Waterbury evening Democrat., 1905-10-02

time stationed in Arizona, and was look. ing around for an opening when the United States military authorities made a good offer to John Afterwards Judge) Miller and myself to establish a supply station to meet the growing require. ments of moving troops and the South, ern Overland Mail.
 "A picket of ten United States sol. diers, under non-commissioned of ficer, to protect the station against hos tile Apaches, was included in the agree. ment
 ''The station, situated at Cienega, about 20 miles east of Tucson-near now what is known as Pontano Station, on the Southern Pacific railroad-consisted of the usual adobe structure: four square walls, on the inside of which was the storehouse, etc, and inclosing a courtyard or corral. The outer walls were without openings, except where pierced for gun play in case of attack At the southeast corner was a round tower, which was also pierced with-port. holes, from which the south and east sides could be covered by defenders On the north side was the entrance to the corral an opening wide enough to admit teams and wagons of any size.
 'We prospered in our business, giv. ing entire satisfaction, and but for the later depredations of the Apaches would have continued. These critters while still making trouble elsewhere had been quite peaceable in that imme- diatevicipity, and the picket post in con. sequence had been just withdrawn. un. til one quiet evening in June, 1870, Mil. Ter was in Tucson on business. The only occupants of the stockade, besides myself, was a man named Scott Young and a stage driver, whose name I dc not recall. We were lolling around in the corral when the dogs began acting uneasily.
 Coyotes, suggested Young.
 More likely Injuns,' said the stage driver, whom for short I'll call Bob
 Scott and I snickered contemptu. ously, but as Bob started of with a determination to see, trailed after him to a rise about 75 feet away, where the abandoned picket post was located Lying there, we peeped through bunch of chapparal. and, failing to see anything in any direction, had got up for the pur. pose of returning to the corral. when bang! bang! came a volley, accom-. panied by the old familiar cry of the Apache. Bob tumbled over, shot in ths side, but managed to drag him down and lay him in the inclosure, where be died almost at once.
 Rushing at once for the round tow CT, where several magazine repeating rifles and our ammunition were always kept, I found Scott Young already at work at the redskins. who were making a rush for cover on the south and east sides. As they neared the south wall, which was not over ten feet high. tum- bIed three of them. one after another. which caused the balance (there were about 50 in alD to hunt cover else whers. But not for long.
 ~Young kept them moving on the east side, and they had already learned to their cost that the opening on the north side was not at all safe. as ve sl- ternatsly trained our rifles from the inside of our tower through a line un- der the roof on this entrance way.
 The savages only retired to plan some other means for our destruction Had they known there were but two of us to defend the place they would. doubt