The Sunday Oregonian., October 24, 1909, SECTION FIVE, Page 8, Image 56

THE SUNDAY OREGOXIAX, PORTL-AJTD, OCTOBER 34. 1900.
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W 'SKORGB PALMER PUTNAM.
A
FEW week ago. down in Southern
California, a young Piute Indian
named Willie Boy. a double murder
er and an outlaw, pursued by posses and
all the forces of law and order, made the
most spectacular "get away" seen for
many a day In the West. The reading
public la already pretty well acquainted
with the details of tha affair, and the
thrill awakened by the accounts is not
unmerited, for certainly there, la much
about it that smacks decidedly of tha
brlrker bygone days.
Altogether, the ca of Willie Boy mer
its some attention because of Its very pie
turesqueness. as do the character to
uring in his pursuit and the surroundings
of tha scene of action.
Tha County of Fm Bernardino Is the
stag upon which the drama was set. It
will be remembered how the Piute mur
derer, first killing; another Indian and
then the sweetheart he bad stolen, es
caped and led his pursuers a desperate
chase over tha sands and crag of the
desert territory northeast of the Filton
Bea. The great Interest of the case lies
In the apparent reversion to the wild and
wooly days of old. when a criminal was
able to make his escape. For. despite the
fact that Banning, near which town the
double tragedy occurred. Is practically
on the outskirts of the thickly settled
"orange belt." that extenda eastward
from Los Angeles to the desert, tha red
akin maurauder waa not only able to get
away safely, at leasti for a considerable
time, but also to keep his pursuers at bay.
equipped with a rifle and a keen knowl
edge of the country, plua all the cunning
i Inherited from hia first American fore-
fathers, the Piute gave the pursuing
: posses the slip, ambushed one party, and
led the hunted life of an outlaw, on the
very outskirts of a highly developed coun
try, until finally surrounded by a large
' force.
In the first stages of the chase figured
one of the few women Indian agents In
tha Government service, who has charge
' of the Morongo reservation, upon which
the shooting took place. It waa this agent
who thought her knowledge of the coun
' try and of Indian nature, plus some
shrewd detective work, put the posses on
'the right trail, when they were wander
ing far. For. at first It was supposed
'that the "bad" Indian had made his way
' far across the San Gorgonio range Into
Artsona. whither the pursuers were pre
I partner to follow, when the Morongo agent
I located 'Willie Boy some 50 ml lea from
1 Banning. The fugitive was loitering about
! the Indian village of Twenty-nine Palms,
far from tha railroad out upon the desert,
' and there being provisioned and outfitted
' with ammunition by friendly squaws.
Straightway the woman agent, with tha
1 officers and their poases, went out upon
the desert, got trace of the Piute, and
I finally, after marshalling a considerable
i force against the outlaw, surrounded him,
and forced him to a choice between sul
iclde and capture. He accepted the alter
native, of self-destruction.
In the overcoming of "Willie Boy many
of the Morongo Indiana themselves pitted
: their cunning and knowledge of tha
topography against tha trail-obliterating
(kill of their erring red brother. Chief
i among these pursuing Indians from tha
- Morongo Reservation was Segundo Chlno,
whose picture Is given above aa he stands
beside Indian Marshal Ben de Crevecoeur.
Sgundo 1 the "head policeman" on the
reservation, meaning that he is practi
cally the whole force rolled Into one
mightily-respected Individual, the agents'
trusted right-hand man, and the hero of
many criminal-catching adventures. Ben
de Crevecoeur, Segundo's companion in
the picture and his Intimate friend, is one
of the most widely-known and best-liked
"arma of tha law" in all the Southwest,
and haa figured in many a mix-up. Both
men are husky In a marvelous degree, an
asset entirely welcome In their posses
sion, fcegundo la always "on the Smile."
and grinning broadest wben the promise
of trouble la in the air. for though the
big Indian seldom looks for It. ' Its ar
rival ia never unwelcome. The two-men
have been conspicuous In the spectacular
enforcement of the prohibition laws which
last Winter kept the Morongo Reserva
tion and its agents before the public eye
In the Los Angeles paper.
During that brief but spirited campaign
th "lady" agent, fearing neither -pull"
nor violence, and backed by her mixed
team of sturdy helpers, transformed the
reservation Into an orderly and prosper
ous community. Liquor selling has
stopped, and the "greaser" and half
breed "bootleggers" who once Infested
the territory have found It healthier to
move to less strenuous localities at least,
those who escaped Jail are seeking em
ployment elsewhere. So now there is no
drver locality In the state than Morongo,
which means good days for the inhabl-
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tants. for lack of l.guor is apt to signify
lack of trouble in Indian land. But de
spite the fact that there if little doing
professionally. Senor Policeman Segundo
smiles aa heartily as ever, and seems, if
anything, somewhat proud of the won
derful "la1)-" ag-nt who has done so
m'ich for his people.
Then came tills month's sudden burst
of trouble with the Piute murderer. It
found the two officers, Indian and white,
as ready a they were the time Segundo
handled the half-doaen "bootleggers"
single-handed, and the Marshal followed
his prisoner over the desert eand after
he had jumped out of the car window of
the moving train.
But let it not he supposed that Mo
rongo often sees such law breaking oc
currences as the Willie Boy affair. Mo
rongo Is now "good" In a marvelous
degree; though doubtless the past has
seen many an unpunished crime since
their generous I'ncle Sam bequeathed
unto thla handful of the country's orig
inal owners their "reservation" of
sand, rock and cactus. But the reser
vation and its people have been tamed
by an administration -wherein philan
thropy and gratuitous civilizing have
figured little, and a vast amount of
Yankee uncommon sense been conspic
uous. One of the features of the "lady
agent's" regime la the encouragement
of amusements and entertainments on
the reservation. Chrlstma is always a
time of Jollification, and last year oc
curred a particularly successful and In
teresting "fete." The great feature of
the day was a barbecue, carried out in
all Its details Just as in the old days
before auch Innovations as Iron stoves
and frying pans Introduced indigestion
Into the red man's ranks.
The great day really started the
morning before, which may sound Irish,
but la nevertheless true. lp on the cat
tle range In the foothills, back of the
reservation headquarters. went the
"buckeroos" to search out the fattest
and most Inviting yearling to be found.
After some wild riding through the
chapperal, up and down the glaring
hillsides In momentary danger of mak
ing painful connections with cactus or
.Spanish bayonet, the dinner-hunters
finally, picked out a desirable unroasted
beef. Once the die was cast, all the
riders concentrated on the unfortunate
brute, and amidst Joyful yip-ylpping
and with many an exhibit of fancy rid
ing, the prize was taken back to the
reservation buildings and the forth
coming feast in which he held the title
role.
Then the great work began. A hole
was dug. and on top of rocks which had
been placed therein. & great fire was
built, and kept up until the rocks were
red hot. Then the Ore waa removed and
tha beef, practically whole and wrapped
in bagging; was placed upon the stones.
After which a covering- of earth was
shoveled in on top of the beef, and a
roaring fire made above all. This was
In the evening. All night the old men
sat about the fire, accomplishing- the
double purpose of keeping It replen
ished and banishing robbing- coyotes,
the meanwhile telling- tales of the by
gone days, which doubtless waxed
mightier aa the night progressed.
From all parts of the reservation and
beyond, from the mountain canyons and
the far corners of the desert, came the
Indians, on foot, on horse, and In "rigs"
of varying- degrees of antiquity. In one
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characteristic all were alike. Vivid col
oring was the order of the day. and,
especially In the squaws, the nomber
tints of an average rainbow would have
been put to an embarrassed shame by
a comparison. But aside from his love
of bright color the California Indian
Is entirely unpicturesque. Especially Is
-this true when he is clad in his Sunday
best, for "store clothes" have entirely
superseded ' the dress and the undress
of yore. Also came the whites from
Banning and elsewhere, for this was a
day of Indian entertainment, when all
were welcome guests on the reserva
tion. At last the culinary prophets pro
nounced the chef doeuvre done, after
its 18 hours or earthy baking. First
the fire, and then the earth, was care
fully removed from off the nature
made oven. and. amid the sighs of gas
tronomic anticipation of the onlookers,
the burlap covering was laid back and
the defunct beef disclosed.
One who had the misfortune to be
city-bred and accustomed to urban
amenities might have hazarded the
opinion that half a dozen hours too
many of cooking had been accorded
the prize. Certainly It seemed to have
lost something- of its integrity, so to
speak, and resembled a largely pro
portioned hash rather more than a
roast. But even more certainly the
odor that arose from the steaming
flesh was appetizing in the highest de
gree. The next step was the transportation
of the earth-baked dish to the place of
Its final disposition, under the pepper
trees, beside a nearby irrigation ditch.
This waa accomplished aimply'enough.
First, pltchforka were procured and ex
temporaneously washed; then a metal
washboiler and a wheelbarrow. Two
of the chefs then pitched the meat
into the tub, which waa taken, in sev
eral installments, to the waiting feast
era. One of the pictures ehowa the re
moving of the beef, a la pitchfork,
from the oven, and another some of the
presiding geniuses of the day dispens
ing the barbecueck meat from a central
table. The bones give a fair idea of
the magnitude of the operation.
After the edible part of the fete there
followed an afternoon of sports. And
in the evening the old men held one
of their ancient dances, slow in move
ment and acco-ppanled by- the wailing,
everlasting chant of dancers and on
lookers. A dance for rain it was, a fast
dying annual custom of calling on the
Great Father for promised rain. And
it always does rain in January, just
after the dances!1
While the dance was progressing on
the dirt floor within the adobe house,
without, by the light of fires, were the
young men picturesquely grouped, vast
ly more Interested in their quaint gam
bling games than in the dances of
their fathers.
Such, then, waa the celebration of
last Christmas on .a. Southern Califor
nia Indian reservation. Throughout,
the entertainment was conducted with
unbroken order, abundant good humor
and unanimous enjoyment.
-
The district In which Morongo la
situated is one of the most picturesque
and interesting In all the Southwest.
Banning, four miles from the reserva-
. i
tlon proper, is on the transcontinental
line of the Southern Pacific, Just at
the head of the eastern slope of the
San Gorgonio Pass, which separates the
verdant country to the west from the
utter desert of the Salton Sink region
and the stifling sands of the Southern
Arizona wastes. Across the pass from.
Morongo rises the wonderful peak of
San Jacinto, its western slopes dipping '
nto the land of oranges and verdure
Its eastern wall, almost sheer, dropping
into the sands of the- desert. North of
the reservation is San Gorgonio Moun
tain, from which the pass takes its
name, like its sister' peak covered most
of the year with a snow blanket.
Tne rglon surrounding the San Jacinto
Is widely known as the Ramona country,
from the fact that the famed novel.
"Ramona," has for its stage the Indian
lands shadowed by the mighty mountain.
Today a dozen reservations hold the last
remnants' of Ramona's people, occupying
the odds and ends of little-wanted lands
left to them by the whites. Out to ,trie
east and northeast He the endless deserts,
beautiful in the Winter months, then with
a climate like our choicest Spring weath
er, and covered with flowers unequaled
for their rare dellcacj and gorgeous color,
lng. And In the Summer a veritable in
ferno, with all vegetation burned up by
the withering heat, a thermometer which
seldom falls below the hundred-degree
mark and often passes 125. and not a sign
of moisture for hundreds of miles. It Is in
thla district that the escaping Piute made
his way, dodging about the scattered In
dian villages that surround the widely
separated water holes.
If the country Itself has it attraction,
certainly its red Inhabitants are equally
interesting. A more varied group could
not be well found; the Spanish, Mexican
and white blood is all commingled in their
veins, and the effect of their diversified
4
antecedents and history is written strong
ly upon them. Here and there Is some
old man who still retains the memory of
the golden days of the Spanish Missions,
when the life of all California centered
about the good Padres. Impressive indeod
are the' relics of these pioneer Houses of
God. when about their crumbling walls la
woven the story of their mighty bygone
power and activity by those who humbly
shared their glory, and love to tell their
memories, or those passed down to them
by their fathers.
Contact with the keenly grasping whites
has sharpened the mistrust of" the Indian
Just aB It has of necessity sharpened his
wits. Since the days of '49 when the first
rush of the gold-hungry palefaces Inun
dated his long occupied possessions, the
California, or Mission Indian, has seen so
pitifully much of the white man's greed
and the .white man's ability to out-maneuver
his own slow-moving wits, that his
mind has developed an ever-present ctis
picion. Around about Morongo, and in the adja
cent desert mining districts, are any num
ber of claims and prospects. , Every inch
of the erritory has been gone over by
prospectors trailing after their dreamed
of EI Dorado, yet each year sees more
plodding in the dusty wake of their prede
cessors. And aiways mere is tne Knowl
edge of mysterious and hitherto unfound
ledges, lodes, and wondrously rich depos
its, awaiting the coming of the fortunate
discoverer. Certain It Is that the Indians
know mining secrets they will not divulge.
Partly the reason for their secrecy Is the
fear of being cheated, and partly it arises
from superstition of various kinds.
The reader probably knows that an In
dian cannot hold a mining claim In his
own name. That is. when he finds a
ledge of quartz or a placer deposit, he Is
obliged to share his secret with a white
man. If he attempts to work his pros-
pect alone, sooner or later his activity
Is certain to be discovered, and. -if it is
worth anything, his unfiled olaim will
be "Jumped." 1 he takes a white man
into partnership the latter files on the
claim in his own name, after which tha
Indian has no legal right in the world
to anything the claim may produoe, and
must trust entirely to the honor of his
partner prospector. But when a rich find
Is at stake and an "onery In'Jun" claims
a half share (though the oredit of the
entire find may be his) It is mighty sel
dom that a prospector's "honor" will not
give way to greed, and the In'Jun be told
to "git." So it Is small enough wonder
that the Indians who have secrets of
hidden mines are chary In confiding
them.
At least two notable Instances where
superstition withholds the obtaining of
undoubtedly valuable mining Information
are known to the author. The first Is of
an Indian who may be called Manuel.
Once, while pursuing a deer afar up
on the flanks of San Jacinto Mountain.
Manuel happened upon an extraordinarlly
rlch quartz "float," showing gold unmis
takably to eyes even less trained than
were his. Manuel forthwith abandoned
the deer hunt and followed up the dry
arroyo down which the float had evi
dently been washed, until at last he had
chambered far up toward the mountain's
peak, and the snow patches- surrounded
him. And always as he bad advanced
the floats became more numerous and
showed stronger and richer. Then, all
at once. Manuel came upon the outcrop
ping quartz ledge. Without - a doubt It
was of enormous value. He had filled
his pockets with the richest of the speci
mens he was able to break off, when all
at onoe old San Jacinto began to quake
and shake. The poor Indian fell upon
his knees, but still the mountain trem
bled, and a voice seemed to come from
the depths of the rocks beneath, warning
him that the penalty of thieving the
mountain's treasure was death. Then
Manuel fled, leaving his treasure behind
him for all time.
It was. of course, one of the slight
earthquakes which sometimes occur on
San Jacinto. But to the Indian, coming
as it did at the very moment of his dis
covery, not to mention the voice which
his fear made him hear, the warning
was unmistakable and the punishment un
escapable. To his close friends Manuel
will sometimes tell the tale of his super
natural adventure, and perhaps even show
the specimens brought down In his pock
ets. The latter, by the way. have as
sayed tantalizlngly high. But for neither
love, threats nor promise of reward will
he return to the lost ledge of San Jacinto,
or divulge its whereabouts.
'
Tbe other tale is of the old man tagged
with the entirely inappropriate name of
Tom Carlyle. Tom was a Mission Indian,
whose father had labored for the Spanish
padres. In the .last days of these mis
sions a dying Spanish adventurer told
Tom's father of a wonderfully rich de-
posit of copper he had found In his jour
neying over the mountains. Also, so the
Btory goes, he Impressed upon the Indian
that to divulge the secret to a living soul
was fatal, for Just as he, the Spaniard,
was dyinj as he breathed his secret, so
would Tom's father die tha moment ha
shared his knowledge with another. Some
years later tha Indian's greed got the
better of his superstitious fear, he hunted
out the lost treasure, found It rich as It
had been described to him, and forthwith
told hla son, Tom. The next day a great
boulder dislodged itself from a cliff and
fell on the old Indian.
And there Is a tale of superstition
vowed to as the solemn truth by Tom,
who himself Is now an old man. Certain-
ly no power on earth can tear from him
the knowledge of his secret, yror he firm
ly believes that the day h6 breathes it
will be hia last. And as In the other case,
there are specimens of tho rock to be
seen, an exceptionally vaiuaDia mixture
of copper and silver.
TRY TO POISON THEIR BABE
Tbeu London Couple Throw It In
Canal, Still Alive.
LONDON, Oct. 23. (9peclal. Almost
Incredible cruelly to a baby was dis
closed at an inquest yesterday with ref
erence to the death of an infant aged
16 days, which was thrown alive, wrapped
In a piece of brown paper, into the
Regent's Canal.
According to. the evidence, a little girl
named George saw a woman throw a
brown paper parcel Into the canal. The
woman was accompanied by a man. and
both walked Into the New North-road.
The girl went to the side of the canal
and. hearing a cry like a baby's, fetched
a boy named Arthur Jones, who got the
parcel eut with a fishing-rod. A police
man was then sent for.
He took the baby to the nearest house.
Noticing the child looked very black
about the mouth, he tried to sponge the
marks ofT. but could not, and came to
the infirmary and a search was made for
the man and women, but without suc
cess. The doctor in charge of the hospital
where the baby was taken said the child
had been burned on the mouth, gums.
shoulder and back with some corrosive
acid. It did not appear as If the water
had got to R at all. It died from blood
poisoning set up by the acid, which lie
thought must have been vitriol. Ha
thought an attempt had been made t
pour the acid down the baby's throat,
and that It had wriggled and the acid
had splashed over its body.
MALARIA RAGES IN INDIA
Death Kate Monnta High Confer
ence to Be Held In Simla.
CALCCTTA. Oct 23. (Special.) An
important official conference will as
semble at Simla this month, charged
with the duty of examining the whole
question of malaria and drawing up a
plan of campaign for the consideration
of the government of India and the
local governments. This special inquiry
has been instituted by the Governor
General in council as the result of a
proposal put forward by the Sanitary
Commissioner that a permanent organ
ization should be formed to Investigate
systematically the problem connected
with the disease. The official com
munique on the subject points out that
the number of deaths ascribed to fever
throughout India approximates 4.500.
000, representing a mean death rate of
nearly 20 per 1000 and, though this
total is greatly in excess of the actual
figure, owing to the general practice
of ascribing to "fever" deaths which
are in reality due to other causes, yet
it has been estimated, from indications
afforded by certain special Inquiries
and by the dispensary returns, that the
actual death rate from malarial fever
is about 5 per 1000. This represents
about 1,130.000 deaths, and as the vi
tality in malarial fever is ordinarily
low such a death rate indicates a ter
rible amount of sickness, much of it
preventable.
The Pl-enon Iearu of Pioneers In Aerial
Navigation Is beinj- formed In France, with
th primary object of giving ainistanee to
Invcnturs and experimenters la aeronautics.