CHAPTER XIII. THE MOQUIS, MOHAVES, AND MODOCS.
Sebastian Cabot, in 1495, some two or three years after the first voyage of Columbus, discovered Florida and Mexico, and found along the coast the descendants of the Welsh discoverers who eventually settled in Mexico.
Sir George Mackenzie, in a letter to his grandfather, the fourth Earl of Perth, writing on the subject of Celtic discoveries in Europe and America, cites Baronius, Scaliger, Salmasius, Lipsius, and others as authorities for believing in these early emigrations. As early as the sixteenth century are found explicit accounts of strange peoples inhabiting certain portions of America and possessing different characteristics from the aborigines. Hakluyt, in his third volume, has an extract from Antonio de Epejo, written in 1583: "The Spaniards along the Rio del Norte, latitude 37° upwards, found the Indians far more civilized, and having a better form of government, than any others in Mexico. They had a great number of large and very populous towns, well built of stone and lime, three or four stories high; their country is very large and extensive. The chief town, called Cia, has not less than eight markets. The inhabitants are very warlike, have great plenty of cows and sheep, dress neat's leather very fine, and make of it shoes and boots, which no other Americans do. They have also deer-skins and chamois equal to those of Flanders (probably brought to Flanders from Switzerland), and abound with excellent provision in the greatest profusion. They have large fields of corn, and make curious things of feathers of various colors. They manufacture cotton, of which they make fine mantles, striped with blue and white. They have many salt lakes in their country, that abound with excellent fish, and from the waters of which they make excellent white salt. The country abounds with wild beasts, wild fowl, and all sorts of game. They breed great numbers of hens. The climate is very fine, the soil rich, producing great quantities of delicious fruits. They have amongst them grapes the same as those of Castile, and fine roses like those of Europe. They have also abundance of excellent metals, gold and silver. The people are very industrious and laborious, and the cultivation of the ground occupies all their time. Their houses are flat-roofed. The country is very mountainous, and has excellent timber; and the inhabitants seem to have some knowledge of the Christian faith. They have many chapels, and erect crosses, and they live in general in great security and peace. The largest lake is in the western part of the country, and around it is a great number of large, well-built, and populous towns. The people are neatly dressed, in clothes made of exceeding well-dressed skins and cotton cloth."
Captain Carver, in his "Travels in North America," says that "northwest of the Missouri and St. Pierre, the Indians farther told me that there was a nation rather smaller and whiter than the neighboring tribes, who cultivate the ground, and (as far as I could gather from their expressions) in some measure the arts. They are supposed to be some of the different tribes that were tributary to the Mexican kings, and who fled from their native country to seek an asylum in these parts about the time of the conquest of Mexico by the Spaniards, about two centuries ago."
Farther on (page 386), he says, "The Jesuits and French missionaries also pretended that the Indians had, when they first travelled into America, some notions—though these were dark and confused—of the Christian institutions, for they were greatly agitated at the sight of the cross, which made such impressions on them that showed that they were not unacquainted with the sacred mysteries of Christianity."
Very little has been known until late years of the Rio del Norte and its source or sources, which flows in a southerly direction through New Mexico and empties into the Gulf. But as the population has increased in this country with astonishing rapidity, and settlements have been opened in the Territories, and there was a necessity for a well-organized Indian Bureau to provide for the scattered tribes living in the Southwest, the condition and character of the country and of the people in New Mexico, Colorado, and Arizona are being brought to light. Military and scientific expeditions have been sent into those countries, which have returned with reports of having discovered new nations about whom nothing has been hitherto known.
In the campaign of General Crook against the Apaches, a large tract of country, rich with the relics of the past, was opened. It contains a chain of cities in ruins and ancient towns still inhabited by a race which holds itself aloof from Mexicans, Indians, and Americans, and prides itself on its descent from the ancient inhabitants of the country, and maintains a religion and government peculiar to itself. The largest settlement was found in Mexico, about thirty miles south of the border line. A strong wall surrounds it. Within are houses for about four thousand people. The population had dwindled at the time they were discovered to about eighteen hundred. Montezuma is their deity, and his coming is looked for at sunrise each day. Their priests wear heavily-embroidered robes, while their religious ceremonies are very formal and pompous. They have a high order of morality. The chief powers of government are vested in thirteen caciques, six of whom are elected for life. They are quite advanced in civilization. Their women are not treated as beasts of burden, but are respected, and permitted to confine themselves to housekeeping. From all that can be gleaned, it appears that these people have maintained their traditions unbroken for at least three centuries and a half.
Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Baca published, in 1529, a description of his wanderings in America. He was in New Mexico, and, in writing of the Indian villages, said, "The New Mexico pueblos—villages—are generally two stories high, with doors on the roof and the staircase ladders on the outside." Within a circle of sixty miles from Santa Fé there are to be found the ruins of over forty deserted towns; and in various other portions of New Mexico and Arizona similar ruins are in existence, all showing that there once resided here a powerful people essentially differing from the common American Indians. They were not placed here by the Spaniards, but had occupied these towns and cities long before their coming. By some it is believed that Montezuma originated in New Mexico; and some even designate his birthplace. Some locate it at the old pueblo of Pecos; while others maintain that it was near Ojo Caliente, the ruins of which are still to be seen. A document is now extant purporting to be copied from one of the legends at the capital in Mexico, in which it is stated that Montezuma was born in Teguayo, one of the ancient pueblos of New Mexico. This was not his original name, but was applied to him upon his elevation to the Aztec throne, as it was to his predecessors. It is supposed by some that in this region was situated the Aztlan, whence came the Aztecs to Mexico; by others that it was along the Gila River, in Arizona. But throughout that entire country the ancient towns which are now inhabited and the deserted ruins show a common origin.
The view has been entertained by some who have given this subject attention that it was at this point in the progress of the migrations that Madoc and his followers finally became amalgamated with the Aztecs.
Within the past few years, several visits have been made by the members of Wheeler's Surveying Expedition—Samuel Woodworth Cozzens and a few others—to the seven wonderful cities of the Moquis, situated near the Colorado Chiquito, in Arizona.
Dr. Oscar Leow, chemist to Wheeler's Surveying Expedition, has contributed a brief but intensely interesting article to the "Popular Science Monthly" for July, 1874, on "The Moquis Indians of Arizona." By reference to the Indian reports, it appears that this nation has never been brought in contact with the Indian Bureau, nor with the Arizona agency, although within its jurisdiction. Small appropriations have recently been made for them; and it is likely that much more will soon be learned about them,—their habits, industries, language, and strange history.
Their seven cities stand upon very high, precipitous cliffs of sandstone, which, when seen in the distance, present such bold fronts that it appears out of the question for any one to think of climbing them. As the traveller approaches, however, he discovers narrow and circuitous paths, which must be passed over single file, up and up, till the summit is reached. On this giddy height is the home of the Moquis. Dr. Leow terms it the "Gibraltar of the West," which the Navajos and Apaches have never been able to conquer. The Moquis number about two thousand five hundred. The cities rest on four sandstone mesas,—tables,—which are about eight miles apart. On the first table are three of the cities, named Tehua, Tsitsumo-vi, and Obiki; on the second are Mushangene-vi and Shebaula-vi; the third is Shongoba-vi; and on the fourth is Orai-vi.
The houses are built in rows of two, three, and four stories in height, and constructed in terrace style, with the upper stories removed a few feet back from the lower ones. The sides fronting the bluffs are quite near, with only a narrow ledge along which to walk, and where the children were seen by the doctor, playing, unconscious of danger, while the mothers were within the houses performing their duties, though an awful gulf hundreds of feet in depth yawned beneath. Here the habitations are not built of adobe, like Indian and Mexican huts, but of stones firmly held in place by a cement of clay and sand. The stories are about seven feet high, divided into rooms, and each provided with a fire-place. Windows are cut into the walls about a foot square.
The architecture of these stone houses bears a marked conformity with that of the ruder ages among the Welsh.
The physical appearance of the Moquis is a nearer approach to that of the Caucasian than to that of the Mongolian race. The complexion is a light red-brown, and the countenance unusually intelligent.
Mr. Cozzens says that "their faces were so bright and intelligent that I fancied they only required to be clothed in American dress, and shorn of their long locks of coarse black hair, to enable them to easily pass for people of our own race who had become brown from exposure to the sun.
"Their clothing is neat, and they have an abundance of it. They knit, spin, and weave blankets, cloaks, etc. They also manufacture certain kinds of pottery. They have a system of reservoirs or stone tanks, built of masonry in a substantial manner, and which hold millions of gallons of water. These are connected with smaller ones below by pipes, and thus utilized for their stock, which comprise dogs, donkeys, sheep, goats, and chickens. The sheep and goats are driven some eight or ten miles from the mesas to some pasture-lands. The principal crop is corn, which is planted deep in the ground to obtain a greater degree of moisture. The corn is ground, and then mixed with water, so as to form a paste. The woman who makes it dips her hand in the paste and rapidly passes some of it over hot stones, where it is soon baked. The cakes resemble the Welsh bara llechan, noted in their cookery. They have a kind of food called panoche, and still another called tomales,—by mixing flour and meat in a powdered state. They also raise beans, cotton, and tobacco.
"The women appear more intelligent than the men, and dress with far more taste. The daughters of the chief are said to be exceedingly interesting ladies. The hair is worn à la Pompadour, with two inverse rolls on the side of the head, by the unmarried. When married, the rolls give place to broad braids. The Moquis girls have one privilege which ladies do not generally enjoy: they have the right to propose for their own husbands. When they have made their proposals, the fathers make the arrangements. The bride then prepares with her own hands the wedding-dinner.
"Females are not permitted to dance; their places are taken by young men who dress in imitation of the women. All the dancers wear masks made of peeled willow twigs nicely woven together; males have theirs dyed brown, and supposed females bright yellow.
"The vice of drunkenness and crime of murder are not known among this people.
"They are kind, warm-hearted, and hospitable. They believe that their great father, Montezuma, lives where the sun rises."
Mr. Cozzens studied their manners and customs, and endeavored to learn something of the history of this singular race. He says that it is asserted by the people of the other pueblos "that they are descendants of the Aztecs, though with Welsh blood in their veins."
That they have occupied their present location for a long time may be inferred from the fact that their feet have worn down the path in the rock between the several villages to the depth of some inches.
The Mohaves, who are on the Colorado River Reservation, Arizona, are a small, isolated tribe, not more than perhaps a thousand all told. They are different from all other Indians. The women are tall, cleanly, and less servile than most Indian women. Their language is peculiar, and has Welsh words in it. The more recent reports of the United States Government agents contain complaints against the vile traders who are leading this once sober and respectable tribe into all sorts of vice, drunkenness, immorality, loathsome diseases, and crimes. White men, with their boasted civilization and virtues, drag the Indians to the brink of ruin, and then crowd them over as vile and disgusting creatures.
The perfidious and barbarous massacre of General Canby, Rev. Eleazer Thomas, and others, by that savage band called the Modocs, brought them into an unenviable notoriety; but, while passing, it is worthy of query how they came by a name so much like that of Madoc.