384 



FOREST AND STREAM. 



have owned, I think, four elaborate ones by different 

 authors), hut none of them, Bo turns T know, have any value 

 except for the lowlands. These well-known districts are 

 usually put down with accuracy euough to guide a trav- 

 eler, hul, the mountain regions have' been worked in at 



random. 



Rivers on tlie maps have names unknown in the cuiiul.i v 

 and i mi in impossible- ilircclions. while Hie actual streams 



an- often left out, and the towns appear to have he"" di- 



irihuled from a pepper box. The map makers, when in 

 want ni ;i heiter guide, have usually followed tin' Wanders 

 of Micir predecessors in this field, so their agreement is no 

 sign of their being right. 



803 pa in fait, i< situated on theYaqui River, a1 least 

 wilhin a quarter of a mile of (he river, hut the maps pill il 

 in a wholly diffi rent place. 



A creek flows alone one side of the town ami opposite lie 

 the strangling buildings of u large mining hacienda, coin 

 prising all the shops, mills mid machinery to reduce tin- ores 

 brought from souk- mines across the river. 



We had an introduction to the superintendent of Hie haci- 

 enda, and enjoyed bis hospitality, while we made arrange- 

 mi "... io continue our journey with a pack train. 



Whili v. .,-;:,, a wagon drove up one 



_ amid a rapid Bring of rifles. It proved to hi- two 



ts coming to look al the Soyopa minea li may be that 



mademc takean unfair view of these 



men. However. Istopdngbod chance of learnimr their 



real characters 11 there w any value in the adage that "there 



is truth in wine. ' because they were steadily drunk. Thi 



com. nis of their wagon when unpacked showed a little bed 



dm.-, one ham, and "an intolerable deal of sack." and otua 



liquors. 



We lefl Soyopa and ia-.is.-ed tin river by ferrying, carrying 



our goods in a large SCOW, and holding tin-' heads of' the 

 horses to the sides of the boat, and on the second day reached 

 Baoaiiora. fail not wholly without adventure. 



Theroadlay up a steep canon and then over a rolling 

 mesa to a camping place. We began to go up the winding 

 path thai led to the rnesu a little at'tei dark, when we heard 

 dismal bootlngs thai seemed to me to be the song of a screech 

 owl. The Doctor thought it waa clearly the call of a band 

 ot predatory Indians, imitating the cry of that bird, to de 



eciv,- travelers, while Juan held thai il' WO? a pure Apache 



nolo with no bird about it. 



Our discordant party halted, retreated, and madewbisp- 

 ered proposals to send out scouts to spy the land, till a 

 countryman came upon a jackass and told us with scorn 'twas 

 Inn a hr„h,l,.. 



There is another kind of owl they call Lchn^i. [have 



leekusa of great size. He looked indeed as he- stood 



outlined againsl the.-kv. fully three feel high, but that is not 



given as a measured dimension. '/;.■„'„/,*. however, are little 



fellows like tin- screech owls of the United States. 



date) :' IGandara had for along time held, in 



the person of some of its members, the position of governor 

 of Sotiora. The place was looked upon as theirs by prescrip- 

 tive mat. and even if Mexican elections were liot ahvavs 

 farcical, probably a contented people would have kept a 

 reasonably good governor, lint there was stationed at a 

 frontier outpost a federal commandant named Pesqueira 

 with a few soldiers, who objected to the aristocratic tonden- 

 cies of the government. To a modern ohserver, the temper 



of the great !v of Mexicans seems the most peaceful pos 



Bible, in spite of occasional displays of rhetoric by excit- 

 able vomit- men, and the tine writing of official journals, it 

 is , lear from the W03 ill which men avoid militia duty, and 

 shun possible meetings with brigands ftnd Indians, that • war 

 lever' is not a prevailing ill. 



Bui in tin: lime of Gandara the temper of the people was 

 very different. -Not a man in the Hlate hut sided warmly 

 with one of the opposing parties. Almost every town was 

 il: ■ scene of armed conflict. There were unnumbered bloody 

 private brawls, and even the women washing clothes at the 

 water-ditch would leave their tasks to fight fiercely on be- 

 half oi ih-ir political favorite. One or the last skirmish, s 

 lost bj the Gaiidarcfios was at iiacanora. Here fell the 

 governor's brother, and hi- trunkless head was long dis- 

 played iii savage triumph on the mud-built tower of the old 

 church. 



-Nowadays thoV-nown of the town depends on the excel- 

 lence of its' mescal. .Much better liquor, to my taste, i- made 

 u.:o- Ai.-oeos. hui the drinking public when careful about 

 the quality of its spirits, askscilhci for Bacanoraor l'equila 

 and. perhaps, gets what it asks lor. 



We tent :i chicken Iri.-d at llacauoia, which cost us twen- 

 ty li\.- cent-, and while we were digesting him. quite a 



number of old aquaintances oame up to the porch to talk to 

 the Doctor, who was well known here. .Most of tin- visitors. 

 knowing the Doctor's weakness, brought lumps of rock, 

 samples of mines owned by the visitors, hui even those with 

 oul samples seemed well provided with mines. 



To have a mine, in the view of a poor Mexican, does not 

 seem to imply exclusive ownership, or even legal title. 

 Either the alleged owner has seen some quarts outcrop, or 

 his relative or friend has picked ups«me mineral, or hi ha ■ 

 heard the value of some old workings talked about, and. 



"in intention of deceiving, he tellsyou that he has a 



mine of great value, and the sunny texture of the southern 



teinperam.nl doe- nol al all understand why this kind of 



We 





1 lati 



main range, the Sierra Juadtc proper commencing beyond 



Saguaripa. 



The trail was very open for most of the distance, running 

 along the crests of Hi.- ridges, hut we came to a spot 

 called Hie Calera, where roeBeemed likely toliave serious 

 trouble. 



I fancy from the name, for one could not tell much about 

 rocks in the dark, that the formation was limestone. The 

 travel of years had worn a gutter in the stone, and tin- wash 

 ing of pebbles and boulders down this narrow course during 

 the lain had eroded a deep trough, just as in hydraulic min- 

 ing, Ihe tailings washed from the hank cut through the 



rim-rock a channel which guides the gravel to the riffles be 

 low. 



Now a pack looks very broad to one unused tpsucb sights, 



jut oul far from ih. animal's side, and thai ill" Bpace re- 

 quired C01 mch burdens o> squeeze through i- very small. 



At the Cnli in. however, even Ihe small space wanted was 



not given, and. narrowly escaping the loss of our iuo-gan-e 

 we backed out, and sidled dow :i the hill as best we could. 



And (hen the sun rose over the majestic mountains frbut 

 ing us, and we forgot our griefs, 



So deep an impression did this picture make on me, that f 

 framed it in verse, as follows: 



The sun a* vet below the horizon's rhh. 



Tie- 

 Thn 



f night 



might.* 



And- glassing eatfle dot th 

 I". front, He- mountain ir 

 Riaoa, a tumuli o«vftst-» 

 lis Infant ranges ridge the fringing plain, 

 Huarding iii.- parent peais-trifli walla (hat Mock 

 'fie- ui-.-uii of elements! tnaeeaseleBs strata 

 1 if 1 line's deeay, and eai-ihqnake.'s crumbling Bhnelr, 

 Travel, long suspended by iheannual Qoods, was juStstart 

 ingafr&sb when we lefi Bagnaripa. En many places there 

 was no track at all left, but, as we had for several days a 

 valley to guide us, it needed all the Doctor's ingenuity to lose 

 Hie way. 



It seems strange that in a country so long settled as this, 

 and with such a number of wllaees, there should he no roads, 

 and that even ihe paths which do the duly of roads shcrald 

 he so often invisible or impassable. From Soyopa eastward 

 wagons are unknown, and yet the occupation of the Span- 

 iards probably dates hack iwo. perhaps nearly three, centuries. 

 li is only fair to the Spaniard, however; to say that the 

 conditio,, f the country, as regards arts and industries, has 

 become worse sine- ib" independence of Mexico, and it may 

 be that the greater energy of the old mastersof the soil would 

 have made notable additions to the material welfare of the 

 (•■•niiiiry ii they had not been driven out.by their oppressed 

 inferiors. 



Ai a small town named Ariveehe, there was an instance of 

 modern progress which rather shocked me. 



Don Arisico is the king of that village, as far as owning 

 all tlieproperiv and being ihe ere. ii lor ot all the inhabitants 

 can make a king; and in his cool house ami shady gardens 

 we took our dinner and our siesta. Ih- told us a story aboul 

 the ruined church on the plaza, giving us the names of all 

 the actors, and with an aeceui of truth so impressive that 

 it was not until 1 undertook to retail the storj to 

 mine that I found it was.an old stock tale (hat Don Aristeo 

 had, with intentional guile, translated perhaps from the 

 New York Times, or some other dispenser of good literature. 

 It appears that the Ariveehe church was destroyed during 

 the Mexican war for independence. Among. the attractions 

 of the church was a large gilded wooden statu,- of Christ. 

 The wood was a valuahle foreign timber, and Ihe handiwork 

 was so good as to show that European artists must have done 

 it. 



No doubt this bulky and precious image must have been 

 carried hundreds of miles on the shoulders of men and 

 placed there by the old Jesuits to stimulate the religion of 

 their Indian proscfj tes. 



When, in the storin of revolution, the church was plundered, 

 this image wa.s carried away by Doha Clara, a pious lady, 

 pill in her best room, and guarded with jealous care loawail 

 the rebuilding of its proper shrine. 



When peace returned the priests wandered back to again 

 gather 1 heir scattered flocks. 



One old lather had rather an extensive circuit, hut used to 

 come every week to Ariveehe, and at each visit would put 

 the children through their catechism. 



Chancing one day on a little fellow who was new to the 

 service, he asked him. 



"My son, ilo you know who made you?" 



"Yes, fat her." God made me.'' 



"Do yon know where God is?" 



"Yes, my father.'' 



"Where "is he. Son? 



"He is in the parlor of DoSb Clara." 



The system i>r peonage, which was practically slavery for 

 debt, has been long abolished in Mexico, hut it 'took agrcai 

 while for th.- ignorant people to find out mis fact, and not 

 only the name pn/ic, but deep traces of this institution are 

 still left, especially in parts of the country away from the 

 main lines of travel. 



A- an instance of thi-. I was told that a pack train of 

 Indians had gone through Ariveehe shortly l» lore us. Some 

 enterprising contractor bad found it cheaper to use men 

 than mule-, and with a good deal of laught.-r. and somelittlc 

 indignation, my informant told me how the food wa- served 



out to the Carriers, how their harnesses wen- pui on. their 



galled spots dressed, and the treatment usually given 10 

 utiles followed oul in handling these human animals who, 

 ;enflcr than other brutes, dill not even balk when ovcr- 

 aaded. 



Theoretically ii seems, thee packers get wages of some 

 three or four 'dollars a month, but by St system of credit 



isely used, they are continually lefl with a balance 



rainst Ihem, which they must pay 'for in work. 



Humors of raiding Indians were coming thicker as wo 

 went on. We were fortunatein finding a largi 

 mule train, just before we crossed the mesa ol Buisamopa, 

 and we joined forces with these travelers tor greater safety. 



The mesa of Guisamops is an extensive and fertile table 

 land, and after passing this you plunge into a g.»r_e called 

 the "Pilares." from Ihe treat columns of roil; thai fence it 



Th'-sc two places are famous for Apache murders. The 

 lope that leads down to the fibres had two stone piles with 

 crosses on them, fresher than the other similar mounds, 

 which marked the spots where the latest victims lay, and 

 every now and then the frightened natives came with tales, 

 for fhc most pan iinioiinded, of fresh outrages. 



Our parly, however, bristled with arms and overflowed 

 with military spirit, therefore we passed undisturbed on our 

 way to Santa Rosa, Here we met another reuiirujei of In- 

 dian fight; a Mexican wilh a bullet in the hip. which he had 

 on the occasion of the attack on the C'ftrrisul. The old 

 fellow was very thin anil so weak thai he could nol risefrom 

 his bed. but, us his wound was honorably gained in .hi 

 attempt to retaliate on the Apaches, he liked to tell over the 

 details of Ihe massaere. 



Nothing could be less like a light. A number of girls had 

 gone to bathe, and, startled by [he arrival of a raiding party, 

 ran hack 10 their hoii-e. 



A cowardly old woman within barred the door Iron: fear. 



hui did not save herself, for the Apaches seized the girls and 

 then broke in the door and got the old woman. Then they 



handed over the victims to their squaws, who beat them to 

 death with stones. 



Thirteen Mexican women were thus slaughtered in pure 

 wantonness, and the one man who took his gun and started 

 out. to take revenge was shot and kit where he fell. 



Our next Stop, and indeed our chief puinl of mining in- 

 terest, was ihe little town of Bants Ana This gathering of 

 huts consists almosl entirely of descendants and' heirs of the 

 original owners of th- Santa Ana ranch. A large .grant, 

 Chiefly valuable for Ihe irrigating fucililies tiven by numer- 

 ous springs thai flow from a plot oi ground perhaps five 

 acre- in extent and form a large stream of water, was in the 

 tirsi place made to six persons. Beventy-two plaiinants of 

 .-liar.- Mill live on the ground and quarrel over the distribu- 

 tion of the water, while many others, weary of th,: fruitless 

 si nil-, have wandered oil and could only be found by some 



pCl'SPn who should want 10 buy the place. In Ih 1: 



who had olahus and some who had not would probably be 

 found asking larte sums for their interests und refusing to 

 compromise. 



Il i- very hard to gel a clear legal title to an old ranch for 

 tin- reasons I have here hinted al. The claimants are numer- 

 ous and scattered, and il is almost, certain that among them 

 there will be obstinate, malicious people who play the pari 

 of obstacles. 



In spite (if the intestiue disagreements of the: owners, in 

 Bpiteof Ihe elevation of the count i\ nestled up in ihe bear! of 

 the Sierra. Santa Ana produces plentiful and varied crops. 



Oranges of the best kind, limes. I.ii .-. and a kind of fruit 



called lima which I had nevi r seen before, hut which I 

 am told grows in Southern California under the name of 



Com grew everywhere. Now and then patches of brush 

 would he burnt oil' the mountain sides and corn rai-ed on 



Thjsstyleof culture iscalled rtmr, and the field 



so prepared is a /■-;.<. The first year alter tie- tin- quite fl 

 good crop comes up. The second year a -lender crop, and 

 the third year there U hardly any yield ;.i all. so they look up 

 another hillside till nature shall supply a new growth of 

 : -i on ihe old field for a fresh burning. 

 The iw.il* around Santa Ana had been pretty well ravaged, 

 as 1 was told, lo, deer and javaliat. These last animals are 



Ihe wild hogs or" peccaries of the Southwest. Nol only Hie 

 hooks, but the people who should know. Bay thai jamaUet 

 are dangerous brutes to meet. 1 have never" been able to 

 find one alive, and never heard a reliable account of anv man 

 being hurt by them, li may lie that their nature has ehaugi d 

 through lapse of time, and thai like the Sermons Tacitus 

 tells of. "their fighting- qualities in their first contests were 

 greater than those of' men, in their last, less thai thoseoi 

 women." 



A man offered im- ihe hind quarter of a wild boar, which 

 clearly oame from a small animal, and would not weigh 

 more than twelve pounds at the outside. I did 1101 buy it-. 

 however, because the flesh of the males is rank, both to smell 

 and taste, or, as the Mexican beautifully phrased it. "has an 



There are very many kinds of tin-- thai have their seed in 

 bean-like pods in this part of the country. I think botanists 

 call such trees ••leguminous.'' Besides the universal nws 

 '/Hi'', from whose fruit a drink like chocolate is sometimes 



made, there are tie- algflTtoba and the tiiinimij, , wllOse light 



yellow green foliage never fades, but sho waits .spot of bright- 



■■<: >■- win 'i Ihe r. -I of Ihe foivsl is brown from drought. 



Perfumed weeds there are, too. in great numbers. /■>.'</■ 

 Jhi/.i. or vermouth, anisillo. which has a taste like paregoric, 

 only pleasanler, very near the flavor of liquorice drops; and 



own a sickly sprout carefully 

 s told thai i"t was yerba hurni'i. 



Ivertisements of the 'bitters," 



: .I that life-giving 



n to pluck a sprig and taste it" 



tiding Our Old familiar houieh 



Asa -real eurio-h.v I was 

 tended in a broken pot, and \ 

 Mvi-.iinil at once turned to the 

 and I thOUghl 1 should now f 

 medicine, so 1 asked permiss 

 fancy my disappointment at 

 mint." 



Before Starting homeward we paid a visit to the town and 

 mine of I.n Trinidad. 



The mine was nut being worked at that inoiiienl, hut the 

 courteous superintendent <took me through the Dios Padn 



claim and would have guided me through the Dion /», i.l 



the Sunt; /iHjiiii/'i if my lime had sufficed— names that seem 

 singular io Engli8h ears, hut which .-im: used then- wilh no 

 sense of profanity and irreverence, 



One dish which they gave us I'oi dinner was new Io me 

 anil tasted so well that Twill give a description (if il, with 

 fair warning that it is not a r. cipe. 



The juice of the sugar cane, squeezed out by rude ivilleis 

 is usually not retined. but boiled to a thick "lark brown 

 liquid, run into molds and allowed to ervstalli/.e. These 



brown blooksof sugar, weighing usually from bne-baJf to 

 three-quarters od d pound each, an called panotku*. Vano- 

 o/tasare boiled with milk till the right degree of consistency 

 is peached, when the resulting syrup is set to cool and coag- 

 ulates into something half way between a candy and a pud- 

 ding, wilh the color of cinnamon and aslight taste of caramel. 

 And now we turned again toward Hcrmosillo. The first 

 pari of ih.- retreat was rotable only for a point in natural 

 history brought to my attention. " We are told and have 

 reason 10 believe thai a mule, with many vices and lollies 

 allied tO Stubbornness, i- five from thai "hoi headed lash.v — 

 which leads some horses into danger when excited, but my 

 mule tried very hard to jump oil' Ihe trail down a sleep place 

 into the gulch a hundred led beneath, from sheer anger al 



being spurrod. She hadandtho; queer iriek. too. Bhe would 



Stand and he saddled as quietly as a saw horse, bill always 

 bucked when the trappings were taken oil'. Thi-. hOWl v. r. 

 appeared to come from nervousness about being touched on 

 iii. croUp, a trait not uncommon in half-trained animals. 



As we l.-fi ihe Indian remit ry behind, we began to hear 

 of wars and rumors ot warsamong the Mexicans. Federal 

 detachments were being ( ailed in from the mounlain posts 

 and we traveled a race with one company for nearly a week. 

 Sometimes they would be ahead, soim lit) es we- bu1 finally 

 they reached their destination first. 



The soldiers were little fellows for the most part and from 

 other Stales, i am told thai when a man commit- a .1 Im.- 



which subjects him to more than four years irnprisoflruent 



he can he condemned to the army instead. The details of 

 this statement may be wrong, but there is a general agree- 

 ment that many of "the recruits of the federal army are con- 

 victs. Of couise, this gives a low tone 10 ihe service, but it 

 clearly does not hurl their marching qualities. 'r,n leagues 

 a day over mountain trails was the performancee of this de- 



lachmi HI thai raced wilh US- bare-legged, heavy la.i, n san- 

 dalled men. often shullling along with awkward gail, but 

 covering a great dial oi ground with very link- to eai. 

 The pay of a soldier ot the line is two bits anda half a 



