The San Francisco call., 1896-08-14
National City, CAL, to Ell Paso on the

While on this expedition DR.. McVay
saw much of the Mexicans, the Yaqui In
dians and the now famous or perhaps
notorious Santa Teresa de Cabora. In
speaking of the town of Morales. Sonora,
the scene of the recent bloody affray, DR..
McVay stated that it was a curiosity to
the ordinary American citizen. 1t will be
remembered that the dividing line be-
tween the two republics runs directly
through the center of the town, ana tnat
by standing on international street one
may have one foot on Mexican soil and
the other Or United States possessions.
The north and south sides OF the town
are as distinct as can be imagined. On
the American side all the American char
aeteristics are to be seen-electric lights,
good houses and energetic citizens. On
the south side it is striking contrast
adobe houses. poorly lighted streets, lazy,
happy-go-easy Mexieans and indolent
half-breeds, and Yaqui Indians, to say
nothing of dogs, are to be seen on all
sides.
In two respects, however, the Mexican
side has an advantage. 1t possesses fine
custom house and well-organized police
force, both OF which figured prominently
in the recent attack.
In discussing the Yaqul Indians DR..
McVay said that he saw much of the
tribe, but from all appearances they were
not an aggressive people. On the contrary
the Yaquis were more a subjective tribe,
and their general appearance would never
lead one 10 believe that they were in any
way responsible for the recent uprising.
at is more than likely" said he, "that
the fanatical followers of Santa Teresa,
the Mestiza woman Zone in whose veins
flows the blood of both the ancient Aztecs
and the Spanish conquerors of Mexicol,
induced the Indians to join in the attack
upon the customs officers of Nogales.
Further to the south, near Hermossilo, or
about 100 miles from Nogales on the
Yaqui River, the Indians are more war
like, and this condition has been brought
about by their being oppressed by the Mex
lean Government. | hardly believe that
these warriors have joined the fanatical
mob that attacked Nogales yesterday.
All of the Yaquis that saw were given to
the peaceable pursuits of life. Many
hunted with their primitive weapons and
sold the results OF the chase in the Amer
lean side of Nogales, The majority toll
low agriculture.
"a number of writers have pictured the
Yaqui men as fine, manly fellows and the
women as beautiful specimens of aborigi-
nal femininity. All the men l saw were
undersized, not finely formed, and the
women were ordinary souaws, hardly
fairly good-looking when young and posi-
lively repulsive in their old age, which
condition is reached by. the time they are
80 years old. One cannot expect much
beauty in a woman who is compelled to
pack wood and water ten miles to make a
living for herself, her husband and her
children. In fact, the whole tribe is rated
as lower than the hum blest Mexican peon,
and that is pretty low. They are not a
vicious people, and In point OF honesty
and in their family relations their morals
are as good as the average. This may be
accounted for by the fact that they are all
Roman Catholics.
"When was in Nogales I was curious
to see this Santa Teresa, the cause of so
many uprisings. AT that time she was in
Calabasas, Ariz., having been exiled by
the Mexican authorities OF the State OF
Sonora. One day several of US went to see
this remarkable young woman, and we
found her surrounded by a large, mixed
following of Mexicans, halfbreeds, poems
and Indians. Among them we're the
lame, halt and diseased of every descrip-
tion. They claimed that she cured all
affections by the laying on of hands, and
if half of the cures we're effected as claimed
she was indeed wonder. She holds the
crowd by her personal magnetism, and
her followers are always anxious to do
her bidding, no matter how foolish it
may be.
1.-THE woman seams to have bitter ami
mostly toward the Mexican powers that
be, and the wish of her life is to overthrow
the Djaz Government. Several of our
party spoke with her, though I did not,
and she impressed all as being pleasant
sort of young Mexican woman. She was
then about % years of age. While she had
a pleasant face, it was not particularly
beautiful, although many rate her as being
so. 1 was particularly impressed with
her dirty, slovenly appearance, and her
general untidy condition. Possibly this
may be excused on account of the
scarcity of water in that section. At that
time she was living in poorly furrishe ed
old adobe house, which was difficult to ap-
proach on account of her unsavory pa
tients, who hung about her at all times in
the belief that she could cure them OF
their ills.
"This Santa Teresa seems to have al
ways had the support of Leon Aguirre's s
revolutionary paper, which has no estab-
lished circulation. 1t has no regular place
of publication and the places where it is
printed are kept as secret as possible, as
the agents of the Mexican Government
are always on the track of the publisher
and his adherents. Between the publica-
ton Of this sheet and Santa Teresa's in.
citing her followers to rebellion and riot,
the Mexican authorities in Northern
Mexico are kept busy. The United States
authorities have investigated the paper
and the fanatical leader several times to
see that the international treaties were
not being violated, but on every occasion
neither was found to be of sufficient i'm