Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1904-06-11
DolNGs IN COLOMBIA.

! n
DolNcs IN COLOMBIA.
Jack sidiake Tells Of the Dangers Of
! Travel Through: Colombia, and Of
| Some Encounters with Natives
| Jack" Hdlake, SON Of Hon. John
Bidiake, formerly Of North Dakota,
and afterward consul to Guatemala,
has just returned to Minneapolis from
Colombia, where he has been manag-
ing q gold mine for an American com
pany. In an interview he gives an
interesting account of his experiences
as follows:
I'VE started from the MINES during
the first week in April on our way to
the east coast. As we were over four
hundred miles beyond Bogota in the
interior, in fact, nearly to the
Brazilian border, the Journey to the
ocean requires over month. There
were five white men dn the party be-
sides a dozen natives. We had
eighteen mules, most OF which were
loaded with provisions for our "trip,
and In addition a considerable quamti-
ty Of gold and silver bullion. The
first three hundred miles we could
travel by RATS, which was compare
lively easy. In crossing the plains of
| Cauca the mules were brought into
use, and it was at this stage of our
travel that we encountered the most
trouble.
THE morning Of the second day
after our start over the plains we met
several parties of natives all armed
and mounted. Along in the afternoon
parties appeared on all sides of us and
without any preliminary parley began
firing at us. No sooner had the guns
begun to crack than half dozen of
the natives in our party bolted with
three of the provision mules. They
had probably informed the attacking
natives that we were carrying a con-
siderable amount of valuable merchan-
disc and had gone over to the other
side. They circled around us firing
and making all the noise they could
to stampede our mules, which we
drew up in a circle to afford us as
much protection as possible. They
reared and struggled so in their fright
that we were badly handicapped In
having to hold them and shoot at the
same time
For about ten minutes it looked
rather squally for us but finding that
our rifles carried better than their old
style Remingtous, they drew of. In
the first onslaught two Of the mules
were shot down and Col. Shanby,
formerly commander Of British regi.
ment in the Boer war, cried that he
was hit. It wasn't till everything was
over that we found another one OF the
party wounded, an American by the
name Of Sharpe We did everything
possible Tor them but in less than an
hour the colonel died. It was impossd.
BILE to take him with us so the best
we could do was to form pile of rick
over him and go on.
Sharpe only survived until the next
1 day as in his weakened condition he
could not withstand the fever. This
accounts for the great mortality that
4 they have in their revolutions down
4 there as when q person is wounded in
4 the Iowlands he Is invariably stricken
with the fever. ..T-.
The natives had Jared still worse
/ We threw i've OF them who were left
dead, into q nearby river as it would
have been foDlhardy to endanger our
chances Of getting away by taking the
time to bury them. @ j
1T is so beyond the limits Of posi-
bflity to grant protection to foreigners
that one must run his chances II he
attempts TO 80 into the interior.
1 The natives around the vicinity d
our mines were . treacterosls lot but
outwardiy were friendly. n Hen d
the total absence of law from govern
ment authority, q concession Is grant
ed In most cases with the proyfso thai
the recipient of the grant ~ given
Jurisdiction over life and death Thia
n the only ching ta1at serves 70 keen
the natdves ct al IN hand. 81
Their code o4 honor, Il such It MAJ
4 be called ~ q miyture Of Spanish
honor and native tfievery. They rot
one d "a revenge put machete
through ones back but their word 4
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