The Redwood gazette., 1935-02-07
Hitch~H Hiking Soldier Of Fortune,
Former Marine Writes Interviews
With Early Settlers for Gazette


of Ray E. Cotton who has COM
piled a series of articles for the
Redwood Gazette, the first of
which appears on page eight.
Dressed for hitch-hiking which
is his mode of travel, Mr.. Cotton
called at The Gazette office Satur-
day noon and asked for permission
to write a story, for a small fee,
on the prehistoric residents of
this county. Not being archaeo-
logists ourselves and thinking
such a story might be interest
ing, the agreement was made.
A half hour later the story was
done and Mr.. Cotton was asking
for the right to write a series of
interviews with pioneers. He
worked Saturday afternoon and
night and Sunday morning, draw
ing his pay for each article as
soon as it was completed. Mon
day morning he was gone. Here
is his life story as he tells it.
Captain Ray E. Cotton, travel
ing newspaper man and archaeolo-
gist, has had an enviable career
during his SO years of life. Start
ing at the age of Is when he left
his home for a career of adven-
ture, this man of the world has
lived among the Yaqui Indian
tribes of the state of Sonora,
Mexico, has witnessed the weird
rite of the Voodoo worshippers in
Haiti and Santo Domingo, served
in Mexico with federal army dur
ing the revolution of 1929, and
spent ten years in the U. S. Mar
inc Corps.
During his service in the mar
ines, he participated in revolu-
tionary fighting in Cuba, Haiti
and Santo Domingo and during
the World War he served in the
British North Sea fleet off of
Heligoland with the U. S. S. Tex
as. Many thrilling engagements
between allied warships and the
German submarines were witness
ed by Captain Cotton during his
service in this capacity.
In Mexico he witnessed the an
Inhalation of the rebel army under
General Jose Gonzalo Escobar
which occurred at La Reforma,
Mexico in 1929. The rebels hold
ing the city and intrenched at the
railroad station were attacked by
a powerful federal military force
under the combined command of
General Juan Alamazan and Cen
eral P. Elias Gales, Minister Of
War. Three times the federal
cavalry charged into the rebel
machine guns, but were forced to
retreat under the heavy gunfire of
the rebel machine gunners, sever
al of which were foreign adven-
turers and soldiers of fortune.
Finally seeing the folly of more
charges, General Gales ordered
planes into the air and squadron
of federal planes under the COM
mand of Lieut.. Col. Gustavo Leon,
scared aloft to bomb out the re-
bells. High explosive bombs soon
made a death trap of the burning
depot and the rebels poured out
like rats from a sinking ship. Fe-
deral machine gunners opened fire
and decimated the fleeing rebels.
Among his friends, Captain Col
ton numbers Captain Frank A.
Hamer of the Texas State Rang
ers, Colonel James w. Spauiding
of the Royal Canadian Mounted
Police, Major Linn Adams, Com
mandant of the worlds famous
Pennsylvania State Constabulary
and numerous governors and Of
Gals in all parts of the world. In
his collection of autographed pho
tos he has several Of world fam
Gus wresters, movie stars and
others of international fame.
Hitch hiking he has crossed the
United States Ia times from coast
to coast and it is his boast that he
personally knows most of the
editors and publishers of news
papers in the United States and
Canada.
He carries letters from editors
of leading metropolitan newspap-
ers of the nation which testify to
tho a,thanficitu of his articles