Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1909-06-08

| superintendent maQe n6r ex-OLuClO
supervisor and chief police officer Of
the reservation. And the first in
struction the commissioner gave her
was to break up. at any cost, Illicit
liquor traffic Of the bootleggers, now
grown SO fragrant.
For a year and half Miss True
studied both Indian and bootlegger.
She knew that the way to make q
lasting impression upon the mind Of
the Indian was to strike a telling
blow with a dramatic setting. She
waited the proper time-and the time
presented itself at the big Fiesta" at
Palm Springs on the Morongo reser-
vation, on February Of last year.
Miss True, who was living short
distance away, at Banning, started for
the scene Of the fiesta. Nearing the
spot she came upon one Dol Martin,
an o.d offender in the whisky selling
line and a bad man who had several
murders to his discredit.
Miss True walked up to his buggy,
reached for jug, pulled 1t out and
emptied Its contents on the g-c.nd:
another and another she disposed Of
while the outlaw sat dazed at her
conduct The Indians were still more
bewildered. When the last drop Of
whisky had been drunk by the earth
she turned to the astonished outlaw,
sitting stiff with astonishment:
You are under arrest" she said.
land you are going to be tried and
sent to the penitentiary." With that
she moved on through the dusk to
where several hundred drunken In
dians were rioting around huge fire.
One huge and whisky sodden buck,
| who had learned Of the strange do
ings concerning Dol Martin, advanced
toward her In a threatening manner.
There was no word spoken as Miss
True whipped out pair Of handouts
and snapped them around the wrists
Of the astonished brute. Before he
realized what was going on he found
himself ANONYMOUSLY chained to the
wheel Of nearby wagon-and very
much sobered by the incident
Miss True walked to the fireside,
where more than 800 drunken braves
who had watched her dealing with
the drunken buck had stopped their
rioting and now stood spellbound.
Standing in the midst of that throng
of crazy savages she made q speech.
The wretch whom she had chained
to the wagon moved by the words,
voluntarily offered to disclose the
place where he got his supply Of liQ-
uor. She unclaimed him, and q short
distance away he unearthed enough
rum to make regiment drunk. She
didn't waste any time in properly dis
posing Of II.
When she returned to the crowd
around the fire, still silent, overawed
by this small and wonderful speci-
men Of the white squaw," she per-
ceived a Mexican "bootlegger" who
had crept over the border for the oc-
casion, Sinking into concealment be-
hind a group OF Indians whose atti-
tude was still hostile. She started for
him, and the craven "greaser'' ran to
neighboring hut in which he kept
his liquor. Miss True pursued him.
He gained the door and shut 1t on her.
She seized stout piece Of wood and
soon battered 1t in. Meantime some
half hundred drunken Indians who
resented her intrusion upon their fes-
tivities-and probably saw a chance
Of looting the Mexican's stock-made
rush for the hut.
Miss True stretched her arm across
the now open door. The drunken
mob halted, but one bold buck thrust
ing himself out of the press seized
hold of her wrist. The next instant
he felt the cold muzzle Of q pistol
against his temple.
"Go back!" said Miss True. "or I'll
blow your brains out!" -.
The buck went back; so did all the
crowd of them, sadder but wiser. Miss
True entered the hut, captured the
covering Mexican and emptied his
plentiful stock Of red eye" on the
ground.
That evening Of the Sth of Febru-
ary marked an epoch In the whisky
selling trade among the Mission In
dians. No longer did the bootlegger
boldly ply his trade among the Indian
villages. Man after man she hunted
down and sent to the penitentiary.
But while the unscrupulous boot
logger was forced to work in the dark
he did not act wholly on the defen-
sive. Shortly after the Palm Springs
episode she started to retire one night.
A neighbor in the little settlement
Of Banning, where she lived, came In
and persuaded her to come over and
spend the night.
When Miss True returned home the
next morning she found pane Of her
bedroom window smashed to smith
Greens and her pillow riddled with
copious buckshot.
Miss True does not seem to look up
on her remarkable career as any
thing more than merely the days
work. Her reports telling OF her
thrilling experiences-for the Palm
Springs raid was but one Of many
are written in a modest matter-of-
fact style, as though she had not the
smallest comprehension Of what
novel and dangerous work she was
engaged in. Witness this telegram
dated May IL, 1908:
"Raided San Manuel reservation
Saturday night. Captured wagonload
Of whisky and nine whisky sellers.
Very little violence. Prisoners now
in jail at San Bernardino."
By her work and her teachings Miss
True has brought about a marvellous
change among the Mission Indians.
Drunkenness is now almost unknown
in the tribe. "It has been six months
since a drunken Indian has been seen
near Banning" special agent lately
| reported 1T Is all due to Miss True"
he continues.-San Francisco Call.