Granada, Colorado (cont.)

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Hunting continued to be a favorite diversion of mine, and the vicinity of Granada abounded in game with which I was, at that time, unfamiliar. Near a small station on the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad called Holly, not far from Granada, were numerous water holes and sloughs. During the proper seasons these were alive with wild geese, brant, duck, snipe and other water fowl. Harry Kelly and I were both passionately devoted to hunting, and in addition to the pleasures we had from the sport we bettered our incomes by selling game. There was a steady demand along the line of the railroad for whatever we might offer, and with ducks and cottontail rabbits bringing $3.00 a dozen, and other game selling readily at proportionately good price per pound, we were well paid for our time and effort. Very often when we had a whole day at our disposal, a Sunday or holiday, we would return with a wagon well filled with various kinds of game.

Antelope were numerous in that section, and we had much sport hunting them on horseback with greyhounds. With a gun they were hard to get, but when we used greyhounds it was not so difficult. The antelope is very timid and easily frightened; one bit of the dog seems to kill them easily

Shortly after moving to Granada, a special train carrying the principal officials of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad came out for the purpose of securing the services of my father to act as their agent in acquiring the needed right -of-way in New Mexico. They were anxious to have this settled before any of the rival roads might enter the Territory.

At this meeting my father was invited to become identified with the company. This he consented to do, whereupon it was arranged that A A Robinson, chief engineer, and George R Peck, general counsel, should immediately accompany him to New Mexico to secure the right-of-way through the Territory before either the Kansas-Pacific railroad or the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad could possibly get there.

A A Robinson and his wife, and George R Peck were guests at our home for several days while the arrangements were being made for the overland trip. After the party had departed, Mrs. Robinson remained at our home in Granada until Mr Robinson returned several weeks later.

Afterwards when William B Strong became Vice-President and General Manager of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad, a warm friendship grew up between him and my father. Mr Strong made his first trip to Santa Fe with my father for the purpose of organizing the New Mexico & Southern Pacific Railroad (the New Mexico Branch of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad), at which time my father was elected a director and vice-president of the new railroad company. The duty of naming the additional New Mexico directors, to conform to the New Mexico statutes, was left entirely to him.

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My father introduced Judge Henry L Waldo of Santa Fe, who had been his attorney for many years, to Messers Strong, Peck and Robinson, who appointed him legal representative of the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad in New Mexico. Aside from business, Judge Waldo and my father were warm personal friends, and each held the other in the very highest esteem. Many years of valuable service proved that a better selection could not have been made. Judge Waldo was not only one of the foremost lawyers in the Territory, but he was a capable, honorable and distinguished citizen as well. I only wish that New Mexico could boast of more like him at the present time.

Like all towns of that section, Granada lived under the constant shadow of danger form the Indians. In the fall of 1873, in particular, there was great excitement in the town on this score, and as I remember the circumstances will I shall relate them. A band of about two hundred Cheyenne and Arapahoe Indians passed through Granada, going west, ostensibly on a visit to John D Prowers, who lived near Fort Lyon. Prowers was a wealthy stockman who had married into one of the tribes, and as it was no unusual thing for his wife's relatives to visit him, the visit by this band of Indians excited no particular suspicion. But for some cause, the redskins on their return began to attack the isolated ranches, killing number of people, as well as driving off the cattle and horses. The news of their outrages had reached Granada before they arrived; so when they appeared the citizens of the town were prepared for them.

It happened that the day of their arrival I was out chasing jackrabbits with my greyhounds about two miles west of town in company with Frank A Manzanares and Tom Nolan. The dogs had just started after a jackrabbit, when we noticed a man on horseback riding at break-neck speed toward Granada. Guessing that he was a courier with some important news about Indians, we at onece gave up hunting and hurried back to town. There we found everyone busy organizing a volunteer military company. Every man who had a rifle and pistol and every available horse were being pressed into service. Captain Payne, who afterward became the great Oklahoma boomer, had just been elected captain of the company, and he was making a speech to a large group of armed men collected in front of a dry-goods box, upon which he was standing. In no uncertain terms, he told them what to expect and what was expected of them.

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Three hours later the Indians appeared. Some were evidently intending to come into the town, while the rest had been instructed to drive the large herd of cattle and horses south of the town, in the very locality where we had been chasing jackrabbits a few hours before. Captain Payne, at the head of about one hundred of the best men available, started west to meet the Indians coming toward the town. The Captain demanded that they proceed around the town, in the same direction taken by the band with the cattle and horses. This they proceeded to do without debate, but the head chief asked permission to be allowed to enter the town with ten of the other chiefs in order to buy enough supplies to last them on the journey to the Indian Territory.

Captain Payne saw no objection to this, and the old chief and his lieutenants rode back to Granada. They hitched their horses in front of our retail department, walked in, and soon were busy making their purchases, which consisted entirely of foodstuffs and tobacco. I watched them carefully, and detected no sign of fear or suspicion on their part, and no indication that they were premeditating a dastardly outrage on their subsequent journey. When they had packed their goods on their horses, they said good-bye in the most friendly manner, and headed down the river towards Newell's Island, where they expected to meet the rest of the band.

The night guards were placed around the town, and the precaution was taken for more than a month. The town continued in a fever of excitement and terror, for dead bodies were brought in for burial almost every day. I was one who stood guard, usually with my old friend Adolph Mennet, on the hills out of the town. I never missed a single night when Mennet was on duty, winning from him the compliment, "I would rather have Miguelito with me on guard duty than any man in town, for he is always awake and listening."

The same band of Indians, after leaving Granada, met one of our young men, John Dietz, as he was returning on horseback from a hunting trip that had taken him about twelve miles east and south of Granada into the vicinity of a small town named Aubrey. They not only killed him but mutilated his body and then scalped him. His naked body was found the next day and brought to Granada for burial. The Indians also attacked the ranch of an old man named Rogers, living near Twin buttes, some ten or twelve miles south and east of Granada.

I was one in the party that went down to the ranch after the news of the attack came. We found that every man, woman and child had been killed and that the bodies of all had been horribly mutilated. The Indians had seemingly built a fire on the chest of Mr Rogers while he was still alive, for the indications were that he had attempted to scratch the burning wood and rags from his body just before the breathed his last. His right hand was elevated over his chest, with burnt flesh hanging from the finger nails. We place the bodies, six in all, in a wagon and carried them to Granada for burial. All the woodwork of the buildings and outhouses was burnt or destroyed. Even the chickens, dogs and cats were killed, while the cows and horses had evidently been added to the Indian herd. Within the following ten days more than twenty additional bodies were brought in, all found within a radius of fifteen miles of Granada.

Page 51 and 53 transcribe in altered form for the net by Larry Green

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