Before I slept I heard [Kay’ten’na’e’] deliver a message to Grandfather. A Mescalero hunting in the mountains brought word that the Blue Coats had crossed the border in search of us. Until that time we had been comparatively safe south of the Rio Grande. Before daybreak we rode. We divided into small parties each of which was to seek a different refuge. Each knew where and when it was to assemble and combine forces with those of Victorio, Kaytennae, Suldeen, Blanco and his younger brother whom we do not name, were sent with us. I think there may have been twenty-five... We made various attempts to find a crossing unguarded but both Blue Coats and Mexican cavalry were scouting the river. I do not know just where we succeeded, but we spent one night near Hueco Tanks. It was a long ride to the Sacramentos with no water. But once in the mountains we had no difficulty except that of concealment. We made a leisurely trip north, with the men constantly watching the Tularosa Basin, a mile below us. Only when we found a deep side canyon could we risk building a fire, and it was cold on the summit. Kaytennae took no chances with soldiers in the flat country. He and Suldeen went down the steep west slope until they reached a broad ledge overhanging a spring at the foot. From it they could see tiny moving dots approaching. Scouts! They traveled fanwise ahead of the cavalry, usually miles ahead. As the dots increased in size Kaytennae recognized the scouts by the way they walked. They converged, to head toward the spring above which Kaytennae lay. When general Crook first employed scouts to guide the cavalry it was against their enemies. Being chosen as scouts was a recognition of a warrior’s ability to fight, and it was a relief from the dreary monotonous existence on the hot dry reservation camp. To Apaches in a reservation is a prison. Scouts were admired and envied by other men – not for the meager pay, for at that time money meant nothing to them. What they valued was the possession of a rifle and ammunition, for they had been deprived of arms when they went on the reservation. In addition Crook used the scouts against their enemies, the Pimas. They Chiricahua and Warm Springs had fought occasionally also with the Chiricahua and Warm Springs had fought occasionally also with the Tontos, though they were Apaches. The name Tonto, meaning fool, was given them because they were considered inferior in intelligence. So scouts who fought against the Tontos were not despised by their own people. Chihuahua, Tissnolthos, and Speckle Face were riding close, Chiricahua warriors wearing the red-kead-cord that was their badge of servitude. Good and true warriors inveigled into military service and now used against their own people! Those who attempted to leave the service were grimly informed of the punishment meted out to deserters. These three had gone to San Carlos with Cochise’s band and found existence unendurable. Kaytennae’s heart burned within him as he thought of how these men who should be fighting with him were the allies of his enemies. They were cutting a sign before coming into the water. Not once did they look toward the ledge. He waited while they drank, one at a time, with the others keeping watch. When they had finished he was so enraged that he leaped to his feet and Yelled, “Come up here!” He had them covered. “We’ll give you metal, more than you want. I have sharp metal for your treacherous hearts. Brave warriors who fight their people deserve reward! We’ll give it. Come!” The scouts fled. Suldeen reproved him. The cavalry would be warned and would preven tour crossing the basin to the Organs on its western edge. Kaytennae admitted that he had been hasty, but reasoned that without water the cavalry would turn south to the Hueco Tans or the Rio Grande. “And where will we cross the plain?” “At Dog Canyon.” “ It is a good place for those who wish to ambush the Blue Coats”, said Suldeen. “I know that place well. There is a narrow, winding trail leading into it. The entrance is not very wide, and between it and the narrow gap a short distance back is a spring. Beyond it, the walls are so close together that only one horse at a time can pass, and to do so he must scramble up a waist- high ledge. For an enemy coming in from the basin it is a death trap. The Mescaleros, and Nana, too, have sent two or three out on the floor to lure cavalry into ambush. Once through that narrow opening with its perpendicular walls they can be killed with rocks from above. “But to those leaving the canyon there is no protection. They must spend the night in it, for the descent cannot be made in the dark. The women and children must walk down, and the horses must be led by the men. We dare not risk going through the gap till morning. We should start as early as possible, for it is a hard trip across the basin, with little water.” We rode hard to the head of that trail for we knew the Blue Coats might return to intercept us. True, they might go on to Hueco Tanks, but there was also the probability of their making a dry camp or getting water beneath the ledge. When I have nightmares I stil descend that perilous trail. Only those who have attempted it, as it was then, can know how narrow and slippery was the footing. How Mother, with Chenle on her back, made it safely I do not know. Before we slept, everything and everybody were at the floor of the canyon and in readiness for an early start. One man stood guard at the gap, and another at a sharp point on the trail. We rode from between the sheltering walls into darkness and were well on our way across the floor of the basin before it was light. With Kaytennae scouting ahead and Blanco guarding the rear we headed toward three little peaks jutting up from the wide, sunken plain. We reached the peaks without sighting the enemy. Kaytennae had waited there for us, keeping watch in all directions. There were two young boys with us, and he stationed them to guard the southern approach. Siki was sent up the east slope to watch for pursuers from that direction. There was a little trickle of water and it took a long time for people to drink and fill their jugs before watering the horses. They had not finished when Siki called to us that she saw moving objects bobbing up and down beyond the low ridge we had crossed an hour before. She thought they might be in the heads of the horses. “Crows more likely,”, said Blanco, “but watch closely while I get the boys. The rest will mount and follow Kaytennae. Call me if you see them again.”
Posted on: Mon, 22 Dec 2014 09:17:13 +0000
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