Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1896-05-28
oLD-TIME RECoLLECTIoNs.
Some Troubles Experienced With
Indiana In New Mexico In
Recent Years.
~ the kdNor Of the Optic.

NOiViAAit SOip'3 Way Ath AO~D
When We bade u temporary udieu to
New Mexico last fall, it was with the
hopo that, for a time at least, we had
got rid of the ubiquitous:
''Lo! the poor Ina.an, whose untutored
seooped In our ducats, when he raised our
Ablindi
Alasi we were mistaken! On Satur-
day evening, we we're once more con-
fronted by four specimens Of our noble
red cousins, of the "forest primeval,' y
who had strayed to our quiet village to
make "Kome howl" and to give a soul
stirring exhibition of the red mans
way OF tripping the light fantastic toe,
to The dulcet strains hammered out of
an old bull hide stretched over an old
nail keg, by another red specimen,
whose cracked voice added sweet dis
cord to that evoked from the drum.
They called it -dar cling. Perhaps il
was, but there was room, at least, for
honest doubt, yet the tenderfoot who
saw these monotonous g%yrations, and
hippity.hop Steps of these Indian dan
GERS, seemed charmed with the ricochet-
" stepsNand %ungraceful poses of these
nomads, who were rewarded by an
encore, and q few dimes.
These red brethren are members CT
the Ute tribe, which in its day, cat a
prominent figure as raiders and assas.
sins. They seem quiet enough now,
save at times when some of them in
dulge in a little Indian deviltrY on the
side, and in a way to avoid legal pun
ishmeni.
Seventeen years ago, when a soldier
at It Union, New Mexico, the Utes
were in camp near Cimarron. From
this point they were sent to the reser-
walton allotted them in this state, and
very soon after their removal, they be-
came suffi GENTLY acclimatizsd to send
old man Meeker, their agent, up the
golden stairs, without previous warn
ing also, incidentally to decimate the
U. s. army.
The idea somehow came that the
thorough thrashing administered to
them by Capt. Dodge, OF the Ninth U
S. cavalry, had civilized these scala
wags sufficiently to make them yearn
to be an angel; but it didn'G. They
are the same old %sixpences, who would
lift a scalp or cut a throat as cheerfully
and as neatly as ever, il they could
only do 50, without getting their necks
stretched in due form Of law.
Remembering the Utes as they were,
a quarter Of a century ago, and what
they are now, there is but one comfort
ing thought comes to US, and that is,
the red man grows beautifully less in
numbers as Time grows on apace, until,
bye and bye, he will, like the buff Alo,
be but a "Reminiscences.
The dwellers in New Mexico who
came to that favored land. during the
past ten years can hardly realize that
this Territory, nov so peaceful and
safe, was only twelve years ago the
scene of an Indian war, which COM
mcncing at the Hot Spring agency,
seventy.fve miles west If old Fort
Craig, late in 1879, continued with but
little intermission until 1884. Nor can
we old fogies of the early days realize
without an effort that the barren
plains of the once dreaded
Jornada del Muerto, where SO
many emigrants were ~butchered by
Indians, IS now dotted with ranches
and several thriving Villages, and that
every one feels as safe and secure as if
the locality was in a New England
state, instead of New Mexico, which
until the advent of the railroad within
its borders in 1879, was practically an
unknown country east of the Missouri
river, supposed to be fit only to pro-
duco cacii, horned toads and lattle
snakes.
The origin of the Victoria Indian
war is unknown to the general public,
it beng generally believed that it was
due to a natural desire ON tie Indians
part to kill and steal ad libitum, but
the fact is that old Victoria went on
the war path, because Of indignities
heaped upon him by Lieut.. Merritt, of
the Ninth U. 5. cavalry, who happened
to be, for a few days, in temporary
command Of the troops at the Ojol
Caliente agency mentioned 10 TINS
letter. Lieut.. Merritt looked often on
the swine when it was red," and he
was said t have been comfortably
drunk when he had the racket which
resulted in Victoria's declaration of
hostillties and the b~u.chering of every
member of the guard who were out on
he open plain near the springs, herd.
Dg the horses belonging to Capt.
.Iooker's company and taking every
horse, using them as mounts for his
Warriors.
Later on, Lieut.. Merritt was court
nartialed, and when the sentence of
he court was made public, it was
ound that Lieut.. Merritt was
lishonorably dismissed from the
lrmy. After quitting the army,
be disgraced Merritt went to
Fe, put up at the leading hotel
here, got on a regulation "toot,n and
hen blew out his brains. Had Lieut..
ierritt considerably blown out his
the day before the debauch
Which caused Victoria to leave the
,gency and m active HOSTILE
les, there would have been no Indian
var, for Victoria up to that time had
lways shown a disposition to be
and peaceful.
That the war, when once begun,
so long, notwithstanding the
act that Victoria never had more than
ixty warIiors at his disposal, while
regular troops numbered a thousand
r more, has always seemed inexplica- +.
10 to many OF New Mexico's residents,
3 well as to outsiders. The blame for
,so ctofa ~ afF.;rs kotnrroA ~ 0.lI