A Common But Separate Goal For Power :: History Native Americans Essays

A Common But Separate Goal For Power missing works cited In the latter half of the 19th century, there were many cultures striving for control of the American Southwest, mainly the southern half of present-day Arizona, which was purchased by the United States in 1853. American Indian tribes, such as the Apaches, had original claims to the land that were overtaken by the Mexican invasion of missions at Tubac and Tucson, which were later overrun with American settlers and soldiers laying their claims to this new American territory. These struggles for power created tension between all of the peoples of southern Arizona, originally between the Apache tribes and Mexicans, and then morphing into a trifecta of clashes between all of the races for control of the land. When the Spanish began colonizing the northern area of Mexico, they were confronted with a problem-what were they to do with the native peoples? Jesuit priests attempted to reform some of the mesa tribes in present-day Arizona and New Mexico, but encountered a population uninterested in Christianity and comfortable with their nomadic ways. There were missions of this type in the towns of Tucson and Tubac, which were abandoned by the missionaries and taken over by the Hispanic population, which in its early days, numbered around five hundred. The Hispanic settlements were centralized around military establishments, mostly because of a fear of the native people, the Pinal Apaches, who were characterized by their raids for horses, food, and other staples. In 1821, Mexico achieved independence from Spain, and the military outposts were completely under Hispanic control; they no longer were under Spanish rule and could make military decisions about the tribes on their own. With this newfound independence, the Mexicans began dealing in peace treaties with the local tribes. On March 5, 1837, the military government in Tucson signed a document with their "perennial enemies, the Pinal Apaches" (Officer, 137), which transported the tribe to the barren Arivaipa Creek, and contained a stipulation that the Apaches could only travel through the Tucson stronghold with the permission of the commander. Placing the Indians on reservations, which created land claims that were their own, seemed to have no reciprocal effect with the Mexicans. Although the tribes were not allowed to trespass on Mexican territory, the Mexicans did not care who trod on the newly claimed tribal lands. According to James E. Officer, in his book Hispanic Arizona, 1356-1856, ".