Omaha daily bee., 1883-09-27

ing VI the m1lltary-so slow that every
one was astonished atthe delay, Thoughts ti
having great confidence in bis judgment
He made a trip TO Chiricuahua, Mex, o.
tsnBibly to consult with Gov. Terazal
and to ask the privilege of entering upo
Mexican soil, and for cooperation in car
turing these renegade Chiricahuas. II
made a visit also to the Governor of So
nora ostensibly for the same purpose, ant
after three weeks Of delay he finally go
the troops out and on the way toward tn
Mexican frontier. He entered Mexic
near San Barnardino, leaving all thu
United States soldiers on the line excep
Capt. Crawford's troop of forty horses
but taking with him $50 Indian scouts
half of them San Carlos Apaches and hal
White Mountain Apaches. After being
gone for some time in Mexico, durin!
which time nothing was heard from him
he returned, bringing with him his whole
command and nearly two hundred of the
~Chiricahuas, consisting of three old anc
decrepit chiefs, all past 40 years of age,
and all the old women of the nation. Nc
warrior or young men or women who
could assist in the war that the Chirica'
huas were then carrying on in Mexico,
came back with him. On his return Gen.
Crook was rendered a banquet in Tucson,
which he accepted, and there he stated
that his campaign had been a great sue.
cess; that tho Chiricahuas had been met
and conquered as they never were before:
that he had brought back nearly two hun.
dred of them, and that the rest had beg.
gsd for terms of peace and were exceed
ingly anxious to surrender and come back
and live upon the reservation; that he
had told them that he would exert his in.
fuence to shield them from punishment
for the crimes they had committed,
though he could not guarantee it, and
that he had left Maj. Chaffee on the Dor
der to receive the surrender and bring to
the reservation the warriors who were still
in the Sierra Madres. He himself had
to leave the main command on Account of
want of water and provisions mi ammu-
milton.
This seemed averypretty and plausible
tale, and Gen. Crook was the hero of the
hour. All the papers in the Territory
a~pplauded hun, and hearalded him az the
great Indian fighter of the day. He was
called the 'tGray Fox" and the "Sly
Fox" and was nominated for President
of the United States by several of the pa
pers in the Territory, especially by The
Arizona Daily Star, that has been hiszeal-
GUS advocate in every particular. Crook
promised also the safe return of Charlie
McComas if he was allowed to carry out
his plans. The Indian department, how
ever, objected to putting the renegade
Chiricahuas upon the reservation, fearing
the evil and communicating influence that
these red-handed murderers would have
upon the peaceful Indians already ON the
reservation. A tremendous mass-meeting
was to be held in Tucson in honor of
Crook, when resolutions were to be pass
ed strongly indorsing his course, and ask
ing the Secretary of War to sustainhim in
his line of action. During the day before
this meeting certain rumors affecting the
truth of Crooks statement began to be
circulated on the streets, and the meet
ing which wal called by Crook friends to
indorse him, was, as q matter of fact,
made up of men who regarded his course
as suicidal to the Territory, and only the
most adroit tactics on the part of Crooks
friends prevented the passage of strongly
condemnatory resolutions. For a month
the people waited a~nxiously to see Char
lie McCemas brought back and the Chiri-
cahuas come in. AS everyone knows,
they have not come in, and this aroused
further suspicion that Crooks report of
the campaign was not correct. Little by
little the truth TRANSFERRED, and the facts
,,nJ;sD,kaI ,rJ u~n Gno,~, o,n A.
officials and leading men of the Territory,
though hushed up as far as possible, are
as follows:
Con. Crook, led by his White Noun
tain Apache scouts, was one evening
toward dusk betrayed into q narrow can
yon. and there camped. During the night
all the White Mountain Apache scouts
left tho camp and took up their positions
on the hillsides with the Chiricahuas, who
had %surrounped Crook and had determin-
ed upon the massacre of his entire force
at daylight next morning. In the night
asquaw, who had some friends among the
San Carlos scouts, who always feared the
White Mountain Apaches, told this wom-
an that Crook had not come down to
fight the Chiricahuas nor to kill any of
them, as was clearly shown by the fact
that he had brought with him only forty
soldiers and $50 Indians, half of whom
were the close friends of the C%hiricahuas.
He had come, they said, to receive the
surrender of the Chirioahuas, to guaran-
tee them immunity from harm and to
take them back to the reservation where
they would be kept at the expense OF the
government without having to do any
work. The squaw left Crooks camp and
reported this statement to the Chiri-
cahuas. A council was held, and they de-
cided to postpone the massacre until noon
tn next day, provided Crook did not at
tempt to leave the camp. In the morn
ing when Crook awoke, from behind every
rock on both sides of the canyon he saw
pointed down toward his camp the rifles
of the Chiricahuas. Turning to Capt.
Crawford, who was in command of the
troop of cavalry and scouts, he said:
"We are surrounded and possibly shall
all be massacred, and we might as well
go to our fate bravely. Give me my
short-gun. | will 60 up on the side Of
the hill and pretend net to..see them"
Taking his gun, about Z o'clock in the
morning, he went up on the side of the
hill, but was no sooner out of sight of his
camp than he was, of course, taken
prisoner by the Chiricahuas. This en-
abled him to have a talk with them. An
interpreter was sent for, and Crook was
kept there till almost loon. He had to
accede to the demands of the Chiricahuas
in order to escape with his own life and
the lives of his men. The terms upon
which they released him were that he
would Immediately leave the country, the
Mahrns. that he would take with