Читать книгу Five-minute Mysteries 2 - Ken Weber - Страница 11
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Mule Train
REPORT OF DISCIPLINARY ACTION
Against: Trooper Zebulon Pike Hampton, 3rd Platoon, A Company, B Troop, 5th Cavalry
By: Major Elliott Morton, OC, B Troop
Charge: Neglect of duty
Date(s) of Offense: July 9, 1911
Date of Action: July 12, 1911
Action Taken: Thirty (30) days stockade, immediate
Description of Offense:
From July 2–10, 1911, A Company of B Troop was assigned to make extended patrols west of Flagstaff, Arizona Territory, in the area of three known smuggling routes (see Objective(s) of Unit). 3rd Platoon was given picket duty for the night of July 8/9, with Tpr. Hampton assigned to the most distant post from midnight to first light. Tpr. Hampton failed to report a train of 20 to 25 mules that passed his post during this time.
Objective(s) of Unit When Offense Occurred:
Effective February 28, 1911, and continuing as of this date, B Troop is posted to northern Arizona Territory, Sedona/Flagstaff/Kingman area, to interdict smuggling of gold, copper, etc.
Facts Supporting Charge:
(by Maj. Morton)
Tpr. Hampton was posted at the edge of a narrow ravine c. 0.5 mi. in length, and c. 100 ft. across at the widest point and c. 40 ft. at the narrowest. At no point is the ravine more than 20 ft. deep. The floor of the ravine is a mix of rock and sand, with a streambed that on July 8/9 was dry. The area above is thickly forested on both sides, so that to travel south with pack animals it is necessary to go through the ravine or detour some 30 mi. west.
The floor of the ravine was patrolled on July 8, and no evidence of recent activity was found. At first light on July 9, company scouts found clear evidence that a train of pack animals (mules) – approximately 20 to 25 animals, with at least four (possibly five) drivers – had passed through the ravine with hooves wrapped (likely in burlap) during the night while Tpr. Hampton was on picket duty. This evidence is verified and attested to by Capt. McNair of Company A (and Lts. Pocock and Nepp).
According to procedure, Company A was given a list of pack trains scheduled by the mines for passage through the area during the time of the extended patrol. None were scheduled for July 8/9, and none of the mines subsequently dispatched an unscheduled train on this date. These, in any case, would travel in daylight. The unreported pack train indicated in this charge, therefore, was illicit.
Mitigating Circumstances:
(from oral deposition of Tpr. Hampton, as recorded by Maj. Morton. Tpr. Hampton is non-literate.)
Brisbois (Tpr. Brisbois, 3rd Platoon) was supposed to be on picket with me. There’s always supposed to be two. But after about half an hour or so, he got sick and went to the cook tent and never come back. Nobody else come, neither, so I was alone.
It was pitch black that night and muggy. No moon, no stars. Couldn’t see your hand in front of your face. Only a bit of wind, but it don’t take much to make noise when it blows through all the trees, so you really couldn’t hear nothing no matter how hard you tried. And anybody knows that if you work mules long and hard they generally won’t make no braying sounds. Not like horses.
All I know is, if that pack train come through like they say, nobody could of known it.
Comment(s):
It is the conclusion of this officer that Tpr. Hampton either fell asleep at his post or abandoned it for a period. It is even possible, although there is no evidence, that he accepted a bribe. In any case, an alert trooper, at his post, in the conditions described above, would unquestionably have become aware of the passing of a mule train.
Major Elliott Morton, OC, B Troop
?
Major Morton knows there is something that would certainly have alerted the trooper to the passing of the mule train had he been alert and at his post. What is that?
