it was impossible for
him either to count or to make a just
estimate of roving tribes, forever on the
move.
The important fact is that the Pueblo
villages on the Rio Grande were surrounded
by the Apache nation. Says Benavides: "It is
a people very fiery and bellicose, and very
crafty in war. Even in the method of
speaking, they show a difference from the
rest of the nations. For these speak rather
softly and deliberately, and the Apaches
seem to break their heads with the words.
They do not dwell in settlements, nor in
houses, but in tents and huts, for as much
as they move from mountain range to mountain
range, seeking game, which is their
sustenance. However, each hut of a principal
or individual has its recognized land on
which they plant corn and other seeds. They
go dad in skins of deer, very well tanned
and adorned in their fashion, and the women
gallantly and honestly dad. They have no
more idolatry than that of the Sun, and even
that is not general to all of them, and they
scoff much at other nations that have idols.
"They have as many wives as they can
support; and upon her whom they take in
adultery they irremissibly execute their
law, which is to cut off her ears and nose;
and they repudiate her. They are very
obedient to their elders and superiors and
hold them in great respect. They teach and
chastise their children differently from
other nations, who have no chastisement
whatever. They pride themselves much on
speaking the truth, and hold for dishonored
him whom they catch in a lie. The tongue
varies somewhat, as they are a great nation,
though each can understand the other. They
occupy a vast expanse of country, . . . It
is a nation so bellicose, all of it, that it
has been the crucible for the courage of the
Spaniards."
The Apaches, as well as the other tribes of
New Mexico, grew more warlike during the
next two decades, and killed several of the
Spaniards. For this they were hung or sold
into slavery. The Apaches of northern New
Mexico became more and more dangerous as
time went on. In a raid on a Zuñi town,
about 1672, and other pueblos farther east,
they killed several friars. There was open
war between the Pueblo Indians and the
Apaches at this time. Affairs continued to
grow worse, and about 1676, the Apaches
destroyed churches and towns and killed a
good many Spaniards. The Spanish settlements
were without suitable defense, each frontier
station having only five men poorly armed
and almost no horses.
In August, 1684, vigorous retaliatory action
was taken--a combined force of Spanish and
Indians making an attack on an Apache
ranchería with the avowed purpose of killing
all the men and taking captive the women and
children. Near Zuñi, in the autumn of 1692,
a herd of Spanish cattle was stampeded and
driven off by the Apaches. They kept up a
continual attack upon the forces of Vargas
during his return march after the conquest
of the Pueblos, and succeeded in wounding a
soldier and capturing a number of horses. A
friar, P. Casanes, was led into an ambush by
the Apaches, in March, 1696, and was beaten
to death with clubs and stones.
Toward the close of the 17th century, Sonora
and Nueva Viscaya suffered greatly from
Apache incursions. The commanding officer
responsible for the protection of this
region lived at San Juan. There was a
garrison at Frontéras and one at Janos to
the eastward, also; and they cooperated with
each other in efforts to hold the enemy in
check. In cases of great need reenforcements
were drawn from distant points. The savages
were continually raiding the exposed towns
and missions. They would make a whirlwind
dash upon a community, drive off the
livestock, and swiftly retreat into their
northern strongholds. The soldiers would
pursue, often tardily, and rarely with
signal success. Sometimes the stolen stock
would be recovered, two or three warriors
killed, and a few women and children
captured; but never were they able to
achieve a decisive victory.
In 1693 Don Domingo Jironza, a brave and
capable officer, was placed in command of a
"flying company" organized for the defense
of Sonora against the savages. He
immediately made two spirited attacks upon
the enemy, and in 1694 conducted four
energetic campaigns against the Apaches and
other hostile tribes. A band of Apaches had
stolen thousands of horses in northern
Sonora. These marauders Jironza pursued,
killing thirteen of them and capturing
seven. Later in the same year, with the aid
of Pima warriors, he gained a smashing
victory over six hundred of the invaders,
killing large numbers of them. In
cooperation with Captain Fuente of the
presidio at Janos, and with the aid of the
Pimas, he invaded the territory of the
Apaches, but with only meager results. Young
ensign Juan Mateo Manje was associated with
his uncle, Commander Jironza, in these
Apache wars and was later assigned as
military escort to the Jesuit padres on
their dangerous journeys into new territory.
In his Lux de Tierra Incognita, Manje makes
frequent allusion to Apache raids into
Sonora for the purpose of stealing horses
and ravaging the Spanish settlements. He
comments, too, on the great difficulty of
winning any of the Apaches to the church;
and consoles himself with the thought that,
hard as it may be to instill the Faith into
the hearts of these people, when once the
impression is made it will be as if stamped
on bronze.
A joint campaign of considerable importance
was waged against the Apaches and their
allies in September, 1689, by the three
commanders, Jironza, Teran, and Fuente. Many
Indians were slain. General Teran died
during this campaign. The following March
the persistent foe again swept down on a
village and drove off two hundred horses.
Pursuit was prompt; one of the horses was
recovered and eighteen of the Indians were
killed; but scarcely had the soldiers
returned to their presidio before the enemy
attacked and murdered a party from Arispe,
consisting of Captain Cristóbal León, his
son, two other Spaniards, and six Indian
servants. Jironza followed the Indians with
his "flying company" and killed three of
them; while from Janos came Fuente to join
in the punitive expedition. The punishment
was severe; the Apaches were forced back to
the Gila River, and thirty-two of their
warriors were slain.
Repeated vicious attacks were made by the
Apaches on the Pima villages of northern
Sonora. They were after the corn and
livestock that the Christian Indians had
accumulated. In a raid on Cocospera in
February, 1698, Father Contreras was wounded
and barely escaped with his life, and two
Pima women were killed. The savages
descended three hundred strong, robbed the
town, burned the Church and the house of the
Father, and killed the women mentioned
above. The native men were nearly all away
at the time on a trading trip to the
northward. The few Pima men that were left
in the town followed the enemy, but were
ambushed and slain.
A month later, flushed with their victory at
Cocospera, the Apaches fell upon the
Ranchería Santa Cruz (where Fairbank,
Arizona, is now located). The chief of the
village and two or three of his followers
suffered immediate death. Padre Eusebio
Francisco Kino, the brave and devout pioneer
Jesuit missionary to the Upper Pimas, had
erected an adobe house here, and had brought
cattle and horses for the beginnings of a
mission. The house was built with embrasures
and was surrounded by a corral. After the
death of the chief the surviving inhabitants
were driven into this house, three more of
the people having been killed as the fight
progressed. The Apaches now climbed onto the
roof and began burning the building. With an
arquebus they had taken in battle they
killed another man, slaughtered a number of
horses and cattle, set fire to the corral
and buildings, and took whatever they could
lay hands on. Thinking they had won a
complete victory, they began feasting on the
animals they had killed and the maize and
beans they had stolen.
But a terrible vengeance now descended upon
them. Three miles down the San Pedro River
at Quiburi, where also Kino had started a
mission, dwelt Captain Coro, a warm friend
of Father Kino's and the most redoubtable
fighter in the Pima nation. When word was
brought to him of the destruction and
slaughter of Santa Cruz, he at once went to
the relief of his kinsmen. At the time there
happened to be at his village a large number
of Pimas from San Xavier, who had come over
to trade. These visiting Pimas joined him in
his expedition. Capotcari was the name of
the Apache leader. He was a bold, capable
wight and, withal, an insolent one. In the
parley that took place after Coro arrived on
the scene Capotcari made fun of Coro and his
band, calling them women, and declaring that
the Spaniards, with whom they were allied,
were poltroons. He said he had killed many
Pimas and Spaniards, and dared Coro, instead
of fighting a general battle, to match ten
Pimas against ten of his party and fight it
out in this way. Nothing daunted, Coro
accepted his proposal and picked ten brave
Pimas to meet Capotcari's ten. Capotcari, as
daring as he was abusive and boastful, led
his band in person. The Apaches were very
effective in offensive warfare, with spears
and bows and arrows, but they were not so
good at warding off the missiles of their
foes. The Pimas were good both in defensive
and in offensive battle. Very soon nine of
the Apaches were either killed or out of the
fighting; so Capotcari was left to bear the
brunt of the fight. He was so skillful that
he could catch with his hand the arrows that
were launched at him. But when the
antagonist who had engaged him saw this, he
rushed upon him, threw him to the ground,
and pounded him to death with a stone.
It was a great victory, indeed, for the
Pimas. Perhaps never before had the Apaches
suffered a defeat so impressive. The routed
enemy sought to escape by fleeing to the
woods and mountains, but were mercilessly
pursued and scores of them killed. Captain
Coro sent word of the victory to Kino, and
the Padre, with Manje and Escalante, Spanish
military representatives, came to view the
scene of battle and to count the dead. They
actually counted fifty-four dead bodies; and
it was known that many who had been wounded
by poisoned arrows died on the retreat after
the engagement ended. Kino states that three
hundred of the enemy were killed in this
fight and that an equal number presented
themselves at the nearest presidios seeking
peace.
We have little information concerning Apache
depredations between 1700 and 1724. No doubt
the settlements continued to suffer as in
the past. But in the autumn of 1724 matters
grew worse. The Apaches had become so
aggressive that it looked as if white
civilization in northern Mexico would be
wiped out. To add to the woes of the exposed
settlements, the Government at this time
issued orders to the commanding military
officer that he was to make no more
aggressive campaigns against the Apaches,
but was to conduct a purely defensive
warfare, waiting until an attack was made
and then pursuing and punishing the foe. To
the settlers and missionaries this policy
seemed very weak and dangerous, for it was
well known that attacks by the Apaches were
always aimed at undefended points. The
Father Visitor, Miguel Almanza, strongly
remonstrated against the new policy, but we
do not know what the outcome was.
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