El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1899-08-25

off. Silva and his new wife were not
bothered with disagreeable inquiries
bv police officers. By the sale of a
small silver mine In Colorado, Silva
had some capital. He opened a saloon
on the old plaza, In Las Vegas. and ct
first prospered; then hard times and
extravaganza bred in Silva the old
time a,te for outlawery. So he became
the head of q band of cattle thieves.
"There ia no doubt that the earth
under Silva's old saloon over there
bodies of men who mysterfously dlssp-
peared from this locality" said a mer-
chant at Las Vegas recently to the
writer. ''But the men who disappear
ed were all persons without friends
and relatives here, and no one wants
to pull up the floor, and dig. Besides,
what good would it do, anyway? seven
people quite we'll known in San Miguel
county, dropped out of sight here from
1889 to 1894. The sheriffs OF Santa Fe
and San Miguel counties had a con
slant flow of reports of robberies OF cat
tie and horses and burglaries of ranch
horses and isolated stores, and they
and their deputies were ceaselessly
vigilant. There was not q clew to be
had to the offenders, search as hard as
they could. Silva himself joined an
organization and contributed money to
detect the robbers and ~murderers."
The successes of the gang turned
Silva's head. The leader and his fol-
lowers became holder and more rapa-
cious. One morning Refugio Esquibel
the wealthiest ranchman in San MI
guel county, found four of his best
bred horses missing from the range
With his ranchmen he ven hunting
over the mountains for the animals.
He came upon them in the little rock
corral at Silva's lonely ranch, and
forthwith he went and soti6ed the
sheriff that at last q clew had been dis
covered to the thieves that had so
long been robbing the ranches. Patri-
clio Macs, who was at the corral, was
arrested, and. fearful: of lynch1ng, he
copy,recently offered to tell all about the
robbers. He was let GO for a week In
curate Information for the
police officers. That was in October,
1895.
A report was made to Silva at his
saloon that Macs was about to tell all.
An order went forth for q business
meeting at midnight at the saloon
Silva presided. Macs sat there, ignor'
ant of the. purpose of the meeting. A
member rose and charged Macs with
perfdy to the gang. silva called for a
vote on the guilt Or innocence OF the
accused. Everybody voted "Guilty.'
Death had been agreed upon as the
punishment for perfidy when the gang
was organized. Silva had prepared for
hidden behind his saloon. In the dark.
ness Macs was bound and gagged by
his companions. Half dead with fear
the wretch was quietly dragged along
the narrow streets of Las Vegrs ar
hour before dawn to the bridge across
G~allinos creek. There, amid a blind
ing snowstorm, he was hanged from 9
stringer. The coroner's jury decided
that he had been lynched for an un'
known crime.
Silva knew, nevertheless, that there
were suspicious concerning his guilt
He fed on October 26 to q hiding place
in the mountains nea Los AlamOs
He was indicted for horse and cattle
stealing on November Z, 1895, and the
governor of the territory and the
sheriffs on northern New Mexico Of
fered $1,000 for his capture. Suspect
ing that his wife and her youthful
brother, Gabriel Sandoval, were civ,
ing Information to the sheriff, Silva
determined to put them out of the
way. On Saturday, January %, 1896.
Silva and Guadalupe Caballero rode
stealthily into Las Vegas. Two poi
and Jose Chavez, who had been parti-
ally in league with the robbers and
m%urderers from the first, we're sought
out.
They agreed to go with Silva to his
adobe home, and to stand guard at the
door while Silva and CaballerO went
inside to stab Mrs. Silva and her broth
er to death. Chavez was sent ahead to
spy out the situation at the Silva home
before Silva and Caballero went there.
He came back and reported that Mrs.
Silva had company, and that he had
r~econsidered the matter and would not
be a party to killing a woman who had
been friendly to bin. The plan was,
therefore. altered. Sapdoval was
lured from his SISTERS home and slain.
When thai was done Silva went home
to his wife as if he had just come in
secretly foom his refuge in the noun
tains, and forced her to flee back to
the mountains, where her murder was
accomplished quietly.
1t was soon after this that Silva was
killed. Who killed him has never
been exactly learned, out Gonzales de
Baca and Guadalupe CaballerO each
testified that Silva vas shot in the head
while he was cooking q meal early In
February, 1896, and that from his body
about S13, 900 was taken.
OF the other members of the gang
four were sentenced to death, but had
their sentences committed TO life i'm.
prisonment. Three have been hanged,
and eight are serving sentences vary
ing from six to twenty years. An6
now there comes the information tina,
Ignacio Sepulvida, the last of the
bandits, is dead in chihuahua.