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Show 556 Ex. Doc. No. 41 . miles which wa~ the estimated distance to Tueson Leroux had just r~turned; he had found water at a "~till-house," 20 miles from the river· and had encountered there u sergeant's party of dragoons . He had ~~ad e up a story to get off ; but , to g i v e it co l o r, D r. Foster fancied it nece. sary to go on to the town. Leroux was told, by Indians, that 200 soldiers, with artillery, ha<l been there co ncen trated. I rca hed the water next day,.and probably surprised the sergeant's pnrty. I found them cutting grass; but the sergeant, as if the bearer of a flag, delivered me a singular message from the co~mander, which amounted to a request that 'f should not pass h1s post. Next morning, I made prisoners of four others, who had come, probab!y, with provisions; and as Dr. Foster1 long stay had made n1e uneasy for him, I dismissed one of them with a note, :stating that I should hold the others as hostages for his safety; .and promised to relea e t.he prisoners if he ~a.s sent to me t.hat evenmg. Deceived as to the <hstanct·, but expectmg to encamp wtthout water, I marched late; and, ha1·ing made twelve miles on a road very difficult in places, I encamped at sundown, on tl1e high prairie. At midnight, FostP.r reached me; with him came two officers; one as a "commissioner," w·i t h written instructions to offer a kind of truce, by the terms of which I wr~s to pass the town by a certain poin 1, and to hoi d no com mu nicat_ion with the people . I rejected them, nnci demanded a capitulation; which the commissioner, with great. form, wrolt-', after his own fashion, in Spanish, and I signeJ. it. The terms bound the garrison not to serve against the United States du ring the pre ent war; and, as the only further tokens of surrender, to deliv r to me two carbines and three lances; my men to enteJ freely and trade with the inhabitants of the town. After a tedious conference of two hours, in which we had been very friendly, but very cold, the officers departed, assuring me my terms could not be accepted. Belie,·ing I was eight or nine miles from town, I took measures to march at daylight; ut unfortunately the mules being herded ira mt·zquite Lushes, :1nd without water, the half of them, in the darknes of night, t'Scaped the guard; and I could not IJOssibly march, with any prudence, before 8 o'clock. The di. tancc proved to be sixteen miles. About five miles frolll town I was met by a dragoon, or lancer, who d elivereu me a ietter~ simply refusing my terms. I told him there was no answer, and lH: rode off. I thch ordered the arms to be loaded. Immediately afterward, two citizen~ rode up, anrl reported that the place had beeu evacuated. I arrived at 1 o'clock, and, having- passed through th(: fort, encamped in the edge of the town. Two small field pier.es had been taken off, and all public property of value, except a large store of wheat. The garrisons of Tubac, Santa Cruz and F,ronteras haJ been co11 centrated, and, I understood Dr. Foster, there were altogether about 230 men; but I have lately learned that he only estimated them at 130. I remained in camp the next day, December 16. There wa~ very little grass, and I fed my mules, cattle and sheep, on the wheat, (and brought off enough for two more days, in the ad j oiui n g desert.) That day, to cover some small parties of mule hunters, I made a Ex. Doc. No. 41. 557 r~con~oissancP, wi~ll about sixty men, marching l1alf way to etn lndwn vil1age, ten mdes off, where the enemy were stationed. (I intended attacking him under favorable circumstances, but the path led me through a dense mezquite forest, very favorable to an ambush. I ]earned, ho vever, that thiR rlemonstration caused him to C'Ontinue his retreat.) The garrison attempted to force all the inhabitants .. to 1 eave the .. J towkn with them . Some of them returned whilst I lay th ere, and I t oo pains that all should be treated with kindne ~. . The day I arrived th~re, a detachment of twenty ·five men, who had been posted at the Ptmos, to observe or harrass my march, having been sent for • by express, passed uno bs(•rvcd round a mount a in, u c n town, and / joined t~e main body. (T alterward learned that they had made a threatening demand for the mules and goods left for me with the l?dian chief. He refused, and expressed his determination to reSist, by. force, any attempt to take them.) On leaving T., I ~cnt to 1ts late commander, Captain Commaduran, by a citizen messe ~1gcr, a letter for the governor of Sonora, (and 1 aftt>rward recetved an answer that it would be transmitted.) It isappendtd. All things con siJ ered, I thought it a proper con rse to ta kf' toward a r~puted popular g?vcrn~r of a State, believed to be djsgu. ted and d1saffe ctecl to the Imbecde central govl'rnment. It wa intimated t o m e, w h i 1 s t i n T u e son , that i f I w o u 1 d rn a r c h tow a r d t{1 c cap iL a 1 of the d cpa r t m c n t , I w o u 1 'l b (' j ')in e d by s u ffi c i an t n umbers to (' ff c c t a r e v o 1 uti on . On the 17th, I marchccl late, as I did no t expect to find water. At 8 o'clock, p. m., I encamped 24 miles from Tucson, with no .water or gr~ss. · Ten or fifteen miles further there is a 1ittle water, tn a mountarn, close to the road, but it could not be found; and I marched, tl1e second day, tltirty ?niles, and, at 9, p. m., again encnmpecl, without wn ter ; but the men, about sundown, had a d~ink from a small puddle, too shallow for the water to be Jipped With a cup. On the third day, I marchPd, earJy, eight or nine miles, and encamped at rain wat~r pools. The n€'xt day, I found it ten miles to the GiJa, at a small grass bottom, above the Pimo villages. / The mules were forty-eight hours without water; the men marched twenty·six of thirty-six consecutive hours, and sixty-two miles in rather more than two days, (in one of which no m< at ration was issued.) Thus the 90 mile of the guides turner( out to be 128 to lite village; 57 miles ne arer thfln the reputed distance by the San Pedro. ExeeptiHg four or five miles, 1he road was exct>llent; but over a true desert. Th<'re is, h owcver, a better wa ten,d road from Tueson, which strikes the Gila higher up. I believe this route tan be well taken for six months in the Jear; and, that like much of the road on ~his side, it is impassable in summer, unless for trave11ers. It is a great gold di trict; rich mint's have been discovered in many of the mountains in view; but it is so barren and destitute of water that even a mining population can scarcely occupy it. I halted one clay nt-ar tbe villages of this friendly, guileless and singularly innocent and cheerful people, the Pimos. There Fran- |
