The Grenada gazette., 1888-05-19
REO.SklN JUSTICE.
A Long Drawn Hanging and the Cowardly
Carving OF q SQuRw.

Carving Of q squsw.
"By the way" said the old-timer to
the reporter. looking up from his morn
ing paper, "a see they have sent off
GERS out to Fort Yuma to arrest an In
dian there for killing one of his CON-
panions That reminds me of case
that happened here way back in the
sixties. In those days the white peo-
pie didn't care much about how the
Indians acted, and we let them fight
their own battles. One day a party of
Coahuilas came in with one of their
number named Coche Che was fat, like
pig, and that was the way he got his
name). They took him to the court
house and wanted him tried and pun
ished for killing another Indian. But
as no white man had seen or knew any
thing about the matter, the officers re-
fused to take charge of Mr.. Coche, and
told the Indians they would have to
settle the affair the best way they
could. Well, they took Coche down
to Squaw Flat, near Warm Creek, and
had big powwow over him. He was
found guilty of murder and sentenced
to be hanged. The sentence was to be
carried out at once. They didn't be-
lieve in giving Coche any chance to
get off or to appeal to the Supreme
Court
"The court had been held under the
shade of some cottonwood trees, and
when the trial was over the Indians
took rawhide RATA and proceeded to
hang Mr.. Coche in not the most ap-
proved fashion. They hauled him up
to a cottonwood limb, held him a few
moments, and then let him down again.
A lot of boys Qor l was only boy
them gathered around to see the fun,
and great sight it was, too. Coche
really seemed to rather like the thing.
They would haul away on the RATA
and hang him up and then let him
down. Between times Coche asked
for cigarettes, and he smoked them
with as much relish as if he was at a
siesta instead of taking part in his own
execution.
well, don't you know, those con-
founded Indians kept this up the whole
forenoon, first hanging and then letting
Coche down. He would grin and chatf
his companions, and on the whole
didn't seem to have bad sort of a
time. But along towards noon the
Indians got little tired of the fun, and
l reckon Coche did, too, so they gave
final haul on the RATA, and then
made the end fast TO a tree and let the
poor devil strangle to death.
II tell you what, | just wish that
woman that wrote Ramona could
have seen that hanging. Ireckon she
wouldn't have thought quite so much
of her Indian pets after that; and there
was another thing l wish she could
have seen, too. Why, come to think,
it isn't more than about dozen years
since these nice, peaceable, inotfensive.
copper-colored sons of guns tried to
cut squaw all to pieces down there
on the fat They drove four stakes
in the ground, stripped the squaw and
tied her hands and feet one to each
stake, spread-eaglc fashion. They then
took their knives and began to mark
out grid-irons and such like things on
her back. Holler! You just bet she
hollered. Why, the people up iii town
heard it, and they ran down and found
the squaw bleeding like pig, and
what do you suppose the matter was?
Well, the woman had earned four bits
somehow or other and didn't give the
money to her buck. That was all.
How she earned it the buck didn't care.
All that he was mad about was that
she didn't give it to him to buy whisky.
Oh, could 60 on and tell you lot
more about those miserable, worthless
ours. But l just wish that woman
writer could have seen some OF the
things l have-that's all.'-San Ber'
ndrdino Times.