The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1894-05-10
RED TERRoRs OF MEXICO.
Tho Fierce yRqui Indians Again on tho
Warpath.
Especial Correspondence

Especial Correspondence
HERMosILO, Mexico, April ID
Many ethnologists believe that tho Ya.
qul Indians of northern Mexico are
identical with the Apaches, who for so
many years set tho troops OF the United
States ut defiance and made travel dan
gerous and settlement we'll nigh limos.
siblo III parts of New Mexico and Arr.
zona- The Apaches, until conquered
after q quarter Of u century Of fighting,
had their hunting grounds In the Sierra
Madro mountains, which, from central
Colorado down to Panama, form the
backbone or great watershed of the con-
tinent. The Apache language so closely
resembles that OF tho Yaquis, who occupy
the same mountain range just to the
south, that they can communicate with
each other without using the sign Ian
guage; but, language apart, the appear
ance and habits of these two blood
thirsty tribes would point to o common
origin even If they were fur removed
from each other instead Of being neigh.
bors
The Apaches have been conquered,
but their kinsmen, tho Yaquis, are as
bold, defiant and cruel today Us they
were when, $50 ago, they threw them
selves across the path of Coronado and
his mailclad explorers and taught them
that if they found an Eldorado to the
north they must mark their trail with
their own graves.
Those parts of the states of Sonora and
Sinaloa lying along the Yaqui river,
which has its source i'll the spur of the
Sierra Madre, known as the Yaqui range,
havo been again and again devastated
by these fierce Ishmaelites of the hills.
whose hands are against every man, and
who glory in the knowledge that every
mans hand Is against them
Again and again tho Yaquis have
routed the best Mexican troops under
the ablest officers Atany timo they can
bring thousand hardy, well armed
warriors into the field, and when hard
pressed they retreat to the mountain
Businesses, where, if pursuit is not alb
solutely impossible, they can set it at
defiance They pay no heed to the changes
OF government going on about them
The white man or the man with drop
OF white blood In his veins is their foe,
and that is enough
1t is said that the Yaquis hold as slaves
hundreds of men and women whom they
captured as children after Staying their
protectors, and more than once they
have carried off men high in authority
and forced the government to treat with
them for ransom. In the whole history
OF social war there is no record of q con-
test so long continued, so bitterly per-
sistent and so cruel and sanguinary as
that Which the unconquered and uncon-
querable YaQuis have waged against the
white conqueror and his descendants
AS it is a year or two since there was
YaQuis outbreak those who did not
know them we'll were beginning to nurse
the hope that for the future these noun
tain desperadoes would remain content
in their inaccessible homes in the Sierra
Madre; but, as SO often before, we have
been doomed to bitter disappointment.
In the hope Of peace many Mexican and
American settlers have within the past
two years taken up land and established
homes along the beautiful and fertile
valley of the Yaqui river. These peace
able people were entirely unprepared for
the fierce raiders who two weeks ago
suddenly came down like mountain
wolves on the folds of the husbandmen
and burned his ranches, murdered his
family and carried off his herds.
With spasmodic energy the governors
Of the northern states of Mexico have
sent troops after the Yaquis. but no one
expects they will accomplish anything.
These red maraudcrs have perfect spy
system They know to man the strength
of their opponents, and where it is not
safe to fight they can always retreat
without loss.
1t is q curious fact that while these
Indians arc supposed to have no com
munication with the white man they
are we'll supplied with the latest and
best arms, and they use them as expert
ly as the best drilled soldiers in the
world Outside Of the awful loss of life
caused by these people and the wanton
destruction of property, it Is estimated
that Mexico has spent fully $50, 600, 900
in trying to exterminato them Yet aft
er centuries of fighting they arc today
as strong, self reliant and dangerous as
when they first used their arrows against
the Spanish invader.
J. It. MANNING.
Which Is tho King of Beasts?