Page 91 - Cooke's Peak - Pasaron Por Aqui

need for a railroad to the west coast and the survey the government would make to find a suitable route. He decided to explore for the best route and make some money and perhaps a little fame at the same time. He anticipated finding a good route along the 35th parallel but would take his sheep west by the southern route along the 169
for a “fair” price. The sheep market, however, was rapidly becoming saturated. Near the Pima villages, west of Tucson, they met Kit Carson, returning from selling sheep in California. Carson reported meet- ing about 100,000 sheep (including Aubry’s) on the trail. By early July, Aubry was again on his way home, this time with 60 men, only 11 of whom had gone west with him. They reached Santa Fe on August 18, 1854, and kept Aubry’s appointment with
175 death, defending the 35th parallel route.
On the afternoon of his return to Santa Fe, Aubry was killed in a saloon altercation. Weightman, now a practicing attorney, had edited an Albuquerque newspaper(ElAmigodelPais) andstronglyadvo- cated the 32nd parallel route for a railroad over the 35th parallel, which Aubry favored. Their friendly discussion deteriorated when Aubry accused Weightman of misrepresenting his reports regard- ing the attributes of the two routes. Weightman threw a drink in Aubry’s face, whereupon the latter drew his five-shooter, but it discharged into the ceiling. Weightman’s Bowie knife was not subject to such misfirings, and he stabbed Aubry in the ab- domen. Within ten minutes, Aubry was dead. Weightman was indicted for murder and held for trial, but on September 21, 1854, he was acquitted on
176 the grounds of self defense.
32nd parallel.
tunately, this search for a suitable railroad route
would be the direct cause of Aubry’s death.
Aubry left Santa Fe on the first of his journeys on November 16, 1852, taking along 10 large wagons, approximately 5,000 sheep, about 100 mules, and some horses. He expected to return in the early spring with two or three of the wagons to explore for a railroad route by making side trips along the way. On this trip, however, he failed to bring any wagons
back.
Aubry followed the Rio Grande south and then
turned west through Cooke’s Canyon. Twelve miles beyond the spring, he turned from the Mormon Road and continued due west to Tucson, saving about 10 days and 150 miles, where he rejoined
171
At the San Bernardino Mormon
Cooke’s route.
settlements he sold 1,000 old and lame sheep for $8,000 and sold several broken-down mules for another $3,000. He continued on to San Francisco and disposed of the remaining sheep (having
1 2
only25onthetrip)forabout
Aubry returned by way of the 35th parallel with 30
pack animals and 20 men, most of whom had gone west with him. He left San Francisco on June 26, 1853 and arrived in Santa Fe on September 14. Aubry had sent word ahead to Santa Fe for some of his business acquaintances to start gathering another flock. Therefore little time was lost, and on October 10, 1853, he and the others started south with 50,000 sheep of which about one-third belonged to Aubry. In Albuquerque, sometime prior to Oc- tober 21, they met Lieutenant Whipple who, at Galisteo (10 miles south of Santa Fe), had already conferred with Richard Hanson Weightman (an an- tagonist of Aubry’s) regarding potential routes west. Whipple was conducting the railroad survey along the 35th parallel. Aubry touted the advantages of that route but cautioned Whipple against using the
174
trail with a small party.
After again crossing through Cooke’s Spring,
Aubry’s party followed a new route slightly south of the one they had taken the previous year. They lost only 300 to 400 sheep and sold the rest in California
$10 each.
continued to flow across the Southern Emigrant Route to California. In 1853 James Campbell drove his cattle from San Antonio to Warner’s Ranch, near San Diego, in four
months, and repeated the drive in 1854. This trail of 1,500 miles, established at the end of the Mexican War to supply the population explosion in Califor- nia, was popular despite its dangers, but its rise and fall in popularity would span only about two decades.
In 1854, the peak year of cattle movement to California over the southern trail, Texan John James started a herd over the trail in June. Michael H. Erskine was also on the trail that year, starting from Sanders with over 1,000 head. He carried Campbell’s “memo” from the previous year regard- ingthetrail. OneofJames’shireddrovers,22-year- old James G. Bell, was using the work as a means to get to California to join his brother. Bell may have been a bit green for the drive, because he let his mule get away the first night out. He managed to recover his mount the following morning, however. Bell may have had limited experience as a drover, but his
Unfor-
lost
Chapter 3
77
In the meantime, the cattle herds