nothing more than target practice. When Avott reached the coach Middleton told him to get in but instead he hid in some bushes. Bach-e-on-al was not far behind and shortly thereafter shot Middleton in the head. The bullet went in through the mouth, without hitting any teeth, and exited Middleton's neck. Amazingly, Middleton survived without losing consciousness. After that the remaining prisoners came up and released Kid from inside the coach. One of the fugitives, El-cahn, was going to smash Middleton's head with a rock while he lay on the ground helpless, but Kid prevented it, possibly recalling that Middleton had shared his cigarettes with the Kid the night before. Aftermath After the massacre, the Apache Kid and the others robbed the dead sheriffs and Middleton of their clothes, jewelry, and weapons. Next they fled into the surrounding desert while Jesus Avott was still hiding. Once the Apaches were gone, Avott cut a horse loose from the coach so as to ride it to town, but it kicked him off. However, a nearby rancher, Andronico Lorona, who was driving some cattle through the area, noticed the stalled coach and decided to investigate it. There Lorona found Avott and gave him a horse to take into Florence. Lorona then left to tell his foreman about the prisoners' escape, and the foreman sent a group of cowboys to guard the dead bodies. For his part in all of this, Avott was pardoned and did not have to serve time in Yuma. Sometime before the cowboys arrived at the murder scene, Middleton found the strength to stand up, but found that he could not lift himself onto the coach or a horse so was forced to walk and crawl the long distance back to Riverside Station. When Middleton reached Riverside he received medical treatment and told the townspeople what had happened. Shorty Sayler, a stagecoach driver, took Reynolds' horse Tex and rode it to Globe, forty miles away, to alert the authorities. Sayler stopped and changed horses at Pioneer and then made it to his destination in record time, arriving before noon the same day. The telegrapher at Globe was Dan Williams, who later said; "I happened to be the receiving operator and hastened to Al Sieber with terrible news, whose comment was, ‘I was afraid of that, and that was my reason for offering the scout escort to Casa Grande.' From his