Newport daily independent., 1918-01-09

garbanzo. Storehouses where these crops were put away for the winter were footed and the Indians extend ed their field of operations far. into the north toward Hermosillo, the capital. Ammunition and rifles were smuggled across the Sonora border for them and a number of engage ments fought between Yaquis and the federals resulted in the routing of the government troops.
 The basic cause of the unrest among these southwestern Mexico h. dians is the land problem. At one time these Indians owned and titled thousands of acres of the most fertile land in the republic which was wa tered by the Yaqui River. These lands were gradually confiscated by the various governments and parcell- ed ou ito favorites of ruling powers. The Indians claim they were given inferior lands in place of their orig inal holdings and insist upon the res toration of these tribal holdings. One American company now controls 100000 acres of land in the Yaqui country, much of which is claimed by the Indians,
 The Yaqui tribes were originally agricultural people with bent for hunting in the mountains during the winter They are stocky, sturdy and possess many of the traits of the American Indian. Fighting has late ly been one of their chief occupations as they have been on the warpath either in their own interest or for the various de facto governments for 15 years.
 During the days of President Diaz the Yaquis were dispossessed of much of their fertile valley lands by General Torres, the federal governor of Sonora. Large numbers were de- ported from the state by boat to the hot lands of Yucatan and to Tres Marias Island, off the coast of Topic. This was one of the chief grievances which caused the Yaqui war. This war continued until the outbreak of the Madero revolution when the h. dians joined with Madero against IL 4 +lo o1I fnlo regime.
 They did much of the hard fighting during the Madero and subsequent revolutions, especially at Celaya where they were General Obregon's chief mainstay when Villa and his powerful army attacked the entrench- ed positions of Obregon's Carranza force. The Yaquis were given mucr of the credit for this victory which shattered Villas dream of politica power and drove him back to the border. At Agua Pricta, Sonora, the Yaquis again aided in defeating Villa and causing him to revert to his guer, fila campaign which included the Santa Ysabel and Columbus, N. M. massacres.
 General Plutraco Elias Gales has undertaken mailed fist" campaign against the Yaqui Indians in Sonora He has interned the peaceful Yaquis recommendation camps and has order ed all others hunted down and killed Wholesale deportations to She hot lands of Mexico have also been threatened.
 The Yaquis are divided into two classes. One is the "bronco 1aqul'' which includes the fiercest of the fighters and the sturdiest of the tlibesmen. The other class includes the "mansos" or peaceful indians.
 Numbers of attempts have been made to convert these Indians to peaceful ways. President Madero had g commission of Indians visit him lal Mexico City. Later he sent con- mission to treat with the tribal lead- CTS. But the Indians claimed they were not given back their promised