The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1879-11-28
An OASIS ~ THE DESERT.
strange History Of an AFizOD'
ARmehe.

hssehe.
From tho Troy IlIDe.
In the Times of October 81 the follow
ing sppearedi
4 dispatch from Tucson, Arizona,
says intelligence has been received that
the ApaShes eapttred the station on the
tornado del MiertO, iieaf Fort Craig,
and killed thirteen persons. The Nsva.
ioeA have broken out, and the troops at
Fort Wipgate we're despatched against
them. They stole all the stock, inclu5-
ing mail mules" ....
The history Of this station IL Q singu-
lar one, and is related to ts by an old
army friend, in whose mind the above
narrative reviyes memories of the arid
regions surrounding it. The country
borders on the west bank of the Rio
Grande river, bounded on the north by
Fort McRae, on the south by Mesilla,
and on the east by the Organ Mountains,
and its passage is known as the journey
of death. The region is over sixty miles
in length, untitled, without life, unin.
habited, save at Aleman, and as desti
tute of moisture as the desert of Sahara.
All travel between southern New
Mexico and the Santa Fe portion of the
territory has, however, to be across this
terrible sand waste, and its dangers are
evinced by the bones of draft animals
frequently seen bleaching in the sun.
Every traveller breads the passage of the
tornado, pronounced H0rndsd0) because
all know that the Journey is frequently
one Of death. When Gen. John Pope
was lieutenant of Typographical en-
gineers, he was sent to bore arteslan
wells with q view to finding water.
This was for the benefit of government
trains and army people in general. The
passage of the Tornado then required
and now takes two days, involving the
necessity of hauling water for animals
and human beings. Water weighs
about sixty-two and one-half pounds per
gallon. Six mules will drink twelve
barrels in two hours. While Lieut.. Pope
was engaged In boring, a rough Scotch.
man named John Martin conceived the
speculative idea of shoveling for it. He
struck spring at point nearly In the
center of the desert, and for years there
after sold the aqueous fluid to patrons
at the rate of twenty-five cents bucket
1t proved a bonanza to him. At nc
other place within a circle having a "a
dius of thirty miles has water ever been
found.
John Martins well at Aleman, on the
tornado, became known to thousands ot
people. The government made Martin
a forage agent. This sinecure carried
with it the exclusive right of sale o.
forage, fuel, and water for the tornado
He was q generous, charitable man,
diamond in the rough. The Vicsr il
Apaches from the reservation at For
Stanton were always kindly treated b.
John Martin, and, by tscit consent, the,
were allowed water free as long as the!
left undisturbed the persons and prop
erty of the few people who centred a
Alefnan. Martin was married man
His wife, children, and his son.in.las
lived with him.
These lines has frequently seen a
many as a score of these Indians campo
at Martins rancho, and the confdenc
, of the hardy Scotchman in their peacefu
: intent was unshaken by the frequer
disturbances of that region. Unhappil
the savage instincts prevailed owe
grateful memories of favors receives
The telegraphic message above tells tt
rest. Martin was the master of a lode
of Free Mssons at Mesilla, over thirt
=. miles south of his well, and never MISE
a meeting, regular or special, during th
time he lived at Aleman.