Chapter 9

New Mexico Territory, April, 1894

Word circulated quickly when what sounded like the whole Mexican army moved in on us. This was more than just a few bandits getting together to make survival more likely. This was a full fledged bandit company of at least sixty men making a sweep through the territory taking whatever they wanted. There was no way I would be any match for that many, so I vowed to stay clear.

Never the less, I was intrigued by the potential of such a horde. They could sweep right over any farm or ranch they came to without breathing hard. It sounded like the U. S. Army would have to deal with them. But I couldn't get them out of my mind. If there were some way to break them up into small groups, it would be possible to take them out, one bunch at a time. I couldn't help it; I just had to stick my nose in.

At last report, they were about ten miles south of here, heading east. Maybe if I came up behind them, I could pick them off, one at a time. There was only one way to find out. I had to see them for myself.

I set out with a full load of ammunition and some of that old standby: dynamite. There were times when it was my best friend, though I didn't know what I would do with it until the opportunity showed up. It was the nearest thing to artillery that I was likely to come up with. If I had time and was within throwing range, and I had a good arm, it made a good substitute for a mortar.

I rode quickly, but carefully, making use of some of the things Sue had taught me. It was about noon, and I had stopped for a quick snack, when I heard horses off to my left. I sneaked over to take a look. What I saw made my stomach rumble. Three Mexicans were cooking a chicken over a bed of coals. No, I couldn't let this obvious bit of banditry go unpunished. I drew my pistol and shot all three of them. I then moved in and finished cooking the chicken and ate it. I don't know why, but it sure tasted particularly good.

While I was waiting for the chicken to finish cooking, I had looted the three dead Mexicans and come up with about $25. I didn't take anything else, because I did not have any way to carry it. I stripped the tack off the horses and turned them loose. I wished I would always find it that easy!

I remounted and headed off in a generally easterly direction. I had thought of disguising myself as a Mexican, but then I realized that I would be setting myself up to get shot by an American, so I decided to leave well enough alone and stay American. I picked up my pace a little bit, but I was still wary of running into more Mexicans than I could handle. Before long, I passed a burned-out farm, still warm and smoking. I saw four corpses, two adult and two children. I didn't investigate further, I was mad enough as it was. Besides looting the house and barn, the Mexicans had taken all of the farm's animals. This made it easier for me, since herding a bunch of frightened animals was bound to slow down and otherwise discommode the bandits. Also, I might safely pick off some of the drovers.

I now had a specific trail to follow. I was now sure that the bandits were not traveling in a single group, but in units of three to ten individuals. This way they would be able to cover a wider swath of ground, yet get together for the night camp for the safety in numbers. The trails I had crossed just did not show more than ten riders in a group and I had already taken a group of three. I began to feel more confident; I was sure I could handle any group of six or less, and I could handle ten under the right circumstances.

Not too far away, I saw a small cloud of dust. This was probably made by the bandits that had hit the farm I just passed. I took out my binoculars and scanned for bandits. I saw two riders driving two horses and a cow and two more bandits acting as outriders. The outriders were a little ahead of the drovers, so it might be possible to shoot both drovers with my rifle before any trouble was noticed by either of the outriders. I urged my horse into a fast trot so that I could cut the range a bit. You never know when a stray wind gust will push a long shot to one side. I got to within two hundred yards of the drovers without being noticed. I pulled my rifle and dismounted behind a small hummock. I dropped to a prone position and fired at the two drovers as fast as I could get off aimed shots. I hit them both and they fell to the ground. The outrider on the right turned to see what that noise was and saw the two down drovers. He shouted something to the other man and they both rode to check on the two downed men. As soon as they were in a good position for me, I shot at them both. I hit the first one with the first shot, but it took two shots to get the other. I reloaded and went to check on my handy work.

All four were dead or dieing. I felt no compunction about shooting them; after all, they had murdered that farm family just a few hour ago. Once they were all dead, I took what cash they had and left them. As usual, I removed the tack from the horses and released them. I didn't know what to do about the cow; she would need milking pretty soon. I hoped someone who could use her would find her before she got into too much pain from not being milked. I certainly couldn't take her; it was either release her or shoot her. Naturally, I released her.

I now had killed about ten per cent of the Mexican bandit force. After seeing the amateurish way these two groups had acted, I thought my chances were pretty good against them if I just did not get impatient. With that happy thought, I remounted and continued my chase.

I was coming to some steep hills and had to cut around them, either to the north or the south side. I mentally flipped a coin and cut north. About an hour of riding brought me to a stream which I decided to follow. The stream was lined with cottonwoods, so it made for a pleasant ride; plus the trees would break up my silhouette and make me much harder to see. A little further along, I heard gunshots, so I picked up speed.

I found a large wagon which had been stopped by the bandits as it was fording the stream. This was always a good place to attack a wagon, because the driver is more intent in getting across the ford than he is in watching out for trouble. The man firing from the wagon was fortunate that it was a heavily built wagon so that the sides would stop the pistol bullets being fired at him. These bandits were a little smarter than the last ones I saw; they had dismounted and were firing from behind nearby trees. There were five bandits and they had the wagon completely surrounded.

After a moments reflection on a course of action, I dismounted and hid my horse in a clump of tall brush. I tied her so that she couldn't wander and get hurt by a stray bullet. I took my carbine and slunk from tree to tree, very mindful of Sue's instructions. Nobody saw me as I got closer to the ambush. I was able to creep very close to a bandit and shoot him in the head. I moved to the next bandit without being seen and was able to kill him, also. This time, there was some reaction to the sound of my shot, but I was ignored when the man in the wagon got off a shot which wounded a bandit.

I was able to see the wounded bandit, so I killed him with my next shot. Being able to take measured, carefully shots was the key to my current success. Also, I was close enough that I did not have to worry about the wind affecting my shots.

With only two bandits now shooting, they noticed a drop in the firing and began to get antsy. The man in the wagon shot at one of the bandits and killed him during a moment of the bandit's inattention. The last bandit jumped up to run and both of us fired at him. I don't know who hit him, but he didn't get far.

I shouted to the man in the wagon that I was friendly and not to shoot at me as I came toward him. He called to me to come on in and I did. I reloaded as I walked toward the wagon. I suggested that he continue fording the stream and then we could talk. He agreed and climbed into the driver's seat. I was surprised to see a woman with a small child also stand up and move to the front of the wagon.

When they had crossed the stream, we began to talk. I introduced myself and he said that he was Jed Hopkins and the woman was Emma, his wife, and the child was their daughter, Mary. I tipped my hat to the woman and she nodded to me. Jed said that they had not known of the large number of bandits in the area; they would have stayed in town if they had. They were heading home; they had about two more hours of travel to get there. I told them about the burned out farm I had seen and not to be surprised if their's was in a similar condition when they got home.

Emma Hopkins gasped at this and commented that they had a cow which they depended on to feed their daughter. I told them of the cow that I had abandoned a few hours ago and they might want to look into getting it as a backup. Jed thanked me for the information and said he would swing over to try to find it. I asked if they wanted any of the bandit's horses; if so, I could quickly gather them up. Jed said that he would like to have them, so I went for them and we tied them to the back of his wagon. I then bid them good day and they left.