Page 131 - Confronting Race Women and Indians on the Frontier, 1815 - 1915

FRONTI E R P R O C E S S : VI L I F YI N G

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were "large" and o numerous that they did not know what to believe.
One added, "If they all increase in proportion, I don't know what they
would be when they get to you."The other woman assured her cousin
that she hoped not to "see an Indian f o r ten years" because "it is not
very pleasant to be in f e ar of them all the time." The upshot of the affair
was that "for a week we had six persons beside our own f a mily here
nights, and six guns well loaded, but we did not use them."155
Native American leaders, who were neither stupid or uninformed
as many whites thought, were privy to white reactions. In the case of
the Mimbres Apaches in New Mexico, f o r example, ChiefVictorio
received information during the r860s and 1 8 70S f r om his own scouts,
as well as f r om white traders and travelers. He knew when the whites'
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civil war ended in 8 64 and watched with apprehension as grizzled war
veterans, Confederate and Union, took their place in the W e st's Indian­
fighting army.Victorio also knew that the citizens of nearby Pinos Altos
had raised a cry heard in the territorial capital, Santa Fe. In 1 8 66, out­
raged citizens implored officials to establish a reservation f o r the
Mimbrenos, but instead the legislature gave to whites the right to f o rm
volunteer companies to hunt Indians, and take f o r their pay any plun­
der they f o und, including keeping Indian captives as slaves. More than
one train halted its journey or disappeared entirely , whereas entire f a m­
ilies left New Mexico T e rritory because of Vic to rio and his fighting
f o rce. 156 All this Victorio knew.
Victorio could have put down his arms and surrendered, but every
peace treaty he had ever signed became a travesty. From intelligence, he
understood that whites intended to make Indians dependent, unable to
f e ed or protect themselves, and doing as the U.S. government decreed.
But he was no longer willing to watch his inadequately supplied people
waste away on white reservations. 157 After hiding the young, old, and
infirm in havens in the San Mateo Mountains, Victorio's men raided
settlers' stock and even seized animals meant to f e ed the white military.
As the number of Mimbrenos declined, Victorio could not depend on
a white-style draft to replenish his f o rces. Apache women, who had
influence and certain rights, increasingly accompanied men on hunting
and military expeditions, as did Victorio's warrior sister Lozen. Apache
women performed such domestic work as setting up camps, preparing

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