04 - Dread Apache- That Early-Day Scourge of the Southwest by Merrill Pingree Freeman

Dive into the fierce frontier drama of the early-day Southwest, where the relentless Apache was the central antagonist. This podcast, based on a collection of historic photographs, brings to life the chilling experiences of the pioneers who contended with this tireless foe. Experience the Apaches cunning and treachery, their ambush tactics, and the fearsome reputation of the squaw - possibly even more formidable than the man. Listen as we unravel numerous captivating biographies and historic headlines that paint a vivid picture of this tumultuous era. This gripping narrative is brought to life by Laurie Banza.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Section four of the Dread Apache That Early Day Scourge
of the Southwest by doctor Merle Pingree Freeman. This LibriVox
recording is in the public domain. Brutal murder of Missus
Peck and baby through Little phil Save's mother and sisters.

(00:24):
Brutal murder of Missus Peck and Baby. On April twenty seventh,
eighteen eighty six, a band of Indians appeared at the
ranch of A. L. Peck, about twenty miles from Oro Blanco,
where they found Missus Peck, her baby about eleven months old,

(00:45):
and her niece, Jenny, a young girl of about eleven years,
killing Missus Peck and the baby. They took the young
girl away with them. It was asserted by some at
the time, including Peck himself, that the leader of this
band was Geronimo, but I think this could hardly have

(01:05):
been possible for the reason that the leader was too
young and spoke good English, whereas Geronimo did not speak English.
In giving the story of his life to S. M.
Barrett at Fort Sill not many years ago, it had
to be done through an interpreter. Besides, Geronimo had escaped

(01:28):
from General Crook sixty five miles south of Fort Bowie
and one hundred twenty five miles east of Oroblanco, on
the night of March twenty ninth, only a month previous,
and gone into the Sierra Madre Mountains. It is my
opinion that Geronimo was never seen in Arizona subsequent to

(01:50):
that time until he surrendered to General Miles and was
brought to Fort Bowie the following September. At the time
of the killing of Miss Peck, Peck and a young
man by the name of Charles Owen were a mile
or two away from the house, both being mounted but unarmed,

(02:10):
and were in the act of catching a steer. The
Indians surprising them. Peck's horse was shot from under him
and he was captured and held prisoner. Owen, being well mounted,
made a dash for his life, but ran into another
part of the same band. His horse was shot from

(02:30):
under him, and Owen himself was shot through the neck
and arm, killing him instantly. Those that had Peck were
apparently waiting for their leader for instructions as to what
to do with him. The leader soon coming up. After
taking from Peck his boots, knife, and tobacco, they released him,

(02:51):
telling him, however, not to go home. Before releasing him,
one of the Indians, for some unexplainable reason, gave him
sixty five cents in money. A squaw with this man
had little Jenny on a horse with her. Jenny was
crying bitterly, and when Peck attempted to talk with her,

(03:12):
the Indians intervened and prevented his doing so. About six
weeks later, she was rescued from the Indians by some
Mexican cowboys at a point about forty miles from Magdalena, Sonora,
where she was delivered to Peck, who had gone after her.
As soon as released, Peck went directly home, where he

(03:35):
found his wife and baby lying dead. Shanahan killed Yank
Bartlet wounded. The day following the killing of Missus Peck
and her baby, John Shanahan, who was unarmed, left Yank
Bartlett's ranch in Bear Valley, about eight miles from Oro Blanco,

(03:57):
for his own place about three miles distant, leaving at
the ranch with Bartlett his little son, Phil about ten
years of age, who was there visiting Johnny Bartlett, of
about the same age. Shanahan had been gone but about
ten minutes when Johnny ran into the room where his

(04:17):
father was telling him that he had just heard three
shots and that he thought maybe the Indians had shot
the old man. Bartlett, who had not heard of Indians
being in the vicinity, scouted the idea that on going outside,
saw Shanahan approaching and ran to him and assisted him

(04:37):
into the house. Shanahan telling him that the Indians had
shot him. Bartlett immediately seized his gun, and on going
to the door, a bullet fired by one of the
Indians whistled past his head. There were but three of
the Indians, but having placed themselves in different positions, it
was hardly possible for Bartlett to get a shot at

(04:58):
them without exposing himself to their fire, and one shot
from then, passing through his shoulder, only missed the head
of Johnny by about an inch, blinding him from the
dust of the adobe wall as the bullet struck it.
The fight between Bartlet and the three Indians was kept
up until dark. Shanahan, fatally wounded, was constantly calling out

(05:21):
for water. Bartlett thinks that in the fight he wounded
one of the Indians. Little Phil saves mother and sisters.
Shanahan's story is that a short time after leaving the house,
being totally unconscious of any danger, he was suddenly shot

(05:42):
by an Indian, whom he then saw only about thirty
feet away. Picking up a rock and starting for the Indian,
Shanahan received another shot from behind that knocked him down,
but he was immediately up again and ran back for
the house, Bartlet meeting and assisting him in. Shanahan saw

(06:02):
but two Indians and said he could have killed both
if he had had had a gun. During the time,
Bartlett was keeping the Indians at bay. Realizing the danger
of Missus Shanahan and her two young daughters at their
home three miles away, he told Phil, Shanahan's little son

(06:22):
to steal out of the house by a back way
and go to his home and notify his mother of
their danger and of the shooting of his father. Phil
demurred at first, wanting to stay with his father, who
was suffering intensely, but being told that unless he went,
his mother and little sisters would surely be killed, the

(06:43):
little fellow courageously said he would try to get to them,
and good fortune favoring him, he succeeded in doing so,
finding them in the garden, They all, including Phil, immediately
started for the mountains, where they concealed themselves until the
following day. In the meantime, the Indians had come to

(07:03):
the house and carried off or wrecked everything in it,
and would undoubtedly have killed Missus Shanahan and the two
little girls had not brave. Little Phil, at the risk
of his life, warned them of the danger and of
Section four.