No. 293.
Mr. Fish to Mr. Nelson.
Department
of State,
Washington, February 27,
1872.
No. 227.]
Sir: I transmit a copy of a letter of the 23d
instant, and of the papers which accompanied it, addressed to this
Department by the Secretary of the Interior, relative to depredations,
by Kickapoo Indians from Mexico, upon Texas. It is represented that in
making these depredations, those savages were encouraged, if not
instigated, by Mexicans. You will again make a representation upon this
subject to the Mexican minister for foreign affairs. It must be obvious
to that government that the ravages referred to cannot fail to occasion
great irritation among those citizens of Texas who suffer from them, and
that in the interest of the good understanding which we are desirous of
maintaining with the Mexican republic, the government of that republic
is expected to exert its authority toward checking the raids of the
robbers adverted to.
I am, &c.,
[Page 395]
[Inclosure 1.]
Mr. Delano to Mr.
Fish.
Department of the Interior, Washington, D. C., February 23, 1872. (Received February
24.)
Sir: I have the honor to transmit herewith,
for your information, a copy of a letter from the Secretary of War,
dated the 6th instant, inclosing copies of reports relative to
depredations, &c., committed by Kickapoo Indians from Mexico, in
the vicinity of Fort Davis, Texas; also, a copy of a communication
from the Commissioner of Indian Affairs, dated the 13th instant,
giving his views in relation to the subject.
Very respectfully, &c.,
C. DELANO, Secretary of the
Interior.
[Inclosure 2.]
Mr. Walker to Mr.
Delano.
Department of the Interior, Office of Indian
Affairs,
Washington, D.
C., February 13,
1872.
Sir: I have the honor to acknowledge the
receipt, by reference from the Department, of the report from the
Adjutant-General’s Office, relative to a depredation committed on
the 22d of November last upon the Texas bank of the Rio Grande by a
party of Kickapoos, from Mexico.
I beg leave to refer to the fact that this is but one of a series of
depredations committed by hostile Kickapoo Indians, who make
frequent raids across the Mexican border into Texas, carrying off
stock and other property in large amount, and selling the same to
Mexicans, who undoubtedly encourage them in their operations and
protect them from pursuit. This state of things has been continued
for years, to the deep injury of the people of Texas. To remedy this
evil was the object, it will be remembered, of the effort made last
year to remove these Kickapoos to the Indian country. As that effort
failed, and under circumstances which do not encourage this Office
to renew the attempt, nothing further occurs to be done by the
Department in the premises, unless it should be deemed advisable to
have the matter again brought to the attention of the Mexican
authorities through the Department of State.
The Mexicans alone can prevent this state of things, as they alone
have been responsible in the past for its continuance.
The report from the honorable Secretary of War is herewith
returned.
Very respectfully, &c.,
F. A. WALKER,
Commissioner.
[Inclosure 3.]
Mr. Belknap to
Mr. Delano.
War
Department, Washington
City, February 6,
1872.
Sir: I have received from the
commanding-general of the Military Division of the South certain
papers relative to depredations and murder committed by Kickapoo
Indians in the vicinity of Fort Davis, Texas, copies of which are
sent herewith for your information and that of the Indian
Bureau.
Very respectfully, &c.,
WM. W. BELKNAP,
Secretary of
War.
[Inclosure 4.]
State of Texas, County of Webb:
Before me, Samuel M. Jarvis, mayor of the city of Lavedo, county and
State aforesaid, came Margarito Castaweda, to me well known, who,
being duly sworn, says that he is a citizen of Mexico, and is the
commandant of the custom-house guards of the post of Nuevo Lavedo,
Mexico; that on or about the 22d day of November last, while
[Page 396]
on duty along the Rio
Grande, about twenty miles above the town, he heard a great outcry
on the Texas side of the river, and the report of fire-arms, and it
being in a place where there are no settlements, they came to the
river in front of where some shepherds were in charge of a flock,
near the arroyo Saint Thomas, and the shepherds informed them that
they had just been attacked by a party of six or seven Indians,
armed with rifles, who had killed one of their number and wounded
another; they said they did not know from whence the Indians had
come, and thereupon deponent, knowing that the Kickapoos were then
encamped about six leagues from the river, at a place called the
Lagura de la Leche, on the Mexican side, started to find if their
trail had come from there. He soon found where they had crossed the
river, immediately opposite where the shepherds were. The Indians
had killed a horse, and of the hide had made a boat in which to
cross their arms, and were all mounted. Deponent thereupon took the
back trail into Mexico, and followed it for about three leagues in
the exact course leading to the Lagura, and being then convinced
that the Indians had come from there, they did not follow it any
farther.
Sworn to and subscribed before me this 15th day of
December. 1871.
SAMUEL M. JARVIS,
Mayor of the City of
Lavedo.
Official copy:
H. CLAY WOOD,
Assistant
Adjutant-General.
[Inclosure 5.]
Mr. Jarvis to Mr.
McCook.
Custom-house, Lavedo, Texas,
December 15, 1871.
General: I inclose herewith the declaration
of M. Castaweda, the chief of the Mexican custom-house guards, a
very respectable man, whose evidence with regard to the Indians will
be strong, as he is a Mexican citizen and official.
The party who followed the Indians came back, having gone nearly to
Fort Clark. The Indians, as they were informed by the citizens
there, had been seen to cross the river into Mexico, but as they
could not testify to their own knowledge, I did not take their
declarations.
I am, &c.,
[First indorsement.]
Headquarters Post of Fort Brown,
Texas,
December 26,
1871.
Respectfully forwarded to the assistant adjutant-general, Department
of Texas, for his information.
A. McD. McCOOK,
Lieutenant-Colon el
Tenth Infantry, Brevet Major-General, U. S. A.,
Commanding.
Official copy:
H. CLAY WOOD, Assistant
Adjutant-General.
[Second indorsement.]
Headquarters Department of Texas,
San, Antonio, January 8, 1872.
Official copy, respectfully forwarded to the Adjutant General United
States Army, through headquarters Military Division of the Missouri,
for his information.
J. J. REYNOLDS,
Colonel Third Cavalry,
Brevet Major-General U. S. A., Commanding.
[Third indorsement.]
Headquarters Military Division of
Missouri,
Chicago, January 25,
1872.
It has been the practice of the Indians on the Mexican side of the
Rio Grande to
[Page 397]
depredate in
Texas for many years. As no harm has ever come to any of them for
doing so, either from the Mexican government or our own, it is
liable to continue.
P. H. SHERIDAN,
Lieutenant-General
Commanding.
Adjutant-General’s Office,
Washington, February 1, 1872.
Official copies:
E. D. TOWNSEND,
Adjutant-General
