The Ketchum keystone. [volume] (Ketchum, Idaho) 1885-1899, 1889-01-19


house a few days ago. Her name
is Antonio Sotomayer, and despite
the fact that her clothes were frayed
and tattered, there was something
remarkable about her. The entry
opposite her name was an unusual
one; she was recorded as being LOG
years old. Since 1862 she has been
living alone in a little rented room
supported by the contributions of
her countrymen and others who
have become interested in her rather
remarkable history. OF late the
poor old creature has been growing
lonely and disconnected, and finally
she yielded to the entreaties of her
daughter, who is seventy years old
and an inmate of the aims house,
and finally decided to 60 there and
also become charge on the public.
So she has ''gone over the hills to
the Poor House." The story of the
life of Antonio Sotomayer is far
more replete with romance than
any half-a-dozen novels of the day.
She was born in Sonora, Mexico,
in 1888, and was married when she
was sixteen years old. Her father
was very wealthy and she was ex-
tremely beautiful. Even now at
her great age she retains traces of
her former beauty, her eyes being
large and sparkling and her teeth
white and sound. To judge by her
conversation and appearance she
seems like we'll preserved woman
of seventy. Many duel was fought
among the gallant cavaliers in the
days when the century was young,
over the fair Antonio. Finally the
fair senorita gave her heart to a
handsome army officer of Castilian
lineage. Before he could claim her
hand, however, he had to meet in
the duel four of his disappointed
rivals. all of whom he vanguished,
and through whose bodies he drove
his trusty steel. The married life
of the young couple was a very
happy one. They had eleven chill
dren, and possessed of an immense
fortune, it did not seem possible
that trouble could reach them. But
it did come, and in the shape of a
political revolution. Don Sebastian
Sotomayer joined the weaker fac
ton, which was vanquished, and he
fell, his body pierced with bullets,
and was left for dead on the battle
field. Hisimmense possessions were
all confiscated and his wife found
herself homeless wanderer. She
joined a number of other exiles and
came north into California. Their
sutferings were frightful in crossing
the southern desert, and many Of
the party died from thirst. Antonio
was one of the few who reached
Sonoma, where she remained for
several years. One day a wanderer
from the south brought her start
ling news; that her husband, whom
she had so long mourned as dead,
was alive, having survived his
wounds, and that blind and poor
and crippled, he only longed to see
his wife once more before he died.
Antonio did not stay a day, but
gathered her flock of children round
her and went back to Mexico. She
found her husband penniless and
blind and unable to help in the
support of his wife and young chill
dren, and Antonio became the
bread winner. At last her husband
died and her children scattered.
She earned her bread as best she
could. At one time she was the
interpreter for the Yaqui Indians
in their dealings with the Mexican
Government. She still speaks the
Indian language fluently and tells
wonderful tales of their traditions,
and of the ancient Toltec civiliza-
ton. She remembers perfectly the
resolution Of 1910, when the Next
cans had their great struggle for
freedom. Antonio has only two
relatives living, one her daughter
and the other a sister now 81 years
old, who is living in British Column
bia There is peculiar story cur
rent among the older Mexican res
idents of San Francisco who know
all about Antonio Sotomayer, that
she owes her great age to mystic
rious herb known to the Yaqui In
dians, and they say she will live to
see her 15Oth year 1t would be
interesting to know if she considers
life worth living" to that great
age, if it is to be spent within the
walls of an aims house.
Agents of the various transcon-
tinental railroads who have offices
in San Francisco are complaining
that the excursion business this
season has fallen far short of what
was anticipated. They say that the
movement of tourists toward Cali
fornia is not one-half what it was
last year, and none Of the compan-
les have experienced any trouble
in handling their business. The
Santa Fe Company purchased a
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