San Andreas independent., 1857-05-30
LATER FROM SONORA!
Confirmation of Crabb's Destruction
Wood and Tozer's Party

dates reach May 23d. From the San Diego
Herald of 23d May, we take the following,
which describes the movements in Sonora of
Wood and Tozer's party, (Which finally reached
Los Angeles and confirms the previous intel
lgence as to the destruction of Crabb and his
men
gentleman, just in from Sonora, has fur
nished us with the following statement of facts
concerning the command of Mai r. C. Wood
| lof which he was a member, who started from
Tucson to join Crabbs party, and who so brave
y fought their way back, through body of
three to five hundred Mexicans and Indians.
The Tucson Valley Company, composed of
26 men, was organized the lst of April and de-
signed to settle in some portion of Sonora. and
/ thereby, without resort to firearms, so revolu-
tionize that State as to establish therein agree
ably to the wishes of the inhabitants as they
were induced by their representatives to be-
lieve a republican form of government, and for
that purpose to cooperate with Gen. II. A.
Crabb's then emigrating expedition to Sonora.
This company purposing to join II. a. Crabb,
agreeably to his instructions, under Maj. r. G.
Wood, marched for Cavorca, and without de-
lay. At o'clock, P. NJ, of the 4th day, we ar
rived at a point midway between Cavorca and
the town Of Pitiquit, where they were met
by from 800 to 500 Mexicans and Indians, in a
dense forest Of mesquit trees, under command
of Capt. Morena, of Altar.
Upon halting, the Americans were informed
that the Governor Of the State had ordered Mo-
reno's command to arrest them that, however
if the Americans would lay down their arms,
they should be unmolested, and allowed to de-
part from the country under the protection of
his (Moreno's) force; to consider which, they
! the (Americans) were allowed ten minutes,
+I,o. I
tions; and, at its expiration, moved onward a
few hundred yards, and halted. BY this time,
they were completely surrounded, and being
fred upon from every quarter. The fight lasted
until dark, and was ended by the Americans
charging, under heavy fire, through the enc
mys line. In this engagement the Americans
lost men, and had but wounded Slight
| ly.) The Mexicans had eleven killed and many
wounded.
The Americans then made their way to within
a few hundred yards of Cavorca, where they
learned that it would be impossible to join
Crabb. by reason of his being surrounded by
800 Mexicans and Indians By this they were
induced to return to their own territory, and
for that purpose at once began the march, re-
tracing their steps. The following morning
they set upon by seventy horsemen and
running fight kept up during the balance of the
day. In the engagement more than twenty
Mexcans and but three Americans were killed.
On the night of the third day thereafter a
party Of Mexicans, French and Indians who
were in ambush, twenty miles north of Tuba
tama, attacked from the hill tops (their hiding
place. the Americans as they passed below
The engagement lasted but few minutes and
resulted in the loss of one of each party. No
further fighting occurred
The names of the Americans, who fell in the
different engagements, are: Joseph Thomas, a.
A. Woods generally called Bill Woods,) -
Hughes and - Chambers.
FURTHER OF THE MASSACRE AT SoNoITA.-The
San Diego Herald also publishes letter from
Capt VIM. j. Ankrim, dated Fort Yuma, May
18th, in which the writer gives the following
particulars of the massacre at Sonoita:
In reply to the inquiry you make in reference
! to the facts connected with the murder of four
American citizens in the vicinity of Sonoita,
Sonora, by Mexican authority, would say, that
was in that place at the time the outrage was
committed, and the facts are follows:
When Gen. Crabb resumed his march upon
| Cavorca, he left three invaids and one other
of his command at Sonoita, on the Sonora side
of the line, with orders to join him as soon as
| their health should be restored. In the mean
time, as rumors had reached Sonoita through
the Indians, (the only channel through which
any information had been received concerning
Gen. Crabb and his command for fifteen or
twenty days, that party of Mexican soldiers
were on the march from Cavorca to Sonoita for
the purpose of intercepting and searching for
any Struggling fibusters that might be in that
part of Sonora, these four men concluded as
matter of precaution, it would be better for
them to cross on our side of the line, which they
did on the evening of the l4th of April, and
took possession of house that had recently
| hao, ,,o1 4 ~
Dunbar.
There they remained until the night of the
| 18th, when detachment of twenty-five Mexican
soldiers, under the command of Chileno Tsup-
posed to be Garcia, arrived, and during the
darkness surrounded the house and took them
prisoners, without resistance, tied them, and
about half-past five o'clock the next morning
led them out short distance from the house
and shot them, where the bodies were left and
soon after buried by the Papago Indians.
While this tragedy was being performed, the
captain of the company, with part of his men,
came to the house adjoining the one in which
Mr.. Slater and myself were lodging, and en-
quired Of the proprietor, Mexican, if there
were any other Americans about there he was
told there were two, but that they not FL
lbusters. He replied that he did not wish to
moest any but flibusters and after searching
for some time, without success, for an Irishman
named McNulty, who had accompanied General
Crabb from Sonoita to Aqutobac, as interpreter
and returned from that place, he left for Cavor-
ca, taking with him as a prisoner, young Ainsa
a brother-in-law of Gen Crabb, who was cap
tured in the same house with the four Ameri-
cans.
In reference to the location of Mr. Dunbar's
house, there never has been doubt expressed
as to which side of the line it was on and as an
evidence that the Mexican authorities consid-
cred it beyond the reach of their jurisdcton
they suffered Mr.. Dunbar to sell many thousand
dollars worth of what would be classed under
Mexican law as contraband goods, in the same
house, during the past six or eight months.
New MAIL RoUTE-Application has
been made to the Post Office Department.