El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1917-11-17
First Americans Reaching San Elizario
We're Taken for Bandits by Inhabitants

On me Lulru Gay We Ieacne4 II
Paso tJuarezI. As before. the cap
tain and myself went on ahead and
obtained permission from tie aicdde
TO sell our goods in his town. In ad-
uitlOn, he allowed Us to use the ruins
of an old fort erected by the Span
iards a q protection against the In
dians. but which these degenerate de-
sceudauts never thought of using
II was an earthwork Of considera Bile
extent, with a wide and deep dry ditch
around it, and the entrance had "A
large gate, in tolerably good repair,
which we closed every night. II was
large enough TO contain all our wag-
Ous. mules and horses Our cattle,
however. were pastured on the mea-
dows on the banks OF the river. We
now opened our bales OF assorted
merchandise. and under a large avn
ing 10 protect us and the goods from
the suns rays. commenced our sales
You may Judge Of the profits when
I state that English and american
czllcoe7- that cost from 10 TO 49,
cents per ya-d. sold az from IS cents
TO 81 per Vara $50 is inches. and
Everything else sold in tile same pro-
portion as TO prices Payments We're
! all made IN silver. As fast as re-
I Ceived We threw the coin into water
pals, and when pail was fun IL was
+ emptied into a flour barrel As soon
+ al the barrel WIS fun it was headed
up and another one prepared.
The Wen Paid OH.
Tho captain here pafu off all his
+ men We were Just four months
making the trip from san Antonio 10
] Fl FaSo- consequently, as we had 100
men at 50 each per month. we dis
{ bursed $4,000. all in the silver re-
( ccived at Fl Paso- The captain re-
I tanned Long Bill and another old trap
/ per and hunter called old Jake. These
/ two. with Paucho and ourselves, made
( five men left out Of the crowd We had
T on arriving AT FL Paso- AIaurello be
{ hsved very handsomely toward the
+ men He advised them TO push on TO
/ California. and made each man
/ present Of the horse he rode. As
some preferred mules. these he sup
piled with the latter animals. He Of
fered them also some va CONS to take
/ their provisions in, but they preferred
4 q few pack mules. not wishing TO be
troubled with the wagons. About
Z one-half the number really did 80 to
4 adventures and fate ] am not cOsnl-
zant-
The other half. tempted by tbs
devil and composed OF the worst
/ spirits OF our late caravan. concluded
3 to remain in New Mexico, and became
/ late here the fate Of these men. which
/ occurred only 4 month afterward- as
J we were about leaving the country
+ on our return TO Texas
b
: on the poor MeNicans. Whenever
1 there was tertulia or fanda1Eo,
there would they assemble, and after
/ the bale Cor dance when all hands
( we're well primed with pulque. meg
cal. OF aguardlcnte. the three common
T liquors Of the country. monte would
be played II they won, IL was all
right II they lost. they picked some
sort OF quarrel with their antsEOn-
3 lists. and iu the melee. which always
. Ha..# nanH iva HHl
pretty freely on the lIeXicans. and
some of them pocketed an The money
that according 10 custom. was piled
. on the tables by the players
Cettin= Rid OF Bandits.
II happened at this time that
handed by John T. Bartlett. OF Rhode
Island. was at work running the
nouu1ar- line between the United
. states and Mexico These bandits got
into some difficulty with this party.
two or whom we're robbed and muir
dercd Bartlett hearing that these
men had belonged 10 our party, came
over TO see MaurellO. and asked his
advice as 10 what should be done
After some consultation the follow
ling plan was adopted The next night
a grand rertulia was 20 take place Al
a poSada Cavern I'm II Paso. at which
these raScals would be sure 10 attend.
The evening came. the men did at
2
veyinE party. some 200 in number,
we'll armed, surrounded the building.
The men were called out one BY one.
gagged and dissrmed The next
morning three of them who we're con-
Cerued in the murder o. the two
Young men were hanged before the
eyes OF the remainder n the party,
who were all placed in the stocks. Il
was discussed. in their hearing II
tEev tthe remaining f3) should be
eHHrs D. - n~ssn =
that they should be left in the stocks
all night and shot the next morning
During the night Long Bill sup
piled with the KEYS 70 the stocks.
went and liberated them, telling them
that he could not bear TO see old COM
TauiouS shot down like dogs. and sd-
viScd them strongly 10 get clear OF
NsV Mexico as soon as possible, as. II
they We're caught they would be shot
or hanged at once They thankfully
followed the advice and not one was
ever seen i'm those diEginEs again
What became of the miscroaats was
never known Eartleft. Maurello and
th" rest OF uy cluc'Sled heartily at our
ruse To get rid OF them.
silver Melted Into Bsrs.
It took us a little over a months
time 10 sell all our goods. We then
prepared for our return TO san An
tonic We melted an our silver and I
ran IT, into bars for convenience Of Z
Tire lI7 EiNI u II'N- ID q engaged the ser ]
vices Of - old hunters and trappers
who wanted 10 revisit Texas. and. I
with our party made so men all told ]
We we're al wei mounted and well I
armed We took 100 good mules in /
addition 20 two OF the best OF our f.
small WAGONS We placed panniers :
or the backs nf portion OF our mules I
and loaded them with the bars OF sill I
yer. The others and the WagOns car
ried provisions. In order to make /
quicker trip back we placed - mules /
to each wagon.
our captain made a present OF the 4
four-pounder TO the authorities Of the
town of Fl Paso. and proud enough /
1ndios braves would dare TO attack
town so well fortified as theirs now
was For auEhr 7 know they may
still have that redoubtable four
FOUNDER.
NaureIlo thought he would take a
shorter route on our return. He did
so. and the whole party came near i
being lost on r1e desert plains. 7 viii
not enter into the details of our re-
turn trim. but viii merely state that /
in 30 days from the time we left Fl n
Paso we reached san Antonio. We I
suffered severely from thirst and left ID
some 20 mules on the road. Our party
was here dishauded.
Made Plenty 81 Money. II
After aE our expenses were paid.
MY modest share OF the profits
TO $4,000. What was Maui
relics share I ann unable to state 7 /.
only know that with the proceeds he
purcha scd a sugar plantation in Cuba
that was rcsold by him in 1850 for
100000 i'm gold