I Fought a Good Fight: A History of the Lipan Apaches

28. Mescalero

274 Lipans and Kickapoos became such a menace that Texans began to suspect Mexican civil authorities were informing them of troop movements and opportunities to steal. Their camps in Mexico were the size of villages, and they continually replenished their large herds of horses and cattle from Texas, selling livestock to Mexicans and American fugitives living in Mexico.1 Demands for extradition of certain Indians alarmed tribes and Mexicans, who feared another Callahan-style invasion, so the tribes broke up their camps, divided into smaller, more mobile groups, and dispersed. This “relieved [Mexicans] of the presence & embarrassments of so great a body of consumers at one locality ,” wrote Stephen Brown, who was to meet with Indian leaders and negotiate their removal on behalf of Major General Joseph Reynolds. He only met once with a few chiefs, but they were ready to return to their former homes. When they first came to Mexico, they were rich and comfortable but were now poor and dependent on raiding and on the Mexicans. Some were serving as scouts in the Mexican army; others were servants or laborers. They didn’t dare express their unhappiness . To the Mexicans, the tribes were a boon to trade and a source of protection against other tribes, but Brown believed they would be “the 28 CHAPTER Mescalero In these parts the Kickapoo and Lipan Tribes commit most all the stealing and murdering . . . [A] whole regiment of mounted troops stationed along our borders will not prevent these savages from making successful raids to this part of Texas. — Judge H. I. Richards, 1867 Mescalero 275 scapegoats for the unlawful deeds & depredations of all the bad characters that gather along both frontiers.”2 Q R Lipans tell a story about a Southern Lipan and Northern Lipan who were looking for horses when they found a Kickapoo camp. They watched it for a day, and saw a Kickapoo drive the horses to good grass and return to his camp. They were good horses. By moonlight, they rounded up the horses and started off, riding all night and the next day and that night until midnight. Finally, they stopped to sleep. They continued for two more days until they reached home. A big group of Kickapoos set out to recover their horses and picked up the trail. Near the Lipan camp, a hunter spotted them. The chief ordered the women to gather their things and begin moving out. He chose seven brave men to join him in holding off the Kickapoos. One was a Big Water Lipan from Coahuila, another was a Mexican captive raised with that band, and the rest were Lipans from New Mexico. One had taken the horses and was riding one of the Kickapoos’ horses. From the top of a hill a man saw the Kickapoos approaching slowly, leading their horses so they would appear to be a group of wild horses. When they saw the Lipan, they mounted up and chased him. He signaled to the other men to ride in the opposite direction from the camp. He himself headed for the plains, and the Kickapoos chased him a long way. When the Mexican captive’s horse gave out, the chief’s brother suggested they leave him. The chief said, “No, in my fighting against the enemy I have never given my men away and let them fall into the hands of the enemy.” He took the man on his horse. Even though the chief’s horse was strong and the Kickapoos’ horses were tired, they began to catch up. The chief stopped, made his ceremony over his shield, said his prayer and lifted his shield four times to the sun. His men heard the growl of a bear come from his shield. He told four men to get off their horses and face the enemy. He and another man remained mounted. When the Kickapoos began to shoot, 276 I FOUGHT A GOOD FIGHT the Lipans charged, but the Kickapoos’ arrows hit the chief’s shield and flew over. A Kickapoo with a muzzle loader wounded the chief in the hip. The Lipans killed a Kickapoo, let the Kickapoos fire their guns again, and then pressed them, killing three more Kickapoos, one by gunshot and two by lance. The Kickapoos withdrew to reload, and a Lipan lanced a man. More Kickapoos came. The man with the lance hit a Kickapoo wearingaheaddressandtoreofftheman’squiver.Thechiefandtheother Lipan on horseback were...