April M, 1001.
Mexico's War
THE ILLUSTRATED HEK.
With the Yaquis
(From u Special Corresuondent.)
HEKMOSIU.O, Mexico, April 1. "Una It
ever kni hold th:it l lie wnr policy of the
United States government against the for
tnurly ruhellloiiH Apaches was Inhuman or
unwarrantable"""
Thu qucsllcu was substantially the llrst
utterance of (Jeneral I.uls U. Torres, inll
Itary governor of the statu of Solium, In
lliu Inluivlcw granted 1110 on the Hiibjeet of
.Mexico's dealings with the hostile Yaquis
of this HcctUin. And there was something
In the tones t.f the speaker that suggested
entire confidence In the ground whereon, in
a chief factor in the campaign against thu
Indians in question, his principles were
based. It was this "something" In th"
speech and general heating of the. dis
tinguished .Mexican that, from the begin
ning, Impressed me far more thin did his
exalted rank ami dlgnllled pre sence. The
absolute uniqucuiss, h. wever, uf the qual
ity referred to In a man of his warlike
calling for a time rtndercd its oxuet na
ture It determinable. Then by dogrees 1
came to Intcrpiet and to appreciate It In
the implicit trustfulness that at once dom
inated his character ami required In others
nil that It gave.
In undertaking to investigate thu actual
facts connected with the present Yaqul
war, concerning which during the two yeais
of its progress so many conlllctlng reports
have been published, it hud occurred to mo
that the llrst authority to consult was the
mail under wh su Immediate supervision
the campaign U being conducted. Ileticc,
Instead of making application through the
customary channels for permission to en
ter the h;stllc Yaqtli country, 1 proceeded
direct to the capital of Sonora and applied
in person to (ieurrnl Torres for the desired
privilege, together with a statement of his
own ccnvlctlons on thu mbjeet of the re
bellion I found thu general at his beautiful homo
in thu suburbs of Ilermoslllo, to which he
cultivation that either have demanded, but
unlimited territory wherein they might
pursuu their savage tendencies without re
straint. The t'nlted Slntes government
ery early adopted the theory that theie
was absolutely no dependence to bu placed
In an Apache so long as the least freedom
were allowed him. Accordingly, a persistent
runnd-up was inaugurated, and when taken
alive he was shut up on a closely guarded
reservation. Hut oven this policy proved
ineffectual, and It was not until n large
percentage of the trlbu were exterminated
and the most tetinclory of its surviving
member removed to faraway Florida that
peace and progress in thu former Apacliu
country was established. Had the Mexican
government been disposed, at thu outstnrt,
to adopt like measures In its dealings with
the Yaquis, thu trlbu would long ago have
been thoroughly under control."
"Hut," 1 Interposed, "Is It not true that
In thu present war you are pursuing a simi
lar course with thu Yaquis?"
"Precisely," was thu frank rejoinder. "And
It was In Justification of this policy that 1
havu cltid thu precedent established by thu
United States government. The only differ
ence In tile two circumstances lies In thu
lateness on our part In resorting to such
drastlu methods with thu Indians, for
years wo weru Impelled, In the face of thu
most trying discouragements, to hope fur a
butter solution of the Yaqul problem. Our
policy was to accord thu Indians, from thu
outstnrt, every privilege enjoyed by the
average citizen of Mexico, In thu belief that
such a course would In time create of him a
valuable factor In thu permanent settlement
of thu country. To this end hu was allowed
to roam at will throughout thu entire north
west territory. If ho chosu to work for oth
ers, the great haciendas offered him no lack
of employment, while, If more Independently
disposed, ho was given the preference of
settling on whatever public lands best
IIB 1 )) iflvwM "i ifl
Mexican officeus skuvino in the hostile countuy.
YAQUI NY A II CHIEFS
had Just returned nftur an arduous trip Into
the heart ot the Indian country. Notwith
standing his evident physical exhaustion, he
received me with cuBtoinory Muxican hos
pitality, assuring mo that his house was at
my disposal so long as I chosu to remain,
an assurance which thu kindly look In his
frank eyes In no senso belled. And cer
tainly no prospect could hnvo been moro
delightful than a protracted sojourn In tho
languorous atmosphere of his semi-tropical
retreat. However, thuro was no other way
than to put asldo all such allurements, for
tho brief Interval I spent nt Ilermoslllo was
entirely occupied with tho Interview ac
corded me.
"Tor fifteen yeais," continued tho general,
nf er thu slight pauso following upon tho
Incontrovertible question with which ho had
prefixed his statement, "I have been, In
one enpaclty or another, Identified with tho
task of civilizing tho Yaquis, And for
twelve of those years, characterized though
they wore by lepeatcd outbreoks on tho
part of tho Indians, I novor once gave over
tho hope and belief that I would llvo to sco
tho day when they would constitute a
powerful element In thu population of Son
ora. Throughout this Interval the varloui
traits rf the Indian character havo been my
clfsest study. I have seen trlbo after trllio
In th adjoining United Stntes tako to tho
win path fcr Identically the snmo reasons
ns those that havo influenced tho Yaquis,
namely, n general nntlpathy for civilization
In Its every form. There nro no two nature.!
more similar than those of the Ynqul and
Apacho. It Is nut land fur the purpose ot
AND FOLLOWERS,
suited his funcy. Thu result was that a
larger portion of tho trlbo located them
selves iu thu Hlo Ynqul district, a romoto
but exceedingly fertile section In tho south
eastern part of tho stato. Hero they lived
after tho manner of tho averago uncivilized
Indian, depending on gamo and tho very
least amount uf com they could raise fur
n existence, m Unas, us necessity com
pelled n, some oi i lie nine would proceed
iu other parts ui tue statu, whuie
ihey wouia work lor it snort wnlle,
only iu ruiuiu again iu their
wiidcnuss mum, there to iiio iu Idleness,
so long as lueir earnings wounl penult, ue
pcalcu uteris wcru luadu uy lliu .Mexican
Kutcrumciu iu Induce lliu Indians iu culll
witu ricli lauds of which they had possessed
themselves, but without avail. And not
only did tney resent every such ellort to
ward their own development, but Itkcwtbo
opposed i lie improvement and cultivation
ot any part of the country iu their vicinity.
'I heir opposition, moreover, was not Iu lliu
uatuie ot mere protest, but of thu uiassacru
and ruoDcry of all who dared violate their
barbaious principles. This violent perver
sity on thu part uf thu Yaquis Is thu direct
cause uf all the bloody warfare that fur
years has been waged Iu lliu rural districts
of Souora.
"It has been stated that tho Yuquls uio
lighting fur their lauds, which is an error.
Thu Yuquls think nothing of thu country
for what It will produce. It is thu udvuncy
ot civilization they aro lighting. Iu behalf
of the Mexican government 1 havu repeat
edly made special allotments of agricultural
laud to these Indians, and furnished them
with abundant com and wheat for planting
purposes. Tho latter, huwuvur, thuy would
almost Invariably trs.de fur mescal, their
favorltu liquor, or ulsu eat outright, with
thu result that none of the laud assigned
to them has been, to any extent, cultivated.
Such it thing will never bu when a Yaqul
will cumu to tuu and say, 'I havu cultivated
nil tho laud you havu given mu and havu
nued of more," but whut hu will reculve
all that hu may require, tiut such thrlftl
uess Is entirely forulgu to thu Ynqul char
acter, and thu must serious complaint he
has ever raised is that thu white settlers
aro destroying thu uiusquitu trues! It Is
these mosquito trees that constitute, to so
great an extent, his wilderness retreat, ami
they cover the most fertile public lauds
In tho Btato."
"What specific trouble led to tho present
wnr," 1 Inquired.
"It was tho building of tho great Irriga
tion cuuul which has lis sourcu lu the Hlo
Yaqul," stated thu general. "At the cluso
ot thu last Yuqul wur, Iu lb'J7, thu Indians
wuru allotted seven pueblos, representing
something Hku HL'.UUO acres of choice laud
Iu thu valley of thu lliu Yuqul. A portion
ot this laud, however, lies too high tor Irri
gation 1 1 om tho iiver diruct, and was there
tore couipaiatlvcly unproductive. To ren
der this mud avullablo fur agricultural pur
poses, thu Muxican government shortly
al tei ward guvu an American company u
concession to run a canal tram tho Hlo
Yaqul into tho country to thu southward,
under thu condition that It should bu bo
constructed us lo furnish water to such por
tions ot tho Indian lauds us could not oth
erwise bo irrigated. Hut utter thu work
hud progressed to u considerable extent thu
old spirit ot rebelliousness on thu part ot
thu Indians against tho eiicroachments of
civilization again prevailed, and without
thu slightest warning they fell to murder
ing every whltu bottler they could llnd iu
the region. This net on thu part of tho
Yuquls was tho bllterost disappointment of
my life, for It destroyed all my hopes of
over being nblu to resolve them lulu a
peaceful, piogrchslvo community. It was
thou that J felt compelled to recommend
to thu Mexican government that tho trlbo
bo entirely dlsmcmburod. To elfectunlly
accomplish mis It was necessary to dopurl
tho prisoners as fast as they wuro captured
to parts of thu lopublicu sulllcleutly rumotu
to Insure their inability to return. It bus
been stuted that these captives wero soul
lo Yucatan, which Is absurdly urroucous, as
that district Is Itkcwlto Infested with rebel
lious Indians. Such Ynqul prisoners us I
havo thus far hud sunt out ot tho country
wero mostly taken to thu stato of Jalisco,
onu of thu most beautiful sections of .Mex
ico, where renewed endeavors uro being
made) towaid thulr civilization."
"How many Indians do you estimate are
now on the warpath?" I asked.
"That Is dlllleull to detoriniuu," answered
tho general. "It Is my bcllof, however,
Hint their number has been reduced to not
more Unit 1100, nnd thusu In turn nru brokun
up Into numerous marauding bauds. He
sides, their numbers fluctuate, for at times
niombors of thu hostile faction will leavo
thu mountains, and, passing thumselvca uu
ns peaceable Indians, proceed to thu hucl
undas and secure work. Then with the
proceeds of their labor they will purchme
amiutMiltlon and return to thu hostile coun
try. Thus, It will bu seen that thu Indian
problem hero lu Sonoru Is a very Intricate
one. The very mozo who sorves my table
today may, a weuk hence, bo lying lu urn
IiiihIi for mo among the hills, while thu
nurse who attends my household Is perhaps
using hur wages to supply tho warring
Indians with cartridges."
"When the present war Is at an end, will
tho surviving Indians bu allowed to reoe
cupy the valley of thu Hlo Yaqul?" 1 In
quired. "Not as a tribe," was tho response. "Ex
puiieiicu has demonstrated that tho rurul
districts will never bu snfo so long ns thu
Yaquis are permitted to baud thuuisolveR
together. There nru always disturbing ulo
menta among them, whoso Influence might
lit uny time precipitate another outbreak.
Tho Yaqul Is naturally of an Incendiary dis
position and It takes little to arouse, his
hunger for destructlveness. Wo havo
endeavored for years to rectify his tun
deuey to vlcloiisness, 'but to no uvull.
When tho missionary priests who wont
among them attempted to preach Industry
and peace, their Inllueiico with tho Indians
was thenceforth Irretrievably lost. On tho
other hand, they would listen with enger-nct-s
to thu voice of an insurrectionary
spirit. For this reason It will bu my
future pulley to keep tho Indians apart.
Allhuugh obliged to resort, In a measure,
to deportation, 1 am not In favor of car
rying It to extremes. With all his Incur
liglbleness, 1 still hnvo hopes for tho
Yaqul, and will yet eliminate his vicious
teiidenclis. And ot this, I assuro you,"
concluded tho general, with nnuii:taknblo
sincerity In his tones, "notwlth ilandlng tho
seeming hiirshneKS of tho measures I havu
been forced lo employ lu effectually crush
ing his spirit uf rebelliousness, lllVii a far
deeper Interest In tho welfare of the Yaqul
than any of thoso who, without tho Icust
knowiedgo of his true churnctcr, nro seek
ing to uphold ami encourage him In his
rrusado ngalnst civilization."
JOSE I)E OMVAUES.
MEXICAN TIIOOI'S CAMl'AKJNINO AGAINST THE YAQUIJ.