Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1879-06-12
EAg1sG Az APACHE AWE.
The Curious Manner in Which a TsKaa
Used Ms Teeth---A Thrilling Story
of Life In Arizona in 1858.


full OF excitement and adventure as
one of Mayne Reds stories. Col.
Blank Che was not christened BLANK
until now is of German origin. Be-
fore the war he was an Indian fighter
and Mexican raider, and when the
war broke out he was commissioned
by the C~onfederacy as colonel of a
mounted Texan regiment, and served
through the conflict up to within a
few months of the close.
A few nights ago a party Of young
gentlemen were talking politics at the
hotel in question, and Colonel Blank
was one of the prominent takers.
BY some means the conversation
finally driited from politics to
curious articles of food. Each
tried to Outvie the other in re-
gard to the unusual things that he
had endeavored to digest at some
period of his life. One said he had
eaten elephant steaks in New York,
another had eaten baked monkey in
the same city, a third declared that lie
had reliShed horSe-feSh when it was
we'll seasoned, another told of mule
steaks cooked by placing them under
his saddle between his horses back
and the saddle blanket. At last Col.
Blank said, laughingly, That's all
very good, gentlemen, but | think |
can beat any of you. | have eaten
Apache Indian; been a Cannibal
and, what is still more, | began to eat
Apache Indian when he was alive. "
He spoke so seriously and apparently
in such good faith that he was imme-
diately greeted with a storm of cues
tions as to when it was, where it was.
and how it was" until overcome by
the flood of miscellaneous questions.
he said at last that if quiet should
once more reign he would tell the
story. Everybody lit a fresh cigar,
and the colonel began
Well, gentlemen, you see when |
was young | was fond Of all sorts of
adventures, and | loved nothing better
than a rowing life. In the winter oil
1858 there were fifteen of us from
Texas over In the southwestern part
Of Arizona on a prospecting expedi
ton. We had with us a party off
~Comanches, numbering about thirty.
VINO we're under the lead of Little
Bear, a we'll known chief. We fed the
COmanches well, and gave them plenty
Of ammunition, and they stuck to us
nobly. One reason that they did this
was because the country all around us
was swarming with Apaches, and you
know thatthe Comanehes and Apaches
are sworn enemies of ancient standing.
We were eamped in a spur of the
Sierras, and thought we were in a fair
way Of striking a good thing. There
were no towns within hundreds of
miles Of us, and the nearest ranch of
any size was a town in Sonora, 100
miles away. There were a few sneak.
ing, scOundPelly Mexican miners in the
neighborhoOd, and we thought they
had a placer and were making a big
thing out of it. They we're evidently
afraid that we would take their in
fePnal old placer away from them, and
they hatched a fine scheme to Law US
out, toes up to the daisies. We had a
cache on a precipice of the mountains.
at the foot of which ran the ella river
pronounced Heela). The cache
thiding place for provisions and s~tores)
was in a natural cave Of considerable
size, which had a small opening which
we stopped up with a big rock. In
front of the mouth of the cave there
was a fiat table-rock about twenty-fv
feet square, This was over 3W feet
above the river, which was very mar
row aud deep, and shot through a
canon with frightfgl velocity. There
was only one way to get up TO tho
cache, aud that was By the narrow.
steep path, like stairway, where we
had to go in si~ngle-fle.
Well, as | have said, the Greasers
liked up a plan to have us all soalped.
They got Young Grizzly. the war
chief Of the Apaches, to come after
us with about seyenty-ive braves. On
Christmas afternoon, about 4 o'clock.
as we were coming through a canon
on our way TO camp, a perfect shower
Of arrows came down upon us from
the rocks above. One of the Co.
manches was killed and several of US
were wounded. | got three arrows in
my left arm and one in my left hand.
You can see the mark there" and the
colonel showed a white z~iz-zag scar
on the back Of his hand. I'VE got
out of that place pretty quick. don't
you know, for it wa not a good place
10 stay. On New Years morning
about sunrise two of our scouts
came in and said the Apaches were
coming down the river and intend
ed to attack us. The boys had a
consultation and they concluded to
ambush the red devils as they came
down in their canoes. The boys went
down and hid in the rocks and
watched. They said that as | had
only n arm that wal good. | had
better stay up at the cache. so | Law
down on my stomach to watch the
fight.
Presently | saw a lot of black
things that looked like dogs come
whirling down the river, and then
came a lot of sharp reports, and | saw
the little white clouds of smoke rise
up from the rocks. The Apaches
were taken completely by surprise,
and although some of them got in the
rocks, the most of them were either
shot Or drowned.
When the fight was about over. all
Of a sudden | felt queer. felt lust
like when a mar is shut up in a dark
room and cant see, and somebody
comes in. lie may not be able to see
or hear the person, but something
tells him that there is somebody near
him. | never felt safer in INV life than