The evening times., 1901-11-26
Peter:
A Study inRed
By WILLLAM WALLACE co0K.


ever He'd allow his squaw to work
two weeks weaving a basket which he
would finally sell for four bits. Peter,
on the other hand. would make a bow
ana brace OF arrows in an hour and sell
them for a round dollar; but he turned
his hand to no other labor. and rarely
to this. The Great Spirit, in His in
scrutable wisdom, had created squaws
and palefaces for the purposes of toll
In this dispense ton He had overlooked
the red man.
The philosophy was comfortable Pc
ter believed it soulfuIIy. and he would
let down one suspender. and sit in the
shade, and smoke, and watch Mrs. Pc
ter weave, her thumbs all bloody from
the awI and the sharp rushes-
Peters sensibilities were bIunted- If
he poured oil on the wounds, it was
simply to heal them over so that more
baskets could be turned out, and not,
particularly, to soothe Mrs. Peters
pain In short. in the bright lexicon
of the Maricopa brave the definition Of
the word "sQuaw'' was nil.
As before limited, Peter smoked. This
enno5Iing habit he borrowed from the
white man, thereby getting even with
Sir Walter Raleigh for borrowing it
originally from the Indian.
Peter also drank whisky, This habit
he likewise borrowed from the white
man; borrowed it never to return; so,
for this particular habit. he got even
with nobody
But why Is it that, on the mesa over
looking the Hassayampa River in
southern Arizona, there has been rear
ed a great. white cross bearing the
name Of Peter and sace=d to the
memory of the Peter of this narrative?
The story is short, and here it is:
The Hassayampa is modern Pacto-
lus Its whole bed is a placer mine A
company was formed, two immense
dams were thrown across the stream,
and a lake covering fourteen acres was
artisticaIIy made A terrific head" of
water was thus produced, and the kind
Of mining known as "sluice" mining
vas successfully prosecuted
The company had expended thous-
ands. but cent per cent was being re-
turned on the investment, when there
came a cloudburst which swept away
the dams and sent a tida} wave one
hundred and ten feet high rushing
down the valley
The melancholy fates ordained that
Peter should be in the trscs OF that
onrush of water He was mounted on
a swift pony. For a woment he listen
g1--- I,-,-,, Of ba
then struck spurs into his pony's hanks
and laid the rawhide quirt in stinging
lines along his shaggy sides
The mesa was some distance away.
but Peter knew he would win in his
race with death. On bounded his horse
\ moment later. however. Peter pulled
him in with a strong tug at the horse
hair bride In front Of the Indian. her
face paIIid as death, and her straw hat
spiIling full Of golden lilies, lying IN
heded at her feet, stood a white girl,
She spoke wildly, passionately- Peter
understood her not.
She folded her hands and raised them
above her head, turning her blue eyes
TO heaven. Then Peter knew; her peril
flashed over his dull mind in an instant
Two could not ride to safety-One
might
Could he have reasoned. at that criti-
cal moment, with the fineness of his
white brother, would he have dismount-
ed, assisted the fainting white girl into
the saddle, and then cut his pony across
the flank with his quirt? This is what
Peter did, and whether anyone else
would have done as well, perhaps it
would be better If we do not question
After the flood has passed. they found
the Iadian- He was dead. of course, to-
gether with some forty others.
1t was the father of the bIue-eyed
girI-president of the company whose
fortunes had been wrecked-who raised
the cross with its carved inscription;
and when it was done, the mound was
watered with tears from blue eyes, and
in the fair heart of one woman, at least,
was reared a great monument to the
redskins 5 memory, one enduring to the
end of time
Mrs Peter married again. and wOve
baskets and made pottery oIIas for an
other lord
Peters children were sent to the In
dian school near Phoenix. Ariz.
And some people gTumbIe at the Gov
ernment for such an instance of mis-
placed charity