Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1893-10-31
AN APACHE'S GRAVE
rug SPADES THAT DUG u STIRRED
up a LONG AND FIERCE WAR.

fHE SPADES THAT DUG " SttnNSS
up A LONG AND FIERCE WAR.
-, covaraly se.sries whs Len 1heir
ce-u.sder OPsa % the Charge o.
-,-.-n.rv and Caused N Upriains 81
the White Moantaia APachee
living inst south Of the Black range and
midway i,etwesn the Santa Rita and Burro
mos, a aims Apache Teju has seen something
~ nearly every notable outbreak OF Apa-
rhes that has occurred in New Mexico Inc
snr;nr from which the ranch takes Its name
i one of the principal water holes IN tnis
n,rs Of Gran, county and was naturally
yf.,l known to all rowing Apaches Inc
stream that flows from the spring Is Large
apoush to irricste several acres OF alfalfa
and water thousands of cattle and horses
Many wears ago before railroads crossed the
nlains Apsche Teju was on one OF the mann
stage routes, and the government eslap
bshed here q frontier post, known rs fors
Mel .ane. 10 afford protection to stages and
to emigrants.
The troops at Fort McI.ane had plenty to
do The stage road ran through narrow
mass near Cooks peak, about 20 miles east
Of here, and when the Indians were trouble
some the stage often came in despatched
with the blood of passengers, and some
times it failed TO come in at all Two
beans Of stones upon knoll east OF the
house marked the graves Of men VINO were
Killed by Apaches on the Fort McLane
stage. Trampling herds have ieseieo .hs
mounds and scattered the stones about, and
kuy n
erected 60 mark the graves has disappeared.
Nobody now knows who the men were OF
when they were buried. KILLED by Apa-
ches' is all that anybody can tell OF the &C,
c,,pauts OF the two nearly obliterated
graves.
But there is another grave concerning
which little more is known IL Is IN 'he
dooryard, close TO the east end of the adobe
house. 1t is not marked IN any way anu
is level with the rest of the yard. There
were large stones heaped up over II. pu'
the stones were used in the foundation OF
new wing TO the adobe few years ago ana
the men who laid them IN the wall ieit no
conjunction for the dissertation, because
the bones underneath were those OF an
Apache. He was only an indian, ou. ne
was a chief of the White mountain Apa-
ches. and the spades that dug his grave
stirred up IA long war with that tribe. No
body can now tell the name OF the chiei,
Int the circum stances of his death are well
remembered.
The band of which this Apache was chief
had been making trouble along the road
and had gone into camp in the Burro noun
tains. Lieutenant McLane. commander OF
the post, believed that he could persuade
7 i: l.,tt Ii Sfe a
have themselves and he sent messenger
to the chief TO induce him to come into the
fort and have a talk The Indians were
suspicious at first, but the lieutenant mes
seuper gave the most solemn assurances
that the chief would be protected from all
harm and be returned safely to his camp
and the chief finally consented to accom-
pany the messenger to the fort.
They arrived in the afternoon, and in the
hospitable formalities preliminary 10 a
talk the chief acquired colossal jag" and
couldn't talk at all. The lieutenant had
him put to bed under the shelter tent In
the corral and placed two guards over the
tent with positive orders not to let the chief
leave the fort under any circumstances He
expected the chief to sleep off the effects OF
the liquor and be ready for a talk in the
morning. The instructions, however seem
to have given the guards the idea that the
Indian was a prisoner who must not be per
mitted to escape.
At midnight, when the guard was re
lieyed, the chief was sound asleep. The
new sentries had only the word Of the re
lie,ed guard that he was still there, and as
he made no sound they began to suspect
that he might have slipped away. Having
taken the post without making sure OF
their charges presence, they began TO feel
uneasy, fearing that they would be held re
sponsible for his escape. They discussed
the matter in whispers and finally con
WINGED themselves that the Apache had es
capped from the other sentres, and that
their comrades had played II sharp trick
and shifted the blame to them. 1t would
have been easy to settle the question by
crawling in and examining the shelter tent,
but they were afraid of the Indian and had
some doubts about the wisdom of waking
up drunken Apache in the dark. They
poked their bayonets under the edge OF the
tent and felt around for the Indian. They
found him. A sharp bayonet prodded into
his thigh brought the chief to his feet with
a yell, and he sprang out of the tent, howl
ing with rage and defiance and brandsh-
II
thu. chief and shot him dead.
It was futile to attempt to explain the
affair to the Apaches who were waiting out
there in the Burro mountains for their
chief to return. How could the lieutenant
tell them that fort full of soldiers had to
kill one Apache III self defenses They
knew that their chief had been lured to the
fort by solemn promises of protection and
freedom to return. and that he had been
murdered by the soldiers, and they be
lieved that it was all IA treacherous plot. So
they went upon the warpath and killed
white men and women wherever found, and
the stage that got through the pass al
Cooks peak without lodging shower of
arrows was in luck. The two men in the
unmarked graves over on the knoll felt n
part of the vengeance Of the White noun
tain Apacbes for the murder of the chief
whose bones lie under the hard trodden
looryard of Apache Teju.-Apache Tejn
~ NJ Cor. New York Sun.