I do not wish to let this occasion pass, Mr. Secretary, without informing
you that since my return to this capital in March, 1882, I have
[Page 681]
devoted special attention to
the subject of Indian incursions into Mexican territory, owing to its
great importance to the tranquillity and welfare of the frontier States
of Mexico, and that I have solicited information on this subject from
various prominent residents of the State of Chihuahua, who are well
informed with regard to it. My purpose in so doing has been that I might
be enabled to form a reliable opinion relative to the matter, and to
find out what measures might be adopted in order to prevent or render
less frequent said incursions, so that I might then suggest such
measures in a friendly and informal manner to the Government of the
United States.
I had refrained from inviting your attention to this matter lest I should
appear to be interfering in something that I consider as belonging to
the internal administration of the United States, although its
consequences may likewise affect citizens, and even whole States of the
Mexican Republic. Now, however, that the Government of Mexico has
instructed me to call your attention, although informally, to this
subject, I avail myself of the opportunity to state that of all the
measures that are thought by those best informed likely to conduce to
the object desired, the most simple, and in my judgment the most
effective, would be to disarm the Indians, and to try to prevent them
from disposing of booty taken in Mexico in this country, since they
would then have no incentive to commit their depredations.
I think that if a treaty is necessary to secure the adoption of measures
to prevent the sale of such articles, and to render such measures
reciprocal, the Government of Mexico will be prepared to conclude one on
terms that will be found equitable and mutually acceptable.
[Inclosure.—Translation.]
The undersigned, representatives and senators of Chihuahua, present
this statement to the citizen President of the Republic, through the
citizen secretary of foreign relations, relative to the alarming
situation of the people on the frontier of that State, owing to the
incursions of the savages who make their escape from the American
reservations. They do this hoping that some plan may be devised for
the prevention or mitigation of the outrages committed by those
Indians.
The undersigned are well aware of the earnest desire of the federal
Government to protect the frontier. They know that the federal
Government maintains forces there are commanded by most honorable
officers, who have obtained well deserved praise both at home and
abroad; they know, too, that it pays auxiliary forces to pursue the
Indians, and that it takes the necessary steps in other ways for the
promotion of the prosperity of the State. The people bless the
patriotic efforts of the Government, but they bitterly regret that
these efforts are to a great extent frustrated by the protection
which the Indians receive on the American reservations.
They there dispose of their booty; they there find repose; they there
purchase first-class arms; they there make their preparations
unmolested, and thence they sally forth, well equipped, to invade
the State and to commit atrocious crimes. The undersigned will give
a brief statement of the most recent occurrences.
During the night between the 19th and 20th of October last the
Indians murdered twenty-one persons in the canton of Degollado, in
the State of Chihuahua; eight of those persons were members of one
family, and three others were in the employ of that family.
The official journal of the State, of the 4th of November last, in
giving an account of this massacre, makes the following statement:
“When the bodies of these unfortunate persons were taken to their
home, a heart rendering scene occurred. Dolores Garcia, an old man,
the only survivor of the entire family, went from one to another of
the mangled and bleeding bodies of his children and grandchildren,
some of whom were infants at the breast. As he did so, he uttered
the most heartrending cries.
The Progresista of Paso del Norte, of the 1st
instant, publishes a report of the
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massacre committed by the Indians, on the 13th
of November last, in the Canton of Galeana, in the State of
Chihuahua, and gives the names of the twenty-three persons killed.
Then perished the citizen Juan Mata Ortiz, who had rendered such
excellent service to the State and to the federation, who was ever
ready to fight against those terrible adversaries, who had so often
routed them, and whose memory is so dear in the town in which he has
left a family in a destitute condition. He, with his twenty-two
brave companions, resisted an attack of more than 200 Indians for
many hours. They defended themselves with the utmost heroism, using
their dead horses as a breastwork. At length, however, every one of
them was killed.
Finally, the citizen Governor, Don Louis Terrazas, in private letters
written in November last and during the present month, informs
several of the undersigned that in less than one month more than
sixty persons were killed in that State by the savages.
Long and terrible is the list of murders committed by the Indians,
and severe and costly are the sacrifices made by the federal and
local governments in this bloody war. These sacrifices,
unfortunately, have not secured the desired object, owing to the
protection which the Indians find on the American reservations.
They have suffered severe defeats at the hands of the Mexican regular
troops and auxiliary forces, as, for instance, that in which
Victorio and his band were destroyed, and in which Mexico won such
renown. Other and still more bloodthirsty bands come, however, well
armed, in order to avenge the defeats of their friends, and thus the
time of their final chastisement is indefinitely postponed. If those
fatal American reservations were withdrawn to a great distance from
the frontier, or if, at least, the Indians were not provided with
fire-arms, and if the powerful American Government could put a stop
to the infamous traffic carried on with them by heartless dealers,
there would be a speedy end of these massacres, which are such a
disgrace to civilization. While the American nation is regarded with
wonder on account of its power and glory, since the glory is so
great that is due to it for its immense sacrifices in the liberation
of millions of slaves, the fact that it is unwilling or unable to
disarm those hordes that so cruelly murder its own citizens and
ours, is also a subject of wonder. When the United States have given
Mexico such unmistakable evidences of friendship, and when they
maintain such cordial relations with us, it is difficult to see why
they do not render us the most important service, which would be to
prevent the arming of the Indians on their reservations, where they
prepare with impunity to invade our country.
Now that Mexico has come out victorious from the severe trial to
which fate subjected her, and is acquiring so glorious a name among
nations, it is most sad to think of the bloody spot that is cast by
these savages upon the unhappy people of our frontier. And now that
the locomotive is crossing the wilderness of both frontiers, it
causes unutterable grief to hear, together with the shrill shriek of
the steam-whistle, the still more shrill warwhoop of the savage. It
is high time, for the honor of the age in which we live, for the
honor of two powerful neighboring Republics, for the sake of the
friendship that happily exists between them, and, in a word, for the
sake of humanity itself, that a stop be put to the frighiful scenes
which the undersigned have depicted.
The undersigned, being touched by the appeals of the people whom they
represent, and obeying the instructions received by them from the
government of their State, hereby appeal to the citizen President to
devise some plan that may effect the object desired. They feel
entire confidence in the enlightenment and patriotism of the Chief
Magistrate, in the well known talents of the secretary of foreign
relations, and in the zeal of the minister accredited at Washington,
and doubt not that they will avail themselves of every opportunity,
in the name of humanity and sincere friendship, and that they will
secure the severe punishment that is needed by the Indians on the
reservations, or that they will cause the removal of said
reservations to a great distance from the frontier, or, finally,
that they will secure the disarming of the Indians, so that it may
not be in their power to do further harm.
The undersigned present their assurance of their highest respect to
the citizen President, and likewise to you, citizen secretary, and
assure you of their special regard.
Mexico, December 25,
1882.
- EDUARDO URNETA.
- M. LEON.
- G. FERNANDEZ.
- R. GUERRERO.
To the Citizen Secretary of Foreign Relations
of the Republic of Mexico.
