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7/17/1882: The last major Indian raid in Arizona
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Billie Vanero heard them say in Arizona town one day,
That a band of Apache Indians were upon the trail of death;
Heard them tell of murder done, three men killed at Rocky Run,
"They're in danger at the cow ranch," said Vanero under breath.
Vanero may have been a real person & he may have ridden to warn the
ranchers about this Indian raid. (Somebody actually did.) He may have
been shot and written his last letter to his Bessie in his blood and gone
on to fight to the last. In any event, its source song, Eben Rexford's
poem "The Ride of Paul Venarez" was printed 7 months before the raid in
question.
"Billie Vanero,"
from The Whorehouse Bells Were Ringing by Guy Logsdon, 1989
© Abby Sale - all rights reserved
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