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Show y FOUND ; Mormons Put to Death After a Desperate Struggle. Hachlta, N M , Feb 15. Lem Spills-bury, Spills-bury, Mormon scout, and companions late today discovered the bodies of Andrew P. Peterson, Hugh Acord and I Burton Jensen.. American cowboys kid- naped last Monday w hen Mexican ban-idits ban-idits raided the Corner Ranch sixty j miles southw est of here. The bodies, i badly mutilated were found on the ; Mexican side, three miles south of Monument No. 53. It was believed ithey were taken across th internation-i internation-i al line and killed when they attempt-led attempt-led to break away from their captors. Aecordinu to the story told by Spills-I Spills-I bury and companions, each victim had bon shot in the bead several times Acord's head had been mutilated with a machete. The clothing had been I torn from all three, and there were i numerous cuts and bruises, indicating it was belieded, a desperate struggle ! of the Americans against heavy odds Sarch has been kept up continuously continu-ously since late Monday, when news of the raid and kidnapping spread Spillsbury. who served as scout with Gi aeral Peshing's punitive expedition in Mexico and who owns a ranch in the Palomas region, was one of the first to volunteer his services. Others then joined in the hunt. According to information gathered here, Acord, Peterson and Jensen late Monday rode into the camp of the Mexicans on the American side They were unarmed, it was said They were taken into custody immediately I and made off with. Spillsbury Finds Trail. Spillsbury said he located the raiders' raid-ers' trails early this morning and followed them during the day. coming com-ing In the abandoned bodies late this afternoon. From what he could learn, the Mormon scout said he was convinced that the three murdered (men had been taken into Mexico from j American soil and then killed I'pon finding the bodies, Spillsbury : sent one of his searetiers, Fred Bare-j Bare-j foot, to the nearest settlement, Alamo i Haeco, to notify the military outpost there, wnicb occupied the scene. The three cowboys had been out only a few days rounding up stray American cattle along the boundary when they ran into the raiders. Peterson Pe-terson was the eldest. He was 38 years old, with a wife and seven chil-dren chil-dren Jensen 32, wasso married and had two children. ...cord was 22 years old. The circumstances of the encoun-, encoun-, ter have not yet boon definitely es- tablished. A friend of the murdered men reported seeing the band cross I just after a patrol of the Tw elfth United States cavalry had gone by, and that a negro from Ojitos, Mexico, arrived with an account of meeting the bandit-, who were under Pru-. Pru-. dencio Miranda, and learning from them that they had killed three Ameri can cowboys in a fight Mormons From Mexico. The cowboys were Mormon refugees from Mexico, who had come to the border durinc the Orozco revolution, revolu-tion, when Jose Ynez Salazer raided the Mormon colonies and forced the ; Mormon settlers to flee to the bor-j bor-j der. Peterson, Jensen and Acord I were among the refugees who came lout with the first caravan. After , staying In El Paso they came to i HachitS and took up homesteads south ! of here. They were staying at their ranches at the time they left to go to the Corner ranch to round up some ' cattle. That was the last seen of i them alive. As there was none of the residents of the rancTi left after the raid Mon- j day, the connected story of the raid I cannot be ascertained, but as far as can be learned here and at the Acord ranch, the Mexican raiders under Miranda appeared at the ranch just before noon and forced the ranch cook to prepare dinner and were eating eat-ing when Peterson, Acord and Jensen , rode up to the ranch without knowing the Mexican raiders wore present Having but one pistol, the three men wen quickly surrounded and made prisoners. They were then believed I to have been taken across the line I and killed. |