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Show INDIANS OF NEW MEXICO. 177 1 equally great in several others. I have also annexed an estimate for contingent ex enses for this office during the fiscal year ending June 30. 1850. maried C. i have'the honor to be, respectfully, your obedient servant, I D. MERRIKETHEK, Gmmar and Supt. India12 Afuir8 in in-ew ~eneno. - No. 85. SOUTHERANP ACBEA ~ENCPD,O NAA NB, N. M., June 8, 1854. Sm: Conceiving it my duty to submit to the Indian department, o ~ ewr hich you preside, such information as will give you a just and proper understanding of the Indian relations of this Territory towards the general government, whether statistical or otherwise, embracing the names of tribes, their location, their manners, habits, disposition and feelings towards the citizens of this Territory and the government, induces me to submit the following facts, suggestions, and conclusions concerning an Indian policy for New Mexico derived from actual experience with the Indians of this Territory, and of travel over and through their country; which I do, however, with diffidence. The Jicarilla Apaches are a branch of the great southern Apache tribe. They dwell, principally, in the northeastern part of this Ter-ritory, roaming between Abiquin, west of the Rio del Norte, and the ' Las Vegas, east of the Rio Puerco, and northeast as far as the Ar- .kansas..and the plains. These Indians seem to have little or no con-nexion with their brethren in the south, and may, for all practical purposis, be regarded as a separate and distinct tribe. They live con-tiguous to the settlements of the New Mexicans in this section of the country. They are, unquestionably, the most indigent'Indians in the Territory, which is the result of their lazy and indolent habits. They are occasionally engaged, ho~rerer, in the manufacture of a species of crockery-ware, which they barter to the Sew Mexicans for corn and other articles. With this exception, they live mainly by hunting and committing petty thefts on the New Mexicans. They have been the cause of much annoyance to the citizens of this Terri-tory, and are now in a state of open war with them and the United States government. Whilst they are a cowardly band, they are nevertheless cruel and revengeful, never forgiving an injury, nor letting an opportunity of retaliation escape them if the chanced of success are greatly in their favor: This tribe of Indians is gradually growing less, instead of increasing. They number from six to seven hundred, of all- ages and sexes, and are supposed to have upwards of one hundredwarriors. Their means of subsistence,^ far as the hunt and' the cham are concerned, are diminishing rapidly. They do not live in a sectionof country separate and exclusive to themselves, as do the'other wild tribes of Sew Mexico, but live adjacent to the fron-tier settlements. The: do not seem to claim any portion of this Ter-ritory in their own right, as: do the other tribes of New 3Iexico. 12 |