Arizona republican., 1900-12-15
A Squaw's Secret

This is the story of a lost gold mine and the tragedies that surround it. A few days ago an Osage Indian woman, Foxwater by name, was arrested at Tulsa and placed in jail on charge of having murdered four white men who had been her husbands within the past ten years. Their bleached bones were lately found by a prospecting party, at least they are supposed to be the re- mains of the white men, and later the woman confessed to the fact that they were. She confessed that she killed these men because they tried to wiring from her the secret of the lost gold mine which she claims to know the wtherea bouts of. She refused to tell them and they went in search of it, and with the knowledge they had pick ed up from her from time to time were in a fair way to locate it. Then she said she was compelled to slay them, as she would anyone else who attempted to carry away the gold of her fore fathers.
 Mollie Foxwater is not an ugly, coarse featured woman as many squaws are, but she possesses many of the finer features of her white sisters. She has been well educated and has also travelled much. Ten years ago she was married to a young man by the name of Mercer. He came from Illinois to the Indian country. There had always been more or less romance surrounding this maiden, and the fact that she possessed the secret of a lest gold mine was enough to cause any young man with romantic tendencies to seek her out. Mercer did so to his sorrow. He was married to the young half-breed squaw and she furnished the money for an extended wedding trip. He was given plenty of money to spend and did not have to work, but all the time he sought to know from whence this gold came. One day he was missed by his companions. She said he was tired of living with her and that was all there was to it. People supposed he had returned to his home in Illinois.
 Three years later she was married again. This time A. F. Grimes, farm hand, was charmed into thinking he could worm from her the secret of her wealth and hidden treasure. But it was not long until he disappeared as mysteriously as did his predecessor.
 
 but no one could enter sufficient proof to hold her, and the man ever had any relatives who cared enough to attempt to secure proof against her. Four years ago she was married again, this time to a man named Smith. He was taken on a long trip, wined and dined by this Indian maiden. In less than six months his curiosity got the better of him, and he was put out of the way for try ing to make his wife tell where she got iaer gold. This summer she was mar ried, for the fourth time, to William Winters. He died three weeks ago and his body was found by the roadside. The doctors found he had been given slow poison and it killed him while en route home. Her calculations had fail ed her and he dropped from his horse dead and his body was found and car rie to a physician before she knew any thing about 1t.
 A warrant was sworn out Tor the ar rest of the woman an she was placed in jail at Tusla. Yesterday she gave out the following. .confession:
 When my father died he told me q secret of a mine supposed to be lost. This mine he took from a party of Spaniards, whom he killed. He told me how to go to find the mine. l have al ways lived off the gold found in this mine and I do not care who knows it. I am sure that no one will ever find 1t. I have been married four tmies, it is true, and in each case I always did well by my husband. But they all wanted me to tell them where the mine was and some of them even attempted to follow me when I would go to visit it to get gold to buy food for their mouths. None of them ever had to work a stroke after they married me. and I could not and yet cannot, see why they wanted to know where this mine is located. I admit that I killed all four of them but I say it was done in self defense. Did they not follow me and try to get me to tell them where the mine was? Some of them even threatened to kill me if I did not tell. I think I have good grounds for self defense and I will fight the case to the bitter end"
 There is a legend regarding this mine. It is known as the Louisiana mine and is said to located somewhere in the Grand River hills in the CherO- kee nation, Indian territory. In early days the Osage Indians had thiscoun try for their hunting grounds, and white men who visited them returned east with stories of how they used gold fer bullets and shod their horses hoofs with it instead of steel because the gold was more plentiful. At that time the Indians told these white peo- ple that they were in possession of vast gold mines in their domain, which they had caused the Spaniards to give up.
 Efforts to learn where these mines were proved futile. At different times many men have made the trip through the Grand River hills with the hope of finding the mines or some trace of them. It is very dangerous even at this time for a white man to traverse this country, from the fact that it is pop ulated only by full blooded Indians who hate the sight of a, White man in what IhpV term their sacred domain.