El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1899-08-25
End OF A Gang OF Bandits
Death of the Leader. Ignacio SepuIvda.-Lived a Double Life Fol-
many Years at Las Vegas.-Tale of Border Terrorism.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS =
Governor Otero, of the territory OF
New Mexico. has been informed by the
governor of the state OF Chihuahua
Mex, that Ignacio S%epulvida died re.
gently in the outskirts OF the city OF
C~hihushua. The Information settles
the question of the fate of the last IN
punished member of the Silva gang.
the boldest, best organized and most
remarkable organization OF outlaws
ever known in New Mexico, if not In
the south west, says the New YORK
Sur.
"There never was q body OF men In
the west like the Silva gang" alo
Ex-Uhited States Marshal Stebbins.
1.-The Silva gang murdered about
twenty-five people. It murdered,
plundered and burned for Jour years
before the public had any Idea who
the. criminals were, and during all
that time Vicente Silva and the q
ers with him were among the most
popular and respected men In Las We
gas. In some respects Silva was a
wonderful leader. Had he lived sixty
wears earlier 10 the west, before the
telegraph. railroads and law and or
der came to make life prosaic and less
picturesque he would have made q
national reputation. After he was
killed il was strange to observe now
the years of dread Of the leader Kept
many OF the arrested members OF the
gang from ~uusealing their lips, even
though they knew their leader was
zone and that confession might ave
Them from long imprisonment and pos
y. bly, from hanging"
Nearly all the members of the Silva
gang were men of families and passed
for persons of repute. A few even
joined the citizens association formed
to pursue the bandits. The gang had
its regular meeting nights In q win
dowlees apartment over Silva's saloon.
They had q constitution which pre-
scribed an order of business for the
regular meetinge. There was q long
code of sign ais. At the trial OF Chavez
for murder, one of the gang aston1shed
the court and jury by the
amount of Information d member was
able to give another without arouslng
suspicion among the bystanders. Their
was q general manager and q treasurer
of b gang.
Vicente Silva was very far from the
accepted type of q bandit leader. He
wore none of the typical accoutrements
of she bandit of the opera or the story
books. He had no beard. carried no
knife, no pistol. he was a spare man,
with deep set black eyes. and never
W6lQuGu OV0T 1tO pOubocs y OSA1
Who used to ~patrouize Silva's saloon on
the plaza of Las Vegas, refused to be-
lieve, when the gangs crimes were re-
vealed in court, that the loquacious,
genial man they had known behind the
bar could have been the leader OF q
bandit gang. Jose Aguerre, whose
confession at the trial of Juan Chavez
for murder in Las Vegas in 1896 start
led all New Mexico, told about the re-
--.L~oh14 nnthnrifu Ci1uo aYaPNtaad
over his men. Aguerre testified that
IN all night secret meeting OF the
whole gang was held once ito consider
important business. Three spies, who
had been sent out to seek new territory
in which to operate for big plumber,
we're present to report.
They had been Owe into Colorado.
One Of them believed q stage out OF
Creole, Colo, might be robbed with
little danger to the robbers and q good
chance of getting several tnou-
sand dollars worth of bullion. The
other two spies did not believe much
gold could be had there, and suggested
another and bigger highway robbery
hear San Lorenzo. A vote was taken,
And q large majority was in favor OF
the proposition I rob the Creole camp
stage Silva was in favor OF the San
Lorenzo proposition, and when be saw
tina his plan was outvoted he drew q
pistol with each hand and. in a dra-
matic whisper, demanded that another
vote be taken. The second vote was
unanimous in favor of Silva's idea.
When Colonel w. A. Adams, a
-ccnsin OF the late George M. Pullman,
and his two IONS were found murdered
in hue r cabin on the sheep range, thir-
~ miles south of Las Cerillos. it was
generally believed the Pueblo Indians
had revenged themselves upon the
white settlers. In Las Vegas Vicente
Silva proposed organizing u vigilance
committee. Six years later 1t came
out at one of the dozens of trials OF the
Silva gang that the murders had been
committed by two members OF the
gang, and that pencilled plans had
been made by Silva himself to help
them.
Silva was born in Bernalillo county,
New Mexico, in 1915. He knew all
about the outlaws of the Southwest be-
fore be was II, and killed two Indians
before he was 10. He went with a doz-
en- other Mexicans TO Wyoming in1077,
and was q vaquero there for about q
ye ar. One day he met the wife OF q
Mexican railroad laborer, and together
they started IN bronchOs across the
country for Colorado. The husband,
Felipe Aguilar, came home the next
day and started after the clippers.
What took place was never fully
known. but Silva and his new wife
reached Las Vegas worn out and rag
ged after weeks of horseback travel.
and a month later the news followed
after them that an American farmer In
southern Wyoming, near Cheyenne,
had found the body of a man who re-
sembled Felipe Aguilsr beneath a
-strawstack. The head was nearly cut