Unsolved Mysteries:The Wickenburg Massacre, Episode #5.1, September 16, 1992. (partial transcript of television episode)

Below is a partial transcript of a segment about The Wickenburg Massacre from the television program "Unsolved Mysteries", Episode #5.1, which originally aired September 16th, 1992. Narrated by actor David Farina (DF) and featuring interview segments with Bill Smith (BS), credited as "Arizona Historian & Lecturer."  Historical recreations of events by actors and additional commentary by "Dana Burden, Wickenburg Historian, Tour Guide", and "Jeff Hammon, Old West Writer & Researcher", are omitted from this transcript.

Unsolved Mysteries: The Wickenburg Massacre

Episode #5.1

Aired September 16, 1992

David Farina (DF): Coming up, the legendary Wickenburg Massacre. Was the attack carried out by Apaches, or a ruthless con-man?

DF: On a quiet highway 60 miles from Phoenix, a small monument stands at the edge of the road. It honors the victims of a once infamous shootout and the days of the wild west. By the end of the attack, six men were dead. One had been stabbed with a lance. Another was scalped. This atrocity would become known as the Wickenburg Massacre. Somehow, two people managed to survive. Though they were injured, William Kruger and Molly Sheppard lived on to provide the official account of what happened that day.

DF: The story told by Kruger and Sheppard led the United States government to retaliate. The result was the deaths of hundreds of Native Americans. And now more than a century later, some historians believe that Kruger and Sheppard might have planned the attack themselves, hoping to steal a small fortune from the stagecoach.

DF: November 5th, 1871. William Kruger and Molly Sheppard climb aboard a stagecoach in Wickenburg. Sheppard was a well known prostitute and madam who had recently sold her brothel. Kruger was a two-time army desert who had somehow convinced the military to hire him as a civilian clerk.

The day after the attack, while Sheppard was recuperating, Kruger was questions by Capt. Charles Meinhold, who was assigned to investigate the incident.

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DF: By the time Meinhold reached the site, the victims' bodies had been returned to Wickenburg for burial. He uncovered several clues suggesting that Native Americans had been involved.

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DF: The tracks led towards a reservation 25 miles away. It was home to 750 members of the Yavapai tribe. But strangely, several miles before the tracks reached the reservation, they veered off in a different direction.

Bill Smith (BS): This to me, would indicate possibly a non-Native American group, that is heading towards Camp Date Creek to make it look like the perpetrators are heading back to reservation.

DF: The Yavapai, who were often misidentified as Apaches, were a largely peaceful people. Many worked as laborers and scouts for the settlers. To those who knew the tribe, it seemed inconceivable that they would have been involved in the attack.

***

BS: If this was a Native American attack, we would have found that the ammunition and the weapons, certainly, would have been missing. And we would also found that any blankets would have been taken, but in this particular case, none of it was touched whatsoever.

DF: But the most puzzling evidence was found in the bags of mail that had been loaded onto the stagecoach at Wickenburg. After the attack, a number of letters addressed to the Army Quartermaster had been opened, and their contents carefully put back.

BS: Going through the mail. This is something that an Indian--or a Native American, would not do, is go through the mail. This certainly, you know, to me would indicate that it was a non-Indian attack.

DF: But if the Yavapai were innocent, who were the killers, and what was their motive? At the time, gold bullion was often transported by stagecoach. At least one account claims that Mexican bandits, disguised as Apaches, were responsible. Others suggest a more devious plan.

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DF: Kruger's account of escape seemed hard to believe. Researcher Jeff Hammon believes that Kruger and Sheppard hired bandits to help them with the robbery.

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DF: In his report, Capt. Meinhold acknowledged rumors that the scheme was intended to rob the mail of the bullion usually shipped around the first of every month. And yet, Meinhold never said that the gold had actually been carried on that specific stagecoach run. Still, the stories persisted.

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DF: Jeff Hannon believes that Kruger hid the loot somewhere near the massacre site where only he and Sheppard could find it.

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DF: If there was a treasure, it seems unlikely that Molly Sheppard or William Kruger ever recovered it. Sheppard disappeared soon after the incident, fueling rumors that she had died of her wounds. Kruger last surfaced 13 years after the massacre when he sued the government for money that he claimed to have lost in the attack.

DF: During the 1870s, the Wickenburg Massacre caused a national outrage. Within 18 months of the attack, the Yavapai were driven off the reservation by a government determined to punish them for their attack. Eventually hundreds of innocent men, women and children died from starvation and disease. We may never know who was responsible for the Wickenburg Massacre. However, we do know that the list of victims include many more than the six men who were killed on that violent morning more than a century ago.

20175. The Arizona Sentinel, Yuma, Arizona Territory, May 24th, 1873. DISCOVERED.- We have it from undoubted authority (article)

The Arizona Sentinel Yuma, Arizona Territory May 24th, 1873 DISCOVERED.- We have it from und oubted authority, and the proof is conclusive, that “Chimehuevi Sal,” chief of the Date Creek Indians who were in search of human and other game in our vicinity a few weeks ago, was the leader of the band of fiends who murdered boring and party near Wickenburg in 1871. When capt ured, or when he surrenders with his band, he will, no doubt, be presented with an extra blanket, a Winchester rifle, and all the ammunition he wants.

20136, 20137, 20138, 20139. Farish, Thomas Edwin., History Of Arizona, Vol. VIII. pp. 309-317. The Report of C.B. Genung. (excerpt)

Farish, Thomas Edwin. History Of Arizona Vol. VIII. pp. 309—317. The Report of C.B. Genung. -“In July, 1871, I concluded to build a wagon road from Wickenburg, via Antelope Creek and Peeples’ Valley to connect with the road leading from the Colorado River at Ehrenberg to Prescott. There was a road that could be travelled by light rigs and empty teams but no load could be handled over it. My neighbors agreed to help me, as Wickenburg and Phoenix were our best markets and to haul a load to either of these places we had to travel about sixty miles, whereas it was only twenty—seven miles by the road that I proposed to build from Peeples’ Valley to Wickenburg which was on the Phoenix road. I employed a few white men at $75.00 per month, a few Mexicans at $65.00 and board, and started to work. There was quite a number of Yavapai Indians in and around Peeples’ Valley at the time, and when they learned what I was doing they asked for work; and, as they were willing to work for fifty cents per day, the same as I had paid them when they worked for me on the Colorado River Reservation, I put a lot of them to work. My neighbors did not approve of my working Indians, but, as the Indians would do about as much work with pick and shovel as the average white man or Mexican, I put them on; gave them flour, beans, sugar, and coffee and venison. I gave one of the Indians fifty cents per day and furnished him with cartridges, and he kept the camps well supplied with fresh meat and his squaw dressed the skins, which made it a good job for the hunter. I thought it better to work the Indians and have them where I could watch them, than to be uncertain of their whereabouts. Then again, the white man had occupied their lands and hunting grounds, crowded them back so that they were too glad to go onto the reservation. Then after they were all on the reservation the agent starved them until they had to go back to the mountains to get something to eat. “I built the road from Wickenburg to Kirkland Valley for $4,765, and without the Indian labor I could not have built it for less than seven or eight thousand dollars. “When I started work on the road a man named George H. Wilson, commonly called Yackey Wilson, moved from his ranch three and a half miles below Wickenburg up to Antelope Creek and put up a seven room house and started a station. Wilson was a good station keeper and did a good business with the placer miners as well as with the travel that came that way as soon as the road was possible for teams. While I was working on the road I received one day a letter from General Crook who had been at Fort Whipple but a short time; he having arrived in the Territory in June of the same year. In the letter Crook asked me if I could go with some of the head men of the Yavapais and see him at Whipple. I wrote to Crook that I would try to locate some of the captains and go with them as soon as I could. Crook did not tell me in his The Report of C.B. Genung— Continued. letter what he wanted, but from the talk that I had with the three soldiers that brought me the letter, I inferred that he wanted to enlist some of the Yavapais to help fight the Hualapais and Tonto Apaches. I sent an Indian to Camp Date Creek to talk with some of the Indians which I supposed were there, but my Indian returned that night and told me that nearly all the Indians had gone out into the mountains and only came into the post once a week to draw rations. The doctor at the post had advised this move as the Indians were having chills and fever at their camp near the post. As I was very busy I concluded to take one Indian and go see Crook, knowing that I could induce the Indians to do anything that I thought was for their good. The next day I took an Indian that I knew well, and with two white men drove to Prescott. It took five days the way the road ran at that time to make the trip- two to go and two to come, and one day in town. I went to see Crook and took my friend, Herbert Bowers, who was post trader at the time, to introduce me, and my Indian, Tom. I found Crook much different from other commanding officers that I had met in Arizona. He was more like a pioneer miner or prospector to meet- just a common plain gentleman. He told me that Mr. Bowers had told him of my efforts to get the other commanders to employ the Yavapais as scouts and trailers, and asked me if the Indians would like to do it. I assured him that he could enlist every Yavapai that was able to go. He then asked me how long it would take to get the Indians together so that he could have a talk with them at Date Creek. I told him that a week would give them plenty of time. That was a good talk for me, for I had been trying for several years to do just what Crook proposed, but there never was a man in command before that who had sense enough to do it. When I told Tom what Crook wanted, he was highly elated. “On my return to my ranch I killed an Indian in Kirkland Valley by Tom’s advice, and when Tom knew he was dead he said General Crook had commenced to kill Tontos, which was true, for if Crook had not sent for me when he did, I should not have found the Indian at the station in Kirkland Valley. “It was more than a month before I heard from Crook again. Then he wrote me asking me if I could get the Indians in to Date Creek by a certain day. I wrote and told him that I could get all of the ablebodied men in by the appointed time. This correspondence was done by couriers. “I had a young Indian captain named Waw ba Yuma, working for me, and most of the twenty-five working Indians that I had were of his band. I told him that General Crook wanted all the strong young men of his tribe to go with the soldiers and fight the Tontos. The Indian said to me: ‘You tell General Crook that, when I am done work here I will go and so will all of my young men.’ I said to him, ‘You had better go and see the General and tell him yourself.’ ‘You can talk for me and for my people,’ said Waw ba Yuma. I sent out Indian runners and had all of the young men of The Report of C.B. Genung- Continued. the tribe at Date Creek on the appointed day. I met General Crook there and we called the meeting in front of the officers’ quarters on the south side of the parade ground. I was a little surprised to meet Irataba, the head chief of the Mohaves there, but thought nothing of it at the time. The white men were seated with backs against the buildings, Irataba just in front of us and the Yavapais sitting on the benches and standing before us. Crook had brought a man named Charles Spencer from Mohave County to interpret for him. Spencer had done a little talking for Crook when Irataba got up and began to pass pieces of tobacco to some of the Indians, and in a few seconds had passed out eight or ten pieces, when some soldiers who had been standing among the Indians began to grab the ones to whom the tobacco had been given, at the same time drawing their revolvers. The Indians, being surprised and scared, struggled desperately and several of the arrested ones escaped; the soldiers began shooting, and those that had no revolvers ran to their quarters and got their rifles and began shooting at every Indian that they could see. Crook, myself and Col. 3as. M. Barney were the only ones present who did not take an active part in some way in the fracas. We just stood by and looked on. The Indians had left their guns at their camp with the women and children and some of the soldiers ran to the camp which was about one half mile from the post, and secured all the guns and bows. “When I realized what had been done I went and got my arms and hunted up Crook and asked him what he meant by inducing me to get the Indians into the post under pretense of friendship and then killing a lot of them- eight I believe were found. He said that Irataba had told the agent at the Colorado Reservation that the Yavapais had murdered the Loring party, a short time before, while in route by stage from Wickenburg to Ehrenberg, and that the pieces of tobacco were handed to the ones that Irataba had learned were of the party who attacked the stage and killed six people. I told Crook that it was a lie; that I knew it was Mexicans who had done the killing and robbing of the stage. I was getting madder every minute and told Crook that if anything happened to my family through this treachery that I should hold him personally responsible; that I was living in the midst of the Indians and that I could expect nothing but that they would blame me for all the trouble. He said in reply to my talk that he would see that I had protection. I mounted my horse and rode as fast as I could to the camp on the road. I told the Indians what had happened and told them that I could not keep them at work any longer and that they must go into the mountains and stay until I made a signal smoke at a certain high place on my ranch. Waw ba Yuma did not like the idea of going but I made him understand that all the people would be afraid and that I should have to stop work anyhow until I had a chance to see and talk to all the Yavapais. “It was nearly a month later when Lieut. Trout, the quartermaster The Report of C.B. Genung- Continued. at Camp Date Creek, Frank Murray, the butcher at the post, and a soldier came to my ranch about noon. Trout asked me if I had seen any Indians since they left my camp, which I had not, nor had there been one seen at or near the post. He said he wanted to get them back, if possible. I went out to the place agreed upon and raised a big black smoke. In a very short time my friend Tom, his squaw, and one more Indian came to the ranch. I told Tom what Trout said and told him that Trout would issue rations to all who went for them.. I had a lot of talking to do and told the Indians that they could come and camp near my house if they wanted to. Tom asked me what all the soldiers were doing there, Crook having sent a company of cavalry to my ranch as soon as he could get them there after the affair at Date Creek. I explained the matter as well as I could, and after Trout and his party had left I had a lot of talk and explained the matter, placing all of the blame on Irataba, and he was the one to blame for the whole trouble. Irataba was jealous because the Yavapais were getting better treatment from the officers at Date Creek than his people were receiving from the Indian Department, hence the jealousy. “I had to do a lot of talking to get the Indians to go back to Date Creek to meet Crook the second time, he having promised to return their guns and other things that the soldiers had taken from their camp. Finally I told them that if they would come and meet Crook that I would be there and see that they got their guns and that I would be right beside Crook, and if the soldiers tried to bother them that I would have my pistol in my belt and would shoot Crook three times. A few, those who had lost their guns, went in to the post on the appointed day. I was there and told Crook that we would do our business with the Indians in front of the sutler’s store instead of going onto the parade ground as on the other occasion. There were no seats provided but Crook had ordered all the stolen property to be brought out and placed on the ground near where we stood. I told the Indian, Tom, to get his gun. When he picked it up and examined it, I asked him if it was all right. His reply was ‘Kely-eppy,’ meaning ‘no good.’ I told another one to get his gun, and that was ‘Kely-eppy’ also. I showed Crook that there had been screws taken out of the locks. He at once ordered the commander of the post to bring out some guns that were there and twenty rounds of ammunition for each gun. They were turned over to those who had lost their guns without any ceremony. When the old guns that the soldiers had taken were examined, it was found that there was not one but what had been ruined for the use of the Indians. If a screw was taken out the Indian had no possible means of replacing it. Twenty rounds of ammunition was a great prize. The only way that an Indian could get ammunition was to go to La Paz or Yuma and get some white man to buy it for him. That act restored confidence in General Crook. He enlisted a lot of these Indians, agreeing to take care of all who were left in camp, i.e., the women, children and old men. The first thing he did with the new soldiers was to go out and thrash the Hualapais; then enlisted some Hualapais to help clean up the Indians of the country east of Prescott.”

20071. Commanding Officers Quarters, Camp Colorado, A.T., C-1871, Charles Gentile Photograph, Library of Congress Transparency #LC-USZC4-4860 (photograph)

Commanding Officers Quarters, Camp Colorado, A.T., C-1871, Charles Gentile Photograph, Library of Congress Transparency #LC-USZC4-4860

20064, 20065, 20066, 20067, 20068, 20069. Map of The Military Reservation at Camp Date Creek, Arizona, National Archives R.G.77, Maps #1,3,4,2,5 (map)

20064. Map of the Military Reservation at Camp Date Creek Arizona, National Archives: R.G.77, Map #1

20065. Camp Date Creek, A.T., 1869, Diagram of Post, National Archives: R.G.77: Map #1(a)

20066. Diagram of North, East and West sides of Parade Ground, National Archives: R.G.77, Map #3

20067. Diagram of Officer's Quarters. Camp Date Creek, A.T., Forming South-side of Parade. National Archives: R.G.77, Map #4

20068. Diagram of Camp Date Creek, Arizona Territory, National Archives: R.G.77, Map #2

20069. Diagram of Commissary and Quartermaster's Storehouse with Neighboring Buildings, Camp Date Creek, A.T., National Archives: R.G.77, Map #5

20060. The Arizona Miner, Prescott, Arizona Territory, December 23rd, 1871. Burning of a Government Warehouse. A letter from Lieutenant Ebstein... (article)

The Arizona Miner Prescott, Arizona Territory December 23rd, 1871 Burning of a Government Warehouse. A letter from Lieutenant Ebstein to C.H. Veil states that the large warehouse at Camp Date Creek, with all its contents, was destroyed by fire on Wednesday last. If we are not mistaken, the walls of this building were of stone. The loss is considerable.

20059. The Arizona Miner, Prescott, Arizona Territory, December 23rd, 1871. Personal, Etc. There came to the Territory, by a recent stage... (article)

The Arizona Miner Prescott, Arizona Territory December 23rd, 1871 Personal, Etc. There came to the Territory, by a recent stage, a lady who had traveled “alone” all the way from Pennsylvania to Camp Date Creek, where she joined her husband. This lady, with whom we had the pleasure of traveling from Ehrenberg to Wickenburg, is the wife of Dr. Evans of the Army.

20058. Hd'qrs. Camp Date Creek, A.T., November 29th, 1871. Asst. Adjutant General, Department of Arizona, Prescott, A.T. (letter)

Hd’qrs. Camp Date Creek, A.T. November 29th, 1871 Asst. Adjutant General Department of Arizona Prescott, A.T. Sir: In reply to your letter of Nov. 12th, concerning the reports made with reference to the attack on the stage near Wickenburg on the 4th inst.- I have to state that when Captain Meinhold was sent with a portion of his troop to inquire into the affair, he was authorized to employ and did procure a trailer for the purpose of aiding him in properly prosecuting the pursuit, and I entertained the hope that he would have succeeded in satisfact orily determining who were the perpetrators of the outrage. Owing however to the fact that there are neither aparejos nor pack animals at this Post, he was only furnished with three days rations, these he made last his Command for four days. Frequent inquires have been made among the Indians, drawing rations at this Post, concerning the affair, but no information has as yet been obtained. Efforts to this end will be continued. I am Sir, Very respectfully, Your obd’t servt., R.F. O’Beirne, Captain 21st Infantry, Commanding Post.

20057. Arizona Citizen, Tucson, Pima County, A.T., Saturday, November 25th, 1871. The Government fed Indians at Date Creek... (article)

Arizona Citizen Tucson, Pima County, A.T. Saturday, November 25th, 1871 The Government fed Indians at Date Creek undoubtedly committed the horrible massacre of six men near Wickenburg. The citizens of Prescott organized to go and kill them all off, but some of the cooler ones induced the others to let General Crook inquire into the facts and settle with the murderers, who proceeded to do so at once. The Indians there should all be killed, but we are glad that matters took the course they did. The ApacheM ohaves evidently heard how well the Grant Indians were treated because of their many and continued thefts and murders, and hence their terrible Wickenburg slaughter. Colyer is mainly responsible for these six lives.

20056. Arizona Citizen, Tucson, Pima County, A.T., Saturday, November 18th, 1871. Another Wholesale Indian Massacre. Six more good men... (article)

Arizona Citizen Tucson, Pima County, A.T. Saturday, November 18th, 1871 Another Wholesale Indian Massacre. Six more good men have been murdered by Indians. This terrible massacre occurred on the 5th instant nine miles west of Wickenburg. The western bound stage on that day had on board as passengers Frederick Shoholm, Frederick W. Loring, P.M. Hamel, W.C. Solomon, C.S. Adams, William Kruger, Miss Sheppard, and John Lanz, driver. When passing through an arroyo, the attack on them was made by, as is variously reported, from nine to thirty Indians, and at the onset all but Kruger and Mollie Sheppard were killed, and they both wounded. One of the men was lanced and scalped— name not reported. All the dead were brought back to Wickenburg and there buried. We heard the above last monday and the reliable details waited till this morning, when our space is nearly occupied and now can only say that Messrs. Loring, Hamel, and Solomon were members of the Wheeler Expedition; Adams, Shoholm, Kruger and Sheppard of Prescott. The murder was quite surely the work of the Apache Mohaves. A friend at Prescott promises us a complete account by next mail, which will appear in our next paper. Week after week such sad and sickening reports come to us for record, and yet there are a few men so despicably mean as to say the Indians want peace. Skylock was a saint in comparison to such heartless and avaricious wretches.

20055. The Arizona Miner, Prescott, Arizona Territory, November 18th, 1871. Local Intelligence. A Movement Toward Vengeance. (article)

The Arizona Miner Prescott, Arizona Territory November 18th, 1871 Local Intelligence. A Movement Toward Vengeance. The Wickenburg Massacre nearly called forth another terrible retribution on the heads of the murderers, at the hands of our citizens. It is not surprising that the people of Arizona should have become well nigh frenzied by the criminal courtesy shown the Assassin of the Indian Bureau: and the result of this frenzy would, inevitably, have been the justifiable massacre of every Indian on the Date Creek reservation, were it not for the complete confidence which the people have in Gen. Crook, and which, at the eleventh hour, influenced them to let the matter rest in his hands feeling satisfied that he will do justice in the matter, so far as he has the authority to act. No sooner had it been established beyond the possibility of mistake that the murder was perpetrated by Indians and that the Indians were in part, if not wholly, from the Date Creek reservation, than a party of some sixty citizens was organized to take vengeance upon the murderers, and soon declared itself in readiness to move. About this time, a few members of the party- more thoughtful than their comrades— whose course we heartily commend, were instrum ental in staying proceedings for the time, and finally in causing the abandonment of the project, through deference for the presence of Gen. Crook- knowing well that he would leave no means untried to have the matter properly attended to. And here let us add that this is not a case wherein justice can be done by simply killing the actual murderers, provided they should be discovered; there is not one Indian in the whole neighborhood, either on the reservation or elsewhere, who was not aware that the murder was to be perpetrated. These are all responsible- and the sacrifice of the worthless lives of the whole tribe would not compensate for the loss of the least one among the victims.

20054. The Arizona Miner, Prescott, Arizona Territory, November 18th, 1871. Local Intelligence. Accounts received from Camp Date Creek... (article)

The Arizona Miner Prescott, Arizona Territory November 18th, 1871 Local Intelligence. Accounts received from Camp Date Creek, about the early part of the week, state during the 4th and 5th inst., a large number of the reservation Indians were absent, and did not return until the 6th. The Wickenburg murder was perpetrated on the 5th, and the murderers were traced to Date C. In view of these facts it is evident that the Apache-Mohaves, at Date Creek reservation, were the guilty ones. The evidence against them is circums tantial, but so clear as to amount almost to proof.

20052, 20053. Farish, Thomas Edwin., History of Arizona, Vol. VIII. pp. 298-301. The Report of C.B. Genung (excerpt)

Farish, Thomas Edwin. History Of Arizona Vol. VIII. pp. 298—301. The Report of C.B. Genung. -“In the fall of 1871 a man named J.M. Bryan, commonly called “Crete” by his acquaintances, had the contract to haul government: freight from Ehrenberg, on the Colorado River, to Ft. Whipple, Camps Wood, Verde, Apache, and Ft. McDowell. His business called him to different posts and he generally travelled by stage from one post to another. When there was no stage route he generally used a saddle horse or mule, of which he had several good ones. Bryan had an acquaintance with whom he generally took his meals when in Wickenburg, which was a central point for his teams. One day Donna Tomase, as the woman was called, (she was a california Spaniard. Her right name was Mrs. Bouns), called Bryan into her house, and told him not to ride in the Wickenburg and Ehrenberg stage any more. When questioned she told him that there was a plan laid to rob the stage; that she had overheard some Mexicans talking in a brush shack behind a saloon nearby where she lived, and cautioned him again about going by stage. He took the advice and did his traveling in the saddle from that on. It was not long before the woman’s story was confirmed. The stage left Prescott at night on account of Indians, arriving at Wickenburg before daylight on the following morning. * * * At a point about nine miles from Wickenburg toward Ehrenberg, the road crossed a small sandwash which had scrub oak brush growing on either side. In this wash, hidden by the banks and brush, lay the Mexicans. When the stage was well into the wash, the horses were stopped and the stage riddled with bullets. * * * “Of course this was supposed by most people to be the work of the Indians, quite a number of whom were at that time at Camp Date Creek about twenty-five miles northwest of Wickenburg. The Mexicans had worn moccasins and scalped Adams in order to mislead the public. At the same time I was working from twenty-five to thirty of the Date Creek Indians, gathering my crop of corn, beans and potatoes on my ranch in Peeples Valley, twenty-seven miles north of Wickenburg, and I had some men among them that I knew I could trust. As soon as I heard the news I sent two Indians across to Date Creek to learn if these Indians knew anything about the matter. They returned the same day and assured me their people knew nothing about the massacre, but that it must be Tonto Apaches from the eastern country. “In a very few days Bryan came by my place, on his way from Wickenburg to Prescott, and told me the story. Among this band of fifteen Mexicans was one who Mrs. Bouns was slightly acquainted with, and whom she called Parenta; his name being the same as her family name. She got him into her house, filled him up with wine and he told her the whole story; how these men had all stayed at a house out on the road a little west of the town the night before the massacre, and went out to the place before daybreak. The Report of C.B. Genung- Continued. The place had been picked out some days before. This young Mexican claimed that he was sick that night and did not accompany the crowd that did the work, but told of Adams shooting one of the party; that they had taken the wounded man to the Agua Caliente springs on the Gila River to get well. The officers went from Phoenix and got the fellow with the hole in his shoulder, brought him to Phoenix, and he was killed in the jail by a man who still lives in Phoenix. John Burger killed one of them in a corral at the lower station on the Agua Fria near where the S.F.P. & P.R. crosses that stream. The ringleader, a redheaded native of Gibraltar, named Joaquin Barbe, with another of the band, got on the warpath and run amuck in Phoenix, and Joe Fye and Milt Ward, deputy sheriffs, chased them out of town and killed both of them, and they all got what was coming to them, but one. He got wise and left the country. Bryan was very careful who he told the story to, and it was passed among the right men to attend to such matters. The scalping of Adams was all right to fool a tenderfoot, but oldtimers knew that Apaches never scalped, although they frequently mutilated otherwise.”

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

20047. Sacramento Daily Union. Sacramento, California, Saturday Morning, December 16th, 1871. The Murder of Fred W. Loring... (article)

Sacramento Daily Union Sacramento, California Saturday Morning, December 16th, 1871 THE MURDER OF FRED W. LORINGI NTERESTING FACTS. (From the Boston Advertiser.) The following is an extract from a private letter received in Cambridge from a member of Lieutenant Wheeler’s party, dated Camp Whipple, near Prescott, November 7th. It gives some new and, we believe, trustw orthy particulars of the murder of Fred. W. Loring and his companions: boring, Hamel and Salmon, of Lieutenant Wheeler’s party, were on the stage to go home. Besides these, the pass engers were one Kruger, a German, one Adams, a jeweler of Prescott, and “Moll. Sheppard,” a disreputable character. The stage was an open box—wagon, topped with canvas, with sides to let down; back being generally down is somewhat protected from sight at least, while the front is open to full view. An escort went with them, as usual, through the dangero us country, i.e., as far as Wickenburg. Six miles beyond this place they were suddenly fired into. I do not know how much damage was then done except that the driver’s arm was broken. Still he drove on some dist ance, till shot through the head, when the unguided horses turned back toward home, and into danger. Kruger and “Moll.” were on the back seat, not easily seen, and escaped with wounds. Both emptied their pistols and managed to jump out before the horses turned back, and ran on ahead. In a mile or two they met the “buckboard” going the other way. The driver took them on, and, fearful of being followed, turned back. Finally he left them and the mail in the bushes, took a horse, and by a trail reached the Vulture Mill, near Wickenburg, got assistance and returned to the scene of the murder. Two of the victims were found to be shot in the eye, two in the forehead, and one in the back of the head. An old man with a black beard, who had fought hard, was missi ng, and may have escaped. This man must have been Hamel. Heavy rifle cartridges were found, and their use prob— Murder of Fred. W. Loring- Continued. able from the great number of shots fired- there being twenty through the stage. The mail had been opened, and such letters as contained money examined, and the baggage searched for money. No horses, nor harness, nor guns, nor bright blankets, nor any such things as Indians covet, were taken. There is no doubt about it; they were not Indians, nor Mexicans, as the shooting was to good; white men did it— “road agents,” as they are technically termed here. They generally simply rob. It was reported that a man was asked some time ago at Wickenburg to rob the stage that brought “Moll. Shepp ard” down, as she would have much money. Kruger also had much money with him, as he was a Government Agent of some kind. The murderers did not find the greater part of the latter’s money and seem to have left precipi tately.

20046. Headquarters Department of Arizona, Prescott, November 12th, 1871. Date Creek Camp, Commdg. Officer (letter)

Headquarters Department of Arizona Prescott, November 12th, 1871 Date Creek Camp Commdg. Officer Sir: Referring to the reports of the late attack upon the stage near Wickenburg and the massacre of the passengers, the Department Commander directs me to say that he regrets that suitable Indian guides, trailers, were not sent out with Captain Meinholds Command, and that pursuit was not kept up at any sacrifice to determine definitely whether the perpetrators were Indians or Mexican bandits or both. You will as far as possible remedy the defect by diligent inquiry among the Indians now drawing rations at your post, and by such other investigation as you think necessary to determine that matter definitely, and make report thereon without delay. The importance of a thorough searching investigation of this matter cannot be too earnestly impressed upon you. I am Sir, Very respectfully, Your obd’t. servant, A.H. Nickerson, Captain 23rd Infantry, A.A.C. and A.A.A. Gen’l.

20045. The Arizona Miner, Prescott, Arizona Territory, November 11th, 1871. Sylvester Mowry. The following dispatch is dated at Providence... (article)

The Arizona Miner Prescott, Arizona Territory November 11th, 1871 Sylvester Mowry. The following dispatch is dated at Providence, Rhode Island, October 19: Hon. Sylvester Mowry. of Arizona, died in London England, on Tuesday. This is sad news for Arizona. In the death of Mr. Mowry this Territory has lost the most faithful friend it has ever had, in the person of one man. At the present hour, when all departments of the Government seem combined in one great effort against us, we can illy afford to lose the advocacy of a man so influential and so earnest in our beh alf. An appropriate tribute to his memory will be found in our Tucson correspondence.

20044. Arizona Citizen, Tucson, Pima County, A.T., Saturday, November 11th, 1871. Army Orders. We have recently been favored... (article)

Arizona Citizen Tucson, Pima County, A.T. Saturday, November 11th, 1871 ARMY ORDERS. We have recently been favored with Gene ral Orders 18, from Headquarters Dep artment of Arizona. Number 18 bears the date September 1, and announces Second Lieutenants W.J. Ross and John G. Bourke Aids-de-Camp to the Department Commander — General Crook.

20043. The Arizona Miner, Prescott, Arizona Territory, October 14th, 1871. W. Richard & Co. and L.B. Jewell & Co., C.S. Adams and F. Shoholm (advertisement)

20041, 20042. The Arizona Miner, Prescott, Arizona Territory, November 11th, 1871. THE WICKENBURG HORROR. Murder and Robbery on the Highway (article)

The Arizona Miner Prescott, Arizona Territory November 11th, 1871 THE WICKENBURG HORROR. Murder and Robbery on the Highway. Were they Indians or Mexicans? The mail due at this place on Monday, arrived early in the aftern oon of Tuesday, bringing the particulars, so far as known, of one of the bloodiest deeds ever committed in Arizona. At an early hour on Sunday morning, the 5th inst., the mail stage on the route from Wickenburg to Ehrenberg, left the former place with the driver, 3ohn Lanz, and the following named passengers: Frederick Shoholm, Frederick W. Loring, P.M. Hamel, W.G. Salmon, C.S. Adams, Wm. Kruger and Miss Sheppard. At a point about nine miles from Wickenburg a party of mounted men- EITHER INDIANS OR MEXICAN BANDITS Disguised after the fashion of Apache warriors- rushed down upon the stage as it was passing through a canyon, and fired a volley into the passengers, killing all but two persons and slightly wounding these. The wounded- Mr. Kruger and Miss Sheppard- not being disabled, immediately sprang from the stage, which was now brought to a halt, and started together toward Culling’s Station. While one detachment of the bloodthirsty demons surrounded the stage, the balance went in pursuit of THE FUGITIVES, And kept up a desultory fire; but being all mounted, their aim was unsteady, so that beyond a slight wound received by Miss Sheppard, neither sustained further injury than the wounds inflicted by the first fire. This pursuit was kept up for a distance of nearly half a mile- the pursuers being, meanwhile, kept at bay by Mr. Kruger, who still retained his revolver, and fired upon them whenever they drew too near, causing them to scatter and retreat, but only to rally again to the pursuit, until finally they withdrew and joined their fellows. The fugitives continued on their way toward Culling’s Wells until they hailed the eastward bound mail, a few miles from that station. Here they were picked up by the driver who retraced his steps to the station, from which point information of the calamity was sent to Wickenburg via the Vulture mine; the bearer fearing to proceed by the direct route. The despatch reached Wickenburg about midnight when two parties of citizens STARTED FOR THE SCENE, One to bring in the dead and the other, under command of Geo. The Wickenburg Horror— Continued. Monroe, to take the trail of the murderers. Upon reaching the stage a most horrible picture was presented to their sight. Six men— Messrs. Loring, Shohoim, Lanz, Hamel, Adams, and Salmon, who, eighteen hours previous, left Wickenburg, full of life and hope and in the happy anticipation of soon again greeting their friends, after a prolonged absence- lay side by side, rigid in death and drenched in blood— the unavenged victims of a murder as dark and as damnable as ever stained the hands of an assassin. THE MYSTERY Which surrounds the identity of the murderers exists in the disposition which was made of the mail and baggage: One mail sack was cut open and its contents scattered over the ground; the other was left untouched. The baggage of the passengers was broken open, and while articles of but little value were carried away, large sums of money and other valuables remained. All this would suggest the work of ignorant savages; but, as neither the arms, ammunition nor animals had been removed, some are inclined to the opinion that the outrage was perpetrated by a band of Mexican bandits from Sonora. Mr. Kruger, who has really had the best opportunity of deciding this question, states positively that they were Indians. But, at all events, the next mail may bring reports which will place the guilt of this terrible crime where it properly belongs; when we hope it will not be left to the local authorities of Arizona to redress the wrong, or, rather, to avenge an outrage against this Government and people at large. THE VICTIMS - WHO THEY WERE. Frederick W. Loring was 22 years of age and a native of Boston. He graduated from Harvard in 1870 and immediately engaged in the business of journalism, in Boston. Early in the present year he joined the Wheeler Expedition which he accompanied throughout all its rambles, arriving here two weeks ago, on his way home. Although a boy in years Mr. Loring was a mature man in mind, whose name had become familiar to almost every reader, as an author and “contributor” of rare merit. Messrs. Hamel and Salmon were likewise members of the Wheeler Expedition. Both gentlemen were residents of San Francisco, where the latter leaves a wife and two small children who were entirely dependent upon his labor for support. Mr. Shoholm was returning to his home in Philadelphia after an absence of many years, part of which time he was a member of the firm of Jewell & Co., of this town. C.S. Adams leaves a wife and three small children in San Francisco. For the last ten months he had charge of the flour depot of W. Bichard & Co., at this place, and was on his way to join his family in San Francisco. The driver, John Lanz, was recently from California, had obtained a situation as driver a few days before, and was making his first trip from Wickenburg.