The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1900-09-11
IN HOTEL CORRIDORS.

| like that country very much" said
| gentleman who was discussing different
climates with a group of friends Il
went there because the climate was rec
commended as sure cure for bronchial
affections, and at that time I was suffer-
| ing with my throat. During my stay
there 1 Travelled over a good portion OF
the territory and met great many OF
| the early settlers. My principal diver
sion was listening to the stories they
| would tell concerning their experiences
with Indians, outlaws and wild animals,
and some of them were calculated to
make ones hair rise. An old frontiers
man named Shuck, who lived at Benson,
told me a story that is quite common
there, as it is a matter Of local history,
| but it was new to me. The Apache IN
dams are not considered good or peace
full citizens at the present time, and %
years ago they were anything but good
neighbOrs. There were few white people
in the southern part of Arizona al that
time and those that did live there were
| in constant dread of the Indians. The
only secure moments were when they
were at one of the forts or in one of the
towns Travellers, prospectors and cat
tlemen were picked off by the Indians
at every opportunity. The Indians were
good only when they did not have the
best of it and as a consequence there
was war between the red men and the
white men, The government would not
send enough soldiers to control the In
dams and the settlers took 1T into their
others fixed up a scheme to get even
with the ApacheS. They had a feast
about so miles below where lewiston now
is and invited the Apaches to partici-
pate 1t was to be a peace gathering and
differences were to be settled-that is
what they told the Indians They also
promised good time generally When
the day set for the feast arrived
about 200 Indians were on hand and
about twice that number of white men.
Everything went smoothly until at
trrsxv Gil IL 4
proceeded to slaughter the Indians. Not
one escaped to tell the tale. The plan
had worked just as it had been expected
| except that Shuck was seriously injured
and in a peculiar way. One of the IN
dams had succeeded in breaking away
from the fight and was running across
the country when Shuck and three other
men mounted their ponies and pursued
him. When they had almost overtaken
him Shuck shot at the flying Apache
but missed. He shot the second time and
again missed. The other men laughed
at him on account of his poor marks
manship, a tender point with frontiers
man. He asked that the others refrain
from shooting and let him kill the In
DIAM They agreed and rode around the
Indian who came to halt. Shuck got
off his pony and pulling his revolver ad-
vanced on foot. The Indian picked up a
rock and started towards him. Shuck
fired and missed and the Indian threw
the rock, striking Shuck in the ribs ami
breaking two of them He rushed for
ward and would have killed Shuck but
was stopped by a rifle ball fired by one
of the other men. Shuck never heard
| the last of that experience for the old
men still tell the story him. OF course
the slaughter of the Indians leaked out
and finally reached the ears of the Off
Gals in Washington who ordered an in
| vestigation, but no one was ever prose
cuted as no one could be found who
would admit that he knew anything of
it, and the matter was eventually
| dropped"
| 81 knew Of an incident that occurred
out in that country that was rather
amusing" said one of the group 1T
/ was in Tucson about IS years ago. A
tramp printer named Kelley wandered
| into the town and hung around living
| on money that he had secured no one
| knew where. The Indians were giving
| trouble just as they had been for years,
and one day a man rode in town with
| the story that the stage had been at
| tackled and the driver and passengers all
| killed. A party was at once formed to
| go out after the raiders, and a message
| was sent to the soldiers. who were about
one hundred miles away. Kelley had
| been around the town for some time,
| and had heard such a lot of talking
| about Indians that he was anxious to
| join the party. His friends advised him
| to remain in town, but as he was half
| drunk-a normal condition-and did not
| believe the trip would amount to much
more than a ride to the scene of the
| fight, he insisted on going. OF course
| he had never had much experience at
riding and none at fighting Indians, but
| as he was so insistent the leader of the
party agreed to let him go. They rode
| away that afternoon, and nothing was
heard of them until the next afternoon,
] when the party came back to town
| They were a sorry looking set, and their
horses were almost dead. When they
| had almost reached the place where
| the stage had been stopped and the peo-
| plainsman, detected something wrong,
| pie killed, the leader, who was an old
and they halted. A little scouting de-
veloped the fact that the Indians had
not gone away but laid an ambush for
their party. They at once started to
return when the Indians came out from
their hiding place and gave chase
They numbered about one hundred, but
from their yells Kelley thought there
were a thousand. The white men had a
start of at least half a mile and did
their best to keep that distance ahead.
The race lasted for several hours and
the chance meeting of a cavalry troop
saved their lives as the Indians changed
their course upon perceiving the sol
diers. Kelley's nerves had been SO
strained that when the soldiers came up
he fell from his horse and had to be
held on the rest of the trip to town. He
was sick for weeks afterward and never