Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1894-11-02
DAzED ON THE DESERT.
A Man Dies Of Thirst Within One Hun ired
and Fifty Yards of n Lake of Fresh Water

A Man Dies Of Thirst Within Ono Hun treo
and Fifty Yards Of n Lake Of Fresh Water
On the burning sands Of Cocopah des-
ert, beside 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
frenzy Of thirst. His fingers are worn
of 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
trip which began on Aug. 20. He left
here at that time and engaged a guide
at the new placer camp at Los Picachos,
below the boundary line, to take him to
a mining camp in the Cocopah noun
tains in the heart Of the desert. The
guide was named Quirino Sosilio
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
10 tho nearest way to a we'll and spent
the next two days in travelling without
water, becoming almost insane from
thirst. On the evening Of the third day
they found water. They were 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 30 or
30 in length, varying In size according
10 the season, indicating that it is fed
by the gulf Of California. 1t Is very
shallow and saltier than the waters OF
the ocean. ,
The three men proceeded southwark
between the lake and Cocopahs for =
distance Of ten miles or so and there en-
countered two Mexicans and white
man. The two former were named Mar
Rarito Angulo and Felipe Moreno, and
the Americans name was not learned,
but from the description he is thought
10 be Fred wassum, who left this city
for the Cocopah placers some weeks ago.
Garcia continues the story As follows:
1.-The men came from Los Picachos By
vay Of Mil and had been without wa
ter for several days, and one OF them,
Marqarito Angulo was already crazy
He was as deaf as post and wandered
around like 4 drunken man. he paid no
attention to my guide, and We had to
Law hold Of him to make him drink. In
= few hours he was all right The 9TH
ers were in their right minds, but in
terrible condition, and as I saw their
swollen tongues my own began to swell,
for had passed through the same tor
ture only two days before, and even now
nv tongue swells while I think OF 1t,
We gave them water, and they soon re-
yiyed and continued on their way. They
were burdened with dry washer and
many tools and moved slowly, 60 We
left them, my guide giving them direc'
tions whore to find the next water
"A few miles farther we came upon
the bones Of a man lying stark on the
sand about 25 yards from the lake.
There waH no Aesh 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 whiskers were dark and turning
gray, and tho hair was the same. The
man had worn a blue jumper, rec
woolen undershirt one boot and brown
slouch hat. l found a cheap clasp purse
in his jumper pocket which contained
this paper, which is piece of an en-
velope or paper sack, addressed james
Moore. paymaster A. T. and S. F.
Topeka In the purse was also part o.
q greenback. There was nothing else t'
identify the body. The boot was abou
a No. 6, and the man did not seem K
have been large
"I examined the fingers and found th'
ends worn OF, and there were five or 81
holes in the ground around the body
made b. scratching for water. One o
the holes farther away, seemed 10 nav
been made with q pick and shovel
There were no tools around the man, nj
canteen and no sign Of food. As we pro
ceeded traced his barefoot tracks 10
more thsn Ave miles coming from th
direction Of Yuma or New River Sn'
going toward Coyote Wells The track
were irregular and frequently srosss'
and sometimes went frto the lake
Abou. 100 yards trom tho body, sws'
from the lake, We found q reservoir o
ane fresh water. We found tho bod,
on Sept IL. "
As the body Is in Mexico nothing esl
bc done BY the officers here and IL vii
in ali probability rest where II wa
found. Coroner Woodward will tax
steps to ascertain who the man was. =
San Diego Cor. San Francisco Examiner