Enter a name, company, place or keywords to search across this item. Then click "Search" (or hit Enter).
Go to the Archive Home
Go to Thumbnail View of this Item
Go to Single Page View of this Item
Download the Page Image
Copy the Page Text to the Clipboard
Don't highlight the search terms on the Image
Show the Page Image
Show the Image Page Text
Reset View and Center Image
Zoom Out
Zoom In
Rotate Left
Rotate Right
Toggle Full Page View
Flip Image Horizontally
More Information About this Image
Get a Citation for Page or Image - Copy to the Clipboard
Go to the Previous Page (or Left Arrow key)
Go to the Next Page (or Right Arrow key)
Page: of 12
ore
sday, January 26, 1972
(Continued from last week)
Bell confronted a dilemma. A saddle, bridle, and blankets
are most necessary articles when the steed goes with them,
but to this man plodding along a dusty road ona hot summer
day they were encumbrances. Consigning the sex to perdition
for its propensity to’ meddle, Bell had about decided to cache
the trappings until such time as he could annex another piece
of horseflesh, when he spied a team trotting down the highway,
and — irony of fate — the driver was the husband of the woman
who had compelled his horseless tramp. A sharp command to
halt, a brief parley, and the driver found himself under duress
the likeliest one of the pair, which proved to be an excellent
animal. Without opposition on the part of the victim the horse
was quickly saddled, Bell's revolver discouraged discussion;
and relieving the driver of a trifle of two hundred dollars,
which it was his hard luck to have in his pocket, Tom rode away
after requesting the plucked one to present his compliments
to his wife, say to her that a fair exchange was no robbery,
and that possibly in the future she might be less inclined to
arbitrate property rights. This exploit was Bell's initiative as a
knight of the road, and he soon by his daring and audacity became famous, or rather infamous, a
Crossing over to French Corral, where Bell had mined
before taking to the highway, Wakefield lingered around the
vicinity for several days, incidentally striking up an acquaintance with Bell's old partner, and by dint of judicious and cautious inquiry he became satisfied that the rendezvous of the
gang was somewhere in the vicinity. It had been whispered
that when the hue and cry was on, the members of the band,
close pressed by their pursuers, had scattered to avoid capture; that Bell's friends provided a temporary hiding-place
for his old partner in an abandoned tunnel, where a sack of
barley for the horse and a pair of blankets for the man made it a
fairly secure retreat until the emergency passed. He also
learned that several times, after a foray, the gang had
been seen crossing the ford of the river to the northern
bank, disappearing in the chamizal that covered the
mountainside. Piecing his information together, Wek -field
was persuaded that in some one of the steep canyons that cut
the flank of the slopes there wgs a camp to which the robbers
retreated. Following out his idea, he left his horse at the little
town and started out on a systematic search, beginning at
the ford. Following the river bank for a mile along the beaten
trail used by the miners, he at last found signs of hoof-prints
turning off into the chaparral; these he followed around and
through dense manzanita thickets to where they terminated in
a secluded granite canyon about half-way up the mountain.
There were a couple of acres of bare ground close by, and
there horses had been tethered, as was proved by several
old stakes driven into the ground and by the beaten-dowh
earth round about. Descending into the canyon he discovered
unmistakable signs of a camp, the blackened coals and ashes of
an old fire, empty cans scattered about, and negf,a spring which
trickled from the rocks, a frying pan and coffeepot. Wakefield
was certain that he had unearthed their retreat, although from
appearances no one had been near the place for some time; but
he reasoned that sooner or later they would return, and forming
his plans on this belief, he decided to await their coming. Climbing up the steep wall of the canyon and crawling through the interlacing thorn bushes for a distance of a couple of hundred
yards, he came up against a huge boulder, from the top of
which he could overlook and see into the bed of the gorge and
the robbers camp. This was his vantage point, and here he
determined to stay and keep his vigil until they appeared. He
had first to provide himself with food and bedding, and concluded. to return to San Juan, some five miles away, and lay
in his supplies. Instead of retracing his footsteps, with in2 clearance wn tale
finite difficulty he forced his way through the tangled underbrush
until he reached the top of the ridge and clear ground, marking
his exit by stones and broken limbs of the bushes in order to
find his way back.
At San Juan he outfitted as a prospector, buying a burro
and loading it with provisions, blankets, and cooking utensils,
so common an incident that no suspicion was excited of any
ulterior intention. He consumed all the next day in getting the
pack back to the selected spot, but with the aid of a hatchet
which he had added to the outfit, he cut the way for a passage,
unloaded: the burrow, and turned it loose to provide for itself.
Much to his satisfaction, he found that by climbing a near-by
pine he could bring the ford and a portion of the river trail in
view, — a fortunate discovery, ‘as by keeping fairly close
watch he was enabled to build a small fire and do his cooking,
using for the purpose oak limbs, which gave out little smoke,
and the fire could be extinguished quickly if necessary.
These preliminaries concluded, he settled down quietly to
watch and wait until the quarry should fall into his hands.
It was a long and weary wait, and by a man less obstinate
would have been abandoned in its early stages. For two weeks he
maintained his outlook, sleeping on the bare ground, cooking
his lonely meals; his only companions were the blue jays that
at first scolded and squawked over his intrusion, a prowling
coyote who sniffed at his camp fire, and stole away with a piece
of bacon, a pair of gray squirrels that nested and frolicked in
the branches of a close-by pine tree, a timid hare, pursued by
a red fox, which almost ran into his arms and stood quivering
with fear, frozen into a statue by the sudden encounter. In the
canyon below, the piping cock quail called to the covey, anda
dove and its mate "coo-cooed" their sad note in the open beyond. The solitary hours passed slowly, and with only his own
thoughts for company, Wakefield's self-communings were not
always to his own satisfaction. Fortune in the way of material
things had come to him far beyond his anticipations, He had found
the golden fleece, but it seemed as if he had paid a heavy price
for itis strange affliction, the estrangement from his wife, his