New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1882-12-22
J4BELLING JNDI4N,C

It will doubtless prove great consolation to the
| miners of Southern Arizona to know that tho
| Apaches on the san Carlos Reservation are to be
| labelled and decorated with brass tags. Every
miner should now arm himself with note book In
| stead of Winchester; and whenever few bucks
| break out of the Reservation and Their native
exuberancb OF spirits take a casual potshOt at some
solitary miner engaged in working his claim he Will
whip out his notebook and, while lodging the bull
lets as successfully possible proceed 10 take theiI
| numbers. Or perhaps he will politely request the
savagcs to cease firing until thernumbers safely
iotted down. After this his does not appear
t. he exactly clear. But he Will probably beg his
assalants TO take the notebook TO General Crook
with his compliments, after they have generously
relieved him of his scalp and otherwise entertained
themselves in true Apache fashion. Thus he will
have the comfort of knowing that his death was
accomplished by duly labelled" Indians
under Government protection, and he will not be IN
the position of. the man crushed under the wheels
of passing vehicle, who didn't mind the hurt,
but objected to being TuIsOver by blasted swill
cart"
With all due respect to General Crooks acknowl-
edged skill and success in dealing with the Apacbes 1t
Is hard to believe that hsnew method can prove alto
gether successful. We told that there are ,236
males above the age of ten on the Reservation. To
entire number has apparently been labelled, and is
to be counted daily. This cumbersome plan will be
a severe tax upon the officers in charge but grayer
defect is in the irritation and serious discomfort
which it will surely among the Indians
Already it is stated General Crooks life has been
threatened, and if the Indians continue to be
labelled and counted daily like so many sheep or
bales of merchandise, the short limit of their endur
ance may be passed and a general outbreak ensue
Further it is more than doubtful whether this plan
would be eflectual in keeping the Apaches on the
Reservation Despite - the description entered in
book numerous civil trials have proved the diff
Guilty of identifying Indians, and in this case
Apache cunning would probably find means of
circumyentng both the tags and the count. Even
if 1t were discovered that certain Apaches were
absent from the Reservation and that at the same
time raid took place the facts in themselves would
afford no legal grounds for the convection of the abb
sentees, who could only be punished for their abb
sence There arc Apaches in the Sierra Madre
Range between Sonora and Chihuahua who have
never lived on q Reservation The sphere of Indian
operations has been much magnifed by exaggerated
and false reports. There are 10 hostile Apaches in
New-Mexico and the occasional disturbances in
Arizona have been confined to the southern and
especially the southeastern portions and have been
caused BY small bands who have usually descended
the San Simon Valley, have prowled about the
Chiricahua Mountains and the mining districts near
Bisbee and the Mule and Dragon Mountains, occa-
sonally ranging further northwest to the neighbor-
hood of Globe City, and finally entering Mexico and
disappearing in the Businesses Of the Sierra Madre
whence in the past many have returned red-handed
TO the San Carlos Reservation.
The comparatively small section indicated is the
only portion of our territory where there is at
"A
and since the arrival of General Crook there have
been no general outbreaks-simpy a few assaults
by is0lated bands The Sierra Aadre Range. in
Northern Mexico Is the last retreat of the hostile
Apache. There he finds wood. water and game.
and his final and thorough extinction will yet re-
quire considerable time. Should there be an out
break ct San Carlos, and q general retreat Of the
fighting men into the Sierra Madre. the mining in
terests Of Northern Mexico and Southern Arizona