20049, 20050, 20051. The Arizona Miner, Prescott, Arizona Territory, November 18th, 1871. A Corrected Account of the Massacre. (article)

The Arizona Miner Prescott, Arizona Territory November 18th, 1871 A Corrected Account of the Massacre. The Inquest. Last week we gave a account of the capture of the mail stage and the murder of five passengers and the driver, near Wickenburg. Our account was gathered from a series of conflicting verbal reports and although inaccurate in a few particulars, was, in the main, correct. Subsequent mails have brought us the particulars of the outrage, which we now propose to place before our readers. In the first place, then, there is no longer a doubt as to the authors of the crime. They were Indians— Apache Mohaves, from the Date Creek Reservation. They were secreted by the roadside behind piles of grass and shrubbery which they had collected and arranged in a manner that must fail to attract attention— by placing in an upright position, which gave them the appearance of clumps of shrubbery produced by the natural process of growth. In the second instance the murderers were not mounted, but were all on foot. The hiding places which we have described, extended for some distance along the roadside, and when the stage had reached a point about the middle of the line it was raked by the fire of the assassins in three directions— in front, in rear and directly opposite the sides. The driver and three of the passengers were killed outright at the first fire and the remaining four passengers, with one exception, wounded. At this time the survivors were Miss Sheppard, and Messrs. Kruger, Hamel and Loring. The last-named had thus far escaped. 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 they 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 sprang 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. But the effort was hopeless; he was 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 about the same instant; and those who are best acquainted with the Indian customs believe that he must have fought bravely for his life as he was the only member of the party who was scalped- it being customary with the savages to disfigure the bodies of those who fall while fighting to defend their lives. At a late hour on Sunday night the victims were brought to Wickenburg, and on the following day an inquest was held, on the bodies. The following is a copy of the verdict rendered: We the undersigned—, summoned as a jury to hold an inquest on the A Corrected Account of the Massacre— Continued. bodies of the following- named persons found murdered in the stagecoach, about six miles from the town of Wickenburg, on the La Paz road, on the morning of the 5th of November, 1871, from all the evidence obtained from the two surviving passengers, do find that, C.S. Adams, John Lentz, Fred W. Loring, Fred W. Shohoim, W.G. 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 M.W. Webber Aaron Barnett Dennis May Chas. H. Richardson Chas. Barbour Mack Morris, Foreman In addition to the foregoing account, which we have received from persons who visited the scene of the massacre, we append the following letter from Wickenburg, written under date of November 12th: Editors Miner: In looking over the last issue of your paper, (Nov. 11th), a report giving details concerning the late tragedy which occured near our place, I wish to correct one error; the murderers were not “mounted on horses,” but all on foot and wearing the Apaches moccasins, leaving on their trail many Indian articles, (among others, bone dust used by the Indians as a medicine), which were brought in by Geo. Monroe. The affair is a serious one and unprecedently bold, therefore our citizens wish to have the blame attached to none but the guilty ones, consequently they have spared no trouble nor expense in thoroughly satisfying themselves. So soon in the morning as it became light enough to see a footprint, a party of our citizens were 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 those different trails a distance of four or five miles, they all united, forming one large trail, and heading towards the Date Creek Reservation. The trail showed them to be a party of Indians, some forty or fifty in number. It was useless for the few citizens then on the trail to follow them further, the Indians having some twenty hours the start. They returned to Wickenburg, where they met Capt. Meinhold, with a detachment of troops from Camp Date Creek, with orders to use all efforts to find out who the murderers were. Thereupon Mr. Monroe and Mr. Frink, immediately returned with Capt. Meinhold and his command, again took the trail and followed it until citizens and soldiers were all thoroughly satisfied the perpetrators of this horrible deed were Indians. A Corrected Account of the Massacre— Continued. We being the scouting party, subscribe to the above being a true report: being the first on the ground, after the massacre, and of the last who left the trail. W.J. Barclay Geo. Monroe Edward Prentiss Geo. Bryan LJose M. Salallo