Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1897-09-18

11@EV1IaI8 :
portion of their scanty stock. How
ever, he gave them a little bread
and said he was sorry he could moi
give more. After this they stood off 6
little and talked in a low tone, while
Oatman set to work to reload the
wagon. It was observed that the In
dians looked anxiously down the road
as if expecting some approaching par
ty. Suddenly, with terrific yell, they
Jumped in the air and dashed with up
lifted clubs upon the doomed family
Lorenzo, a boy IA years of age, was
struck on the head and fellcd to the
earth the first blow. Several of the
savages rushed upon Oatman, and he
was seen for a moment struggling in
their midst, but soon fell a mutilated
corpse at their feet. Mrs. Oatman
pressed her youngest child to her bo.
som, aud struggled with mothers
heroic devotion to save it, shrieking in
piercing accents, "Help! help! Oh,
for the love of God, will nobody save
us?"
A few blows of the murderous clubs
quickly silenced the poor mother and
her babe; and in less than minute
the whole family, save Lorenzo, Olive
and Mary Anne, were lying dead or
moaning in their dealt struggles upon
the ground. Olive, girl of sixteen
years of age, and Mary Anne, frail
child of eleven, were dragged aside
and held in the iron grasp of two In
dams. Lorenzo, the boy, was stunned
by the crushing blows which had fallen
upon his head, and lay bleeding by the
edge of the precipice. In his nara.
tive he states that he soon recovered
his consciousness and distinctly heard
the yells of the Apaches, mingled with
the shrieks and dying groans of his
parents. The savages, seeing him
move, rifled bis pockets and cast him
over the precipice. He must have
fallen 20 feet, and that he was not in
stantly killed, or manned beyond re-
covery, seems miraculous. Strange
discordant sounds, he tells US, grated
on his ears, gradually dying away, and
then he heard "strains of such sweet
music as completely ravished his
Senses"
Thus he Jay until reason became
gradually re-:ored, when, with great
difficulty he crept back up the bill.
The sig bit of the dead bodies of his
parents, brothers and sisters, lying
scattered about the broken wagon, was
too much for him, and for while he
felt like one laboring under some hor-
rible phantom. He knew that his
sisters, Olive and Mary Anne, had been
taken captive, and the fate TO which
they were doomed was even more
dreadful to him than the sight of the
murdered family. Sick at heart, and
faint frsm loss of blood, he turned
away and crept towards the river. A
burning thirst consumed him. He
thought he was dying. With incredi.
BILE difficulty he reached the river,
where he satisfied his thirst and slept
a. few hours. Thus refreshed, be re-
solved upon an attempt to reach the
Pimo Villages, which, though distant
a 100 miles, was the nearest place
known to him, where he could hope to
procure relief. During the next two
days he made his way along the road
walking, sometimes creep
ing on his hands and knees, resting
every few minutes when he could pro-
cure the friendly shelter of bush /; at
times delirious, and constantly haunted
by the horrible dread that he might
again fall into the hands of Indians.
He grew weaker every mile from hun
ger, thirst and fever and worn out at
last, lay down to die.
A strange noise aroused him from
his stupor. Upon opening his eyes he
found himself surrounded by wolves.
He shouted as loud as he could, and
threw stones at them. The nearest he
struck with his hand. Rising again,
he pushed on, the wolves following
closely at his heels. About noon OF
the second day, as he was passing
through a dark ravine, two Pimo In
dians, riding on fine American horses,
before him, and seeing SO
strange an object fixed their arrows
and raised their bows to shoot. He
addressed them in Spanish, telling
them he was an American, and beg
ging them not to kill him upon which
they lowered their bows and manifest
ed signs of interest and sympathy.
When they learned what had hap.
pened, they gave him some ash baked
bread and a gourd of water. Then
they told him to await their return,
and rode away. He stayed little
while, but fearful of treachery, started
on again. Wandering along the road
until he came out of the ravine and
overlooked the plain, he discerned
some moving objects in the distance,
which he speedily recognized as two
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