The record-union., 1899-06-17

their prejuddces, for predjudice it is
aasuredly. / never have and do not
now love the Apaches, yet ! know
they are truthful, as a rule, even 70
the verge of abandon. With the Indian
it is either truth or silence. They re-
sort to no sllbterfuge or treachery OF
tongue. If they wish to conceal or
avoid fact they ptrsdst in d0ggeo
silence.
They have pleaded guilty more than
once to charge Of murder when the
only direct evidence against them was
their own declarations. An Indian mas
no scruples or compunctions against
murder. He believes himself JUSTIFIED,
and in confessing the deed he feels no
shame, but rather that he is covering
himself with honor in the bold re-
cital of the most fiendish murder. Ten
years ago five Apaches We're condemned
in the United States Court here for the
murder of Glenn Reynolds, Sheriff OF
Gila County, and his deputy. The EVIL
dence was purely circumstantlal ana
remote, but the Indians sealed their
fate by stoically telling the whole
bloody story. One of them, when asked
if he had ever killed any other white
men, laconically replied, Yes" How
many?" was asked After a serious
computation the old sinner replied,
Thirty -one."
Nerve" did you say? Yes, that was
nerve, and these fellows all have II
when the emergency occurs in which IT.
is needed The five bucks referred To
were duly sentenced to be hanged. The
night before the day of execution all
of the men We're placed in a single
cell and two death-watches placed over
them. Every vestige of furnishing was
removed from the room except bedding
and blankets. The guards We're eau
toned to be on the alert, knowing the
tendency of Indians under such circum-
stances to self destruction. The con.
demned men lay down upon the floor
at night, using the same bed. The two
ON the outside held the blankets While
one after another the three on the
inside suicided with a strip OF cloth
torn from a pair of overalls. They
suffered the self-inficted death without
a groan, or sigh, or movement of body
sufficient to attract the attention OF
the two guards, who were within a.
few feet of them, and in the morning
there We're three good Indians, instead
of five bad ones.
And yet, while the conditions men
toned do exist, the sword Of justice
is not raised in vain, and very often
conviction is secured, even upon In
dian testimony Terror is coming to
the hearts Of cattle thieves, who are
even so considerate as to confine their
thieving to Apache cattle. There is
naught that can withstand the onward
march of civilization. Indian and
white renegades must alike yield to its
influence and become civilized or ex-
terminated. Nowhere is there al greater
exemplification of the law Of the sur
vival of the fittest.
Speaking of witnesses reminds me Of
the accuracy of detail with which an
Indian always testifies. And yet he ls
invulnerable to- the cross-examination
of the shrewdest attorney. That was
noticeable to-day, when Captain Jack
gave his testimony in the COW case.
He went into all the minute details of
the circumstances under which he dis
covered the theft of his neighbor's calf.
Here, too, is sample of the keen per
ceptive faculties of an Apache.
Jack was casually upon a certain
trail, and, like all Indians. he had a
curiosity, or rather an instinct, to read
the recent history of that trail. He
had only come upon it when he noted
horses track, and as the horse had
front shoes on he quickly drew the
conclusion that it was a saddle-horse.
He noted stains of tobacco on rock,
and knew the horse had a rider. There
was dogs track in the trail, which
further confirmed this. On the right
hand side was noted a calf's track. AS
it kept the course of the trail, without
travelling in it, the willy redskin quick
ly made up his mind that bossey was
not out on a. frolic, but was unduly
constrained of its liberty. Suspicion
with the Indian ripened into conyic-
tion and he took the side of the track
so as not to obliterate the tell-tale
footprints. This is always resorted to
by Indian trailers, so that in case the
trail is lost it may be retraced and
more carefully followed. In no case
will he allow himself to destroy a
single mark on the trail, no matter how
rough the ground outside of the path
in which is the trail being followed.
Soon Captain Jacks quick eye noted
a small patch of sand which, to the
casual observer, was not different from
any other sand, but to Jacks practiced
eye it was something for investigation,
and dropping from his pony he got
down on hands and knees, and close
scrutiny revealed the fact that it was a
blood-stain carefully and completely
covered over with dry sand. Instantly
there were courts juries, and witnesses.
and witness fees, and last, but not
least, new ponies in Jacks mind d's-eye.
The trail now became confusion Of
boot, horse, dog and calf tracks. A
careful exploration of the locality re-
vealed a fresh calf hide covered up
with stones in an old mescal pit. The
trail of horse and dog continued up the
canyon There was no calf now, but
for reasons we'll known to himself and
Captain Jack, the man walked. The
trail was only few hours old, and as
our Capain Jack noted this, he, like
all trailers, quit pursuit and returned
TO San Carlos to report to the Indian
agent
This is characteristic Of an Indian
and especially so of an Apache. He
is glad to get job of trailing for the
Government or anyone else, but when
the quarry is close and the trail hot
he stops abruptly, points ahead, and
with significant grunt and wave Of
the hand indicates that if you want the
object of your quest you are at liberty
to proceed and take it, as he is not in