Bisbee daily review., 1907-10-19
GETS HIS LETTER
 1 AFTER 43 YEARS
Arizona Pioneer Finds ReIa- tiyes in Pittsburg Whom He
 Had Not Seen in 51 Years
(Phoenlx Rennhllcanl


 ID. w. McCailen, better known as Walker McCallen, of Ray camp, Pinal county, was in Phoenix yesterday en
 =. se ssss-szs, sssS1 . ;,,si Tn the east It was his his first trip back to the old home in Pittsburg for fifty-one years, and 1t is easy to i'm. agine that he saw many changes, He went primarily to see his relatives, if he could find any, thing he was not very sure about, and he came very near failing to do so. It was only by a lucky chance that he did find them, but when successful he had the finest kind of a visit.
 Fifty-one years ago Mr. MeCalIen turned his face to the westward. It was during the gold excitement in California and he kept travelling until he reached the western strand As was so often the case in those days he neglected to write and the mail service was very hsphazard 'institu ton anyway He finally lost track of his relatives from whom he was so widely separated, and did not think it worth while to try and restore com munication. Eventually he drifted down into Arizona and a number of ago he located in Pinal county acquir- ing valuable claims. Some of them he still owns and some he has sold pro yiding himself with a competence
 MT. McCallen is now IT years old and being in easy circumstances he decided to visit Pittsburg again He might or might not be able to find his relatives, if any were yet living. but he could at least see the city and note the changes of the better part of a life time. He left on his journey sey- eral weeks ago but when he reached Plttsburg he was lost. except for the guide books, police and other officials who take care of strangerss He was prepared to be surprised and startled but he was not prepared to be com pletely bewildered. He looked the 1 city over to his satisfaction but could 1 find nobody that he knew, or had even heard about in former days Neither could he find anybody who knew aur- one he could name as possibly a rela- tive. He had decided that he couldn't live very long in that smoky city and would not if he could, and was about prepared to give up all hope of find ing any relative, however distant, and return to Arizona again, when it oc- cured to him to apply to the police
 The chief was found but he said it was too far back in history for him to grasp as he had only been living there during the period since he was born. However he accompanied Mir. Mccall len to the office of the mayor who was an older man. He could not give any information either, but there chanced to be a clerk in the office who had known people Of that name and after working the telephone a while, rela- tive was found. 4 date was made for Mr- McCallen to be at a certain place the next day and when he got there he faced whole housefull of rela- tives.
 The lace that most appealed to him was that of his sister who was mar. ried to a man he had known in child hood. The sister then handed to MT. McCalfen letter dater in 1864, writ ten by brother, now dead for many years and addressed to MT. McCallen in San Francisco. It had been returned To the writer and kept in the family ever since, awaiting the day when his address should be made known The letter was written in a fine hand-writ- ing and the ink was certainly good for 1t had not faded in the slightest, and the envelope carries the old fashioned three cent stamp. The letter is n:ere iy about family matters, and states the anxiety to hear from the wanderer who at the time of the writing was supposed to be in San Francisco. MT. McCallen, who left for his hone in Ray yesterday, said he could Lot and would not live in Pittsburg nov. but he will surely visit the old home town and the relatives from whom he has been so long separated, every sum mer from now until the cad