The National tribune., 1902-12-11

through whic h flowed the creek, and on
the south by q aeclivity leading into the
bottom lands. THE part destined for the
parade ground was, to great extent, not
yet cleared from the numerous mesquite
bushes standings everywhere. We began
to clear the ground, and while pursuing
this occupations quite frequently disturbed
a rattlesnake, q often. Of very large size.
The great number of snakes encountered
in this neighbarhOod, and even within the
cracks and chiiks Of the old adobe walls.
was easily acDanted for by the presence
Of numerous rats, bats and mice upon the
the premises. las the Summer progressed
and the heat increased, large hairy spiders,
tarantulas, caIHpedes and scorpions put III
an appearance. frequently dropping from
the roof upon tile ta BILE where l. was writ
ing, having been made Quartermaster and
iCommissary Sergeant of the post. l have
often wondered at the fact that. notwith-
standing the continual presence during at
least four months of the year of these
venomOus reptiles and insects in our very
midst. not single case of poisoning oc-
CURED among the men from their bites or
stings.
The Government, refusing to furnish
funds for building purposes, probably be
cause it considered the camp as temporary
only, Mai. Brown induced one of the Mex
leans. employed as herders of the newly
acquired herd of wild Sonora cattle, to
teach our men the process of making
adohes. and had soon several thousand of
these large sun-dried bricks ready for use.
while the teamsters. with n detail Of ay-
men, brought the required timber for raft
ers and liptelS from the Huachnca Noun
tains. over n distance of about nine miles
from the vicinity of the present Fort Hua-
chuca.
AN EPIDEMIC OE DEsERTION.
All this unpaid labor, carried on from
day to day, from month to month. by men
enlisted for military service, created an
almost universal dissatisfaction, and de
sertions became frequent. Sergt Bundy.
Of the cavalry, while acting as Officer oi
the Day, together with three men guard
ing the herd. deserted together in plain
daylight, abandoning their duty in order to
20 mounted, and made tracks for the Rio
Grande, taking with them their horses
arms and accouterments. Others deserted
during the night. slngly and in pairs, gen
orally taking the direction toward the
small Mexican town of Santa Cruz. 10
miles south of the boundary, which. by
going through the Huachuca Pass. they
could reach on foot i'll about l. hours
Among these latter was the eX-D. nm
Major. Dewitt, who, however. returned
after two days absence in a pitifui condi
tion, ragged, hungry, thirsty, tanned and
much crestfal!cu. He had lost his way
in the dark and wandered about looking
for water. when he happily fell in with
the wagons of the grain contractor. which
were making for our camp loaded with
Orn, and took him home. His welcome
here was far from cordial. Instead of
being court-martialed. however, for deser-
ting in the enemy's country, he was made
to submit to daily performance with an
AK for the period of one month. clearing
I,,rt rtnc, In rtr nm I'm oh rl
ground. "Oh, what a fall was there. my
.ountrymenr'
Two Of the deserters We're murdered by
Apaches in the Huachuca Pass. where a
mall scouting party found them Il few
lays after their disappearance. stark
,aked and mutilated in manner too
shocking to relate. One of these was a
shoemaker by trnde. named Ross. The
sad fate of these two men caused the de
'ertions to come to a dead stop.
Previous to this occurrence, however.
"orp'l A. Buttner. of our cOmpany. who
had been sent with 10 men and 80 days
atoms to relieve a detail of the California
volunteers that were guarding the mail
:tation and stock ut the San Pedro Gross
ing. soon after his arrival deserted his
.ommand, packed the rations upon don
key. and crossed the boundary into Mex
20. where he joined the army of the Lib
erals, fighting the Imperial Mexican
.~oons. l met this man again in 1871 in
Tucson, where he related to me all his ad-
-nntnres AttNrsthe tragedy of Queretaro.
where MaximiIian was executed in 1867
he had obtained a three months leave OF
absence, holding Mt the time tire rank of
CAPTAIN. He had foOlishly gone to San
Francisco. was recognized. arrested there
rs deserter from the u. s. army. and
sentenced to imDrisonmeBt mt Alcatraz
Island for term Of three years. Here nc
managed to obtain hearing before Maj
Gen. O. o. Howard. on the latter's inspec-
ton tour to Arizona. The result of this
interview was that Buttner was released
and thken to Arizona bv the said General
to be used as interpreter. He obtained q
situation at the San Carlos Reservation
whence he drifted back to Tucson later
on. Here he was made chief of police b.
he newly-incOrpOrated city, and as suci
rendered good services for several wears
finally dying of cOnsumption in 1894, af
ter having exposed his life time and again
while keeping order in that then turbulent
frontier town.
Some scouting was done during the
Summer and Fail of 1866 by the cavalry
of the camp, whose official name had beer
changed about August into Camp Wallen
hut with Indifferent success. One larg,
scout was organized. consisting of cavair,
and infantry, to which three garrisons
contributed contingent, Dut 10 TcSults
were obtained, except that Of reconnoit
ering and becoming acquainted with the
| country. Our contingent returned from
| it very tired and footsore after three
weeks, with the backs of the pack ami
mails in fearful condition, owing to tbs
absence of experienced packers. The
manner of scouting in those days, before
Gen Crook and Miles took the matter il
hand, was far from effective, on account
of the impracticable means employed
Some Apaches, who gave themselves NJ
later on at Fort Goodwin. related tina
they were following that big scout from
day to day at a safe distance. enjoying tn,
| scraps of food, etc, scattered in its wake
They hugely enjoyed the bugle calls. large
camp fires, and general hubbub attendin:
that enterprise, and continually expected
that band with brass drum would turr
up somewhere to render the clumsy, III:
column still more conspicuous | shall trea
Of the other scouts in chapter separate
and now relate an incident. or rather tive
| incidents, which rendered the day of thei
occurrence the most unlucky of all tn,
Fourths of July l have passed in my life
and to which l shall therefore devote !
separate chapter.
(To be continued)
COTTON.RAISING.
1