Personal narrative of explorations and incidents in Texas, New Mexico, California, Sonora, and Chihuahua - connected with the United States and Mexican Boundary Commission, during the years 1850, '51, (14587266078)

Identifier: personalnarrativ01bart (find matches)
Title: Personal narrative of explorations and incidents in Texas, New Mexico, California, Sonora, and Chihuahua : connected with the United States and Mexican Boundary Commission, during the years 1850, '51, '52, and '53
Year: 1854 (1850s)
Authors: Bartlett, John Russell, 1805-1886
Subjects: Joint Boundary Commission (United States and Mexico) Indians of North America
Publisher: New York : D. Appleton & Company
Contributing Library: University Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Digitizing Sponsor: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill



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he built these houses. After spending an hour here, we took a stronglymarked trail, which looked as though it had beentravelled for a century, and which led due southtowards the Pimo villages. There were other trails,leading in various directions; showing that the plainis much traversed, and the ruins often visited. Wejourneyed rapidly over the plain, which was a portionof the great plateau or desert. It was a perfect levelwithout an undulation. Not a hill or a ravine inter-cepted our path. The vegetation was the same asfound on the plateau in our journey up the south sideof the Gila. Larrea and small mezquit bushes predom-inated ; while now and then the graceful petahayaraised its tall head far above the dwarfish plants of thedesert, often startling us with its sudden appearance.It was near midnight when we entered a thick groveof mezquit, from whose branches were pendent largequantities of the beans of which the mules are so fond.As we had now travelled from twenty-three to twenty-
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PIMO VILLAGES. 249 five miles from the Salinas, and did not know the dis-tance to the river, we concluded to stop here. Weaccordingly hitched our mules by their long lariats tothese bushes, on which they could feed, and stretchedourselves beneath their wide-spreading branches, toget a little rest until daylight should again appear. July 5th. At half-past four, without waiting forbreakfast (for the reason that we had none to cook), weresumed our journey, and in two miles reached theGila, or rather its bed; for it was dry here. Aswe entered the first fields of the Pimos, the sen-tinels in the outskirts, seeing us approach in longsingle file, mistook us for Apaches and gave thealarm accordingly; a very natural mistake, as noparty of emigrants or travellers had ever enteredtheir country from the north. We heard the alarmgiven, and echoed in all voices, from one tree orhouse-top to the other, until it reached their villages. Apaches ! Apaches! was the cry from every mouth;and when it reach