14 
LIPANS.—CAMANCHES. 
and as far to the south as the San Elizario of Texas. They drive off great quantities of stock, 
and make good their retreat to the mountains, before intelligence of their presence can be com¬ 
municated to the commanders of the military posts along the river. They have absolutely no 
object but plunder, or perhaps the desire to recover their own, and have never, to my know¬ 
ledge, been known to attack a larger number of persons than ten. The great difficulty of con¬ 
trolling or chastising them has consisted in the impossibility of overtaking or bringing them to 
an engagement. Upon the approach of a body of armed men, they scatter to all points of the 
compass, over the mountains and by-paths of the country, and only reunite at some point far 
removed from danger. On their wiry and active ponies they scale heights apparently imprac¬ 
ticable, and rush at headlong speed through the most difficult and dangerous passes of the 
mountains. 
A company of seventy-five men can traverse their country in any direction without encoun¬ 
tering danger or resistance. Against such Indians as these it is plain that military expeditions 
cannot succeed, and instead of. endeavoring to punish, it would seem wiser to take measures to 
prevent their depredations. 
The changes in the present military arrangements which seem to me desirable for this object, 
will be duly suggested. Efforts have been made to induce these Indians to settle in the vicinity 
of the posts, and to cultivate fields, but so far without hope of success. 
It is almost impossible to arrive at any correct notion of their number; but from all I could 
learn, they cannot exceed seven thousand persons. 
The Lipans .—Of these Indians I know but little. Their range is far to the south of the 32d 
parallel; and although small parties have been occasionally seen in the valley of the Pecos and 
near to the Guadalupe mountains, their visits have been so rare and seemingly so objectless as 
to render it but little important that they should be enumerated among the tribes of Indians 
who infest this region of country. They number, probably, five hundred souls. 
The Camanches .—The Camanches—the Arabs of the deserts of North America—have long 
occupied an important place among the Indian nations of this continent. In conjunction with 
the Sioux or Dacotahs of the North, they have for many years maintained an almost undis¬ 
puted sway over the immense regions between the Rocky mountains and the frontiers of the 
western States. They are variously estimated at from 15,000 to 40,000 persons; but probably 
one-half of the larger estimate will fully include their entire population. Many small tribes 
under different names, but speaking the same language, and fragments of bands whose power 
and influence have long since passed away, live among them in friendly or dependent relations. 
In their hunting expeditions among the buffalo, they roam as far to the north as the 38th 
parallel of latitude ; and, passing the Rio Grande five hundred miles from their homes, 
they invade the dominions of Mexico to within two hundred and fifty miles of her capital. In 
small parties, and unsupported, they penetrate into the densest settlements of the northern 
States of Mexico; and in broad daylight, and nearly unopposed, they carry off into captivity 
hundreds of human beings, and thousands of horses and mules, and lay under contribution 
populous towns, and even large cities. They are objects of the extremest terror to the Mexi¬ 
can; and it is related that a single Camanche, even at mid-day, dashed at speed into the 
public square of the city of Durango, and by his mere presence caused the hasty closing of the 
stores and public places of the city, and the rapid retreat of a population of thirty thousand 
souls to their barred houses. He remained an hour roaming through the deserted streets, and 
was only captured by being lassoed from the window of a house as he was riding triumphantly 
but carelessly from the suburbs. Such an occurrence must appear amazing to the last degree 
to an American, who has been accustomed to deal with the Indian upon terms of advantage; 
but in the Mexican, the sight of a half-naked Camanche, with his shaggy horse and his quiver 
of arrows, produces a paralysis of fear, from which he seems never to recover. These wretched 
people, shut up in their barred and grated villages, will look forth despairingly, but without 
even an inclination to resist, upon one-third of their number of half-armed Camanches, rav- 
