The Only One Living to Tell, Excerpt: Massacre’s...

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The Only One Living to Tell, Excerpt: Massacre’s sole survivor finally gets his day in print

Editor’s note: Hoomothya was a Yavapai Indian who as a boy witnessed the massacre of 225 fellow tribal members at the hands of American soldiers in what has come to be known as the Battle of the Caves. Taken in by Captain James Burns, the boy Hoomothya, or Wet Nose, spent his childhood crisscrossing Turtle Island with the soldiers, for the first few months with Burns, who called him Mike. The adult Mike Burns held various jobs throughout his life, including in the military. He tried often to have his memoirs published, but to no avail. They were finally picked up by the University of Arizona Press and edited by Gregory McNamee as The Only One Living to Tell: The Autobiography of a Yavapai Indian, published in 2012. Here are parts of his story.

Source indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com