MEXCIAN-AMERICAN WAR, KEARNY, BARTLETT AND STECK
At the very time that
Cochise was emerging as the indisputable leader of the Chokonen Apaches,
and wrestling with the deep personal losses at Galena over the death of his
father and mother, events were unfolding outside his world in Mexico City and
Washington D. C. that would have profound consequences upon his people. The
Mexican- American War, 1846-48, will dramatically shift the political/cultural
landscape for the Apaches as a new territorial line will be arbitrarily imposed
on Apacheria by Washington placing it within the boundary of the United States.
The primary trigger for this transcontinental adventure was the new Nationalism
of “Manifest Destiny”, the sense that the West was an untamed virgin wilderness
waiting for the superior plow of civilization and industrialism to transform it
into a veritable paradise under the auspices of the elected White Anglo-Saxon
Protestant Americans. Taming the West became a national policy under Andrew
Jackson, whose election in 1828 ushered in the era of the “common man”.
Jacksonian Democracy imagined an America of independent God fearing white,
self-reliant farmers who were destined to expand the virtues of hard work and
private property into the wilderness. “Manifest Destiny” had a strong dose of
racism in it particularly directed at peoples
“Red” or “Brown” of color, who were not only culturally/economically
backward, but were indolent and lazy, and had no idea how make this vast
wilderness productive. It was this attitude of Jackson that led to the Indian
Removal Act in 1830 by which the “Five Civilized Tribes” of the southeast, who
despite their efforts at “civilizing themselves”, were still forcibly removed
from their lands and sent to Indian Territory later called Oklahoma. The
Cherokees still today lament this upheaval by commemorating the “Trail of
Tears” in which 4000 Cherokees perished trekking westward at gunpoint in 1838.
The other side of racism was the American view toward the
darker, swarthy Mestiza Mexicans, who were considered barely more advanced than
their Indian cousins. This viewpoint was evidenced by the continued political
instability in Mexico City, characterized by revolving Presidencies, and by the
Mexican ineptitude in managing Texas. James Polk from Tennessee was a southern
democrat nationalist who was committed to American expansion, and recognized that
the United States absorption of Texas into the Union in 1845 would never be
accepted by Mexico. The real prize however of a Mexican War was California, and
not the New Mexico territories, as it would transform America into a
transcontinental power. Another powerful southern motive was the hope of
opening the New Mexico territories to southern expansion thus restoring the
political “Geometry of Balance” between North and South, which had been offset
by the opening of the Oregon Trail. The war was relatively short but intense,
and was formally ended by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in February 1848. For
a paltry $18 million dollars Mexico lost half its territory, and the great
irony was that before the ink on the Treaty had dried, gold will be discovered
in California. The boundary between Mexico and United States was finally
established at the Rio Grande River. Article
XI would in particular impact Cochise’s people as the United States did agree
to protect Mexicans from Apache/Comanche raids. Ironically, the Mexican- American War re-energized
the slave question for abolitionists as
it undermined the Missouri
Compromise which had stabilized America into a north free and south slave
along parallel 36 30 in 1820. Texas coming
in as a slave state altered the relationship between north and south. Racial
politics was intensified in America soon spilling over to the Apaches, who were
viewed as backward, primitive and treacherous. (Cf, Eduardo Ruiz, ed., The
Mexican War: Was It Manifest Destiny?)
Though the Apaches had lived in the southwest for many
centuries their consultation was ignored as they were not deem civilized enough
to be invited to the treaty discussions between America/Mexico that would
shatter their hunter/gatherer lifestyle. The first formal meeting between the Apaches-Pindah
(White Eyes) came in 1846 during the height of the Mexican- American War when
General Stephen Watts Kearney led by Kit Carson was ordered to California.
Kearney with a force of 300 men crossed the land of Mangus Coloradas where he
encountered the impressive warrior near Santa Rita del Cobre copper mines.
Mangus Coloradas offered to support the Americans in the Mexican War, but was
rebuffed on the grounds that once the war was ended the “Great Father” would
not tolerate Apache raids south of the Rio Grande boarder. Mangus was surprise
if not stunned by the American response leading him to be suspicious.
Especially since the Mexicans were the traditional Apache enemies and Mangas
even had offered to fight with the American against the Mexicans. Mangas was stunned
by this Pindah display of arrogance, but was wary of these newcomers sensing
that they were tougher than the Mexicans, being well armed and disciplined.
Throughout his life Mangas Coloradas attitude toward the Pindah was mixed. It
was his ambivalence that sometimes led him to rely too much on diplomacy to
achieve his goal of reaching an accommodation ultimately lead to his gruesome
death under a flag of peace in 1863.
