ARREST OF A NAVAJO INDIAN MURDERER. 



LIEUT. E. II. PLUMMER. 



The San Juan river forms the Northern 

 boundary of the Navajo Indian reservation, 

 for a distance of about 150 miles. Scattered 

 along the valleys of the San Juan and its 

 tributaries, North of the reservation, are 

 the villages of Farmington, Olio, Fruit- 

 land and Jewett, N. M. Besides the 

 usual village stores there are a number of 

 " Indian trading stores," so called because 

 the principal business of the owners is to 

 trade with the Indians. 



The agency for the tribe is at old Fort 

 Defiance, Arizona, on the South side of 

 the reservation, more than 100 miles, by 

 wagon road, from the San Juan valley. 

 Naturally, then, on account of the distance 

 from the agency, the Northern part of the 

 reservation became the resort of outlaws 

 and those of the tribe inclined to be inde- 

 pendent of, and rebellious under, Govern- 

 ment control. Then, too, the situation led 

 as naturally to the ever increasing boldness 

 of these Indians in their petty thefts and 

 depredations against their white neighbors 

 on the opposite side of the river. White 

 settlers were not allowed on the reserva- 

 tion, so an Indian might commit a depre- 

 dation on the North side of the river and 

 return to the reservation without the least 

 danger of being pursued by whites. 



This state of affairs was brought to the 

 notice of the authorities in Washington, by 

 the Governor and the Legislature — also by 

 the Grand Jury of San Juan county, New 

 Mexico; but when I took charge of the 

 Agency, in April, 1893, nothing done by 

 the agent had mitigated the evil, which, 

 it may be said, culminated in the murder 

 of L. S. Welsh, an owner of one of the 

 Indian trading stores. At this time I had 

 been in charge of the agency only a few 

 days, and had not visited the Northern part 

 of the reservation. 



While sitting in my office, at the agency, 

 one afternoon, I noticed an Indian stand- 

 ing iri the road near by, at a loss which 

 way to turn, and, evidently, the bearer of 

 important news. I sent for him, and when 

 he came in he handed me a letter from Mrs. 

 Whyte, of Jewett, N. M., the "field ma- 

 tron " for the Navajos, telling me of the 

 murder of Welsh, and urging me to come 

 at once, for there was danger of a conflict 

 between the Indians and the white settlers. 

 The courier, I ascertained, had come 

 through in the night, for fear of being 

 stopped. I started the next morning for 

 Jewett, arriving on the third day. 



The reservation at Jewett extends North 

 of the river, embracing a small triangular 

 tract, in the Southeast corner of which a 

 mission is located. At that time Mrs. Mary 



L. Eldridge was. the missionary, and Mrs. 

 Mary R. Whyte the field matron. Mrs. 

 Whyte's husband kept a trading store just 

 off of the reservation, North of the river, 

 where Mrs. Whyte lived; Mrs. Eldridge 

 lived in the mission house. Jewett con- 

 sisted of little farms strung for a mile or 

 more along the North bank of the San 

 Juan river. The scene of the Welsh mur- 

 der was about a mile from Whyte's store. 



We crossed to Whyte's store, where I 

 learned the particulars of the killing of 

 Welsh. Late in the afternoon I returned 

 to the reservation side, accompanied by 

 James Francis, a Government employee of 

 the agency, the only employee located on 

 the reservation in the vicinity of the San 

 Juan river. His position was officially 

 known as " farmer," his duties being to as- 

 sist and instruct Indians in farming. His 

 home was on the reservation, about 10 

 miles above Jewett; and will be frequently 

 mentioned as " the Farmer's residence." 



We moved up stream about a mile, and 

 camped nearly opposite the scene of the 

 murder. I was accompanied by the regular 

 interpreter for the agency. After supper, 

 Indians gathered about our fire, forming a 

 circle. While the murder and plans for the 

 arrest of the murderer were being dis- 

 cussed, the interpreter muttered, " I think 

 he's here." 



Before I could ask for further informa- 

 tion, an Indian broke through the circle, 

 crossed quickly to my side, threw an arm 

 impulsively about my neck and commenced 

 a plaintive confession of how and why he 

 had killed Welsh; mingling with his con- 

 fession a pitiful appeal for mercy. To feel 

 the embrace of a red-handed murderer, a 

 desperate Indian at that, gives one a rather 

 peculiar sensation; but the importance 

 of obtaining the confession and custody of 

 the murderer induced me to appear undis- 

 turbed. He was known as Nesh-kai-hay. 

 His wife soon joined the group and also 

 made an appeal for mercy, sitting beside 

 me, holding my hand, while pleading for 

 her husband. Nesh-kai-hay said he would 

 give himself up to me, to do with him 

 whatever I thought best. The following 

 day I had Nesh-kai-hay repeat his confes- 

 sion. It was, in substance, as follows: 



" I went to Welsh's store to pay him 

 some money on some beads I had pawned 

 to him. I looked into the window. There 

 was no one in the store. I went into the 

 field near the house and saw Welsh at work 

 with a shovel. I had gotten $1 on the beads 

 and I wanted to pay him 50 cents toward 

 redeeming them. I got into a dispute with 

 Welsh about paying the money. Welsh 



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