The daily Argus., 1876-03-03
The 1ailr Argns,
a BAD NEIGEbORHooD.
A Colony of Horse Thieves scatterei
By a Military Raid.
From the Denyer Meas

From the DeHver Neecs
Between assassinations, horse. stealing
Indian raids, and the lesser incidents of
daily life, times are rather stirring down in
New Mexico. A correspondent furnishes
the particulars of raid by detachment
of cavalry. the other day, on a band of
horse-thieves at Boquilla, small settle.
ment forty five miles from Fort Stanton
The settlement, numbering about forty
men. is comprised entirely of thieves. who
make horse stealing their calling. Oripi-
aally four or five thi-ves settled there
With this begiEning rogues irom all parts
of the territory, Colorado and Texas began
colonizing there, the number steadily IN
ereasing. until the desperadoes became so
formidable that the officers, knowing the
character OF the gang, were afraid to make
an arrest. When away from Boquilla, off
on predatory excursions, the rogues would
always claim to hail ironi some other
place. The little plaza in the midst of ;he
colony is perfect fort. Every means for
defense has been provided. Shafts sunk
at intervals about the plaza, and provided
with ladders, connect, at depths of from
ten to twenty feet, with subterranean pas
sages, some OF them running hundreds of
teet to neighbering favines, and thus afford
ing means of escape in case any attempt
at arrest should be made. For years this
colony OF thieves has existed, in defiance
OF the law and the authorities The
operations have extended over a
vide range OF country, and hundrede.
perhaps thousands of horses have hee,,
gathered III by them, and traded and soid
IN Texas, the Indian territory, Colorado.
aud Arizona, The chiefs of the colnnr
appear, from the confession of the mem
bers OF the gang recently arrested. to b,,
!hree hex'cans named Chavez. Macs, ard
L-Ias, Tho are fearless and bloodthirsty
villains. They have kept scouts out oil
all sides, day aud night, each citizen. by
turn, being subject to guard duty; and if a
stranger approached the alarm was always
sounded, and while portion of the gang
showed him distinguished attentions and
showered their hospitalities upon him, the
lngseaders darted away underground. re
appearing at the surface when it
seemed safe to do so. The cavalry
men who made the recent descent
captured four of the worst men ia
the lot, though not the ringleader. The
people got wind, somehow of their coming.
and WI hen the horsemen galloped up to the
plaza they found only few men and some
women in the village. The thieves who
were arrested. when lodged in the guard
house at Fort Stanton, confessed thei.
calling, and boasted that the gang had
over 200 horses within ten miles of Boauil-
la, and detied anyone to discover them. II
is surmised that, everything else being on
an equal scale, this gang have large sub.
terranean stable, where the stolen equines
are kept until traded or disposed of sinely
or in small lots, The cavalrymen satisfied
themselves of the existence of the under.
ground passages, but did not venture tc
explore them. A large force will investi
gate the whole 'neighborhood, and try te
discover the whereabouts OF the concealed
animals.