The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-02-17
A MOUNTAIN SHEEP.
The FINN n Mining Camp Had with N
TeuderfoOf.


The Ajo camp is after the old type of
mining camps that made early history for
Arizona. Nevada, and California, but
which are now almost a thing of the past,
so that when d. Murphy, wealthy young
man of St Louis. in search Of adventures
in the West which would break IN ON MS
state of ennui. accepted an invitation TO
spend several weeks with friend at the
Ajo camp he was all expectancy. When
he arrived at the camp few weeks ago,
witnessed horny-handed miners In all their
Western picturesqueness and assimilstee
much OF their vernacular. he felt sure that
fond dream of life in the wild West was
about TO pe realized.
Murphy's friend is Capt r. ". HUE.
auditor of the Arkansas Railroad. but
heavily interested In mining at Ajo and
camped there for time. HUE had been
in Arizona for some time when his friend
arrived, had been hazed and was thor
oughly accustomed to the ways Of the
Western character. He meant that his
friend should go through the mill, and he
did He never knew that the miners were
making sport of him, though, so returned
to St. Louis the other day with several
stock stories with which he has interested
the miners and with which he calculates
to inspire awe in Missouri He will show
them the antlers of a mountain sheep
which he captured under unusual circum-
stances. If the Missouri people demand. as
Is their custom. to be shown Murphy
calls them antlers. and he knows the ami
NAL was a mountain sheep. because In the
the second place he discovered 1t in the
mountains
He brought his bleeding trophy Into
camp one day and the miners ostensibly
solicitous of his welfare. overwhelmed MIN
with measures of precautlon. If the In
dams discovered that Il mountain sheep
had been killed by white man they would
massacre everybody in the camp. Tradi-
ton says that several scores of Mexicans
who worked the Ajo mines several hun
dred years ago and the miners there n2w,
supplemented the tradition for the ben1it
Of Tenderfoot Murphy, with an assertion
that the massacre was the result of one
Of the Mexicans killing a mountain sheep
That was enough TO frighten Murphy,
who In reality had shot and killed. though
by mere chance, a domestic goat which
intensified his uneasiness by declaring
that the killing of mountain
sheep was I'm violation of the
laws of the nation which are seeking TO
prevent the extinction of mountain sheep,
and detection OF the offence meant a
lifetime in Yuma, IL the offender were
fortunate enough to escape the Indians
and lynching-
Murphy was terrified when he put the
story that he mad not shot the mountain
sheep, but had frightened IL out OF a
tree, II jumped straight up In the air
200 feet, he declared and falling it had
broken it's neck. Murphy had read a story
of that kind once.
Captain HUE came to the rescue of the
frightened trbdttlprts ana agreed To help
him out of the country before the sus-
pieions Of the Indians or United States
authorities were aroused Murphy packed
his "aniiers' In one box and packed two
other similar boxes for decoy. He crepf
out AT night and rode hurriedly by with
his boxes TO ella Bend. The captain ar
ranged Il with the engineer SO Murphy
rode in HIS cab until he reached the New
Mexico line, 10 avoid the territorial au-
fhorities. and he returned TO st. Louis
the most frightened and apathetic tender
foot that has ever ventured in the Willis
of sanguinary Arizona.