No. 404.
Mr. Morgan
to Mr. Frelinghuysen.
Mexico, May 30, 1883. (Received June 13.)
Sir: Department dispatch No. 167, August 31, 1881, transmitted to me a copy of a letter of the 20th of that month, addressed to the Secretary of the Interior by General John C. Fremont, then governor of Arizona Territory, in relation to Indian troubles in that Territory, and in the States of Sonora and Chihuahua, in the Republic of Mexico. In this letter General Frémont suggested that, with the view of settling these troubles, some arrangement might be made between the Governments of the United States and Mexico “to use the peninsula of Lower California as a place into which to gather the whole of the Apache tribes.”
The Department desired that should bring the subject, as presented in General Fremont’s communication, to the attention of the Mexican [Page 656] Government, upon some occasion which I should deem suitable—not as a formal proposition, but as an expression of opinion and practical suggestion from a man whose history, position, and character eminently qualified him to justly estimate the grave difficulties that surround the problem of the border Indians.
I have had no conversation whatever with Señor Mariscal upon the subject of the Indians in the district of country alluded to, since the receipt of the dispatch above mentioned, until the 25th instant, in which, after calling my attention to the fact that the treaty of the 29th July, 1882, would expire on the 18th August next (see my dispatch No. 629, 28th instant), he mentioned that it was reported that General Crook had crossed the Rio Grande, not when in pursuit of hostile Indians, but in execution of a campaign which had been planned against the Indians, and which General Crook had stated would require several months, and he expressed the fear that such an act would bring on unnecessary complications. I thereupon called Señor Mariscal’s attention to the troubles which these Indians were constantly giving to both Mexico and the United States, and I said that so long as they were permitted to roam at large the troubles would continue. I then referred him to the peculiar geographical position of Lower California, its sparse population, &c., and I possessed him of the suggestions of General Fremont, although 1 did not refer to Mexican Indians being sent there, but only Americans. He seemed, I thought, rather favorably inclined to the suggestion. On yesterday I saw him again, when I stated to him precisely what General Fremont’s suggestion was. He said he was to leave the department for foreign affairs that day, but that he should have to consult with the President, before he left on his mission to England, upon the matter of General Crook’s campaign, and that he would then mention the subject to him.
If it is your wish that I should proceed any further in the matter, please instruct me.
I am, &c.,