Page 219 - Cooke's Peak - Pasaron Por Aqui

The residents of the Mesilla Valley were ha- rangued in bold headlines by the local newspaper in a particularly strident manner:
BLOOD DEATH
DESTRUCTION FREEMEN TO ARMS AGAINST RED DEVILS PROTECT YOUR LIVES AND PROPERTY ATTENTION HATCH
POPE SHERIDAN SHERMAN RAMSEY SCURZ
THE SAVAGE HORROR HORRIBLE BUTCHERIES 71 WEEKS CAMPAIGN
415 MASSACRED TO DATE81
It may have been intentional that the cryptic com- plaint resembled the shape of a tombstone.
In the next few days, the stage company ex-
perienced additional difficulties with the Indians
and, coupled with the railroad’s continued progress,
the stage company decided to suspend operations.
Guarding the stages had become a problem for Dud-
ley because eight stages passed through Fort Cum-
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mings daily.
January 25 when the stages between Mesilla and Fort Cummings were discontinued. As a result, Dudley ordered the detachment at Goodsight Pass to destroy their breastworks and move to the rail- road.83
Discontinuing some of the stages through Fort Cummings solved another of Dudley’s problems. The hay furnished by contractor J. A. Miller was inferior, in Dudley’s opinion, and not up to contract specifications. He entered a protest against paying Miller $1,568 for forage already delivered and sug- gested that the military consider using some of the estimated 75 tons that the National Mail and
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Transportation Company had on hand.
Dudley was premature in removing the detach- ment guarding the road through the Goodsight
Mountains. On January 28, a party of 16 Indians attacked Lieutenant John Ferral McBlain and his driver, Armstead, at the same point where the citizen relief party from Mesilla had been ambushed in October 1879. The attack came at sundown so McBlain and Armstead managed to escape after dark and walk back to Mason’s Ranch.85
The stage from Colorado to Fort Cummings was still operating, but friction developed between the operatorsandthemilitary. Dudleyhadreceived word that the stage company was refusing to feed either the soldiers or the horses used in escorting the stage. InapiqueofirritationonJanuary27,he decided not to send any guards on the westbound stage. Fortunately, the order to remove the guards had not reached Colorado by the next morning, because the stage was attacked shortly after it left town. Two Ninth Cavalrymen riding on top got off and held the Indians at bay until the stage could turn
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and flee back to Colorado.
With the demise of the route through Cooke’s
Canyon, the Lyons decided to pull out. A. S. Lyons, his wife Mary, and Samuel Lyons’ widow, Lebrada, may have attempted to sell the facility, because on J anuary 24, Dudley sent a sharp rebuke to the Lyons’ attorney. Not only did he inform the lawyer that no civilian would dictate to him who would sell goods on the military reservation, he also gave notice that Lyons’ cattle must be removed. Furthermore, he wanted all the Lyons’ business removed within 30 days. As a result of the Lyons’ intended departure, Samuel P. Carpenter was appointed postmaster as
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of February 7, 1881
Apache troubles declined and the Atchison,
Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad continued its steady way past Fort Cummings and on to a junction with theSouthernPacific. ByFebruary20,therailroad completed the rails and a side track to a point near Fort Cummings. The siding was named Fort Cum-
Some problems were alleviated on
Chapter 7
205
mings Station.
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The two rail lines were joined at
Deming on March 8, 1881. To commemorate the
occasion, a silver spike was driven by A. Longstreet,
J. H. Bates, and J. F. Kilalea of the Southern Pacific
and R. R. Coleman of the Atchison, Topeka and
OQ * t#
Santa Fe. A southern transcontinental railroad was now a reality.
The first Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe through- train left Kansas City, Missouri, on March 17 des- tined for California. Either the route was not intended to carry heavy freight or the agreement