, 1885-02-10

county. His hard face indicates abund-
ant brute force. At . o'clock yesterday
afternoon DR.. j. II. Sloan ripped up his
pant-leg as he lay on a pallet at the jail
and dressed the wound in the calf of his
left leg, this attention being the first the
poor wretch had received since he was
shot at / o'clock on Monday morning last.
In illustration of his real nerve it is only
necessary to state that he lay in his adobe
house near Chaperito. Winchester in
hand, and fought Sheriff Poe and his four
deputies for fty-fye houn after the bull
let had caused this painful flesh wound in
his leg. why did you oppose the officers
ofthe law2" asked the Rerie,1 man,
through an interpreter. People told
me they would hang me if 1 submitted to
arrest, and of curse I fought for my
life"
A great deal Of a sensational character
has been written about this man, much of
which seems to be the creation Of the vivid
imagination Of Las Vegas reporters.
Aragon denies that he ever operated with
with Billy the Kids gang, and il is
well known that he had no hand in the
killing of Col. Potter. near Golden. Ara
gon has a ranch on the Rio Gallinas ppo
site Whitmore's and twenty-five miles
south Of Las Vegas. There he has re-
sided for long team Of years, and has
occasioned no little annoyance by killing
cattle and stealing horses belonging to the
Pecos valley settlers. Last May he con-
fessed to stealing 4 horse in Lincoln u
ty and was sentenced to two years in the
penitentiary. Escaping from jail he
evaded the officers until Oct 20, when
Sheriff Poe, Of Lincoln, learned that
he had been seen at his home near
Chaperito and sent Deputy Jasper Corn
to recapture him. Aragon saw Corn ap-
preaching, and, taking up a position be-
hind a fence, fred upon him; the fnst
shot killed his horse, and the next caused
the death of the officer. Again last week
Sheriff Poe learned that Aragon was ut
his old tricks of stealing his neighbors'
stock, and with a posse Of four men,
aided by Mr.. J.. NJ. Abercrombie, a
nnchero near Chaperito, surrounded
Aragon's house at 3 o'clock on Sunday
morning. Aragon's wife and several
other women were told to vacate the
house, and Sheriff Poe, although not
knowing hat Aragon was really in the
house. knocked on the door and ordered
the desperado to surrender. No response
came, and Deputy John Hurley was or
dered 70 talk to the women who had en-
tered a stone house about twenty steps
distant, and learn what he could from
them. Hurley interviewed the women
and ascertained that there was
"a man in the old house. He
stepped from the doorway and
called out this information to Sheriff Poe,
and at that instant Aragon fred from a
window and Hurley fell, dying twenty
hours later. A regular battle ensued, the
officers firing at Aragon and vice versa
whenever they could catch sight Of each
other. Aragon was about this time shot
in the leg and two bullets struck him on
the head and glanced of, but he still kept
up his vigil. Almost in despair, Sheriff
Poe sent a man to Anton Chico for giant
powder, but none could be obtained, and
then he dispatched Deputy Sheriff Brent
to Las Vegas with instructions to secure
the giant powder, and ask Pat Garrett to
come out and assist him. In the mean
time, half a dozen overtures were made to
Aragon, his wife acting as the medium,
and, finally, he consented to
throw his firearms out Of the
window, provided he should not be killed.
He threw out one six-shooter, but, as the
sheriff suspected, retained his Winchester
and another six-shooter, and tho very
first opportunity that offered, he again
began firing. Pat Garrett was not at Las
Vegas, but Sheriff Romero and several
deputies arrived on the scene, at 4 o'clock
on Tuesday morning, and negotiations for
Aragon' s surrender were resumed. Rom
ero assured Aragon's wife that she must
use all her influence to this end, and,
after much parleying, Aragon being
promised protection from all violence, the
desperate allowed his wife to enter the
fort" and sent out his firearms to
Sheriff Poe, he himself following her, and
s~urrendering.
Hurley's remains were buried on Mon
day beside those Of Deputy Corn on
Hatcher's ranch. Sheriff Poe gives these
as real facts in the case, saying he doesn't
understand how the sheriff of San Miguel
county can claim all the credit of captur-
ing Nicholas Aragon, when it is well a
known fact that he has lived within
twenty-five miles Of Las Vegas ever since
killing Corn, and no attempt was made
capture him. Sheriff Poe will now en-
deavor to have the charge of horse steal
ing against Aragon set aside, so that he
can be indicted and tried for the greater
crime Of wilful murder.
The best smoking tobacco Is Little
Joker"