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Show The First Intruders: Explorers, Traders, and Slavers 29 him that they were friends of the Utes, the Mohave, and the "Apaches Tejua," but were enemies of the Comanches and the Hopi.30 Garces recognized that the Chemehuevi were Nuwuvi, grouping them with the Shivwits.31 Garces was impressed with the Chemehuevi people, saying, "They conducted themselves with me most beautifully; by no means were they thievish or troublesome, but rather quite considerate." He noted that they made baskets and "carried a crook [a specially-shaped stick used for unearthing bulbs, roots and rodents] besides their weapons." 32 Returning to the river, Garces came to the Mohave villages, where he noted that they had "certain blankets that they possess and weave of furs of rabbits and otters brought from the west and northwest, with the people of which parts they keep firm friendship." 33 The blankets woven of rabbit skin were manufactured by the Nuwuvi and apparently they were carrying on a lively trade with the Mohave at this time. Recruiting three Mohave guides, the Garces expedition journeyed on to the San Gabriel Mission. On the return journey, Garces passed again through Chemehuevi country, visiting three Chemehuevi camps, which he didn't describe. Thus, Garces was the first non-Indian to cross the Mohave river segment of the Old Spanish Trail and was perhaps the first intruder on Chemehuevi land. After Escalante's expedition, Spanish fur trappers and traders began to extend their operations westward from Colorado, intruding into the Uintah Basin, the Great Salt Lake region, and the Utah Lake area. Spanish trade with the Utah Utes was to have a great impact on the Nuwuvi, giving rise to a slave trade involving Nuwuvi men, women and children. Unfortunately, documents for this period are very sparse. Unlike official expeditions, the fur trappers left no records of their private ventures. Due to the Spanish government's restrictions, much of the trading with the Indians was illegal, adding a further cloak of secrecy to the operations.34 Even in the recorded instances of slave trading, tribal membership often is not specified, further complicating attempts to determine the origins and proportions of slavery among the Nuwuvi. Although records are lacking, it is likely that "almost continuously from Escalante's expedition on until after the Mormons came, wandering Spaniards entered these |
