FIRST TRIP TO MEXICO 157 



never come in under the government control, for 

 the simple reason that those tribes live in these 

 almost inaccessible parts of the mountains, where 

 no one but themselves are familiar with the trails 

 through the great cane-brakes, so that it has been 

 impossible to round them up. For the last year 

 they have been comparatively quiet, but there are 

 two tribes of Apaches, one especially that have 

 been raiding ranches, isolated settlers and stray 

 travelers, killing men and women and taking 

 their supplies; usually after a raid of this kind, 

 some of the old frontiersmen and cow-punchers 

 get together and trail these red devils into the 

 mountains, and, if successful, they usually man- 

 age to reduce their numbers considerably. So 

 many encounters of this kind have they had that 

 there only remained nine in this tribe, five bucks 

 and four squaws; by the way, the squaws can 

 shoot just about as well as the bucks, and always 

 take a hand during hostilities. 



One of the nine is a young buck, generally 

 known throughout here as "The Kid." He has 

 done a lot of killing and has been wounded twice, 

 but still roams the mountains and is the terror of 

 the country. I was very much interested in the 

 "Kid," and asked many questions concerning 

 him, listening with interest to many of his daring 



