The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-12-05

try, but he paid little attention, and one
night he failed to return to camp. The
next morning his comrades took up his
trail. and found where he had been
overtaken by a small band of Mojave
bucks and squaws. They vigorously
followed the trail, and it passed over a
lava country. Broken lava is about as
easy to walk over for a man or beast
as SO much broken glass, not so easy,
in fact, for the little fiintlike rocks are
imbedded and impOunded together 50
that they form bed of sharp, bristling
knives. that VIII destroy anything ex
cept iron, or the leather. rubber-like
sole of an Indians foot. The party on
the second day came UP with the band,
and after few ineffective shots from
the white men the Indians disappeared
in the DEPTHS Of dark ravine. The
party found their friend under a cac-
tus, with some eight arrows piercing
his body. He still had life enough left
to tell his pitiful tale.
He said that the Mojaves came upon
him quietly ON the night of his depart
ure from the camp and motioned him
to follow, taking from him his gun and
pistol. They made him march with
them all night; next morning they
struck the lava country and camped.
The squaWs We're literally loaded down
with plumber of various kinds taken
from ranch houses and from settlers,
who added to their other means of live
linhood the keeping of q little merchan-
disc, such as calicoes and canned goods.
Once on the lava they believed them
selves safe from pursuit. While the
band was resting after their all-night
journey an old buck CHANGED to notice
the red-topped boots of the prisoner.
They struck his fancy at once and the
young man was forced to take them off.
The old Indian attempted to put them
on and tugged and grunted at the
straps but his huge splay foot was by
no means calculated to enter an Am
erican boot He then desided to cut
them open at the sides, but even then
they were too small. He threw them
aside in disgust and a squaw ran and
picked them up, thinking they might
fit her, but after more cutting and
slashing she in turn gave it up and
threw the boots down a gully near by.
The young man was now barefoot on
a trail on which even d camel could
not last long, and only the sharpest
shod horses could withstand. and they
not long. Having with difficulty and
faint and faltering utterance told his
friends his story thus far, he moioned
them to look at his feet. over which he
had thrown his remnant of a coat. The
sight that met their eyes was horrify-
ing. For miles he had been urged on
walking on his very bones. Not a yes
tige or remnant of skin or muscle COW
cred the CHASTITY and protruding bones.
Boys" he said, you see that; l am
glad to go" Then, after intrusting his
comrades with a few messages to his
distant friends he asked one of them to
withdraw an arrow that was lodged in
his bowels. 1t was done. and without
sigh or murmur he passed into the
great beyond.
1t was matter of great satisfaction
to settlers on the Colorado to learn af-
terward that which this little party ap-
peared to be loath to communicate
that after having made a rude grave
for this poor victim of Apache cruelty
and covered it with heavy stones to
keep off the coyotes, they again took up
the trail of this band of renegades and
slaughtered them to the last squaw,
sparing none.