Hysterical Journey To Historic Places

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SAMUEL CHAMBERLAIN



Remember the movie Geronimo, the one where the role of Al Sieber is played by Robert Duval? In it Duval ruefully comments that, “a Texan is the lowest form of white man there is”. He was speaking of scalp hunters. Scalp hunting was a program of ethnic cleansing instituted by the Governor of Chihuahua, Mexico against Apaches. The undisputed heavy weight champion of all scalp hunters was a vicious killer named John Joel Glanton. He was captain of a small company of former soldiers who had plans to set off to the California gold fields after the War with Mexico. In order to finance the journey Glanton took a contract from the good governor to produce Apache scalps for the bounty offered on them. He soon realized that Apaches were hard to locate and were dangerous adversaries when found. He decided on upon a policy of killing and scalping anyone who crossed his path that had dark hair. It was easy money for a while but the governor became suspicious of his amazing success, realized what was going on and drove him out of Mexico. The merry band continued onward toward California murdering and robbing as they went. Arriving in Yuma in 1850 they encountered a group of peaceful Indians operating a ferry across the Colorado River. Instead of paying for their crossing Glanton simply murdered the Indians, confiscated the ferry, and began operating it himself at highly inflated prices. They set up camp on high ground on the California side near where the tribal offices and railroad bridge are now located. Those who balked at paying the exorbitant fee were murdered and robbed. In was a bad situation and not long tolerated. On April 23, 1850 a group of Indians took revenge, overwhelmed the camp and murdered everyone there, including Glanton. Samuel Chamberlain was member of Glanton’s outfit but was not present when the final slaughter took place. He made his way to California, then returned to Boston and became a model citizen. The Cormac McCarthy book Blood Meridian was based on Chamberlain’s memoirs. Sam was born in Center Harbor, New Hampshire on November 27, 1829 but spent most of his childhood in Boston. In 1844, at the tender age of 14 he scampered off all by himself to visit family members in Illinois. When the War with Mexico broke out a couple of years later Sam joined up with the Second Illinois Volunteers and went down to Texas to join the fighting. In Texas he enlisted in the regular army as a private in Alexander Doniphan’s battalion of the First U. S. Dragoons and rode off to battle at Buena Vista. Along the way he met the Great Western, Sarah Bowman, and was quite taken with her, he would later paint a portrait of her. Towards the end of the war Sam deserted the cavalry, joined a filibuster into Mexico and got himself swept up with Glanton. Back in Boston he rejoined his family group, who had probably been wondering where he had gone to for the last five years, got married and started in raising a family. Until the War Between the States broke out he had sown his wild oats. During the war he joined another cavalry outfit as a Lt Colonel and chief of staff to General Averill. He would later command a prisoner of war camp called Camp Parole near Annapolis, MD and was also made commander of the all black Fifth Massachusetts Cavalry. Before the war ended he would be brevetted to Brigadier General himself. He was wounded in battle six times. After the war he would become warden of the Massachusetts state prisons. As a pleasant pastime he would paint pictures depicting battle scenes from the Mexican War some of which are hanging up in a museum in San Antonio. The photo shows the ferry crossing at Yuma from the approximate site of Glanton’s camp. The Territorial Prison is on the other side of the river. Sam Chamberlain is the author’s sixth cousin four generations removed.

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Photos

YUMA FERRY
Yuma Territorial Prison is in the background.