Depredation and Deceit: The Making of the Jicarilla and Ute Wars in New Mexico by Gregory F. Michno (review)

Violent conflict between American settlers and Indigenous peoples is a subject with a long historiography. Gregory Michno’s Depredation and Deceit adds to that field by arguing that American indemnification policy was a primary cause of said conflict, as it provided incentive for American settlers to defraud the U.S. government at the expense of Native peoples, which in turn incited further conflict and war. The Trade and Intercourse Acts, which were primarily passed to maintain peace and curb white aggression on Indian lands, contained provisions that allowed citizens to apply for compensation from the federal government if their property were damaged or stolen by Indian raiders. If approved, the government would reimburse the claimant, usually by deducting funds from the annuities owed to tribes that were found at fault. Additionally, the acts also authorized the military to make arrests on Indian land. Michno argues that this system encouraged conflict because it emboldened whites to make fraudulent or exaggerated claims, in turn prompting military action, which Indigenous peoples naturally resisted.

Michno uses the Jicarilla and Ute wars in northern New Mexico as a case study for his argument. When the American government claimed jurisdiction of the territory in 1848, Michno says, many of the non-Native locals saw the claims system as an “easy road to material gain without the threat of punishment” (p. 8). Their depredation claims against the Utes and Jicarilla Apaches required action on the part of the military, which led to general war in 1854–1855. The Trade and Intercourse Acts, Michno argues, “were manipulated by Americans who cared less for the spirit of the acts than for their own self-interest, who through their greed and dishonesty may have precipitated the very wars that they claimed to abhor” (p. 10).

Depredation and Deceit does many things well. First, Michno’s attention to detail is impressive, and his account of the turmoil in northern New Mexico during the territory’s first American decade is engaging and well written. Michno’s style is distinctive; he allows a significant amount of his personal voice to come through in the narrative, which is a refreshing feature of a book coming from an academic press. He has nice vignettes, his knowledge of the subject is clear, and he stays true to his thesis throughout the book.

That said, Michno’s approach is somewhat heavy-handed and his characters are one-dimensional. The villains in his story are clearly the “dishonest civilians” that “defrauded the system,” as a “risk-free way to get government money” (p. 249). These commoners were a “passel of swindlers,” in Michno’s estimation, and he leaves little room for nuance (p. 253). Government officials were either oblivious of the abuses or “willing participants in the chicanery,” while the military exercised “skepticism and restraint,” but had to submit to “commercial and security systems that [had] failed” (p. 252).

Michno relies almost entirely on white American sources, which makes for a one-sided narrative. We hear almost nothing from the Utes and Apaches, and very little from nuevomexicanos. And while Michno’s argument that the Trade and Intercourse Acts were a key cause of Indian wars in United States history is one worth pondering, he does not show how the indemnification claims system interrupted the pattern of raiding, retribution, captivity, kinship, trade, and warfare that had been present in the Southwest and had maintained the political, social, familial, and martial status quo in the region for centuries prior to American involvement. Though the scholarship on raiding patterns is listed in the bibliography, it does not make much of an appearance in the narrative.

Still, Depredation and Deceit is an engaging account of one of the most overlooked conflicts in American history. It is well written and has a strong argument that, while perhaps oversimplified, is important to consider...