The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1892-09-01
tOriginal.1

M <>.~ construction OF
railroad with the termini respectively
ut Ell Altar, on the Rio de la Asuncion.
and ut the city of Hermosillo, on the
Rio Sonora, Of the present Sonora line
(the idea was subsequently abandoned
as impracticable). by reference to the
map it will be observed that these
places arc some one hundred and thirty
miles apart, and l was thus obliged to
employ large corps of assistants and
devote my personal attention continu-
ally to the work in order that the sur
vey might he finished upon the date
stipulated in the contract.
l had esta blished camps or work sta
tions over the entire distance at about
twenty miles from each other, and it
was my custom to make journey of
inspection to these stations once every
fortnight. AS the work progressed
found it necessary to increase these
visits and l was obliged to spend all of
my time in passing back and forth over
the line.
This was, of course, tiresome and
mOnOtOnous. but the work in itself was
not difficult, as the terra tenplada is un-
usually free from natural distractions
liked the climate, for, unlike many Of
my companions, was not sick a single
day during the entire period was en-
gagged in the work. The natural attrac-
tions of the place were many, and alto
gether the position was one of pleasure
The only really Objectionable feature
was the presence of a large number of
native Indians and Mexican half-Dreeds,
who seemed to regard lis intuitively as
worthy of nothing better than the most
hearty contempt and us the source of
continual apprehension. Not that we
had in any way afforded them reason
to suppose us to be antagonistic to their
interests, for had issued strict orders
upon commencing the work that these
people should be in no way molcsted,
and had requested that the men bers of
the engineering corps should avoid i'll
1ercOurse with them as much as posi-
bic. had reason to believe that with
enc or two exceptions my orders had
b en- obeycd. The exceptions referred
to were upon two chance occasions; the
first, when company Of half-brecd
hunters passing across country come
upon one of our supply stations and,
after circling about for an hour or SO.
venturcd in and endeavored to barter a
quantity of skins and moccasins
for food and tobacco. We were
obliged TO refuse their propositions, as
Mt that particular time our supply hap
pened to be very nearly exhausted.
They thereupon rode away in very ap-
parent disgust. The second was once
when another party came in contact
with squad of our men engaged in
the process of taking measurements in
a ravine where the former were fish
ing. They watched our operations with
evident anxiety and seemed momentari-
Jv to expect something unusual from
the paraphernalia we were using.
When one of ovr number in operating
the theodolite nnmeaningly turned the
instrument pointing in their direction,
the whole party spontaneously uttered
Il wild ''hul-lo-lo!' and scampered away
like jack-ra bbits much to the amuse-
ment of our men. After that whenever
any of our gangs made their appear
ancc, the ringers as we called them,
beat an imm ediate and hasty retreat.
1t was evident that they considered
lis as trespassers, and I was aware that
most of our movements were slyly
watched by them, and they became IA
miliar with the course of our work and
appeared to avoid us as if in fear
For a time l was inclined to view
them asl1ance, for knew the aborig-
inal characteristics of cunning and
treachery. AS time wore on, however,
! came to look upon them differently,
and considered that they had become
reconciled, as it were, to our presence
and that we need fear no outbreaks
from them as long as they were not
molested. l was mistaken, as the in
cident which am about to relate will
demonstrate.
Along in the latter part of Septem-
Der. near the completion of the survey,
in fact it was the very last trip made
over the southern division of the line,
! had been to Hcrmosillo for imple-
ments and supplies, and had occasion