These papers in due course of time were referred by the War to the Interior Department, in a communication the terminal paragraph of which reads as follows, under date of March 28, 1885:
"I submit for your consideration whether it is not desirable and advisable
in the public interests, that the entire control of these Indians be placed under
the charge of General Crook, with full authority to prescribe and enforce
such regulations for their management as in his judgment may be proper,
independently of the duties of the civil agents, and upon this question this
Department will appreciate an early expression of your views.
"(Signed) William C. Endicott, Secretary of War."
One of the principal causes of trouble was the disinclination of
the agent to permit the Apaches to excavate and blast an irrigating
ditch, which had been levelled and staked out for them by
Lieutenant Thomas Dugan, Third Cavalry, one of Captain Crawford's
assistants, the others being Parker, West, and Britton
Davis of the Third Cavalry, Elliott of the Fourth Cavalry, and
Strother of the First Infantry. Captain Crawford, feeling that
his usefulness had gone, applied to be relieved from his duties at
the San Carlos and allowed to rejoin his regiment, which application
was granted, and his place was taken by Captain Pierce,
of the First Infantry, who was also clothed with the powers of
the civil agent.
It was too late. The Chiricahuas had perceived that harmony did not exist between the officials of the Government, and they had become restless, suspicious, and desirous of resuming their old career. A small number of them determined to get back to the Sierra Madre at all hazards, but more than three-fourths concluded to remain. On the 17th of May, 1885, one hundred and twenty-four Chiricahuas, of all ages and both sexes, under the command of "Geronimo" and "Nachez," the two chiefs who had been most energetic in their farm work, broke out from the reservation, but the other three-fourths listened to the counsels of "Chato," who was unfriendly to "Geronimo" and adhered to the cause of the white man. It has never been ascertained for what special reason, real or assigned, the exodus was made. It is known that for several days and nights before leaving, "Geronimo" and "Nachez," with some of their immediate followers, had been indulging in a prolonged debauch upon the "tizwin" of the tribe, and it is supposed that fearing the punishment which
