We stopped in Mimbres on the way to the
Gila Cliff Dwellings and bought coffee at a breakfast place called 3
Questions run by a Mennonite family. The Questions, emblazoned on the
tile floor, were: Who am I? What is my purpose? And... I forget the
third question, but I could ask:
Who are these people?
We picked up a free newsletter there
titled "Mimbres Messenger," the last issue to be published,
as the editor and her husband, the delivery person for the
publication, had at last burned out after 5 years with the project.
One column the publication had featured regularly was a reproduction
of news items from newspapers of the past. This, the December 2013,
issue includes letters and news items from the Silver City Enterprise
of 1882-1883.
A sad irony is revealed in two of the
tidbits provided. One is that the Apache named Penaltisch had at last
been captured by Major General George Crook of Wilcox, Arizona.
Penaltisch had been part of the raid that killed the parents of
5-year-old Charlie McComas, from Silver City The second item offered
a hopeful message for Charlie's return, which reads:
One thousand
dollars reward has been offered for the return of little Charlie
McComas, recently captured by Indians in this county, at the time of
the killing of Judge and Mrs. McComas. Letters, descriptive of the
boy, together with his photograph have been to sent to different
parties in Chihuahua and Sonora. It is generally believed that the
boy will be recovered.
He wasn't.
Jason Bentzinez, cousin of
Geronimo, reveals in his book titled _I rode with Geronimo_ that,
contrary to what authorities were told by the Apaches, the boy did
not wander away from camp and disappear into the brush, never to be
seen again. Rather, a warrior named Speedy, after learning that hired
Indian scouts with General Crook had killed his mother, beat the boy
to death with rocks in revenge.
Writes Bentzinez (once
Batsinas) 91 years old in 1959: "Everyone connected with this
tragedy is now dead. So the truth can at last be told."
--
Well, such is history, isn't it? Does
it have to be?
There's no question the days of the Old
West were just one big murderfest -- native groups like Apaches
attacking miners, miners luring Apaches into traps, bandits robbing
stage coaches, drunkards shooting it out with other drunkards, in
short, bad men killing other bad men, lawmen giving bad men their
just desserts, and innocents like Charlie McComas meeting untimely
deaths. Thousands died violently in the years of Manifest Destiny --
as an unfortunate side-effect of gold and silver fever, land grabs,
cattle and sheep drives, smallpox and flu epidemics, military
campaigns, rebellions, and forced resettlement of indigenous peoples.
Yes, but weren't there any Quakers on
the frontier? Weren't there any pacifists or peacemakers?
In the modest resources of the Marshall
Memorial Library (bless them) in Deming, I found the story of one
enlightened soul named William H. Ryus, a stage coach driver and
wagon train conductor who moved passengers and freight from Missouri
to New Mexico in the 1860s. Billy Ryus recalled only friendly
encounters with Native Americans in his autobiography, The Second
William Penn:Treating with Indians on the Santa Fe Trail, 1860-1866.
He reasoned that many of the Indians he
met could just use a good meal. Before he set out on his route, he
made sure he had several hundred pounds of bacon, bread, and coffee
to share with any Indians he came across. He insisted his passengers
show no fear or hostility when approached by Indians and, inevitably,
any time spent with the red people passed pleasantly and without
incident. Even on the warpath, the tribes would let Billy pass with
his cargoes intact
Though not a Quaker -- he would need to
resort to gunplay on occasion -- Billy took the position that the
Indians would not have resorted to depredations and murder, if whites
had not consistently abused their trust. His attempts to establish
peaceful relations with Native Americans and to avoid hostilities
saved many lives. Wouldn't it be great to find an historical marker
which, instead of commemorating a violent event, recalled a peaceful
encounter between red and white people of the West? Such as this
event which Billy Ryus witnessed?
In 1863, here
outside of Fort Larned, several hundred soldiers from Fort Riley and
about 15,000 Comanches, Kiowas, and Cheyennes spent an entire day of
games, camaraderie, and feasting. Horse races were followed by a
buffalo barbecue, for which the soldiers provide cutlery, and the
Indians supplemented with candy and cigars. Speeches were made and
generosity of spirit prevailed.
It happened. That was history too.
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