Douglas daily dispatch., 1928-02-05

to pick up the trail The bodies of
the judge and his wife were stripped
OF everything, but, contrary to the
barbarouS practices of the Apaches,
they were but slightly mutilated. The
fact that the assault was made upon
a well-travelled highway, where dis
covery was imminent at any moment,
may account for this.
From the mute remains of this sad
tragedy, the details could be recon-
Structed with approximate accuracy.
The body of the judge was found be-
hind a small clump of bushes about
| rs yards beyond the point at which
the blackboard in which they were
travelling was found-turned IN the
opposite direction. This would indi-
cate that upon being attacked, the
| judge turned the team and leaped 10
the ground in the forlorn hope that
he might be able SO to engage the
cruel Apaches that his wife could
escape by driving on the back track
Between the blackboard and his body
were found three exploded shells of
| the peculiar "bottle neck" cartridge
used in Winchester rifles Model 1876,
now obsolete. Four more shells were
found near his body, showing that he
made a running fight to the cover he
sought.
| Mother and Boy Slain
| Meanwhile the blackboard had pro-
ceeded about SO yards from its turn
ing point, when one of the horses
was slain, whereupon the franz tic
mother, taking the boy in her arms,
attempted, to escape by running afoot.
She was overtaken about 80 yards
from the blackboard and her skull
crushed by blow from the butt OF
rifle or the stock of an army Colt
Her body disclosed no bullet wounds,
whereas the judge was struck seven
times. l am sure that present day
readers will shudder after reading of
| this outrage, yet in those bygone days
there was a class of nuts back east
| who said that we of the southwest
were i'll treating the poor wards of our
government, and insisted upon placing
civilian agents in charge of the Indian
reservations. / will flatly state that
when Lieut.. Charles B. Gatewood,
Britton Davis and Captain Crawford
were placed in charge at the San Car
| los and White mountain reservations,
the Indians got what was coming to
them on ration day, and they were
contented and peaceful. But just as
soon as the nuts and dunbbells 1
have mentioned got their way, they,
the poor and ill-treated Indians took
| to the Warpath.
Posse PurSueS Indians
got that off my chest, SO will con-
1 fTQPn
boy was found The Indians pro-
ceeded in a southeaSterly direction,
crossing the tracks of the Southern
Pecific railroad at point little west
of Separ Captain Black had hard
| job to mount his rangers, but finally
rounded up enough horses to mount
his men. He cut the Indian trail just
Esouth of Separ, and followed it for
Lover IL hours through the western
portion of the Animus valley, but lost
| it when the Indians scattered south
ward through the mountains.
There were 81 men in the posse
under Captain Black and First Lieut..
John R. Phillips and Second Lieut..
IT. A. Wood I think they belonged
| to the fourth United States cavalry.
Lordsburg, Lightendorf and Shake
speare furnished the following named
men: j. G. Bartlett, Johnny O'Brien,
George Sherrier, Neal McGinnes, Peter
Irshunl, William and Tod Holmig,
Rubin Hadden, Josh Rutland, William
Knox, William Sterns, Frank Douglas,
Gus Tompkins, James Harper and
Charles Thomas.
Child Never Found
| When the rangers got to Playas val
ley they were joined by Davenport and
one of the Whitman brothers of
Lordsburg. The rest were volunteers.
B. B. Ownby and George Parks with
their men brought the bodies OF Judge
McComas and wife to Lordsburg. They
were sent to Fort Scott, Kan, Tor IN
terment. Fort Scott was the. home OF
Hon. Eugene F.. Ware, prominent po-
litically and professionally, and pen
sion commissioner under the admin
listration of President Roosevelt. Mrs.
McComas was his sister. The tragedy
aroused universal indignation and re-
gret throughout the entire southwest,
since the victims were prominent In
] it's professional and social life.
! No trace of little Charley was ever
found, although search parties were
organized Photographs, with offers
Of a large reward, were distributed
throughout southern New Mexico, Ari-
IONA and the northern states OF Mex
leo, but without results.
! Round Up Indians
General Crook rounded up the In
dams in the Sierra Madre mountains
of Sonora in May of the same year.
Geronimo and Mana had a poW-WoW
with General Crook. They promised
to come back to the reservation. At
that time / was chief of pack train
and scout at Fort Grant, Ariz.; was
ordered to proceed to the Mexican
border with supplies General Crook
arrived at the line with all the In
dams he had rounded up. The whole
outfit was held there by the Mexican
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