One of the greatest evils, however, which existed under Spanish rule was the almost entire absence of responsibility in officers sent out to govern the remote provinces. However poor the masses became, the men in office must grow rich. It mattered but little how much native labour was consumed, so long as the coffers of the wealthy were rapidly replenished. And thus it happened that the Pueblo Indians gradually decreased; wars and slavery did their worst, until they were unable in many places even to hold their own against the Apaches, who, quick in discovering the weakness of their neighbours, did not hesitate, we may be sure, in trying to complete their ruin.

All the pueblos situated along the Rio Yerde, the Salinas, and other northern branches of the Gila, were, from their position, most exposed to attack. The dead tell no tales; but if those ruins could speak, I think they might relate dismal stories of crops yearly destroyed all around them, of cattle run off by thousands, of famished children calling for bread, and of sons and fathers left dead amongst the mountains. The pueblos on Pueblo Creek, those on the streams in the Navajo country, and others similarly situated shared the same fate; the Indians of Zuni, the Pimas, and the Papagos were able to protect themselves. The Moquis were saved by the impregnable nature of their country; and the remnant of the kingdoms in the Rio Grande valley were, of course, protected by the Spanish population.

The time at last came when the strong military establishments, so well kept up when Spain was powerful, gradually fell to decay as troops were required to maintain the semblance of power in the southern provinces; and thus the Mexicans, as well as the Pueblos, found themselves unequal to the task of keeping the savages at bay.

No further proof is required of this statement than the following quotation from Miguel Vinegars' History of California dated 1758. After accurately describing the dimensions of the Apache country, he continues : -- "Within a circuit of 300 leagues the Apaches reside in their small rancheras erected in the valleys and in the breeches of the mountains. They are cruel to those who have the misfortune to fall into their hands; and amongst them are several apostates. They go entirely naked, but make their incursions on horses of great swiftness, which they have stolen from other parts. A skin serves them as a saddle* Of the same skins they make little boots or shoes of one piece (moccasins), and by these they are traced in their flight. They begin the attack with shouts at a great distance, to strike the enemy with terror. They have not naturally any great share of courage; but the little they can boast of is extravagantly increased on any good success. In war, they rather depend upon artifice than valour; and on any defeat submit to the most ignominious terms, but keep their treaties no longer than suits their convenience. His Majesty has ordered that if any require peace, it should be granted, and even offered to them before they are attacked. But this generosity they construe to proceed from fear. Their arms are the common bows and arrows of the country. The intention of their incursions is plunder, especially horses, which they use both for riding and eating, the flesh of these creatures being one of their greatest dainties.

"These people, during the last eighty years past, have been the dread of Sonora, no part of which was secure from their violence. ... Of late years the insolence of these savages has been carried to the most audacious height from the success of some of their stratagems, particularly owing to the variances and indolence of the Spaniards. . . . The Apaches penetrate into the province by different passes, and, after loading themselves with, booty, will travel in one night fifteen, eighteen, or twenty leagues. To pursue them over mountains is equally dangerous and difficult; and in the levels they follow no paths. On any entrance into their country, they give notice to one another by smokes or fires; and at a signal they all hide themselves. The damages they have done in the villages, settlements, farms, roads, pastures, woods, and mines are beyond description; and many of the latter, though very rich, have been forsaken."

No better description than this could be given of the Apaches at the present time.

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adapted from A. W. Bell
"On the Native Races of New Mexico"
1869 (Journal of the Ethnological Society of London)