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; JAMES -rA5ELL
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. NEWS COMPANY
WESTERN AGENTS
'MNTEKS
i, Cal.
CALABAZAS
OR
AMUSING RECOLLECTIONS
OF
AN ARIZONA "CITY"
BY
J.'CABELL BROWN
ILLUSTRATED WITH ORIGINAL DRAWINGS
Published by
VAT.LEAU & PETERSON, PRINTERS AND PUBLISHERS,
410 Sansome St., San Francisco.
Copyright 1892 by J. CABELL BROWN. All Rights Reserved
1(5333
Bancroft LibrarS
PREFACE.
IN picture, poem, and prose has the stranger in the
far west been caricatured and ridiculed as the ' ' Ten-
derfoot ' ' victim of that dangerous compound of whis-
kers, whisky, dynamite, and death known as the
"Bad-man."
To the reader, this book will show that the average
, western ' ' Bad-man ' ' is not nearly so dangerous as is
the California flea or the Hoboken bed-bug ; that he can
use his legs to good advantage in certain contingen-
cies, and that his reputation for being phenominally
wide awake, is a figment of his brain, or at least exag-
gerated.
Kvery incident herein related was an actual occur-
rence, and somewhat similar ones are within the expe-
rience of most western pioneers. Should they serve
to amuse the reader, the author will have attained his
purpose, J. CABEU, BROWN.
Oakland, CaL, 1892.
CONTENTS.
CALABAZAS Its Location, Its Surroundings. Its
Rise, Its Industries, Its Society, Its Impres-
sive Hospitality, and Why Its People moved
to the Line 13-3 7
THE CALABAZAS KID His Arrival, His Sojourn,
His Subjugation, and His Departure for the
Line 39~6i
THE CALABAZAS PRKACHKR His Arrival, His
Sermon, His Backsliding, and His Departure
for the Line .62-91
THE CALABAZAS WIDOW She Comes, She In-
vests, She Increases Her "Wad," and She
Departs for the Line 92-147
THE CALABAZAS CLUB Its Olympian Games,
Mr. Murphy, Mr. O'Connor, and Mr. Riley,
and their Departure for the Line. 148-166
THE CALABAZAS BABY His Parents, Lucky
Smith and the Little Woman, His Birth, His
Bereavement, and He goes over the Line 168-196
THE CALABAZAS JUSTICE His Constable, His
Troubles, The Final Riot, and His Departure
for the Line 197-251
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
CALABAZAS, Frontispiece 12
THE KID 38
THE PREACHER HAS A DIFFICULTY 86
THE ' ' WELLY GOOD MEN ' ' WATCH
THE "WELLY SICK LADY 112
MR. MURPHY'S TONSORIAL PARLORS 150
LUCKY SMITH 168
THE LITTLE WOMAN "TURNS HER
TOES UP ON SMITH " 186
THE FIRST NATURAL DEATH IN CAL-
ABAZAS, 206
"AND BEER WAS SENT TO THE LADIES," 232
DEDICATED
TO A
PIONEER OF THE WEST,
MY
EvSTEEMED FRIEND,
HENRY P. BOWIE, ESQ.,
OF
SAN FRANCISCO.
CALABAZAS.
ITS LOCATION ITS SURROUNDINGS ITS RISK ITS
INDUSTRIKS ITS SOCIETY ITS IMPRESSIVE HOS-
PITALITY WHY ITS PEOPLE MOVED TO THE LINE.
IF a person seeking valuable and interesting infor-
mation will take a map and pass his finger down the
center of Arizona until at a point where the boundary
line dividing the United States from Mexico diverges
from an east and west direction, to one running north-
westerly until it meets the Colorado River, he will see
near the diverging point a dot marked, Calabazas
[English gourds or squashes.] This dot is the loca-
tion, and Calabazas is the name of the town; a town
with a short history, it is true ; a history not widely
known, but none the less interesting and eventful.
By seeking further he will see that it lies at the junc-
tion of two railroads on the map that it is on the
banks of the Santa Cruz River, and the astonishing
additional fact, that the said river has neither source
nor outlet.
Calabazas is, what is left of it, near the head of the
14 CAI Sing fled on the wings of the wind
into the darkness. How funnily they shrieked for
mercy when chased, and were jocularly fired at, in
hopes of tickling their lungs or livers with a bullet.
It was great fun for the Calabazans.
Having squeezed, kneaded, and hammered the last
particle of amusement from Cum Sing and his belong-
ings, and at the same time incidentally squared all
board due him from them, they proceeded to attack
Foo Chong's restaurant. They cut his new tent into
244 CALABAZAS.
ribbons, hilariously smashed his stove, crockery, and
furniture into bits, and exhilaratingly stole everything
else. Foo Chong fought like a demon to save his property
and protect his wife from injury, fought preposterously
like a human being, but he was beaten nearly to insen-
sibility, and his harmless, gentle little wife was kicked
and beaten almost as severely. That he might not
think the joke was carried too far, they picked his
pockets and tore her jewelry from her ears, head and
hands.
There are some people totally devoid of all sense of
humor, and of maudlin sympathies, whose stony
hearts would have been moved if they could have seen
this heathen couple, after recovering their senses,
sitting amid the ruins of their all, bleeding (real
blood like anyone else's) from their numerous wounds.
The head of the innocent, maltreated wife rested on
her poor husband's shoulder, while he fondled one of
her small, bruised hands (just as if a person could love
in Chinese !) Her once ornately decorated and
plastered hair was matted with blood (genuine). In
gentle, subdued words and half-suppressed sobs, she
bemoaned their ruin and abuse and tried to console
her husband. And then to see Foo so softly smooth
and caress her hands, while he, oblivious to his own
hurts, said in his " dirty lingo," " Me no ca-a fo* my
money, me no ca-a fo' house, but he bleak my wife's
feelins. Me bollow all him money to buy tent an buy
g'lub and now me no can pay. My flen tink me
logue." It was as mirth inspiring as a circus joke.
Actually this Chinaman did not have sense enough
to think of skipping over the I4ne ! Some of those
THK JUSTICE. 245
maudlin people before spoken of might actually prefer
to have been one of the Chinese instead of the mob !
And Mrs. Foo shedding tears, too ! She puckered her
face so differently from a white person ! the tears
squeezed out were round, pelucid, and rolled down
her cheeks perfectly natural so far so good ; but they
were not chemically the same as a white persons,
because the Chinese eat rats, and of course that alters
the whole combination. Their tears probably are
more in the nature of liquified laughing gas. How the
Mongolian digestive apparatus manages to extract a
volatile essence of mirth, from such a phlegmatic
rodent, is nature's secret, yet it must do so, for the
Chinese tears in Calabazas seemed to exhale some
subtle influence that created the most exhausting
laughter, amongst those so-called Christians, that
would have crucified the Saviour if the opportunity
had presented itself. Of course the idea of a Chinaman
having any sentiment will be laughed at, but it is a
fact, nevertheless, that Foo was so affected at his loss
of property, and his wife's grief, that he jumped up
and down like a jack-in-the-box, swore most frightful
oaths at his persecutors, told them to kill him, "Me
no flaid die," and challenged any one of them to fight
him you would have almost thought him human.
Fortunately the mob was too much interested in
destroying other places, and stealing each other's
clothing from the heathen's laundries, to pay attention
to his cries, and his wife smothered many of them by
putting her hands over his mouth. Bancroft UfcflW
The fact that they met with no resistance seemed to
madden the mob. Drinky was in his glory, and was
246 CALABAZAS.
heard yelling, "Now for the brickyard Chinese."
Some of the rioters brought buckets of whisky from
lower saloons to refresh those exhausted by their
labors ; it disappeared down their villainous throats
like water, and increased their rancorous wit in
proportion.
Having eliminated the few Chinese tents from the
town, and chased their inmates into the darkness, or
beaten them into insensibility, the mob followed their
leaders to the brick yards. Here the Chinese, not
knowing how to take a joke, had barricaded them-
selves in their sleeping house with an intent to defend
their property, but when they heard the yelling and
swearing of the rioters, the firing of pistols, and
the drunken threats, all of them ran away but the
boss and a couple of the braver Chinese, who remained
to make an effort to save something. So many of the
mob were under obligations to him that he thought
assuredly he had some friends amongst them.
The rioters, in a minute after reaching the yard,
had hammered the boss and his two companions
enough to show that friendship ceased when amuse-
ment was in hand. Every nook and corner of the
buildings were searched for money ; for what right
had a Chinaman to money when a Calabazan wanted
whisky? Clothing was cut to pieces, and every arti-
cle these devilish Chinese had in the world, was want-
only destroyed. Rifles and pistols were fired at ran-
dom, in hopes of hitting some of the fleeing heathens,
for to kill a Chinaman is a meritorious act, and insures
a nomination to office ; besides, they were supposed to
THE JUSTICE. 247
have carried off much valuable stuff and money ; actu-
ally robbing the mob !
The work of the mob was so quickly done, that the
few law abiding cranks of the town had no time to
raise voice or hand to prevent it, should they have
been able to do so. But by the time the rioters started
for the brick yard, several " cranks" had gathered in
Mitchell's tent to devise some plan for checking them ;
some of whom had already advocated going to the
railroad camp, a short distance up the canon, looting
its store, and killing the proprietor, who was not
inclined their way.
Now Mitchell was an old army man, and, having no
spirit of mob adventure at all, thought it best to make
a counter attack on the mob. It would increase the
fun, and at the same time engage what few of the
population as were not enjoying themselves with the
Chinese. He soon had sixteen well armed men, who,
after electing him Captain, and handsome George
lieutenant, determined to face the mob. Foo Chong
and a negro were volunteers; no one had suspected
them of being brave ! but then we are often mistaken
in men. After giving Foo's wife refuge, Mitchell put
out his lights, and marched his men to the store.
What ammunition and fire arms he found there were
taken away. The storekeeper refused to join, as he
wished to remain neutral. Mitchell now marched his
men at double quick to the brick yard, and made an
ambush behind the remnant of a brick kiln.
The rioters were so intently occupied in looting the
Chinese houses, firing at random, kicking the boss
and his two companions at odd moments, and prepar-
248 CAI