The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1909-05-16

EDITORS note: Francis Reno, who has
written these "reminiscences OF his early
experiences in the west comes OF a lam =
ily OF pioneers and fighters. ana IS re-
lated 10 Major Reno OF Custer massacre
tamc His earlier years were spent IN
the turmoil of frontier lllc IN arizona
whore he was FOR some time deputy sner-
IN and later deputy United states mar
Shal. at Tucson. His efforts In enforcing
the Chinese exclusion net on the MeAiCan
border have been hielSy commenued ny
the Washington authorities, hud rctooS
nlxcd hv the Hishbinders; who pmccn ~ Il
pric. OF S50oo ON his head. which si2ndS
today. OF late years lac has heiu snsn 81
ly responsible position with ono OF 'Is ne
largest hank protective associations IN
the United states and as supcrlntoil"ei,s is :
OF it's secret service has csutphsnou n. WV
onviahlc record OF success IN ruliiliIs
down bank burglars. These stories arc
confined Ia his earlier eTpSrienc"s IN III ''to y,
west the scenes q which Ia are iha iaiN Mcy1 N
lean hordcr-Thc Last trontl"r' WIFI VIII
,niil recent years was wild aud iawiess'
and where the typical bad man oi p'o-
uecr days made his last s'ah"''
Ii was while acting as United Statcs
mct Mr Wviie Fordham. | did not
make his acauain,ancc officially at tina,
time and our meeting WAS short ana
uneventful brought about ms ~ was py
a mutual friend and lasting for onIS
a few moments. tordham had oroPPy"
into town with one Of the boys from the
Great Calf mine, where he was work
inc and was introduced 20 me by hrs
comrade. whom | had known for sew
eral months. a.,
From The beginning of things ! did
moi takr to Fordham. In the tlrst
place he had Groascr blood IN ms
veins. his mother having been native
of Mexico. aud | never cared much lor
the products Of that particular cross
strain Not that have anythInS
against Mcxicans in general but
merely prefer their room 90 their COM
pany. The feeling j. not an nnGom-
mon one among Americans residing
near the border. and has frequently
manifested itself in display OF hard-
ware and impromptu fireworks waen
some Of the white men. overloaded
with ardent and animal spirits, nave
happened 10 clash with their darker
skinned brethren. But Fordham, a..
though a half breed: was tolerated
not admired by his working mates,
probably because he was not only
ready to fight when occasion demand
cd il, hut could put up very far ar
ticle of scrap into the bargain. lie
was tall follow. well knit broad
shouldercd and as active as cat, had
heen a COW puuchcr in his time, and
carried the reputation of man VINO
could shoot accurately and WASH I ad-
verse 10 unlimbcring his artillery on
slight provocstlon
These were handy qualities to pos
sesS in Arizona. especially at the time
| speak of. when conditions nt lfe IN
the territory were much Toughcr than
AT present BGi here Fordham'S s good
points may bc said to have ended.
For the rest. he was of quarrelsome
disposition and. although not 80 years
of age. was said TO have chalkcd mp
pretty black record behind him. What
were ] never learned. There were
hints of an ugly affair in which he
was said 30 be concerned when en-
ploved as cowboy in Wyoming. with
a rauchcr's daughter as one Of the
central figures of The drama. The
gossips averred that Fordham ran
away with and later deserted the girl,
who afterwards committed suicide. and
her father, following the faithless
lover to avengc her death, was
drowned while fordiug a river. Sus-
picions were not wanting TO the ef-
ccct that FOrdham and the injured
parent had engaged in a handto hand
struggle on the banks of the stream
which resulted i'm the death of tho
older man But there was no positive
evidence as 10 this and although Ford
ham was arrested he managed to prove
an alib and obtained his freedom.
Such was the tale, vague and for the
most part hoistered mp by the mutter-
ings of Dame Rumor. that followed
Fordham into Arizona. But in our part
Of the world. whittier men of unknown