Editor’s Note: The Yuma Sun is reprinting articles from past newspapers honoring Yuma’s unique history. This column is one in a series written by local historian Frank Love that appeared periodically in the newspaper.
Apache warriors had been at war with Mexico for years by 1837, but Americans traveling the trail toward California were immune from their attacks.
Even Mexicans felt safe after Sonora made some treaties with the tribe in 1836, but an event in New Mexico in 1837 ended Apache friendship with both Mexicans and Americans. It seems the culprit who may have been responsible was an American merchant, John Johnson.
New Mexico, Arizona and California were Mexican territory then and would be until the treaty of 1848 ending the U.S. war with that country, but Americans traveled the area without fear. It appears that John Johnson was the cause of the years of Apache hostility which would only end after Geronimo and his warriors were captured in 1886 and be sent into captivity in Florida.
A Mexican law by the state of Chihuahua known as Proyecto de Guerra was partly to blame for causing Johnson to set off the Apache wars. Designed to end Apache attacks on Mexican citizens, Chihuahua offered to pay for Apache scalps. A male scalp brought the killer $100 while one from a female earned $50. A child’s scalp only earned $25.
John Johnson saw the Mexican law as an opportunity to make his fortune. He formed a party of 17 Americans and five Mexicans who began a search for Apaches they could kill for their scalps. The expedition appears to have been encouraged by the owners of the Santa Rita del Cobre copper mines. Some sources suggest they also agreed to pay Johnson for killing Apaches.
How Johnson lured the Mimbreno Apaches into his camp site in 1837 is in dispute. One source claims he promised them trade goods in exchange for a Mexican girl the Apaches held captive. All other accounts report that he invited the Apaches to a feast on pinole, which they accepted.
What the Apaches didn’t know about their dinner invitation was that hidden under some coverings nearby was a howitzer which Johnson had loaded with powder, nails and metal slugs. When the Mimbrenos began to eat the pinole, Johnson lit the fuse to the cannon and fired on his unsuspecting guests. It killed many immediately.
Those who didn’t die were then attacked by Johnson’s men, who were waiting nearby to begin killing the Mimbrenos for their scalps. A few Indians managed to escape the massacre and report it to their tribe.
Retribution came quickly. Fifteen trappers were camped by a stream a few miles distant. Mimbreno warriors invaded their camp, killing all of them, the following day.
The copper miners at Santa Rita were the next to suffer from Johnson’s cupidity. Their camp always depended for their supplies upon guarded wagon trains coming from Chihuahua. When none appeared on the day they expected it to arrive, they began worrying about running out of provisions and ammunition.
After a week passed with no arrival of the supply train, several miners climbed a nearby mountain to see if they could sight it. Unable to see any evidence that their supplies were coming, they returned to the mines to tell the work force that they were facing the possibility of starvation.
When the remaining food was gone, the work force at the mines decided they would have to make their way to the nearest settlement to survive. Starting out across the desert, they came under persistent Apache attack. Sources don’t tell how many were in the miner group, but claim that only four or five survived and reached a town.
The scalp bounty also affected the history of the Yuma Crossing because Sonora also paid one. This attracted a gang of Texans led by John Glanton to Mexico who quickly realized it could be difficult for the authorities to determine whether a scalp came from the head of an Apache or a Mexican citizen. They were soon collecting the headpieces of both Indians and Mexicans for the bounty.
The Sonoran government eventually realized where Glanton was getting so many scalps and ordered his arrest. He fled with his band to the Crossing area in 1850. Arriving here, they found Mexican War veteran Able Lincoln getting rich from transporting gold seekers across the Colorado on his ferry to California. Quechan natives also had a ferry on the river operated for them by an army deserter, Callaghan.
Alone at the Crossing, Able Lincoln couldn’t resist Glanton when he announced that he was making himself a partner in the ferry business. The gang then murdered Callaghan so that they would have no competition. Quechans responded by attacking the Glanton ferrymen and killing all but three of the band who managed to flee to the California coast.
The bounty system for Apache scalps had far reaching consequences which even affected the Yuma Crossing.
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By FRANK LOVE , www.yumasun.com
www.yumasun.com – Vivrr Local Results in features of type article , 2024-03-31 05:00:00
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