Bisbee daily review., 1907-05-15
REMIN|SCtNCE OF
 TIE EARLY DAYS
How an lncautiouS Lieutenant Lost His Life In the
 Year 1872.

Colgael Thomas Hughes, president of the Arizona Historical society. has recently been writing interesting stories to the Tucson Star of the early days of Arizona. The following is talk. en from the Star of last Sunday:
 About the 10th day of August, 1872 Lieutenant Stewart of the 5th United States cavalry left Camp Crittenden for Tucson with two army wagons to- gether with one sergeant and ten men as escort. With Lieutenant Stewart was Corporal Black of the same regi- ment Captain W. P. Hall, 5th United States cavalry, commanding at Crit tenden. cautioned Stewart before ieav ing the post to be on the lockout for Indians as they were depredating in every direction. It seems that Stew art disregarded Captain Halls orders and when a distance from the post of about fifteen miles he informed the sergeant in command of the escort that he (Stweart) would push ahead for Tucson and also directed the es- cort to push ahead as fast as possible. At about two miles ahead the road drops down a long hill and enters a box canyon and as Stewart and Black entered this canyon the Indians, who had evidently been watching them de- scend the hill, opened fire on them. Stewart was killed at the first fire and fell out of the buggy into the road and then the Indians mashed in his head with large rocks as he lay in the road. Corporal Black was wound .1 gf killed. Black was then taken prisoner and taken up on the side of the hill, in full view of the road, tied to a dry tree and fire built under him. It was while the Indians were doing this that Stewards escort arrived and saw what had taken place They could see Corporal Black as he was tied and be- ing burnt and tortured by the Apaches. The escort attacked the Indians but were easily driven off by them, the Apaches being at least ten to one in number and hidden behind the rocks that covered the sides of the hills.
 The escort picked up the body of Lieutenant Stewart and hurried to Tucson where orders were given to Captain Benidier to proceed at once with two companies of the 5th United States cavalry to the scene of the killing of Lieutenant Stewart and the burning of Corporal Black. They found Blacks body horribly burned and mutt lated. The upper part of the body showed over 100 wounds, where fire brands had been stuck in his flesh by the red devils before Black died
 Black had carried the mail to Tue son and vice versa for three years and had made over 400 trips in that time in safety, but always in the night time through this canyon. He protest ed to Lieutenant Stewart the day he was killed about going through the canyon in the day time alone but he was overruled and obeyed orders and went to his death as a brave Ameri- can soldier.
 Lieutenant Stewart was the only child of Dr. Stewart. of Erie, Pa. He had always said to me: I am not afraid of these Apaches. I can lick whole regiment of them He had been warned repeatedly about the treachery of the Apaches but he went to his death through foolhardiness.
 Captain w. P Hall is now briga- dier general on the general stan in Washington. Six men that had been working for me on the ranch had left off work the day before and started to Tucson with this Stewart escort, but being afoot they could not keep up, and when they arrived at the mouth of the box canyon where the killing had taken place they were set upon by the Apaches and five of them were killed and the sixth man played crazy and the Indians after stripping him of all his clothes let him go The Apaches never killed a demented per son"