The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-05-07
How Prospecting Trip Was Nipped
In the Bud.
"BUCKSKIN JIMMY" DID IT
REDSKINS oVERHAULED THE
FATHER AND SON.
Indian Police and Big Gun Brought
the Winns to Standstill-
Charged With Stealing Govern
ment Goods, Brought to Salt Lake
and Acquitted.

-4
Indian Policeman Wichitz, stolid. fat
and sphinX-like, sat in the United
States court room yesterday morning
in the resplendence and glory of a
brand new uniform, with brass buttons
and red trimmings. His little eyes
twinkled and cleaned in satisfaction,
for he knew that he was the star wit
ness. the man on whom great things
depended. He was the cynosure of all
eyes; he knew it, and his vanity was
tickled thereby. He was not seen dur
ing the afternoon, so it may be that he
has run across a more terrifying type
of firewater than is sold on that motor
ious place, the Duchesne strip" In
face, Policeman Wichitz may acquire.
the idea that his authority extends to
Salt Lake However, he has the repu-
tation of being a good Indian, even if
he is not dead one, and he Will, there
fore, likely eschew anything more pow
erful than soda water or stronger than
cigarettes.
The case in which Mr.. Wichitz had
come all the way from the Ouray
agency to be a witness was the United
States VS.. Denis A. Winn his son, John
Winn, and W. J. Burgess. all of whom
have been indicted for the larceny of
about $63 worth of provisions from the
Ouray Indian agency's commissary.
The two Wins are in themselves
characters of note and curiosity. In
that there was a whole tribe of Wins
about the federal court room and the
corridors of the Dolly building all day
yesterday. These were Wins of the
first and second and unto the third gen
erations, Wins with hair that age had
touched to whiteness and Wins whose
sole ambition in life was the conquest
and possession of the nurse bottle. All
of these Sorrowful women and crying
children had come down from VernaI,
east of the Ouray agency, to testify in
the case.
During the most interesting part of
Policeman WichitZ's testimony, as he
grew eloquent to Interpreter Henry Z.
Harris. in the jargon of his native
sandhills, one of the Wins of the
third generation began to scream
Judge Marshall frowned, the bailiffs
We're shocked and the jury was over
come. The mother rushed out of the
court room in embarrassment and
hushed the little one to sleep with a
Kate Greenway lullabye. And there
upon the trial proceeded.
What Was Stolen.
The three men were charged with
having stolen tin pots, valued at 20
cents; 5 sacks of -four of 100 pounds
=
lated sugar of 100 pounds each, valued
at $40; 1 box of laundry soap of so
pounds, valued at Sc, and divers other
goods and personal property, to the
grand jurors unknown, valued at $780,"
from the commissary of the Ouray
agency on the night of June l, 1898 But
Attorney J. NJ. Hamilton, who conduct
ed the case of the Wins, objected to
their case being considered along with
that OF Burgess, and the court upheld
his contention. Burgess will not be
tried until September.
Denis A. Winns story is that Bur-
CESS had agreed to stake him so that he
could work copper prospect, which he
had located in the northeast corner of
Nevada, $50 miles away. He was out
fitting at Burgess place at the agency
on June 1. While he and his son took
the horses to the blacksmith shop to
shoe them, Burgess was to load theI
wagon with the provisions that he had
agreed to furnish. He did so, and the
party started at o'clock. Seven or
eight miles out of Ouray they camped.
overhauled By Redskins.
Next morning about o'clock, as they
were breaking camp preparatory to
continuing their journey, Policeman
WichitZ, "Buckskin Jimmy" and an
other Indian came up. The red |
skins, believing that the two
men had stolen stuff from the |
commisSary, wanted them to |
come back. There was considerable ar |
sument about the case but as the |
Wins didn't understand the language !
of the Utes. nor the Indians comprehend |
English, it was impossible TO settle the |
point by discussion.
''Buckskin Jimmy brought forth a |
powerful perSuader-a gun with six |
cartridges. Thereupon the procession |
returned to the agency, the wagon was |
overhauled and found to contain the |
articles named, and the men were
placed under arrest. Policeman Wichitz |
told all about this through Interpreter
Harris.
The Wins maintained that they did |
not know what articles Burgess put in
the wagon or where he got them. They
We're covered over with hay, SO that |
they were not seen. The jury evidently
considered that the truth, for the pris-
oners were acquitted after one-half
hours consideration. And there was
joy in the tribe of Winn. 1t will go
back in few days to its home at Yer
nal, among the tribe of Utes
What were you doing with so much
soap at the agency; do Indians use
soap?" was asked of Chief Clerk Co
garty. who was here as a witness for
the government.
They are learning" said he '"They
dislike both soap and water. In fact,
they would probably rather take soap
internally than externally but we make
them use it externally. Its use is one
of the civilizing processes