The argus., 1896-01-16
REAfINIsCENCEs.
Personal Experiences and Rec
elections OF Arizona, Dur.
ing the Past Thirty
Three Years.
The Establishmsnt Of Camp Ord, and
Other Matters Connected
Herewith.
BIZ a. =. BANTA.
CHAPTER v.

49, CHAPTER ". -
1t is necessary to again "turn back
for . few years, in the marathon o
this veracious history so as to maxi
clear that which has for 50 long beer
a mystery" to army people as vel
as to Others. Only the other day
received a letter from an old ex-army
officer requesting an explanation
He writes as follows: = 1--WE Of
the army were always of the opinion
you must have some sort of pull
with the Apaches, to dare make such
extra hazardous trips into the heart
of their own country. Will you. dc
me and perhaps others, a favor by
clearing up this mystery in the course
of your "reminiscencesi" ~
To comply with the above request
and to make. public for the first time
facts to hereinafter follow, are my
reasons for turning back" -
So long ago as one hundred and
fifty or perhaps two hundred years,
the Zufi Indians had their village at
los ojos calientes (the hot springs),
twelve miles southwest of their pres
ent location, and at that time a trea-
ty was made under peculiar circum-
stances, with the Apache tribes con-
tiguous to the country of the Zunis.
According to tradition as related to
me thirty years ago by an old cacique
of the tribe having charge of this
branch of their government, 'the- Zu-
his had their village on the cliffs at
los ojos calientes." At that time an
an old Jesuit Priest lived with the
Zuf1is and had been SO long among
them he had become Indianized, (if
1 may be permitted to coin the word
for this occasion), 80 much SO indeed
as to be undistinguishable at any dis
tance from an Indian. About this
time in their history, says the old ca
Clique, "the Zufis and the Apaches
were, and had been for centuries, i'm
placable enemies, and it was certain
death to one party or the other
should they chance to meet.
One summer day nearly two CEN
turies ago, so runs the legend, ''the
Apaches suddenly appeared in force
about the village and made q des-
perate assault upon it, but were re-
pulsed with loss" At the foot of
the mesa upon which stood the Zufii
villages, and scattered about it for
several yards away from its base, were
many loose boulders, none of them
very large, which had at some time
fell or been broken of from the cliff.
During "the night following the
day-attack, an Apache brave more
reckless or more intrepid than his
companions, climbed up to and hid
behind one of these small
boulders close under the base of
the cliff, and there waited until day
light in the hope of killing Zufii."
In the early dawn of the morning,
sure enough there stood Zufi near
the edge of the cliff, gazing at the
Apache encampment some distance
away, but totally unconscious of the
Apache warrior hidden behind the
rock only a few feet from. him.
It required but a moment for
the Apache to let slip a long
peed arrow tipped with obsidi-
IN, which transfixed the poor devil
md he fell of the cliff to the ground
below. Neither party were able to Sc
,ure the body during the day, but the
night follwing the Apaches carried it
20 their camp; and after stripping
off its covering they were astonished
20 see "a white body" 1t was the
Jesuit Priest they had killed. The
Apaches are q very superstitions peo-
pie, and the finding Of the "white
body" 80 astonished them they i'm
made overtures for peace,
sither for superstjtious reasons or to
clear up the MYSTERY of the white
body" At any rate "a treaty was
hen and there entered into between
the Zuni and the Apache tribes
which has endured to this day."
Events sometimes are very farreach-
ng; for intance, the killing of ihe
Jesuit priest, nearly two centuries