Forty Years at El Paso, 1858-1898Mills, W. W. (William Wallace)
Philosophy
Forty Years at El Paso, 1858-1898
Mills, W. W. (William Wallace)
El Paso (Tex.); Texas -- History
I took him to the General and vouched for him, and he was supplied with
two good horses and plenty of gold, and at midnight he started on his
mission. I, of course, gave him no letters but referred him to two of my
friends, whom he also knew very well, Don José Ma. Uranga, then Prefect
of Juarez, and my former employer, Mr. Vincente St. Vrain, a merchant of
El Paso. Daily entered Juarez in the night and went to the Prefect’s
house, where he remained concealed for a week or more, only going out at
night. He met St. Vrain and other Union men at the Prefect’s house, and
he actually prowled through Fort Bliss of nights disguised as a Mexican
peon, and came away as well informed about the number of troops and
other matters at that post as the Texas officers themselves. He brought
an unsigned letter which I knew to be in St. Vrain’s handwriting, giving
wholesale military information. This letter, had its contents been known
to the Confederates, would have cost my friend St. Vrain his life. Said
letter has been published by the United States Government in the
“Records of the Rebellion.”
On his return Daily rode in the dark into a camp of Indians and came
into Fort Craig with an arrowhead in his shoulder. He was paid $2,500
for his two weeks’ work, which he deposited with the Quartermaster, and
was employed as a guide during the campaign which ensued.
This man Daily was at times addicted to drink, and when intoxicated
would gamble. One night an officer awakened me and informed me that
Daily was at the sutler’s store drunk and gambling and being robbed. I
went to the store and found him in company with some gamblers (camp
followers) vainly trying, with their help, to sign his name to an order
on the Quartermaster for two thousand dollars. I tore the paper into
bits and took Daily away. The next morning I reported the facts to
General Roberts, and he directed me to take a file of the guard and
destroy all the intoxicating liquor at the store, place all loafers I
found about the store in the guard house, and lock the store and bring
the key to him. The order was executed. About a dozen “loafers” were
provided with quarters in the guard house; barrels of whisky were rolled
out and the heads driven in and hundreds of bottles were smashed. Some
of the soldiers scooped up whisky in their hands and drank it.
After the campaign Daily with his savings became a respectable and
successful merchant of Las Cruces, N. M., and twenty years later was
sued for that two thousand dollar debt. I was interrogated as a witness,
and testified to the facts as I have written them above. Daily won the
suit.
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JOHN LEMON.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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