Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-02-03
Desperate Fight With Mexican Army
in Desert Near Guaymas.
GENERAL TORRES REPORTED KILLED
Indians Made a Game Fight, In
flicting Heavy Loss.
DIRK OF THE Mt A

BISBEE, Ariz., February IA dispatch
was received here last night from Quay
mas conveying news that Gen. Lorenzo
Torres, commander of the Mexican forces
in the Yaqui war, had been killed in the
Bacatete mountains. The report is lack
ing in detail and had not been confirmed.
Advices are also received that battle
was fought between the Yaquis and Mexi-
cans on January 81 the Mexicans then be-
ing under the command of Gen. Torres
Thesfghting occurred on the Guaymas des-
ert, fifty miles east of Guaymas.
The Yaquis withdrew and were not pur-
SIZED. The number engaged was 1000 on
the Mexican and 5000 on the Yaqui side.
Nine Yaquis. thirty-one Indian women
and twenty-six Indian children were taken
captive by the Mexicans.
Gen. Torres lost eighty-nine killed. 30
wounded and fifty-nine missing, while the
Yaquis loss is put at ninety killed and
wounded.
The Yaquis still hold the mouth of the
Yaqui and the line of steamers between
the river and Guaymas Is not in operation.
Santa Teresa. who is with the Yaquis at
that point, has with her 5000 fully-equipped
men,
The Fight in the Desert.
The desert in which Gen. Torres repulsed
the Yaauis is twenty-five miles wide. its
western limit being within twenty-five miles
of Guaymas. The desert consists mostly Of
powders. There is no sand, vegetation or
water and this is the only time in the
year when the desert can be crossed in
safety, owing TO the fierce heat. 1t Is
impossible to make progress by horseback
on it owing to the slipperiness of the
rocks.
The Yaauis. who expected to cross the
desert before the Mexcans got start and
then fall on Guaymas were handicapped
by their horses, and did not get far before
the moon rose. The Mexicans were on the
desert before the Yaquis had gone eight
miles across it.
The Mexicans made good progress. as
they had no horses to lead, coming up with
the Yaouis in the middle of the desert,
where the battle was fought at o'clock
in the morning of January p. The Yaquis,
under Tembanto, stood their ground by
presenting regular front, extending. from
bowlder to bowlder, and placing parties on
the projections. The horses were kept in a
bunch away from the fire
Mexicans Suffered Heavily.
The Mexicans suffered heavily while ad-
vancing upon the Yaquis, and then came a
hand-to-hand fight, for which the Mexicans
were better equipped than their enemies.
The conflict lasted three hours. The horses
of the Yaquis stampeded, but the Indians
fought on. The Yaquis worked around the
Mexicans, then withdrew and started back
toward the Bacatete mountains.
At Guaymas the MeXicans are expected
to return to the Bacates for rest.
If the Yaquis had succeeded in crossing
the desert Guaymas would have been at
their mercy. Four hours delay saved the
town. g..
The YaGui junta here Is said to be ma
neuverfng for the issue of bonds. Members
of the provisional government believe that
an issue Of S2,0O000O would be successful In
the United States and Sonora. ~. . 49,
The Yaaui trouble has gone SO far that
'Yaqui buttons have appeared. These
buttons contain American colors. with the
words sYaqui must live in Spanish print
ed on them.