Periodically, times of great unrest sweep large sections of the world. For whatever reason, peoples move from their homelands into other, occupied regions. The result, not surprisingly, is strife. In our own area, centuries of turmoil accrued as the Apache entered from the north, the Spanish from the south, and eventually the Americans from the east, all willingly entering into viciousness under real, imagined, or contrived provocations.
The Mexican government, unable to protect its northern hinterlands from
Apache raids, periodically resorted to bounties, starting in 1835 and lasting into the
1880s. A Mr. Johnson turned successful entrepreneur and role model in 1837, ambushing
unarmed Apaches—men, women, and children—in southwestern New Mexico and reaping the
bounties for their scalps. In 1849, Chihuahua set a price of $150 for live women and
children, and $200 for the scalps of warriors. Inevitably out of hand, scalps from
friendly tribes and Mexican peons were submitted for payment ever more frequently.
This, and impending local governmental bankruptcies, eventually killed the practice—a
practice with plenty of blame to go around.
Contributor: Arthur H. Harris, Laboratory for Environmental Biology, Centennial Museum, University of Texas at El Paso.
Desert Diary is a joint production of the Centennial Museum and KTEP National Public Radio at the University of Texas at El Paso.