El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1901-01-09

The nnQ1nS OF was the
first of the dozen fortuitous circum-
stances which made my trip possible,
and there was not a day hat his
knowledge of the dangers of the
stream did not save us from loss and
destruction. Always kind and o
trusive, lie was as cautious as a cat,
being at times apparently o~ver-care-
full. He was ever on the ike for a
safe channel in the t~reacherous cur
rent. beaver slides on the banks, and
border Mexicans in the bushes.
Hardly had We begun to enjoy the
pleasant sensation Dr. drifting down
the stream when a roaring noise was
heard ahead. This came from the
seething and dangerous torrents of
water foaming over huge rounded
boulders of volcanic rock which every
where form the bottom of the river.
Reaching these rapids. we had to get
out of the boats Int wade beside them,
pushing them off or owe the stones.
or holding them back by the stern
lines. This process has to be repeat
ed many times a day for the entire
distance. and as a consequence. all
hands were constantly wet. The swift
current and the uncertain footing of
the hidden rocks make these rapids
very dangerous. A loss of balance or
a fall meant almost certain death 1t
was our very good fortune not TO up
set a boat or lose a man. Ware was
especially cautious as such places. Tor
only a year before. while upon a
hunting and fishing expedition on the
Lower Rio Grande, his companion had
been drowned in a place of this char
acter.
The first twenty miles lay through a
low, roke desert country. The river
banks were of muddy silt. with here
and there a lone cottonwood or will
low. Ahead of us doomed the BOfecil-
los Mountains of Texas and the San
Carlos Sierras of Mexico. closing in
upon the river.
This region is infested by thieves
and murderers. and MacMahon was
watchful. Our loaded rifles lay beside
our oars. and every bush and stone
was closely scanned for men in am
bush. The special object of terror
was a famous Mexican. A~lvarado, and
his associates. Alvarado possessed a
n side of which was white
and the other lack. From this he
was called "O1d White Lip" To his
hand had been charged the murder of
several white men who had attempted
the river route. and it was he, who
MacMahon avowed, the year before
had riddled his sleeping camp with
At night we secreted our
camps i nthickets of "carrizo." a kind
of cane which grew on the low sand
banks. and each man slept with a
loaded Winchester beneath his pillow.
The second morning we reached the
named village of Polvo
("dust'), the last settlement for one
hundred and fifty miles. 1t consists
half a dozen dreary adobe buses
a mud bank. the remainS OF the
old United States military post of FIT
Leaton. Here the hospitable store
keepsr, an agreeable white man who
some unknown reason had chosen
this dreary place of exile. entertained
by showing us the splotches of
blood upon the Dol and wall behind
his counter. where his predecessor had
been robbed and murdered the year
before, supposedly by Alvarado and his
riendS. Before / saw this gruesome
l had not entertained sufficient
respect for MacMahon'S precautions.
Thereafter 1 was more careful to keep
my firearms handy. While at this
remarks were made by some of
my men which led me to suspect that
they were secretly planning to retail
upon Alvarado. Here was a pos
sible motive for undertaking a jour-
ney the dangers of which they depicted
in vigorous terms. In vain | protested
that this expedition vas for scientific
purposes. and not for vengeance.
They only replied that they would
shoot Alvarado on sight, like any
other varmint."