FORT BOWIE. 45 
_ the centre of the defile, and commands the road both ways for 
_ two or three miles of its length. The only officers at the 
_ time of our visit were Lieutenant Carrol, Lieutenant Hubbard, 
_ and the resident surgeon; the only troops, one small company 
of forty men. The officers insisted upon Lawson, Colton, 
q and myself sharing their quarters; they had not had a 
_ visitor of any kind for months, and had almost forgotten 
_ that the world was inhabited. 
| After luncheon I strolled out upon a higher hill-top to 
, choose a good position for taking a photograph of the fort 
and pass. The view was a very beautiful: one, for we 
were hemmed in on all sides by lofty mountains, the most 
conspicuous of which is Helen’s Dome. Some two miles 
j distant in the pass, the sheep and oxen belonging to the 
j fort were peacefully grazing, when suddenly I perceived 
j 2 commotion amongst the garrison. All were hurrying to 
; the highest part and looking towards the cattle, from 
: which direction I heard a few shots fired. It appeared 
jon inquiry that the mail-carrier, going west to Tucson, had 
ay gone on his way a short distance past the cattle, aon 
he immediately turned back to give the alarm to the men 
guarding the cattle, and to the sentinels at the fort. The 
Indians showed themselves two or three times in the open, 
d then disappeared. - It was useless for us, with our wearied 
orses, to join in the chase after a couple of naked red men, so 
we remained behind. 
So poorly supplied was this little fort, if such a term may 
applied to a collection of mud huts, that two horses repre- 
noted the entire stock, It was customary to keep one of 
