The Walter J. Stevens Tragedy

by Joel H. Martineau

 When the families left Colonia Pacheco in July 1912, at the time of the Exodus, it was with the hope that the federal army, under General Blanco, would arrive soon and the rebels would be driven out of the country and the families could return.

There was one family, however, who did not go, that of Walter J. Stevens. This family lived on a ranch a mile north of town and instead of going to El Paso, they moved into a small cave on the riverbank not far from their home. The mouth of the cave was in a patch of brush and trees and had recently been discovered.  The cave was not known to anyone except the Stevens family.

The entrance was not very large but the cave widened out and extended into the bank about 40 feet. Into this, they brought supplies of food and bedding, and when General Salazar, with his army of 700 men occupied Pacheco for three weeks, they pass the time quietly and were not discovered.

At length, when the rebels had all gone, the family again moved into their home. There is a small creek that came from the west the past near the house. Along its border, for about 195 yards, was a blackberry patch and the berries were ripe. Beyond the berry patch was an orchard of apple trees.

Shortly after they returned to their home, Sextus H. Johnson came from Sonora and visited the family and camped nearby.  The next day he went home and was cleaning out the rubbish and wreckage left in his home by the rebels when Brig, the little Stevens boy, came and told him that his father had just been stabbed by a Mexican and was dead. Hastening to the Stevens’ home, he found the grief stricken family under intense suspense over the terrible tragedy.  Artificial respiration was tried, but to no avail. The husband and father was dead.

There were three big boys in the family but Walter had gone hunting and Alden and Ammon were riding out to locate their horses that had been driven off to a secure place a month earlier.

Events leading up to the tragedy were related by the family. The two girls, Ella and Emma, were picking blackberries near the upper end of the patch when two Mexicans passed near and spoke to them. They did not speak Spanish so did not know what was said. The Mexicans went on across the creek, which is lined with willows, and the girls began working toward the house. Soon the Mexicans came back across the creek and saluted them with “Buenos Dias” and the girls went at once to the house and the men slowly followed them, eating berries as they walked along.

Brother Stevens was in the field a short distance away and little Brig was sent to tell him the Mexicans were coming. He went home at once and got his double-barreled shotgun and met the intruders as they neared the house and ordered them away, evidently thinking they were not there for any good purpose. They evidently did not come to rob them for they knew there was a man and three big boys there and they were unarmed except for a knife.

As the two men retired back the way they came, Stevens followed close behind them and was still talking to them.  The two girls took their pails to again resume their berry picking. Now Stevens is a man unafraid, yet he is a man of peace and may have unwittingly made some remark that cause a burst of passion in the natives, for one of them turned suddenly and plunged a knife deep into the breast of Stevens. The reaction came immediately for Stevens’ trigger finger tightened and both barrels went off, both loads striking the other man in the side making a ghastly wound. He went about 150 yards into the orchard and died.

As soon as the gun discharge, Stevens dropped it and seized the two wrists of the killer and forced him down on his back on top of the gun.  Another girl, Mina, was looking out of an upstairs window and saw her father stabbed and screamed. Her two sisters immediately rushed to the assistance of their father. He was sitting astride the Mexican and grasping his wrists. His face was ashen and he spoke not a word.

Ella pulled the gun from beneath them and Emma struck the man in the face with a stick. Their father weakened and fell over. The Mexican jumped up and made a lunge at Emma with the knife. Ella seized her skirt and pulled her back far enough to miss the knife by a small margin and as she raised the gun, the native fled. As he passed his fallen comrade, he took his hat, having lost his own in the scuffle. The girls then carried the limp body of their father to the house and when halfway there, he gave his last gasp and expired.

As soon as Johnson came, he did all he could for the stricken family and when the sons finally came home, he went at once to Pearson and notified the military then came on, though quite late, and told us in Colonia Juarez what had happened. At daylight next morning, half a dozen of us left on horseback for Colonia Pacheco. You the top of the mountain we met the Stevens family in a wagon driven by Joel Porter on their way to Colonia Juarez.

On arriving in the Stevens’ home I (J.H. Martineau) made two coffins for the dead while the others dug Stevens’ grave in the local natives buried their dead friend. A posse of soldiers came up from Pearson to take cognizance of the tragedy.

The local Mexicans said the two men were employed at the railroad construction camp about 6 miles east of Colonia Pacheco and had come hunting their saddle horses and were on their way to the house to inquire of the boys if they had seen them.

Walter Joshua Stevens was a man of strong convictions. He did not see the necessity of abandoning the colonies at this time as all of the colonists in the mountains had lived in comparative peace. He had many friends among the natives as well as colonists and had scarcely an enemy and felt perfectly safe to remain as he had his hidden cave, if needed.

He was fearless but not quarrelsome; a kind neighbor, honest in his business deals, always ready to aid the sick with his help at the bedside as well as with his means. He left the host of friends among all classes who knew him.. The slayer was unhurt and proceeded to camp, told what had happened to his companion and went on his way.

Taken from Pacheco History and Stories compiled by Sylvia Lunt Heywood