Arizona weekly citizen., 1886-02-20
WITH CROOKS SOLDIERS.
Entertaining Picture CT Frontier Camp Life by an Ex-NIember of Company TX K"-Reminiscences Of the Man
 tic Encampmcnts.
tspoeial Cor, of the Hartford Conn.,, Journal

] E
 January It tEe place consisted Ot aa l eating s-atllu, one store aui a sl4uo-- IL Is tEe nearest .lllT.aC IoInt to I Io-t Bowie, General Crooks at.aqCarteEs,
 and tasIefYre las GOlo cutie busy l freishs.ng business ever since tAo Indian l outbreaks, but the little station owes iss | present importance to tae recent much ! criticised proclamation Cf GoyesLu.
 ZulIck, addressed to tle peOIle ot Ar! zoua and warming all "evil disPoscd
 whites" to beware os intere,cring vitL | the peaceabis Indians now on tle San | Carlos reservation. Tins proclamation, | with letters .o Washington, resulted in
 an order being issued from the war de pertinent sending several companies Ci United States troops from San Francis
 co aud other California points to Ari-
 zOna, osteRsiblY 10 protect the good
 Indians from Governor ZrlIck's 'evil disposed whites" The Governor bus
 succeeded in getting the entire press Of ! the territory arrayed against him, and some think he has ruined his chances Of
 confirmation by the senate. However,
 he has accomplished his purpose and l | presume he is satisfied.
 Six companies of the Eighth Infantry reached Bowie from California the frs; week of January, and when l got of the
 east bound train last Fnday afternoon the depCt platform was crowded with of- ! ticers. from the colonel down to the dap per little second ieutenauts, all anxious | ly g6zInC al the ear windows with Ru ar
 which plainly showed that the arrival oi
 the train was tine only break in tine dull | monotOny of camp life.
 MANY VISITORS TO THE CAMP.
 I found some difficulty ID getting Gc- commodatioDs for the night, for the lIt-
 tie camp was flooded Wish strangers, | and the few old residents were taxei to
 their utmost to supply the demand for
 beds and board. 1 succeeded at last in securing bed, and then started out to view the camp. Being an ex-COrneC- ticut Gusrdsmsn l was at once struck by the similarity to cur camp st Man tIc, for 1t was lad of In company streets, with officers quartered at the head, just as We hsd them in 'S3, when
 1 occupied a tent In "k street, Eirsi
 regiment But the resemblance went no further; there were no cellars where
 BostOnt punches were skIlifully mixed for an admiring crowd, such gs We used to have III Il street, Second regiment Nor the delicious milk punches winch Corporal RoOn would compound SO dex- terOusly ID our own street. No, none Of | these delicacies are for Uncle Sans | Sl3 a month defenders. If they are fortunate enough to have their period l ical payday drunk on poor whisky their l hHppines Is complete. But am di- gressing. Two days before my arrival | lhe psymaster had visited tns camp, | aud the hearts of all were made glad | with two months pay. The never fail ing signs of pay day were on every side. | The solemn looking fellow on guard wa- pacing slowly up and down at one end I Of the camp, hls gun n Rn easy po- sItiOn, and belt full of cartridges fast ened over hIs long blue oyeTcOAt. As approached him Ee turned Els face quickly 10 one side, but not before ] mad discovered two black eyes and num- eTOus bruises such as one would be apt | to carry after an encounter wIth buzz saw or John L. Sullivan quartz crush er. Poor fellow ] could In U measure sympathIze with hIm. 1 remember my first night at NIantlc, and how 1 thought 1 could sample little Of everything ID camp and stIll maintain my usual equu- l5uum. but, as usual m such cases after wrestling Unsuccesstully with rum punch, milk punch, Boston punch, aud Iu fact every conceivable variety O! punch yet invented by the ingenious brain of Connecticut National Guards man, l subsided, and tue next morning l presume I felt almost as much punched" Rs my solemn friend in the blue overcoat, who was the picture of re- morse ss he paced slowly up and down before that long line of tents.
 HOW THE SOLDIERS LIVE.
 As I approached the camp I saw the different company cooks preparing for supper. One had big piece of beef down on a table and was chOppiBg at II with an axe like a man working for wages, and without producing any per ceptbe impression upon the meat. An other mad just finished baking bread l and was cCtting of an inch or two Of burnt bread from the bolton of the loaves. A company cook Is an unlimit- ed monarch, to whom all the company, , from the first sergeant down, ackuowl- edge allegiance, wherever he smiles Is peace and contentment, and his favor ties are looked upon Us fortunate indeed.
 Walking around the camp l noticed all the streets were neat and clean, owing to the efforts of the ] broom brigade that morning, for this l duty Is the bane Of the sol Hers life as well Rs the mllItlamEn's recollect being one of the detail which z cleaned up Company Ks" street the after 'the wake" The corpse, ] ly the way, was furnished by my tent nate and the ceremony took place at be tent door. The memorable occas- non will be vivldly remembered by ( very member of Company ak" ID the Z o3 encampment, and the fall of the hero 2 s matter of history. Previous tO that f le was generally supposed to be a u tank" I
 WHERE THE MONEY GOES TO.
 After supper dropped into the dif- il erent saloons which have sprung up ' lnce the arrival of the troops, and ID $ ach one found noisy crowd of soldiers Il IrinklDg and gambling and making b hlngs lively generally. Faro, monte fl nd poker tables were m full blast, very variety of gambling was indulEed b and It Is hardly necessary to add that 1T be soldiers did not win. It was but wo days since pay day, and ven a ure to say that there ywasn't a tvo-bit V lece n camp forty eight hours after the ' visit. One gambler told ' le he had won S7OO tbe first night at arc. and others had done equally we'll c he next morning l left Bowie for Tue \ on, and must confess that the soldiers q saw there did not impress me with the d lea that they would be very entbusi- q, stic Indian fighters, still it IS possible S lat with the whisky out of them they 1T ill do all that Is required of them. o he remark which l heard Q colored u )ldier make at Wilcox, Arizona, sl ionth ago IS true index, in my hum a le opInIon, Of the average soldier. He T ,id Le hadn't lost DO Iniuns." ci
 ". II. B. a.
 CndigeSted Food n ? the stomach develops an acid which ssts