The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1900-04-06
THE GIRL OF
WILD HORSE RUN
A STORY OF NEW MEXICO.
By FREDERICK F. THOMPSON.

Observation-Disclosures
Did you ever hear the story Of the
Girl of Wild Horse RUM" The chances
are that you never did unless you have
lived in the mountains of lower New
z Mexico, and there are few even there
who can show the little heap of stones
which marks her grave or who can tell
the story of how she met her death to
save the lives of the half starved, In
dian besieged prospectors who had TAX
en- their last stand on the mountain
peak which is now known as Simp-
sons Rest. But those who do know
one Of the cowmen or the miners passes
the lonely spot without taking of his
8 hat. in mute respect to the memory of
the unknown girl.
81 never knowed, and don't s'pose
no one ever knowed, what her name
was" said Joe Dunno as he sat in front
of his adobe and rolled cigarette.
"I'm bout the last of 'eln alive as ever
knowed her, and wouldn't be here
talkin bout her if 'twasn't for what
she done. When it was all over, we
couldn't get no monuments or fancy
stones, such as they have down east,
( so we just piled rocks over the grave
to show where it is and to keep the
wild creaturs from diggin it up. Since
then some more rocks has been put on,
and now the heaps so big l guess it'll
last forever. But it'll never get too
big for the act she done, which was
one mighty few men would "a wanted
to tackle.
ut was way back in the days when
was a kid. Bein as was born and
brought up along the Rio Grande, /
was almost as much Greaser as was
white man. and when them eastern
prospectors come along they hired me
to go with them as interpreter, even If
was only kid. In fact, they couldn't
get no men to go along with them cause
the men was mostly all off prospectin
on their own account.
There want no railroads down here
then. There want nothin but Indians
and Greasers. II you wanted grub.
you had to freight 1t from,Albuquerque,
or IL you was hard up for 1t you could
i get little from the old stage station
in the valley Just beyond where Las
Cruces is now.
wild Horse Run is up in the noun
tains back of there. 1t amt no pretty
place-just little stretch of mesa
where there was water and where the
wild horses used to come until they
had worn the ground all away like a
buffalo wallow. The girl and her old
man lived there. The old man was
nutty on them mountains. He said
they was full of gold and silver and
pretty much everything else. and
guess he was right, though there amt
much of it been got out yet.
"Well, he settled right there near the
run, grubbin round in the foothills and
collectin specimens and stakin out doz
ems of claims which he never worked
but ag'in which nobody made no pro
test. never knowed the old man
much, though seed him frequent
when was in the mountains, and
heerd as how he had come from the
east to get rich He was like lots Of
others. and he ups and dies before he
had nothin more than them claims
which he had staked out, but which hi
hadn't never properly entered.
"When he died, he left that there gir
alone in the half 'dobe, half dugout
he had made. She was bout IS,
guess, and we thought as how sh,
would go up to Albuquerque to liv,
provided she didn't go back east Blu
instead of that she staid right along
all alone in the place where she hat
lived with the old man. She had som
sort of an idea that by so doin sh
could hold the claims which he ha
staked out. Some of the men told he
as how she was wrong, but she though
they was only tryin to get her to go S
they could jump the claims, and so sh
stuck 1t out. She was good shot, an
deer is still thick up that way, so be
tween them and few vegetables sh
got along so far as grub was concern
ed. But it must have been might
lonesome, for there want white ma
nearer than the stage station, and tha
was good 25 mile away.
'sShe had been there quite fe'
years, and the people as knowed of he
mao SOL 10 CitlllA nCI liz Viii Va w ~
Horse Run when goes up that wa
with them eastern chaps. We stoppe
to get water at the Run, and we tol
her what part of the mountains W
was headin for, and it was luck
thing we did, for if she hadn't knowe
we would never have got out of the &
we got into
"We didn't know it when we starte
but the Navajoes had gone and got ran
FUNCTIONS again. They was alwa!
III more or less troublesome, but whe
we left they had kind of quieted dow
and we want lbokin for no outbrea
Bein up in the mountains, of cours
we didn't know what was a-goin on.
..Well, we had done more prospect
and was hayin cinch with my j
of interpreter. There want nothin
interpret, and SO l was dom the cook
and lookin after camp. We had pitc
A. Af 1,n IN