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018 - Victorio Becomes a Good Indian · Six Years with the Texas Rangers, 1875 to 1881

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  Speaker 1: Chapter fifteen of Six Years with the Texas Rangers eighteen
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  Speaker 1: seventy five to eighteen eighty one. This is a LibriVox recording.
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  Speaker 1: All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
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  Speaker 1: information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Read
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  Speaker 1: by Leo David. Six Years with the Texas Rangers eighteen
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  Speaker 1: seventy five to eighteen eighty one by James B. Gillett,
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  Speaker 1: Chapter fifteen, Victorio becomes a good Indian. As soon as
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  Speaker 1: the summer rains had begun in eighteen eighty and green
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  Speaker 1: grass and water were plentiful, Old Victorio again began his raids.
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  Speaker 1: He appeared at Lake Guzmann, Old Mexico, then traveled east
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  Speaker 1: to Baracho Pass, just south of the Rio Grande. This
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  Speaker 1: old chief was then reported making for the Eagle Mountains
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  Speaker 1: in Texas. The Mexican government communicated this information to General
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  Speaker 1: Grierson at Fort Davis, Texas, and Lieutenant Baylor was asked
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  Speaker 1: to cooperate in the campaign to exterminate the wily Old Apache.
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  Speaker 1: General Grierson, on receipt of this information, had once put
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  Speaker 1: his cavalry in motion for Eagle Springs, and on August second,
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  Speaker 1: eighteen eighty, Baylor left his camp at Issleta with myself
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  Speaker 1: and thirteen rangers equipped for a two weeks campaign. On
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  Speaker 1: August fourth, our little band reached Old Fort Quitman, eighty
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  Speaker 1: miles down the Rio Grand from El Paso, and Lieutenant
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  Speaker 1: Baylor reported to General Grierson by telegraph. His message was
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  Speaker 1: interrupted for the Apaches had cut the wires between Basque
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  Speaker 1: Canyon and Van Horns Well, but the General ordered him
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  Speaker 1: by telegram to scout toward Eagle Springs until his command
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  Speaker 1: should meet the United States Cavalry. We were to keep
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  Speaker 1: a sharp lookout for Indian trails, but we saw none
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  Speaker 1: until we reached eighteen mile Waterhole, where General Grierson's troops
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  Speaker 1: had had an engagement with Victorio. From here, the Indians
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  Speaker 1: went south and around Eagle Mountains, so we continued down
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  Speaker 1: the road beyond Bass Canyon and found the Apaches had
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  Speaker 1: crossed the road, torn down the telegraph wire, carried off
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  Speaker 1: a long piece of it, and destroyed the insulators. The
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  Speaker 1: Indians also dragged some of the telegraph poles two or
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  Speaker 1: three miles and left them on their trail. The signs
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  Speaker 1: indicated they had from one hundred and eighty to two
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  Speaker 1: hundred animals. After destroying the telegraph, the raiders finally moved
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  Speaker 1: north toward Carrizo Mountains. At Van Horn, Lieutenant Baylor could
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  Speaker 1: learn nothing of General Grierson or his movements. We thereupon
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  Speaker 1: took the General's trail, leading north, and overtook him in
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  Speaker 1: camp at Rattlesnake Springs, about sixty five miles distant. Here
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  Speaker 1: we joined Company K eighth Cavalry and Captain Nolan's company
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  Speaker 1: the tenth the Cavalry camped at Carrizo Springs, and our
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  Speaker 1: scouts found Victorio's trail the next day, leading southwest toward
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  Speaker 1: the Apache. We left camp at dusk and rode all
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  Speaker 1: night and struck the Redskins tail next morning at the
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  Speaker 1: stage road where General Grierson had fought the Indians crossed
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  Speaker 1: the road, but afterwards returned to it and continued toward
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  Speaker 1: Old Fort Quitman. The Overland Stage Company kept a station
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  Speaker 1: at this abandoned frontier post, situated on the north bank
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  Speaker 1: of the Rio grande eighty or ninety miles east of
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  Speaker 1: El Paso. On August ninth, eighteen eighty, ed Wald, the
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  Speaker 1: stage driver, started out on his drive with General Burns
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  Speaker 1: occupying the rear seat of the stage coach. The stage,
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  Speaker 1: drawn by two fast running little Spanish mules, passed down
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  Speaker 1: the valley and entered the canyon, a very box like
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  Speaker 1: pass with high mountains on either side, an ideal place
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  Speaker 1: for an Indian ambuscade. Wald had driven partly through this
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  Speaker 1: pass when around a short bend in the road he
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  Speaker 1: came suddenly upon Old Victorio and his band of one
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  Speaker 1: hundred warriors. The Indian Advanced Guard fired on the coach immediately,
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  Speaker 1: and at the first volley, General Burns was fatally wounded,
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  Speaker 1: a large cowiber bullet striking him in the breast, and
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  Speaker 1: a second passing through his thigh. Wald turned his team
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  Speaker 1: as quickly as he could and made a lightning run
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  Speaker 1: back to the stage stand, with the General's body hanging
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  Speaker 1: partly out of the stage. The apaches followed the stage
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  Speaker 1: for four or five miles, trying to get ahead of it,
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  Speaker 1: but the little mules made time and beat them into
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  Speaker 1: the shelter of the station's adobe walls. It was a
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  Speaker 1: miracle that Wald, sitting on the front seat, escaped without
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  Speaker 1: a scratch and both of the mules unharmed. At Old
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  Speaker 1: Fort Quitman, I examined the little canvas top stage and
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  Speaker 1: found it literally shot to pieces. I noticed where a
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  Speaker 1: bullet had glanced along the white canvas, leaving a blue
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  Speaker 1: mark a foot long before it passed through the top.
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  Speaker 1: Three of the spokes of the wheels were shot in two,
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  Speaker 1: and as well as I remember, there were fifteen or
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  Speaker 1: twenty bullet marks on and through the stage. Lieutenant Baylor
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  Speaker 1: and his rangers buried General Burns near Old Fort Quitman
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  Speaker 1: and fired a volley over his grave. Subsequently, Wald joined
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  Speaker 1: Lieutenant Baylor's command and made an excellent ranger. It was
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  Speaker 1: from him that I obtained the particulars of the fight
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  Speaker 1: that resulted in the General's death. En route, the Apaches
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  Speaker 1: raided hesus Kota's ranch, killed his herder, and drove off
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  Speaker 1: one hundred and forty head of cattle. In crossing the river,
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  Speaker 1: Forty of the animals mired in the quicksands. The heartless
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  Speaker 1: Indians thereupon pounced upon the unfortunate cattle and cut chunks
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  Speaker 1: of flesh out of their living bodies. Many of the
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  Speaker 1: mutilated animals were still alive when we found them. The Redskins,
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  Speaker 1: with a freakish sense of humor, perpetrated a grim joke
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  Speaker 1: on the murdered herder. He was rendering out some tallow
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  Speaker 1: when surprised and killed, so the murderers rammed his head
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  Speaker 1: into the melted tallow to make him a greaser. After
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  Speaker 1: the fight at Quitman, Victorio and his band crossed into
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  Speaker 1: Mexico and there found temporary safety, as the United States
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  Speaker 1: troops were not permitted to enter that country in pursuit
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  Speaker 1: of Indians, though negotiations to permit such pursuit of Indians
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  Speaker 1: were even then pending between the two governments. Alone, we
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  Speaker 1: were no match for Victorio's hundred braves, so we returned
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  Speaker 1: to our camp. Victorio, however, did not remain idle in Mexico.
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  Speaker 1: He made a raid on doctor Samonego's San Jose ranch
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  Speaker 1: and stole one hundred and seventeen horses and mules, besides
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  Speaker 1: killing two Mexican herders. Don ramon Aranda, captain of the
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  Speaker 1: Mexican Volunteers, invited the Rangers to Mexico to co operate
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  Speaker 1: with him in exterminating the apaches. So on September seventeenth,
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  Speaker 1: eighteen eighty, Lieutenant Baylor, with thirteen rangers myself included, entered
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  Speaker 1: Mexico and marched to Tancas Canterresio don Aranda's ranch. Here
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  Speaker 1: we were joined by Mexican volunteers from the town of Guadalupe,
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  Speaker 1: San Ignacio, Tresaclas, Paso del Norte, and from the Texan
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  Speaker 1: towns of Isleta, Socorro, and Sana Lizziaro, until our combined
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  Speaker 1: force numbered over a hundred men. On the night of
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  Speaker 1: the nineteenth we crossed an Indian trail south of the
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  Speaker 1: Rancheria Mountains, but could not tell the number of Redskins
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  Speaker 1: in the party as it was then dark and the
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  Speaker 1: trail damaged by rain. The same night, we saw Indian
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  Speaker 1: signal fires to the east of the Rande ranch. Next morning,
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  Speaker 1: with a detail of five rangers and ten Mexican volunteers,
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  Speaker 1: I scouted out in the direction of the fires, but
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  Speaker 1: did not have time to reach the sign as I
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  Speaker 1: was ordered to take and hold the Rancheria Mountains before
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  Speaker 1: Old Victorio and his band reached them. At Lucero, the
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  Speaker 1: first stage stand, the apaches were reported within a league
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  Speaker 1: of Carrizal. We made a night march with our rangers
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  Speaker 1: and seventy three volunteers, but found the Indians had left
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  Speaker 1: and as a heavy rain had put out the trail.
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  Speaker 1: We struck east toward Elcopra Mountains. Here we again picked
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  Speaker 1: up the trail, and following it until night, we found
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  Speaker 1: a few loose horses of samonegos. The marauders now went
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  Speaker 1: west towards some tanks, and we returned to Candelario, where
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  Speaker 1: Victorio's entire band had crossed the Chihuahua stage road. Thence
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  Speaker 1: we marched back to San Jose and went into camp
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  Speaker 1: to await the arrival of General Joaquin Terrasas. The Mexican
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  Speaker 1: general made his appearance on the third day of October
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  Speaker 1: with two hundred cavalry and one hundred infantry. This general,
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  Speaker 1: a member of a well known family of Chihuahua, was
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  Speaker 1: more than six feet in height, very dark, and an
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  Speaker 1: inveterate smoker of cigarettes. He used four milk white horses,
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  Speaker 1: riding one while his aides led three. His cavalry, well
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  Speaker 1: armed with Remington pistols and carbines, was nicely uniformed and
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  Speaker 1: mounted on dark colored animals of even size. The infantry
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  Speaker 1: were Indians from the interior of Mexico. These foot soldiers
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  Speaker 1: wore raw hide sandals on their feet and were armed
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  Speaker 1: with Remington muskets. Each soldier carried two cartridge belts containing
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  Speaker 1: one hundred rounds of ammunition. I was impressed with the
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  Speaker 1: little baggage and ration these infantrymen carried on the march.
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  Speaker 1: Each man had a little canvas bag that held about
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  Speaker 1: one quart of ground parched corn, sweetened with a little sugar,
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  Speaker 1: and a tablespoonful of this mixture stirred in a pint
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  Speaker 1: cup of water. Made a good meal. Of course, when
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  Speaker 1: in a cattle country, plenty of beef was furnished them.
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  Speaker 1: But when on the march they had only this little
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  Speaker 1: bag of corn. This lack of baggage and rations enabled
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  Speaker 1: them to move quickly and promptly. This light infantry had
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  Speaker 1: no trouble at all in keeping up with the cavalry
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  Speaker 1: on the march, and in a rough country, they could
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  Speaker 1: move faster than the horsemen. With General tarrasas three hundred
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  Speaker 1: soldiers and our hundred volunteers we could bring to bear
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  Speaker 1: against Victorio, about four hundred men from San Jose, the
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  Speaker 1: combined command marched to Robosadero Springs, twenty miles south of
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  Speaker 1: El Caparo on the New Chihuahua Stage Road. There we
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  Speaker 1: rested two days and then marched forty miles to Baracho Pass,
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  Speaker 1: where the Apaches had camped. After killing General Burns and
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  Speaker 1: stealing houselskutas stock, we crossed the Indians trail twenty miles
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  Speaker 1: west of the pass and formed our line of battle.
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  Speaker 1: As we expected, the enemy was camped at some tanks there.
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  Speaker 1: He did not appear, so we camped at the pass
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  Speaker 1: to await supplies. When the supply wagons arrived, General Tarasa
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  Speaker 1: sent unorderly to Lieutenant Baylor and invited him to send
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  Speaker 1: his men to draw ten days rations. While I was
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  Speaker 1: standing in my shirt sleeves near the wagon, one of
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  Speaker 1: the Mexican soldiers stole from my belt a fine hunting
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  Speaker 1: knife that I had carried ten thousand miles over the frontier.
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  Speaker 1: I discovered the loss almost immediately and reported it to
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  Speaker 1: Lieutenant Baylor, who in turn mentioned it to General Tarasas.
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  Speaker 1: The Mexican general at once his captains formed their respective
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  Speaker 1: companies and had every soldier in camp searched, but the
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  Speaker 1: knife was not found. The thief had probably hidden it
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  Speaker 1: in the grass. The Mexican volunteers remained with General Tarrasas
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  Speaker 1: until after the defeat of Victorio, and one of them
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  Speaker 1: told me afterward he had seen a Mexican soldier scalping
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  Speaker 1: Apaches with it. Just one year later, an orderly of
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  Speaker 1: General Tarasas rode into the ranger camp at Leta and
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  Speaker 1: presented Lieutenant Baylor, then a captain, with the missing weapon
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  Speaker 1: and a note stating that Terasas was glad to return
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  Speaker 1: it and to report that the thief had been punished.
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  Speaker 1: While at Baracho, we were joined by Lieutenant Shaffer, the
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  Speaker 1: twenty third United States Cavalry Negroes, Lieutenant Manny, Captain Parker,
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  Speaker 1: and sixty five Apache scouts. These latter were Geronimo's Chirriicawas,
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  Speaker 1: who later quit their reservation and wrought such death and
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  Speaker 1: destruction in Arizona, New Mexico and Old Mexico from the
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  Speaker 1: first General Tarrasas viewed these Indian allies with distrust, and
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  Speaker 1: as soon as we had scouted southeast from Barracco to
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  Speaker 1: Los Pinos Mountains, about seventy five miles distant, and learned
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  Speaker 1: that Victorio's trail turned southwest towards Chihuahua, General Tarasas called
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  Speaker 1: Captain Parker, Lieutenants Balor Shaffer, and Manny to his camp
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  Speaker 1: and informed them that as the trail had taken a
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  Speaker 1: turn back into the state of Chihuahua and was leading
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  Speaker 1: them away from their homes, he thought it best for
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  Speaker 1: the Americans to return to the United States. I was
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  Speaker 1: present at this conference, and I at once saw my
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  Speaker 1: chance for a scrap with old Victorio go glimmering, But
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  Speaker 1: there was nothing to do but obey orders, pack up,
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  Speaker 1: and vamouse. While on scouts after Victorio's band, I met
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  Speaker 1: many United States officers, and often around the camp fire
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  Speaker 1: discussed this old chief. The soldiers all agreed that for
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  Speaker 1: an ignorant Indian, Victorio displayed great military genius, and Major
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  Speaker 1: McGonagall declared, with this single exception of Chief Crazy Horse
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  Speaker 1: of the Sioux, he considered Victorio the greatest Indian general
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  Speaker 1: that ever appeared on the American continent. In following this
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  Speaker 1: wily old Apache Napoleon, I examined twenty five or more
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  Speaker 1: of his camps. Victorio was very particular about locating them strategically,
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  Speaker 1: and his parapets were most skillfully arranged and built. If
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  Speaker 1: he remained only an hour in camp, he had these
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  Speaker 1: defenses thrown up. He had fought in over two hundred
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  Speaker 1: engagements but his last fight was now very close at hand.
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  Speaker 1: The next morning, after the United States troops, the Apache
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  Speaker 1: Scouts and the Texas Rangers turned homeward, General Tarasa's scouts
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  Speaker 1: reported to him that Victorio, with his entire band of followers,
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  Speaker 1: was camped at Tres Castillos, a small group of hills
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  Speaker 1: about twenty five miles southwest of the Los Pinos Mountains.
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  Speaker 1: General Charasas at once set his column in motion for
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  Speaker 1: that place. Captives afterward declared that victory. Warrio's spies reported
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  Speaker 1: the presence of the Mexican cavalry early in the day,
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  Speaker 1: and thereafter kept him informed hour by hour as to
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  Speaker 1: the movements of the approaching enemy. Victorio had just sent
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  Speaker 1: his war chief, Nana, and fifty of his best young
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  Speaker 1: warriors away on a raid, so he had left in
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  Speaker 1: his camp just an even hundred braves, some of them
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  Speaker 1: very old men. He also had ninety seven women and children,
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  Speaker 1: and about five hundred head of horses and mules. Yet
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  Speaker 1: the remarkable old Indian made no move to escape. By nightfall,
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  Speaker 1: General Tarrasas drew up near the Apache camp, surrounded the
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  Speaker 1: three hills as best he could, and waited until morning
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  Speaker 1: before assaulting the enemy. During the night, twelve of Victorio's warriors,
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  Speaker 1: with four women and four children, deserted the old chief
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  Speaker 1: and made their way back to the Eagle Mountains in Texas.
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  Speaker 1: Here they committed many depredations until exterminated three months later
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  Speaker 1: in the Diablo Mountains by Lieutenants Balor and Neville. Following morning,
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  Speaker 1: Victorio mounted a white horse, and, in making some disposition
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  Speaker 1: of his braves to meet the expected onset of the
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  Speaker 1: enemy forces, exposed himself. Unnecessarily, the Mexicans fired on him
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  Speaker 1: at long range, and two bullets pierced his body. He
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  Speaker 1: fell from his horse dead, a good Indian at last.
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  Speaker 1: The loss of Victorio and the absence of Nana demoralized
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  Speaker 1: the Apaches, and a vigorous assault by Tarasas and his
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  Speaker 1: army resulted in a complete victory for the Mexicans. Eighty
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  Speaker 1: seven Indian warriors were killed, while eighty nine squaws and
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  Speaker 1: their children were captured, with a loss of only two
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  Speaker 1: men killed and a few wounded. This victory covered General
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  Speaker 1: Tarasas with glory. The Mexican government never ceased to shower
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  Speaker 1: honors upon him and gave him many thousands of acres
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  Speaker 1: of land in the state of Chihuahua. The General was
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  Speaker 1: so elated over the outcome of the battle that he
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  Speaker 1: sent a courier on a fast horse to overtake Lieutenant
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  Speaker 1: Baylor and report the good news. The messenger caught us
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  Speaker 1: in camp near Old Fort Quitman. Every ranger in the
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  Speaker 1: scout felt thoroughly disgusted and disappointed at missing the great
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  Speaker 1: fight by only two days after being with General Tarasas
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  Speaker 1: nearly a month, the captured women and children were sent
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  Speaker 1: south of Mexico City into a climate perfectly unnatural to them.
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  Speaker 1: Here they all died in a few years. When Nana
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  Speaker 1: heard of the death of Victorio and the capture of
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  Speaker 1: the squaws and children, he fled with his fifty warriors
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  Speaker 1: to the Sierra Madre Mountains in the state of Sonora, Mexico.
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  Speaker 1: There he joined forces with Old Geronimo and massacred more
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  Speaker 1: people than any small band of Indians in the world.
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  Speaker 1: To avenge himself on Tarasas for killing his friends and
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  Speaker 1: carrying away their wives and children. Nana and his band
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  Speaker 1: killed more than two hundred Mexicans before joining Geronimo. Nana,
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  Speaker 1: with his new chie chief, surrendered to General Lawton in
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  Speaker 1: eighteen eighty six, and I believe was carried away by
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  Speaker 1: our government to Florida, where he at last died. On
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  Speaker 1: our return to camp at Isleta, a commission as captain
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  Speaker 1: was waiting Lieutenant Baylor. Since Captain Neil Coldwell had been
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  Speaker 1: named quartermaster of the battalion. His company disbanded and its
• 17:19
  Speaker 1: letter a given to our company. Though we missed the
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  Speaker 1: fight with Victorio, it was not long before we were
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  Speaker 1: called upon to scout after the band of twelve warriors
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  Speaker 1: that had deserted the old Chief on the night before
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  Speaker 1: the Battle of Tresca Stillos. However, we had first to
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  Speaker 1: clean up our company, for many undesirable recruits had seeped
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  Speaker 1: into it. This accomplished, we were ready to resume our
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  Speaker 1: Indian warfare. End of Chapter fifteen.