Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1881-09-05
ANOTHER INDIAN WAR.

tragedy has been enacted. General Carr,
a Gallant soldier. and Ga men, with six
officers. have been caught in more IN |
genious trap than that in which Custer
and his command persisted. The location
of the present difficulty is in the immedi-
ate vicinity of Camp Apache, which is
situate near the center Of the White |
Mountain Indian reservation. This lies
along the western slope and at the foot of
the White mountains, which attain hight
of from l0, 600 to u, 600 feet, and form the
highest range in eastern Arizona. The
reservation is bounded by the thirty fourth
degree of latitude on the north, and is BIZ
sected by the one hundred and tenth
degree of longitude. The camp is at the
junction of White Mountain river and its
north fork The river is tributary of
the Salt river, which empties into the ella
not far below Phoenix. San Carlos, at the
junction of the San Carlos river and the
ella, is some thirty-fve miles south
west as the crow flies. Camp Grant, by
the road, is III miles, almost due south,
and is the nearest telegraph station. From
there to Tucson, southwest in a direct
line, it is about sixty miles. The White
Mountain Indians constitute one of the
Apache tribes that has never been con-
quered by the Government. The Govern
ment has, in fact, never had an opportu-
nifty to try its Indian policy upon this
branch OF the Apaches, and hence in this
case there can be made no specific charges
upon the Government or its agents to fix
the responsibility for the present trouble,
unless it be the stupidity of sending so
small a force upon SO dangerous mission.
! 1t is true these Indians, numbering some
/ 1900, and having at command some 400
warriors; were in 1876 removed to the
/ White Mountain Reservation, but soon
returned to their old hunting grounds
along the Salt river, and thence south to
the ella, and up and down the San Pedro
TO the Mexican border sort of narrow
but very extended range, for these Indians,
commanded by Pedro and known as the
Colotiro tribe, have been the rangers
of the whole eastern section of the
Territory. Il appears, so far as can
be gathered now, that this tribe has medi-
cine men who acted upon the superstition
of the Indians that they could resurrect
some departed chieftains and place them
at their head to go upon the war-path
against the whites. This was dangerous
proceeding, and General Carr, with a
small band of soldiers and fifty Indians,
seven of whom were scouts, went out to ar
rest these medicine men, who, for unex-
planned reasons, were infaming their fol-
lowers. They came upon the savages in
the vicinity of Cibicu creek, the head
waters of which are upon the southern
border of the great Colorado plateau. The
spot was distant some thirty-five miles due
west from Camp Apache. The scouts led
the officers to believe that the Indians were
peaceably disposed, and the command thus
trusting, marched into the deep canyon OF
the creek, where its walls were densely
covered with timber. The whole country
thereabouts is cut up by great canyons
| clothed with forests and fortified by natu-
raj tasaltic formations, admirably adapt
ing il to the ambush and secretive mode of
warfare in which the Apache delights.
The scouts led the General ten miles up
the dark shades of Cibicu canyon, where
portion Of the Indians were found.
An attempt to arrest the chief medicine
man was at once made, when his brother
shot down the arresting officer; the treach-
erous scouts and friendly" Indians imme.
diately turned their rifles upon the troops !;
the ambushed savages came forth, and the
massacre began. Most of the dispatches
have it that but one or two escaped, but
some indicate that handful of men are
fighting their way back to Camp Apache,
with little hope of ever reaching it. Still
others state that the camp itself has been
attacked, and It's inmates put to death, to-
gether with the women and children, in
which case General Cars wife and family
have also fallen. The whole country is
aroused, disaffected Indians have joined
Pedro's band, and prolonged struggle
impends. The latest advices are that the
young men of the Navajoes, north of the
| White Mountain Reservation, have joined
the rebellious Indians, and that the Ara
vipas on the lower San Pedro are on the
warpath, and that the Mescalero bands are
moving out of Sonora and Chihuahua
uorthward to aid the Colotiros-in short,
that there is a general uprising, and that a
war of intended determination has been
entered upon by the Apaches and their
allies. The Indians are all well armed,
and army officers assert that they are as
well equipped and trained to-day as our
soldiers, and as good as they, man for man,
while their method of fighting places our
/ troops at serious disadvantage. Added to
this is the fact that the White Mountain re.
gion and the section along Salt river are
both settled up by Mormons, who, it is be-
ieved, are at the bottom of this diff
Guilty, and who are the devoted
friends of the Navajoes, many of whom
have been received into the Mormon
Church. On the heels of this news come
accounts of raids by Nana's Apaches, who
are now in Sonora, and have been recently
riding over into New Mexico and murder
ing and robbing, aided by Navajoes, close
relatives of the Arizona and Utah Mormon
Navajoes. The present outbreaks give
new opportunities to the outlaws, despera-
does and wild border characters, now more
numerous in Arizona and New Mexico
probably than anywhere else. They will
naturally encourage the present difficulties
and be the authors of many an outrage
that will be laid at the doors OF the In
dams. 1t is probable that this Indian war
will extend to the Mexican border 1t is
almost too much to hope for, in that case,