The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1888-04-18
scALPEb BY INDIANS.
Terrible Torture Inflicted Upon a FOrtune~
Hunter in the Far West!

Hunter in the Far west
AS a reporter was passing through
the stock yards at West Albany re-
Gently his attention was drawn to
person attached to one of the cattle
trains bound through to the East by an
appearance of distortion about the
upper portion of the mans face and by
a livid streak at the top of his forehead,
which, as plainly seen under his i'll
fitting derby, suggested freshly healed
Scar.
The man told one of the most re-
markable stories that ever was poured
into the ears of a human being, and
which seemed in many particulars as
improbable as any thing told in "She"
through the marvellous imagination of
Mr.. Haggard.
The mans story was as follows: Five
years ago, a youth of eighteen, living
in one of the villages of Central Massa-
chusetts, became infected with the per-
nicious contagion of yelfow-covered
literature and induced one of his COM
panions to run away from home with
him and seek life of adventure in the
Wild West. Singularly enough and
Jared so we'll that the two lads, the lat
ter one year younger than his evil adj
wiser, succeeded in getting as far as
Denver, staying there several months
and earning money enough at odd jobs
to secure an outfit and join a search
expedition which was being fitted out
to locate a fabulously rich deposit of
gold rumored to have been discovered
by venturesOme miner in the unex-
plOred region west Of the Sierre Madre
mountains of New Mexico. The singu-
lar fortune of the young men still at
tended them, and with the small part
of the party who escaped the
dangers by the way, they found
themselves after weeks of laborious
travel, in the very heart of the wild
and almost inaccessible region where
their cupidity had been guided by
somewhat vague directions. Then, as
if by some strange fatality, luck de-
serted the party. One who wandered
some distance from camp never found
his way back, and was supposed to have
fallen a prey to the ferocity of wild
beasts, which apparently had formed
plan of besieging the party.
Another was killed by the fall of an
enormous bowlder while he was explOr-
ing a mine. The elder of the two
young men and the leader was among
the number who met with violent
deaths. After six weeks of patient and
fruitless search, four of the party were
all that remained, and those decided to
fight their way back through the innu-
merable dangers and hardships to civil
lization They did not set out by the
route they came, but attempted to
make their way through pass which
seemed to promise an easier outlet.
When crossing a forbidding ravine, a
fallen tree which they had utilized as
bridge gave way and precipitated three
of the party into its depths. The
Youngest, being the least also in weight,
had crossed first, and the support of
the log bridge being apparently as
sured, the others had ventured out to-
gether to their death. Oppressed by
the overpowering sense of loneliness
and his helpless condition, it was by an
almost incredible exercise of fOrtitude
and endurance that the survivor man
aged to reach the canyon of the Rio
Grande river, living on such game as
he managed to shoot, and steadily con-
suming his small stock of ammunition.
One day he fairly tumbled into
Turquoise find of the most extravagant
value. He filled his pockets with
the gems in the rough, and made
bag out of skins to hold all he could
carry. How he managed to get across
the Rio Grande, which is not navigable,
and which is thanked by mountains
from six thousand to twelve thousand
feet in height, the lOftier peaks above
the snow line, he can not remember.
When he first came to consciousness of
his whereabouts he was in the northern
part of the Territory, about forty miles
below San Luis, Col, and IN the very
clutches of party of hostile Utes who
had cut off every chance of escape, and
that probably after following his insane
wanderings for some time. The in
stinct of elf-preservai lion in the face
of danger from familiar human foe
doubtless brought back his lettering
reason. A desperate struggle did not
prevent his capture alive, and he was
reserved for the most elaborate tor
lures, which eliminated with the dew
ilish work of the scalping knife. Left
apparently dead and for a prey to the
carrion beasts and birds, he somehow
revived, made his way to San Luis, and
there, after a hard fight for life, pulled
through without a single cent, tur-
quoise or possession of any sort. After
varied experiences IN securing money
enough to return home, he finally got
an opportunity to reach Chicago and
come East with consignment of live
stock. He will endeavOr to prove his
identify to his friends and take LID again