Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1914-06-20
CHAPTER V.
Manuus Colorado.

It was in January, 1868, that General
West led our column out Of Mes'lla
on an expedition against the famous
old Apache war chief, Mangus Colo
rado.
For years he had been a terror Of
the Switzerland overland trails and
settlements-the ferocious expression
of the hatred he had inherited direct
from old Cochise himself, who had
never taken the w%ar-path against the
whites until a reckless party of over
land immigrant travelling the Indian
ola-Yuma trail, wantonly shot and
killed his son.
And even then Cochise did not go
to war until his request that his sons
murderers be arrested and punished
was refused by the commanding Of
, icer of the nearest government troops,
a refusal that set the old chief raven
ing like a wolf from end to end of the
territory lying between the Rio
Grande and the Colorado, and first
and last caused the loss of several
thousand lives.
For some time before the outbreak
of the var of secession, that district
had been so heavily garrisoned by
regular troops that Mangus's activities
had been largely circumscr;hel, but
oire city the war emptied ia, frontier
rO.s of their galrisons, he was quick
to resume his old bloody tricks.
And now this vas the h:s: oppor.
tunity a sufi GENTLY large body OF
troops had been again assembled west
of the Rio Grande to justify active
! operations against him.
We marched west Of MesitIa
through Oio Caliente. later known as
Hudson's Springs (for it was there
my old comrade, Colonel Dick Hudson,
later settled and lived to the end OF
his days. and ultimately vent into
camp at Apache Teju. Only n cab
in remained. standing at the old stage
station; the Indians had burned all
the others. and why it was spared by
them vas a mystery to us.
There at Apache Teju we found en-
camped Mr.. Walker. leading a strong
party of ~prospectofs, who wisely re-
garded it as unsafe to proceed farther
until Mangus Colorado and his band
had been accounted for by the troops.
Moved, doubtless, by realization of
the enormous difficulties always exper-
fenced by the troops whenever they
tried to strike a decisive blow on a
large band of Indians on account OF
the far superior mobility of the forces
of the red chiefs, General West deter
mined to first try strategy.
That the highly questionable finish
J of the affair was deliberately planned
by our general l should be very sorry
to believe. Rather, l have preferred
to think, once he got the old chief in
his r.1wer the general became obses-
sed with the idea that no treaty could
long bind him to peace, and that the
safety of the frontier justified any
measure effective to procure it.
All I can do is to tell the story of
Mangus's taking and death precisely
as I know it happened. And, anyway,
since the government did not call
the general to account, it is not up to
me to criticize him.
/. The facts are that General West or
dered Captain Sheldon to advance
with a party of twenty, troopers, IN
structed to seek to obtain a parley
with Mangus, and to do his Utmost to
persuade him to come into u camp
to make a treaty.
Mangus and his main band, seveal
thousand of them, were then known
to be camped in the mountains back. OF
Pinos Altos, then a young but active
mining camp. Most of the actual gold
WASHERS were Mexicans; the few white
men in the camp were almost exclu'
sively traders.
Captain Sheldon's detachment was
guided by Juan Arollo, who served
with our command throughout the
war as a scout. And I want to say
right here that he was the finest In
dian trailer, guide and scout in the
entire southwest. Indeed, we was SO
generally ranked by the foremost
regular officers of that day.
Colonel Kit Carson used to call
Arollo the bravest man he had ever
met, and l agree with him. Colonel
Kit loved to tell of actions with the
Indians, before the war, in which he
had had Arollo with him. He related