Bisbee daily review., 1921-03-16
LAST OF THE
 ] AY RAWKERS
 DIES, AGED 42

euzo Dow Stephens. e. ;ast of the Jayhawkers. an intrepid party recruit cd in Illinois in 1S49 for th- overland journey to lhe California gold fields. died in Oakland Cal, Feb.uary II
 Tragic. bitter sufferings borne by tho JayhaVkers m crossing Death Valley were recalled by the 'deaJh of stephens The experiences of the party closely paralleled those of the famous il-fated Donner iarty i2 of vaem starved froze and died in the suows oi Placer County. California, in the winter of lSz6-7. The Jayhu ~kCIs without chart or guide. amazed the daring men of 5hcir per.cl by forcing their way across Death Valley by sheer pluck and per severance. Four of them died of thirst starvation and exhaustion in their three months struggIe across earth baked so hard that the feet O. thefr oxen made no imprint. amid rocks that tore their feet and forced them to abandon wagons and in shift ing sands that sucked down thCir feet and scorched their bodies.
 3f in Original Party
 There were thirty-one young and vigorous men in the original Jay hawkers party. Driving siCw-footed vxen to covered wagons. they started from Galeshurg. Illinois April ;, lS49 to scoop tabled riches from the grass roots
 Tn the late summer their ponderous oxen drew the creaking wagons into Salt Lake City. Utah. There they were called upon to make a mCmen tous decision as they were told the :. regular mountain route to San Fran cisco would lie beneath twenty feet or Sierra Nevada sncw before they could reach the passes. They were warned. tod. of the awful fate that had befallen the Donner party. and were told to wait in Salt Lake three or four months. when the trail would be cleared.
 Impatient. they sought an alterna- tive and joining with other argonauts 107 wagons started in the late fall Tor Los Angeles under guidance of John Hunt. who contracted to take them over the cid Spanish trail through San Rernardino Hunt was in no hur- " and dissatisfaction became ram pant at the slow progress. Much was said og short cut leading west that would eliminate soc miles from their journey
 pfunt could not diSsuade them ann about he first of,Noyember leo wag- ons turned from the trail to attempt the unknown short cut. leaving him with but seven wagons Three days later those taking the short GU; came to precipice above a plain and dis cCuraged most of them turned back to the original trail tc fellow Hunt
 Bni the q Jayhawkers pressed on. not knowing the short cut was to take them across the region after ward appropriately named Dedth Val ley. The record from this poini ls one of continuous hardships suffer ings almost beyond imagination and of doeged determination to live. ' n- pered ,viib self sacTfice for comrades
 Saved By Snow storm
 Early on the tourney a man weak ened hy consumption succumoed- once the Javhawkers were saved by snow storm after six days without water. Their oxen. weakened bv lacs of grass and water on the arid. bar zen. region became too weak to draw 'he wagons up rocky slopes. Wagons were abandoned. men and oxen talk HE ftlE E4tANnr EHHAA NAAN-i Fighting their wav through the sand they came staggering to water hole in ,he. desert and were joined by the Rav ' V B.ier his wife and three children. who, had been members Of Hunts original party. They broueht air number mp to thirtvfive one having died
 The weeks that followed were large Iy repetitions Of what had gone he fore They were saved aG&in and again aftsx days without water by finding scanty supply After sev- eTai days thirst William ischsm. eN- haused lay down and begged his com panions to leave him. Hours later they found trickling stream in the sand and hastenea back 10 him. but he was unable to swallow and died n their arms. oxen, lean and weak. were killed and eaten. their blood be- ing drunk to allay thirst
 On the shores of an alkalin9 lake that mocked them. a man named Fish gssped out his life William Robin sen died with his face tO the west, just as scouts reported water a mile a7ray
 II was the end of January that snow was reached on rising slope and juniper and oak trees were seen far away Co the south With reneH- ed hope came more speed and on February 1850 fat cattle were seen crazing Two of these were shot. at- tracting SDanish hnrsemen or the San Francisduit0 Rancho They treated the weary. emaci8te0 Javhawkers with compression and a few days later they were eladdened bv the sight of fhe sea at 9au Buena Ventura. Cali- fornia