Capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1893-1895, 1895-09-05
DAzEo ON THE DESERT.
A Man Dies Of Thirst Within One Hundred
aud Fifty Yards Of n Lake of Fresh Water,

|
aud Fifty Yards of n Lake Of Fresh Water.
On the burning sands Of Cocopah des.
ert, beside a lake that appears TO be of
the coolest and the pureyt Of fresh wa.
ter, lie the buncs of aneAmori,an who
died Of thirst, and around him are five
or six holes Of two or three feet in depth.
which he dag with his finger nails in
frenzy of thirst His fingers are worn
OIL 1t tho ends, and only his whitening
bones arc 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 a
trip which began on Aug 90. He left
hero at that time and engaged guide
! at the 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,
half breed, and with them went also
Frank Gotta, Mexican. They left Los
Picachos in the afternoon, travelled all
night, and 10y the next morning were
far ont OIL the desert. BY some miscal.
culation they were without water, and
though not lost they were bewildered rs
to the nearest way to 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
Cooopnh mountains on the east and the
Painted mountains on the west The
lake is about six miles wide and 20 on
30 in length, varying in size according
to tho seasoli, indicating that it is fed
by the guilt of California. It is very
shallow and saltier than the waters Of
the ocean.
The three men proceeded southward
between the lake and Cocopahs for
distance of ten miles or so and there en-
countered two Mexicans and a 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 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 of Niji and had been without wa
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
Law hold of him to make him drink. In
a few hours he was all right. The 9TH
ers were in their right minds, but i'll q
terrible condition, and as l 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 swolls while / think of it,
We gave them water, and they soon re-
yived and continued on their way. They
were burdoned with n 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
gray, and the hair was the same. The
man had worn blue jumper, q red
woolen undershirt, one boot and brown
slouch hat. / found a cheap clasp purse
In his Jumper pocket which contained
this paper, which is n piece Of an en-
yelope or paper sack, addressed james
Moore, paymaster A. L. and 5. f.,
Topeka. In the purse was also part OF
a greenback. There was nothing else &C
identify the body. The boot was about
a No. Q, and the man did not seem tc
have been large
"I examined the fingers and found tht
ends worn off, and there We're five or siA
holes In the ground around the body
made by scratching for water. One ol
! the holes, farther away, seemed 20 hav'
been made with pick and shovel
There were no tools around the man, M
canteen and no sign of food. As we pro
oeeded | traced his barefoot tracks fol
more than five miles, coming from thl
| direction Of Yuma or New River an6
going toward Coyote Wells, The track
were irregular and frequently crosse'
and sometimes went into the lake
About 100 yards from the body, awa'
from the lake, we found reservoir o
fine fresh water. We found tho bod!
ON Sept. ~. D"
AS the body is in Mexico nothing cal
be done by the officers here, and 1t VII
In all probability rest where u wa
found. Coroner Woodward will TAX
steps TO ascertain who the man was. =
San Diego Cor San Francisco Examiner
When the Women Vote.