Page:Boissonnas, Un Vaincu, English, 1875.djvu/27

 their living to seize by looting the product of other people′s work.

Remarkable riders, the Indians would escape from their campsites in small groups, cover in a single night enormous distances, surprise isolated settlers, set fire to their farms, herd the cattle away, slaughter men, women, and children, and be back amidst their own people before the news of their attack had reached those who could have pursued them. Wherever the proximity of the Mexican border allowed Indian gangs to take refuge, they escaped repression. Soon, a great number of Indians settled in the Mexican territory, and safe from punishment, intensified their destructions. It became completely impossible for the Europeans to live along the extended frontier of Mexico. Like a flight of vultures, the looting Comanches, Apache, Pawnees, et cetera, swooped down on the clearings in the forests, and, loaded with the spoils they had robbed from the settlers, returned to the shelter given by the flag that protected them. Many a time did the U. S. Government try to obtain from Mexico a more thorough control of its border, or reparation for the loss sustained. The promises made -- promises that were, perhaps, difficult to honor -- were always broken. So much so, that in 1847, the U. S. declared war on Mexico.

There is always something painful in seeing a powerful nation attack a weak one, and Captain Lee was among those who would have preferred the Union government to display a still