CHAPTER IX.

CITIZEN EXPEDITIONS AGAINST HOSTILES. C. B. GENUNG'S DESCRIPTION OF TOWNSEND'S EXPEDITION-INDIANS KILL HERDER AND STEAL HERBERT BOWERS' CATTLE-JOHN TOWNSEND APPOINTED CAPTAIN OF PURSUING PARTYJOINED BY PARTY OF SOLDIERS UNDER LIEUTENANT MORTON-CATCH INDIANS AND KILL THIRTY-FIVE REST OF INDIANS ESCAPEAGAIN CATCH AND KILL INDIANS PURSUERS RETURN TO PRESCOTT AND ARE BANQUETTEDFIFTY-SIX INDIANS KILLED, AND ALMOST ALL STOCK RECOVERED.

One of the most successful raids against the Indians by a volunteer party was made under the command of John Townsend in June, 1871, an account of which is published in the Los Angeles "Mining Review" under date of May 13th, 1911, by C. B. Genung, who assisted in organizing the expedition, and was Townsend's lieutenant, which account follows:

"In June, 1871, I was farming in Peeples Valley, Arizona. Having occasion to go to Prescott and my wife not feeling safe at the ranch with the small force of men that I could leave behind, she concluded to go with me as far as Ed Bowers' ranch and station and visit with Mrs. Bowers until I returned. The Bowers family were our nearest neighbors at that time, and they were twelve miles away on the road to Prescott in Skull Valley. I took with me W. H. Smith, my wife's brother, and a young man named Boyce

for escort. We all stayed at Bowers' ranch the first night, and the next morning as we were leaving, my wife called after me: 'Don't forget the indigo. She had sent me for indigo before and I had forgotten it.

"I had told my wife that I would remain in Prescott but one day and return the third day. I had some business with the Quartermaster which took me to Whipple where Herbert Bowers was keeping the sutler store. I found Herbert a very sick man, and, as he was a dear friend of mine, I spent a good deal of time with him, trying to cheer him up. He had a bad case of yellow jaundice, and was in bed all the time that I stayed with him.

"I got settled up with the Quartermaster and got my voucher for what he owed me, and was back in Prescott late in the evening and had everything ready to start home in the morning. At 9:30 I started from the Diana Saloon-across the plaza to where I slept. Right out on the plaza I came upon Herbert Bowers standing there like a statue. My first impression was that he was out of his head. I asked him what in the world he was doing there. He said, 'Charley, the Indians killed one of the herders and have gone with a hundred and thirty-seven head of horses, mules and cattle from my Agua Fria ranch. The other herder escaped the Indians and brought the word to the ranch. Nathan, my brother, sent a courier in to me, also one to Camp Verde. I have applied at Whipple for help, but there are no men or animals there to go; all I can get there is one old pack mule.'

"I said to him: "You go to Brook & Lind's stable and get all the saddle horses they have and

have them brought down and tied here at the Diana Saloon, then go to C. C. Bean and tell him that I want his buckskin team-one for me and the other for Smith, my brother-in-law.'

"I walked into the saloon and told the people what had happened, and called for volunteers to go out and get the stock back. The Diana Saloon stood on the corner where the St. Michael Hotel now stands, and there were several more saloons right along side by side. The news spread like a flash and there were plenty of men to go but they had no horses. Just two men who were willing to go had horses, Tom Rodrick of Kirkland Valley, and Jeff Davis of Davis ranch on the head of the Hassayampa. I saw John McDerwin in the crowd and called him to one side and asked him if he would tell my wife the next day that I had gone after Indians and not to expect me back until she saw me, which he agreed to do. By this time the horses began to come to the hitching rack. I singled out the men that I wanted, and we all got some lunch of whatever kind we could scrape together, and at eleven o'clock-just an hour and a half from the time I left the saloon to go to bed-there were eleven of us mounted and ready to make the most successful raid against the Apaches that ever started from Northern Arizona.

"I had met John Townsend and been introduced the day that I stayed in Prescott, and as he was an Indian fighter I made inquiry for him before we got started and learned that he had started for his ranch on the lower Agua Fria, which was about twenty miles below Bowers' ranch; that he had gone via the Vickers ranch which was on the then only wagon road from

Prescott to the Agua Fria. I wished to take the short trail, so sent two men via Vickers' ranch to ask Townsend to join us, which he did, and we were all at the Bowers ranch before daylight. As several of our horses needed shoeing, we got the negro blacksmith who was working for Bowers and had a good shop, to fit the shoes, while the men drove them on as fast as three hammers could do it.

"By sunrise we all had had breakfast, and had a sack of flour, some bacon and coffee that we had got at the ranch. Just as we were ready to start I called all to attention and suggested that we elect Townsend captain of the company, which was agreeable to us all. Then we were off, sixteen of us, having picked up four men besides Townsend in the Agua Fria settlement.

"What provisions and some cooking tools that we had were packed on the old Government mule. "We travelled pretty fast after we got strung out on the trail of the stock until about noon, when we stopped to water and rest our horses. Tom Rodrick had been in town drinking pretty hard for several days and was very anxious to have a drink of whiskey, thinking perhaps some of the men had a bottle in their saddle bags. We all had saddle bags on our saddles those days. Tom called to Townsend and said, 'Captain, if I can't get a drink I'll die sure.' Townsend replied: "Oh! not so bad as that, Tom.' Says Tom: 'I bet you two hundred dollars I'll die in fifteen minutes if I don't get a drink.' He lived, although he didn't get the drink.

"The first night we camped on a sidehill where there was good grass, and the next morning we were moving by daybreak, and about sunrise we

ran into a soldier camp where they were just eating their breakfast. The soldiers had started from Camp Verde and had a Mexican for guide who had been a prisoner with the Apaches for a number of years, and he knew about where to cross the mountains to strike the trail that he knew the Indians would have to take the stock over. So when he struck the trail they made camp, where we came upon them. There were twenty-eight enlisted men, a doctor, and a young lieutenant named Morton, in charge. The lieutenant was fresh from West Point, and as we rode along, Townsend being in the lead, the lieutenant asked one of our party who the leader was, and was told that Mr. Townsend, the man in the lead, was our captain. The lieutenant called to Townsend and walked out a little way toward him, as Townsend pulled his horse a little to one side and stopped. He said: 'Mr. Townsend, my name is Morton, and I suppose we are all out on the same business and I would like to accompany you." 'All right,' said Townsend, 'come ahead,' and he rode on.

"We had a bad, slow trail all forenoon, climbing over a rough malapai country, and for long stretches the mescal was so thick that two horses could not pass on the trail. The mescal leaves were as sharp as needles and as hard as steel. It would ruin a horse if he happened to run against

one.

"The soldiers soon came stringing along and overtook us about the time that we got to the top of what was known as Ox Yoke Mountain. There we found several ox yokes which had been taken off of oxen that had been run off in other raids by the Indians. The Mexican guide told us that