During the fall of 1885 a rancher came to…
source date: 1891
availability: public-domain

day an Enter- prise man met John M. Clayton, a miner who had been employed for three years on the Oso Negro, Arispe district, Sonora. The mine is owned and operated by Tombstone parties and is situated about 125 miles south of Tombstone, which is the nearest supply point. During the fall of 1885 a rancher came to the mine and informed the foreman, James H. Kirker, that he had missed some horses, and from indications thought that Geronimo and his band of about thirty Indians were in the neigh- borhood. At the noon hour Mr. Kirker informed the miners of the situation and asked for volun- teers to go and hunt down the Apaches, and the following Americans came to the front: James H. Kirker, Floyd McMann, John Thomp- son, Jack Ophner, Tim O’Brien and Press Hatcher, the ranchman, six in all. The party was well armed and mounted, and took to the mountains. Late in the evening they camped in the bottom of a canyon. Early the next morning they continued their journey up the canyon, and as they reached the summit of the mountain they were fired on by Geronimo and his band who were concealed in the tall grass, and only a few feet distant. Thompson and O’Brien fell dead from their horses. Hatcher, who was still coming up the hill, was shot downward through the shoulder and body. Ophner was shot through the leg and the arm, both being broken. McMann was wounded but managed to make his escape, and eventually reached the camp. Kirker ran first to Hatcher, in time to hear his death message: “Tell the