Arizona weekly citizen., 1883-09-29
THE CAPTURE OF CROOK
First Publication of the story In All Its
 Details.

only for what 1t may be worth.
 S When General Crook was ID the Ter < rIiory before, he had apparentl, z achieved such good results that thl citizens relOIced when he was sent bacl , to Arizona by the military authorities 7 In the Indian rGid previous to th, : spring of 1883, General Wilcox, tbeI
 commanding the military force of tht ! | Territory. had shown such utter incOm
 petence that the people of the Terri
 tory cried out as one man for his re mOval, and everybody felt safe witl ] Crook in command. In April Of thls
 year the Chircahuas, the most blood
 thirsty of t1f -hOle Apache nation, and
 the best warriors and fighters, started
 out on a raid through Southern ArIzona killing Judge NcCOmas and wife, carry
 lng oil, as was then believed, thelr sOu
 Charley, and hurrying of into Mexico
 Hurried gs they were, however, they
 found time to kill more than twenty persons on their way. General Crook
 was very slow in ordering out the
 military-so slow that every body was
 AsroNIsHED AT THE DELAY,
 Though still having great confidence in
 his Judgment. de made tTIg to Chi
 huanua, Mex, OstensIoly to consult with
 Governor Ieruzas and to ask the privl-
 iege ot entering upon Mexican soil, and
 for cooperation III capturing these ren- egade Chiricahuas. He made visit al- 1 so 0 the Governor of Sonora ostensibiy
 for the same purpose, and after three
 weeks of delay he finally got the troops out and on the way toward the Mexican 1 frontier. Ho entered Mexico near San | BernarulnO, leaving all the United States soldiers on the line except Capt | CrHwfOrd's troop of forty horses, but taking with him $50 Indian scouts. hall | of them San Carlos 3paches and halt | W hIte Mountain ApacIes. After being ' being gone for some time ln Mexico, ! during which time nothing was heard | from him, he returned, bringing with | him hIs whole command aud nearly 2UO of the ChirIcahuds, consisting of three | old and decrepIt chiefs. all past 70 years of age, and all the old women of the Da- hOH. No warrior or young man or woman who could assist ln the war that | the Chlracahuas were then carrying ou | iu Mexico came back with him. On his return General Crook was tendered g oaaquet in Tucson, which he accepted, and there be stated that his campaign had been a great sUcce ;that the ChirI- cahuas had been met and conquered a. | they never had been before; that he had brought back nearly 2tO of them, and that the rest begged for terms of peace and were exceedingly anxious to sur render and come back and live on the reservation; that he had told them he would exert hls influence to shield them from punishment for the crimes they mad committed, though he could not guarantee 1t, and that he had left Major ChatIee on the border to receive the sur render and bring to the reservation the warriors who were stlll in the Sierra Madres. He himself had to leave the main command on account Ot
 WANT OF PROVISIONS And ammunition. This seemed a very pretty and plausible tale, and General l Crook WAS the hero O5 the hour. All the | papers in the Territory applauded him, and heralded him ds the great Indian l fighter of the day. He was called the | "Gruy Fox and the ''Siy Fox, and was | nominated for President of tha,U nited | States by several papers In the Terri l tory, especially by the Arizona Daily | Star, that has been his jealous advocate | in every particular. Crook promised |
 
 Comas if he was allowed to carry ont his plans. The Indian Department, how ever, objected to putting the renegade [ Chiricahuas upon the reservation, fear ing tine evil and contaminating influence | that these red handed murdeTers would . have upon the peaceful Indians already on the reservation. 4 tremendous mass meeting was held ID Tucson in honor of Crook, when resolutions were to be passed strongly indOrsiug his course, and asking the Secretary of War tu sus- tam him ID his line of action. During the day before this meeting certain ru- uOrs affecting the truth of Crooks statement began tO be circulated on the streets, and the meeting which was called by Crooks friends to indOrse him was, gs a matter of fact, made up of men who regarded his course as slicIdal to the best interests of the Territory, and only the most adrOit tactics on the part of Crooks friends prevented the passage of strongly coudemnatory resolutions. For month the people waited anx- Icusiy tn see Charley McCOmas brought | back and the Chiricahuas come In. As every one knows, they have not come in, and this aroused further suspicion that Crooks report of the campaign was not correct.
 ISvEsTIGArIONs BEGAN
 10 be made. Little by little the truth trauspircd, and the facts, uudisputed and well known among the officials and leading men of the Territory, though hushed up as far as possible, are as fol- lows:
 Gen. Crook, led by his White Noun tain Apache scouts, was one evening toward dusk betrayed into e narrow canyon and there camped- During the night all tine White Mountain Apache scouts left the camp and took up their position On the hlllsides with the ChiTI- cahuas, who had surrounded Crook, and had determined upon the massacre of his entire force at daylight next morn ing. In the uIght a squav, who had some friends amOng the San Carlos scouts, went into Crooks camp. The san Carlos Apaches, who always feared . the White Mountain Apaches, told this woman that Crook had not come down . to fight the CnIficahugs 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, halt of . whom were the close friends of the Chi ricahuas. He hal come, they said. tO ! receive the surrender of the ChiTica- hu8s, to guarantee them immunity from . harm and to take them back to the re- servation, where they would be kept at | the expense of the Government without | having to do any work. The squaw left | Crook camp and reported this state ! ment to the Chiricahuas. \ council was | held. and they decided to postpone the | massacre until noon the next day, pro- | vided Crook dId not attempt to leave | the camp. In the morning when Crook | awOke, from beh1ud every rock Ou both | sides of the canyon be saw pointed | down towards his camp the rifles of the | ChirlcahuBs. Turning tO Capt. Crgw- | ford, 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 we'll go to our fate bravely. Give me my shotgun. I will | go up on one side of the hill and pre- tend not to see them"
 Taking his gun, about : o'clock in the l morning, he went np on the side of the bill, but was DO seo1er ont of eight of hIs camp than he wac, of course, taken l prisoner by the Chiricahuas. Ihls en- abled him to have a talk with them. An interpreter was sent for and Crook was kept there til almost noon. He r ad to accede Co the demands of the Chiri- cahuas in order to escape with his own life aHd Co save the lives of his men. The terms upon which they released bim were that be would immediately leave the country, the Sierra Madres that he would take with him the oIC men and old women who were too de creplt and Old To enpara in tha rrarfar.-