New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1857-12-18
sn act 10 cradle Ksrsss 20 form C,r..,,s.. =
the smendnen. above suggested. VII
~ AUTHENTIC NARRATIVE or r,
CRABB MASSACRE. N"E
From he .illa Cnlifa-.;.

From The Ala Calfo,,s,
CHARLES EDWARD EyASs, q boy sx.s.n
age, the Only person Of Crabs party ca,.u,.; 80,
Ms1icars and spared alive, arrived IN San p,..s.s
on the I'd inst, on the John L Stephens, and b,..
US the subjoined narrative Of the massacre. e''a
The narrative begins on the arrival Of ,,a,
Cabeza Prie'a, in the Gadsden Purchase ,hs .'.
previous to tie arrival a. ths. place har,, 80
portauce, and being also familiar 70 ,sa 'ui'
other sources:
TIE DIVISION OF THE PARTY
Soon after arriving at CaoeEs Phe,a, In.
held meeting and selected volunteers 70 90 sPsay
TO Soro its, distance Of forty leagues. m ss.a
Of this was to reouce the parties crossing tbs css, !,
ouch numbers as to SLOW them to carry TIE s.c..'.
an cunt Of water. Twenty men then renaa,d :, ~
beza Prieta. Messrs Crabb, McCoun, NO. Sa "a,
sundry o,her, incucng myself isxty-Ens IN nm 80 ~
IN the party that went forward. We arrived a. 49,
/. on the s5tn March. Here i. at fnt ,rac~.s,
TO remsin uuti the o.her psry ccud cone up ~ =,
ION us; bu, provis ons bsing scarce, and eli ss,s.
10 press for ward Mr.. Crsbb ordered US 70 st.,, -
the interior CT Sonora, which we did on the 2A Ss
leaving letter with bis brother in-law Je,us Ar.
,ectiuQ the oths re TO follow immedstey q As, 49,
rival. We kept the road several days, pssaae srs
hscie ndss, where We were t'ested with kndssa he
the people. We exchanged ciyuines with MAY q
The nbsbitsnfs on the road All Of hese appeared 70
look upon us as peecsabIs settlers, and srincsd "a
alarm at our AIMS We arrived in sight Of Csborrs
about s o'clock on the morning oil April let. 10 u
this time we had received no irtims We ho,j
ba attacked CT be regarded as hostile invaders b, N.
neople At Sonoite Mr.. Crabb ard ais brother In lav
Sir. Cortelyou, bella fro quent pivats converss,oo,
but upon what suhect could not Learn. He shovsi
havever NO &C xieiy as to the manner 10 which "a
were likely to be received, and seemed colfdent tia:
all would 60 well.
TIE ATTACK At CABoRcA,
We were travelling up lane, between tive what.
fields in full security, we supposed, and eoagram.
sirg curs elves upon the success which had hitherto
crown ed the eptei prlse, when We were suddspy and
une xpe etc dy fred upon by about one hundred and
6nv Mexcaps, hidden behind the adobe hness on
both sides of the read. Though their firing made
terrible racket, and the cir was filled with smoke
stl spge 10 say none Of US we're wounded Up 70 this
time not suspecting any bostilties, snd con6dsit n
our own pesceable iotentloDs no military organisation
had been recomn ended or thought Of The object,
thus far, Of MIR. Crsbb and his sdvissn appears 70
have been TO give the natives no cause for supposing
us 10 be beigerents, and consequently no more NH.
tsry display was made tn an what travellers In strange
land woud naturally adopt, as precautionary measures.
The assault at first threw the party INTO coafusoa;
lint Mr. Crabb gave orders 70 return the fire. and our
men shot from ten to fifteen Of the enemy. Oar frat
fire killed one Of their principal ocsrs At tbs tine
of the attack we were not more than quarter Of .
mile from the town. small collection Of sdobee with
fine church. The enemy broke after our return Of
their FIRE, and ran for the church, and We continued
our Journey along the lane iato the town.
TIE FIGHT AND SIEGE OF CABORcA.
We took shelter in a large bouss on the Pazs, d.
recty opposite the church. The inhabitants seemed
much frightened at cur approach and men, women
ard children had crowded into the convent which
formed part of the church. The Mexcsas 'u nenced
al kept up brsk aud cor tinuous ire WI al kincs
Of small arms at Us aud DOR house, but hey TOOK eve
to keep out Of sight, 80 that we could NOT 90 man ~
returning their fire.
ASSAULT BY CRABB ON THE CONVENT.
We were soon convinced that we were coniidsfed
a. enemies, AID must regulate our cond Let scsrd-
assault upon the church. Only fifteen out OF The xy'
pine came forward. These we're headed BY Mr..
Crsbb IN person. The only names remember at
this moment as forming part OF this stormin9 party
are David S. Mcdowell, and James Wood OF Sonors,
Tuolumne County Tue latter was shot dssd, and the
| former received nine wounds 10 his ngat arm they
took keg Of powder with them, for the purpose Of
blowing open the door of the church. They crorsd
the Plaza in the midst Of a murder0us fire, and MI.
Crabb gave the word to charge. They compelled the
Mexicsns to retreat out of the convent ito the body
OF the church. Mr. Crabb then took possession Of the
| convent with his men, and placed ksg OF powder
this time VIM. Clancy from n vsdA, CLARK Snail
| from Msript sa and another psison whose ne no
have forgotten had been killed. The slow match being
| damp, The powder did not explode. CIaob "a cow
AID wrote rote leaf of bis packet book 70 ai'
party on the opposite side OF the Plaza, tor NV
xSo had cot sepsrated from the other inhabitants,
He had hardly finished the note when the Msxies IS
| cbsrRed-in number about 10. Taey entered tae
and for several minutes sssvere nsno - s1oa
| shots, Eat down deliberately by the door, and eom
menced reoadng bis pistol. While in this act b. va
fhot In the right arm above the elbow. He took hi'
revolver in his left hand and fred all but ons shot
Cp TO this tine the efforts of the whole populaaof
were directed against those in the convent
There were still fortyfou Americans remaining Il
the adobe house opposite. We received no order
from any OF our leaders to cr0es the Plaza to the 81
ss'ance of those in the convent; and many were no
disposed to do so under any circumstances Afser Mr.
Crabb Yves wounded, he reiterated with bis men 10 tn
adobe house, where the rema nder Of the party
Here the wounded were attended 10. We stood guar
regularly while the Ae1icaDs we're shooting az Us.
believe these were the longeit days and nights eve
experienced. an not sbe, II course, Of fo.mini
a reliable opinion on military mstters, but an Don
vDced that il the whole party had taken The advice
of few bold spirits who wished TO 60 out and meet
the enemy, we could have treated and escaped.
But, there was strong conviction with many thst
we surrendered we should be hUporahly treated. bl
ruebing out we could have formed formidable eedy
and kept at bay any reasonable force they could hav
sent against Us, ard perhaps the whole might hav'
succeeded in retreafrg safely out Il the country,
the party Of twenty-five did. There were long an'
animate discussions on this subject but those Tor sui
rendering canied the day.
I've OF our men we're MORALLY wounded, who de
soon after. These were Vii lam Allen. Of CoyIt
Flat, TuolumIs County, AID William Seston, M
lIenicis, belle e. They both died before nigh
They were terribly woupded. In the convent ther
were also killed James Woods and William Rsadolp
of Tuolumne County; also, another man OF sir
stature, from Los Angeles County. We remained
tie adobe house ell night, the natives firing upon
necessarily. The next morning John George wss shc
through the body, and died in bsf "a hour ne vs.
frsm The northe I'd mines bat from what part do nc
recoIect. The natives continued firing upon as du
ing NE second day The ID Of April larger numbe
of people bad collected in The town. We did not re
turn their firing, except on the first cay a. they war
hidden behind the adobe walls. often they raise
cans ard hats on their guns in order to deceive