The Native Races [of the Pacific states], Volume 1, Wild Tribes

The Apache country is probably the most desert of all, alternating between sterile plains and wooded mountains, interspersed with comparatively few rich valleys. The rivers do little to fertilize the soil except in spots; the little moisture that appears is quickly absorbed by the cloudless air and arid plains which stretch out, sometimes a hundred miles in length and breadth, like lakes of sand. In both mountain and desert the fierce, rapacious Apache, inured from childhood to hunger and thirst, and heat and cold, finds safe retreat. It is here, among our western nations, that we first encounter thieving as a profession. No savage is fond of work; indeed, labor and savagism are directly antagonistic, for if the savage continues to labor he can but become civilized. Now the Apache is not as lazy as some of his northern brothers, yet he will not work, or if he does, like the Pueblos who are nothing but partially reclaimed Apaches or Comanches, he forthwith elevates himself, and is no longer an Apache; but being somewhat free from the vice of laziness, though subject in an eminent degree to all other vices of which mankind have any knowledge, he presents the anomaly of uniting activity with barbarism, and for this he must thank his thievish propensities. Leaving others to do the work, he cares not whom, the agriculturists of the river-bottoms or the towns-people of the north, he turns Ishmaelite, pounces upon those near and more remote, and if pursued retreats across the jornadas del muerte, or 'journeys of death' as the Mexican calls them, and finds refuge in the gorges, cañons, and other almost impregnable natural fortresses of the mountains.

PHYSIQUE OF APACHES.

The disparity in physical appearance between some of these nations, which may be attributed for the most part to diet, is curious. While those who subsist on mixed vegetable and animal food, present a tall, healthy, and muscular development, hardly excelled by the Caucasian race, those that live on animal food, excepting perhaps the Comanches, are small in stature, wrinkled, shriveled, and hideously ugly.645 All the natives of this family, with the exception of the Apaches proper, are tall, well-built, with muscles strongly developed, pleasing features, although at times rather broad faces, high foreheads, large, clear, dark-colored eyes, possessing generally extraordinary powers of vision, black coarse hair and, for a wonder, beards. Taken as a whole, they are the most perfect specimens of physical manhood that we have yet encountered. While some, and particularly females, are PHYSICAL PECULIARITIES. a light copper color, others again approach near to the dark Californian. Women are generally plumper, inclining more to obesity than the men. Some comely girls are spoken of amongst them, but they grow old early.646 In contradistinction to all this the Apaches proper, or Apache nation, as we may call them, are slim, ill developed, but very agile. Their height is about five feet four to five inches; features described as ugly, repulsive, emotionless, flat, and approaching the Mongol cast, while the head is covered with an unkempt mass of coarse, shocky, rusty black hair, not unlike bristles. The women are not at all behind the men in ugliness, and a pleasing face is a rarity. A feature common to the family is remarkably small feet; in connection with which may be mentioned the peculiarity which obtains on the lower Colorado, of having the large toe widely separated from the others, which arises probably from wading in marshy bottoms. All the tribes whose principal subsistence is meat, and more particularly those that eat horse and mule flesh, are said to exhale a peculiar scent, something like the animals themselves when heated.647

DRESS OF APACHES AND MOJAVES.

All the natives of this region wear the hair much in the same manner, cut square across the forehead, and flowing behind.648 The Mojave men usually twist or plait it, while with the women it is allowed to hang loose. Tattooing is common, but not universal; many of the Mojave women tattoo the chin in vertical lines like the Central Californians, except that the lines are closer together.649 Paint is freely used among the Mojaves, black and red predominating, but the Apaches, Yumas, and others use a greater variety of colors.650 Breech-cloth and moccasins are the ordinary dress of the men,651 while the women have a short petticoat of bark.652 The dress of the Mojaves and Apaches is often more pretentious, being a buckskin shirt, skull-cap or helmet, and moccasins of the same material; the latter, broad at the toes, slightly turned up, and reaching high up on the leg, serve as a protection against cacti and thorns.653 It is a common practice among these tribes to plaster the head and body with mud, which acts as a preventive against vermin and a protection from the sun's rays.654 In their selection of ornaments the Mojaves show a preference for white, intermixed with blue; necklaces and bracelets made from beads and small shells, usually strung together, but sometimes sewed on to leather bands are much in vogue. The Apache nation adopt a more fantastic style in painting and in their head-dress; for ornament they employ deer-hoofs, shells, fish-bones, beads, and occasionally porcupine-quills, with which the women embroider their short deer-skin petticoats.655 The Navajoes, both men and women, wear the hair long, tied or clubbed up behind; they do not tattoo or disfigure themselves with paint.656 The ordinary dress is a species of hunting-shirt, or doublet, of deer-skin, or a blanket confined at the waist by a belt; buckskin breeches, sometimes ornamented up the seams with pieces of silver or porcupine-quills; long moccasins, reaching well up the leg, and a round helmet-shaped cap, also of buckskin, surmounted with a plume of eagle or wild turkey feathers, and fastened with a chin-strap. The women wear a blanket and waist-belt, breeches and moccasins. The belts, which are of buckskin, are frequently richly ornamented with silver. They sometimes also use porcupine-quills, with which they embroider their garments.657

COMANCHE DRESS AND ORNAMENT.

The Comanches of both sexes tattoo the face, and body generally on the breast.658 The men do not cut the hair, but gather it into tufts or plaits, to which they attach round pieces of silver graduated in size from top to bottom; those who cannot obtain or afford silver use beads, tin, or glass.659 Much time is spent by them in painting and adorning their person – red being a favorite color; feathers also form a necessary adjunct to their toilet.660 Some few wear a deer-skin shirt, but the more common dress is the buffalo-robe, which forms the sole covering for the upper part of the body; in addition, the breech-cloth, leggins, and moccasins are worn. The women crop the hair short, and a long shirt made of deer-skin, which extends from the neck to below the knees, with leggins and moccasins, are their usual attire.661

DWELLINGS OF THE APACHES.

Nomadic and roving in their habits, they pay little attention to the construction of their dwellings. Seldom do they remain more than a week in one locality;662 hence their lodges are comfortless, and diversified in style according to caprice and circumstances. The frame-work everywhere is usually of poles, the Comanches placing them erect, the Lipans bringing the tops together in cone-shape, while the Apaches bend them over into a low oval;663 one or other of the above forms is usually adopted by all this family,664 with unimportant differences depending on locality and variations of climate. The framework is covered with brushwood or skins, sometimes with grass or flat stones. They are from twelve to eighteen feet in diameter at the widest part, and vary from four to eight feet in height,665 which is sometimes increased by excavation.666 A triangular opening serves as a door, which is closed with a piece of cloth or skin attached to the top.667 When on or near rocky ground they live in caves, whence some travelers have inferred that they build stone houses.668 A few of the Mojave dwellings are so superior to the others that they deserve special notice. They may be described as a sort of shed having perpendicular walls and sloping roof, the latter supported by a horizontal beam running along the center, the roof projecting in front so as to form a kind of portico. The timber used is cottonwood, and the interstices are filled up with mud or straw.669 None of their houses have windows, the door and smoke-hole in the roof serving for this purpose; but, as many of them have their fires outside, the door is often the only opening.670

NEW MEXICAN DWELLINGS.

Small huts about three feet in height constitute their medicine-lodges, or bath-houses, and are generally in form and material like their other structures.671 The Mojaves also build granaries in a cylindrical form with conical, skillfully made osier roofs.672

FOOD AND AGRICULTURE.

The food of all is similar;673 most of them make more or less pretentions to agriculture, and are habituated to a vegetable diet, but seldom do any of them raise a sufficient supply for the year's consumption, and they are therefore forced to rely on the mesquit-bean, the piñon-nut and the maguey-plant, agave mexicana, and other wild fruits, which they collect in considerable quantities.674 They are but indifferent hunters, and secure only a precarious supply of small game, such as rabbits and squirrels, with ultimate recourse to rats, grasshoppers, lizards and other reptiles.675 A few fish are taken by those living in the neighborhood of rivers.676 The Navajos, Mojaves, and Yumas, have long been acquainted with the art of agriculture and grow corn, beans, pumpkins, melons, and other vegetables, and also some wheat; some attempt a system of irrigation, and others select for their crops that portion of land which has been overflowed by the river. The Navajos possess numerous flocks of sheep, which though used for food, they kill only when requiring the wool for blankets. Although in later years they have cows, they do not make butter or cheese, but only a curd from sour milk, from which they express the whey and of which they are very fond.677

Their method of planting is simple; with a short sharp-pointed stick small holes are dug in the ground into which they drop the seeds, and no further care is given to the crop except to keep it partially free from weeds.678

Maize soaked in water is ground to a paste between two stones. From this paste tortillas, or thin cakes, are made which are baked on a hot stone. To cook the maguey, a hole is made in the ground, in which a fire is kindled; after it has burned some time the maguey-bulb is buried in the hot ashes and roasted. Some concoct a gypsy sort of dish or ollapodrida; game, and such roots or herbs as they can collect, being put in an earthen pot with water and boiled.679

As before mentioned, the roving Apaches obtain most of their food by hunting and plunder; they eat more meat and less vegetable diet than the other Arizona tribes. They have a great partiality for horse-flesh, seldom eat fish, but kill deer and antelope.680 When hunting they frequently disguise themselves in a skin, and imitating closely the habits and movements of the animal, they contrive to approach within shooting-distance.681 Whether it be horse or deer, every portion of the carcass with the exception of the bones, is consumed, the entrails being a special delicacy. Their meat they roast partially in the fire, and eat it generally half raw. When food is plenty they eat ravenously and consume an enormous quantity; when scarce, they fast long and stoically. Most of them hate bear-meat and pork. So Jew-like is the Navajo in this particular that he will not touch pork though starving.682

BUFFALO HUNTING.

The Comanches do not cultivate the soil, but subsist entirely by the chase. Buffalo, which range in immense herds throughout their country, are the chief food, the only addition to it being a few wild plants and roots; hence they may be said to be almost wholly flesh-eaters.683 In pursuit of the buffalo they exhibit great activity, skill, and daring. When approaching a herd, they advance in close column, gradually increasing their speed, and as the distance is lessened, they separate into two or more groups, and dashing into the herd at full gallop, discharge their arrows right and left with great rapidity; others hunt buffalo with spears, but the common and more fatal weapon is the bow and arrow. The skinning and cutting up of the slain animals is usually the task of the women.684 The meat and also the entrails are eaten both raw and roasted. A fire being made in a hole, sticks are ranged round it, meeting at the top, on which the meat is placed. The liver is a favorite morsel, and is eaten raw; they also drink the warm blood of the animal.685 No provision is made for a time of scarcity, but when many buffalo are killed, they cut portions of them into long strips, which, after being dried in the sun, are pounded fine. This pemican they carry with them in their hunting expeditions, and when unsuccessful in the chase, a small quantity boiled in water or cooked with grease, serves for a meal. When unable to procure game, they sometimes kill their horses and mules for food, but this only when compelled by necessity.686 In common with all primitive humanity they are filthy – never bathing except in summer687– with little or no sense of decency.688

WEAPONS.

Throughout Arizona and New Mexico, the bow and arrow is the principal weapon, both in war and in the chase; to which are added, by those accustomed to move about on horseback, the shield and lance;689 with such also the Mexican riata may now occasionally be seen.690 In battle, the Colorado River tribes use a club made of hard heavy wood, having a large mallet-shaped head, with a small handle, through which a hole is bored, and in which a leather thong is introduced for the purpose of securing it in the hand.691 They seldom use the tomahawk. BOW AND LANCE.Some carry slings with four cords attached.692 The bows are made of yew, bois d'arc, or willow, and strengthened by means of deer-sinews, firmly fastened to the back with a strong adhesive mixture. The length varies from four to five feet. The string is made from sinews of the deer.693 A leathern arm-guard is worn round the left wrist to defend it from the blow of the string.694 The arrows measure from twenty to thirty inches, according to length of bow, and the shaft is composed of two pieces; the notch end, which is the longer, consisting of a reed, into which is fitted a shorter piece made of acacia, or some other hard wood, and tipped with obsidian, agate, or iron. It is intended that when an object is struck, and an attempt is made to draw out the arrow, the pointed end shall remain in the wound. There is some difference in the feathering; most nations employing three feathers, tied round the shaft at equal distances with fine tendons. The Tontos have their arrows winged with four feathers, while some of the Comanches use only two. All have some distinguishing mark in their manner of winging, painting, or carving on their arrows.695 The quiver is usually made of the skin of some animal, deer or sheep, sometimes of a fox or wild-cat skin entire with the tail appended, or of reeds, and carried slung at the back or fastened to a waist-belt.696 The lance is from twelve to fifteen feet long, the point being a long piece of iron, a knife or sword blade socketed into the pole.697 Previous to the introduction of iron, their spears were pointed with obsidian or some other flinty substance which was hammered and ground to a sharp edge. The frame of the shield is made of light basket-work, covered with two or three thicknesses of buffalo-hide; between the layers of hide it is usual with the Comanches to place a stuffing of hair, thus rendering them almost bullet proof. Shields are painted in various devices and decorated with feathers, pieces of leather, and other finery, also with the scalps of enemies, and are carried on the left arm by two straps.698

APACHE WARRIORS.

Their fighting has more the character of assassination and murder than warfare. They attack only when they consider success a foregone conclusion, and rather than incur the risk of losing a warrior will for days lie in ambush till a fair opportunity for surprising the foe presents itself.699 The ingenuity of the Apache in preparing an ambush or a surprise is described by Colonel Cremony as follows: "He has as perfect a knowledge of the assimilation of colors as the most experienced Paris modiste. By means of his acumen in this respect, he can conceal his swart body amidst the green grass, behind brown shrubs, or gray rocks, with so much address and judgment that any but the experienced would pass him by without detection at the distance of three or four yards. Sometimes they will envelop themselves in a gray blanket, and by an artistic sprinkling of earth, will so resemble a granite boulder as to be passed within near range without suspicion. At others, they will cover their persons with freshly gathered grass, and lying prostrate, appear as a natural portion of the field. Again they will plant themselves among the Yuccas, and so closely imitate the appearance of that tree as to pass for one of its species."

Before undertaking a raid they secrete their families in the mountain fastnesses, or elsewhere, then two by two, or in greater numbers, they proceed by different routes, to a place of rendezvous, not far from where the assault is to be made or where the ambuscade is to be prepared. When, after careful observation, coupled with the report of their scouts, they are led to presume that little, if any, resistance will be offered them, a sudden assault is made, men, women and children are taken captives, and animals and goods secured, after which their retreat is conducted in an orderly and skillful manner, choosing pathways over barren and rugged mountains which are known only to themselves.700 Held asunder from congregating in large bodies by a meagerness of provisions, they have recourse to a system of signals which facilitates intercourse with each other. During the day one or more columns of smoke are the signals made for the scattered and roaming bands to rendezvous, or they serve as a warning against approaching danger. To the same end at night they used a fire beacon; besides these, they have various other means of telegraphing which are understood only by them, for example, the displacement and arrangement of a few stones on the trail, or a bended twig, is to them a note of warning as efficient, as is the bugle-call to disciplined troops.701

They treat their prisoners cruelly; scalping them, or burning them at the stake; yet, ruled as they are by greediness, they are always ready to exchange them for horses, blankets, beads, or other property. When hotly pursued, they murder their male prisoners, preserving only the females and children, and the captured cattle, though under desperate circumstances they do not hesitate to slaughter the latter.702 The Apaches returning to their families from a successful expedition, are received by the women with songs and feasts, but if unsuccessful they are met with jeers and insults. On such occasions says Colonel Cremony, "the women turn away from them with assured indifference and contempt. They are upbraided as cowards, or for want of skill and tact, and are told that such men should not have wives, because they do not know how to provide for their wants. When so reproached, the warriors hang their heads and offer no excuse for their failure. To do so would only subject them to more ridicule and objurgation; but Indian-like, they bide their time in the hope of finally making their peace by some successful raid." If a Mojave is taken prisoner he is forever discarded in his own nation, and should he return his mother even will not own him.703

COMANCHE WARRIORS.

The Comanches, who are better warriors than the Apaches, highly honor bravery on the battle-field. From early youth, they are taught the art of war, and the skillful handling of their horses and weapons; and they are not allowed a seat in the council, until their name is garnished by some heroic deed.704 Before going on the war-path they perform certain ceremonies, prominent among which is the war-dance.705 They invariably fight on horseback with the bow and arrow, spear and shield, and in the management of these weapons they have no superiors.

Their mode of attack is sudden and impetuous; they advance in column, and when near the enemy form subdivisions charging on the foe simultaneously from opposite sides, and while keeping their horses in constant motion, they throw themselves over the side, leaving only a small portion of the body exposed, and in this position discharge their arrows over the back of the animal or under his neck with great rapidity and precision.706 A few scalps are taken, for the purpose of being used at the war or scalp dance by which they celebrate a victory. Prisoners belong to the captors and the males are usually killed, but women are reserved and become the wives or servants of their owners, while children of both sexes are adopted into the tribe.707 Peace ceremonies take place at a council of warriors, when the pipe is passed round and smoked by each, previous to which an interchange of presents is customary.708

IMPLEMENTS.

Household utensils are made generally of wickerwork, or straw, which, to render them watertight, are coated with some resinous substance. The Mojaves and a few of the Apache tribes have also burnt-clay vessels, such as water-jars and dishes.709 For grinding maize, as before stated, a kind of metate is used, which with them is nothing more than a convex and a concave stone.710 Of agricultural implements they know nothing; a pointed stick, crooked at one end, which they call kishishai, does service as a corn-planter in spring, and during the later season answers also for plucking fruit from trees, and again, in times of scarcity, to dig rats and prairie dogs from their subterranean retreats. Their cradle is a flat board, padded, on which the infant is fastened; on the upper part is a little hood to protect the head, and it is carried by the mother on her back, suspended by a strap.711 Their saddles are simply two rolls of straw covered with deer or antelope skin, which are connected by a strap; a piece of raw hide serves for girths and stirrups. In later years the Mexican saddle, or one approaching it in shape, has been adopted, and the Navajos have succeeded in making a pretty fair imitation of it, of hard ash. Their bridles, which consist of a rein attached to the lower jaw, are very severe on the animal.712 Although not essentially a fish-eating people, the Mojaves and Axuas display considerable ingenuity in the manufacture of fishing-nets, which are noted for their strength and beauty. Plaited grass, or the fibry bark of the willow, are the materials of which they are made.713 Fire is obtained in the old primitive fashion of rubbing together two pieces of wood, one soft and the other hard. The hard piece is pointed and is twirled on the softer piece, with a steady downward pressure until sparks appear.714

NAVAJO BLANKETS.

The Navajos excel all other nations of this family in the manufacture of blankets.715 The art with them is perhaps of Mexican origin, and they keep for this industry large flocks of sheep.716 Some say in making blankets cotton is mixed with the wool, but I find no notice of their cultivating cotton. Their looms are of the most primitive kind. Two beams, one suspended and the other fastened to the ground, serve to stretch the warp perpendicularly, and two slats, inserted between the double warp, cross and recross it and also open a passage for the shuttle, which is simply a short stick with some thread wound around it. The operator sits on the ground, and the blanket, as the weaving progresses, is wound round the lower beam.717 The wool, after being carded, is spun with a spindle resembling a boy's top, the stem being about sixteen inches long and the lower point made to revolve in an earthen bowl by being twirled rapidly between the forefinger and thumb. The thread after being twisted is wound on the spindle, and though not very even, it answers the purpose very well.718 The patterns are mostly regular geometrical figures, among which diamonds and parallels predominate.719 Black and red are the principal variations in color, but blue and yellow are at times seen. Their colors they obtain mostly by dyeing with vegetable substances, but in later years they obtain also colored manufactured materials from the whites, which they again unravel, employing the colored threads obtained in this manner in their own manufactures.720 They also weave a coarse woolen cloth, of which they at times make shirts and leggins.721 Besides pottery of burnt clay, wickerwork baskets, and saddles and bridles, no general industry obtains in this family.722 Featherwork, such as sewing various patterns on skins with feathers, and other ornamental needlework, are also practiced by the Navajos.723