MURDERED BY INDIANS.

Otautau Standard and Wallace County Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 210, 11 May 1909, Page 7

MURDERED BY INDIANS.

♦ Charles M'Leod, the Edmonton man who, while leading a party of prospectors through the wilds of the North-western portion of Victoria (8.C.), stumbled over the bones of his two brothers, murdered by Indians three years ago, has returned, to civilisation, and tells a tale of the grue-, some find that reads like a chapter from a romance. One evening las*. summer, while " making" camp, M'Leod discovered the remsivs of an old camp fire m the woods, and m a fit of curiosity began to scrape among the ashes, presently discovering on a tree close by an inscription consisting of the date '' May, 1905," and his brothers' initials. Later on one of M'Leod's party made the discovery of two skeletons under a tree a short distance from the trail. This aroused M'Leod's fears, and he hastened to the spot. Investigation revealed the fact that the heads of the two skeletons had been cut oil and were not to be found. The clothing had completely rotted away, and nothing but the weather-beaten bones remained. In the vicinity M'Leod. picked up a watch and a ring, which he immediately recognised as having belonged to his brother Frank. One of the skeletons had the breast-bone shattered m such, a manner as to suggest the work of a rifle 1, | bullet. On closely examining the trees m the locality M'Leod found a " blazed" tree with more carving, but very little of these words were legible. Near the base of the tree he managed to make out sufficient to lead him to the belief that a complete deciphering, of the message would mean a probable fortune. The words that were decipherable referred to the location of valuables, but the murderers not only had taken cave to remove from their victims' clothes every article of value, but had also cut the tree m such a manner as to make the carving unintelligible. Near at hand, however, M'Leod found a shaft from which the Indians had evidently taken gold quite recently. The Indians claimed that they had sunk this shaft themselves. A companion of the two murdered men is still unaccounted for, and a detail of the Royal North-west Mounted Police will be sent to investigate.—Reuter.