A history of the Mescalero Apache Reservation, 1869-1881 Item Type text; Thesis-Reproduction (electronic) Authors Mehren, Lawrence L. (Lawrence Lindsay), 1944- Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 06/10/2021 14:32:58 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/554055 See, >4Z- 2 fr,r- Loiu*ty\t+~ >MeV.r«cr coiU.c> e ■ A HISTORY OF THE MESCALERO APACHE RESERVATION, 1869-1881 by Lawrence Lindsay Mehren A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 1 9 6 9 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This thesis has been submitted in partial fulfillment of re­ quirements for an advanced degree at The University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from, this thesis are allowable wihout special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the copyright holder. APPROVAL BY THESIS DIRECTOR This thesis has been approved on the date shown below: Associate Professor of History COPYRIGHTED BY LAWRENCE LINDSAY MEHREN 1969 iii PREFACE This thesis was conceived of a short two years ago, when I became interested.in the historical problems surrounding the Indian and his attempt to adjust to an Anglo-Saxon culture. Dr. Harwood P. Hinton, Associate Professor of History and editor of Arizona and the West, suggested a study of the Mescaleros in the 1870's. To him I owe the deepest gratitude. He not only, conceived of this thesis but gently and firmly saw it through to completion. The bulk of this thesis was written from primary material con­ tained in the National Archives, Washington, D. C. Although I was not able to research in the Archives, their microfilming program initiated some years ago provided me with easy access to materials needed. Also, I was able to research.in the original Mescalero Agency Records contained.in the Federal Records Center, Denver, Colorado. I am grateful to Miss Jane F. Smith and her staff at the National Archives for inquiries promptly answered. Delbert A. Bishop, the Manager of the Denver Federal Records Center, was kind enough to provide me with access to the Mescalero Agency Records. Mrs. Eve Ball of Hollywood, New Mexico, gave me much en­ couragement and help. Through her I was able to meet Charley Smith, a Mescalero who was deported to Florida with Geronimo in 1886. iv C. L. Sonnichsen and Albert H. Schroeder wrote me encouraging letters, and Colonel Charles Ward and Henry P. Walker showed great interest in my. study. The research of Maurice Garland Fulton, Robert N. Mullin, William A. Keleher, Frederick W. Nolan, and Philip J. Rasch provided me with valuable insights into Lincoln County, New Mexico,, in the 1870's. To Mrs. Martha Dawson for an excellent job of typing the manu­ script, I am indeed grateful. My wife Lynn provided me not only with understanding and sympathy in the inevitable slumps but also furnished the two excellent maps contained herein. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS............ ...................................................... vii ABSTRACT.................................... v iii 1. INTRODUCTION...................................................................................... 1 2. THE FIRST YEARS OF THE MESCALERO AGENCY................ 19 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE RESERVATIO N............................... 53 4. A MEASURE OF PROGRESS............................................................. 81 5. FREDERICK GODFROY'S FIRST YEAR AS A G E N T ...................123 6. THE MESCALEROS AND THE LINCOLN COUNTY WAR . .150 7. THE CARETAKER GOVERNMENT....................................................185 8. THE RUSSELL ADMINISTRATION .................................................... 203 9. A BACKWARD G L A N C E ......................................................................... 240 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY................................................................245 VI LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure Page 1. New M exico.in the 1 8 7 0 ' s ................................................................ 21 2. The M escalero Apache R eservation, 1876 ............................... 130 vii ABSTRACT For over 300 years the Mescalero Apaches defied Spanish, Mexican, and American sovereignty in southeastern New Mexico and southwestern Texas. By the 1870's much of the struggle had.ended. The Mescaleros were placed.on a reservation and governed by regular Indian agents. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the administra­ tions of the agents who determined the Mescaleros' destiny from 1869 to 1881. Hopefully, this study will provide insights into the role the Indian agent played in the expansion of Anglo-Saxon institutions:into the Southwest. The first civilian agent, Andrew Curtis, accomplished little from 1871 to 1873. The Mescaleros were not accustomed to regular feeding days, nor did they respond to Americanization. In the short year Samuel Bushnell was agent, the Mescalero Reservation became a reality. From 1874 to 1876 Williamson Crothers made successful advances:in education and agriculture. The disruptive influence of the Lincoln County War made Frederick Godfrey's administration.from 1876 to 1879 difficult, although he did provide some measure of control. Samuel Russell had to contend with the renegade Apache chief Victorio on the reservation, and thus found.few opportunities to help the Mescaleros adjust to the White Man's Way. viii ix Yet with all their failures, these agents provided.the founda­ tions upon which their successors could later build institutions of endur­ ing value in the Southwest. CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION When the white man came, the Mescalerd Apaches, a warlike, nomadic tribe, were roaming the mountains and plains of present-day southeastern New Mexico. Here for nearly 300 years they defied Spanish and Mexican sovereignty-and for another twenty years strug­ gled to adjust to American Indian policy. By the 1870's, however, much of the struggle had ended, and the period of accomodation to restricted boundaries, government rations, attempts to cultivate land, and learn the "White Man's Way" had begun. The extent to which the Mescaleros adjusted to these changes can be traced directly to the Indian agents who governed their lives. The purpose of this thesis is to examine in detail the administrations of five agents who controlled the destiny of the Mescaleros.from 1871 to 1881. It is hoped that this study will place in better focus the role the Indian agent played in the spread of American i • institutions into the Far Southwest. The Mescaleros were members of the Athapascan family who had migrated south from the Arctic regions centuries before the arrival 1. C. L. Sonnichsen, The Mescalero Apaches (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1958), pp. 11-172. 1 2 of the Europeans. Together with the Navajos, the Apaches constituted the western group of the southern division of the Athapascans. Although occasionally classified as western Apaches, the Mescaleros were gen­ erally placed with the eastern group, which also included the Jicarillas, Lipans, and Kiowa Apaches. The principal tribes of the Mescaleros included the Nataina, Tuetenini, Tshilinainde, Guhlkainde, andTahuunde •bands who resided mainly between the Rio Grande and Pecos rivers in New Mexico. Eventually, one or two groups which the Spaniards - called 2 Faraones moved into the White Mountains. Under pressure from hostile tribes, the Mescaleros.probably entered western Texas and eastern New Mexico early in the sixteenth century. The hunting-gathering-raiding pattern of their economy led them to seek both the mountains and the desert. They lived in the Sacramento and White mountains, richly timbered and teeming with game, in the summers and when the winters turned cold they retreated to the plains bordering the mountains. As they lived most of the year in near desert country, they developed into extremely hardy individuals, capable of great endurance. According to Charles F. Lummis, the Mescalero had "the eye of the kite, the ear of the cat, the cunning of the fox, the ferocious courage and tirelessness of the gray wolf. " The 2. John R. Swanton, The Indian Tribes of North America (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1952), pp. 327-330; Frederick W. Hodge, Handbook of Indians North of Mexico (2 vols., Washington: Government Printing Office, 1907, 1910), I, p. 846. 3 Mescalero warriors were described as wiry, with good lung capacity and tough muscles. Their physique was seldom large or heavy. They usually let their straight black hair hang loose, with a headband to keep it from covering their broad, round, and rather flat faces. The men dressed in buckskins and breechcloths, with high mocassins which 3 could be pulled up to the kneecap or folded down to the ankle. The Mescaleros hunted buffalo, deer, and elk, and gathered berries, fruits, and nuts. They travelled great distances to get to the mescal plant, from which they derived their name. A species of the aguave, the mescal plant, a large desert growth with thick, fleshy green leaves, grew in the foothills and on the lower mountain slopes. The Mescalero women would gather the mescal and cook it in large pits. What was not eaten could be dried and used at a future date. The mescal plant could also be made into a rather potent liquor, though the Mes- 4 caleros did not often use it for such. These Apaches lived in buffalo-hide tents, wickiups, brush shelters, and tipis. Their loosely knit social organization included independent bands, each under its own leader. In times of danger these 3. T. T. McCord, Jr., "An Economic History of the Mescalero Apache Indians" (M. A. thesis. University of New Mexico, 1946), pp. 11-12; Sonnichsen, Mescalero Apaches, pp. 12-14.