El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-08-10
Copyright 1900


II she company was Increased to twen-
ty men, stationed at Ysleta. The over
land stage, then carrying olt9d States
mail and passengers between san An
tonic and Ell Paso, was attacked In
Quitman canyon, between Eagle
Springs and the Rio Grsrde. Ii was
humping along the rocky, ugly looking
canyon and had arrived at the toughest
place, known as the Apache postofhce
on account of the hieroglyphics cut IN
the rocks by the Indians. Ii was an
ideal plsc for an smbuseade, the
cliffs and powders enabling the willy
savages to conceal Themselves perfect
ly ultil the stage was almost under
them and the driver and passengers at
ineir mercy.
An old time stage driver named
Morgan was hsndling the reins and
taere was one passenger in the coach.
Morgan had driven hundreds of times
BY himself and felt like one Passenger
made him almost secure from attack,
and probably was looking at the mules
aud rocks in the road when the Indians
fired on them. Both the passenger,
sporting man of those days and handy
with shooting irons, and Morgan were
armed, and one of the mules being
killed, both of the men jumped from
the coach and ran up among the bowld-
ers on the north side of the road. The
chances are both may have been
wounded. Their bones were found long
afterward by John Ford, an ex-ranger
living at that time at old Fort Quit
man.
Ford at the time with few OF the
reochmeu nd overland employees went
out to look for the stage when it failec
to snow up 1T the proper time. feeling
pretty sure the Apsches had either
captured or killed the driver and pas
stage, one mule killed, all the canvas
curtains cut off and msilbsgs cut open
and mail scattered over the ground,
leather boot cut up and carried off, but
did not find the bodies of the men.
Examining the signs, Ford believed
there were only four Indians, aud they
had left the road and gone Off south
west toward the river. The party took
IL for granted the driver and psssen-
ger had been taken prisoners and car
ried off to be tOrtur ed, aod followed
five or six miles, expecting to find
their bodies.
Ford wrote to me, and the rar gers
were soon On the road. l had twelve
Of my men and three OF the Pueblo In
dams with me, making our force six
teen, quite small enough, but 1 had
telegraphed Lieutenant Charley Nevill
who WINS camped near Fort Davis, in
the Mosquito cannon, to meet me at
Quitman, and he started with nine men
and his wagon and q driven, q half
breed Digger Indian named Potter,
who was afGerwsrd with the men who
tried TO hold up the stage near San
Angelo, but Lieutenant Kirk Trimbo
of my company happened to be on the
stage and wounded Potter.
Fitzgerald, brother-in-law OF Jim
" bite. the present collector of Ell Pa
go, was killed in the fight. The rangers
sf5erward caught Potter and his cor
porstioo showed the mark of Kinks
bullet. but at the time l speak of Potter
was good Injun heap. Our first night
and In the morning when L pokud my
head out from under my blanket l saw
nothing but white mounds where III
boys Jay snoring peacefully, but the
guards had orders to wake US at day
light and had big fire, so we were
soon ali up and cooking and shaking
the snow from our blan kets.
It was cold for keeps. One of the
men, although the water was not over
nifty yards, bad to jump on his horse
and gsllop to the water, and when the
horse put his head down to drink both
ranger and horse went down in the Ice
water. he got no sympathy. 1 never
knsw q ranger that did unless be was
half killed.
station-named after the old Tom Rife,
who kept the station then, sfterwsrd
in charge of the Alamo at San Antonio.
It was one of the bitterly cold winds
from the west, but the snow had melt
ed off and we were In the bottom, with
plenty of wood, AMI got along first
rate
The next morning we got to Q litmsn
and John Ford told US it was not worth
h la n ryn m n no l,,S
keep on down the river and he was
sure we would strike the trail of the !
Indians. We PUSHED on down the Rio |
Grande and csmped. The weather had |
cleared up. The snow, excep. in
shady places, had vanished, and one of |
days for which our west 10
bitter cold winds and snow. Even en- |
old rattler had crawled out to enjoy |
the last rays of the sun and some of |
the Younger members of the company,
anxious to get his rattles, got after
MIN, but he wriRgled under q pile
Of driftwood and the Rreenies set fire
to the pile, making q huge bonfire
that lasted all night, aud had the To-
dams been anywhere near and been on
seen US. Subsequent events, however,
proved they we're in a deep canyon,
fully thirty miles south of us.
By sunrise we were off and took a
tail that left the river aud wound
some rough hills. Coming In
below gain, we struck the trail where
the Indians had come from the south-
east, and picked up small, handsome
fur-tipped glove, and our conjecture
was il had been dropped by the pas
senger for the benefit OF pursuers, and
gave Us hopes that both the men were