Mohave County miner and our mineral wealth., 1921-10-21
MRS. KAUFMAN TELLS STORY
 OF FATAL DESERT TRAGEDY

Miner carried a story of the desert tragedy of the Kaufman family, wherein the father and one of the children were claimed as victims by the desert in the southern part of the county. It will be remembered by our readers how Sheriff Mahoney followed the trail until he found the father dead, and then on to where the others were to find that they had been taken care of at one of the ranch houses, after one of the little ones had passed away. The Arizona Republican in their issue of October IA, carries story of the tragedy as given out by Mrs. Kaufman, after her recovery. It reads:
 MT. and Mrs. Kaufman and their three children were on their way from Pasadena to a little ranch they had near Casa Grande. Wednesday, Au- gust 10, they were on a short cut be- tween Yucca, Mohave county, and Congress Junction, in southwestern Yavapai county. That was the day their water ran out.
 What followed is told by Mrs. Kauf.. man, together with the grim, fatal jest the elements had left them. Suf- flee it to say that on Friday afternoon a passing motor party found Mrs. Kaufman and the children, one dying, alone with their car on the desert, not four miles from the Clarence Ham ranch and within a mile of the Bill Williams river. Two days later searchers found the body of Kaufman on the desert not far from Signal. He had fallen in the night and died of thirst within 50 yards of an artificial water reservoir for stock.
 But to Mrs. Kaufman's story:
 My husband, our three children and I (said Mrs. Kaufman) had started to drive to land we own in Arizona. We were told of short cut across the desert. Right away the sand began to frighten mer-nothing but sand and strange hills, hot and white. And it was Wednesday.
 The heat was awful. We had only a little water left. By and by we came to a sign post, pointing toward water. We kept going in the direc- tion the sign said.
 (Years before three prospectors, themselves nearly done to death. by the desert, had planted a crude sign post there SO that others might not suffer thirst. Meanwhile the elements had effected fatefM change in the sign, though this was unknown to the Kaufmans. When erected it had read:
 r MILES TO WATER
 All morning we drove. The sun kept getting hotter, but we never came to any water like the sign said. MT. Kaufman said maybe we had got off the road, so he decided to go in another direction. All afternoon he kept driving, but we never saw any water. Then MT. Kaufman stopped, and looked at me. l felt that some thing was wrong and told him.
 Starts Screaming
 When he heard me say that, he just sat and looked at me, and his face turned gray. Then he screamed-oh, my, how he screamed! And right away he seemed to age from 39 to S9 He kept screaming, "We are lost, we are lost," and cursing the Lord. And then the children got scared and be- gan to cry, and had to cry, too.
 l put my arms around him and said: Papa, all your life you have been a doubter, and you've sinned against the Lord. You're out here now, and we're all lost, and maybe that's the Lords way to punish you But just trust Him and everything will come out all right" Course was talking to him in German. Papa was silent for a while, then he saiC Mama, 1 guess you're right. Tn a sinner and should believe in the Lord. do believe in the Lord. Pray to Him to help us." And we all knelt down and asked the Lord to help us
 We'll. after that we felt better, anc papa said we'd keep on moving. But we could go but very slow and it was getting daNk, so we decided to stop Nearly all our water was gone anc the children were crying for a drink
 Papa couldn't stand that, so he saic he would go and try to find the rancf house we stayed at the night before
 Talk of Dying
 1 didn't want him to go, and begged him on my knees to stay, bu he said, Mama, I've got to go if vol and the children are to be saved iron dying" .
 Don't worry about dying" l tolt him. "I'm ready. It's so easy to die and if we're going to die l want yo' here." But he wouldn't listen. H' took oranges and lemons, and kissed me and the children. Then we al knedt down and prayed to the Lord After that papa started out, and h' told me he'd be back soon. But knew he never would come back.
 That was Wednesday night. W. had little water left in the radiator and A little to eat-fIuit and came,