Arizona republican., 1907-02-20
AL SEBER KILLED
NEAR ROOSEVELT
Famous Scout Who Escaped a Thou
sand Deliberately Aimed Shafts OF
Death, the Victim Of a Mere Acct
dent.

dent.
Word was received here yesterday o
the accidental killing Of Al Sieber. tn,
well known scout. on the Tonic creel
wagon road a few miles from Roose-
! welt yesterday morning. The detail.
of the incident were very meager a.
little of the facts were known il
. Roosevelt at the time of the telephon.
. ing.
Sieber has been in the employ of tn,
government most of the time ever
since the Roosevelt construction wOrl
began. He was a particularly valua-
bile man for the handling of the
Apaches who are employed in the
rougher work. as he spoke their Ian
guage fluently and the Indians had
more confidence in Sieber than almost
anyone else. Recently he has had
charge of a gang Of Indians employed
in road building. Yesterday morning
while the Indians were trying to move
a large but loose rock in the pursuit
of their road building they somehow
lost control Of it. and it rolled across
Sieber. terribly mangling both his legs
II is said be became unconscious al
most Immediately and died in a brief
time. His head was not hit by the
rock so his features were not dis
figured.
No one at Roosevelt seemed to know
much about Sieber's personal or fam
lily affairs. for he. was n very quiet
person but little given to talking about
himself. and II was not known there
whether he had relatives or not For
tunately, however. a Phoenix gentle
man, who had the pleasure OF an init
mate acquaintance was able to give the
desired information and from him the
following brief story of his life was
secured yesterday. the facts having
becn given him by Mr. Sieber some
months ago during a brief stay in camp
together, when they We're placed in
writing, having in mind a later and
more complete story Of the life of the
famous scout That he was one of the
best known. most trusted and most
valuable of scouts in the governments
employ in the old days when so much
depended on that branch of the govern
ment service, is the one thing that al
most every AriZonian who has lived in
the country any length Of time knows.
and is a fact known also by many east
ern people and by all the older Off
GERS in the military establishment of
the country. Beside an honorable pre-
vious military career during the civil
war, Sieber served as a scout during
the last tewntv years OF the Apache
troubles. and since then he has been a
resident Of ella county, some Of the
time in government employ and some
Of the time engaged in mining and
prospecting. He was one who suffer-
ed all the hardships and pains Of siren
uous life. hair breadth escapes and ser
ious physical disability. that go with
the thrill and glory Of the career of a
military man and Indian scout. an
through ii all he held the respect Of
both friend and enemy. the former for
his good deeds and personal kindness
es and the latter for the reason that
he was acknowledged to be a brave foe
and man of his word. Asked once
why it was that he had such power
over the Indians. who called him the
Iron Man" Sieber replied. Because
! do not deceive them but always tell
them the truth. When I tell them
am going 10 kill them. I do it. and
when / tell them l am their friend.
they know it,"
His most troublesome wound was a
shot through the left foot or ankle,
that was received June l. 1887. at San
Carlos. the shot being fired by Monk
onkarkosa. half brother of
Apache Kid. and an Indian scout un-
der Sieber's command. There was
dissatisfaction among the Apaches at
the time and an outbreak started that
was furt' er complicated by the drunk
enness and threatened desertion of
some Of the scouts. who joined their
tribesmen in a big drunk Sieber I'M
dertook TO arrest them and among the
number was bis assailant. named
above. who had hitherto been his trust
ed friend This wound though par
tally healed. remained a running sore
that required constant attention to the
end of his life, and also had the eff
feet OF shortening his left leg and
leaving Kim a cripple. though he could
still limp around and attend to his
usual duties.
As for his reputation throughout the
country. it was gained by his acquaint-
ance with Sc many eastern people who
in the last quarter of a century have
tarried briefly in the Arizona noun
tains. by the notable Indian uprisings