Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1900-06-19
Ae,1oNA IN ta70.

L AUtGOy0 ~ t0fVs
1.-THE Arizona Of 1870" said william
Alpertson Of Spokane, twas . country
In entering which the hardy rrospector
and equally fearless ranchman literally
carried their lives In their hands.
Phoenix and Tuscon were ten years
away, and In that vast expanse OF sun
baked mountain and plains the princi-
pal Inhabitants were tho yellow rattle
snakes, white scorpions, tarantulas, ella
monsters, and, AZ deadly ~ these loath-
some reptiles and insects are, more
deadly still the dread Apaches, who
made the mountain Businesses Of the ter
ritory their hiding place and retreats,
from which they made swift and MUIR
derous raids upon outlying frontiers
mems homes.
"Geronimo had still fifteen years Of
his blood-bespsttered and foul career to
riot through unchecked, and there were
other aud worse chiefs than he who
helped to make Arizona the living hell
IL was In those far-off days. Few or
no army posts existed there, and he
who sought fortune In that wilderness
did 90 with the conviction that kill
that We may live must be the rule OF
his life. Every murderer and blackleg
who found the rest OF the frontier too
hot to live In was sure OF an asylum
In that desert, and between the deadly
animal and deadller human life It was a
country into which none but the brave
dared venture, where might was right,
aud the strong arm OF the law had not
a. yet even cast the shadow OF Its fu-
| ture coming. Such was the Arizona l
knew In 1870, and such q country pray
It may never be my fate agair to come
In touch with.
"Of all the reptiles there the taran-
tuls was the worst, hut almost as dan
gerous Was the white scorpion, for to
his 2 Ia inch body was attached q sting
that he could drive q full hslf-inch into
q mans body, and thus send the deadly
poison coursing through his blood. The
ella monster, In spite Of his dangerous
reputation In the east, 10 not as danger
Gus a. these others, but It Is the verit-
able horror OF his appearance that gives
him his reputation.
IAN overgrown and blostcd lizard
frequently attaining length OF fifteen
inches, he Is fearful TO behold, his ALL
gator-llke body being OF dirty dark
gray and covered with hard shell. His
bite, however, compared. with those OF
the others, Is innocuous and need not be
fatal II the one bitten applies without
delay remedies to counterfeit the poison.
think II Was on this trip that l ~it-
messed rs strange = sight rs | had ever
looked upon.
Zone OF our party, who had previous
~ been In the country assured us that
ne knew Il all, sud that short cut
across the mountains would save us
many weary miles In our journey back
TO camp. We took him nc his word,
and midnight found ia just on the crest
OF the divide, after fruitless hours spent
Ia try Ing 10 follow a trail that had no
existence. We were then In cup
shaped basin, the centre Of the cup be-
ing covered over by club chspsrrsl and
the balance with sun-dried dead grass,
and there we decided TO remain the rest
OF the night. lettering our weary
horses without unsaddling, We lay down
to catch an hour or two OF rest.
1.-THE Indian we had a. guide" con-
tinued Mr.. Alpertson, "wss tied by
either arm TO two Of the party. This Was
done for ssfety's sake, for In that God
forsaken country there was no precsu-
ton that looked toward safety II was
safe to overlook. About an hour after
we had lain down the Indian suddenly
let loose frightful yell, and every man
rolled over on his stomach and covered
him with his ride. At the same time we
became conscious of the Kissing OF num-
berless rattlesnskes, and the awful
stencil their bodies give of permeated
the air.
"why none OF US was were bitten Was
a miracle, for they were all over the
place, and one OF them crawling over
his body was the cause Of the Indians
yell. That club chsparral was their
home, aud they must have inhabited II
by the thousands. After we had got the
horses and ourselves TO 4 place OF safe
ty one OF our number suggested that
We fire the place, and We accordingly
touched the dry grass Of. In mo-
ment the entire chspsrral leaped into
flame, and then occurred the weirdest
Of sights, for the snakes crawled up the
dwarf trees and projected their hor-
rible, writhing heads above the sea OF
fame, while from all about the great
yellow rattlers hurried into the ring OF
Are.
"A snake by instinct, you know,
rushes into, not away from, q nearby
fame. To this day II Is vivid picture
In my mind-thst zone OF fire, with the
swollen yellow reptiles rushing into IL,
and the heads, with their gaping, fork
iongued mouths, rising above and fall
ing beneath the leaplng flames. New
York Tribune.