Arizona republican., 1906-02-23
BEST INDIAN
 IN THE BUNCH
But His Killing by Ranger Holmes
 Was Necessary.

Roosevelt, Feb. 21, Special Cor
 respondence of the Republican.) )-'Tn the matter of the inquisition upon the body of Matze, an Indian, before J. c. | Evans, justice of the peace and eX-Of- ! ficio coronor
 We, the undersigned jurors, sum moned to appear before J. c. Evans, cf the county of Gila, territory of Arizona, on the 18th day of November, 1906, to inquire into the cause of the death of the deceased, having been duly sworn by law, and having made such inqui- sition after inspecting the body and hearing the testimony adduced, upon our eaths, each and all do say that we [ find the deceased was named Matze, | Gan Indian), was a native of Arizona, , aged about 90 years, that he came to his death by five gunshot wounds in ficted by J. T. Holmes, a ranger of Arizona territory in discharge of his duty. and that such death occurred in Roosevelt precinct, Gila county, Ari- zona, between the hours of s and 9 D. m. on the 18th day of February, 1906. (Signed)-GeOrge Sultan. A. R. Jen- kins, T. H. Anderson, Frank Malone, O. D. Fulton. M. c. Webb, c. H. Gn- bert. J. T. Aker, J. N. Huffer."
 |. the coronor's jury called for inquiring into the death of the latest Indian kill ed as a result of too great a love for the native drink. Although being very similar to the many other cases that have ended in like manner, there Is something particularly touching and sad in this one. Perhaps it was the mans age and perhaps it may be the fact that he was not the aggressor in the fight preceding his death, but had been the one to protect squaws. But in any event, there was that air of quietude and respect for the dead that was present during all those long hours taken up for the examination of witnesses, and everyone, even the hardened men of the mountains felt and showed that they were sorry that one should have lost his life, though his slayer was in no way to blame for his death.
 The story of the affair is briefly, as follows: On Sunday night, the 18th, all the Indians living in the Cotton wood Canyon, a camp about two miles east of Roosevelt on the Globe road, went on a spree, their drink being the native "tulipai." As is usual, after few hours drinking, the men of the camp became abusive and began at tacking the partly drunken squaWS. It happened that one buck hit the squaW of another a rather weighty blow on the head. and in a minute her buck was after him. In less time than 1t takes to tell it. all the drink-craZed bucks were mixing it. very freely and the poor squaws were getting more than their share Under cover of darkness two of the women slipped away from camp and came to town af- ter the rangers, to see if they would not help keep them quiet, their unruly spouses They told their story, but the rangers, scenting trouble, told them that they Cthe squaws) had better re- turn to camp and get some of the less boozy bucks to tie the more obstrep- erous ones down until morning. The suuaws were not to be put off, how ever, for they knew that there were no Hess boozy bucks" and they insisted upon the rangers going back with them.
 After much talk and persuasion to try and have the affair settled quietly among themselves the rangers, Holmes and Russell went along with them. Long before they reached the camp wild yelling and shouting was heard and the two men realized that the task they had on their hands was not the most pleasant. On reaching the scene of the revels, one of their squaw informants pointed at three men sitting on a wagon tongue and designating the one in the middle said, There is the man." Holmes flashed a dark lantern in his face and as he did so he found himself looking down the end Of a A Winchester. Slowly the Indian raised the gun as if to shoot but before the butt had touched his shoulder. Holmes had anticipated him. and in quick succession fired five shots point blank into his body. In the meantime Russell had drawn his gun and was about to shoot also, but Holmes told him not to kill another Indian. In an instant the camp was in an uproar and a large crowd began gathering about Holmes, Russell and the dead Indian. It took a great deal of nerve and bravery to stand in that crowd of half-drunk crazy savages, but the two rangers cooly picked up the man. laid him out. took up his gun and walked away with it.
 Many witnesses were called. all of whom gave evidence to the effect that the shooting was purely in self de- fense, and that Holmes act was per fectly justidable in every way.
 When speaking to the Republican representative after the inquest, Judge Evans said: "In choosing the names of the men who should act on the cor onor's jury we took special care to see that we would have a bunch of men