Arizona republican., 1903-09-20
A DEAD MANS BONES
Fould by Mexican in the Salt River
Mountains.

The skeleton of a dead man was
found yesterday by a Mexican wood
hauler. nigh up in the rocks of a little
canyon. Il half mile east of Telegraph
pass IN ti,n Salt River mountains. about
light miles south of Phoenix. Coroner
Burr@tt was notified and with jury
proceeded to the spot. held an inquest
|, which was fruitlesS SO ia" as discover
ing the cause of death or identifying
the remains. and brought them to the
city and buried them.
The Mexican was following up the
, little canyon looking for wood when he
found skull in the wash. Continuing
/ his search he climbed up over the rocks
on hands and knees till he came to a
ledge that was protected by an over
hanging rock and there he found the
rest of the skeleton. Then he reported
to the coroner. That official and the
jury were piloted back to the spot. The
man had from all appearances died in
cold weather, it is believed sometime
last winter. A remnant OF his under
shirt remained and it was of a very
thick material indicating cold weather
at the time he lay down.
There was no other clothing except
a pair of blue overalls which encased
/ the bones OF his lower limbs and n pair
of nice calfskin shoes which were still
on the feet. In the pockets of the over
alls were found two very common
looking iackknives and a silver quarter
of the date of 1898. In hip pocket
was found what had once been part
of plug of Star tobacco which crum-
bled under the touch. There were no
papers or documents giving a clue to
NC u tIa
one-third full of whiskey and at the
third full lof whiskey and at the
/ right on a little shelf of rock was q
wire hairbrush.
The body had evidently been picked
by the carrion birds and no doubt they
loosed the skull from the frame and
rolled it over the cliff to the wash
below. The body lay with the should
ers under the rock and the feet toward
the cliff, as man would lay who was
seeking shelter from i storm and the
| head before it was detached no doubt
! lay on the little shelf of rock. The
| skeleton was that OF rather a small
man and the skull contained but few
! teeth. those remaining being we'll worn
down indicating man of mature and
perhaps old age. There was no gold
| i'll the teeth that was left. From the
! shape of the skull it was assumed that
it was that of white man. The story
of tn unfortunate will probably never
! be told. L is only one more of those
many mysterious incidents that occur
| in 81 mountain country peopled by men
| of a wandering nature who travel here
and there and everywhere bent on eX-
| ploration and adventure.
There was nothing to indicate the
| prospector though it is a good field for
prospecting. and it is so close to town
| that one could hardly get lost. or perish
of thirst in the winter season. 1t might
! have been tramp trying to cross the
country overland from the Southern
j Pacific railroad or it might have been
someone who knew perfectly well where
he was but was overtaken by a storm.
possibly drank too much liqour. be-
came unconscious, and night coming
on. frOze to death for drunken man
! with a cold stone to sleep on might
easily freeze on a winter night even
| in Southern Arizona.