Vanished Arizona: Recollections of the Army Life by a New England WomanSummerhayes, Martha
History
Vanished Arizona: Recollections of the Army Life by a New England Woman
Summerhayes, Martha
Arizona -- Biography; Arizona -- Description and travel; Summerhayes, Martha, 1844-1926; United States. Army -- Military life
Charley, the Indian, was in the corral, filling the ollas, and, hearing
the commotion, came in and saw just the disappearing heels of the two
squaws.
I said, very sternly: "Charley, how came those squaws in my closet?" He
looked very much ashamed and said: "Oh, me tell you: bad man go to kill
'em; I hide 'em."
"Well," said I, "do not hide any more girls in this casa! You savez
that?"
He bowed his head in acquiescence.
I afterwards learned that one of the girls was his sister.
The weather was now fairly comfortable, and in the evenings we sat under
the ramada, in front of the house, and watched the beautiful pink
glow which spread over the entire heavens and illuminated the distant
mountains of Lower California. I have never seen anything like that
wonderful color, which spread itself over sky, river and desert. For an
hour, one could have believed oneself in a magician's realm.
At about this time, the sad-eyed Patrocina found it expedient to
withdraw into the green valleys of Lower California, to recuperate for a
few months. With the impish Jesusita in her arms, she bade me a mournful
good-bye. Worthless as she was from the standpoint of civilized morals,
I was attached to her and felt sorry to part with her.
Then I took a Mexican woman from Chihuahua. Now the Chihuahuans hold
their heads high, and it was rather with awe that I greeted the tall
middle-aged Chihuahuan lady who came to be our little son's nurse. Her
name was Angela. "Angel of light," I thought, how fortunate I am to get
her!
After a few weeks, Fisher observed that the whole village was eating
Ferris ham, an unusual delicacy in Ehrenberg, and that the Goldwaters'
had sold none. So he suggested that our commissary storehouse be looked
to; and it was found that a dozen hams or so had been withdrawn from
their canvas covers, the covers stuffed with straw, and hung back in
place. Verily the Chihuahuan was adding to her pin-money in a most
unworthy fashion, and she had to go. After that, I was left without a
nurse. My little son was now about nine months old.
Milk began to be more plentiful at this season, and, with my sister's
advice and help, I decided to make the one great change in a baby's life
i.e., to take him from his mother. Modern methods were unknown then, and
we had neither of us any experience in these matters and there was no
doctor in the place.
The result was, that both the baby and myself were painfully and
desperately ill and not knowing which way to turn for aid, when, by a
lucky turn of Fortune's wheel, our good, dear Doctor Henry Lippincott
came through Ehrenberg on his way out to the States. Once more he took
care of us, and it is to him that I believe I owe my life.
Captain Ernest sent us a cook from Yuma, and soon some officers came
for the duck-shooting. There were thousands of ducks around the various
lagoons in the neighborhood, and the sport was rare. We had all the
ducks we could eat.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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