The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1881-04-09


mediate vicinity of the town, the water
fails, and the country again relaPses into
desert. Near Benson the San Pedro
crosses the road. The water Of this river
is now fouled with the debris of the Tomb
stone mining mills, but it is still good for
irrigation. and ranches are cultivated along
its bottoms.
All this time you have been climbing
up hill. At Yuma you were only 1000
feet, but at Tuscon you are 1000 feet
above the sea level.
You are now on the Plateau of the
Sierra Madre. and you will remain in this
plateau until you reach the Rocky Moun-
tains. 1t has the appearance of an old
sea bottom. Short mountain ranges rise
abruptly from its level as though they had
been thrust through from below. The
soil is gravelly, and in many places aka
line Occasionally, as in the cieRdgas
(rivcr bottoms) OF San Pedro, between
Tuscon aud Benson, there is chance for
cultivation; elsewhere the land is a desert
Between Benson and the San Simon Val
ley the plateau is Of mud, and so Hat that
an inch of water from the previous night 5
rainfall gave it the appearance of vast
lake, over which hung the mirage of many
mountains In the San Simon Valley,
which is merely portion Of the great
plateau, the soil improves, the moisture in-
creases, aud the earth is covered with edi-
bic grasses. Although no cattle were to
be seen from the railroad, the place looked
as though it would support vast herds of
them. At Bowie the railroad company
has sunk an artesiau well, and found wa
ter at depth of 800 feet, Upon exam
lining the dump of this wen l found that
it had passed entirely through sand aud
gravel; and among the latter were several
pieces Of quartz There is no river aud
no cultivation in the valley. The noun
tain tops we're covered with snow, aud
here and there patch Of it rested on the
plain.
THE cow RoYs or THE RIO GRANDE.
Near Ralston We encountered the first
COW boys seen on the journey, aud knew
that We had passed from Paradise TO Ge-
heuna. Paradise is iu the vally Of San
BcrnaTdino GeheBna is on the Rio
Graude. BetWeen the two lie the Desert
Of the Colorado aud the Plateau Of the
Sierra Madrc. The night before We pass
ed through Benson ghe stage coach from
Tombstone had been stopped BY two COW
boys. wh0 murdered the driver aud ous Of
the passengers, aud then, Icing rcpalSed
BY Wells Fargos armed messenger, ded to
the hills Ga the following day they wcre
tracked by the Sheriff Of the county, aud
him they also murdered These men could
not have been professional road agegis,
because ,he ouly treasure on the coach
vas silver bgllion and this Is commonly
cast into bars too heavy to get away with
aud TOO troublesome to mvls, when capsur
ed. They were COW boys, and belonged To
the valley Of Ihe Rio Grande.
10 this valley, as 1t courses through New
Mexico Arizona, Texas, aud chihuahua.
are gathered the vilest scouudrcls 90 earth.
Their occupation is robbery, and their
every day passims is murder. In New
Mexico they are kRowu as Holy Ter.
rors;" in Texas as COW BOYS. Every man
Is armed to the lbc teeth with oaFbiae, six
shooter, bowie kaife and double .deeked
belt of cartridges arOnnd the waist The
rest Of the equipment consists Of horse
aud pair o; Spanish spurs. The ealibse
Of the FIRE arms Is -. A curious reason
is assigned for this psoeiiariiy Cartrid.
ses Of all other calibres cost Eve cents each
10 New Mexico. Cartridges Of this cali
bre cost bul one aud half ceois each, be-
cause Ihis is the United States Army nae
oalibre, and the soldiers steal the eanrid
gss from the Government aud sell them
at this price to the robbers aud murder.
ers Of the border
A few weeks ago, before the connection
between the Southern Pacific and Atehi-
son, Topeka and Santa Fe railroads was
made at Deming, aud when stage coach
ran between the termini Of the respective
lines, this coach was stopped by the COW
boys, who murdered several Of the passen.
gers aud plgudered the remainder. Later
still they wrecked q passenger train near
San Mareial, on the Atehisou, Topeka and
Santa Pe, and still later they murdered a
conductor at Las Vegas. As for less no
table assassinations, they occur every day
The pay cars Of the two railroad liaes are
followed up, aud the employees robbed a:
fast as they are paid OF When other op
portunilies fail the workiagmen are inTei
gled into the whiskey dens and dance
| houses kept BY these wretehes and there
are doue to death.
As We approached Demiog some Of the
villains entered the cars and brandished
their revolvers 1t the passengers, but for
tunately, chose ralhtr TO shoos out Of The
windows at the telegraph poles than at u.
or one another. A single word or a look
/ would have drawn their murderous FIRE
| During the night We slept at Deming, 10
one Of the vacant cars, they kept up a
continuous fusilade under our windows
aud, Of course, rendered sleep impossible
I Who Il ey were firing at, or If anybody
was slain, we did not care to inquire. w,
we're only too glad when day broke and
the train, now on the Atebisou, Topeka
and Santa Fe liue, moved out Of this hel
on earth and began the journey to th,
/ North.
Demiug lies where the Rio Micmbres il
marked on the map, aud near where, ia
| fact, the Miembrcs sinks into the sand
! The town consists Of few whiskey shop,
aud dance houses built Of rough boards OF
canvass, a few houses built by the railroaC
companies, either as bomesteads to secure
laud grants, or for the convenience o.
their employees, or for both purposes com
| bined, and a number of freight and pas
senger cars. Some Of the latter are used
as Offices and sleeping rooms. As vel
there is neither station house nor hotel
The Adams Express Company have
erected shanty near the track, and the
sight Of their familiar sign board was the
| first indication that we had come upon III,
terminus of an Eastern railroad for be il
known that the Adams Express Company
as yet have no agencies west of the desert
The Wells Fargo Company enjoys the ex.
elusive monopoly of this lucrative business
The Adams people, however, assured u,
that they were bound TO get through thi,
time, an assurance that the Pacific coast
will hear with great satisfaction.
From Deming you proceed northeaster
ly until you strike the Rio Grande at the
| town of Colorado. The river is here
crossed by fine iron truss bridge. Here
there is much cultivation of the bottom