Spanish America (Vol.1&2). Sir Richard Henry Bonnycastle
Indian tribes; of these, however, a dry detail cannot prove interesting; and so little is accurately known concerning those subdivisions, that errors would unavoidably arise in recapitulating them. The chief of these districts is named Apacheria, from the Indian tribes called Apaches, a warlike and restless race of Americans, who inhabit the country to the west and east of Santa Fé.
They are denominated, towards the southern part of New Mexico, Apaches Mescaleros; Apaches Llaneros, and Lipanes in the northern part; and Apaches, Chicaraguis, Mimbrenos and Gilenos, on the eastern side. They are a brave, resolute and independent people, extremely attached to their primitive customs, and very jealous of the power of the Spaniards, with whom they are frequently at variance; but this does not proceed to open war, as they stile themselves the allies of Spain. They were subjugated on the first settling of this country, but revolted towards the close of the 17th century, since which time they do not acknowledge subjection to that power.
In referring to what has been before observed concerning the great chain of mountains which pervade this country, it will be necessary to state, that the name Sierra Madre, or Topia, is more strictly applied to that elevated part of this immense ridge, which commences near Guadalajara, and extends 450 miles in a northerly direction into New Mexico; the breadth of all its ridges, or parallel crests, at this part, is sometimes 120 miles, where the chain is called more distinctively by the appellation of Sierra Madre, or Mother Ridge, on account of its great altitude above the other parts: it has, by some writers, been compared with the Cordillera of Peru; and the chasms and precipitous terminations of its sides, are said to exceed any of the most terrific and sublime mountain features of the world; their aspect is terrible, their depths profound, and appear to the wondering traveller, to unite the concave of heaven and the valleys of New Spain, by everlasting walls of adamant.
This part of the chain, and indeed nearly the whole of it, is in general densely covered with forests of the most gloomy appearance, composed principally of pines and oaks. In these impracticable wilds, birds of every description, peculiar to the country, inhabit; and their variegated and beautiful plumage throws a ray of lustre on the sombre scene.
On the summits of some of these mountains snow eternally lodges, and the cold, in consequence, is intense. Many rivers take their rise in the sides and near the tops of this Cordillera, and rush with impetuous force into the valleys below, whence they take their courses to the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. During the rainy season, (from June to September,) and when the upper snows lose their solidity and become fluid, these rivers, and the smaller streams, are turned into torrents, inundating the lowlands; and their devastations, to the distance of 10 or 12 miles, are inconceivable. During this period, when the natives are forced to much manual labour and bodily exertion in the open air, to repress the ravages of the waters, these pests of warm climates, the musquitoes, become intolerable.
Bears, tigers, &c. with various beautiful species of squirrels, inhabit the thick forests on the sides of the Sierra Madre. This ridge is most prolific in silver, each quintal of earth in the mines yielding a mark (two thirds of a pound); but these mines, on account of their distance from Mexico, have many of them been forsaken.
This ridge received its other name of Topia, from the appellation of a tribe of savages who inhabited it, and who were converted to the Catholic faith by the exertions of the Jesuit missionaries in 1590. So little was known of the existence of the Indians in some of the middle parts of this chain, that the inhabitants were not converted till the year 1718.
As before observed, nothing can be accurately advanced with respect to the termination of the continuation of the Topia, or Sierra Madre Cordillera on the north; but it seems, without much doubt, to be continued to an amazing distance towards the north pole, and that the Stony Mountains are certainly a part of it. In the immediate vicinity of the northern boundary of the Spanish territories, the tribe of Indians called the Moquis, are reckoned amongst the inhabitants of its regions; they live under the same parallel as Santa Fé, the capital of New Mexico, and some distance to the westward of that place; their houses have already been mentioned.
The Sierra Madre sends off a branch in the west part of the province of New Mexico; this ramification, the summits of which are very lofty, is called Gemes, and bears a south-easterly direction; whilst on the eastern side, it throws off another arm, called the ridge of Nahmi; which is, however, of inferior height, and of shorter duration, than that of Gemes.
From the shore of the Pacific to the great Topian ridge, the general distance may be computed at 140 miles; in many places, however, it is greater, and in some, where the continent begins to straighten its bounds, not one half that distance.
The Topian chain takes the name of Sierra de las Grullas, from 38° to 40° north latitude; beyond that to 42° north latitude, it receives the name of Sierra Verde; during its southern course, it bears several distinct names, besides the general one of Sierra Madre.
It is in the Sierra Verde, that the great rivers, Colorado and Del Norte take their rise, and their sources are only separated from each other by the ridge of the mountain.
The great tract of uncultivated country between the Colorado and Gila, is inhabited by tribes of wandering Indians whose names appear on the map. To the south of the Gila is a tract of uncultivated country, inhabited by the Apaches Tontos, and other tribes: it was in this country that two missionaries in 1773, at the distance of three miles from the Gila, discovered the ruins of a Mexican or Aztec city, the houses of which were similar to those that are mentioned in the account of Mexico. These houses were large, and the one most entire, consisted of five rooms three stories high, and in length, was 445 feet by 276 broad, the walls being 3 feet 11 inches in thickness. A wall and towers surrounded the mansion; and the ruins of the city occupied more than a square league; fragments of pottery and domestic utensils were found in all directions; and a canal had conducted the waters of the Gila to the city. This was supposed to be the second station of the Mexicans in their migration from the north; the third is in New Biscay, near Fort Yanos.
The Indians in the environs of these great buildings are more polished than their neighbours, and are in a more social state; from which circumstance, it is conjectured, that they are a remnant of the Aztec nation, who settled here in their journey from the northern countries.
CALIFORNIA.
California is divided into two intendancies. New and Old California.
Old California consists of the peninsula bearing that name. New California reaches from Port San Francisco to the isthmus, or down to the Colorado, and comprises a strip of land along the coast; as, however, neither of these countries are at present of any great importance, we shall not divide them in our account, but describe them both together under the general head of California.
The boundaries of this country are an imaginary line, in the 39th degree of north latitude; on the north, the river Colorado and Indian tribes; and the Vermillion Sea, or Californian Gulf on the east; the Pacific Ocean on the west and south.
The bay of Sir Francis Drake, which runs some distance into the country, is the limit placed by nature between the claims of the British government and that of Spain in North America; and on the south-side of this bay is another, called the bay of St. Francisco, where the Spaniards have a small town and fort; this settlement is in 37° 48ʹ north latitude according to the latest authorities, but some have made it near 39°. The length of California, may be however computed from Sir Francis Drakeʼs harbour, in 39° north latitude, to Cape Lucas, in 22° 55ʹ north latitude, and 109° 52ʹ west longitude; the breadth varies so much, that a reference to the map will give a better idea of it than words.
Fernando Cortez seems to have been the discoverer of this country; he had sent several vessels in pursuit of the desirable object of making the coast of the Pacific known, when Hernando de Grijalva discovered the coast in February 1534; but they were so unsuccessful, that Cortez determined to undertake a voyage himself, which accordingly performing, he discovered the Gulf of California, in the year 1536, after encountering all sorts of misfortunes and perils; it