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Show 54 REPORT OF THE BOARD OF INDIAN COMMISSIONERS. TALK WITH DEL- SHAY AND SHELTER- PAU. HEAD CHIEFS OF THE TONTO APACHES, AT MCDOWELL. CAMP MCDOWELL, ARIZONA TERRITORY, November 2, 1871. SIR : I have the honor to report that, in compliance with Special Orders No. 170, dated Headquarters Camp McDowell, Arizona Territory, October 25, 1871, I left this post and proceeded to Sunflower Valley, and complied as near as possible with special instruc-tions given me by the post commander. I arrived at Sunflower Valley at 5.30 p. in. on the 27th of October, and went into camp at the stockade. On the morning of the 28th I commenced building fires and kept them burning during the day as signals. Oil the morning of the 29th my signals were answered from a hill near camp. At 10 o'clock four Indians came into camp. I gave them something to eat and sent them out at once to tell their chief, Del- Shay, to come iu ; that I wanted to have a talk with him. In the evening two more Indians came iu from another direction, who said they belonged to Shelter- Pau's baud. I also sent them out with the same instructions. On the 30th four Indians and two squaws came into camp with a message to me from Del- Shay and Shelter- Pan that they would come and see me the next day. I gave these Indians something to eat, and sent them out of camp to come in again when their chiefs came. On the 31st, about 12 o'clock, Shelter- Pan and forty warriors arrived. In the afternoon of the same day Del- Shay, with twenty of his warriors and four or five squaws, \ vith children, arrived. I had a talk with both chiefs that afternoon, and told them my mission ; they appeared to be well pleased with what I said to them, and would reply to me the next morning. They were in a very destitute condition, being nearly naked and apparently suffering very much from the cold. They both appeared to be very anxious for peace, and expressed a desire to live happily with all mankind. I gave each band a sack of flour and issued them some beef. The next morning, November 1, both chiefs came into camp, and desired to have a big talk. The following is what Del- Shay said : " I don't want to run over the mountains any more ; I want to make a big treaty ; I will live with the soldiers if they will come to Sunflower Valley or Camp Carroll, if Government will establish a camp there ; I will make a peace that will last ; I will keep my word until the stones melt; I cannot go to Camp McDowell, because I have no horses and wagons to move my women and children, but at Camp Carroll I can live near the mountain and gather the fruit and get the game that is there. If the big captain at Camp McDowell does not put a post where I say, I can do nothing more, for God made the white man and God made the Apache, and the Apache has just as much right to the country as the white man. I want to make a treaty that will last, so that both can travel over the country and have no trouble ; as-soon as a treaty is made I want a piece of paper so that I can travel over the country as a white man. I will put a rock down to show that when it melts the treaty is to be broken. I am not afraid of the white man or the Mexican, but I am afraid of the Pimas and Maricopas, who steal into my camps at night and kill my women aiul chil-dren with clubs. If I make a treaty I expect corn and wheat, pumpkin and melon seed, and I will plant near old Camp Reno. I want the big captain to come and see me ; see how I get along ; and will do whatever he wants me to do. If I make a treaty I expect the commanding officer will come and see me whenever I send for him, and I will do the same whenever he sends for me. If a treaty is made and the commanding officer does not keep his promises with me I will put his word in a hole and cover it up with dirt. I promise that when a treaty is made the white man or soldiers can turn out all their horses and mules without any one to look after them, and if any are stolen by the Apaches I will cut my throat. I want to make a big treaty, and if the Ameri-cans break the treaty I do not want any more trouble; the white man can take one road and I can take the other. I will send some men with you to the big captain at Camp McDowell, and when they return I want him to put on a piece of paper what ho promises, so that I can keep it. Tell him that I am sick now, but will go to see him in twelve clays if I have to crawl on my hands and knees to get to him. Tell him that I will bring in all the wild Apaches that I can, and if any will not come I will tell the captain who they are and where they live. I have got nothing more to say/'' 1 then asked Shelter- Pan what he " desired to say : He said " he had nothing more to say than Del- Shay ; he wanted the same as Del- Shay did, and that he would come into the post the same time as he did." 1 then gave each chief one beef and left the camp at Sunflower Valley at 10 o'clock, accompanied by sixteen Indians belonging to the two bauds, and arrived at this post this a. 111. at 7 o'clock, having marched a distance oi sixty miles. I have to report the loss of one mule, which was kicked by a horse and so badly dis-abled that he had to be shot, after which the Indians eat him. I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant. W. McC. NETTERVILLE, Captain Twenty- first Infantry. First Lieutenant A. D. KING, U. S. A., Post Adjutant, McDowell. |