Page 250 - Confronting Race Women and Indians on the Frontier, 1815 - 1915

CHAPTER S E VEN

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years later, in 8 5 3 , Mangas and Victorio tried again to establish peace
with whites. In that year, the men signed the Fort e bster treaty. A year
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later, they agreed to try f a rming, but the us. government f a iled to
supply reliable teachers, adequate f o od, tillable land, and f a rm imple­
ments as they had promised. Eventually, the U S . Congress refused to
ratify its agreements with the Apaches. In other words, Victorio and
Mangas were willing to give up their traditional way oflife and become
pseudo-whites, only to discover that white vows were f a lse.
During these years, the numbers of miners, setters, and travelers
increased so rapidly thatVictorio's people, who were hunters, f a ced mal­
nutrition and even starvation. In 1 8 54,Victorio's hopes rose when Dr.
Michael Steck came to New Mexico to establish an Indian agency at
Fort Thorn. Although Steck became a strong advocate f o r Apaches, he
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could not wrest adequate supplies f r om a shington officials nor could
he stop hungry Apaches fr om raiding settlers' stock. In 1 8 5 5 , Apache
leaders were presented with another treaty, this one requiring the
Mimbres and Mescalero Apaches to surrender twelve to fifteen thou­
sand square miles of their land to the US. government in exchange f o r
f o od and protection. Because Mangas Coloradas and Victorio mis­
trusted whites, they refused to sign. Eventually, the US. Senate rejected
the treaty because deposits of iron, lead, copper, and silver were f o und
on Mimbres land, but not in the areas fo r which the U S . government
had asked.
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During the remainder of the 8 50s, and during the 1860s and 1870s,
Victorio vacillated between hanging back and actively resisting. Among
other white atrocities,Victorio witnessed in 8 61 the capture of Cochise
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and some of his kin during "peace" talks in a white military camp.
Another atrocity, also in 1861, concerned Victorio's beloved Mangas
Coloradas.White miners in Pinos Altos tied Mangas to a tree, whipping
him with ox goads until his back was broken and bloody. Although
Victorio knew about Mangas Coloradas's torture, he preserved Mangas's
dignity by remaining silent. T w o years later, in 1 8 63, a group of Civil
W a r soldiers seized Mangas, shot him, and buried him, only to dig him
up, whack his head off, and boil his skull. Victorio was humiliated, fo r
Apaches believed that in the afterworld a person's body had the same
condition as at the time of death.4