Albuquerque evening citizen. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1905-1907, 1907-04-02
Navajo Acquitted of Grave
Charge Only to Face Slow
Starvation.
FAR FROM HIS HOME
ALONE IN THE WORLD
just SS.S5 Between Poor L0 and
HappineSs--Those Pale
Face Ways.

of Lo the poor Indian have puzzled
the understanding of the white man
Loafing about the Bernalillo county
court house, however, is a swarthy
Navajo, native of the Tohatchi
country in Mckinley county, to whom
the ways of the white brother in
general and of Uncle Sam in particu-
lar are as impenetrable as the pro-
verbal abyssmal depths beyond the
River Styx.
Tome and Ella of Ganado might
pronounce his real name, but no
American could. The national gov
ernment in the wise discharge of its
benevolent assimilation of Navajo
gave him the classic, graceful title of
John Vandiver, and as such he ap-
pears on the court records, charged
with assault with a deadly weapon.
Then and Now.
John is not as young as he once
was. 1t is said that thirty years ago
when the Navajos were giving Uncle
Sam considerable uneasiness, and oc-
casionally picking up a few scalp
trophies, that John was one of the
young dare-devils who led the ne
farious dealings of his band and was
the hero of many young squaws and
the cynosure of the admiring eyes
Ol MS peOpie. but the WlluS anu
SHOWS of forty years have left their
mark on his once stalwart frame, and
he is now a weazened, decrepit
shadow who must be classed among
the old men of his people. Since the
advent of law and order among the
Nayajos, Johns warlike spirit has, 1t
is said, ever and anon boiled over
with disastrous results to John. In
his native country he is known as a
bad Indian" and it is rumored that
in days gone by the territorial peni-
tentiary has thrown its hospitable
doors open to him on one or two oc-
casions.
Wanted Fun; Found Trouble.
Johns present trouble started in
January. Fired with the desire for
a little innocent diversion in the way
of game of monte, he journeyed
overland from his native heath to
Fort Wingate, where amusement is
never lacking for an ennuied soul.
Among its attaches FIT. Wingate num-
bers one John Bowman, a Navajo,
scout, a swarthy, raw-boned six
footer of the best type of Navajo
physique. Vandiver, 1t appears, en-
gagged Bowman in a little game of
monte, and things went peacefully
until about the 116th deal in the
small hours of the morning, when
Vandiver's old warlike spirit again
manifested itself, and he called Bow
man some things in Navajo which
wouldn't look well in print. After
the slight alteration which followed,
which involved a Barlow knife and
spoiled the scouts nice khaki uni
form, both parties were carried off
to the hospital, and Captain Willard
wired to United States Marshal For
10 =. 4 l. n.
away Deputy Marshal Billy Smith
went out to the fort. and Vandiver
was arraigned before the United
States commissioner at Gallup, who
bound him over to the federal grand
jury at Albuquerque.
Then ii Came in Bunchcs.
When the grand jury met on
March 18th they promptly indicted
him, and the case came to trial be-
fore the United States petit jury
And here is where Johns real trou-
bles began. The petit jury acquitted
him loose on an un-
community 200 miles
from home. John has no money to
pay his fare back to his native coun-
try 1t costs $5.S5 to get to Wingate,
and his friends in need are not as
numerous as IN his old palmy days.
He has been in the Bernalillo county
Jail two months, and is sick in body
and mind besides still carrying a
game foot which the scout Bowman
bequeathed to him, precluding the
possibility of riding a pony overland,
even If he possessed the pony. Along
with his other ills John is homesick.
He longs for the sweeping swell of
his homeland mesas and Albuquer-
lue's dusty thoroughfares do not look
good to him.
lie Don't Sabc Yet.
For several days the thoughts of
John have been long, long thoughts, |
ana the devious ways of the Great
White Fathers justice a profound !
mystery