Douglas daily dispatch., 1926-10-03

! At daybreak one chilly morning IN
May the pursuers surprised the out-
law Indians camping in fancied secur-
ity, some so miles from San Bernar-
dino ranch. The attack was totally
unexpected and the Apaches were
quickly routed. They fled for their
lives, abandoning their camp equip
Inent and even leaving many of the
guns acquired in their recent raids,
Very soon the scattered fugitives
had all disappeared, finding conceal
ment easy in the many small canyons,
orevices and caves abounding in that
broken country The troopers, after
making certain that further pursuit
was useless. returned to destroy the
camp before taking the back trail
out of the mountains.
Entering one of the indian wickiups,
Mr. Slaughter found a tiny Apache
girl, perhaps IA months Old lying
asleep on the ground. forgotten by
her people. she was dressed in some
crude garments-very dirty they were,
too-and her feet were bare. Picking
up from the ground brown woolen
| shawl, Mr.. Slaughter wrapped this
about the baby, and carried her into
| the open. AS he stepped from the
wiciup a shot rang out on the morning
air, and a bullet whiZzed past his
head The troopers, noting that the
shot came from the direction of
certain boulder, fired at that spot
and killed an Apache warrior who
was lurking behind the rock. Prob
ably he was the father of the deserted
i1ao ta l1ar. hY1f
there was never any way of proving
the truth of this surmise Not an.
other Apache was seen on this expe-
fdition, and nothing definite was ever
learned about the Indian baby or her
parents.
| Before leaving the mountains, the
| troopers burned the camp of the
Indians and destroyed all their sup
plies and equipment. Mr.. Slaughter
saved war-bag and two buckskin
papoose carriers, found in the same
wickfup tn which he had discovered
the baby.
The soldiers returned 20 headquar-
tiers. Mr. Slaughter and Jess Fisher
rode back to San Bernardino, accom-
Panied by the scouts, who took turns
carrying the Indian baby. On arr1v-
ing at the ranch, Mr.. Slaughter took
the papocse to his wife, and she was
delighted with the little wild thing.
They both wanted to keep her, SO San
Bernardino ranch became her home.
Because she was found I'm May, she
was named Apache May, but this was
soon shortened to ."Patchy." A bath
and some clean clothes wrought a
magic change in her appearance. The
scouts, before they left the ranch,
made a pair of tiny buckskin leggings
for her, and these are still preserved,
with other quaint possessions, in the
war-bag.
Patchy's crude little indian gar.
ments were kept as curiosties, and
are still in existence. There were
only two-an underwaist and drees
-y6, for reasons that will now ap-
rear, they have aroused the interest
of. hundreds of people. Probably no
ether little girl in Arizona ever had
such unique clothing.
The underwaist, made of White cot
ton cloth, had evidently been cut
Down from larger garment. 1t was
dartfitted, like. a basque, ana made
to fasten down the front, with numer-
Gus buttons set close together. Some
people living in the Gila valley, m
innate friends of the massacred Mer-
rill family, examined Patchy's outfit,
and declared positively that her
lunderwaist was made out of the Nor
mon girls basque. They also identi-
fled the brown fringed shawl, which
Mr.. Slaughter had wrapped around
the Indian baby that morning in the
wickiup, as having belonged to the
same murdered girl
Patchy's dress was even more Curl
ous The tight fitting waist was
made from a flour sack, while the
full skirt, gathered and seweG to the
waist by hand, had once been an
election poster The names of the
candidates, printed in large black
type, were clearly dscernible. Nc
doubt the Indian mother, when fash
joining her little daughters dress
thought those letters very pretty
, decoration. The printing on the skirt
i was as follows:
r REPUBLICAN, TICKET
Delegate to Congress
Thomas F. Wilson
For Joint Councilman
j. w. Calkins
For Representatives
II Hicks
J. o. Stanford
j. S. Robbins
A. Wright
e. G.. Norton
County Surveyor
=