20078. The Arizona Miner, Prescott, Arizona Territory, February 17th, 1872. The Wickenburg Massacre. Misrepresentation of Facts by One of the Survivors. (article)

The Arizona Miner Prescott, Arizona Territory February 17th, 1872 THE WICKENBURG MASSACRE. Misrepresentation of Facts by One of the Survivors. It is not at all pleasant for us to have to brand Wm. Kruger, who, with Mollie Sheppard, escaped death at the time the Indians captured the stage near Wickenburg, in the early part of November last, as a contemptible liar and slanderer; yet we do so in behalf of humane men slandered by Kruger, as well as in vindication of the truth. But, to the point. About the 3rd of January last, Wm. Kruger and Mollie Sheppard arrived at Los Angeles, California, about which date Kruger gave to a reporter for the News, a detailed statement of the massacre, in which we find the following paragraph: Loring, Shoholm, Hamel and Adams, were all decently buried at Wickenburg, but Salmon was interred in the middle of the road near where the attack was made. And so little pains were taken to cover him that portions of his remains are still exposed above the surface. What portions of his body the coyotes could get at they stripped the bones clear of the flesh. When the survivors passed the scene on their way here, the bare bones protruded above ground. The scoundrels who undertook to do this last act of charity had the audacity to charge the estate $95 for the job, that being the amount of cash found on the dead man’s person. In the above we find four seperate and distinct lies. The remains of Mr. Salmon were interred in a deep grave, dug in a side hill several yards south of the road, and those who dug said grave and buried the remains, assure us that no coyote or other carnivorous brute has ever tasted of the flesh thereof; nor has Kruger ever seen any bones in the vicinity save, perhaps, in imagination. Again, the “scoundrels” referred to are honest, brave, humane and generous men— citizens of Wickenburg, who, instead of having “had the audacity to charge $95 for the job, that being the amount of cash found on the dead man’s body,” gave every cent of said cash to Lieutenant Lockwood, U.S.E., (attached to the Wheeler expedition, of which the unfortunate Hamel was likewise a member.) So much for Kruger’s veracity in this matter, which is in keeping with the lies he has spread broadcast over the country regarding the treatment received by himself and paramour from the command ant of Camp Date Creek, a false and lying account of which he wrote to this paper during our absence in Southern Arizona.