Capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1893-1895, 1894-11-08
pAzeD ON THE DESERT.

On tho burning SANDS OF COcopah dos-
ert, beside lake that appears to be of
the coolest and the purest of fresh wa
tor. 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-
,r on the desert has returned from q
trip which began ON Aug. 90. He left
here at that time and engaged guide
az tho new placer camp ut Los Picachos,
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 a
half breed, and with them went also
Crank 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 well 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 20 or
80 in length, varying in size according
to 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 a
distance of ten miles or 50 and there en-
countered two Mexicans and white
man. The two former We're named Mar
garlic Angulo and Felipe Moreno, and
the Americans name was not learned,
but from the description he is thought
to be Fred Wassum, who left this city
for the COcOpah placers some weeks ago.
Garcia continues the story as follows:
"The men came from Los Picachos by
WAY VI 4NlJl anu Alall DbNiA NAbAiOuN VIZ
ter for several days, and one Of them,
Margarito Angulo, was already crazy.
He was as deaf as post and wandered
around like drunken man. He paid no
attention to my guide, and we had to
lay hold of him to make him drink In
q few hours he was all right. The 9th
ers were in their right minds, but in
terrible condition, and as ! saw their
swollen tongues my own began to swell,
for had passed through the same tor
ture only two days before, and even now
my tongue swells while | think Of it.
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, SO we
left them, my guide giving them direc'
tions where to find the next water.
"a few miles farther we came upon
the bones Of man lying stark ON the
sand about 20 yards from the lake.
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 whiskers were dark and turning
Qray, and the hair was the same. The
man had worn a blue jumper, red
woolen undershirt, one boot and a brown
slouoh hat. / found a cheap clasp purse
la his jumper pocket which contaihea
this paper which Is a piece of ali en-
yelope on paper sack, addressed james
Moore. paymasteT A. 4, and >, H.
Topeka Ia the purse was also part oi
greenbank There was nothing else to
identity the body The boot was about
a No. q, and tho man did not soom ~
have been large.
iiIexamined the fingers and found tlo
ends worn on, and theIo were nye of pa
holes Ia the ground around the BODY
made by scratching for water QUO ["
the holes, farther away seemed ~ haf"
haen mado Bith q plnk ald shovel
There were 40 tools around ihe naii, nu
oanteop and no agp " fpld' ~ NO pio
eandod ! traoed his haieiooi tracks ipi
nlora than hYo nlles, eaninH ifNh t''
dirnotiou VI Yuma ~ ReW hlY"g aA'
aoiua toward loyote Wells iAe uA'h
naro irregular aiid Frequently ulhsa'
A,,d sonuliulp5 Neni lnio lbp lRtf
Ahout 100 yards frpn ihe l9ay, AhH
1om tAs lale 40 found reservoir y
IN nssh Wate W. ionnd ihp b4a
~ hom ~
AZ iho hady b ip Aeslro Ruihlns pa
N daiie by ile uiloWs hWp, HAl y ni
Az all probability fpsi eAWp ni
I,und launsi MpaNWd nlll iHi
Ahps io anuislH who lhr NaN ns
NJ niegpfpf san ffsisls'N Fts''i''''
Hhfp inf NnHip lpif
ghpy Nhle dianusaipgn y WHfa4 "
AhislAulnHl nbpn iAp 0aliri HshrN
Nliala gpp mtlld MlHf AZ fw'gi
iuh aesi 400 Npllpa Nif h'ei't
W Nldu'i ihlpf M " ~ y iaVllisiH
liuf 49, dfal oNila. fhe NJ b N'la'
IN nWfWeHuHHlH Rna fatNN
b. shN y AnaWiplg allihs'l
ihU lalluVpl p
lNpn N samllifa hH A'els