Chapter 3

The young woman who had first spoken to me said, “I’m Tara O’Brian, that’s my twin brother Rory, his wife Dove, and their son Patrick.”

As she spoke, I reversed my conclusion that they were Indians. It was obvious that all of them were of mixed blood. Tara was a tall woman of about 5’8” with black hair and green eyes, and an athletic build. Rory was the same except he was about 5’10”, his short wife and son both looked more Mexican than Indian.

Tara continued, “Our father tried mining for several years, but, after he married our mother and she had us, he decided that if he keep looking in Apache lands for gold or silver, those who said that all he would find would be his tombstone were right. He started a trading business between Tucson and our mother’s people, the Tohona O’odham. We grew up spending part of the year in school in Tucson and the rest with mom’s people. We were never really accepted as part of the tribe, so when Mom and dad died from a fever, the elders told us that we were unwelcome. We loaded our stuff on a wagon and set out for Tucson, but we won’t be any more welcome there, as we are looked down on as half-breeds.”