“Lawless Character of the Blood Thirsty Cibicus.”
“Globe Silver Belt:
The actual casualties and losses arising from Indian depredations and
conflicts between citizens and Indians are less harmful to the good name and
interests of Arizona
than are the many exaggerated, and ofttimes [sic] false, reports which emanate
from press correspondents and, not infrequently from official sources. The propensity of the irresponsible
correspondent to draw the long bow is so well understood that his alarming
statements are usually discounted. The case is different, however, with
dispatches bearing the stamp of official authority, for the public has a right
to expect reliable information, whereas dispatches from military sources often
convey a wrong impression without any intention of being unfair, perhaps.
“Press dispatches of December 12 announce the receipt at the
war department, Washington, D. C., and by Adjutant General Ward, at Denver, of
telegrams sent by the command officer at Fort Apache, in reference to the
killing of the Indian on Cibicu creek, December 5, which, to say the least,
contained many inaccuracies and, b asserting that the man who killed the
Indian, and two others of the posse, gave themselves up for trial on the charge
of killing the Indian, leaves the impression that the officers had committed a
criminal act, which is wholly at variance with the facts.
“Deputy Sheriff Benbrook and his three companions were sworn
officers, bearing a warrant for the arrest of two Indians regularly indicted by
the grand jury of Gila county, on the charge of burglary, and their right to
enter the reservation and make the arrest can not be questioned. They went to Cibicu peaceably, and explained
the object of their visit through an interpreter, and, even after the Indians
opposed the arrest of the guilty parties the officers attempted to withdraw
quietly, without their prisoners, but were prevented by the overt acts of the
Indians. Deputy Voris shot the Indian in
self defense, when the latter was in the act of wresting his guy from him, and
not until one of the band fired upon the posse.
It was then only a question of self-preservation with the officers, and
their escape from a band of forty or fifty murderous Apaches was miraculous.
“The evidence again[s]t the two Indians for whom the
officers held the warrants is positive, and the burglary is not denied. They were caught in the act, with their arms
full of plunder. They had left their
guns with their horses, and were surprised by Frank Ketcherside in his cabin,
who, with six-shooter in hand, compelled them to disgorge. Had he killed them then and then [sic] he
would have been justified and any jury would have exonerated him.
“The residents of Pleasant [V]alley and vicinity have been
wonderfully forbearing with the Cibicu Indians, who have preyed upon the
settlers for years, robbing ranches, in the absence of the occupants, and
killing citizens’ cattle whenever they wanted meat. So flagrant have these depredations grown
that the business of stockraising in northern Gila county has been practically
ruined. To illustrate how extensive the
stealing of cattle by the Cibicu Indians has become: When Deputy Benbrook and posse were on their
way to Cibicu they struck the fresh trail of fifteen or twenty head of cattle
which they followed into the Indians’ camp, and the packer with Lieutenant
Fenton’s command informed Frank Ketcherside that when they arrived at the
Indian’s camp he saw cattle there of the ‘flying V’ brand, going to show the
cattle from the vicinity of the Vosburg ranch.
“The recent trouble on Cibicu will not be amiss if it serves
to bring to an issue the arrant lawlessness of the White Mountain Apaches.
The last of the newspaper transcriptions for this incident. See http://tinyurl.com/oepozyg and http://tw.gs/XYT4CV for context.
Next: John William Voris and Family
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