No. 474.
Mr. Foster
to Mr. Fish.
Mexico , March 25, 1874. (Received April 14.)
Sir: By newspapers from Sonora and letters from our consul at Guaymas, I am informed that the border investigating commission for the States of Sonora and Chihuahua, created by act of Congress in 1872, was first formally organized on the 23d of February last, at Guaymas. It consists of the district judge of Sonora, Mr. Domingo Elias, as chairman, and Messrs. Gabriel Aguirre and Carlos I. Velasco, with Mr. Perfecto Vadillo as secretary.
In the session of the 3d instant the commission adopted a series of regulations for the presentation of complaints against authorities or citizens of the United States for Indian raids or other damages since the 2d of February, 1848, (date of the treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo,) invited citizens of the United States to present complaints of a similar character against Mexico, and fixed its itinerary to the principal settlements on the frontier of Sonora, whence it will proceed to Chihuahua, to renew its labors in that State.
Much alarm is felt in Sonora on account of the rising of the Apaches on the San Carlos reservation, in Arizona, on the 31st of January last, it having been believed that the said Indians, to the number of several hundreds, would invade Sonora, renewing former scenes of pillage and murder. But the latest information from Guaymas is calculated to allay these apprehensions, the insurgent Indians having taken another direction, whither they were pursued by General Crook.
Other depredations in Sonora continue to be attributed to the band of Cochise, living on the Chiricahua reservation.
I am, &c.,