Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1910-05-17
TAOS TROUBLE
EXPLAINED
Judge J. r. McFie, General
Brookes and Superinten-
dent Crandall Home
NO DANGER At ANY TIME
Sheriff Was MisIed by Rumors
That Were Apparently
Corroborated.


Corroborated.
Judge John R. McFie returned last
evening from Taos where he presided
over district court for two weeks. The
other court officials and attorneys ex-
pect to return this evening. 1t was a !
busy term Of court and there were four |
sentences to the penitentiary, one
Jail sentence and several fines i'm
posed. Benito Lobato was held with !
out bail on the charge of committing !
murder with a quirt and will be !
brought to the territorial penitentiary !
on June ! for safekeeping. Three of |
the penitentiary sentences were under !
the deadly weapons act on account of
disturbances in Rio Pueblo Llano and
Trampas precincts. Carlos Gonzales |
was given from five to ten years in
the penitentiary for manslaughter, |
having killed his brother during al
quarrel over the settlement of their
fathers estate. There is enough bal
ance in the court fund for the trial of
a murder case from Questa, on change
of venue to Santa Fe.
Most Beautiful Valley.
Judge McFie says that the Taos val
kley is the most beautiful valley he
has ever visited and just now there is
evidence of development on every
side. The fruit was not hurt by re-
cent frostS though the weather re-
mains cool and there have been sew
eral rains. A large area of virgin soil
is being plowed and farmed this year
and men of means are pushing irri-
CATION and other projects for the deve
Opment of the valley. Land titles are
nearing adjustment and the long and
tedious litigation over land grants is
about to reach Judgment. People
seem very prosperous and hopeful of
the future.
Good Jurors.
9 Il could not have asked for better
{petit or grand jurors said Judge Nc
: Fie. Both juries did excellent work
with great impartiality. On the Grim
inal side there was only one acquittal"
Astonished at Wild Rumors.
e Il am astonished to hear of the
number of wild rumors prevalent on
the Indian scare. The facts are SUBJ
stantially these: A few settlers have
located upon some lands which the
: Indians claim and friction has been
engendered. The matter is in litiga-
/ tion and will reach trial at an early
date On last Friday, about fifty In
dians went out to the land in dispute
and cut the fence of one of the set
e tiers. To what extent | do not know.
d Some say only across a road which
d was fenced and others to a large ex-
:, tent. The Indians went to the house
d of L. S. Meyers, whose wife and chill
e dren were alone at the time. There
IS being so many of them, Mrs. Meyers
e became much frightened, for which nc
< particular blame attaches to her, but
e as far as I was able to learn, no VIC
y lence was attempted or contemplated
It When the husband and father learned
d of the trouble they came to town iT
T. a thoroughly excited state of minC
e. and told of these occurrences anC
e while they may not have given cur
# rency to all the stories that were
is afioat, in a few moments Taos wa!
" filed with reports of what the Indians
S, had done until in short time the peo
~ pie were much alarmed, it being stat
I'd ed that a house had been burned ant
Id that the lives of women and children
lg were threatened, that homesteader
e. had been ordered to leave their land
within a day, that fences had bee1
cut, stock driven off and other depre
IS, dations committed.
H. Sheriff Wired for Help.
-, "The sheriff believing these rumor
- to be true, wired Governor Mills tina
% % he was unable to control the situation
~ and asked for troops to aid him il
~ serving process. While l did not re
~ quest troops as it was the sheriff
- place to do that, | was requested t
add a line to the bottom of the shel
ifs telegram to the effect that tn
:. condition appeared to be seriou
:. enough to warrant action to preven
further and more serious disorder
oo did add line to that effect this bt
ing all the connection l had with tn
matter.
ar Governor Was Prompt
10 Governor Mills answered prompt
es that he would order troops to Tao
be if the sheriff requested him to do S
ly. and the sheriff sent a second telegral
to- asking that the troops be sent. Late
w, in the day. however, when the fact
lot became better known, it was foun
lis that many of these rumors were wit
IN out foundation and while Mr.. and Mr.
tut Meyers, and Messrs. Phillips and Br