The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1896-04-30
LITTLE VHSQUEZE'S NERVE.
The Last Hours of n Dreaded
Mexican Outlaw.

.Ol ScHeIdi VI Lie uOtOElOuS OuIldWS III
the Southwest came up for discussion
lin a party Of ranchmen and miners at
the hotel in this place, the other even
ing. Every one in the party had had
long and varied experiences in Cali
} ifornia, New Mexico and Arizona since
The came across the plains with an OK
team or across the isthmus in the SOS
or early cos, and, naturally, oil had
interesting recollections to tell of what
they had seen of wild, lawless and ir-
responsible characters on the plains
and among the mountains.
Col. Dan Fillmore, who is one Of the
principal cattlemen in Ventura county,
and came to California in the 40
days, told the most interesting remin-
isceEce of the evening.
II reached Sacramento" said he, Gin
the days of the widest and most bon
anzalike days of gold-washing among
the creeks and through the canyons of
Central California, and in the forty
six years since then [ have, as a min
ing prospector, and later, as q cattle
man. seen a good bit of the genuine
frontier life, and have had some deal
ings with desperadoes and outlaws.
First and last, have been witness
to the hanging of tWenty-seven men
and the shooting of several more. l
think have myself acted as an officer
of the peace in the lynching Of eleven
or twelve of the most cruel, deliberate
and Scheming bandits that ever figured
10 flash literature. But, gentlemen,
the calmest, coolest and most collected
man l ever saw in the presence OF an
appointed and memorable death, and
one Which seemed most Indifferent to
his doom, was that famous little effem-
1nate-looking outlaw, Tiburcio Vas
.quez, who was hanged in San Jose
fourteen years ago. l have seen many
men go upon q. scafold and under the
hangman's moose with an apparent
c:,relessness of their fate, and have
heard men call that nerve ;but it was
all summoned and exhibited for the
last few moments only. Now, VasqHez
had the genuine article, and Willie he
appreciated fully that he had but
day longer to live, his constant effort
was to make those about him as cheer
-ful as possible.
IiburciO VasQuez was. as YOU re-
member, the son Of y prominent family
fiji Chihuahua, Mex. His grandfather
was on intimate terms with Generals
ItuIbido and Santa Anna and was rich
seventy years ago. Young VaSquez
was given good education until he
was sixteen years old land he was to
be sent to Barcelona. Spain, for col
iege education. But he was born with
"A too wild, desperate, laWless and cruel
+ disposition. When he was scarcely
more than youth he broke through
all restraint at home and at school and
became an outlaw. When but twenty
two OF twenty-three years of age he
had developed into the bOldeSt and
most ruthless brigand we cattlemen
and miners along the Rio Grande re-
GIN ever knew. In the summer of '73
L am sure that the Vasquez gang Of
Mexican cut-throats killed from eight
to twelve men, and got, by robbing
mining camps and a United States
army paymaster, something over $22,-
900. AS he grew older he became bold
-er, and his field of operations for ten
or fifteen yea1s was all the way from
Tucson, Ariz., up to Stockton. CAL The
VasqueZ band was known all over the
coast in 1876 and 1878. Part of the
gang was lynched at Maricopah, Ariz,
in 1877, and two Of the bandits then
confessed that they had taken the lives
of over eight men and boys on the
. coast and along the Rio Grande in the
course OF five or six years. They did
not know how many other men had
been slaughtered by Vasquez and his
followers before they came to know
the chief bandit
lat last Vasquez was caught and
held so securely that he could not es-
cape trial and sentence of death. None
OF his friends could save him, notwith-
standing the money that was spent on
1.-The lawyers who worked day and night
in his behalf. That was in 1881. He
was confined in the Jail at San Jose,
and, as / knew Sheriff AdarSs we'll, /
went to see VasqueZ, of whom l had
many times been in terror, and whom
I had great curiosity to meet. AS I,
in company with several ranchmen,
went into the Jail corridor the after
moon before the day of the execution,
Vasquez was let out of his cell to chat
with us. He was Il little, dapper fell
low, with bright, laughing eyes,
pleasant mouth and thin, clean-shaven
face. He did not weigh over 12O
pounds, and his dress was scrupulous-
ly neat. 1t was hard for many of us
Tanchmen in the Jail corridor to be-
lieve that he was really the Vasquez OF
whose wholesale robberies, dreadful
Sayings of human life and unprece-
dented recklessness we had heard al
most daily for over a decade. We had
had cowboys who seemed able to swal-
low that little fellow, but who had held
even the name of Vasquez in constant
dread.
''The little Mexican was writing
farewell letters to his friends as we
came into the corridor, and as he came
out of his cell he tucked his penholder
behind his ear and smilingly extended
his hand to each in our party. I'm
pleased to see you, said he, but if I
have not my wits at command please
remember that for several hours I
have been putting my brain to severe
letter writing. When one comes to
write the very last letters of all to his
dear ones, you know, it is quite brain
taxing
'We offered him handful Of cigars,
and he said: "Many thanks to you,
& gentlemen. | love to smoke, but 1
don't think shall have time to smoke
all these So I'll leave soma for +hn