Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1893-07-26
A BATTLE FOR LIFE.
The Heroic Fight of a Western Gamble
with Indiana.


A company of ranchmen sat about
the railroad station in Pomona the
other afternoon waiting for the be-
lated overland train for Los Angeles.
Every man in the party knew the
others, and there being an hour or two
to wait, story telling of the early days
on the border and in Arizona and Cali
fornia became natural. Stories of old
times, when Indians were bad, and the
white pioneers knew what bravery
meant, were related. John Wilson, of
Ell Monte, told the most absorbing
story of the hour.
Talk about sand in a man, gentle
men! am telling you that it takes
sand of the genuine article in any man
to try and stand off single handed
forty or fifty Apaches, when he knows
just how the scrap will end and that
the end will be his own death. But
that was just the kind of sand that
was in Felix Knox when he was killed
by the Apaches. You see Knox was an
all-round gambler such as the tender
foot from the east scorn so much and
know so little about, but he had a
heart in him bigger than any tender
foot's head. Well, it was in the spring
of 10. Knox, with his wife and baby
and Mexican driver, were coming
from Silver City to Clifton, down in
Arizona. They got to York's ranch,
which is on the ella river, about thirty
miles from Clifton, all right, but were
told there that signs of Apaches had
been seen, and that they had better go
in ~ mn hAr f01 40
who had fought the Apaches dozen of
times and didn't know what fear was,
said he wanted to make Clifton that
day, Indians or no Indians
well, the Knoxes drove on. When
they were about two miles from York S
ranch, sure enough a big buck Indian
came from behind a low, round-to p
MESA Knox knew there were plenty
more of the red devils hid there. and
that it meant fight to death for him.
he was as cool as a cucumber. He
jumped out of the wagon, filed his
pockets with two boxes of cartridges,
and then kissed his wife and baby for
the last time, but saying that he would
have the redskins quoted in a few
minutes. He ordered the Mexican
worth and to drive back to York's
ranch as fast as the horses could jump.
Then Knox waved his hand to his wife,
and said he was going to stand off a
few Apaches-although he was sure
there was a big band of them AS the
team and wagon few back to the ranch
Knox, rifle in hand, started for the hill
for his last fight. He turned once and
waved his sombrero to his wife and
child, and then strobe on to his certain
death.
''The Apaches second later rushed
out from behind the hill where they
were secreted. Knox faced his foes,
and standing stock still, pumped lead
at them until he fell down dead. The
next day party of us was made up,
and we went out where the fight took
place. Knox's body lay there amid the
cactus in the sun. The Apaches, con-
trary to their usual custom, had not
mutilated the fellows body in the
least. They had taken a clean pocket
handkerchief out of Knox's pocket and
carefully spread it over his face, and
had fastened it there by putting small
stone on each corner of it to hold it in
its place and keep the hot sun from the
dead mans face. That was their tribute
to the sand in Knox. Seventy empty
shells were found that had been
emptied from Knox's Winchester, and
one of the raiding Indians afterward
said that their party numbered forty.
two and that Knox had killed seven of
them. Pomona Progress.