The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1897-10-02
PETERS SAGACITY.
HOW A MULE SAVED THE LIVES or A
WHOLE FAMILY.

Rider Failed To Discern Must Have
known the Murderous Apaches Were
In the House He Would Not Approach.
"He was an ordinary, everyday sort of
mule, with yellow skin and shaved
tail, but he was knowing enough 10 save
my life and the lives of Tim Masten and
his wife and their two little children, F."
said James Crossman, formerly ranch
man in New Mexico. "He was good all
round animal that | could put TO team
work of every kind, and if / had occasion
TO ride 90 miles he could carry me there
in a day as easily as any beast l ever rode
So on this September evening in 1885,
after my work Of the day was done, sad
died up Peter-that was the mules name
and started over 10 Masten's ranch,
three miles away, expecting that he would
carry me there without "a hitch, as he al
ways had done before.
"My ranch was in the Mimbres valley,
mt place called Fairbrothers, where there
was little colony of six or seven Ameri-
can families strung along as many miles
OF the river, and we all were engaged both
In farming and stock raising, with mar
ket for our meat and vegetables at the
mine camps in the Black range. Masten
had the most stock of ali of us, and no
kept in his employ two herders for his
sheep and cattle. / knew that he had gone
with his family TO Mimbres that day, and,
that being our postoflce, my purpose in
riding over TO his house was TO see if he
had brought me any mail. Just as / was
starting from my house the thought of
Chief Geronimo, then on the warpath,
came to my mind, and l went back and
got my winchester rife.
"The country along the Mimbres river
Is hilly, with considerable timber in the
valley ana the ravines leading down into
1t. For this reason did not come in sight
of Masten's house until | was within
hundred yards of il. / had got TO where /
could see the house, l myself being still
in the shadows of the trees, when Peter
for the first time i'm all my experience
with him, baked, and not step farther
would he 60. / was both astonished and
panied at this unusual behavior from him
and dug my spurs into his sides diligent-
ly, but could not force him ahead one
step. All he would do as l set the spurs
into him was to sniff and step from side to
side, with his ears cooked straight ahead
and his nose pointed straight toward the
house. There was no light in the house,
but the herders were up, for the moon,
shining on the veranda showed one OF
them seated in chair and the other sit
ting on the floor of the veranda, with his
back against the wall.
II wrested about ten minutes with Pc
ter and was undecided in my mind wheth.
er l had better walk To the house or dis
mount and throw stones at the mule, as
the Mexicans do with their post horses,
wi no hp en- hot ba
on the veranda were sitting very still.
They had not changed their position or
moved once since had come in sight of
the house-tired and asleep after their
days work, of course, and the reason they
had not gone TO bed was that they were
sitting up to await the return of Masten
and his family. They had not returned;
that was evident And having in this way
reasoned out the whole matter TO my sat
isGaction ! saw a way TO compromise with
Peter by turning back and riding down
the Mimbrcs road TO meet Masten. The
mules feet fairly danced when l refined
him about and gave him his head. 1t was
Il mile to the road, and another miles rid
ing brought me TO whore heard the sound
Of Masten's wagon wheels.
"ln my ride of two miles had had time
TO take second thought, and | reflected
that there must be some reason for the
mules strange behavior. There was some
thing wrong at the house, felt sure, and
when | met Masten told him how tho
mule had behaved and what i had seen
and advised him to leave his wifo and
children at "a ranch mile back while he
and went ahead and explored the prem
Uses. | was afraid he would laugh at me,
but he had heard reports in town Of In.
dams raiding the upper valley the day be-
fore and he was quite willing to take up
with my advice.
So he left his wife and children mt the
ranch, borrowed saddle to put on one of
his wagon horses, and together we went to
his ranch a quarter of IA mile away we
tied the horse and mule in a thicket and
went forward on foot. The house was
still and dark. The two men were sitting
on the veranda precisely as had seen them
before. While we crouched in the shadow
of the trees, watching, "a Pickering light
appeared in the house, and then, one by
one, seven Apaches filed out of the door
and took their way across the open space,
coming directly toward u.s.
Whether Masten or killed the Apache
that fell will never be known, for we both
were firing our repeating rifles as fast as
We Nobiu pun DaOh bHO icNtTS. ln6 IN
dians were so near when we turned loose
on them that wo could hear the bullet
strike this one as no fell backward The
other Indians dragged him away and were
lost In the shadows before we had half
emptied our magazines. They sent two or
three random shots at us as they ran, and
that was all the fight they made, for they
were ratified and stampeded by our sudden
attack, not knowing what they had ran
up against. AS soon as they were out of
sight Masten made dash for the house,
and of course l followed. The Indians
had set 1t on fire, but tho flames had not
made much Roadway, and we easily extin-
guished the blaze.
Then we had time to look about u.s.
The two herders were dead, propped up in
the positions in which we found them by
the Indians, who, after killing them, had
placed them as decoys to lull the sus-
picions of any one approaching the ranch.
The men must have been killed at night
fall after their return from work From
that time until they fred the house and
started to go away the Indians had lain
inside WaitipU for the RETURN of Maeteu