The copper era., 1906-08-09
E. R. PATTERSON SAFE.
Robbed of Horse and Shoes In Noun.
-tains- Hard Luck Story that
Ends Well.

E. r. Patterson, whose failure tt
return to Clifton from the White
Mountains the time agreed upon
made e5-his =. appearance in Clifton
Thursday night last, being overdue
more than a week. His delay =was
occasioned by the disappearance OF
his horse, his grub and his shoes
on the first day out from the summer
camp in the mountains. During the
first day out from camp he encoun-
tered several heavy showers, and
was delayed in getting down from
the mountain, so he camped for the
night. He left the trail about seventy
five yards and after preparing and
eating his. supper, rolled, up in his
blankets and Twas soon sound asleep.
When he awoke in the morning at
daylight he was surprised to find
that his horse had disappeared. His
next thought was to- put-on his shoes
in order-to hunt his horse, but was
still greater surprised to find that
they were gone. He then discovered
that his scanty supply of provisions
had also disappeared in the night
1t then gradually dawned on e'Pat"
that he had been touched in the
night, and that he was alone in the
wilds of the mountains, barefoot, and
with starvation staring him in the
face. However, he is from Texas,
and had been on cold trails before,
hence he was not greatly worried
oyer his predicament. He happened
to have several extra pairs of "sox"
in his outfit, which he slipped onto
his feet as soon as it was daylight
he, took the trail of his horse and
followed it a couple of miles when
he came upon an old mouse colored
pony that appeared to have seen
very. hard and recent usage. The
animal was so jaded that "Pat" had
had no trouble in catching it. He
then rode back to the spot where he
had spent the night, threw his saddle
onto it and again took the trail of
his horse, and followed it as fast as
the tired animal would travel At
ter travelling through the mountains
twenty-five or thirty miles he came
across his horse tied to tree in
small opening in the woods, and then
for the first time he began to realize
that there, might be some danger in
the mission which he had undertaken,
but he had gone too far to show the
white feather then, so he dismounted
from the horse he was riding, and
with his rife ready for instant nse,
he walked up to his horse, united
him and lead him away. After
travelling for a few miles with the
two horses he abandoned the one
which he found near his camp in
the morning, as he was not able
with the two horses to make the time
that he desired to-. AS his eyes had
been constantly fixed on the trail
of the horse all day, he now found
that he was completely lost in the
He then decided to as
cend one of the talleSt mountains
in that section of country in order
to get his bearings. This took con-
time, but he finally made
it, and then decided that he must be
in New Mexico, some distance north
east of his original camp. His sup
position afterwards proved correct,
for he finally succeeded in reaching
camp, having travelled nearly TWEEN
ty-four~ hours without food, and UNI !
dergoing many hardships on the jour
ney. He was so exhausted by his
trip and the experience that it was
considered necessary for him to rest
up a couple of days before again
starting on the homeward journey
He sent to Springerville for some
new shoes, and when they arrived
he "skidooed" for home. In thelI
a runner had been dis
from Clifton, and the whole
was alarmed, hence he had
a regular ovation on his homeward
journey 81
: Mr.. Patterson is of the opinion
that the thief who stole his horse
was most probably asleep when he
captured him. otherwise it is likely |
that an old time ,t".Arizona settle
ment" would have taken place.