The rustler., 1891-11-27

aNTAANANH IN Z - ~ 0HS4AAAE tAlMA
va skiilfuliy sep4rated b. the doctor.
In few seconds the operation Uas con-
clndcd. aud after the silver wire lga-
turcs were twisted In their places. of.
fcred Maxwell. who bad no, a. yct pr
mitted a single sirh to escape his lips. .
half = tumblerful u whisky. bat be-
fore had fairly put Il - his mouth he
fcll over. having tainted dead away,
while great beads Of perspiration stood
on his forehead Indicative 81 the pain
he had suffered. as the amputation Of
the thumb. the surgeon told us then.
was as had as that ~ q leg Maxwell
was confined 70 his BID for several daya
with high fever; during his intervals
Of freedom from pain. and while he was
convaicscing. Carson and eonvcrsed
with him, OF took turns reading aloud
10 the old mountaineer. lie returned
90 his rancho" a. soon as the surgeon
pronounced him well. and Carson 20 his
home In Taos. I saw the latter but once
more. at Maxwell's. but he was en- route
10 visit me at Fort Ilarler. in Kansas.
when he was taken IN AZ Fort Lyon.
Colorado, in 1865. where he died. Car
son was one Of natures noblemcn;
kquict. polite and true; a man whom you
/ would be proud 70 entertain.
! passed a delightful two wccks-it
proved my last visit with Maxwell late
In the summer of 1907. at the time the
excitement over the discovery Of gold
on his rancho" had just commenced.
and adventarers were beginning 10 con-
! gregate In the hills and Fulches from
everywhcrel The discovery Of the pre-
cious metal on his estate was the primal
cause Of his financial embarrassment,
resulting in its disposal IL was the
ruin also Of many other prominent men
In New Mexico, who expended their en-
tire fortune in the construction OF an
immense ditch, forty miles in length
from the source OF the Little Cana
dian" or Red river-to supply the
placer diggings ir the Moreno valley
with water, when the melted snow Of
"old Badly" range had exhausted itself
In the late summer. The scheme was a
stupcndous failure; its ruins may be
seen to-day in the deserted valleys-a
monument TO mans engineering skin,
but the wreck of his hopesl
For some years previous TO the dis
covcry OF gold in the mountains and
gulches of "Maxwell's Ranche," II was
known that copper existed in the region;
several shafts had been sunk and tun-
nels driven in various places, and gold
had been found from time 20 time, but
was kept secret for many months.
Its presence was at last unfolded 10
Maxwell by party of his own miners
who were boring into the heart of "0ld
Baldy" for n copper lead that had
cropped out, and was then lost.
OF course, to keep the knowledge of
the discovery of gold from the world is
an impossibility; such was the case in
this instance, and soon commenced that
quatter-immigration," out OF which,
after the "ranche" was sold and Max
well died, grew that litigation which
has resulted in favor Of the company
who purchased from, or through first
owners after Maxwell's death.
Maxwell's most important copper-mine
was located near the top of "old Baldy,"
an immense mass of disrupted granite
and other primitive rock, rising thirteen
thousand feet above the level of the
sca-according to early measurements,
whether correct, do not lSnow-whose
summit, bare and cold. far above the
timber limit, has suggested its name.
have stood on that denuded, bleak
and rough, ancient landmark years ago
in the daylight and in the darkness
the view from the storm-beaten crown
of this grand, time-worn sentinel OF
the range is indescribably sublimel
Far away TO the north, the snow-capped
pinnacles of the twin-Spanish peaks
glisten and sparkle in the sun, and be-
yond them the majestic, natural monu.
ment 10 Gen. Pike hangs like great
white cloud high In the heavens. BE.
tween these grand efforts of nature,
when she was in an angry mood,
chiliads of ages ago, stretching indef-
nitely into the purple mist to the south
and west, rugged spurs of u dozen
separate chains throw their conical
shadows oSer the landscape. On the
Nuobt biO kitoe pAuihs Va NotOihAp uiN
MISUNDERSTANDING ut the foot hills
-treeless, boundless, and apparent
ly as illimitable as the ocean, lose them.
selves in the deep blue of the horizon.
In the distant northwest, the Arkansas
the Nile of America-in the similitude
of a titanic silver serpent, silently com
mences to twist its way; its sand.
beaches and dark eddies drinking up
the infltrated raindrops rs the river
moves on its noiseless way to the sea
--more than two thousand miles by its
torturus windingsl
Maxwells generosity was unbounded,
but erratic in its manfestion; he de.
serves n monument for his charities, the
half Of which will never be known; and
no one Is more missed than he by the
people to whom he was an indulgeni
father.
Maxwell was n representative man OF
the border in its purity of the same
class us his compeers, one of whom
have wild-civilized men,
10 borrow an expressive term from John
Burroughs-of strong local attach.
mcnts, and overtlowing with the milk
of human kindness" To such as he
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