162 
EVENTS AT 
commanding officer at El Paso, on my requisition : so 
that the open threats which had been made by the 
friends of the prisoners during the first day of the trial, 
were no longer heard ; for they now saw that the 
strong arm of the law would triumph. 
The second day, a member of the Commission who 
manifested a deep interest in the prisoners, was re- 
quested by one of them to act as his counsel ; but his 
efforts to prove an alibi, to impeach the testimony of 
some of the witnesses, and to establish the previous good 
character of the defendant, proved utterly futile. The 
prisoners were then heard in their own defence ; but 
they could advance nothing beyond the mere assertion 
of their innocence. At the close of the testimony, an 
attempt was made by one of the friends of the prison- 
ers to postpone the trial, for the purpose, as he stated, 
of obtaining counsel and evidence from El Paso. But 
the court had been apprised of the existence of a plot 
for attempting a rescue that night, and accordingly 
the request was refused. 
The evidence being closed, a few remarks were 
now made by the prosecuting attorney, followed by 
the charge of the Judge, when the case was given to 
the Jury. In a short time they returned into court 
with a verdict of guilty, against William Craig, Marcus 
Butler, and John Wade; upon whom the Judge then 
pronounced sentence of death. 
The prisoners were now escorted to the little plaza 
or open square in front of the village church ; where 
the priest met them, to give such consolation as his 
holy office would afford. But their conduct, notwith- 
standing the desire on the part of all to afford them 
