Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1897-05-07

East Las Vegas, New Mexico,
San MIGUEL COUNTY.
written for the orrIc.l

Written for The OrTIC.l
Clifton IS = mining town in Arixonl
and, in 1883. was composed OF a 70,
struggling tents and "dobe" houses
and peopled mainly by mipers,rustlers
gamblers and saloon keepers. A few
ladies were there, too, bat Of them lit
tie need be said. Within . radius o
twenty miles of Clifton are many o
the greatest producing copper mines o
the world, giving employment to thous
ands Of miners OF q scale OF wages IN
known to laborers of the east. AL
roads from the mines led ~ infallibly
to Clifton as formerly they led L
Rome, and each Saturday night, aftel
the weekly wage had been received
witnessed in that little metropolis o.
the mountains, O saturnnlia At which
the lady and the gambler Toasted, and
for which the miner paid. Churches,
there were none. No "beautiful feet
upon the mountains" had ever carried
to them the glad tidings Of great joy,
and from q religious standpoint, the
darkness was Cimmerian. Sleep by
day and reveIry by night was the or
thodox and universal mode Of living.
broken occasionally, perhaps, by some
thirty miner seeking to renew the dis.
sipation of the previous evening. Into
this haven OF outlawry and disorder, In
the summer Of 1883, came q man des-
tined to play an important part Ia the
future affairs Of the city, and to leave
a name as imperishable In the rude
affections of his lawless associates, 40
Hampden has LETT to the lovers of lib
erty in every land. Texas, the mother
of so many frontier stars, claimed the
honor of his nativity. Johnnie Heath
was his name; gambling was his pro-
f~ession, and while he courted the tickle
goddess in all her orms.faro-bank was
his specially and peculiar delight. By
instinct and habit he was q money
getter, and as a rule was well supplied
with this worlds goods; but whiskey
was his weakness, and o protracted
spree usually left him possessed Of
nothing but a ~resolute determination to
retrieve his fortune, and in this deter
mlnatlon he was never known 70 fail.
After such a spree in Globe, Ariz.s he
made his advent into and began his
career 10 Clifton. His first act was to
move into q "dobe' room on Main
street, which he furnished with q table
and a chair, and upon the door of
which he wrote, "BaDker and broke"
The sign may still be standing ..or all
the writer Knows.
But not long did it truthfully state
the condition of his finances; for BY
greater dexterity in all game ssuppos-
edIy involving chance, and BY q gene-
raj superiority in all matters really in
volving judgment. he speedily acquired
what. in the vernacular OF Arizona, Is
known rs q ssbank ROLL" and from this
start he proceeded with commendable
energy from eohquering to conquer.
In person he was strikingly handsome,
in n gentle and whining and ap'
uarentlv as gulleless as q child; and to
these advantages he may have owed
something for his good fortune. But
be that as it may, the current OF mis-
prosperity was unbroken until within Q
short period be owned and operated
the finest saloon and gambling houses
in town. In any other citizen OF Cliff
ton this eminence would have satisfied
every ambition, but not SO with the
subject of this veracious tale. Woisey
warned Cromwell to throw away amoI-
ton, and the stateliest Of our poets as
sures Us that it ~unthrones peace for
ever. So 1t proved with johnnie, Re
looked for a higher distinction IN the
criminal annals of his country than the
limited field of Clifton could supply,
and in Pursuance Of this ambition or
ganized a ugaHg' to assist In his dar.
ing enterprises. And, ye gods, what
an aggregation of nerve and desperas
ton it ineludedi There was "Blg
Dan," who was shot through and
through with a Winchester while rob-
biug the stage a few miles from Clifton
fn the fall Of 1888, but who still re-
tanned his seat end rode into town with
both horse and saddle covered with
blood. after having killed the two &C.
eupants of the coach who resisted, al
giant In strength, and no less In daring.
nTex," small OF statue. tut fuii OF
agility and famous for his quickness
with a "gun''-a mighty RAN amsnS
the desperadoes with whom he travelled.
rYorky, :" o prize fighter, with al the
of q panther and tne feroc-
ity Of a hysna, "Big Red" whose
was doubtless taken FROM
the hue of his hair, but Thich also ef
pressed the color Of his deeds man
who reveled in battle and murder a
death, and Billy Maloney. who killed a
in John Hoovey's dance nall
and walked away from the officers IN
challenged, because OF his
propensity to kill. These
be gathered around him and
to his call they responded as Though
hidden to a feast. They knew the man
and his methods; they trusted to bis
judgment. and respected as they re-
spected nothing else. his unapproach-
able courage for desperation bows to
nothing but its own. With these tried
followers behind him, Johnnie aspired
to be the bandit king Of the west, and
veterans Of the frontier will tell you,
Today, that but for an anoidnnt which
he could not foreses. and the fatal
folly CT his men, which under the cir
c~umstances, he could not control, his
frst attempt at highway robbery on .
large scale would have met with bril-
liant success.