been sent across the Plains since the close of the war. Fort Bayard had
been garrisoned by a company of colored troops, who were now under
marching orders, and our soldiers were to build the fort, which, as yet,
existed only in the general's active brain. The Pinos Altos gold mines
were only twelve miles distant from here, and all the other
mines--copper and gold--lying within a range of fifteen miles, had been
prosperously and profitably worked, by Mexicans and Americans; but after
the breaking out of the war, when the troops had been withdrawn from the
Territory, bands of roving, hostile Indians had visited one mine after
another, leaving in their wake mutilated corpses and blackened ruins.
The news of the soldiery coming to this rich mining country was drawing
miners and adventurers from far and near, and Pinos Altos promised to
become a mining district once more.
Looking around me, I saw a number of officers approaching from where the
One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Infantry was camped. They came to welcome
us to the camp, and I should have liked to receive them "in style;" but
all I could do was to smooth my hair with my hand. The tent was not yet
pitched, and I certainly should not leave the ambulance, for I had
observed hosts of centipedes crawling out from under the rocks that had
been removed to make room for the tent-poles. The officers grouped
themselves around the ambulance, and after congratulating us on our safe
arrival, wondered how I had ever found courage to come to this place.
"Did it not seem an age since I had parted with the last lady, at Fort
Selden?" and "How would I like living here--the only lady in this
wilderness--without quarters, without comforts of any kind?"
"Oh, I shall do nicely," I said. "I have not slept under a roof since
leaving Fort Leavenworth, five months ago, and all the comforts we are
in want of are commissaries; which of you, gentlemen, is quarter-master,
by the way? I should like to send to the commissary to-day, though it is
after issuing hours."
"Yes, certainly," said the quarter-master; "but our supply is limited
just now. What do you wish for?"
"Sugar, coffee, tea," I enumerated; "canned fruit, rice--"
"Stop! stop!" hurriedly exclaimed the quarter-master; "all in the world
we have in the commissary is soap, salt, and beans. We have taken our
coffee without sugar since the Apaches captured the last train, and we
rather hoped to get commissaries from your train."
Accustomed as I had become to live on "hard tack" and bacon
occasionally, when it was dangerous to light fires, on account of
"drawing" the Indians, this piece of information did not dampen my
spirits in the least; but at night, while the cook was preparing our
supper of coffee, bacon, and soda-biscuits, the orderly sergeant of the
company made his appearance at the entrance of our tent, and, after the
usual military salute, presented a large tin-pan filled with sugar, and
a bag with coffee. "The men," he said, "had requested that their
rations of coffee and sugar be delivered to the lieutenant's wife, till
the next train should bring fresh supplies." The men had styled me "the
mother of the company;" and this was only one of the many proofs of
good-will and devotion I was constantly receiving, in return for some
little trifling kindnesses I had shown one or the other, while crossing
the plains and deserts of Kansas and New Mexico. A little piece of
linen, to tie up a bruised finger; a cup of vinegar, a lump of white
sugar, to change the taste of the wretched drinking-water, to some poor
invalid, were held in sacred remembrance by these men; and some of them
had risked their lives, in turn, to procure for me a drink of fresh
water, when sick and faint, crossing Jornada del Muerto, that terrible
Journey of Death.
Our tent looked cozy enough, when finished and furnished. A piece of
brilliant red carpeting was spread on the ground; the bedding was laid
on planks, resting on trestles; the coverlet was a red blanket; the
camp-chairs were covered with bright cloth, and the supper--served on
the lid of the mess-chest--looked clean and inviting. The kitchen, just
back of the tent, was rather a primitive institution: a hole dug into
the ground, two feet long, a foot wide, with two flat, iron bars laid
over it, was all there was to be seen. Two or three mess-pans, a spider,
and a Dutch-oven constituted our kitchen furniture; and with these
limited means, an old soldier will accomplish wonders in the way of
cooking. Before enlisting, one of our servants had been a baker; the
other, a waiter at a hotel; and, between them, they managed the task of
waiting on us very creditably. To be sure, my husband's rank entitled
him to but one servant from the company; but then I was the only lady
with the command, and our company commander was considerate of my
comfort.
Reveille always comes early; but that first morning in Fort Bayard it
came _very_ early. The knowledge that we had reached "our haven of
rest," after a five months' journey, made me want to sleep. I wished to
feel sure that our tent was not to be struck directly after
breakfast--that the bed would not be rolled up and tumbled into the
army-wagon--that I should not have to creep into the ambulance, and
ride, ride, ride, all that day again. But we had agreed to visit the
great Santa Rita copper mines that day, in company with all the
officers; and Charley was rapping at the tent, to say that breakfast was
almost ready. We started directly after guard-mount: five officers, six
men--who had been detailed as escort--and myself. We were all well
mounted. My own horse, Toby--the swiftest and strongest of them all--was
snow-white, with delicate, slender limbs, and tall, even for a cavalry
horse. The camp was located in a valley, some four miles square; gently
rising hills inclosed it on every side; beyond these, on one side, rose
the San José Mountains, and, in an almost opposite direction, the Pinos
Altos Range. All these hills and mountains were said to contain metal;
copper and gold, and even cinnabar, could be found. And we were now
making our way to the foot-hills, where the officers had promised to
show us some rich leads they had discovered. We dismounted when we had
reached the place; and some of the escort acting as guard against Indian
"surprises," the rest were set to work, with picks and hatchets, to dig
up specimens. They had not long to dig, for every rock they struck
contained copper; and frequently the little specks of gold in it could
be seen with the naked eye.
But it must not be supposed that these hills were barren, or destitute
of verdure. On the contrary, as far as the eye could reach, even the
highest mountains were covered with grass, scrub-oaks, and cedars; while
in the valley, and on the hills, there was one bright carpet of grass
and wild flowers. The white tents in the valley, with the flag-staff in
the centre, and the flag just moving in the morning breeze, the
dark-green trees shading the tents, the stream of water (called by the
captain Minne-ha-ha) running around the camp--all this looked so
refreshing, so beautiful, after those long day's marches among the
sand-hills of the Rio Grande, and the weary tramps over the burning
deserts we had lately left behind us, that my enthusiasm rose to the
highest pitch.
"Why don't somebody claim this delightful country?--why don't people in
the army resign, and own mines, and settle down here to live?" I
asked--very irrationally, I am afraid.
"My dear madam," said the captain, leading me to the edge of the hill,
and pointing downward, where, amid the long, waving grass and bright,
laughing flowers, I discovered the charred logs of what had once been a
miner's cabin, "neither the beauty of the country, nor the wealth of its
minerals, has been overlooked; and hundreds of men have lost their
lives, in trying to wrest from the Indian's grasp what would be a
benefit and blessing to civilization."
I wanted to go near enough to touch with my hand two graves that were
close by the burnt logs, but the captain refused to let me go. It was
about fifty yards from where the guard was placed; and that, he said,
was almost certain death. He promised, that as soon as the Mexican guide
should return from Fort Craig, he would place him, with a sufficiently
large escort, at my command, to visit the whole of the surrounding
country. The guide--old Cecilio--had lived in this country before it had
come into Uncle Sam's possession; had had many a narrow escape from the
Indians, and knew the history of every mine and shaft in all that
region. Pointing to the San José Mountain Range, the captain said there
was a wagon-road leading along its foot to the Santa Rita mines, but
that he knew of an Indian trail, which would take us there much quicker.
Remounting, we resumed our journey.
New beauty surprised us every little while: sometimes it was a little
silver rivulet, running over the most beautiful ferns; then a group of
trees and red-berried shrubs; and again, a clump of rare flowers. But
one thing weighed down the spirit like lead, in these wild regions: it
was the death-like, uninterrupted silence that reigned over all. There
was nothing of life to be seen or heard--no bird, no butterfly. The
lizard slipped noiselessly over the rocks at your feet, and the
tarantula gaped at you with wide-open eyes, before retreating to the
shelter of her nest in the ground. But even the carrion-crow, following
wherever human beings lead the way, never left the limits of the camp.
We had now reached a deep ravine. A shallow creek was running at our
feet; dark, frowning mountains seemed to hem us in on every side; our
horses looked tired, and the captain very unexpectedly announced that he
had lost his way! He said he felt sure that this creek was to be crossed
_somewhere_, but not here where our horses were drinking now. Old
Cecilio had always accompanied him before this, and--and--in short, we
were lost! Just then one of the men rode up to the lieutenant's side,
and said something to him in a low tone. "Where?" asked he. The man
pointed down the creek. The officers dismounted to examine the ground,
and found the fresh tracks of eight or nine Apache Indians. To be sure,
there were eleven men and officers on our side; but our horses were
pretty well worn, and the camp twenty miles away, for aught we knew. The
men looked to their fire-arms, while the officers consulted. If we were
attacked here, the Indians, even if they could not take us, could starve
us out before any party sent out from the fort could find us. Therefore,
to proceed was our only chance. Perhaps, if we could succeed in reaching
the top of the next mountain, we might discover some landmark showing us
our way back to camp. Some one proposed to search again for the trail
to the copper-mine; but the captain told us it was one of the favorite
haunts of the Indians when in this part of the country, and this party
had probably gone there now. At last we moved on, the escort so disposed
that I was covered on every side. The mountain was steep, and covered
with sharp rocks, cactus, and _chaparral_, which appeared to me moving
and peopled with hideous forms. Every moment I expected to hear a savage
yell, and see a shower of arrows flying around our devoted heads. Many a
time a finger was raised and pointed silently, so as not to frighten me,
to some suspicious-looking object; but all remained quiet, and we
reached the summit at last, only to see that we were surrounded by
mountains still higher and steeper than the one we had climbed. Giving
our horses but short breathing-time, we made the next ascent, hoping
then to see our way clear; but again we were disappointed. Never before,
perhaps, had the foot of the white man left its impress on these
solitary heights. There was untold wealth hidden under these sharp
rocks, and in the crevices and clefts that looked so dark and
treacherous in the afternoon sun; but even the mines of Golconda would
have had but little interest for us just then.
We had now come to a mountain that we must descend some five hundred
feet before we could make the ascent of the next. With trembling legs,
the horses began the steep descent; the first horse stumbled and fell,
and then the men were ordered to dismount and lead their horses. I
wanted to do the same, but was told to remain in the saddle, as I could
not mount quick enough, should the Indians attack us. When the horses
found foothold at last, it was almost impossible to urge them on; so
some of the men volunteered to reconnoitre in different directions,
while the officers remained with me. At last, one of the men, having
reached the summit, telegraphed to us that he had discovered some
friendly post, and made signs how we were to travel round the mountain.
Sundown saw us in camp again, worn out and hungry, but by no means
daunted or discouraged. Santa Rita was to be abandoned until the old
guide returned; but Pinos Altos was to be visited without him, in a day
or two.
Poor Toby was tired and jaded after this exploit, so he was allowed to
roam through camp, at his "own sweet will," without lariat or
picket-rope; he could always pick out our tent from the rest, and he
came to look into it, one morning, just as the cook had laid a
freshly-baked loaf of bread on the mess-chest to cool. I had been in the
habit of giving Toby a bite of our lunch whenever the command halted,
and I could reach the lunch-basket; he was satisfied with anything I
gave him--a bit of bacon, a piece of "hard-tack," a lump of sugar--and
thinking now, I suppose, that he was being neglected, when I did not
look up from my sewing, he quietly withdrew. The next moment I heard the
men outside shouting, "Thief! you thief!" Stepping to the entrance of
the tent, I saw Toby, the loaf of bread firmly between his teeth, making
his way, at a two-forty gait, across the parade-ground. This made our
bill of fare rather meagre for that day--"slap-jacks" taking the place
of the bread. But, then, we would soon have eggs, the cook said; and he
could do so many things with eggs. Now, these eggs were some that we
expected certain chickens, then _en route_ from Fort Cummings, to lay
for us. An officer there had had some chickens brought up from El Paso,
at great expense and greater trouble; of these, he had promised us three
dozen, and they were now coming to Fort Bayard under escort of ten
cavalrymen. I had made Charley promise, on honor, never to ask to kill
one of these for the table, but to content himself with using the eggs
they would, should, and ought to lay. Toward evening the escort with the
wagon came in sight; all the men rushed down the road to meet it; and
when the box containing the chickens was opened and the flock let loose,
the whole company gave three cheers, and, for days afterward, the men
could be heard, all over camp, crowing like roosters. They never seemed
to get tired of feeding the chickens extra handfuls of corn, religiously
bringing to our kitchen any stray egg a gadding hen had laid in the
company hay.
The morning was cool and bright, when Copp and Toby, capering and
dancing, as though we had never been lost in the mountains, were led up
to the tent. The escort was already mounted, and every man of the twelve
looked upon this as a holiday. They all had their curiosity to see Pinos
Altos; but the clean gauntlets and white shirts had been donned in honor
of this--to them--great event: escorting the first white lady, an
officer's wife, into Pinos Altos. I can never tire of speaking of the
magnificent scenery in this part of New Mexico. It was not New
Mexico--it was a small piece of the Garden of Eden, thrown in by
Providence, from above, in sheer pity for the Americans, when Uncle Sam
made that Ten Million Purchase, known as the Gadsden. We galloped along
a smooth road, made by the men for hauling fire-wood over, for a mile or
two, till we crossed the Minne-ha-ha, and shortly after struck the Pinos
Altos road. It had been a well travelled road at one time, though the
Indian only had crossed it, in his wanderings, these three or four years
past. Scrub-oak, and shrubs for which I knew no name, by the wayside;
the aloe plant and cactus, _grama_ grass and wild flowers, peeping out
from under fragments of moss-covered rock; here and there a cedar, or
pine, made the impression that we were inspecting extensive
pleasure-grounds; the little stream--Whiskey Creek--that found its
winding way down from Pinos Altos, was bordered by willows, and, though
shallow, afforded us all a cool drink. The road rises almost from the
time of leaving the fort, but so gently at first as to be hardly
noticed. Part of the escort rode before us, for those romantic-looking
hills, springing up here and there on our way, had many a time served
as ambush for the savage hordes that infest all this country; and more
than one grave by the road-side spoke of sudden attack, of sharp
contest, and final defeat.
An officer alone would have thought it unnecessary to take so large an
escort as ours, but the commanding officer had stipulated that the
lieutenant must not undertake these rides with me unless he took twelve
men. The Indians would risk any number of their braves, he said, to get
an officer's wife into their possession; and then he would have to turn
out his whole command to rescue me. So, to save him this trouble, we
promised to obey orders.
There was one curious hill, that I never passed without counting from
six to twelve rattlesnakes wriggling up the side of it. This rattlesnake
hill was about half-way between camp and Pinos Altos; and a mile or two
beyond, I saw the first tall pines, from which this region takes its
name. They were giants, in fact; it made me dizzy to look up to the
tallest point I could see, as the tree swayed gently to and fro against
the deep-blue sky.
Our horses were walking now; the hills grew into mountains, and came
closer around us; the road was hardly a road any more--I doubt that
anything but Indian ponies or pack-trains had ever gone over it, till
the "boys in blue" came here--and the inconsiderate thorns caught and
tore my "best" riding-habit at every step. We could now see the red
earth the miners in this section liked so well to find; they had been
prospecting all along Whiskey Creek, but had gone higher and higher,
till settling in Pinos Altos proper, at last. Up, up, we went, till I
thought we must be nearing the clouds. The air felt sharp and cool, even
in the midday sun, but we had not yet reached the summit.
At last the advance-guard halted, and one of the men, turning, uttered
an exclamation of wonder and surprise. The Pinos Altos people had cut
down the tall pines as much as possible on this side, because the
Indians had always approached under cover of them when they had made
their attacks on the place; and now, without hindrance or obstruction,
we had a view, such as I have never enjoyed since. All the mountains I
had thought so immensely high lay at our feet, and away beyond them I
could see far into the country--for hundreds of miles, it seemed to me.
To the right of us, we could peer into Old Mexico; the Three
Brothers--three peaks very similar in appearance and close
together--were pointed out to me; and over that way was Janos, they
said--the first town after crossing the border--the place our deserters
and fugitives from justice always tried to reach. Five minutes' ride now
brought us in sight of Pinos Altos--a few straggling shanties, built of
logs, brush, or _adobe_, just as it happened to suit the builder. Beyond
Pinos Altos the world seemed literally shut in, or shut out, by
mountains; there was snow on the highest peaks nine months of the year;
no one had felt inclined to explore them as yet--indeed, it was all
people could do to draw their breath comfortably here, I thought. The
streets in this city had not yet been thoroughly regulated, as some of
the inhabitants had found it convenient to commence mining operations
in, or immediately outside, their houses; and, following a good lead
they had struck, had sometimes continued these operations till some
other miner, with six-shooter in hand, had declared no man had a right
to dig "round his shanty." Some other miner had coaxed the waters of
Whiskey Creek on to his "claim," situated on the other side of town,
having dug for this purpose a ditch some five or six feet deep. Still
another had sunk a shaft twenty feet deep, at his front door, so as to
"hold that mine" for two years. But mining was not confined to the
streets of the city, by any means; companies of five, six, or twenty men
had ventured out as far as their number would permit. It would not have
been a very safe occupation at the best; for even our men, when sent to
cut hay within sight of the fort, had to work with their revolvers
buckled on, and their carbines within reach. How much more, then, did
these men risk, in lonely, out-of-the-way places, where no succor could
reach them--where only the serene sky overhead, and the red demon
inflicting the torture, could hear the last agonized cry that escaped
the blanched lips of his writhing, helpless victim.
As we approached, the miners laid down their picks, and stared at us.
Here and there a Mexican woman, who had followed the fortunes of her
lord and master into the wilderness, appeared at the door of some
shanty, her head covered with the inevitable _rebozo_; and, taking a
quick survey of our party, would vanish the next moment to communicate
the news of our arrival to her _amigos_ and _compadres_. "Taking" the
ditches, but carefully avoiding the shafts, we came to a house rather
larger and better-appearing than the rest, and were invited by a
mannerly Spaniard to alight and rest in his "house." His wife waited on
us in the pleasantest manner; but the building we had entered consisted
of only one room, which was store, sitting-room, kitchen, and all. The
news of our arrival spread like wild-fire; miners from far and near
hurried to Rodriguez' store; and the place being small, the circle
around us was soon as close as good manners would allow of--and good
manners they all had, Mexicans and Americans. Those who could not find
room inside, were out by the door, patting Toby, examining my
side-saddle, and asking questions of the escort. Señor Rodriguez was in
the habit of weighing the gold the miners found in the course of the
day, and buying it for greenbacks, or exchanging for it such provisions
as he had on hand. A huge, bearded Mexican stepped up to the little
counter now, and emptying his leather bag of its shining contents,
selected the largest piece--the size of a hazel-nut--and presented it
to me, with an air of such genuine honesty, such chivalric grace, that I
felt I could not refuse the gift without wounding the man's feelings. I
could only say, "Thank you," in English; but having accepted this first
offering, I could not refuse to accept from the rest the largest piece
of gold each miner had found that day. The first piece had been the
largest found.
Taking our departure when the sun was almost hidden behind the
mountains, we could not shake off a nervous feeling as we picked our way
through the labyrinth of rocks, trees, and shrubs, for this was the
favorite hour for Indian attacks. They hardly ever attack a train or
camp after night; their chosen time is just before dark, or early in the
morning, before sunrise; of course, they are not particular as to what
hour of the day they can appropriate your scalp, but they have seldom or
never been known to attack the whites at night.
We could already see the camp-fires in the distance, when a number of
stealthily moving objects in the road attracted my attention. Toby
snorted as though an Indian were already clutching at the bridle; but a
most discordant yelping, barking, and howling struck my ear just then
like the sweetest of music: a pack of _coyotes_ only had gathered around
us. They followed us all the way to camp, and, surrounding our quarters,
kept up their serenade till broad daylight. A band of equally musical
wild-cats had chosen the infantry camp as the theatre for their
performances; and an occasional roar from one of those long-built,
panther-like animals called California lions taught me that there was
life and animation in Nature here at night, if not in the daytime.