Mohave County miner., 1912-03-02
The Luke Party
 Massacre.
Prospecting Party Ambushcd
 by Wallapais.
(By JOHN L. RlGGS)

scure remoteness striking events have occurred in this old county of Mohave. Tragedies dark and sinister were en- acted upon life's stage which, each in it's turn. held its small audience spell bound with horror. Within the wool and warp of times mysterious weav. ing many threads have gone estray.
 Traditions of today are very doubt ful and perhaps awide the mark of historic fact, and as the narrator usually adds his own thread to the garment. what must be the difficulty in the near future of arriving at any thing like the truth of the happenings of the pioneer days in local history.
 The old guard, who were the actors and auditors of these thrilling days and survived. are Just answering the last roll call. Standing, as it were, in the next ranks behind these old hero pathtinders, these men that blaz- ed the trails for the advance of civili- zation, feel it duty to add my mite to the cause of history by giving such data as may preserve one at least of these past events, and will set down in simple and plain language as be- comes such an event, to the best of my Ii nited ability.
 In the year lS66 the Luke party, consisting of Ave men on horseback and with the necessary pack animals to carry their prospecting outfit, were travelling over the trall that passes from Mineral Park westward and northward toward Chloride. or what now are known as the towns of those names, and when within, perhaps, two hundred yards of the big ravine known as Alum Wash, they ran into an am buscade of Wallapais. Three men of the party were killed at the first fire, together with their horses and all the pack mules, except the horse ridden by C. A, Luke. At the first fire Luke wheeled his horse and ,ode away to. ward the Sacramento valley. One other man also escaped on foot, after his horse had been shot under him.
 To refer back to a previous matter, since this narrative is obtained large ly from Indian sources, another matter here interposes. The first guns the Wallapais ever possessed were the files they obtained from the miners killed at Silver Hill, as stated in sacre. The guns were stolen from the miners camp, while the owners were away at work, and these four white men were killed with their own guns. It was these same three guns that kill led the three men of the Luke party, whose names seem to have been en- tirely lost at this day. Of those guns old Sherum got a Henry rifle. Wal laDai Charley q plain muzzle loader, and another Indian, long full stocked, brass banded muzzle loader with large bore, by the description, no doubt a "Mississippi yauger'', as there was one of these rifles in the outfit of the Sil- yer Hill party.
 From the Luke party the Indians ob- tained four rifles, some revolvers and a large supply of ammunition, adapted to the guns they already had, and from this equipment of arms and ammuni- tion an Indian war started in which many whites were killed during the next three years.
 In narrative, as dictated by an Indian, much important detail is lack ing. which a writer usually draws up- on his immagination far, but by past experience l prefer to only inject enough to connect the subject. The Indians had selected spot in the trail that offered good concealment, and let the white men ride right up to ambuscade, unwarned of danger, and when escape seemed impossible they opened fire. There was practical ly no chance to return the fire, as the wiley savages were well concealed, and the men of the party had no ex- perience in frontier life. The man that rode in the lead of the party was a large, fine looking fellow, whom the Indians presumed to be their head man or captain and who was no doubt the capitalist of the party, a wealthy man from Baltimore. Here that old