Apache outrages. Northern Sonora was in fact, more under the
dominion of the Apaches than under the laws of Mexico, and the
contributions of the Indians were collected with greater regularity
and certainty than the dues of the tax-gatherers. The state of this
region furnished the best defence for any American aiming to
settle there without the formal consent of Mexico; and, although
political changes would certainly have followed the establishment
of a colony, they might be justified by the plea that any social
organization, no matter how secured, is preferable to that in which
individuals and families are altogether at the mercy of savages."

While at the time of Jameson's raid the women and children in
danger of massacre from the Boers were as many as there are
snakes in Ireland, at the time of Walker's raid the women and
children were in danger from the Indians, who as enemies, as
Walker soon discovered, were as cruel and as greatly to be feared
as he had described them.

But it was not to save women and children that Walker sought to
conquer the State of Sonora. At the time of his expedition the great
question of slavery was acute; and if in the States next to be
admitted to the Union slavery was to be prohibited, the time had
come, so it seemed to this statesman of twenty-eight years, when
the South must extend her boundaries, and for her slaves find an
outlet in fresh territory. Sonora already joined Arizona. By
conquest her territory could easily be extended to meet Texas. As a
matter of fact, strategically the spot selected by William Walker
for the purpose for which he desired it was almost perfect.
Throughout his brief career one must remember that the spring of
all his acts was this dream of an empire where slavery would be