Post by kayitah on Mar 30, 2011 15:44:44 GMT -5
There is not much about the Dilzhe'e in this forum, so I started this thread.
I will start with an excerpt from Jim Schreier's "Camp Reno: Outpost in Apacheria, 1867-70"
In an effort to sort out the confusing situation in the Subdistrict of the Verde during the first week in May, Alexander ordered Chilson to prepare a detailed report on the various Indian bands in the vicinity of Camp Reno. Chilson was certainly well qualified for the assignment. His previous experiences under DuBois and contacts with Delchay, Osh-kol-te, Ash-cav-o-til, and Cha-lipun gave him perspective and a rounded background in Indian affairs.
Chilson devoted part of his report to diet, which he found similar in each of the Apache bands. Most Indians raised a small amount of corn and wheat, while Delchay also grew squash and watermelons. Mescal was a staple of the Indians' diet, along with seeds, roots, and cactus fruit, according to the season. Some bands hunted deer along the Mogollon Rim, while Pi-yah-gon-te, a young Yavapai chief, and his people, who lived near the Little Colorado River, also subsisted on antelope, mountain sheep, black bear, rabbit, and wild turkey.
Delchay exerted considerable influence among the Apaches and Yavapais north of Camp Reno. He was a young man - probably under thirty years old - whose band numbered 100 warriors, forty women, and sixty children. Between fifteen and twenty of the men carried firearms, ranging from old-fashioned single-barreled shotguns to the latest improved Spencer and Springfield breechloaders. Because the Apaches gambled incessantly, the weapons changed hands frequently.
Skit-la-vis-yah's Apache or Yavapai band resided a few miles north of Delchay. The chief was above middle age, rather stout, and walked with a limp caused by a mule kick. Chilson noted that Skit-la-vis-yah was "a man of some importance in his own estimation, very timid & superstitious, imagines that his power is almost unlimited, and... acknowledges that nothing was made without his assistance except the Sun, Moon & Stars." He was fluent in Spanish, which certainly supported his claim of being a leader. His band, however, was small, consisting only of about twenty men, thirty women, and thirty children.
Chilson was unable to learn much about Pi-yah-gon-te and his followers, other than the rumor that they were responsible for most of the depredations around Prescott. The band numbered about thirty men, twenty women, and twenty-five children.
Cha-lipun's Yavapais lived southwest of Green Valley and about ten miles east of the Verde River. Their strategic location made it easy for them to raid in the Prescott an Wickenburg areas. The band comprised fifty warriors, twenty women, and between thirty and forty children.
The three bands south of Camp Reno were stronger and more populous than the four bands north of the post. Osh-kol-te's Apache and Yavapai group, consisting of seventy men, twenty women, and maybe twenty children, occupied the eastern slope of Four Peaks and extended to the Salt River. The warriors were well armed but depended on Ash-cav-o-til and Big Rump for ammunition.
Ash-cav-o-til was a young chief of great influence. Chilson believed that he was a Pinal Apache (Yavapai), whose following occupied a 900-square-mile area along both sides of the Salt River. Next to Big Rump, Ash-cav-o-til's band was the most warlike in central Arizona. Heavily armed and well supplied with ammunition obtained from Apaches on the Fort Goodwin reservation, his 200 warriors committed depredations as far south as the overland route toward Tucson and near Sacaton and Camp Grant. Their distance from any military presence made them bold and successful raiders.
The largest and fiercest band belonged to Big Rump, a Yavapai. Although observers knew little about him (he refused to make peace with the Americans), informants estimated that he had 300 to 400 followers. Chilson, however, was dubious. "I am inclined to think that his is an over estimate," he reported, "though it is from the other Indians that I get my information and they would be less likely to over estimate the number of these warriors than their own." Regardless, Chilson thought that Big Rump had well over 100 firearms.
I will start with an excerpt from Jim Schreier's "Camp Reno: Outpost in Apacheria, 1867-70"
In an effort to sort out the confusing situation in the Subdistrict of the Verde during the first week in May, Alexander ordered Chilson to prepare a detailed report on the various Indian bands in the vicinity of Camp Reno. Chilson was certainly well qualified for the assignment. His previous experiences under DuBois and contacts with Delchay, Osh-kol-te, Ash-cav-o-til, and Cha-lipun gave him perspective and a rounded background in Indian affairs.
Chilson devoted part of his report to diet, which he found similar in each of the Apache bands. Most Indians raised a small amount of corn and wheat, while Delchay also grew squash and watermelons. Mescal was a staple of the Indians' diet, along with seeds, roots, and cactus fruit, according to the season. Some bands hunted deer along the Mogollon Rim, while Pi-yah-gon-te, a young Yavapai chief, and his people, who lived near the Little Colorado River, also subsisted on antelope, mountain sheep, black bear, rabbit, and wild turkey.
Delchay exerted considerable influence among the Apaches and Yavapais north of Camp Reno. He was a young man - probably under thirty years old - whose band numbered 100 warriors, forty women, and sixty children. Between fifteen and twenty of the men carried firearms, ranging from old-fashioned single-barreled shotguns to the latest improved Spencer and Springfield breechloaders. Because the Apaches gambled incessantly, the weapons changed hands frequently.
Skit-la-vis-yah's Apache or Yavapai band resided a few miles north of Delchay. The chief was above middle age, rather stout, and walked with a limp caused by a mule kick. Chilson noted that Skit-la-vis-yah was "a man of some importance in his own estimation, very timid & superstitious, imagines that his power is almost unlimited, and... acknowledges that nothing was made without his assistance except the Sun, Moon & Stars." He was fluent in Spanish, which certainly supported his claim of being a leader. His band, however, was small, consisting only of about twenty men, thirty women, and thirty children.
Chilson was unable to learn much about Pi-yah-gon-te and his followers, other than the rumor that they were responsible for most of the depredations around Prescott. The band numbered about thirty men, twenty women, and twenty-five children.
Cha-lipun's Yavapais lived southwest of Green Valley and about ten miles east of the Verde River. Their strategic location made it easy for them to raid in the Prescott an Wickenburg areas. The band comprised fifty warriors, twenty women, and between thirty and forty children.
The three bands south of Camp Reno were stronger and more populous than the four bands north of the post. Osh-kol-te's Apache and Yavapai group, consisting of seventy men, twenty women, and maybe twenty children, occupied the eastern slope of Four Peaks and extended to the Salt River. The warriors were well armed but depended on Ash-cav-o-til and Big Rump for ammunition.
Ash-cav-o-til was a young chief of great influence. Chilson believed that he was a Pinal Apache (Yavapai), whose following occupied a 900-square-mile area along both sides of the Salt River. Next to Big Rump, Ash-cav-o-til's band was the most warlike in central Arizona. Heavily armed and well supplied with ammunition obtained from Apaches on the Fort Goodwin reservation, his 200 warriors committed depredations as far south as the overland route toward Tucson and near Sacaton and Camp Grant. Their distance from any military presence made them bold and successful raiders.
The largest and fiercest band belonged to Big Rump, a Yavapai. Although observers knew little about him (he refused to make peace with the Americans), informants estimated that he had 300 to 400 followers. Chilson, however, was dubious. "I am inclined to think that his is an over estimate," he reported, "though it is from the other Indians that I get my information and they would be less likely to over estimate the number of these warriors than their own." Regardless, Chilson thought that Big Rump had well over 100 firearms.