Page:Travels in Mexico and life among the Mexicans.djvu/645

Rh move on seems useless and hazardous, and as their rations (all of which they are obliged to carry) are giving out, there is nothing to do but sound the retreat. Then it is that the Indians again assemble, and, being perfect masters of the country, make use of every gorge and canon from which to pour a deadly fire upon the weary and discouraged soldiers.

The Department of Arizona has been for several years in charge of General Crook, who has gained a reputation for bravery and skill as an Indian fighter second to that of no other officer of our army. When the last outbreak occurred he planned a campaign that should penetrate to the Indian stronghold, hoping thereby to strike terror into the hearts of the enemy and entirely crush them out. The difficulties attending Indian fighting in this department are not alone those resulting from the unfavorable character of the territory, but are augmented by the treaty stipulations between Mexico and the United States, by which alien troops are not permitted to cross the Border. Cognizant of these restrictions, the Apaches raid first one country and then the other, retreating over the line, where they for a while defy the pursuing soldiers, and enjoy their plunder unmolested.

After visiting the officers in command of the Mexican troops in Sonora and Chihuahua, and securing their promise of cooperation, if possible, and the assurance that treaty violations in this instance would be winked at, in view of the great advantages likely to accrue to Mexico from the bold movement, General Crook commenced his march into that unknown territory. In some respects this hazardous undertaking is without a parallel, and the interest excited and sustained during the forty days of his absence, when rumors of every sort filled the press, was without a precedent in the annals of our Indian campaigns.

A renegade Chiricahua Indian, called Peaches, conducted the troop over a trail which led into the heart of the Sierre Madres, for a distance of two hundred miles,—a country hitherto almost unknown to civilized man. The little band consisted of General Crook, with Captain Bourke, of the Third Cavalry, and Lieutenant Fiebeger, Corps of Engineers, as aids, and Captain A. R. Chaffee's company of the Sixth Cavalry, of forty-six men, and