Indians of the Guadalupe Mountains

Natural resources such as native plants, animals and springs in and around the Guadalupe Mountains were a big draw for American Indians as they ranged the countryside in search of game and other sustenance. In the book "The Indians of the Guadalupe Mountains" written by Jack R. Williams, a time range chart shows that before the familiar Mescalero Apache, there were the big game hunters (Paleo Indian), desert archaic (Guadalupe Basketmakers) and the pueblo culture influence (Jornada and Anasazi). About 600 years ago, tribes of Apaches gradually made their way southward following the available game and gathering food from wild plants. The Indians' range was from the Pecos River on the east to Papago country in southern Arizona on the west and from Colorado to northern Mexico to the Gulf of Mexico in Texas, Williams wrote. The first recorded history of the Apaches, members of the Athapascan linguistic family, was on the southern plains in 1540-41 by the Spanish. They referred to them as Querecho. Some believe Cabeza de Baca encountered the Apaches in 1534-35. "Mescalero, Lipan and Tuetenene (a hybrid of the prior two) were living in this area at that time," wrote Williams. "They were first called Apaches in 1598 by Onate, which may have come from the Zuni 'Apachu' meaning enemy." C.L. Sonnichsen, who wrote the book "The Mescalero Apaches," said there were bands of Mescalero in the Sierra Blanca, Guadalupe and Davis Mountains. The Spanish called those gathering the agave plant mescal for food "Apache de Mescalero," Williams wrote. The Mescaleros, who frequented the Guadalupe Mountains, say Mescalero means mescal maker. It is said that a true Apache mescal pit used for baking their favorite food mescal can be found in the White Mountains north of the Guadalupes. These pits are round, about seven feet across and three to four feet deep. "The main difference between the Basketmaker midden circle and the Apache mescal pit is that the true mescal pit or earth oven is a depression definitely below the ground level. Consequently, the midden circle had other uses than the preparation of mescal hearts," Williams wrote; the circular midden averaged from 30-35 feet in diameter in the Guadalupe Mountains area. Williams wrote that occasionally, the Mescaleros farmed. He believes that although most farming was done to the north of the Guadalupe Mountains, some farming was possibly done at Rattlesnake Springs, once an Apache campsite...more