Daily capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1896-1899, 1896-06-16
pAzEp ON THE DESERT.
Men plcs Of Thirst Within One Hundro'
and .ir,y yards cf a Lake of Fresh Water.

A Men Dies OF ThirHb WHINE Ono ANe
dIifty sarJs of a Lake of Fresh Water.
tn the Burning sands Of Cocopah des-
p~t lc do II lako that appears to be OF
N. ca;i.y. and the purost Of fresh wa
t,r l,o the bones Of an American who
6iel of thirst, and around him are five
o,,iy holes II two or three feet in depth,
which no dug with his finger nails In n
fre.sy Of thirst. His fingers are worn
al M tbe ends, and only his whitening
bra5 are lett to bear witness to the
tragedy
.t,so Garcia, who makes living by
noid,ii.g from one little camp TO anoth-
or en- tie desert, has returned from q
tr.p vhi,h began on Aug 30. he left
here at that tine and engaged guide
Mt the new nl.cer camp at Los Picachos,
below the boundary line, 10 take him to
Aiming camp in the Cocopah noun
tains in the heart of the desert. The
guide was named Quirino Sosilio, a
half breed, nild with them went also
Frank Gotta, Mexican. They left Los
Picachos IN the afternoon, travelled all
might, and 10y the next morning were
far cut OH tine 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 rext two days in travelling without
wa.vr, becoming almost insane from
thirst. On the evening of the third day
they found water. They were then ON
tho northeast side Of Great Salt lake, or
Lagana Salada, that lies between the
Cocopah mountains ON the east and the
Painted mountains ON the west Tho
lake is about six miles wide and 20 or
so in length, varying in size according
to tho season, indicating that it is fed
by the gulf of California. IL 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 so and there en-
countercd two Mexicans and 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 Mil and had been without wa
Ter for several days, and one Of them,
Margarito Angulo, was already crazy.
DE was as deaf as n post and wandered
around like drunken man. He paid no
attention TO my guide, and we had to
lay hold Of him 20 make him drink. In
afew hours ho was all right, The 9th
ers were in their right minds. but In q
terrible condition, and as l saw their
swollen tongues my own began to swell,
Tor had passed through the same tor
ture only two days before, and even now
my tongue swells while l think Of it.
We gave them water, and they soon re-
nVed and continued ON their way. They
We're burdened with dry washer and
many tools and moved slowly. so we
ieit them' my guide giving them direc'
lions whore to find tho next water.
A few miles farther we came upon
we bones Of a man lying stark ON the
sand about 25 yards from the lake.
vs. az hOoh ANAb. 4nc cOuyOpCd AAl
found the body. One leg was gone, but
.ne rest OF the remains were there The
neAo Lay toward the north, face upward.
Inc whiskers We're dark and turning
gray and the hair was the same. The
man had worn a blue jumper, n red
Sooien undershirt. one boot and u brown
soach hat l found cheap clasp purss
N MS jumper pocket which contained
'n,s paper, which is a piece Of an en-
,,siope or paper sack. addressed james
%oore' paymaster A. I. and s. F.,
topeka In the purse was also part o.
greenback There was nothing else Il
'uenufy the body. The boot was aboui
NO ., and the man did not seem Z
nave been large
iexAmined the fingers and found th.
u,s worn on, and there We're five on 81,
S IN the ground around the body
,1 a..ae BY scratching for water. One O
80 notes farther away. seemed to hay'
Ts ~ made with pick and shovel
eie We're no tools around the man, ns
--sh and no sign Of food. As We pro
oed l traced hia harsfaot krsoira fol