The Lost Adams - 3

As the half-named Adams and his twenty California gold-mining companions set off to follow a fugitive Mexican/Apache teenager on a two-week trek across Arizona, we recall that Adams had recently been robbed of a freight company's profits and lost their tack and wagons to a clever Apache raid. Before he met Gotch Ear and heard his tale of bountiful Apache gold, he was on his way back to Los Angeles, where he would no doubt have reported the losses to his superiors. Interestingly, the historical record makes no further mention of this, so we are left to wonder if by sneaking off to plunder gold in New Mexico, Adams was about to become a fugitive himself.

The party set out from Gila Bend.

Whether he let his company know what happened, or just let them think he was killed or absconded, Adams and the men began their journey on August 20, 1864 - at time of year that when the sun bakes down with fury on southern Arizona. While some would walk, the others rode and as all the horses belonged to Adams, he was selected as chief of their party. Adams tried to note landmarks as they traveled, and he did pick up some important clues - skirting northward around the White Mountains and Mount Thomas near the eastern border of the state. His memory and sense of the land was sorely lacking for the most part, and it is debatable whether the rivers he remembers crossing were the Black and the Little Colorado, or perhaps the San Francisco or Gila as some have suggested.

Gila (pronounced Hee-la) Wilderness shaded green.

Eventually the group crossed a rutted wagon road which they were told led to Fort Wingate in the north. This puts them crossing into New Mexico somewhere at the north end of the Gila wilderness, as Fort Wingate is around 40 miles west of the Arizona border and a good deal to the north. On the 14th day of the journey, Gotch Ear led them to their camp in the late evening, promising that the next day would bring the fulfillment of his promise of riches.