Arizona weekly citizen., 1882-05-14
AFTER THE BATTLES.

AFTER THE BATTLES. rntsrvisw With the President Of the Board to In-
 vest;gate the Fruits of tho Late Arache Out
 brsak-Particulars of the BIttles-The Opinion
 Of General witeher.
 Major J. s. Witcher, paymaster U. ;. army, who has earned and enjoys the title
 of Brevet Brigadier General for merito-
 rious services in the Shenandoah Valley during the war of tle rebellion, was re- gently appointed by the Department Commander as the President of Board to investigate the section of the Terrl- tory through which the Indians recently passed on their way to Mexico, and to learn certain facts and report, among other things, how many people were killed and an approximation of the prop erty destroyed by the hostiles.
 Learning that General Whether had returned frnm his mission, representa- tive of the CITIZEN called upon that gentleman at his office on Stone aveuue, to obtain such information of his trip as he deemed it prudent to make publi.. Gen. Witcher was very busy amId laby- rinth of figures when the reporter call d, but upon the object of the visit be- ing stated, he laid them aside, and to the first interrogatory, gave answer substan- tially as follows:
 GEN. WIrCHER-I have been absent from Tucson sInce about May lst in obedience to the order directing the Board to visit such sections of the Ter ritory as suffered from the raid of the | Indians during the recent outbreak. During my absence visited the upper Gila Valley and other points through which the hostiles passed. found th- upper Gila Valley a splendid grazing country, with plenty of water. and its people clever and hospitable It is settled | by intelligent and enterprising stock men, who own large bands of cattle. Immediately in this neighbOrhOOd IS the large copper mine and smelter of the Longfellow Mining Company, and also tue Church brothers copper mIne on | the San Francisco riyer. These two [ firms and adjacent mines employ aqOut ONE THOUSAND MEN, 1 And fully one hundred and fifty teams are employed in the neighbOrhOod. These companies, together with others on the river, represent immense capital and disburse annually thousands of dol lars. This vast interest, nOtwithstand- | ing it was directly in the line of the trav- el of the hostiles to and from Mexico, has been heretofore left without military protection, owing to the insufhciency of troops at the disposal of the Department Commander. Happily the arrival of the Third Cavalry and First Infantry has en- abled that officer to station four com panies of the First Infantry at Or near the Longiellow copper company's works. ! I am of the opinion that the most avail able point for
 PERMANENT CAMP
 Would be on the Gila river, on or near the ranch of the late Hon. $. B. York. Here the troops could head off any struggling bands of Indians coming up the Gila river by the way of Solomon vile ar by trail by way of Eagle Creek and Stevens ranch. In my opinion, so long as the Indians aus permitted to re- main on the reservation this section should have protection. Troops here can be supplied by way of Lordsburg, New Mexico, distant from York's ranch @ miles and from LesInsky's works 50 miles. Th're is n good wagon road all the way, over which hundreds of teams are continually travelling. It was on thIs road that the citizens sustained the greatest loss Of life and property during the late -aid, the principal incentive to the hostiles being the stock owned by the ranchmen and employed by the freight CTS, together with the exposed condition of the country.
 REPORTER-Was the loss of life by the Indian raid as great as has been report ed and given by the press?
 GEN WI am glad to say that 1t was not, although 1t was bad enough. Yet it is natural, under the excitement in the neighborhood raided by the hoshles that the casualties should be greatly exag- gerated as well as the loss and destruc- tion of property.
 REP.-Can you give the number killed | together with their Lames and the cir cumstance of their death?
 GEN. WI can. but prefer net to do so at this time, as l yesterday forward ed aE
 OFFICIAL REPORT