or four days small parties of five or ten would come to steal live stock or to kill any individual that might have gone some little distance from the villages. Larger war parties came once or twice a month, though longer periods sometimes elapsed without a visit from the Apaches. Chief Antonio declares that the Apaches formerly lived farther away from the Pimas, and hence their raids were less frequent than they were during the middle portion of the last century. At all events the activity of the enemy became sufficient to cause the abandonment of the outlying villages east of the present agency of Sacaton and the concentration of the tribe into seven villages upon the Gila plain. On stormy winter nights, when the noise of the elements might afford cover for the approach of the enemy, sentinels were posted about the camps. These men were accustomed to build little shelters of brush and leave smoldering fires in them, then conceal themselves in the darkness near by and watch for marauders that might attempt to steal toward the light. In this way the main trails were guarded, and the coyote-like curs at the houses afforded additional security from surprise. They supposed that the Apaches always guarded their own camps.
When a chief "felt in his heart" that he would like to avenge his people for some particularly flagrant outrage, or that he desired the honors that reward the successful warrior, he went from settlement to settlement making an appeal for followers by repeating conventional speeches of magic character. The arrangements for the campaign were speedily made. The preparation of the roasted meal for pinole required much less time than the ceremonies necessary to secure the requisite amount of magic power to insure victory. The extra supplies of food were carried, before the introduction of the horse, by one or more women. These women were chosen from those who had recently lost kinsmen in battle and they were invariably accompanied by a male relative. At night the party was surrounded by pickets, who came in to report at intervals. During the evening a set speech was repeated by a man whose office it was to keep appropriate speeches in memory. These were arranged in order, as "first night," "second night," etc., and were "adapted" for the occasion, though based upon the supposed speeches of the gods at the time of the creation. The valor of the party was roused by the recital of deeds performed, but the primary object was to compel the attention of supernatural beings and secure magic power that would not only enable them to overcome but would also attack the magic power of the enemy. Then, of course, if the magic power of the enemy were defeated, the Pimas could easily overpower the Apaches.[1] After the speech the warriors sang the magic war songs, a’-atän nyuĭ, while the
- ↑ "The Pimas, though not an aggressive, are a brave and warlike race. They are the dread of the Apache, who always avoids them." Sylvester Mowry in S. Ex. Doc. 11, pt. 1, 587, 35th Cong., 1st sess., 1858.
