The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-06-20

on the Arizona side of the river Many
of them subsequently left their bones in
those canyons.
The Walker party Of explorers and
many of the early pioneers entered the
territory by this route. so also the hot
headed sons Of the south, who In the early
days of the war abandoned the placer
mines OF the Golden States to go back and
fight for Dixie" The road Is travelled
now only by occasional parties Of miners
going to and from the gold mines In the
PlomOsa Mountains and, though the well
at Desert Station Is OF importance to them
no one ever makes use of the buildings
Their silent walls stand sleeping In the
quivering heat waves, dreaming, perhaps
Of the old days Of bustling activity, Of
the cracking of whips and of pistols. and
the far off rumble and nearby clatter Of
the overland dashing up in a cloud Of
dust, with lantern jawed driver and grim
Wells Fargo messenger on the box; of the
dusty, anxious-eyed passengers alighting
with grunts Of relief. safe for another
short spell from Apache arrows; or the
crowd of rough men. throngng the rude
barroom, fun of strange oaths and
bearded like the pard:" Of the thousand
scenes and incidents of the old life. now
gone forever. More than one man has
found his death within those wals-des-
peradoes whose taking OFF, added to the
safety OF the REMAINDER OF ttlt niue COM
munity; for I'm those days many bad char
acters from California, having made that
state too hot for them, took refuge In
Arizona, hoping TO continue their careers
OF crime unrestrained IL is unwritten his
tory that such men found Arizona pioneers
well able to take care Of themselves, and
that no one who came 10 the territory
hunting fuss" lived long enough to
raise a family.
rrt,o nell fbat rarIrroH a. ,,o-@tl.fo o..
the station to be maintained Is "A few rods
south of the front Of the buildings, the
roads passing close on either side of u. 1t
Is but a round hole IN the yellow earth
with no curling or frame to warn the
passer Of its presence, and one might cas-
lily walk into II on a dark night. II such
awful fate should overtake a solitary tray
eler his end would never be known: and
doubtless IL has happened more than once
One would think that a traveller could
consider himself reasonably safe from
finding a "watery grave" In the midst Of
a dry, burning desert. yet IL IL very prob
able that several unfortunate men have
found their graves IN some Of the numer-
Gus abandoned wells on the desert roads
OF Arizona.
In the summer Of 1893 two prospectors
stopped az the well al Desert station to All
their canteens ana water their animals.
Joining their pack ropes and rlataa for
the well Is provided with neither rope nor
bucket, they attached their camp kettle
and easily obtained a supply. The web
rs 40 feet deep To their surprise. their
horses. although really suffering from
thirst. refused 10 drink the water. ana
snorted with every expression OF disgust
after touching their noses 10 It. on ax-
animation they found a small piece Of
human scalp. with rather long. light hair
attached. floating In the bucket This cK-
planned tho action OF the horses, for both
the horse and the mule are much more
particular about the water they drink shan
men ever are. The unfortunate who
once owned that piece Of scalp must have
met his fate many months before. for the
men could notice no faint IN the water.
though Il appears the horses were more
sensitive. Nor did the CHASTITY discovery
prevent them from drinking the water
and carrying their cantcens filled with
Il. for. with thlrty-nve miles OF .blazins
desert between them and the next chance
10 ducnch their thirst. squeamishness was
a luxury IN which they could not well af-
ford 10 indulge.
on another occasion two pfospoctOrs
travelling westward reached the old well
long after dark; this was two years ago.
As they were about 10 dlamount for the
purpose OF watering their horses and MI
Ing their cantceng, a tall, white hgure