Depredation and Deceit: The Making of the Jicarilla and Ute Wars in New Mexico By Gregory F. Michno Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2017. xiii + 336 pp. Cloth, $32.95.
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Gregory F. Michno poses the following question: “Are there any lessons to be learned from studying the New Mexico frontier during the years 1846 to 1855?” If his book is any indication, there are several significant lessons to be learned in regards to understanding the ways in which government and local politics played out along the New Mexico frontier and in the borderlands area. As a result of the Mexican-American War, the New Mexican frontier became a mixing point for various groups, including Nuevomexicanos, Mexicans, Americans, and Jicarilla and Ute Indians, in addition to other local tribes. The author examines the Trade and Intercourse Acts, laws initially passed in 1796 but that underwent various iterations through the 1850s. These acts created a system in which whites could file claims for losses sustained from Indians along the frontier. The U.S. government then investigated and often paid out their losses. The army’s presence in the area to protect both Indians and whites often led to an increased number of depredation claims filed. Michno argues that collectively these acts, which were established in an attempt to prevent conflict, became the leading cause in the Indian Wars of the nineteenth century. Instead of creating a more peaceful frontier, the acts were “manipulated by Americans . . . who through their greed and dishonesty may have precipitated the very wars that they claimed to abhor” (10). The book progresses chronologically, with chapter one detailing acts of violence that occurred along the frontier against Ameri-
cans, New Mexicans, and American Indians. Additionally, the large influx of settlers in the mid-nineteenth century meant that the Jicarillas were slowly being squeezed out of their own territory even as they worked to co-exist with the Spanish. The violence led to a request for more soldiers in the region, which then correlated with a spike in local depredation claims filed for supposed losses incurred. However, as Michno illustrates, a surprising number of those claims were fake and worked instead to defraud the government. In chapter two, Michno addresses how the arrival of ‘49ers from the California Gold Rush further heightened tensions in the area. These miners arrived to find that the lucrative tales of gold were lived realities for only a few, a discovery that caused frustration and tension between settlers and locals. As Michno astutely points out, “Americans who had fully bought into their system of capitalism, nevertheless seemed shocked when that system operated at full throttle against them” (57). Citizens continued to blame Indians for depredations, and, as detailed in local newspapers such as the Santa Fe Republican, this blame led to a demand for retribution against local tribes. Chapter three delves fully into the deception within the depredation claims. It became evident that while locals reported that property thefts were being committed by Indians, many were actually carried out by American or Mexican bandits or, worse, had never happened at all. In New Mexico, as the so-called Staters and Territorials fought for power in the 1850s, the Territorials capitalized on perpetuating an atmosphere of fear. They filed claims and also benefited monetarily from army contracts that increased the number of troops in New Mexico. Citizens’ businesses also benefited because of the Territorials’ exaggerated claims of Indian violence. These claims forced the army to stay in the area, which lead to more business for
