The Grenada gazette. (Grenada, Miss.) 1885-18??, 1886-05-29
CRUEL
4 Boys Account Of His Seven Nsatha,
Captivity Among the Ssvsses.

4 Boys Account Of HIS Seven Msaths,
Captivity Among the ssvases.
Santiago McKin Is probably the only
,leven-year-old lad in America who
,as been on . scalping tour with a
party Of hostile Indians. He has lust
left this town for his home, in the COM
pany Of his father, after a captivity OF
seven months in the Apache camp.
When Geronimo and his band surren-
dered, the soldiers were surprised to
find a white boy with them who could
speak no English, though bearing un-
mistakable traces of Celtic parentage.
On securing an interpreter it was found
that the little fellow could speak Span.
ish quite fuently, and by this means
his story was obtained.
Santiago's father is an Irishman who
owns q ranch on the Mimbres, three
miles from San Lorenzo, and his moth
er is q Mexican woman. On the 18th
of last September he and an older
brother were some distance from their
home, and in ignorance of the presence
of Indians, when a rifle shot alarmed
them. Looking up they saw six In
dams approaching rapidly. Santiago's
brother was killed at the next fire, but
the boy escaped unhurt only to be
taken prisoner. The bucks threatened
to cut him up, but on the intercession
of one of their number he was turned
YER to the care of the squaws, who
followed in the ear of the war party.
From that time on the boy was in
no danger of death, but all winter he
was compelled to keep up with the
hostiles in their rapid movements from
place to place, and was an eyewitness
to more than twenty murders. When
the savages took Santiago in charge
they were on their way north. That
evening they met a Mexican on the
highway whom they killed ana the
next day they surprised two wood
choppers, killing one. The other es-
capped, and the Indians hunted for him
for hours without success. As the saw
ages proceeded they would fire their
rifles into the houses that they anne
across, and frequently would set them
on fire, but in most cases the inhabit-
ants had fled. When white men were
seen and they were to be killed, the
squaws would hide where they could
observe what vas going on. Some
of the victims were %butchered in
the most cowardly manner, after
the warriors had made protesta-
tons of friendship, and in nearly all
cases their bodies were mutilated.
Two days after his capture Santiago
says the Indians went into camp in q
valley a few miles north of Cactus Flat,
about twenty miles from the White
House, in the Mogollons, and there
they remained, except as they went Of
on brief marauding expeditions is,
months. Soon after their arrival at
this place they were Joined by other
savages, and the squaws worked indus
t~riously to give the camp an air of
comfort Some of the bucks would
steal away every day, and on their re-
turn they would be loaded with the
plumber of ranches, travellers and pros
pectors, The boys assertion that dur
ing all this time the hostiles were not
once alarmed by troops, and that he
had not during his entire experience
with the band see any thing to indi-
cate the presence of the army, caused
much chagrin among the soldiers, as
they had repeatedly said that there
were no savages in the Mogollons.
Coming in with scalps, ammunition,
arms, blankets and clothing, and some
times with money and liquor, the
braves would pass the evenings in dis
playing their trophies, boasting of
their achievements and gambling. One
night a war party came in with a lot
of groceries and candy. The latter
was given to the squaws, and they ate
so much of it that they were made
sick. 1t was afterward learned that
this stock belonged to an old French
peddler who had been murdered.
Some time after New Years the In
dams moved south by forced marches,
subsisting on horse meat. Wherever
they went they burned and killed. So
rapid were their movements and so
many changes of base were made un-
der cover of darkness, that the boy
lost all track of his whereabouts, and
can now give only a vague Do oription
of his wanderings. His recollection
of the murders that he witnessed is so
keen, however, that a pretty clear idea
of the raids of the savages can be had
by n who is familiar with the depre-
dations committed. When found, the
little fellow was almost exhausted, and
it is probable that a month more on
the warpath would have used him up.
His parents had mourned him as dead,
and when they were notified of his
safety, his father ordered him to be
sent by rail to this place, where the
two met. Tie lad hats been made
much of by every body here. -Demimg
IN. MY Cor. NJ Y. Sun.
MODERN MAGIC.
The Simple Secret OF The Marvellous
"Talking Head"