CHAPTER VII. INDIAN HOSTILITIES. FEELING TOWARDS INDIANS-KILLING OF MANGUS MANGUS COLORADO-KILLING OF MR. WHITE The feeling prevailed at this time among the people of Arizona that the only way to effect a permanent peace, was by the slaughter of every Indian capable of bearing arms. Lieutenant Mowry declared that they were as venomous as rattlesnakes and should be treated accordingly. General Carleton issued orders that no buck should be taken prisoner but that the women and children should be spared. On the 14th of January, 1863, according to the Fish manuscript, Captain Shirland was detached, with twenty men of his company, with orders to proceed at once in advance of the main body, and find Mangus Colorado, known to be in the neighborhood of Pinos Altos. Captain Shirland was given discretionary orders, either to capture the chief in fair fight, or to get possession of his body by strategy. Mangus Colorado was invited to visit Fort McLane for the purpose of making a treaty and receiving presents. Captain Shirland returned to the fort on the 17th, accompanied by Mangus Colorado and four of his chiefs. The statement which follows is condensed from the Fish manuscript, the facts of which Mr. Fish states he received from C. A. Cooley, an old scout, and Captain Henry Warren, who was a member of the California Volunteers, both of whom were present at Fort McLane at the time the following circumstances occurred. Mangus came in all the pomp of a victorious chief, gaudily painted in vermilion and ochre, and decorated with feathers and brass ornaments. After a long talk with Mangus by the officers assembled, he was told that the remainder of his days would be spent as a prisoner in the hands of the Government authorities; that his family would be permitted to join him and they would be well treated. He was also told that upon making any attempt to escape, his life would be immediately forfeited. During the night the sentry purposely unfastened the prison door, and about one o'clock in the morning of the 18th, placed his bayonet in the fire, got it red hot, and then stuck it up against the bare backs of the prisoners, (Mangus Colorado and the chiefs with him). At this, the victims jumped, and availed themselves of the means of escape offered by the door being open, and they were deliberately shot down by the soldiers, who had been stationed outside for that purpose. The officers reported that the Indians, after making several atttemps to escape, were shot down. Mangus Colorado's head was severed from his body by a surgeon, the brain was taken out and weighed, and it was found that the head measured larger than that of Daniel Webster, and the brain was of corresponding weight. The skull was sent to Washington and is now on exhibit in the Smithsonian Museum. This was the story of Captain Warren, who also stated that the killing of Mangus Colorado was regarded as absolutely necessary in order to suppress the savages. Mr. D. E. Conner, the last surviving member of the Walker Party, to which reference will be made as this history progresses, gives the following account of the capture of Mangus. Mr. Conner was the historian of the Walker Party, and wrote at the time a full account of their adventures, which he has preserved to the present day. According to Mr. Conner, the Walker Party was encamped on a grassy plain at old Fort McLane, where they were herding and resting their stock. About fifteen miles from their camp in a dividing mountain range was located the temporary headquarters of some Mexican renegades, supposed to be allies of the Apaches. A Mexican came to their camp, professing to be an escaped prisoner of the savages and informed them that Mangus Colorado was north of these headquarters, which these Mexicans called "Pinos Altos," with several hundred warriors. He disappeared in the night as mysteriously as he came. Upon this information the Walker Party decided to remain at Fort McLane, opposite to Pinos Altos, until the whereabouts of Mangus Colorado could be ascertained. His |