Resumption of the Journey Southward--_Pinus Lumholtzii_--Cooking
with Snow--Terror-stricken Indians--A Gentlemanly Highwayman
and His "Shooting-box"--The Pernicious Effect of Civilisation
Upon the Tarahumares--A Fine Specimen of the Tribe--The Last of
the Tarahumares.
From this trip I returned to San Carlos, mainly over the highlands
south of the barranca, and shortly afterward was able to continue my
journey toward the southwest. The cordons here, generally speaking,
have a southerly direction, running parallel to each other.
Reaching at one place an elevation of 8,800 feet, I had a fine view
of the entire central part of the Tarahumare country, seeing as far
as Cerro Grande, at the northern end of the llano of Guachochic,
in which direction the country, as a matter of course, looked quite
flat. Nearest to us were wild-looking arroyos and cordons, covered
in the lower portions with oak-trees, and higher up with pines. We
were in the midst of vast pine forests, and even the country north
of us looked like one uninterrupted forest of pines.
The Tarahumares have names for six kinds of pines. One species, first
met with near Tutuhuaca, was new to science. Though not a large tree,
it is very ornate, owing to its slender, whip-like branches, and its
hanging needles, from eight to ten inches long. It grows here and
there in groups at high altitudes, on decomposed volcanic tuff. The
needles are boiled by the Indians and the Mexicans, and the decoction
used as a remedy for stomach troubles. It is not disagreeable to take,
the taste resembling that of anise-seed. The Tarahumares prefer the
wood of this variety of pines for the making of their violins. I
found this species as far south as the sierra above Pueblo Nuevo,
in the State of Durango.
The vegetation of the Sierra Madre is incomparably stronger and
more luxurious than that of the cold North. The pine-trees in higher
altitudes, for instance in Norway, appear miserably puny and almost
stunted when compared with the giants of the South. Trees of 100 to
150 feet high and 10 to 15 feet in girth are frequent. We noticed
some species of pines the needles of which were over a foot long.
The region through which we were passing seemed uninhabited, and there
were really but few Indians living here. The cordon nearest to the
one on which we were standing was covered with snow, and we climbed
without difficulty to a point 9,300 feet high. There was no water,
but snow three inches deep in some places, yielding all the water we
required, though it had a slight flavour of the pines. The Mexicans
did not like it, and said they would not eat food cooked with snow;
but after I had shown them that the water obtained in this way was
very good, they also took to it.
On our arrival at some Indian ranches, the people screamed with terror,
ran away and hid themselves. There was something so unusual about their
fright, that the interpreter and I went out of our way to investigate
the matter. I saw two children making their escape among the bushes
as best they could, a boy leading a three-year-old girl all the time,
never deserting her. We found the children and a young woman on top of
a rock. After we had succeeded in allaying their fears, they answered
our questions readily. It appeared that two men from this place had
recently been hanged by some people from Cienega Prieta, the ranch
for which we were making. One of the victims had been revived, but
the other had died. My Indian boy Patricio knew about the outrage, too.
I had at the outset been warned against robbers south of Guachochic,
and advised never to sleep in houses--a thing I rarely did, anyway,
for other reasons. One man especially, Teodoro Palma, had an unsavoury
reputation as a "gentlemanly highwayman." In the desolate region
where his residence lies, his father had maintained a band of valiant
men, who made regular plundering expeditions, driving cattle away,
etc. It was a common tale that travellers who had to pass his place
were invited to come in, but never came out again. The bodies of the
victims, it was said, were buried at night in the cemetery of the
Indian village of Chinatu, a few miles distant. Times had changed
since then, and the son was more guarded in his operations, but still
sufficiently active.
In order to avoid a long detour to the east, I had chosen to follow
the track which passes this place, though travellers generally give
it a wide berth; besides, I thought best to take the bull by the
horns. When I reached the robber's stronghold, I did not find Don
Teodoro at home, though he was expected to return the next day. In
the mean time the superintendent showed me around the house and sold
me some necessary provisions.
The house looked forbidding enough. A wall of adobe, eighteen feet
high, ran all around the establishment, shutting it in securely. It
was provided with two small towers, which had loop-holes for rifles.
In the house was a small chapel, in which Don Teodoro and his father
before him had frequently knelt to pray. The altar was decorated with
the pictures of many saints, and in the centre was a painting of the
Christ-child, a crucifix, and an artificial apple.
When the lord of the manor arrived the following day, I immediately
went to see him. As I passed through the enclosure he was scolding
the superintendent, but on perceiving me he stepped forward to
receive me. This modern Fra Diavolo was about thirty years old,
rather short of stature, but unusually well built. He wore an
embroidered brown jacker and a blue waistcoat, and around his neck
was thrown a many-coloured scarf. On one side of his sombrero was a
scarlet rosette. Under it gleamed brown, piercing eyes. His hair was
cut short. Altogether he was quite good-looking, except for a cruel,
sensual expression of the features. His entire manner, erect carriage,
and quick, decisive movements told me he was a man of violent temper
and extreme determination.
He led the way into a room, and I handed him my letter of
recommendation from the Mexican Government, and explained what I
was doing in the sierra. After he had read the letter, he said that
he was my friend. I told him that I had heard there were robbers in
the vicinity, and in case I was molested I should apply to him for
assistance, since he was a very influential man. Of course I knew as
long as he did not rob us we were quite safe. I then photographed him
and his house, and he evidently felt quite flattered. He accompanied
me for a mile down the road, and then, taking me aside, handed me
back the paltry sum I had paid for the provisions, saying he did
not accept payment from his guests. This was rather embarrassing,
but there was no way out of it, and I had to accept it. I afterward
sent him a copy of his photograph to even up matters.
The guide with whom Don Teodoro had provided me pointed out to us
a place where his master last year killed and robbed a man. "He is
a poor shot," he added, "except at close range, and he generally
travels at night." In 1895 Don Teodoro Palma himself was killed by
the Indians. If half the rumours about him are true, he certainly
deserved his fate. He never dared to go down to the lowlands, because
"he owed so many dead," as the saying goes. A few years before my
visit, an American had been killed and robbed in the vicinity, and
his countrymen in Chihuahua offered a reward for the apprehension of
the murderer, dead or alive. Don Teodoro knew that a certain friend
of his had perpetrated the crime, and in order to secure the reward
he invited him to his house and shot him down in cold blood.
I arrived safely in Guadalupe y Calvo, a once flourishing place, but
now quite dead, since the mines have ceased to be worked. There are
large Mexican ranches southeast of the town, and whatever Tarahumares
live hereabout are servants of the Mexicans and frequently intermarry
with the Tepehuanes.
I thus traversed from north to south the country over which the
Tarahumares once held sway. To-day we find this tribe, approximately,
between Guadalupe y Calvo and Temosachic; roughly speaking, between
the twenty-sixth and twenty-ninth degrees northern latitude.
Civilisation, as brought to the Tarahumare, is not fraught with
benefits for him. It rudely shakes the columns of the temple of
his religion. The Mexican Central Railroad crushes his sacred plants
without thought of its anger, which is vented on the poor Tarahumare by
sending him bad years and ill-luck. While the Indians deny themselves
the pleasure of smoking tobacco in the daytime for fear of offending
the sun with the smoke, the white men's furnaces and engines belch
forth black clouds of smoke day after day, keeping the people out
of the sight of Tara Dios, and thus preventing him from guarding
them. In the engine itself they see the Devil with a long tongue and
a big beard.
Worse than that, the foot of civilisation destroys his home; for the
whites draw the boundary line of his country closer and closer. The
better class of Mexicans keep to themselves, and seldom, if ever,
bother about the Indians at their doors, whose mode of living and
way of thinking are so different from their own. The class of whites
on the borderland of such civilisation as the Tarahumare comes in
contact with is not the kind that will or can improve him, being
ignorant and unscrupulous. The Indian civilised by them is a very
unpleasant person to deal with. He has learned to cheat and to steal,
and he no longer carries out his contracts and agreements. Having
learned the value of money, his greed is awakened, and he begins to
look out only for his own profit.
The first white men with whom the Indian gets acquainted are the
traders who speak his language, and whose sole aim is to enrich
themselves at his expense and compel him to deal with them. If the
Indian does not want to sell, the lenguaraz loses his patience, throws
a few dollars toward him, takes the ox, and goes off. Many will go
still further. They force the native to borrow from them, whether
he wants the money, the cloth, the mescal, or the use of the horse,
or not. Many Indians would refuse mescal, satisfied with their native
stimulants, but see no other way of getting rid of the unwelcome and
obtrusive white than by yielding to his demand. The agreement is made
that he must return the so-called loan on a certain date, two or three
months hence; the Indian, of course, having no almanac, easily makes a
mistake in his calculation, and the date passes. The dealer has gained
his point. He saddles his horse, looks up the Indian, and makes a
great to-do about all the trouble he is put to in collecting the debt,
charging not only enormous interest for overtime, but adding exorbitant
travelling expenses and fees. He succeeds by threats and intimidation
in getting his damages adjusted in such a way that, in return for
the paltry sum he lent the Indian, he now drives off two or three oxen.
The Indians, being honourable in their dealings, do not at first
contact with the whites suspect rascality, and many stories are told
illustrating the ease with which they have been cheated.
Once a Mexican bought a sheep from a native on credit, and,
after killing it, paid for it with the head, the skin, and the
entrails. Another man did still better. He paid for his sheep with
the same valuables, and "spoke so well" that the Indian was content to
remain in his debt as the final result of the transaction. On another
occasion a native was induced to sell eleven oxen, almost his entire
stock, to a Mexican. It was agreed that the latter should pay two cows
for each ox, but not having any cows with him he left his horse and
saddle as security. The Indian is still waiting for the cows. When
I expressed my surprise at the ease with which he allowed himself
to be swindled, he replied that the Mexican "spoke so well." They
are so delighted at hearing their language spoken by a white man,
that they lose all precaution and are completely at the mercy of the
wily whites, who profit by their weakness.
Some tough lenguaraz is not ashamed to cheat at games until the
Indian has lost everything he has. One poor wretch lost several
oxen in one game of quinze. Other sharpers borrow money from the
natives and never pay back the loan, or else impose fines on the
Indians under the pretext of being authorities. Some foist themselves
upon the Tarahumares at their feasts, which they disturb by getting
drunk and violating women. Where the Indians are still masters of the
situation they catch such an offender and take him before the Mexican
authorities, insisting upon his paying for all the requirements for
another feast, as he has spoiled the value of the one on which he
intruded. In the central part of the country, near Norogachic, they
may even kill such a transgressor.
It is generally through mescal that the Indians become peons. When
the Indian has once developed a taste for mescal, he will pay anything
to get it, first his animals, then his land. When he has nothing more
to sell, the whites still give him this brandy and make him work. And
there he is. To work himself free is next to impossible, because his
wages are not paid in money, but in provisions, which barely suffice
to keep him and his family alive. Indians are sometimes locked up
over night to force them to work.
The children of such parents grow up as peons of the Mexicans, who
deal out miserable wages to the descendants of the owners of the
land on which the usurpers grow rich. Before the occupancy of the
country by the new masters, the Tarahumares never knew what poverty
was. No wonder that the Christian Tarahumares believe that hell is
peopled so thickly with Mexicans that there is not room for all. Some
have been crowded out, and have come to the Tarahumares to trouble
them. The Indians in some districts have been cheated so much that
they no longer believe anything the white men tell them, and they do
not offer food any more to a white stranger if he is what they call
"deaf," in other words, unable to speak and understand their language
and explain what he is about.
They make very good servants when treated right, although they often
want a change; but they will return to a good master. I once had a
Tarahumare woman in my employ as cook. She was very industrious and in
every way superior to any Mexican servant I ever had. When not busy
with her kitchen work, she was mending her own or her two children's
clothes. While very distrustful, she was good-tempered and honourable,
and spoke Spanish fairly well, and her eyes indicated unusual
intelligence. A white man had deserted her to marry a Mexican woman,
and she grieved much, but in time she became reconciled to her fate,
though she declared she would never marry again, as all men were bad.
The Tarahumares have made excellent soldiers in fighting for the
Government. In one of the civil wars, their leader, Jesus Larrea,
from Nonoava, a pure-bred Tarahumare, distinguished himself, not only
by bravery and determination, but also as a commander. In private
life he was civil and popular.
The majority speak their own language, and in the central and most
mountainous part, the heart of the Tarahumare country, they are of
pure breed. Here the women object to unions with outsiders, and until
very recently light-coloured children were not liked. Mothers may
even yet anoint their little ones and leave them in the sun, that
they may get dark. The consensus of opinion among the tribe is that
half-castes turn out to be bad people and "some day will be fighting
at the drinking-feasts." A few instances are known in which women
have left their half-caste babies in the woods to perish, and such
children are often given away to be adopted by the Mexicans. In the
border districts, however, the Indians have become much Mexicanised
and intermarry freely with the whites.
Be it said to the credit of those high in authority in Mexico, they
do all in their power to protect the Indians. But the Government
is practically powerless to control the scattered population in
the remote districts. Besides, the Indians most preyed upon by the
sharpers cannot make themselves understood in the official language,
and therefore consider it hopeless to approach the authorities. In
accordance with the liberal constitution of Mexico, all natives are
citizens, but the Indians do not know how to take advantage of their
rights, although sometimes large bodies have banded together and
travelled down to Chihuahua to make their complaints, and have always
been helped out--for the time being. The efforts of the Government
to enlighten the Indians by establishing schools are baffled by the
difficulty in finding honest and intelligent teachers with a knowledge
of the Indian language.
Where the Indians have had little or nothing to do with the whites,
they are obliging, law-abiding, and trustworthy. Profit is no
inducement to them, as they believe that their gods would be angry with
them for charging an undue price. As a matter of fact, they sell corn
all the year round, whether it be scarce or plentiful, at the same
price, though the Mexicans charge them very different prices. The
almighty dollar has no devotees among these Indians. They have no
need of aught that money can buy, and are swayed by persuasion and
kind and just treatment more than by gold. If they have a few coins,
they place them in a jar and bury them in some remote cave, taking from
the horde only a little when they have to buy some necessity of life.
Among the pagans in Pino Gordo I met the finest specimen of the
Tarahumare tribe, a shaman, called Juan Ignacio. Although he had
never been as far as Guadalupe y Calvo, and only twice in his life
to Babori-game, and had thus spent all his life in the mountains
among his own people, he showed a courtesy and tact that would have
graced a gentleman. He took splendid care, not only of myself, but
of my men and animals as well, giving us plenty to eat, sending his
man to chop wood for us, etc. He was possessed of the nicest temper,
and was truthful, a rare quality among Tarahumares, as well as square
in his dealings. His uprightness and urbanity commanded respect even
from the lenguarazes, and they did not rob him as much as the other
Indians of the district; consequently he was quite well-to-do.
While living among the heathen, of whom there are vet some three
thousand left, I had no fear of being robbed of any part of my
outfit. The Indians themselves would not touch anything, and there were
no strange Mexicans about. If they had come, the Tarahumares would
have immediately warned me. Everything was perfectly safe as long as
I had an honest interpreter. The Tarahumare in his native condition
is many times better off, morally, mentally, and economically, than
his civilised brother; but the white man will not let him alone as
long as he has anything worth taking away. Only those who by dear
experience have learned to be cautious are able to maintain themselves
independently; but such cases are becoming more and more rare.
It is the same old story over again, in America, as in Africa, and
Asia, and everywhere. The simpleminded native is made the victim of
the progressive white, who, by fair means or foul, deprives him of his
country. Luckily, withal, the Tarahumare has not yet been wiped out
of existence. His blood is fused into the working classes of Mexico,
and he grows a Mexican. But it may take a century yet before they
will all be made the servants of the whites and disappear like the
Opatas. Their assimilation may benefit Mexico, but one may well ask:
Is it just? Must the weaker always be first crushed, before he can
be assimilated by the new condition of things?
Future generations will not find any other record of the Tarahumares
than what scientists of the present age can elicit from the lips of
the people and from the study of their implements and customs. They
stand out to-day as an interesting relic of a time long gone by; as a
representative of one of the most important stages in the development
of the human race; as one of those wonderful primitive tribes that
were the founders and makers of the history of mankind.