Democrat and sentinel. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1853-1866, 1854-02-24

They were stripped of nearly all their clothing,
and otherwise brutally treated. Mrs. Wilson,
although expecting soon to become mother,
was subjected to every conceivable cruelty and
indignity; beaten and bruised exposed to fa-
tigues of all kinds, her flesh lacerated by ariats
and whips, or by the loads ofwood she was obli-
ged to carry on her bare back; compelled to do
the work of men, or punished for her inability by
being stoned, knocked down and trampled on /;
almost entirely deprived Of food-and all this for
twenty-five days. AT this time, she sent
in advance in the morning as usual, when she
determined to attempt an escape, which she sue
cseded in accomplishing by secroting herself in
some bushes till the Indians had passed.
For twelve days she wandered through this In
dian country, subsstingsupon berries, when she
fortunately fell in with some New Mexican ira
ders, who furnished her with some mems cloth
ing and blanket. In consequence Of their meet
ing with Camanche, they had to leave her be-
hind, and she narrowly escaped a second capture.
But, by the subsequent aid of one of the traders,
& Pueblo indian, she was enabled, after hiding
herself for eight days. to escape. AT the expira-
tion Of this time she was rescued by the traders,
furnished with horse, and brought to the town
ofPecos, New Mexico, where Major Carleton and
others, of the army, took care of her and enabled
her to proceed to Santa Fe.
This is but an outline of terrible story, the
counterpart of which, in all except the escape,
are said to be frequent. A letter from Santa Fe
says that the white captives among the Canaan
cheS are as numerous as the Indians themselves
The same letter mentions the escape of g young
Mexican woman who returnes, after years ter
rible captivity respecting to sbecome mother Of
an infant whose father is wild Indian. The
Camanches practice cruelty N its utmost refine
ment towards their captives. Children are train
ed to be more Savage than they are themselves,
and women are subjected TO outrages too horrible
to be mentioned.
The Santa Fe Gazette says: % The two broth
ers of Mrs. Wilson are yet in captivity, and un-
less soon reclaimed !! will imbibe taste for the
wild life Of the Indian, and be forever lost
There are many hundreds, and we may venture
to say, thousand Of captives among the Indians
of New Mexico, principally womenzand children;
the former are eforced to become the slaves Of the
men, and the latter are trained for warriors"
gsTNhen Gov. Merriweather came out, he was
fortunate enough to rescue two Mexican girls
from the Cananches--one sixteen and the other
eighteen years of age. They had been captured
from near Chihuahua, one three years and the
other ten months before. They were sent to the
Governor Of that State, who acknowledged the
conduct of the Governor of New Mexico in very
handsome terms. They said there were large
number of Mexican women in captivity, and they
saw one American woman, with small child
that an Indian one day, when they were travel
ling on horseback, took the child from its moth
er, threw it up into the air, and as it came down
caught it OF his spear, and that others rode up
at full gallop, took it on their spears, and so 1t
passed around among the party.
Surely our Government will not permit such
outragcs to go unpunished, even if 1t be necessa-
ry to exterminate the whole tribe of ti-ese brutal
SavageS.