The few letters that Lieutenant Lockwood wrote home from New York contained very graphic8 pictures of what he there observed. His reception at the recruiting-station was most cordial, one of the first things done there by the recruiting-officers, to his surprise, being to bring forth9 a demijohn of whisky; but from this hospitality he begged to be excused, only one or two other young men following his example.
After a service of several weeks at the recruiting-station in New York, he conducted recruits to the Territory of Arizona by the way of Panama. The party left New York in November, 1873, and, on reaching San Francisco, went by steamer to Fort Yuma, near the mouth of the Colorado River, and thence marched over the rugged10 and dusty plains of Arizona to McDowell Post, a distance of more than one hundred and fifty miles in the interior.
From the few letters that he wrote respecting his trip from New York to San Francisco, we gather the following items:
“Aspinwall is a dirty, sandy town, of no architectural pretensions11. I cannot better describe it than by asking you to imagine Lockwoodville[1] with a lot of palm- and cocoanut-trees growing in the vacant lots, plenty of the sand and filth12 aforesaid, all the 22 darkies of Annapolis sauntering around, plenty of children and many dogs, pigs, etc. However, I must do Aspinwall justice—it has a neat little church, a marble monument erected13 to some of its chief benefactors14, and, what I should call, a remarkably15 fine statue of Columbus, in bronze. It has an enormous trade passing through it, from one ocean to the other, and is really a place of great importance to the mercantile world.”
“We reached Panama between four and five in the afternoon, after a very interesting ride across the country, and were immediately embarked16 for the Constitution—which lay two miles from shore—so that I had no opportunity of seeing Panama, except from the water. The ship left during the evening, and ever since has been ‘plowing the angry main’ toward San Francisco, excepting when stopping at some of the towns along the coast. We have seen several of these, and they are all of one type, that of Aspinwall, though on a much smaller scale. Some that I saw had not half a dozen wooden houses, but consisted merely of reed-huts covered with straw. One of these—Mazatlan—claims to have twenty thousand inhabitants, but does not appear to have more than one tenth of that number. All the tropical fruits were abundant at these places, and could be purchased for a trifle. The Constitution is a side-wheeler of four thousand tons, and has little motion, and, while sea-sickers are abundant, I am not one of them. I have gained ten pounds, and now weigh one hundred and sixty-one.”
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Lockwood’s stay in San Francisco was too brief to afford him much opportunity for observation, but here is what he said of the Chinese: “I visited Chinatown this evening, and saw the Celestials17 in all their glory. I saw many strange and amusing sights in their stores and shops and along their streets, as they are very slow in adopting civilized18 customs. I send along with this some Chinese pictures which I purchased. I am very much pleased with San Francisco, and shall leave it with many regrets. A walk through the Chinese quarter is like a visit to some Chinese city on the other side of the Pacific.”
The few events of his trip along the coast to Yuma were to this effect: Soon after leaving the Golden Gate, he experienced a storm that was far from pacific in its character, far worse than any he had witnessed since leaving New York; he visited Magdalena Bay, which impressed him as a barren, miserable19 place, chiefly noted20 for its want of houses, and yet of some importance as the shipping21 port of a dye-wood found in that region; he also stopped at Carmen Island, where large quantities of salt were found in the dry bed of a lake, and at Cape22 St. Lucas, but brought away no favorable impressions from any of these remote places. With Yuma City he was better pleased, describing its houses as small, one-story affairs, built of adobe23, more Mexican than American in character, and its streets as far more dusty than those of Washington City; and the mountains surrounding the city as very imposing24. The Colorado reminded him of the Red River—the channel winding25 and running between 24 great mud-flats and islands, all constantly changing, and abounding26 in many kinds of water-fowl. He was interested in the Indian inhabitants, whom he pitied for their poverty and degradation27; occasionally seeing a number of squaws reclining like quadrupeds on the mud-flats or in front of their tiny oval huts.
The sojourn28 of Lieutenant Lockwood in Arizona lasted into the summer of 1874, and from the letters which he wrote home from Post McDowell may be gathered some interesting particulars, illustrating29 his habits of close observation in regard to men and events.
His journey from Fort Yuma to Camp McDowell was full of interest and was greatly enjoyed. He had for companions two brother officers and three ladies; traveled by ambulance, making marches of only about fifteen miles; camped out every night, Lockwood himself sleeping on the ground outside. As the country was very desolate30 and barren, they traveled generally along the valley of the Gila, but their last march was over desert land forty-five miles wide. They saw many relics31 along the route, mounds32, ruins, and immense ditches for irrigation. One immense pile of rocks, called the Painted Rocks, was entirely33 covered with pictures of lizards34, Indians, beasts, and birds—supposed to represent a great battle in which the Apaches conquered the Maricopas. There were also along the road graves of men murdered by the Indians. One grave, near Gila Bend, was of a man named Lumley, a station-keeper, murdered by two 25 Mexicans—his successor exhibited a knife, used by one of the murderers, which had been found, and he pointed35 out the spot where Judge Lynch had disposed of the only criminal that happened to be captured. While the travelers did not spend any money at hotels, they were obliged to pay from twenty to thirty dollars for being ferried across the Gila and Salt Rivers at different points.
In one of his letters, written to his sister after the rainy season, and soon after his arrival at Camp McDowell, young Lockwood says: “I wish you could see the pretty flowers around here; they are principally yellow and red, and each kind grows by itself. They grow so close together that the ground is covered as with a carpet. To the west of this post there is a wide plain covered with these flowers. There is also a species of cactus36 called the Suwarrow, which grows fifteen or twenty feet high—a sort of tree without branches, but covered with thorns; the outside of this tree is of a green color and nearly as soft as young asparagus, but inside it has a frame of wood. These are all over the plain, in fact all over Arizona. I often walk out here after dinner with a large dog that belongs to one of the officers, and start up the rabbits—great big Jack-rabbits, as they are called—as large as a small dog. They can run very fast, faster than any dog except a hound. Among other curiosities about here are rattlesnakes and lizards—the lizards as common as flies; also crows as big as hens and almost as tame. The post is entirely surrounded by mountains.” By way of contrast to this 26 pleasing prospect37, in another letter he gives the particulars of the murder of two men by the Indians within twelve miles of the garrison38, their bodies having been fearfully mutilated. “I am still in the land of the finite and material,” he writes, “and the Apaches have not yet disturbed the arrangement of my back hair; in short, I am alive and kicking.”
On the 14th of May, Lockwood writes that “there has been nothing new at the post except the arrival of Lieutenant Schuyler, Fifth Cavalry40. He has been out on a scout41 for several months past, dropping in at various posts now and then. He reports that he came upon the Apaches southeast of here, killed twelve and took fourteen prisoners. He is accompanied by Dr. Corbasier and a party of thirty-one soldiers and eighty-one Indian scouts42. These scouts are composed of Apache-Mojave, Tonto-Apaches, and other tribes, closely allied43 to the Apaches proper. It seems strange that they are thus willing to join the enemy in exterminating44 their brethren; but such is their nature. They are hardly superior to the beasts, except in shape, and even there the line of demarkation is not very distinct. The Pimos, to the number of one hundred or more, were here about a week ago, on their way to punish the Apaches for stealing some stock from them. When they returned, they reported the killing45 of quite a number of their foes—some sixteen or more—and taking many prisoners. Schuyler’s party confirm the report; they came across the camp of the Apaches, and the doctor said he counted a large number of slain46. The Pimos surprised the 27 Apaches when asleep and almost exterminated47 them. They were armed with war-clubs, and of course mangled48 their bodies horribly. When found their heads were all beaten in, and their bodies stuck full of arrows and partially49 burned. The doctor says it was the most sickening sight he ever beheld50. The Apache bands, off their reservations, are fast becoming exterminated, over a thousand having been killed during the last winter. General Crook will not allow them to return to their reservations unless they bring the heads of several of the ringleaders in the late outbreak.”
In another place, after alluding51 to the extravagant52 accounts published about Arizona, he says: “One would suppose, from reading the pamphlet I send you, that Arizona is a fine agricultural country—which is absurd; and that it contains many flourishing cities and towns, whereas even the river-bottoms require irrigation, and the ‘cities’ are merely the nuclei53 of towns.”
On one occasion, after alluding to his enjoyment54 of the newspapers sent him from home, and to the early transfer of his regiment, he says: “It would probably have been removed this spring but for the financial panic and other commercial disasters. I suppose if the rest of the year goes by prosperously, and nothing occurs to prolong the gingerly, penny-wise, pound-foolish policy of Congress called economy (?), that the Twenty-third will probably be removed next spring or fall.” And again, he continues: “Grant appears to have obtained great credit by his 28 veto of the Inflation Bill. How Congress could pass a bill which seems to be unacceptable and repugnant to the whole people, I can not understand.”
Alluding a second time to the pleasing characteristics of frontier life, he tells his father that “a party of Indian scouts arrived here yesterday from Schuyler’s command. They brought the news that the lieutenant had jumped the Indians at Four Peaks—a high mountain, forty miles off—killed eighteen and captured six. The party brought in a wounded scout, shot through the head, who is now in the hospital. He was the only one wounded in the fight, or rather slaughter55, for these Indians rarely fight a party of any size. I suppose these Arizona tribes are the most degraded, cowardly, and despicable savages56 in the country. Schuyler, as I understand, generally sweeps a breadth of country fifty miles across, by means of flanking-parties on the right and left, and has been quite successful.”
In speaking of his duties at the post, he says: “I am officer-of-the-day every other day; I mount the guard every morning, attend all roll-calls, accompany the captain in his inspection57 of quarters every morning, and afterward recite tactics. I also am present with him at company-drill every evening, command the company at Sunday morning inspection, sit on boards of survey and perform other irregular duties.”
After announcing the arrival of the paymaster at the post, and alluding to expenses, he says: “Servants in this country are paid enormously. The post-trader pays his Chinese cook thirty dollars per month, and 29 has paid as high as one hundred dollars. Officers in Arizona are compelled from necessity to employ soldiers in this capacity, though contrary to the regulations.”
In one of his letters, Lieutenant Lockwood gives his opinion about some of his father’s landed property, and then goes on after this fashion: “The old farm has additional charms for me now, after living in Arizona, and I have come to think that there are many worse places. Does distance lend enchantment58 to the view? or what is it? I often long after some of the delicious peaches and other fruit that the much-abused farm produces in such abundance. However, if you can dispose of the farm as you suggest, it will, no doubt, be for the best, as the Lockwood family have become so high-toned that I am afraid they will never stoop (?) to live on a farm and become grangers.”
In one of his letters written about this date, he makes the following remark respecting his education at Annapolis: “I don’t think I care about being present at the meeting of the alumni of my Alma Mater, or, what she would be more pleased with, contributing anything in the way of money. Enough has been thrown away in teaching me what has never been of any use. However, the old woman has my good wishes.”
In another letter, after speaking of an entertainment he had attended, he said: “I don’t know that I should have enjoyed it, but for the presence of a very pretty Spanish girl with whom I fell in love; she danced charmingly, but as she could not speak a word 30 of English, nor I a word of Spanish, our conversation was somewhat limited.”
On the 4th of July when arrangements were commenced for removing the Twenty-third Regiment to Yuma, the lieutenant thus touches upon the national anniversary: “I have celebrated59 the day by being very busy writing up the proceedings60 of a board of survey, and have a like job on my hands for to-morrow; indeed, I shall be fully39 employed now till we leave. Some of the men, however, have been otherwise employed, viz., in parading before the guard-house with logs of wood on their backs, as the reward of a drunken frolic. Our march to Fort Yuma will doubtless be very disagreeable, and for two weeks we shall have dust and heat together with the fatigue61 of travel; but, on the other hand, the daily march will not be more than fifteen miles, and as we shall be well provided, I can’t say that I look forward to it with much dread62. The wife of our captain is even now interesting herself in the culinary arrangements, so I presume the vitals will be good.” From the time of his uttering this amusing pun until the following September, the letters of young Lockwood give us no incidents of special interest, and we now follow him into the State of Nebraska, his regiment having been assigned to the favorite post of Omaha.
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1 afterward | |
adv.后来;以后 | |
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2 lieutenant | |
n.陆军中尉,海军上尉;代理官员,副职官员 | |
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3 decided | |
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的 | |
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4 applicants | |
申请人,求职人( applicant的名词复数 ) | |
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5 regiment | |
n.团,多数,管理;v.组织,编成团,统制 | |
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6 infantry | |
n.[总称]步兵(部队) | |
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7 crook | |
v.使弯曲;n.小偷,骗子,贼;弯曲(处) | |
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8 graphic | |
adj.生动的,形象的,绘画的,文字的,图表的 | |
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9 forth | |
adv.向前;向外,往外 | |
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10 rugged | |
adj.高低不平的,粗糙的,粗壮的,强健的 | |
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11 pretensions | |
自称( pretension的名词复数 ); 自命不凡; 要求; 权力 | |
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12 filth | |
n.肮脏,污物,污秽;淫猥 | |
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13 ERECTED | |
adj. 直立的,竖立的,笔直的 vt. 使 ... 直立,建立 | |
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14 benefactors | |
n.捐助者,施主( benefactor的名词复数 );恩人 | |
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15 remarkably | |
ad.不同寻常地,相当地 | |
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16 embarked | |
乘船( embark的过去式和过去分词 ); 装载; 从事 | |
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17 celestials | |
n.天的,天空的( celestial的名词复数 ) | |
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18 civilized | |
a.有教养的,文雅的 | |
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19 miserable | |
adj.悲惨的,痛苦的;可怜的,糟糕的 | |
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20 noted | |
adj.著名的,知名的 | |
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21 shipping | |
n.船运(发货,运输,乘船) | |
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22 cape | |
n.海角,岬;披肩,短披风 | |
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23 adobe | |
n.泥砖,土坯,美国Adobe公司 | |
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24 imposing | |
adj.使人难忘的,壮丽的,堂皇的,雄伟的 | |
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25 winding | |
n.绕,缠,绕组,线圈 | |
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26 abounding | |
adj.丰富的,大量的v.大量存在,充满,富于( abound的现在分词 ) | |
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27 degradation | |
n.降级;低落;退化;陵削;降解;衰变 | |
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28 sojourn | |
v./n.旅居,寄居;逗留 | |
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29 illustrating | |
给…加插图( illustrate的现在分词 ); 说明; 表明; (用示例、图画等)说明 | |
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30 desolate | |
adj.荒凉的,荒芜的;孤独的,凄凉的;v.使荒芜,使孤寂 | |
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31 relics | |
[pl.]n.遗物,遗迹,遗产;遗体,尸骸 | |
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32 mounds | |
土堆,土丘( mound的名词复数 ); 一大堆 | |
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33 entirely | |
ad.全部地,完整地;完全地,彻底地 | |
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34 lizards | |
n.蜥蜴( lizard的名词复数 ) | |
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35 pointed | |
adj.尖的,直截了当的 | |
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36 cactus | |
n.仙人掌 | |
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37 prospect | |
n.前景,前途;景色,视野 | |
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38 garrison | |
n.卫戍部队;驻地,卫戍区;vt.派(兵)驻防 | |
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39 fully | |
adv.完全地,全部地,彻底地;充分地 | |
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40 cavalry | |
n.骑兵;轻装甲部队 | |
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41 scout | |
n.童子军,侦察员;v.侦察,搜索 | |
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42 scouts | |
侦察员[机,舰]( scout的名词复数 ); 童子军; 搜索; 童子军成员 | |
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43 allied | |
adj.协约国的;同盟国的 | |
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44 exterminating | |
v.消灭,根绝( exterminate的现在分词 ) | |
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45 killing | |
n.巨额利润;突然赚大钱,发大财 | |
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46 slain | |
杀死,宰杀,杀戮( slay的过去分词 ); (slay的过去分词) | |
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47 exterminated | |
v.消灭,根绝( exterminate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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48 mangled | |
vt.乱砍(mangle的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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49 partially | |
adv.部分地,从某些方面讲 | |
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50 beheld | |
v.看,注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 );瞧;看呀;(叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现)哎哟 | |
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51 alluding | |
提及,暗指( allude的现在分词 ) | |
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52 extravagant | |
adj.奢侈的;过分的;(言行等)放肆的 | |
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53 nuclei | |
n.核 | |
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54 enjoyment | |
n.乐趣;享有;享用 | |
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55 slaughter | |
n.屠杀,屠宰;vt.屠杀,宰杀 | |
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56 savages | |
未开化的人,野蛮人( savage的名词复数 ) | |
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57 inspection | |
n.检查,审查,检阅 | |
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58 enchantment | |
n.迷惑,妖术,魅力 | |
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59 celebrated | |
adj.有名的,声誉卓著的 | |
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60 proceedings | |
n.进程,过程,议程;诉讼(程序);公报 | |
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61 fatigue | |
n.疲劳,劳累 | |
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62 dread | |
vt.担忧,忧虑;惧怕,不敢;n.担忧,畏惧 | |
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