The argus., 1895-12-26
THE APACHE TROUBLE.
The Straight OF The Matter From a I,c-
liable Source.

lars are now at hand respecting the
Indian fight on the Cibicu before
touched upon in late press dispatch
es. 1t appears that the cowboys
referred to constituted a sheriff's
posse, headed by Deputy Sheriff E.
L. Benbrook, one of the nerviest
officers in the employ of Sheriff
Thompson of ella county. The re-
gion referred to lies in the north
eastern part of Gila county, and
well within the Apache reservation.
At the October QS95) term of the
district court of Gila county, two
Indians, Tonic G 2I and Tonto o 6,
were indicted for burglary committed
at the Vosburg ranch in the vicinity
of Pleasant Valley. The warrant
for the arrest OF the Indians wanted
was delivered te Deputy Benbrook,
who left Globe, December l, for
Cibicu to make the arrest. Arriving
at Pleasant Valley he was joined by
Bill Voris, Frank Ketchersides and
Huse Kyle. The party left the
Gentry ranch, three miles above
Ellison's on Thursday morning De-
cember 5, and arrived at Cooley's
camp Cooley being head chief of
the band OF Indians) an Cibicu creek,
thirty miles distant, about sundown.
Nan-tan-go-tayz, the chief then in
authority, a brother of Chief Cooley,
upon being informed through an in
terpreter what the officers wanted,
consented to the arrest of the two
Indians. Tonic G "a was identified
and placed under arrest and the
officers had started to ride away
with their prisoner when Ketcher-
side recognized Tonto o 6, among
the forty or fifty Indians in the camp.
AT this juncture Loco Jim hailed the
officers and asked what they wanted
with the two Indians, and then
Captain Jack, the interpreter, rode
up and said they could not take the
Indians away.
While they were parleying the
other Indians began to gather in
around the officers and Nan-tan-go-
tayz, the chief, came up close to
Kercherside's horse and made a grab
for the bride rein, but missed it, as
the horse jerked his head away.
The chief then went up to Voris and
with both hands grasp the Winchest-
er hung on the side of the saddle,
and attempted to draw the gun from
its holster.
Voris thereupon caught the Indi-
ans wrist with both hands and broke
the hold of one hand on the gun,
when the Indian, retaining his hold
on the gun with one hand, grasp
the bride rein of Voris' horse with
the other. Just then Tonto G u,
one Of the Indians whom the posse
went TO arrest, fired shot from a
distance of about twenty yards, and
Voris, seeing that the situation was
desperate and the chief was getting
the better OF him, drew his sixshoot-
er and fred at his adversary. The
Indian threw his head back and
avoided the bullet, whereupon Voris
placed the pistol close to the Indi-
ans breast and fired agein. Nan
tan-go-tayz fell forward on his face
without uttering a word. About
twenty-five Indians standing on the
side of a hill, some sixty yards away,
fred s-volleyN at the officers, which
passed over their heads, and the lat
ter returned the ere from their
pistols.
The officers put spurs to their
horses and a race for life began, the
Indians who were mounted and arm
ed giving chase. After a hard run
of half mile the trail made an
abrupt turn and the Indians in the
lead by flank movement got ahead
of the officers, who, seeing they
were cut off, took to the cedar brake
to the right of the trail and up the
steep side OF the mountain. Here
the posse got scattered; Voris was
in the lead, and, dusk having fallen,
he regained the trail, forged ahead
alone and reached Ellison's ranch
about 80 o'clock on Friday morn
ing. Benbrook and Kyle soon came
together again in the timber. Ben