Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1898-06-17
. ARIZONA z ERRORS. !"
AN AGGREGATION OF MULE PACKERS.
EN- ROUTE TO CUBA. IS q.

AN AGGREGATION OF MULE PACKERS
EN- ROUTE TO CUBA. ..:5.=
The Government Enlists Their Services For
Inland Traffic Work In Cuba - All Of
Them Are Born Fighters - Tho Rough
! Riders Are Too "Dudlaed" For Them. ii
.'The Real Terrors Of Arizona
Teddy Amt In It, P" was the tenor of
a placard ornamenting the side Of one
Of three tourists sleeping coaches which
were attached to the Louisville and
Nashville train which left New Orleans
at 11:15 o'clock the other forenoon,
bound eastward.
The 'terrors'' were in charge of Mr..
G. A. Johnson, acting agent for the
quartermaster's department. of the Unit
ed States army. They were 81 in num-
they could click double their weight in
wildcats or Spaniards, for a tougher
lot of men never met together than
these self styled "terrors. Their ap-
pearance was, however, a great deal
worse than their deeds, for with all
their roughness and apparent savagery
there was current of mischief and fun
underlying their actions. That they
would fight there could not be the least
doubt, for each and every, one Of them
had a record for some daring or brave
act, and they were all typical frontiers
men such as were the pioneers of civ
ilization in America from the days Of
the landing of the pilgrims on the shores
of the old Bay State down to the pres
ent time. These men, who had left
their homes in the mountains of Arizona
to serve their country as expert packers,
had most of them been without the con-
fines of civilization for so many years
that they had forgotten nearly all about
it, and living, as they we're, in the
lands Of the murderous Apaches, whose
treachery and bloodthirstiness is so we'll
known, they practically carried their
lives in their hands almost all. the time
They are Injured to hardship and dam
ger, and all Of them can we'll be classed
as expert with either the rifle the pis-
tol or (almost equally dangerous) the
lasso, for each and every one Of them was
master at the cowboys art of crop
ing"
They were of all shades Of complex
ion, from the blue eyed, fair haired
blond to the dark skinned half breed.
There were white men, most of them
ranging in age from As to so years Of
age, but all tall, straight, stalwart, &C.
tive men, whose bronzed complexion
and 1.-the, supple steps betrayed life
Of activity in the free, open air. Then
there were young men, none Of them,
however, under rs years, and these
were stout strong and athletic in build,
and, to all appearance, giants in
strength.
Nearly all of them wore the Mexican
sombrero, with the gaudy silver trim
mings and leather bands while car
fridge belts strapped around their waists
was all that went to make up anything
like uniform among these rough men.
Although without discipline, yet there
was one controlling spirit among them,
and his word was as law among these
wild men. Some of them had been COW
punchers; others had been traders among
the savage tribes in Arizona and Mex
leo; some were miners, others ranchers,
prOspectors, mountaineers, but all Of
them thoroughly understood the art of
packing goods upon the "burros," or
mules, used as freight transports entire
~ in the mountainous districts whence
they came. It was this very quali6ca-
ton (Which all possessed) that caused
the government to enlist their services.
In Cuba much of the inland traffic,
especially in the mountains, is done by
means of mules, which carry all the
freight into the interior. In an attack
upon the island of Cuba by the land
forces Of the United States the services
of these men will be Indispensable, and
it was for this purpose that their serv-
ices were engaged. Then again every
one of these men is born fighter, and
nothing would meet their ideas of fun
more than scrimmage with the Span
iards. One of the men, speaking to a
,comrade, said recently when the sub
ject of fighting was preached: "You bet
the boys are all scrappers. Those Span
iards are easy. They amt like Apaches,
and guess we can get away with about
ten times our number. Why, them
greasers would be scared to death to
have dozen Apaches jump up out of
the ground as has happened to us time
and again. s;t~ j., s.
+ One of the 'Terrors'' told the report
er that the men came from various
places in Arizona, from the vicinity Of
Becbee, Tombstone, Tucson and Ben
son. They had all rendezvoused in Ben
son, and under the leadership of Mr..
johnson had boarded the train and were
. on their way to Tampa, whence they
expected to go to Cuba, where their
services as packers would be required.
They were to receive from $40 to 800
per month for their services, according
to their experiences as packers. Rough
as the men appeared to be, he said that