The Parker post., 1915-04-24
WILL TRAP
MONKEYS
A NEW INDUSTRY WILL SOON BE
STARTED IN YUMA COUNTY,.
FIRST OF THE KIND IN THE
UNITED STATES.


George, Dan McGlone and Walter
Humphreys, all of Parker, for the
purpose OF fitting out an expedition
to proceed to place near Cunning
hams Pass, in Yuma county, about
70 miles northeast of Parker, and
there engage in trapping monkeys,
known to exist in those parts, and
to keep, propagate, raise, domesticate.
train, trade, bargain, sell and dispose
OF monkeys and their progeny, or in
other words to carry on a regular
monkey business.
To this end George and McGlone
have been busy for nearly two
weeks building a huge cage to con
tain the monkeys, making traps, fix
ing up Georges burro wagon which
will carry their luggage, and other
wise perfecting arrangements for the
expedition. They expect to be all
ready to start by next Thursday
morning. Humphreys is at present
mining across the river but is assist
ing to finance the scheme and will
Join the others after a permanent
camp is established and the work
we'll under way.
The assertion that wild monkeys
are TO be found in Arizona may sound
like myth and be ridiculed by
many, but it is an indisputable fact,
recently established beyond all doubt,
that in a certain section of this state,
near Cunningham Pass, large num-
bers of the simian tribe may be
found, though they are so extremely
shy that one may travel for weeks
at time through a very popuolus
locality and yet not even get a
glimpse of one of them. They are of
a "cafe au lait" color which matches
the sandy soil perfectly, and this
added to their extremely delicate
sense of hearing, quick eyesight,
rapid movements and crafty ability
to hide, render it almost impossible
to detect them.
For quite a number of years back,
reports of having seen monkeys out
in the desert were occasionally
brought in by lone prospectors and
cowboys but the informant was in
laughed to scorn or met
with the jOcular inquiry as to what
brand Of liquor he had been indulging
IN. So carelessly was this intimation
Of having delirum tremens handed
out to those who had the temerity
% say they had seen desert monkeys
hat those who were occasionally
given to drink were led to believe
hat they actually had 'em"-
on the brain-while those
Of abstemious habits discretely kept
heir mouths shut for fear Of unpleas-
ant wrongful accusation. Yet this is
not surprising for it is said that to
watch one of these elusive creatures
ambling over the ground is like |
a phantom or a fleeting
SO quickly do they move and
so perfectly does their color blend
with he sterile earth; take your eye
off the object for just an instant and
it is gone. That is the main reason
why it took no great measure of per-
suasion to convince those who had
accidentally run across them to dis
believe their own eyes and agree that
it must be a chimera instead of a
Mrs Rose Ellis of this
place has a couple of these monkeys
at her hotel in Wickenburg, the Ellis
House, that were left there by pros
pector many months ago as lien
spite of this proof positive nobody
Or at least very few-will believe
that they are Arizona monkeys.
The person sought to be enlightened
on that score will simply assume a
derisiVe grin and tap his forehead
as he mumbles some
thing about bad whiskey SO in this
way the secret of the desert monkeys
has been kept from serious consider
alton, by the public.
But now since prohibition has
come to Arizona and the imputation
IF insObriety and contemptious ridi-
cule are no longer feared as of yore, /
hose who have seen the monkeys on
he desert are free to tell about it
and their word is given some
5redence.
Of course these monkeys are not
Indigenous to Arizona but are known