TO SANTA CRUZ. 
397 
which led to the abandonment of so many other ran- 
chos, haciendas, and villages, in the State, had been 
the ruin of this. The Apaches encroached upon them, 
drove off their animals and murdered the herdsmen ; 
when the owners, to save the rest, drove them further 
into the interior, and left the place. Many of the cattle, 
however, remained and spread themselves over the hills 
and valleys near ; from these, numerous herds have 
sprung, which now range along the entire length of 
the San Pedro, and its tributaries. 
September The soldier, whom Colonel Gra- 
ham had sent to the San Pedro camp yesterday after- 
noon, returned this morning, and reported that when 
he had got within a short distance of the camp, he dis- 
covered a party of thirty or forty Indians, and in order 
to avoid them, he had concealed himself in a ravine, 
where he had passed the night. From this place he 
had made his waj" back to our camp, without reaching 
Lieutenant Whipple. I questioned this man as to the 
certainty of the people whom he saw, being Indians. 
He said they were a mile off; but seeing feathers in 
their hair, the peculiarities of their dress, and their 
galloping with speed over the plain, he felt sure they 
were such. Colonel Graham manifested much uneasi- 
ness, and now proposed that we should all proceed to the 
camp on the San Pedro, return with Messrs. Whipple 
and Gray to the Copper Mines to refit, and take a new 
start ; or that all should go to Santa Cruz for the same 
purpose. I did nat believe the people seen were In- 
dians ; and as the engineering parties were but two or 
three days’ journey from the point where they would 
begin their survey, I could see no advantage in retrac- 
