Arizona weekly enterprise., 1888-10-27
\ TRIANGULAR CONTEST.
THE PECULIAR LEGAL TRINITY THAT
 DOTH HEDGE THE APACHE.

THE PECULIAR LEGAL TRINITY THAT
 DOTH HEDGE THE APACHE.
 A Peculiar Conflict of Authority by whose
 Laches the Red Man May Escape
 Deserved Punishment for
 His Crimes.
 On the 7th day of October, 1887, the grand jury of Pinal county returned an indictment against Eh-La, Big George, Na-ka-pa, Gude-cy, Nu-lin-a, Gaza-klee and Co-cy, seven Apache Indians who resided near Dudleyville in this county, charged with stealing and killing cattle belonging to Mir W. D. Harrington They were not reservation Indians but had segregat- ed their tribal relations and cultivated lands on the San Pedro, and in the commission of the offense they were clearly amendable to the civil law
 At the time the indictment was found, the whereabouts of these In- dians were unknown, but it was gene rally believed they had sought the ref uge of the San Carlos reservation. Sheriff Fryer therefore addressed let ter to the commanding officer at San Carlos, asking his cooperation in ap- pretending the criminals and after a long delay reply was received on July 24th, 1888, substantially as fol- lows:
 "In reply to your letter of June 2Ist, am instructed by the commanding officer of the Department to inform you that the Indians you name are here and will be delivered to you here upon presentation of the necessary pa pers."
 At this time Judge w. W. Porter was absent from the Territory and no warrant could be obtained for their arrest. On the 3rd day of October, | 1888, bench warrant was obtained and forwarded on the 9th instant with other papers to the acting agent al San Carlos, in accordance with his communication.
 The other papers referred to consist ed of copy of another indictment against the murderers of Samuel Jones, most atrOcious and willful murder, which was committed neal Dudleyville about month ago. These Indians were likewise residing off the reservation and were not subject tc its control or discipline, but they sought safety within its borders and were ultimately taken into custody by its authorities. At the time the crime was perpetrated Sheriff Fryel telegraphed the acting agent at Sar Carlos, reciting all the facts of tht case, and asking their cooperation II securing the arrest of the murderers To this telegram no reply was made although the agency troops were sen
 to the San Pedro, arrested the murder CTS and took them to San Carlos, with
 out notifying Sheriff Fryer.
 Last week Sheriff Fryer received tn following letter from the acting agen
 at San Carlos, which explains itself:
 SAN CARLOS, ARIZONA. October, 18th, 1888 SHERIFF FINAL COUNTY,
 Florence, Arizona
 SIR II am in receipt of your lette of the 9th, inst, enclosing bench wal rants and copies of an indictmen against certain Apache Indians. Those for whom you send warrant
 for the murder of Mr Jones near Dud leyville, have been turned over to Der uty U. s. Marshal and are now en rout
 to Tucson for trial before U. s. Cour , Regarding those accused of grand lal ceny I would state that 8 diligent II ) quiry among persons cognizant of tn reservation Indians fails to elicit tn $ idenit y of hose you name in the benc ' warrant, there being, from what l ca 9 learn, no Indians bearing those name . on the lists. Although I am nC aware of the action taken by my pr, . decessor in this matter-tO which vo {, refer in your communication-I al
 constrained to the belief that cases this nature fall within the provision I I of an act of Congress, forbidding tl use of troops as posse comitatus, i which event it would seem that al unable to be of service to you undI T the circumstances. 1 therefore tal | the liberty of returning the papers yo enclosed to me.
 | Very respectfully, your obedient SC tt : want CHARLES l.. COOPER, :. Capt. 10th Cavalry, Comd'g Pos It will be observed from the abo,
 that Capt. Cooper waited until the Il Y dian murderers were on their way d Tucson under the convoy of a U. a deputy marshal before replying t Sheriff Flyers communication, ar e by this act he clearly implies co, y tempt for the civil authorities that l. in keeping with the usual military i It science when brought into confli J with the civil law. The crime COT
 mitted by these Indians was an ofen e against the Territorial law and ov d which the U. s. court has very douE n ful jurisdiction.
 e In the case of the Indians indict, t. for grand larceny, the agency offici l. was not asked to furnish troops to 8 le sist in their capture, but was reques le ed simply to comply with the e1prt d. sed instructions given his predecess
 by the Department commander H of inability to identify them is in strikil n contrast with the success of his prec to ces o in this respect.
 ,d So far Mir. Fryer has exercised t of utmost diligence and zeal in executil !, the orders of the court in these cas, -k but for some reason not apparent up ut the surface the military authoriti
 continue to place obstacles in the W .o of every civil process under the Ter ea o torial laws, even to the armed prot ,o o' ton of Apache criminals against ~ proper exercise. Between the trit a1 gular struggle of the military, the ;1i m $. court and the Territorial court, t m mt-, murderers have a good chance to ;;{{ cape paying the penalty their inl