Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1894-10-29
DAZEO ON TIE DESERT.


and Fifty Yards Of n Lake OF Fresh Water.
On the burning sands Of Cocopah des-
ert, beside q lake that appears to be Of
the coolest and the purest Of fresh Wa
ter, lie the bones Of an American who
died Of thirst, and around him are five
or six holes of two or three feet in depth,
which he dug with his finger nails in 81
frenzy of thirst. His fingers are worn
off at the ends, and only his whitening
bones are left to bear witness to the
tragedy.
Jose Garcia, who makes living by
peddling from one little camp to anoth
er On the desert, has returned from o
trip which began on Aug. 20. He left
here at that time and engaged a guide
at the new placer camp at Los ? icachos,
below the boundary line, to take him to
q mining camp in the Cocopah noun
tains in the heart Of the desert. The
guide was named Quirino Sosilio q
half breed, and with them went also
Frank Gotta, a Mexican. They left Los
Picachos in the afternoon, Travelled all
night, and by the next morning were
far out on the desert. By some miscal-
culation they were without water, and
though not lost they were bewildered as
to the nearest way to a we'll and spent
the next two days i'll travelling without
water, becoming almost insane from
thirst. On the evening OF the third day
they found water. They We're then on
the northeast side Of Great Salt lake, or
Laguna Salada, that lies between the
Cocopah mountains on the east and the
Painted mountains on the west. The
lake is about six miles wide and 20 or
80 in length, varying in size according
to the season, indicating that it is fed
by the gulf of California. It is very
shallow and sa1tier than the waters Of
the ocean.
The three men proceeded southwark
between the lake and Cocopahs fer
distance Of ten miles or SO and there en-
countered two Me1icans and q white
man. The two former were named Mar
garlic Angulo and Felipe Moreno, and
the Americans name was not learned,
but from the description he is thought
to be Fred Wassu1n, who left this city
for the Cocopah place1s some weeks ago.
Garcia continues the story as follows:
''The men came from Los Picachos by
way of Mil and had been without wa
margarine Angulo, was already crazy.
He was as deaf as a post and wandered
around like q drunken man. He paid no
attention to my guide, and we had to
lay hold of hiJ0 to make him drink. Ii
a few hours he was all right. The 9th
ers were in their right minds, bit III O.
terrible condition, and as ] saw their
swollen tongues my own began to swell,
for had passed through the same tor
ture only two lays before, and even now
my tongue swells while think Of it.
We gave them water, and they soon re-
vived and continued on their way. They
Were burdened with q dry washer and
many tools and moved slowly, SO We
left them, my guide giving them diroc-
tons where to find the next water.
ga few miles FARTHER we cane upon
the bones Of q man lying stac,ll on the
sand about % yards from the lie
There was no flesh left. The coyotes had
found the body. One leg was gone, but
the rest Of the remains were there. The
head lay toward the north, face upward.
The whislzora We're dark and turning
gray, and the hair was the same. The
man had worn . blue jumper, q red
wooden undershirt, one boot and q brown
SLOUGH hat. J. found cheap clasp purse
in his jumper pocket which contained
this paper, which is q pi8ce OF a. en-
velope or paper sack, addressed James
Moore, payIlastGr A. T. and s. F.,
Topeka In the parse was also part Of
q greonback. There was moths else to
identify the body. The boo5 was about
No 6, and the man did not seem to
have been large.
81 examined the fingers ;lnd found lhe
ends worn off, and there we're fivc. or six
holes in the ground around tho body,
made by scratching for water. One Of
the holes, farther away, seemed to have
been made with q pick and shovel.
There were no tools around the man, 20
ca1lteen and 10 sicrn Of food. As VIZ 10
ceGded L traced his barefoot tracks for
more than five miles, coming from the
direction Of Yuma or New River and
going toward Coyote Wells. The tracks
were irregular and frequently crossed
and sometimes went into the lake
About $50 yards from the body, away
from the lake, we found d reservoir of
fine fresh water. We found the body
on Sept. u.
As the body IS III Mexico nothing can
be done by the officers here, and it viii
in all probability rest whore it was
found Coroner Woodward win take
steps to ascertain who the man was
San Diego Cor. San Francisco Examiner.
When the Women Vote.
They were discussing a proposed en-
tertainInent when the caller asked:
Have you invited Miss de Vercy?'
''Oh, dear, noi'' replied the hostess.
ST couldn't think of it for q moment y
''But, my dear child, she is a charm
ing conversatioIlist and d splendid