Devils Lake world. (Devils Lake, N.D.) 1914-1915, 1914-08-13
THE YAQUIs'
REVENGE
By M. QUAD
Copyright. 1914. by Associated Lit
erary Press.


lean soldiery to help drive the Yaquis
back to their hiding place in the noun
tains. It was a case of self preserva-
ton with us. When the Yaqui was On
q raid he made no difference between
the property or scalp of an American
and a Mexican. He owned the land
before Cortez appeared. The process
of wedding him out is still going IN.
And SO when the news came in that
the Yaquis had taken the warpath and
killed or driven of the men at the Sol
talto mine above US we turned out With
the 300 soldiers sent up to meet the
war party and drive it buck.
For three days we fought the Yaquis
before we got them on the retreat. 1t
was not enough, however, that we had
saved the big mines and 500 almost de-
fenseless people. Orders came to the
colonel to push on after the retreating
Indians and hold them up If possible
and exterminate them. We went with
them to see the thing through and be-
cause they had need of Il rifles
anu VI Jul Suul pSioolAAS' JIM uAAoAS
the mountains the soldiers could no
longer move in a body. There was
constant fighting, but the Indians were
continually forced back. By and by
they had reached the women and chill
dren and their stronghold, and the
Mexican colonel rubbed his hands and
laughed and said:
SSTV1 hop1 not than, nonnad I'M at
last, and not one shall escape. 1t is
the best show we have had for half a
century to exterminate them"
The stronghold of the Indians was a
series of riffs and caves in the face OF
the mountain. There was but n
path leading to it. That wound over q
number Of ridges and then dipped
down into a basin which had a circum.
ference Of about half a mile. The colo
nel's plan was to advance the whole
force into this basin when night fell,
and, taking cover behind the powders
lying thickly beneath the caves. we
should be ready at daylight to begin
the work of determination. While a
portion of the troopers kept up a fire to
} prevent the Yaquis from leaving their
caves another portion would collect
fuel and smoke them to death. We
were not averse to dealing the Indians
a hard blow and one to be remember
ed, but we did not go in for the ex-
termination of u thousand souls at
once. more than half of whom were
women and children.
Gentlemen. you are not under my
command" said the colonel as be rub,
, bed his hands and smiled, land you
will therefore decide for yourselves
= When darkness comes my command
will march down into the basin. Fol
; fifteen years l have been hunting the
) Yaquis. For fifteen years l have beer
! hoping for just this chance"
They could not charge us with COW
ardice, but when our decision not tt
support them in a massacre was made
known there were smiles and expires
sions of contempt.
; An hour after dark the soldiers lief
US and went marching in single fill
down into the basin. | do not believe
the first a had yet descended int
. the basin when we suddenly caugh
sight of a signal fire to the right.
; The Yaquis were not to be surprised
Z During the next hour the whole side o
the mountain showed signals at inter
walls, and then there was an interva
of three hours, during which not a ligh
i. was to be seen. At midnight from tn
. center Of the mountain a signal fir
= suddenly blazed out. 1t did not las
. more than a minute and was follow
. ed by a noise none Of us could max
out. 1t was like the roaring of a gal
= in a narrow gorge Of the mountain:
3 and we had been listening to it for pei
! haps ten minutes when from the dar
: basin beneath us arose such a cry q
. few men ever heard.
= "In the name Of God, what can
I be?" asked each man Of his conrad
: but no one could answer. Down thel
= in the midnight blackness some teri
= BILE tragedy vas being enacted, but "
. must wait for daylight to solve it. TT
u roaring, rushing sound came to us at
y er the scream died away, but mol
& softly than at first. From that hot
y till dawn came there was no signalin
q no noise, nothing to prove that the
3 was life in the mountains beyond o,
9 little band. The peaks Of the mou
tains stood out first. Then we folio,
II ed the dawn down till our eyes reste
g on the caves. In front of them we
& hundreds Of people, but they we
standing quiet and peering down in
q the basin. In another minute daylig
e had crept down there, and we look
4 and cried aloud in horror. The botto
= Of the basin. as we saw it the event.
= ing before, had been covered. wi
e scrubs and grass. 1t was a basin st
Il but the bottom was hidden under te
- twenty, thirty feet Of water. The
. was no outlet, and we could see t
e waters rushing and swirling rou.
h and round as II to find one. A
& borne on the rush were the bodies
= the dead-of the 231 men who had II
e US a few hours before. Not M b
4 escaped. High up on their side Of t
q mountain the Yaquis had damned
y spring or rivulet and stored up the '