The herald., 1898-02-07
The True Center of the
Wild West
ITS SANGUINARY HISTORY
SERIOUS TROUBLE IS AGAIN AN
TICIPATED
A Brave Officer Puts Five Desperadoes
to Flight Near Pleasant
Valley

Special Correspondence to The Herald
PHOENIX, Ariz., Feb. Al doubt not
most of the readers OF The Herald have
heard Of Tonto Basin, Ariz., and have
pictured 1t in mind as place OF snakes,
cowboys, "red Ticker" and Indians. It's
the place where folks think the Arizona
Kicker is published. It's the place that
NJ. Quad selects wherein to locate his
most lurid yarns. But the basin has
not sustained its prestige as the center
of the wild west during these latter
years. When cattle and horses and
sheep get so low in price that 1t no longer
pays to steal them, then the occupation
of the "rustler cowboy" Is swept away.
1t takes coin wherewith to purchase the
bottled enthusiasm and cartridges, both
essential to the full pleasure of riding
forth and shooting UP the town.
But there Is a Whit of the good old
times in the news from Tonto Basin this
week. Two cowboys shot up" the lit
tie Mormon town of Heber, over in the
piney woods of the Mogollon plateau,
and then serenely sought their secluded
home camp on Canyon creek, near
Pleasant valley, on the eastern border
of the basin. After them, a week or so
behind, came a Navajo county deputy
sheriff by name Bargeman. He found
his quarry and few more citizens who
had sought seclusion because of yawn-
Ing jails. They were in the midst Of an
Indian rancheria-that of the John Da-
gin band of Cibicu Apaches. John Da-
gin. by the way, is the American rem
dering Of the Apache word for mule.
ONE AGAINST FIVE
Bargeman rode boldly up and de-
manded the surrender Of Gentry and
Ferrell, for whom he had come The out
laws responded with a shower of rifle
bullets. The officer Is known as one of
the nerviest Of men and had the advan-
tage of elevation and, unhurt himself,
compelled the retreat of his five adver-
saries. desperate men though they
were, badly wounding two Of them.
Then, distrusting the Indians as they
commenced to close around him, he gave
his horse free rein for Pleasant Valley.
There he raised posse, with which he
returned and gathered in one of the
outlaws.
But the end is not yet in sight. The
Cibicu Apaches, a bad lot at the best
are stirred up by the affair. which fol
lows closely upon the killing of one Of
their chiefs by a posse under Deputy
Sheriff Ketchersde. There is more ap-
prehnesion, however, felt In coneidera
ton of the possibility that through the
late actions of fearless peace officers
the noted Pleasant Valley feud may
again break out.
A FAMOUS LOCALITY
Tonto basin to be specific, is a noun
tain-bordered and mountainous district
about eighty miles square, lying in the
east central part of Arizona. Part of it
is within the White Mountain Apache
reservation. The remainder is almost
wholly devoted to grazing. In the north
ern part of the basin is Pleasant valley.
The valleys history is far from giving
it its name. For years it was ravaged
by the Indians. Then a great firm of
sheep-owners, about 1885, concluded to
extend it's range. The cattle-men of
Pleasant valley. headed by the Graham
family, objected. The Tewksburys, of
Cherokee lineage, We're employed by the
fiockmasters. The sheep side of the
controversy must have won, for fiocks
are no longer molested when driven off
the snowy plateau above. But twenty
eight men died before the controversy
had ended. All died with their boots
on. To the shame of the west, half of
them were shot in the back from am
bush.
A FEW ARE LEFT
There are a few relations and a few