Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1907-02-16
FEARED PURSUIT
CHOSE PRISON
Juan Gomez Gave
Up After 3 Weeks
Liberty
ROMERO TO DIE FIGHTING
Sends Message to Mounted
Police---Is Armed, Mount.
ed and Desperate.

GO back and be imprisoned but tell
the mounted policemen that | will
never return to the penitentiary.
am armed and ready for them. They
may kill me, but they will never take
me-"
This defiant message was delivered
to Captain Fred Fornoff of the
mounted police at. Estancia yesterday,
by Juan Gomez, alias Gonzales, the
Guadalupe County horse thief and cat
tie rustler, who, in company with
Gabriel Romero, also horse thief, es-
capped three weeks ago, Friday, from
the penitentiary clay pit near this
city. The words, Gomez. says, are
those of Romero who is still at large
in the mountains near his home at
Esteritos, Guadalupe County.
Gomez surrendered himself and was
brought to Santa Fe last night by
Probate Clerk George W. Armijo
aboard the Legislators special and
turned over to the penitentiary author
tiles. Today he is in solitary confine-
ment and will be given no second op-
portunity to escape from prison until
he has served out five-year sentence
without good time allowance.
Romero is Desperate Man.
Romero is desperate. Mounted po-
icemen are in pursuit of him and the
probabilities are, he will be killed If
he resists arrest as he says he will.
He is armed with 44-calibre Win
chester, shot gun and six-shooters,
has a good horse and provisions.
The story of the flight of these two
convicts reads like dime novel. 1t
was told by Gomez to New Mexican
reporter last night as he sat huddled
in seat aboard the special train, be-
side his guard. smoking cigar some
one had given him.
81 should not have run away" he
said. Gabriel, persuaded me to go
with him. I was the cook at the
clay bank and l did not have to work
hard. Gabriel drove a wagon which
was not hard. We were being treated
as well as the rest Of the convicts and
we should have served out our SEN
tences
when we decided to escape, we
waited our chance and when no guard
was close to us we stole into the
bushes near our camp. We headed
eastward into the Sangre de Christie
mountains. Then they sent the dogs
after us. It was bitterly cold at night
and we had to run. The dogs fol-
lowed us all night, having out-run the
guards and mounted policemen. We
could hear them baying and 1t fright
ened me terribly. Gabriel only cursed
them.
Robbed Cabin and Got Gun.
1--WE reached the mountains and on
Sunday, two days after our escape,
we broke into a cabin and Gabriel
took shotgun and food for us. We
made our way over the mountains to
the east side in San Miguel County.
We wanted horses. Once We tried to
get them. We had no ropes and were
about to enter a corral when cow
boy saw us.
Gabriel fired at the cowboy with
the shotgun. The cowboy had a six
shooter and he began firing at us. l
was unarmed and started to run.
Gabriel fired again and the cowboy
rode toward him shooting. ] called to
Gabriel and he ran. We hid in the
all day. Later we secured
horses and made our way into Guda-
lupe County where we had friends.
Gabriel secured plenty Of guns and
was worn out and
afraid that the men
with the dogs would catch me. told
Gabriel that l was going back to
Santa Fe and let them put me back in
prison. He laughed at me and then
told me to tell my friends at the
prison and the policemen that he
would never come back-that he
would die fighting
Gomez then, so he said, walked over
the mountains for two days, finally
reaching Torrance where he went to
the conductor OF the Santa Fe Central
train and told his story.
Il want you to take me to Santa Fe
50 that can surrender" he said. The
conductor took him to Estancia where
he turned him over to Captain Fred
Fornoff of the mounted police. Gomez
told Captain Fornoff that the posse
sent in pursuit of himself and Romero
pressed them so closely that they al
most starved for two days, fearing to
attempt to secure food.
Captain Fornoff asked Mr., Armijo
to deliver Gomez to the penitentiary
The special train stopped at the
prison last night and two guards met
the convict. The kind-hearted excur-
sionists had given Gomez several
dozen cigars. He was smoking as he
met his former guards. He actually
looked relieved when they shackled
his wrists.
"Adios, Amigos" he said in Spanish
to his friends on the train.
"Vamos," he said to the guards.