who entertained the deepest suspicion of his professed amity. To test his sincerity, Dr. Webb asked what had become of the soldiers, to which he replied that they had voluntarily withdrawn three months before. This we knew to be a lie, as Gen. Conde had informed us of their presence with a couple of good launches to assist the crossing of immigrants, and we had met the General only twenty days previous, when this information was received from him, who had come directly from the Colorado in eleven days. The report of our Maricopa visitors also disproved the statement of Caballo en Pelo, and we immediately consulted together as to our future course, which was afterward carried into effect, as the reader will discover, and to it I attribute our escape from the treacherous Yumas.
We subsequently learned that the persons massacred by the Yumas just before our arrival, were John Gallantin and his band. This man had the reputation of being one of the worst scoundrels who ever existed even in that demoralized and villainous region. It is reported of him, that the Governor of Chihuahua, having offered a premium of thirty dollars for every Apache scalp, Gallantin got together a band of cut-throats and went into the business. But all his activity and cupidity failed to find the Apaches, and scalps became very scarce. Determined to make money out of the Governor's terms, he commenced killing Papago, Opatah and Yaqui Indians, whose scalps he sold in considerable numbers at thirty dollars each, declaring that they had been taken from the heads of Apaches. But the ease with which Gallantin and his band supplied themselves, without producing any sensible diminution of Apache raids, excited suspicion, and he was actually caught taking the scalps from the heads of several Mexicans murdered by his
