The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1903-10-08

new partnership in the general merchan-
disc business with Mr.. Staab, merchant
from Santa Fe, New Mexico, and they
wished to engage me as book-keener IN
n new house to he established at Tucson,
to which place l proceeded.
Mr.. Staab had already begun shipping
goods from New York; our storerooms
were ready to receive them and l opened
the new books for the firm of Zeckendort
e. Staab. The nearest railway station
70 Tucson was then at Brownsville, Tex,
and nearly all the goods received from
there were brought in prairie schooners
drawn by - mules each. When the bales
of goods were opened they were found TO
contain numberless fleas. These. however,
disappeared within a few days, probably
died of heat. With the exception of these
imported. short-lived Jumpers L have never
seen a flea or bed-bug in southern Arizona,
and am now convinced that the pests
which bothered us so much on our nrst
trip to Santa Cruz at the San Rad1aei
ranch must have been small red ants.
which prevail all over the County to the
great detriment of gardens and orchards
| continued in the employ of Iecken-
aorf & Staab until 1880, when the hrm
was dissolved
RUINED BY PEACE AND PLENTY.
During these three years the whole Ter
ritory, and especially the southern part
Of it. had made steady progress, princi-
paliy by the introduction of the cattle in
iustry and the discovery of valuable sill
yer and copper mines. While farther To-
wards the north the towns of Globe and
Flagstaff had been called into life, the
rich mine known as Silver King had been
opened near Florence, on the ella River:
The rich copper mines of Clifton caused
the birth of that town. Along the upper
ella the agricultural lands. brought I'M
der irrigation. brought into existence the
towns of Stafford, and Solomonville. very
rich silver mines were discovered at the
place now called Tombstone, which caused
the erection of several smelling works
along the San Pedro River. and called
into being the small towns of Charleston
and Contention on its borders. NOgales
and the now very fourishing town of Bis
bee, with its almost limitleSS rich copper
veins. We're established.
But that which had been predicted by
many farseeing men had come to pass,
namely the increase in crime by highway
men who rendered trading insecure. now
that they were no longer afraid of row
ing Apaches For these latter kept re-
markably quiet at San Carlos, except
when they held one of their tiZwin sprees,
and on which occasions they wonld often
engage in fight and not unfrequently
would kill each other. Sometimes small
band of malcontents would break out
from the reservation. commit a murder or
two. and return with their plumber to the
protection of the Stars and Stripes proudly
waving over the San Carlos Agency. But
after the civil authorities had caught, tried
and hanged a few of them they became
very cautious. Even Geronimo, who at
the death of the old Chief COchise in 1876.
had been selected by the tribe of the Chi
richauas to be their captain, kept very
quiet on his separate reservation in the
Chiricahua Mountains.
MEXICAN DEPREDATIoNs.
Mexican bandits. however. infested the
country to great extent. Their main OBJ
7ject seemed to be the stealing and driving
off into their country Of the best stock. e5
pecially horses, and as tl'ose were kept
on every mail station on the California
route and these mail stations were far
apart frequently in absolutely isolated
regions. the latter became the objective
points of the robbers boldest efforts. At
Mission Camp Station they killed four
men and outraged woman. after tor
torturing her nearly to death to make her
disclose the hiding place of large sum
of money which they supposed to be upon
about 81 miles west of Tucson. they killed
the station-keeper. his wife and three-year-
Old child and drove off six horses.
These crimes were generally COM
mitted with n nice calculation as to
the probable length of time before discov-
cry. Discovery was usually from "a hours
to three or four days after the outrage.
Often the victims were found only when
the next bi-weekly stage came upon the
spot. BY this time the perpetrat tors Of
the outrage would be across the frontier.
As we have seen, extraditiOn was alto
gether precariOus and every attempt to-
wards it involved great expense.
These two cases referred to are only
examples of many like outrages.
CHEEKY HIGHwAYMEN
We had no lack of American ''roughs
and toughs' either. There was n high
wayman who called himself Bradley,
whose personal courage we cannot help
but admire, much as we may deplore and
despise his transgressions of the law. This
man held up the stage all alone. twice
In one week, within II miles of Tucson.
and only one mile from the mail station
rallied Point of Mountain. The place Sc
lected by him was a sandy, rather wide,
wash which the stage had to cross at q
very slow gait. Dense underbrush was
growing on both sides Of the road and II
The very edge of it. He stepped out from
The brush and ordered the driver and pas
Iengers to dismount and line up along
The road and hold up their hands, keeping
them covered with his gun. For one mo
ment he would turn his head TO the rear
snd say in q loud voice towards the
bushes: You fellows, there, look out
shoot the first - - that makes q
move" Then he would order the driver
to bring the mail pouch and deposit it or
the ground as well as Wells-Fargo Co.'S
Express box. After going through the
pockets of his prisoners he would order
them to mount into the vehicle and give
the driver the word to go ahead with the
caution that he was watched and had bet
ter attend strictly to his business and keeI
going.
When, three days later, the same ma
nuyer was repeated, at the same spot. by
the same man, the authorities got a move
on" Trailers were sent out to follow tn,
mans tracks. These led from the poin
of attack through the brush to a small cot
tonwood tree, where the robber had evi
IDENTIFY tied his horse, which must hav,
been a large American animal to judg,
from the size of the hoof tracks. TIL,
horse was shod all around, but had she,
the shoe OF his left hind foot. This cir
.umstance greatly assisted in folowin,
the trail, which led to Tucson wount
around the eastern outskirts of the city
and was finally lost in the Santa Cru
River about one mile above or south O
the town. The river here had sand
bottom for a stretch Of about two miles
the water being nowhere. a few deepe
holes excepted, over one or two feet deep
The river could therefore be easily crosse
ind recrossed, ard the tracks made woul