322 
INCIDENTS AT THE 
ship of the Apaches, a tribe of Indians which has the 
reputation of being the most hostile and treacherous 
to the whites of any between the Rio Grande and the 
Pacific. It is the conduct of unprincipled traders and 
emigrants, who sow the seeds of intemperance and 
vice among them, which has created most of the diffi- 
culties before experienced. These men defraud them 
of their property, and, on the slightest pretence, take 
their lives. That the Indians feel the deepest hatred 
towards the Mexicans is true, and they certainly have 
reason for entertaining a strong antipathy to that peo- 
ple. Acts of treachery of the grossest and crudest 
description have been practised by the Mexicans to- 
wards them ; and, though years have passed away since 
these events occurred, they are not forgotten by the 
Apaches. The desire of revenge, or as we should 
term it in our own case, of retributive justice, seems, 
instead of diminishing, to acquire increased intensity, 
with the lapse of time. But bad as the conduct of the 
Mexicans may have been towards these Indians, they 
'never were guilty of a more fiendish act than one per- 
petrated on them by an Englishman, some twelve or 
fourteen years ago, in the northern part of Sonora. 
The particulars as related to me are briefly these : and 
having heard them both at El Paso, and at Arispe, I 
have no doubt of their correctness. It seems that in 
consequence of the depredations of the Indians, the 
State of Sonora offered a premium of one hundred dol- 
lars for each Apache scalp. A disgrace to his nation, 
named Johnson, actuated by the reward, induced a 
large party of Apaches, men, women and children, to 
assemble around a quantity of goods, which he had 
