The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1900-09-02
CAMETOC HAFFEE'S RESCUE
iHE EtTTiE or THg "HfG DRY
WASH" ~ 4 UESTFRN CiNION.
An InkNtand Made From a Human SkuIl re.
calls u stirring Incident In a BITTER TiGht
Wallace Arrived Just In Time TO save
lhnnrc an rnl the Apnrhea 20 EllEhl.

'''' ~ '''hf ~ " ~ - 'NhN
Wallace Arrived Just In Time to save
'ha1rc AMI Put the ApaChes to Flight.
FLAGSTAFF. ArlI., Aug 20. on a writing
dc-h IN the Miuncaroli, home Of n retired army
officer Of gallant r'cor.. g.. a rcoI ilr ipkstand.
Close scrutiny G"Nclop, the fact that the re-
""ptacl" for ink is a section of human vertcbra.
white from exposure 10 tho weather, maze to
s"rv" its purpose through mounting In silver
upon a polished wooden base. II Is highly
valued by it, owner, for II is a memcnto Of a
fight wher'iu he participatei-a fight such
"a soldier rarely know. one Of the hottest In
tho history Of southwestern Insian warfare.
II brings up memoric, Of ChaIec. the heroic,
now fighting In China
The fight wa the battle Of Il . Big Dry
Wash" Though the action has but little fame
with the general public. its memory T., cherished
by cayalrymen -, one OF tho most gallant known
TO their arm Of the service Particularly did
1t demonstrate the effectiveness Of the American
horse solGier and his ability 10 beat even the
Apache on the trail an in the fray When
grass time came In the summer OF 1882. about
$50 Apachc-, thr"e-fourths of them mature
bucks, left tho White Mountain reservation, on
the ella River in Arizona They started of
imme lately after ration DAY, well supplied
with fooc and ammunition II was in the days
49, ANA - ~. AA' t''aE AAAh -
charge at the san Carlos agency, when advised
that some or his wares had Cecamped. only
expressed his sorrow that such lies could gain
currency 10 the Clscrelit OF a peaceful and
long-suIeriug tribe.
The Indians passed tho p~opulous copper
mining camp Of Globe at a distance Of only
a few miles. gathering IN about all the horse
herds of the neighbprhOod. A platoon Of the
local home guard, the Globe Rangers, was
hastily modified and was started Of 10 head
the Araches. recover the horses and warn the
settlers in Tonto Basin. The warning was
given. for the Rangers. by hard riding, man
aged 10 beat the indians into the Basin. But
next day they were penned. twenty-five OF
them, in n cabin on Middleton's ranch, to hight
q long-range fight in which no one was killed
and 10 watch the Indians stampede their horse
herd. But the Rangers did good work in that
they DELAYED the Indians a day. Leaving ths
Rangers to return, crcstfallen. on foot. the
Apaches passed on up Cherry Creek.
The settlers had been alarmed and had fed
in time save on one ranch. The two SiRsby
brothers had about 100 valuable horses and
had taken time to gather them up from the
range. The band was being held in front ~
the ranch house. ready TO he driven away.
when dow the valley came the thud Of horses
feet. Driven by a few daring bucks. the In
dian herd Of loose ponies dashed into the Sigsby
band and stampcded the horses up a side cahOn.
one Of the Sigsby brothers and a French
cowboy, named Houdon, mounted and started
after. Al the ton Of the canon thew met
death. though not I'll they Ind exhausted their
ammunition and sent Eve Indians To the happv
hunting grounds. The Indians then turned
Si9Sby. who had been erased" across the chest
by y rifle bullet n he ran for the log house,
Sig~by's defence % the cabin was glorious.
Iat,l y,nfpft1lr u.pPAaI f,r Fart- la,,.a
gingl.-handed. sleeplcss. he stood on nj least
40 Anaches. thirstinR for his blood. enraged
AZ his continued resistance. The. cabin walls
and door were perforated by hundreds OF bull
bets, but 10 no avail. But the Indians could not
tnrrv longer. The troops were on their trail
and the smoke signals on the peaks showed
intending danger. In the night they gath
cred up the bodies OF several warriors whom
Slr~bv had shot and hurried away northward.
Sirsbv had done even better than the Rangers.
At that time. Charce. a Sixth Cavalry Major.
was ". COMMAND OF the little, three troon post
81 Mcdowell, thirtr-fve miles northeast Of
Phoenix, then a village. Getting, wind OF the
outbreak he tovonslv sounded boots and
saddle" and with half his garrison. cut across
the Sierra ,Anchas. He arrived at siGsby's
rarted and IL was his. hand that first shook
that Of the brave frontiersman But there
W mH s,1 wG Il. d for him ba rushed ahead ! on a. q ! filins si Ssas.
Thirty-two miles were covered In five hours
over the toughest Of mountain paths. Soon
troon horses. Rut Charee. shrewd cam
! %aigner. had brough with him from Mcdowell
indian vidatte- on mountain tons telegraphed
ahead b" fire and smoke and blanket signals
the coming Of the, galloping troopers. The
cations that indont the cliffs of the rim" OF
the MoGollon plateau. They had found the,
outn,mbered Chafee's exhausted men, and
determined to make a stand In the middle
Of the Big Drv Wash" was a rocky hill, several
hundred feet high, that absolutely commanded
the entrance TO the gorge. Chafee's eve was
ambush. He di-vOlnted his Tan under cover
and, lrav,,nG one-tolrih or MS ,rtle aoTmand
mainder. liz rec ito! ya, a. %. lnr
battle, from rock to rock. had ragged for two
hour The indians were sill OF me summit.
in hard straits. Retreat was practically i'm
possible and the enemy was beginning TO flank.
The fire Of the Apaches was becoming truer.
The were mainly armed with the old-fash-
Toned 5N-caliber Long Tom" Springfield rife,
a. ixS,aT i,.c %f2e29 sinr IInea idT carbi men 4 re-
advantage was with the Araches and the men
we're BEGINNING TO think their end would be
memorable fight on the Little Big Horn,
Suddenly, as joyful a sound rs the pipes at
LuckgoT a cavalry ,rHmL ct sounded at the
10 b. within fifty miles Of Tie SPOT, yet, 10 the
rear a squadron was disnounting and forming
s2a GER, ., all toG raido oP t oF ,E fS'i qhlf Td% Csv lhTee
In a howlirg running line. led BY the familiar
figure Of stalvart old Capt. Wallace. The
L. dams. overmatChed Vet unwilling to lose
what thew had thought their prey, sullenly
ard slowly Tetreated firing from behird every
boulder. The end Of the hill passed the van
tace groui d was with the whites. The ApRches
hroie and ran for cover in the rocks az the side
Of he gorge. But the fire Of the advancing
force was too heavy and too accurate. Leav-
ing horses and supplies. the ApaChes wildly
fed each for himself scaling the steep sides
Of the Canon, They climbed the cllfs Ike
flies. 30 be picked of by scores by the relent-
les rihemen below. A few escared but most
Of the survivors about dark drOrJed their
rifles. came out Of the holes they had SCORED
I'm the hillside ard surrpI dored.
Not Till then did the officers ard men Of the
different commands hammer one another on
the backs AID demand explanations, They
were simple though the combir alton al that
point seemed rOthing short OF miraculous.
Wallace. in command al Fort Verde. about
piuety miles 10 the west, had been informed ~
the route 81 The hos'iles ard had been de-
spatched 20 head them Of. He lost some time
by a false trail near Fossil Creek. but later
swung eastward through Greon ard Pleasant
valleys AID struck Chanee's trail ard his scores
Of discarded chargers. He was soon iolred
by a scouting force from Fort Arache from
the east. CompTisinC a COMPANY OF White Noun
tain Arachr .couts ard som Cavalry men.
differed BY IieutS. Morgan and Convene,
And the combined force pushed on az top speed
20 arrive an the nick of m The Apache scouts
belonged 10 an antagOri~tic division Of tho
tribe and rendered the best Of service In the
frav. one Of the scouts Incidentally. was