Arizona silver belt., 1895-12-21
THE CIBToU AFFAIR.
Misleading Reports Sent Out The I,awless Character of the Cibicu Indians.

G4RAt1 iH0lt14ksS.
 The actual casualties and losses aris-
 ing from Indian depredations and con- i flicts between citizens and Indians are
 often less harmful to the good name
 and interests of Arizona than are the
 many exaggerated, and ofttimes false, 1 reports which emanate from press correspondents and, not infrequently,
 from official sources. The propensity of the irresponsible correspondent to draw the long bow is so well under stood that his alarming statements are usually discounted The case is differ ent, however, with dispatches bearing the stamp of official authority, for the public has right to expect reliable information, whereas dispatches from military sources often convey a wrong impression without any intention of being unfair, perhaps.
 Press dispatches of December 12 an- nounee the receipt at She war depart ment, Washington, D. G, and by AdJutant General Ward, at Denver, of of telegrams sent by the commanding officer at Fort Apache, in reference to the killing of the Indian on Cibicu creek, December 5, which, to say the least contain many inaccuracies and, by asserting that the man who killed the Indian, and two others of the posse, gave themselves up for trial on the charge of killing the Indian, leaves the impression that the officers had committed a criminal act. which is wholly at variance with the facts.
 Deputy Sheriff Benbrook and his three companions were sworn officers, bearing a warrant for the arrest of two Indians regulary indicted by the grand jury of Gila county, on the charge of burglary, and their right to enter the reservation and make the arrest can not be questioned. They went to Cibicu peaceably, and explained the object of their visit through an interpreter, and, even after the Indians opposed the arrest of the guilty parles, the officers attempted to withdraw quietly, without their prisoners, but were prevented by the overt acts of the Indians. Deputy Voris shot the Indian in self defense, when the latter was in the act of wrestling his gun from him, and not until one of the band fired upon the posse. It was then only question of selEpreservation with the officers, and their escape from bsnd or forty or fifty murderous Apaehes was miracu- lous,
 The evidence against the two In- dians for whom the officers held the warrants is positive, and the burglary is not denied They were caught in the act, with their arms full of plum der. They had left their guns with their horses, and were surprised by Frank Ketcherside in his cabin, who, with six-shooter in hand, compelled them to disgorge. Had he killed them there and then he would have been justified and any jury would have exoneEated him.
 The residents of Pleasant valley and vicinity have been wonderfully for bearing with the Cibicu Indians, who nave preyed upon the settlers for years, robbIng ranches, iu the absence ofthe occupants, and ki{ling citizons' cattle whenever they wanted meat. So fragrant have these depredations grown that the business of stock | raising in northern Gila county has been practically ruined. To illustrate low extensive the stealing ofcattle by the Cibicu Indians has become: When Deputy Benbrook and posse were on their way to Cibieu they struck the fresh trail of fifteen or twenty head of cattle which they followed into the IndjauG camp, and the packer with Lieutenant Fenton's command in- | formed Frank Ketcherside that when | they arrived at the Indians camp he saw cattle there of the flying V' brand, going to show that the Indians had driven the cattle from the vicinity l of the yosburgh ranch.
 The recent trouble on Cibicu will 1 not be amiss if it serves to bring to an . issue the arrant lawlessness of the | White Mountain Apacbes.
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