LAST FIGHT BETWEEN RANGERS AND APACHES
Despite General Terrasas' great victory at Tres Castilos as recorded in
a preceding chapter, he did not entirely destroy all the Apaches that
had been with old Victorio. Nana and fifty warriors escaped and finally
joined Geronimo in his campaign of murder and destruction. On the night
preceding the battle in which Victorio was killed and his band of
warriors exterminated, twelve braves with four squaws and four children
deserted the old chief and made their way to those rough mountains that
fringe the Rio Grande in the vicinity of Eagle Springs. At once this
band of twenty Indians began a series of pillages and murders that has
no parallel considering the small size of the party.
The little band of Apaches soon appeared at Paso Viego and began their
depredations by an attack on Lieutenant Mills and his cavalry. Paso
Viego is a gap in the mountains that parallel the Rio Grande from Eagle
Mountains on the west to Brites' ranch on the east, and is situated ten
or twelve miles west of and in plain view of the present little town
of Valentine, Texas, on the G., H & S.A. Railroad. The tribe of Pueblo
Indians has lived at the old town of Ysleta, El Paso County, Texas,
for more than three hundred years. They have always been friends to
the Americans and inveterate enemies to the Apaches. It was customary,
therefore, for the United States troops at Fort Davis to employ the
Pueblos as guides during the Indian disturbances along the border. In
1881 Bernado and Simon Olgin, two brothers, were the principal chiefs
of this tribe. Bernado was the elder and looked it. Both chiefs dressed
in the usual Indian fashion, wore moccasins, buckskin leggins and had
their long black hair braided and hanging down the back. Simon was a
very handsome Indian, and he, with four of his tribe--all nephews of
his, I think--were employed by General Grierson during the troublesome
times of 1880-1881.
Simon and his four scouts had been detailed to make scouts down on the
Rio Grande with Lieutenant Mills, commander of the Tenth United States
Cavalry (colored). On their way out the troops reached Paso Viego early
in the evening, and after they had eaten supper Simon Olgin advised
the lieutenant to move out on the open plains three or four miles
north of the pass where they would be safe from attack. Olgin declared
Paso Viego was a favorite camping place for the Indians going to and
returning from Mexico because of the fine water and good grass. He
stated that should a band of redskins appear at the pass during the
night and find it occupied by soldiers they would attack at daylight
and probably kill some of the troopers.
Lieutenant Mills, fresh from West Point, replied that he was not afraid
of Indians and did not propose to move. During the night the little
band of twenty Apaches reached the pass, just as Olgin had prophesied,
and hid themselves in the rocks. The next morning the soldiers had
breakfast, packed their mules, and as they were standing by their
horses ready for the order to mount a sudden fusillade of bullets was
fired into their midst at short range. Other volleys came in quick
succession. At the very first fire that grand old Indian, Simon Olgin,
was shot down and killed, as were five or six of the negro cavalry. The
remainder of the company thereupon fled, but the four Pueblo scouts,
Olgin's nephews, took to the rocks and fought until they had routed
the Apaches and saved the bodies of their old beloved uncle and the
soldiers from falling into the hands of the attackers to be mutilated.
Repulsed at Paso Viego the twenty Apaches next appeared at Bass'
Canyon, a gap in the mountains on the overland stage road about
twelve or fourteen miles west of Van Horn. Here the redskins waylaid
an immigrant train on its way to New Mexico. At the very first fire of
the Indians Mrs. Graham, who was walking, jumped upon the tongue of
the wagon and reached for a Winchester, but was shot and killed. A man
named Grant was killed at the same time, while Mr. Graham had his thigh
broken. From Bass' Canyon the Indians turned south, crossed around the
east end of the Eagle Mountains and again entered Old Mexico, where
they were for a time lost to view.
We next hear of this band at Ojo Calienta, some hot springs on the Rio
Grande southwest from Eagle Mountains. A captain of cavalry with some
colored troops near old Fort Quitman detailed seven men and instructed
the sergeant in charge to scout down the river as far east as Bosque
Bonita, keep a sharp lookout for Indian signs and report back to camp
in one week. These troopers followed orders, and on their return
journey camped for the night at Ojo Calienta. Next morning at break of
day the soldiers were preparing to cook breakfast when the Apaches fell
upon them and killed all save one at their first assault. This single
survivor made his escape on foot, and after two days in the mountains
without food finally reached the soldier camp and reported to his
captain. The Indians evidently located the soldier scout the evening
before but, as they never make a night attack, waited until daylight
to massacre their victims. The redskins captured all the soldiers'
equipment and baggage, including seven horses and two pack mules. They
pillaged the camp and took everything movable away with them. Before
resuming their journey the Apaches took six stake-pins made of iron
and about twenty inches long that were used by the soldiers to drive
into the ground as stakes to which to fasten their horses and drove
one through each soldier's corpse, pinning it firmly to the earth. The
captured stock was killed and eaten, for the soldiers' animals were fat
while most of the ponies and little mules of the Apaches were worn out
by constant use in the mountains, and consequently very poor.
This band was not heard of again for nearly two months--until the
warriors set upon the stage at Quitman Canyon and killed the driver,
Morgan, and the gambler, Crenshaw, a passenger. The reports about
this stage robbery and murder were so conflicting and the impression
so strong that the driver and the passenger had themselves robbed the
stage and made Indian signs to avert suspicion that Captain Baylor
deemed it best to go down to the canyon and investigate for himself.
Accordingly, the captain made a detail of fourteen privates and one
corporal, and with ten days' rations on two pack mules left Ysleta on
January 16th to ascertain if possible whether the stage had been robbed
and the driver and passenger killed by Indians or by white men, and to
punish the robbers if they could be caught. To keep down disorder and
violence threatened at El Paso, the captain left me and a detail of
three men in our camp at Ysleta.
At Quitman, Captain Baylor learned that the trail of the stage robbers
bore southwest to Ojo Calienta, and as the foothills of Quitman
Mountains are very rough, he went down the north bank of the Rio
Grande, as he felt quite certain he would cut signs in that direction.
About twenty-five miles below Quitman he struck the trail of a freshly
shod mule, two barefooted ponies and two unshod mules, and within
fifty yards of the trail he found the kid glove thought to have been
Crenshaw's. The trail now bore down the river and crossed into Mexico,
where the Indian band made its first camp. Captain Baylor followed,
and the next day found the Apaches' second camp near the foothills
of the Los Pinos Mountains, where we had left General Terrasas the
fall before. Here all doubts about the Indians were dispelled, as the
rangers found a horse killed with the meat taken as food and a pair of
old moccasins. Besides, the camp was selected on a high bare hill after
the custom of the Indians. The same day Captain Baylor found another
camp and a dead mule, and on the trail discovered a boot-top recognized
as that of Morgan, the driver. Here also was the trail of some fifteen
or twenty mules and ponies, quite fresh, coming from the direction of
the Candelario Mountains with one small trail of three mules going
toward the Rio Grande. The rangers passed through some very rough, deep
canyons and camped on the south side of the Rio Grande, this being
their second night in Mexico.
Next morning the trail crossed back into Texas. Going toward Major
Carpenter's old camp above the Bosque Bonito the scouting party found a
camp where the Indians had evidently made a cache, but Captain Baylor
only tarried here a short time and followed on down the river a few
miles when he found the Apaches had struck out on a bee line for the
Eagle Mountains. The captain felt some hesitation about crossing the
plains between the Eagle Mountains and the Rio Grande in the daytime
for fear of being seen by the Indians, but as the trail was several
days old he took the risk of being discovered. He camped within three
or four miles of the mountains and at daybreak took the trail up a
canyon leading into the peaks. The party came suddenly upon an Apache
camp which had been hastily deserted that morning, for the Indians left
blankets, quilts, buckskins and many other things useful to them. They
had just killed and had piled up in camp two horses and a mule, the
blood of which had been caught in tin vessels. One mule's tongue was
stewing over a fire and everything indicated the redskins were on the
eve of a jolly war dance, for the rangers found a five-gallon can of
mescal wine and a horse skin sunk in the ground that contained fifteen
or twenty gallons more. Here Captain Baylor found the mate to Morgan's
boot-top and a bag made from the legs of the passenger's pantaloons,
besides express receipts, postal cards and other articles taken from
the stage. The night before had been bitterly cold and the ground had
frozen hard as flint rock, so the rangers could not get the trail,
though they searched the mountains in every direction, and the three
Pueblo Indians, Bernado Olgin, Domingo Olgin, and Aneseta Duran, looked
over every foot of the ground. The scouting party now turned back
toward Mexico to scout back on the west side of the Eagle Mountains
around to Eagle Springs in search of the trail.
At Eagle Springs, as good luck would have it, Captain Baylor learned
that Lieutenant Nevill and nine men had just gone toward Quitman to
look for him. As soon as Lieutenant Nevill returned to the Springs he
informed Baylor that he had seen the trail six miles east of Eagle
Springs and that it led toward the Carrizo Springs or Diablo Mountains.
Captain Baylor's rations were out and Lieutenant Nevill had only
supplies enough to do the combined force five days, but the two
commanders trusted either to catch the Indians or get in striking
distance of the Pecos settlements within that time. The Apaches made
pretty good time across the plain in front of Eagle Springs, and did
not seem to recover from their scare until they reached the Diablo
Mountains. Here they killed and cooked meat from one horse and obtained
water by melting snow with hot rocks.
The trail led northward by Chili Peak, a noted landmark to be seen
from Eagle Station. Here the rangers quit the trail and went into the
Diablo Mountains to camp at Apache Tanks, where General Grierson cut
off Victorio from the Guadalupe Mountains the summer before. Next
morning Captain Baylor followed the trail north and camped on the brow
of cliffs overlooking Rattlesnake Springs. The sign now led to the edge
of the Sierra Diablo, where the Indians camped and slept for the first
time since leaving Eagle Mountains. They were still watchful, as they
were near a most horrible looking canyon down which they could have
disappeared had the scouting party come upon them. Their next camp was
about ten miles farther on, and Captain Baylor saw they were getting
more careless about camping. On the 28th he came across another horse
and fire where the Apaches had eaten some meat. The leg of the horse
was not yet stiff and blood dropped from one when picked up. The chase
was getting to be exciting, and Captain Baylor and his men felt their
chance to avenge the many outrages committed by this band was now near
at hand.
The trail led off north as though the redskins were going toward the
Cornudos in New Mexico, but turned east and entered Sierra Diablo
Mountains. In a narrow gorge the rangers found where the Indians had
eaten dinner, using snow to quench their thirst, but their horses
had no water. From this camp the Apaches made for the cliffs on the
northeast side of Devil Mountains. The scouting party now felt the
Indians were nearby, as they were nearly all afoot. The danger of
being discovered if they passed over the hills during the daylight was
so apparent that the rangers decided to make a dry camp and pass the
mountain's brow before day the next morning. All the signs were good
for a surprise; the trail was not over two hours old, and a flock of
doves passing overhead going in the direction of the trail showed that
water was nearby.
The morning of the 29th of January the party was awakened by the guard,
and passed over the mountain's brow before daylight. There was some
difficulty in picking up the trail, though Captain Baylor, Lieutenant
Nevill and the Pueblo trailers had been up the evening before spying
out the land. By stooping down with their faces close to the ground the
Pueblos got the trail leading north along the crest of the mountains.
Soon the Indian guides said in low voices: "Hoy esta los Indias." And
Captain Baylor perceived the Apaches' camp fires not over half a mile
distant.
Leaving a guard of five men with the horses the rangers advanced
stealthily on foot. By taking advantage of the crest of the mountain
they crept within two hundred yards of the camp, supposing the Indians
were camped on the western slope of the hill. The Apaches, however,
were cautious enough to put one tepee on the eastern slope overlooking
the valley and the approaches from that direction. Captain Baylor
thereupon ordered Sergeant Carruthers of Lieutenant Nevill's company
to take seven men and make a detour to the left and attack that wigwam
while Lieutenant Nevill and himself with seventeen men advanced on the
eastern camp. Sheltering themselves behind some large Spanish dagger
plants and advancing in Indian file the attackers got within one
hundred yards of the enemy, who was apparently just out of bed, for it
was then sunrise. Halting the men deployed to the right and left and
then, kneeling, the rangers gave the astonished Indians a deliberate
volley. At the second fusillade the Apaches broke and fled, the rangers
charging the flying foe with a Texas yell.
Sergeant Carruthers executed his orders in gallant style. The Apaches
on his side, alarmed and surprised by the fire of Captain Baylor's
force, huddled together and three were killed within twenty yards of
their camp fire. The redskins ran like deer and made no resistance,
for it was each man for himself. Nevertheless, as they fled they were
thickly peppered, as there were but two or three out of the party of
sixteen or eighteen but left blood along their trail as they ran off.
One Indian the rangers named Big Foot (from his enormous track) ran up
the mountain in full view for four hundred yards, and not less than two
hundred shots were fired at him, but he passed over the hill. Sergeant
Carruthers and several men pursued the fugitive for a mile and a half
and found plenty of blood all the way. Another warrior was knocked down
and lay as though dead for some time, but finally regained his feet
and made two-forty time over the hills with a running accompaniment of
Springfield and Winchester balls. One brave stood his ground manfully,
principally because he got the gable end of his head shot off early in
the action.
Of course the women were the principal sufferers. As it was a bitterly
cold, windy morning and all ran off with blankets about them few of
the rangers could tell braves from squaws, and in the confusion of
battle two women were killed and one mortally wounded. Two children
were killed and a third shot through the foot. One squaw with three
bullets in her hand and two children were captured. Seven mules and
nine horses, two Winchester rifles, one Remington carbine, one United
States cavalry pistol and one .40 double action Colt's, six United
States cavalry saddles taken from the troops killed at Ojo Calienta and
some women's and children's clothing, American made,--evidently those
of Mrs. Graham,--a Mexican saddle with a bullet hole in it and fresh
blood thereon and over a hundred and fifty yards of new calico fell as
spoil to the victors. All the Indians' camp equipage was burned.
The victorious rangers breakfasted on the battleground, as they had
eaten nothing since dinner the day before. Some of the men found horse
meat good, while others feasted on venison and roasted mescal. The
band of scouts could not remain long at this camp for water was very
scarce. They had forty head of stock to care for, and the Indians, in
their flight, ran through the largest pool of water and liberally dyed
it with their blood, and as none of the men were bloodthirsty enough to
use this for making coffee or bread they were short of water. However,
the rangers found enough pure good water for their use but the horses
had to wait until the force reached Apache Tanks, thirty miles distant.
This scarcity of water made it impossible to remain at this Apache
camp, otherwise Captain Baylor could have added three or four scalps
to his trophies. The return march was begun, and at Eagle Station
Lieutenant Nevill and Captain Baylor separated. The captured squaw and
the two children were sent to Fort Davis to be turned over to the post
commander for medical attention, for the rangers had neither a surgeon
nor a hospital.
On their return from the battle of the Diablos, Captain Baylor's Pueblo
Indian scouts, Chief Bernado Olgin, Domingo Olgin, and Aneseta Duran,
suddenly halted about one mile from Ysleta, unsaddled and unbridled
their tired little ponies and went into camp. This was their custom
after a successful campaign against their Apache enemies so that their
comrades might come out and do honor to the returning heroes. For three
days and nights a feast and a scalp dance was held by the whole of the
Pueblo tribe of Ysleta. They feasted, wined and dined their returning
warriors and invited the rangers to the festivities. The boys all went
and reported they had a fine time generally. This celebration was the
last scalp dance the Pueblo Indians ever had, for the destruction of
the Apaches in the Diablos exterminated the wild Indians and there were
no more of them to scalp.