USA > Arizona > History of Arizona, Vol. IV > Part 15
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"Tools for clearing the land and ditching were purchased. Plows, (cast mould boards), a very inferior utensil, but the best that could be got, were bought at exorbitant prices. Barley and wheat for seed cost $20.00 per cwt. This was the price in gold, greenbacks being worth sev- enty cents on the dollar. Corn for seed cost them $22.00 per cwt., and they had to go eighteen miles to the Hassayamp to get it, then pack it to Prescott on donkeys over an almost impass- able trail. Provisions were also high. But all these difficulties were overcome, and early in February the party, numbering nineteen in all with supplies loaded into six wagons drawn by oxen, bade farewell to their friends, and set forth to try the experiment of making a per- manent settlement in the midst of a region sur- rounded by the murderous Apaches.
"Four days later these adventurers reached and passed over the Verde River at the same point where the exploring party had crossed one month before, and pitched their camp. Here the first trouble came, not from Indians, but amongst themselves. Two parties had
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already risen, and the rupture was becoming serious. It had been agreed to plant the per- manent camp at Clear Fork, but there was one or two who had all the time favored the little valley where they were now camped. It was larger than the one originally selected, and was very attractive. Those who had favored this locality in the beginning had yielded to the majority for the time, but had been quietly and industriously at work among the new recruits, and now hoped to reconsider the first vote and make the settlement one mile above the present camp. The leader of this party was a man named Parrish, not a bad fellow, but one who liked authority and was obstinate. The selec- tion of the upper valley would be an endorse- ment of his plans, and virtually make him head of the colony. Those who favored the other location did it because they felt it was for the best interests of all concerned. They argued that the expense in time and muscle, and, of course, in provisions, in getting water upon the upper valley, which would have to come from the Verde River, would be at least four times what it would cost to bring it from Clear Fork into the lower valley. This was a strong argument in favor of the original location. Much work was to be done. Cabins to live in, and a suitable stockade for defense was first to be constructed, and then the land was to be cleared and water put on to it before cultivation could begin, so that it became a necessity to avoid all super- fluous work, and save every hour of time if they expected to succeed in raising a crop that sea- son, and a failure to raise and secure a crop was failure of the whole scheme, as nearly every one
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had his all staked upon the success of the enter- prise.
"Nothing was decided that afternoon, and though the day had been beautiful, during the night it began to rain, a thing they were not expecting, and were not prepared for. Several of the wagons had no covers, and the rain in- creasing, the contents became soaked with water. When morning came everything looked gloomy. The men gathered shivering around the fires, which were with difficulty made to burn. Two miles away upon the hills to the south it was snowing, and only the lower altitude kept them from being in a snowstorm where they were. Such was the condition of things on the first morning.
"All were impatient of delay and wanted to have the matter of the exact location of settle- ment determined. Those favoring the lower valley quietly numbered their forces, and found there were seven voters sure, and three more who were noncommittal, among them Mr. Foster, who had no cattle, and no interest in them, and who would be compelled to rely on some of the others who had. J. M. Swetnam went to him and agreed if he would join those favoring the lower valley, he, Swetnam, would furnish him cattle for breaking and cultivating his ground free of charge. The offer was ac- cepted. There were yet the two who so far as those who favored the lower valley knew, had expressed no opinion.
"About 10 a. m., the same day, the rain ceased, and by noon the sun was shining. The matter of location had been fully discussed during the morning and Parrish, believing himself in the
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majority, was in high spirits, and declared his intention of settling in the upper valley. Those favoring the lower valley had most at stake, and while deprecating the division of the party, de- termined to make their settlement as originally contemplated.
"One more effort was made to induce Parrish and his followers to yield, and upon their refusal preparations were immediately begun to con- tinue the journey to Clear Fork.
"J. M. Swetnam, W. L. Osborn, H. D. L. Morse, Jo. Melvin, Thomas Ruff, C. M. Ralston, Mac Foster, Ed. Boblett, John Lang, and Jake Ramstein, ten in all, pulled out, and that eve- ning pitched their camp at the place already selected on the point between the river and Clear Fork.
"The first work was to build a place to secure the cattle and provide for their own defense in case of an attack from the Apaches. The next morning before the sun was up they had begun work. The stone of the old ruin previously spoken of, was used to make an enclosure sixty feet long and forty feet wide. The walls were built to a height of seven or eight feet, being four feet thick on the bottom, and two feet thick at the top. A well was also dug that they might have water in case the supply from the river or ditch was interfered with.
"The stone enclosure being completed, they built a cabin on each corner. These cabins were built of poles, notched at the ends, and made a very substantial habitation. The floor was mother earth, wet, levelled, and pounded so as to make it hard and smooth. The cracks be- tween the logs were chinked and plastered with
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mud. There was one door and one window to each cabin, and these were closed with strong shutters. There were also loopholes looking out from the exposed sides and end of each cabin. The covering was made by using poles round or split for a foundation, covering this with grass, and then piling dirt to a depth of fifteen to eighteen inches on top of that. The timber for these purposes was got from the grove which fringed Clear Fork on each side for a distance of over two miles from the mouth. This was willow, cottonwood, and ash.
"The cabins completed, the next work was to open a ditch to bring water to the Fort, as they now called their camp, for irrigating purposes.
"The spot selected for the dam was a point on Clear Fork about one mile and a half from the Fort. This would enable them to cover about four hundred acres with water. The plan was to make the ditch three feet wide at the top, and fifteen inches deep. Then came the survey. For this they had no instruments. Ralston had once carried a chain with some surveyors in Illinois, and thought he could survey the ditch, so he arranged a triangle with a leaden bob, and with the aid of a carpenter's level, the work began. The first half mile was through grease- wood and mesquite, which annoyed the survey- ors, and afterwards rendered the digging in places quite difficult. The survey being com- pleted up on to the level, from which point the water would have plenty of fall, the work of dig- ging was begun with a will, every man doing his part. There was a division of labor. Two or three men had to remain about the cabins to be on the lookout for Indians and to look after the
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oxen, and two, Jake Ramstein and John Lang, refused to join in with the main party, but took out a small ditch on the south side of Clear Fork. This ditch was less than half a mile long, and covered about forty acres of land, so that reduced the number to work on the main ditch to five at a time. Swetnam was made time- keeper, and the working and watching was so arranged that each man did his share of the dig- ging.
"The work was hard, but they were at it by sunrise in the morning, and sunset often found them wielding the shovel and the spade. Work upon the ditch had continued for over a week when it became necessary to go to Prescott, for provisions were getting low. They had ex- pected to be able to get some game in the valley, but nothing had been killed, excepting two or three geese and as many ducks. A few fish of the sucker family had been caught, but the addi- tion to the larder did not pay for the time spent in catching them. About the 20th of March, five of the party, with one wagon and two yoke of oxen, left on the trip to Prescott.
"At the upper camp they were joined by two men who were leaving the valley in disgust. This increased the number to seven. The Indi- ans on the way up annoyed them some, though they were not attacked. During the absence of the party after supplies, work on the ditch almost ceased, and the time was spent in garden- ing and such other work as could be done near the Fort.
"The party returned from Prescott in about six days, bringing with them Mrs. Boblett, Mr. and Mrs. Whitcomb, father and mother of Mrs.
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Boblett, Charles Yates, and John A. Culbertson, also thirty-three head of cattle belonging to John Osborn, and ten or twelve head belonging to Whitcomb, which, with the oxen they already had, brought the number of cattle on the ranch up to between fifty-five and sixty, and, what was better, gave them three more men, and the civil- izing influence of women.
"The cabins were now occupied as follows: The northwest by Swetnam, Ralston and Fos- ter; the northeast by Osborn, Melvin, Morse. Yates and Culbertson; the southeast by Lang and Ramstein, and the southwest by Mr. and Mrs. Whitcomb, Mr. and Mrs. Boblett, and Thomas Ruff.
"Work was again vigorously prosecuted on the ditch, but when Culbertson, one of the new arrivals who had had much experience in irriga- ting in California, came to look the ground over, he insisted that the survey was incorrect, and unless they had the power to make water run up hill, the ditch would be useless if continued on the present survey. Ralston contended that the survey was correct, and to settle the matter a dam, which was intended to be left until the ditch was finished, was now thrown across the stream, and the water turned into the ditch. Though turned on with considerable head, it ran slug- gishly for about one hundred feet and stopped. Clear Fork water would not run up hill.
"The atmosphere grew blue and sulphurous for a little while. Many days of hard labor had been lost by the blunder, but they were not the kind of men to repine. The upper end of the ditch was lowered, the survey made on a little lower level, and the work progressed without in-
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terruption until the ditch was completed, and an abundance of water, clear as crystal, running therein.
"The work of clearing off the land and break- ing had begun, and was prosecuted with such vigor that by the 10th of May over two hundred acres had been planted in barley, wheat, corn, potatoes, beans, melons, and garden stuff, and was growing with a rapidity only seen where there is rich soil, a hot sun, and plenty of mois- ture.
"Two or three times the Indians had made their appearance on the hills, and twice tracks were found within twenty rods of the cabins where the savages had been the night before, but up to the first of May there had been no par- ticular annoyance, and the settlers began to have hopes that the Indians would not molest them, and became careless. The cattle were allowed to wander without someone being with them all the time, though they were looked after, brought up at noon, and kept corralled every night.
"One morning in the early part of May, the settlers were engaged on their different tracts of land when the cry of 'Indians! Indians!' rang out upon the startled ears of the settlers, and in a minute every man was hurrying to the Fort. Mr. Whitcomb, whose duty it was to look after the cattle, had, just before 10 a. m., missed three head of oxen. It was but a few moments work to reach the spot where he had seen them half an hour before, some sixty rods away from the cabins. He soon struck their trail and, follow- ing it, were moccasin tracks. This explained their disappearance.
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"Twenty minutes after the alarm was given, Melvin, Ralston, Osborn, Swetnam and Morse were upon their track in hot pursuit. The di- rection of the trail was south of east, crossing Clear Fork not far from the head of the ditch, and coming out on the mesa nearly three miles from the Fort, the general direction being Tonto Basin, for which point the Indians were evidently heading.
"The cattle were in good condition, and the Indians, probably a small foraging party num- bering nine or ten, were sparing no effort to get away with their booty, and with three-quarters of an hour start, through a region every foot of which the Indians knew, and of which their pur- suers knew little, it could be nothing else than a dangerous and a long chase. But this only increased the determination of the boys to re- capture the cattle. 'For,' said Ralston, 'this is their first raid and, if successful, they will soon come again, but if defeated in this effort, it will teach them to let us alone in the future.'
"At a distance of about four miles the trail entered the mountains, where the rocky condi- tion of the ground rendered the trail, in places, quite indistinct, thus hindering the pursuers. At this point Thomas Ruff, mounted upon the only horse in the valley, and with a supply of bacon, flour and coffee for two days, and bread for one meal, overtook the boys, increasing their number to six.
"About half-past one p. m., they came to a beautiful clear cool stream of water. Here they stopped for twenty minutes and ate a lunch of raw bacon and bread, washed down with cold water, and no banquet was ever better relished.
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"The little rest and food greatly refreshed them, and the boys strode over those wild, rough and rocky mountains at the rate of five miles an hour.
"By two o'clock there was no trouble in fol- lowing the trail, the droppings from the over- heated cattle, and the little flecks of foam, not yet dry, showed that the distance between the pursued and the pursuers was growing rapidly less.
"At four o'clock a small stream was reached where the cattle tracks in the water had not yet cleared, and the boys knew their game was near. Here the trail was almost directly up the moun- tain side, which was covered with pretty thick brush, necessitating a little more caution in the advance, but the speed was not lessened. With faces flushed with the muscular exertion, guns in position for immediate use, and every eye and ear upon the alert, they ascended the mountains for nearly a mile, Swetnam in the lead, Melvin at his heels, and Osborn next, thus reaching what seemed to be the top. In a hollow some fifty steps ahead stood the cattle, with tongues hang- ing out, panting for breath, and a number of arrows sticking in each, but no Indians in sight. Beyond the cattle was another short rise, and the savages, finding the pursuit so close that they could not get their booty in its exhausted condi- tion over the edge before the boys came in sight, concluded to abandon the cattle and save them- selves.
"A halt, only long enough to pull the arrows from the wounds of the bleeding cattle, was made. Then they hastened on after the Indians, but all trace was soon lost. Still they continued
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on for perhaps a mile further, coming to the ex- treme top of the mountain, when, looking off to the south, east and west, a vast region of country came into sight, the valley of the Salt River and its tributaries, beyond which the mountains shone dim and blue, a region in which no white man had dared attempt to make his home.
"Further pursuit was useless, and the boys returned to where the cattle had been left, one of which was found to be badly wounded, but they turned them toward home and immediately be- gan the journey.
"About six o'clock they met John Lang (the cattle belonged to him and Jake Ramstein). John's face was covered with dust, his hat was off, his shirt bosom was open, the sight was knocked from his gun, and the stock broken.
" 'Well, John,' said Melvin, 'did you expect to overtake us?'
" 'Vell, I t'ot I would as you come back,' was his reply.
"Upon questioning him regarding his broken gun, it developed that he, being at work south of Clear Fork, did not hear of his loss for half an hour after the party had started in pursuit, when, against all remonstrance, he started to follow, and, on his way, came across an Indian who had evidently been left behind to watch and report. Lang got up near enough to him to shoot, but he did not kill the Indian, and this made him so angry that he threw the gun away and charged the Indian with his sixshooter, but the savage soon disappeared. Then Lang re- turned, picked up his gun, and followed on the trail. When asked why he threw the gun away, he said, 'The tam gun, is no goot.' He felt
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there would have been one dead Apache had the gun 'been goot.'
"An hour before dark the party halted long enough to prepare and eat supper, after which they resumed their journey, reaching home at three o'clock the next morning, having been out seventeen hours, and travelled fifty miles. The cattle stood the trip home, but one of them died from the effects of his wounds on the day follow- ing. The other two lived to be again captured, and again rescued.
"About this time the upper camp was aban- doned entirely. Too late they found that they could not get water on to the ground in time for a crop, and, becoming discouraged, they gave up entirely, Parrish and four or five of his followers going back to Prescott, and the remainder join- ing the lower camp.
"Everything went on smoothly for some time, except that the horse was one evening run off by the Indians. Corn had been planted, and the grain and vegetables were looking well, though the grain had been planted late. The corn be- gan to need cultivating, but without horses how was this to be done ? Three or four shovel plows had been brought down, and these could be stocked if the motive power could be got. It has been said, 'necessity is the mother of inven- tion.' Short yokes were made, a harness im- provised, and single oxen were put to plowing between the rows of corn, and, though slow, they did the work very well. But in this instance the command, 'Thou shalt not muzzle the ox,' had to be disobeyed, or there would have been no corn, and no plowing.
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"The living was not elaborate. It was coffee, bacon, beans and bread for breakfast; beans, coffee, bread and bacon for dinner, and bread, coffee, bacon and beans for supper.
"At Prescott flour was $30.00 per cwt., in greenbacks; bacon 50¢ per lb. But when the new vegetables were ready for use, they fared better, and when the sweet corn and green beans came, followed by potatoes and melons, they lived like kings.
"Late in May a man by the name of Sanford, an old Californian, joined the colony, and about this time a man from Texas, named Elliott, with his wife and three or four children came. An- other cabin was built on the east side, the end be- ing placed immediately against the stone enclos- ure. Crops were now growing vigorously, and the boys began to feel in good spirits. Work was now less pressing, and the company being larger, more trips were made to Prescott, and upon each of these occasions one or more per- sons would accompany the party back to the val- ley.
"Prescott being the nearest postoffice, letters and papers were received at intervals of three or four weeks. Books were few, and amuse- ments, outside of cards or target shooting, were scarce. There was no game to hunt, and alto- gether it was rather a humdrum life to lead, ex- cept when the Indians gave them a little excite- ment.
"Scarcely a man in the whole valley went by his own name, nicknames being given to each. For instance Clayton Ralston, because he got a letter stating that his sister had a boy, was im- mediately dubbed 'Uncle Clayton'; Boblett and
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his wife, although married over ten years, had no children, but he was called 'Pap'; Culbertson was a slim, long legged fellow, and he was known as 'Fly-up-the-Creek'; Osborn was 'Stubbs'; Swetnam, 'Scrappy'; Morse, 'Muggins'; Foster, 'Scroggins'; Melvin, 'Schimerhorn,' and so on. "The latter part of May, while five or six of the party were on a trip to Prescott for supplies, just after the noon hour, the ditch was found to be without water. There could be but one ex- planation, either the dam or ditch was cut, and only Indians would do it. The breach must be repaired and the camp protected. This might be a scheme on the part of the Indians to divide the force left in the valley, and then attack the cabins. The cattle were corralled, and Culbert- son and Swetnam volunteered to make the at- tempt to find the break and repair it. In addi- tion to their usual fighting implements they took an axe, and a spade, and followed up the ditch. They had not gone more than one-third the dis- tance to the dam when a column of smoke was seen rising from a point on the mesa, south of the dam. The redskins were there, and were watch- ing the settlers. The boys, after reconnoitering for some time, finally reached the dam, which had been cut and the water turned into the main channel. Three or four hours steady work, one standing guard while the other labored, was suffi- cient to repair the breach and throw an abund- ance of water into the ditch. The boys quit just before night and returned safely to the Fort.
"There was no more disturbance from the In- dians until June 23rd. That morning a party had returned from Prescott, bringing in two or three visitors and two horses with them, and
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those left in the valley received them with great joy, for they were several days behind their expected return and for two days the commis- sariat of those at the Fort had been reduced to coffee, beans, and green vegetables, so that when they did return, everybody knocked off work and made a kind of a holiday of it.
"The cattle had been brought up to the corral at noon, but had not been put inside. The two horses were picketed within a hundred feet of the northeast cabin, and there was no thought of Indians. Dinner had been eaten and several of the boys were lounging in the northwest cabin, the window of which looked directly up the river. During the dinner hour the cattle had wandered off up the stream perhaps a half a mile, and half as far from the river, it being another half mile to the bluffs to the northeast. Some one glan- cing up the river saw four naked men running from the cover of the bank directly toward the cattle. 'Indians! Indians!' was the cry. Swet- nam, Ralston and Foster seized their guns and started on the run to save the cattle, the other boys hurrying to their own cabins for their guns. The intention was to reach the cattle before the stampeders could get them to the bluffs. Swet- nam, being the fastest runner, was in front, Ralston next, and then Foster, but the latter had thought of the horses, and, leaping on the back of the best one, passed Ralston and overtook Swetnam when nearly half a mile from the Fort. Swetnam here mounted on behind Foster. From four Indians first in sight, the number had increased to over sixty, and they had formed a hollow square around about twenty-five of the cattle, and were hurrying them on the run to the
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mouth of a ragged canyon half a mile from where the cattle had been captured.
"It was a beautiful sight. The Apaches were naked except for the breechclout, and armed with rifles, long handled spears, and bows and arrows. The spears were freely used in urging the cattle forward, but five or six of them broke away from their captors and escaped.
"Foster and Swetnam both urged the horse to as great a speed as possible, and, without stop- ping to consider the danger, did their best to reach the canyon before the Indians, but the distance was too great; they were still eighty yards away when the mouth of the canyon was entered by the savages, who divided into three columns, one moving up the center after the cat- tle, and one up each side of the canyon. Swet- nam here leaped from the horse and dropped on one knee, when there was a roar of fire- arms, and the bullets knocked up the ground all around him. He selected his Indian and fired. Foster, armed with a double barreled shotgun, urged the horse forward almost into the mouth of the canyon, and emptied both barrels in the face of a shower of balls and arrows from the foes who had taken shelter behind rocks. Fos- ter then wheeled his horse, which had been shot through the neck, and rode back to where Swet- nam was watching a chance to pick off a savage if opportunity occurred. In a few minutes Ral- ston, Culbertson, Osborn, Melvin, Boblett and one or two others came up, and, leaving the wounded horse behind, they continued the pur- suit, the Indians having disappeared in the re- treat. The boys followed for perhaps two miles through the hills, hoping that they might
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