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07 - Dread Apache- That Early-Day Scourge of the Southwest by Merrill Pingree Freeman · Dread Apache- That Early-Day Scourge of the Southwest

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  Speaker 1: Section seven of the Dread apache That Early Day Scourge
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  Speaker 1: of the Southwest by Doctor Merle Pingree Freeman. This LibriVox
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  Speaker 1: recording is in the public domain. Sword presented to General
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  Speaker 1: Miles through What would You Do? Sword presented to General Miles.
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  Speaker 1: The people of Arizona having been finally and it was
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  Speaker 1: felt permanently relieved of this black incubus that had been
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  Speaker 1: hanging over them for the many years dating back to
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  Speaker 1: their early coming to the territory, and General Miles, having
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  Speaker 1: contributed so largely to the result, decided to do something
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  Speaker 1: marking their appreciation of the services rendered them, and this
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  Speaker 1: found expression in the presentation of a sword. Through a
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  Speaker 1: popular subscription, a magnificent sword costing one thousand dollars was
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  Speaker 1: procured through Tiffany and Company of New York, the blade
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  Speaker 1: being of the finest steel, beautifully etched, and the hilt
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  Speaker 1: of solid gold. The presentation took place on November eighth,
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  Speaker 1: eighteen eighty seven, at Leven's Park at the foot of
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  Speaker 1: Pennington Street. It was originally intended that the ceremony should
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  Speaker 1: take place on September fourth, the anniversary of the surrender
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  Speaker 1: of Geronimo, but that day falling on a Sunday, it
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  Speaker 1: was fixed for Monday. The fifth General Miles, however, having
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  Speaker 1: been injured by the overturning of the carriage in which
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  Speaker 1: he was out riding at Santa Monica, California, on August eighth,
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  Speaker 1: the presentation was delayed until the date named Many notables
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  Speaker 1: in our country. Also the governors of neighboring Mexican states
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  Speaker 1: were invited to be present. A distinguishing feature in the
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  Speaker 1: very long procession leading to the park was three hundred
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  Speaker 1: mounted Papagoes under their chief Assussione Russ in all their
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  Speaker 1: barbaric splendor of feathers and paint. The Papagoes had always
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  Speaker 1: been the consistent friends of the whites and the inveterate
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  Speaker 1: foes of the Apaches, so they were more than glad
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  Speaker 1: to participate in this event. In addition to the conventional
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  Speaker 1: combination usually found in parades, there were the fourth U. S.
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  Speaker 1: Cavalry Band and a platoon of United States Artillery. William Zeckendorff,
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  Speaker 1: one of the very early pioneers, acting as Grand Marshal.
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  Speaker 1: One of the photographs suggesting this article is of this procession,
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  Speaker 1: evidently taken from the roof of one of the buildings
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  Speaker 1: on the west side of Main Street looking up Pennington Street,
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  Speaker 1: and shows the parade the full length of the street,
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  Speaker 1: the head not having quite reached Main Street. The presentation
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  Speaker 1: was made on a platform erected for the purpose in
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  Speaker 1: the park. Royal A. Johnson was President of the day,
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  Speaker 1: I having the honor of acting as secretary, and Judge W. H.
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  Speaker 1: Barnes making the presentation address. One of my duties as
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  Speaker 1: secretary was to read the letters of regret from those
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  Speaker 1: who had been invited but were unable to be present.
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  Speaker 1: Among these I now recall letters from Secretary of War
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  Speaker 1: William C. Endecott, General Sherman, and R. G. Ingersoll. Among
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  Speaker 1: those present were Major Chaffee, subsequently Lieutenant General, and Lieutenant Wood,
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  Speaker 1: now major General. The other of the two photographs is
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  Speaker 1: of General Miles and those on the platform with him,
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  Speaker 1: taken as the General was delivering his address accepting the sword.
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  Speaker 1: In the evening following the presentation, there was a reception
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  Speaker 1: and ball at the San Xavier Hotel, since burned down
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  Speaker 1: near the station. This hotel, all at the time, was
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  Speaker 1: kept by Wheeler and Perry. Johnny Greenleaf mistakes scouts for
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  Speaker 1: kid as illustrating the trying experiences that one might be
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  Speaker 1: subject to during these troublous times, when the fear of
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  Speaker 1: the kid was in the very air. I may relate
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  Speaker 1: one of a friend of mine, Johnny Greenleaf. Johnny was
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  Speaker 1: sinking a well on his ranch some distance from the house,
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  Speaker 1: and had just ridden to where his two men were
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  Speaker 1: at work, one in the well and the other on top.
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  Speaker 1: Suddenly a number of Indians came in sight approaching the well.
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  Speaker 1: Recognizing them as apaches, he naturally assumed them to be
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  Speaker 1: the Kid and some of his followers, and, obeying the
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  Speaker 1: instinct of human nature, that of self preservation, cried out,
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  Speaker 1: here comes the Kidd quickly mounted his horse and started
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  Speaker 1: to escape. He had gone but a short distance, however,
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  Speaker 1: till that chivalrous spirit which makes one sacrifice his own
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  Speaker 1: life rather than cowardly desert his comrade, asserted itself, and
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  Speaker 1: he immediately turned and rode back to his men, both
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  Speaker 1: of whom were now on pop realizing at the same
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  Speaker 1: time that there was absolutely nothing he could do, neither
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  Speaker 1: he nor his men having a shooting iron of any kind,
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  Speaker 1: all of their weapons having been left at the house.
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  Speaker 1: The Indians now approaching the well, Johnny asked them in
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  Speaker 1: English what they were hunting and where they were going.
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  Speaker 1: One of them, speaking English very poorly, in trying to
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  Speaker 1: make himself understood, mention the kid in such a way
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  Speaker 1: that Johnny understood him to say that he was the
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  Speaker 1: Apache kid. This simply confirmed what Johnny had thought, but
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  Speaker 1: it so startled him that for a while he could
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  Speaker 1: barely speak, for if this were the kid, there was
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  Speaker 1: little chance for their lives of either Johnny or his men.
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  Speaker 1: Finally recovering his nerve and asking something else, the Indian
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  Speaker 1: succeeded in making it understood that they were scouts from
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  Speaker 1: San Carlos and were seeking the kid. You can well
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  Speaker 1: imagine the relief of the three men when they realized
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  Speaker 1: that they were in no danger. What would you do?
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  Speaker 1: I think? I hear one of my readers saying that
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  Speaker 1: Johnny's attempt to escape was a cowardly thing to do. Yes,
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  Speaker 1: what would you have done? And what would I under
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  Speaker 1: the same circumstances, unless idiotic or too frightened to mount
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  Speaker 1: the horse, we would have done just what Johnny did.
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  Speaker 1: Assuming that this had been the kid, as Johnny firmly believed,
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  Speaker 1: his escape meant the loss of but two lives instead
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  Speaker 1: of the loss of the same two and the sacrifice
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  Speaker 1: of a third his own if he remained. But no
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  Speaker 1: man knows just exactly what he would do under a
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  Speaker 1: certain trying condition until he has been subjected to the
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  Speaker 1: test of that buried condition. He may think he does,
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  Speaker 1: but he doesn't. But having gone less than one hundred yards,
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  Speaker 1: Johnny's mind has had time to react, and the chivalrous
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  Speaker 1: spirit asserts itself, and he turns and rides back to
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  Speaker 1: what to his death he has every reason to believe.
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  Speaker 1: But having gotten the one hundred yards away, would you
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  Speaker 1: or I have turned and ridden back to our own
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  Speaker 1: certain death? Is there not a possibility that, were the
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  Speaker 1: world wide enough and the horse strong enough, we might
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  Speaker 1: still be going in your imagination. Don't place the standard
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  Speaker 1: too high for the nerve you think you possess if
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  Speaker 1: at the time you are absolutely in no danger. End
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  Speaker 1: of Section seven.