Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1889-02-12
PROTEST.
New Mexico Objects to the Removal OF
Geronimo to That Territory.
A Strong Memorial Adopted by the Legislature
to be Presented to the President of the
United States.

United States.
Special to the Gazette.
SANTA FE, n. NJ, Feb 1.-THE fol-
lowing memorial was introduced to-day
by A. j. Fountain, speaker of the house
of representatives, and was unanimously
passed by both houses of the legislature:
To the President of the United States:
Your memorialists, thelegislative as
sembly of the territory of New Mexico
now in session assembled at Santa Fe,
most respectfully and earnestly represent
that it is currently reported to be the in
tention of the interior department of the
government of the United States to re-
of hostile Chiricahua Apaches
from their present place of
confinement in Florida and locate them
on the Mascalero Apache Indian reserva-
ton in Southern New Mexico and that in
pursuance of such intention some of
said Indians have recently been
brought to New Mexico and are
now upon said Mascalero Apache
Indian reservation. Your memorialists
respectfully represent that the location of
said Indians in the territory Of New
Mexico, and especially upon Mascalero
Apache Indian reservation, would be a
standing menace to the peace and
well being of this territory, would
tend to endanger the lives and property
of our citizens, would retard immigration
and obstruct our prosperity. Your me-
morialists can show that in the year 1885
said Geronimo and his band of hostile
Apaches fed from their reservation
at San Carlos, in the territory of
Arizona, and made a predatory raid into
Southern New Mexico which was attended
with the atrocities of savage warfare
without any prOvocation from the people
of New Mexico and they invaded our
territory, destroyed isolated settlements,
slaughtered peaceful citizens without
regard to age or sex, interrupted
travel, captured our mails, paralyzed
business and imposed upon the executive
Of this territory the necessity of calling
the territorial militia into service for the
protection of the lives and property of
our citizens at an expense of
S54 900; that for months this
hostile band of savages set at
defiance the powers of the general gov
eminent and of this territory; and were
not captured until many lives were lost
and waists sums of money expended
in the effort. Your memorialists
can further show that many of
these Indians are subject to Indictment
under the laws of this territory for muir
derS and numerous other crimes COM
mitted by them during the period of
their invasion of this territory Their
return to New Mexico would inn pose upon
our authorities the duty of
causing them to be arrested,
prosecuted and punished for said crimes.
Your memoralists can further show that
said MasceIerO Apache Indian reservation
is located in the mountains of Southern
New Mexico, remote from any rail-
road, where nothing prevents said
Indians from escaping from said
reservation and again subjecting South
ern New Mexico to the horrors
of savage warfare. Their location on
said reservation would be a constant
not only to thousands of peace
ful homes IN Southern New Mexico, but
also to our neighbors in the state
of Chihuahua, in the republic
of Mexico. That said Mascalero
Is situated in the midst of
thriving settlements not on the
farms and ranches, where hun
dreds of people are engaged
in peaceful avocations. The Ioca-
ton of this hostile band with
their terrible record Of blood and rapine
in the midst of these peaceful citizens,
would occasion them just cause for ap-
would make travel unsafe,
would impose upon them the necessity of
again resoTting to the abandoned practice
Of carrying firearms for protection, would
depreciate the value of property
and inflict upon them injury. Your
can further show that the
Apache Indians are now and
for long time have been, peaceably dis
posed; that they are friendly to
their white neighbors; that they
are not, and never have been, friendly
disposed toward said Geronimo or his
band, but on the contrary, they
regard the Chiricahua Apaches as
their natural enemy. The loca-
ton of said Chiricahau Indians
upon the Mascalero reservation would |
be to introduce a disturbing element that |
would create dissensions amongst the |
present peaceable Mascaleros which would |
be liable to produce disastrous results.
Therefore your memoriaIists respect !
fully ask that none of said Chiricahua |
Apaches be located within the territory of |
New Mexico, that those which already |
have been brought here be removed. |
Be it resolved, by the legislative as
sembly of New Mexico, that the governor
Of this territory be and is hereby re-
luested to cause a copy of this memorial |
to be mailed to our delegate |
n Congress Hon. Anthony Joseph |
with request that he present the same |
to the president of the United States at |
his earliest convenience.
The memorial was adopted unanimously |
n each house, and some very forcible |
speeches were made by the Southern |
members in its favor