Arizona republican., 1899-05-01


 June, 1890, and we were al well nigh 1 exhausted by the heat and lack of sleep. In our party was Colonel Hop kins, who has since been keeper at the Santa F'e territorial penitentiary. and as ibrave a man as ever lived on the border. There was also Captain Will cox, whC. was scout in General Crooks campaign against the Apaches.
 We had joked about what we would do if the stage were held up, and some of us had actually planned how best to use pistol and conceal our money if any rash bandits should interfere with Jus. Several of us felt too proud to conceal our personal valuables, be- cause that is on the frontier quasi confession of lack of nerve. We were just finishing a sort of meal from our grips and paper sacks one morning just at dawn. when bangi bangi bangt came three shots.
 ''Of course, we o.d-timers in the ter ritory knew what it meant, but do you know we were so completely taken off our guard we thought only of how we might keep our valuables by conceal ing them. The coach was in a narrow cut, where the sand made the travel so hard that the wheels just turned. A German sal0cn keeper from Fl Paso, who was going out to Tombstone to collect Wlhiskey bills, dropped a can of pickled clans from which he was making his breakfast, and said:
 We'll, I'll be tanned.
 Then we heard a man call out: Don't lower your hands There are eleven of us, and every man but me has a gun sighted at ye.' That was from the leader of the gang. Here, ycu fellows on the inside he contin- ued, hist out there, No guns allowed, gentlemen. Come out on this side and keep your hands up. Nov mind, one move for your guns and you'll never breathe again.
 Now, a man would be a fool to try to reach down under the coach seat for gun or to pull one from a holster at such moment. I guess every one of us felt about the same way that did. 1Cu see, not one of us knew how many guns there were out among the boulders aimed plumb at each of us and none of us wanted to take chances. So out we climbed from the coach. each of us with palms up. We had been caught and it would have been suicidal to resist. It makes me smile new to think how we, with both of our hands on level with our ears, meekIy followed in single file down out of the coach, while the driverIstcod up on the box with his hands several inches above his head.
 When we got up Cn the bank above the cut we saw two masked men not a yard away. L remember seeing two rife barrels showed out from among the rocks, about sixty feet away, straight toward us. One of the men had a sawed-off double barrelled shot gun, which was cooked. With that in his hands he keEt running his eyes over us from under his mask. The spokesman kept up a running series of orders and advice for us
 Stand still, there, gentlemen he said. You, driver, don't move You're all covered by dead sure shoGs. You'd be - fools to be killed, wouldn't you, when you can go your way by leaving me and my pards little cash for grub money
 This was all done So quickly that my telling it makes the incident seem lcng. Giving one quick glance about him to see whether his exposed and concealed comrades were at their posts, he said:
 want your money and diamonds, Don't want no watches. We've bushe1 of 'em over at camp now. Here, you old chan (referring to Colonel Hopkins) pull off that dia- mond. Don't fool. Now put your Hads and sparklers in that box (point- ing to an open cigar box which had been placed close at hand), and don't make move toward any gum
 Like meek lambs we dug down ir our pockets and hauled out our wal cts. One man said he had onIy s1O md wanted that for grub in Tomb ;tcne, but the spokesman Of the rcb- Jers said it was a lie. I put about $50 n the box. had, like three others of he passengers, put my money in eathern belt about my waist under ny clothes. About $500 and four large diamonds were gathered in the har- rest.
 "'Now, don't move, said the spokes- nan when we had parted with our money and some of our jewelry. Driver, throw off the box. Hurry up. Don't make a false move Or you never wink again Quick, heave her off. That's right Now, throw off yorr guns, and mind, we've got a bead on -our head. All right now. Gents, get 1 ,ack in the coach and don't be foolish ibout trying to kill me, for that | wouldn't help you any
 "One by enc we got into the coach. | Il a triee the driver was ordered to lriye on. Then, amid several shots | mercy to make a demonstration to | .s) among the boulders, the coach l vent on. The spokesman bandit and | lis assistants stood and watched us | i'll we got out of sight. I believe the | thieves got about s2,600 that time. | 1old-ups were so common in those ! lays that the story of our experience | with the Aguilar gang was even less | han a enc days topic in Tombstone"
 But once in awhile the bandits met |