Cajemé
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- For the municipality in Sonora, see Cajeme.
Cajemé (Yaqui language for "the one who does not stop to drink water"'), born José Maria Leyva (also spelled Leiva, and Leyba) was a Yaqui leader who lived in the Mexican state of Sonora from 1837 to 1887.
José Maria Leyva was born in 1837 to Francisco Leyva and Juana Peres at Pesiou, Sonora, also known as Villa de Pitic, and currently called Hermosillo. At the age of 12, José accompanied his father and others from Sonora in the 1849 "Gold Rush" to Upper California, and returned about two years later, having learned English. His father evidently did well in the gold fields, as José was enrolled in an exclusive private school in Guaymas, subsequently learning to read and write Spanish.
Later in life, having successfully served in the Mexican military in the war against the French occupation, José Maria Leyva's service proved so exemplary that he was appointed to the office of "Alcalde Mayor" of the Yaqui by Sonora Governor Ignacio Pesqueira. Expected by Pesqueira to assist in pacifying the Yaqui people, he instead united the eight Yaqui pueblos into a small, independent republic and unexpectedly announced he would not recognize the Mexican government unless his people were allowed to independently govern themselves. He led the Yaqui in a war against the Mexican state and those who sought to control and confiscate the traditional Yaqui lands. The war was long-lasting due to the skill of the Yaqui in battle under José Maria Leyva's leadership, and was particularly brutal, with atrocities on both sides but much larger-scale slaughter on the part of the forces of the Mexican government of Porfirio Díaz. In 1886 the Yaqui suffered a major defeat when the Mexican army destroyed the fort (El Añil) the Yaqui had built.
Betrayed by a Yaqui woman whose sympathies lay with other Yaquis opposed to resisting Mexican authority, Cajemé was finally captured while visiting family in the city of Guaymas on April 13, 1887. Cajemé was kept under house arrest by General Angel Martinez. He was treated with the respect and courtesy accorded to a defeated leader of a country. Cajemé was extensively interviewed by Ramon Corral, who later became Governor of Sonora, and Vice-president of Mexico. It was at this time that Cajemé's famous saying was recorded: "Antes como antes y ahora como ahora. Antes éramos enemigos y peleábamos, Ahora está Todo concluido y todos somos amigos ( Before was before and now is now. Before we were enemies and we fought; now everything is concluded and all can be friends)."
At least two photos were taken of Cajemé during his arrest, in both traditional Mexican white peasant garb (as shown in the photo), as well as in dark colored ranch-hand clothing. Following this, Cajemé was taken across Guaymas bay by steamboat to the Yaqui River port of El Médano, near Potam, and paraded through several of the Yaqui pueblos along the river to show that the leader of the Yaqui had been captured. On the return trip to Guaymas, a pretense was made that Cajemé was trying to escape his guard. He was shot to death at Tres Cruces de Chumampaco on April 23, 1887, and his body hacked into pieces by the Mexican soldiers. The remains were carefully collected by family members, and those Yaqui loyal to Cajemé, and reverently buried at Cocorit. For many years following Cajemé's death there were strenuous efforts by the Mexican government to kill or remove the Yaqui from the state of Sonora. Much of the Yaqui nation was enslaved and sent to work as slave laborers in the Yucatán Peninsula, in the Quintana Roo, where thousands died laboring in the heniquin plantations. Many Yaqui fled to neighboring states, and submerged their identity with that of other Indian groups. Quite a few Yaqui fled to Southern Arizona, where their descendants live today.
José Maria Leyva's spouse was Maria Salgado Ramires. They had two children, both born in Hermosillo: a son, Sotero Emiliano Leyva Salgado, born in 1863 (Iglesia Católica, 1863), and a daughter, Victoria Leyva Salgado, born in 1866 (Iglesia Católica, 1866). It is likely that Cajemé's son died before 1885, probably in a battle against the Mexican forces. However, his daughter was still living (Newark Daily Advocate, 1885), and was able to escape the later persecution of the Yaqui people, traveling first to the state of Chihuahua, and later entering the United States of America at El Paso, Texas. Victoria died on August 5, 1946, in Los Angeles, California, living long enough to see four children, and four grandchildren born.
[edit] References
Iglesia Católica. (1863). Registros parroquiales: Bautismos 1860-1865, La Asunción; Hermosillo, Sonora. In " FHL INTL Film 671286," Microfilme de manuscritos en el archivo de la parroquia; La Asunción fue titular de la catedral metropolitana de la diócesis de Hermosillo. Salt Lake City, Utah : Filmado por la Sociedad Genealógica de Utah, 1968.
Iglesia Católica. (1866). Registros parroquiales: Bautismos 1865-1869, La Asunción; Hermosillo, Sonora. In " FHL INTL Film 671288," Microfilme de manuscritos en el archivo de la parroquia; La Asunción fue titular de la catedral metropolitana de la diócesis de Hermosillo. Salt Lake City, Utah : Filmado por la Sociedad Genealógica de Utah, 1968.
Newark Daily Advocate. (1885). A Troublesome Indian race. Newark, Ohio. June 10, 1885. Also: A Troublesome Indian race. The Mitchell Daily Republican. Mitchell, South Dakota. June 26, 1885.
[edit] Bibliography
Corral, Ramón (1959). Biografía de José María Leyva Cajeme. In Obras históricas. Reseña histórica del Estado de Sonora, 1856-1877; Las razas indígenas de Sonora. No. I. Hermosillo, Sonora, Retrato del autor (Biblioteca Sonorense de Geografía e Historia)
Troncoso, Francisco P. (1905). Las guerras con las Tribus Yaqui y Mayo del estado de Sonora, Mexico. Mexico: Tipografia del departamento de estado mayor.ca:Cajemé es:Cajeme
