USA > Arizona > History of Arizona, Vol. II > Part 15
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lost only one man. He had warned young Len- non to look out for a lame Apache who had a
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lance, but in the excitement young Lennon had forgotten his warning. The Indian ran him through the body with his lance, and Lennon shot the Indian with his revolver almost at the same time, both dying together. The Apaches received such severe punishment that they were good for some time thereafter.
The above account is given me by Mrs. Bax- ter, the wife of Judge Baxter of Yuma, who was the wife of King Woolsey, and may be con- sidered the true story of what is known as the "Pinole Treaty," or the massacre at Bloody Tanks.
King Woolsey was the hero of many expedi- tions against the Apaches, particularly during the Civil War when the United States troops were withdrawn from Arizona to New Mexico, leaving the settlers in Arizona to take care of themselves. At one time he was in command of one hundred and ten volunteers. In one of his expeditions he followed up the Salt River to Tonto Basin, and from there through the Sierra Anches, where they had a fight with the Apaches, in which 120 of the Indians were killed. The Apaches were taken by surprise and Woolsey did not lose a man. In the same expedition they came in around where the town of Globe now is, and discovered a wheat field which had been planted by the Indians. They thrashed out all the wheat they wanted, parching it, and making it into pinole. After doing this they turned their horses into the field and destroyed the growing crop, while the squaws on the sur- rounding hills were bewailing their loss. The
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place to this day is known as the "Wheat Fields."
At one time King Woolsey, William Fourr, now living at Dragoon Summit, and Salazar, acted as guides for the Government. Salazar was the Government guide, but not knowing the country, Woolsey and Fourr acted as guides for Colonel McClave in expeditions against the Apaches, who had their rancherias in the vicin- ity of the Harquahala Mountains. The three guides were in advance of Colonel McClave's company, and when near the water, they dis- covered three Indians. Each killed his Indian, which prevented any knowledge of the expedi- tion reaching the hostiles. That afternoon the command neared the water and the Indians began shooting. The battle raged all that afternoon and the next morning until about ten o'clock, when the chief of the Indians was killed by either Fourr or Woolsey, who had been shoot- ing at him with their Sharp's rifles for at least a half an hour. After the chief was killed, the Apaches dispersed and allowed the troops to come to the water. These Indians had been plundering the ranches along the Gila, and all the stations ten and twelve miles apart. They drove off from Woolsey's ranch at one time, stock valued at $10,000, stripping him of every- thing except eight mules. They robbed Fourr in the same way. Juan Chiavria, Chief of the Maricopas, sought out these Indians, who were just ordinary thieves, but not murderers, and told them that if they attempted to interfere with his friends, the whites, again, he would arm his men, follow into their strongholds, and kill
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the last one of them, men, women and children. The Indians were Apache-Mohaves, who had such a wholesome fear of both the Maricopas and the Pimas, that thereafter they did not interfere with the ranchmen on the Gila.
About the year 1866 or 1867, there was a lot of hard cases, bad men, who came into Northern Arizona from Montana. Among the rest was Jeff Standifer, who had the reputation of being a cool, courageous, nervy killer; a dead shot with any firearm. He was a gambler, and, hearing somewhat of King Woolsey being a man of courage, he declared that he would kill him on sight. Men of his character always seek out those who have the reputation of being fighters to try their mettle. As far as my experience in the West goes, this class of men, and I have seen many of them, are like gamecocks on a farm; every one has its master, but in trying to estab- lish their superiority, when they come together it is a duel to the death. Some of Woolsey's friends visited him at his Agua Fria ranch, and told him of the threats which Standifer had made, and advised him not to come to Prescott for a few days. Woolsey said: "I'll think about it." He said he didn't like the idea, however, of a man telling him that he should not go to a place, or tell him that he should not go or come as he pleased; that he was in the habit of doing very much as he wanted to. A few nights afterwards, when everything was in full swing, and this man was at his game, there entered the room King Woolsey. Going up to the bar, he turned his face to the crowd. All was still and quiet. A hush came over everyone
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and the whisper passed around : "There's Wool- sey !" Standifer heard it, and started with his pistol in his hand towards Woolsey. Woolsey looked at him until he was within about fifteen or twenty feet, when, quicker than lightning, he pulled his six shooter, and had it cocked and levelled at the man's head. Raising his left hand he said: "Halt! another step and you're a dead man," Involuntarily Standifer stopped. Woolsey looked him in the face for a moment, still holding his gun down on him, and said: "There's the door, take it, if ever you cross my path again, I'll kill you." The man went out of the door and never returned.
Woolsey continued to make money; he got into mining, however, and lost about sixty thou- sand dollars. At the time of his death, he was one of the largest landowners in the Salt River Valley. In spite of all his activities, in hunt- ing Indians, running ranches and mines, he still had time to serve the territory. He was a mem- ber of the Legislative Council the first, second, seventh, eighth and ninth Legislatures, and was President of the two last named Councils. He was a candidate for the position of Delegate to Congress in 1878, but was not elected. He was commissioned Lieutenant-Colonel of Volunteers, and was an aide upon both the staffs of Gov- ernor Goodwin and Governor Safford. In the early part of 1878, in company with John Y. T. Smith and C. W. Stearns, he erected the Phoenix Flour Mills.
He died June 29th, 1879, on his ranch adjoin- ing the city of Phoenix at the age of forty-seven years, and was survived by his widow, who is
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now the wife of Judge Frank Baxter of Yuma. The following notice is taken from the Phoenix Herald of July 2nd, 1879 :
"King S. Woolsey Crosses the Shining River. In the Midst of Life we are in Death.
Arizona's most prominent citizen gone to his final resting place.
"King S. Woolsey died last Sunday morning about three o'clock at his residence, the Lyle ranch, southeast of Phoenix. The deceased was a large, hale, and hearty man, and his death was very unexpected. He was in town up to a late hour the previous evening, and then certainly gave no indication of the nearness of death. Returning himself after all the farm hands had retired, and not wishing to disturb them, he put up his buggy animals unassisted, and then went to his room.
"The cook, who sleeps outside, saw him enter the house and commence preparing for bed. The cook states that he heard a slight groaning, but as deceased was occasionally troubled with night- mare, he paid no attention to the matter and went to sleep. He was awakened by a prolonged groan, and, jumping up, he rushed to the room and discovered the deceased lying on the floor, partially under the table.
"A messenger was dispatched for help, who shortly returned with Dr. Conyers, but no aid could be rendered-the groan which awakened the cook was, no doubt, the last of King S. Wool- sey on this earth. A dispatch was immediately sent to his wife, who was living on the Agua Caliente ranch. She reached here early Mon-
15
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day morning, and the remains were conveyed to their last resting place at nine o'clock that morn- ing. The funeral service was conducted by the Masonic Order, (of which Woolsey was a mem- ber), and was the first ever performed in this valley. The funeral was largely attended."
Juan Chiavria, chief of the Maricopas, wept like a child at the loss of his friend, and accom- panied by almost all the males of his tribe, at- tended his funeral.
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CHAPTER XI.
EARLY PIONEERS AND SETTLERS (Continued).
CAPTAIN THOMAS JONATHAN JEFFORDS - MADE FRIENDS WITH COCHISE - GUIDES GENERAL HOWARD TO COCHISE'S CAMP-ASSISTS HOW- ARD IN MAKING PEACE WITH COCHISE - MADE INDIAN AGENT - DEATH OF COCHISE- INDIANS KILL ROGERS AND SPENCE, WHO HAD SOLD LIQUOR TO THEM - DEATH OF JEFFORDS - CHARLES H. MEYER - OWNED FIRST DRUGSTORE IN TUCSON - CITY RE- CORDER - KEPT TUCSON AN ORDERLY CITY - MEYER STREET, TUCSON, NAMED AFTER HIM-A. F. BANTA-GOVERNMENT GUIDE- MEMBER OF TENTH TERRITORIAL LEGISLA- TURE-DISTRICT ATTORNEY, APACHE COUNTY -PROBATE JUDGE, APACHE COUNTY-NEWS- PAPER MAN - PROSPECTOR-WALKER PARTY -CAPTAIN JOSEPH R. WALKER-PERSONNEL OF COMPANY-ENLIST UNDER "KIT" CARSON TO FIGHT INDIANS - SECOND EXPEDITION- PERSONNEL - SUSPECTED OF TRYING TO EF- FECT JUNCTION WITH CONFEDERATES-Es- TABLISHED SETTLEMENT NEAR PRESENT TOWN OF PRESCOTT - TRIP TO PIMA VIL- LAGES-DISCOVERY OF LYNX CREEK DISTRICT -ORGANIZATION OF MINING DISTRICT - VISITED BY PART OF CALIFORNIA COLUMN -
PEEPLES' PARTY - GUIDED BY PAULINE WEAVER-DISCOVERY OF RICH HILL-DISSO- LUTION OF WALKER PARTY-DANIEL E. CON-
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NER LAST SURVIVOR - OTHER PARTIES - MILITARY DISTRICTS - FORT WHIPPLE Es- TABLISHED.
Captain Thomas Jonathan Jeffords was born in Chautauqua County, New York, in 1832. He laid out the road from Leavenworth, Kansas, to Denver, in 1858. In the fall of 1859 he came to Taos, New Mexico, and wintered in Taos. The following spring he went into the San Juan mountains to prospect and mine. In 1862 he carried dispatches from Fort Thorn to General Carleton at Tucson. At that time, he was on the payroll of the United States Government as a scout, and piloted the advance companies of the California Column into New Mexico, to old Fort Thorn near the Rio Grande near Las Cruces. He is said to have taken part in the battle of Val Verde and the other engagements which resulted in the expulsion of the Confeder- ates from New Mexico.
In 1867 Captain Jeffords made the personal acquaintance of Cochise, who had been very active against all Americans and Mexicans. Of this meeting, Captain Jeffords said: "He had killed twenty-one men to my knowledge, four- teen of whom were in my employ. I made up my mind that I wanted to see him. I located one of his Indians and a camp where he came personally. In the meantime, I had acquired a smattering knowledge of the Indian language, having been an Indian trader under a commis- sion from Mr. Parker, Secretary of the Inter- ior. Having been advised that Cochise would be at a certain place at a certain time, I went into his camp alone, fully armed. After meet-
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THOMAS JONATHAN JEFFORDS.
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ing him, I told him that I was there to talk with him personally, and that I wished to leave my arms in his possession or in the possession of one of his wives whom he had with him, to be returned to me when I was ready to leave, which would probably be a couple of days. Cochise seemed to be surprised, but finally consented to my proposition, took possession of my arms and I spent two or three days with him, discussing affairs, and sizing him up. I found him to be a man of great natural ability, a splendid speci- men of physical manhood, standing about six feet two, with an eye like an eagle. This was the commencement of my friendship with Cochise, and although I was frequently compelled to guide troops against him and his band, it never interfered with our friendship. He respected me and I respected him. He was a man who scorned a liar, was always truthful in all things, his religion was truth and loyalty. My name with Cochise was Chickasaw, or Brother, and among his tribe I was known as Tyazalaton, which means 'Sandy Whiskers.' The following will illustrate a point in Cochise's character : He said to me once, 'Chickasaw, a man should never lie!' I replied: 'No, he should not, but a great many do.' He said: 'That is true, but they need not do it; if a man asks you or I a question we do not wish to answer, we could sim- ply say : I don't want to talk about that.'
"I learned from Cochise, and I think his story bears me out, that up to about the year 1859 when he was betrayed by Lieutenant Bascom, he had always been very friendly to the whites, but since that time he had done them all the harm he could."
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In 1870 General Howard was sent out by the Department in Washington as Indian Commis- sioner. During that year he took several Indian Chiefs to Washington, and returned in 1871. Cochise's band was still on the warpath, and all white men gave him a wide berth, fearing to enter his camp. Howard was anxious to inter- view him and see if some terms could not be made by which he would be induced to go on the reservation and quit his murdering and robbery of inoffensive citizens.
At that time Captain Jeffords was acting as a scout for Captain Farnsworth in hunting down these Indians, and was away from Tularosa, which was his headquarters, on a scouting trip with Farnsworth. General Howard made the acquaintance of a man by the name of Milligan, and told him what he wanted. Milligan told him there was but one man who could conduct him into Cochise's camp; that he was the only white man who had ever gone into his camp and returned, and that man was Captain Jeffords. Upon Jeffords' return from the scout, General Howard was at Tularosa, and sent for hin, tell- ing him what he wanted to do. Jeffords told him that he could take him to Cochise's camp in seven days but in order to do so he, as general of the army, would have to be under the control and direction of him, Jeffords; that he would guarantee his safe return, but that he would have to go in alone with him, and do as he said. Howard consented to the terms, but some of his officers protested, saying that he would never get out alive and insisted that he should go with a strong military escort. Jeffords said : "To me it
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is immaterial whether you go or not, but if you are going out there with a lot of soldiers, you will need more than 250. If you go with me alone I can take you to his camp, and we can have this interview, and I think you can make peace with him by giving him a reservation in his own country." After considering the matter, How- ard told Jeffords in the presence of his officers that he was going, and that Jeffords would be in command of the expedition. Jeffords, telling the story, said: "I always had a great respect for General Howard after that. Before this time I was prejudiced against him on account of his well known humanitarian ideas, and, to my mind, posing as a Christian soldier. I saw then that he was not only a brave man, and fearless as far as his person was concerned, but was really in earnest about trying to stop the destructive war which Cochise was waging upon my coun- trymen."
Jeffords immediately set himself to work to lo- cate Cochise. He left Howard's camp that night, and found one of the Indians twenty miles away by the name of Chee, and brought him back to the post. This Chee was a son of Mangus Colorado but had been brought up by Cochise. Jeffords then went in another direction, and brought in another Indian, Ponce, a son-in-law of Mangus. He arranged with these Indians to take him and General Howard to Cochise's camp. To perfect all of these arrangements took several days. Jeffords continues: "Finally we started for Cochise's camp from Fort Bayard, New Mexico. General Howard had requested
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me to allow him to take his aide-de-camp, Cap- tain Slayden, with him, which request was granted. I took charge of the expedition, and landed General Howard in Cochise's camp in seven days as had been agreed."
Targash, which means 'Gamecock,' was the sub-chief. Five or six Indians and from fifteen to sixteen squaws and children were in the camp. The General and the Captain stayed overnight. The next morning the General said to Captain Jeffords: "Hadn't we better be going ?" Jef- fords said: "Where?" The General said : "Why, to hunt Cochise." Jeffords answered : "He will be here in about fifteen or twenty min- utes. He will come on horseback, and will have behind him the ugliest Indian you ever saw, by the name of Teese, bearing a lance. Jeffords and his Indians had been signalling all the way out, using smoke, the usual method of telegraphing among Indians. Cochise made his appearance in about fifteen minutes, as Jeffords had said. He looked around, and then embraced Jeffords according to the Mexican and Indian custom. He was introduced to General Howard and Cap- tain Slayden. After a few minutes conversa- tion, Cochise asked Jeffords how long he had known these people. Jeffords said about thirty days. "Will they do as they say they will ?" Jeffords replied : "Well, I don't know; I think they will, but I will see that they do not promise too much." During the trip Jeffords had cau- tioned Howard against making too great prom- ises, because Indians were very exact, and the slightest violation of any promise made would queer them all the way through. Cochise
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studied a while and said: "I am going to send him to Bowie and see how much of a friend of the Indian he is." He said to Howard: "My people are out making a living. If they come across any whites, they will kill them, and it may be that some of my people will be killed. If my people are killed, I will take care of them, and if my people kill any whites I don't want to be held accountable for it, for they are out making a living. I want you to go to Bowie to-night." The General said to Captain Jeffords: "I am very tired and I don't know how to get there." Jeffords replied : "The Indians will show you a new route, and you can make a sulphur spring, about twelve miles from here tonight, sleep there, and go to Bowie tomorrow, and return in about three days." Howard did as requested and re- turned in three days.
In the meantime some of Cochise's Indians came in and reported that they had killed five whites. Cochise said : "I do not think the troops can follow the trail of my Indians, but if they do, they will be in here to-night, and we will have a
fight." Jeffords explained to Slayden the condition of affairs, and told him if the troops followed the trail and fought with the Indians, they would be beaten. He told him that if he wanted to leave, he had better go right away, and an Indian would conduct him to General How- ard. Slayden said: "What are you going to do ?" Jeffords answered: "I am going to stay here, but you are an officer of the army, and it might complicate matters if the soldiers found you here." Slayden studied for a while, and said : "If you are going to stay, I will stay too."
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Cochise moved his camp up among the rocks, and the Indians made a nice bed for Slayden and Jeffords. It was all planned by Cochise that if the soldiers came in upon them, the women and children would be taken out of the camp beyond possible danger. The braves, in the meantime, were placed in position to resist any attack. When General Howard returned, he looked over Cochise's defensive arrangement, and said that no general in the Army of the United States could have made a better disposi- tion of his men to resist an attack from a supe- rior force. Consultations then began in refer- ence to peace. The sub-chiefs came in from all over Cochise's stamping grounds. After a few days, they had a general powwow. General Howard wished to attend, but Captain Jeffords said: "No, we will stay here. They will let us know whether they want to make peace or not." By and by, through certain noises in their camp, Jeffords knew that it was all right, and that the council had decided for peace, and so told the General. Cochise then came up and informed the General that they were ready to make terms of peace. The terms were that they should have a reservation in the Sulphur Spring Valley within the boundaries of Stein's Pass Mountains, Chir- icahua Mountains, and the Dragoon Mountains, and that Captain Jeffords should be the Indian Agent. Jeffords said he did not wish the posi- tion; that the Government owed him $3,000 which he would forfeit if he accepted the posi- tion of Indian Agent, and, besides, he did not wish to be mixed up in it. If he was agent he
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would be called upon for political assessments every time a president was to be elected, or a delegate in his territory elected; that he was an old time Democrat, and did not feel like assisting any Republican in any position. Howard re- plied : "I will tell General Grant about it and I think it would be better. In the meantime, Cap- tain, I cannot make peace unless you consent to act as Indian Agent." Jeffords considered the matter, and being anxious to stop a war which was killing off so many of his friends, finally con- sented, with the understanding that he was to be absolute boss upon the reservation, admitting no one on the reservation unless with his consent, and taking absolute control and authority over the Indians. This authority was given him by the President. Thereafter no soldier or civilian, or official of any kind came upon the reservation without Jefford's consent, and for the four years that he was Indian Agent, there was never any trouble with the Chiricahua Apaches. The White Mountain Indians sent several delegations into the reservation to get assistance from Co- chise's Indians, but never received it. Further, all the horses and other stock in the hands of Cochise at the time this treaty was made, were restored to the owners. There was trouble with the White Mountain Indians at times, but Co- chise sat always at the right hand of Jeffords, and enforced whatever order he made, with the result as above stated. It was charged that these Chiricahua Indians went upon different raids into Mexico, and that a part of the treaty made with Howard was that they should have that privilege, all of which was untrue.
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During the time that Jeffords was agent, Co- chise died upon the reservation. It can be said that every promise which he made to Howard was religiously kept as long as he lived, and he advised his Indians never to go on the warpath against the whites again.
In the last sickness of Cochise, Jeffords was with him and gave him the best medical attention to be had, but was called away from Cochise's wickiup to issue rations to the Indians. Before leaving, however, Cochise told Jeffords that when he died, he wanted him to take care of his particular tribe, which numbered about three hundred and twenty, and keep a supervision over them. Jeffords said : "I am only one, and they are over three hundred, and they won't do what I ask them to do unless they want to." Cochise said : "We will fix that." He called in the head chiefs of his particular division, and then and there selected his oldest son as his successor, and they agreed with Cochise that they would do whatever Jeffords wanted them to do. On the removal of the Chiricahua Indians to the San Carlos Reservation, Jeffords took charge of this branch of the tribe, and it was the only band that went voluntarily to the San Carlos. Jeffords then left to issue rations to the rest of the Indians. In saying good-bye, Cochise said: "Chickasaw, do you think you will ever see me alive again ?" Jeffords replied : "I do not know; I don't think I will, for you have been failing very rapidly in the last three days, and I think that by tomorrow night you will be dead." Cochise said: "I think so too, about tomorrow morning, at ten o'clock, I will pass out, but do you think we will ever meet
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again ?" Jeffords replied: "I don't know. What do you think about it ?" "Well," said Cochise, "I have been giving it a good deal of thought since I have been sick here, and I think we will." "Where ?" asked Jeffords. "I don't know, somewhere up yonder," pointing to the skies. He died the next morning as he said he would, from inflammation of the bowels. He never feared death, but rather courted it.
While Slayden was in the camp, Jeffords asked Cochise if they could not have some fresh meat. "Well," Cochise said, "what I can give you is good enough for you and I, but I don't know about the other fellow." "All right," said Jeffords, "you have it cooked up, and I will vouch for him." So they had meat boiled in large quantities set before them, and Slayden ate like a pig. After the meal was over, Jef- fords asked him how he liked the meat. "I never tasted anything so good in my life. I ate three portions of it, and would have called for more had I not been ashamed to. What kind of meat was it, elk ?" Jeffords said : "Well, you saw them kill that colt over there. That was horse meat." Slayden answered: "Well, if I had known it, I suppose I wouldn't have touched it, but I still say it was the best meat I ever tasted."
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