The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1894-01-19
4 HUNTERS YARN.
The White Deer of San Carlos
An Arizona Mystery.

The white deer of San Carlos ar, one
of the many wonders of ART ona.
There are many hunters who 1eny
their existence, but there are Ilany
others who say positively that they
have seen them All the Indians IL the
part of the country where the dee are
aid to live tell of thcUa. and manN can
bc found who say they have seen them.
But the Indians don't want to see them.
because they have a religious belief
that they belong TO the Great V hite
Spirit. and that if an Indian should kill
one of them he would be cursed for
ever. The place in which the dec live
i one of the widest spots in the coun-
try to-day. 1t Is in the San Carries In
dian reservation, and is almost mac
crssible. Its exact distance from any
settlement is not known, but the near
est place to any whisky and tobacco
Is the Mammoth gold camp.
About month ago one of the boys
from the Rilito mine went out hunting
lie was gone several days, and when he
came back was very much excited. His
horse was worn out and had evidently
been driven very hard for several hours
The man said that he had seer the
white deer and never wanted to see
L4ltl.l tLAii- llt NOuAAil lt-44 WHY llc
was afraid of them. as nothing had
happened to him OF ar injurious nature.
lie told how he saw the herd grazing
on grassy ridge that reached across
The bottom of a beautiful valley. 1t
was not at all like any other valley he
had seen in the territory, but was WA
tered by q dozen streams, and trees and
yrass grew luxuriautly. The deer We're
.-r,.zing calmly, and he thought he
saw 4 chance 10 get one, so he found a
place to rest his rifle and took a dead
aim at n big buck The instan- his
rifle cracked the entire herd van shed
like magic, leaving behind them 10th
ing but thin veil of white mist. He
jumped on his horse and started for
camp. never stopping until he reached il.
His story was So remarkable that two
Of the other boys, Joe Franklin and
Henry Roberts, wanted him TO go with
them To the place and make an investi-
cation. But the man who saw the deer
had seen all he wanted.
Franl;lin and Roberts got parti ,ular
directions, but did not start unit the
next morning, but We're up very carly,
and by sunrise had gone over the range
that divides the standardization from
the bowling wilderness Of wild beasts
and murucrous Apaches- II took hem
:. day and Il half to get to the locality.
They travelled through a country " here
death seemed to be lurking behind
every stone and clump of bushes BY
day they passed several bleaching slzel-
etGns and deserted huts that told the
tale Of some adventurous mans effort
20 make Il home in this desolatc SPOT
BY taking turns all through the
night franklin and Roberts bott did
well, and when morning came AMI the
ghostly forms stealthily gliding
through the darkness had given place
to cactus. sand and rocks. both men
were as fresh if they had slept IN a
bed in San Francisco. When the sun
came up the horses slept while the men
were getting breakfast. start was
soon made, and by noon the men Knew
that the valley could not be far
away, although they saw no signs
OF it The country was wild and
rugged and vegetation was very linn
tied. There was no sign of water, nor
did they see any place where water
could come from. They knew by GER
tam things they were told 10 loc for
that they had followed the direc tons
closely. But where was the valley?
1t could not be ahead of them and
must be To one side, as the sand 'Frad-
ually sloped that way. Before sta Ting
down Franklin proposed that he limb
To the top of a ridge a few hundred
feet To the right and see if he cou-d see
the tops of the green trees Ii was
long, hard climb, and Is he ascC Cuded
he saw no sign Of the refreshing green.
lie felt sure that they must have made
some mistake or that the other man
fed. but concluded he would go TO the
top just To see what there was. When
lie reached the summit there was no
patch of creen-nothing but desert
hills. and far off in the distance an
Apache village.
lie was about to go back when he
concluded to cross over the ridge and
SOC what was on the other side Max
ing his way through the scrub. mes
quite and cactus, he soon came 20 an
,pcu space, and there before him was
the valley ne had been looking fo,. 1t
was carpetcd with green grass, Il al on
the other side 4 range of mountains rose.
the tops of which were covered with
snow that was constantly melting and
forming silver streams that tumbled
iEto the valley below.
To one accustomed to the glare and
dust of Arizona deserts the spo- was
like glimpse of paradise, and Frank
lin rubbed his eyes to make sure he was
got dreaming. He was satisfied that
the spot had been found. so he went
back to the top of the ridge ana sig
nailed u Roberts to come up and bring
the horses-an act Roberts was not
very slow in performing. Both agreed
-l...t kn ha
next was to find the deer. BUt first
they would rest awhile and get come
thing To cat. 1t really was like para
disc when they had found u cool, shady
spo and built a fire The blue smoke
curled upward among the trees, where
it was caught by the gentle wind and
carried across the valley. Dinnc had
been cooked and disposed of, anG both
men stretched themselves ont comfort
ably, intending each minute to get mp
and go and look for the deer. But
while they were making up their minds
about II Roberts suddenly had his at
tention attracted by something owing
on low ridge Of hill short dis tance
ahead He looked several time and
;hen called Franl,liu's attention o the
matter. Sure enough there were the
white deer. There were at lcas two
dozen of them. and they were beautiful
creatures, formed exactly like 4 I 9th
crs- except that their legs were q little
shcavier. They Were snow-white nd in
such a position that the sun, whicl was
~ 80 Getting low, struck them with a
CLEAN OF opalescent light that brought
them into strong relief against the rug
ged mountains in the background
1t was pretty good 81 t to make.
but botn men ielt that they were equal
to il, and arranged the sights on their