William Abraham Bell

“ Were we to judge only from their dwellings, we should place these people very low down in the list of Indian tribes; but when we examine the means which they adopt for raising their crops; when we see with what labour and skill they have divided off their lands into little patches of about two hundred feet square, and have dug many miles of irrigating canals, each set radiating from the main arteries, or "acequia madre," to supply every patch; then when we look at the pottery, the beautiful baskets woven so closely of willow chips and grass that they are quite impervious to water ”

“ Four distinct races are now encountered by the traveller in New Mexico. These are:
The semi-civilised native races and their natural enemies require to be treated of separately. The Pueblo, or town Indians, are the most remarkable and important tribe to be found in any part of the United States or Canada; they are, in fact, the only native race whose presence on the soil is not more of a curse than anything else. ”

“ They have neither protected their own subjects on their own soil, or sheltered the helpless Mexicans across the border. But the Apaches do not lay waste northern Sonora as they formerly did, chiefly because there is now no one to plunder; all is desolation. Destiny, however, seems to be doing what the government has failed to do; it is destroying the Apache nation. Although very few are yearly killed in fight, and the white man has not as yet penetrated into the heart of their country, still they are dying out fast ”

“ About twenty miles of this valley is occupied by these people. They devote themselves entirely to agriculture and to the arts of peace, but they are brave in war, and maintain a complete military organisation, for protection against the incursions of their wild neighbours the Apaches. I have often heard it said by western men, that there are only two spots in New Mexico and Arizona in which you can be certain of absolute safety; the one is in the pueblo of Zuñi, the other amongst the Pimas on the Rio Gila. ”

“ Others travel immense distances over the great Sonora Desert to the Gulf of California, and particularly to some salt lakes about a hundred miles west of Altar, where they lay in a stock of salt and seashells, and then return to trade with the Indians on the Colorado, or the Pimas on the Gila; or to sell the salt to the Mexicans on the eastern side of their country. Others, who have no merchandise to sell or ponies to trade with, go to the settlements and ranches from Tucson southward, and willingly hire themselves out as field labourers or miners. ”

“ As far back as any information can be obtained about them, they have been at war with the Mexicans and white men, the system of reprisals being systematically carried out on both sides. The Mexicans of one settlement would collect together, and make a raid on a marauding band of Navajos, capturing all they could, not only in stock, but in women and children. The Indians would retaliate, not caring particularly whether it was the aggressors or some peaceful neighbours they attacked in return. ”

“ The Navajos are an industrious, intelligent, and warlike race of Indians, who cultivate the soil, and raise sufficient grain and fruits of various kinds for their own consumption. They are the owners of large herds and flocks of cattle, sheep, horses, mules, and asses. It is estimated that the tribe possesses thirty thousand head of horses, mules, and asses. It is not rare for one individual to possess five to ten thousand sheep, or four to five hundred head of other stock. Their horses and sheep are said to be greatly superior to those reared by the Mexicans. ”

“ In the valley through which the Zuñi river (a tributary of the Colorado Chiquito) flows, are to be seen orchards—chiefly of peach-trees—vineyards, fine corn plots, and vegetable gardens, producing onions, beans, melons, chili colorado (red pepper) , pumpkins, &c. Formerly cotton was cultivated; probably by Indians, further south; but now, I believe, they obtain what stuffs they require from the Mexicans in exchange for farm produce. They do not raise their crops by irrigation, but depend entirely upon the rainfall; hence all their traditions relate more or less to the production of water. ”

“ The Apaches were not long in discovering the weakness of their wealthy neighbours, and year by year their raids became more numerous, and their ravages more destructive. At first the stock of the outlying rancheros fell a prey to the enemy, and, although probably but a small proportion of the vast herds which formerly occupied the rich grazing regions of North-eastern Sonora and Northern Chihuahua were really carried off by the red men, still the rancheros had to fly for their lives, and leave their cattle to their fate. ”

“ I have been through their desolate country, and visited many of their villages, and I feel convinced that the hard struggle they have ever had with nature to support life in such a region, has done much to develop the energy and manliness of character peculiar to the tribe. As a race, they are the finest specimens of man, physically, I have ever seen ”

“ Most conspicuous amongst the latter class are the Navajos and Apaches of New Mexico and Arizona—the hereditary enemies of the cultivator of the soil, whether he be Aztec, Mexican, or Anglo-Saxon—the savages, by means of whom the whole country has been nearly swept of its inhabitants, and changed from a fertile garden into a barren waste. ”

“ A wicker rim is always fastened at the bottom, by which the larger baskets can be carried on the head like the vases, and the smaller ones can stand securely on the floor. They are of all sizes, and together with the pottery, form the great articles of exchange between this people and other tribes, the Mexicans being about the best customers of all. Their only native weapons are bows and arrows, but they readily adopt all modern appliances either in the shape of fire-arms or implements of agriculture. ”

“ Not far from the town is a sacred spring about eight feet in diameter, walled round with stones, of which neither cattle nor man may drink. The animals sacred to water—frogs, tortoises, and snakes—alone must enter the pool. ”

“ The women are stronger and more robust than the men, probably because they do more work. They grind the corn by a slow process of rubbing it between two stones, the larger of which—the metate—is grooved for that purpose; they hoe the ground, carry most of the burdens, gather mezquite beans from the neighbouring hills, make baskets and pottery, and occasionally weave and spin, in addition to taking care of the children and household matters. The men attend to the acequia madre common to all, gather in the crops, look after the stock, protect the settlements, and do most of the idling. ”

“ The basket-work is the most meritorious of all their native arts, for although the baskets are made only of willow twigs or of grass, so closely are they woven that liquids are placed in them as a matter of course, and seldom a drop escapes through the sides. ”

“ Water is scarce, and difficult to be found by those not acquainted with the country, affording them another natural safeguard against invasion. Their numbers are variously estimated at from one to two thousand families, or about fourteen thousand souls. The Navajos, so far as I am informed, are the only nation on the continent having intercourse with white men, that are increasing in numbers. They have in their possession many prisoners, men, women, and children, taken from the settlements of this territory, whom they hold and treat as slaves. ”

“ Intercourse with the Mexicans has also much modified their mode of dress, for the men usually wear wide straw sombreros of home manufacture, moccasins, buckskin gaiters, a breech cloth of cotton, and a snow-white cotton blanket thrown gracefully across the chest. ”

“ Upon the walls hang bows, arrows, quivers, antlers, blankets, articles of clothing, &c.; vases, flat dishes, and gourds, filled with meal or water, stand usually along one side of the room. In complexion they are rather fair for Indians; although quiet in their manners, they are very light-hearted; honesty, frankness, and hospitality are amongst their good qualities, but they want the manly bearing of the Zuñi Indians, and have, until lately, lived in great fear of their warlike neighbours, the Navajos. ”

“ They own flocks and herds in considerable quantities, and they keep large droves of horses, or rather ponies. It is probable that a number of their villages, especially those supplied only by artificial tanks, are uninhabitable, from want of water, for a great part of the year, so that they are obliged to migrate, to support themselves and their stock during the droughts; be that as it may, they have become the greatest traders and the most industrious people to be found in the country. ”

“ If they were not so very dark in complexion, their features would be pleasing, for they have the steady, intelligent eye, and straightforward manners of their more northern brethren, the Pimas. The most interesting point about them, however, is their mode of life. Like the Jaqui Indians of Southern Sonora, they very willingly leave their homes at certain seasons to gain a livelihood elsewhere. ”

“ Want is unknown amongst them; they are happy and contented; they are of great assistance to the colonists as well as to the government, for they help to confine the Apaches to their mountain retreats, and they supply the emigrants and troops with large quantities of corn. By the table of population already given, it will be seen that the women and children form a very fair proportion of the population; as for the latter, my friend Colton tells me that the whole valley swarms with them, and that these little monkeys are as full of fun as they can be. ”

“ The isolated pueblos, which lie at considerable distances from the main valley, are very different in appearance from those simpler one-storied villages which once dotted the banks of the Rio Grande del Norte in very considerable numbers. ”

“ Venegas, Caronado, and, in fact, all the early Spanish explorers and writers upon New Mexico, describe many seven-storied fortresses now no more, and give many instances of the great bravery shown by the Indians in their defence. Those I have mentioned, however, with the exception of Zuñi and the seven Moqui pueblos, are the only native fortresses which now remain inhabited. ”

“ The houses are three rooms deep; the first being used for eating, cooking, &c.; the others as sleeping apartments; great neatness is observable both in the household arrangements and personal habits of the people. They sit upon skins on the floor, clothe themselves with linen trousers, shirts, and a Navajo blanket thrown across their shoulders. ”

“ Of the state of health and morals of these Navajos, the hospital reports give a woful account. The tale is not half told, because they have such an aversion to the hospital that but few of those taken sick will ever go there, and so they are fast diminishing in numbers; while the births are many, the deaths are more. ”

“ Secondly, a war captain is selected from amongst the braves, who arranges all campaigns made against an enemy, and through his lieutenant—or master of the horse, as we should call him—has the management of the nahallada, or horse-herd. Third, the fiscal and his assistants regulate church matters, repair the churches, &c. The old and experienced men collectively are the law-makers, and elect all officers except the cacique, who is chosen by universal suffrage. ”

“ This lower reservoir is for the animals, the upper one for the people, and for household use. On each side of the tanks, the sloping sides of the mesa are formed into terraces neatly paved with masonry, and surrounded by a raised edge, so as to retain the water brought to them through pipes from the reservoirs. Peach-trees grow upon the terraces, and most of their crops are raised in this way by carefully husbanding the rainfall and using it for irrigation. Many flocks are owned by them, and most of the sheep are black. ”

“ Among the Pimas the productions are chiefly maize, wheat, beans, melons, pumpkins, onions, chilli Colorado (red pepper) , &c.; they own a small quantity of stock, horned cattle, sheep, horses, pigs, mules, and poultry. They rely, however, for support chiefly upon agricultural productions, milk, and eggs. So much in excess are their productions above their requirements, that they dispose annually of more than a million bushels of grain to the government agents, at from four to six cents a pound, which, in our money, is nearly twopence. ”

“ The women wear petticoats, and neither sex seems to affect ornaments or paint. The number of villages scattered throughout the land of the Papagos is about nineteen, and the population of the entire tribe probably reaches four thousand, of which three thousand live north of the Mexican boundary line, and perhaps one thousand south of it. ”

“ It is a very wealthy pueblo; the Indians owe abundance of cattle, and grow large quantities of corn, peaches, pumpkins, and other produce. The houses of San Domingo, Sandria, and others, although only built of one story, have no doors or windows on the outside, but are entered by ladders from the roof. ”

“ All this is encouraging, and leads us to hope that this people may escape the general destruction which, in North America especially, has fallen upon the aboriginal tribes with the advance of the Anglo-Saxon race. ”