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diff --git a/29692.txt b/29692.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..995a9e7 --- /dev/null +++ b/29692.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9412 @@ +Project Gutenberg's When the West Was Young, by Frederick R. Bechdolt + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: When the West Was Young + +Author: Frederick R. Bechdolt + +Release Date: August 15, 2009 [EBook #29692] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WHEN THE WEST WAS YOUNG *** + + + + +Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + +WHEN THE WEST WAS YOUNG + + + + +[Illustration: John Slaughter was gathering a great herd] + + + + +WHEN THE WEST WAS YOUNG + +BY + +FREDERICK R. BECHDOLT + +D. APPLETON-CENTURY COMPANY + +INCORPORATED + +NEW YORK--LONDON + +1938 + + + + +Copyright, 1922, by + +The Century Co. + +All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, must not be reproduced +in any form without permission of the publisher. + + + + +To My Father + +Dr. A. F. BECHDOLT + + + + +ACKNOWLEDGMENT + + +The writer is indebted for the material in this book to a goodly +number of the old-timers, from whose lips came much of which is +written in the following pages, and to numerous printed works which he +consulted, sometimes to authenticate data and sometimes to get +additional facts. + +Among the former to whom he wishes to make acknowledgment are: Former +Sheriff John Ralphs, San Bernardino, California; Captain Harry C. +Wheeler, Douglas, Arizona; A. M. Franklin, Tucson, Arizona; Colonel +William Breckenbridge, Tucson, Arizona; Dr. D. T. MacDougal, Carnegie +Institution; William Lutley, Tombstone, Arizona; Judge Duncan, +Tombstone, Arizona; A. H. Gardner, Tombstone, Arizona; C. M. Cummings, +Tombstone, Arizona; Andy Smith, Tucson, Arizona; Guy C. Welch, +Tombstone, Arizona; Mr. and Mrs. John Slaughter, Douglas, Arizona; +James East, Douglas, Arizona; Horace Stillman, Douglas, Arizona; D. F. +McCarthy, Lipscomb, Texas; and the Arizona Pioneers' Association. + +Among the latter are old files of the "Tombstone Epitaph" and other +Arizona newspapers; Manley's "Death Valley in '49"; Upton's "Pioneers +of Eldorado"; Ridge's "Life of Joaquin Murieta"; Dukes' "Famous +Criminal Cases"; Farish's "History of Arizona"; McClintock's "History +of Arizona"; Hittel's "History of California"; Bancroft's Works; +Visscher's "Pony Express"; G. D. Bradley's "Story of the Pony +Express"; "Overland Stage to California," by F. A. Root and W. E. +Connely; Inman's "Santa Fe Trail"; Humphreyville's "Twenty Years Among +Our Hostile Indians"; Richardson's "Beyond the Mississippi"; Bourke's +"On the Border With Crook"; J. Ross Brown's "Adventures in the Apache +Country"; Charles Siringo's "History of Billy the Kid"; Bard's "Life +of Billy Dixon, Scout and Plainsman"; Brown's "History of Texas." + + + + +CONTENTS + + PAGE + HOW DEATH VALLEY WAS NAMED 3 + JOAQUIN MURIETA 25 + TOMBSTONE 54 + TOMBSTONE'S WILD OATS 80 + THE SHOW-DOWN 105 + THE PASSING OF JOHN RINGO 132 + JOHN SLAUGHTER'S WAY 160 + COCHISE 190 + ONE AGAINST MANY 218 + THE OVERLAND MAIL 248 + BOOT-HILL 277 + + + + +WHEN THE WEST WAS YOUNG + + + + +HOW DEATH VALLEY WAS NAMED + + +There were three of us sitting on a pile of lumber in a sun-baked +little mining town down near the Arizona border. One of my companions +was the sheriff of the county and the other was an old man with snowy +beard and sky-blue eyes whom every one called "Mac." To look at him +was to behold a vision of the past. + +As we were whiling away the time with idle talk something was said +which aroused the spirit of reminiscence within this survivor of the +unfenced West. He closed his jack-knife with a snap, threw away a pine +stick from which he had been peeling shavings, and turning his +sky-blue eyes on the sheriff, "I remember--" he began. + +After which he told of cheating Death in quicksand fords, of day-long +battles with naked Apaches in the malapi, of fighting off bandits from +the stage while the driver kept the horses on a run up Dragoon Pass, +of grim old ranchmen stalking cattle-thieves by night, of frontier +sheriffs and desperadoes and a wilderness that was more savage than +the wild riders who sought sanctuary within its arid solitudes. He did +not talk for more than forty-five minutes at the most and the words +came slowly from his lips, but when he had done my head was spinning +from more visions of bold men and large deeds than it had held since +the Christmas night when I reeled off to bed after bolting a full half +of the "Boy's Froissart." + +And after that old man had sauntered away in the hot-white Arizona +sunshine I thought of other grizzled chroniclers to whom I had +listened in other parts of the West. Some of their tales came back to +me, straightforward simple stories of the days before the farmers, +barbed-wire fences, and branch railroad lines; and I marveled at the +richness of a lore whose plain unvarnished narratives of fact stand +out with values exceeding those of most adventure fiction, more vivid +and colorful than the anecdotes of the Middle Ages which the French +chronicler set down for all the world to read. + +Every State between the Mississippi and the Pacific has its own +stories of deeds that took place during an era when even the +lawbreakers attained a certain harsh nobility, and when plain men must +prove themselves heroic if they would survive. The names of many +heroes in these tales have become like household words all over the +United States, and what they did in many places is printed on the maps +of school geographies; but there is a vanished legion of those +old-timers who are remembered only in the immediate neighborhoods +where they lived swiftly and died hard. Emigrant and prospector, +pioneer and Indian chief, cow-boy and cattle-thief, sheriff, +stage-robber, and pony express rider--only the old men can tell their +stories now. + +All of those men, whether they be famous or forgotten, owned a common +virtue which still survives among the people who came after them. +That pioneer spirit which makes the average American eager to try what +no one else has done is the common motive in the tales of their +exploits. It stands out strongly in this story which tells how Death +Valley got its name. + +One evening early in November, 1849, a party of emigrants was encamped +near Mountain Meadows down in southern Utah close to the Nevada line. +It was a glorious night of the intermountain autumn; the stars burned +large and yellow overhead. In their faint radiance the white tops of +more than one hundred prairie-schooners gleamed at the base of the +hillside which rose into the west. Here and there one of the canvas +covers glowed incandescent from a candlelight within, where some +mother was tucking her children into their beds. Out on the long slope +the feeding oxen moved like shadows through the sage-brush, and beyond +them coyotes shrieked incessantly. + +Fairly in the middle of the camp a leaping flame shone on the faces of +a crowd of men. For the world-old question of a short cut had arisen +to divide opinions in this company and they had gathered around a +large fire to try to settle the matter. + +They were on their way to California and the placer fields. In Salt +Lake City they had learned that the season was too far advanced to +permit their crossing the Sierras by the northern passes and they had +organized into what they called the Sand Walking Company, with John +Hunt, a bearded Mormon elder, as their captain and their guide. He was +to conduct them by a trail, unmarked as yet by any wagon track, over +which some of his people had traveled to the old Spanish grant +recently acquired by their church at San Bernardino. This route to the +gold-fields followed the Colorado watershed southward taking advantage +of such few streams as flowed into the basin, to turn northward again +at the pueblo of Los Angeles. Thus it described a great loop nearly +parallel with what is now Nevada's southern boundary. + +But before the Sand Walking Company left Salt Lake City a man named +Williams drew a map for one of its number showing what he claimed was +a shorter pathway to the Land of Gold. This Williams Short Route, as +it came to be called during many a heated discussion, struck off +straight into the west bearing to the San Bernardino road the relation +of a cord to its arc; until it reached a snow-clad peak. This peak, +according to the map, was visible for many miles, a clear landmark +during-nearly half the journey. Reaching it the trail turned sharply +north to cross the range by an easy pass and traverse a long rich +valley to the gold-fields. There were many legends of good feed and +water-holes on the drawing. The promise of time saved was an important +consideration, for all of the company were getting impatient to reach +the placer diggings lest they be too late. + +The trail forked near this place where they were encamped to-night. +John Hunt had halted the party here for two days while scouts crossed +the long divide to the west and looked over the country beyond the +summit to see if wagons could travel that way. And now his pathfinders +were giving their reports. They stood in the open space by the fire, +three lean and sunburned men dressed in semi-Indian costume with +their powder-horns slung from their shoulders and long sheath-knives +in their beaded belts. One after the other they addressed the crowd +and each gave it as his opinion that the short cut was impractical. +The country was too rough, they said. + +The murmur of many voices arose among the audience. Most of the men +there were nearing middle age and doubt showed on the bearded faces of +the great majority; doubt and disappointment, for they were eager to +see their journey's end and that Williams map had aroused high hopes. +Here and there a woman stood beside her husband, listening anxiously +to what he said, watching his eyes as he harkened to the talk of those +about. + +But there was one portion of the circle which stood out in marked +contrast to the rest. The men here were for the most part in their +early twenties; their faces were serene, their eyes untroubled by any +doubt; and there were no women with them. While the others stood +weighed down by uncertainty, they lounged full length on the ground +basking in the heat of the flames, or sat in groups on near-by +wagon-tongues, laughing and whispering jests among themselves. Several +of them were wearing bits of Indian finery, after the manner of the +guides, and this sprinkling of buckskin shirts, fringed leggings, and +beaded moccasins, together with an occasional crop of thick hair that +reached to a pair of broad young shoulders, gave a dash of savage +picturesqueness to their section of the audience. They were a company +of bachelors from Illinois and called themselves the Jayhawkers. Their +end of the camp had been the scene of wrestling matches and frolic +every night since the train had left Salt Lake City; and, as one +might expect, it was one of their number who had gotten that map of +the Williams Short Route. They were unanimous in advocating it. + +Now Ed Doty, their captain, stepped forward into the open space by the +fire. Fixing his bold young eyes on John Hunt, whom he addressed +rather than the audience, "We haven't found the country yet," he said, +"that could stop us and we're not afraid of that over there." He +pointed out into the darkness where the summit of the divide showed +black against the western sky. "We're going to try the Williams Short +Route." + +Hunt nodded. "All right," he answered quietly, "and if the rest try +it, I'm going through with you if I have to pass through hell to reach +the other end of the trail. But if one wagon sticks to the San +Bernardino road I'll stay with that wagon, for I passed my word to +take you that way." + +It was sometime near midnight when the crowd left the fire, but the +sun was barely up the next morning before the wagons were lined out +along the side hill. Far ahead of them where the trail forked, John +Hunt stood waiting alone. + +The white-topped prairie-schooners came on slowly toward him from the +northward through the sage; the heads of the long-horned oxen swinging +low from side to side before their heavy wooden yokes. The first span +reached the solitary figure of the captain and went straight on south; +the wagon rumbled by and Hunt knew by its passing that he must keep to +the San Bernardino trail. + +But the second driver halted his team and leaned out from his seat to +take the hand which Hunt extended him. "We'll try the short route," he +said. + +"Good-by," the captain bade him; "good luck." The man called to his +lead span; the great yokes creaked and the front wheels whined against +the wagon-box as the animals swung the prairie-schooner to the west. + +And now wagon after wagon halted briefly while its occupants exchanged +a brief farewell with the bearded man beside the road; then the outfit +struck out straight westward up the long steep slope; until, when Hunt +turned to rejoin his remnant of a following, three quarters of its +members had forsaken the Sand Walking Company. + +The prairie-schooners of the seceders made a slender white line in the +wilderness of sage which reached on before them, up and up. Beyond the +crest which rose gray-brown against the cloudless Indian summer sky, +the desert waited silent as Death itself. + +They traveled for three days up that long steep slope and when they +reached the summit to look down upon the other side they discovered +that the Williams map was worthless as a guide. Here, where it +promised easy going, a steep-walled canyon led down from the north +blocking their road. Beyond, a wilderness of sandstone pinnacles and +naked cliffs dropped away and away to depths invisible. + +Then most of the drivers turned back their oxen to follow Captain Hunt +and overtake him on the San Bernardino trail by which he led his +company in safety to Los Angeles. But twenty-seven wagons remained +parked among the twisted junipers, their occupants biding the return +of scouts whom they had sent ahead to seek a pass. Although the map +had proved of no value when it came to showing a road, they still +believed in the snow-clad peak which it had promised, somewhere before +them in the hidden west. They were determined to find that landmark +and strike out for it. + +The scouts came back on the fourth day and reported a pass far to the +northward around the canyon head. But before the prairie-schooners +lined out on the ridge to make the long detour, the unmarried owners +of outfits banded together in a company, advising those with families +to return to Captain Hunt. They did not care, they said, to be +responsible for the lives of women and children in this unmapped +wilderness. The advice was not taken and the train set forth in two +sections, twenty wagons belonging to the Jayhawkers and their bachelor +companions and seven owned by men who traveled with their wives and +little ones. + +The scouts had picked an easy route through rolling hills where +bunch-grass stood in thick clusters among the tall gray sage; the oxen +cropped the rich feed as they went along. Clear streams ran noisily in +most of the ravines. The train passed the canyon head, and one day, +after considerable aimless wandering, it turned westward to cross a +succession of wide tablelands where feed was good and water still +plentiful. + +The Indian summer season was at its height now, clear balmy days +and cloudless nights. Their progress was steady for some time, +uninterrupted by ill luck of any kind. When they halted for the midday +meal it was like a great picnic in the soft warm sunshine, and +when evening came the Jayhawkers rollicked around their fires or +gathered where one of their number had tuned up his fiddle. William +Isham was his name, a great bearded fellow who hailed originally +from Rochester, New York; he would sit by the hour on the tongue +of his wagon playing "Oh Susannah" and other lively airs, or strike +up a jig tune while Negro Joe, who had fled from slavery in +Mississippi, did a double shuffle in the firelight. The children +slipped away from their mothers to set peeps at the fun from the +edges of the crowd or play hide and seek in the shadows of the +sage-brush; there were ten of these youngsters in all. + +Many of these evenings would find a number of the older men clustered +around the wagon of Asahel Bennett, an Iowa pioneer whose outfit +included a young hunter by the name of William Manley. For Manley went +ahead nearly every day to spy out the country and these men were eager +for tidings of the snow-clad peak which lay before them hidden in the +west. + +Now gradually as they went onward the country began to change; the +sage-brush became more stunted, the grass tufts sparser; the streams +ran smaller and smaller. Until there came a day when they traveled +from dawn until long after sunset before they encountered any water; +and this lay lukewarm in hollows of the sandstone, accumulations from +rains of long ago. The earth was hard and dry and there were stretches +where there was no earth at all, only a rubble of sharp rock fragments +radiating heat-waves under the glaring sun. + +There was no rollicking about the camp-fires any more. When evening +came the men were weary from hurrying their wagons over rugged ground +or climbing lofty buttes to look ahead for signs of water. Isham the +fiddler left his violin in its case; he never took it from that case +again. The oxen had grown gaunt from lack of feed and drink; they +wandered about the night camps nibbling disdainfully at what growth +there was, low bitter sapless weeds. + +The change in the country had come so imperceptibly that they did not +realize the presence of the desert until they were confronted by +an-appalling revelation one afternoon. + +All that day and all the day before the drivers had been goading the +failing oxen while they peered with reddened eyes out on the glaring +plain, from which arose a series of isolated cone-shaped buttes. For +the water in the barrels was running very low and they were always +seeking some sign of stream or pool. + +Then one of them uttered a loud cry and at that shout the others saw, +two miles or so off to the right where the plain opened out between +the cone-shaped hills, a lake whose waters were bluer than any they +had ever looked upon. A little breeze was stirring its surface, and on +the further bank there were some trees whose branches were moving as +if perhaps the wind were stronger over there. + +Now every driver lashed his oxen to a lumbering run, and the women +lifted the canvas tops of the prairie-schooners to show their children +the pretty lake. The whole train turned away from its course and went +rumbling across the plain, one mile, then a second; and another +followed before they found themselves in the midst of a glaring +expanse of snow-white alkali, baked by the sun to rock-like hardness. +The vision of blue waters had vanished with the suddenness of a dream +which ceases on the instant of awakening. + +The mothers lowered the canvas wagon-covers and soothed their crying +children, and the drivers turned the oxen back toward the trail which +they had forsaken for the lure of the mirage. There was no word of +grief among the men, no outcry of despair; but the shoulders of some +were sagging when they made their dry camp that night, and there was a +new hardness in the eyes of all of them. For they had looked upon the +desert and they knew it for what it was. + +As they were sitting about their little fires a man came staggering +among them out of the darkness. It was Manley, the young hunter of the +Bennett outfit, who had been away for two days on one of his +reconnoitering expeditions. They gathered around him in silence but he +read the question in their eyes and shook his head. + +"No water," he answered, "nor sign, of it, but I have seen a snow +mountain straight west of us." + +He told them how he had lain out on the summit of a high butte the +night before until dawn came revealing a dead world. Dark ragged +mountains of volcanic rock lay to the north, and to the south a tangle +of naked ridges whose sides were discolored as though by fire. Between +these scorched ranges a plain stretched for a good one hundred miles +into the west, as level as a floor and gleaming white. Beyond that +plain a low chain of mountains rose, as black as ink, and behind this +gloomy range he saw a snow-clad peak that glistened in the morning +sun. + +They talked the situation over; all of them were convinced that Manley +had found the peak described by the Williams map, and now they argued +for different routes. Of the four points of the compass there was only +one which lacked an advocate. For, while some urged a northward +circuit and others believed there would be greater safety to the south +and many were determined to push straight on west across the gleaming +plain of alkali, there was not one word said of turning back into the +east. + +Survivors tell how some of the women wept under the covers of the +prairie-schooners that night, but none of those mothers raised her +voice in favor of retreat. They were pioneers, these people, and it +seemed as if they did not know how to turn back. + +None can ever set the fulness of their story down in words; for the +Amargossa Desert has a wicked beauty which is beyond the telling, and +one must journey out beyond the black escarpments of the Funeral +Mountains and fight for his life in the silent reaches of that broken +wilderness if he would begin to realize what they went through. + +They made their last camp together at a brackish water-hole near the +edge of the plain which Manley had described. Beyond it they could see +the snow-clad peak. They repeated to one another the legends on the +Williams map, its promise of a pass close by that summit and of a +fertile valley leading to the gold-fields in the north. If they could +only reach the mountain, they agreed their hardships would be over, +their journey as good as ended. + +They separated here to set forth by two different routes. The +Jayhawkers struck straight out across the flat, while the little +company of families kept to a more roundabout course in the south, +hoping to find water in the mountains there. From this time on, +although their trails converged and crossed, the wagons never united +in one train again. + +In that silent land where the skeletons of dead mountain ranges lie +strewn among the graves of seas that died in ages past, they held +their eyes on the one sign of life that rose into the clear sky +beyond, the peak whose promise kept them moving on into the west. + +Days passed and the smaller party found no water in any of the canyons +which came down to them from the south. They used the last drops from +their casks; and now they could not eat for thirst, they could not +sleep. The children wailed for drink until their voices died away to +dry whisperings, and when the mothers strove to comfort them they +found their arid tongues had lost the power of shaping any words. + +At last Mauley, the young hunter with the Bennett wagons, discovered a +warm spring near a canyon head, but the oxen lay down in their traces +on their way up the gorge and the men were obliged to bring water down +to them in buckets before they could get the unhappy brutes to rise. +They filled the barrels with the tepid fluid and goaded the teams on, +seeking some sign of a pass in the low black range which lay between +them and the snow peak. If there were only an opening, it seemed as if +they might win through. + +Meantime the Jayhawkers were pressing hard across the gleaming plain. +The surface of that plain was white as snow, as level as a floor. It +was so hard that the wheels left no track on it; no shrub grew from +it, only a low bitter weed that crumbled to a gray powder at the +slightest touch. The oxen plodded along with their heads hung so low +that their muzzles almost swept the ground; they stood about the camp +at night, emaciated beyond belief, swaying from weakness, grating +their teeth as they moved their jaws with a pathetic instinct of +rumination. Five days passed and on the night of the fifth, when these +young fellows knew they could not live another twenty-four hours +without water, a light cloud came between them and the stars. They +felt the cool touch of snowflakes on their faces and they spread their +blankets to gather what they could while the oxen licked the moisture +from the earth. The next morning the sun shone hot again upon the +plain against whose vast expanse the wagons showed, a little line of +dots creeping slowly toward the white-topped mountain in the west. + +At Ash Meadows where the bitter waters of the Amargossa River rise +from their hidden depths to flow for a few hundred yards between gray +hills of shifting sand, the trails of the two parties converged. By +the time they reached this dismal oasis they were killing their oxen +for such shreds of meat as they could strip from the bones; but as +every wagon left the place, climbing the divide beyond, the occupants +forgot their sufferings and talked of the desert as something which +they had left behind. For Furnace Creek canyon lay ahead of them, a +rift in the black range which rose between them and the snow-clad +peak. + +The Jayhawkers were now in the lead. They went down the gorge whose +black walls seemed to shut out the sky in places, and on Christmas +morning, 1849, they emerged from its mouth to see the great peak just +ahead of them. + +But, as they looked up at the mountain toward which they had been +striving for so many weary days, they discovered that its sides were +verdureless, bare of any earth, so steep no man could climb them. And +there was no pass. + +They had descended into the pitfall at its lowest depths. Here where +they first saw the place, more than two hundred feet below the level +of the sea, great beds of rock salt covered its floor worn by the wind +into a myriad of pinnacles, as high as a man's waist, sharp as knives +and coated with brown dust. In the center of this weird forest a level +sheet of white salt lay glistening in the sun. Northward the deposit +stretched away to dunes of shifting sand, and in the south long mud +flats lay, covered with traceries of sun cracks as far as the eye +could reach. The eastern mountains came straight down in cliffs as +black as ink. Eight miles away the western mountains rose in a sheer +wall surmounted by Telescope Peak, whose snow-clad crest towered +eleven thousand feet above the heads of the men whom it had lured +here. There was no sound of any life, no track of any animal. No +bird--not even a buzzard--flew overhead. The very air was a desert +like the burning earth. + +Now, even as they came down out of Furnace Creek canyon into this trap, +they began their efforts to escape from it. + +The Bennett party crossed the sink through the forest of rock-salt +pinnacles and headed southward along a strip of loose sand which lay +between the mud flat and the mountains. They believed the range might +yet show a rift at this end which their wagons could traverse. But the +Jayhawkers turned to the north, seeking some outlet through the +Panamints at that end of the range. One family followed them. J. W +Brier, a minister from a little frontier community in the Middle West, +left the other section with his wife and three children in the hope +that the young men might find a route to safety. + +Sometimes to this day the winds, moving the dunes of white sand in the +valley's northern arm--a task which they are always at from year's end +to year's end--uncover the fragments of wagons, and prospectors come +upon a tire or spoke or portion of a sun-dried axle. Then they know +that they are at the place where the Jayhawkers abandoned their +prairie-schooners. + +They killed some of their oxen at this point and divided the +meat--there was so little of it that although the men were now very +weak two of them were able to carry the beef from an animal. Then they +started out on foot across the sand dunes toward the Panamints. Most +of them still believed that feed and water lay just beyond those +heights. + +And now, while they were straggling along through the loose sand in +single file, one of their number, a man named Fish, was seen to throw +his hands above his head and pitch forward on his face. Those who were +behind came upon him lying with arms outspread, dead. + +The next afternoon as they were climbing toward the head of a steep +canyon in the range, several of the foremost ones found a little spring +among the rocks. While they were resting here they saw a man far below +them. He was crawling toward them on his hands and knees. One of the +party filled his canteen and hurried down to meet him; but when he +arrived, the other was gasping his last in the bottom of the sun-baked +gorge. It was Captain Culverwell, a skipper who had forsaken the deep +sea and its ships to make this journey with them in the hope of +finding gold. + +That evening the strongest of their number reached the summit of the +Panamints and looked down the western side where they had thought to +find that fertile valley which the Williams map had promised leading +to the north. They saw dead mountain ranges and dried lake floors like +those through which they had been traveling for months. The Mohave +Desert lay in front of them. + +When they were crossing those arid reaches William Isham, who had +fiddled so blithely for them every evening in the Utah hills, sank +down beside the trail; and the others passed him with empty canteens, +unable to give him any help. Some of the stragglers buried his body a +few days later on. + +During the next day or two a Frenchman, whose name none of the +survivors remember, went insane from thirst and wandered off into the +sand-hills. No one ever saw him afterward. + +So one after another of their number lay down and died or went mad and +ran off toward some of the mirages which were perpetually torturing +all of them with visions of cool lakes, until thirteen had perished. +The others struggled on and on into the southwest; for they knew that +Los Angeles lay somewhere in that direction and it offered them their +only hope. + +Meantime the Bennett party went southward along the western edge of +the sink where the sands lie as loose and fine as ashes between the +mud flats and the mountains, until they found a little spring with a +few patches of coarse grass among the mesquite thickets which +surrounded it. From this point they tried escape by one route and then +another, only to reach a blind wall in each case and retrace their +steps to the water-hole. + +In later years the mule-drivers of the borax company enlarged the well +which Asahel Bennett and J. B. Arcane dug here in the sand. Otherwise +the place remains unchanged, a patch of mesquite in a burning plain +where heat devils dance all day long from year's end to year's end. +The plain reaches on and on between black mountain walls, and even the +mirage which springs from its surface under that hot sun throws off +the guise of a cool lake almost on the moment of its assumption to +become a repellant specter that leaps and twists like a flame. The +Paiute Indians called the spot Tomesha, which means "Ground Afire." + +The party held a council when they had retreated here after the last +unsuccessful attempt to escape. It was clear that they could not take +the women and children out of the sink unless some one got food for +the journey and found a route between water-holes. They appointed +Manley, the young hunter, and an ox-driver named John Rogers for the +venture, and the pair set out across the Panamints just north of +Telescope Peak with the beef from an ox in their knapsacks, while the +others sat down to await their return--or death. + +There were two wagon outfits of unmarried men among them; they had +forsaken the Jayhawkers at about the time the Brier family joined that +section. When several days had passed these bachelors departed to seek +the trail of their former companions in the valley's north arm. They +said that the chances were ten to one that Manley and Rogers would +never get through alive, and if they did they would be fools to +attempt coming back. The others watched the two prairie-schooners +crawling off into the gray plain until a mirage engulfed them and +lifted them distorted into the blazing sky. + +And now the families faced the question which these men had left with +them. Would Manley and Rogers get through? They did not know what +hazards lay beyond those mountains to the west, but none of them had +the Jayhawkers' faith in a fertile valley leading to the north. As it +turned out Mount Whitney was the snow-clad peak to which the faulty +Williams map referred and the valley was the Owens Lake country, many +a weary mile from this sink. + +If the pair did survive the desert, would they be men enough to face +it for the second time? The marooned ones could only hope. That hope +had become an abiding faith in Bennett's wife. She had given the two +young fellows a double handful of rice--half her store of grain--on +the morning of their departure, and pointed mutely to her children as +she placed the little bag in Manley's hand. "They will come back," she +told the others many times. + +The food was running low; the few remaining oxen could not last them +long. There was a dog with the Bennett wagons; he had followed them +all the way from Iowa; and in this time of dire extremity some talked +of killing him. But even in his starved condition he was able to wag +his tail when the children came near him; sometimes he comforted them +by his presence when their mothers could not. The men had not the +heart to do away with him. + +Hope lingered within those people like the breath in an old man who is +dying hard. Rogers and Manley had gone northward on the burning plain +to reach a ridge which mounted toward the Panamints. Now as the days +dragged by to weary weeks, the men and women always gazed into the +north where nothing lived except the hatred for the sun. But no man +came, and when the weeks had grown beyond a month, they knew the time +was here when they must make one last attempt to save themselves. They +yoked up the oxen and set out into the south toward a spot where +Bennett had discovered what looked like a gap in the mountains. Three +days later they returned, half dead from thirst, and unhitched the +staggering animals by the well. + +There remained one shadow of a chance, as ephemeral as the mirage +which came before them with the mounting of each morning's sun. They +stripped the tops from the prairie-schooners and began to make +pack-saddles from them with the idea of abandoning the vehicles and +following the trail of the Jayhawkers. + +At midday they were sitting under the wagons for what shade they gave, +working at this task. They knew it was a futile proceeding; the time +had long since gone when they had enough provisions to last them +through that long northern route. But they were not the sort of people +who can sit down and die. If they must perish it would be while they +were still fighting. No one spoke. The silence of the dead land had +crept over them. + +That silence was broken by a shot. Unbelieving, they crept forth and +saw three figures moving toward them from the north. Manley and Rogers +were hurring across the flat leading a laden mule. + +While the others ate from the store in the pack-sacks, the two young +fellows told of their journey two hundred and fifty miles across the +Mohave Desert; of the dead of the Jayhawker party whom they had found +beside the trail; of the survivors whom they passed shortly before +reaching a ranch near the head of the San Fernando valley where the +little town of Newhall stands to-day; of great arid mountain ranges +and shimmering floors of dried lakes; and of the long torture between +water-holes. At the Newhall ranch a man named French had given them +the mule and the provisions. With this food supply they believed the +women and children stood a chance of getting through. + +They slung the sacks of canvas on the gaunt oxen and placed the +children in them; then they set out on their long climb up the +Panamints. + +Before they left the summit of the divide to go downhill into the +west, they halted for one last look back. And as they stood there +among the rocks gazing down into the sink which lay thousands of feet +below them walled in by the mountains on both sides, one of the +mothers lifted her arm in a gesture of farewell. + +"Good-bye, Death Valley!" she cried. + +That is the way the place was named. + +They turned their backs on it and descended the long western slope. +The dog, which they had taken with them all this distance, limped +along behind the little train. The mule went on before. And in Los +Angeles, where they joined the other survivors of the company weeks +later and told the people of the pueblo of their sufferings, they +called the sink Death Valley when they spoke of it. + +Later, when they had gone into the north--for all of them pressed on +as soon as they were able to travel again--they separated, seeking +their fortunes in the mines. Years passed and occasionally some of +them met again. At such times, or when they told others of the pitfall +into which they descended striving toward the snow peak, they always +used the name Death Valley. And so it has come down to us to-day. + + + + +JOAQUIN MURIETA + + +In the days of '49 when Murphy's Diggings was as lively a little +placer camp as one could find in a long ride through the red +foot-hills of the Sierras, a young Mexican monte-dealer disappeared. +He was a handsome fellow, lighter of complexion than most of his +countrymen, owned a sunny smile and spoke English fluently, all of +which things made him a favorite among the American customers and +consequently an asset to the house. So when dusk came and the booted +miners began drifting into the long canvas-roofed hall, the proprietor +scanned the crowd for him with some anxiety. + +But the proprietor might as well have saved himself the trouble of +that search; the monte-dealer had forsaken his table for a different +sort of job. + +Just at this time he was on the hill beyond the upper end of the camp +kneeling beside an open grave; and in his clasped hands, uplifted high +above his head, he held a naked bowie-knife. Some light still lingered +here among the stiff-branched digger-pines, a faint reflection of the +sunset far beyond the flat lands of the San Joaquin valley. It shone +upon his face revealing a multitude of lines, so deeply scored, so +terrible in their proclamation of deadly hate, that the sight of them +would have startled the most case-hardened member of the crowds down +there where the candles were twinkling in the humming camp. + +The waning light which sifted through the long plumed tassels of the +digger-pines showed a little group of Mexicans standing at some +distance listening in frightened silence to what he was saying. He +spoke to the dead man in the open grave; and when events that followed +brought the words back to their minds some of these auditors repeated +the vow he made: to color that knife-blade and his hands bright red +with the blood of twenty men of Murphy's Diggings; and after that to +devote his life to killing Americans. + +This was the monte-dealer's new job, and in order to understand how he +came to undertake such a piece of work it is necessary to go back a +little. + +He was only nineteen, but life had been moving so swiftly with him +that the beginning of these events finds him in that year overseer of +his father's great rancho down in Sonora, a Mexican of the better +class, well educated as education went in those days, a good dancer as +every girl in the section could bear witness, pleasure-loving, +easy-going, and able to play the guitar very prettily. Sometimes--and +more often as the weeks went by--he played and sang at the home of +Reyes Feliz, a packer in his father's employ; and Rosita, the packer's +daughter, liked his music well enough to encourage his visits. + +Class counted then, as it does to this day in Mexico, and parents +liked to have a hand in marriages. But Reyes Feliz was away from home +a great deal with his train of mules, the landholder was busy at his +own affairs; the girl was a beauty and the landholder's son had a +winsome way with him. So one night Rosita took the horse which he +brought for her and rode off with him to California. + +They made their journey with their mounts and a single pack animal +across the hot plains and arid mountains of the south, then up the +long King's Highway which the padres had beaten down nearly one +hundred years before their time. It was winter and California winter +means Eastern spring; green grass rippling in the soft breezes, +poppy-fields and a rioting of meadow-larks to make their honeymoon +ideal. They rode on northward into the Santa Clara valley where a +gleaming mist of mustard blossoms hung under the great live oaks as +far as the eye could reach; then they struck off eastward across the +Coast Range and the flat lands of the San Joaquin, to climb into the +red foot-hills where the Stanislaus comes out from the Sierras. Here +they settled down and took a mining claim. + +The feeling engendered by the Mexican War still rankled in many +neighborhoods; and every mining camp had its lawless element whose +members took full advantage of that prejudice against the conquered +race. The claim proved rich enough to tempt some ne'er-do-wells. They +gathered a crowd of their own breed and the mob came to the young +pair's cabin one evening with the purpose of jumping the property. +When the owner made a show of resistance they bound him hand and foot, +after which they subjected the girl to such abuses as will not bear +the telling. She pleaded with her lover when the crowd had gone and +managed to induce him to leave the place without attempting vengeance. +They went to Columbia and within the month were driven out by another +anti-Mexican mob. Their next move took them to Murphy's Diggings, +where the boy got his job at dealing monte and was doing very +well--until this evening came, and with it, tragedy. + +He had been visiting his brother, who had come to California and +settled near Murphy's; and the latter had lent him a horse to ride +home. As he was nearing the upper end of the camp a group of miners +stepped out into the road before him and halted him. The horse had +been stolen from one of their number and they were searching for it at +the time. + +They listened to his explanations and went with him to his brother who +told them how he had bought the animal in good faith from a stranger. +Whereat they seized the narrator, bound him, and hanged him to the +nearest live-oak tree; then stripped the monte-dealer to the waist, +tied him to the same tree, and flogged him until the blood ran down +his bare back. After which they departed, satisfied that they had done +their share to bring about law and order in a neighborhood where +thefts were becoming altogether too frequent. But some of them +mentioned in Murphy's Diggings--during the brief space of time while +they had the opportunity--the strange expression which came over their +victim's face while the lash was being applied. Each of these men +spoke of the look as having been directed at himself. Had they been +members of one of the dark-skinned races, to whom the vendetta is +peculiarly an institution, they would have understood the purport of +that look. + +But none of them understood and the monte-dealer was left to keep his +promise to his dead brother. He turned his back upon the grave and +went about the fulfilment of that vow as ambitious men go about the +making of careers; and in the days that followed, while his swarthy +company was sweeping through California like fire on a chaparral +hillside when the wind is high, he gained a dark fame, so lasting that +there is hardly an old settled community from Mount Shasta to the +Mexican line which has not some tale of the bandit, Joaquin Murieta. + +Sometimes during the weeks after the lynching a miner on his way to +the gambling-houses after supper got a glimpse of Joaquin Murieta in +the outskirts of Murphy's Diggings, as he glided among the tents +cloaked to his eyes in his serape. Occasionally a late reveler, +returning to his cabin in the darkness, was startled by the sight of +his figure beside the road, as black and silent as the night itself; +or was chilled to dead sobriety by the vision of that drawn face +confronting him on a narrow trail. And in the chilly mornings men +going to their work came on the bodies of his victims in the soft red +dust of path or wagon-track, or stumbled over them in the chaparral. + +And now fear began to seize the survivors of that lynching party. By +the time its twenty members had dwindled to something like a dozen, +the succession of spectacles afforded by the companions whom they had +been summoned to identify was getting on the stoutest nerves; the +dullest imaginations were working feverishly. Some found friends to +act as body-guards; others moved away to try their fortunes in new +camps; but the body-guards could not be on duty all the time and the +departing ones in most instances made the mistake of confiding their +intentions to acquaintances. All authorities agree that Joaquin +Murieta managed to kill at least fifteen--and possibly two or three +more--of the score whose faces he had so carefully imprinted on his +memory while the lash was biting into his bare back. + +When he had finished with the work which the first part of his vow +demanded, he rode away from Murphy's with Rosita and set about the +task of gathering a band that he might be able to carry out the second +half. + +There were plenty of cutthroats in California during that spring of +1850, and no lack of Mexicans among them. Several swarthy leaders of +banditti were then operating throughout the State. One of these was +Manuel Garcia, better known as Three-Fingered Jack, who had been +ranging over the Sonoma valley for several years, occasionally varying +the monotony of murder by tying a victim to a tree and flaying him +alive. Joaquin Valenzuela was another, a middle-aged outlaw who had +learned the finer arts of bushwhacking down in Mexico under Padre +Jurata, the famous guerrilla chief. There were also Claudio, a lean +and seasoned robber from the mountains of Sonora, adept in disguises, +skilful as a spy, able to mingle with the crowd in any plaza +unrecognized by men who had known him for years; and Pedro Gonzales, a +specialist at horse-stealing, who had driven off whole bands under the +very noses of armed herders. + +Every one of these leaders had his own ugly gang of riders and his +own ill fame long before young Joaquin Murieta ceased dealing +monte; and every one was getting rich pickings from pack trains, +stage-coaches, valley ranches, and miners' cabins. Yet within six +months they all turned over their bands and became lieutenants of the +nineteen-year-old boy. That list of victims at Murphy's Diggings, +his superior breeding, and his finer intelligence gave him high +standing from the beginning, but his greatest asset was the purpose +which had driven him forth among them. They had robbed and killed and +fled with the aimlessness of common murderers, but here was one with +a definite plan, to leave the whole State a smoking shambles. They +submitted their lives and fortunes to the possessor of this appealing +idea. + +During the first year, while organization was being perfected, Joaquin +Murieta traveled through northern California with Rosita gathering +recruits, establishing alliances among disaffected Mexicans, and +spying out new fields for plunder. Gradually, as he accomplished these +things, the bands under his different lieutenants began to rob and +plunder more systematically, and the scene of their operations shifted +with bewildering rapidity. To-day a number of travelers were dragged +from their horses by the reatas of swarthy ambuscaders in the Tuolomne +County foot-hills and to-morrow a rancher down in the valley found the +bodies of his murdered herders to mark the beginning of the trail left +by his stolen cattle. As the months went by suspicion that these +different bands were working under one leader grew to certainty among +the longer-headed officers. Then the name of Joaquin Murieta began to +be spoken as that of the mysterious chief. He was quick to confirm the +rumors of his leadership, and before the spring of 1851 was over he +managed by grimly spectacular methods to let more than one community +know that he was responsible for some outrage which had startled its +inhabitants. + +That was the case in San Jose. A number of the robbers had swooped +down into the Santa Clara valley and their chief was living with +Rosita in the outskirts of the town, directing their raids, giving +them such information regarding travelers and plunder as he was able +to pick up by mixing with the crowds in the gambling-houses. A deputy +sheriff by the name of Clark captured two of the marauders red-handed, +and Murieta determined to make such an example of him as would put +fear into the hearts of other officers. + +In those days the fandango was a popular function in San Jose, which +still retained all the characteristics of a Mexican pueblo, and there +was not a night without the strumming of guitars and the lively +stepping of the dancers in some public hall. Murieta went to one of +these fandangos and, by arrangement with confederates, brought it +about that Clark came to the place searching for a criminal. + +The dancing was in full swing when the deputy entered; scores of lithe +dark men and their black-eyed partners were whirling in the fervid +Spanish waltz; but as he crossed the threshold a discordant note +arose: disturbance broke out in a corner of the hall; a woman +screamed; a knife-blade flashed. Clark shoved his way through the +crowd and reached the fight in time to disarm a good-looking young +Mexican who was flourishing the weapon; placed him under arrest and +took him away to the nearest justice of the peace, who passed sentence +of twelve dollars' fine. + +"I have not the money on me," the prisoner said, "but if this officer +will go with me to my house I can get it there." It was an easy-going +period and such small matters as pulling a knife were of frequent +occurrence. The deputy consented to the request and the pair went +forth together from the lighted streets to the fringes of the town. +They were talking pleasantly enough when they came to a dark place +where willow thickets lined the road on either side. + +Here the prisoner halted abruptly. "I am Joaquin Murieta," he +announced, "and I brought you here to kill you." Upon which he stabbed +Clark to the heart. + +All this was told the next day in the streets of San Jose, but where +the information came from no one knew. Murieta's custom of sending out +such tidings through confederates was not so well understood then as +it came to be later. + +From San Jose Murieta went northward into the Sacramento valley and +took quarters with Rosita in Sonorian Camp, a Mexican settlement +near Marysville. About twenty cutthroats under Valenzuela and +Three-Fingered Jack began working in the neighborhood. The ambush was +their favorite method--three or four in a party and one of the number +ready with his reata. When this one had cast the noose of rawhide rope +over the neck of some passing traveler and dragged him from the +saddle into the brush the others killed the victim at their leisure. +The number of the murders grew so appalling that Sheriff R. B. +Buchanan devoted all his time to hunting down the criminals. +Finally he got word of the rendezvous in Sonorian Camp and took a +small posse to capture the leaders. + +But the news of the sheriff's expedition had preceded him, and when +they had crept upon the tent houses in the dark, as silent as Indians, +the members of the posse found themselves encircled by unseen enemies +whose pistols streaked the gloom with thin bright orange flashes. +While the others were fighting their way out of the ambush Sheriff +Buchanan emptied his own weapon in a duel with one of the robbers, and +collapsed badly wounded in several places. Weeks later, during his +recovery, Joaquin Murieta sent the sheriff word that he was the man +who had shot him down. + +Northward the band rode now from Marysville until they reached the +forest wilderness near Mount Shasta, where they spent the most of the +winter stealing horses. Before spring they went south again, traveling +for the most part by night, and drove their stolen stock into the +State of Sonora. Their loot disposed of and a permanent market +established down across the line, Murieta led them back into +California to begin operations on a more ambitious scale. He planned +to steal two thousand horses and plunder the mining camps of enough +gold-dust to equip at least two thousand riders who should sweep the +State in such a raid as the world had not known since the Middle +Ages. + +In April--almost two years to a day after the monte-dealer had left +his job at Murphy's Diggings--six Mexicans came riding into the town +of Mokelumne Hill, which lies on a bench-land above the river. A +somewhat dandified sextet in scrapes of the finest broadcloth and with +a wealth of silver on the trappings of their dancing horses, they +passed up the main street into the outskirts where their countrymen +had a neighborhood to themselves. + +Here they took quarters in those tent-roofed cottages which were so +common in the old mining camps, and now three of them appeared in +their proper garb, well-gowned young housewives and discreet to a +degree which must have exasperated those of their neighbors inclined +to gossip. For these ladies had nothing to say concerning whence they +had come or the business of their husbands. Two of those husbands were +now spending much of their time in other camps and came home but +seldom to pay brief visits to their wives. The third stayed here in +Mokelumne Hill. + +The days went by; the pack-trains jingled down out of the hills; the +processions of heavy wagons lumbered up from the San Joaquin valley +enwrapped in clouds of red dust; an endless stream of men flowed into +the town on its bench-land above the canyon where the river brawled. +Men from all the world, they came and went, and the milling crowds +absorbed those who lingered, nor heeded who they were. Gold was +plentiful, and while the yellow dust was passing from hand to hand +life moved so swiftly that no one had time to think of his neighbor's +business. The good-looking young Mexican was as a drop of water in a +rapid stream. + +When dusk crept up out of the canyon and the candles filled the +gambling-houses with floods of mellow radiance he mingled with the +crowds. He drank with those who asked him and talked with those who +cared to pass a word with him; talked about the output of the near-by +gulches, the necessity of armed guards for the wagons and pack-trains, +or the chances of capturing Joaquin Murieta. In spite of his good +looks and expensive clothes he was about as unobtrusive as a Mexican +could be, which is saying a good deal at the period. + +One April evening he was sitting at a monte-game. The gambling-hall +was filled with raw-boned packers from the hills, dust-stained +teamsters from the valley towns, miners from the diggings, and a +riffraff of adventurers from no one knew--or cared--where. It was a +booted crowd with a goodly sprinkling of red shirts to give it color, +and weapons in evidence on every side. Here walked one with a brace of +long-barreled muzzle-loading pistols in his belt, and there another +with the handle of a bowie-knife protruding from his boot-top; and +every one of those frock-coated dealers at the tables had a Derringer +or two stowed away on that portion of his person which he deemed most +accessible. The bartender kept a double-barreled shotgun under the +counter across which the drinks were being served. + +In the midst of this animated arsenal the dark-eyed young Mexican +dandy sat placing his bets while the dealer turned the cards and luck +came, after luck's fashion, where it pleased. As he played, a group of +miners just behind him began arguing about the bandit whose name was +now famous all the way from Mount Shasta to the Mexican line. One of +them, a strapping fellow with a brace of pistols at his waist, became +impatient at something which another had said concerning the robber's +apparent invulnerability and raised his voice in the heat of his +rejoinder. + +"Joaquin Murieta!" he cried. "Say! I'd just like to see that fellow +once and I'd shoot him down as if he was a rattlesnake." + +A noise behind him made him turn his head, and now, like all the +others in that room, he stared at the dandified young Mexican-who had +leaped to the top of the monte-table and was standing there among the +litter of cards and gold. His broadcloth serape was thrown back; his +two hands moved swiftly to his belt and came away gripping a pair of +pistols. + +"I am Joaquin Murieta," he shouted so loudly that his voice carried +the length of the hall. "Now shoot!" + +A moment passed; he stood there with his head thrown back, his dark +eyes sweeping the crowd, but no man on the floor so much as moved a +hand. Then laughing he sprang down and walked slowly among them to the +front door. They fell away before him as he came and he vanished in +the shadows of the narrow street before one of them sought to follow +him. + +The others of the sextet were waiting for him when he reached the +Mexican quarter; their horses were saddled; and at a word from him +they mounted. For he and his two lieutenants had finished their work; +they knew all they cared to know about the gold trains and the caches +of the miners, and this was to have been their last evening in camp. +With their gathered information they rode southward to Arroyo +Cantoova, in the foot-hills of the Coast Range at the western edge of +the upper San Joaquin valley. This was the band's new headquarters. + +They remained here for some days resting before the next raid. Gold +was plentiful among them; the leaders dressed with the splendor of +noblemen; not one of those leaders--save Three-Fingered Jack--but had +his mistress beside him decked out like a Spanish lady; nor one but +rode a clean-limbed thoroughbred. When the hills were turning brown +with summer's beginning young Murieta led them out across the range +and southward to the country around Los Angeles. + +Success had made him so serene that during the journey he sometimes +forgot his grim vow of shedding blood and showed mercy to a victim who +had no great store of gold. More than once Rosita induced him to spare +the lives of prisoners; and if his career had ended at this time his +name would have come down surrounded by legends of magnanimity. But as +he went on now that large plan of bloodshed became more of a power in +his life. And as it grew to master him he saw Rosita less; he sought +more frequently the companionship of Three-Fingered Jack, who killed +for killing's sake alone. During the last two years he had often +slipped away from his followers and stolen into the church of some +near-by town, to recite the dark catalogue of his sins in the +curtained confessional; but no priest heard him tell his misdeeds from +this time on. + +In the north end of Los Angeles, where the old plaza church fronts the +little square of green turf and cabbage-palms, you can still find a +few of the one-story adobe buildings which lined the streets on the +July afternoon when Joaquin Murieta whispered into Deputy Sheriff +Wilson's ear. + +He was a young man, this deputy, and bold, and he had come all the way +from Santa Barbara to help hunt down the famous bandit whose followers +were burning ranch buildings and murdering travelers from the summits +of the southland's mountains to the yellow beaches by the summer sea. +Unlike many of the pueblo's citizens, who had formed the habit of +talking of such matters in undertones and looking over their +shoulders as they did so, for fear some lurking Mexican might be one +of Murieta's spies, he voiced his opinions loudly enough for all to +hear. "Get good men together," he said, "and smoke these robbers out. +I'm ready to go with a posse any time." He preached that gospel of +action in the drinking-places, in the gambling-halls, and on the +street, until the very vigor of his voice put new heart into the +listeners. It was beginning to look as if young Deputy Sheriff Wilson +had really started things moving. + +On a hot July afternoon he was standing on the narrow sidewalk +surrounded by a group whose members his enthusiasm had drawn out of +doors. Few others were abroad; an occasional Mexican woman in her +black skirt and tight-drawn reboso, a peon or two slouching gracefully +by with the inevitable brown cigarette, and a solitary horseman who +was coming down the street. + +The men in the group were so intent on what the deputy was saying that +none of them observed the approach of this horseman until he reined in +his animal close to the sidewalk's edge. Then they saw him lean from +the saddle and whisper into Wilson's ear. + +What words passed from his lips these others never knew. There was not +time for him to utter more than one or two; perhaps to tell his name. +They saw his white teeth flashing in an unpleasant smile; and Wilson's +hand moved toward his gun. But in the middle of that movement the +young officer pitched forward on his face. The sharp report of a +pistol, the scrape of hoofs, the smell of black powder smoke, and the +vision of the rider through the tenuous wreaths as he whirled his +horse about--these things came to the dazed witnesses in a sort of +blur. + +The sound of the shot awakened the drowsing street and many who ran to +their doorways saw the murderer riding away at a swinging gallop. Some +of these claimed to recognize him as Joaquin Murieta, and in the days +that followed their statements were confirmed by captured members of +the band. + +Deputy Sheriff Wilson's death aroused more men than his words had, and +when General Joshua Bean began organizing two companies of militia +during the weeks after the murder he found plenty of recruits. The +officers were just getting the new companies into shape for an +expedition against the bandits who were now ravaging most of the +country south of the Tehachapi, when Murieta and Three-Fingered Jack +waylaid General Bean one night near San Gabriel Mission, dropped the +noose of a reata over his head, dragged him from his horse, and +stabbed him through the heart. And the two companies of militia did +nothing more. + +Now, while posses were foundering their lathered horses on every +southland road and the flames of blazing ranch buildings were throwing +their red light on the faces of dead men almost every night, a lean +and wind-browned Texan by the name of Captain Harry Love took a hand +in the grim game of man-hunting. + +He had gained his title during the Mexican War. As an express-rider +for different American generals he had dodged the reatas of guerrilla +parties who were lurking by water-holes and had outjockeyed swarthy +horsemen in wild races across the flaming deserts of Sonora until he +had come to know the science of their fighting as well as old Padre +Jurata himself. And when he started after Murieta's men he did his +hunting all alone. + +One day he ran across the trail of Pedro Gonzales, the horse-thief, +and another lieutenant named Juan, and followed it until he overtook +the pair at the Buena Ventura rancho. Like most of his Southwestern +breed he was a better man at action than at words, and so the story of +the gun-fight which took place when he came upon them has never been +told; but when the smoke of the three pistols cleared away Gonzales +was in custody and Juan was riding hard toward the hills with the +blood running over his face from a bullet's furrow along his scalp. +The fugitive found five others of the band in a sun-baked arroyo that +night, told them the news of the catastrophe, and got a fresh horse to +ride back with them and rescue their companion. + +Captain Love was well on his way to Los Angeles with his prisoner when +the sound of drumming hoofs came down the wind. He glanced over his +shoulder and, on a hilltop half a mile behind, saw six horsemen coming +after him at a dead run. If he had any doubt of the nature of that +party he lost it when he turned his head in time to catch Gonzales +waving a handkerchief to them. + +The elements of the situation were simple enough,--the Texan's jaded +mount, the fresh horses of the pursuers, the desperation of the +prisoner for whom the gallows was waiting in Los Angeles,--but most +men would have wasted some time in determining on a solution. Love, +who had learned in a hard school the value of seconds in such races as +this, did not choose to part with any more of his handicap than he +had to. So he whipped out his pistol, shot Gonzales through the heart, +and spurred his horse down the dusty road with enough start to +distance the bandits into town. + +That was the first noteworthy casualty the band had suffered. It was +followed by the capture of young Reyes Feliz, Rosita's brother, who +was hanged in Los Angeles; and shortly afterward Murieta led his whole +company northward into the oak-dotted hills back of San Luis Obispo +where they lost twenty men--among them Claudio the expert spy--in a +day-long battle with a posse of ranchers whom they had sought to +ambush. + +Then Joaquin Murieta rode back with the survivors to Arroyo Cantoova; +and if Rosita, who had been sent with the other women to the +rendezvous early in the summer, felt her heart leap when she saw her +lover coming, she soon felt it sink again, for he spent but few +moments in her company. Horses and gold and his large plan to sweep +like fire through California--these were the only thoughts he had. +Within a week he had divided the band into several parties, two of +which under himself and Three-Fingered Jack went north to plunder the +placer camps. + +There is hardly an old town in the whole Bret Harte country that has +not its stories of the raiding during the winter of 1852-53. With the +knowledge which he and his lieutenants had gained at Mokelumne Hill +the chief directed operations, but as the weeks went by the influence +of Three-Fingered Jack grew until his methods were employed in every +robbery. By December the list of wanton murders had grown so great +that the State of California offered a reward of five thousand +dollars for Joaquin Murieta, alive or dead. + +The notices announcing this reward were posted in Stockton one Sunday. +The town was then the point of departure for the southern placer +district, a lively place with craft of all kinds coming from San +Francisco to tie up at its levee and an endless procession of wagons +traveling out cross the flat lands of the San Joaquin valley to the +foot-hills. Everything was running wide open and the sidewalks were +crowded with men, most of whom were ready to take a rather long chance +for five thousand dollars. + +One of the bills, tacked to the flag-pole in the public square, +attracted more readers than the others, and many a group gathered +about it to discuss what show a bold man might have of earning the +reward. The sidewalk loungers watched these debaters come and go until +the thing was beginning to be an old story; and they were almost ready +to turn their jaded attention elsewhere when a well-dressed Mexican +came riding down the street, turned his fine horse into the square, +and reined up before the flag-pole. The audience watched him leap from +the saddle and write something at the bottom of the bill. + +When he had touched his horse with the spurs and ridden away at a slow +Spanish trot, one of the onlookers, more curious--or perhaps he was +less lazy--than his fellows, sauntered over to read what had been +written; and when he read it waved his hand in so wild a gesture that +every one who saw him came running to the flag-pole. At the bottom of +the placard with its offer of five thousand dollars' reward for +Joaquin Murieta, alive or dead, they found this subscription set down +in a good bold hand: + +"And I will pay ten thousand dollars more. JOAQUIN MURIETA." + +Faith in the State's promise rather than that of the robber sent many +riders out of Stockton that day to scour the willow thickets by the +river and the winding tulle sloughs. The posses were speeding back and +forth all night long and the excitement attending their comings and +goings lasted into Monday. So there were few on hand to watch the +departure of a schooner for San Francisco that morning. + +She left the levee with her crew of three and with two passengers, +miners from San Andreas who were taking out about twenty thousand +dollars in gold-dust. The crew let out the sails, the canvas bellied +before the easy breeze, the schooner glided down the reed-lined slough +whose smooth waters held her reflection like a mirror. Flocks of wild +fowl rose before her as she came along. + +A rowboat shot out of the tulles just ahead of her. The helmsman took +one look at the five men in the little craft and dropped his tiller to +pick up a double-barreled shotgun. He shouted to the sailors; they +sprang for weapons, and the two miners in the cabin leaped up the +companion stairs, their pistols in their hands. Before the foremost +was half-way up the flight the shooting had begun; he gained the deck +in time to see the body of the helmsman drooping over the swinging +tiller, overhung by a thin white cloud of powder-smoke. The small boat +lay alongside with a dead man huddled between the thwarts. The other +four bandits were swarming over the rail, firing at the sailors on +the forward deck as they came. + +It was a short fight and sharp. When it ended every man in the ship's +company was lying dead or mortally wounded and two of the robbers were +killed. Murieta and Three-Fingered Jack lingered aboard long enough to +lower the gold-dust overside into the small boat and set fire to the +schooner; and the pillar of black smoke drew horsemen from Stockton in +time to hear the story which the dying men gasped out. + +Up in Sacramento where the State legislature was considering the +extermination of Joaquin Murieta some weeks later the Stockton +incident was used by a lean and wind-browned lobbyist as an argument +for a company of rangers, and this argument by Captain Harry Love had +much to do with the passage of the bill authorizing such a body under +his leadership. + +From Stockton the two companies of bandits fled southward up the San +Joaquin valley and brought more than fifty thousand dollars in +gold-dust to Arroyo Cantoova. Then Murieta took seventy men and rode +back to make his final raid on the placer camps. Three-Fingered Jack +went by his side: the only human being whose companionship he shared. +What talks those two men had together one can only guess from the +nature of the deeds that followed. No miner was too small game for the +chief now, he slit the throats of Chinamen for their garnerings from +worked-over tailings, he tortured teamsters to learn where they kept +their wages hidden, and where he passed during the night men found +corpses in the morning, until those of his own countrymen who had +befriended him in other days turned against him and betrayed his +hiding-places to the officers, and the whole foot-hill country from +the Tuolomme to the Feather River was patrolled by riders hunting +him. + +In Hornitas he sought out a Mexican who had notified a posse of his +presence in the neighborhood, shot him down at broad noonday on the +main street, and galloped away with the pistol-bullets of his pursuers +raising little spurts of dust about his horse's flying hoofs. A few +weeks later he revisited the town; killed a deputy sheriff who sought +to capture him; and then hanged another of his countrymen, who had +informed the officer of his hiding-place. + +One spring day he was riding alone in the foot-hills of Calaveras +County when he came on a party of twenty-five miners at the head of a +box canyon. They were encamped in a sort of amphitheater among the +rocks with steep walls on three sides and only one outlet, a narrow +Digger trail along the cliff a hundred feet above the brawling +stream. + +Murieta had ridden up the ravine by that dangerous pathway and now he +was sitting with one leg thrown over his saddle-horn, talking to the +members of the party. They were on their way out from some winter +diggings, they told him, and they had plenty of dust with them. He +spoke of Joaquin Murieta and they pointed to their belts; they were +heavily armed, every man of them. Why should they fear the bandit? He +let his eyes go around the place taking quick appraisal of their +numerous pack and saddle animals, their camp equipment, their plump +buckskin sacks--rich booty if only he had a party of cutthroats at his +heels. But he was alone; the best he could do was to put a good face +on the matter and, in his role of honest traveler, learn what he +could, to store it up for future reference. + +He was doing this and getting on very nicely at it, when one of the +party, who had gone down to the stream for water before his arrival, +came climbing up among the rocks with two filled buckets. The man +looked up at hearing a stranger's voice and Murieta glanced down at +the same instant. The eyes of each proclaimed recognition. For the +water-carrier was James Boyce, who had played monte over the table of +the good-looking young dealer many a night in Murphy's Diggings. + +Boyce dropped the buckets of water and, drawing his pistol, "Boys!" he +shouted, "That's Murieta. Shoot him!" Then he fired. + +But Murieta had wheeled his horse and was already spurring it on a +dead run down the gulch. The miners were lining their sights on him; +and now the canyon walls echoed to the volley they sent after him. + +He gained the trail along the cliff. A bullet knocked off his hat and +his long hair streamed behind him as the horse leaped out on the +narrow path. The rocks spurned by its flying hoofs dropped over the +brink into the roaring stream one hundred feet below. The leaden slugs +that sang about the rider's head chipped bits from the sheer wall +beside him. He drew his bowie-knife and brandished it as high as his +arm could reach. + +"I am Murieta," he shouted, turning in the saddle to look back at +them. "Kill me if you can." + +The cliff on one side was so close that he scraped it with his stirrup +and on the other side the horse's upflung hoofs hung in mid-air +beyond the brink. The weapons flamed behind him at the canyon-head. +Their bullets rained on the rocks about him as he flourished his knife +in a final gesture of defiance and passed round a turn of the trail +beyond sight of his enemies. + +But Boyce and his companions were a hardy crowd, and instead of +letting the incident end here they broke camp the next morning to +follow Murieta's trail. They traced him without much trouble down the +canyon, over a ridge and into another steep-walled gulch, where they +came on tracks of fourteen others of the band. From this point the +robbers had struck off toward the high country. + +All that day the miners climbed the tall ridges where the sugar-pines +stood like enormous pillars in the vast cathedral of the out of doors, +until night found them in the midst of the forest right under the bare +granite peaks. Here they made camp, and when the cold breath of the +snow-fields came down upon them they kindled a great fire. They +lounged about the flaming logs smoking their pipes and warming their +wearied limbs. Beyond the circle of firelight the enshadowed woods +gave forth no sound to tell them that fifteen men were crawling +through those black aisles among the trees like fifteen swarthy +snakes. + +The click of a pistol-hammer coming to full cock brought one of the +lounging miners to his feet. He fell forward in the instant of his +rising, and the woods gave back a hundred crashing echoes to the +volley which the bandits fired. Their aim was so true--for they had +stolen close in and taken good time to settle themselves before +cocking their weapons--that when the echoes died away fifteen men +were lying dead and dying in the red light of that fire. + +The others were springing for their pistols, for nearly every one of +the miners had laid aside his belt to ease himself, but before one of +them had pulled a trigger there came the crackling of a second +fusillade and seven fell. Then Boyce and two of his companions leaped +outside that fatal circle of radiance in time to save themselves. As +they were creeping away in the darkness they saw Joaquin Murieta and +Three-Fingered Jack rush into the camp waving their bowie-knives +exultantly above their heads, and for a long time afterward they heard +the band whooping like Apaches while they killed the wounded. + +Murieta and his company rode away from this massacre with thirty +thousand dollars in gold-dust and about forty horses as their loot. +But the story which Boyce and the other two survivors told turned the +mining towns into armed camps; and now Sheriff Charles Ellis of +Calaveras County started so fierce a warfare against the bandits that +they had to flee the country. + +When Murieta rode back to Arroyo Cantoova that spring, a closely +hunted fugitive, he found that Rosita had deserted him for an American +settler by the name of Baker. Even at this critical period when he was +beginning actual preparations for his enormous raid he took the time +to track her to a cabin among the hills nearly a hundred miles from +the rendezvous. He shot her down and set fire to the place, but +perhaps the very frenzy of his anger blinded him or perhaps he rushed +away in horror of his own deed, for she survived her wounds, the only +one of his victims who lived when he had the time to kill, and showed +the scars to officers years afterward. + +The boy who had taken her northward so short a time ago--for his years +were barely a man's years yet--rode back to Arroyo Cantoova and the +one thing he had in life--his plan. + + * * * * * + +Captain Harry Love and his company of twenty rangers rode down the +King's Highway into the little town of San Juan. In the plaza, where +the California poppies bloom to-day before the cloistered arches of +the mission as they bloomed on that July afternoon in 1853, the dusty +horsemen drew rein outside the old adobe inn. Their captain dismounted +and went inside and while he stayed the others lounged in their deep +stock saddles smoking cigarettes or eased the cinches to rest their +sweaty horses; a sunburned troop and silent as men who know they have +large work ahead of them. + +An hour passed and Captain Love came out, to swing into his saddle and +ride off without a word with the twenty behind him. They followed the +King's Highway where it looped upward along the flanks of San Juan +Hill, came down the other side into the Salinas valley--the Salinas +plains, men called it then--and made camp near the river. + +That night Captain Love told them what he had learned in the Plaza Inn +at San Juan where Joaquin Murieta had often come to confer with +friendly Spanish Californians in other days. One of these former +friends had betrayed to him the rendezvous at Arroyo Cantoova and +told him how to reach the place by a pass across the Coast Range near +Paso Robles. + +The ranger company rode on southward day after day until the +wind-swept plain grew narrower between oak-dotted hills; then turned +eastward to climb among a tangle of grassy mountains scorched by the +sun to the color of a lion's coat. They crossed the divide and +descended into the upper valley of the San Joaquin. And one morning, +when they were following the trail of several horsemen, they saw the +thin smoke of a little camp-fire rising from the ravine-bed ahead of +them. Captain Love deployed his company to close in on the place from +three sides, and sent one man to the rear with orders to hang back +until the others had all ridden in. The man was William Byrnes who had +known Joaquin Murieta well in the days before that lynching at +Murphy's Diggings. + + * * * * * + +Murieta was washing his thoroughbred mare in the bed of the ravine. +She stood, without halter or tie-rope, as docile as a dog while he +laved her fine limbs with a dampened cloth. His saddle lay about ten +or fifteen yards away with his pistols in the holsters beside the +horn. Four or five bandits were cooking their breakfast over the fire; +and Three-Fingered Jack lay at a little distance, sprawled full-length +in the morning sunshine like a basking rattlesnake. The mare raised +her head; her ears went forward, and Murieta glanced up in time to see +the rangers riding in across the pale saffron ridges from three +sides. + +They came at a dead run. Before he could reach his saddle one of the +company had pulled up between him and the weapons. Captain Love was +leaning from his horse questioning Three-Fingered Jack. Murieta took +another step toward his weapons; the ranger stopped him with a +gesture; he halted, glanced at Captain Love, and scowled. + +"If you have any questions to ask," he cried, "I am leader of this +party. Talk to me." + +"I'll talk to whom I please," Love answered, and just then William +Byrnes came riding into sight. + +Murieta took one look at the man whom he had known in the days when he +walked unfeared among his fellows and let his eyes go around the +circle of riders; he saw Three-Fingered Jack watching him narrowly. +His hand stole up along the mare's glossy neck. Her ears moved back +and forth as she stood there biding some word from him. + +Then, "Vamos, amigos!" he shouted, and sprang on the mare's back. He +leaned far forward as she leaped down the bed of the ravine. + +Three-Fingered Jack took advantage of the moment of confusion that +followed to mount his own horse, and half the rangers followed him +across the grass ridge firing as they went. He fought a running battle +with them for five miles before they shot him down. + +Murieta lay along the mare's back like an Indian. The hoofs of the +pursuing company thundered behind him in the ravine-bed; their bullets +spattered on the rocks about him. Before him the land broke in a +twenty-foot precipice. He called into the mare's ear and she headed +bravely for the cliff, leaped out into space, and turned a complete +somersault at the bottom. He rolled among the rocks beside her, lay +for a moment stunned, then rose and found her waiting for him where +she had gained her feet. He sprang to her back again and urged her +on. + +Several of the rangers were pressing their horses along the hillside +to gain the bed of the ravine by that roundabout route; one who had +ridden full-tilt over the cliff lay stunned beside his injured animal; +and three or four others had dismounted. These lined their sights on +the fleeing mare, and now her legs went from under her; she crashed +down with the blood gushing from her nostrils. + +The rangers rested their rifles for more careful aim as the rider +started to flee on foot. The volley raised rattling echoes in the +hills. He took four or five strides and then, halting, faced about. He +raised one hand. + +"No more," he called. "Your work is done." + +And as they slowly came toward him, their rifles ready to fly to their +shoulders at the first suspicious movement, Joaquin Murieta swayed +slightly and sank slowly into a heap near the dead mare. The breath +was gone from his body when they reached it. + + + + +TOMBSTONE + + +More than forty years ago a raw young mining camp down in southeastern +Arizona was preparing to assume the functions of a duly organized +municipality, and its population--at that period nearly every one in +the place was a male of voting age--was considering the important +question of a name. + +The camp stood out against the sky-line at the crest of a ridge in the +foot-hills of the Mule Mountains, not far from the Mexican boundary. +For the most part it consisted of tents; but there were a few adobe +buildings and some marvelous creations from goods-boxes and tin cans. +Facing one end of its single brief street you looked out upon a dump +of high-grade silver ore, and if you turned the other way you surveyed +a sprouting little graveyard hard by a large corral. From almost any +point you had a good view of the Dragoon mountains across a wide +stretch of mesquite-covered lowlands, and at almost any hour of the +day you were likely to see the smoke of at least one Apache +signal-fire rising from those frowning granite ramparts. + +The men in the camp were, nearly all of them, old-timers in the West: +miners from the Comstock lode whose boom was then on the wane, +teamsters who had been freighting all over the blazing deserts of the +Southwest, investors and merchants from Tucson, buffalo-hunters from +western Kansas, Texas, and Colorado, gamblers from Dodge City, El +Paso, and Santa Fe, Indian-fighters, cattle-rustlers, professional +claim-jumpers, and some gentle-voiced desperadoes of the real breed, +equally willing to slay from behind or take a long chance in front, +according to the way the play came up. Few of these men wore coats; a +great many of them carried single-action revolvers in holsters beside +the thigh; the old-fashioned cattleman's boot was the predominant +footgear; and, excepting among the faro-dealers, there was a rather +general carelessness in sartorial matters. Nicknames were even more +common than surnames, and it was bad form--sometimes dangerously +so--to ask a man about his antecedents until he had volunteered some +information on that point. + +In such a crowd it is easy to see there would be many ideas on any +given subject, and the question of the new town's name had evoked a +multitude of suggestions. Amusements were still few; the purveyors of +hectic pleasure had thus far succeeded in bringing only one piano and +a half-dozen dance-hall girls--all decidedly the worse for wear--into +the camp; and either faro or whisky has its limitations as a steady +means of relaxation. So it came about that any advocate could usually +find an audience to harken to his arguments for his pet selection. + +At intervals when they were not toiling at assessment work in the +shafts which pocked the hillside or dodging Apaches in the outlying +country, the citizens found diversion in discussing the ideas thus +submitted. And the merits of these propositions were debated by groups +in the brief street, by players seated before the tables in the +gambling-halls, by members of the never-absent lines before the bars, +and by dust-mantled travelers within the Concord stages which came +tossing over the weary road from Tucson. + +Gradually public opinion began to crystallize. One name was spoken +more often as the days went by. Until it became evident that the great +majority favored it, and it was chosen. + +They called the town Tombstone and placed one more tradition on the +Western map. + +The old-timers always showed a very fine sense of the fitness of +things when they christened a river, mountain range, or town. If one +were to devote his time to studying the map of our country west of the +Mississippi River and resuscitating the tales whose titles are printed +thereupon, he could produce a large volume of marvelous stories. But +the entire compilation would contain nothing more characteristic of +the days when men carried rifles to protect their lives than the story +of that name--Tombstone. + +It deals with a period when southeastern Arizona was Apache-land. +Geronimo, Victorio, and Nachez were constantly leading their +naked warriors into the mountain ranges which rise from those +mesquite-covered plains, to lurk among the rocks watching the lower +country for travelers and when these came to descend upon them for +the sake of loot and the love of murder. A few bold cattlemen, +like John Slaughter and Peter Kitchen, had established ranches in +this region; these held their homes by constant vigilance and force +of arms. Escorts of soldiers frequently guarded the stages on +their way to and from Tucson; and there was hardly a month in the +year when driver, guard, and passengers did not make a running +fight of it somewhere along this portion of the route. + +Such were conditions during the summer of 1877 when the tale begins in +the dry wash which comes down from the Tombstone hills into the valley +of the San Pedro, near where the hamlet of Fairbank stands to-day. + +Fragments of horn silver lay scattered among the cactus and +dagger-plants in the bed of the dry wash. There was a point where the +stony slope above the bank was strewn with them. A little farther up, +an outcropping of high-grade ore showed plainly in the hard white +sunshine. The flank of the hill was leaking precious metal like a +rotting treasure-chest. + +A solitary Apache stood on a mesa ten miles away. He had cut a fresh +trail down in the valley at dawn, and had dogged it reading every +minute sign--a displaced rock, a broken twig, a smudge of disturbed +earth--until he had the fulness of its meaning: two prospectors +leading a pack-mule, both men armed and keeping sharp lookout against +attack. Then he had climbed to this remote vantage-point and caught +sight of them as they turned from the river-bottom up the wash. They +were traveling straight toward that outcropping. + +The Apache stood at the edge of the mesa facing the newly risen sun, a +savage vision in a savage land. His narrow turban, shred of +loin-cloth, and knee-high moccasins merely accentuated his nakedness; +they held no more suggestion of clothing than his mass of rusty black +hair and the ugly smears of paint across his cheeks. A tiny fire +beside him sent a tenuous smoke column into the glaring sky. + +He kept his malignant little eyes on a notch in the Dragoon Mountains +twenty miles away, scowling against the sun's bright flood. Across the +far-flung interval of glowing mesas and dark mesquite flats the stark +granite ramparts frowned back at him. And now a hair-line of pallid +smoke twined upward from the point he watched. + +He sank down, crouching beside his fire. He swept his hand over it +sprinkling bits of powdered resin into the wisp of flame. The smoke +turned black. + +He waited for some moments, scanning the rising fumes, then swerved +his lean brown torso toward a mesquite bush. He stripped the leaves +from a twig and scattered them upon the blaze. A white puff climbed +into the sky. + +From time to time he moved, now dropping on his belly to blow the +coals, now feeding them with resin, now with leaves. The slender +column crawled on upward taking alternate complexion, white and +black. + +Where the bare summits of the Dragoon range broke into a multitude of +ragged pinnacles against the eastern horizon, another swarthy warrior +stood, remote as a roosting eagle on the heights. Beneath his +feet--the drop was so sheer that he could have kicked a pebble to the +bottom without its touching the face of the cliff in its fall--the +shadows of the mountain lay black on the mesquite flat. He gazed +across that wide plain and the mesas climbing heavenward beyond it in +a series of glowing steps. His face assumed a peculiar intentness as +he watched the distant smoke column; it was the intentness of a man +who is reading under difficulties. In dot and dash he spelled it as it +rose--the tidings of those two prospectors who traveled up the wash. + +While the last puff was fading away he glided down from pinnacle to +narrow shelf, from shelf to cliff, and made his way toward the rocks +below to tell the news to the rest of his band. + +Their camp lay at the head of a steep gorge. Several low wickiups had +been fashioned by binding the tops of bushes together and throwing +skins or tattered blankets over the arched stems. Offal and carrion +were strewn all about the place; it swarmed with flies. Nesting +vultures would have built more carefully and been fully as fastidious. +When the warrior reached the spot the rocks became alive with naked +forms; they appeared from all sides as suddenly and silently as +quail. + +He told the tidings to the men. An unclean, vermin-ridden group, they +squatted around him while he repeated the smoke message, word for +word. There was no particular show of enthusiasm among them, no +sign of haste. They began to prepare for this business as other +men begin getting ready for a day's work, when they see good wages +ahead of them and the task is very much to their taste. Prospectors +were becoming an old story in that summer of 1877; two of them +meant good pickings--bacon, coffee, sugar, and firearms; and there was +the fun of killing with the chance for torture thrown in. + +Some of the band departed leisurely to catch the ponies. The victims +would be busy for a long time in the wash. They would not travel far +to make their camp. And wherever they went they must leave tracks. The +day was far advanced when the party rode forth upon the flat, their +dirty turbans bobbing up and down above the mesquite bushes as they +came along. + +Several of them carried lances; there was a sprinkling of bows and +arrows; a number bore rifles across their saddles, wearing the +cartridge-belts athwart their naked bodies. All of them moved their +thin brown legs ceaselessly; their moccasined shanks kept up a +constant drumming against the ponies' sides. + +The afternoon was old when they reached the dry wash. They left two or +three of their number behind in charge of the ponies. The others came +on afoot. Two leaders went well in advance, one of them on each bank, +creeping from rock to tufted yucca and from yucca to mesquite clump, +watching the sun-flayed land before them for some sign of their game. +A squad of trackers slipped in and out among the dagger-plants and +boulders in the bottom of the gulch. + +One of the trackers held up his hand and moved it swiftly. To the +signal the others gathered about him. He pointed to the outcropping of +high-grade ore. They saw the traces left by a prospector's pick. For +some minutes their voices mingled in low gutturals. Then they +scattered to pick up the trail, found it, and resumed their progress +down the arroyo. + +Evening came on them when they reached the river-bottom; and with the +deepening shadows, fear. Night with the Apache was the time of the +dead. They made their camp. But when the sun was coloring the eastern +sky the next morning they were crawling through the bear-grass on the +first low mesa above the stream, silent as snakes about to strike. + +The prospectors awoke with the growing light. They crept forth from +their blankets. Two or three rifles cracked. And then the stillness +came again. + +The Apaches stripped the clothing from the dead men and left them to +the Arizona sun. They took away with them what loot they found. They +never noticed the little heap of specimens from the outcropping. Or if +they noticed it they thought it of no importance. A few handfuls of +rock fragments meant nothing to them. And so the ore remained there +near the bodies of the prospectors. + +The old-timers go on to tell how Jim Shea came riding down the dry +wash one day late in the summer with his rifle across his saddle-horn +and a little troop of grim horsemen about him. Of that incident few +details remain in the verbal chronicle which has come down through +four decades. It is like a picture whose background has been blurred +by age. + +Somewhere ahead of these dusty, sunburned riders a band of Apaches +were urging their wearied ponies onward under the hot sun. They herded +a bunch of stolen horses before them as they fled. + +The chase had begun with the beginning of the day, at Dragoon Pass. +What bloodshed had preceded it is not known. But Shea and his +companions were following a hot trail, eager for reprisals, cautious +against ambush. As they came on down the wash the leader scanned the +stony bed reading the freshening signs left by the fugitives; while +two who rode on either side of him watched every rock and shrub and +gully which might give cover to lurking enemies. + +Now, as they clattered along the arroyo's bed, Shea suddenly drew +rein. Leaning far to one side and low, after the lithe fashion of the +cow-boy, he swept his hand earthward, picked up a little fragment of +dark rock, straightened his body in the saddle once more, and, +glancing sharply at the bit of ore, dropped it into his pocket. He +repeated the movement two or three times in the next hundred yards. + +Chasing Apaches--or being chased by them--was almost as much a part of +life's routine in those days as sleeping without sheets. And no one +remembers how this particular affair ended. But Jim Shea kept those +bits of silver ore. + +Later he showed them to an assayer somewhere up on the Gila and +learned their richness. Then he determined to go back and locate the +ledge from which the elements had carried them away. But that project +demanded a substantial grubstake, and other matters of moment were +taking his attention at the time. He postponed the expedition until it +was too late. + +In Tucson they tell of a prospector by the name of Lewis who wandered +into those foot-hills during that year, found some high-grade float, +and traced it to a larger outcropping than the one down by the dry +wash. But he had hardly made the marvelous discovery when he caught +sight of a turbaned head above a rocky ridge about fifty yards away. +He abandoned his search to seek the nearest cover. By the time he had +gained the shelter a dozen Apaches were firing at him. + +He made a good fight of it with his rifle, and the luck which had +caused him to look up before the savages had their sights trained on +him had put a wide space of open ground about his natural fort. No +Apache ever relished taking chances, and Lewis was able to hold the +band off until darkness came. Then he crept forth and wormed his way +through the gullies to the San Pedro Valley. Dawn found him miles from +the spot. + +He came back to Tucson with his specimens. Marcus Katz and A. M. +Franklin, who were working for the wholesale firm of L. M. Jacobs & +Co., heard his story, saw the ore, and grubstaked him for another +trip. + +But when he reached the foot-hills of the Mule Mountains Lewis found +that the long afternoon of battle and the ensuing night of flight had +left him utterly at sea as to the location of that large ledge. He had +to begin his hunt all over again. He used up his grubstake, got a +second from his backers, and subsequently a third. + +And now while Lewis was combing down the gullies between those broken +ridges for the ore body--he slew himself from disappointment later +on--and while Jim Shea was meditating an expedition after the riches +of which he had got trace down in the dry wash, Ed Schiefflin came to +the Bruncknow house to embark on the adventure which was to give the +town of Tombstone its name. + +The Bronco house, men call it now, but Bruncknow was the man who built +it and the new term is a corruption. Its ruins still stand on the +side-hill a few miles from the dry wash, a rifle-shot or so from the +spot where the two prospectors met their deaths. In those days it was +a lonely outpost of the white man in the Apache's land. The summer of +1877 was drawing to a close, its showers were already a distant +memory, and all southeastern Arizona was glowing under the white-hot +sun-rays when Schiefflin rode his mule up from the San Pedro to seek +the protection of its thick adobe walls. + +The flat lands of the valley stretched away and away behind him to the +foot of the Huachucas in the west. They unfolded their long reaches to +the southward until they melted into the hot sky between spectral +mountain ranges down in Mexico. He came up out of that wide landscape, +a tall wild figure, lonesome as the setting sun. + +His long beard and the steady patience in his eyes--the patience which +comes to the prospector during his solitary wanderings in search of +rich ore--gave him the appearance of a man past middle age although he +had not seen his thirtieth year. His curling hair reached his broad +shoulders. Wind and sun had tanned his features so deeply that his +blue eyes stood out in strange contrast to the dark skin. His garments +were sadly torn, and he had patched them in many places with buckskin. +Such men still come and go in the remote places among the mountain +ranges and deserts of the West. They were almost the first to +penetrate the wilderness and they will roam over it so long as any +patch of it remains unfenced. + +Schiefflin had left his father's house in Oregon ten years before. He +searched the Coeur d'Alenes for riches, and, finding none, struck out +from Idaho for Nevada. There he remained through two blazing summers +traveling afoot from the sage-brush hills in the north across the +silent deserts east of Death Valley. He wandered on to Colorado, where +he toiled in the new mining camps between prospecting trips into the +great plateaus along the western slope of the Rockies. From Colorado +he went southward into New Mexico; thence westward to Arizona. He +accompanied a troop of cavalry from Prescott down to the foot of the +Huachucas where they established a new post. During the last leg of +that journey he saw these foot-hills of the Mule Mountains in passing, +and in spite of warnings from the soldiers, he was now returning to +prospect the district. + +He had spent some days at the Herrick ranch down in the valley, and +the men about the place had strongly advised him against traveling +into the hills. They cited various gruesome examples of the fate which +overtook solitary wanderers in this savage land. They might as well +have saved their breath; Schiefflin had seen some mineral stains on a +rock outcropping when he passed through the country with the cavalry +earlier in the season. + +So now he came on toward the Bruncknow house, where he could make his +camp closer to the hills upon whose exploration his mind was set. + +There were several men lounging about the adobe when he reached it. +Even in those days, when the most peaceful border-dweller carried his +rifle almost everywhere except to his meals and was as likely as not +to have slain one or two fellow-creatures,--days when the leading +citizens of that isolated region presented a sinister front with their +long-barreled revolvers slung beside their thighs,--the members of +the group showed up hard. + +A lean and seasoned crew, dust-stained from many a wild ride, +burned by the border sun, they watched the new-comer with eyes +half-curtained, like the eyes of peering eagles, by straight lids. +They welcomed him with a few terse questions as to where he had +come from and what the troops were doing over at the new post. Of +themselves they said nothing nor offered any information of their +business in this lonely spot. + +But when Schiefflin had made his camp close to the shelter of those +thick adobe walls he learned more of his hosts. There was a mine hard +by, at least it went by the name of a mine, and it was a sort of +common understanding that the owners were doing assessment work. The +fragments on the dump, however, were only country rock. In later years +gorgeous tales of rich ore at the bottom of the shallow shaft resulted +in a series of claim-jumpings which in their turn netted no less than +eleven murders, but the slayers only wasted their powder, for the +ground here never yielded anything more interesting than dead men's +bones. And at the time when Schiefflin was abiding at the Bruncknow +house the inmates were letting their mining tools rust, the while they +kept their firearms well oiled. + +For the mine was nothing more nor less than a blind, and the adobe was +simply a rendezvous for Mexican smugglers. + +In that era, when a man practised pistol-shooting from the hip,--as a +man practises his morning calisthenics in this peaceful age, for the +sake of his body's health,--the written statutes were one thing and +local conceptions of proper conduct another. Here, where the San +Pedro valley came straight northward across the boundary, affording a +good route for pack-trains, smuggling American wares into the southern +republic was nearly a recognized industry. As long as a man could +bring his contraband to market past marauding Apaches and the bands of +renegade whites who had drifted to the border, he was entitled to the +profit he made--and no questions asked. + +So the men at the Bruncknow house accepted Schiefflin's presence +without any fear of ill consequences. Had their calling been more +stealthy they would not have worried about him; prospectors went +unquestioned among all sorts of law breakers then, owning something of +the same immunity which simple-minded persons always got from the +Indians. He came in at evening and rolled up in his blankets after +cooking his supper; and in the morning he went forth again into the +hills. No one minded him. + +Now and again a cavalcade came out of the flaming desert to the south, +appearing first as a thin dust-cloud down on the flat, as it drew +nearer resolving itself into pack burros and men on mule-back; then +jingling and clattering up the stony slope and into the corral. And +when they had dismounted, the swarthy riders in their serapes and +steep-crowned sombreros trooped into the adobe, their enormous spurs +tinkling in a faint chorus upon the hard earthen floor. + +Then the men of the house got out the calicoes and hardware which they +had brought over the hot hills and through the forests of giant cacti +from Tucson. The smugglers spread blankets, unbuckled broad +money-belts from their waists, and stripped out the dobie dollars, +letting them fall in clinking heaps upon the cloth. The bargaining +began. + +And when the last wares had been disposed of and the last huge silver +coin had been stowed away by the hard-eyed merchants, the Mexicans +opened little round kegs of mescal, the fiery liquor which is +distilled from the juice of the cactus plant. + +They gambled at monte, quien con, and other games of chance. They +drank together. The night came on. + +Sometimes pistols flamed under those adobe walls and knives gleamed in +the shadows. + +Then, when the hot dawn came on, the burros were packed and the whole +troop filed down the hill; the seraped Mexicans riding along the +flanks of the train, their rifles athwart their saddles. The dust rose +about them, enwrapped them, and hid them from sight. Finally it +vanished where the flat lands reached away into the south. + +But Schiefflin was indifferent to these wild goings on. To him the +Bruncknow house meant shelter from the Apaches; that was all. He could +roll up in his blankets here at night knowing that he would waken in +the morning without any likelihood of looking up into the grinning +faces of savages who had tracked him to his camp. + +He minded his own business. As a matter of fact his own business was +the only thing he deemed worth minding. It was the one affair of +importance in the whole world. The more he saw of those hills the +surer he became that they contained minerals. Somewhere among them, +he fervently believed, an ore body of great richness lay hidden from +the world. And he had been devoting the years of his manhood to +seeking just such a secret. In those long years of constant search a +longing mightier than the lust for riches had grown within him. +Explorers know that longing and some great scientists; once it owns a +man he becomes oblivious to all else. + +Every day Schiefflin set forth on his mule from the adobe house. He +rode out into the hills. All day he hunted through the winding gullies +for some bits of float which would betray the presence of an +outcropping on the higher levels. Once he cut the fresh trail of a +band of Apaches and once he caught sight of two mounted savages riding +along a slope a mile away. Several times he picked up specimens of +rock which bore traces of silver. But he found no ore worth assaying. + +The men at the Bruncknow house saw him departing every morning and +shook their heads. They had seen other men ride out alone into the +hills and they had afterward found some of those travelers--what the +Apaches had left of them. It was no affair of theirs--but they fell +into the habit of watching the tawny slopes every afternoon when the +shadows began to lengthen and speculating among themselves whether the +bearded rider was going to return this time. Which was as close to +solicitude as they could come. + +One of their number--he had lost two or three small bets by +Schiefflin's appearing safe and sound on various evenings--took it +upon himself to give their visitor a bit of advice. + +"What for," he asked, "do yo'-all go a-takin' them pasears that-a-way?" + +Schiefflin smiled good-naturedly at the questioner. + +"Just looking for stones," he said. + +"Well," the other told him, "all I got to say is this. Yo'-all keep on +and yo'll sure find yo'r tombstone out there some day." + +He never dreamed that he had named a town. + +Nor did Schiefflin think much of it at the moment: he had received +other warnings, just as strong, before. But none of them had been put +as neatly as this. So the words abode in his memory although they did +not affect his comings and goings in the least. + +Only a few days later he left the Bruncknow house for a longer trip +than usual. He rode his mule down the San Pedro toward the mouth of +the dry wash in which the two prospectors had found that silver ore +the day before they died. + +And the luck that guides a man's steps toward good or ill, as the whim +seizes it, saw to it that he came into the old camp where the Apaches +had enjoyed their morning murder months before. + +Some one had buried both bodies but whoever had done this--possibly it +was one of the self-styled miners at the Bruncknow house--had not +enough interest in minerals to disturb the little heap of specimens. +It lay there near the graves, just as the Apaches had left it, just as +its original owners had piled it up before they sought their blankets; +to dream perhaps of their big strike while death waited for the coming +of the dawn, to cheat them out of their discovery. + +The story was as plain as printed words on a page: the nameless +graves among the tall clumps of bear-grass proclaimed the penalty for +venturing into this neighborhood. The little handful of dark-colored +stones betrayed the secret of the riches in the hills. The dry wash +came down between the ridges half a mile ahead to show the way to +other float like this. + +It was as though, after the years of long and constant search he found +himself faced by a grim challenge, to attain the consummation of his +hopes on pain of death. + +When he had examined the bits of rock he mounted his mule and struck +out for the mouth of the dry wash. + +After he had ridden for some distance up the stony bed of the arroyo +he dismounted and came on slowly leading the patient animal. He +searched the rocks for fragments of float. At times he left the mule +and crept to the summit of a near-by ridge where he remained for some +minutes looking out over the country for some sign of Indians. + +The day wore on and as he went further the hills to the south became +loftier; the banks drew closer in on both sides of him; the boulders +in the arid bed were larger. Cactus and Spanish bayonet harassed him +like malignant creatures; skeleton ocatillas and bristling yuccas +imposed thorny barriers before him. The sun poured its full flood of +white-hot rays upon him. He wound his way in and out among the +obstacles, keeping his intent eyes upon the glaring rocks, save only +when he lifted them to look for lurking savages. The shadows of +noonday lengthened into the shades of afternoon; they crept up the +hillsides until only the higher peaks remained a-shine; evening came. + +Schiefflin picked up a sharp fragment of blackish rock. + +Horn silver. In those days when the great Comstock lode was lessening +its yield and the metal was at a premium, such ore as this which he +held meant millions--if one could but find the main ledge. He scanned +the specimen closely, looked round for others and then, as his eyes +roved up the hillside the exultation born of that discovery passed +from him. + +Dusk was creeping up from the valley. The time had passed when he +could return by daylight to the Bruncknow house. He must make the most +of the scant interval which remained before darkness, if he would find +a hiding-place where he could camp. + +He glanced about him to fix the landmarks in his memory, that he might +return to this spot on the morrow. Then he led the mule away into the +hills and picketed it out behind a ridge where it would be out of +sight from passing Apaches. + +He found his own hiding-place a mile away from where he had tethered +the animal. Here three huge bare knolls of granite boulders rose +beside the wash. From the summit of any one of these a man could +survey the whole country; between its ragged rocks he would be +invisible to any one below. He chose the highest one and crept to its +crest. + +The gray twilight was spreading over the land when he raised his head +above one of the boulders. In that instant he dropped to earth as if +he had been shot. An Indian was riding up to the bottom of the knoll. + +The Apache's rifle lay across his lean bare thighs; his gaunt body +bent forward as he scanned the rocks above him. He had been heading +for the hill from this side while Schiefflin was climbing up the +opposite slope. Evidently he was coming to the summit to look over the +country for enemies. There must be others of the band close by. + +Schiefflin found a narrow crack between two boulders and peeped out. + +Another savage appeared at that moment on the summit of the next +knoll. He was afoot; and now he stood there motionless searching the +wide landscape for any moving form. He was so near that in the waning +light the smear of war-paint across his ugly face was visible. + +Schiefflin crooked his thumb over the hammer of his rifle and raised +it slowly to the full cock, pressing the trigger with his finger to +prevent the click. + +The first Apache had dismounted and was climbing the hill. As he drew +closer the clink of ponies' hoofs sounded down in the dry wash. A +number of dirty turbans came into sight above the bank. More followed +and still more, until thirty-odd were bobbing up and down to the +movement of the horses. + +A moment passed, one of those mighty moments when a man's life appears +before him as a period which he has finished, when a man's thoughts +rove swiftly over what portions of that period they choose. And +Schiefflin's mind went to that talk with the man at the Bruncknow +house. + +"Yo'-all keep on and yo'll sure find yo'r tombstone out there some +day." + +He could hear the old-timer saying the words now. And, as he listened +to the grim warning again, he felt--as perhaps those two prospectors +felt in the moment of their awakening down by the river--that fate +had sadly swindled him. He was stiffening his trigger-finger for the +pull, peering across the sights at the Indian who had climbed to +within a few yards of the weapon's muzzle, when--the warrior on the +summit of the next knoll waved his hand. The Apache halted at the +gesture and Schiefflin followed his gaze in time to see the lean brown +arm of the sentinel sweep forward. Both of the savages turned and +descended the knolls. + +They caught up their ponies and rode on, following the course of the +wash below them. The band down in the arroyo's bed were receding. The +rattle of hoofs grew fainter. Schiefflin lowered the hammer of his +rifle and took his first full breath. + +A low outcry down the wash stopped his breathing again. The band had +stopped their ponies; some of them were dismounting. He could see +these gathering about the place where he had led his mule up the +bank. + +Two of them were pointing along the course he had taken with the +animal. Several others were creeping up the slope on their bellies +following the fresh trail. The murmur of their voices reached the +white man where he lay watching them. + +Then, as he was giving up hope for the second time, a mounted +warrior--evidently he was their chief--called to the trackers. They +rose, looked about and scurried back to their ponies like frightened +quail. The whole band were hammering their heels against the flanks of +their little mounts. The coming of the night had frightened them +away. + +The shadows deepened; stillness returned upon the land; the stars +grew larger in the velvet sky. Schiefflin crouched among the boulders +at the summit of the knoll and fought off sleep while the great +constellations wheeled in their long courses. The dawn would come in +its proper time, and it seemed as certain as that fact that they would +return to hunt him out. + +He dared not leave the place, for he might stray into some locality +where they would find him without shelter when the day revealed his +trail. So he waited for the sunrise and the beginning of the attack. + +At last the color deepened in the east. The rocks below his +hiding-place stood out more clearly. He could see no sign among them +of creeping savages. The sun rose and still nothing moved. + +He came forth finally in the full blaze of the hot morning and found +the mule where he had picketed it behind the ridge. When he returned +to the dry wash he saw the tracks where the band had passed the +evening before. For some reason of their own they had found it best to +keep on that course instead of coming back to murder him. + +He resumed his search for float where he had left it off. It showed +more frequently as he went on. He followed the bits of ore to a narrow +stringer of blackish rock. He dug into it with his prospector's pick, +chipped off specimens, and carefully covered up the hole. The danger +of Apaches had passed, but a new fear had come to him, the dread that +some rival prospector might happen upon his discovery before he could +establish possession. + +For his provisions were running low. He had no money. He needed a +good grubstake--and companions to help him hold down the claim against +jumpers--before he could begin development work. + +He hurried back to the Bruncknow house. An attack of chills and fever, +brought on by his night among the rocks, gave him a good excuse to +leave the place. The climate, he said, did not agree with him. + +While he was trying to think of one with whom to share his secret, one +whom he could trust to take his full portion of the dangers which +would attend the claim's development, he remembered his brother Al, +who was working at the Signal mine way over in Mohave County, There +was the man. So he made his way across the State of Arizona. He +stopped at times to earn money for food to carry him through and it +was December before he reached his destination. + +Al Schiefflin had a friend, Dick Gird, who was an assayer. Gird saw +the specimens, tested them, and was on fire at once. He joined forces +with the brothers, helped them to procure a grubstake, and in January, +1878, the three men set forth from Williams Fork of the Colorado River +in a light wagon drawn by two mules. + +Spring was well on its way when they reached Tucson and made their +camp in Bob Leatherwood's corral. The Apaches were raiding throughout +the southeastern part of the territory and the little town of adobes +was getting new reports of murders from that section every day. + +They drove their mules on eastward up the long mesas leading to the +San Pedro Divide. At the Pantano stage station they saw the fresh +scars of Apache bullets on the adobe walls. The men had held the +place against a large band of Geronimo's warriors only a few days +before. + +Now as they drove on they kept constant lookout and their rifles were +nearly always in their hands. Every morning they rose long before the +dawn, and two of them would climb the ridges near the camp to watch +the country as the light came over it, while the other caught up the +mules and harnessed them. + +They turned southward up the San Pedro, avoiding the stage station at +the crossing of the river lest some other party of prospectors might +follow them. They made a circuit around the Mormon settlement at St. +Davids and came on to the Bruncknow house, to find two more fresh +graves of Apache victims under the adobe walls. + +They made their permanent camp here, and Schiefflin took his two +companions up the dry wash. They found the outcropping undisturbed. +Gird and Al Schiefflin dug away at the dark rock with their +prospector's picks. Less than three feet below the surface the +stringer pinched out. The claim was not worth staking. + +Beside the little strip of ore, whose false promises of riches had +lured them into this land of death, they held a conference. The hills +opened to a low swale which led up toward the loftier summits in the +south. They decided to follow that depression in search of another +ledge. + +They made their daily journeys along its course, returning with +evening to the Bruncknow house, whose inmates were away at the time on +some expedition of their own. Sometimes they saw the smoke of +signal-fires over in the Dragoons; sometimes the slender columns rose +from the summit of the Whetstone Mountains in the north. One +morning--they had spent the previous night out here in the hills--they +awoke to find a fresh trail in the bear-grass within a hundred yards +of where they had been sleeping, and in the middle of the track Dick +Gird picked up one of the rawhide wristlets which Apaches wore to +protect their arms from the bowstring. + +That day Ed Schiefflin discovered a new outcropping. Gird assayed the +specimens in a rude furnace which he had fashioned from the fireplace +at the Bruncknow house. Some of them yielded as high as $2,200 to the +ton. Exploration work showed every evidence of a great ore body. Two +or three of the fragments which they had chipped from it below the +surface assayed $9,000 a ton. They had made their big strike. They +staked the claim, and when they came to fixing on a name Ed Schiefflin +remembered once more those words of the old-timer at the Bruncknow +house. + +"We'll call it the Tombstone," he said, and told the story. + +It was recorded in Tucson as the Tombstone. And when the big rush +came, Ed Schiefflin, then a figure of importance in the new camp, +recited the tale to some of the men who had risked their lives in +traveling to these hills. And so they in turn retold the tale. + +That is the way the town got its name. + +In after years when men had learned the fulness of that secret which +the Apaches had guarded so well from the world--when Bisbee and +Nacosari and Cananea were yielding their enormous stores of metal and +Tombstone's mines had given forth many millions of dollars in silver, +Ed Schiefflin remained a wealthy man. But the habit of prospecting +abided with him and he used to spend long months alone in the +wilderness searching for the pure love of search. + +Just before one of these expeditions he was driving out of Tombstone +with Gus Barron, another old-timer and a close friend, and as they +went down the Fairbank road they reached the spot where the three +great boulder knolls rise beside the dry wash. Schiefflin drew rein. + +"This," he said to Barron, "is the place where I camped that night +when the Apaches almost got me, the night before I found the stringer +on the hill. And when I die I want to be buried here with my canteen +and my prospector's pick beside me." + +So when he died up in canyon City, Oregon, just about twenty years +after he had made that discovery, they brought his body back and +buried it on the summit of the knoll. And they erected a great pyramid +of granite boulders on the spot for his monument. + +And within sight of that lonely tomb the town stands out on the +sky-line, commemorating by its name the steadfastness of Ed +Schiefflin, prospector. + + + + +TOMBSTONE'S WILD OATS + + +In the good old days of Indians and bad men the roaring town of +Tombstone had a man for breakfast every morning. And there were +mornings when the number ran as high as half a dozen. + +That is the way the old-timers speak of it, and there is a fond pride +in their voices when they allude to the subject; the same sort of +pride one betrays when he tells of the wild oats sowed by a +gray-haired friend during his lusty youth. For Tombstone has settled +down to middle-aged conventionality and is peaceable enough to-day for +any man. + +But in the early eighties! + +Apaches were raiding; claim-jumpers were battling; road-agents were +robbing stages; bad men were slaying one another in the streets; and, +taking it altogether, life was stepping to a lively tune. + +Geronimo's naked warriors were industrious. Now they would steal upon +a pair of miners doing assessment work within sight of town. Now they +would bag a teamster on the road from Tucson, or raid a ranch, or +attack the laborers who were laying the water company's pipe-line to +the Huachucas. Hardly a week passed but a party of hard-eyed horsemen +rode out from Tombstone with their rifles across their saddle-bows, +escorting a wagon which had been sent to bring in the bodies of the +latest victims. + +In the two years after the first rush from Tucson to the rich silver +district which Ed Schiefflin had discovered, there was much +claim-jumping. And claim-jumping in those days always meant shooting. +Some properties were taken and retaken several times, each occasion +being accompanied by bloodshed. Surveying parties marched into the +foot-hills of the Mule Mountains under escort of companies of +riflemen; in more than one instance they laid out boundary lines and +established corner monuments after pitched battles, each with its own +formidable casualty list. + +What with the murders by the savages and these affrays--together with +such natural hazards of disease and accident as accompany any new +mining camp--the boot-hill graveyard out beyond the north end of the +wide main street was booming like the town. And now there came a more +potent factor in stimulating mortuary statistics. + +The bad men took possession of Tombstone. + +They came from all over the West. For railroads and telegraph lines +were bringing a new order of things from the Missouri to the Rio +Grande, and those who would live by the forty-five hastened to ride +away from sight of jails and churches, seeking this new haven down by +the border. + +One by one they drifted across the flaring Southwestern deserts; from +California, Montana, Colorado, Kansas, Texas, and New Mexico, with +their grim mouths tight shut against all questions and their big +revolvers dangling beside their thighs. The hair of some of them was +gray from many winters and their faces deeply lined; and some were +boys with down on their smooth cheeks. But once his hand started +moving toward his pistol, every man of them was deadlier than a bull +rattlesnake in rutting time. + +No man challenged them on their arrival. The town was too busy to heed +their presence. The one-story buildings which lined the wide streets +were packed to the doors with customers; saloons, dance-halls, and +gambling-houses roared on through day and night; the stores were open +at all hours. The wide sidewalks under the wooden awnings which ran +the length of every block, were crowded from wall to gutter with men +intent on getting wealth or spending it. + +The bad men mingled with the sidewalk throngs; they dropped into the +Bird-Cage Opera House, where painted women sang in voices that clanged +like brazen gongs; they took their places before the gambling-tables +of the Crystal Palace, where girls were oftentimes to be found dealing +faro; they joined the long lines before the bars and drank the +stinging whisky which the wagon-trains had brought from Tucson. And +they met one another. + +It was like the meeting of strange dogs, who bristle on sight, and +often fly at one another's throats to settle the question of +supremacy. Their big-caliber revolvers spat streams of fire in the +roadways and bellowed in the dance-halls. And gradually among the +ranks of the survivors there came a gradation in their badness. + +Several loomed far above the others: John Ringo, Prank Stilwell, Zwing +Hunt, the Clanton brothers, and Billy Grounds. They were "He Wolves." +And there was Curly Bill, the worst of all. He might be said to rule +them. + +They settled down to business, which is to say they started to do the +best they could for themselves according to their separate capacities +for doing evil unto others. + +They rustled stock. They drove whole herds over the boundary from +Mexico. They pillaged the ranches, which were now coming into the +adjacent country, stealing horses, altering brands, and slaying +whoever interfered with them, all with the boldness of medieval +raiders. They took a hand in the claim-jumping. They robbed the +stage. + +Hardly a day passed without a hold-up on the Tucson road--and, when +the railway went through, on the road to Benson. Shotgun guards and +drivers were killed; occasionally a passenger or two got a bullet. And +the bad men spent the money openly over the bars in Tombstone. + +Then the Earp brothers came upon the scene. From this time their +figures loom large in the foreground. Whatever else may be said of +them they were bold men and there was something Homeric in their +violence. Wyatt, Virgil, Morgan, and Jim, the first three were active +in the wild events which followed their incumbency to power. +California knew them in their boyhood, and during their manhood years +they wandered over the West, from mining camp to cow-town, until they +came to Tombstone from Dodge City, Kansas. + +They brought a record with them. Back in the seventies, in the time of +the trail herds, Dodge was a howling cow-town. There was a period of +its existence when the punchers used to indulge in the pastime of +shooting up the place; but there were a great many of these frolicsome +riders, and too much wanton revolver shooting is sure to breed trouble +if it is combined with hard liquor, gambling, and a tough floating +population. The prominent business men of Dodge watched the hectic +consequences of this lawlessness over their faro layouts with +speculative eyes and came to the conclusion that killings were +becoming altogether too promiscuous. The town, they said, needed a +business administration; and forthwith they selected Bat Masterson as +marshal. He established, and enforced, a rule which amounted to this: + +If a man pulled his gun he did it at his own peril. Whoever fired a +shot within the town limits, whether he did it for sport or murder, +faced arrest. + +Resistance followed. There were nights when the main street echoed +with the roaring of firearms. But, by the force of his personality and +by his remarkable ability at the quick draw, Bat Masterson subdued the +rebels. It came about that of what killing was done he did his full +share, which greatly diminished the death list. + +Wyatt and Virgil Earp succeeded Bat Masterson in this office and +carried on its administration with a boldness which left them famous. +With the coroner behind them they were lords of the high justice, the +middle, and the low; and they sustained their positions by good +straight shooting. + +At such times as they were not performing their functions as peace +officers they were dealing faro; and when the imminence of a less +interesting era was made apparent in the dwindling of the trail herds +and the increase of dry farmers, they left the good old cow-town along +with many other professional gamblers. + +They arrived in Tombstone in the days when the outlaws were rampant, +and they began dealing faro in Oriental. They found many a friend--and +some enemies--from those years in western Kansas among the more +adventurous element in the new town. Former buffalo-hunters, +teamsters, quiet-spoken gamblers, and two-gun men sat down before +their layouts and talked over bygones with them. There was an election +at about this time. Virgil was chosen town marshal, and Wyatt got the +appointment of deputy United States marshal soon afterward. + +Old friends and new rallied around them. Of the former was Doc +Holliday, a tubercular gunman with the irascible disposition which +some invalids own, who had drifted hither from Colorado. Among the +latter were the Clanton brothers and Frank Stilwell, who robbed the +stage and rustled cattle for a living. John Ringo, who was really the +brains of the outlaws, and Curly Bill, who often led them, are listed +by many old-timers among the henchmen in the beginning. + +It was a time when the old spoils system was recognized in its +pristine simplicity. If you trained with the victorious political +faction you either wore a star or had some one else who did wear a +star backing you. If you trained with the minority you were rather +sure, sooner or later, to have your name engrossed on a warrant. In +such an era it was as well to vote wisely; else, in the vernacular, +you were "short" in your home town, which meant you could not go back +there. + +How much the Earps knew of what their henchmen did is beyond the +telling in this story. An official history of Arizona published under +the auspices of the State legislature and written by Major McClintock, +an old Westerner, states that first and last they were accused of +about 50 per cent. of the robberies which took place in the town. It +is, however, altogether possible that their cognizance of such matters +was no greater than many a city official to-day holds of crimes +committed in his bailiwick. When one comes to analyze police politics +he finds they have not changed much since the time of the Crusades: +desire for power has always blinded reformers to the misdeeds of their +followers. One thing is certain; the Earps did protect their friends, +and some of those friends were using very much the same methods which +the Apaches employed in making a living. + +To a certain extent this was necessary. What one might call the highly +respectable element of the town was busy at its own affairs. +Mine-owners and merchants were deeply engrossed in getting rich. And +unless he liked gun-fighting, a man would have to be a good deal of a +busybody to give the town marshal anything more tangible than his best +wishes in the way of support. It was up to that official to look out +for himself. At any time when complications followed his attempt to +arrest a lawbreaker he could depend upon the average citizen--to get +outside the line of fire. + +And the gun-fighters were eager to get into the game. They were right +on hand, to make a stand in front of the enemy if need be--but +preferably to murder the foe from behind. Which was ever the way with +the Western bad man. + +There were determined men of another breed in Tombstone and the +surrounding country, men who had outfought Apaches and desperadoes on +many an occasion; dead shots who owned high moral courage. Such a man +was John Slaughter, who had established his ranch down on the Mexican +line and had driven the savages away from his neighborhood. But these +old-timers were not enlisted under the Earp banner and the town's new +rulers had only the other element for retainers. + +So now Frank Stilwell robbed stages on the Bisbee road until the +drivers got to know his voice quite well; and he swaggered through the +Tombstone dance-halls bestowing the rings which he had stripped from +the fingers of women passengers upon his latest favorite. Ike and +Billy Clanton enlarged their herds with cattle and horses from other +men's ranges, and sold beef with other men's brands to Tombstone +butchers. And taking it altogether, the whole crew, from Doe Holliday +down, did what they could to bring popular disfavor upon the heads of +the new peace officers. + +But if their followers were lacking in the quality of moral courage, +that cannot be said of the Earp brothers. And not long after they took +the reins in their strong hands, an occasion arose wherein they proved +their caliber. Wyatt in particular showed that he was made of stern +stuff. + +It came about as a result of the reforms under the new regime. After +the manner of their Dodge City administration the brothers ruled in +Tombstone. They forbade the practice of shooting up the town. He who +sought to take possession of a dance-hall according to the old +custom, which consisted of driving out the inmates with drawn +revolvers and extinguishing the lights with forty-five caliber slugs, +was forthwith arrested. To ride a horse into a saloon and order drinks +for all hands meant jail and a heavy fine. To slay a gambler, or make +a gun-play in a gambling-house, when luck was running badly, resulted +in prosecution. + +Virgil Earp attended to these matters, and after several incidents +wherein he disarmed ugly men whose friends stood by eager to let +daylight into the new marshal, he owned a certain amount of prestige. +It is only fair to remark in passing that he had a disposition--in +ticklish cases--to shoot first and ask questions afterward; but that +was recognized as an officer's inalienable right in those rude days. + +Now this new order of things did not meet universal popular favor in +Tombstone. There were always three or four hundred miners off shift on +the streets, and while a large percentage of them were peaceable men, +there was a boisterous element. This element, and the cow-boys who had +been in the habit of celebrating their town comings after the good old +fashion, felt resentful. An occasional killing of one of their number +with the invariable verdict from a carefully picked coroner's jury, +"met his death while resisting an officer in performance of his duty," +made the resentment more general. The recalcitrants said that +Tombstone was being run by a gang of murderers in the interest of the +gamblers. + +Opposition to the administration began to crystallize. Things reached +the point where in a twentieth century community reformers would be +preparing to circulate recall petitions. But in the early eighties +they did things more directly, and instead of the recall they had the +"show-down." The malcontents eagerly awaited its coming. + +It came. And its origin was in Charleston. + +Charleston was eleven miles across the hills from Tombstone down by +the San Pedro River. There was a mill there, and the cow-boys from the +country around came in to spend their money. Jim Burnett was justice +of the peace. Early in the town's history he had seceded from the +county of Pima because the supervisors over in Tucson refused to allow +him certain fees. "Hereafter," so he wrote the board, "the justice +court in Charleston will look after itself." Which it did. Once the +court dragged Jack Harker from his horse, when that enthusiastic +stockman was celebrating his arrival by bombarding the town, and fined +the prisoner fifty head of three-year-old steers. And once--it is a +matter of record--a coroner's jury under his instruction rendered the +verdict: "Served the Mexican right for getting in front of the gun." + +Things always moved swiftly in Charleston. There is a tale of a +saloon-keeper who buried his wife in the morning, killed a man at high +noon, and took unto himself a new bride before evening. If that story +is not true--and old-timers vouch for it--it is at least indicative of +the trend of life in the town. + +And to Charleston came those followers of John Ringo and Curly Bill +who did not get on with the Earps. Several of them became men of +influence down here on the San Pedro. Hither flocked those boisterous +spirits who craved more freedom of action on pay-day than the mining +town afforded. + +Guns blazed in Charleston whenever the spirit moved. The young fellow +who was ditch-tender for the company had to give up his lantern when +he made his nightly trip of inspection, because, as surely as that +light showed up on the side hill, there was certain to be some one +down in the street who could not resist taking a shot at it. So while +dissatisfaction was crystallizing among the miners of Tombstone a keen +rancor against the Earps was developing over by the San Pedro. + +This was the state of affairs when Johnny Behind the Deuce brought +matters to a crisis by killing an engineer from the mill. + +Johnny Behind the Deuce was an undersized, scrawny specimen of the +genus which is popularly known as "tinhorn," a sort of free-lance +gambler, usually to be found sitting in at a poker-game. The engineer +was a big man and abusive. + +There was a game in which these two participated; and when he had lost +his wages to Johnny Behind the Deuce, the engineer sought solace first +in vituperation, then in physical maltreatment. Whereat Johnny Behind +the Deuce shot him. Charleston's constable took the slayer into +custody. The rustlers and other exiles from Tombstone knew the +prisoner for a friend of the Earps, and so they decided to lynch him. +They sent one of their number to get a reata for that purpose. + +The constable learned what was going on. He commandeered a buckboard +and a team of mules, put Johnny Behind the Deuce aboard, and drove +the animals on the dead run for Tombstone. + +When the man who had been sent for the reata returned, the rustlers +set out after the prisoner and found they were five minutes too late. +They saddled up and started in pursuit. + +The road wound along the lower levels between the foot-hills of the +Mule Mountains; there were two or three dry washes to cross, some +sharp grades to negotiate, and several fine stretches which were +nearly level,--a rough road, admirably suited for making a wild race +wilder. + +And this was a wild race. The constable and the prisoner were just +getting their team nicely warmed up when they heard a fusillade of +revolver-shots behind them. They glanced over their shoulders and saw +more than fifty horsemen coming on at that gait which is so well +described in the vernacular as "burning the wind." From time to time +one of these riders would lean forward and "throw down" his +six-shooter; then the occupants of the buckboard would hear the whine +of a forty-five slug, and a moment later the report of the distant +weapon would reach their ears. + +The mules heard these things too. What with the noise of the firearms +and the whoops of the pursuers they were in a frenzy; they threw their +long ears flat back and entered into the spirit of the occasion by +running away. The constable, who was a cool man and a good driver, +centered his energies on guiding them around the turns and let it go +at that. + +Now as the miles of tawny landscape flashed behind them the two +fugitives saw that they were being overhauled. And the pursuers found +that they were gaining; their yells came louder down the wind; they +roweled their lathered cow-ponies. And they drew closer to the +buckboard. + +The constable negotiated the dry wash near Robbers Rock on two wheels, +and as the light vehicle was reeling along the easy grade beyond, the +prisoner took another look behind. He told his captor that the wild +riders were not much more than four hundred yards away. + +They came to a stretch of level road. The mules were doing a little +better now, and they clattered down into the next dry wash with an +abandon which all but ended matters; the outer wheels went over the +high cut bank, but by the grace of good luck and marvelous driving the +buckboard was kept right side up. And now the lynching party, who had +made a short cut, appeared between the rolling hills not more than two +hundred yards behind. + +Johnny Behind the Deuce reported the state of affairs. The constable +answered without turning his head. + +"Looks like we're up against it, kid," said he, "but we'll play it out +'s long as we got chips left." + +Three miles outside of Tombstone stood an adobe building wherein +a venturesome saloon-keeper had installed himself, a barrel of +that remarkable whisky known as "Kill Me Quick," and sufficient +arms to maintain possession against road-agents. The sign on this +establishment's front wall said: + + _LAST CHANCE_ + +It was a lucky chance for Johnny Behind the Deuce. For Jack McCann, +who owned a fast mare, was exercising her out here this afternoon +preparatory for a race against some cow-ponies over on the San Pedro +next week. He had trotted her down the road and was about to head her +back toward the saloon for her burst of speed when he saw the +buckboard coming over a rise. + +The mules were fagged. The constable was lashing them with might and +main. The lynching party were within a hundred yards. + +As Jack McCann surveyed this spectacle which was so rapidly +approaching him the constable waved his hand. The situation was too +tight to permit wasting time. McCann ranged his mare alongside the +buckboard as soon as it drew up; and before the breathless driver had +begun to explain, he cried. + +"Jump on, kid." + +Johnny Behind the Deuce leaped on the mare's back. The constable +pulled off the road as the lynching party came thundering by with a +whoop and halloo. He peered through the dust which the ponies' hoofs +had stirred up and saw the mare fading away in the direction of +Tombstone with her two riders. + + * * * * * + +It was nearly four o'clock in the afternoon. That hour was the dullest +of the twenty-four in the gambling-houses, for the evening shift was +on its way to work and the day shift had not yet come off. The Earps +were dealing faro in the Oriental. + +To the onlooker who does not know its hazards faro is a funereal game. +The dealer slides one card and then a second from the box. The +case-keeper moves a button or two on his rack. The dealer in the +meantime is paying winners and collecting chips from losers, all with +the utmost listlessness. In his high chair above them, all the lookout +leans back with every external sign of world-weary indifference. And +the players settle a little lower on their stools. There was about as +much animation in the Oriental that afternoon as there is in a country +church on a hot Sunday morning; less in fact, for there was no +preacher present. + +Into this peaceful quiet came the sound of hoofbeats from the street. +It stopped abruptly. Two men burst through the front door on a run. +The players looked around and the faro-dealers dropped their right +hands toward the open drawers where they kept their loaded pistols. +Jack McCann and Johnny Behind the Deuce had arrived. + +But before the prisoner finished his story, to which he did not devote +more than twenty words or so, a man ran into the Oriental with the +tidings that the miners who were coming off shift were arming +themselves as fast as they left the cages. The rustlers had ridden up +the hill and were gathering reinforcements. + +Wyatt Earp at once took charge of the affair. He was a medium-sized +man with a drooping sandy mustache. + +"We'll close up, boys," he said. + +The show-down had come. + +Wyatt, Virgil, Morgan, and Jim took counsel. Doc Holliday advised +with them. A handful of their supporters stood by awaiting their +decision. All others left; the neighborhood was no healthy place for +non-combatants. + +The Oriental gambling-house stood on Tombstone's main street at the +intersection of a cross street. Because of its size it would be a hard +place to defend against so formidable a mob as this which was now +moving down the hill. Several doors north on the main street and on +the opposite side, there was a bowling-alley. Its narrowness gave that +building a strategic value. They took Johnny Behind the Deuce there +and set guards at both ends. + +Wyatt Earp remained alone out in the middle of the main street just +below the corner. He held a double-barreled shotgun over the crook of +his arm. + +The ugly sound which rises from a mob came into the deserted +thoroughfare; the swift tramp of many feet, the growl of many voices. +More than three hundred miners, the majority of whom were armed with +rifles from the company's arsenal, and the fifty-odd members of the +Charleston lynching party swept into Toughnut Street, turned the +corner, and rushed down the cross street toward the Oriental. + +They reached the intersection of the main street, and as they faced +the closed doors of the Oriental their left flank was toward Wyatt +Earp. They filled the roadway and the front ranks surged upon the +sidewalk toward the portals of the gambling-house. + +Then some one who had seen the prisoner taken to the bowling-alley +shouted the tidings. The throng changed front in the instant and faced +the solitary man who stood there a few yards before them. + +Wyatt Earp shifted his shotgun into his two hands and held it as a +trap-shooter who is waiting for the clay pigeons to rise. + +In the moment of discovery the mob had checked itself, confronting him +as one man confronts another when the two are bitter enemies and the +meeting is entirely unexpected. There followed a brief, sharp surge +forward; it emanated from the rear ranks and moved in a wave toward +the front. There it stopped. And there passed a flash of time during +which the man and the mob eyed each other. + +That was no ordinary lynching party such as some communities see in +these days. Its numbers included men who had outfought Apaches, +highwaymen, and posses; men who were accustomed to killing their +fellow beings and inured to facing death. And the hatred of the Earp +brothers, which had been brewing during all these months, was +white-hot now within them. + +"Come on," called Wyatt Earp, and added an epithet. + +Above the mass of tossing heads the muzzles of rifles were bobbing up +and down. The trampling of feet and the shuffling of packed bodies +made a dull under-note. Shouts arose from many quarters. + +"Go on!" "Get him!" "Now, boys!" + +Wyatt Earp threw back his head and repeated his challenge. + +"Come on!" He flung an oath at them. "Sure you can get me. But"--he +gave them the supreme insult of that wild period's profanity--"the +first one makes a move, I'll get him. Who's the man?" + +Those who saw him that afternoon say that his face was white; so white +that his drooping mustache seemed dark in contrast. His eyes gleamed +like ice when the sun is shining on it. He had the look of a man who +has put his life behind him; a man who is waiting for just one thing +before he dies--to select the ones whom he will take with him. + +The cries behind redoubled, and the crowding increased in the rear. +Some leaped on the backs of those before them. But the men in the +front ranks--some of them were bold men and deadly--withstood the +pressure. They held their eyes on that grim, white face, or watched +the two muzzles of that shotgun which he swept back and forth across +their gaze with hypnotic effect. + +It was a fine, large moment. Any one of them could have got him at the +first shot. There was no chance of missing. And scores yearned to get +him. Undoubtedly he had attained that pitch where he yearned for them +to do it. And being thus to all intents a dead man,--save only that he +retained the faculty of killing,--he was mightier than all of them. + +Those in the front ranks were beginning to slip back; and as these +escaped his presence the others, who had become exposed to it, +struggled against the pressure of their fellows who would keep them in +that position. Some of the cooler spirits were stealing away. The +contagion of indifference spread. The mob was melting. + +In the meantime one or two members of the Earp faction had procured a +team and wagon. As soon as the lynchers had dispersed they stowed the +prisoner in the vehicle, and set out for Tucson with a heavy guard. +But there was no pursuit. The reaction which follows perfervid +enthusiasm of this sort had settled down upon the miners and cow-boys. +Johnny Behind the Deuce was tried before the district court, and--as +was to be expected--he was acquitted. + +Time went on and dissensions came among the followers of the Earp +brothers. Curly Bill and John Ringo were among the first to fall out +with the leaders, and they took the path of previous exiles to +Charleston. But the country by the San Pedro was being settled up, and +not long afterward they emigrated to Galeyville over in the San Simon +valley. Thenceforth this little smelter town became the metropolis of +the outlaws. Ringo spent most of his time here with occasional trips +to Tombstone, where, on more than one occasion, he dared the Earps to +try to take him. They did not accept his challenges. Finally he died +by his own hand and his friend Curly Bill left the country. + +In the meantime new secessions were taking place in the Earp +following. The county of Cochise had been established. Tombstone +was made the county seat. Johnny Behan, an old-timer and an +Indian fighter, was the first sheriff. He was hostile to the city +administration from the beginning. Nor was that all. Lawyers came +into the town and henceforth--provided a dead man's friends had +money--killing an opponent no longer settled a dispute. There +remained such complications as indictment, sworn testimony, and the +jury. The good old days were passing. + +Sheriff Johnny Behan charged the Earps with participation in robberies +and wilful cognizance of murders. + +It was about as far as he did go as a public official. The brothers +issued profane and pointed defiance and went on dealing faro. + +About this time Frank Stilwell quarreled with the Earps and hastily +departed from Tombstone And henceforth, until the wind-up of the ugly +affairs that followed, he remained at large, awaiting his opportunity +for revenge. + +Sheriff Behan was trying to get some good charge to bring against the +brothers, and various lawyers--some of them widely known throughout +the Southwest--were anxiously awaiting opportunity to appear as +special prosecutors when the Benson stage was held up. + +The Benson stage had been robbed often enough before, but this time +the crime brought far-reaching consequences. Bud Philpots was driver +and Bob Paul, afterward United States marshal, was shotgun messenger. +There was a large currency shipment--some eighty thousand dollars--in +the express-box. The stage was full inside and one passenger, a +Mexican, was riding on top. For some reason or other Bob Paul had +taken the reins and Philpots was sitting in his place. As the vehicle +came to the top of a hill the robbers showed themselves. + +The old-timers speak of the conduct of the highwaymen with profane +contempt for instead of shooting a horse or two, they opened fire on +Bud Philpots, whom they believed from his position to be the +messenger. They killed him and the Mexican passenger who was seated +behind him. But the team took fright at the noise and ran away and the +eighty thousand dollars went on up the road in a cloud of dust. + +Johnny Behan, the sheriff, said that the Earp brothers sent Doc +Holliday out with the Clanton brothers to commit the crime. + +Ike Clanton said that he was rustling cattle at the time down in +Mexico, and accused the Earps of sole responsibility. + +The Earps in turn stated that the Clanton boys were the bandits. + +And that began the Earp-Clanton feud. + +It did not last long, but there was much happening while it was going +on. + +The Clanton brothers, Ike and Billy, betook themselves to their ranch +and gathered their friends around them. Frank and Tom McLowrey were +prominent among these allies. And now the statement was made in +Tombstone that the members of this faction had promised to shoot the +Earps on sight. + +One October evening Ike Clanton came to town with Tom McLowery, and +Virgil Earp arrested the two on the charge of disturbing the peace. He +did it on the main street and disarmed them easily enough. The justice +of the peace, whose name was Spicer, fined the prisoners fifty +dollars. + +The next morning these two defendants went to the 0. K. corral on +Fremont Street, where they had put up their horses the night before. +And there they met Bill Clanton and Frank McLowery. All four were +leading their ponies out of the gate when Wyatt, Virgil, and Morgan +Earp, together with Doc Holliday, confronted them. + +"Hands up!" Wyatt ordered. + +The shooting began at once. Holliday killed Tom McLowery, who was +unarmed, at the first volley. Billy Clanton fell mortally wounded but +continued shooting up to his last gasp. Frank McLowery got a bullet +through his pistol hand but shifted his weapon to the other and kept +on firing until Morgan Earp, who had fallen with a ball through his +shoulder, killed him from where he lay. Ike Clanton jumped a high +fence and fled. + +Justice of the Peace Spicer held an examination and exonerated the +slayers on the ground that they had done the thing in performance of +their duty as officers, but friends of the Clantons had money. Some +one retained lawyers to assist in prosecuting the Earps. The sheriff +saw his opportunity and became active getting testimony. + +And then, while the town was seething with gossip concerning the +coming trial, Frank Stilwell stole into Tombstone with a half-breed +and slew Morgan Earp, who was playing billiards at the time. The +murder accomplished, Stilwell took a fast horse and rode to Tucson. +The half-breed fled to the Dragoon Mountains. + +The next day the three surviving Earp brothers and Doc Holliday +started for California with Morgan's body. At dusk that evening the +train reached Tucson. Now Ike Clanton was in the town, out on bail +awaiting trial for a stage-robbery. And Frank Stilwell was there. It +was no more than natural that the Earps should keep a sharp lookout +when the locomotive stopped at the station. + +Their vigilance was rewarded. Stilwell came slipping through the +shadows just as the train was pulling out. The passengers in the +Pullman were startled by a crackling of revolver shots from the rear +platform. Directly afterward the Earps came back inside and took their +seats. And Tucson was given something to talk about that evening by +the discovery of Frank Stilwell's body riddled with bullets beside the +track. + +The Earp party held council in the Pullman and determined to return to +Tombstone. Leaving Virgil to complete the journey with Morgan's body, +the other two brothers and Doc Holliday left the train at a way +station and flagged a freight which took them back to Benson. Here +they procured horses and rode to the county seat. + +Sheriff Johnny Behan received telegraphic advices from Tucson to +arrest them. He found the trio sometime in the afternoon. They had got +their effects together and sent them ahead on a wagon. They were +themselves on horseback, about to set forth for Colorado. + +Wyatt glanced down upon the sheriff as the latter came up. + +"Listen," he said. "Don't you even look as if you wanted to arrest +us." + +And with that the three rode down the main street. They passed the +saloons and gambling-houses, and men came flocking to the doors to see +them go by. + +At the running walk the horses came on, three abreast; the faces of +the riders were set; their eyes swept the crowds on the sidewalks. +They went on by. They turned the corner into the road that leads to +the Dragoons. That was the last that Tombstone ever saw of them. + +They stopped at Pete Spence's ranch, where the half-breed was working +who had been with Frank Stilwell on the evening of Morgan's murder, +and a cow-boy found the man's body the next morning. + +They rode across wide flats and through great dark mountain ranges, +eastward and to the north, until they came into Colorado. + +After the departure of these bold men outlawry took on a new lease of +life in southeastern Arizona. Cattle-rustling, stage-robbery, and +murder went on throughout Cochise County. And at last the people found +a strong man, to whom the law stood for something more than a means of +personal power. They chose for sheriff John Slaughter, who had been +waging war for years on his own account against Apaches and bad men. +But the story of how he brought the enforcement of the statutes into +Tombstone is too long to tell here, although it is a stirring tale and +colorful. + +Tombstone to-day stands just as it was back in those wild days of the +early eighties; just as it was--the buildings are unchanged. You may +see them all, and see the streets as they looked when pistols flamed +and men died hard out in the roadway. + +But other crowds walk those streets now. And sometimes on an evening +you will see automobiles going down the block with family parties on +their way for a spin along the Benson road where the Clanton boys, +Frank Stilwell, John Bingo, and the other bad men used to rob the +stages in daytime. + +On such an evening, should you travel down that highway, you may see +the leaping light of a bonfire by which a group of young people are +toasting marshmallows on the summit of the knoll where Ed Schiefflin +hid from the passing Apaches. + +Tombstone is peaceable enough to-day for any man; so peaceable that +one finds it hard to believe there was a time when the town had a +man--or more--for breakfast every morning. + + + + +THE SHOW-DOWN + + +In the early days of Tombstone when miners and merchants and cow-men +and faro-dealers and outlaws were drifting into Cochise County from +all over the West, a young fellow by the name of William C. +Breckenbridge came down from Colorado to the new camp. He was, so the +old-timers say, one of those smallish men who can wear a flannel shirt +and broad-brimmed hat so jauntily that, although their breeches be +tucked into their boot-tops, they still look marvelously neat; but +while he could come through a hard day's ride still suggesting a +bandbox, there was nothing of the dandy about him. + +His people had staked him to go out West and at their suggestion he +had hunted up an older brother in Colorado. But two years in the wide +reaches of the Platte country, where the monotony of teaming was +varied by occasional brushes with the Indians, failed to satisfy his +spirit. And so he came riding down into the flaring valleys of the +Southwestern border along with the first influx of adventurers. + +He was still in his early twenties and the world looked good to him; +one of those quiet youths who preface most remarks with a smile +because, all other things being equal, they like their fellow-men. + +He knocked about the camp, trying this thing and that, and was +starting in at mining engineering with an old marine compass as his +only instrument when Johnny Behan, who was newly appointed sheriff by +the governor, gave him a job as a deputy. Then straightaway the eyes +of men were turned upon him, and the query arose: + +"How's he going to stack up when it comes to a show-down?" + +Those were the days, you understand, when--to indulge in a Scriptural +figure--he who took up the sword must be prepared to perish by the +sword. If you buckled on a gun you must be ready to draw it, and once +you started to draw it, heaven help you if you did not reckon on going +through with the play. + +A man could get by, as the saying has it, if he played the part of a +neutral; but if, on the one hand, you started in at stealing cattle or +if, on the other hand, you pinned on a star--why then, sooner or +later, the big issue was going to come to a head; you were going to +find yourself faced by a foe or foes, armed like yourself, and like +yourself prepared to shoot it out. Then when the show-down came you +would comport yourself according to the stuff that you were made +of--the material which was hidden away deep down under your skin--and +according to your conduct the world would judge you. + +So naturally enough in those days men asked this question and waited +for events to bring its answer. And those among them who were not +gifted with the faculty of reading character but needed to see a man +for themselves when the guns were blazing--those individuals had to +wait a long time. + +As for the others, what they said to themselves as one adventure +followed another now in the career of Billy Breckenbridge you who read +these words can judge, if you be blessed with ordinary perspicacity. +For many things took place and many months went by before he reached +down along his lean right thigh toward the butt of his forty-five +single-action revolver. + +It is quite likely that Johnny Behan was among those who wanted the +new deputy to give a demonstration of the stuff he was made of. +Perhaps that was the reason the sheriff sent young Breckenbridge over +into the eastern end of the county to collect the taxes before the +latter had worn his star long enough to get used to it. + +In those days the sheriff's office levied assessments and did the +collecting on personal property at the same time. Payments were made +in cash; bank-checks were virtually unknown in Cochise County. And +thus far the country east of the Dragoon Mountains had yielded no +revenues for the simple reason that it looked as if nothing short of a +troop of cavalry could go forth into that region and return again with +the money. + +Beyond those rocky peaks which frowned across the mesquite flat at +Tombstone lay other ragged mountain ranges; the Chiracahuas, the Dos +Cabezas, the Swiss-helms, and the Grahams. Between their towering +walls the valleys of the Sulphur Springs and the San Simon stretched +away and away southward across the Mexican border great tawny plains +pulsating under the hot sun. + +Upon their level floors the heat-devils danced all the long days like +armies of phantom dervishes gone mad with their interminable leapings +and whirlings. And strange grotesque mirages climbed up into the +glaring heavens. A savage land wherein savage men rode, as packs of +gray wolves range in the wintertime when meat is scarce, searching the +distant sky-line for some sign of life on which to prey. + +For this was no-man's-land. Bands of renegade Apaches lurked among its +empurpled peaks. Companies of Mexican smugglers came northward through +its steep-walled border canyons driving their laden burros to lonely +rendezvous where hard-eyed traders awaited them with pack-mules loaded +down with dobie dollars. A few lonely ranch-houses where there was +water in the lowlands; in the mountains a sawmill or two and some +far-flung mines; here the habitations were like arsenals. Honest men +must go armed to work and sleep with arms by their bedsides, and even +then it was advisable for them to ask no questions of those who rode +up to their cabins. + +And it was best for them to make no protests at what such guests did +unto their own or the property of others. For since the days when the +first semblances of law had come to Tombstone this region had been the +sanctuary of the bad men. + +When you crossed the summits of the Dragoon Mountains you were beyond +the pale. Hither the stage-robber came, riding hard when the list of +his crimes had grown too long. The murderer, the rustler, and the +outlaw spurred their ponies on eastward when the valley of the San +Pedro was too hot for them and took refuge here among their kind. On +occasion the bolder ones among them ventured back to show themselves +on Tombstone's streets or swagger into Charleston's dance-halls; but +never for long and never unless they were traveling in formidable +groups. + +And then sooner or later they would slip away again to the wild passes +and the long and lonely valley flats where there was no law excepting +that which a man carried in his pistol-holster. One after another +those who were "short" in other places had drifted before the winds of +public opinion to gather in this eastern end of Cochise County where +two whose qualities of deadliness surpassed those of all the rest were +recognized, because of that superior ability at killing, as the big +"He Wolves." These two were Curly Bill and John Ringo. + +When they were not leading their followers in some raid against the +herds of border cattlemen, or lying in wait to ambush one of the armed +bands of smugglers, or standing up the stage, these two were usually +to be found in Galeyville. You will not see Galeyville named nowadays +on the map of Arizona and if you look ever so long through the San +Simon country, combing down the banks of Turkey Creek ever so closely, +you will not discover so much as a fragment of crumbling adobe wall to +show that the town ever existed. + +But it did exist during the early eighties and its life was noisy +enough for any man. There came a day when the neighboring mines shut +down and the little smelter which furnished a livelihood for the +honest members of the population went out of business; later the +Apaches erased everything that was combustible from the landscape and +the elements finished the business. + +But when John Ringo and Curly Bill held forth in Galeyville there was +a cattle-buyer in the place who did a brisk business because he asked +no embarrassing questions concerning brands. Which brought many a +hard-eyed rustler thither and sent many a dollar spinning over the +battered bars. + +Such were the eastern end of Cochise County and its metropolis when +Johnny Behan told young Billy Breckenbridge to cross the Dragoons and +collect taxes throughout that section. If he expected a protest he was +mistaken, for Breckenbridge took the bidding with his usual +good-natured smile. And if the sheriff looked for a request for a +posse he was disappointed. The new deputy saddled up his horse one +morning and rode forth alone, trim and neat as usual and, for all that +any one could see, without a care on his mind. + +He rode up the wide main street which bisects Tombstone from end to +end, descended the hill and started his horse across the flatlands +toward the ragged pinnacles of Cochise's stronghold. + +Eastward he rode through tall mesquite thickets, over rolling hills +where clumps of bear-grass grew among spiked yuccas and needle-pointed +tufts of Spanish bayonet, and climbed the pass beyond. From its summit +he looked down upon the wide reaches of the Sulphur Springs valley, +level as a floor, as tawny as a lion's skin. + +Then he descended from the sky-lined pinnacles of granite to the +plain. Under the blazing heavens pony and rider showed upon that +glowing surface as a tiny dot; a dot that moved slowly on and on until +the yellow-brown carpet of the bunch-grass came to an end and was +replaced by a gleaming sheet of alkali. Before that crawling dot the +mirage wavered and undulated like a weirdly painted back-drop stirring +in the wind. + +The dot crept on, took strange new shapes that changed phantasmally, +then vanished behind the curtain of which for a passing moment it had +been a part. Thus young Breckenbridge rode beyond the dominion of the +written law and was swallowed up by no-man's-land. + +When he had started forth from Tombstone he merely knew his errand; he +owned no plan. Now as the splendid star-lit nights followed the long, +blazing days he began, to see a course of action and this led him on, +until one day he came down into the San Simon country and rode into +the town of Galeyville. + +The enterprising citizen whose cattle-buying business helped to keep +dollars spinning across the bars of this outlaw metropolis was mildly +curious when young Breckenbridge introduced himself that afternoon. +The presence of a sheriff's deputy was enough to set any one to +thinking in those days. + +His curiosity gave way to unspoken wonder as the caller unfolded his +mission and stated the name of the man whom he wanted to see. Anyhow, +this meeting promised to be worth while witnessing; the cattle-buyer +said as much. + +"Reckon we'll find him up the street right now," he added, and led the +way to a near-by saloon. + +There were a number of men in the place when the pair entered; a +quintet playing cards, and as many others scattered about a quiet +pool-game. And one burly fellow was lying on a poker-table, curled up +for all the world like a sleeping dog. Now and then one of the +gamblers would lift his head to take a look at the new-comers, and for +a brief instant young Breckenbridge would find himself gazing into a +pair of hard, steady eyes. Then the eyes would be lowered and the +player would go on with the game. + +It was during this uncomfortable interval of general sizing-up that +the proprietor entered, a red-faced man and short of stature. He had +been out to get a bucket of water; he set the pail down by the end of +the bar and filled a tin cup from it. + +"Here's how, boys," he said with loud facetiousness, and lifted the +cup. + +The burly man, who had apparently been awakened by the words, uncoiled +himself, came to crouch with one arm supporting his body on the +table-top and--all in the same lithe movement--drew his big-caliber +revolver from the holster. + +"Don't drink that stuff. It's pizen," he shouted, and with the last +word his weapon flamed. + +The tin cup flew from the saloon man's hand. A shout of laughter rose +from the crowd at the two games; then the pool-balls clicked again +and-- + +"Raise you ten," a poker-player said. + +Breckenbridge's guide beckoned to the man who had done the shooting. +He came across the room, shoving his gun back into the holster, a +rather thickly built man but well-knit and there was a soft spring in +his slowest movements which suggested snake-like quickness. He was +dark-eyed, and his hair was a mat of close black curls. The +cattle-buyer nodded, to indicate the introduced one. + +"This," he said, "is Mr. Breckenbridge, one of Johnny Behan's +deputies." + +And-- + +"This is Curly Bill." + +Young Breckenbridge smiled as usual and stretched forth his right +hand. But the eyes of Curly Bill were narrow and his hand came out +slowly. There was that in his whole manner which said he was on guard, +watching every movement of the deputy. + +And for this there was good reason. It was not long since Curly Bill +had stood in very much the same attitude on Tombstone's street facing +Town Marshal White, the only difference being that his right hand on +that occasion had been proffering his pistol, butt foremost, to the +officer. And in the passing of the instant while Marshal White had +touched the weapon with his fingertips the forty-five had swiftly +reversed ends, to spit forth one leaden slug. + +The officer had dropped in the dust of the roadway and Curly Bill had +ridden out of town with a thousand dollars on his head. A thousand +dollars was a thousand dollars and there was no telling what a man who +wore a nickel-plated star might have up his sleeve. + +"Mr. Breckenbridge," the cattle-buyer said as the two palms met, "is +here on civil business." + +The eyes of Curly Bill resumed their normal shape. His fingers +tightened over the deputy's. + +"Howdy," he said. "What yo' going to have?" + +While the sting of the cow-town whisky was still rankling in their +throats a man entered the front door. + +"Oh, Bill," he called across the room, "your hoss is daid." + +Deserting the bar to delve into this mystery, they found the outlaw's +pony stretched out beside the hitching-rack near the rear of the +building. The owner cast one glance at the dead animal; then his eyes +went to a shattered window. + +"'Twas when I shot that cup from Shorty's hand." + +He shrugged his big shoulders and, with a grin-- + +"Plenty more good ponies in the valley--and the nights are moonlight +now." + +When they were back facing the battered bar young Breckenbridge +explained, his business in no-man's-land. + +"And this end of the county," he wound up, "is sort of rough. If I'd +ride around alone, packing that money, somebody's liable to get the +best of me when I'm not looking for it. I've got to have a good man +along to help take care of that roll. And I'd admire to have you make +the trip with me." + +Curly Bill was a great deal slower at thinking than he was at drawing +his gun and there was much food for thought in that bold proposition. +He gazed at young Breckenbridge for some moments in silence. Gradually +his lips relaxed. Smiling, he turned and addressed the occupants of +the room. + +"Boys," he cried, "line up." + +And when the line was formed before the bar he waved his hand. + +"This here's the deputy sheriff, come to collect the taxes in our end +of the county; and I aim to help him do the job up right." + +By what means Curly Bill supplied himself with a new pony this +chronicler does not know. But it is a fact that the outlaw rode forth +from Galeyville the next day along with Johnny Behan's deputy, to +guide the latter through the Sulphur Springs valley and the San +Simon--and to guard the county's funds. + +Travel was slow in those days; accommodations were few and far +between. Outlaw and deputy jogged down the long, glaring flats +enshrouded in the dust-fog which rose from their ponies' hoofs; mile +after mile of weary riding under a scorching sun. They climbed by +winding trails through narrow canyons where the heat-waves jigged +endlessly among the naked rocks. They camped by lonely water-holes and +shared each other's blankets under the big yellow stars. + +By day they watched the sky-line seeking the slightest sign of moving +forms; by night they kept their weapons within easy reach and slept +lightly, awakening to the smallest sound. They scanned the earth for +tracks and, when they found them, read them with the suspicion born of +knowledge of the country's savagery. + +And sometimes other riders came toward them out of the desert to pass +on and to vanish in the hazy distance; men who spoke but few words and +watched the right hands of the two riders as they talked. But none +attacked them or made a show toward hostility. Now and again the pair +stopped at a ranch-house or a mine where Breckenbridge added to the +county's money in his saddle-bags. + +And as the days wore on, each with its own share of mutual hardship to +bring these two to closer companionship, they began, as men will under +such circumstances, to unfold their separate natures. Under the long +trail's stern necessity they bared to each other those traits which +would have remained hidden during years of acquaintance among a city's +tight-walled streets. + +A carelessly spoken word dropped at hot noontide when the water in the +canteens had given out; a sincere oath, uttered by the fire at +supper-time; a long, drowsy conversation as they lay in their blankets +with the tang of the night breeze in their nostrils, gazing up at the +splendor of the flaming stars; until they knew each other man to +man--and Curly Bill began to feel something like devotion to his +purposeful young companion. Thenceforth he talked freely of his deeds +and misdeeds. + +"Only one man that ever got the drop on me," the outlaw said one +evening when they were lying on their blankets, enjoying the long +inhalations from their after-supper cigarettes, "and that was ol' Jim +Burnett over in Charleston, two years ago." + +He paused a moment to roll another smoke. A coyote clamored shrilly +beyond the next rise; a horse blew luxuriously feeding in the +bunch-grass. Curly Bill launched into his tale. + +"He was justice of the peace and used to hold co't in those days +whenever he'd run on to a man he wanted. Always packed a double-barrel +shotgun and he'd usually managed to throw it down on a fellow while he +tried the case and named the fine. + +"Well, me and some of the boys was in town this time and things was +slack. Come a Sunday evenin' and I heard how some married folks had +started up a church. I hadn't been inside of one since I could +remember and we all made up our minds to go and see what it was like. + +"Things had opened up when we come into the door and we took our +seats as quiet as we could. But the jingle of our spurs made some +people in the congregation--the' wasn't more'n a dozen of 'em--look +around. And of co'se they knew us right away. So, pretty quick one or +two gets up and leaves, and soon afterward some more, until first +thing we knew our bunch was all the' was stickin' it out. + +"Along about that time the preacher decided he'd quit too, and he was +edging off to head for the back door when I got up and told him to +stop. Folks said afterwards that I throwed down my fo'ty-five on him +but that wasn't so. Wasn't any need of a gun-play. I only said that +we'd come to see this deal out and we meant to have it to the turning +of the last card and if he'd go ahead everything would be all right. + +"So he did, and give out a hymn and the boys stood up and sang; and he +preached a sermon, taking advantage of the chanc't to light into us +pretty rough. Then it come time for passin' round the hat and I'll bet +the reg'lar congregation never done half so well by the collection as +we did. + +"Well, sir, next mo'nin' I was sittin' in front of the hotel in the +shade of those big cottonwoods, sort of dozing, having been up kind of +late after the church-going; and the first thing I knew somebody was +saying-- + +"'Hanzup.' + +"I opened my eyes and here was ol' Jim Burnett with that double-barrel +shotgun throwed down on me, I knew there was no use tryin' to get the +play away from him, either; only a day or two before that he'd stuck +up Johnny Harker and fined him a bunch of three-year-old steers for +shootin' up the town. So I obeyed orders and-- + +"'Curly Bill,' says he, 'yo' 're tried herewith and found guilty of +disturbin' the peace at the Baptis' Church last evenin'; and the +sentence of this co't is twenty-five dollars' fine.' + +"I shelled out then and there and glad to do it, too. Them two muzzles +was lookin' me right between the eyes all the while." + +Up in the San Simon country they ran short of grub and after going two +days on scanty rations-- + +"The' 's a canyon fifteen miles south of here," the outlaw said. "I +reckon some of the boys might be camping there now." + +They rode hard that afternoon and reached the place some time before +sundown. The boys of whom Curly Bill had spoken were there all right, +ten of them, and none of the number but was known at the time over in +Tombstone either as a rustler or a stage-robber. His guide introduced +Breckenbridge with the usual terseness of such ceremonies among his +kind. + +Whatever of constraint there was at the beginning wore away during the +progress of the evening, and on the next morning before they left the +gorge the young deputy worked his way into the good graces of his +hosts by winning twenty dollars from them shooting at a mark. + +By this time they were nearing the end of their tour and it was only a +few days later, when they were crossing the Sulphur Springs valley +toward the frowning Dragoons, that Curly Bill bestowed a final +confidence upon his companion. They were nooning at the time and +somehow or other the usual question of revolver-handling had come up. + +"I'm goin' to tell yo'-all something," said Curly Bill, "that mebbe it +will come in handy to remember. Now here." + +He drew his forty-five and held it forth butt foremost in his right +hand. + +"Don't ever go to take a man's gun that-a-way," he went on, "for when +yo' are figuring that yo' have the drop on him and he is makin' the +play to give it up--Jest reach out now to get it." + +Breckenbridge reached forth with his right hand. The outlaw smiled. +His trigger-finger glided inside the guard; there was a sudden wrist +movement and the revolver whirled end for end. Its muzzle was pressing +against the deputy's waist-band. + +"Did it slow so's you could see," said Curly Bill. "Now yo' +understand." + +And Breckenbridge nodded, knowing now the manner in which Marshal +White had met his death on the day when his companion had fled from +the law. + +In no-man's-land they shook hands at parting. + +"So-long," said Curly Bill. "See you later." + +And the deputy answered with like brevity, then rode on to Tombstone. +Those who had banked on the big issue wherein Breckenbridge would +smell the other man's powder-smoke were disappointed. And there were +some among them who shook their heads when the young fellow's name was +mentioned, saying, as they had said in the beginning: + +"Wait till the show-down comes; then we'll see how he stacks up." + +But Sheriff Johnny Behan was open in his rejoicings. For the sheriff's +enemies were many and some of them were powerful, and his conduct in +office was being subjected to a great deal of harsh criticism, +oftentimes, it must be admitted, with entire justice. So when the +smiling young deputy returned from a region where Cochise County had +hitherto been unable to gather any taxes, and deposited a sum wherein +every property-owner in that region was properly represented, here was +good news with which to counteract accusations of laxity. + +And that was not all. As far as law and order went, the country east +of the Dragoons was a foreign land; and when Breckenbridge had told +the story of his journeyings with Curly Bill, explaining how the +outlaw had been zealous in nosing out those citizens whose property +was assessable, how he had safeguarded the county's money, then the +sheriff saw how he had on his force one whom he could use to good +account. + +Other officials were unable to carry the law into no-man's-land; but +he had, thenceforth, at least an envoy. And he knew that there would +be times when diplomatic representation was going to come in very +handy. + +From that day on, when anything came up in the Sulphur Springs valley +or in the San Simon, Billy Breckenbridge was despatched to attend to +the matter. Time and again he made the journey until the cow-men in +the lowlands came to know his face well; until the sight of a deputy +sheriff's star was no longer an unwonted spectacle in Galeyville. And +as the months went by he enlarged the list of his acquaintances among +the outlaws. + +But his errands were for the most part concerned with civil matters. +Now and again there was a warrant for stock-rustling, but the rustlers +carried on their business in the open at that time and there were few +who dared to testify against them. Bail was always arranged by the +accommodating cattle-buyer at Galeyville, so that such arrests +invariably turned out to be amicable affairs. + +Among those who were sitting back and waiting for the big show-down +there was a little stir of anticipation when young Breckenbridge rode +forth armed with a warrant for John Ringo. For Ringo was a bad man of +larger caliber than even Curly Bill. He was the brains of the outlaws, +and the warrant charged highway robbery. + +But the thrill died away when the deputy came riding back with his +man; and there was something like disgust among the waiting ones when +it was learned that the prisoner had stayed behind in Galeyville to +arrange some of his affairs and had ridden hard to catch up with his +captor at the Sulphur Springs ranch. + +Anticipation flamed again a little later and it looked as if there was +good reason for it. For this time it was a stolen horse and +Breckenbridge had set forth to recover the animal. A rustler might be +willing to go through the formalities of giving bail at the county +court-house, or even to stand trial, but when it came to turning over +stolen property--and doing it without a struggle--that was another +matter. Moreover, this horse, which had been taken from the Contention +Mine, was a thoroughbred, valued high and coveted by many a man. +There was good ground for believing that the fellow who had made off +with him would put up a fight before letting him go again. + +Now when he left Tombstone on this mission Johnny Behan's young +diplomatic representative was riding a rented pony, his own mount +being fagged out from a previous journey; and this fact has its +bearing on the story later on. The wild country is always easier +ground in which to trace a fugitive or stolen property than the +crowded places for the simple reason that its few inhabitants are +likely to notice every one who passes; besides which there are few +travelers to obliterate tracks. + +And Breckenbridge learned before he had gone very many miles that +the badly wanted horse was headed in the direction of the McLowery +ranch. The McLowery boys were members of the Clanton gang of +rustlers and stage-robbers. It did not need a Sherlock Holmes to +figure out the probabilities of where that horse was being pastured +now. Breckenbridge pressed on to the McLowery place. + +Night had fallen when he arrived and the barking of many dogs heralded +his approach to all the surrounding country. Breckenbridge knew the +McLowery boys well, as well as he knew the Clantons and a dozen other +outlaws, which was well enough to call one another by their first +names. + +But these were ticklish times. The big Earp-Clanton feud was nearing +its climax. The members of the latter faction--several of whom were +wanted on Federal warrants which charged them with stage-robbery--were +keeping pretty well holed up, as the saying is, and it was not +unlikely that if any of them were in the ranch-house at the time, the +visitor who was not extremely skilful in announcing himself would be +shot first and questioned afterward. + +So when Billy Breckenbridge came to the house he did not draw rein but +kept right on as if he were riding past. Fortune had favored him by +interposing in his path an enormous puddle, almost a pond, the +overflow from a broken irrigation ditch. He pulled up at this obstacle +and hallooed loudly. + +"Any way through here?" he shouted. "This is Breckenbridge." + +A moment's silence, and then a streak of light showed where the front +door had been opened a crack. + +"Sit quiet on that there hoss," a gruff voice commanded, "and lemme +see if you _be_ Breckenbridge." + +"Hallo, Bill," the deputy sheriff answered. "Yes, it's me all right." + +And Curly Bill opened the door wider, revealing his burly form. + +"Put up yo'r pony in the corral," he said, "and come in." + +When Breckenbridge had complied with the last part of the invitation +he found the bare room filled with men. The McLowery boys were there, +two of them, and the Clantons. Half a dozen other outlaws were +lounging about, and Curly Bill himself was looking none too pleasant +as he nodded to the visitor. + +"Cain't tell who might come ridin' in these nights," he growled by way +of explanation for his curt welcome. "Set up and eat a bite now yo' +'re here." + +The lateness of the meal and the general dishevelment of the room's +occupants made it clear to the guest that every one had been riding +hard that day. It was an awkward moment and the constraint endured +long after the last man had shoved back his chair and rolled his +brown-paper cigarette. + +Curly Bill found an opportunity to get young Breckenbridge off to one +side during the evening. + +"What's on yore mind?" he asked. + +The deputy told him. + +"The superintendent owns that horse," he explained, "and he's a good +friend of mine. Not only that, but if I get it back it means a whole +lot to the office; it'll put Behan solid with those people over at +Contention, and that helps me." + +The outlaw nodded but made no remark by way of comment. Some time +later he sat up at the oilcloth-covered table talking quietly with +Frank McLowery. And Brenckenridge saw McLowery scowling. Then he felt +reasonably sure who had stolen that blooded animal and who was going +to bring it back to Tombstone in the morning. + +Bedding-rolls were being unlashed within the half-hour. McLowery +brought Breckenbridge a pair of blankets. + +"Reckon you'll have to make down on the floor same as the rest of the +boys," the outlaw growled and then, as if it were an afterthought, +"That there boss yo' 're looking fer is near the ranch." + +And that was all the talk there was on the subject during the evening. +But Breckenbridge spread his blankets and lay down among the rustlers +serene in mind. Evidently the horse was going to be in his possession +the next morning. + +McLowery's sullenness seemed to have been contagious and there were no +good-nights said to the guest. He knew every man in the room; some of +them he had known ever since that evening when Curly Bill had taken +him to the rustler's camp is the San Simon. But the best he got from +any of them was an averted look; several were scowling openly. Even +Curly Bill had put aside his usual heavy joviality. It was clear that +the burly leader had strained a point in going as far as he had. Some +men might have felt uneasy in dropping off to sleep under the +circumstances, but Breckenbridge understood his hosts well enough to +be certain that, so long as he was on the ranch, the sacred rites of +hospitality were going to be observed. So he closed his eyes and the +last thing he heard was the snoring of outlaws and murderers. + +The next morning he awakened to find that several of the company had +departed. No one made any comment on that fact and there was no +mention of the stolen horse. But when the deputy had downed his last +cup of coffee Frank McLowery took him outside and showed him the +animal tethered to a hitching-rack. + +"Much obliged, Frank," said Breckenbridge. + +The stage-robber gave him a sour grin. + +"Bet yo' never fetch him back to Tombstone," he answered quietly. + +The two looked into each other's eyes and smiled. You may have seen a +pair of fighters smiling in that same way when the gong has sounded +and they have put up their hands at the beginning of a finish +contest. + +Now under these circumstances and remembering the absence of several +of the best horsemen in the bunch from the ranch-house, many a man +would have put his saddle on the thoroughbred that morning. But +Breckenbridge had managed to assimilate some of the wiles of diplomacy +during these last few months and he reasoned that if there were a +pursuing-party waiting for him to leave the ranch they would be +prepared for that same contingency. Better let them think him unready; +then perhaps they would let him get the lead. And once he got it, luck +would have to help him carry out his plan. He saddled the hired pony +and rode away, leading the recovered animal. + +Before he had gone a half-mile beyond the ranch buildings he saw that +he had figured rightly. The floor of the Sulphur Springs valley did +not hold so much as a bush by way of cover; and here, off to the left, +his eyes fell on a group of horsemen. Evidently they had been watching +him ever since he left the corrals and knew the poorness of his mount, +for they were making no effort to overhaul him as yet. + +But he realized that the gang must have graver business on hand than +the recovery of the thoroughbred; they were not going to waste any too +much time over this affair and he would not be allowed to travel far +if they could help it. Just then a wagon outfit climbed out of a dry +wash directly ahead of him and he saw how luck had given him his +chance. + +He rode on, leisurely closing in upon the train. Off there to the left +the outlaws were keeping pace with him, but as yet they were making no +attempt to lessen the distance between them. He came up with the last +wagon, turned off the road beside it, and had the clumsy covered +vehicle between him and the rustlers. Then he dismounted. + +The wagons kept on moving; now and again the teamsters glanced toward +him curiously. He barely heeded them save to see that they made no +sign to the now invisible outlaws. It took all the skill that he owned +to keep both his horses walking while he unsaddled the one and threw +the saddle upon the other. But at last the change was made and he +flung himself upon the thoroughbred's back. Shouting to the nearest +teamster to lead the abandoned pony back to Tombstone, he put spurs to +his fresh mount and came out in the road ahead of the foremost span of +leaders on a dead run. + +There were six of the outlaws and they were less than half a mile +away. Breckenbridge had been out of sight behind the wagons just a +little too long to suit them and they were cutting in toward the road +now at top speed. + +From the beginning it was a stern chase and they had only one hope of +winning. Nothing less swift than a bullet could ever catch that +thoroughbred. They pulled up at once and began shooting. But although +some of the slugs from their rifles came uncomfortably close none +found its mark and Breckenbridge was fast drawing away from them. +However, they were not the men to give up so long as there was any +chance remaining, and they swung back into their saddles to "burn up +the road" in his wake. + +Now all hands settled down to make a long race of it, and it was not +until he was climbing the first slopes toward South Pass in the +Dragoon Mountains that Breckenbridge looked back for the last time +and saw the shapes of those six horsemen diminishing in the distance +as they jogged back toward the McLowery ranch. + +So through the good-will of Curly Bill young Breckenbridge recovered +the thoroughbred from the man who had stolen it and brought it to +Tombstone without being obliged to reach for his own gun. And moreover +there were no hard feelings about it when he rode back into +no-man's-land the next time. So far as Frank McLowery and the Clanton +boys were concerned the incident was closed. The deputy had won out +and that was all there was to it. + +As a matter of fact only a month or so later a horse-thief from +Lincoln County, New Mexico, came to grief at Galeyville because he did +not understand Breckenbridge's status in the rustlers' metropolis. +This bad man from the Pecos had a pretty sorrel pony and the deputy, +who was in the place on civil business, happened to notice the animal +at the hitching-rack in front of the hotel. + +"Say," he said to its possessor, who was standing near by, "that's a +nice horse; where'd you get him?" + +The remark was a careless one in a country where ponies often changed +owners overnight, and the man from the Pecos was sensitive enough on +the subject to resent the question from one who wore a star. He +answered it by drawing his gun. + +Breckenbridge, who was as dexterous with his left hand as with his +right, reached down as the weapon came forth from its holster and +gripped the stranger's wrist. He gave a sharp wrench and the revolver +clattered down on the sidewalk. And then Curly Bill, who had +witnessed the incident, stepped forward and ordered the visitor out of +Galeyville. + +"Yo'-all don't need to think," the desperado added, "that you can come +here and make a gun-play on our deputy. We get along all right with +him and I reckon we ain't going to stand for any cow-thieves from +Lincoln County gettin' brash with him." + +Something like two years had passed now since young Billy Breckenbridge +first rode across the Dragoon Mountains into no-man's-land and, as the +old-timers who had been watching him all this time well knew, things +could not go on in this way forever. The show-down was bound to come. It +came one day at the Chandler ranch and the old-timers got the answer +to their question. + +There were two young fellows by the name of Zwing Hunt and Billy +Grounds who had been working at Philip Morse's sawmill over in the +Chiracahua Mountains. + +Somehow or other they had got mixed up with the stock-rustlers and the +temptation to make easy money proved too strong for them. One evening +they went over to the Contention mill and held up the place, killing +the man in charge. + +Johnny Behan was out of town at the time with several deputies after +the Earps who had departed from Tombstone. The under-sheriff detailed +Breckenbridge on the case and drafted a posse of three men to help +him. + +"No, sir," the former said when the young deputy remonstrated against +the presence of these aides. "This ain't a case of talking John Ringo +into coming over and putting up a bond. This here's murder and those +lads are going to show fight." + +Orders were orders; there was no use arguing further. The erstwhile +diplomat made the best of a bad matter and rode away with his three +companions. It was evening when they left Tombstone and the Chandler +ranch lay several hours distant. Those who saw them leave the camp +spread the news. And now the old-timers settled down, certain that +when Billy Breckenbridge returned they were going to know just what he +was made of. + +He came back the next evening, riding alongside a lumber-wagon. In +those days the mining companies maintained a hospital at the edge of +the town. The vehicle made one stop at this institution and unloaded +three of its occupants. It made a second stop before the establishment +of a local undertaker, where two bodies were removed. And then young +Breckenbridge rode on alone to the court-house. Two outlaws and four +men in the deputy sheriff's party makes six altogether. Out of the six +he was the only one left on his feet. + +"And the hull thing didn't last five minutes," said "Bull" Lewis, the +driver of the wagon. "I was asleep in the ranch-house along with these +two outlaws when some one knocked on the door. Right away I heard a +shot in the next room and I busted out with my hands up and yelling +that I was a nootral. Before I'd gone twenty yards Hunt and Grounds +had killed two of the posse and by the time I was over that rise +behind the house they'd laid out the other. And then I watched this +little deputy get the two of them. + +"He was out in the open and they were inside, and both of 'em were +sure burnin' powder mighty fast. But he waited his chance and tore the +top of Grounds's head off with a charge of buckshot when he stepped +to the door to get a better shot. And a second or two later Zwing Hunt +came out of the cabin, firing as he ran. The little fellow dropped him +with a bullet from his forty-five before he'd come more 'n a half a +dozen jumps." + +But Breckenbridge was a long way from being jubilant when Johnny Behan +and the under-sheriff congratulated him on his behavior. + +"If you hadn't wished those three fellows on me I'd have brought both +these boys back without firing a shot," he told the under-sheriff. +"The blamed posse made such a noise coming up to the cabin that the +two of 'em thought 't was a lynching-party and opened fire on us. Yes, +sir. I could have talked them into coming--if I'd only been alone." + +And so when it did finally come to the show-down all hands learned of +just what material young Breckenbridge was made. + + + + +THE PASSING OF JOHN RINGO + + +There were all kinds of bad men in the days of the old West. John +Ringo was one sort and Buckskin Frank was another. While this tale +deals most with the former, still it concerns the two of them. + +In its wild youth the town of Tombstone knew both men. To this day the +old-timers who witnessed the swift march of events during the years +1879, 1880, and 1881 will tell you of their deeds. But things were +happening fast when those deeds took place. There was, if one may be +allowed to use a poetic figure, a good deal of powder-smoke floating +in the air to obscure the vision. And so although no men were ever +more just in passing judgment than these same old-timers, the story +has its sardonic ending. + +John Ringo was the big "He Wolf" among the outlaws, a man of quick +intelligence who did not seem to care much whether he or the +other fellow died. To him who wants the ornate trappings of the +motion-picture bad man or the dialect which makes some desperadoes +popular in fiction, Ringo would prove a disappointing figure as he +showed up in southeastern Arizona. + +For he wore no hair chaps, nor do those who saw him tell of a knotted +colored handkerchief about his throat. Like most of those riders who +drifted into the territory when other portions of the West had grown +too hot for them, his costume was unobtrusive: light-colored jean +breeches tucked into his boot-tops, a flannel shirt and the gray +Stetson peculiar to the country west of the Pecos, a limp-brimmed hat +with a high crown, which may be creased after the old "Southern +Gentleman" fashion but was most often left with such dents as come by +accident. Of hardware he carried his full share; sometimes two +forty-five revolvers and a Winchester; but if he were in town the arms +were as likely as not concealed. + +It would take a second look to separate him from the herd. That second +look would show you a fine, lean form whose every movement was catlike +in its grace, a dark face whose expression was usually sullen, whose +eyes were nearly always somber; slender hands and small feet. And his +speech, whenever you heard it, was sure to be comparatively free from +the idioms of the region; the English was often more correct than +otherwise. A man of parts, and he looked it; they all say that. + +This was John Ringo. He had fought in one of those numerous cattle +wars which raged throughout western Texas during the seventies. Before +that period a certain California city had known him as the reckless +son of a decent family. + +And in passing note the fact that he still got letters from his people +after he came to Tombstone with a price on his head. Which helps to +explain that somber demeanor, the whisky which he drank--and the +ending of his life's story. + +Buckskin Frank fulfils the requirements of some traditions much better +when it comes to externals. He wore leathern fringes on his shirt and +breeches, and his sombrero was bedecked with much silver. His weapons +were always in evidence; a pair of silver-mounted revolvers were the +most noticeable among them. + +Because he called himself a scout some men used the term in speaking +of him. He did not ride with the outlaws, although he often vanished +from Tombstone for considerable periods; in town he was always to be +found in some gambling-house or dance-hall. + +Of women there were many who fancied him. And he could shoot to +kill--from in front if the occasion demanded it; from behind if the +opportunity was given him. A handsome fellow, and he had a persuasive +way with him. + +Whisky got the best of him in his later years, but that was after the +period with which this narrative has to deal; and when he drank, it +was not because of any brooding. The past held no regrets for him; +thus far he had managed to handle every situation to his own +satisfaction. + +These are the two men; and as for Tombstone, it was booming. The mines +were paying tremendously; business was brisk twenty-four hours a day. +An era of claim-jumping, faro-playing, dance-halls, the Bird-Cage, +Opera House, Apache scares, stage hold-ups; and, of course, +gun-fighting. + +The Earps virtually ran the town government; they enforced the local +laws against shooting up the place and so forth very much after the +manner of Dodge City; and they were strong, resolute men. Buckskin +Frank was on good terms with their henchmen; he was, if the +statements of the old-timers are to be believed, anxious to remain in +the good graces of these stern rulers. + +John Ringo, on the other hand, was at outs with them; and soon after +their advent into power he drifted away from Tombstone along with the +other outlaws. To use the expression of the times, he was "short" in +the mining town, which means that when he came there he had to be +ready at all times to defend his life and liberty. + +And now that you have seen the men and the town, the tale can go on; +it is a mere recital of certain incidents which took place during the +last year or two of John Ringo's life; incidents which show the +difference between his breed of bad man and the breed to which +Buckskin Frank belonged. To the chronicler these incidents appeal for +that very reason. The days of the old West strike one as being very +much like the days of old knighthood; they were rude days when some +men tried hard to live up to a code of chivalry and some men made +themselves mighty by very foul means indeed. And while we may not +always be sure that the names which have come down to us--from either +of these wild eras--are those that should have been coupled with fame, +still we can be certain of one thing: the chivalry existed in both +periods. + +According to the code in the Middle Ages the challenge and the single +combat were recognized institutions; and they say that knights-errant +used to go riding through the country seeking worthy opponents. And +according to the cow-boy code in southeastern Arizona during the +early eighties among the outlaws, a champion must be ready to try +conclusions in very much that same way on occasion. + +It was one of those traditions which some men observed and +some--wisely--ignored. This desperado John Ringo was among those who +observed it; and one day, like poor old _Don Quixote_, he found +himself trying to force conclusions with men whose ideas were more +modern than his own, which led him--like Cervante's lean hero--into a +bad predicament and also brought him to a strange friendship. + +The Earp brothers and their followers, as has been said, were ruling +Tombstone, and the outlaws had fled into the country east of the +Dragoon Mountains. But the outlaws did not fancy remaining out in the +open country; sometimes they came back to town in force and hung about +the place for days; always they were hoping to return permanently. And +always the Earps were looking to drive them out of the country for +good and all. + +Eventually the situation came to a climax in the great Earp-Clanton +gun-fight, and there was a long period when this battle was brewing. +During this period whenever they came to town the desperadoes used to +stay at the Grand Central Hotel; and Bob Hatch's saloon, where the +Earp boys and their friends were accustomed to take their "morning's +morning," was directly across the street. Things came to a pass where +the noon hour would often find a group of outlaws on the sidewalk +before the hotel and a number of the Earp faction in front of the +saloon, both outfits heavily armed, the members of each glowering +across the street at those of the other. + +Now Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, and others of the law-and-order party +had come here with big reputations from Dodge City, where they had +taken part in more than one affair when the lead was flying. They had +sustained those reputations by their deeds in Tombstone; they were +champions--"He Wolves." And so one noontime when he was standing on +the sidewalk among his fellow outlaws, John Ringo was seized with an +idea. + +He looked across the street at the members of the Earp party, who were +regarding the desperadoes in ominous silence. The idea grew more +powerful, until it owned him. He stepped down from the sidewalk's edge +into the roadway, crossed it, and came to a halt within a few feet of +his enemies. Addressing Wyatt Earp by name--so goes the story-- + +"This sort of thing," John Ringo said, "has been going on for a long +time now. Pretty soon there's bound to be a big killing if it keeps +up. Now I've got a proposition. You, or Doc Holliday if you'd rather +have him, step into the street here with me, and the two of us will +shoot it out, and, if you're game, why we'll do it holding the +opposite corner of a handkerchief in our teeth. I give my word, my +gang will stand by the result." + +Wyatt Earp made no answer. What temptation that offer held to him one +can judge only by the fact that he was a bold man who had a long +record of large deeds to his credit. But also he was the recognized +head of a movement for law and order, a movement which had already +stopped indiscriminate street-shooting in Tombstone; just at this time +he was being groomed in certain quarters as a candidate for sheriff, +and the banner of his party was emblazoned with the word Reform. + +It is easy enough to see how John Ringo was behind the times when he +made that proposition on Tombstone's main street. It is easy also to +imagine his feelings when without a word by way of answer or +acknowledgment the members of the Earp faction stood regarding him. He +turned his back upon them and he recrossed the street, and when he had +gained the opposite sidewalk they were gone within Bob Hatch's +saloon. + +Johnny Behan was sheriff then, politically an enemy of the Earps and +politically friendly to the outlaws. He was sitting in his office with +young William Breckenbridge, his diplomatic deputy, when some one +brought word that John Ringo had made a gun-play and was holding down +the main street with drawn revolvers. + +"Go and fetch him in," the sheriff bade Breckenbridge. + +The latter found the outlaw pacing up and down before the Grand +Central Hotel after the fashion of the cow-boy who has shot up a +saloon and driven all hands out of the place. The two had met months +before when the deputy was out in the eastern part of the county +collecting taxes with Curly Bill as his guide and protector. + +"What's up?" the youthful officer demanded, and John Ringo recited his +version of the affair. + +"Well," the other told him when he had finished, "the sheriff wants to +see you." + +The desperado shrugged his shoulders, but went along quietly enough; +bail was easy to arrange in those days, and this was not a serious +matter. + +In his office Johnny Behan heard the tale and frowned. There were +times when his cow-boy constituents became a source of embarrassment +to him; this was one of them. + +"Guess you'll have to turn over those guns of yours," he bade the +prisoner. + +Ringo handed the revolvers to him, and he put them into a desk drawer. +There followed several moments of awkward silence. At length Johnny +Behan arose and started to leave the room. + +"Going to lock me up?" Ringo asked. "I'd like to fix it to get bail, +you know." + +"No charge against you," the sheriff said in the doorway. "You can go +back downtown whenever you want to." + +With which he passed out into the corridor and forgot all about the +matter. In the office Ringo stood scowling at the deputy. + +"That's plain murder," he said at length. "Before I get a block away +from here without my guns those coyotes will kill me." + +Breckenbridge had been doing some thinking on his own account during +the last few moments, and he realized the justice of this argument. +But the law was the law, and the sheriff was boss. It was not his +business to interfere. He looked Ringo in the eyes, got up from his +chair, opened the desk drawer--and left the room. And when he came +back the guns and their owner had departed. + +In itself the incident wasn't much to talk about. In those times all +sorts of things were being done according to different standards from +those which rule now. But it brought its consequences. + +The days went by. In Tombstone politics seethed; the law-and-order +party was making things hot for Johnny Behan, whose sympathies with +the cow-boys gave him the support of the desperadoes, a support which +in its turn brought the accusation that he was extending leniency to +wanted men. + +Over in the Sulphur Springs valley and the San Simon John Ringo nursed +his grudge against the sheriff for having disarmed him when his guns +were so sorely needed; he cherished that unpleasant memory while he +directed the movements of Curly Bill and their followers, while he +rode forth from Galeyville with them to raid the herds of border +cow-men, or to ambush bands of Mexican smugglers, or to rob the +stages. + +And so gradually it became known among his fellows that their leader +held a grievance against the sheriff, that he was biding his +opportunity to play even with Johnny Behan for that blundering piece +of thoughtlessness. John Ringo was the biggest man among them all, the +brains of the whole crowd; they wanted to see in what manner he would +settle the score. And finally the time came when he got his chance. + +A man who rejoiced in the name of Kettle-Belly Johnson was the +indirect means of bringing about this opportunity. He enters the story +on a blistering afternoon in the little town of Galeyville. + +It has been told in another of these tales how Galeyville was the bad +men's metropolis, headquarters for all the rustlers and stage-robbers +of Cochise County; how the place enjoyed a brisk prosperity through +the enterprise of a wide-awake citizen who had established a +cattle-buying business--and no questions asked. On the afternoon in +question John Ringo was the only outlaw in the place; his followers +were absent on some wild errand or other and he was putting in the +time at a poker-game. + +There were four men seated around the table in the dingy bar-room, +silent as four owls, mirthless as high priests at a sacred rite. +Observing the full ceremonials which dignify draw-poker, they let the +chips and cards do all the talking--and made signs when they chose to +pass. + +It has been said that John Ringo's face was sullen and his eyes were +somber; the depth of his unpleasant expression had grown this +afternoon as the shabbiness of his luck increased. Or was it luck? + +He sat, of course, facing the door, and Kettle-Belly Johnson occupied +the opposite chair. On the two other players, one of whom was flanking +John Ringo on each side, there is no need to waste words; they +belonged to the same breed as the poetically rechristened Johnson, the +breed that got its name from shaking dice against Mexicans out of tin +horns. + +It was no more than natural that the desperado should ask himself +whether he was right in blaming fortune for the cards which he drew. +There came a new deal and time to draw again. + +"Two," John Ringo muttered. + +Kettle-Belly Johnson held up a single finger; and when he had got his +card, performed one of those prestidigital feats by which he made his +living. And when this was accomplished--with the aid of a device known +as a "hold-out"--his moist, plump fingers clutched a full house--jacks +on kings. The betting went briskly to the bitter end. + +John Ringo scowled down on the hand which beat his; pushed back his +chair, fumbled briefly at his vest, and laid his gold watch on the +table. + +"Lend me a hundred," he growled. "She's worth a hundred and fifty." +But Kettle-Belly Johnson shook his head. + +"Easy come," said he, "easy go. Get out and rustle some more cows or +hold up the stage again. We ain't a-runnin' no pawn-shop." + +John Ringo left the room without more words, and the three tin horns +fell to cutting for low spade to while away the time. They had been at +it just as long as it would take a man to go down to the corral, +saddle his pony, and bring the animal up in front of the building, +when the outlaw reentered. His single-action Colt's forty-five +revolver was in his right hand; its muzzle regarded the trio at the +table like a dark, baleful eye. + +The bearer of the weapon uttered a single word, a word which is not +found in any dictionary although it has come down from the time when +the first Englishman took to the highway to seek his daily meat. + +"Hanzup!" + +They obeyed and the ensuing silence was broken by the pleasant chink +of money as John Ringo's left hand raked the winnings into his pocket. +There was no pursuit as he rode away down Galeyville's main street; +but he spurred his pony hard, for self-righteousness was boiling +within him and he had to find relief some way. + +"Damn bunch of robbers!" he told the horse. + +Ordinarily the incident would have closed then and there; but fate so +willed it that Kettle-Belly Johnson came to Tombstone a few days later +and voiced his plaint in Bob Hatch's saloon, where he found himself +suddenly surrounded by sympathizers. He did not know--and if he had he +would not have cared one way or the other--that the new law-and-order +party had grown to a point where it wanted to get action in the +courts; that its members were looking for an opportunity to swear out +a warrant against some of the bigger outlaws in order to "show up" +Johnny Behan, who--so men said--was unwilling to arrest any of the +cow-boy faction. The grand jury was in session; they got Kettle-Belly +Johnson sober enough to face star-chamber inquisition and led him to +the court-house in the morning. + +So it came that young Billy Breckenbridge, whose business was serving +warrants and not bothering over the whys and wherefores of their +issuance, knocked at the door of John Ringo's cabin in Galeyville a +few days later; and then, being a prudent man, stepped to one side +where he would be beyond the zone of fire. + +"Got a warrant for you," he announced when the desperado had demanded +to know who was there. "Highway robbery." + +There was a bit of parleying through the closed door and finally-- + +"Man by the name of Johnson is the complaining witness," young +Breckenbridge elucidated. "According to what I hear, the play came up +along of a poker game." + +John Ringo swore lightly. + +"Come in," he bade the deputy. "I'll get my clothes on in a minute." + +He laughed sourly as he was pulling on his boots some moments later. + +"Looks as if the grand jury's hard up for something to do," he +observed. + +He rose and belted on his gun, a proceeding about which his +custodian, being unburdened with any desire to burn powder over such +hair-splitting technicalities as a man's right to wear weapons on +his way to jail, made no comment. + +"We'll go down the street," the prisoner suggested as they were +leaving the cabin, "and I'll fix it up to get bail." + +But the accommodating cattle-buyer who arranged such matters for the +bigger outlaws was out of town and would not be back until evening. +Breckenbridge's horse was jaded, and if he wanted to reach Tombstone +in good time he should be setting forth at once. + +"You go ahead," John Ringo bade him. "I'll catch up with you before +you pass Sulphur Springs ranch." + +Those were queer days, and if you judge things from our twentieth-century +point of view you will probably find yourself bewildered. + +John Ringo was known to be a cattle-rustler, stage-robber, and--according +to the law--a murderer. And Breckenbridge, whose duty it was to enforce +the statutes, set out for the county seat alone on the strength of +that promise. Nor was he in the least surprised when his prisoner, who +had ridden all night to make good his word, overtook him in the middle of +the valley. + +Queer days indeed! And the threads of some men's lives were sadly +tangled. Such desperadoes as Curly Bill were easy enough to read; just +rough-and-tumble cow-boys who had taken to whisky and bad company. But +behind the somber mask of John Ringo's face there lurked a hidden +history; something was there which he did not choose to reveal to the +rest of the world. + +The mail had come to Galeyville after young Breckenbridge left. There +is nothing more conducive to confidences than a long ride through a +lonely country. And when these two were jogging across the wide, arid +reaches of the Sulphur Springs Valley the outlaw pulled a letter from +his pocket; the envelope was already broken. Evidently he had read its +contents before; now he scanned them for a long time and his dark face +was set. He thrust the paper back into its enclosure; then suddenly, +as one who yields to impulse, reined his pony closer to his companion +and held forth the envelope for him to read. + +"Look at that writing," he said quietly. + +The hand was unmistakably that of a woman of education. + +"My sister," he added, and shoved the letter into his pocket. + +They rode some distance in silence and then-- + +"And I'm here," John Ringo added in the same even voice. "She writes +me regularly. Thinks I'm doing fine!" + +He did not bring up the subject again; it was as if he had opened a +curtain a little way and let it fall at once; but the deputy, who +came from good people himself, had been able to see much during that +brief glimpse into the outlaw's hidden life. And having seen those +tangled threads he was able to understand certain matters all the +better when the end came. + +Now while Deputy Sheriff Breckenbridge and John Ringo were riding +toward Tombstone things were brewing in that wild young mining camp. +The law-and-order party was preparing to make a clean-up of the +desperadoes. + +And when the pair arrived the news went forth; the hour was late, but +late hours meant little in those days of all-night gambling; a number +of the leaders gathered in Bob Hatch's saloon and discussed the +situation. It looked promising, for Ringo was the brains of the bad +men; with him in custody it should be easy to lay hands on Curly Bill, +who was at the time over in the lawless town of Charleston on the San +Pedro. They made their plans toward that end; and, just to make doubly +sure, they arranged with the district attorney to see that Ringo +should be kept in jail for at least twenty-four hours. + +That was the situation when the pair arrived from no-man's-land; there +was no chance of getting bail at this time of night. The outlaw slept +behind the bars; and when the morning came he sent for the lawyer who +was always retained by the stock-rustlers, a criminal attorney by the +name of Goodrich. + +Goodrich brought news that the law-and-order party were preparing an +expedition to Charleston to round up Curly Bill. Knowing the habits of +his burly aide, John Ringo was reasonably sure that the crusaders +would find the latter the worse for whisky and bring him back a +captive. His natural itching to depart from custody was aggravated by +the feeling that his presence in the cow-town by the San Pedro was +badly needed. He urged Goodrich to hurry to the bank and get the +bail-money. + +The conference took place in Johnny Behan's office, and after the +lawyer's departure on this errand the outlaw remained there pacing the +floor. Half an hour passed; a man had brought Ringo's pony from the +O.K. corral and left it at the hitching-rack before the court-house. +Everything was in readiness--except the cash. Finally Goodrich +returned. + +"All right," he told the sheriff, who was seated at his desk. "I've +got the bail here, Johnny. Everything's arranged." + +And Johnny Behan, who was, if the truth be owned, a very easy-going +peace officer indeed, bade his prisoner depart. He did not know--and +Goodrich did not know--that on this occasion the bailing out of John +Ringo was going to be something more than a mere formality. + +So it came about that a number of people met with surprises this same +morning. Included in these were a delegation from the law-and-order +party who rode over to Charleston to gather in Curly Bill but got no +further than the approach to the bridge which spanned the San Pedro +River. A solitary figure at the other end of the structure made them +draw rein. John Ringo's voice reached them from across the stream. + +"Come on," he called. "I'm waiting for you." + +Something had gone wrong, and when something goes wrong the wise +general does well to investigate before continuing his advance. The +posse deliberated briefly; and then turned back for Tombstone. But +their astonishment at finding the leader of the desperadoes at large +was as nothing compared to Johnny Behan's bewilderment when he met the +district judge in the court-house corridor some time near noon. + +"I'll be ready to take up the matter of that man Ringo's bail in a few +minutes," Judge Stilwell said pleasantly. + +The sheriff remained inarticulate for several seconds. Finally-- + +"Ringo!" he managed to gasp. "Why, he's gone. I thought----" + +Perfervid language followed. Johnny Behan had been a cow-boy in his +time, and the court had--in his unofficial capacity--a rather large +vocabulary of his own. In the end certain facts began to outline +themselves through the sulphuric haze: the district attorney had +offered objections to the proffered bail. + +"I'll take this matter up," the judge told the stricken sheriff, +"to-morrow morning, and I'll hold you responsible for the appearance +of the defendant in court at that time." + +The news flew fast, and when the posse returned from Charleston they +found the town of Tombstone discussing Johnny Behan's predicament. +Being wise politicians, the leaders of the law-and-order party kept to +themselves the information as to John Ringo's whereabouts. That +evening they called a meeting of their followers, and a second posse +set forth through the darkness for Charleston. + +There were some fifty-odd of them, well armed and enthusiastic. Their +purpose was to bring the outlaw to the court-house the next morning. +Thereby the reform movement should gain much prestige--and the sheriff +lose standing. + +But Charleston was full of stock-rustlers and bad men that night, and +when the members of the law-and-order party rode into the place they +found themselves surrounded by a half a hundred of the worst men in +the Territory of Arizona. John Ringo had been looking for further +trouble, and his forces were so well disposed that the invaders had +their choice between surrender and being massacred. + +They yielded to necessity like wise men and gave over their arms to +their captors, who forthwith took them to the nearest saloon and +bought them many drinks. It was during this portion of the proceedings +that Curly Bill, who had led the ambushing-party, learned whom the +prisoners were seeking. He brought the news to John Ringo. + +"So it's me they're after," the outlaw said. + +"And it looks," said Curly Bill, "like Johnny Behan is in a mighty +tight box, the way things has turned out." + +Knowing the grudge which his friend held against the sheriff, he was +not surprised to see John Ringo's face grow darker and the light in +his eyes more devilish. + +"I tell you what," the latter bade him after some moments of thinking. +"You keep those fellows here to-night. Don't let one of them leave +Charleston." + +And Curly Bill departed to see that the command was obeyed. They say +that the celebration which attended the holding of the captives was +one of the large events in the tumultuous history of the cow-town by +the San Pedro, and those who witnessed it are unanimous in stating +that the Tombstone contingent upheld the reputation of their camp when +it came to whisky-drinking. It was late the next day before the last +of them rode back through the foot-hills of the Mule Mountains to +their homes. But all of this is apart from the story. + +The point is that John Ringo saddled up that very night and journeyed +to Tombstone, where he sought out young Billy Breckenbridge. + +"Heard there was some trouble about my being turned loose," he +announced when he had roused the deputy from his slumbers, "and I +didn't know but what maybe you'd lose your job if Johnny Behan got +turned out of office." + +Wherefore it came about that when court convened in the morning and +the matter of John Ringo's bail was brought up the prisoner was +produced to the utter astonishment of all concerned--except himself +and the man who had allowed him to recover his confiscated revolvers. + +Within the hour John Ringo walked out of the court-house under bond to +insure his appearance at the trial. And no one expected the case to +come to anything. In short, the situation was unchanged, and the head +men of the reform movement settled down to bide their opportunity of +killing off the bigger desperadoes, which was apparently the only way +of settling the issue. + +So John Ringo went his way, a marked man, and many a trigger-finger +itched when he appeared in Tombstone; many a bold spirit longed to +take a shot at him. But the knowledge of his deadliness kept him from +being made a target. + +He went his way, and it was a bad way. Dark deeds piled up to fill the +debit pages of his life's ledger. + +If he was influenced by those letters, which came regularly to remind +him of gentle womanhood disgraced by his wild career, it was only to +make him drink harder. And the more he drank the blacker his mood +became. Those who rode with him have said so. A bad man, there is no +doubt about it; and big in his badness, which made it all the worse. + +There came a blazing day in the late summer, one of those days when +the Arizona sun flays the wide, arid valleys without surcease, when +the naked rock on the mountain heights is cloaked in trembling +heat-waves and the rattlesnakes seek the darkest crevices among the +cliffs. Deputy Sheriff Breckenbridge on his way back to Tombstone from +some errand in the eastern end of the county was riding through Middle +Pass in the Dragoons. + +As he came forth against the flaring sky-line at the summit he saw a +rider coming toward him from the west. He turned to one side where the +lay of the land gave him a vantage-point, loosened his revolver in its +holster, and awaited the traveler's closer approach. + +Some moments passed; the pony drew nearer, and the deputy withdrew the +hand which was resting on his weapon's butt. His face relaxed. + +"Hello there, John," he called, and Ringo rode up to him in silence. +"Hot day," Breckenbridge announced cheerfully. + +The desperado swore at the sun in the drawling monotone wherein your +artist at profanity intones his curses when he means them. His face +was a good shade darker than usual; his eyes were satanic. He reached +to his hip and brought forth a flask of whisky. + +"Have a drink." He uttered it rather as a demand than an offer. + +The deputy took the bottle and made pretense of swallowing some of the +lukewarm liquor. The outlaw laughed sourly, snatched it from him, and +drained it. + +"Got another quart," he announced as he flung the empty flask against +a boulder. + +"Better hit it mighty light," Breckenbridge advised. "The sun's bad +when you get down there in the valley." + +He waved his hand toward the wide flat lands which lay shimmering like +an enormous lake a thousand feet below them. Ringo raised his somber +face toward the blazing heavens and launched another volley of curses +upon them before he rode away. And that was the last time young +Breckenbridge saw him alive. + +The thing which took place afterward no man beheld save John Ringo, +and his lips were sealed for all time when others came upon him. But +the desert holds tracks well, and the men of southeastern Arizona were +able to read trails as you or I would read plain print. So they picked +the details of that final chapter from the hot sands of the Sulphur +Springs Valley as they are set down here. + +Morning was drawing on toward noon when John Ringo's pony bore him +downward from the living granite pinnacles to the glaring plain. Noon +was passing as he jogged onward across the Sulphur Springs Valley. + +To this day, when ranchers have drawn floods of limpid water from the +bowels of the earth, the place sees long periods whose heat is +punishing. At that time the whole land was a desert; a flat floor, +patched in spots by alkali deposits, girded round by steep-walled +mountain ranges. Cacti grew there, and huge tufts of Spanish +bayonets. + +John Ringo's pony jogged on and on; the fine dust rose from its hoofs, +surrounding animal and rider like a moving wraith of fog, settling +down upon their sweating skins in a whitish-gray film which stung like +fire. Before them the mirage wavered like an enormous, vague tapestry +stirring in a breeze. + +But of breeze there was none, nor was there any sign of water save +that phantom of a lake--dead now for ages--which kept its distance +always ahead. And the sun climbed higher; its scourgings grew ever +fiercer. + +Scourged also by thoughts and memories which he had never revealed to +men--save only as he had hinted at them on that other afternoon to +Breckenbridge--the bad man drank the lukewarm whisky as he rode. And +the liquor did its work until when he had gone two hours from the foot +of the pass he realized that it was overcoming him. + +He drew rein, dismounted, and sought the shade of a clump of +soto-bushes. But before he flung himself upon the baking sands he took +off his boots and, tying their tops together, hung them over his +saddle-horn. The pony he turned loose with the reins down cow-boy +fashion. After which he yielded to the whisky and knew no more. + +The sun was still glaring in the cloudless sky when he came back to +his senses; and the torture of that thirst which comes after heavy +drinking was upon him. He got to his feet. The pony had gone. +Afterward the searchers tracked the animal to the Sulphur Springs +ranch, where it had come with the boots hanging to the saddle-horn. + +John Ringo was alone, a speck in the middle of the shimmering plain, +and there was no water for miles. He started walking eastward toward +the pass which leads over into the San Simon. The cactus did its work; +the alkali sands scalded his bleeding feet; he took off his shirt, +tore it into strips and bound them round his ankles for footgear; and +when the strips were cut through he used his undershirt, until finally +he walked barefooted and the blood-drops showed beside his tracks. + +Toward the end the same blindness which comes to thirst-maddened +cattle seized upon him. When they found him he was within a stone's +throw of water and the sound of the stream must have been in his ears, +for his footprints showed where he had circled and zigzagged, striving +to reach the spot whence that limpid murmuring came. Among the +cartridges in his belt were two whose lead was deeply dented by his +teeth as he chewed upon them in the vain hope of moistening his lips. + +He was seated on a boulder between two dwarf live-oaks and his big +forty-five revolver lay beside him, with one empty shell. The +bullet-hole was fairly between his eyes, all powder-marked. + +And so they knew just how he died; and young Billy Breckenbridge, who +came over into no-man's-land a day or two later, was able to piece out +the story by backtracking along that trail through the sands; able to +read those signs from the foot of the Dragoons on across the valley; +and able also--because he had seen that letter--to realize the torture +of memories which had come along with the torture of thirst to goad +John Ringo on to self-destruction. + +In this manner it came about that the outlaws of Cochise County lost +their leader; and now that the man of brains was gone it became +possible for events to shape up, as they did soon afterward, toward +the big Earp-Clanton gun-fight. + +The old-timers are unanimous in saying that had John Ringo been alive +that battle wherein the leaders of the Earp faction slew several of +the biggest desperadoes would never have taken place as it did. The +forces would have been differently disposed than they were on that +bloody morning when Billy Clanton and the McLowery boys died in +Tombstone's street by the O.K. corral; the chances are the victory +would have gone the other way. To this day they tell how Ringo's +passing was the beginning of the end; how Curly Bill vanished soon +afterward; how the stage-robbers and rustlers became disorganized and +were no longer any match for the law-and-order faction. + +And when the old-timers, who witnessed these wild doings, recount the +history of the wind-up, laying the cause as has been stated, they give +the credit to the man whom they believe entitled to it; which brings +us back to Buckskin Frank. + +On that blazing day when John Ringo rode out into no-man's-land +Buckskin Frank was away from Tombstone. And this time there were more +urgent reasons for his departure from the camp than the mere seeking +after plunder. He was, as has been said, a bad man; a bad man of the +type who can kill from in front but relishes best that opportunity +which offers the back of his enemy as a target. + +During the long period while the outlaws were swaggering down +Tombstone's streets, defying the leaders of the law-and-order +movement, the two-gun man managed to cling to the good graces of the +Earp faction; just as in these days you may have seen a crooked +ward-heeler hanging to the skirts of a good-government crusade. Nobody +loved him, but there were those who thought he might be useful. He +traded on their names and--when there was dirty business to be done, +as there always has been since politics began--he was there to do it. +Also he was right there to ask favors in return. + +So it came that the knowledge of his killings spread abroad; men told +how he had slain one victim who was drinking in a dance-hall when the +bullet entered his back; how another had fallen, shot from behind in a +dark alley. But prosecutions never followed, and the buckskin-clad +figure with its bad, handsome face became a sinister object in +Tombstone's streets. + +However, a man can not keep up this sort of thing forever without +getting an ill name, and the time came when Buckskin Frank was +beginning to be a source of embarrassment to those who had thus far +tolerated him. On top of which his prestige was suddenly threatened. + +There was, in the camp, a fellow by the name of Nigger Jim, one of +those black negroes whose blood is undiluted by the white man's; a +former slave; more than six feet tall and--to this very day--as +straight as a ramrod. He had fought Apaches and on more than one +occasion held his own against outlaws; and the early settlers, of whom +he was one, treated him as an equal. + +This Nigger Jim had staked a silver claim over Contention way, and one +day Buckskin Frank jumped the property. The owner heard that the bad +man had put up new location notices in place of his own and hastened +to the place to investigate. He found Frank camped on the ground, well +armed and ready to maintain possession. + +What followed does not amount to much when it comes to action with +which to adorn a tale. + +Nigger Jim walked up to the bad man, his hand on his revolver-butt. +The luck which sometimes looks out for the righteous party in a +quarrel was with him to the extent of seeing to it that the meeting +took place out in the open where there was no chance for ambush. + +The break was even. And the black man was determined to see the issue +through, willing to abide by whatever consequences might follow. +Moreover he had earned his reputation with a six-shooter. So, as has +been said, he came walking up to Buckskin Frank--from in front. + +And Buckskin Frank allowed him to approach until the two stood facing +each other out there among the rocks and Spanish bayonets. Then the +two-gun man spoke, holding forth his right hand. + +"I heard some parties were jumping your claim, Jim," said he, "and, +being near, I thought I'd come over and look out for you." + +"Thanky," said Nigger Jim, but made no offer to take the extended +hand; nor did he turn his back upon the bad man, who evidently did not +think the claim worth the hazards of an honest gun-fight, for he left +soon afterward. + +In Tombstone Nigger Jim kept silent regarding the incident, but the +news leaked out within a week or two when Buckskin Frank tried to slay +the black man from behind and was prevented by a woman who threw her +arms over him and held him until the prospective victim turned his +head and took in the situation. With the spread of the story Frank saw +that Tombstone was no place for him at present and he left the camp. +Whereby it happened that he was over in the San Simon on that hot day +when John Ringo came across the Dragoon Mountains. And on the morning +when the body was discovered he was riding through the pass on some +dubious errand or other. + +News traveled slowly in those days. Frequently it came to its +destination sadly garbled. On this occasion young Billy Breckenbridge +was the only man who brought the facts back to Tombstone; and he +arrived there long after Buckskin Frank. + +For the two-gun man had seen his opportunity to make men forget that +incident wherein he had figured so poorly against Nigger Jim, and had +spurred his pony all the way to the county seat, where he told his +story--how he had seen the desperado sitting under the dwarf +live-oaks, had stalked him as a man stalks big game, and shot him +through the head. And just to give his tale versimilitude he said he +had done the killing from behind. + +The times were brisk; one shooting came so fast on the heels of its +predecessor that every affair in its turn swiftly passed from public +attention. By the time that Deputy Sheriff Breckenbridge arrived with +the facts people were turning their minds to the big Benson stage +hold-up. And so Buckskin Frank's story lived, and to this day in +speaking of that bad man the old-timers give him grudging credit for +having slain the big "He Wolf." + + + + +JOHN SLAUGHTER'S WAY + + +It was springtime in southwestern Texas and John Slaughter was +gathering a great herd near the mouth of Devil's River for the long +drive northward over the Pecos trail. Thousands of cattle were moving +slowly in a great mass, obliterating miles of the landscape, trampling +out clouds of dust which rose into the blue sky; the constant +bellowing came down the wind as a deep, pulsating moan which was +audible for miles. + +The Man from Bitter Creek reined in his horse and turned in the saddle +to look back upon that scene. He was a small man with hard, quick +eyes; they grew harder as they rested on that wealth of beeves. + +In the wild country farther up the Pecos the Man from Bitter Creek was +known by the name of Gallagher. Among the riders who roved over that +Land Beyond the Law, taking their toll from the north-going herds as +gray wolves take it under cover of the night, he passed as the big "He +Wolf," the leader of the pack. Wyoming's sage-brush hills gave +sepulture to eleven of his dead, and since he had fled hither he had +added two graves to the boot-hill cemeteries of the Southwest. + +Now as he gazed over John Slaughter's cattle, he promised himself that +when they came on into the region where he maintained his supremacy, +he would seize them and, at the same time, increase his grim list of +victims to fourteen. + +It was an era in some respects very much like the feudal days of +Europe, a time of champions and challenges and deeds of arms, a period +when strong men took definite stands for right or wrong and were ready +at all times to defend those positions with their lives. The Man from +Bitter Creek had received John Slaughter's gage within the hour. He +had dismounted from his pony at the cattle-buyer's camp, attracted by +the spectacle of that enormous herd destined to pass through the +country where he and his companions held sway, and he had hung about +the place to see what he could see. + +He noted with satisfaction that the cattle were sleek and fat for this +time of the year; and the satisfaction grew as he peered through the +dust-clouds at the riders who were handling them, for every one of the +wiry ponies that passed him carried a swarthy vaquero--and half a +dozen of those Mexicans would not be a match for one of the hard-eyed +rustlers who were waiting along the upper Pecos in that spring of +1876. Just as he was congratulating himself on such easy pickings the +cattle-buyer noticed him. + +John Slaughter was in his early thirties but his lips had settled into +an unrelaxing line, and his eyes had grown narrow from the habit of +the long sun-smitten trails. He was black-bearded, barely of middle +stature, a parsimonious man when it came to using words. When he was a +boy fighting under the banner of the Lost Cause he sickened, and his +colonel sent him home, where he did his recuperating as a lieutenant +of the Texas rangers fighting Comanche Indians and border outlaws. + +Then he drove cattle into Kansas over the Chisholm and Western trails +and got further seasoning in warfare against marauders, both red and +white. To maintain his rights and hold his property against armed +assault had become part of his every-day life; guardedness was a habit +like those narrowed eyes. And when he recognized the Man from Bitter +Creek, whose reputation he well knew, he lost no time in confronting +him. + +So they faced each other, two veteran paladins who had been riding +under hostile banners ever since they first bore arms; and John +Slaughter delivered his ultimatum in three syllables. + +"Hit the trail," he said, and clamped his lips into a tight line as if +he begrudged wasting that many words. + +His eyes had become two dark slits. + +It was a case of leave or fight and the Man from Bitter Creek had +never allowed such a challenge to go unanswered by his gun. But during +the moment while he and John Slaughter stood looking into each other's +eyes he reflected swiftly, and it occurred to him that it would be +wise to postpone this killing until the cattle-buyer had brought the +herd on into the upper country where, without their employer, the +Mexican vaqueros would be of no more consequence than so many sheep. + +That was an inspiration: thousands of cattle for his own, where he had +hoped to steal a few hundred at the very outside. He felt that he +could well afford to mount his pony and ride away in silence. Now as +he settled himself in his saddle after that last look backward, his +heart was light with the thought of the wealth which was to come to +him within the next two months. He urged the pony forward at a gallop +toward the Land Beyond the Law. + +The days went by, and late springtime found the Man from Bitter Creek +in the upper river country which lies just west of the great Llano +Estacado. Among those lonely hills the badness of the whole frontier +had crystallized that year. Outlaw and murderer, renegade, rustler, +and common horse-thief--all for whom the eastern trails had been +growing too hot--had ridden into this haven beyond the range of the +boldest sheriff until even the vigilance committee could not function +here for the simple reason that there were too many to adorn the ropes +and too few to pull them. + +The ranchers of Lincoln County were starting in business, and the +temptation to increase one's herds by means of rope and running-iron--a +temptation which was always strong on the frontier--was augmented +among some by a wholesome regard for their own lives and property: +better to give shelter to outlaws and buy stolen cows for a dollar or +two a head, than to defend your own stock against an overwhelming force +of dead shots. There were others--and these included several of the +bigger cow-men--who held that this was their territory and, deeming all +outsiders interlopers, levied such toll of plunder on them as the old +feudal barons levied on travelers by the Rhine in medieval times. + +That was the way they reasoned; and the rustlers had easy pickings, +stampeding range cattle across the bedding-grounds of the trail herds, +gathering unto themselves the strays, disposing of their loot right on +the spot. They were taking full advantage of the opportunity, and the +Man from Bitter Creek was getting his share of the spoils. + +But all of this struck Gallagher as petty business now; he was waiting +impatiently for John Slaughter's herd. At Chisum's ranch, where he and +a number of his companions had enforced their presence as unbidden +guests since the passing of the spring, he proclaimed his plan openly +after the manner of his breed; and he even went so far as to exhibit a +forged power of attorney by virtue of which he intended selling the +beeves in the Northern market, after he had killed their owner and +driven off the Mexicans. + +"I'll lay for him up Fort Sumner way," he told his fellow-wolves, nor +did he take the trouble to lower his voice because he saw several +cow-boys from neighboring outfits among his auditors. It was a +tradition among those who lived by the forty-five thus to brag and +then--make good. And it was a firmly established habit in Lincoln +County to mind your own business; so the project, while it became +generally known, created no excitement. + +The Man from Bitter Creek went up the river to the neighborhood of +Fort Sumner when John Slaughter's herd drew near the Chisum ranch. He +made his camp and bided the arrival of the cattle; but that arrival +did not materialize. He was beginning to wonder what could have +delayed them, for the fords were good and this particular section was +one where no drover cared to linger. And while he was wondering a +rider came to him with tidings that brought oaths of astonishment to +his lips. John Slaughter had taken his herd off the trail and made +camp at the Chisum ranch. + +Now every one in the country knew that the Man from Bitter Creek was +holding down the Chisum place that season, and the action was nothing +more nor less than a direct challenge. It did not matter whether +sublime ignorance or sublime daring prompted it; it was defiance in +either case. There was only one thing for Gallagher to do--get the +killing over in quick time. Moreover he must attend to the affair by +himself--for just as surely as he took others to help, his prestige +was going to be lowered. So he saddled up at once and rode back to +Chisum's with a double-barreled shotgun across his lap and two +single-action forty-five revolvers at his hips. + +He was an old hand at ambush and so he took no chances when he drew +near the ranch but reconnoitered a bit from a convenient eminence. The +house stood on the summit of a knoll; the land sloped away before it +to the river, bare of shrubs or trees. Those of the Mexicans who were +not riding herd were down among the cottonwoods by the stream, busy +over some washing. In the middle of the open slope, two hundred yards +or so from the ranch buildings and a good quarter of a mile from the +nearest vaqueros, a solitary figure showed. It was the cattleman. No +chance for ambush here. The Man from Bitter Creek spurred his pony to +a dead run and came on blithely to shoot his way to wealth. + +John Slaughter watched him approaching and waited until he was within +easy range. Whereat he picked up a forty-four caliber rifle and shot +his horse from under him. + +Pony and rider crashed down together in a thick cloud of dust. The Man +from Bitter Creek sprang to his feet and the flame of his revolver +made a bright orange streak in the gray-white haze. He left his +shotgun where it had fallen; the distance was too great for it. + +As a matter of fact it was over-long range for a Colt forty-five; and +now, as he came on seeking to close in, it occurred to Gallagher that +his prospective victim had used excellent judgment in selecting a +weapon with reference to this battleground. Evidently he was engaged +with one who knew some things about the deadly game himself. + +He took good care to keep weaving about from side to side during his +advance, in order that the bead of that Winchester might find no +resting-place with his body outlined before it. And he kept his +revolvers busy throwing lead. One bullet was all it needed to do the +work and he was trying hard to put one into the proper place, using +all the skill he had attained in long practice under fire, when a shot +from John Slaughter's rifle broke his arm. The Texan was firing +slowly, lining his sights carefully every time before he pressed the +trigger. The Man from Bitter Creek was darting to and fro; his +revolver bullets were raising little clouds of dust about the +cattleman. He was nearing the area wherein the forty-five revolver was +more deadly than the clumsier rifle, when John Slaughter shot him +through the body. + +But he was made of tough fiber and the extreme shock that would leave +some men stunned and prostrate only made him stagger a little. His +revolver was spitting an intermittent stream of fire and it continued +this after a second slug through his lungs had forced him to his +knees. He sank down fighting and got his third fatal wound before the +cow-boys carried him up to the ranch-house to die. There, after the +manner of many another wicked son of the border, he talked the matter +over dispassionately with his slayer and in the final moment when +death was creeping over him he alluded lightly to his own misdeeds. + +"Anyhow I needed killing twenty years ago," he said. + +No one mourned the passing of the Man from Bitter Creek; the members +of the pack who hunt the closest to the big he wolf are always the +gladdest to see him fall. Nor was there any sorrowing when John +Slaughter departed for the north. On the contrary both outlaws and +cow-men watched the dust of his herds melting into the sky with a +feeling of relief. + +The outlaws continued as the weeks went by to speak his name with the +hard-eyed respect due one whose death would bring great glory on his +slayer; the cow-men cherished his memory more gratefully because +hundreds of cattle bearing his road-brand were grazing on their +ranges. All hands were more than willing to regard the incident as +closed--all save John Slaughter. + +That was not his way. And in the season of the autumn round-up when +the ranchmen of Lincoln County were driving their cattle down out of +the breaks into the valley, when their herds were making great +crawling patches of brown against the gray of the surrounding +landscape, the black-bearded Texan came riding back out of the north. +He visited every outfit and greeted the owner or the foreman with the +same words in every case. + +"I've come to cut your herd for my brand." + +That was the law of the cattle-trails; every man had the right to seek +out his strays in the country through which he had passed. But it was +not the custom along the Pecos. In that Land Beyond the Law the rule +of might transcended any rule of action printed in the statute-books. +And the new possessors did not fancy giving up the beeves which had +been fattening on their ranges during all these weeks. In those lonely +hills John Slaughter made a lonely figure, standing on his rights. + +But those who gathered around him when he made the declaration always +noticed that he had his right hand resting on his pistol-butt and the +memory of what had taken place at Chisum's ranch was still fresh in +every mind. So they allowed his vaqueros to ride into their herds and +in silence they watched them drive out the animals which bore his +brand. Sometimes the affair came to an issue at this point. + +Chisum, who was an old-timer in the country and had fought Comanches +all along the river before others had dared to drive up the trail, +produced a bill of sale for sixty rebranded cattle which the Texan's +vaqueros had cut out. John Slaughter allowed his tight lips to relax +in a grim smile. + +"You bought 'em all right--but too cheap," he said, and ordered his +foreman to take them away. + +Chisum stormed a bit, but that was as far as it went. And John +Slaughter rode off behind his vaqueros without so much as looking +back. + +At Underwood's there was trouble. The cattle-buyer had recovered 110 +steers from a bunch of 160, and when Underwood heard about it that +evening he stated, in plain and profane terms, that he would kill John +Slaughter unless those beeves were turned back to him. He had a +reputation as a dead shot and he took two friends, who were known as +good gunmen, along with him. They set forth for the Texan's camp. All +three were armed with rifles beside their six-shooters. + +But John Slaughter saw them coming, for he was keeping his eyes open +for visitors these days, and dismounted on the opposite side of his +pony. He received them with his Winchester leveled across his saddle +and he answered their hail without lifting his eyes from the sights. + +"Where's Underwood?" he demanded. + +The cow-man announced his identity; it took more than the muzzle of a +rifle to silence him. + +"I bought those cattle and I paid for them," he shouted. + +"And I'll pay you," Slaughter proclaimed across his sights, "just as +sure as you try to take them away." + +This was about all there was to the debate. The Texan was never strong +when it came to conversation and the other party seemed to realize +that further words would merely amount to so much small talk under the +circumstances. It was a show-down--shoot or ride away. And the muzzle +of that rifle had an unpleasant way of following any one of the trio +who made a move in the saddle. They were men of parts, seasoned +fighters in a fighting land, but they were men of sense. They rode +away. + +Some miles farther down the river John Slaughter was biding the +arrival of two half-breeds and a pair of rustlers who had announced +their intention to get him, when a vaquero whom he had summoned to +help him receive the guests showed symptoms of reluctance. While the +vaquero was talking the invaders came into view, riding fast. + +"Fight or hit the road," John Slaughter bade his swarthy aide. + +The latter announced his choice in Spanish; and the cattle-buyer paid +him off with one hand while he pulled his rifle from its sheath with +the other. The discharged vaquero did not wait to gather his scanty +personal possessions and started down the road as fast as his legs +could take him, but before he was out of sight his former employer had +fortified himself behind his pony and brought the rustlers to a +stand. + +A cattleman by the name of Richardson tried swearing out a warrant as +a means of recovering the beeves which John Slaughter cut out of his +herds, but the deputy returned with the paper unserved. + +"He told me to keep it in my pocket," the officer explained. "Said I +couldn't serve it." + +Richardson met the cattle-buyer riding to his ranch the next day, +having heard in the meantime some stories of what had taken place +farther up the river. + +"I've made up my mind to withdraw that complaint," the ranchman said. +"I saw a chance to buy cheap cattle and I guess I got off wrong." + +So John Slaughter rode on southward taking with him such of his cattle +as he could find, and men who boasted that they would kill him before +nightfall came back to their companions in the evening, glad that they +were there to tell the tales of their defeats. Finally he vanished +down in Texas with his vaqueros and the salvaged herd. + +When he had come up the river that spring one man was seeking his +life; now he left behind him a full score who were as eager to slay +him as the Man from Bitter Creek had been. But the outlaws of Lincoln +County did not see him again for three years. + +The next spring he began breaking trail to a new market through a +country where others did not dare to drive their herds. The market was +southeastern Arizona, on whose ranges the grass grew belly-deep; its +stockmen, who were beginning operations in 1877, were in sore need of +cattle. But the interval between the Rio Grande and these virgin +pastures was a savage land; Victorio's bands of turbaned Apache +warriors lurked among its shadowed purple mountains; there were long +stretches of blistering desert dotted with the skeletons of men and +animals who had died of thirst. + +John Slaughter brought his first herd west of the Pecos with the +coming of the grass, and his cow-boys lined them out on this +forbidding route. They crossed wide reaches of sand-dunes and alkali +flats--ninety miles was the length of one of those dry drives--where +they never saw a water-hole for days, until the cattle went blind from +thirst and sun-glare and wandered aimlessly over the baked earth +lolling their tongues, moaning for drink, ignoring the red-eyed riders +who spurred their famished ponies through the stifling dust-cloud and +sought by shouts and flaming pistols to hold them to the proper +course. + +The Apaches watched them coming from the heights and crept down to +ambush them, but John Slaughter had learned Indian-fighting while he +was still in his teens until he knew its tricks as well as the savages +themselves; and he led his cow-boys out against them, picking his own +ground, swooping down on them from vantage-points, routing them. + +The herd came on into the long thin valleys which reach like fingers +from northern Mexico to the Gila River. On the San Pedro the cow-boys +turned them southward and the outfit made its last camp near where the +town of Hereford stands to-day. + +Here the Texan established his home ranch, for he had made up his mind +to forsake the valley of the Rio Grande for this new country; and +hither now, over the trail which he had broken, his men drove other +herds; he sold them to the cow-men of southeastern Arizona as fast as +they came in. From now on he devoted himself to stocking the ranges of +the Santa Cruz, the San Pedro, the Sulphur Springs, and the San Simon, +turning a tawny wilderness into a pastoral commonwealth. + +For he brought more than Texas cattle into this land which had +heretofore been the hunting-ground of Apaches, the wild refuge of +white renegades more savage than the Indians. Where he came he took +with him the law. It was his way--the way he had taken on the Pecos +and he kept it now--to stand for his own rights, to fight for them if +need be, until he established them; thus he maintained a rule of +action, a rule that accorded with the definition of the old English +jurist, "prescribing what is right and prohibiting what is wrong." + +During those days he rode on far journeys, eastward to the Rio Grande, +northward to the country where the land breaks toward the gorges of +the Colorado; and because a cattle-buyer was always a marked man, +carrying large sums of money with him, there were many who sought his +life. But these he slew or drove away. + +There came a time when the demand for stock was so heavy that he +looked about him for a new point of supply and saw Mexico. Troops of +bandits rode through the southern republic, gathering tribute where +they willed. He loaded down pack-mules with dobie dollars, led his +cow-boys down across the boundary, played hide and seek with bands of +swarthy murderers in the mountains, and battled with them at the +desert water-holes. + +His fame spread until forty-five guerrillas came riding up from +Sinaloa to gain wealth and glory by murdering his little company. They +found John Slaughter and two cow-boys encamped in a hamlet down beyond +Moctezuma with the nucleus of a herd which they were gathering. A +sharp-eyed scout reported two pack-mules, their aparejos bulging with +dobie dollars, in the train. Immediately thereafter the Mexicans whom +the drover had employed as vaqueros and guides deserted him; the +people of the hamlet closed their houses against the trio of gringos. + +The bandits watched their prospective victims going from door to door, +seeking four walls to shelter them against attack, and laughed. That +was fine sport to their way of thinking; they held off, just as a cat +holds off from a cornered mouse; there was plenty of time for the +killing, no use of hurrying. + +The shadows lengthened between the little adobe buildings; dusk came +on. They had a final round of drinks in a mescal groggery, swung into +their saddles, and went jingling down the street to enjoy the +massacre. + +Bad news travels fast. The tidings sped northward like a stray horse +running home. One day a rider came to the ranch on the San Pedro with +the story: how John Slaughter was last seen alive in the dismal hamlet +at the foot of the Sierra Madre, abandoned by his Mexicans, with two +cow-boys as his only companions, and half a hundred well-armed bandits +on their way to murder him. A grim tale for the ears of a woman who +was waiting word from Mexico. + +A woman heard it out--John Slaughter's young bride. He had brought her +to the ranch-house a few months before and in these first days of her +happiness, a happiness made the more poignant by those deep anxieties +which the brave-souled women of the frontier had to bear, she listened +to the announcement which abiding dread had foreshadowed during many a +lonely night. When the rider had departed she ordered a team harnessed +to the buckboard and set forth for Mexico within the hour. + +It was growing late when she passed the customhouse; they had no +confirmation of the rumor for her there, nor contradiction either; the +best they could do was to try to hearten her and to advise her to +wait. But she shook her head at the advice and drove on southward in +the darkness. She was alone. Blackness hid the land before her; save +for the drumming of the hoofs and the scrape of the wheels in the +rough roadway there was no sound. The wilderness remained silent, +invisible, offering no sign of what tragedy it held for her. + +The night passed; gray dawn came; the sky flamed above the ragged +crests of the Sierra Madre; the sun climbed past the mountain wall; +morning grew on toward noon. Far to the south--so tenuous at first +that it barely showed against the clear air, now thickening until it +was unmistakable at last--a gray-brown dust column was climbing into +the cloudless sky. It came on toward her as she urged on the jaded +team, the signal of an advancing herd. + +She strained her eyes and saw the thin, undulating line beneath it; +the sun gleamed on the tossing horns of the cattle, their lowing +sounded faint with distance, growing into a deep pulsating moan. She +distinguished the dots of horsemen in the van; and now one rode on +swiftly before the moving mass. She recognized her husband from afar. + +John Slaughter had seized his opportunity while the bandits were +drinking to their own good luck and his death in the mescal shop. He +and John Roberts, his foreman, had taken the treasure-laden mules up a +steep-walled canyon five miles away. When the murderers followed the +hot trail they found themselves, with the coming of darkness, in the +narrowest part of the defile, so neatly ambushed that they wheeled +their horses and rode down the gorge in full flight before the fight +had fairly begun. + +John Slaughter's wife was a brave woman. She rode beside him now on +many an expedition; into the sand-hills of southwestern New Mexico, +and down across the border into northern Sonora. She saw the smoking +remnants of wagon-trains beside the road, the bodies of Apaches' +victims sprawled among the ruins. She looked upon the unutterably +lonely crosses which marked the graves of travelers where Victorio's +turbaned warriors had traveled before her into Mexico. She slept +beside her husband where the desert night wind whispered of lurking +enemies; and watched enshadowed soap-weeds beyond the ring of +firelight taking on the semblance of creeping savages. + +He beheld her drinking deeply from the cup of dread which was the +bitter portion of the strong-hearted women of the frontier. And when +he journeyed away without her he had for company the constant +knowledge of what other men had found on return to their ravaged +homes--what might be awaiting him when he came back. And so he +enlarged the scope of his warfare, which heretofore had been confined +to the defensive; he began a grim campaign to keep the Apaches out of +his portion of the San Pedro valley for all time. + +He led his own war-parties out to hunt down every roving band who +passed through the country. He used their own science of reading +trails to track them to their camping-places; and their own wiles to +steal upon them while they rested. He improved on their methods by +making his raids during the darkness when their superstitions made +them afraid to go abroad. + +One midnight he was deploying a company of Mexicans about the +mesquite-thicket which sheltered a band of warriors. As he was about +to give the whispered order to close in, the unknown dangers which +awaited them within the blackness became too much for his followers. +They balked, then began to fall back. He drew his forty-five. + +"First man that shows another sign of hanging back, I'll kill him," he +said in Spanish, and drove them before him to the charge. + +Gradually the Apaches began changing their warpaths into Mexico, and +as they swung away from his ranges John Slaughter increased the radius +of his raids until he and his cow-boys rode clear over the summits of +the passes in the Sierra Madre which lead eastward into Chihuahua. + +With nine seasoned fighters at his heels he attacked a war-party in +the heights of the range on the dawn of a summer morning; and when the +Indians fled before the rifle-fire of the attackers--scurrying up into +the naked granite pinnacles like frightened quail--they left a baby +behind them. The mother had dropped it or missed it in her panic, and +the little thing lay whimpering in the bear-grass. + +John Slaughter heard it and stopped shooting long enough to pick it +up. With the bullets of her people buzzing around his ears he carried +the brown atom down the mountain-side and took her home on his saddle +to his wife. + +That was one of his last expeditions, for his name had become a byword +among the tribes, and Geronimo himself gave instructions to his people +to leave John Slaughter's herds inviolate, to avoid his range in +traveling. With this degree of peace ensured, the cow-man had bought +an old Spanish grant not far from where the town of Douglas stands +to-day and was settling down in the security for which he had been +fighting, when the Tombstone rush brought the bad men from all over +the West into the San Pedro and Sulphur Springs valleys; and with them +came the outlaws of the Pecos who had been waiting to kill him during +these three years. + +In the wild cow-town of Charleston where the lights turned pale under +the hot flush of every dawn the desperadoes from the Pecos learned how +John Slaughter had established himself before them in this new land; +how his cow-boys patrolled the range which he still held on the San +Pedro and the new range farther to the east, guarding his herds by +force of arms; and how the silent Texan had already declared war on +the whole incoming tribe of cattle-thieves by driving Ike and Billy +Clanton from his old ranch at revolver's point, bidding them never to +show their faces there again. + +They heard these things in the long adobe dance-halls while +rouge-bedizened women went whirling by in the arms of bold-eyed +partners wearing revolvers on their hips. From stage-robber, +stock-rustler, horse-thief, and the cold-faced two-gun man who sold +his deadly talents to the highest bidder, the stories came to them. +And then, to the beat of the piano and the cornet's throbbing blare, +the bad men of the Pecos told of the passing of the Man from Bitter +Creek, and how his slayer came back down the river recovering his +stolen cattle in the autumn. + +Now another champion had risen among the bad men of the Pecos since +the day of Gallagher, a burly, headstrong expert with the forty-five, +known by the name of "Curly Bill." Already he had shot his way to +supremacy over the other "He Wolves" who had flocked into the new +country; he had slain Tombstone's city marshal and defied the Earps +when they came into power in the booming mining camp. + +When it came to a question of single combat he was acknowledged +champion among those who lived by what toll they could exact at the +muzzles of their deadly weapons; when it came to warfare he was the +logical leader. And so, when John Slaughter's name was spoken in +Charleston's dance-halls, the eyes of his followers were turned on +him. He saw those glances and he read the unspoken question which they +conveyed; he met it with a laugh. + +"I'll go and get that fellow," he proclaimed. "I'll kill him and I'll +fetch his herd in to Charleston myself." + +He started forth to make good his boast, and twenty-five hard-eyed +followers went riding at his heels. It was a wild project even in that +wild era and Curly Bill deemed it wise to do his massacring down in +Mexico, where it was every man for himself and coroner's juries were +not known. He took his company across the boundary and lay in wait for +John Slaughter on a mesa overlooking a little valley, down which the +herd must pass. + +Mesquite-thickets gave the outlaws good cover; the slopes below them +were bare brush; the valley's floor was open ground. They bided here +and watched the country to the south. The dust column showed one +cloudless morning and they saw the undulating line of cattle reveal +itself beneath the gray-brown haze. The herd came on down the valley, +with dust-stained riders speeding back and forth along its flanks, +turning back rebellious cows, urging the main body forward. Curly Bill +spoke the word of command and the twenty-five bad men rode forth from +their hiding-place. + +The sun gleamed on their rifle barrels as they spurred their ponies +down the open slope. They rode deep in their saddles, for the ground +was broken with many little gullies and the horses were going at a +headlong pace. They drew away from the shelter of the mesquite and +descended toward the valley bed. Some one heard a rifle bullet whining +over his head. The man glanced around as the sharp report followed the +leaden slug; and now every face was turned to the rear. Twelve +cow-boys were following John Slaughter keeping their ponies to a dead +run along the heights which Curly Bill and his band had so blithely +forsaken. + +It was a custom as old as Indian-fighting; this bringing on of the +main force over the high ground whence they could guard against +surprise and hold the advantage over luring enemies. By its result the +ambuscaders were ambushed, riding headlong into a trap. + +It was a simple situation, apparent to the dullest mind. Who lingered +on the low ground would never steal cattle again. The outlaws wheeled +their ponies to a man; and now as they raced back up the hill they saw +the cow-boys coming onward at a pace which threatened to cut them off +from the shelter of the mesquite. Then panic seized them and it held +them until the last cow-thief had spurred his sweating horse into the +thickets. By the time Curly Bill had re-gathered his scattered forces +the herd was nearly out of sight. + +He did not seek renewal of the attack. He let it go at that. And when +he came to Charleston he announced that so far as he was concerned the +incident was closed; he was going to do his cattle-rustling henceforth +over San Simon way where cow-men did not maintain rear-guards and +scout out the country ahead of them for enemies. He changed his base +of operations to Galeyville within a month and came to Charleston for +pleasure only. + +The story spread and every man who deemed himself as bad as Curly Bill +saw his opportunity to demonstrate his qualifications as a killer by +succeeding where the leader had failed. Doc Holliday tried it one +night on the Charleston road. Next to Wyatt Earp he ranked as the +highest in the faction that was ruling Tombstone. Unquestionably he +was an artist with deadly weapons, and the trail of his wanderings +through the West was marked by wooden headboards. On the evening in +question--it was the evening after the bloody and unsuccessful attempt +to rob the Benson stage, and several men were riding hard toward home +and help and alibis--he was spurring his sweating horse to Tombstone +when he got sight of John Slaughter's double rig ahead of him. + +The cattle-buyer had drawn ten thousand dollars from the bank that +afternoon and was taking the specie home with him; the fact was known +in Charleston where Doc Holliday had stopped within the last hour. The +vehicle was rounding a long turn; the horseman cut across country +through the mesquite; he reached the farther end of the curve just in +time to draw alongside the team. + +John Slaughter's wife was beside him on the driver's seat. She saw the +rider bursting out of the gloom, and then her eyes fell on the +forty-five which he was in the very act of "throwing down." + +"That man has a gun in his hand," she cried. + +Without turning his head her husband answered, "So have I." + +She glanced down at his cocked revolver; its muzzle was moving, to +follow the enshadowed figure in the saddle less than ten feet away. +She raised her eyes; the horseman had lowered his weapon and was +wheeling his pony off into the night. + +"Knew his bronco as soon as I saw that blazed face show," John +Slaughter said in explanation of his quick draw. + +That same vigilance, which had grown to be second nature with him, +combined with an almost uncanny swiftness in putting two and two +together, which latter had come to him during the years when guarding +his life was a part of his trade, kept the cow-man a step ahead of his +enemies on every occasion. These things were instinctive from long +habit; he prepared himself to meet a situation just as an expert +gunman draws his forty-five--just as a scientific boxer blocks a +blow--without wasting an instant in thinking. + +It was thus with him when Ed Lyle and Cap Stilwell waylaid him on the +road to the Empire ranch over near Port Huachuca. These two, who had +endured humiliation under the muzzle of the Texan's pistol on the +Pecos trail, brought four others along with them and planned to do +the murder in the night. Three took their stations on one side of the +wagon track and three on the other, all well armed. They had spotted +the victim's buckboard several miles back. + +Now when it came on to the spot which they had selected, the two trios +galloped up to do the killing--and found John Slaughter leveling a +double-barreled shotgun while his wife held the reins. One glimpse of +that weapon at the cattle-buyer's shoulder was enough; they did not +wait for him to pull the trigger but fled. + +John Slaughter was wearying of this sort of thing. Lyle and Stilwell +were men of parts; good men of whom to make examples. He sought the +former out in Charleston. They met in front of a saloon on the main +street. John Slaughter drew and, as he threw down-- + +"I've got no gun," Lyle cried. + +"If you were armed," the cow-man said, "I'd kill you now. But if I +ever see you in this country again, I'll kill you anyhow." + +Lyle left and Cap Stilwell, receiving his sentence of banishment in +the same manner, departed within a week. From that time the bad men +let John Slaughter alone; he was too big for them. He took his family +to his new San Bernardino ranch and it was beginning to seem as if the +days of constant warfare were over. He was settling down to enjoy +peace in his home, when a call for help made him forsake the security +which had been so hard to earn. + +That security was unknown elsewhere in Cochise County. The strong men +who had seized the reins in Tombstone, wielding their power for their +own selfish ends, were gone; they had ridden away with warrants out +against them. The outlaw leaders were dead: John Ringo, Curly Bill, +the Clantons, and others who had swaggered where they willed, had met +violent ends. + +With their passing the courts were trying to administer the statutes, +but the courts were impotent. The statutes were mere printed words. +For the rank and file of the bad men were raiding and murdering under +the guidance of new leaders who furnished them with food and +ammunition, notified them of the movements of the officers, procured +perjured witnesses to take the stand in their behalf, and bribed +jurymen. + +Money and influence were taking the place of deadly weapons to uphold +a dynasty whose members reigned unseen and under cover, whose henchmen +looted express-cars, stole cattle, and murdered men on the highways, +until things had come to such a pass that President Arthur had issued +a proclamation threatening martial law in Southeastern Arizona. + +And now the people of Tombstone, grown sick with blood and much +violence, called to John Slaughter to take the office of sheriff and +bring the law to them. It meant the abandonment of his herds just as +he was getting them well started, the putting aside of plans which he +had cherished through the years. But he answered the call and forsook +the San Bernardino ranch for the dingy little room beside the +court-house entrance. Before he had got fairly acquainted with the new +quarters war was on. + +Cochise County was being used as a haven by bandits throughout the +Southwest. Four train-robbers fled hither from Mexico, where they had +looted an express-car and killed the messenger, soon after John +Slaughter's term began. He took his chief deputy, Bert Alvord, and +two others and followed their trail high into the Whetstone Mountains. +In the night-time the posse crawled through the brush and rocks to the +place where they had located the camp of the fugitives. + +A man must leave many things to chance when it comes to choosing his +position in the dark, and it so happened that when dawn came the +sheriff and his deputy found themselves right under the nook where the +bandits were ensconced; the other members of their party had become +separated from them. + +They had the enemy nicely cornered, with a cliff to cut off escape to +the rear, but they were themselves in the open; two men against four +and the four entrenched behind outcroppings of the living rock. + +A small space of time was jammed with many large incidents immediately +after this discovery. Men attaining supreme exaltation died in the +instant of that attainment; pulses that leaped with the joy that comes +when sight lines with bead, bead with living target and the +trigger-finger begins to move, ceased their beating more abruptly than +a machine stops when the power is turned off. + +The leaden slugs snarled as thick as angry wasps when the nest has +been disturbed; the crackling of the rifles was as a long roll; little +geysers of dust spouted among the rocks; the smoke of black powder +arose in a thin blue haze. + +A bullet clipped away a little portion from John Slaughter's ear. He +called to Alvord: + +"Bert; you're shooting too high; pull down; I see you raising dust +behind 'em every time." + +Alvord, fighting his first battle, clenched his teeth and lowered his +front sight. John Slaughter had prefaced his advice by killing one of +the bandits; he supplemented it by putting a bullet through a head +that bobbed above the rocks. And when the other two members of the +posse came to take part in the fight, there was only one train-robber +living. They found him breathing his last where he had crept away +among the cliffs. + +But killing desperadoes would not eradicate the reign of lawlessness +unless a man slew the entire pack; and John Slaughter had no intention +of instituting a St. Bartholomew's eve in Cochise County. Thus far he +had managed to get along with less bloodshed than many a man who had +not accomplished nearly as much as he. So now he went on with his task +as he had gone about his business always and proceeded to smoke out +the men who were responsible for this state of affairs. + +It was not so hard to learn their identity as it was to get the proof +of what they were doing. That was slow work. But he had hired Bert +Alvord as his deputy with just this end in view. For Alvord was +hail-fellow-well-met in every bar-room of the county; owner of a +multitude of friends, many of whom were shady characters. In later +years he gained his own dark fame as an outlaw, but that was long +after John Slaughter left the office of sheriff. + +At present Alvord was working honestly and hard, getting such +information as he could concerning who was who among the desperadoes, +gathering data as to their movements. The facts began to accumulate: a +word dropped in a gambling-hall, a name spoken before a noisy bar, a +whispered confidence from a prisoner who felt his companions had not +done all they might in his behalf. + +Gradually the evidence took the shape of a long finger pointing toward +Juan Soto, who was living in the little town of Contention, as the +leader who was handling matters in the San Pedro valley. About this +time John Slaughter began riding out of Tombstone under cover of the +night. The days went by; the sheriff came back to Tombstone morning +after morning, red-eyed with weariness, put up his pony, and went +about his business saying nothing as usual. + +One day news came to the county seat that two cattle-buyers had been +robbed and murdered down near the Mexican line. John Slaughter saddled +up and rode over to Charleston that morning, and when Juan Soto came +into town he met the sheriff who addressed him over the barrel of a +leveled forty-five. + +"I'll just take you along with me to-day," John Slaughter said. + +It was a good tight case. Tombstone was startled by the news that Juan +Soto had been a member of a bandit band in California. The sheriff was +able to give some first-hand testimony concerning the defendant's +nocturnal habits. But the community's excitement slumped to sullen +anger when the jury brought in its verdict and Juan Soto smiled as he +departed from the court-house a free man. + +Things had reached a pass where a vigilance committee appeared to be +the appropriate climax. But that was not John Slaughter's way; if any +one were going to take the power of the high justice he proposed to be +the man. He rode over to Contention and camped in front of Juan +Soto's house late in the evening. The night passed, and when the +bandit leader came riding home from Charleston with the dawn, he saw +the sheriff standing before his door. + +Both men reached for their revolvers at the same moment, but John +Slaughter's hand was quicker. It was his chance to kill; according to +the ethics of the gun-play he had that right. But he chose a different +course. + +"Leave the country," he said. "If you're here after ten days, I'll +kill you on sight." + +Soon after Juan Soto departed on his exile, the town of Wilcox over in +Sulphur Springs valley was treated to a sensation, in the banishment +of Van Wyck Coster. Every one thought Coster had enough money and +influence to keep him immune from legal proceedings, but John +Slaughter wasted none of the county's money in arrest or trial. + +"I've known what you were doing for a long time now," he announced, +holding his revolver leveled on his auditor while he spoke. There was +some debate, but the sheriff clinched his argument by going into +details, and when he had finished outlining the prosecution's case he +delivered his ultimatum: "Get out or I'll kill you." + +Coster joined Juan Soto in exile. And then it became a simple matter +of hunting down outlaws and bringing them in for trial. The arm of the +law was limbered and justice functioned in the Tombstone court-house +as well as it does in any city of the land; far better than is the +case in some more pretentious communities. There was of course plenty +of work left. Tombstone is full of stories of John Slaughter's +exploits. + +A desperado, seeking to kill him, threw down on him as he was entering +a saloon. Caught unawares for once, the sheriff flung up his hand and, +as he grasped the pistol, thrust his thumb under the descending +hammer. Meantime he drew his own weapon and placed the man under +arrest. Two train-robbers sought to lure him to Wilcox by a decoy +letter stating that his nephew had been killed. The instinct which had +saved him from other ambuscades made him investigate; and when he +learned that his nephew was living he summoned a friend who made the +journey with him. The spectacle of these two old-timers emerging from +opposite doors of the day coach, each with a double-barreled shotgun +under his arm, drove the conspirators from the station platform. Years +afterward one of them confessed the details of the plot. + +John Slaughter served two terms as sheriff, and when he retired from +office Cochise County was as peaceable as any county in the whole +Southwest. The old-timers who witnessed the passing of events during +his regime invariably speak of him when they are telling of great +gunmen. Yet, from the time when he started up the Pecos with that herd +in the spring of 1876 until the day when he went to his San Bernardino +ranch to take up life as a peaceful cattleman, he slew fewer men than +some whose names are absolutely unknown. What he did he managed to +accomplish in most instances without pulling a trigger. That was his +way. + + + + +COCHISE + + +Darkness had settled down upon the wide mesquite flat, smoothing off +all irregularities, hiding outlines until the tallest thickets were +but deeper shadows merging into the lesser shades of the open places. +Only one object showed, a Sibley tent glowing from the light within. + +Under the flaming yellow stars it stood out luminous, marking the +exact center of an enormous circle; a circle roofed by the radiantly +flecked heavens, bounded by mountains which rose against the sky-line, +abrupt as a wall, black as ink. In the different segments of this +far-flung ring the peaks of the Chiracahuas, the Grahams, the +Dragoons, and the Galiuros betrayed their ranges by varying outlines. + +But to the eye they all formed portions of one huge circumference, +whose center was a glowing point, the Sibley tent. + +On the translucent walls of canvas there was a weird design of black +shadows, a design which was constantly shifting and taking on new +shapes. And as the shadows moved, sometimes with grotesque effect and +swiftly, sometimes slowly, voices filtered through the gleaming cloth +to mingle with the whispering of the night wind in the bear-grass, the +dull stamping of tethered horses, the intermittent jingling of +bitt-chains and the steady soft footfalls of two sentries. + +The voices changed as often as the shadows on the tent-wall; now it +was the abrupt, clipping speech of a white man and now the deep, +inflectionless bass of an Indian. But most often it was the droning +monotone of the post interpreter, uttering his translations in English +or in the tongue of the Apache. + +Of what was taking place within those luminous walls of canvas, +official records still exist; and of what followed there are whole +volumes of further records in Washington. Dry reading in themselves, +they hold the meat of a remarkable story, a story whose colorful +narration has been given by its own main characters and thus has come +down among the true chronicles of the old-timers. + +On that evening in 1859 two groups of men faced one another, and the +lantern which hung on the center-pole of the Sibley tent shone down on +their faces, revealing the growing passion in their eyes. One of the +groups was composed of soldiers, wearing the blue uniforms, the queer +straight-visored caps, and the huge wide-topped boots which our +cavalry used during those times; a guard of sunburnt troopers under a +hard-bitten nom-com.; and standing a pace or so ahead of them, a young +second lieutenant fresh from West Point: Lieutenant Bascom, a stranger +in a strange, harsh land, just a little puzzled over the complications +which he saw arising here, but dead sure of himself and intolerant of +the men with whom he was treating. That intolerance showed in his +stare as he regarded them. + +There were half a dozen of the Apaches, chiefs every one of them, a +ragged group clad in a mixture of their native garb and cast-off +clothes of the white man; frowzy hair hanging to their shoulders and +bound round at the brows by soiled thin turbans. But they stood erect +and there was a dignity in the way they held their heads back, a +dignity in their immobility of feature and in their slow, grave +speech. It was the dignity of men who knew that they were leaders of +their people; who felt themselves on entire equality with the leader +of the white man's warriors; who felt the gravity of this occasion +where they had been invited into conference with this blue-clad +representative of a mighty government. Their head man was Cochise. + +Like Lieutenant Bascom, he stood a pace ahead of his followers, a lean +Apache, with a thinner face than most of his tribesmen and a +remarkably high forehead. And as he looked into the eyes of the young +man in blue who had just come from the far cities of the east coast +there began to come into his own eyes the shadow of suspicion. The +talk went on; the interpreter droned out one answer after another to +his speeches, and that shadow in the eyes of Cochise deepened. + +In itself the matter at issue was a small one. A settler had lost a +cow and he had accused the Apaches of stealing the animal. Young +Lieutenant Bascom had summoned the chiefs to conference and they had +come--they said--to help him find the culprit. After the manner of the +Indian, of whose troubles the passing of time is the very least, they +talked slowly, listened to the interpreter's rendition of the +lieutenant's answers, and then talked more. + +They did not know the man who had stolen the cow; that was the sum +and substance of their speeches. And Lieutenant Bascom, fretting with +the passage of the hours, looked on the ragged group in their dirty +nondescript garments and chafed with fresh intolerance. + +Cochise read that intolerance in the eyes of the smooth-cheeked +officer and, being an Apache, managed to conceal the suspicion in his +own eyes. He did not want trouble with the white man. He had never yet +had trouble with soldier or settler. Ever since he had been a chief +among the Chiracahua Apaches he had held down the turbulent spirits in +his portion of the tribe; he had out-intrigued savage politicians and +had smoothed over more than one difficulty like this. As a matter of +fact he was assimilating some of the white man's ways; he was getting +into business; working a crew of his people at wood-cutting, selling +cord-wood to the stage company at the Stein's Pass station. He was +doing well, saving money, and saw ahead of him the time when he would +own many cattle, like some of the settlers. + +All of this was very comfortable and to his taste, and because he +liked it he held a firm stand against the suasions of warring chiefs +from his and other tribes. He even came to cool terms with his +relative Mangus Colorado, the greatest leader the Apaches had ever +known. But while he was keeping to his position he had to listen to +many an argument and many a tale of the white man's treachery, and a +man cannot listen often without sometimes finding himself inclined to +believe. + +Settler and soldier, so said Mangus Colorado and other men of parts +among his people, regarded their promises to the Indians as nothing; +they were forever trying to entice the Apaches into conference and +then taking advantage of them--sometimes by massacre. While he argued +slowly against the impatient utterances of Lieutenant Bascom, reading +the growing intolerance in the other's eyes, Cochise remembered some +of the stories which he had frowned down when his people told them. + +That was the state of affairs when Lieutenant Bascom, with the +cocksureness of the young and the intolerance of the Easterner for +frowzy Indians, made a decision. To him it was evident that these +tattered savages were lying, they were a treacherous lot at the best, +and always thieves. So, now that he was getting sick of the whole +drawn-out business, he turned from the interpreter to his sergeant. + +"Arrest 'em," he said. + +Cochise heard him and slipped to the rear of the tent as the troopers +stepped forward. The other chiefs, who could understand no English, +did not need an interpreter to tell them the meaning of this movement. +At once the quiet of the Arizona night was shattered by the thud of +blows and savage outcries. The crowded space within the tent was +filled with struggling men. + +And while that fight went on, Cochise, aflame with hatred, outraged by +this violation of the sacred custom of conference, believing now every +word that had been spoken to him by Mangus Colorado and the other +war-chiefs, whipped out his knife. The sound of the blade as it rent +the canvas was drowned by the other noises, and when Lieutenant Bascom +and his breathless troopers surveyed their bound captives Cochise was +in full flight across the darkened plain. + +Now word was sent by courier to the agency, and government runners +went forth that night to all parts of the reservation, but they found +no Indians to receive their messages. The Chiracahua Apaches were +already riding toward their mountains where Mangus Colorado and the +renegade members of their tribe were biding on the heights, like +eagles resting on the rocky peaks before they take their next flight. + +Like roosting eagles the warriors of Mangus Colorado scanned the wide +plains beneath the mountains. Their eyes went to the ragged summits of +the ranges beyond. Now as the day was creeping across the long, flat +reaches of the Sulphur Springs valley, tipping the scarred crests of +the Dragoons with light off to the west, touching the distant northern +pinnacles of the Grahams with throbbing radiance, one of these +lookouts beheld a thread of smoke unraveling against the bright +morning sky. + +Under the newly-risen sun Cochise and his followers were traveling +hard away off there to the northward. The turbaned warriors came on +first, half-naked, armed some of them with lances, some with bows and +poisoned arrows, and a goodly number bearing rifles. Their lank brown +legs moved ceaselessly in rhythm with the trotting of the little +ponies; their moccasined heels thudded against the flanks of the +animals. + +In the rear of the column the squaws rode with the children and the +scanty baggage. As they traveled thus, an outrider departed from the +column to leave his horse upon an arid slope and climb afoot among the +rocks above until he stood outlined against the clear hot sky, +kindling a wisp of flame. Now he bent over the fire, casting bits of +powdered resin upon the blaze, holding a square of tattered blanket +over it after the first puff of black smoke had risen, feeding it then +with a scattering of green leaves which in their turn gave forth a +cloud of white fumes. + +And so the smoke thread unwound its length, showing itself in black +and white; spelling forth, by the same system of dot and dash which +the white man employs in his telegraph, the tidings of what had taken +place back there in the Sibley tent. + +From his nook in the Chiracahuas the watching warrior read its +message. And long before the first faint haze of mounting dust +betrayed the approach of the fugitives, Mangus Colorado knew that his +nephew and his nephew's people had quit the reservation and the +rations of meat and flour to make their living henceforth, as their +savage forebears had made theirs as far back as the memory of the +oldest traditions went--by marauding. So he gathered all his forces +and welcomed Cochise into a council, where they planned their first +series of raids against the white men. + +In this manner Cochise reverted to the customs of his ancestors; +customs which had come gradually to the Apaches when they wandered +down from Athabasca, passing southward through regions held by hostile +tribes snatching their sustenance from these enemies, fleeing before +superior forces of warriors, until they reached the flaming deserts +down by the Mexican border, past-masters of the arts of ambush and +raid and retreat, owning no longer any love of home or knowledge of +tepee building; nomads who made their lodges by spreading skins or +blankets over the tops of bushes which they had tied together; to whom +the long march had become an ingrained habit and all the arts of +bloody ambush an instinctive pleasure. + +Now he devoted all his mind and bent his talents to these wiles of +Apache warfare; he directed his young men in making a living for the +rest of the tribe by theft and murder. + +His uncle, Magnus Colorado, was the most skilful leader the Apaches +had ever known, a marvelously tall savage with an enormous head. +Cochise learned from him and in time surpassed him as a general. For +nearly a decade and a half he made a plunder ground of southeastern +Arizona and southwestern New Mexico, extending his forays away down +across the line into Sonora and Chihuahua until a remarkable man among +his white enemies came to him, and by a daring bit of frontier +diplomacy, put an end to the bloodiest outbreak in the history of the +Southwest. + +But in the beginning there was neither diplomat nor general among the +white men. The days before the Civil War witnessed a withdrawal of the +troops from Arizona, and the Apaches had things very much their own +way. From their home in the Chiracahua Mountains they rode westward +across the wide reaches of the Sulphur Springs valley to the ridges of +the Catalinas away beyond the San Pedro, then turned southward, making +their way toward Mexico by the Whetstone and the Huachuca ranges. + +Now, as they trekked along the heights, they paused at times to send +bands of warriors down into the flat lands which lie along the course +of the Santa Cruz. Here were ranches and a few small settlements. It +was the custom of the raiders to steal upon these places, always in +force superior to that of their enemies, camouflaging themselves by +bits of brush and handfuls of earth which they stuck among the folds +of their turbans and spread over their bare backs until one looking at +them from a distance of twenty-five yards would never suspect the +presence of lurking warriors. + +In this manner they lay along the roadside biding the wagon-trains and +stages, or crept up on ranch-houses, or wormed their way toward +sleeping prospectors at the hour of dawn. And when they felt sure that +the issue was safely in their hands they opened fire. + +During the Civil War times they put the Butterfield stage line out of +business and were an important factor in determining the northern +route for the carrying of the United States mails to California; they +wiped out the ranches of the valleys until cattle-raising and +agriculture ceased entirely; they raided the pueblo of Tubac until its +people finally fled for safety to Tucson and then they burned the +deserted buildings. They made a howling waste out of southeastern +Arizona. + +Travel was suspended; there was no ranching and nearly every mine in +this portion of the territory was abandoned. Of northern Sonora they +made a source of supply for their horses and drove whole herds out of +Mexico, using the surplus animals for food, keeping the rest for +mounts until these knuckled under from hard treatment. + +During the years that followed the Civil War those fat days came to an +end. Fresh troops were sent out from Washington. Mangus Colorado was +captured by a detachment of cavalry and, according to the story of one +present, was killed in his blankets by the troopers who guarded him. +White settlers, stung to reprisals by the barbarity of successive +massacres, hunted down several bands of the Apaches at their +rancherias and wiped them out in night attacks, men, women, and +children. Cochise found himself faced with a new set of conditions and +changed his tactics to meet them. + +It was the habit of the Apaches to rest between the long forced +marches of their raids, choosing always a spot high in the mountains +where the mescal plant grew. Here they would gather the roots of the +thorny vegetable, bury them in the earth, kindle roaring fires over +them, and bake them. Thus they got the sugar which their wasted bodies +needed; and during the days at these camps they gained the rest which +their aching bones craved. + +But the white man's cavalry, guided by scouts recruited from the Touto +Basin Apaches and from settlers who knew the country, began tracking +the renegades to their aerial refuges, and sometimes massacred whole +bands of them. Failing to steal upon them, the cavalry always managed +to get them on the run once more, and that meant scant rations when +full bellies were long overdue. + +In this manner the soldiers and the settlers were making the +Chiracahuas too hot for Cochise and his people. + +Then the war-chief led his tribe across the Sulphur Springs valley +to the northern end of the Dragoon Mountains where the peaks rise +straight from the mesquite flat lands, two thousand feet of sheer +walls whose summits command a view for many miles; whose pinnacles +and overhanging rocks give endless opportunity for hiding and +ambush. In this sanctuary they found rest between raids during the +early seventies; and the place is known to this day as Cochise's +Stronghold. + +Here one time a force of several hundred soldiers made camp in the +lowlands, and strung a series of strong outposts through Middle Pass, +cutting off the northern part of the range from all the rest of the +world, holding it inside a ring of armed men. It was such a siege as +the warriors of the Middle Ages used to wage, starving their walled-in +enemies to surrender. For weeks the soldiers bided and sometimes got +glimpses of the turbaned heads of Apache warriors who were gazing down +on them from the rocks above. + +Then, one dark night, Cochise took his entire tribe, numbering +somewhere between two and three hundred men, women, and children, down +the niches among the cliffs. Carrying their arms and their scanty +baggage, the Apaches wormed their way from the crest to the plain two +thousand feet below and crawled through the line of the besiegers. So +adroitly was the thing manoeuvered that no one cut their trail, and +two days passed before the escape was discovered. By that time the +whole band were raiding down along the headwaters of the San Pedro, +getting new horses from the herds of ranchers on the border. + +In the old days this northern end of the Dragoon Mountains, which +towers above the flat lands of the Sulphur Springs valley on the one +side and the rolling plains of the San Pedro on the other, had been +known among the Apaches as the abode of the dead. Here, they said, the +departed spirits of their ancestors whispered among the granite caves +and pinnacles every evening with the coming of the night wind. + +But from now on they forgot the tribal legends and looked upon the +place as their inviolable refuge. + +Time after time the blue-clad troopers chased them as far as the base +of the cliffs, but never pressed them farther. For Cochise had +developed into a consummate strategist and, for the first time in +their history, the Apaches learned the art of making a stand against +superior forces. + +To this day the rolling hills under those pinkish granite precipices +show traces of the camps which the troopers occupied during successive +sieges, only to abandon them on learning that their turbaned enemies +had stolen away in some other quarter to resume their raiding all +along the border. + +In some of the canyons which lead up toward the ragged crests of naked +rock one can still pick up old brass cartridge-shells, the relics of +grim battles where the soldiers always found themselves at a +disadvantage, targets for the frowzy, naked savages who slipped and +squirmed among the granite masses above them like rattlesnakes. + +Far to the southward the Sierra Madre reared its lofty crests toward +the flaring sky; and there Cochise established another sanctuary where +his people could rest and hunt when the chase became too hot in +Arizona. His breech-clouted scouts discovered some dry placer diggings +here, and he bade the squaws mine the dust which he exchanged with +crooked-souled white traders for ammunition. + +And now, having mastered the art of flight as he had mastered the art +of raiding, the war-chief of the Chiracahua Apaches waged his vendetta +against the white men more remorselessly than any of his forefathers +had done in their time. + +But few men are absolutely consistent and Cochise had some +idiosyncracies, which it is just as well to note in passing, for they +give an inkling of a side of his character that was instrumental in +bringing an end to the whole bloody business. + +For one thing he could not enjoy torturing his prisoners. He tried +that once on a Mexican down Agua Prieta way. After the custom of his +nation he pegged out the luckless prisoner near an ant-hill, with his +mouth propped open by a wooden gag and a trail of honey leading into +it. + +But when he settled down that night to enjoy the torments of the man, +he found that pleasure would not come to him; and during the long +hours that followed, the groans of the slowly dying Mexican became a +punishment to his savage captor, a punishment which endured for years +afterward, for in his sleep Cochise sometimes heard those moanings +when he was an old man, and hearing them sweated in agony of mind. + +Another of his peculiarities was a love of the truth. He was no hand +at lying like the ordinary Indian. In an era when the white men were +careless with their compacts, an era when Washington set the fashion +in breaking treaties with the hostile Indians, he came out with the +reputation of always keeping his word. + +"If you can not tell the truth," he said, "keep silent or avoid the +subject." + +That was the way he put it to Captain Thomas Jonathan Jeffords, to +whom he also confessed the weakness which had overcome him in the case +of the tortured Mexican. And the knowledge of this side of Cochise's +character helped Captain Jeffords to pave the way for the wind-up of +the war-chief's maraudings. That knowledge came after a long strange +intimacy which began in a remarkable manner. + +This Captain Thomas Jonathan Jeffords owned a wagon outfit and not +only contracted for government freighting in those times when teaming +was a perilous venture, but rode as an express messenger for various +military posts along the border. During the days when Cochise was +using the northern end of the Dragoon Mountains as his stronghold, the +days before these two men became acquainted, the lean brown warriors +made several attacks on Jeffords's wagon-trains and on more than one +occasion forced the old-timer himself to do some extremely hard +riding. + +Finally when he had lost fourteen employees and property amounting to +thousands of dollars in ambuscades and raids, Jeffords decided that it +was high time to put an end to this sort of thing as far as he was +concerned. He had tried reprisals on his own account but although he +and his leather-skinned followers had managed to kill off numerous +Apaches, there were more warriors in the tribe than he could ever hope +to massacre. + +He had worked with the soldiers as a scout but had found the cavalry +hampered by too many conflicting orders from Washington, and in some +cases too inefficiently officered in high places, to be very +formidable. Cochise was too much for them to handle and that was all +there was about it. Now he made up his mind to try a new scheme. + +Captain Jeffords had mixed a great deal with Apaches of various +tribes, until he knew their customs as well as they did themselves. He +could speak their tongue and he knew the sign language which was the +lingua Franca of the western tribes. He could read smoke signals; he +had made friends among those of the renegades who sometimes took a +long chance and drifted down to the government posts in company with +peaceful Indians. Gradually he got such information as he could, and +as he got it he stored it away in his mind until he felt he was as +well equipped with knowledge as he could hope. + +Then he set forth one day to pay a visit to Cochise in person. It was +a risky venture but the old-timers never balked at taking long +chances; else they would never have come west of the Rio Grande. +Jeffords induced an Apache who had been with Cochise to accompany him +part way on the journey; and before the Indian back-tracked for the +military post, he had him send up a smoke signal announcing the visit +and stating that its nature was peaceable. + +When the last shreds of smoke vanished in the clear sky the native +departed and Jeffords resumed his journey toward the Dragoons. No +answering sign had come from those scarred granite peaks; and as he +rode on across the blazing plain they stood forth against the +cloudless sky, frowning, inscrutable. For all that the eye could see +they might have been deserted, without life among them since the +beginning of time; or they might be at this moment sheltering hundreds +of biding enemies. He had to wait until he got among those rocks +before he knew what they held in store for him. + +He rode to the edge of the plain and from the lowlands up the first +slopes of talus at the mouth of a long, steep-walled canyon. He pressed +his horse on up the narrow gorge. On either side the cliffs loomed +above him; in places they were so close together that he could have +tossed a pebble from one to the other. There was no sign of life; no +sound, no movement. + +But this tall lean rider knew that somewhere among those granite +pinnacles which stood out against the sky-line before him and on +either side, scores of venomous black eyes were watching him. He knew +that for every pair of eyes there was a rifle; and that many a crooked +brown finger was fairly itching to press the trigger. + +Thus he rode his sweating pony up and up where the gorge wound toward +the summit, up and up until he reached the nests of enormous granite +boulders which hang seemingly poised between the heavens and the flat +plain beneath. And finally he saw before him the lodges made of bended +bushes with skins and blankets spread over their curved sides. He +reined in his horse, dismounted, and walked into the camp of the +renegades. + +Cochise was sitting in his lodge, which was but a bare shelter from +the sun's rays--a number of bushes bound together at their tops formed +the ribs for a haphazard sort of tent made of outspread skins,--and +whether he was awaiting this visit no man knows. For the war-chief +showed no sign of surprise or of welcome when Captain Jeffords entered +the place. But when the tall white man had seated himself upon the +skins which covered the dry earth and announced his purpose, Cochise +betrayed astonishment. + +"I have come here," Jeffords said with the deliberation which one +must use when he is talking with an Indian, "to see you, to know you +better, and to talk over certain matters with you. I will stay here +two days or maybe three; and while I remain--to show my good +faith--one of your squaws may keep my weapons." With which he laid +aside his rifle and revolver. + +After a silence whose length would have been disconcerting to any +other than an old-timer owning a knowledge of the Indian ways, Cochise +called a squaw, who picked up the firearms at his bidding and took +them away with her. Then these two men of parts settled down to talk +business. + +It took them two days and two nights, for Jeffords was careful not to +crowd matters in the slightest, hanging to the savage custom of long +silences and few words at a time between them. As the hours went on he +sat there patiently listening to the war-chief recounting at great +length his experiences with the white men, reciting the stories of bad +faith and broken compacts; and when these recitals were finished he +continued to sit in silence for long intervals, before he resumed his +own arguments. + +Thus the talk went on in the little brush shelter during the hot days +and the cool evenings; and what it all came to was this: + +Jeffords said that this war between Cochise and the soldiers was not +his war. It was, he maintained, no business of his excepting when the +officers who carried the authority of the great father in Washington, +bade him to do their bidding and act as a guide or scout. Otherwise, +why should he take up his good time and risk his life in fighting a +people against whom he held no personal grudge? + +And why should that people bother their heads and risk their lives in +fighting him? He followed that question by reminding Cochise of the +reprisals which he had launched against the Chiracahua Apaches. They +had killed fourteen of his men and stolen much of his property; but he +and his men had killed several times fourteen of Cochise's warriors +and had wrought devastation in proportion. Did that pay the Apaches? + +Well, then, why keep on with it? He knew good things of Cochise and +had respect for him. Cochise knew who he was and the sort of man he +was. No need for them to go on injuring each other and each other's +people. They could call it a draw and quit right now. + +If the white soldiers demanded Jefford's services, all well and good; +he would go and serve them as scout or interpreter or guide, and do +what fighting one must do when he is on the war-path. And on such +occasions, if the warriors of Cochise could kill him or capture him, +all right; it was their privilege. But no more of this attacking each +other out of season. If Cochise would let his men and property alone, +he would no longer make any raids on Cochise's people. + +That was the gist of it and it took a long time to say; a long time +during which Cochise told Jeffords many things and Jeffords spoke with +Cochise of many subjects outside the direct line of discussion. For +that was the Indian manner; they must feel each other out and satisfy +themselves each as to the other's personality. + +In the end they shook hands on their bargain, and Captain Thomas +Jonathan Jeffords got back his weapons from the squaw, saddled up his +pony, and rode forth from the camp of the Apache war-chief, the party +of the first part to a compact such as never had been heard of up to +that time in the history of Indian warfare. + +That compact stood. And there were times when its observance was a +delicate matter; times when Captain Jeffords had to draw fine lines +between his duty as a government scout and his obligations to Cochise. +But he managed to perform those duties and to keep the faith; and +although he went forth with the cavalry troopers on many an occasion, +serving them faithfully and well, he never fell out with the war-chief +of the Chiracahuas. + +In fact their friendship grew as the years went by and they came to +regard each other as brothers. During such visits as he paid to the +stronghold in lulls of the border warfare, Jeffords got to know much +of Cochise's history, of his grievances, and of his point of view. + +During these same years there came a change in the command, and +General George Crook, who is looked upon by the old-timers as perhaps +the greatest of our Indian-fighters, led the cavalry against the +Apaches. Crook's understanding of the Indian was perfect; and not only +was he able to beat the natives at their own game of ambuscade but he +thoroughly sympathized with their cause. He knew how Washington and +incompetent officers had blundered and lied to them. + +It was therefore with the utmost willingness that he combined his +campaign of savage fighting with another and quieter campaign of +diplomacy which was being waged by General O. O. Howard. + +The latter had been sent out by President Grant to get the Chiracahua +Apaches back on the reservation. And one day he made up his mind to +open negotiations with the war-chief in person. + +He asked his scouts for a man who could find where Cochise was hiding +at the time and conduct him to the place, and they told him that there +was only one man in the territory of Arizona, who stood a chance of +doing this--Captain Jeffords. + +General Howard sent for Jeffords and the two conferred in the presence +of a number of cavalry officers. And when the general had announced +his purpose a dispute arose; the officers advised him to take along a +strong escort of troops if he intended making this call. Jeffords +declared flatly that such an escort would need all the cavalry along +the border. No troops or else an army, was his way of putting it; and +if there were an army he did not purpose accompanying the expedition. +On the other hand he would willingly take General Howard alone. They +compromised by sending along a single aide, a captain. + +Then these three men journeyed to the northern end of the Dragoon +Mountains; and as they crossed the wide plains toward the somber +range, they halted two or three times while Captain Jeffords built a +little fire. The general and his aide watched the old-timer standing +by the wisp of flame, sprinkling upon it now one sort of fuel and now +another, occasionally smothering the rising fumes with his saddle +blanket. And as they rode onward they saw the smoke of Apache +signal-fires rising from the ragged summits ahead of them. They saw +these things, and it is a fact that they thought but little of them. + +So they marveled when Captain Jeffords chose his route into the +mountains without hesitation; and their wonder grew when he pointed to +a group of enormous boulders which topped the ridge ahead of them, +saying-- + +"We will find Cochise's people camped there to-day." + +They rode on upward and came into the camp of the Apaches. Here and +there a ragged squaw peered out of a dirty lodge at them; they saw a +group of children scattering like frightened quail. There were no +warriors, only one or two old men. + +"Where is Cochise?" General Howard asked. + +"He will be here within an hour," Jeffords answered, "and when he +comes you will know him because you will see riding ahead of him the +ugliest-looking Apache in Arizona carrying a lance." + +And because Jeffords had exchanged no word as yet with the Indians, +the two white men marveled again. + +The old-timer led them to the chief's lodge, where they sat down and +waited. + +Within the hour a group of Apaches came riding up the nearest gorge, +and at their head General Howard saw one whose sinister face conformed +to the description which Jeffords had given him. The warrior was +carrying a lance. And behind him rode the war-chief. Cochise +dismounted and entered his lodge. After the Mexican fashion he kissed +Jeffords on both cheeks embracing him warmly. Then-- + +"What is it these men want?" he asked. + +Jeffords introduced General Howard and the aide, and stated the +former's motive in making this visit. Cochise sat silent for some +moments. At length, pointing to General Howard-- + +--"Will he keep his word if we exchange promises?" he demanded. + +"I have advised him not to promise too much, as is the habit of many +white men," Jeffords answered, "and I believe he is honest." + +The old war-chief fell silent again. Finally he turned to General +Howard. + +"Some of my young men," he said slowly, "are away now. They are making +their living. They may come back at any time. And when they come back +there may be trouble. It would be better if you were not here then." + +And General Howard knew enough about the Apaches and their habits to +be sure in what manner those young men were making their living; what +sort of trouble would probably follow their arrival in the camp. It +would be an awkward situation if he were to be in this place during a +battle between the savages and his fellow-soldiers. But he was not a +young man and the prospects of a long ride back to the nearest +military post were not alluring. He said as much. + +"Four of my young men will take you to a good place," Cochise told +him, "and after the third day they will bring you back." + +On the advice of Jeffords this course of action was agreed to; and +four Apaches took General Howard down into the valley as far as the +point where the Sulphur Springs ranch buildings now stand. + +Jeffords and the aide bided here on the heights with the Indians. And +on the second day, true to Cochise's prophecy, a band of renegades +came riding hard up the gorge. The spot where the Indians were +encamped was a saddle at the summit, some hundreds of feet lower than +the adjoining ridges. Now as the fugitive warriors threw themselves +from their lathered ponies, announcing that two troops of cavalry were +close behind them, the aide of General Howard witnessed one of those +spectacles which are easier to tell than to believe. + +With the announcement of this emergency, the camp moved. In the same +time that it takes to say the foregoing sentence, it moved--men, +women, children, and every bit of impedimenta. It was like one of +those magic transformations of which we used to read in fairy-tales +when we were children. + +One moment the Apaches were squatting among their lodges; and in the +next moment people and goods and wickiups were gone; the place was +bare. + +Every warrior and squaw and child seized what objects were nearest at +hand, overlooking none, and scampered off with them. Within a few +minutes of the arrival of the fugitives, the entire band was scattered +among the boulders and pinnacles on the higher portion of the ridge; +Cochise was disposing his warriors to the best advantage to repel the +attack. + +But the cavalry made no advance beyond the canyon mouth, and there was +no fight. When General Howard returned at the end of the next day he +saw the manner in which the war-chief had deployed his men and was +struck with admiration. No general, he said in telling of the +incident afterward, no matter how highly schooled in the arts of +modern warfare, could have disposed of his forces to better advantage +than this savage had done. + +Then General Howard, his aide, and Captain Jeffords were given one of +those primitive lodges and settled down here among the lofty heights +of Cochise's stronghold, isolated from all white men, surrounded by +the most bloodthirsty savages in America, rubbing elbows with naked +warriors who had spent the years of their manhood perfecting +themselves in the fine arts of ambush and murder. + +Cochise saw to it that they were well supplied with robes and +blankets; by his orders they were feasted as became ambassadors; and +General Howard ate with a relish one evening a stew which he afterward +learned was made from the meat of a fat half-grown colt. + +The conference went on at a leisurely rate; but at that it was +conducted much more swiftly than most discussions in which Indians +have taken part, for since the party had come to these heights they +had sent back no word of how they were faring, and they dared not drag +out the business to too great a length lest an expedition come after +them. Such a development would effectually stop the negotiations and, +in all probability, forever prevent their renewal. + +General Howard told Cochise his purpose in coming to Arizona, and +dwelt with emphasis on the fact that President Grant had sent him. The +name of this famous warrior of the white men had weight with the +leader of the Chiracahuas. If the man who led the armies of the great +father to victory was behind this movement, he must at least respect +the overtures. Howard went on to say that all the President wanted was +peace with the Indians; to get them back on the reservation and to +treat them fairly. + +Cochise replied with a long statement of his own grievances beginning +with the incident wherein Lieutenant Bascom was a main figure; he told +of other cases wherein the white man had not shown up well. Many +promises had been made to the Apaches but none had been kept. Still he +was willing to go on with this thing; President Grant was a mighty +warrior, and Captain Jeffords had vouched for his envoy's honesty. + +Thus they sat within the rude shelter of boughs and skins, smoking and +talking while the naked braves passed outside eying them through the +doorway with sharp sidelong glances, and lean withered squaws cackled +all day long among the vermin-ridden lodges about them. + +Then Cochise announced that he and his people would go back to live +upon a reservation and to eat the white man's rations--on certain +conditions. The reservation must be in their own country; he named a +portion of the Sulphur Springs valley and the adjoining Chiracahuas. +And the agent must be Captain Jeffords. + +There was justice in these conditions. The tribe had always roved over +the country which Cochise named. As for the agent, it was a notorious +fact that about nine-tenths of the Indian troubles originated through +dishonesty of officials; either they were thieves or their friends +were, which amounted to the same thing. And Jeffords was honest. + +When General Howard had heard out the war-chief, he at once accepted +the stipulations. President Grant had given him carte blanche in this +matter; he was sure that he could keep his promises. But Captain +Jeffords interposed an obstacle. + +The last thing that he wanted was to be an Indian agent. The +government owed him about twenty thousand dollars and if he took the +office it would prevent his collecting the claims which were then +under adjudication in Washington. Besides he well knew the political +forces which were always working on an Indian agent, the strings which +were being pulled in Washington, the various grafts, big and petty, to +which one must shut his eyes if he wanted to remain in charge of a +reservation. He stated his position. + +Cochise remained firm. No agent other than Jeffords. That was his +ultimatum. He would rather go on fighting until his people were +extinct than to take them back and have them robbed. General Howard +turned in appeal to the old-timer. And Captain Jeffords then +capitulated--under conditions. + +He would give up the hope of collecting the money which the government +owed him and he would take charge of the new reservation. But if he +did these things he must be in complete control. His word must be law +and there must be no outside interference. If he gave the order, no +white man--not even the commander of the United States army--could +come within the boundaries of the district set apart for the Indians. +Beyond his judgment there could be no appeal. He did not purpose to +have matters taken to Washington over his head. + +And, to make a long story short, General Howard not only consented to +all of this, but he saw to it that President Grant confirmed his +promises. He made a special trip to Washington and placed the matter +before the nation's chief executive, who issued the necessary orders. +And so late in 1872 Cochise and his people came back to the +reservation. + +That was not all, either. They lived there, during the lifetime of +Cochise, in peace and quiet. There were thefts and there were cases of +whisky-peddling with their inevitable accompaniments in the way of +murder. There were times when the young men got restless; when passing +Apaches from the White Mountains tried to induce the tribe to rise and +leave the reservation with them, when medicine-men from these other +clans preached bloody war. + +But Cochise and Captain Thomas Jonathan Jeffords attended to all of +these things as they came up. They ferreted out the criminals; they +hunted down the whisky-peddlers; they drove the recalcitrant spirits +from other tribes away and quelled the dissatisfaction which they had +stirred up. + +And because there was no appeal beyond their judgment; because no +hungry politician could bring it about that his friends got the chance +to swindle the Apaches or to rob them of their rations--as was being +done with other Indians all over the West at the time--these two old +men were able to enforce their edicts and to keep at peace the most +warlike savages in the whole Southwest. They kept the faith with the +government, those two; and they kept the faith with each other; and +the friendship which had begun that day when Jeffords rode up into +Cochise's stronghold, grew closer and closer. + +That friendship never wavered until the day of Cochise's death. And +when he knew that the end was coming he called for Jeffords, who was +brought to his bedside. It was about two hours before noon. + +"To-morrow at this time in the morning," Cochise said, "I will die. I +want to say good-by to you." + +They talked for some time over things that had happened in days gone +by. And finally Cochise asked the old-timer whether he believed in a +hereafter. Jeffords, like many another man, could only hope that there +might be such a thing. + +"Well," Cochise told him finally, "I believe that after I am gone I +will see you again, my friend." + +And those were their last words together. The next morning, at the +hour which he had named, Cochise breathed his last. + + + + +ONE AGAINST MANY + + +Maybe you will get an insight into certain traits of the old-timers +and so will find it easier to believe the facts set forth in this +chronicle, if I begin with the tale of "Big Foot" Wallace. + +Away back in the days before the Mexican War this Big Foot Wallace, +lusty then and in his prime, was taking part in a bushwhacking +expedition into Northern Chilhuahua; and his little company was +captured by the soldiers of the southern republic. No one was losing +any sleep in those parts over the laws of nations, and the officer +commanding the victorious enemy was in a hurry to be moving on. +Wherefore, like many another handful of Americans, the prisoners soon +found themselves surrounding a jar within whose hidden depths were +white and black beans, in number corresponding to their own. + +The idea was that each man must draw his bean, and he who got a +white one lived, while he who picked a black kernel was lined up with +his luckless friends before the nearest wall and shot within an hour. +Thus the Mexican commander intended to reduce by one-half the +number of his prisoners, and at the same time afford his troops a +little entertainment in witnessing the drama of the bean-picking. + +There was in Big Foot Wallace's company a young fellow with a wife and +children waiting for him back in Texas, and as the tattered group +crowded around the jar to thrust their hands within and draw forth +their different fates this soldier broke down. The thought of the +woman and the babies was too much for him. + +Big Foot Wallace had just plunged in his hand when the man began to +sob. He glanced down at the white bean which his fingers clutched and +turned to the stricken youth. + +"Here," he whispered with an oath thrown in to show his indifference +to the heroics, "take this, I'm feeling lucky to-day." + +With which he turned over his precious bean and--proceeded to draw +another white one. + +The tale is told to this day by white-bearded men who maintain that it +came to them from the lips of Big Foot Wallace. It has been used as +the basis for at least one bit of fine fiction, but in its original +form it illuminates for us of a later generation the characters of +those extraordinary men who won the great Southwest away from the +Apaches. They were, whenever occasion came, perfectly willing to take +a long chance against ugly death. That willingness made every one of +the old-timers a host in himself. + +During the decades between the end of the Mexican War and the coming +of the railroads these men drifted westward from the Rio Grande and +the Pecos. A lean and sunburned crew, they came by saddle-horse and +wagon, by thorough-brace Concord stage-coach and by bull team, +dribbling into the long, thin valleys which reach northward from the +Mexican border to the Gila River. + +They found such spots as suited them; there they built their cabins, +gouged their prospect-holes from the rocky hillsides, and dug the +irrigation-ditches for their ranches. There were few settlements +and these remote from one another; the military posts were so +insufficiently garrisoned that the troopers had all they could do to +look out for themselves; and the Apaches roamed unhindered whither the +lust for plunder led them. + +These savages had owned the valleys and the ragged mountain ranges +between them. They saw the white men drifting in, in twos and threes; +they saw the lonely camps and cabins, tenanted by little groups of +settlers, beyond all reach of help; they saw the wagon-trains and +stages traveling without convoys. Their chiefs were wily, their +warriors past masters of the art of ambush. They started in to kill +off the new-comers; and they undoubtedly would have succeeded in +depopulating most of New Mexico and Arizona if it had not been for +that one trait of which Big Foot Wallace furnishes an example. + +Therein lies the key-note to the incidents within this little +chronicle; the contemptuous disregard for danger, the willingness to +take the supreme risk, which made those old-timers perform exploits +that were seemingly impossible; which made them outface their naked +enemies--who were always looking out for their own swarthy skins--and +come forth unscathed from situations wherein death seemed the only +means by which they could emerge; which made them win in many a grim +fight where the odds were one man against many. + +One man against many. That was the case with Uncle Billy Rhodes. Back +in the early sixties he and his partner had taken up some land down in +the Santa Cruz valley near the pueblo of Tubac. If you drive southward +in your car to-day from Tucson you will pass the spot where Tubac +stood until the Apaches laid waste the town during Civil War times, +and go within a stone's throw of the place where Uncle Billy Rhodes +ran one of the biggest and finest bluffs in all the history of +Indian-fighting. + +It was the custom of the Apaches to raid southward from their +reservations into Mexico, scooping up such loot and lives as they +could during their journeys. Usually at this particular time they +traveled by way of the Santa Catalina Mountains, keeping well to the +heights until they reached the Pantano Wash, where they frequently +swooped down on the Butterfield stage-station before climbing to the +summits of the Whetstones and the Huachucas. Clinging to the rocky +ridges, they went on southward and watched the lowlands for signs of +victims. + +Such a war-party descended into the Santa Cruz valley one afternoon +and found Billy Rhodes's partner alone at the ranch. When they got +through with him there was little left in the semblance of a man, but +they took good care to postpone burning the ranch-buildings, +contenting themselves with promiscuous looting. + +The idea was that smoke creates a warning signal and Uncle Billy +Rhodes would never come within rifle-shot of the spot once he got +sight of the ascending cloud. He was their meat; they possessed their +souls in patience and settled down to await his home-coming. + +Afternoon was waning and the first long shadows of early evening were +beginning to steal across the plain from the base of the mountains +when Uncle Billy rode his jaded pony down the faint wagon-track toward +the ranch-house. He was weary from the saddle, for he had come a long +distance that day--so long a distance that the horse was unfit for +much more travel. + +He passed his first rude fence and was within two hundred yards or so +of the cabin when something made him pull up. He did not know what +that something was; but the bronco added to his suspicions by its +behavior. And then, while he was reconnoitering, an over-eager brave +took a pot-shot at him. + +The bullet missed, as most Apache bullets had a habit of doing. Next +to the courage of the old-timers the utter inability of the North +American Indian to grasp the necessity of pulling down his front sight +was perhaps the largest factor that helped the white man to win the +country west of the Mississippi River. Uncle Billy Rhodes whirled his +pony and started back in the direction he had come from. + +But the ponies of the Apaches were fresh from the rest they had +enjoyed while their masters were prolonging the death agonies of Uncle +Billy's partner. It took but a short time for the Indians to catch +them up and within a minute or two something like fifty warriors, +turbaned, naked from the waist up, were crowding their frenzied mounts +in the wake of the fugitive. + +The chase, as might have been expected, was a short one. Before he had +gone a half-mile Uncle Billy saw that he was going to be overtaken. +Already the savages were spreading out, and he could hear the yells of +those who were drawing up on each side. + +It was the proper time for a man to despair; but Uncle Billy was too +busy looking about him for a point of vantage to indulge in any such +emotion as that. He had an old-fashioned cap-and-ball revolver, all of +whose chambers were loaded; and it was his intention to make those six +bullets if possible account for six Apaches before he resigned himself +to unkind fate. + +The river-bed was close at hand; in places the road skirted the willow +thickets which lined the stream. Before the fugitive a particularly +thick clump of the green shrubs showed; all about it the ground was +open. Uncle Billy hardly bothered to check his pony's lame gallop +before casting himself bodily into the midst of this shelter. And +thereafter the affair took on a different complexion. + +The Apache was never foolhardy. Possessed of marvelous patience, he +was willing to wait when waiting was the more prudent course of +action. And in the beginning the pursuers, who had encircled the +willow thicket, contented themselves with shooting from a distance +where they could keep to cover. + +But evening was growing on, and these savages were imbued with more +superstitious fears of the dark than the members of most Indian +tribes. It became evident that they must rush matters if they would go +to camp before the night enwrapped them. + +So the forty-odd came wriggling down the surrounding slopes toward the +willow thicket, keeping as close to the earth as possible, striving to +close in before they made their open charge. Uncle Billy waited until +he got a good shot, and "turned loose" for the first time. A +spattering of bullets answered his, but he had the satisfaction of +seeing one naked form lying motionless on the hillside. + +There came a yell, and now the Apaches showed themselves as they ran +forward. The old revolver spoke again and then the third time. The +charge broke in its inception; and the retreating enemy left two more +of their number behind them when they went back to cover. + +There followed an interval of silence. It was succeeded by another +rush. Uncle Billy fired twice from the depths of his thicket, and both +shots scored. The Apaches sought the rocks once more; but the +old-timer lay among the willows with a broken elbow from one of their +bullets. There was no time, nor were there means, for dressing the +wound. He gritted his teeth, dug the elbow into the soft sand to +stanch the flow of blood, and waited for the next onset. + +It came within a few minutes, and Uncle Billy fired his last shot. The +good luck which sometimes helps out a brave man in time of trouble saw +to it that the ball from his revolver found the chief of the party. +When they saw him fall the Indians retired in bad order. + +And now, where force had failed them, the Apaches resorted to +diplomacy. All they wanted was to get their hands on the white man, +and a little lying might be the means to help them to it. In Spanish +one of them called from his cover, bidding Uncle Billy give himself up +as a prisoner. He had, the herald said, been so brave that they would +observe the amenities of the white man's warfare; they would not harm +a hair of his head. But if he refused they surely would come on this +time and kill him. + +To which Uncle Billy Rhodes replied profanely inviting them to make +the charge. + +"Because," he ended, "I'm plumb anxious to get some more of you." + +And then he sat back biding their coming--with his empty revolver. But +the silence continued uninterrupted; the shadows merged to dusk; +twilight deepened to darkness. The Apaches had stolen away, and Uncle +Billy Rhodes crept forth from the willows to catch up his horse and +ride with his broken arm to Tucson, where he told the story. + +Now there is no doubt what would have happened to Uncle Billy had he +been gullible enough to believe that statement of the Apaches as to +his personal safety in case of surrender. As a matter of cold fact +neither Indian nor white man had any particular reason to look for +favor or expect the truth from his enemy during this long struggle. + +Just to get an idea of the relentlessness of their warfare it is worth +while noting this incident in passing--one of those incidents which +were never reported to Washington for the simple reason that +Washington could never understand them. + +A band of renegade Apaches had left the reservation to go a-plundering +down in Mexico. A certain troop of cavalry was riding after them with +the usual instructions from Washington to bring them back without +bloodshed. + +The captain of the troop was a seasoned Indian-fighter, and he managed +to keep the fugitives moving so fast that they got next to nothing to +eat. When you are traveling without rations along the ridges during an +Arizona summer and there is no time to stop for hunting, no time to +bake mescal roots; when you need every pony for riding and you have +eaten the last lean dog; then bellies draw in and the ribs begin to +stand out. + +There were a number of squaws and children in the Apache outfit, and +by the time the chase had been going on for two weeks or so with +back-trackings, twistings and turnings, and every march a forced one, +why then the pace of the fugitives began to slacken. And the troopers +overtook them one fine day right out in the open where there was no +opportunity for stand or ambush. + +According to his instructions from the men who ran our Indian +affairs in Washington, the captain of the troopers must bring these +renegades back unharmed or face the necessity of making a great many +explanations. So he drew up his men in formation and rode forward +to parley with the half-starved savages. He rode right up to them, +and their chief came forth to have a talk with him. + +This captain was a fine figure of a man, and those who watched him say +that he made a noble picture on his big troop-horse before the frowzy +band whose gaunted members squatted in the bear-grass, their beady +eyes glinting on him under their dirty turbans. And he was a good, +persuasive talker. He promised them safe-conduct to the reservation +and assured them that their truancy would be overlooked, were they to +come back now. + +He went on to tell of the rations which would be issued to them. He +dwelt on that; he mentioned the leanness of their bodies and described +at length the stores of food that were awaiting for them in the +reservation warehouse. + +And the words of the captain were beginning to have an effect. There +was a stirring among the warriors and a muttering; men glanced at +their squaws and the squaws looked at their children. The captain went +on as if unconscious that his eloquence was bearing fruit. + +All the time he was speaking a girl just grown to womanhood kept +edging toward him. In the days when food was plenty she must have +owned a savage sort of beauty; but her limbs were lank now and her +cheeks were wasted. Her eyes were overlarge from fasting as they hung +on the face of the big captain. + +So she stood at last in the very forefront of her people, quite +unconscious that other eyes were watching her. And behind her her +people stirred more and more uneasily; they were very hungry. + +Under the hot, clear sky the troopers sat in their saddles, silent, +waiting. The lieutenant who had been left in charge watched the little +drama. He saw how the moment of the crisis was approaching; how just +one little movement in the right direction, one word perhaps, would +turn the issue. He saw the half-starved girl leaning forward, her lips +parted as she listened to the big captain. He saw an old squaw, +wrinkled and toothless, venom in her eyes, crouching beside the +hungered girl. + +Suddenly the girl took an eager step forward. As if it were a signal a +full half of the band started in the same direction. + +And just then with the turning of the scales, just as the captain's +eloquence was winning, the old squaw sprang to her feet. She whirled +an ax over her head and brought it down upon the girl. And before the +body had fallen to the earth a warrior leveled his rifle and shot the +captain through the heart. + +The lieutenant started to turn toward his troopers. But he never had a +chance to give his order. The whole blue-clad band was charging on a +dead run. What followed did not take long. There was not a single +prisoner brought back to the reservation. + +When men are warring in that relentless spirit, no one who is blessed +with the ordinary amount of reasoning power looks for mercy even if it +be promised. And Uncle Billy Rhodes did well to run his bluff down +there in the willows by the river. + +Sometimes, however, the Apaches felt themselves forced to show respect +for their dead enemies. There was, for instance, the short-card man +from Prescott. Felix was his name; the surname may be chronicled +somewhere for all the writer knows; it ought to be. A short-card +gambler, and that was not all; men say that he had sold whisky to the +Indians, that he was in partnership with a band of stock-rustlers, and +that on occasion he had been known to turn his hand to robbery by +violence. In fact there is no good word spoken of his life up to the +time when the very end came. + +In Prescott he owned none of that friendship which a man craves from +his fellows; respect was never bestowed upon him. He walked the +streets of that frontier town a moral pariah. + +Those who associated with him--those who made their living by dubious +means--looked up to him with an esteem born only of hard-eyed envy for +his prosperity. For he was doing well, as the saying goes; making good +money. + +Felix had managed to find a wife, a half-breed Mexican woman; and she +had borne him children, two or three of them. He had a ranch some +distance from the town, and many cattle. + +And on the great day of his life, the day when he became glorious, he +was driving from the ranch to Prescott with his family: a two-horse +buckboard and Felix at the reins; the woman and the children bestowed +beside him and about him. + +Somewhere along the road the Apaches "jumped" them, to use the idiom +of those times. A mounted band and on their way across-country, they +spied the buckboard and started after it. The road was rough; the +half-broken ponies weary; and the renegades gained at every jump. +Felix plied the whip and kept his broncos to the dead run until their +legs were growing heavy under them and the run slackened to a +lumbering gallop. + +Prescott was only a few miles away. They reached a place where the +road ran between rocky banks, a place where there was no going save by +the wagon-track. + +Felix slipped his arm around his wife and kissed her. It was perhaps +the first time he had done it in years; one can easily believe that. +He kissed the children. + +"Whip 'em up," he bade the woman. "I'll hold the road for you." + +And he jumped off of the buckboard with his rifle and sixteen rounds +of ammunition. + +In Prescott the woman told the story and a relief party rode out +within a half-hour. They found the body of the short-card man and +stock-thief with the bodies of fourteen Indians sprinkled about among +the rocks. And the surviving Apaches, instead of mutilating the +remains of their dead enemy as was their custom on such occasions, had +placed a bandanna handkerchief over his face, weighting down its +corners with pebbles lest the wind blow it away. + +It was near Prescott--only four miles below the village--that a woman +fought Apaches all through a long September afternoon. The Hon. Lewis +A. Stevens was in town attending a session of the Territorial +Legislature and his wife was in charge of the ranch near the Point of +Rocks that day in 1867. A hired man was working about the place. + +One hundred yards away from the house an enormous pile of boulders +rose toward the nearer hills. Beneath some of the overhanging rocks +were great caves, and the depressions between the ridges gave +hiding-places to shelter scores of men. + +Shortly after noon Mrs. Stevens happened to look from the window of +the kitchen where she was at work. Something was moving behind a clump +of spiked niggerheads between the back door and the corrals; at first +glance it looked like a dirty rag stirring in the wind, but when the +woman had held her eyes on it a moment she saw, among the bits of rock +and the thorny twigs with which it had been camouflaged, the folds of +an Apache warrior's head-gear. + +Now as she stepped back swiftly from the window toward the +double-barreled shotgun which was a part of her kitchen furnishings +and always hung conveniently among the pots and pans, she caught sight +of more turbans there in her back yard. With the consummate patience +of their kind some twenty-odd Apaches had been spending the last hour +or so wriggling along the baked earth, keeping to such small cover as +they could find as they progressed inch by inch from the boulder hill +toward the ranch-house. + +The majority of the savages were still near the pile of rocks when +Mrs. Stevens threw open her kitchen door and gave the warrior behind +the niggerheads one load of buckshot; and the more venturesome among +them who had been following their luckless companion's lead broke back +to that shelter at the moment she fired. Fortunately the hired man was +out in the front and the roar of the shotgun brought him into the +house on a run. By this time more than twenty Apaches were firing from +the hill; the tinkling of broken glass from the windows and the +buzzing of bullets was filling the intervals between the banging of +their rifles. + +Like most Arizona ranch-houses in those days, the place was a rather +well-equipped arsenal. By relaying each other at loading Mrs. Stevens +and the hired man managed to hold down opposite sides of the building. +Thus they repelled two rushes; and when the enemy made an attempt to +reach the corrals and run off the stock, they drove them back to their +hillside a third time. + +The battle lasted all the afternoon until a neighbor by the name of +Johnson who had heard the firing came with reenforcements from his +ranch. That evening after the savages had vanished for good Mrs. +Stevens sent a message into Prescott to her husband. + +"Send me more buckshot. I'm nearly out of it," was what she wrote. + +During the late sixties and the seventies the stage-lines had a hard +time of it, what with Apaches driving off stock and ambushing the +coaches along the road. There were certain stations, like those at the +Pantano Wash and the crossing of the San Pedro, whose adobe buildings +were all pitted with bullet-marks from successive sieges; and at these +lonely outposts the arrival of the east or west bound mail was always +more or less of a gamble. + +Frequently the old thorough-brace Concord would come rattling in with +driver or messenger missing; and on such occasions it was always +necessary to supply the dead man's place for the ensuing run. Yet +willing men were rarely lacking, and an old agent tells how he merely +needed to wave a fifty-dollar bill in the faces of the group who +gathered round at such a time to secure a new one to handle the +reins. + +In those days an Indian fight wasn't such a great matter if one bases +his opinion on the way the papers handled one of them in their news +columns. Judge by this paragraph from the "Arizonian," August 27, +1870: + + On Thursday, August 18, the mail buggy from the Rio Grande had + come fifteen miles toward Tucson from the San Pedro crossing when + the driver, the messenger, and the escort of two soldiers were + killed by Apaches. The mail and stage were burned. Also there is + one passenger missing who was known to have left Apache Pass with + this stage. + +You are of course at liberty to supply the details of that affair to +suit yourself; but it is safe to say there was something in the way of +battle before the last of these luckless travelers came to his end. +For even the passengers went well armed in those days and were +entirely willing to make a hard fight of it before they knuckled +under; as witness the encounter at Stein's Pass, where old Cochise and +Mangus Colorado got the stage cornered on a bare hilltop with six +passengers aboard one afternoon. The writer has given that story in +detail elsewhere, but it is worth mentioning here that it took Cochise +and Mangus Colorado and their five hundred warriors three long days to +kill off the Free Thompson party--whose members managed to take more +than one hundred and fifty Apaches along with them when they left this +life. + +But drivers were canny, and even the Apache with all his skill at +ambush could not always entrap them. In the "Tucson Citizen" of April +20, 1872, under the heading "Local Matters," we find this brief +paragraph: + + The eastern mail, which should have arrived here last Monday + afternoon, did not get in until Tuesday. The Apaches attacked it + at Dragoon Pass and the driver went back fifteen miles to Sulphur + Springs; and on the second trial ran the gauntlet in safety. + +Which reads as if there might have been considerable action and much +manoeuvering on that April day in 1872 where the tracks of the +Southern Pacific climb the long grade up from Wilcox to Dragoon Pass. + +There was a driver by the name of Tingley on the Prescott line who had +the run between Wickenburg and La Paz back in 1869. He had seen much +Indian-fighting and was sufficiently seasoned to keep his head while +the lead was flying around him. One February day he was on the box +with two inside passengers, Joseph Todd of Prescott and George Jackson +of Petaluma, California. + +Everything was going well, and the old Concord came down the grade +into Granite Wash with the horses on the jump and Tingley holding his +foot on the brake. They reached the bottom of the hill, and the driver +lined them out where the road struck the level going. + +And then, when the ponies were surging into their collars, with the +loose sand and gravel half-way to the hubs, somewhere between thirty +and forty Apaches opened fire from the brush on both sides of the +wagon-track. + +The first volley came at close range; so close that in spite of the +customary poor marksmanship of their kind the Indians wounded every +man in the coach. A bullet got Tingley in the wrist. He dropped the +reins, and before he could regain them the team was running away. + +The six ponies turned off from the road at the first jump and plunged +right into the midst of the Indians. Tingley could see the half-naked +savages leaping for the bridles and clawing at the stage door as they +strove to get hand-holds; but the speed was too great for them; the +old Concord went reeling and bumping through the entire party, leaving +several warriors writhing in the sand where the hoofs of the +fright-maddened broncos had spurned them. + +By this time Tingley had drawn his revolver, and the two passengers +joined him in returning the fire of the enemy. Now he bent down and +picked up the reins, and within the next two hundred yards or so he +managed to swing the leaders back into the road. + +From there on it was a race. The Apaches were catching up their ponies +and surging along at a dead run to overtake their victims. But +Tingley, to use the expression of the old-timers, poured the leather +into his team, and kept the long lead which he had got. + +The stage pulled up at Cullen's Station with its load of wounded; and +word was sent to Wickenburg for a doctor, who arrived in time to save +the lives of the two inside passengers, although both men were shot +through the body. + +Stage-driver and shotgun messenger usually saw plenty of perilous +adventures during the days of Mangus Colorado, Cochise, Victorio, +Nachez, and Geronimo; but if one was hungry for Indian-fighting in +those times he wanted to be a mule-skinner. The teamsters became so +inured to battling against Apaches that the cook who, when the savages +attacked the camp near Wickenburg one morning before breakfast, kept +on turning flapjacks during the entire fight and called his companions +to the meal at its conclusion, is but an example of the ordinary run +of wagon-hands. That incident, by the way, is vouched for in the +official history of Arizona. + +Bronco Mitchel's experiences afforded another good illustration of the +hazards of freighting. In the latter seventies and the early eighties, +when Victorio, Nachez, and Geronimo were making life interesting for +settlers, he drove one of those long teams of mules which used to haul +supplies from Tucson to the military posts and mining camps of +southeastern Arizona. Apparently he was a stubborn man, else he would +have forsaken this vocation early in the game. + +At Ash Springs near the New Mexican boundary a wagon-train with which +he was working went to camp one hot summer's day. They had been warned +against the place by some one who had seen Apaches lurking in the +vicinity; but the animals needed water and feed, and the wagon-master +took a chance. Bronco Mitchel, who was young then, and a foreigner who +was cooking for the outfit were placed on sentry duty while the mules +were grazing. + +The heat of the early afternoon got the best of Bronco Mitchel as he +sat on the hillside with his back against a live-oak tree; and after +several struggles to keep awake, he finally dropped off. How long he +had been sleeping he never was able to tell, but a shot awakened him. + +He opened his eyes in time to see the whole place swarming with +Apaches. The cook lay dead a little way from him. The rest of his +companions were making a desperate fight for their lives; and a +half-dozen of the Indians, who had evidently just caught sight of him, +were heading for him. There was one thing to do, and no time to lose +about it. He ran as he had never run before, and after a night and day +of wandering was picked up, all but dead, by a squad of scouting +cavalry. + +One evening two or three years later Bronco Mitchel was freighting +down near the border, and he made his camp at the mouth of Bisbee +canyon. The mules were grazing near by, and he was lying in his +blankets under the trail-wagon, with a mongrel puppy, which he +carried along for company, beside him. + +Just as he was dropping off to sleep the puppy growled. Being now +somewhat experienced in the ways of the Territory, Bronco Mitchel +immediately clasped his hands over the little fellow's muzzle and held +him there, mute and struggling. + +He had hardly done this when the thud of hoofs came to his ears; and a +band of Apaches appeared in the half-light passing his wagon. There +was a company of soldiers in camp within a mile or two, and the +savages were in a hurry; wherefore they had contented themselves with +stealing the mules and forbore from searching for the teamster, who +lay there choking the puppy as they drove the plundered stock within +three yards of him. + +Now it so happened that Bronco Mitchel's team included a white mare, +who was belled; for mules will follow a white mare to perdition if she +chooses to wander thither. And knowing the ways of that mare, Bronco +Mitchel was reasonable certain that she would seize the very first +opportunity to stray from the camp of her captors--just as she had +strayed from his own camp many a time--with all the mules after her. +So when the Indians had gone far enough to be out of earshot he took +along his rifle, a bridle, and canteen, and dogged their trail. He did +not even go to the trouble of seeking out the soldiers but hung to the +tracks alone, over two ridges of the Mule Mountains and up a lonely +gorge--where, according to his expectations, he met his stock the next +day and, mounting the old bell mare, ran them back to Bisbee canyon. + +Other encounters with Victorio's renegades enriched the teamster's +store of experience, but his narrowest escape remained as the climax +of the whole list during the days when old Geronimo was off the +reservation. One torrid noon he had watered his mules and drawn his +lead and trail wagons off the road over in the San Simon country. + +At the time it was supposed that no renegades were within a hundred +miles, and Bronco Mitchel felt perfectly safe in taking a siesta under +one of the big vehicles. Suddenly he awakened from a sound sleep; and +when his eyes flew open he found himself gazing into the face of an +Apache warrior. + +The Indian was naked save for his turban, a breech-clout, his +boot-moccasins, and the usual belt of cartridges. Even for an Apache +he was unusually ugly; and now as he saw the eyes of the white man +meeting his, he grinned. It was such a grin as an ugly dog gives +before biting. At that instant Bronco Mitchel was laying flat on his +back. + +An instant later, without knowing how he did it, Bronco Mitchel was on +all fours with the wagon between him and the renegade. In this posture +he ran for some distance before he could gather his feet under him; +and to stimulate his speed there came from behind him the cracking of +a dozen rifles. He rolled into a shallow arroyo and dived down its +course like a hunted rabbit. + +Once he took enough time to look back over his shoulder and saw the +turbaned savages spreading out in his wake. After that he wasted no +energy in rearward glances, but devoted all his strength to the race, +which he won unscathed, and kept on teaming thereafter until the +railroad spoiled the business. + +Such incidents as these of Bronco Mitchel's, however, were all in the +day's work and weren't regarded as anything in particular to brag +about in those rough times. As a matter of fact the "Weekly Arizonian" +of May 15, 1869, gives only about four inches under a one-line head to +the battle between Tully & Ochoa's wagon-train and three hundred +Apaches, and in order to get the details of the fight one must go to +men who heard its particulars narrated by survivors. + +Santa Cruz Castaneda was the wagon-master, an old-timer even in those +days, and the veteran of many Indian fights. There were nine wagons in +the train, laden with flour, bacon and other provisions for Camp +Grant, and fourteen men in charge of them. The Apaches ambushed them +near the mouth of a canyon not more than ten miles from the post. + +Somehow the wagon-master got warning of what was impending in time to +corral the wagons in a circle with the mules turned inside the +enclosure. The teamsters disposed themselves under the vehicles and +opened fire on the enemy, who were making one of those loose-order +rushes whereby the Apache used to love to open proceedings if he +thought he had big enough odds. + +Before the accurate shooting of these leather-faced old-timers the +assailants gave back. When they had found cover they sent forward a +warrior, who advanced a little way waving a white cloth and addressed +Santa Cruz in Spanish. + +"If you will leave these wagons," the herald said, calling the +wagon-master by name, "we will let all of you go away without harming +you." + +To which Santa Cruz replied: + +"You can have this wagon-train when I can't hold it any longer." + +The Apache translated the words and backed away to the rocks from +behind which he had emerged. And the fight began again with a volley +of bullets and a cloud of arrows. At this time there were about two +hundred Indians in the ambushing party, and they were surrounding the +corral of wagons. + +Occasionally the Apaches would try a charge; but there never was a +time on record when these savages could hold a formation under fire +for longer than a minute or two at the outside; and the rushes always +broke before the bullets of the teamsters. Between these sorties there +were long intervals of desultory firing--minutes of silence with +intermittent pop-popping to vary the deadly monotony. Once in a while +the surrounding hillsides would blossom out with smoke-puffs, and the +banging of the rifles would merge into a sort of long roll. + +Always the teamsters lay behind the sacks of flour which they had put +up for breastworks, lining their sights carefully, firing with slow +deliberation. Now and again a man swore or rolled over in limp +silence; and the sandy earth under the wagons began to show red +patches of congealing blood. + +By noon the forces of the enemy had been augmented by other Apaches +who had come to enjoy the party until their number now reached more +than three hundred. And the afternoon sun came down hot upon the +handful of white men. Ammunition began to run low. + +The day dragged on and the weary business kept up until the sun was +seeking the western horizon, when a squad of seven cavalrymen on their +way from Camp Grant to Tucson happened to hear the firing. They came +charging into the battle as enthusiastically as if they were seven +hundred, and cut right through the ring of the Apaches. + +Under one of the wagons the sergeant in charge of the troopers held +counsel with Santa Cruz Castaneda. Cartridges were getting scarce; the +number of the Apaches was still growing; there was no chance of any +other body of soldiers coming along this way for a week or so at the +least. + + +"Only way to do is make a break for it," the sergeant said. + +The wagon-master yielded to a fate which was too great for him and +consented to abandon the train. They bided their time until what +seemed a propitious moment and then, leaving their dead behind them, +the sixteen survivors--which number included the seven soldiers--made +a charge at the weakest segment of the circle. Under a cloud of arrows +and a volley of bullets they ran the gantlet and came forth with their +wounded. Hanging grimly together, they retreated, holding off the +pursuing savages, and eventually made their way to Camp Grant. + +Now the point on which the little newspaper item dwells is the fact +that the Indians burned the entire wagon-train, entailing a loss of +twelve thousand dollars to Tully & Ochoa and of twenty thousand +dollars to the United States government. On the heroics it wastes no +type. It seems to have been regarded as bad taste in those days to +talk about a man's bravery. Either that, or else the bravery was taken +for granted. + +In that same canyon near Camp Grant two teamsters died, as the berserks +of old used to like to die, taking many enemies with them to the great +hereafter. James Price, a former soldier, was the name of one, and the +name which men wrote on the headboard of the other was Whisky Bill. By +that appellation you may sketch your own likeness of him; and to help +you out in visualizing his partner, you are hereby reminded that the +gray dust of those Arizona roads used to settle into the deep lines of +the mule-skinners' faces beyond all possibility of removal; the sun +and wind used to flay their skins to a deep, dull red. + +Whisky Bill and Jim Price with an escort of two cavalry troopers were +driving two wagons of Thomas Venable's, loaded with hay for Camp +Grant, when fifty Apaches ambushed them in the canyon. Price was killed +at the first volley and one of the soldiers was badly wounded in the +face. + +The three living men took refuge under the wagons and stood off +several rushes of the savages. Then the soldier who had been wounded +got a second bullet and made up his mind he would be of more use in +trying to seek help at Camp Grant than in staying where he was. He +managed to creep off into the brush before the Indians got sight of +him. + +Now Whisky Bill and the other soldier settled down to make an +afternoon's fight of it, and for three hours they held off the +savages. Half a dozen naked bodies lay limp among the rocks to bear +witness to the old teamster's marksmanship when a ball drilled him +through the chest and he sank back dying. + +There was only one chance now for the remaining trooper, and he took +it. With his seven-shot rifle he dived out from under the wagon and +gained the nearest clump of brush. At once the Apaches sallied forth +from their cover in full cry after him. + +Heedless of their bullets, he halted long enough to face about and +slay the foremost of his pursuers; then ran on to a pile of rocks, +where he made another brief stand, only to leave the place as his +enemies hesitated before his fire. Thus he fled, stopping to shoot +when those behind him were coming too close for comfort; and +eventually they gave up the chase. + +In Camp Grant, where he arrived at sundown, he found his fellow-trooper, +badly wounded but expected to live, under care of the post surgeon. And +the detachment who went out after the renegades buried the two teamsters +beside the road where they had died fighting. + +One against many; that was the rule in these grim fights. But the +affair which took place on the Cienega de Souz, fifteen miles above +the old San Simon stage-station and twenty-five miles from Port Bowie, +tops them all when it comes to long odds. On October 21, 1871, one +sick man battled for his life against sixty-odd Apaches and--won out. + +R. M. Gilbert was his name; he was ranching and for the sake of mutual +aid in case of Indian raids he had built his adobe house at one end of +his holding, within two hundred yards of his neighbor's home. The +building stood on bare ground at the summit of a little rise near the +Cienega bottom, where the grass and tulles grew waist-high. + +Early in the month of October Gilbert was stricken with fever, and +Richard Barnes, the neighbor, moved into his house to take care of +him. The patient dragged along after a fashion until the early morning +of the twenty-first found him wasted almost to skin and bone, weak, +bedridden. And about six o'clock that morning Barnes left the house to +go to his own adobe. + +The Apaches, according to their habit when they went forth to murder +isolated settlers or prospectors, had chosen the dawn for the hour of +attack, and they were lying in the tall grass in the Cienega bottom +when Barnes emerged from the building. They let him go almost to the +other adobe before they opened fire; and he dropped at the volley, +dying from several wounds. + +Then Gilbert, who had not stirred from his bed for many days, leaped +from his blankets and took down a Henry rifle from the cabin wall. He +had been weak; now that thing which men call "sand" gave strength unto +him; and he ran from the house to rescue his companion. + +The Apaches were rushing from the tulles toward the prostrate form. He +paused long enough to level his rifle and fire; then came on again. +And the savages fell back. It was easier to bide in the shelter of the +tulles and kill off this mad white man than to show themselves and run +a chance of getting one of his bullets. + +They reasoned well enough; but something mightier than logic was +behind Gilbert that morning. With the strength which comes to the +fever-stricken in moments of supreme excitement he reached his friend, +picked him up, and while the bullets of his enemies kicked up dust all +about him bore him on his shoulders back into the cabin. There he laid +him down and proceeded to hold the place against besiegers. + +The Apaches deployed until they were surrounding the house. Then they +opened fire once more, and as they shot they wriggled forward, coming +ever closer until some of them were so near that they were able to +place their bullets through the rude loopholes which the settler had +made for defense of his home. + +All the morning the battle went on. Sometimes the savages varied their +tactics by rushes and even thrust the barrels of their rifles through +the windows. The room was filled with smoke. During lulls in the +firing Gilbert heard the groaning of his companion; he heard the moans +change to the long, harsh death-rattle. + +Some time during the noon-hour as he was standing at a loophole +shooting at a bunch of naked, frowzy-haired warriors who had appeared +in front of the building, an Apache brave who had stolen up behind the +adobe took careful aim through a broken window and got him in the +groin. But the sick man bound a handkerchief about the wound and +dragged himself from window to window, loading his rifle, firing +whenever a turban showed. + +About midafternoon a venturesome group of warriors rushed the side +hill, gained the cabin wall and flung bundles of blazing fagots on the +roof. And within ten minutes the inside of the place was seething with +smoke-clouds; showers of sparks were dropping on the floor; flaming +shreds of brush were falling all about the sick man. + +He groped his way to the bed and called Barnes. There was no answer. +He bent down and peered through the fumes at the other's face. Death +had taken his friend. + +Gilbert loaded his rifle and a revolver. With a weapon in either hand +he flung open the door, and as he ran forth he saw in the hot +afternoon sunshine the shadow of an Indian who was hiding behind a +corner of the building. He leaped toward the place and as the warrior +was stepping forth shot him in the belly. Then he fled for the tulles +in the Cienega bottom. + +Under a shower of bullets he gained the shelter of the reeds. And +during all the rest of that afternoon he lay there standing off the +Apaches. When darkness came he crawled away. All night and all the +next day he traveled on his hands and knees and finally reached the +hay camp of David Wood, sixteen miles away. + +Wood dressed his wounds and sent word to Camp Bowie, and a troop of +cavalry chased the renegades into the Chiracahua Mountains, where they +eventually escaped, to make their way back to the reservation in time +for next ration-day. + +These tales are authentic, and are but a few examples of the battles +which the old-timers fought during the years while they were winning +the Southwest away from the Indians. Some of those old-timers are +living to this day. + +There is one of them dwelling in Dragoon Pass, where the mountains +come down to the lowlands like a huge promontory fronting the sea. +Uncle Billy Fourrs is his name; and if you pass his place you can see, +on a rocky knoll, the fortress of boulders which he built to hold his +lands against the renegades back in the seventies. + +Not many years ago some Federal agents had Uncle Billy up in Tucson on +a charge of fencing government land, for according to the records he +had not gone through the formality of taking out some of the requisite +papers for proper possession. That case is one instance of a man +pleading guilty and getting acquittal. + +For Uncle Billy Fourrs acknowledged the formal accusation and still +maintained the land was his own. + +"How," asked the government prosecutor, "did you get it?" + +"I took it away from the Indians," was the answer. And the jury, being +an Arizona jury, promptly acquitted him. Which, was, when you come to +think over such incidents as the foregoing, only simple justice. + + + + +THE OVERLAND MAIL + + +From the time when the first lean and bearded horsemen in their +garments of fringed buckskin rode out into the savage West, men gave +the same excuse for traveling that hard road toward the setting sun. + +The early pathfinders maintained there must be all manner of +high-priced furs off there beyond the sky-line. The emigrants who +followed in the days of '49, informed their neighbors that they were +going to gather golden nuggets in California. The teamsters who drove +the heavy freight-wagons over the new trails a few years later told +their relatives and friends that they were going West to better their +fortunes. And when the Concord coaches came to carry the mail between +the frontier settlements and San Francisco, the men of wealth who +financed the different lines announced there was big money in the +ventures; the men of action who operated them claimed that high wages +brought them into it. + +So now you see them all: pathfinder, argonaut, teamster, stage-driver, +pony-express rider, and capitalist, salving their consciences and +soothing away the trepidations of their women-folk with the good old +American excuse that they were going to make money. + +As a matter of fact that excuse was only an excuse and nothing more. +In their inmost hearts all these men knew that they had other +motives. + +There was one individual who did not try to hoodwink himself or others +about this Western business, and if you will but take the time to look +into his case you will be able easily to diagnose an itching which was +troubling all the rest of them. + +That Individual was usually taken most acutely with his ailment on a +warm May morning, one of those mornings when the lawless youths of the +village decided to play hooky in the afternoon and test the +temperature of the swimming-hole. On such a morning he was to be found +somewhere near the center of the school-room, this being the point +most remote from the distraction of open windows and hence selected +for him by the teacher. He was seated at a small desk whose top was +deeply scored by carven initials and monograms of rude design, all +inked in to give them the boldness of touch necessary when one would +have his art impress the beholder. An open book lay on that desk-top +but the eyes of the Individual were not focused on its pages. + +He was gazing--aslant so that the teacher would not detect him at +it--through one of those remote open windows. And he was not seeing +the roofs of the little town or the alluring line of low wooded bluffs +across the river. He was seeing swarms of Indians mounted bare-back on +swift ponies. + +Swarms and swarms of them, stripped to the waist, befeathered, +trousered in tightly fitting buckskin, they were defying all the laws +of gravitation by the manner in which every one clung by a single heel +to his mustang, allowing his body to droop alongside in a negligently +graceful attitude. These savages were circling round and round a +stage-coach. And on the top of that stage-coach, with his trusty rifle +at his shoulder--while the driver beside him died a painful +death,--sat the Individual himself. None other. And he was certainly +playing havoc with those redskins. + +We need not undergo the weary ordeal of waiting with him while the +clock's slothful hands creep around the dial. We may skip the +interval--as he would do ever so gladly if he only could--and see him +that night as he climbs from his bedroom window, crawls down the +woodshed roof, and drops from the low eaves to make his way across the +vacant lot next door and thence--out West. + +As far perhaps as the next town, which lies seven miles or so +away; where he is overhauled and ignominiously dragged back to +civilization. + +That Individual--the only one of them all who did not attain the +consummation of his hopes, the only one who had to stay at home--is +the sole member of the foregoing list who acknowledged his true +motives. For he asserted loudly, and with lamentations, that the +spirit of adventure was blazing within him; he wanted to go out West +to fight Indians and desperadoes. + +Resisting the temptation to indulge in dissertation concerning the +beneficial effects of the dime-novel on the morale of successive +younger generations, we return to the men who said that they went +beyond the Mississippi to gain money. Like the schoolboy they were hot +with the lust for adventure. The men of action wanted to risk their +lives, and the men of wealth wanted to risk their dollars. + +Which does not imply that the latter element were anxious to lose +those dollars any more than it implies that the former expected to +lose their lives. But both were eager for the hazard. + +Like the schoolboy all of them dreamed dreams and saw visions. And the +dreams were realized; the visions became actualities. Few of them +justified their excuse of money-making; many came out of the adventure +poorer in this world's goods than when they went into it. But every +man of them had the time of his life and lived out his days with a +wealth of memories more precious than gold; memories of a man's part +in a great rough drama. + +The Winning of the West, that drama has been called. Perhaps no act in +the play attained the heights which were reached by the last one +before the coming of the railroad, the one with which this story has +to deal, wherein bold men allied themselves on different sides to get +the contract of carrying the mails by stage-coaches on schedule time +across the wilderness. + +And in the tale of this great struggle there is another motive in +addition to the love of adventure--and like that love, unacknowledged +by those whom it stirred,--the strong instinctive desire for a closer +union which exists among all Americans. + +In the beginning there was a frontier two hundred miles or so west of +the Mississippi River. Behind that frontier wide-stacked wood-burning +locomotives were drawing long trains on tracks of steel; steamers came +sighing up and down the muddy rivers; cities smeared the sky with +clouds of coal smoke; under those sooty palls men in high hats and +women in enormous hoop-skirts passed in afternoon promenade down the +sidewalks; newspapers displayed the day's tidings in black +head-lines; the telegraph flashed messages from one end of that land +to the other; and where the sharp church steeple of the most remote +village cut the sky, the people read and thought and talked the same +things which were being discussed in Delmonico's at the same hour. + +Beyond the Sierra Nevadas there was another civilization. In San +Francisco hotel lobbies men and women passed and repassed one another +dressed in Eastern fashions--some months late, but Eastern fashions +none the less. Newspapers proclaimed the latest tidings from the East +in large type. Men were falling out over the same political issues +which embroiled men by the Atlantic seaboard; they were embarking in +the same sort of business ventures. + +But two thousand miles of wilderness separated these two portions of +the nation. That vast expanse of prairies as level as the sea, of +sage-brush plains, of snow-capped mountains and silent, deadly +deserts, was made more difficult by bands of hostile Indians. + +In Europe such an interval would have remained for centuries, to be +spanned by the slow migration of those whom ill-fortune and bad +government had driven from the more crowded communities on each side. +During that time these two civilizations would have gone on in their +own ways developing their own distinct customs, until in the end they +would have become separate countries. + +But the people east of the Mississippi and the people west of the +Sierras were Americans, and the desire for a close union was strong +within them. Their business habits were such that they could not +carry on commercial affairs without it. Their political beliefs and +their social tendencies kept them chafing for it. And furthermore it +was their characteristic not to acknowledge nature's obstacles as +permanent. Two thousand miles of wild prairie, mountain ranges, and +deserts simply meant a task, the more blithely to be undertaken +because it was made hazardous by the presence of hostile savages. + +So now the East began to cry to the West and the West to the East, +each voicing a desire for quicker communication, and to get letters +from New York to San Francisco in fast time became one of the problems +of the day. + +The first step toward solution was the choice of a route, and while +this was up to Washington, the proof on which it rested was up to +the men of wealth and the men of action. Immediately two rival +groups began striving, each to prove that its route was the +quickest. Russel, Majors & Waddel, who held large freighting +contracts on the northern road, from Independence, Missouri, via Salt +Lake to Sacramento, bent their energies to demonstrating its +practicability; the Wells-Butterfield coterie of stage and express +men undertook to show that the longer pathway from St. Louis by +way of the Southwestern territories to San Francisco was best. + +In 1855 Senator W. M. Gwinn of California, who had conceived the idea +with F. B. Ficklin, general-superintendent of the Russel, Majors & +Waddel Co., introduced a bill in Congress for bringing the mails by +horseback on the northern route, but the measure was pigeonholed. +Snow in the mountains was the main argument against it. + +In 1857 James E. Birch got the contract for carrying a semimonthly +mail from San Antonio, Texas, to San Diego, and the southern route's +champions had the opportunity to prove their contention. + +Save for a few brief stretches in Texas and Arizona there was no wagon +road. El Paso and Tucson were the only towns between the termini. A +few far-flung military outposts, whose troops of dragoons were having +a hard time of it to hold their own against the Comanches and Apaches, +afforded the only semblance of protection from the Indians. + +Horsemen carried the first mail-sacks across this wilderness of dark +mountains and flaming deserts. On that initial trip Silas St. Johns +and Charles Mason rode side by side over the stretch from Cariso Creek +to Jaeger's Ferry, where Yuma stands to-day. That ride took them +straight through the Imperial valley. The waters of the Colorado, +which have made the region famous for its rich crops, had not been +diverted in those days. It was the hottest desert in North America; +sand hills and blinding alkali flats, and only one tepid spring in the +whole distance. One hundred and ten miles and the two horsemen made it +in thirty-two hours--without remounts. + +The company now began to prepare the way for stage-coaches. During the +latter part of November, St. Johns and two companions drove a herd of +stock from Jaeger's Ferry to Maricopa Wells. The latter point had been +selected for a relay station because of water and the presence of the +friendly Pima and Maricopa Indians, who kept the Apaches at a +distance. During that drive of something like two hundred miles the +pack-mule lost his load one night in the desert. The men went without +food for three days, and for thirty-six hours traveled without a drop +of water in their canteens. + +The first stage left San Diego for the East in December with six +passengers. Throughout the trip a hostler rode behind herding a relay +team. The driver kept his six horses to their utmost for two hours; +then stock and wearied passengers were given a two hours' rest, after +which the fresh team was hooked up and the journey resumed. + +In this manner they made about fifty miles a day. Luck was with them. +There were several runaways along the route; at Port Davis, Texas, +they found the garrison, whom they had expected to supply them with +provisions according to orders from Washington, short of food, and +they subsisted for the next five days on what barley they felt +justified in taking away from the horses; they arrived at Camp +Lancaster just after the departure of a Comanche war-party who had +stolen all the stock, and were obliged to go two hundred miles further +before they could get a relay. But these incidents, and a delay or two +because of swollen rivers, were accounted only small mishaps. They +came through with their scalps and the mail-sacks--only ten days +behind the schedule. + +Thereafter the Birch line continued its service; and letters came from +San Francisco to St. Louis in about six weeks. Occasionally Indians +massacred a party of travelers; now and then renegade whites or +Mexicans robbed the passengers of their belongings and looted the +mail-sacks. But such things were no more than any one expected. James +Birch had proved his point. The southern route was practical, and in +1858 the government let a six years' contract for carrying letters +twice a week between St. Louis and San Francisco, to John Butterfield +of Utica, New York. + +Thus the Wells-Butterfield interests scored the first decisive +victory. + +Butterfield's compensation was fixed at $600,000 a year and the +schedule at twenty-five days. The route went by way of Fort Smith, +Arkansas, El Paso, Tucson, and Jaeger's Ferry. Tie one end of a loose +string to San Francisco and the other to St. Louis on your wall-map; +allow the cord to droop in a semicircle to the Mexican boundary, and +you will see the general direction of that road, whose length was 2760 +miles. Of this nearly two thousand miles was in a hostile Indian +country. + +Twenty-seven hundred and sixty miles in twenty-five days, meant a +fast clip for horses and a lumbering Concord coach over ungraded +roads. And such a clip necessitated frequent relays. Which, in their +turn, demanded stations at short intervals. While a road gang was +removing the ugliest barriers in the different mountain passes--which +was all the smoothing away that highway ever got during the +stage-coach era--a party went along the line erecting adobe houses. +These houses were little forts, well suited for withstanding the +attacks of hostile Indians. The corrals beside them were walled like +ancient castle-yards. + +William Buckley of Watertown, New York, headed this party. Bands of +mounted Comanches attacked them on the lonely Staked Plains of western +Texas. Apaches crept upon them in the mountains of southwestern New +Mexico. Of the battles which they fought history contains no record; +but they went on driving the Mexican laborers to their toil under the +hot sun, and the chain of low adobe buildings crept slowly westward. + +In those days Mexican outlaws were drifting into Arizona and New +Mexico from Chihuahua and Sonora; and these cutthroats, to whom murder +was a means of livelihood, were almost as great a menace as the +Indians. Three of them got jobs on the station building gang and +awaited an opportunity to make money after their bloody fashion. + +At Dragoon Springs they found their chance. + +Here, where the Dragoon Mountains come out into the plain like a lofty +granite promontory that faces the sea, the party had completed the +walls of a stone corral, within which enclosure a storehouse and stage +station were partitioned off. The roofing of these two rooms and some +ironwork on the gate remained to be completed. The main portion of the +party moved on to the San Pedro River, leaving Silas St. Johns in +charge of six men to attend to these details. The three Mexican +bandits were members of this little detachment. The other three were +Americans. + +The place was right on the road which Apache war-parties took to +Sonora. For this reason a guard was maintained from sunset to sunrise. +St. Johns always awoke at midnight to change the sentries. One +starlight night when he had posted the picket who was to watch until +dawn, St. Johns went back to his bed in the unroofed room that was to +serve as station. He dropped off to sleep for an hour or so and was +roused by a noise among the stock in the corral. The sound of blows +and groans followed. + +St. Johns leaped from his blankets just as the three Mexicans rushed +into the room. Two of them were armed with axes and the third with a +sledge. + +The fight that followed lasted less than a minute. + +St. Johns kicked the foremost murderer in the stomach, and as the man +fell, sprang for a rifle which he kept in the room. The other two +attacked him with their axes. He parried one blow, aimed at his head, +and the blade buried itself in its hip. While the man was tugging to +free the weapon St. Johns felled him with a blow on the jaw. The third +Mexican struck downward at almost the same instant, severing St. +Johns' left arm near the shoulder. + +Then the white man got his right hand on his rifle and the three +murderers fled. They had killed one of the Americans who was sleeping +in the enclosure, left another dying near him and the third gasping +his last outside the gate. + +St. Johns staunched the blood from his wounds and crawled to the top +of a pile of grain-sacks whence he could see over the unroofed wall. +Here he stayed for three days and three nights. With every sunrise the +magpies and buzzards came in great flocks, to sit upon the wall after +they had sated themselves in the corral, and watch him. With every +nightfall the wolves slunk down from the mountains and fought over the +body outside the gate. Night and day the thirst-tortured mules kept +up a pandemonium. + +A road-grading party came along on Sunday morning. They gave him such +first aid as they could and sent a rider to Fort Buchanan for a +surgeon. The doctor amputated the arm nine days after the wound had +been inflicted. Three weeks later St. Johns was able to ride a horse +to Tucson. + +Silas St. Johns is offered as a sample of the men who built and +operated the overland mail lines. Among the drivers, stock-tenders, +and messengers there were many others like him. Iron men, it was not +easy to kill them, and so long as there was breath in their bodies +they kept on fighting. + +John Butterfield and his associates were made of the same stuff as +these employees. + +How many hundred thousand dollars these pioneer investors put into +their line before the turning of a single wheel is not known; it must +have been somewhere near a cool million, and this was in a day when +millions were not so common as they are now; a day, moreover, when +nothing in the business was certain and everything remained to be +proved. + +They established more than a hundred stage-stations along that +semicircle through the savage Southwest. They bought about fifteen +hundred mules and horses, which were sent out along the route. To feed +these animals, hay and grain were freighted, in some cases for two +hundred miles, and the loads arrived at the corrals worth a goodly +fraction of their weight in silver. There was a station in western +Texas to which teamsters had to haul water for nine months of the +year from twenty-two miles away. At every one of these lonely outposts +there were an agent and a stock-tender, and at some it was necessary +to maintain what amounted to a little garrison. Arms and ammunition +were provided for defense against the savages; provisions were laid in +to last for weeks. One hundred Concord coaches were purchased from the +Abbot-Downing Co., who had been engaged in the manufacture of these +vehicles in the New Hampshire town since 1813; they were built on the +thorough-brace pattern, and were regarded as the best that money could +buy. Seven hundred and fifty men, of whom a hundred and fifty were +drivers, were put on the pay-roll and transported to their stations. + +Nearly all this outlay was made before the beginning of the +first trip. It was the greatest expenditure of money on a single +transportation project of its kind up to this time in America. +And there were a thousand hazards of the wilderness to be incurred, +a thousand obstacles of nature to be overcome before the venture +could be proved practical. + +The men of money had done their part now. The line was ready for the +opening of traffic. On September 15, 1853, the mail-sacks started from +St. Louis and San Francisco. It was up to the men of action to get +them through within the schedule. + +Twenty-five days was the allowance for the 2760 miles. The westbound +coach reached San Francisco about twenty-four hours inside of the +limit. On that October evening crowds packed Montgomery Street; the +booming of cannon and the crashing of anvils loaded with black powder, +the blaring of brass bands and the voices of orators, all mingled in +one glad uproar, to tell the world that the people by the Golden Gate +appreciated the occasion. + +In St. Louis, the eastbound mail was an hour earlier. John Butterfield +stepped from the Missouri Pacific train with the sacks, and a great +procession was on hand to escort him to the post-office. + +Bands and carriages and a tremendous display of red, white, and blue +bunting enlivened the whole city. President Buchanan sent a telegram +of congratulation. + +It looked as if the northern route were out of it for good now, but it +remained for the men to keep the southern line in operation. What had +been done was only a beginning; the long grind of real accomplishment +still lay ahead. + +Storm and flood and Indian massacre were incidents; hold-ups and +runaways mere matters of routine in carrying on the task. The stock +was for the most part unbroken. At nearly every change the fresh team +started off on a mad gallop, and if the driver had a wide plain where +he could let them go careering through the mesquite or greasewood, +while the stage followed, sometimes on two wheels, sometimes on one, +he counted himself lucky. There was many a station from which the road +led over broken country--along steep side hills, across high-banked +washes, skirting the summits of rocky precipices; and on such +stretches it was the rule rather than the exception for the coach to +overturn. + +The bronco stock was bad enough but the green mules were the worst. It +was often found necessary to lash the stage to a tree--if one could be +found near the station, and if not to the corral fence--while the +long-eared brutes were being hooked up. When the last trace had been +snapped into place the hostlers would very gingerly free the vehicle +from its moorings and, as the ropes came slack, leap for their lives. + +They called the route a road. As a matter of fact that term was a +far-fetched euphemism. In some places approaches had been dug away to +the beds of streams; and the absolutely impassable barriers of the +living rock had been removed from the mountain passes. But that was +all. What with the long climbs upgrade and the bad going through loose +sand or mud, it was always necessary for the driver to keep his six +animals at a swinging trot when they came to a level or a downhill +pull. Often he had to whip them into a dead run for miles where most +men would hesitate to drive a buckboard at a walk. + +During the rainy seasons the rivers of that Southwestern land +proceeded to demonstrate that they had a right to the name--to which +they never pretended to live up at other times--by running bank full. +These coffee-colored floods were underlaid by thick strata of +quicksands. Occasionally one of them simply absorbed a coach; and, +unless the driver was very swift in cutting the traces, it took unto +itself two or three mules for good measure. + +The Comanche Indians were on the war-path during these years in +western Texas. On the great Staked Plain they swooped down on many a +stage, and driver and passengers had to make a running fight of it to +save their scalps. The Indians attacked the stations, two or three +hundred of them in a band. The agents and stock-tenders, who were +always on the lookout, usually saw them in time to retreat inside the +thick adobe walls of the building, from which shelter they sometimes +were able to stand them off without suffering any particular damage. +But sometimes they were forced to watch the enemy go whooping away +with the stampeded stock from the corral. And now and again there was +a massacre. + +Under Mangus Colorado, whom historians account their greatest +war-chief, the Apaches were busy in New Mexico and Arizona. They +worked more carefully than their Texan cousins, and there was a gorge +along the line in that section which got the name of Doubtful canyon +because the only thing a driver could count on there with any +certainty was a fight before he got through to the other side. + +Nor were the Indians the only savage men in that wilderness. Arizona +was becoming a haven for fugitives from California vigilance +committees and for renegade Mexicans from south of the boundary. The +road-agents went to work along the route, and near Tucson they did a +thriving business. + +Yet with all these enemies and obstacles, it is a matter of record +that the Butterfield overland mail was only late three times. + +In spite of runaways, bad roads, floods, sand-storms, battles, and +hold-ups, the east and west bound stages usually made the distance +in twenty-one days. And there was a long period during 1859 when +the two mails--which had started on the same day from the two +termini--met each other at exactly the half-way point. Apparently +the Wells-Butterfield interests had won the struggle. Service was +increased to a daily basis and the compensation was doubled. The +additional load was handled with the same efficiency that had been +shown in the beginning. + +It is hard, in these days of steam and gasolene and electricity, to +understand how men did such things with horse-flesh. The quality of +the men themselves explains that. One can judge that quality by an +affair which took place at Stein's Pass. + +"Steen's Pass," as the old-timers spelled it--and as the name is still +pronounced--is a gap in the mountains just west of Lordsburg, New +Mexico. The Southern Pacific comes through it to-day. One afternoon +Mangus Colorado and Cochise were in the neighborhood with six hundred +Apache warriors, when a smoke signal from distant scouts told them +that the overland stage was approaching without an armed escort. The +two chieftains posted their naked followers behind the rocks and +awaited the arrival of their victims. + +When one remembers that such generals as Crook have expressed their +admiration for the strategy of Cochise, and that Mangus Colorado was +the man who taught him, one will realize that Stein's Pass, which is +admirably suited for all purposes of ambush, must have been a terribly +efficient death-trap when the Concord stage came rumbling and rattling +westward into it on that blazing afternoon. + +There were six passengers in the coach, all of them old-timers in the +West. And they were known as the Free Thompson party, from the name of +the leader. Every one of these men was armed with a late model rifle +and was taking full advantage of the company's rule which allowed the +carrying of as much ammunition as one pleased. They had several +thousand rounds of cartridges. + +Such a seasoned company as this was not likely to go into a place like +Stein's Pass without taking a look or two ahead; and six hundred +Apaches were certain to offer some evidence of their presence to keen +eyes. Which probably explains why the horses were not killed at once. +For they were not. The driver was able to get the coach to the summit +of a low bare knoll a little way off the road. The Free Thompson party +made their stand on that hilltop. + +They were cool men, uncursed by the fear of death, the sort who could +roll a cigarette or bite a mouthful from a plug of chewing-tobacco +between shots and enjoy the smoke or the cud; the sort who could look +upon the advance of overwhelming odds and coolly estimate the number +of yards which lay between. + +These things are known of them and it is known that the place where +they made their stand was far from water, a bare hilltop under a +flaming sun, and round about them a ring of yelling Apaches. + +There were a few rocks affording a semblance of cover. You can picture +those seven men, with their weather-beaten faces, their old-fashioned +slouching wide-rimmed hats, and their breeches tucked into their +boot-tops. You can see them lying behind those boulders with their +leathern cheeks pressed close to their rifle-stocks, their narrowed +eyes peering along the lined sights; and then, as time went on, +crouching behind the bodies of their slain horses. + +And you can picture the turbaned Apaches with their frowzy hair and +the ugly smears of paint across their grinning faces. You can see them +creeping on their bellies through the clumps of coarse bear-grass, +gliding like bronze snakes among the rocks, slowly enough--the Apache +never liked the music of a rifle-bullet--but coming closer every hour. +Every gully and rock and clump of prickly pear for a radius of a +half-mile about that knoll sheltered its portion of the venomous brown +swarm. + +Night followed day; hot morning grew into scorching noontide; the full +flare of the Arizona afternoon came on; and night again. The rifles +cracked in the bear-grass. Thin jets of pallid flame spurted from +behind the rocks. The bullets kicked up little dust-clouds. + +So for three days and three nights. For it took those six hundred +Apaches that length of time to kill the seven white men. + +But before the last of them died, the Free Thompson party slew between +135 and 150 Indians. + +In after years Cochise told of the battle. + +"They were the bravest men I ever saw," he said. "They were the +bravest men I ever heard of. Had I five hundred warriors such as they, +I would own all of Chihuahua, Sonora, New Mexico, and Arizona." + +That was the breed of men who kept the Butterfield stage line open, +and the affair at Stein's Pass is cited to show something of their +character, although it took place after the company began removing its +rolling-stock. For in 1860 Russel, Majors & Waddel accomplished a +remarkable coup and brought the overland mail to the northern route. + +They performed what is probably the most daring exploit in the history +of transportation. The story of their venture bristles with action; it +is adorned by such names as Wild Bill Hickok, Pony Bob Haslam, Buffalo +Bill, and Colonel Alexander Majors. + +Colonel Majors held the broadhorn record on the old Santa Fe trail, +ninety-two days on the round trip with oxen. He was the active spirit +of the firm of Russel, Majors & Waddel. In 1859 these magnates of the +freighting business had more than six thousand huge wagons and more +than 75,000 oxen on the road between St. Joseph, Missouri, and Salt +Lake City, hauling supplies for government posts and mining companies; +they were operating a stage line to Denver where gold excitements were +bringing men in droves. + +One day in the winter of 1859-60 Senator W. M. Gwinn of California had +a meeting with Majors' senior partner, William H. Russel, and several +New York capitalists in Washington. Senator Gwinn proposed a plan to +show the world that the St. Joseph-San Francisco route was practical +throughout the year. + +That scheme was the pony express; men on horseback with fresh relays +every ten or twelve miles, to carry letters at top speed across the +wilderness. Congress had pigeonholed his bill to finance such a +venture. He urged now that private capital undertake it, and he talked +so convincingly that Russel committed himself to enlist his partners +in the enterprise. + +Russel went back to Leavenworth, Kansas, the headquarters of the firm, +and put the matter up to Majors and Waddel. They showed him in a very +few minutes that he had been talked into a sure way of losing several +hundred thousand dollars. But he reminded them that he had committed +himself to the undertaking. They said that settled it; they would +stand by him and make his word good. + +Their stage line had stations every ten or twelve miles as far as Salt +Lake; beyond that point there was not a single building; but within +two months from the day when Russel had that talk with Senator Gwinn, +the firm had completed the chain of those stations clear to +Sacramento, purchased five hundred half-breed mustang ponies which +they apportioned along the route, hired eighty riders and what +stock-tenders were necessary, and hauled feed and provisions out +across the intermountain deserts. They had droves of mules beating +down trails through the deep drifts of the Sierras and the Rockies. + +On April 3, 1860, Henry Roff swung into the saddle at Sacramento and +Alexander Carlyle leaped on a brown mare in St. Joseph, Missouri. +While cannon boomed and crowds cheered in those two remote cities, the +ponies came toward each other from the ends of that two-thousand-mile +trail on a dead run. + +At the end of ten miles or so a relay mount was waiting for each +rider. As he drew near the station each man let out a long coyote +yell; the hostlers led his animal into the roadway. The messenger +charged down upon them, drew rein, sprang to the earth, and while the +agent lifted the pouches from one saddle to the other--as quickly as +you read these words describing the process--gained the back of his +fresh horse and sped on. At the end of his section--the length of +these intervals varied from seventy-five to a hundred and twenty-five +miles--each rider dismounted for the last time and turned the pouches +over to a successor. + +In this manner the mail went across prairie and sage-brush plain, +through mountain passes where the snow lay deep beside the beaten +trail and across the wide silent reaches of the Great American Desert. +And the time on that first trip was ten days for both east and west +bound pouches. + +The riders were light of weight; they were allowed to carry no weapons +save a bowie-knife and revolver; the letters were written on +tissue-paper; the two pouches were fastened to a leathern covering +which fitted over the saddle, and the thing was lifted with one +movement from the last horse to the relay animal. When one of these +messengers came within earshot of a station he always raised his voice +in the long shrill coyote yell, and by day or night, as that signal +came down the wind to them, the men who were on duty scrambled to get +the waiting horse into its place. + +Many of these half-breed mustangs were unbroken; some were famous for +their ability at bucking. There is a man in my town, Joe Hand--he +would hate to acknowledge that he is getting on in years even now--who +used to ride the western end, and he said: + +"They'd hold a bad horse for a fellow long enough to let you get the +rowels of those big Mex spurs fastened in the hair cinch. Then it was +you and that horse for it. The worst of it was that the pony would +usually tire himself out with his pitching, and you'd lose time. I +remember one that left me pretty badly stove up for a while, but I had +the satisfaction of knowing he'd killed himself trying to pile me." + +But bad horses were a part of the game; like bad men every one in the +business expected them and took them as a matter of course. The riders +of the pony express hardly recall such incidents because of the larger +adventures with which their lives were filled. + +There was the ride of Jim Moore, for a long time famous among the +exploits on the frontier. His route went from Midway station to old +Julesburg, one hundred and forty miles across the great plains of +western Nebraska. The stations were from ten to fourteen miles apart. +Arriving at the end of that grueling journey, he would rest for two +days before making the return trip. + +One day Moore started westward from Midway station, knowing that his +partner, who carried the mail one way while he was taking it the +other, was sick at Julesburg. It was a question whether the man would +be able to take the eastbound pouches, and if he should not be there +was no substitute on hand. + +Realizing what might lie ahead of him, Moore pressed each fresh horse +to its utmost speed during that westward ride. A man can endure only +so long a term of punishment, and he resolved to save himself what +minutes he could at the very beginning. He made that one hundred and +forty miles in eleven hours. + +The partner was in bed, and there was no hope of his rising for a day +or two. The weary messenger started toward one of the bunks to get a +bit of rest, but before he had thrown himself on the blankets, the +coyote yell of the eastbound rider sounded up the road. + +It was up to Moore to take the sick man's place now. While the +hostlers were saddling a pony and leading it out in front of the +station, he snatched some cold meat from the table, gulped down a cup +of lukewarm coffee, and hurried outside. He was just in time to swing +into the saddle. He clapped spurs to the pony and kept him on a run. +So with each succeeding mount; and when he arrived at Midway he had +put the two hundred and eighty miles of the round trip behind him in +twenty-two hours. + +In western Nevada, where the Paiute Indians were on the war-path, +several of the stations were little forts, and riders frequently raced +for their lives to these adobe sanctuaries. Pony Bob Haslam made his +great three hundred and eighty mile ride across this section of +scorching desert. + +He rode out of Virginia City one day while the inhabitants were +frantically working to fortify the town against war-parties whose +signal-fires were blazing at the time on every peak for a hundred +miles. + +When he arrived at the Carson River, sixty miles away, he found that +the settlers had seized all the horses at the station for use in the +campaign against the savages. He went on without a relay down the +Carson to Fort Churchill, fifteen miles farther. Here the man who was +to relieve him refused to take the pouches. + +Within ten minutes Haslam was in the saddle again. He rode thirty-five +miles to the Carson sink; got a fresh horse and made the next thirty +miles, without a drop of water; changed at Sand Springs and again at +Cold Springs; and after one hundred and ninety miles in the saddle +turned the pouches over to J. G. Kelley. + +Here, at Smith's Creek, Pony Bob got nine hours' rest. Then he began +the return trip. At Cold Springs he found the station a smoking +shambles; the keeper and the stock-tender had been killed, the horses +driven off by Indians. It was growing dark. He rode his jaded animal +across the thirty-seven-mile interval to Sand Springs, got a remount, +and pressed on to the sink of the Carson. Afterward it was found that +during the night he had ridden straight through a ring of Indians who +were headed in the same direction in which he was going. From the sink +he completed his round trip of three hundred and eighty miles without +a mishap, arriving at the end within four hours of the schedule time. + +Nine months after the opening of the line the Civil War began, and the +pony express carried the news of the attack on Fort Sumter from St. +Joseph to San Francisco in eight days and fourteen hours. + +Newspapers and business men had awakened to the importance of this +quick communication, and bonuses were offered for the delivery of +important news ahead of schedule. President Buchanan's last message +had heretofore held the record for speedy passage, going over the +route in seven days and nineteen hours. But that time was beaten by +two hours in the carrying of Lincoln's inaugural address. Seven days +and seventeen hours--the world's record for transmitting messages by +men and horses! + +The firm of Russel, Majors & Waddel spent $700,000 on the pony express +during the eighteen months of its life; they took in something less +than $500,000. But they accomplished what they had set out to do. In +1860 the Butterfield line was notified to transfer its rolling-stock +to the west end of the northern route; their rivals got the mail +contract for the eastern portion. + +The Wells-Butterfield interests were on the under side now. The change +to the new route involved enormous expense; and with the withdrawal of +troops at the beginning of the Civil War, Apaches and Comanches +plundered the disintegrating line of stations. The company lasted only +a short time on the west end of the overland mail and retired. Its +leaders now devoted their energies to the express business. + +At this juncture a new man got the mail contract. Ben Holliday was his +name, and in his day he was known as a Napoleon. Perhaps it was the +first time that term was used in connection with American promoters. +Holliday, who had begun as a small storekeeper in a Missouri village, +had made one canny turn after another until, at the time when the mail +came to the northern route, he owned several steamship lines and large +freighting interests and was beginning to embark in the stage +business. The firm of Russel, Majors & Waddel was losing money, owing +in part to bad financial management and in part to the courageous +venture of the pony express. Holliday absorbed their property early in +the sixties. He was the transportation magnate of his time, the first +American to force a merger in that industry. + +One of his initial steps was to improve the operation of the stage +line. Some of the efficiency methods of his subordinates were +picturesque to say the least. In Julesburg, which was near the mouth +of Lodge Pole Creek in northeastern Colorado, the agent was an old +Frenchman, after whom the place had been named. This Jules had been +feathering his own nest at the expense of the company, and the new +management supplanted him with one Jack Slade, whose record up to that +time was either nineteen or twenty killings. Slade was put in charge +at Julesburg with instructions to clean up his division. + +While the new superintendent was exterminating such highway robbers +and horse-thieves as Jules had gathered about him in this section, his +predecessor was biding in the little settlement, watching for a chance +to play even. + +One day Slade came into the general store near the station, and the +Frenchman, who had seen a good opportunity for ambush here, fired both +barrels of a double-barreled shotgun into his body at a range of about +fifty feet. + +Slade took to his bed. But he was made of the stuff which absorbs much +lead without any great amount of permanent harm. He was up again in a +few weeks. He hunted down Jules, who had taken refuge in the Indian +country to the north on hearing of his recovery. He brought the +prisoner back to Julesburg, and bound him to the snubbing-post in the +middle of the stage company's corral. + +Accounts of what followed differ. Some authorities maintain that Slade +killed Jules. Others, who base their assertions on the statement of +men who said they were eye-witnesses, tell how Slade enjoyed himself +for some time filling the prisoner's clothing with bullet holes and +then exclaimed, + +"Hell! You ain't worth the lead to kill you." And turned the victim +loose. + +But all narrators agree on this; before Slade unbound the living +Jules--or the dead one, whichever it may have been--he cut off the +prisoner's ears and put them in his pocket. + +It may be noted in passing that this truculent efficiency expert went +wrong in after years and wound up his days at the end of a rope in +Virginia City, Montana. + +Ben Holliday carried the mails overland throughout the early sixties. +But during the summer of 1864 the Indians of the plains, for the first +time in their history, made a coalition. They united in one grand +war-party against the outposts along the line, and for a distance of +four hundred miles they destroyed stations, murdered employees, and +made off with live stock. The loss to the company was half a million +dollars. + +It crippled Holliday. And the government so delayed consideration of +his claims for reimbursment that he was glad to sell the property. The +firm of Wells Fargo, who had been increasing their express business +until they virtually monopolized that feature of common carrying +throughout the West at the close of the Civil War, took the line over. +Wells Fargo! It was the old Wells Butterfield Co. again. The first +winners in the struggle were the last. + +The railroad came. Men said that the day of adventure was over. But +this adventure has not ended yet. + +While this story was being written another pioneer died on that +overland mail route. And when his aero-plane came fluttering down out +of a driving snowstorm to crash, in a mass of tangled wreckage, on +the side of Elk Mountain, Wyoming, Lieutenant E. V. Wales went to +his death within a rifle-shot of the road where so many of his +predecessors gave up their lives trying--even as he was then +striving--to quicken communication between the Atlantic and the +Pacific. + + + + +BOOT-HILL + +Boot-Hill! Back in the wild old days you found one on the new town's +outskirts and one where the cattle trail came down to the ford, and +one was at the summit of the pass. There was another on the mesa +overlooking the water-hole where the wagon outfits halted after the +long dry drive. The cow-boys read the faded writing on the wooden +headboards and from the stories made long ballads which they sang to +the herds on the bedding grounds. The herds have long since vanished, +the cow-boys have ridden away over the sky-line, the plaintive songs +are slipping from the memories of a few old men, and we go riding by +the places where those headboards stood, oblivious. + +Of the frontier cemeteries whose dead came to their ends, shod in +accordance with the grim phrase of their times, there remains one just +outside the town of Tombstone to the north. Here straggling mesquite +bushes grow on the summit of the ridge; cacti and ocatilla sprawl over +the sun-baked earth hiding between their thorny stems the headboards +and the long narrow heaps of stones which no man could mistake. Some +of these headboards still bear traces of black-lettered epitaphs which +tell how death came to strong men in the full flush of youth. But the +vast majority of the boulder heaps are marked by cedar slabs whose +penciled legends the elements have long since washed away. + +The sun shines hot here on the summit of the ridge. Across the wide +mesquite flat the granite ramparts of the Dragoons frown all the long +day, and the bleak hill graveyard frowns back at them. Thus the men +who came to this last resting-place frowned back at Death. + +There was a day when every mining camp and cow-town from the Rio +Grande to the Yellowstone owned its boot-hill; a day when lone +graves marked the trails and solitary headboards rotted slowly in the +unpeopled wilderness. Many of these isolated wooden monuments fell +before the long assaults of the elements; the low mounds vanished +and the grass billowed in the wind hiding the last vestiges of the +leveled sepulchers. Sometimes the spot was favorable; outfits +rested there; new headboards rose about the first one; for the road +was long and weary, the fords were perilous from quicksands; thirst +lurked in the desert, and the Indians were always waiting. The camp +became a settlement, and in the days of its infancy, when there was +no law save that of might, the graveyard spread over a larger area. +There came an era when a member of that stern straight-shooting breed +who blazed the trails for the coming of the statutes wielded the +powers of high justice, the middle, and the low. Outlaw and rustler +opposed the dominion of this peace officer. Then the cemetery +boomed like the young town. Finally things settled down to jury +trials and men let lawyers do most of the fighting with forensics +instead of forty-fives. Churches were built and school-houses; a new +graveyard was established; brush and weeds hid the old one's +leaning headboards. Time passed; a city grew; the boot-hill was +forgotten. + +This is a chronicle of men whose bones lie in those vanished +boot-hills. If one could stand aside on the day of judgment and watch +them pass when the brazen notes of the last trump are growing fainter, +he would witness a brave procession. But we at least can marshal the +shadowy host from fast waning memories and, looking upon some of their +number, recall the deeds they did, the manner of their dying. + +Here then they come through the curtain of time's mists, Indian +fighter, town marshal, faro-dealer, and cow-boy. There are a few among +them upon whom it is not worth while to gaze, those whose lives and +deaths were unfit for recording; there are a vast multitude whose +heroic stories were never told and never will be; and there are some +whose deeds as they have come down from the lips of the old-timers +should never die. + +Thus in the forefront pass lean forms clad for the most part in +garments fringed with buckskin. You can see where some have torn off +portions of the fringes to clean their rifles. + +Old-fashioned long-barreled muzzle-loaders, these rifles; and +powder-horns hang by the sides of the bearers. They are long-haired +men; and their faces are deeply burned by sun and wind, one hundred +and eighty-three of them; and where they died, fighting to the last +against four thousand of Santa Ana's soldiers, rose the first +boot-hill. That was in San Antonio, Texas, at the building called the +Alamo; and in this day, when schoolboys who can describe Thermopylae in +detail know nothing of that far finer stand, it will do no harm to +dwell on a proud episode ignored by most text-book histories. + +On the fifth day of March, 1836, San Antonio's streets were resonant +with the heavy tread of marching troops, the clank of arms and the +rumble of moving artillery. Four thousand Mexican soldiers were being +concentrated on one point, a little mission chapel and two long adobe +buildings which formed a portion of a walled enclosure, the Alamo. + +For nearly two weeks General Santa Ana had been tightening the cordon +of cavalry, infantry, and artillery about the place. It housed one +hundred and eighty-three lank-haired frontiersmen, a portion of +General Sam Houston's band who had declared for Texan independence. +The Mexicans had cut them off from water; their food was running low. +On this day the dark-skinned commander planned to take the square. His +men had managed to plant a cannon two hundred yards away. When they +blew down the walls the infantry would charge. It only remained for +them to load the field-piece. Bugles sounded; officers galloped +through the sheltered streets where the foot soldiers were held in +waiting. There came from the direction of the Alamo the steady +rat-tat-tat of rifles. The hours went by but the cannon remained +silent. + +A little group of lean-faced men were crouching on the flat roof of +the large out-building. The most of them were clad in fringed garments +of buckskin; here and there was one in a hickory shirt and home-spun +jeans. Six of them, some bareheaded and some with hats whose wide rims +dropped low over their foreheads, were clustered about old Davy +Crockett, frontiersman and in his day a member of Congress. Always the +six were busy, with ramrods, powder-horns, and bullets, loading the +long-barreled eight-square Kentucky rifles. The grizzled marksman took +the cocked weapons from their hands; one after another, he pressed +each walnut stock to his shoulder, lined the sights, pulled the +trigger, and laid the discharged piece down, to pick up its +successor. + +He crouched there on the flat roof facing the Mexican cannon. As fast +as men came to load it, he fired. Sometimes a dozen soldiers rushed +upon the muzzle of the field-piece surrounding it. At such moments +Davy Crockett's arms swept back and forth with smooth unhurried +swiftness and his sinewy fingers relaxed from one walnut stock only to +clutch another; his hands were never empty. Always a little red flame +licked the smoke fog before him like the tongue of an angered snake. +He was getting on in years but in all his full life his technic had +never been so perfect, his artistry of death so flawless, as on this +day which prefaced the closing of his chapter. The bodies of his +enemies clogged the space about their cannon; the rivulets of red +trickled from the heap across the roadway. The long hours passed. +Darkness came. The field-piece remained silent. + +Long before daylight the next morning the four thousand were marching +in close ranks to gather for the final assault. The sun had not risen +when they made the charge. The infantry came first; the cavalry closed +in behind them driving them on with bared sabers. The Americans took +such toll with their long-barreled rifles from behind the barricaded +doors and windows that the foot-soldiers turned to face the naked +swords rather than endure that fire. The officers reformed them under +cover; they swept forward again, and again fell back. Santa Ana +directed the third charge in person. They swarmed to the courtyard +wall and raised ladders to its summit. The men behind bore those +before them onward and literally shoved them up the ladders. They +overwhelmed the frontiersmen through sheer force of numbers. Colonel +W. B. Travis fell fighting hand to hand here. The courtyard filled +with dark-skinned soldiers. + +The Alamo was fallen. But there remained for the lean hard-bitten men +of Texas, who had retired within the adobe buildings, the task of +dying as fighting men should die. It was now ten o'clock, nearly six +hours since the beginning of the first advance. It took the four +thousand two hours more to finish the thing. + +For every room saw its separate stand; and every stand was to the +bitter end. + +There were fourteen gaunt frontiersmen in the hospital, so weak with +wounds that they could not drag themselves from their tattered +blankets. They fought with rifles and pistols until forty Mexicans lay +heaped dead about the doorway. The artillery brought up a field-piece; +they loaded it with grape-shot and swept the room, and then at last +they crossed the threshold. + +Colonel James Bowie, who brought into use the knife that bears his +name, was sick within another apartment. How that day's noises of +combat roused the old fire within his breast and how he lay there +chafing against the weakness which would not let him raise his body, +one can well imagine. A dozen Mexican officers rushed into the place, +firing as they came. Colonel Bowie waited until the first of them was +within arm's length. Then he reached forth, seized the man by the hair +and, dying, plunged the knife that bore his name hilt-deep into the +heart of his enemy. + +So they passed in stifling clouds of powder smoke with the reek of hot +blood in their nostrils. The noon hour saw Davy Crockett and five or +six companions standing in a corner of the shattered walls; the old +frontiersman held a rifle in one hand, in the other a dripping knife, +and his buckskin garments were sodden, crimson. That is the last of +the picture. + +"Thermopylae had its messenger of defeat. The Alamo had none." So reads +the inscription on the monument erected in latter years by the State +of Texas to commemorate that stand. The words are true. But the Alamo +did leave a memory and the tale of the little band who fought in the +sublimity of their fierceness while death was slowing their pulses did +much toward the development of a breed whose eyes were narrow, +sometimes slightly slanting, from constant peering across rifle sights +under a glaring sun. + +The procession is passing; trapper and Indian fighter; teamsters with +dust in the deep lines of their faces--dust from the long dry trail to +old Santa Fe; stage-drivers who have been sleeping the long sleep +under waving wheat-fields where alkali flats once stretched away +toward the vague blue mountains; and riders of the pony express. A +tall form emerges from the past's dim background, and comes on among +them. + +Six feet and an inch to spare, modeled as finely as an old Greek +statue, with eyes of steel grey, sweeping mustache and dark brown hair +that hangs to his shoulders, he moves with catlike grace. Two +forty-fives hang by his narrow hips; there is a hint of the cavalier +in his dropping sombrero and his ornately patterned boots. This is +Wild Bill Hickok; he was to have gone with Custer, but a coward's +bullet cheated him out of the chance to die fighting by the Little Big +Horn and they buried him in the Black Hills in the spring of 1876. + +James B. Hickok was the name by which men called him until one +December day in the early sixties when the McCandless gang of outlaws +tried to drive the horses off from the Rock Creek station of the +Overland Stage on the plains of southwestern Nebraska near the Kansas +boundary. + +There were ten of the desperadoes, and Hickok, who was scarcely more +than a boy then, was alone in the little sod house, for Doc Brinck, +his partner, was off hunting that afternoon. He watched their approach +from the lonely cubicle where he and Brinck passed their days as +station-keepers. They rode up through the cottonwoods by the creek. +Bill McCandless leaped from the saddle and swaggered to the corral +bars. + +"The first man lays a hand on those bars, I'll shoot," Hickok called. +They answered his warning with a volley, and their leader laughed as +he dragged the topmost railing from its place. Laughing he died. + +Now the rifles of the others rained lead against the sod walls and +slugs buzzed like angry wasps through the window. He killed one more +by the corral and a third who had crept up behind the wooden +well-curb. The seven who were left retired to the cottonwoods to hold +council. They determined to rush the building and batter down the +door. + +When they came forth bearing a dead tree-trunk between them, he got +two more of them. And then the timber crashed against the flimsy door; +the rended boards flew across the room; the sod walls trembled to the +shock. He dropped his rifle and drew his revolver as he leaped to meet +them. + +Jim McCandless and another pitched forward across the threshold with +leveled shotguns at their shoulders. Young Hickok ducked under the +muzzle of the nearest weapon, and its flame seared his long hair as he +swung for the bearer's mid-section with all the weight of his body +behind the blow. Whirling with the swiftness of a fighting cat he +spurned the senseless outlaw with his boot and "threw down" on +McCandless. Revolver and shotgun flamed in the same instant; +McCandless fell dead; Hickok staggered back with eleven buckshot in +his body. + +The other three were on him before he recovered his balance. He felt +the searing of their bowie-knives against his ribs as they bore him +down on the bed. Fingers closed in on his windpipe. He seized the arm +in his two hands and twisted it, as one would twist a stick, until the +bones snapped. He struggled to his feet, and the warm blood bathed his +limbs as he hurled the two who were left across the room. + +They came on crouching and their knives gleamed through the thick +smoke-clouds. His own bowie-knife was in his hand now, and he stabbed +the foremost through the throat. The other fled. Hickok stumbled out +through the door after him, and Doc Brinck came riding back from his +hunting expedition in time to lend his rifle to his partner, who +insisted profanely that he was fit to finish what he had so well +begun. + +So young James Hickok shut his teeth against the weakness which was +creeping over him and lined his sights on the last of his enemies; for +the man whom he had felled with his fist and he with the broken arm +had escaped some time during the latter progress of the fight. That +final shot was not so true as its predecessors; the outlaw did not die +until several days later in the little town of Manhattan, Kansas. + +When the eastbound stage pulled up that afternoon the driver and +passengers found the long-haired young station-keeper in a deep swoon, +with eleven buckshot and thirteen knife wounds in his body. They took +him aboard and carried him to Manhattan where he recovered six months +later, to find himself known throughout the West as Wild Bill Hickok. + +How many men he killed is a mooted question. But it is universally +acknowledged that he slew them all fairly. Owning that prestige whose +possessor walks amid unseen dangers, he introduced the quick draw on +his portion of frontier; and many who sought his life for the sake of +the dark fame which the deed would bring them died with their weapons +in their hands. + +In Abilene, Kansas, where he was for several years town marshal, one +of these caught him unawares as he was rounding a corner. Wild Bill +complied with the order to throw up his hands and stood, rigid, +expressionless, while the desperado, emulating the plains Indians, +tried to torture him by picturing the closeness of his end. He was in +the midst of his description when Hickok's eyes widened and his voice +was thick with seeming horror as he cried, + +"My God! Don't kill him from behind!" The outlaw allowed his eyes to +waver and he fell with a bullet-hole in his forehead. + +As stage-driver, Indian fighter, and peace officer Wild Bill Hickok +did a man's work in cleaning up the border. He was about to go and +join the Custer expedition as a scout when one who thought the murder +would give him renown shot him from behind as he was sitting in at a +poker game in Deadwood. He died drawing his two guns, and the whole +West mourned his passing. It had never known a braver spirit. + +The silent ranks grow thicker: young men, sunburned and booted for the +saddle; the restless souls who forsook tame Eastern farm-lands, lured +by the West's promise of adventure, and received the supreme +fulfilment of that promise; the finest of the South's manhood drawn +toward the setting sun to seek new homes. They come from a hundred +boot-hills, from hundreds of solitary graves; from the banks of the +Yellowstone, the Platte, the Arkansas, and the two forks of the +Canadian. + +There are so many among them who died exalted that the tongue would +weary reciting the tales. This tattered group were with the fifty who +drove off fifteen hundred Cheyennes and Kiowas on Beecher Island. The +Battle of the Arickaree was the name men gave the stand; and the +sands of the north fork of the Republican were red with the blood of +the Indians slain by Forsythe and his half hundred when night fell. + +These three who follow in boots, jean breeches, and Oregon shirts are +Billy Tyler and the Shadler brothers, members of that company of +twenty-eight buffalo hunters who made the big fight at Adobe Walls. +The sun was just rising when Quanah Parker, Little Robe, and White +Shield led more than eight hundred Comanches and Kiowas in the first +charge upon the four buildings which stood at the edge of the Llano +Estacado, one hundred and fifty miles from the nearest settlement. The +Shadler boys were slain in their wagon at that onslaught. Tyler was +shot down at midday as he ventured forth from Myers & Leonard's store. +Before the afternoon was over the Indians sickened of their losses and +drew off beyond range of the big-caliber Sharp's rifles. They +massacred one hundred and ninety people during their three months' +raiding but the handful behind the barricaded doors and windows was +too much for them. + +Private George W. Smith of the Sixth Cavalry is passing now. You would +need to look a second time to notice that he was a soldier, for the +rifle under his arm is a long-barreled Sharp's single shot and he has +put aside much of the old blue uniform for the ordinary Western +raiment. That was the way of scouting expeditions, and he, with his +five companions, was on the road from McClellan's Creek to Fort Supply +when they met two hundred Indians on that September morning of 1874. + +Up near the northeast corner of the Texas Panhandle, where the land +rises to a divide between Gageby's Creek and the Washita River, the +five survivors dug his grave with butcher-knives. They pulled down the +banks of a buffalo wallow over his body in the darkness of the night; +and they left him in this shallow sepulcher, unmarked by stone or +headboard. There his bones lie to this day, and no man knows when he +is passing over them. + +The six of them had left General Miles's command two days before. At +dawn on September 13, they were riding northward up the long open +slope: Billy Dixon and Amos Chapman, two buffalo hunters serving as +scouts, and the four troopers, Sergeant Z. T. Woodhull, Privates Peter +Rath, John Harrington, and George W. Smith. You could hardly tell the +soldiers from the plainsmen, had you seen them; a sombreroed group, +booted to the knees and in their shirt-sleeves; all bore the heavy, +fifty-caliber Sharp's single-shot rifles across their saddle-horns. + +The bare land rolled away and away, dark velvet-brown toward the +flushing east. The sky was vivid crimson when they turned their horses +up a little knoll. They reached its summit just as the sun was rising. +Here they drew rein. Two hundred Comanches and Kiowas were riding +toward them at the bottom of the hill; the landscape had tricked them +into ambush. + +There passed an instant during which astonishment held both parties +motionless: the white men on the crest, unshaven, sunburned, their +soiled sombreros drooping over their narrowed eyes; and at the slope's +foot the ranks of half-naked braves all decked out in the war-path's +gaudy panoply. Their lean torsos gleamed under the rays of the rising +sun like old copper; patches of ocher and vermilion stood out in vivid +contrast against the dusky skins; feathered war-bonnets and dyed +scalp-locks fluttered, gay bits of color in the morning breeze. The +instant passed; the white men flung themselves from their saddles; the +red men deployed forming a wide circle about them. A ululating yell, +so fierce in its exultation that the cavalry horses pulled back upon +their bridles in a frenzy of fear, broke the silence. Then the booming +of the long Sharp's fifties on the summit mingled with the rattle of +Springfields and needle-guns on the hill's flank. + +Now, while the bullets threw the dust from the dry sod into their +faces, five of the six dropped on their bellies in a ring. And by +the sergeant's orders Private George Smith took charge of the +panic-stricken horses. Perhaps that task fell to him because he was +the poorest shot, perhaps it was because he had the least experience; +but it was a man's job. He stood upright clinging to the tie-ropes, +trying to soothe the plunging animals; and he became the target +for a hundred of those rifles which were clattering along the +hillside below him. For every warrior in the band knew that the +first bullet that found its mark in his body would send the horses +stampeding down the slope; and to put his foes afoot was the +initial purpose of the plains Indian when he went into battle. + +So Private Smith clinched his teeth and did his best, while the +deep-toned buffalo-guns roared and the rifles of the savages answered +in a never-ending volley all around him. The leaden slugs droned past +his ears as thick as swarming bees; the plunging hoofs showed through +the brown dust-clouds, and his arms ached from the strain of the +tie-ropes. + +Billy Dixon had thrown away his wide-rimmed sombrero and his long hair +rippled in the wind. He had been through the battle at Adobe Walls and +men knew him for one of the best shots in the country south of the +Arkansas River. He was taking it slowly, lining his sights with the +coolness of an old hand on a target-range. Now he raised his head. + +"Here they come," he shouted. + +The circle was drawing inward where the land sloped up at the easiest +angle. A hundred half-naked riders swung toward the summit, and the +thud-thud of the ponies' little hoofs was audible through the rattle +of the rifles. The buffalo-guns boomed in slow succession like the +strokes of a tolling bell. Empty saddles began to show in the +forefront. The charge swerved off, and as it passed at point-blank +range a curtain of powder smoke unrolled along the whole flank. + +Private George Smith pitched forward on his face. His rifle flew far +from him. He lay there motionless. A trooper binding his wounded thigh +glanced around when the assault had become a swift retreat. + +"Look!" he cried. "They've got Smith." + +"Set us afoot," another growled and pointed after the stampeded +horses. + +Smith lay quite still as he had fallen. They thought him dead. Within +the hour, a dozen whooping Comanches ran their ponies up the hill +toward his limp form. To gain that scalp-lock under fire would be an +exploit worth telling to their grandchildren in after years. And +there was the long-barreled rifle as a bit of plunder. But the five +white men, who had changed their position under a second charge, +emptied four saddles before the warriors were within a hundred yards +of the spot, and the eight survivors whipped their ponies down the +slope again. + +The sun was climbing high when Amos Chapman rolled over on his side +and called to Billy Dixon that his leg was broken. Dixon lifted his +head and surveyed the situation. The Indians were gathering for +another rush. Thus far they had taken things as though they were so +sure of the ultimate result that they did not see fit to run great +chances. But this could not last. The next charge might be the final +one. Down on a little mesquite flat about two hundred yards distant, +he saw a buffalo wallow. He pointed to it. + +"We got to make it," he told the others, and they followed him as he +ran for the shelter. But Amos Chapman crawled only a dozen paces or so +before he had to give it up. The four fell to work with their +butcher-knives heaping up the sand at the summit of the low bank which +surrounded the shallow circular depression. They dropped their knives +and picked up their rifles, for the savages were sweeping down upon +them. + +So they dug and fought and fought and dug for another hour and then +Billy Dixon was unable to stand the sight of his partner lying +helpless on the summit of the knoll. + +"I'm going to get Amos," he announced, and set forth amid a rain of +bullets. Those who saw him after the fight was over--and General +Miles was among them--said that his shirt was ripped in twenty places +by flying lead. He halted on the hilltop and took up Chapman +pick-a-back, then bore him slowly down the slope to the little +shelter. + +Noon came on. The sun shone hot. Dixon had got a bullet in the calf of +his leg when he was bearing his companion on his back. Private Rath +was the only man who was not wounded. They all thirsted as only men +can thirst who have been keyed up to the high pitch of endeavor for +hours. The savages charged thrice more; and when they came, numbers of +them always deployed toward the top of the knoll where Private Smith +lay dying: dead his companions thought, but they were grim in their +determination that the red men should never get the scalp which they +coveted so sorely. The big Sharps boomed; the saddles emptied to their +booming. Private Smith wakened from one swoon only to fall into +another. Sometimes he wakened to the thudding of hoofs and saw the +savages sweeping toward him on their ponies. + +Near midafternoon the warriors formed for a charge and it was evident +from the manner of their massing that they were going to ride down on +the buffalo wallow in one solid body. But while their ranks were +gathering there came up one of those sudden thunderstorms for which +the Staked Plains were famous. The rain fell in sheets; the lightning +blazed with scarcely an intermission between flashes. And the charge +was given up for the time being. The braves drew off beyond rifle-shot +and huddled up within their blankets. + +Morris Rath seized the respite to go for ammunition. For Smith's +cartridge-belts were full. He came back from the knoll breathless. + +"Smith's living," he cried. + +"Come on," Billy Dixon bade him and the two went back to the summit. + +"I can walk if you two hold me up," Private George Smith whispered. A +bullet had passed through his lungs and when he breathed the air +whistled from a hole beneath his shoulder-blade. They supported him on +either side and half-carried him to the buffalo wallow. + +The thunder-shower had passed. Another was coming fast. The Indians +were gathering to take advantage of the brief interval. The agony +which had come from rough motion was keeping Smith from swooning now. +He saw his companions preparing to stand off the assault. Amos Chapman +was holding himself upright by bracing his body against the side of +the wallow. Private Smith whispered to the others, + +"Set me up like Chapman. They'll think there's more of us fit to shoot +that way." And they did as he had asked them. + +So he held his body erect while the life was ebbing from it; and the +rain came down again in sheets. The Indians fell back before the +charge was well begun. It was their last attempt. + +The wind rose, biting raw. The savages melted away as dusk drew down +over the brown land. Some one looked at Smith. His head was sunk and +he was moaning with pain. They found a willow switch and tamped a +handkerchief into the wound. And then they laid him down in the +rain-water which had gathered in the wallow. His blood and the blood +of the others turned that water a dull red. + +Some time near midnight he died. And several days later, when General +Miles's troops came to rescue them, the five others buried his body. +It was night-time. The fires of the troopers glowed down at the foot +of the slope. They made the grave with their butcher-knives by pulling +down the sand from the wallow's side upon the body. And then they went +to the camp-fires of the soldiers. + + * * * * * + +They are passing from bleak graveyards on the alkali flats and in the +northern mountains where the sage-brush meets the pines: gaunt men in +laced boots and faded blue overalls who traveled once too often +through the desert's mirage searching for the golden ledges; big-boned +hard rock men who died in underground passages where the steel was +battering the living granite; men with soft hands and cold eyes who +fattened on the fruits of robbery and murder. + +This swarthy black-haired one in the soft silk shirt and spotless +raiment of the gambler is Cherokee Bob, who killed and plundered +unchallenged throughout eastern Washington and Idaho during the early +sixties; until the camp of Florence celebrated its third New Year's +Eve with a ball in which respectability held sway, and he took his +consort thither to mingle with the wives of others. Then he kindled a +flame of resentment which his blackest murders had failed to rouse. +The next morning the entire camp turned out to drive him forth +together with Bill Willoughby, his partner. The two retreated slowly, +from building to building, facing the mob. Shotguns bellowed; +rifle-bullets sang about their ears, and they answered with their +revolvers, until death left their trigger fingers limp. + +Here comes one with catlike tread, slender and with a dignity of +presence which proclaims the gentleman. But when you glance at the +lean immobile face, there is that in the pale eyes which checks your +blood; their gray is like the gray of old ice late in the wintertime. +This is Henry Plummer. Behind him troop thirty others, bearded men, +and the evil of their deeds is plainly written on their features; the +members of his band who slew for gold, leaving the dead to mark their +trail through Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana. In Alder Gulch +their leader was elected sheriff and planned their murders for them +while he held the office. Finally such men as Sam Hauser, N. P. +Langford, J. X. Beidler, and Colonel W. F. Saunders took their lives +in their hands and organized a vigilance committee at Virginia City. +They got their evidence; and in January, 1864, they lynched the +sheriff and his thirty, whose deeds would make a long story were they +worthy of a place within this chronicle. But the mining camps never +produced the type of desperado who was willing to take his share of +chances in a shooting affair; excepting when the cattle country was +close by. The bad man who could command a measure of admiration always +was a horseman. + +Here pass those who died boldly in the glaring lands by the Arizona +border; a multitude of sunburned men with revolvers swinging low +beside their hips and in their hands the deadly Winchesters. One comes +among them, rugged of frame, big-featured, red from weather and the +fulness of his blood. There is, in the poise of his head and in his +eyes, a fierce intolerance. This is Joe Phy. More than forty years +have passed since they buried him in the little boot-hill at +Florence, Arizona. To-day the town is as conventional as any Eastern +village, but it saw a time when men lived up to the rude clean code of +our American age of chivalry. During that era Joe Phy met his end with +a grimness befitting a son of the Old West. + +Florence was the county-seat and Pete Gabriel was sheriff. He was a +handsome man with his twisted mustache and Napoleon goatee, +free-handed with his money, widely liked. Moreover he was a wonderful +shot with his rifle and deadly quick with a single-action revolver. +Among the gun-fighters of southern Arizona none was better known than +he, and Joe Phy was his deputy. + +The county of Pinal extended from the glaring flats below the Gila +northward beyond the Superstition Mountains, a savage land where the +sun was killing hot in summer-time, where forests of giant cacti +stretched for miles like the pine woods that cloaked the higher +plateaus. Phy and Gabriel rode together through the country on many a +bold errand; they shared their blankets and the hardships of dry +camps; they fought beside each other while the bullets of wanted men +snarled, ricochetting from the rocks about them. + +Then politics brought a rift in their friendship and the day came when +the deputy ran for office against his former chief. The campaign was +made bitter by accusations. There was, men said, a court-house ring; +the big companies were dodging taxes, the small ranchers were getting +the worst of it. Election came and the rancor of the reformers grew +hotter when the count showed that Gabriel had won. Many openly +proclaimed that the court-house crowd had juggled with the ballots, +and Phy was among these. When a contest was instituted and the result +of the election was carried to the courts, he grew to hate Gabriel. +The hatred flamed within him until he could stand it no longer and one +night he hunted the town over until he found the sheriff in Keating's +saloon. + +"Pete," he said, "I'm going home after my six-shooter and I'm coming +back to fight it out with you. Get ready while I'm gone." + +And Gabriel answered quietly, "All right, Joe. I'll be here when you +come back." + +The swinging doors closed behind Phy's back and the sheriff turned to +the man behind the bar. + +"Call 'em up," he said. "This is on me." He ordered whisky and those +who lined up beside him kept looking toward the street entrance; but +he remained with his back to the swinging doors. The minutes passed; +the doors flew open. Within the threshold Joe Phy halted. + +"Commence!" he shouted and flung an oath after the word. "Commence!" + +Pete Gabriel turned, and his revolver flew from its holster spitting +fire. Phy's forty-five ejected a thin stream of orange flame. The +voices of the weapons mingled in one loud explosion. The two men took +a pace toward each other and the smoke grew thicker as they shot again +in unison. They came on slowly, pulling the triggers until the room +was filled with the black powder fumes. + +Then Pete Gabriel stood swaying within arm's length of Joe Phy's +prostrate form. And as he struggled against the mortal weakness which +was now creeping through his lead-riddled body the man on the floor +whispered, + +"I cain't get up. Get down. We'll finish it with knives." + +"I guess we've both of us got enough," the sheriff muttered, and +staggered out through the door, to lie all night in a near-by corral +and live for two years afterward with a bullet through his kidneys. + +Joe Phy died hard on the saloon floor. Those in the room gathered +about him, and Johnny Murphy strove to lift his head that they might +give him a sip of water. A year before he and two others had slain Joe +Levy, a faro-dealer in Tucson, and they had done it foully from +behind. Since that time men had avoided him, speaking to him only when +it was absolutely necessary, and his hair had turned snow-white. Joe +Phy opened his eyes and recognized his would-be helper. + +"Don't you dare lay a hand on me," he cried, "you murderer," and +struck Murphy full in the face. His hand fell limply back. The breath +had departed from his body with that blow. + +The long procession is waning. Now those are coming whose headboards +were erected in the early eighties. A company of swarthy black-eyed +riders in the flaring trousers and steep-crowned sombreros of Mexico +jog along elbow to elbow with hard-eyed horsemen from the valleys of +the San Simon and the Animas. Smuggler and cow-thief, there is a story +in their passing which centers about a deep gorge near the place where +the boundary between New Mexico and Arizona meets the international +line. That story goes a long way back. + +Down in the southwestern corner of the Animas valley the Guadalupe +canyon trail approached the gorge from which it got its name. In the +days when the American colonists were still contented with Great +Britain's rule it was a main thoroughfare between the Pinos Altos +mines and old Mexico. Long trains of pack-mules, laden with treasure +which the Spaniards had delved from the sun-baked mountains near where +Silver City now stands, traveled this route. Apaches and bandits made +many an attack on them in the canyon. + +The Pinos Altos mines were abandoned. The trail fell into disuse. The +years passed by. The '49 rush brought new travelers of another breed +who beat down the old track again. Passing through the gorge they too +found the Apaches lurking among the rocks and more than one old +argonaut laid down his eight-square rifle for the last time within the +shadow of those arid cliffs. + +Old Man Clanton came with one of these '49 outfits, a typical specimen +of that lean-jawed leathern-faced breed who have fought Indians, +lynched Mexicans, and established themselves in hundreds of dreary +outposts beyond the last settlements. He went on to California, failed +to find the gold, and returned some time during the latter seventies +to the upper San Pedro valley. Here he "raised his family," as the old +expression has it, and, his sons grew up, Finn, Ike, and Billy. Those +were wild days, and the two last-named boys became more proficient +with rope, running-iron, and forty-five revolver than they ever did +with their school-books. In time they were known as rustlers and in +the lawless town of Charleston by the San Pedro River they fell in +with Curly Bill. When the outlaw went eastward into the valleys of +the San Simon and the Animas the two young Clantons went with him. The +cow-thieves of the San Simon and the Animas did not go to the trouble +of altering brands or "sleepering," as their successors have in later +years, but drove entire herds and sold them, as they were, to +shippers. Occasionally they rode down into Sonora to raid the ranges +south of the border. One July day in 1881 a number of them embarked on +such an expedition and they gathered a bunch of several hundred +longhorns. They brought them up through Guadalupe canyon and came on +northward to the Double Dobe Ranch. Here they left the cattle with a +man to hold them, while they rode over to Curly Bill's place, not far +distant. + +But the Mexicans had been suffering from this sort of depredations +until patience had ceased to be a virtue and a band of thirty dusky +vaqueros were following the trail of those stolen longhorns. On the +afternoon of July 26 the man who was riding herd caught sight of the +steep-crowned sombreros coming out through the mirage on the flats to +the south. He waited only long enough to satisfy himself as to the +nationality of the riders, then clapped spurs to his pony and raced to +Curly Bill's place. + +It took the rustlers some time to saddle up. When they arrived at the +Double Dobe they found nothing of their former prizes but a fresh +trail. They made the best speed they could, but the Mexicans were +"shoving those cattle hard," as the old-timers say. They had a good +lead and they held it clear to Guadalupe canyon. The running fight +that followed lasted half-way through the gorge. The men from Sonora +were seasoned hands at Indian warfare, and they had no mind to give +up their beef. They left a small rear-guard, who fell back slowly +from rock to rock while their companions urged the longhorns to a +run. The shouts of "Toro! Toro! Vaca! Vaca"! mingled with the +crackling of the rifles. And when the rustlers finally routed the +stubborn defenders to chase the herders on through the ravine and +reassemble the panic-stricken stock, they took back three dead men +across their saddles. They buried the bodies at the Cloverdale +ranch and so started a lonely little boot-hill whose headboards +showed on the edge of the mesa for many years. + +There came now to the old Guadalupe canyon trail a new traffic. Mexican +smugglers who had formerly been crossing the boundary at the southern +end of the San Pedro valley shifted their route hither and traveled +northward to Silver City. They were hard men, accustomed to warring +with the Apaches, bandits, and border officers. They banded together +in formidable outfits to guard the dobie dollars which loaded down the +aparejos during the northern journey. And Curly Bill's companions saw +them passing on more than one occasion: a scuffle of hoofs, a haze of +dust, through which showed the swarthy faces of the outriders under +the great sombreros--and, what lingered longest in the memories of +these hard-faced men of the Animas, the pleasant dull chink of the +dobie dollars in the rawhide pack-sacks. + +In Galeyville the rustlers talked the matter over. It was a simple +problem: go and get the money. They went one day and made their camp +near Guadalupe canyon. They sent scouts on through the gorge to watch +the country from the mesa above the spot where John Slaughter's ranch +buildings now stand. One hot noontide the scouts came riding in. + +"There's a big outfit coming. Must be a dozen mules and nigh on to +thirty men." The outlaws were in the saddle before those who brought +the tidings had time to breathe their horses. + +In those days you were supposed to give a man what the old-timers +called an even break before you killed him. The supposition was lived +up to by the chivalrous and ignored by many who gained large +reputations. But when it came to Mexicans there was not even that +ideal to attain; they were not rated as full-fledged human beings; to +slay one meant no addition to the notches on one's gun, nor did one +feel obliged to observe the rules of fair play. You simply killed your +greaser in the most expeditious manner possible and then forgot about +it. The rustlers went about the business according to this custom. +Save for Curly Bill the members of the party left their horses in +charge of a man around a turn of the gorge. They hid themselves behind +the rocks on the steep mountain-side and waited while their burly +leader rode slowly to meet the smugglers. + +The train was traveling after the Mexican fashion, which is very much +like the Spanish California manner of driving a herd. The chief of the +outfit rode in the lead some distance before the first pack-mule. The +laden animals followed in single file. Flanking them on each side were +the armed guards, with one or two closing in on the rear. Thus they +came, winding their way among the stark rocks and the clumps of +Spanish bayonet, and when the leader caught sight of Curly Bill from +under his huge, silver decked sombrero, he reined in his horse; his +grip tightened on the rifle which he carried across his saddle. The +outriders pulled up; there was a low rattle of shifting weapons and +the bell of the first mule stopped tinkling as the train came to a +stand. + +But the strange rider was alone. The leader raised his arm in signal +and the straggling procession resumed its advance. The solitary +American rode on until he was alongside their head man. + +"Buenos dias, Senor," he said and checked his pony. The Mexican +answered. The pair shook hands. When they had talked for some moments, +Curly Bill turned and rode back up the canyon beside the smuggler. The +pack-train followed and the men on the flanks eased their rifles back +into the sheaths. They traveled until the lead mule had passed the +last hidden rustler. + +Curly Bill's right hand swept to his revolver holster and came on +upward clutching the weapon's butt. The movement was so quick that +before those who were looking at him really grasped its meaning the +hot rocks were bandying echoes of the report. The Mexican was sliding +from his saddle, quite dead. The outlaw was spurring his pony up the +mountain-side. + +Now the outriders dragged their rifles from the sheaths but while they +were seeking to line their sights on the murderer the rustlers opened +fire on them. Those cow-thieves of the Animas were good shots; the +range was brief. The flat explosions of the Winchesters, the scuffling +of hoofs, the voices of dark-skinned riders calling upon their saints +as they pitched forward from their frenzied horses, dying; the +squealing of a hit burro; these things the arid cliffs heard and +repeated to one another. And then the rat-tat-tat of hoofbeats as the +surviving smugglers fled westward. + +That is the way the rustlers told the story in Galeyville amid grim +laughter; and the voices of the narrators were raised to carry +above the staccato pounding of the painos, the scuffling of boot +heels on the dance-hall floors, the shrill mirthless outcries of +rouge-bedizened women, and the resonant slapping of dobie dollars +on the unpainted pine bars. Now and again the recitals were +interrupted by the roaring of forty-five revolvers as the more +fervid celebrants showed their expertness at marksmanship by shooting +the French heels from the shoes of the dance-hall girls. + +John Ringo, the king of the outlaws, got wind of what was going on and +rode over from Tombstone, silent as usual, and with that saturninity +of expression which grew darker as the whisky began to work within +him. He took no part in the celebration but sat through one day and +two blazing nights, dumbly sardonic, at a round table. Save for his +dark countenance, the faces which ringed that table were changing +constantly. Men came noisily, sat down for a time, and departed at +length in chastened silence as the poker-game which he had organized +went on and on--until a large share of those dobie dollars passed unto +him. Then, with the sudden flare of recklessness which invariably came +to him sooner or later, he in his turn flung away the silver over the +unpainted bars. So the incident passed and was forgotten--by the +rustlers. + +The Mexicans did not forget. + +Old Man Clanton started with a Tombstone butcher and three others on +a journey for the Animas valley a few weeks later. They were going to +buy beef cattle and they took the Guadalupe canyon route. One night +they made camp near the middle of the gorge. And while they slept a +dozen swarthy men, who wore the steep-crowned sombreros and the +trousers with leathern facings which were a part of every Mexican +smuggler's costume, came creeping in and out among the boulders like +the Apaches whose ways they had studied in years of border warfare. + +They had waited a long time in the lofty mountains south of the +boundary, watching the malapi flats for a party of Americans; and at +last these had come. They had dogged their trail through the long hot +afternoon, keeping well back lest they should be discovered. Now they +were closing in. The air grew cooler and the hour of dawn approached. +They slipped, black shadows a little deeper than the night which +enfolded them. The light climbed up the eastern sky and leaked down +between the cliffs; the cold gray dusk which comes before the dawn. +The shadows melted slowly; the heavens began to blush. Down here a man +could line the notch of his hindsight with the bead. A pebble tinkled +in the arid watercourse. One of the sleepers stirred in his blankets. +He caught the sound, opened his eyes, and saw the crown of a sombrero +rising behind a rock. He leaped from his bed and flung himself among a +clump of boulders just as the rifles began to talk. + +Two or three cow-boys were lounging about the Cloverdale ranch-house +on a blazing summer afternoon when a queer figure came into sight upon +the palpitating plain. The spectacle of a man on foot was so uncommon +in those days that they had a hard time making themselves believe that +this form, which at times took distorted shapes in the wavering +overheated air, was that of a human being. Then they set forth to meet +him, and they brought the one survivor of the Canton party to the +ranch-house. His bare-feet were bleeding; he was half-clad; and his +tongue was swollen with thirst. They got his story and they rode to +Guadalupe canyon where they found the bodies of his companions. They +buried them on the little boot-hill overlooking the ranch buildings. + +But the episode was not yet finished. + +Time went by. Billy Clanton and the two MacLowery boys, who are said +to have been parties to the dobie dollar hold-up, died one autumn +morning fighting it out against the Earp faction in Tombstone's +street. Curly Bill's fate remains something of a mystery, but one +story has it that Wyatt Earp killed him near Globe two years or so +later. John Ringo killed himself up in the San Simon, delirious from +thirst. Rattlesnake Bill, who helped to spend the Mexican silver, was +shot down by a fellow-rustler in Galeyville. Jake Gauz, another of the +participants, was lynched for horse-stealing not far from the head of +Turkey Creek canyon. + +So they went one after the other, and it is possible that every man +who was present at the massacre of the Mexicans died with his boots +on. + + * * * * * + +"Those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword." The words +come from one who rides near the grim procession's end; a slim young +fellow, beardless, his hair hanging to his shoulders. It is the boy +whom men called Billy the Kid. He quoted the passage to Pat Garret +when the Lincoln County sheriff and his posse were taking him and his +captured companions to Santa Fe. + +"Those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword." Only a few +nights before he spoke, Tom O'Phalliard, one of the last of his band, +had fallen from his horse with a bullet through his chest in Fort +Sumner to die, cursing the tall silent sheriff, in the room where the +posse had carried him. Two mornings afterward at the Arroyo Tivan, +Charley Bowdre had staggered into the stone house where the outlaws +were hiding, wounded unto death by the rifles of these same pursuers. + +"Charley, you're done for. Go out and see if you can't get one of +them," Billy the Kid had told the dying man, and through the crack of +the door had watched him stumbling over the frozen snow toward the +posse, while his numbed fingers fumbled with his revolver butt in a +final access of vain effort. + +And now this youth, the deadliest of the Southwestern outlaws, spoke +from the Scriptures to Pat Garret; perhaps it was all of his Bible +that he knew. He said it in December. In July Garret shot him in Pete +Maxwell's room at Fort Sumner. The years went by. One day the former +sheriff fell in the sand hills west of Tularosa with an assassin's +bullet in his back. + +Thus, throughout the Old West: bad man and frontier officer, Indian +fighter, cow-boy, stage-driver, trooper, and faro-dealer, they lived +their lives in accordance with bold customs which bridged the gap +between savagery and modern civilization. In a strange land they did +the best they could; and, bad or good, they came to their ends with a +fine unflinching disregard for the supreme adventure. + +To-day fat prairie corn-fields stand tasseled in the sunlight, the +smoke of lusty young cities rises black against the sky; while +automobiles speed upon concrete highways over the forgotten graveyards +where their bones lie. + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's When the West Was Young, by Frederick R. 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