Captured by the Navajos | Page 2

my brother, Henry."
The Mexican boy grasped the proffered hand, and said, "My name is
Manuel Perea, of Algodones."
"We are the sons of the commanding officer at the fort. Can't you come
and see us next holiday?"
"I should much like to; I will ask the fathers if I may."
"Come over, and we will try to make your visit pleasant."
"How well you speak Spanish! It will be a great pleasure to visit
American boys who can speak my language, for I know but few
English words."
"Next Saturday, then?"
"At ten o'clock, if the padres consent. Good-bye," and Manuel
disappeared into the school-room.
The following Saturday I saw the two corporals and their newly

acquired companion at the post and at dinner in the mess-room, and a
friendship was then formed which was to continue for many years.
One evening, nearly a month afterwards, I received an order to march
my company into the Jemez Mountains to co-operate with other
detached commands in a war being carried on against the Navajo
Indians. Just as I had laid aside the order after reading it, Colonel
Burton entered, and, taking a seat by my fireside, announced that he
had been ordered on detached service to northern Colorado, on a tour of
inspection, which would require him to be absent for a considerable
period, and that he had been thinking of allowing his sons to
accompany me to my camp at Los Valles Grandes.
"The hunting and fishing are fine in those valleys, and Frank and Henry
would enjoy life there very much," he said. "They have done so well in
their studies that they deserve a well-earned recreation."
"I should much like to have their company, sir," I replied, "but would it
not be exposing them to great danger from the Indians?"
"The officer whom you are to relieve has been in the valleys nearly a
year, and he reports that he has not seen a Navajo in all that time. Of
course, it may be your fortune to meet them, but I do not think so. If
you do, then the boys must give a good account of themselves. In any
engagement that involves the whole command they must not forget
they are the sons of a soldier. Still, I do not want them needlessly
exposed. You are quite sure it will give you no trouble to take them?"
"Few things could afford me greater pleasure on such isolated duty, sir.
They will be good company for me."
"Thank you for your kindness. The lads will report to you to-morrow
morning. I will see that they are properly fitted out, and will write you
now and then during my absence, and as soon as I return to Santa Fé
they can be sent back."
Colonel Burton then took his departure, and I turned to a local history
to learn from its pages something of the tribe with which I might be

brought in contact.
The home of the Navajos lay between the Rio Grande del Norte on the
east, the Rio Colorado on the west, the Rio San Juan on the north, and
the Rio Colorado Chiquito on the south, but from time immemorial
they had roamed a considerable distance beyond these borders.
They had always been known as a pastoral race, raising flocks and
herds, and tilling the soil. They owned, at the time we began war upon
them, sheep and ponies by the thousand, and raised large quantities of
corn, wheat, beans, and other products.
They numbered between twelve and fifteen thousand, and could put
three thousand mounted warriors in the field. They were industrious,
the men doing all the hard work instead of putting it upon the women,
as do the Indians of the plains and all of the marauding tribes. They
manufactured their wearing apparel, and made their own weapons, such
as bows, arrows, and lances. They wove beautiful blankets, often very
costly, and knit woollen stockings, and dressed in greater comfort than
did most other tribes. In addition to a somewhat brilliant costume, they
wore numerous strings of fine coral, shells, and many ornaments of
silver, and usually appeared in cool weather with a handsome blanket
thrown over the shoulders.
The Navajos and the New Mexicans were almost continually at war.
Expeditions were frequently fitted out in the border towns by the class
of New Mexicans who possessed no land or stock, for the sole purpose
of capturing the flocks and herds of the Navajos. The Indians retaliated
in kind, making raids upon the settlements and pasture lands, and
driving off sheep, horses, and cattle to the mountains. Complaints were
made by the property-holders, and war was declared against the
Indians.
The military department of New Mexico was in fine condition to carry
on a