The San Francisco call., 1909-02-07

all Indian tribes being for the most part farmers
miners and craftsmen and far superior to the average
Sonoran of the haciendas and villages, who will not
work while he has peso in his pocket and while
mescal can be had at the cantna, and who when
he the army. generally there from Jail
AS for the Yaqui a fighter, he aas proved him
self better than the Apache, while
sorting to few if any, of the Apaches bloodhirsty
tricks of warfare. The Yaqui army has been regu-
larly organized up the last year, has been we'll
drilled in the of the rife has had its generals and
colonies and captains, and has given such good
count of itself that it has kept 5000 Mexican troops
under General Torres busy all the while in warfare
that has been that of savages-has, in fact, been
fully as humane that of its foemen.
1t is not necessary to go back any further than
1873 to get good idea of what the Yaquis have been
doing in trying to hold their against the people
of Spanish descent in Mexico. In that year. because
of trespass upon their lands and because the Mex-
cans had taken large numbers of them to work upon
their ranches in practical slavery these tremendously
tenacious fighters resumed hostilities after short
period of peace General Cajemi, their governor,
took command and for seven years held the passes
and strongholds against 5000 troops under General
Pesquiera.
Although the Yaquis gave good account of them
selves, they lost many men and General Cajemi was
captured and shot. Still the defensive
tnued, and when at last the Mexicans drove them
there period during which only desultory
raids upon the haciendas made During that
period the Yaqui and boys and of the
noncom5atant of the tribe went out to
money in the mines, ranches and fisheries to buy
and ammunition to carry the fight.
A number of American miners who had been
able peaceably work their mines brought about the
peace of Ortiz in May, 1897. The government then
began to take Yaqui boys from the reservations and
send them Vera Cruz the other side of the
tnent to make soldiers of them. These boys
good if better sharpshooters than the Boer
youth, and the Yaquis that in thus depriving
them of what would be great source of reliance in
future battle they would eventually have give up
all hope of holding their own. So that the
peace of Ortiz only lasted few months before there
another uprising and more fighting, chiefly of
guerrilla nature which continued for several years.
Meantime every cent that the noncombatants of
the tribe could and save was handed to the
Chiefs who bought with this money enough Mauser
rifles and mountain howitzers equip very decently
army of 5000 men, under General Teaviate, who,
in April, 8oo took the field after having made this
statement:
1--WE Yaqus are peaceful and industrious people
When the Mexicans workers for their mines or
factories they come to u.s. We do not war,
have wanted it; but we want our rights.
We made a treaty of peace with the Mexican gov
ernment, hereditary foe in May, 1897 after long
series of wars, the last of which more than ten
years in duration We intended to keep faith with the
government of Mexico but it has pursued course
of cruel encroachmeht and menace. We are now
ready fight it again, and all the battles of the past
will be nothing compared with the bloodshed that
will follow entry into the field"
General Tetaviate began operations in the lower
valley of the Rio Yaqui where his men drove out the
white settlers upon Yaqui lands. They cut the tele-
graph wires and destroyed other means of COM
munication, and it was time before the hastily
summoned Fifth cavalry and Eleventh and Twelfth
infantry companies could be marched against them