Hatch, finding himself outgeneraled and…
source date: 1891
availability: public-domain

Hatch, finding himself outgeneraled and outfought at every point by the hostile chief, sought to regain his lost prestige by an unpro- voked attack upon the then peaceable Mesca- leros. He invited them to meet him in council at the Mescalero agency. Unsuspicious of dan- ger they came ; Hatch surrounded them with the ninth and tenth regiments of cavalry, and without warning opened fire upon the mass of men, women and children. Twenty-two Mesca- leros, mostly women and children, were left dead ; the remainder broke through the lines of soldiery and fled to the mountains threatening