OCR Text |
Show 42 Ss ta Siete ancy eel oe ee ce a aden ie e 8-8 Oe cee e186 . 1 0-6-8 2oe er) oe aT ret Fel pe ek oe ye ee hed a 8 ¥ a3 2 i ag ee ee rr) Pe ee ee ee ed Per Pee er ys oe ee ee eS P ehh et one ee — eat eet atk mn Soe tet oa a *“* O 8 O20. 60-20 ee) Pe oe i ee) ’ * el Sle Ls . all it 0d er bleed ete men, FED sl * ee a aed a5 ng een ae eG Se =. Fo Ca ee oo mie ae *, ae” , , FACTS OF NEW MEXICAN HISTORY TERRITORY and troops of active mounted militia, in all a force of five hundred at an annual but as late * oe ek Ne Se vt ei ot oe: e ee |a S ee tad at ee ee |i Al tt i ie etd ® Se ae | & fe. Es 7 [ee 8.3% teary” Ee * * . +. # ad et = en> rs os oe ed ee 2 eae ee pane ee eo ae aed | et eed aad cans ae ™ * itemae he Mp me Thy food dead rea ee as 1832, there was a military standpoint is illustrated by another incident which oc- curred during this period, showing that the government was powto protect not only its own citizens but ek a paleden cost of $439,110, stationed in New Mexico only one company of regular troops. Barreiro, writing in that year on military matters, urged the necessity of an increased force for the purpose of holding the Americans as well as the Indians in check, and also recommended that the garrison at Santa Fé be transferred to Valverde, as it was of no practical use at the capital. He also urged the establishment of a military school and a complete reorganization of the militia.® Mention has been made of the murder of some members of the Navajé tribe of Indians at the pueblo of Cochiti. This event occurred shortly after the independence of Mexico was attained. The government of New Mexico, according to Gregg,** greatly embittered the disposition of the wild tribes, particularly the Navajés, by repeated acts of cruelty and ill-faith, all of which were well caleulated to provoke hostilities. On one occasion, during the rule of Viscarra, a party of chiefs and warriors of this tribe assembled at Cochiti, by invitation of the government, for the purpose of celebrating a treaty of peace. When the Indians had arrived, the New Mexicans, exasperated by the remembrance of many outrages committed by these Indians, fell upon them unawares and put them all to death. With these facts before us, there is need of little comment upon the attitude of the Apaches and Navajés toward the Mexican. The utter helplessness of the Mexican authorities from erless Ce -Au ren a eee SUT Ta Pr LEADING those unfortunate who happened to be prisoners of war. It was at this time that ae Indians, Comanches, one adult and two boys, had come into Fernandez de Taos for purposes of trade. They were peremptorily 88 In 1834 Cantain PB ae He also was the eomandanto-prdpal at Ree Me empany Sante Te revolution, led. by — Hindéjos. ) as eae Nh BP na, kis ey comandante-principal Prion by this time, in 1832, by means of a he : had been of the driven territory from power. Captail of New Mexico, signed 4 Ease ne er favor of General Santa Anna, the document also having the Bado mp ‘he sergeants and corporals of Santa Fé, Taos, and San Miguel del or that Mexico. ne aie OB enn ¢ the Santa 6 company, had been ‘ the law ofof 1826 ; were a individed aeNew 1826 three three companies in active service gg, Josiah, Commerce ofJ the Prairies.7g j Ey p. .; 287 oe e OF THE REPUBLIC OF MEXICO 43 demanded by the Jicarilla Apaches, who were their bitter enemies. The Mexican authorities, dreading the resentment of this tribe, quietly complied with the barbarous request and suffered the adult Comanche to be butchered before their very eyes. The alealde of Taos at this time was Juan Antonio Martinez, upon whom the Apaches made the demand; he became very much alarmed and determined to surrender the Comanches in order to appease the wrath of the savages, and to make his conduct more dastardly, he caused the gun of the Comanche to be discharged and loaded with dirt, thus depriving him of the means of self-defense. He was then turned over to his enemies, who fell upon him with great fury; he defended himself as well soon overpowered were made as he could by numbers slaves. ‘‘It with and is small his bow and killed and wonder, arrows, scalped. then,’’ says but was The boys Gregg, who lived in New Mexico very shortly after these occurrences, ‘‘that the New Mexicans were so generally warred upon by the savages of the country.’’ The Spaniards first began having serious trouble with the Navajo tribe shortly after the Pueblo uprising of 1680. There were many campaigns against them and at one time, in 1744, they attempted to establish a mission among them, but as we have seen, it was abandoned. During a major Was not a great deal of portion trouble of the eighteenth as they remained century practically there un- molested by the Spaniards, the Franciscans, who were the moving spirits in all governmental affairs, not caring to venture among them lor purposes of conversion to the holy faith. During the last twenty years of Spanish rule, however, the Navajé became very troublesome, and many raids and murders were committed by marauding bands of this great and war-like tribe. | Of the Spanish and Mexican commanders in New Mexico at that ime, Colonel Viscarra seems to have been the most successful in his efforts to punish and pacify them. After that officer’s departure trom New Mexico there does not appear to have been a single officer of sufficient capacity to inspire’ the Navajé with either respect or fear, until the coming of the Americans under General Kearny in 1846, During the rule of both Baca and Narbona, both of whom Were Mexican officers, the latter a lieutenant sent to New Mexico from Chihuahua expressly for the purpose of repelling the Navajés, |