Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1895-12-17

and precipltous canyon, impossible q
man or beast. and found its way to th
Jemez river. Westward second can
yon, known rs La Puerta, led for 81.
miles between nearly perpendicular
walls to another valley lying parable
with the first
The first valley, rising saucerlik'
from the center to the fringe Of pines a
the foot of the mountain slopes, wa
covered with waving grass. Not tre'
nor shrub arose from the undulatin,
surface. A pine covered point EXTENDED
from the western range into the VALLEY
near the center like bold headland int
the sea.
There was no wagon road into the
basin, except the one by which the sol
diers entered, but there were half q
dozen mountain trails from the diree
tion Of the Rio Grande, all uniting with
the one which passed to the west
through La Puerta There was also Q
bride path leading southwark to the In
dian pueblo of Jeniez, 25 miles distant.
Near the center of the valley, littl,
south Of the wooded point, roll i'll the
surface swclled into horseshoe shaped
ridge Is feet high, inclosing Level
space Of nearly two acres. The opening
Of the horseshoe was to the east, and
before it, from heel to heel, flowed the
stream Across the loop and well back
against the ridge stood row Of 10 cab.
ins, with company kitchen and store
quarters at the south end. Up the ridge,
behind the line of cabins, was the guard.
house, before which walked the only
sentinel posted in the valley. A stable
stood little more retired 10 the north.
The lieutenant's cabin contained one
room, having two windows looking out
upon the parade and door opening
upon the southern side. The huge pine
logs Of which it was constructed were
laid horizontally and hewed smooth on
the inner side. The floor was Of earth,
raised above the surface Of the ground
several inches, made level and carpeted
with the skins Of the gray wolf, coyote
and bear. A corner inclosed with hand
some Navajo blankets was used as a
bedroom. In the corner farthest from
door and windows was n large stone
fireplace, chimney and mantel. On the
walls hung the arms and equipments
of the Lieutenant, the antlers of a stag
and other trophies Of the hunt and
weapons taken in encounters with the
Indians. Over the mantel were crossed
muskets intersected by guidons- On
the northern wall a small bookshelf,
made Of slabs hewed thin and orna.
mentod by rustic boughs and pine cones,
contained few college textbooks in
Latin and Greek: dictionary. reader
and grammar and Don Quixote" and
the missal dropped from the Valencia
carriage, in Spanish. In English there
were few novels by the best authors, a
Shakespeare. several popular magazines
and reviews. military reference books
and tactics, the Bible and the Book
of Common Prayer" A center table, u
stand, four chairs, woodbox and water
jar made up the furniture.
A few yards behind the officers cabin
was his kitchen; but, rs the lieutenant
was alone, he made no use Of 1t, turn.
ing his rations into the company kitchen,
from which his servant brought his
meals, eking them out with some extras
prepared at the officers hearth.
Life in the valley was full Of adyen-
ture During the eight months that
Raymer remained there he had frequent
encounters with the Navajoes, success
fully resisting an attempt by party OF
800 TO capture the camp and meeting
with various minor collisions OH the
outlying trails. Only two of these affairs
have anything to do with the thread OF
this story. The first occurred i'll the last
week Of October.
Late in the afternoon Of pleasant
day gentleman, mounted on a pony
and accompanied by Mexican serving
man similarly mounted, entered the
camp and was shown by the sergeant Of
the guard 10 the quarters OF the lieu
tenant. He introduced himself rs the
agent of the Navajo tribe of Indians and
presented a letter from the department
commander which stated that the
bearer was on his way to the Indian
pueblo of Jemez to prevent threatened
massacre Of q number Of Navajo wom-
en-, children and old men who had
sought asylum there and authorized the
lieutenant to furnish him with de-
tachment of soldiers.
After dismounting and entering the
officers cabin the agent stated that, the
Navajo country being overrun by the,
national forces, many Of the principal
men of the tribe had sent their wives
and children 10 the towns Of the Pueblo
Indians for safety. and that there were
now mt Jemez l2 old warriors. Is women
and quite number Of children. he
further stated that q war party Of Nav
ajoes had recently successfully raided
the stock of the pueblo Of Santo Do
mingo because the inhabitants had re.
fused TO grant asylum to their families,
and that the Dominicans had organized
q party to go to Jemez and kill the aged
men and the women and children there
in revenge.
The lieutenant expressing q doubt
that the Jemez Indians would permit
such an outrage of the laws of hospital
ity, especially when they outnumbered
the Dominicans by several hundreds,
the agent replied that Jemez was in no
sense to be considered friendly to the
Navajoes, but that its position near a
principal trail to the country of those
predatory nomads made it to the advan-
tage of the pueblo to be OIL good terms.
The Dominicans had sent word TO the
governor of Jemez that If his people
interfered to protect their guests the
military authorities would consider
them allies of the Navajoes and treat
them accordingly.
For messenger and other special serv.
ice requiring speed the camp had been
furnished with two bronchos. These,
with the six wagon mules and the pri-
vate horse Of the lieutenant, made it
possible in an emergency to mount nine
men. Raymer mentioned this to the
agent and urged that the detachment
should start at in the morning. which
would enable it to cover the % miles
between the valley and the pueblo by
daylight. But the gentleman preferred
sleeping 20 night marching and insisted
that to leave by sunrise would be suffi-
cicntly early.
The orders Of the commanding general
required the lieutenant to conform his
movements To the wishes of the agent,