Jack R. Williams

“ Our Basketmakers, which are not to be confused in any manner with the San Juan Basketmakers, were a rather isolated group and tended to remain that way through numerous outside influences. While Pueblo groups to the west and north were progressing in agriculture, architecture, and esthetic arts, our group, because of their environment, remained more or less stable in their mode of life—hunter, and gatherers of seeds—in an area totally unsuitable for agriculture. ”

“ Our Basketmakers were dependent primarily upon wild plant foods, as corn seems to be lacking; and they supplemented their diet by some hunting of game. To the south of the Park is the Black River. In this fertile valley, with its continuous water supply, it is logical to assume that corn was probably cultivated; but there is absolutely no evidence to prove this. Corn was grown about 50 miles north, near Hope, New Mexico, where Pueblo-like settlements were common from 1150 to 1300 A.D. Corn, beans, and squash may have been traded to our cave people by the Pueblos. ”

“ To fully understand and appreciate the story of any group or groups of people, one must be acquainted somewhat with the country in which they lived. The country inhabited by the Indians of Carlsbad Caverns National Park has a wide temperature and altitude range, and four life zones (Upper and Lower Sonoran, Canadian, and Transition) . The Guadalupe Mountains developed from a limestone reef laid down in a shallow sea during the Permian period of the earth’s history, over 200 million years ago. ”

“ The successful theft of horses from the enemy was a high mark of prestige to a man; yet this same man could and did lose his spoils to other Comanches through the media of dice and hand games.
The Comanches were one of the few tribes of the South Plains who did not eat dog or human flesh. Their religion contained the belief of an after life in a “Happy Hunting Ground” beyond the sun. Naturally, these people utilized many wild plants. One among these that grows in the Park is mescal, which was used as a drug. (Quite a contrast to the Apaches, this.) ”

“ The Chiricahua Apaches to the west tell of a method of baking mescal without digging a pit. Rocks are heated and scattered on the level ground; the mescal crowns are put on them, and fresh grass and dirt are piled over all. This “oven” has the appearance of a mound when in use; but after the mescal is removed, and time has elapsed, it would appear to be simply a space of barren ground covered with burnt stones.
To the north of the Guadalupe Mountains is found evidence 28 of true Apache mescal pits, and they are just that, a pit dug into the ground. ”

“ First, we cannot confine our story to the man-made boundaries of today, but to the natural geographic features which are mainly the Guadalupe Mountains. Second, we must deal with more than one group of people and outside cultural influences of each group. These groups, however, will be confined mostly to New Mexico and north and west Texas. ”

“ Communal hunting was supervised by a hunt master; and game, such as rabbits, peccary, and buffalo were surrounded by people in a circle and clubbed, shot or driven to hidden hunters, lassoed or run over a cliff or bank. Dogs were used for hunting as well as for watch dogs and pets. ”

“ It is very logical to assume that, over the long period of time man has been in and around the area, someone climbed down and looked.
Some people are of the assumption that the superstitious nature of the Indians kept them out of the cave. True, man 8 has always been somewhat afraid of the dark and will probably always be so. That the Indians were superstitious of the bats, which fly out the entrance each summer evening in search of night-flying insects, is very questionable. First of all, if the people were afraid of the bats they would not have lived under the entrance overhang. ”

“ In 1875, the Mescalero Apache Reservation was established for the Mescalero and Lipan tribes; but in 1913, a band of Geronimo’s Chiricahuas was released from Ft. Sill in Oklahoma and came to Mescalero where they now reside.
Locally there is a rumor that the Apaches have a myth concerning the bats of Carlsbad Caverns. The bats are said to be an ancient lost war or hunting party, but research has failed to verify this story. Most of the Western Apaches regard BAT as an excellent horseman. The Chiricahua Apaches say, “If a bat bites you, you had better never ride a horse any more. ”

“ The Mescaleros were attracted to the Guadalupe Mountains area due to the abundance of plant and animal life and the many springs found here. The cooking of their favorite food, the mescal, arouses some curiosity. Found throughout the region are remains of the Carlsbad Basketmakers’ midden circles previously mentioned. In remote instances perhaps the Apaches cooked in these so-called “mescal pits.” Quite likely though, they cooked on the surface without the aid of a pit. ”

“ Pottery is really incidental; and, for the most part, intrusive to southeastern New Mexico. It is questionable if the area inhabitants made pottery, but they probably did to some extent. There is found a considerable amount of plain brown ware, and it occurs from early to late times. ”

“ Both tobacco and pipe were kept in a buckskin bag which was usually highly decorated.
The people assembled at the Chief’s dwelling or in an open space. Unlike most Plains tribes, the Mescaleros did not carry a medicine bundle but carried “medicine” inside themselves.
For music and ceremony there were rattles of gourds or horn, drums of pottery and wood, a musical bow, whistles and flutes. ”

“ The entire country is dotted with large “midden circles.” The one most seen by visitors is located at the natural entrance. For years these circles have erroneously been called “mescal pits” and were thought to have been used strictly for baking or roasting the mescal plant by both our Basketmakers and later the Apaches. In remote instances, it is possible that the Apaches used them, but not as a common practice. ”

“ Mysticism, taboo, and definite procedure governed childbirth, naming, education of the young, marriage, affinal relations, death, mourning, labor by both sexes, slaves, land ownership, personal property, war, scalping, dances, ceremonies, political and clan organizations, peyote, kinship systems, religion and shaman ritual.
Little is known about Mescalero pottery, except that it was tempered with vegetable material, made only by women, fired in an open fire, and made with pointed or rounded bottom for inserting into fire coals, and perhaps decorated with incised marks near the rim on occasion. ”

“ One of the mortar holes near the mouth of the entrance to the Carlsbad Caverns
(National Park Service Photo)
Woodworking with stone tools consisted of seven methods: chopping, whittling, shaving and planing, sawing, splitting, gouging and scoring, scraping and sanding.
Fire was made with the use of a wooden hearth. Friction was created by revolving the point of a stick with the hands in a small depression in the hearth, which contained tinder of punk wood, shredded inner bark or grass. Cedar or juniper bark was probably used for torches. ”

“ Whether they exerted pressure on the Basketmakers we do not know. After the Apaches acquired horses from the Spanish, thus making them mobile, different groups moved to other parts of New Mexico and Arizona. Branching to the south and southeast were the Mescalero and Lipan bands. The Mescalero band settled in an area which included the Guadalupe Mountains and surrounding districts whence they raided the Pueblo Indians and the Spanish until about 1725, when another Plains group, the Comanches, came into the country from the northeast. ”

“ So, let us start our story with man’s first entry into the new world some 15 to 25,000 years ago. Most archaeologists agree that man came from Asia via the Bering Straits, perhaps by a land bridge or over the ice. ”

“ There is little physical evidence that any of the Indians went into the cave beyond the entrance which they obviously used as a means of shelter. It is very unlikely that they 7 ventured beyond the now Bat Cave section of the cave for several logical reasons. Light is the paramount factor in cave exploration, and the Indians’ only means of light would have been from rather crude torches of bark, grass, or wood, none of which gives off much light, nor burns for any appreciable length of time. ”

“ Farming was confined to the sandy soil in the stream bottom land. All farming was a man’s job except the harvest when women helped. A two-handed planting stick was used. Corn was eaten green, roasted or dried and shelled by women. ”

“ Most farming was done to the north of the Park; but Rattlesnake Springs, (source of the Park’s water supply) , about 7 miles south of 29 the Caverns entrance, is said to have been an Apache campsite, and possibly some farming was done there.
The Mescalero Apaches show a curious mixture of culture traits, both plains and western Apache. ”

“ Plant and animal life are abundant and varied. Due mainly to the lack of water, agriculture was not practiced in this particular area. The economy was one known as “hunting and gathering.”
Perhaps a brief description of each group that lived, hunted, and visited in this area will best picture how and why they did.
9 EARLY MAN
About all we can say for Early Man and the Park is that he was here. The only material remains found was a Folsom-like projectile point. This point was discovered in Burnet Cave in the Guadalupe Mountains in direct association with extinct animal bones. ”

“ If you do ride a horse after being bitten, you are just as good as dead.” They were cautious of bats but not superstitious of them.
34 THE COMANCHES
Originally the Comanches lived far to the north of southeastern New Mexico; but about 1700, moved to the South Plains. By this time they were well adapted to their relatively new life of mobility brought about by the acquisition of horses directly or indirectly, and by hook or crook from the Spanish. With horses it was much easier to follow the buffalo, fight their enemies, raid, and trade. ”

“ Beads were strung on hair cord or yucca fiber cord. Bracelets of Glycimeris shell were worn.
For the most part the shell tells of considerable trade to the Gulf of Mexico and the Gulf of California by our people. Fresh water mussel shells common to the Pecos River were also used for ornaments. Trade was carried on from Mexico into this general region as indicated by the finds of copper bells and macaw parrot feathers from Pueblo ruins in southern New Mexico. ”

“ CONTENTS Page Acknowledgements 2 The Indians of Carlsbad Caverns National Park 5 Early Man 9 The Carlsbad Basketmakers 10 The Mescalero Apaches 25 The Comanches 34 Bibliography 38 Footnotes 38
2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This booklet was prepared as an elementary basis for those interested in the Indians of this section. It is far from complete but if it answers only one question—the effort was well spent.
It is rare that research into any subject is done alone. This is no exception, for many are responsible in their contributions. ”