Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1884-12-17
Lynching as a .4ne Art.

speaking about affairs on the Ooi
der.n said a gentleman just up from
New Mexico to a group of listeners in
the Windsor Hotel, New York, the other
night, ''of all the cool and deliberate
lynchings that ever saw or heard, the
one am about to tell you Of takes pre-
cedence."
The New Mexico gentleman liked
himself comfortably in his chair, and,
the men about him urged him for the
story, the man of the broad-brlmmed
hat continued:
.'In the winter of 1SS0-S1 man came
down to Albuquerque, y. NJ, when
existed almost exclusively as an OLD
Mexican village, who was connected
with the United States Geological S9r-
vey. He was an honorable, brave and
upright man, according TO the reputa-
ton which prevailed in Albuquerque
regarding him after his departure. lie
was known as Colonel Potter, and rath-
er careless when be showed his money
and valuables in town. He did not go
about exhibiting them as a reckless
cowboy might do, but il became known
that ne was possessed of some money.
While in Albuquerque he concluded to
90 over what was known as the new
placers. To reach that locality from
Albuquerque, it was necessary for him
to go through what was known as To
jeras canon. As you stand at Albu
querque and look out toward the San
dia Mountains, which lie to the east OF
that town, you will observe Immediate
" to the east a depression in the coun-
try, which marks the locality OF this
pass or canon. 1t was through this at
that time little Travelled pass that Col
onel Potter determined to GO. lie
started out upon his journey, but that
was the last that was seen of him alive
by his friends in Albuquerque. The
first impression doubtless was, after he
had been missing for some time, that
he was fOully dealt with. He did not
appear at Golden nor the new placers,
and neither did he return to Albuquer-
que. He was missed, and his friends
offered large rewards for the recovery
of his body or information as to his
whereabouts. But nothing came of ii
all until the lapse of some time, when
the Sheriff of BernallllO county took
hold of the matter in earnest. and with
the determination of hunting the secret
Of Colonel POtteT's disappearance down,
II possible. He was brave man, and
being of Spanish origin he, of course,
spoke the Spanish language fiuently.
In fact, the Spanish was his mother
tongue, and he could speak 1t more
readily that he could English. He Tad
also the advantage of belonging 10 one
of those New Mexican families which
rank high In the social life of that Ter
ritOry, and the male members of which
are entitled to be called Don.
He began the search, and soon dis
covered that Mexican had come into
town and sold OF offered for sale
watch which answered very closely the
description of the watch which Colonel
Potter had worn. Pursuing the trail,
he went up into TeiereS canon, among
the rocky defiles of which company of
bandits could easily lie concealed. At
that time there was a band of deSpera-
does in the country to the east and
southeast of Albuquerque, of which a
certain fellow, now in the penitentiaTy,
named Marina Lieba, was the head and
chief. They were like so many Italian
bandits, and the only way to make
travel safe in the Sandia and ManZano
Mountains was to break up this gang,
The Sheriff went up to the mountains
with posse, and there he succeeded in
capturing three of the gang, all of
whom had, with but very little, if any
doubt, been engaged either directly or
as accessories in the murder of Colonel
Potter, for it was discovered that he
had been murdered. Inquiry showed
that as Colonel Potter was on his way
to the new placers he stopped alta little
tavern OF wayside inn for the night.
Starting out in the morning from the
inn, his host and some of his compau-
ions saw which way he was going.
Marina Lieba or one of his men follow
sd him, and in one of the narrow places |
in the mountains they came together. |
a fight ensued, in which Potter made
desperate defense. He fought hard for |
his life, but he was Overpowered, and |
at last the bullet of the assassin pierced |
vital part of his body, and he fell |
from his horse and died. Some of the |
band carried his body off into a gulch |
and threw it down there. so that it |
would be out Of the way from the road |
where the travel through the mountains |
passed There It was afterward shown |
10 the Sheriff by one of the gang,
"Three of the robbers We're arrested |
and brought into Albuquerque and
locked up in the jail, which is an old
adobe structure which stood near the
eastern edge of the town. The jail, with |
the residence of the jailor, made three
sides Of a square, and running along the
central side there was a projection of the
roof which covered kind of a porch.
To support this roof there were heavy
beams, which rested on posts or pillars,
and the projecting ends of these beams
were very suggestive Cf the use to which
they might at some time be put. This
was the status of affairs and the history
Of the Peter murder up TO and at the
time the capt uTed MeXicans were lOdg-
I'd in jail.
''After nightfall there were whisper
lngs about town of a possible lynching
al the jail that night, in which the three
MexlcanS would play somewhat con-
spicuOus part. l was not much used to
of that character, and |
therefore did not believe at first that
anything Of the kind would be done. |
had heard about lynchings before, but
had never been in town when one
occurred, and so was a little doubtful
at first. got over this doubling dis
position, however, after | had resided
in the Territory a few months longer.
Lynchings were very common in New
Mexico during 1881, and were by no
means infrequent in 1882. A friend of
mine persuaded me TO be on the look
out for developments, and about ten
O'Clock he and / went out in search of
facts. We soon found very startling
Tact in an old building which stood upon
the edge of the town, and it consisted
Of crowd of determined men who
were standing around a table in small
room, some of them engaged in prepar-
ing masks with which TO conceal their
1t took only glance to show
that they were not there for the fun of
It, but that they meant business of a
very serious nature.
''Nery quietly they went to work To |