The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1897-09-16
III n1iner'S Story.
BY ALFRED b. CALHOUN.
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THERE were a dozen of us-miners
prospectors and engineers - sit
ting about the camp fire one evening
at the head of Granite creek, Arizona
territory.
Prescott, the capital of the terri
tory, was at that time in its infancy.
an annex, as it were, to Fort Whipple
just below it, on the creek.
Cochise's Apaches were making
things hot in that portion of the terri
tory at the time, but even if there had
been no hostile Indians in our vicinity,
it is safe to say that all my companions
would have gone armed to the teeth
from sheer force of habit.
The conversation ran on lynchers
and road agents. and more than one
story was told that combined all the
elements of tragedy. given with
broadly humorous manner that wac ar
solutely grotesque.
Did any of you felIers ever hear of
Jake McCabe, as ulster hang out round
Tucson few years ago." The man
who asked the question knocked the
ashes from his pipe and looked round
or the fame-lit faces before filling up
again. He was tall. bronzed man Of
30, with slight drawl in his tones and
manner that overwhelmingly DELHI
crate.
The men about the fire shook their
heads. Except Abe Owens himself none
of them were in Tucson at the time
stated. Yet it was allowed" that they
might have known Jake McCabe un-
DER another name, particularly if he
didn't travel on the square,
Just here it may be well to state that
the vernacular of mining men is en-
rlched by the terms of their calling.
which they apply in a figurative sense
that makes them unintelligible to the
unin:tiated. Pan OUT is one of these
words. Men pan out" the gravel in
the river beds for golden particles. and
they pan out men that they are study
ing, or a horse doesn't par out as
well as the Teller that sold him said"
And so the term is used in a hundred
curious ways that are seemingly for
eign to its literal and original signif-
cation.
Abe Owens wasn't much on chin
ning"-the latter word a Chinese term
for talking--bIt in response to the
general demand he told all he knew
about Jake &cCabe, which ran as fol-
lows.
We shan not attempt to reproduce
the quis'nt phraseology of Abe Owens
There had been a great many mail
carriers, prospectors and ranchmen
killed between Tucson and the Rio
ella, and for some time it was sup
posed that the Indians were the per
petrators of these crimes.
But even those who were most ready
to believe that an indian is capable of
any and every barbarity were forced to
the conviction that the murderers were
white men, and that plumber was the
object. At first there was an attempt
made to scalp the victims. but an old
scout declared that it was not "Iniun
work, and finally the bodies were left
where they were shot down without
any mutlation.
As there was no law at that time
that could be enforced in that section.
sense of self-preservation led to the
formation of a vigilance committee.
every member of which was enioined
TO consider himself a special detective.
But these precautions did not lessen
the danger. One week after the WIG
ilance committee had published its
purpose, a mail carrier was found dead
on the Fort Bervie trail. His horse was
gone and the mail-bags rifed.
Suspicion directed her finger at two
men, who were unacquainted and as
different in appearance and mode of
life as it is possible to conceive.
James Nesbitt was man of 30. with
pale, serious face, and an distracted
manner. He associated with no one.
and he had no business that the miners
could see that would enable him TO
keep two good horses and black sery-
ant. He frequently made trips into
the mountains, would be gone for days
and always returned in safety.
The other was a Mexican herb doc
tor, who, it was reported, had once been
a member of the gang of plunderers
commanded by the noted outlaw Joa-
quin Muriata
But DR.. Pintara had some practice
among his countrymen and the half
breeds, and this served to shield him |
from the charge of having no visible
means of support.
! Jake McCabe was the most promi- |