What is known as the Loring Massacre occurred on the 5th of November,
1871. On account of the prominence of some of the victims, it was
commented upon very extensively, not only in Arizona and California,
but throughout the East.
The Wickenburg correspondent of the " Journal-Miner" gives the
following account of the massacre, the communication being printed in
that paper on November 11th, 1871 :
"At a point about nine miles from Wickenburg a party of mounted men,
either Indians or Mexicans disguised after the fashion of Apache
warriors, rushed down upon the stage as it was passing through a
canyon, and fired a volley into the passengers, killing all but two
persons, and slightly wounding these. The wounded, Mr. Kruger and Miss
Sheppard, not being disabled, immediately sprang from the stage and
started together towards Culling 's Station, while one detachment of
the bloodthirsty demons surrounded the stage, and the other went in
pursuit of the fugitives, and kept up a desultory fire, which, being
all mounted, was unsteady, so that only a slight wound was received by
Miss Sheppard, and neither sustained further injury than the wounds
inflicted by the first fire. The pursuit was kept up for a distance of
nearly half a mile, the pursuers being kept at bay by Kruger, who still
retained his revolver and fired upon them whenever they came too near,
causing them to scatter and retreat, but only to rally again to the
pursuit until finally they withdrew and joined their fellows. The
fugitives continued on their way toward Culling 's Well Station until
they hailed the eastern bound mail a few miles from that station. Here
they were picked up by the driver, who retraced his steps to the
station, from which point information of the calamity was sent to
Wickenburg via the Vulture Mine, the bearer fearing to proceed by the
direct route. The dispatch reached Wickenburg about midnight, when two
parties of citizens started for the scene ; one of them to bring in the
dead bodies, and the other, under command of George Munroe, to take the
trail of the murderers. Upon reaching the stage a most horrible picture
was presented to their sight. Five men, Messrs. Loring, Shoholm, Lanz,
Hamel, and Salmon, who, eighteen hours previous left Wickenburg full of
life and hope in the happy anticipation of soon again greeting their
friends after a prolonged absence, lay side by side rigid in death and
drenched in blood ; the unavenged acts of a murder as dark and damnable
as ever stained the hands of an assassin. The mystery which surrounds
the identity of the murder exists in the disposition of the mail and
baggage. One mail sack was cut open and its contents scattered over the
ground, the other was left untouched. The baggage of the passengers was
broken open, and while articles of little value were carried away,
large sums of money and other valuables remained. All this would
suggest the work of ignorant savages, but as neither the ammunition nor
animals had been removed, some are of the opinion that the outrage was
perpetrated by a band of Mexican bandits from Sonora. Mr. Kruger, who
has really had the best opportunity of deciding this question, states
positively that they were Indians, but at all events the next mail may
bring reports which will place the guilt of this terrible crime where
it properly belongs, when we hope it will not be left to the local
authorities to redress the wrong or avenge an outrage against the
Government and their people at large."
The passengers on this coach when leaving Wickenburg, were in high
spirits, anticipating no danger whatever along the route. Their arms
were stored beneath the cushions of the seats for convenience and
safety. All were in high glee, anticipating soon a reunion with their
friends and families. Miss Sheppard and Mr. Kruger, and three others
sat on the inside of the coach. Young Loring rode on the outside in
company with the driver. The first notification of danger was at a
point about nine miles from Wickenburg when they were startled by the
voice of the driver, calling out: " Apaches! Apaches!!" Scarcely was
the alarm given when a volley was discharged from the rifles of the
savages into the stage coach, succeeded almost instantly by a second
volley. The driver and two passengers were killed outright at the first
fire, and the remaining four passengers, with one exception, were
wounded. "At that time," says J. M. Barney, "the survivors were Miss
Sheppard and Messrs. Hamel, Kruger and Loring. The last named had thus
far escaped uninjured. As the Indians were rushing upon the stage,
after firing the first volley, Miss Sheppard and Mr. Kruger sprang to
the ground at the side opposite to that from which their assailants
were approaching, and escaped with their lives. Unfortunately for
Messrs. Loring and Hamel, in the excitement of the moment, they lost
all presence of mind and jumped from the stage at the side occupied by
the Indians.
"The former, being unarmed, could offer no resistance, and so
endeavored to escape by flight. This effort, however, was hopeless. He
soon found himself in the center of a group of savages, and there fell,
pierced by two bullets and dispatched by a lance thrust in the breast.
Mr. Hamel was killed at about the same instant, and those who were best
acquainted with the Indian customs believed that he must have fought
bravely for his life, as he was the only member of the party who was
scalped it having been customary among the savages to disfigure in such
a manner only the bodies of those who fell while fighting courageously
to defend their lives.
"The trailing party (under George Munroe) then returned to Wickenburg,
where Captain Fred W. Shoholm, W. G. L. Salmon and P. M. Hamel, (found
scalped), came to their death by gunshot wounds, received at the hands
of Indians trailed towards the Date Creek Reservation.
" 'F. Purcella, Julius A. Goldwater, David Morgan, W. W. Weber, Aaron
Barnett, Dennis May, Charles H. Richardson Charles Barbour, Mack
Morris, Foreman.'
"The survivors, Kruger and Miss Sheppard, were confident that the
murderers were Apache-Mohaves from the Camp Date Creek Reservation.
They had on the blue pants worn by the Reservation Indians and had the
gait, appearance and bearing of Apaches during the whole time they were
under observation. In addition to this, Captain Meinholdt, of the 3d
Cavalry, who had been detailed to find out, if possible, who they were,
followed the tracks in the direction of Camp Date Creek. The footprints
were round toed, after the manner of the Apaches. On the trail a
reservation hunting bag was picked up, and a pack of cards, with the
corners cut off, such as were used by the Apache-Mohaves. He declared
in his report to his superior that it was his firm conviction that the
murderers were Camp Date Creek Apaches. Furthermore, subsequent to the
committal of the murder, two of the Reservation Indians died of gunshot
wounds, but whites were not permitted to see them.
"The suspicion that had at first been expressed by a few that the crime
might have been committed by Mexican bandits furnished sufficient
grounds for the starting of such a rumor. Thereupon, interested,
so-called friends of the Indians, here and elsewhere, seized upon this
flaw in some people's judgment for the purpose of making capital out of
it, but a number of wellknown Wickenburg citizens, who had examined and
buried the bodies, as well as followed the trail of the murderers,
published over their signatures a letter containing the best of proofs
and reasons for asserting that Indians had committed the deed. The
letter was as follows :
"'Wickenburg, November 12th, 1871.
" ' Editor of the ' Miner' : In looking over the last issue of your
paper, Nov. llth, and a report giving details concerning the late
tragedy which occurred near our place, we wish to correct one error the
murderers were not mounted on horses, but were all on foot, and wearing
the Apache mocassins, leaving on their trail many Indian articles,
(among others, bone dust used by the Indians as a medicine), which were
brought in by George Munroe. As the affair is a serious one and
unprecedentedly bold, our citizens, wishing to have the blame attached
to none but the guilty ones, have spared no trouble or expense in
thoroughly satisfying themselves as to the identity of the murderers.
"'As soon in the morning as it became light enough to see a footprint,
a party of our citizens was on the spot, and took the trail. Judging
from the indications, after killing the passengers, something scared
the Indians, causing them to leave in hot haste, scattering in
different directions. After following up their different trails a
distance of four or five miles, they all united, forming one large
trail and leading toward the Date Creek Reservation. The trail showed
them to be a large party of Indians, some forty or fifty in number. It
was useless for the few citizens then on the trail to follow them
farther, the Indians having some twenty hours the start.
"'They returned to Wickenburg, where they met Captain Meinholdt, with a
detachment of troops from Camp Date Creek, and orders to use all
efforts to find out who the murderers were. Thereupon Mr. Munroe and
Mr. Frink immediately returned with Captain Meinholdt and his command,
again took up the trail, and followed it until citizens and soldiers
were all thoroughly satisfied that the perpetrators of the horrible
deed were Indians.
"'We, being of the scouting party, subscribe to the above as being a
true report, having been the first upon the ground after the massacre
and of the last to leave the trail.
" 'W. J. Barclay, George Munroe, Edward Prentiss, George Bryan, Jose
Maria Salallo. '"
"The public mind, however, continued to be divided, certain interests
harping upon the matter until they succeeded in schooling a portion of
the Eastern public into the belief that white Arizonans had committed
the crime for the sake of plundering the passengers and to make sure of
the continuance of the war with the Apaches. These were, of course,
base slanders and through the untiring efforts of General Crook were
later disproved and the guilt fastened beyond any reasonable doubt upon
Apache-Mohave Indians
"The best known and most prominent victim of this deplorable tragedy
was Fred W. Loring, who was twenty-two years of age and a native of
Boston, Massachusetts. He had graduated from Harvard in 1870, and
immediately engaged in the business of journalism in his native city.
Early in 1871 he had joined the 'Wheeler Expedition, ' which he
accompanied throughout all its rambles, finally reaching Prescott on
his way home. Although a boy in years, Mr. Loring was a mature man in
mind, whose name had already become familiar throughout the nation as
an author and ' contributor' of rare merit. His untimely death created
a great sensation in the East, and at once the press of New York and
New England wheeled into line, and concluded that 'the Apache must be
treated with less Bible, and more sword. '
"Messrs. Hamel and Salmon were likewise members of the 'Wheeler
Expedition.' Both gentlemen were residents of San Francisco, where the
latter left a wife and two small children who were dependent upon his
efforts for support.
"Mr. Shoholm was on his way to his home in Philadelphia after an
absence of many years, part of which time he had been a member of the
firm of Jewell & Co., of Prescott.
"C. S. Adams had a wife and three small children in San Francisco and
was on his way to join them when overtaken by death. For ten months
preceding his departure from Prescott, he had been in charge of the
flour depot of W. Bichard & Co., at that place.
" John Lanz, the driver, who was better known as ' Dutch John,' came
from San Bernardino, California, about four weeks before his death, and
had obtained a situation as driver on the Ehrenberg-Wickenburg stage,
the fatal trip being his second one over the route, and the first one
from the Wickenburg end of the line.
"Miss Sheppard, who had been quite seriously wounded in the attack, was
later taken to Camp Date 'Creek for medical attention, going; from
there to Southern California in company with Mr. Kruger. Not many years
later Kruger reported her death in that State from the effects of the
wounds she had received, which left him as the last survivor of the
most atrocious killing of whites by savages in Arizona."
Miss Sheppard was a member of the demimonde, a beautiful woman who
dressed in the height of extreme fashion; adventurous, as is fully
demonstrated by her being in Arizona at this time, and said to be quite
fascinating, whose charms found a ready market. She was kind and
generous, dividing with the unfortunate, nursing the sick with motherly
care ; she had a warm place in the hearts of her male acquaintances.
At first, as before stated, this was supposed to have been the work of
Mexicans, disguised as Indians. C. B. Genung, to the day of his death,
believed that Mexicans committed this atrocity, and makes the following
statement in regard to it:
"In the fall of 1871 a man named J. M. Bryan, commonly called ' Crete'
by his acquaintances, had the contract to haul government freight from
Bhrenberg, on the Colorado Eiver, to Ft. Whipple, Camps Wood, Verde,
Apache, and Ft. McDowell. His business called him to different posts
and he generally travelled by stage from one post to another. When
there was no stage route he generally used a saddle horse or mule, of
which he had several good ones. Bryan had an acquaintance with whom he
generally took his meals when in Wickenburg, which was a central point
for his teams. One day Donna Tomase, as the woman was called, (she was
a California Spaniard. Her right name was Mrs. Bouns), called Bryan
into her house, and told him not to ride in the Wickenburg and
Ehrenberg stage any more. When questioned she told him that there was a
plan laid to rob the stage; that she had overheard some Mexicans
talking in a brush shack behind a saloon nearby where she lived, and
cautioned him again about going by stage. He took the advice and did
his travelling in the saddle from that on. It was not long before the
woman 's story was confirmed. The stage left Prescott at night on
account of Indians, arriving at Wickenburg before daylight on the
following morning.
At a point about nine miles from Wickenburg toward Bhrenberg, the road
crossed a small sandwash which had scrub oak brush growing on either
side. In this wash, hidden by the banks and brush, lay the Mexicans.
When the stage was well into the wash, the horses were stopped and the
stage riddled with bullets.
"Of course this was supposed by most people to be the work of the
Indians, quite a number of whom were at that time at Camp Date Creek
about twenty-five miles northwest of Wickenburg. The Mexicans had worn
moccasins and scalped Adams in order to mislead the public. At the time
I was working from twenty-five to thirty of the Date Creek Indians,
gathering my crop of corn, beans and potatoes on my ranch in Peeples
Valley, twenty-seven miles north of Wickenburg, and I had some men
among them that I knew I could trust. As soon as I heard the news I
sent two Indians across to Date Creek to learn if these Indians knew
anything about the matter. They returned the same day and assured me
their people knew nothing about the massacre, but that it must be Tonto
Apaches from the eastern country.
"In a very few days Bryan came by my place, on his way from Wickenburg
to Prescott, and told me the story. Among this band of fifteen Mexicans
was one who Mrs. Bouns was slightly acquainted with, and whom she
called Parenta ; his name being the same as her family name. She got
him into her house, filled him up with wine and he told her the whole
story ; how these men had all stayed at a house out on the road a
little west of the town the night before the massacre, and went out to
the place before daybreak. The place had been picked out some days
before. This young Mexican claimed that he was sick that night and did
not accompany the crowd that did the work, but told of Adams shooting
one of the party ; that they had taken the wounded man to the Agua
Caliente springs on the Gila River to get well. The officers went from
Phoenix and got the fellow with the hole in his shoulder, brought him
to Phoenix, and he was killed in the jail by a man who still lives in
Phoenix. John Burger killed one of them in a corral at the lower
station on the Agua Fria near where the S. F. P. & P. R, crosses
that stream. The ringleader, a redheaded native of Gibraltar, named
Joaquiii Barbe, with another of the band, got on the warpath and run
amuck in Phoenix, and Joe Fye and Milt Ward, deputy sheriffs, chased
them out of town and killed both of them, and they all got what was
coming to them, but one. He got wise and left the country. Bryan was
very careful who he told the story to, and it was passed among the:
right men to attend to such matters. The scalping of Adams was all
right to fool a tenderfoot, but we oldtimers knew that Apaches never
scalped, although they frequently mutilated otherwise.
"If this massacre had been committed by Indians, it is strange that
Mike Burns knows nothing of it, because he has been collecting Indian
history and Indian stories, and recording them carefully, no matter
whether to the credit of his race or not, and if the Indians had been
the culprits, some of the Indians, the Yavapais or Apache-Mohaves, with
whom he has been associated since his early youth and manhood, would
certainly have given him an account of it. On the contrary he professes
to know nothing of this massacre, and never heard of any attempt to
assassinate General Crook, although he says this might have happened
and he never know of it ; so I give all the evidence tending to show
that it was committed by the Indians, and also the evidence of Mr.
Genung going to show that it was committed by Mexicans. It will always
remain a mystery as to who were really the murderers. General Crook, as
we shall see, at first believed that it was committed by the Indians,
and, according to Captain Bourke, spent a long time in ferreting out
the perpetrators, but from the fact that a month later, or thereabouts,
he employed these same Indians, whom he tried to capture or kill at
Date Creek, as scouts to run down the renegade Apaches, it would seem
that he might have changed his mind, although there is no record of
that extant.
William Gilson, at that time a prominent citizen of Date Creek, and
afterwards one of the early settlers of the Salt River Valley, during
the latter part of January, 1872, informed General Crook that he
believed the Date Creek Indians committed the Wickenburg Massacre. Mr.
Gilson was friendly to these Indians, and this opinion was given only
upon well grounded suspicions. General Crook took the matter in hand,
determined to ferret out the murderers, arrest them, and turn them over
to the civil authorities for trial. He set spies, both Indians and
whites, at work to hunt up the testimony, plenty of which was soon
after forthcoming, and what was at first a mystery, was soon cleared up
by a strong chain of evidence. First came an Apache-Mohave Indian boy,
who had been raised by Dan O'Leary, the well-known scout, whom the
robbers and murderers had sent for that he might tell them the
denominations of the greenbacks which they had secured at the time of
the massacre. Some of these greenbacks had been left by the Indians,
they not knowing their value. Next came Irataba, chief of the Mohave
Indians, and one or two of his captains, and several of his warriors,
who testified that the murderers, after going to Date Creek, went upon
the Colorado Eiver Indian Reservation, and boasted of the deed they had
done, spent their stolen greenbacks and displayed other plunder. These
actions were brought to the notice of other white men besides General
Crook, among whom were Dr. Tonner, then Indian Agent at the Colorado
River Reservation, who assisted in procuring these facts. Wallapai
Indians also substantiated the accounts given by Irataba and his
friends. The murderers repeatedly stated that fifteen of their number
had made the attack, while fifteen more were within hailing distance
ready to give aid ; that they had taken very little clothing, trinkets,
or articles of that nature, for fear that their possession might some
day lead to their detection.
Continuing, J. M. Barney says: "In March of 1872, General Crook,
accompanied by Lieutenants Bourke and Ross, started from Fort Whipple,
along the Mohave road, towards the Colorado River. He reached Beale
Springs where he succeeded in getting some Wallapai Indians to agree to
go out and help him persuade the Apache-Mohaves to come into Camp Date
Creek, where they were to be fed and taken care of by the Government.
This was merely a ruse upon the part of General Crook whose main object
was to get hold of the robbers and murderers belonging to that tribe,
and, knowing that the two tribes the Apache-Mohaves and Wallapais were
more or less friendly, realized at once that it would not do to trust
the latter with the real secret of the expedition. General Crook, with
his two lieutenants and Wallapai Indian allies, trudged on foot through
snow and slush towards a rendezvous, where, by previous arrangement,
two companies of cavalry were to go under the guidance of Dan O'Leary
and some Wallapai scouts for the purpose of taking in hand the
murderous Apache-Mohaves. Just at this time an express came to General
Crook with orders to cease hostilities and to let the Indians and '
Peace Commissioners' who were about to arrive in Arizona settle the
question. General Crook obeyed the orders and returned to Port Whipple.
Later on in that same year about the month of August having been
granted authority to chastise bad Indians, General Crook, with
Lieutenant Eoss, Henry Hewitt, and a few other persons, soon after
started for Camp Date Creek to carry out his old object of arresting
the murderers who had taken part in the Wickenburg Massacre. Before
leaving his headquarters the General had sent couriers to the
Apache-Mohaves and Apache-Yumas, asking them to meet him in conference
at Date Creek, which they agreed to do.
"The General and his party reached the post on the 7th of September,
but found that no Indians had yet come in to meet him, as had been
promised. The following day, however, some fifty Indians, led by their
Chief, Ochocama, made their appearance, armed and painted, and
apparently ready for war. In the meantime Dr. Herman Bendell,
Superintendent of Indian Affairs for Arizona, and Col. James M. Barney,
of Ehrenberg and Yuma, had arrived from the Colorado Eiver; Captain
Byrne, D. H. Smith, Irataba, the Mohave chieftain, Irataba 's son, and
another Mohave Indian, had come in from Camp Beale Springs ; while
Charley B. Genung, William Gilson, and other citizens from the
neighboring valleys were also present. It was then arranged by General
Crook that the Mohaves should be kept out of sight of the
Apache-Mohaves until everything should be ready for arresting the
murderers. The time for the council came and the parties to the
conference assembled on the parade ground adjacent to the post. Three
or four of the stage robbers were present among the crowd of Indians,
while one, known as 'Chimihueva Jim' a very bad Indian, who spoke
English quite well could not be induced under any circumstances to come
to the post, but remained in the nearby mountains. General Crook,
together with the other citizens mentioned above, as well as Lieutenant
Volkmar, who commanded the post, were seated on benches opposite Chief
Ochocama and his braves, when Chief Irataba and his Mohave followers
made their appearance and shook hands with their red brethren. There
being but about fifty Apache-Mohaves present, General Crook asked for
information regarding the five or six hundred Apache-Mohaves and Apache
Yumas, who, a short time previously, had drawn rations at the post. He
could gain but little knowledge about this matter from Chief Ochocama,
whose brother was, at the time, a prisoner in the guardhouse for having
attempted to smuggle arms from the post, and for having disobeyed an
order of Dr. Williams then Indian agent at Date Creek.
"It had previously been understood by the white citizens and Mohaves
that one of the latter was to hand to each one of the murderers of the
stage passengers, a piece of tobacco. One of the Mohaves immediately
proceeded to carry out this part of the program, offering the first
piece to the chief, Ochocama, who hung his head and did not let on that
he understood what the Mohave meant. He was finally persuaded to take
hold of the tobacco, while his countenance rapidly changed from one
blue color to another, his discomfiture ending by dropping his piece of
tobacco to the ground as soon as he could. Another and another Indian
was given his piece of tobacco, and the last murderer had just clutched
his when, agreeably to previous understanding, a soldier attempted to
arrest him. Quick as thought, another savage stabbed the soldier with a
knife. The soldier pulled his pistol and shot. General Crook rushed in
and tried to stop the fracas, but it was too late, as the Indians and
soldiers were cross-firing upon one another. Three soldiers caught hold
of the chief, Ochocama, who would have gotten away from all three had
it not been for Dan 'Leary who, winding his fingers in the chief's long
hair, threw and secured him, whence he was led to the guardhouse.
During the disturbance Ochocama's brother who, as has been stated, was
a prisoner in the guardhouse, made two attempts to escape through the
roof and was shot by a guard. Lieutenant Ross, observing an Indian
taking a deadly aim at General Crook, pushed that officer out of range
of the gun just in time, the bullet that was intended for him hitting
and killing an Indian. Most of the Indians ran away when the firing
commenced, but the chief and those who had to remain fought like
demons. The bloody ending of this gathering, although regrettable, was
inevitable, as the Indians would have resisted arrest under any
circumstances. Ochocama, the chief, did not much relish his
incarceration in the guardhouse, and finally made his escape through
the roof, when he was shot at twice, pierced with a bayonet once but
eventually succeeded in getting away to the hills, where, according to
the story of some Apache-Yumas, who later came into Mr. Grilson's
place, he died of his wounds. This chief was one of the worst Indians
infesting the Territory at that time, and, according to his own
confession, had murdered Mr. Leihy and Mr. Evarts in Bell's Canyon, on
November 10th, 1866, for no other reason than that he had been told
that Mr. Leihy had stolen some goods intended for his tribe. Mr. Leihy
was Superintendent of Indian Affairs at the time, having succeeded
Charles D. Poston in that position, and Mr. Evarts was his clerk. His
murderers tried to lay the blame of the crime on the Pimas, just as
they afterwards endeavored to make the Tonto Apaches shoulder all their
other evil deeds. This treacherous chief and his brother had also
murdered a man by the name of Taylor on the Colorado River, in August
of 1869.
" After the row Mr. Gilson went back to his ranch and stayed there
alone, while Mr. Genung, having Indians working for him on the road
over the Antelope Mountains, was furnished with a small escort of
soldiers, went home, and told his Indians what had taken place. Upon
receiving this information they all left.
"Some seven Apache-Mohaves, including the chief, Ochocama, who died of
his wounds, and his brother, were killed in this fight, while no doubt
many others were wounded. Many more would have been killed but for the
earnest efforts of General Crook and Dr. Bendell to put a stop to the
firing. The soldier who was stabbed by the savage who commenced the
trouble had been severely wounded and soon after passed away."
Mr. Genung's account of the attempt of General Crook to capture or kill
these Indians who were supposed to be the murderers, follows :
"In July, 1871, I concluded to build a wagon road from Wickenburg, via
Antelope Creek and Peeples Valley to connect with the road leading from
the Colorado River at Ehrenberg to Prescott. There was a road that
could be travelled by light rigs and empty teams but no load could be
handled over it. My neighbors agreed to. help me, as Wickenburg and
Phoenix were our best markets and to haul a load to either of these
places we had to travel about sixty miles, whereas it was only
twenty-seven miles by the road that I proposed to build from Peeples
Valley to Wickenburg which was on the Phoenix road. I employed a few
white men at $75.00 per month, a few Mexicans at $65.00 and board, and
started to work. There was quite a number of Yavapai Indians in and
around Peeples Valley at the time, and when they learned what I was
doing they asked for work; and, as they were willing to work for fifty
cents per day, the same as I had paid them when they worked for me on
the Colorado Eiver Reservation, I put a lot of them to work. My
neighbors did not approve of my working Indians, but, as the Indians
would do about as much work with pick and shovel as the average white
man or Mexican, I put them on ; gave them flour, beans, sugar, and
coffee and venison. I gave one of the Indians fifty cents per day and
furnished him with cartridges, and he kept the camps well supplied with
fresh meat and his squaw dressed the skins, which made it a good job
for the hunter. I thought it better to work the Indians and have them
where I could watch them, than to be uncertain of their whereabouts.
Then again, the white man had occupied their lands and hunting grounds,
crowded them back so that they were too glad to go onto the
reservation. Then after they were all on the reservation the agent
starved them until they had to go back to the mountains to get
something to eat.
"I built the road from Wickenburg to Kirkland Valley for $4765, and
without the Indian labor I could not have built it for less than seven
or eight thousand dollars.
"When I started work on the road a man named George H. Wilson, commonly
called to make the trip two to go and two to come, and one day in town.
I went to see Crook and took my friend, Herbert Bowers, who was post
trader at the time, to introduce me, and my Indian, Tom. I found Crook
much different from other commanding officers that I had met in
Arizona. He was more like a pioneer miner or prospector to meet just a
common plain gentleman. He told me that Mr. Bowers had told him of my
efforts to get the other commanders to employ the Yavapais as scouts
and trailers, and asked me if the Indians would like to do it. I
assured htm that he could enlist every Yavapai that was able to go. He
then asked me how long it would take to get the Indians together so
that he could have a talk with them at Date Creek. I told him that a
week would give them plenty of time. That was a good talk for me, for I
had been trying for several years to do just what Crook had proposed,
but there never was a man in command before that who had sense enough
to do it. When I told Tom what Crook wanted, he was highly elated.
" On my return to my ranch I killed an Indian in Kirkland Valley by
Tom's advice, and when Tom knew he was dead he said General Crook had
commenced to kill Tontos, which was true, for if Crook had not sent for
me when he did, I should not have found the Indian at the station in
Kirkland Valley.
" It was more than a month before I heard from Crook again. Then he
wrote me asking me if I could get the Indians in to Date Creek by a
certain day. I wrote and told him that I could get all of the
ablebodied men in by the appointed time. This correspondence was done
by couriers.
"I had a young Indian captain named Waw ba Yuma, working for me, and
most of the twenty-five working Indians that I had were of his band. I
told him that General Crook wanted all the strong young men of his
tribe to go with the soldiers and fight the Tontos. The Indian said to
me : ' You tell General Crook that, when I am done work here I will go
and so will all of my young men.' I said to him, 'You had better go and
see the General and tell him yourself. ' 'You can talk for me and for
my people, 'said Waw ba Yuma. I sent out Indian runners and had all of
the young men of the tribe at Date Creek on the appointed day. I met
General Crook there and we called the meeting in front of the officers'
quarters on the south side of the parade ground. I was a little
surprised to meet Irataba, the head chief of the Mohaves there, but
thought nothing of it at the time. The white men were seated with backs
against the buildings, Irataba just in front of us and the Yavapais
sitting on the benches and standing before us. Crook had brought a man
named Charles Spencer from Mohave County to interpret for him. Spencer
had done a little talking for Crook when Irataba got up and began to
pass pieces of tobacco to some of the Indians, and in a few seconds had
passed out eight or ten pieces, when some soldiers who had been
standing among the Indians began to grab the ones to whom the tobacco
had been given, at the same time drawing their revolvers. The Indians,
being surprised and scared, struggled desperately and several of the
arrested ones escaped; the soldiers began shooting, and those that had
no revolvers ran to their quarters and got their rifles and began
shooting at every Indian that they could see. Crook, myself and Col.
Jas. M. Barney were the only ones present who did not take an active
part in some way in the fracas. We just stood by and looked on. The
Indians had left their guns at their camp with the women and children
and some of the soldiers ran to the camp which was about one half mile
from the post, and secured all the guns and bows.
"When I realized what had been done I went and got my arms and hunted
up Crook and asked him what he meant by inducing me to get the Indians
into the post under pretense of friendship and then killing a lot of
them eight I believe were found. He said that Irataba had told the
agent at the Colorado Reservation that the Yavapais had murdered the
Loring party, a short time before, while en route by stage from
Wickenburg to Ehrenberg, and that the pieces of tobacco were handed to
the ones that Irataba had learned were of the party who attacked the
stage and killed seven people. I told Crook that it was a lie ; that I
knew it was Mexicans who had done the killing and robbing of the stage.
I was getting madder every minute and told Crook that if anything
happened to my family through this treachery that I should hold him
personally responsible ; that I was living in the midst of the Indians
and that I could expect nothing but that they would blame me for all
the trouble. He said in reply to my talk that he would see that I had
protection. I mounted my horse and rode as fast as I could to the camp
on the road. I told the Indians what had happened and told them that I
could not keep them at work any longer and that they must go into the
mountains and stay until I made a signal smoke at a certain high place
on my ranch. Waw ba Yuma did not like the idea of going but I made him
understand that all the people would be afraid and that I should have
to stop work anyhow until I had a chance to see and talk to all the
Yavapais.
"It was nearly a month later when Lieut. Trout, the quartermaster at
Camp Date Creek, Frank Murray, the butcher at the post, and a soldier
came to my ranch about noon. Trout asked me if I had seen any Indians
since they left my camp, which I had not, nor had there been one seen
at or near the post. He said he wanted to get them back, if possible. I
went out to the place agreed upon and raised a big black smoke. In a
very short time my friend Tom, his squaw, and one more Indian came to
the ranch. I told Tom what Trout said and told him that Trout would
issue rations to all who went for them. I had a lot of talking to do
and told the Indians that they could come and camp near my house if
they wanted to. Tom asked me what all the soldiers were doing there,
Crook having sent a company of cavalry to my ranch as soon as he could
get them there after the affair at Date Creek. I explained the matter
as well as I could, and after Trout and his party had left I had a lot
of talk and explained the matter, placing all of the blame on Irataba,
and he was the one to blame for the whole trouble. Irataba was jealous
because the Yavapais were getting better treatment from the officers at
Date Creek than his people were receiving from the Indian Department,
hence the jealousy.
" I had to do a lot of talking to get the Indians to go back to Date
Creek to meet Crook the second time, he having promised to return their
guns and other things that the soldiers had taken from their camp.
Finally I told them that if they would come and meet Crook that I would
be there and see that they got their guns and that I would be right
beside Crook, and if the soldiers tried to bother them that I would
have my pistol in my belt and would shoot Crook three times. A few,
those who had lost their guns, went in to the post on the appointed
day. I was there and told Crook that we would do our business with the
Indians in front of the sutler's store instead of going onto the parade
ground as on the other occasion. There were no seats provided but Crook
had ordered all the stolen property to be brought out and placed on the
ground near where we stood. I told the Indian, Tom, to get his gun.
When he picked it up and examined it, I asked him if it was all right.
His reply was 'Kely-eppy,' meaning 'no good.' I told another one to go
get his gun, and that was 'kely-eppy' also. I showed Crook that there
had been screws taken out of the locks. He at once ordered the
commander of the post to bring out some guns that were there and twenty
rounds of ammunition for each gun. They were turned over to those who
had lost their guns without any ceremony. When the old guns that the
soldiers had taken were examined, it was found that there was not one
but what had been ruined for the use of the Indians. If a screw was
taken out the Indian had no possible means of replacing it. Twenty
rounds of ammunition was a great prize. The only way that an Indian
could get ammunition was to go to La Pas or Yuma and get some white man
to buy it for him. That act restored confidence in General Crook. He
enlisted a lot of these Indians, agreeing to take care of all who were
left in camp, i. e., the women, children and old men. The first thing
he did with the new soldiers was to go out and thrash the Hualapais;
then enlisted some Hualapais to help clean up the Indians of the
country east of Prescott."
Again quoting from J. M. Barney: "From Camp Date Creek General Crook
returned to Fort Whipple and had been there but a short time when a
dispatch from Dr. Williams was received by him, in which he was
informed that Jemaspie, chief of the Apache-Yumas, with about a hundred
of his people, had returned to the reservation and expressed a desire
for peace.
"General Crook immediately returned to Date Creek and found upon
arriving there that the Indians were not then prepared to talk, owing
to the fact that the wife of one of the principal chiefs was sick. On
the morning of the third day after his arrival, however, a council was
held at which these Indians agreed to practically all the conditions
imposed by the General to stay upon the reserve ; to report the fact to
their agent whenever any bad Indian came among them ; to help the white
citizens chastise hostile Indians whenever called upon to do so; and,
lastly, to aid the authorities in bringing to justice those Indians who
had murdered the stage passengers.
"This being all the General desired the Apache-Yumas to do, he
promised, on the part of the Government, to do everything necessary for
their welfare as long as they lived up to this agreement.
"Having also heard that they intended to take the life of the friendly
Mohave chief, Irataba, for having betrayed the Apache-Mohaves, he
warned them not to do so, explaining at the same time that Irataba was
not the first person who had given information about the murderers.
"General Crook then returned to Fort Whipple and commenced immediate
preparations for extensive operations against the Apache-Mohaves and
other hostile tribes, which were later carried out with encouraging
success. "
Captain John G. Bourke, in "On the Border with Crook," gives the
following account of the attempt upon General Crook's life, which is
substantially the same as the foregoing :
"Sixty-two miles from Prescott to the southwest lay the sickly and
dismal post of Camp Date Creek, on the creek of the same name. Here
were congregated about one thousand of the band known as the
Apache-Yumas, with a sprinkling of Apache-Mohaves, tribes allied to the
Mohaves on the Colorado, and to the Hualapais, but differing from them
in disposition, as the Date Creek people were not all anxious for
peace, but would now and then send small parties of their young men to
raid and steal from the puny settlements like Wickenburg. The
culmination of the series was the 'Loring' or ' Wickenburg' massacre,
so called from the talented young scientist, Loring, a member of the
Wheeler surveying expendition, who, with his companions a stage-load
was brutally murdered not far from Wickenburg; of the party only two
escaped, one a woman named Sheppard, and the other man named Kruger,
both badly wounded.
" General Crook was soon satisfied that this terrible outrage had been
committed by a portion of the irreconcilable element at the Date Creek
Agency, but how to single them out as individuals and inflict the
punishment their crime deserved, without entailing disaster upon well
meaning men, women and babies who had not been implicated, was for a
long while a most serious problem. There were many of the tribe
satisfied to cultivate peaceful relations with the whites, but none so
favorably disposed as to impart the smallest particle of information in
regard to the murder, as it was no part of their purpose to surrender
any of their relatives for punishment.
"It would take too much time to narrate in detail the 'patient search
and vigil long' attending the ferreting out of the individuals
concerned in the Loring massacre ; it was a matter of days and weeks
and months, but Crook knew that he had the right clew, and, although
many times baffled, he returned to the scent with renewed energy and
determination. The culprits, who included in their ranks, or at least
among their sympathizers, some very influential men of the tribe, had
also begun, on their side, to suspect that all was not right ; one of
them, I understand, escaped to Southern California, and there found
work in some of the Mexican settlements, which he could do readily as
he spoke Spanish fluently and once having donned the raiment of
civilization, there would be nothing whatever to distinguish him from
the average of people about him.
"Word reached General Crook, through the Hualapais, that when next he
visited Camp Date Creek, he was to be murdered with all those who might
accompany him. He was warned to be on the lookout, and told that the
plan of the conspirators was this : They would appear in front of the
house in which he should take up his headquarters, and say that they
had come for a talk upon some tribal matter of importance; when the
General made his appearance, the Indians were to sit down in a
semi-circle in front of the door, each with his carbine hidden under
his blanket, or carelessly exposed on his lap. The conversation was to
be decidedly harmonious, and there was to be nothing said that was not
perfectly agreeable to the whites. After the 'talk' had progressed a
few minutes, the leading conspirator would remark that they would all
be the better for a little smoke, and as soon as the tobacco was handed
out to them the chief conspirator was to take some and begin rolling a
cigarette. (The Indians of the southwest do not ordinarily use the
pipe.) When the first puff was taken from the cigarette, the man next
to the chief was to level his weapon suddenly and kill General Crook,
the others at the very same moment taking the lives of the whites
closest to them. The whole tribe would then be made to break away from
the reserve and take to the inaccessible cliffs and canyons at the head
of the Santa Maria fork of the Bill Williams. The plan would have
succeeded perfectly, had it not been for the warning received, and also
for the fact that the expected visit had to be made much sooner than
was anticipated, and thus prevented all the gang from getting together.
Digressing at this point, Captain Bourke gives the following account of
the death and burial of Captain Philip Dwyer, 5th U. S. Cavalry, which
is pathetic in the extreme, and goes to show the sufferings of our
soldiers in these frontier posts ; the officers and men dying,
oftentimes without the aid of physician or priest, much less the tender
ministrations of women.
"Captain Philip Dwyer, Fifth Cavalry, the officer in command of the
camp, suddenly died, and this took me down posthaste to assume command.
Dwyer was a very brave, handsome, and intelligent soldier, much beloved
by all his comrades. He was the only officer left at Date Creek all the
others and most of the garrison were absent on detached service of one
kind and another and there was no one to look after the dead man but
Mr. Wilbur Hugus, the post trader, and myself. The surroundings were
most dismal and squalid ; all the furniture in the room in which the
corpse lay was two or three plain wooden chairs, the bed * * * * and a
pine table upon which stood a candlestick with the candle melted and
burned in the socket. Dwyer had been 'ailing' for several days, but no
one could tell exactly what was the matter with him; and, of course, no
one suspected that one so strong and athletic could be in danger of
death.
"One of the enlisted men of his company, a bright young trumpeter, was
sitting up with him, and about the hour of midnight Dwyer became a
trifle uneasy and asked: 'Can you sing that new song, "Put me under the
Daisies"
" 'Oh yes, Captain,' replied the trumpeter; 'I have often sung it, and
will gladly sing it now.'
"So he began to sing, very sweetly, the ditty, which seemed to calm the
nervousness of his superior officer. But the candle had burned down in
the socket, and when the young soldier went to replace it, he could
find neither candle nor match, and he saw in the flickering light and
shadow that the face of the Captain was strangely set, and of a ghastly
purplish hue. The trumpeter ran swiftly to the nearest house to get
another light, and to call for help, but upon returning found the
Captain dead.
"Many strange sights have I seen, but none that produced a stranger or
more pathetic appeal to my emotions than the funeral of Phil Dwyer ; we
got together just as good an apology for a coffin as the timberless
country would furnish, and then wrapped our dead friend in his
regimentals, and all hands were then ready to start for the cemetery.
"At the head inarched Mr. Hugus, Doctor Williams, (the Indian Agent),
myself, and Lieutenant Hay, of the Twenty-third Infantry, who arrived
at the post early in the morning; then came the troop of cavalry,
dismounted, and all the civilians living in and around the camp ; and
lastly every Indian man, woman and child able to walk or toddle, for
all of them, young and old, good and bad, loved Phil Dwyer. The
soldiers and civilians formed in one line at the head of the grave, and
the Apache-Yumas in two long lines at right angles to them, and on each
side. The few short, expressive and tender sentences of the burial
service were read, then the bugles sang taps, and three volleys were
fired across the hills, the clods rattled down on the breast of the
dead, and the ceremony was over."
Continuing his description of the attempt to murder General Crook;
Captain Bourke says :
"As soon as General Crook learned of the death of Dwyer, he hurried to
Date Creek, now left without any officer of its proper garrison, and
informed the Indians that he intended having a talk with them on the
morrow, at the place designated by himself. The conspirators thought
that their scheme could be carried out without trouble, especially
since they saw no signs of suspicion on the part of the whites. General
Crook came to the place appointed, without any escort of troops, but
carelessly strolling forward were a dozen or more of the packers, who
had been engaged in all kinds of melees since the days of early
California mining. Each of these was armed to the teeth, and every
revolver was on full cock, and every knife ready for instant use. The
talk was very agreeable, and not an unpleasant word had been uttered on
either side, when all of a sudden the Indian in the centre asked for a
little tobacco, and, when it was handed to him, began rolling a
cigarette ; before the first puff of smoke had rolled away from his
lips, one of the warriors alongside of him levelled his carbine full at
General Crook, and fired. Lieutenant Ross, aide-de-camp to the General,
was waiting for the movement, and struck the arm of the murderer so
that the bullet was deflected upwards, and the life of the General was
saved. The scrimmage became a perfect Kilkenny fight in another second
or two, and every man made for the man nearest to him, the Indian who
had given the signal being grasped in the viselike grip of Hank Hewitt,
with whom he struggled vainly. Hewitt was a man of great power, and
able to master most men other than professional athletes or
prizefighters ; the Indian was not going to submit so long as life
lasted, and struggled, bit, and kicked to free himself, but all in
vain, as Hank had caught him from the back of the head, and the red man
was at a total disadvantage. Hewitt started to drag his captive to the
guardhouse, but changed his mind, and seizing the Apache-Mohave by both
ears, pulled his head down violently against the rocks, and either
broke his skull or brought on concussion of the brain, as the Indian
died that night in the guardhouse.
"Others of the party were killed and wounded, and still others, with
the ferocity of tigers, fought their way out through our feeble lines,
and made their way to the point of rendezvous at the head of the Santa
Maria. "
