Pinos Altos (N.M.) -- History; Pinos Altos (N.M.) -- Social life and customs
and Roy Bean (Law West of the Pecos) were dealers in
merchandise and liquors and had a fine billiard table”, and that “Thos.
Marston wanted 200 quartz miners at $1.00 and $2.00 a day.”
With the establishment of the Confederacy this part of the West was
claimed by the South. On August 1, 1861, Col. John R. Baylor as Governor
at Mesilla, proclaimed the establishment of the Territory of Arizona.
This included the part of New Mexico below the 34th parallel. Miners had
been asking the United States Government for military protection but
little action had been taken. However, Governor Baylor recognized the
importance of controlling the Indians and of protecting the scattered
inhabitants. Captain Snively’s Arizona Guards were assigned to watch the
Apaches under Cochise and Mangas Colorado, and Thomas Marston was named
Captain in the Arizona Scouts with nine men under his control to protect
Birchville. At the same time he appointed Justices of the Peace for Dona
Ana County, which then included Dona Ana, Luna, Hidalgo and Grant. Among
them was M. M. Steinhal of Birchville, who became the first Justice of
Peace in what is now Grant County. The Apaches were determined to drive
all Americans from their land. Cochise brought his warriors from the
Chiricahuas and joined Mangas Colorado and his Mimbrenos for a concerted
attack on the miners. Cochise was in command. Early on the morning of
September 22, 1861, 400 Apaches made a bold, but unsuccessful attempt to
destroy the camp and drive the miners out. The conflict raged along the
Continental Divide until one o’clock, when with fifteen Apaches killed,
one by a dog belonging to a Mexican named Carlos Norero, the Indians
withdrew. Three Americans lost their lives, including Thomas Marston who
had been fatally wounded and died a few days later. He was buried
beneath the large juniper tree in the Pinos Altos cemetery. Many of the
remaining Americans decided that their scalps were more valuable than
gold and left to join either the Union or Confederate Forces. The Beans
were among them. On October 10th Governor Baylor responded to a
desperate call for help from the weakened settlement by sending a
detachment of 100 men under Major E. Waller to relieve the miners and to
protect their rich workings.
Not all the trouble during the year 1861 was with the Indians. A man
named Taylor held a grudge against William Dike, who was in the employ
of the Overland Express Company. At a baile on Christmas Eve, Taylor
gathered some friends about him and fired at Dike, who was dancing.
Several shots were exchanged, Dike was killed and Taylor wounded.
However, he was able to escape into Mexico. This was the first murder in
the camp.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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