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 James A. Austin Memoirs of James A. Austin of Bliss, New York. Crossing the plains in 1852, mining in Southern Oregon and California.
WESTERN TRAVELS
I was one of a party of
eight, who made up our minds to go to Oregon in the spring 1852. The company, except myself, lived at Portville and Olean, Catt. Co.
It was
agreed that four of the oldest of the party should go across the
country to Iowa and purchase our teams, and meet the other four at
Council Bluffs, who were going by way of the Ohio and Mississippi
rivers, to St. Louis, then up the Missouri to point of meeting. Rafting
time came and we all started. The team buyers left at Warren, Pa., and
went across the country from there, and the other three with myself
were bound to see our rafts through if possible. Low waters detained us
several days, then high waters held us for two weeks, tied to a bunch
of cottonwood trees below Pittsburgh some 80 miles. We cut loose from
there and tried one evening to knock Blennerhassett's Island out of
the river. Stove our raft into two pieces. The pilot, myself, and two
others stuck to the floating mass, and landed next day a hundred miles
below the island, and here was another delay of three or four days. At
last we landed at Cincinnati. After some preparation we went on board
the old steamer Federal Arch,
bound for St. Louis with many gold
seekers on board, and steamed slowly down the Ohio and up the
Mississippi rivers, to St. Louis. Here we exchanged steamers for
Council Bluffs. She took on board some five hundred souls, mostly
Mormons and Californians, old and young, rich and poor, all looking
for more riches and happiness in the West and upon the Pacific shores.
Among the Mormons I found men and women of England, Ireland, Wales and
Germany, strong in the faith of Mormonism and bound for the happy land
of Utah. Among those going to Oregon and California were men of robust
frames and strong minds, men who did not fear to brave the dangers of
the Great Plains of America. Before we were three days upon the boat
that dreaded disease, the cholera, broke out among the Mormon
passengers. Strong men stood pale and trembling while the women hardly
breathed for fear that they would be the next victim. We had to stop
and bury several, and put many ashore that wished to leave the boat. My
company all had the bowel complaint, more or less, and I had it
severely for the eight days we were upon the boat. The eighth day from
St. Louis we landed three miles below the Bluffs, and unloaded upon
Prairie Bottom. Our first motion was to find our teams. Among three or
four thousand this was no small job; so the boys started, one went to
town, others went up along the river among the teams. This day and the
next was spent in fruitless search for our companions and their teams.
By this time the boys had given up looking for them. My strength
reviving a little, I went up to the town and found by a letter from my
partner that they had given us up for lost and started with the train
some ten days before, and wishing us, if we did come, to follow as fast
as possible. (And here comes in the joke) we had no teams and it would
take a day or two to purchase them and get ready to start. After some
deliberation it was thought best to start one man in pursuit of the
train, while the others followed with the team as soon as they could,
and now who to go was the question. One was lame and the other did not
like to go alone, so it was agreed to draw lots for the job, and the
lucky one was myself. I was elected to give chase and overtake them if
possible this side of Fort Laramie. If I did not find them, to stop at
the Fort until the boys came up. Being so reduced in flesh and weak it
looked like a great undertaking for me, nevertheless my ambitious
spirit would not recoil from the task, and in a very short time I was
equipped for the greatest undertaking of my life. With rifle, pistol,
and knife for defense, and a few pounds of crackers, a piece of beef, a
change of shirts and twenty shillings cash, I started at 4 o'clock p.m.
for the crossing of the Missouri River, where the city of Omaha now
stands; crossed with a train that was being ferried over. All was
bustle and commotion; cattle bellowing, men cursing, women and children
crying. Taken altogether it was a scene for an artist to describe. At
dark I stopped near some teams that had camped and begged the privilege
of lying down under one of their wagons, and was roughly told I could
not. Under the shade of a friendly tree and near some Osage Indians,
with several other persons, I laid down to rest, but to sleep with only
one eye at a time.of James A. Austin of Bliss-- The Many Difficulties of the First Trip by Raft and Boat-- Hostile Indians. At early dawn I started among the throng of teams from the six-horse teams down to one-ox carts, and even hand carts were not left out of use. At sunrise I could see for miles before and behind one continuous stream of covered wagons. At about 2 o'clock I commenced to number them, and at sundown had passed 720 of them, in the short distance of 40 miles. Many were crossing the Elk Horn, a tributary of the Platte, and forming in large companies to battle with the Pawnee Indians, who that day had attacked two large trains and killed several men and drove off many cattle. Here was a gantlet for me to run if I went forward; if not I was to wait the motion of those large trains, and they were too slow for my goaheaditiveness. I concluded to go to the first timber, eleven miles off, and take the chances of losing my scalp, should I meet any of the red devils. The whole distance was one vast plain and I had to pass the old Pawnee village, as it was called. The grass upon either side of the road was waist high, and several times I was startled and put my hand upon my pistol thinking the Indians were upon me. A rabbit or fox would be generally the cause of my nervousness. When near the village some mourning doves made my hair stand upon end, and me to think my time had come. But following up the sound of one that was near me, I learned to my great satisfaction that it was no enemy seeking my life. After this I pressed on for the timber with renewed vigor and about 9 o'clock at night reached the long wished-for covert. After resting awhile and eating a scanty meal, from my not overloaded commissary, and looking well to the priming of my firearms with my finger upon the trigger of my Allen revolver, I lay me down to sleep, with the bushes over me, tied together to keep off the heavy dew, and was soon lost to all danger that might be near. At break of day I was startled to hear, but a few yards from me, human voices, and thinking perhaps they might be whites, I crept softly from my hiding place and peering through the bushes saw what--why I saw those Pawnees devouring their morning meal and preparing for a tramp in search of plunder. To crawl back to the other side of the wood did not take me long, and when out of their sight I made some haste for three or four miles, and ran right into a large camp of Californians before their guards saw me. My entree here made some stir, the guards got a cursing for not being on the lookout and at their station, but their surprise was greater when I told them that I was alone and what I had seen. Breakfast was got and eaten, and teams ready for a start in a very short time. TO BE CONTINUED.
Wyoming County Herald, Perry, New York, November 20, 1903, page 1WESTERN TRAVELS
Guns reloaded and everyone
in fighting trim, we set out expecting to have a fight at a small creek
some miles ahead where the Pawnees had a toll bridge, as they called it.
They came out in some force and told us to pay, that was give one ox
or cow from each team, but the captain told them he could not see it
in that light, and offered them two steers for the whole train, which
they at first refused to accept, but a bold front of the men and a good
display of their firearms brought the rascals to terms. After
exchanging some clothing with them for deer skins the train moved on,
glad to get rid of the devils. I kept along with this train for several
miles more, when their snail-like progress was too tiresome for me and
I left them and pressed onward; overtook and passed another large train
but could hear nothing of the train in which my partners were traveling.of James A. Austin of Bliss-- The Many Difficulties of the First Trip by Raft and Boat-- Hostile Indians. Near noon I came in sight of timber which stood upon the bank of the Platte River. (These are camping places generally), and expecting to find more trains here. I made the more speed thinking to have a rest. But when within about a mile of the timber, judge of my astonishment to behold eight almost naked Indians emerge from the wood and make directly across my track. Now my time had come and I must prepare to die, a few thoughts of home and of loved ones there, a whispered prayer to my maker, and I was ready to meet them in deadly combat. As they drew near I saw they had been out upon the war path, by the hideous paint upon their bodies. They were strong, athletic men, armed with bows and arrows. When as near as I thought advisable, I called and motioned them to halt, at the some time lowering my gun to a shooting position. This brought them to a halt. I told the Chief to come near, which he did and seeing my canteen wanted whiskey, which I told him I had not, then bread which I refused to give him. A silk necktie I had on he wanted, his men all the time coming nearer. I refused him this and told them to be gone. This made him angry; he moved back a pace or two, exclaiming in broken English, God-Damn, at the same time preparing to string his bow which he held in his hand with his arrow; his men following his example, but I was ready with my pistol to give them seven shots in as many seconds. After looking me in the face for a minute, the Old Chief lowered his bow, saying at the same time, "Peeh, Peeh," meaning my gun would shoot many times, and speaking to his men, left me and started along down the road to find some one off their guard and an easy prey to their murderous propensities. Right glad was I to escape thus easy from their clutches. Soon after this I came up with a train that had killed a buffalo, and had camped to dry the meat for future use. After making inquiry for my train and telling them my story, they invited me to stop with them overnight, which I gladly accepted, and for supper ate the first buffalo meat I had ever tasted or saw. The next morning I started with the train and traveled some miles in their company, but could not move fast enough for my nervous disposition. Bidding them goodbye, I determined to reach the Loup Fork that night, where I hoped to hear something of the train I was after. This was a very hot day and several times I almost gave up and thought I could go no farther, but the will overcame the weakness of the body and I trudged on. Between four and five p.m. I came in sight of timber (this grows along the bank of streams generally), and soon heard the lowing of cattle and the crack of the driver's whip. Hurrying up to the ferryman's tent, I inquired if he had crossed such a train, he thought it had crossed that very day, but says he, "Man, you are too tired to go further today, sit down and rest." Saying this he goes to his whiskey barrel and draws a pint cup full, telling me to drink it. I could not refuse. Although I never had used strong drink, it did me good at this time. After eating with this good man (although a Mormon) I felt revived and told him I would try and reach the next camping ground that night some four miles off, in hopes of finding the long-looked-for train there. But he thought me foolish, and I could not leave until my canteen was filled with whiskey. After much urging I took the liquor and crossed the creek, which was swift and wild here, in his boat, and hastened on to see my friends, as I supposed I should by the ferryman's description of the train. They were from Illinois and Missouri; I overtook them just as they had formed into camp; that is, their wagons were left in a large circle forming a corral for their cattle and horses in case of an attack from Indians. Inquiring of them the name of the train and learning it was not mine, I tried to obtain a place to sleep under their tents or wagons. Several refused because of my desperate-looking physiognomy, my long beard and smell of whiskey, which, they told me afterwards, gave me an unprepossessing appearance. Having made up my mind that stay I should and asking to be shown the captain of the train, I told him in plain English how the matter stood and that I could not go farther that night. After consulting with several of the old men and his wife, he took me to his tent and made me a good bed. I had given him my arms and canteen of whiskey, telling him to let the boys have a drink, all that had a mind to do so. Very few drank that night for fear of getting poisoned. I could but laugh at their fear and overcautiousness when one old lady called out, "Boys, you had better tie up your horses or he will be off with them," (meaning myself) "you don't know but that he is a spy." I took things cool and went to sleep and rested well, awoke in the morning and asked if their scalplocks and horses were all safe, which caused some merriment among the whole train. Mr. Miller, the captain, and his wife did their best to make me comfortable and would not let me go until after breakfast, and refused to accept pay for their trouble, except a bottle of my whiskey. The boys drank the rest, and I filled the canteen with water before starting that morning. I saw this train pass at Fort Laramie, and met the most of them afterwards in Jackson County, Oregon. I traveled in company with some of the train this morning for a number of miles and had some amusement seeing their dogs chase the prairie wolves and antelope. Those were the first antelope I had seen, and they seemed so much at home I could but admire their great natural cunning and caution. They would trot down to almost within gunshot of the road and then follow us for miles, feeding and leaping upon the highest ground upon either side. Sometimes the dogs were set upon them, but would soon return tired out and Mr. Antelope would show himself upon some point not far distant and commence eating, as unconcerned as though no one were near. TO BE CONTINUED.
WESTERN TRAVELS
Toward noon I gave my legs a
little faster motion, and did not see anyone until near night. When at
a few miles distance ahead I again saw the great ships of the plain,
covered wagons, and knew that friends or whites were with them, I
overtook and traveled with them until camping time, when I could see
numerous camps or trains for miles around and large herds of cattle and
horses grazing in bottom and hills near. As usual my inquiry was in
vain, none had seen the train. A man and his wife with a large family
and one hired man I found camped a little one side from the main
company, just preparing to eat their support. and accepting their
invitation I sat down to partake of the good things with them. Mutual
inquiries and answers made us friends before bedtime.of James A. Austin of Bliss-- The Many Difficulties of the First Trip by Raft and Boat-- Hostile Indians. I slept under their tent that night and could not leave until breakfast was over, so said these generous-hearted people. Just before breakfast was ready the father of seven small children and husband of the lady, complained of a sickness and a pain in the bowel. So great was the pain that he could not eat, and appeared in the greatest of agony. The hired man was sent for a doctor that was in a neighboring camp, who came but soon said that he could do no good. The man must die, and then there was one of the most heart-rending scenes I ever witnessed in my life. The appeals of the mother to God, for his life to be spared, the shrieks of those seven small children, made many a strong man weep, and turn away with a sorrowful heart. He was the first victim of the cholera that I saw on the Plains. Leaving them soon after I learned that one of two brothers by the name of Smith, cattle drovers, had been seized with the disease, and before noon that day the wife of the first man, the other Smith and two or three others were dead, as I learned afterwards at Laramie. After I left their camps I pressed forward as fast as my legs would carry me. At Boiling Spring several were in the agonies of death; the dead and dying were everywhere. It was one carnival of death. Along the road I had to travel, newly made graves were upon each side, and in many instances the wolves had partially dug them up. Arms and legs were seen quite often with the flesh eaten off, human skulls rolled upon the turf with eyes staring at the passersby, cattle and horses were running at large while their owners lay dead or dying. Alone and friendless I passed on, not daring to stop, only when obliged to at night. At Castle City, while passing over a high point of land I found sitting by the roadside a lady while her husband lay in the last agonies of death, and her children were crying for water. Some teams coming up we lifted him up into a wagon and hurried to camp two miles distance, where some prepared the corpse, and then dug his grave. After a fervent prayer by a clergyman, who was with the train, we lowered him, and with heavy hearts placed the prairie flowers on his grave. Ere our camp fires were lighted another one had gone to his rest. Supper was prepared but few if any tasted it; the night was a sorrowful one. The rain poured in torrents, the thunder rolled and the lightning was quick and sharp. At daylight there were in camp some eight persons to be laid upon the lonely prairie. Some of them died through fear as I thought then, and still think that many gave up who by a little exertion of body and mind might have lived for years afterward. I could not stay to help bury them, as I was obliged to go to every camp and train that I could see. It took me upon both sides of the road for three or four miles. Still the path of the monster could be seen in every place where trains stopped. Sunday my feet being so swollen and sore by continual travel and fording of the alkali streams and swamps, I could go but a few miles at a time without resting. Before noon I came up with a train that had just stopped to see the father of five little children breath his last, while he was in the act, or trying, to make a coffin for his dead wife, who lay in his tent, having died the night before. We dug a grave large enough for both upon a little knoll, and placed them there, covering them with stones to keep them from being dug up by the wolves. Their children were taken along by the train. I saw no more die and but a few graves from here to Laramie. I had got ahead of the foul destroyer. One incident happened about this time that goes to show the traits of the the Irishman when his sympathies are aroused. I had traveled all day over the burning sand, laying down many times to rest, when near sunset I saw a large train encamped some miles from the road, and made my way towards them. The distance though short seemed a long one to me. I found them to be from Illinois, and after telling them my story, I begged the privilege of sleeping under one of their wagons, offering to pay them for my supper and breakfast, but no I could not stay nor would they sell me anything to eat, although I could see they had aplenty. There was no alternative left, I must reach the next camp four miles ahead or lay upon the prairie that night. With my feet blistered and swollen badly I made out to get part way to the camp, when some of their men that had been out hunting overtook me and after seeing my situation and hearing my story, bade me get upon one of their horses and go to their camp with them. When we reached the camp I found my friends to be Irishmen from Michigan and noble-hearted fellows they were too; their sympathies knew no bounds, their brandy was used to rub my entire body. Supper was soon spread before me. When I had to tell the whole camp how the Illinoisans had turned me away without food or shelter, they were for going back and give them a whipping, but after cursing them awhile we all went to sleep. The next morning I felt very much revived and wanted to travel on, but there was no use talking, I could not go until the train went and then I must ride in one of their wagons. I offered to pay them but not a cent would they take. Towards noon I left these noble fellows and made good time until near night when I found a train just going into camp. They were from Illinois and Iowa, and gave me permission to stop with them, and something to eat if I could pay for it, which I did the next morning at the rate of one dollar per meal and fifty cents for sleeping upon the ground. In this train there was some trouble caused by jealous women and men that were too fond of talking with pretty girls. One Mr. N. and wife had a very interesting time, to the amusement of the rest of the train. Next morning broke camp and I pressed my way through the masses of living beings that were going along towards the Fort, distance about fifteen miles. A perfect rush of men and women and children mixed up with cattle, horses and mules, all in a cloud of dust and alkali made them look and appear all the more hideous as they went through the phantom winds or hot air. TO BE CONTINUED.
Wyoming County Herald, Perry, New York, December 4, 1903, page 1
WESTERN TRAVELS
Upon reaching the Fort I
made inquiry for the train I had been pursuing for 511 miles. Some
had seen them days before but thought they had gone on towards
Oregon. I looked until tired out and gave up the chase; going to one
Charles Martin's tent, an old trapper, and told him my story and
got permission to stop with him until my train came up if I could put up
with his fare, which I gladly accepted, although he had a Sioux squaw
for a wife. Mr. Martin was a Canadian by birth, but had lived most of his
life in the Rocky Mountains, trapping and trading for furs. Being
sociable and somewhat jolly, I was soon at home or felt that I could
rest secure beneath his roof, which was composed of long poles set
upright and covered with tanned buffalo or elk skins, with a small hole
upon one side to serve as a door, while these skins or pelts with the
fur on, piled up inside, served as a bed. Mrs. M. soon had some coffee
and buffalo meat with a cake fried in grease ready for me to eat, which
at that time I thought very nice, and was thankful for. The scenery
here was beautiful, being near the mouth of Laramie River and upon the
north bank of the Platte, with the green grass upon the plain and the
long range of hills upon the north, covered with flowers of many
colors; at the west was the Fort, situated between the two rivers, and
one mile distant from the ferry, with Pikes and Laramie peaks some
forty or fifty miles distant, towering high above the Black Hills
capped with snow, inviting the emigrant onward. Many a man has
traveled all day intending to camp at the foot of Laramie Peak, and at
night finds he was fifty miles or more away from the haven he sought.of James A. Austin of Bliss-- (CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK) A day or two sufficed to recruit my limbs, and the fresh breeze from the mountains soon made me feel like a new man, and exercising upon horseback gave power and elasticity to my nerves, which I had never known before. As Mr. Martin was engaged in trading furs, etc., for cattle, horses, wagons, and all other goods the emigrants had to sell, I soon found I had a chance to repay him for his kindness to me by riding back a few miles upon the road and buying up the stock, before other traders were out of their beds. I was so successful in this that my friend concluded he could not do without me and made me the proposition to stay with him that summer and trade upon his capital, offering me one-half the profits, which were beginning to be quite large every day. After due deliberation I concluded to accept his proposal, and went to work in earnest, and when at the expiration of two weeks my other partners came along and I told them I had concluded to stay there, they thought I was crazy to think of stopping in what they called that Desert Country. The next day when they drove on I almost said I must go too. It was hard parting. Then and there we parted, most of us for the last time. I never saw but one of the boys afterward, and he was in California. Our business flourished and money was made very fast, and through the California rush we were used to see some heart-rending scenes. Fathers leaving their daughters upon the plain destitute and friendless, husbands their wives, and children that were worth thousands robbed by their hired help alter their parents were dead. There was not much friendship in those times for anyone; Self was all that was looked after. For about six months we lived and worked among one living mass, or stream of human beings. TO BE CONTINUED.
Wyoming County Herald, Perry, New York, December 11, 1903, page 1No installment was printed in the December 18 edition.
WESTERN TRAVELS
After the Californians
came
the Mormon rush to the happy land of Utah. In trains of fifty and one
hundred wagons each they came along, some rich and others poor, some
without food, yet all seemed to be happy in the thought that they were
soon to see their new homes with Brigham Young and the other Apostles
of Latter-Day Saints. At night they would camp near the ferry or our
trading post and then we had a chance of learning something of their
religious views, and manner of worship. When they camped for the night,
their wagons were set in a circle so as to form a complete corral, into
which their cattle were brought if in the vicinity of wild Indians.
After supper was prepared and eaten there was a large fire made near
the middle of the corral, the ground cleared of stone or chunks and
leveled down smooth as could be, then came the fiddle, banjo, and other
musical instruments belonging to the train. Followed by old and young,
middle-aged and decrepit, of both sexes, would join in the dance, and
keep up their fun until near midnight, when after posting their watch
or sentinels they would retire to their respective tents or wagons and
go to rest. We found them to be generally very good people, most of
them from the poorer class of all nations and many of them quite
ignorant, but in hopes of being happy when their pilgrimage was over
and they could look down upon Salt Lake City and behold the land
flowing with milk and wild honey. This their leaders had taught them to
believe; but alas, many of them I fear, found to their sorrow that they
had been imposed upon by the cunning Yankees or self-made priests.of James A. Austin of Bliss-- (CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK) It was late in the fall, October I think, when I moved camp, and went up the Laramie Fork 12 miles, near where Bissonette, Valandre and others had built a fort or trading post. Here was very good pasturage for our cattle, and we had a bright prospect before us. My partner Martin had returned from St. Louis, where he had been to buy goods for the winter's trade, and we expected to do a big trade with the Indians and have our cattle in good plight to meet the California emigrants the next spring. Time passed quite briskly with plenty of hunting, herding cattle and horse racing with the Indians, attending the Indian medicine dance, etc. These fellows, the Cheyennes, have some pretty wholesome laws. (The whites might learn something from them.) Their daughters or girls are not allowed to go more than one mile from the village without a grown male or female for attendant. Should they be caught outside of these bounds by 50 or 100 braves or young men, they are liable to be insulted by the whole troop. Their medicine men or women are persons of great cunning, and are much respected by the masses. When a person is sick they are called with the friends of the sick one and then they set up a dismal howl or chant with ringing of bells, and keep it up most of the time until the person is better or dead. Perhaps they will give some herb tea or powder of roots such are found in the country. We enjoyed ourselves very well until the blizzard came, about the first of December. The snow fell about four feet deep on the level. About two days and three nights it came without stopping and then turned to rain and rained four or five hours very hard. In the afternoon the wind suddenly changed to the north and then the blizzard came freezing a crust upon the snow, about one and a half inches, that would hold up a man all over the plain, but completely corralled the cattle, mules and horses. They could not move without cutting the hide from their legs in the snow. Without food thousands of them froze upon their feet. My partner and myself lost our little band; some of the other men lost four and five hundred head. The Indians lost many ponies, but had a fine time catching deer under the fir or pine trees in the Black Hills, with poles and hooks tied to them. They would walk upon the crust and pull the deer to them, then kill them with knives or tomahawks. Elk were caught in the same way and many a good meal did we have. The snow disappeared in a few days and left us with but little to do. About this time, the first of January, Bissonette, Valandre, and others were going up the North Platte River to build a bridge, and I joined the company to work until the first of March, when at that time Jim Hendricks and myself intended to start for California. Our company consisted of 17 or 18 men, one white woman and a girl (Hendricks family), besides several squaws belonging to mountaineers, with a half-breed hunter. We had two wagons; besides the men had from one to three ponies or mules; all had guns and pistols, although we had but little use for them as our hunter kept the company in meat and the Indians were friendly, so there was no fear of them. In about three days we reached our camping place in the hills near the river where there was plenty of pine and spruce for bridge timber. We had but one broadax in the country, so some of us used the narrow-bitted ax to hew with, myself being one of the number. Some hauled the timber and others placed the cribs upon the ice and filled them with stone. We got along finely until about the first of March, when some Crow Indians came and camped near the bridge, and in a day or two broke out with the smallpox. Then there was some hustling to get away from there. Most of the men wanted to leave as they had never been vaccinated and were afraid to stay where they could not help being exposed to the disease, and in fact most of them had been into the Indians' tents or the Indians had been among them. The company would not let them leave, as most of them had agreed to stay until the bridge was completed, and we had not got the stringers all on yet and there was a great amount of work to do in order to have the bridge ready for the spring rush to California. As Hendricks and myself were about ready to leave, we settled with the company and had to go to the Fort to get our pay some one hundred miles down the river. As we had to go to the Fort, we had several objects in view; our pay was first, next we wanted to get some vaccinating matter for the men at the bridge, and were to see the commandant, Col. Brook [Richard Brooke Garnett?], for the boys about their pay. It was the last of February 1853, that Hendricks and myself saddled our ponies and started for Laramie, about thirty miles from our camp. We had to go through or very near the village of Crow Indians, getting there about noon and stopping at the chief's house or tent. He invited us to dismount and have some dinner with him, which invitation we readily accepted as we were getting very hungry. We furnished coffee, sugar and hard bread for the family, and they gave us plenty of meat. The family consisted of the chief (White Bear), his daughter, a fine-looking girl, and his nephew, as fine a looking Indian as I ever saw with skin as white as any white man's. TO BE CONTINUED.
Wyoming County Herald, Perry, New York, December 25, 1903, page 1WESTERN TRAVELS
While partaking of our
meal,
the Chief wanted to know what our business was to the Fort and when we
intended to return, etc, We evaded a direct answer by telling him we
had friends there and were going to see them before we left for
California, also to get matter or medicine for the white men at the
bridge to prevent them having the smallpox. Of course if it would help
the white man it would help the red man as well, and we had to promise
him that on our return home we would stop and doctor his people, as
most
of them had been exposed and some were already breaking out. I did
not intend keeping my promise as there was another trail or path going
around him up in the hills only a few miles further which trail
we would have taken if White Bear had not been too smart for us, as the
sequel will show. After smoking the pipe of peace, and having our
horses got ready or brought up by the herdsmen, we bade them goodbye
and rode away, never expecting to see them again. We rode briskly on
until near night, when we overtook a friendly Crow, with a whole
buffalo packed upon his horse. He invited us to stop with him overnight
and have some of his meat. We accepted his offer and rode to his
camp, dismounted, and our horses were taken care of by his girls until
the next morning. For supper we had some of the choicest of buffalo
meat; we also shared our coffee and bread with the family. While their
meat was young. very young, the slain buffalo was a two-year-old cow,
with calf, the calf was taken and its entrails taken out and
cleaned then put back into the womb and cooked until it looked and
tasted like young chicken. Hendricks did not taste it. I did of course
to please our friends.of James A. Austin of Bliss-- (CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK) Next morning our horses were brought to us, saddled and bridled, ready for a hard ride. We made the Fort, did our business there, got the views of the Doctor, and Col. George, now General, George Crook's, interpretation of civil law in that country, which was this. If the bridge company had horses or cattle that the boys could get hold of, it would be right for them to take the horses or in other words, "Might Made Right." [Crook apparently was never stationed at Fort Laramie.] We got as far back on our way home that night as Bissonette's trading post 12 or 15 miles from Laramie. Received our pay of the company, and was ready for an early start the next morning. We got away in good time in the morning and jogged leisurely along, thinking to stop for rest and dinner at or near the junction of the two trails. When within a mile or so of the junction we were met by eight of the Crow braves or warriors with the Chief's quiver of arrows, or in plain words, his order to bring us dead or alive. As there was no use of trying to get away we made the best of it, and after dinner rode with the Indians into their camp about ten miles distant. Arriving there we found the Indians very much excited, as quite a number had broken out with the smallpox. And the Indians seemed very much pleased to see us, thinking I suppose, that we could do them some good, but many of them and in fact most of them were so near the time of breaking out with the disease that vaccination would hurry it along. I told the Chief how it would work and that his people must keep out of the water, use warm herb tea and eat no grease of any kind. He went to the door of his lodge and called the attention of the tribe, they all came out of their lodges and listened to his harangue, and was told to do as the doctor said, meaning myself. Here I want to say that the law of the Indians is that when a doctor is called, and loses his or her patient, the doctor's life is at the mercy of the friends of the dead person. So you see I was in a pretty tight place, forced to doctor them, and then take the chances of getting away alive. They were willing to pay and pay well. So we agreed that for every ten persons that we vaccinated we were to have a horse or the value of a horse in beaver skins or other furs. Everything was ready now to go to work, when an old man came to us and wanted us to bury his wife, who had just died, with the disease that was raging. He would give a good horse to have her buried as the Americans bury their dead. Hendricks and I wrapped her up with a buffalo skin and with the help of the old man carried her to a sandy knoll that was near and dug a grave about four feet deep, and then let her down and filled up the grave, placed some board at the head and feet of the pile, the old man looking on all the while and said that was good. We went with him to his lodge and he delivered the horse to us. The Chief's daughter who was feeling quite bad when we went down, had now broken out with the disease, and had followed our directions by using peppermint tea and other warm drinks. The smallpox was filling rapidly, and the pains in the head and back were disappearing. The first one to be vaccinated was the Chief's nephew; he was marked like all the rest with a white bandage around the arm. After him they came old and young, little babes but a few months old would look into my face and laugh when I ran my penknife into their arm, of course I must flatter their mothers by calling them little braves, which in fact they were. Well that afternoon and evening I doctored about one hundred and fifty all told. I kept "White Bear" telling them what to do when they commenced feeling bad and before. Towards midnight Hendricks and I laid down to rest, not to sleep. I had tried to have the Chief let Hendricks go home by telling him he had a wife and child, and as I had none, I would stay the next day, but now he wanted to keep us both to see how our patients got through. All I wanted was to have Hendricks away and then I would take the chances of losing my life or get away. Next morning we commenced pricking their arms and towards noon we had fixed about one hundred more all that was left of five or six hundred, that had not been exposed, as they thought. At last the Chief consented to let my partner go if I would stay. We had earned twenty-five horses according to agreement, and I wanted to have him drive them home but Mr. Indian did not think it best until the sick ones got well. The horse that we first got, Hendricks took with him. He left about noon for home, and here I was with so many red men, and only one man between me and death, as I soon learned. About two years [hours?] after Hendricks left, the young brave, the chief's nephew, feeling the pain in the head and the burning fever, goes to the creek and plunges in, and in the course of an hour he was a dead Indian, and then such a howl and yelling I never want to hear again. The young man's friends were very much excited and wanted the chief to give the medicine man (meaning myself) up to them, so that he could go with the young brave to the happy hunting ground. But White Bear spoke to them telling them the brave had disobeyed my orders and I was not to blame for his death and ordered them to their lodges and to keep out of the water, but they left with some murmurings and looks that bade me no good should any more of the vaccinated ones die, and I made up my mind to leave there that night if possible, so calling to the man that had the care of the horses, I told him that I wanted my pony brought up so that I could fix his shoes. TO BE CONTINUED.
Wyoming County Herald, Perry, New York, January 1, 1904, page 1WESTERN TRAVELS
At or near night he rode the
pony to the lodge, and I was a long time at work upon his feet to get
the shoes right. At last I had him fixed and told the herdsman he
need not take him to the band that night as I would tie
him down the creek where he could eat until morning. This seemed all
right with the herdsman and I led the pony outside the town and tied
him behind a big cottonwood log that was down and out of sight of
the Indians, and walked leisurely back, surveying my way to take in the
dark. While I was staking out my pony one died, and soon after one
of the bandaged arm squaws gave up the ghost, and this set up
another doleful howling and a demand for the doctor. But I kept
within the chief's tent and could hear the music made by
their yells and the tomtoms or drums, with which they thought to drive
away the plague or evil spirit.of James A. Austin of Bliss-- (CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK) After a long time they became more quiet and I wrapped myself up in my robe and laid down Indian fashion to rest, not to sleep. About midnight all was quiet and still with one or two exceptions. I arose, pulled my buffalo robe about my face, walked out of the lodge without saying goodbye, passed directly through the town, and found my horse where I had left him that day, untied him and mounted bareback, my saddle being in the lodge, walked a few rods and then gave the pony the rope and away we went for the bridge, distant 30 miles. He galloped nearly all the way home, and we got there before all the men were up in the morning, and right glad they appeared to be to see me alive and out of the power of the Crow chief. How to get pay for our work there, or the horses was what troubled Hendricks and myself. After telling the boys how it was and promise to give each of them a pony, two of them were willing to go with me that night, and take the chances of getting scalped, or get some of the horses that were ours by right. We were about ready to start for California, and we made calculations accordingly. Jim Hendricks was to move up the river about ten miles and wait there until we got back. I selected a German for one of the party, John Hoover by name; he had been in the mountains a number of years and was pretty well acquainted with the Indians. Strong and active without fear of anything, always ready for an adventure of any kind. My other partner was William Shotwell, a daredevil and a good rider with plenty of nerve and a superb shot with rifle or pistol, in case we had any use for weapons. Well, we were soon mounted and rode away, taking the trail that ran through the timber or along the mountainside. We intended to strike Willow Creek up near the timber where the Crow herd of horses was generally kept, so I had found out by their herdsman, some four or five miles from the village. But before we got there we passed through a band of Snakes or Shoshone Indians, and of course we were disappointed in not finding the band of horses on their range. But nothing daunted, we followed the creek down until we came within sight of the village and could see the fires, also hear their wailing and pounding on the tomtoms. By making a circuit around the little hill or knoll where Hendricks and I buried the old squaw, we were out of sight of anyone, and came to within a few rods of the camp. There I dismounted and took a survey of the situation and found the best of the horses tied within sight of the lodges and so near that I could see the Indians and I hear them talk. Untying one of the horses led them back to the boys. Shotwell went with me then and we got four more ropes with a pony at one end. The third trip I was not so successful; when near the band I heard them firing guns and as I think casting some of their dead into the flames with those dismal yells and howling. Some of them were coming directly towards where I was, so I found a rope with a mule tied to it and the mule followed me off. We changed our saddle horses for the new ones, and right here we had a little sport with Hoover. It happened that his horse was quite a large colt that had never been rode a great number of times, and when Hoover mounted, the colt tried to unhorse him by jumping stiff-legged or bucking. John says, "Py got dam, I no ride dis horse," dismounts and takes an older one and saddles him, and we rode away. Our route was directly through the town, but we made a circuit of a few rods and passed around the village, and just as we came into the road it commenced snowing like fun, and completely covered up our tracks, snowing some ten or twelve inches that night. Well we got to camp with seven horses and a mule, only part of what we should have had. I found Hendricks ready for a start westward and we moved on to the crossing of the North Platte about ten miles above, crossed the river and camped some five or six miles above, where the boys were to join us. The next day they came, some four or five of them, and we moved on towards Willow Springs, a camping place near the summit of a low range of hills or mountains, some thirty miles from the Devils Gate, on Sweetwater River. Hardly had we got to camp before the wind and snow came in all its fury, blinding man and beast. We had three or four horses tied to stakes, and the rest of the band was turned loose to get something to eat. They went before the wind until they found a sheltered spot and there they stopped, we never knew where, for before morning snow was from three to four feet deep on the level, and we had hard work to keep from being covered up in the drifts as we had only one tent in the company and that belonged to Hendricks and of course was occupied by him and his family. It served as a wind breaker for our fire, what little we had. That was a terrible night, and a night that proved quite serious to our company. In the morning there was nothing to be seen but snow drifts and snow-covered hills. Our loose horses had gone, and it was impossible to go to look for them on account of the depth of the snow, and we did not know which way they went. My riding pony was one of them that was turned loose, and I did not want to lose him. For three days and nights the storm continued, then it abated a little. We had eaten up all our provisions and was living upon the remains of a dead horse that the wolves had killed for us, and we 30 miles from any place where food could be had. As we had one horse and the mule left we concluded to have Hoover and Shotwell go to Devils Gate and return to us with provisions. TO BE CONTINUED.
Wyoming County Herald, Perry, New York, January 8, 1904, page 1WESTERN TRAVELS
On the morning of the
fourth
day they started out to cross the divide toward Sweetwater, and after
a hard and tiresome day's work they got to the sink of the river, about
twelve miles on their way. Here they found grass for their horse and
mule; it being night they determined to camp, so taking off their
saddles and hobbling their horses by tying their forelegs together,
they go to some small bushes and build a fire and eat what they have,
and lay down to rest and to dream of happy
homes left behind. In the morning when they go to get their horses
there was nothing left but the bones and but a few of them. Here they
were upon the prairie, without horses and were very hungry, so they
turned back to camp, but they should have gone on as the day was warm,
but they were too weak. of James A. Austin of Bliss-- (CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK) The snow was leaving as fast as it came and when they returned we were a set of disappointed fellows. I had been out to a little hill about two miles from camp, to look for our ponies, and just as I reached the summit the northeast wind struck me in the face and caused such a deathlike chill I had to sit down, and it was with difficulty I got to camp, and perhaps never would had it not been for a Shoshone Indian who came along just then. I told him I was sick and he dismounted and helped me to mount his pony and ride it to camp. He had found our horses and seeing the smoke of our camp came to get pay for returning the horses to us. We gave, or promised to give, two pairs of red blankets for their return. The next morning they came bright and early, and we gave the old fellow some other presents, and glad was I to mount my noble bay once more as we soon were on the way to the trading post of some French Canadians at the Devils Gate. I was breaking out with the smallpox which I had caught from the Crow Indians at Willow Creek, and was very weak from want of food. Hendricks became sick on the road and we had to camp for the night. Some of the boys went to the Post and returned with provisions for our camp, at Court House Rock, about five miles from the Post. We reached the post the next day and the Frenchmen shut Hendricks and myself up in a small room and darkened the windows so that there was no light; then gave us all the whiskey and peppermint tea we could drink until the pox was all out and pretty well filled, or commenced to scab over. They burned yellow willow to a coal, ground it fine, mixed it with lard or other soft grease, and anointed ourselves from head to foot, to prevent the pox from pitting us, which it had effectually. We were kept in a warm room where the wind could not strike us and were soon ready to make another start for Salt Lake. Hendricks' girl came down now with the disease and we had to wait until the pits upon her were filled, and there was no danger of her giving it to anyone else. During our delay here some more men came up from below and were in quite a hurry to get to Green River and Salt Lake. Among them was a man by the name of Hamilton, that thought he could pilot us across the mountain via Bridger's Pass and save a long and perilous journey via the South Pass over the snow where we would be in danger of freezing to death. It was along in April 1852 and there were nine men besides Hendricks, his wife and child. Hamilton would take us to Green River in three days' time at the most, for the small sum of ten dollars per man, woman and child thrown in. We accepted his proposal and made ready to start. Some of us that had been without food a few days before, thought we would be sure and have enough to last the three days so we laid in a week's supply at least, much against the wishes of our pilot. All things ready, we set sail once more with the woman and girl upon one horse and the men all mounted with two pack horses, wended our way up the Sweetwater, through the country of the Snake Indian, and down to the country of Bridger's Pass, if country it could be called. We waded through snow, mud and water for whole week expecting to find the river. We were lost. Our pilot did not know where he was; he had lost his bearings. We met a band of Indians going the opposite way from us and he followed their trail a day or two, supposing them to have come from the trading post at Green River, and this proved a serious mistake as they had come from the headwaters of Green River. At last we became so weak and tired that we cared but little which way we went. Our provisions were gone except a little hard bread and coffee that was saved for the woman and child. Not a living thing was there to be found or killed. There was a poor dog that belonged to Hendricks, a fine blooded dog of some great English breed. Someone proposed that we kill him, and have a feast, but this Hendricks said would never be done. He would shoot the man that killed his dog. Others thought our pilot would make a good meal. To this I objected and was ready to defend him with my own life if necessary, at least until our horses had been used up for food. This was about the ninth day that we had been wending through the hills, and the third day that we had fasted and we were getting pretty cross and ugly; a look, a word was enough to draw a knife or pistol from our belts, ready for use. This morning we arose from our blanket bed, shook off the frost, for it had been a cold night, and started on our way, along a dry ridge where there was a few oak and chaparral brush. We had gone but a mile or two, when upon the hills away to the south of us could be seen three buffaloes quietly grazing. The men most of them were nearly played out and the ponies were in the same fix, all except my little bay. He seemed to stand the tramp better than other horses in the band; he was thick set, rather low, with clean limbs, good head and a cleaner disposition, willing to do all that was asked of him. In crossing rivers I had to take the lead with my little bay. Hamilton proposed if I would let him ride my horse, he would go with me and try and kill one of the buffaloes. The party halted and made a fire with some wood that was near. I borrowed a gun of one of the boys and we rode away in hopes of having some of the buffalo meat to bring back with us. We rode over a creek that was on our way upon the ice and got within about half a mile without being seen by the bison. We dismounted and Hamilton took my horse, and made a circuit around through a ravine, but before he was near enough to shoot they had scented him and were galloping away, then Hamilton tried my runner, but the ground was too soft, he could not come up with the buffaloes, that were strong and fat. Hamilton chased them about two miles and down a steep bank and gave up the chase. He returned to where I was with his horse, looking and feeling rather crestfallen, for he had been in hopes of having some meat for the boys so that they would not want to feast upon his [dog's] flesh. TO BE CONTINUED.
Wyoming County Herald, Perry, New York, January 15, 1904, page 1WESTERN TRAVELS
For he did not like the
idea
of going to camp for he knew they were feeling cross. From the camp
they had seen him try his best for them and felt better natured when we
returned as I was nearly naked. In going home, or to camp, we had to
recross the same creek that we crossed going out, and the ice had
become
rotten with the heat of the sun. I was in the lead and when my horse
got about to the middle of the creek, down we went, horse, rider, and
my gun. The current was very swift and was taking my horse downstream.
I threw myself from his back and turned his head up the stream
and with the help of the saddle held him there until Hamilton tied my
lariat or rope to his saddle. Then with the help of his horse we pulled
mine from the creek. It was icy cold and waist deep, but my gun was at
the bottom and I went back to find it.of James A. Austin of Bliss-- (CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK) Having moccasins upon my feet I could feel the gun and after several trials raised it to my loose hand; the other was holding to the rope that was tied to my saddle upon my horse. As soon as I was out and had stripped off my pants and wrung the water from them, I started for camp on a run while Hamilton went farther up the stream and crossed with the horses., I got there first and by the heat of the fire soon got my clothes dried and was ready for more adventures, which were soon to come. We traveled down this ridge perhaps four or five miles until we came to the stream that I took my bath in in the morning. Here it was a madly rushing river about 50 feet wide and was running in a northerly direction across our course. Here my little bay was called to show the mettle and nerve that was in him. He was a good swimmer. I never was, but I trusted to him when in the water. None of the men dared trust their horses or themselves to ford or swim the torrent until I first crossed. I took off my saddlebags that I carried behind me and my pony swam across with me. I then returned, put on my saddlebags and took Hendricks' 8-year-old girl before me and swam over again without any trouble. Hoover then tried it [and] came across safe. Then Hendricks' wife came and when the horse came to the water's edge he gave one jump and landed far out into the water, unseating his rider and going out of sight himself. The wind filled Mrs. H.'s bloomer skirt and she went whirling down the river like a top, and by the merest chance she was saved. Hoover ran down the stream a few rods to a little bend and just caught hold of her skirt as she was passing and saved her, but got a ducking himself, the force of the current pulling him in. A bush upon the bank that he clung to saved them both. I was soon there and we lifted the woman out, pretty well soaked with water and badly frightened. The rest of the party came across some way; I never knew how. We had to build a fire and dry their clothes, or our clothes, as we were all some wet, and cold. After getting dry again we rode but a little ways when we came to some timber and grass and camped for the night, not knowing what the next day would bring forth nor how near we were to the place that we had looked for nearly two weeks. In this camp was plenty of grass for our poor hungry horses, and they made good use of the time after camping to fill themselves. The night passed with but little sleep for the most of the company. In the morning we found a few thistle roots, which we dug and ate. When we got saddled for a start it was thought best for some of us to ride ahead and see what we could behind the hill that lay before us, and find a camp or water where we could rest at noon. They decided that Hoover and myself, having the best horses, should go ahead, so we rode away and had to ride along the side of the hill or mountain to make the ascent more easy. We had rode until we were pretty tired and came to a fine spring running out of the hill, with plenty of grass nearby for our horses, so we unsaddled and turned the horses loose to feed. Now Hendricks' dog had left the company and followed us, and when I laid my saddle down he went and laid his head in it as he had often done before, when with me. Hoover seeing him lay there says to me, "Jim, let's kill that dog and call him a jackass rabbit when the party comes up." They were to follow our trail. He proposed to shoot the dog himself, but this I would not let him do, as Hendricks and myself were partners. I told Hoover that I would take the chances if he would stand by me; to this he agreed. The poor dog had been watching us all the time we had been talking and he seemed to know that we had been talking about him, for when I raised my pistol to shoot, he gave an unearthly howl, which almost made me drop my pistol, but his fate was sealed. I shot him through the head and he hardly moved after I hit him. We soon had the poor fellow's hide, head and feet off and hid behind some logs, and when the company came up they were well pleased and when we told them we had caught a rabbit and had it all ready for them to go to eating. Hendricks, his wife and child ate very hearty and said it was good; the rest of the party thought so too. We had eaten the dog nearly up when Hendricks says to me (we were all sitting down), "Austin, did my dog follow you this morning?" I arose to my feet saying at the time, "Yes, and you have helped eat him up." He came or started to come to his feet, but I had the drop on him, and Hoover was near me with a drawn pistol, and I told him to sit down or he was a dead man. He soon yielded and sat down; then I told him it was to save our lives that the dog was killed, and told him that I had one spare horse which we would kill, or some of the men might kill, and we would eat all we wanted once more. After a long time he gave in and went with some of the other men and killed my pack horse. Although poor, his flesh tasted sweet and good to us after we had a taste of dog. We ate until we were satisfied, and then cut off pieces of the best to take with us. This was the fifth day we had been without meat, bread, or even coffee, and some of the Drones [drovers?] ate so much that they did not want to move again that day. The most of them were ready and we started on, and had gone perhaps two miles, when the great valley of the Green River was spread out before us, and here for the first since we met the Indians on the desert did our pilot know where he was. TO BE CONTINUED.
Wyoming County Herald, Perry, New York, January 22, 1904, page 1WESTERN TRAVELS
We were soon on the
trail to
the ford which was about two miles below, and from the hill we were on
we could see the post on the west side of the river, some four or
five miles from us. We threw away the most of the horse meat, and
made all haste to get across the river before dark. Hamilton had
crossed here and knew how the ford was in low water. The river was up
and we had to swim our horses and again I took the lead, with my
saddlebags behind me and Hendricks' girl before me. With my feet drawn
up so
that my knees only bore upon the sides of the pony I started in and
rode out on the bar until my horse struck deep water, then by holding
his head a little up the stream with the help of the current he paddled
us over without wetting the girl and only my knees came in contact with
the water. All got safely over and then it was nearly dark and we were
some two miles from the post, but we were not long in going that
distance.of James A. Austin of Bliss-- (CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK) Here we found plenty of provisions by paying well for them, bull beef 50¢ a pound, flour 50¢, coffee, $2.50, and other things in proportion. We had got too much dog and horse in our stomachs to want a large amount of beef at those prices, and poor beef at that. We stopped here one day and then Hoover and myself started for Salt Lake by way of Bridger's post. Hendricks and I dissolved partnership because I killed his dog. He came on to the Lake in a few days. Hoover and I rode to Bridger's and stopped overnight at the Fort or stockade. This was made by setting posts about a foot through into the ground close together and leaving a gateway for teams to go through. The females were Indian women, Bridger's wife and children and servants. We were treated very nice and had plenty to eat, and of course used the mountaineers' bed, our blankets, and felt much refreshed when morning came and we were again in the saddle. We rode along until near noon and about 60 miles from Salt Lake we met two men on horseback driving a pack mule, as is the custom in that country when traveling any great distance. After the usual salutations and inquiry from both parties, it being about noon, we concluded to eat our dinners together. While eating, the strangers told us that they had been living at Salt Lake, trading in horses and cattle there, and were now on their way home to Iowa. They lived near Dubuque, where one of them had a family, a wife and two little children. After dinner we saddled our horses, bade each other goodbye and parted, they going east and we going west. We had rode perhaps five or six miles when we met twelve Mormons headed by one of Brigham's Killers or Seventies, Bill Hindman [Bill Hickman?] by name. They inquired if we had seen two men, describing them we had left just a few miles back. The Mormons said they were going to Green River to buy cattle. They were armed to the teeth and mounted upon the best of American horses. We gave them what information we could and pursued on our way until night when we camped and made preparation for supper. While thus engaged we were surprised to see our two friends that we had dined with at noon coming towards us. They had changed their minds and wished to join us in our trading expedition, as we had talked while taking dinner together. That night we were joined by Hendricks and his wife, the partner of mine that stopped at Green River, but changing his mind he had followed upon our trail to overtake us and go on Salt Lake City. The next day my partner Hoover and the two men from Salt Lake stopped to hunt upon Bear River, while I went with Hendricks to the city, where I found several friends that I had formed an acquaintance with the year before while trading at or near Fort Laramie. I also found some that went from this, Wyoming County, to the promised land. I procured board at a private boarding house, kept by a man by the name of Bill Gamble, who had three wives, and as I soon learned was one of the Mormon Killers or Seventies. Great was my surprise when just at night Bill Hindman and his party rode up to the house where I was stopping, with my partner Hoover, and give one of the other men in custody, having the other man's mule, rifle, pistol, knife and some of his clothing. Hindman said they had him in custody and while the guards' back was turned, he broke and run and they shot him. But a different fate was his, as I had it from the lips of his companion. The influence of my friends there soon set Hoover at liberty. After supper at the request of the other man, Evans, I was put as his guard for the night, or a part of it. His name was Evans, as I was told by him, and this is the story or confession of a dying man. In 1857 himself and partner were on their way to California and got as far as Salt Lake, where his companion had relatives: an uncle, aunt, and several cousins. It was quite late in the fall and the German friends prevailed on them to stop for the winter. After they had been there a few days they were told how they could make money by stealing the emigrants' cattle and horses, running them into Brigham Young's herd, and he would pay them so much per head. They at last yielded to the would-be friends or Mormons, and went in on a scale with some twenty or thirty of the Mormon boys, under pay from his highness, the Nabob of Utah, Brigham Young. They continued at this business all through the winters of '57 and '58 with varying success, until at last they had no respect of persons. Emigrants, Mormons, and all were served alike, until complaint was made to the chief of thieves, Brigham Young, who caused several of them to be arrested and put in jail. They soon had a mock trial and were let off very easy. We heard that we were to be arrested and not being Mormons we thought it best to leave. So we gave out word that we should start for California upon such a day, hoping to put them upon the wrong trail, but their spies were out and our would-be friends turned traitors and informed them of our intentions. They pursued us and we spied them before they saw us, and by going around a little hill we kept out of their sight and they passed along the road. As soon as they were out of sight we started upon the road to come back. They missed our trail and did not find it for some time; they followed to the camp, at Bear River, where they found us the next day and started for the city with us, or with Hoover and myself. Part of the company took my companion and as they said went a cutoff, or shorter route, for the purpose of taking his life which they did, for when they came up with us they had his mule and gun with some of his other things (here Evans gave way to tears), poor fellow. I knew his fate too well, and what mine soon would be. I will not live until morning, and here he told me where he formerly lived, and where his parents lived, also his wife, and two little children. TO BE CONTINUED.
Wyoming County Herald, Perry, New York, January 29, 1904, page 1WESTERN TRAVELS
His feelings here overcame
him and he could say no more for a long time. When he could go on again
he made me promise if ever I went to Iowa, that I would find his family
and friends, and tell them of his unhappy fate. Tears relieved him and
he was more composed, and said, "Let them come, I am prepared to die."
Poor boy he had not long to wait, for about midnight two men, one a
tall thin man and the other a short man, came into the room and said
Brigham had ordered him to be tried that night, and had sent them to
conduct him to the court room. Evans begged of them to let me accompany
him, but they would not let me go, for reasons of their own.of James A. Austin of Bliss-- (CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK) The River Jordan that runs near the city and empties its water into Salt Lake has received many a man condemned to die by Brigham. These men started with their victim for the bridge, and knowing or guessing their intentions Evans broke away from them and ran. They shot at him and broke his arm and tore his jaw to pieces. They reported that he got away from them while on their way to court. Their course was directly opposite from the one to the court room, and so the cowards did not finish their bloody work that night, for Evans was seen the next day wandering on the hills wounded as before stated, and I was told that he was taken by some of the band and probably killed, as I could not learn anything more about him. Bill Gamble said he was taken care of; that he would not steal any more cattle, and Gamble was a man that knew, for he was under command of the Chief of Mormonism and had control of the killers, or police as they were called. Should this meet the notice of any of the friends of these men, they can rest assured that the above is the statement of Evans and made by a dying man, and most likely the last talk he ever had with anyone except Mormons. I was offered every inducement to stay in Salt Lake, but the lesson I had received from the dying man was enough to keep me out of the web of Mormonism and the influence of the Mormon religion, if such it may be called. I soon changed my boarding place and stopped with J. C. Little, a New Hampshire man, who at that time had but one wife, and kept boarders in the Salt Lake Bathing House, north of the city. They brought water from the mountainside about a mile distant, hot water and ice cold water, which run from the rocks but a few feet apart, and supplied a hundred baths at the house. Here I had a chance to see and hear Mr. Young talk. He came almost every day with three or four of his wives and their children, and generally Mr. Little was busy or gone from home, and then I had charge of the bar and the bath rooms and Brigham usually bought one or two bottles of wine to take to his women and children and then he was very social and clever and all must have a drink with him. New York or Eastern men were welcome there as long as they kept sober and attended to their own business, but woe betide a western man if he or his friends helped to drive the Mormons from Nauvoo or Illinois, he was soon taken care of; no one knew where he went except Mormons. J. C. Little was Gov. Young's attorney general, and a smart man, and how he happened to be a Mormon I could not understand. About the first of May I had a chance to see Governor Young review his army. There were about six hundred of them on parade, and a finer lot of men and horses we do not see every day. They were well armed and drilled and went through with their evolutions with easy perfection. Brigham said with that handful of men he could whip the whole American Army, should they come there to molest him or his people. He told me confidentially that our government would not molest him as long as he lived. I asked him why they would not, and he said they dare not because he belonged to the Order of the Free Masons. I suppose that was why President Buchanan recalled his army after they had got to Ogden, only forty miles from Salt Lake City. Let that be as it may, they were recalled and ordered home, much against the will of many of the men, and against the wishes of the gentiles living there, also thousands of men in California, who had old scores to pay, and would have made short work with the Mormon religion, if they could have had a chance at the leaders of the country, and the privilege of plundering Saints. As for myself, I was used like a gentleman by all the people I met in the city. On the 15th of May 1853, the California mail left the city with Bill Johnson as driver. He had four dark cream-colored horses and a fine coach that he had purchased of the Mormons, also two fine mules and a spring wagon that he drove from California in April of that year. These were driven by a man by the name of Connelly, or his wife. John Hoover and myself were mounted on ponies, and acted as guard to the train. The first day we made the city of Ogden, forty miles from Salt Lake City. Here we left mail and took on some for California. This was the last of civilization. The second day we reached the west side of the Lake and found a good place to camp for the night, and as the sun was getting low, we stopped to give our horses a chance to feed before dark. We had good feed and plenty of water for our animals, and for the cook, Mrs. Connelly, we killed some game, a rabbit, a venison and caught some fish. So you see we were well provided with eatables and we could eat our supper with a relish that belongs to a mountain man, or a person upon the Plains. TO BE CONTINUED.
Wyoming County Herald, Perry, New York, February 5, 1904, page 1WESTERN TRAVELS
The night passed away
without any disturbance from Indians or wolves, except an
occasional howl from the latter. We intended today to make the
Humboldt River, but we failed to do so because of an accident that
happened to the woman in our train. In crossing a muddy
stream the mules attached to the wagon she was riding in commenced to
plunge and jump and at last fell down into the mud. This
frightened the woman so that she jumped from the wagon and hurt
herself. We got the mules up and out of the mud and had not gone
more than a mile or two before we had to stop and attend to the sick
woman. As soon as we found water we halted, and then we were in a sad
dilemma. No doctor, no woman help, no one but the sick woman to
tell what must be done; here again the writer made himself useful
by helping the husband of the sick lady.of James A. Austin of Bliss-- (CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK) Before dark we had a new arrival in camp in the person of a bouncing fine boy, weighing ten pounds undressed. All things worked to perfection and by morning the woman sat up and ate her breakfast. We were in the wild Indian country, that of the Piutes and we dare not stay there, three or four of us, and let the mail go on, and that must go at all events. So we prepared a bed in the wagon for the woman and started on our road again. A few miles from camp we came to the Humboldt River, which we were obliged to ford. The woman would not ride across after the mules, nor could she wade, in her situation. So Connelly takes his wife upon his back, and I take the young Irishman, and we wade across the stream and got out all right, and the woman and baby ride again with Pat for driver. We followed down the river until we came to a ravine or dry gulch, then we followed up this gulch about two miles to get across it; after we were across we very soon came into Rock Creek Valley, where we intended to rest over Sunday. This was a rich alluvial soil and as far as the eye could see was covered with what we called wild wheat, some called it wild oats. Among this wheat was plenty of fine grass for the animals. We crossed the creek at Gravelly Ford and drove down the creek below Rock Point, near where the creek empties into the river, and camped upon the river bottom. We had got our tent up and was preparing to get our supper when three more wagons came up and camped just above us near enough to be neighbors. They were from some of the western states, I think, but I cannot tell which states. Our horses were turned upon the creek bottom to feed, all except the stage horses, and they ware picketed on the bottom only a few yards from our camp or tent. At night they were tied to the wagon, while the mules and saddle horses were tied to stakes driven into the ground nearby. The evening was passed pleasantly, visiting with our neighbors, and they had to call and see the baby born upon the Plains; the females in particular had to see him. The night passed without anything happening to mar or disturb our rest, and Sunday morning was a delightful one and the day pleasant and balmy. During the day a man came by the name of Adams that had been East and bought some fine stock for the California market, a number of trotters and one running mare that he kept a man holding all the time by the halter or lariat. She was very valuable. Before his wagon he had two pair of dapple grays. Speedy and very fine. We tried to have him stop near us and rest for the night, but he wanted to make the next camping place ten miles distant, and he made it to his sorrow, for he lost all his stock, as we learned the next day when we passed his burning wagons. Sunday afternoon between four and five o'clock, just as we had got our supper ready and were preparing to sit down to eat, we saw coining down the road from Rock Point a very fine-looking mule with silver-trimmed saddle and bridle, and riding upon his back was a portly-looking Indian. He rode up to the three wagons above us and dismounted and tried to get into conversation with the men, who with some curses bade him begone, calling him bad names, and he came along leading his mule to our wagon, when he stopped. I passed the time of day with him and asked him by signs to eat supper with us, which he readily assented to and squat upon the ground, as we all had to sit Indian fashion. As I was dressed like a mountaineer, in a buckskin suit, he concluded I was captain of the train and directed his conversation to me the most of the time, partly by signs and some broken English. During our repast I learned where he lived and that he had five hundred tepees, or houses, and thousands of horses, mules and cattle, just over the mountain to the northwest of where we were. He was a Shoshone or Snake Indian. After we were done eating he filled his pipe, took a whiff, then passed it to me. I in turn passed it to the right of me and it went around the circle to the chief, as he called himself. While smoking he was very particular to find out how many horses we had, those belonging to the stage, and which were our saddle horses. He was very particular also to ask what my name was. I told him I was called "Jim," and he called me by that name and wanted me to let him have three charges of powder, as he had three bullets and no powder to go with them. I was liberal or foolish enough to let him have the powder. He bade us good day, mounted the mule (not his mule) and rode away, just at night. Our horses were all tied to the wagons and stakes as usual, and at dark the guard went upon his beat while the rest of us slept. The night passed without any disturbance, and we were up as soon as light and let our horses loose to feed, before harnessing and saddling them. We ate our breakfast and got ready for a start. Hoover and myself were already in the saddle when one of the men from the wagons above us came and reported two horses and a mule gone from their band. Of course we could not go on and leave them without their horses. So Hoover and myself rode across the creek into the wild wheat and had gone but a few rods when we saw ahead of us three Indian heads bobbing up and down keeping time with the horses under them. We called back to the rest of the men, put spurs to our nags and were fast closing upon Mister Indians when they ran their horses into the mud as far as they could go and then jumped off and swam across the creek or branch of the river that formed an island of ten or fifteen acres, mostly covered with brush and small trees. Fool-like, John and I followed suit, left our horses in the mud, and called to the men to hurry up. We waded into the creek as far as we could without swimming and were preparing to swim to the island as soon as the other men came up. I was in the lead and Hoover close by me when bang went a gun and a bullet went whiz just over our heads, and at the same time the old Indian that left our camp the night before called me by name saying, "Go back Jim, go back." I did not do as he said but kept calling for our men to come on, when the Indian fell upon his knee and whang bang went the old gun, the ball passing over our heads again, but nearer than the first. TO BE CONTINUED.
Wyoming County Herald, Perry, New York, February 12, 1904, page 1WESTERN TRAVELS
of James A. Austin of Bliss-- (CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK)
With the words from the Indian, "Go back, Jim, go back." Still Hoover
and I stood our ground (or water) and were urging our men to follow us,
when the old saint dropped upon his knee again and sent another ball
over our heads and so close that we could almost feel the breeze it
made passing. At the same time came the warning, "Go back, Jim. Go
back." What would have become of us it is hard to tell had we crossed
to the island. But at the third gun that old mountaineer and Indian
fighter, Kit Carson,
rode up on full gallop and, swinging his hat, said, "For God's sake,
boys, come back; there are more than 500 Indians upon that island and
you will be killed." With some reluctance we came up to where Carson
was, and we could see plenty of Indian heads. At the same time Kit
pointed to the mountains, west and north of us; there we saw three
signal fires, rising straight towards the sky, giving notice to the
whole tribe that there was trouble upon the island. This was how Carson
found his gun; he knew it, he said, the first shot that he heard. One
of his men the day before came on to find a camping place, found it,
laid down in the hot sun and went to sleep, holding the mule by the
rope and the Indian cut the rope and left with the mule and the whole
rig. Carson said that he was out nearly four hundred dollars by the old
Indian, but he had too much stock left to risk a fight with them.
TO BE CONTINUED.He was driving to California 6,000 sheep, and knew what he had to contend with if he got into any muss with the Shoshones. He had been to their village and corroborated the old Chief's words to me, that he had many horses and lots of cattle, etc. Taking Kit's advice we returned to camp and found that Johnson with the mail had gone on, so Hoover and I had a good ride before we overtook the train. They had nearly reached the next camp, ten miles distant, where Adams lost his stock, and where they had made a bonfire of the wagons and other property that they could not carry with them. We parted near here with Johnson and Connelly, they following the course of the Humboldt River, and the rest of the train turned nearly west, across the country towards Black Rock Wells, or Poison Springs, as some called them. We camped near the forks of the road and waited for the wagons to come up that were with us at Rock Point. We saw no Indians during the day, nor were we disturbed by them at night. The next day we reached Rabbit Hole Springs, near the edge of the 30-mile desert, and rested there until the following day, about noon, when we broke camp and started across the alkali plain, or sandy desert as it was called. We could get but little water at the springs to take with us, and before we got halfway across our throats were dry and our lips parched by the dust that arose from the tramping of our horses and cattle. Hundreds of dead carcasses lay along our route, and in the night when the moon shone upon them, a few rods away would look like huge piles of rock. Many times during the night we would think we were close to Black Rock, but getting nearer we would find the dried remains of a cow or horse. A few miles from the Rock, we passed a shallow stream of water that was very strongly impregnated with alkali and had the color of milk and was quite sweet to the taste, and it was said to be very poisonous. But this did not hinder many of us from taking a good drink, and the cattle did the same before we could get them across it. Just before daylight we got to the Rock, and near it a small stream of water that came from the mountain and was supposed to be good water. Our cattle and horses were turned loose to shift for themselves, and we made our tea and coffee with the water taken from the creek and called it good. So it was, had we not seen what was above in the water, as daylight revealed to the company several carcasses of dead cattle lying in the creek. Some of the ladies of course tried very hard to raise the water from their stomachs but could not; it was there to stay. When we broke camp in the morning, we passed in going up the valley several boiling springs or wells, some of them 20 to 25 feet deep and 8 to 10 feet across. Some boiled up from the ground in streams as large as one's arm. We camped that night near the head of the valley, where there was plenty of wood and water as pure as crystal. At Rabbit Hole Spring our train was joined by two more wagons, making five wagons in the train, besides several horsemen. One of the wagons was owned by two young men by the name of Smith, and we called them the Smith boys. Their names were James and William. It so happened that James and myself were brought together upon the road and a friendship like brothers sprang up between us, and we were together upon the road at night. Our beds were made together under his wagon, while his brother lay inside. We were laying our plans and telling what we intended to do when we reached our journey's end. We were called "the two Jims" by the rest of the company, and I shall have occasion to speak of him hereafter, and will tell of our tramp up a long winding road to reach the top of the divide between Black Rock Valley and the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The side of the ridge had some scrub oak and a few small fir trees; on the top there were more and larger timber. The bunchgrass was good, and our horses and cattle had plenty to eat while we stopped here to have our dinner, a very nice place for a surprise by the Indians as there were several trees turned up by the roots, affording them a good place to hide and fill us with arrows. We were not caught napping, as we saw Indian signs and were on the lookout for them. Some of the men saw Indians, and we were soon on the move to get to the open country. Our guns and pistols were loaded and primed, expecting to have a brush with the redskins, but we did not, and were riding along in the grass. I, with my little Mexican mule, was in the lead, and all at once she sprang to one side and came very near throwing me out of the saddle. I kept my seat, however, and soon found what had frightened my donkey. Directly in the path or trail lay a large rattlesnake. Drawing my pistol, an old-fashioned horse pistol, double-charged with shot for Indians, I let drive at the old fellow's head and tore it all to pieces, and the same time the weapon kicked and tore my hand quite badly, and I had a sore hand for many days after. We camped at night in sight of the mountains and by the side of what we called Meadow Lake. WESTERN TRAVELS
This lake was said to dry up
when all the snow had melted from the mountainside facing
the east. This was in the month of August, and in daytime the sun shone
very bright and hot and filled the creeks from the mountain with pure
cold water. As we were preparing to break camp for a start in the
morning, we saw coming from the direction of the mountain two men on
foot, looking hungry and tired. They came up and said that they
had been shot at by the Modoc Indians and they were both wounded,
one with his arm in a sling; the other had an Indian arrow in his
side and the wound was very much inflamed and sore, as it had been
then two days and nights They were returning, they said, from
Oregon to the States with a lot of Oregon ponies and lost
their entire outfit, escaping with their lives only.of James A. Austin of Bliss-- (CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK) After giving them their breakfast and something to take with them to eat, they left, and our train started towards the mountains, wading through hurdsgrass and clover that was very large. Timothy here was as high as a man's head with heads that measured from six to eleven inches in length. Clover as it lay flat upon the ground measured ten and eleven feet long, so thick that our horses could hardly wade through it. We reached the mountain about noon and commenced the ascent, which we did very slow, as the teams had to stop and rest pretty often, for the hot sun pouring down upon us made the perspiration start freely. A few rods from the summit we camped for the night with nice feed and water for our stock, and plenty of wood to build our fires. From our camp we could look over the valley for many miles, as it lay alongside of the mountain with its crystal streams and flowing grass it looked like a vast meadow. Some stray bands of deer and antelope were all the animals that were in sight. The lake that we left in the morning from our camp looked like a small fish pond. We had a good night's rest, and early the next morning got ready to visit the summit of the Sierra Nevada, the mountain of snow. We had the steepest part of the mountain to climb and it was nearly noon before we got to the top, or before the wagons got there. What a sight we had. The valley we had left could be seen far away to the south and east and the Klamath or Swan Lake, as we called it, lay to the west, and far beyond the lake was seen the bad lands of the Modoc country. To the south as far as we could see was the Pit River Valley with its waving grass and sparkling rivulets running from the side of the mountain. After resting awhile we began the descent of the hill and for about one-fourth of a mile, the wagons had to be let down with cables or ropes, and it was a slow process or way of traveling. The horsemen dismounted and led their horses and mules down the steepest places. Near the foot of this declivity we found the remnants of a train that had been attacked by Indians and most of the people killed and their stock stampeded or run off. Broken ironware, crockery, and feathers lay scattered around upon the grass. It was a fit place for an Indian attack, an opening in the timber about three miles long and about one-fourth mile wide and thick pine or fir timber on both sides. Our train did not tarry long in this place. We camped some miles from the timber, not far from the lake, and kept a good lookout for the redskins. From our camp could be seen several islands in the lake; and upon the water were floating many large birds, that some called swan and others called pelicans. At times they looked as large as small ships full rigged with all sails set riding smoothly upon the water. We were not disturbed during the night, and next morning passed up to the head of the lake, and upon the shore we had quite an exciting time with one of the birds or pelicans. Some distance ahead of the train we saw one of them sitting upon the gravelly beach, and the horsemen all tried to be the first one there. The foremost man got so near that Mister Bird gave him one stroke with his wings and sent him sprawling upon the stones. The bird was finally killed and measured nine feet from tip to tip of his wings. The August sun was pouring down upon us, and the hot stones or gravel made the heat almost unbearable. The train made its way around to the west side of the lake and in sight of our camp the night before. We halted for the night, as we did not wish to be caught in the bad lands of the Modocs in the night. Our camp was near the lake, and within a few rods of the rocks, the hiding place of the redskins. At night it was my turn with my friend Jim Smith to stand guard. My stand was at the north and not far from some high rock that ran down to and into the lake. I staked my mule upon a raise of ground or knoll, and after dark I laid down in a hollow a few feet from him, where I could watch the moving of his long ears. A little after midnight, the mule told with his ears that Mr. Modoc was near. I gave the alarm to the rest of the men, and we were all on the lookout for the reds until morning. After daylight we found their fire still burning behind the rock. Old mule "no tell lie" was sure to scent danger or Indians We had our breakfast very early and started across the bad lands or lava beds by winding around high rocks and going through deep crevasses. We got along very well, and made this twenty-five-mile drive over rocks and barren land, save a few scrubby oak and pine with a little chaparral brush, without meeting or seeing any of the natives. The last five miles were up a gentle slope of fine pasture or grain land, to Willow Springs camp. The only water we found that day was at this place. The spring was situated in the middle of a large plain comprising several thousand acres of fine land and bounded upon the north, west and south by large bodies of timber. This spring boiled up from the ground a stream as large as one's arm and soon sank into the ground again. This was Friday, near the last days of August, 1853, and the sun poured its rays down upon us, and we, like our cattle and horses, were glad to get where we could rest and get water to quench our thirst. The cattle were too tired to eat and soon went into the willows to rest and get away from the flies that were very large and thick, almost as bees. This camp was upon the dividing ridge between Klamath and Tule lakes and the dividing line between the Modocs and Tule Indians. As it was we were not disturbed by either tribe. TO BE CONTINUED.
Wyoming County Herald, Perry, New York, February 26, 1904, page 1WESTERN TRAVELS
When we left the Humboldt
River, Hoover and myself had engaged our board with the captain of the
train to Oregon; his name was Wellman. He had his family, consisting of
his wife and several children and two or three boys large enough
to drive the teams and cattle. He had two ox teams of five pair of
cattle each, besides twenty or thirty head of loose stock, cows, etc.
From Willow Springs to the next water was 25 miles, all the way through
a thick growth of timber. We were on the move between eight and nine in
the morning, the horsemen with the Captain in the lead and looking to
see if there were any signs of Indians. Two or three had crossed the
road ahead of us but we saw only tracks, and we drove along until noon,
when we stopped to lunch and let the cattle rest. Here it was
discovered that one of the Captain's oxen had been left behind. We
could not stop the train long enough to go back to the camp for him, so
we drove on to the next water or camp that took us to the west side of
the timber upon a tributary of Tule River or Lake.of James A. Austin of Bliss-- (CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK) It was Saturday and the Captain intended to stop there over Sunday, and during the evening he said if anyone of the men wanted to go back to Willow Camp and get his ox he would give them ten dollars in gold. I waited a while to see if any would go, and as there was no other response to his offer, I told him I would undertake the task. It was a very foolish job indeed for one or two men, but I thought I knew the mettle my little mule was made of and I trusted to her fleetness if there were Indians around to take me out of their reach. Early Sunday morning I was prepared to commence the ride. Many of the boys tried to have me give up the trip, but my word was given to the Captain and I could not back out very well, so buckling two good Colt revolvers to my waist, and filling my pockets with cartridges, I mounted my donkey and galloped away into the deep dark forest, not knowing or caring but little for the danger I was in. My mule galloped along leisurely and we saw nothing to frighten us, and about 11 o'clock in the forenoon we rode into the prairie, where the springs were situated, and I was surprised to see the ox just coming out of the willows near the springs. Fearing the Modoc might be in the bush, I circled some ways from them until I was sure there was no danger, then went to the spring and got a drink for myself and mule, and while the donkey and ox ate, I kept watch and ate my lunch. I let them eat until noon, then tightening the girdle to my saddle, I mounted and got the ox into the road and plied him freely with a good whip I had with me, and the ox was on a trot most of the time. As it was downhill most of the way it made it better for me to keep it on the jog. A little after four o'clock p.m. I came in sight of the camp with my prize, and such a shout as went up by all in the train, men, women and children made the hills echo with their shouts, and I was the hero of the day, but very tired. The poor ox was very near tired out but I got the ten dollars just the same, and thanks beside. Monday morning we were early on the march and winding around the rocky hills and scrubby timber soon came in sight of Hell Gate and the Tule Lake. Hell Gate was the entrance to the valley of the lake or river. It was a high rocky point projecting into the lake and so near the shore that there was scarcely room for a team to pass, and rocks were from fifty to a hundred feel high upon one side and thick tule and water upon the other. The gateway was seemingly formed by the eruptions that turned the hills upside down, sideways and endways with huge caverns and homes for the reds and wild beasts. It was here we found a company of cavalry from Fort Laramie under the command of those Indian fighters, Crook and Custer, sent here to guard the emigrants. [These events must have taken place during R. S. Williamson's 1855 railroad survey, accompanied by Lieutenants Crook and Sheridan. Custer was still at West Point.] At this pass the year before a whole train was waylaid and most of them killed. They had passed through the Gate and inside the high wall when the reds came from the tule from behind rocks and upon all sides the demons came on with terrific yells, slaying all before them. But few escaped with their lives; the remnants of wagons, trunks, and hardware, were scattered around where the attack occurred. We rested here and ate our lunch; had a long talk with the "soger" boys, some of whom had come from Oregon, where they had been fighting Indians and guarding the settlers from the Indians' depredations. About a mile from their camp was Rock Bridge, over the Tule River, one of the many curiosities of that country. It is a ledge of rocks some 20 feet wide with a hole under them that the water passes through the most of the year; sometimes the rocks are entirely bare and one can cross the river with slippers on and not wet their foot. Upon both sides of this rock the water is very deep. While our train was preparing to start, my chum, Jim Smith, and myself rode up to the bridge and had a good look at it. There was water running over it at that time, and plenty of fish were to be seen in the deep water. When the train came up, and all had crossed safely, several of the horsemen and some of the soldiers rode on to find a camping place for night, as we intended [to] stop near the forks of the road, one leading to Oregon and the other to California. We found water and food plenty near the forks, unsaddled our nags and turned them loose to graze upon the bunchgrass that grew in abundance there. Our blankets were spread and we sat or laid upon them, hearing the soldiers tell tales about Indians. Some of us fell to sleep, myself being one of them. I did not sleep long, perhaps half an hour, and during that time I had a dream. I dreamed I left the train and went to California, got there all safe and sound and made a fortune in a little while and went home to my friends. I told my bedfellow and chum Smith, and tried to have him go with me and see what there was in California, and if [we] did not find things all right, I would go with him to Oregon. It was no use to talk; he could not go and leave his brother (better for him if he had). It was early when the train came into camp, and soon the pots and kettles were upon the fire and the ladies busy getting supper, and when it was ready, we sat down and commenced eating. TO BE CONTINUED.
Wyoming County Herald, Perry, New York, March 4, 1904, page 1WESTERN TRAVELS
I with John Hoover took
our
meal with the Captain, having paid him to board us into Oregon. While
eating I told the Captain of my intention of going the lower road. He
like the rest of the men thought I was beside myself to venture alone
through an Indian country, a distance of one hundred miles. It was the
same number of miles to Oregon. My mind had been made up to go and go I
would. At last Hoover saw that I was bent on going that way, and
says,"Jim, if you go, I go with you, sure." That settled it. John was
one I could depend on, strong as a lion and quick to see and hear when
excited, a number one shot with rifle or pistol, having been trading
for two or three years among the Indians on the Yellowstone River. He
was well acquainted with their ways and knew what we would have to
endure should we be so unlucky us to fall into their hands, but we did
not intend to be caught napping by them.of James A. Austin of Bliss-- (CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK) As was customary I made my bed with my friend Smith under his wagon, while his brother slept inside. We little thought it would be our last night together, but so it proved to be. When morning came we were stirring pretty early, and after breakfast there was shaking of hands all around and the goodbye said, when Hoover and myself mounted and, waving our adieu, galloped away over the plain. The most of the way there was but little timber along our road, and we could see some ways ahead and quite a distance on either side. Our train was made up with myself upon my mule in the lead, and leading my horse packed with our blankets and other traps, while John rode behind, plying the whip freely to the pack horse, and the spurs to his pony, while my little donkey galloped freely along. About noon we came to a fine valley with thousands of acres of nice meadow land, and a fine stream of water running through it. We halted here for dinner and to let our horses rest. From this plain we made a gradual ascent and found but little timber, until just at night we came to the ridge or mountain running north from Shasta Butte. Our road brought us close to the ledge of rocks where we had a good view of Shasta Valley, thousands of feet below us, and in the dusk of the evening looked like a bottomless pit. Across the valley twenty-five miles we could see the city of Yreka, with the camp fires of the miners upon the surrounding hills. By letting my mule have its head, it followed the trail or road that wound around the rocks and down through the canyon into the valley below. Feeling around with our feet we found grass where we tied our horses, and taking our saddles and traps carried them some ways from the horses and hid them in the bushes, then we went several rods in another direction, and after eating our lunch we hid ourselves in the bushes and slept soundly until morning, as we had rode seventy-five miles that day. When it was light we could see Dr. Snelling's house, five miles down the valley, and we made haste to get our trails and horses and gallop to his place where we called for breakfast, which was soon ready, consisting of hot biscuits, fried bacon and onions, which was quite a treat for men just off the plains. The Doctor told us that the settlers the day before had a fight with the Indians and drove them into the woods around the foot of Shasta Butte, and he thought it was a miracle that we had not met them, as they belonged to the Tule or Pit River band. Lucky it was for Hoover and I that they took the southern trail around the mountain, instead of the north. After breakfast we mounted and rode into town, Yreka, crossing the Shasta River and for a number of miles into a sandy desert with only some sagebrush and a few scrub cedar growing thereon. Reaching the town just before noon, it was soon noised about that two men were just in from the plains, and we received many congratulations and hand shaking by the citizens and miners for our safe arrival through the Indian country. Our dinner was given at the hotel and everyone wanted to stand treat or pay for the drinks, as was the custom at that time. At night we were invited to see the sights of the city, and for the first time we saw the miners gambling and throwing away their cash, or dust. The excitement seemed to affect all. The little Phil Sheridan came in with a company of soldiers from Oregon, where he had been fighting Indians, and it was said that he saved Gen. Smith's army in Oregon from an entire rout by his mode of Indian fighting. [This must be a reference to C. C. Augur's rescue of A. J. Smith at Big Bend. Sheridan was not involved.] He too, was glad to see anyone from the plains and to hear from his comrades, Custer and Crook, and like the rest was very liberal and made us go to the hotel to dinner with him and his company. The third day after our arrival a courier came with the news that the train we had parted with at the forks of the road and that went into Oregon, had got through till safe to Fort Jackson [Fort Lane?], or a mile from the Fort. Thinking they were out of danger, had camped near a small creek, with willows along its bank, and upon a knoll or raise of ground, so that they might have water handy. They had been enjoying themselves receiving the congratulations of the Oregonians that had called to see them and tell them of that wonderful country, or hear perhaps from friends left in the States. These callers had gone home and the camp had gone to their different places of rest, some in tents, some in wagons, and others had made their beds on the ground and under their wagons. Among the last was my late chum and friend, Jim Smith. He, as was his custom, slept under while his brother slept in the wagon. Ah, what dreams of the future, what castles of happiness were running through the minds of those sleepers as they lay there happy and unconscious of the danger that was near, and the unhappy fate that was to befall many of them. It was about three o'clock in the morning when they were awakened by the report of firearms and yell of the savages to find several of the company killed and many wounded. Among the killed outright was my friend Smith; his body was riddled with seven or eight bullets, while near them a man and his wife were killed in their wagon. In the confusion the Indians escaped without losing any of their number, and were soon hid in the mountains, or were miles away before the soldiers and settlers were aroused. TO BE CONTINUED.
Wyoming County Herald, Perry, New York, March 11, 1904, page 1WESTERN TRAVELS
In the winter of 1851-52 a
man by the name of Adams and myself were coming home from the pinery
above Olean, where we had been engaged lumbering Night overtaking us we
stopped at the hotel kept by James Nelson, known by lumber men as "Jim
Nelson's house," just above the mouth of Great Valley Creek where it
empties into the Allegheny River. We found our host to be one the
jovial kind of men and full of stories about his native land, Scotland.
While eating our supper we learned that he had just returned from the
gold mines of Oregon, where he had made a fortune in less than one
year. After supper he said he would tell us how and where he found the
gold. He said there was plenty of it left when he came away; he was
alone and got all he could carry away, and said that the Indians were
watching him all the while, and kept him in his hole or drift night and
day until he left between two days. He came to Rogue River and looking
along upon the bedrock, he came to a deep hole and above it the rock
was almost dry, the water was very low, and in the crevices he
commenced picking out the nuggets of gold.of James A. Austin of Bliss-- (CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK) Following up his lead he ran a drift into the bank or mountain one hundred feet, where he came into an old channel of the river and there was the golden egg. The sand was full of the stuff, and it did not tempt him to get more than he could carry away. In digging his drift he had to cut a fir log in two that was two feet and a half through, and which had come down with the slide from the mountain that turned the course of the river. Nelson gave us such a nice description of the place, the bend in the river, the road, the woods, the slide, the flat land above, that in after years I had no trouble in locating the place where he said there was plenty of gold. From the encouragement he gave and from what others had said I here made up my mind to see some of the golden hills. On my return to Portville I found some of the boys trying to get a company to go via the Plains. In that company were two men that Nelson had told the same as he had told Adams and I. These men when they left me at Fort Laramie (1852) said that they intended to go direct to Rogue River and find Nelson's drift in the mountains, and from what I could gather from the miners and people near there, I came to the conclusion that they found the mine, and found plenty of gold there, and were about ready to return to their home, but were waylaid and killed by an old Indian. In the winter of 1855-6 there was an Indian hung by the settlers in Rogue River Valley for killing a man, and he boasted of killing two other men and getting plenty of gold from them. As I said before, from his description of the men, I believe they were the two men from Cattaraugus County, Parker and Oshambaux, one a tall man, the other very short, and that they dug their gold where Mr. Nelson left it almost in sight. In 1859 I had business down to lower Oregon, and the road leading directly by this place, I took a good survey of the surroundings and found them as Nelson had described. I was gone a little over a year and came back to Jackson County, Oregon, intending to find out if there was any gold left for me there, but I found the river very high, too high to work the drift, and I went to work in the placer mines near Phoenix, a small town about five miles from the river. Here my health gave out and I could not work, but kept my secret to myself and suffered along for about a year, not expected to live. At last by the advice of the doctors I came home to this country to die, as I supposed, from what the doctors told me. That was over 30 years ago and I still live, but often wish I could see the bedrock, in James Nelson's gold mine, for I have great faith that there is plenty of gold left there if other miners have not found the lead and worked it to a finish, or out of the channels. There is plenty of gold there in the bank or in the deep hole in the river. TO BE CONTINUED.
Wyoming County Herald, Perry, New York, March 18, 1904, page 1WESTERN TRAVELS
When the California trade
had passed, Martin left me to deal with the Mormons and he went to St.
Louis to buy Indian goods for the coming winter trade. He left his
wife, or squaw, at home and her uncle, the noted Sioux Chief Red Cloud,
came and pitched his tent by the side of ours, to be near in case
of any trouble with his band of brute Sioux that were camped near.
This man was one of God's noblest work, about six feet tall, a robust
frame and muscles that would adorn any of our modern athletes. He was
withal kind and a great friend of the whites. He was most of the time
in my tent, and was very watchful when other Indians came in to see
that they did not take anything of me.of James A. Austin of Bliss-- (CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK) RED CLOUD'S FIND OR THE BARREL OF FIREWATER. The old man had two boys, youngsters then, and I employed them to look after our stock, cattle and horses that ran or grazed in a large bend of the Platte River near where the Laramie River joined it, about one mile from our house or tepee. The river was very low and one day while the boys were playing in the dry channel, they discovered something about six or eight feet above them in the bank with iron hoops around it. They soon climbed up, to see what it was, and almost as soon as they touched it, the bank gave way and the barrel rolled down to the bed of the river. The young lads were frightened badly, and when they could not lift it, they hastened borne to tell their father, Red Cloud. He went down there and saw what it was and knew there was firewater that had been put there years before by the Mormons and the high waters had washed off the soil and left it exposed to view. The old man came home and told me that if I would go with him and get it I might have it to sell, with this promise, when he wanted a drink I must deal it out to him and never more than two drinks per day, or if he had other Indians to drink I must never give them but one drink. He did not come very often and never asked for more than one drink; many times he was left alone in my tent and could have helped himself, but his word was good, and he was in reality a grand old man. He it was at Pine Ridge, Dakota, that would not leave when his young men went to war with the whites and tried his best to restrain them. They finally dragged him from the agency, but he returned as soon as he could get away from them to his friends the whites. How the officers at the Fort found that I had whiskey to sell. Some of the privates came there one day and bought a bottle of whiskey, and got quite noisy before they got home. The officers, wishing to get some, had resource to a ruse to find out where it was and there were several traders near the ferry; men came to the ferry and marched directly towards my tent, and as I was outside looking at them, they were halted near me and the Sergeant said he had orders to search my premises for whiskey, all right sir, was my reply; come in. When inside the tent I took from my trunk a bottle and asked him to take a drink, which he did willingly, and then wanted to know if I kept it to sell (of course I see I had my man) and told him I sold when I could and gave away some, he asked if such a man came at night, meaning their baker at the Fort, could he get some I said he could, the order was given the men to come in and look around, then search the weeds and bushes outside and march to the ferry and wait for further orders. Sergeant takes another drink and leaves. The baker came every day, as long as I had whiskey, and paid $l.50 per pint for it, so that Red Cloud's find and his gift to me was quite a bonanza at that time. TO BE CONTINUED.
Wyoming County Herald, Perry, New York, March 25, 1904, page 1WESTERN TRAVELS
of James A. Austin of Bliss-- (CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK) A PROPHECY THAT MAY COME TO PASS.
We left Aspinwall or
Colon one Saturday night, and the next morning buried a man at
sea. In the afternoon we had a sermon or lecture upon the
second coming of Christ, by a man by the name of Jeff. C.
Davis, from Indiana. He was a good Union man, although he claimed
to be an own cousin to the noted rebel by that name.He took the Bible and proved by that to his own satisfaction, at least, that the second coming of Christ was not far distant, and more, that the rebels would be brought into submission and the American continent would all be under one government. It would be the home of all the oppressed people of the earth. There would be but one religion on earth; all of the different denominations would worship one God and be called by the name of Christians. When that time came and not till then God would descend to this America, and make it his permanent abode, and all of the inhabitants thereof would fall down and worship him, and enjoy his presence forever. This was thirty years ago and when we look back and see what has been done by the different churches since then, and how they work together for the good of mankind, it looks as though this part of his prophecy had already come to pass. Methodists, Baptists, Presbyterians, Catholics and even the despised Jews are now called brothers in the church. The church bars are being let down and the ministers and priests no longer shun each other, but meet with clasped hands and a "God bless you, brother." Two different nations that inhabit this continent are looking for closer relations with each other. Canada on the north is almost ready to step into the Union, and South American states are coming closer every year, and look to the northern states to supply many of their wants, and if Mr. Davis was right, they would soon be asking to march under the Stars and Stripes. The oppressed and the poor from other nations have been coming to our shores by the thousands and tens of thousands [to] make homes here, and are enjoying the blessing and freedom of this country. In this we see another line in Mr. Davis' theory. It is doubtful if any here now will live to see his prophecy come to pass. ----
Reader, you last left
me in California, and now I will try and give you a description of the
country, where I first landed and some of the ups and downs of a
life in California. Yreka, where we first stopped, was then a small
mining town of five or six hundred inhabitants and most of them
males. It was situated upon the eastern slope of a range of hills
west of Shasta River, and surrounded by rich placer diggings, such as
Yreka Gulch, Greenhorn Creek, Yreka Flats, Deadman's Gulch and
many other rich strikes; even the city was built over rich
deposits of gold.TRAVELS RESUMED. Looking to the east across Shasta River was Shasta Valley, about twenty miles wide and forty or fifty long, while at the head and south of this valley stood Mt. Shasta towering toward the sky, fourteen thousand and five hundred feet, and covered most of the year with a mantle of snow and ice. In a clear day it could be seen from Yreka, twenty miles away, the smoke arising from the crater on top of the mount. It was said by those that had been to the top of Shasta that there was about three acres of lava bed smoking all the time, with a hollow or bowl-like surface. Running north from the Butte, and on the east side of the valley, was a range of hills covered with fine timber, redwood, fir, live oak and pitch pine. On this range was two or three deep basins or hollows that had some time been volcanoes, and now overgrown with timber. To the south of Yreka was Scott's Mountain, covered with oak and redwood and pine timber. Our first venture or work was in the mines, that is, Hoover and myself went up Yreka Gulch and some miners told us there was gold in a few yards of gravel that was not claimed by anyone, and we went to work with pick and shovel, in a little while found a nugget that was worth about eleven dollars. We thought our fortune was right there, but alas we were sadly disappointed; we washed away the bank which took us three or four days, and only found a few cents worth of gold after finding the nugget. Hoover found a German, a '49er, who wanted to go into company with us and would show us how to mine it. I did not like the fellow, and told Hoover so, but consented to try him a few days and see what luck he would bring us, and we bought tools and provisions to last a few days and went down to the Yreka Flats about a mile and pitched our tent among or near hundreds of other tents, staked our claim and went to work; dug a hole about six feet deep, found gold all the way down in small quantities, but the Dutchman said it would not pay. So we pulled up stakes and went up to town intending to go and try our luck on Greenhorn Creek. The Germans both did. The hole we left on the flats paid largely, for some other men went there and struck a fortune a foot or two below where we had been digging. When we reached town I met an old man, a ranchman from Scott's Valley, in search of a hand to work on his farm. He was one of three partners that had taken up farms the year before and had sown forty or fifty acres of barley, and the work was to herd horses and cattle and see to threshing this barley by the southern style of threshing, as they were all from the South, and did not know of any other way to do this kind of work. We had to take off a few inches of the top dirt, then we came to red claylike soil, very hard and dry, as they had not had any rain for six months previous. When the ground was prepared we built with strong poles a pen as high as a man's head, enclosing a plot of ground larger or as large as a thirty- and forty-foot barn, then with two pair of oxen and a sled we hauled the barley and laid it down and unbound it, laying it so that the heads were on top, all the way. I set it up on end and found I could thresh it much faster my way than I could theirs, as it was very dry when we had a flooring on and ready, then Bird Lytle, the old man's son by a negro woman, would drive up a band of fifteen horses and mules and then turn them in upon the barley, and with whip in hand he would keep them upon a trot or fast walk until the barley was threshed. Then they were turned out and the straw taken off for another flooring. It was here I first got acquainted with the domineering meanness of a southerner. TO BE CONTINUED.
Wyoming County Herald, Perry, New York, April 1, 1904, page 1WESTERN TRAVELS
The old man Lytle
had a nephew living with him about my age at that time; the old man had
put the negro boy with me to do as I wished him to, and told me to do
the work as I thought best. This nephew, Jim Fillers, came down to the
lot, and after looking on a few moments told me I was not doing
the work right, and bade me do it as he said. I coolly informed the
southern sprig that I was boss there and he would do well to mind his
own business. This set the hot blood in him to fever heat and he made
all kinds of threats about fighting. I told the boy his chance was good
with any weapon he chose. Then he turned upon the negro boy to make him
do as he said, and I had to threaten him with the pitchfork before he
would leave. He left swearing vengeance.of James A. Austin of Bliss-- (CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK) In a few minutes the old man came down and told me I did right, and not to mind what Fillers said. I learned by John Murry, who went from this place and was working there then, that the old man told his nephew to be careful; that Jim Austin would fight sure, and would knife him if he got in his way. In a few days his fit was all over, and he was as good a friend as I had there ever after. After my month was up and I got my pay, one hundred dollars, I was pretty rich. The company, Heards and Lytle, proposed to me to take their cows or a part of them and milk them on shares and sell the milk and butter, as butter was worth $1.50 a pound, and milk $1.50 a gallon. It was a good chance for me, I thought, and proved to be so. In the trade the company was to put up a new house and prepare one part of it for dairy purposes, in which I was to keep my milk and butter. All hands were soon hewing pine timber and laying up the logs close together, so that bullets or arrows could not go through in case of an Indian attack. I helped some upon the house, but my time was mostly occupied with breaking my cows and herding them. They were mostly three years old, large and strong, and it was no easy job to handle them. After the house was enclosed and the roof put on, I moved into one part of it with my dairy utensils, while my bunk or sleeping apartment was just inside the main building and close to the door, or place for a door, with a canvas tent hung on some nails for a door, and when I lay down to sleep my feet were but a few inches from the doorway. My cows were in a corral nights, some ten rods from the house, and close by them in a rail pen I had a very nice calf that I was raising and thought him valuable in that country. One night the boys from the cabin, Fillers, Murry and others, had been up to see me and do some work about the house, and had gone home. I had gone to bed and to sleep, had slept perhaps two or three hours, when all at once I heard a terrible bellowing of the cows and barking of the dog at the cabin, also the bleating of my calf. Hastily putting on my pants, I grabbed the only weapon I had, an ax, and rushed out to hear the boys yelling sic 'em to the dog, and Mr. Grizzly trotting toward the river with my calf in his mouth; perhaps he had 150 or 175 pounds of nice veal for his midnight lunch. He was a big one; his tracks we found to be as broad as our two hands. The boys went back to the cabin and I went to my house, and when I got there I thought to open my door and lo and behold it was not there; this startled me some I guess, and I soon had a light to see what had been done, but several feet from the door was my tent twisted up and badly torn. The supposition was that the bear in going from the mountain to the river had been attracted by the odor of the milk, and on looking for that, smelled my carcass inside and thought to make a meal of me, and in reaching for my feet had pulled the tent over his head and caused him to tear and bite the tent, thinking perhaps I was inside. After this I slept with one eve open until I had a door made and fastened on the inside. The bear in getting my calf had broken a large rail in two, getting the calf out. We had no more visits from bruin that fall, but he picked up a number of stray calves for us. Some of the boys worked steadily at the house until it was done, then the whole of the company, cowboys and all, came there to live and made things pretty lively, and had plenty of fun at the expense of some one of the company. Johnny Murry, the Irishman from the town line, was an expert at telling Irish stories, and most of them about himself. Well, everything went pleasantly and in December 1853, Jim Fillers took the farming land to work on shares, two hundred acres, and proposed going partners with me in the dairy and I with him in the farming. To my sorrow I agreed to his proposal and we went to work together. In February I took the cows and went over the mountain to Yreka, or rather beyond the city two miles to Shasta River, where I hired a house and lot of land that was fenced, and had a large range or pasture for my cows in the Shasta Valley, and sold our milk in the city of Yreka for a good price, one dollar per gallon, and butter one dollar a pound. While Fillers worked the ranch, I had one man with me and Jim had two upon the farm, each at one hundred dollars per month and all went lovingly, and we were coining money as we thought, in fact I was, fifteen and thirty dollars per day, was finding it pretty fast, so fast that in June I could have sold for about two thousand dollars my interest in cows and farm. Why didn't you, everyone says; because I wanted more. My garden was paying well, and everything seemed to be paying tor the hard work we were doing. I had rented a lot of land near the Shasta River, and in sight of Yreka City and the lofty Shasta Butte, intending to improve and fence the same in the fall, but in less than one week all my calculations were upset, and I like many others suffered from the grasshopper pest. They commenced coming down from Oregon and came until the air was full and the ground literally covered with them. They ate the grass, grain, young fruit trees and the leaves and limbs of the cottonwood trees that grew along the river, even some of the fence rails were made almost round. They mowed every green thing clean, and the country looked as if the fire had been over it, that is the land in the valleys. They seemed to come from the sky and settle in the valleys and then rise and disappear. No one knew where they went; in their track they left many dead ones, very large and fat, so fat they could not rise and fly away with their companions. TO BE CONTINUED.
Wyoming County Herald, Perry, New York, April 8, 1904, page 1WESTERN TRAVELS
Of course our pasture
was
destroyed, and we had to change our location with the cows. We
drove them over the mountain to Klamath River about two miles from its
junction with Scott's River, where there was quite a
large district of mines and the miners were in want of milk.
My tent was pitched near the mouth of a small creek
that emptied its waters into Klamath River, and formed about
one-half of my yard corral that I kept my cows in nights. Its banks
were steep and served on one side as a guard to keep the wild
animals from my cows, while upon the other side was my dog, myself and
a large log fire, which I had burning every night. Often in the night
my fire would burn down and the bear or wolf [would] come near the
corral and startle the cows from their sleep, and the barking of
the dog would wake me, and then I would add a few pieces of pitch
pine wood to my fire and as soon as the blaze shot up you could
hear the heavy tread of the varmint as he walked back
into the woods, howling because he had been disappointed in
getting his supper.of James A. Austin of Bliss-- (CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK) The wild animals were not all I had to fear while in this place. As I said before, my camp was upon the bank of the river and close to the trail where the miners and the cutthroats went from one mining camp to another, from Scott's River to the mines on Klamath and other streams north of where I was, and then back to Scott's camp again. The roughs or gamblers were easily told by their smooth white hands, while the honest miners' hands would be black and rough. They would always stop and want a dish of mush and milk, or a bowl (or basin rather). I had no bowls of milk. Some of them had money and others had none. Those that had money would leave fifty cents or a dollar in their cup and go on; those that had no cash would pay when they came back, and they were as good as their word; they generally remembered to pay. The milk I had to pack upon a mule's back, from twenty to twenty-five gallons per day. I had two tens and 1 five-gallon kegs, a ten-gallon upon each side of the mule and the smaller one on top, lashed tight with a strong rope. I had about five miles to go every day and return, ten miles travel. It was quite amusing to me to see how many ways the miners had to lock their cabin door, as I had to go into the most of them with the milk. I was told how to unlock and lock the doors again. As a rule these miners were a steady and industrious set of men, that is those that left families in the States; the young men were more reckless and indulged in dissipation and gambling. Towards fall the bunchgrass dried up and I drove my cows home to the ranch in Scott's Valley and helped my partner to settle up the business on the farm, and when we got all bills, and the hands paid, we found that we were out each of us one thousand dollars and a year of hard work. This was pretty hard, but there was plenty of work and good pay for those that would work. Doc, my partner, he gave up work and went to peddling pills and quinine. I engaged with a company as herdsman or cowboy for the winter. I had one thousand head of cattle and horses in Shasta Valley just at the foot of the butte to look after once a day, and I had plenty of riding with lots of fun chasing the mountain sheep up the steep cliffs or rocky mountainside. In the morning I usually found from two to three hundred of the sheep feeding among the cattle in the valley. Riding carefully I would get as near them as I could before they saw me. When they did see me they were off in a hurry, then I would give my bronco the spurs and away we would fly towards the cliff, but before I got there most of the sheep would be out of sight. When hard pressed it is no uncommon thing for these sheep to throw themselves down the cliffs or rocks fifty or a hundred feet, striking upon their horns, turn a somersault, get up and run away. Our hunter kept us well supplied with sheep meat and venison during the winter, and their skins made a nice soft bed to lie upon. The winter passed very quickly, and in the spring of 1854 I again took my cows to Shasta River and went to selling milk again in Yreka. The town had grown finely in the past year, and with its growth came many gamblers and desperadoes. It was dangerous to walk the streets after dark, and no uncommon thing to see men shot in broad daylight. One morning as I went with my milk I entered town just about daylight and my first stop was at a large gambling house or saloon, and as I was going up the stairs with my milk, I heard from the billiard room upon the second floor the cry of "Oh, Murder" and instantly a man rushed past me and down the stairs. Entering the room I saw a ghastly sight; one man had been stabbed with a large bowie knife in the neck, completely severing the jugular vein causing death instantly. A dispute had arose over a game of billiards, causing the men to give each other the lie. They were good friends before and both belonged to a secret order. One man, the saloon keeper, was witness to the deed; the murderer escaped to the mountain for a while, until his friends had fixed the matter up in the courts. He was not given as much as a hearing before a justice of the peace, so much for killing a man in those days. There were several secret societies in the town, and they had plenty of fun initiating their new members. Particularly this was so with the Order of E Clampus Vitus. The head man of the order in the town of Yreka was the justice of the peace by the name of W. W. Murry, and a man that liked to get a joke on someone of the company he was with. Murry was a young man and he soon made up his mind that he needed a wife. Some new arrivals having come to town, he laid siege to the heart of a fair maiden and won. The wedding cards were sent out and great preparations for a good time generally. It so happened that the night after Murry was married, there was to be taken into the order a new member, rather of a weakly young man, one of the smart kind. The boys had calculated on having a good time and getting a joke upon Murry. They had their time but came pretty near killing two men. TO BE CONTINUED.
Wyoming County Herald, Perry, New York, April 15, 1904, page 1WESTERN TRAVELS
At the set time their
lodge was opened and they went through with the ceremony of
initiation and they frightened the follow most to death and he was
taken to his home in a fainting condition. The boys had made up a scare
for Murry and played their game pretty nicely. Having stationed their
men along the route Murry was to take, they had several mounted and all
had pistols or guns, then one of the men led a poor jaded old nag up to
Murry's door, and told him to mount and ride for his life, that the man
they had just taken into the lodge was dead, and his friends were
coming to kill him. Kissing his new bride a lasting farewell and
crying like a whipped child, he mounted his poor old nag and rode away,
using his whip and spur freely. One of his would-be friends soon rode
up to his side and entreated him to ride faster, while the guns and
pistols were popping from every corner. They rode until they reached
Scott's Mountain, five miles distant, before his friend told him it was
a joke. He would not believe him at first and thought the man
false to him. After much entreaty he retraced his steps to town with
the friend, and found that the boys were having lots of fun over his
scare.of James A. Austin of Bliss-- (CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK) Murry never got over the ride; he found that he had been imposed upon by those he thought to be friends and never was found to be with them but a few times afterwards, and seemed to take it to heart so much that he came near dying. The man that was taken home from the lodge never regained his health afterward; he wasted away with consumption and died a year or so after his imitation into the E Clampus Vitus order. My business of milk peddling prospered for a while until the dry weather commenced in June, then the crickets came into the valley as the grasshoppers had done the year before only came from the west, and the grasshoppers came from the north or east. The crickets came quite small at first, but they were soon as large as a person's thumb and so fat that some of them when they jumped would fall upon their backs, and it was hard for them to get upon their feet again. The hogs and Indians fatted upon them; they were called locusts by some, being of a brown-reddish color. They destroyed all before them and left the valley barren as the grasshoppers had done the year before, and I was obliged to leave the valley with my stock. Giving up my ranch in disgust, I went back to Scott's Valley, and gave up dairying in that country. In a few days I packed a few traps, such as clothing and etc., upon my horse and rode to Scott's Bar, where they were mining quite extensively along the river for a distance of about three miles or to the mouth of the river, where it formed a junction with the Klamath River. I located upon Whiting Bar, a mining camp first discovered by a man by the name of Whiting, about one mile from Klamath River. Here I mined it some with a man by the name of Joseph Miller, from the Buckeye State, Ohio. I found him to be a man of good morals and a great reader, a first-rate worker and always jovial and full of fun. He belonged to several secret societies in the town and was called Honorable, as he was brave. His bravery was shown in the following incident that occurred about that time. We were about two miles from the post office, at Scott's Bar, and it was our custom to go once a week for our mail; sometimes both of us would go, generally on Sunday morning. It happened that this particular Sunday morning, I had the work to do up and baking for the next day. Joe says, "I will go up and got the mail." "All right," says I, "hurry back, for I am anxious to hear from home." He left and chatted with some of the miners along the trail. There was no road then. When he got within sight of Scott's Bar, he saw the people and miners gathering around a saloon at the lower end of the Bar, and when he got there the mob was dragging a drunken half-breed Indian towards a tree to lynch him. Joe was justice of peace and commanded them to halt, but the mob was clamorous for a lynching, and many of them were full of liquor and hardly knew what they did. Squire Joe mounted a dry goods box and told the crowd to disperse, and he would take care of the prisoner with the help of the constable and he should have the benefit of the law, at the same time drawing his pistol. Some of the crazy, drunken fellows did not like to yield to Miller's proposition, but when they saw he was in earnest and most of the miners were with him, they gave up, and the prisoner was taken to Yreka, the county seat, and lodged in jail the next day, Monday . The poor Indian said he was innocent of the crime of killing the saloon keeper, as they were good friends and always had been, but the circumstances were against him. He was found in the saloon dead drunk, with his jackknife in his hand, covered with blood, and the same knife had been used to kill the bartender, as several cuts or stabs showed that his knife was the weapon used in the killing. It seemed to the onlookers that it was a crime done by poor Bill when intoxicated, and he did not know what he did. At the sitting of the court in Yreka, he was tried for the murder of the bartender and was pronounced guilty of the crime, and in due course of time hung, all the time pleading his innocence. Upon the scaffold his last words were, "1 am innocent." The real culprit was the man found in the barroom with the dead man and drunken Indian. He feigned drunkenness to cover his crime and fasten the deed upon the Indian. This was his confession some two years afterward. He killed another man, and when about to be hung he confessed that he killed the saloon keeper at Scott's Bar and the Indian had no hand in it. TO BE CONTINUED.
Wyoming County Herald, Perry, New York, April 22, 1904, page 1WESTERN TRAVELS
He went to the
saloon to settle an old grudge with the bartender, calling for
cards and whiskey, proposed a game for the drinks, and the three of
them played until the two were dead drunk. Then taking the knife from
the Indian's pocket, he stabbed the other man to death, and then put
the bloody knife into the hand of the owner. Then coolly laid himself
down near his victim and waited for morning to come, and when called
upon to tell what he knew about the affair, he said the Indian and
bartender had some words in the night and he thought the killing was
done after he got full of whiskey and was laid out to rest, or after he
became unconscious from strong drink. A very fine story to tell a jury,
and to accuse an innocent man. This man's evidence and finding the
half-breed's knife was all the proof there was against the poor Indian,
and why they hung the wrong man.of James A. Austin of Bliss-- (CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK) Our claim did not pay very well, and Miller went to the mines near Yreka, where he had some friends. I purchased a team in the spring, a pair of oxen, and went furnishing the miners with timber for their drifts to keep the dirt from caving down upon them. I was doing well and making lots of money, and should have stuck to my teaming and let mining alone. But there was a big enterprise about to be started, and I, like hundreds of others, took the chances of getting rich. This was no more nor less than damming Scott's River, raising it out of its channel and carrying it about three miles in a sluice twelve feet wide and three feet high. Not a very small undertaking, when we take into consideration that there was no sawmills in that country then, and this large amount of lumber had to be sawed by hand or in pits where the log is rolled upon poles that have one end laying on the ground and the other end flattened and put upon posts about five feet high. The log is flattened so that it will lay steady, then lined up on both sides and the sawyers stand one on top of the log and the other under it. It is hard work and but few can stand it. The lumber cost about one hundred dollars per thousand feet. Well there was about five or six hundred men engaged in the undertaking, and they were all men inured to hardships and they worked like beavers, got their dam in their sluice done and the water running through it, and some of the companies had got to the bedrock (each company had so many feet in width) and just commenced taking out the gold. Other companions were not quite down yet to the rock when it began to rain. The water ran from the hills, filling every rivulet. Soon the river came rushing down like mad, and its fury washed our summer's work into the Klamath River and from there into the Pacific Ocean. All was gone, our work and thousands of dollars in money, paid out for timber, lumber and our living all this time. To say there was a lot of homesick fellows or men is no name for it. Some gave up and thought to drown their trouble in drinking and gambling, some left for other mines, and many left with their store bills unpaid and went no one knew where. Of course my work had been mostly for those men operating in the river companies, and I lost all the work I had done for them. I sold my team and went into the surface digging below Rich Gulch, and I worked there the winter of '57 and '58, but found very little gold. We were startled one day with the report of a man having been killed on Junction Bar, about one-half mile below where I was at work. Running to the claim of a Mr. Anderson, we found that he had been caught in a rope that wound around a post to draw up the pay dirt from the pit or hole where he had four men at work. As one car was filled the men below by pulling a cord rang a bell for him to pull the car up and let the other one down. They had filled their car and rang the bell for the return car. They waited for some time, and not hearing any noise above, one of the men ran up the incline to the top and found Anderson wound tight to the post with his arms around it. The two-inch cable had wound from the knees to the neck, crushing every bone in his body, and he was a horrible sight to look at. Some thought it a case of suicide; others thought it an accident. His men said that he had acted strangely for some time. It was known that he had a large amount of gold hid away somewhere, and for many days there were gangs of men looking for the hidden treasure, but no one ever found it that let it be known. The power used to run these cars was obtained by a wooden shaft connecting with a wheel run by the current of the river, a square piece of timber 12x12 inches, some fifty and some twenty-five feet long, on one end of which was the wheel running in the river with levers to raise or lower it at will. They were used to pump the water from the hole or shaft as well as to raise the dirt. ----
A CURIOUS SAFE TO KEEP GOLD IN.
While speaking of
Anderson's hidden gold, recalls a little circumstance of the year
before when I was selling the miners milk, and traveled by the miners'
safe twice every day for six months or more. Just below Whiting Hill (a
very rich claim) was quite a large flat, and a number of companies had
commenced near the river and run drifts back towards the hills or
mountain until they had struck the old channel or bed of the river. In
this nearly all struck rich leads and took out fortunes.Among the rest was two brothers by the name of Preston. They had worked a number of years and at length reached the old river bed and found it rich, so rich that they sold their claim for a high price and made calculations to leave for the States soon, but before they left they wanted to have a good time with the boys (the miners near them) and invited them to their cabin to have supper before they left. Their cabin was about midway of the claim and close to the trail, running up and down the river. I stopped at the house every day and left milk, receiving my pay every Sunday. This particular day I left them more milk than usual, and I was invited to their supper. They had all the goodies that could be had there and a good time generally. Everything passed pleasantly and the brothers said that they had some presents to make, that is, they were going to give away their household goods, such as they had, picks, shovels, pans, etc. TO BE CONTINUED.
Wyoming County Herald, Perry, New York, April 29, 1904, page 1WESTERN TRAVELS
To one miner they gave
a new ax with the understanding that he should use it so long for
them and do as they bid him. One of the boys acted as captain and ordered
us to fall into line by twos and follow him and the man that had the
ax. They led us about four rods from the house and halted us around a
small oak stump, about three feet high with a hollow that one could run
his hand down quite easily. Then the man with the ax was told to cut
around the stump, but not cut through into the hollow. After the roots
were cut the captain bade us to stand back a little and he with his
hands pulled it over and what do you think was there, only a little bag
of gold dust. The nice little sum of ten thousand dollars had lain
there day after day, night after night, close to the trail where
hundreds of men passed every day, but never thought of cracking that
safe. To say that the company was greatly surprised is no name for the
astonishment that was shown in every man's countenance when they were
told how much that little bag of gold contained, for they had supposed
that the boys were only just making a living. This story would not be
complete unless I told you how they came near losing the whole sum. of James A. Austin of Bliss-- (CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK) They left their shanty and went to a private boarding house to stay all night and attend a meeting of the Masons, given in honor of their good standing in the order and their return to the States. We think they had a good time, they must, by what was said the next day. The night passed and the boys had no sleep, and were just ready to mount the express mules, and setting the bag of gold upon the table in the parlor, stepped to the kitchen to bid the ladies goodbye just a moment. When they returned the little bag was gone. Then there was hurrying to and fro through the house to see who was there who would have taken the gold. No one had seen the bag, and only one man, a boarder, had been around. He was in his room adjoining the parlor and saw them set the bag down and leave it. When questioned about it he knew nothing and had not seen it. The express rider had seen this same man come out and go around the house to the kitchen, entering there and shaking hands with the boys, bidding them goodbye with the rest, returning to the parlor with them to find their many years of hard labor gone. This would-be friend was foremost man in looking about the house to see who had been there and was very much excited. By this time quite a number of miners and other men had gathered there, some of their brother Masons, and after some deliberation [they decided] the man who was seen to leave the room and go around the house was the thief, and plainly told him so. Pretty rough talk was used and Judge Lynch was talked of. At last this man had to tell that when he saw the gold and no one near, he grabbed it and thought to go to the mountain, but in passing out dropped the bag into a tub of water sitting on the porch and then re-entered the house to throw suspicion from him, intending to leave when night came with his booty. He was expelled from the Masons and invited to leave that part of the country by a committee of miners. The Preston brothers got their gold and left for the States, not caring to take any more chances in that wild country. My claim not paying very well and being pretty well worked down, I went back to the ranch (Heard's & Lytle's) and stayed there until the fall of 1859. Having to go to Oregon on business, I left for that country, stopping a few days with old friends in Yreka. I had a good time and almost regretted to leave them, but bidding them goodbye, I mounted my horse and rode away, crossing Shasta River where I had so often crossed. I rode down Shasta Valley to Klamath River and crossed it near a mining town called Deadwood, and followed the creek by the same name to the foot of Siskiyou Mountain; stopped overnight at Cole Mountain House, kept by two brothers of that name and a maiden sister. I learned during the evening that they were from the state of New York, and had taken up land claims amounting to over nine hundred acres and had fruit trees set out and bearing the third year after setting. I thought that a remarkable thing for trees to bear fruit so young, but found it a common occurrence in lower Oregon. The next morning I was astride my pony early and crossed the Siskiyou and got to Applegate's Mountain House on the other side in time for dinner. Mr. Applegate was one of the early pioneers of Oregon and at that time was Indian Agent for Oregon and was well liked by most of the different bands of Indians under his supervision. He gave me a pretty good description of the country I was going to see, and told me my best road to take. It was five miles to his nearest neighbors, and he said they were looking for an Indian outbreak before long, by a tribe that roamed the Siskiyou Mountain between him and California. After dinner I resumed my journey, passing down Ashland Creek to Ashland Village, a small hamlet in the hills; from there to Phoenix, another small place six miles below on the same stream, passing over some very fine farming lands. This was in Rogue River Valley. This valley is forty or fifty miles long and from ten to twenty miles wide. In going to the river crossing I left Jacksonville, the county seat of Jackson County. I crossed the river, and had to travel about five miles down the river before I could find a place to stop. During the evening's conversation the gentleman, the man of the house, said the Indians about there had an old tradition about the formation of Rogue River. They said the Rogue River Valley many years ago was a vast lake, a sheet of water surrounded by mountains, and full of fish, and in course of time two mountains at the lower end of the valley got to fighting, growling at each other, then throwing red-hot rocks and stones at one another, and at last one knocked the other over and that let the water of the lake out and formed the river. Its course was westward and it helped to enlarge the Klamath River. After breakfast I saddled my horse and rode on toward the city of Umpqua, passing some very fine farms, where the farmers were just commencing to make themselves homes. TO BE CONTINUED.
Wyoming County Herald, Perry, New York, May 6, 1904, page 1WESTERN TRAVELS
Towards night it commenced
to rain, and passing through quite a large piece of woods I saw ahead
of me a house, and a man going across the road to his barn. Riding up
to where he was I inquired if he could keep me all night. He made some
excuses but said if his wife was willing, he would keep me. He called
to some children standing in the door, and called one by name (Bessie)
to come out to where he was. He introduced her to me as his wife (a
mere child, and he a gray-headed man of sixty years), asked her if she
could give me a place to rest and something to eat. She with a smile
thought she could, and hurried away to the house to prepare supper for
the family of six persons besides myself.of James A. Austin of Bliss-- (CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK) I went to the barn with the man and took care of my horse, then followed him into the house, where I found the girl wife, and four other children, some of them older than the wife. Our supper was soon ready, by the help of the old man, as I saw that he had to direct the wife how to do many things about the house. Be that as it may we had a good meal, and I found the young lady quite a sensible and sociable girl, for one of her age and the chance she had. After doing his chores Mr. Snelling came in, and during the evening he told me how he happened to marry a girl so young. He said that he was her own uncle, and her mother died on the plains, her father died soon after reaching Oregon, and that he took up his brother's claim, beside the claim he was on. Two years before his wife had died, leaving him a widower. Now he was entitled to half a section of land; if he had a wife he could with her hold a section. Now this girl was not old enough to hold her father's claim, and to save the land for the girl, he had married her. This was his excuse for having so young a wife and that wife his niece. This law as it was then was the curseof Oregon and California. It allowed a man and wife a section of land and each child of such an age, a quarter section. Some men that I saw had twelve hundred acres in one body of as nice land as ever lay outdoors, while if it was divided up into smaller farms, there would be more inhabitants and the country would be richer. After leaving Snelling's ranch I passed some mining country and rode most of the way through timber or rather oak openings, scrub oak and fir, some call it yellow pine. At night I reached the city of Winqua [Roseburg?], at the head of Umpqua Valley in sight of Governor Jo Lane's ranch of one mile square, or as I called it Jo Lane's mud hole. As I will have occasion to speak of it again I will leave it here. The city or village was quite lively for a town of its size, and I found a good wagon shop where they were turning out good wagons and buggies, but I could not make them see that my patent brake was just what they wanted. From this place I rode to the city of Albany, named after the city of that name on the Hudson River. The settlers were mostly New Yorkers, and thought they had found the Paradise. In fact I almost thought so too. The city was built upon the right bank of the great Willamette River, and looking away to the south and east for eleven miles or more was an almost level plain of as fine land as the sun ever shone upon, with numerous farm houses and outbuildings, and mostly fenced with good board or rail fence. Not finding the man here I came to see, my old partner, I stopped for the night. In the morning I was directed to the Santiam River, twelve miles from Albany, down the Willamette River to Mr. Griggs' ranch of twelve hundred acres. This was a lovely place with fruit trees of all kinds, with a mill running by the water taken from the Santiam River. This man was an early settler and had his choice in making his claim. My man was not here and I had six miles to go before I found him, and my course was south to the edge of the timber or the foothills rising from the plain. Here I found my partner from New York state, and several other families from the same state were located near here. The Lees, Plumb and Stearns families were in the timber or oak openings, where some of them had fine fruit of all kinds and some of the best apples, pears and plums I ever saw or ate were in Philander Lee's orchard. This orchard was set out in a creek bottom near where Mr. Lee had quite an extensive nursery, and supplied the country around with fruit trees. The settlers here had a delightful view of the country along the Willamette River, and the Coast Range of mountains forty or fifty miles distant. I stopped through the winter of '59 and '60 in this neighborhood and made myself useful in more ways than one. My old friend Billy May was a cooper and shingle weaver, and I stole the two trades by working with him, not much of a steal either, as there was but little money afloat there at that time. Sometimes I would work with Mr. Lee in his nursery for a few days, and thereby got an insight into the mystery of grafting wax. I said there was but little money there, as the currency used was cattle and horses. If I owed a sum of money and it was due, I would go to the man and say, "Here I have so many horses and cattle, come and take until you are satisfied," this would turn them over to his creditor, and so they would pass them around until all were satisfied. Well, the winter wore away before I was aware it had gone. Winter did I say? why bless me, we had no winter, just a few white frosts, warm sunshine weather, with plenty of showers for the field. On the fifteenth day of April 1860, I sat down upon the ground, picked and ate all the wild strawberries I wanted. TO BE CONTINUED.
Wyoming County Herald, Perry, New York, May 13, 1904, page 1WESTERN TRAVELS
The low hills were red
with strawberries, which were larger than our cultivated berries in
this country. The people in the foothills, as they were called, had a
very bad weed to contend with, that was the fern, or brake as we call
it. This weed grew to a great height in the woods, and on some of
the farms. When it was subdued the land proved to be first-rate grain
and grass lands.of James A. Austin of Bliss-- (CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK) Towards the last of April 1860, I was getting ready to return to California when some of the boys and men proposed a prospecting trip to the headwaters of the Santiam River, distant about fifty miles. This river heads at the foot of Mount Jefferson, a brother of Mount Hood in the Cascade Range of mountains. As I was fond of adventures and wanted to see the country, it needed but a few words to have me tell them I would join the party. My friend May, several of the Lee's and their friends joined it, and we were to meet at Mr. Cusick's ranch, ten miles from Leesville up on the north side of the Santiam River. At the day appointed we were there, and found more of the company. Mr. Cusick's two sons and some of their neighbors were on the list, making in all eighteen men. We accepted the hospitality of the Cusicks and camped for the night in their house. Besides the lady, Mrs. Cusick, there were two young ladies, who during the afternoon and evening gave us some good music with some of the Lees to help them. These were some of the first settlers in Oregon, and they had a fine place and everything comfortable about there, and like the most of the pioneers in any new country they liked to have company and enjoyed themselves telling of their trouble on the plains and with the Indians after they got there. Some of us listened to the old folks' tale of their hardships in early days, while some of the younger fellows made love to the girls until near midnight. Bright and early we were up and had our horses ready, and as soon as breakfast was over we were in our saddles and moving away with the best wishes of the ladies of the house and our thanks to them for their hospitality. We had no captain or leader other than the older men that were with us. We all followed our own inclination generally, and we were the first white men that had ever ascended that river. After traveling some seven miles we came to the river at the mouth of Seven Mile Canyon. Here we had to climb the mountain to get above the huge rocks that were in the canyon. Along this ridge was any amount of large blue berries, and we frightened many a bear away that was up there after his dinner. They would go crashing down through the brush into the dark canyon several hundred feet below us. While we could not see the top of the mountain to the north of us, it was about night when we struck the plain above the canyon. Here was several hundred acres of fine fir timber and good feed for our horses. Tired and hungry, we unpacked our horses and let them graze, while a part of the company took their guns and went after game. The others prepared the supper, and when it was ready they fired two guns in quick succession, a signal to the hunters. The boys were not far off, and made their appearance pretty soon. Some of them had seen elk signs and were in haste to get a shot at them, so after supper went out again and found the hills cut up with numerous trails or paths as though a large band of cattle had been there, but they did not see any elk that night and came to camp pretty well tired out and to try them again. Well, we laid our plans for the morrow and were soon in bed, all but two of the number who were guards, and they took turns to look after the horses for fear of the mountain lion and wolves. At daylight we were on our tops [toes?] and ready for a trip of twenty-five miles on foot. The program was to leave two men in camp and two men to hunt. The remaining fourteen men were to go as far as they could and return the next day. As I said before we left the camp early and followed the river for about ten miles; here we found a red kind of dirt that generally contained gold. We found some particles of gold but not enough to pay for working, we thought. We left four men here to try the river banks and hills around to see what was in them. The remaining ten continued up the river until we could step across it, where it had worn a channel in the solid rock. Along the banks we found fish bones and some time almost a whole fish five and six feet long. Some of these carcasses had little spots or holes about as large as a two-shilling piece. What did this we could not tell, but came to the conclusion that it must be eels or leeches, that when these salmon came here to spawn these leeches fastened upon them and killed them, But here was a puzzle; how did those fish get here from the ocean, they must have come up the river through Seven Mile Canyon and jumped the fifty or more falls that varied in height from ten to twenty feet. I know by actual measurement, as one of the Lees and myself measured the most of them on our return home. We went up the river until it was a small creek, then left it and crossed a very high ridge of the Cascades. As we came to the foot of the ridge or part way up we found a little lake of about three acres in size, and good grass growing at the foot of the lake where the water ran down the hillside a few rods. From this lake to the top of the ridge was some seven or eight hundred feet; upon two sides [of] perpendicular rocks nature had formed a very narrow pathway. TO BE CONTINUED.
Wyoming County Herald, Perry, New York, May 20, 1904, page 2WESTERN TRAVELS
On top not more than five
or six feet wide, and just opposite to the lake and almost
under us, was a very dark canyon or gorge, and the sides were
covered with small timber, and as we could see there was timber on the
hills, we stopped here to view the scenery and eat our lunch.
There was a large rock just upon this ridge nearly as large as a barrel,
and some of the boys proposed to roll it down into the
dark hole, and at it they went. It went many hundred feet before
it struck, and then bounded down through the trees for a long distance.
As the rock struck the ground first, instantly there darted out of the
gorge a huge panther or lion and made lively tracks along the side of
the mountain to the northeast. This was fun for the boys but death to
the lion. I saw the rock when it hit him.of James A. Austin of Bliss-- (CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK) We soon gathered up our traps and commenced the descent to Jefferson Creek, as we named it, for it headed very near that mountain. Following up this creek three or four miles we found what we thought were silver mines, and took up claims for all the men we knew, and many we did not know. The veins in the rock were from one inch to six feet wide. We dug some of the ore and tried to melt it as we did gold, but could not. Then we sent some of it to Portland to have it tested. They called it platinum, a very valuable mineral. We staked our claims and started to retrace our steps towards home, getting across the ridge and camping near the lake on the west side. Every man was worth millions and could make his friends all rich. But we did not take into account the millions it would take to open and work the claims, if the minerals were worth what we supposed them to be. Our night's rest was broken once or twice by wild varmints howling on the divide above us. We were not afraid of Indians, for it was said by their old men that they had never been above Seven Mile Canyon. As it was we rested well, and early the next morning found the boys falling towards home. About noon we reached the gold mines and found that our men had not found anything that was very rich, so we all started for camp, and about dusk got into the timber and signaled them by firing two guns, and quick the response came by the men in the camp firing one gun. We were not long in getting to where we could see the light of their fire, then we gave one prolonged whoop and rushed into camp. The first thing that met our gaze was one-half of a huge elk, hung to the limb of a tree and nicely barbecued; that is, roasted with pieces of bacon or pork sticking into holes cut for that purpose, making a dish that a person might envy. Besides they had dried the other half to take home. The boys were soon cutting and eating elk steak with hard bread and coffee. Some were rather greedy and filled their stomachs too full and before morning were suffering with the colic and rolling upon the ground, and when morning came there were not many of the company that came to time when breakfast was ready. After our morning meal was over we packed our traps and what meat we could carry and started for the head of the canyon. When we got there, Norman Lee and myself thought we would try and go down the river through the canyon. This was a pretty big undertaking, as we were or would be the first men that had ever undertaken to go through the gorge. We gave our horses into the care of the other men with instructions to wait for us below the canyon. We took a lunch and some ropes and our pistols in order; we started down the stream which was not very large at that time. If it had been we could not have gone one mile down it, as it was we had to let ourselves down sometimes ten to twenty feet, often alighting in water up to our arms. As it was a very warm day the water kept us quite cool. The wild animals thought we were trespassing upon their grounds; two panthers at one time climbed the mountain on the south side and looked or acted as though they would like to taste of us. The old tiger snarled at us and walked very slow. We could see the boys for a long time upon the trail; they looked like little boys they were so far above us. Lee and myself worked hard until dark, and we had about one mile to go yet, the worst part of the ground to go over. We could see the light from the fire the boys had made, shot up through the rocks and trees, inviting us to supper. We thought we had earned honor enough for one day so we left the river and made for the trail, some six hundred feet above us, over rocks and through the bushes. We climbed until we were pretty near tired out, and when we found the trail we were not long in getting to camp and found some of the boys fishing by firelight while others were cooking the fish and getting supper ready. Lee and myself did good justice to the dishes set before us. We had elk steak and roasted elk and fish fried and roasted in ashes and hot coals; this was done by wrapping wet paper aground them, then covering a few ashes over and then the hot coals. A few minutes will cook them nicely. Take them out and the meat will leave the bones and then season to suit the taste, an Indian or mountain man's fish when on the tramp. The evening was passed by hearing some of the older men of the party tell yarns of the older times. After a good night's rest and breakfast over, we mounted and rode to Mr. Cusick's place, where we had dinner and laid our plans for four of the company to go to the mines once each month during the summer; we had to do this to hold the claims. I went there every month but one during the summer, and it rained every time. TO BE CONTINUED.
Wyoming County Herald, Perry, New York, May 27, 1904, page 2WESTERN TRAVELS
When we reached Leesville
and told what we had seen or found, there was great excitement, and all
wanted a slice of the good thing. Of course we had made claims for the
most of them; still there was an itching to see for themselves, and the
most of the fellows went there during the summer. We tried to melt the
ore in a stone crucible on a blacksmith's forge, but the crucible
would melt before the ore melted, and we sent some to Salem and
Portland and they called it platinum.of James A. Austin of Bliss-- (CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK) I passed the summer here working with May and Lee, most of the time in the nursery business. In the fall I helped gather Mr. Lee's fruit, and from a number of his eight-year-old apple trees we picked ten bushels of good sound apples, a big yield of fruit. In October it commenced to rain and in the valley it rained for one hundred days, it was said every day. Not a hard rain every day, but some days it would come like pouring water through a tin sieve. At the same time it was snowing on the mountains and filling all the ravines and hills with snow. In a few days the snow began to melt on the hills, running into the small streams from there to the larger creeks and finally into the rivers. The great Willamette River began to rise slowly at first and then it came down through the valley like a race horse, tearing its way through all obstructions; higher and higher it came, filling the channel full. It then leaped over its banks and spread out for miles over that beautiful valley. Grain fields were overrun, stacks of hay and grain, cattle, sheep and horses were swept away, and many fine horses were caught in that current and whirled to pieces, while many of the inmates barely escaped with their lives, and quite a number were lost. About twenty miles from where I was, up the river, lived a man and his family upon an island; he was an acquaintance of mine from California, and I will have to go back here to give a little of his history. In the winter of 1855, '56, there came into Scott's Valley a young man and his family, consisting of his wife and two little girls, as nice and as happy a family as we often see. The man's name was Abel George, a strong, healthy young man, a good citizen and a good neighbor to live by, and his lovely wife and pretty children were admired by all. He lived there about one year, then sold his place and moved to Yreka, the county seat. The next I heard from George he had gone to Jacksonville, Oregon. A year or two afterward I heard that he had killed a man while drunk. It was in this way: He had got to drinking and gambling in Jacksonville, and one morning after he had gambled all night and had lost all of his money, he arose from the table and going to the bar he called for the last drink, and drink it at the expense of those who had won all of his money. Setting down his glass he drew his pistol from his belt and with an oath started for the door, telling the rest of the company that he would have a man for his breakfast. As chance would have it he saw a miner coming up the road after his meat for the day, not thinking of danger in the city and in open daylight. George walked out and shot him off his mule, killing him instantly. Of course he did not try to get away from the law, but belonging to a secret order he was tried before a jury of his own order and pronounced insane and not liable for what he had done. A year or two passed, and the next I heard of George he had gone to the Willamette Valley and bought an island farm and made of it a home and had everything around him, I was told, and was once more a man. But that rushing river came over his farm, rising higher and higher and sweeping his cattle, horses and grain away, then his barn and outhouses were taken from their foundations and went whirling down the rushing current. The water came into the house, driving him and his family into the chamber. Then the house commenced to move from its foundation, the last refuge gone. He quickly put his family into his boat and the current took them down the river, while the strong man was unable to do anything to save his precious load. On and on they go, hoping some friendly hand will come and save them. That husband, that father, looks ahead and thinks he sees a chance to make the shore below the top of a tree that had fallen partly into the river, the last chance, the only hope, of that desperate man. He pulls with all his might and almost reaches the friendly tree, when in an instant his boat is capsized and all are thrown into the water. George throws one child onto the bank, ties his wife to the limb of the tree and starts for the remaining child just in time to see her disappear under the driftwood. Returning as quickly as he could he found his helpless wife still holding her dead baby boy in one arm; the other arm was tied to the tree. With his last effort he lifted his wife and dead baby to the shore, and then completely overdone made out to get there himself. It was some twenty-four hours before they were found and rescued. His wife never recovered from the shock and died soon afterward. Abel George, the last I heard of him, was a raving maniac. [See the Abel George page for more reliable accounts.] TO BE CONTINUED.
Wyoming County Herald, Perry, New York, June 3, 1904, page 2WESTERN TRAVELS
From Leesville where I
was we could see far away up the river and down the same, and the whole
body seemed to be one vast lake or body of water. Many of the farmers
lost everything but their land, and in many places that was covered with
sand and debris several feet deep, rendering it unfit for use. Some
lost many acres of their bottom land, the best they had. About the last
of March in 1861, Mr. Lee proposed to go to Southern Oregon, Jackson
County, with fruit trees. Sometime in April we were ready and started. Each of us had a team; Lee had four
horses while I had only two, we found the roads very muddy and in some
places almost impassable. One of these places was across "Old Joe
Lane's mud hole."of James A. Austin of Bliss-- (CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK) The highway or road was so bad that loaded teams could not go through. We got partway through and was stuck in the mud. Leaving our teams we went into the house and finding the son there asked the privilege of driving across his lot, a meadow, the other half mile. We could do so by paying him one dollar apiece, a pretty heavy toll. As there was no other way to get around him we paid the money, but cursed him in our minds for being a hog. Sometimes on the mountain the horses were in the mud up to their sides, and the wagon box would push the mud for rods at a time. It was so thin it did not hinder the teams much to go through it, but it took the hair off from Lee's horses' legs because he was afraid to pay for whiskey to wash their legs after cleaning. Wherever the mud dried on it was sure to peel the hair. When we got to our stopping place his team could hardly go, while mine gained all the way up, or all the time for two weeks that we were on the road. In an early day everything was packed on horses and mules from Oregon to California, and I remember of hearing the packers tell about taking chickens and other things they wanted without paying for them. The settlers on the route got afraid of them because they were armed and some of them were thieves and would take washing off the line and ride away with them when there was no men around. It was said that when the children saw the packers coming they would run to the house crying mama, fetch in your clothes, the packers are coming. Of course they were not all such degraded characters. Some good and hard-working men followed the packing business. When Lee and I got to Rogue River we thought we would go up around the head of the valley, where he had some friends and thought they would buy some fruit trees and vines. It rained while we were going up and we got along very well; we sold the most of our loads and started down the valley the next day, and drove into a streak of country where we could not draw an empty wagon more than twice its length before we were obliged to shovel the mud from the wheels. We were nearly half a day going three miles, then unhitched our teams and went to a farmer's nearby and he told us to stop with him until morning and then we could get along. He was right; the ground was frozen in the morning so it did not stick to the wagons, and we drove to the little town of Phoenix, where we disposed of the last of our loads and Lee started for home the next day. I wanted to dispose of my team and then intended to go back to Leesville again. It was some time before I could sell, and then only one horse and the wagon. While waiting to sell the other horse I had a chance to work in the mines near town and went to work and worked for several weeks and then was taken sick and was obliged to quit work and to go to town and live. ----
While working in the
mines I was employed by a man by the name of William Burns. He had a
son by the same name, but went by the name of Billy Burns. The old man
had his shanty near the claim, and his wife did the cooking for the
men, seven in number, including the son Billy. We were sluicing in a
hard cement, that is, running the water over the dirt while we picked
it loose near the bedrock and the water would wash away the dirt and
leave the gold on
the rock. We would cave off quite a strip at a time by digging under it
and then running the water over the top and making holes for the water
to soak into the ground and cave it off.THE DINNER BELL THAT SAVED SEVEN OF US. We had just got a slice about four feet wide and ten feet deep, soaked up on top and was digging under it, on a rock seven of us in a row all in a hole about three feet wide and the top four or five feet above our heads. The dinner bell rang and we left our work to go to our dinners; we had just got washed and sat down commencing to eat, when we were startled by hearing a rumbling noise and going to the door, saw that our bank of dirt had caved off and shut our ditch completely up. There were some pale faces that looked at the narrow escape they had made, none of them could have got out except myself, and I might have been caught, as I worked at the lower end of the ditch, but was very often several feet up the sluice and my chance was like the rest when there. The men went back to their dinners, thankful that the bell had rung in time to save us. TO BE CONTINUED.
Wyoming County Herald, Perry, New York, June 10, 1904, page 2WESTERN TRAVELS
My stopping place was with
Al Lee, a justice of the peace; he also kept a livery stable and run a
saloon. He was a man with many irons in the fire, yet he managed to
keep them all going when I was there. I acted as constable, hostler and
saloon man. I had a desire to see Pacific Ocean, and it was not long
after I got over my sickness before I had a chance to look upon that
mighty water. A teamster, by the name of George Anderson, that was
hauling goods over the Coast Range mountains to Phoenix, the town where
I stopped when I was taken sick, and having a contract to deliver the
merchants' goods that kept a store there in town, he sent for me and
wanted me to drive his team over the mountain, eighty miles to Crescent
City, and get a load of hardware.of James A. Austin of Bliss-- (CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK) I tried to be excused from going, but to accommodate a sick man I consented to go. George had four large, fat mules, and they were driven by a jerk line, something I knew nothing about using and told George so. He said he would risk the mules if I would go. There was another man going, Ben Bishop by name, and I learned from seeing him drive (as he was in the lead), how to drive with a single line before we reached the mountain, twenty-five miles. We got to the mountain house on the east side and stopped for the night. From the valley to this house the roadbed was almost a solid rock or a mass of rocks. From there down the mountain west, there was more dirt and gravel. Early the next morning we were active and at night stopped at the house at the foot of the mountain on the west side. Soon afterward we started in the morning to go down the mountain; we came in view of the ocean and what a sight, there she lay as far as the eye could see, not a ripple could be seen upon her placid bosom, but in the distance north and south could be seen vessels under full sail. At last I had seen the great Pacific Ocean, and soon would see another wonder of that country, some of the large redwood trees. About three miles from the mountain house we came to this mammoth timber, and just as we entered the forest we passed the whole length of one of the fallen monsters and Bishop being ahead had got around the butt of the tree as I came to it, both of us standing in our wagons, neither could see the other's head. We estimated this fellow to be between three-fifty and four hundred feet long. Our road for ten miles was through this kind of timber, and it was pretty crooked winding around them to keep off the roots. We got to the city, loaded up and drove back to the lower mountain house that night. Another team left with us and kept our company all the way home. Early the following morning we were on the road. By making a circuit of nine miles up a very steep grade we found ourselves at dark just one mile from where we started in the morning. Our teams were very tired and I found myself almost used up. In the afternoon and in fact nearly all day the hot sun poured its scalding rays down upon us so at times that we could hardly get our breath. The water ran from our teams as though they had just come out of the river. The poor things seemed to want to stop for the night as well as the men. Before daylight we were again on the road; from here to the house on top of the mountain the grade was easier and we made the ten miles before noon, but stopped and fed our teams and let them rest some two hours, then we had fifteen miles over a rocky road most of the way, and turning around the ridges one was in danger of missing the turn and going (the devil knows where) for miles down the mountain. About five miles of this road we had to set the brake and make the hind mules hold with all their might, and to make it more dangerous just as we got on to this pike, darkness and rain overtook us; it was so dark that sitting on my wheel mule I could not see his ears. As I was behind of the other two teams, I caught a glimpse of the road at times, by the fire from the horses' feet [sparks from horseshoes], and my mules drove themselves most of the way down the hill. We were all very thankful to get down on the flats with our lives, and without any accident to our teams. Sometimes teams are pushed so hard they go over the bank and that is generally the last seen of them. Before we got to the stopping place we found the rain had swollen the creek so that it was dangerous to cross, and the hotel man came with lights and directed us where to go. We passed that danger safely and found a good house to stop at. I for one vowed that I would never take any more chances on that mountain, and I think I never will. From this place home we had almost a level road but found it quite wet and muddy most of the way. When I reached home Anderson wanted me to go right back the next day. I could not see it in that light and told him money could not hire me to go and take the chances of losing my life. Ben Bishop, the man that was with the other team, was mining about two miles from town in Eagle Gulch, and he wanted me to help him a few days. I rested a day or two and then went up to Ben's, and we worked in his hydraulic claim, that is, took the water through a six-inch canvas hose about three hundred feet, and forced it through a copper pipe, five feet long, and the small end one inch in diameter. The heft or force of the water through this pipe was powerful enough to force the dirt from the bedrock and break it to pieces so that the water would take it away and leave the gold on the rock, from where it was taken into pans and all the dirt and stones washed out. TO BE CONTINUED.
Wyoming County Herald, Perry, New York, June 17, 1904, page 2No installment was printed in the June 24 edition.
WESTERN TRAVELS
I had been here but a few
days when I came near being killed. I was picking out the stones from
the dirt and water and piling them on one side close to the bank where
it was eight or nine feet high; I had just laid up a heavy stone and
turned to get more when this bank caved over onto me and completely
covered me up, filling my mouth, eyes and ears full of sand. Bishop
turned the hose upon me and soon relieved me of the weight of the dirt
that covered me over. It all happened in a few seconds, but when I got
to the shanty I found my back was very lame, besides several bruises
upon my arms and legs. It was a number of days before I could get
around, and when I did my back was very painful.of James A. Austin of Bliss-- (CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK) I sent word to my friend Lee and he came up after me, or rather he had business to see to at Ashland, four miles beyond the Gulch, and called to say that he would take me home with him. His little Spanish poodle was riding with him, and when he stopped the dog jumped out and run to me. I petted him a little and he ran up to the hillside, a few rods from us, and while we were talking we heard the swoop of an eagle and looking up saw him dive to the ground and take something into his talons and fly away towards his nest about three miles off, on Eagle Mountain [probably Anderson Butte], where there were very rough and cragged rocks, and the eagles could be seen there every clear day, sailing around. About the time he came down we heard the dog yip or bark and thought he was after a rabbit, and when the eagle came down we thought he too was after a rabbit and took one away with him as we supposed. Al left and drove up to Ashland and there missed his dog. It was not long before he came back and asked if the dog was with me. I told him I had not seen the poodle since he had left me. Lee thought it strange he would leave the team, something he had never done before. I got into the buggy and went home with Lee, and his dog was not there, and the wife and children were very much grieved to think the dog was gone or lost. Next day towards evening, the poodle came to town alive and well, except a few loose hairs on his sides; the supposition was that the eagle took him when we heard him come down and took him away to his nest, and that the dog fit [bit?] him so he got away and come home, but how could he get down those steep rocks and find his way through that dark canyon home, that's the puzzle. It was quite late in the fall of 1861 when some men from our place that went to Idaho on a prospecting trip came home and reported that they had struck it rich up in that country. The news spread like wildfire, and most of the men wanted to leave. All occupations were given up for something not visible. Quite a number left that fall, but the rush was in 1862. Had I been well I suppose that I would have been with them; perhaps it was well that I could not go. After I had got partly over my injury at Bishop's and tired of lying around town, there were five or six of us that thought we would take a trip around Eagle Mountain, some twenty miles, and see what we could find in the headwaters of Sterling Creek. ----
Among the number was
an old man from Pennsylvania, said he would go and perhaps get a shot
at a bear, as they were known to be quite plenty on the mountain and in
the timber along the Deadwood and Sterling creeks. They both run
almost from the same springs; one runs north and the other south. This
hunter, his name was Mead, I think, said when we started that all he
wanted was to get sight of a bear; he would show us how to shoot.THE BRAVE HUNTER. We started in the timber, and as we traveled around the mountain we kept rising until we came to the chaparral and whortleberry bushes; above them the mountain was barren. The berries were ripe and the bears came up there about noon for their dinner. We saw pretty soon where they had wallowed in the mud and water to cool themselves. Some of the boys had been telling the Pa. hunter that he would not shoot if he saw an old "griz" coming, but he said he would. We came to a little stream of cool water and thought we would take our lunch as it was near noon, and the sun came down hot. We took the traps off the old mule to let him eat the grass that grew near the creek or spring. We had just commenced to eat when all of a sudden the mule gave a snuff and came running towards us. Looking that way, or a few rods above him, was a monstrous large grizzly. The hunter caught up his gun and stood and looked at the bear until he disappeared in the timber below us. Some of the boys asked Mead why he did not shoot the grizzly, and he said that there was no trees to climb. It was well he did not shoot unless he had killed him on the spot; if he had wounded the bear some of us would have been hurt if not killed. He was a large one, and as he ran past us he broke down bushes that were from five to six inches through. But Mead got sick of hearing about bear. We traveled on through the bushes until near night and had got down near the headwaters of Sterling Creek. We came to an old windfall where the trees had fallen years ago, and the young trees had grown up among the fallen ones and made it pretty hard work to get through them. As it was about camping time we thought we would spread out and try to get some meat for supper. On a rise of ground or point of the mountain about one mile and a half from us we could see a large dead tree. There we were to meet for the night. TO BE CONTINUED.
Wyoming County Herald, Perry, New York, July 1, 1904, page 2WESTERN TRAVELS
The man with the mule
was to keep above the fallen timber, and one man was to keep still
higher on the side of the mountain; the others were to go below along
the creek and through the fallen timber, all within calling distance of
one another. There was a man each side of me and I was getting along as
fast as I could over the logs and under them, and had just come to one
that was higher than my head and lay up from the ground just so I could
crawl under it. I had just got to the tree when up comes an old
grizzly onto the tree and jumps completely over my head. For a second
our eyes met, but the bear did not stop to pass compliments, but kept
on his course, carrying away the quarter of venison he had in his
mouth. Did I shoot, no sir, I was like bruin, too badly scared to
shoot. He got away as fast as he could and I was pleased to see him go,
and I could say no more to the Pa. hunter about bear meat.of James A. Austin of Bliss-- (CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK) In a few moments I heard the report of a gun up the mountainside, and when I got to camp I found some venison there. Billy Burns had killed a deer and brought a quarter of it to camp, and then went back with one of the other men and got the remainder of the deer. After supper we looked around a little to see if there were any signs of gold, and found a few small colors in the sand from the creek. The next day we gave the creek a pretty good prospecting, and found nothing but very small particles of gold, not enough to pay, we thought, and started for home, getting there late at night with some venison but no bear meat. In this year of 1861 after Fort Sumter was fired upon there was recruited in Jackson and Lane counties, Oregon, two companies of men for use in defending the Pacific Coast, and their barracks were located one mile from the town of Phoenix on the government land in some oak and pine timber, and the soil was mostly gravel washed from the hills, and clean so that it made a nice place to parade and exercise their horses. From the barracks to town was a fine road cut through the timber, and it made a nice driveway for the town people when they wanted to exercise their horses. Besides these companies there were the Ashland guards or private company, to protect the settlers in case of the Indians becoming hostile in this county. I was enrolled with the most of the young men that were left in the country, for about this time the Idaho diggings were discovered by some men from our place, and there was a general rush for the new Eldorado. Men left their mines that were paying five and six dollars per day, and some that were paying ten dollars to the man. Farmers left their farms and families to get along as best they could, some with teams, others on horseback, and many on foot carrying their blanket and mining utensils, old and young were alike eager to be the first ones there; many went that never returned, and hundreds went that came back dead broke, as the miners say, dirty, ragged and almost starved, begging their way along the road. As it was, my health was so poor I dare not undertake the trip. Perhaps it was well for me to be so, for had I been well, I certainly would have been inclined to try my fortune with some of those that went from our place. During the winter of sixty-one and two I did but little work and was advised to leave that country and come home if I had a home. I was repeatedly told by the doctors that I had not long to live. In the summer of 1862 there came to our town a one-horse show, a man who went by the name of Professor Henderson, sleight of hand and ventriloquism with some mesmerism was his stock of trade, but he had no team and had to pay high prices to get from one place to another. I had a team and he proposed my carrying him down through the small towns in California and sharing equal with him in the profits of the trip. Our stock of trade consisted of Henderson, a half-blood Indian that made the music with fiddle, banjo, tambourine and sang songs. Then there was a midget of a girl or woman that was twenty-four years of age and weighed forty-six pounds dressed. This lady was something of a songster and a very nice dancer, but her part in the deceit practiced was to be mesmerized by the professor and held horizontally in mid air by his wand. The secret was an iron bar held her up, and the trick was never detected while I traveled with them. We were soon ready and started out for California, crossing the Siskiyou Mountain. We played the first night at Deadwood, a mining town near the Klamath River, and had a good house. From there we passed near Shasta Butte on the west side and followed the creek down to Copperopolis, a new town just started to develop the copper mines there, rather of a poor place for us. We stopped at most of the towns or villages on our route. At Petaluma we had a big house and the professor came before the audience so beastly drunk, I dropped the curtain and invited the people to come and take their money back. Some came and took their money back; many did not. Of course I was angry at the way things went and told Mr. H. he must stop drinking or I should leave him alone. He promised to attend to business and we started out again, going up onto the Coast Range of mountains, or rather up to the geysers and sulfur springs. These springs are so strongly impregnated with sulfur that the atmosphere is full of the vapor. In one night our knives and what change we had was turned black or copper color. Our teeth and fingernails were covered more or less, and yet they called it a healthy place to live in. TO BE CONTINUED.
Wyoming County Herald, Perry, New York, July 8, 1904, page 2WESTERN TRAVELS
From there we drove to
Mayville near the river and played there two nights; the second
night I was taken sick and was obliged to leave the room and go
to my lodgings. The doctor was called and said I had the
typhoid fever. I rode six miles to the next town that day,
and laid there three weeks with but little care; the doctor and
one old man came once a day all this time. The family would look
into the room once in a while, but never came very near me.
They were afraid of the fever and left me to take care of myself. Oh,
how those days and nights dragged along, and I was thankful when
the man came in the morning to bathe my fevered brow.of James A. Austin of Bliss-- (CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK) My company had gone on to the next towns and high times I suppose; one of them came once to see how I was and then left me, expecting I would die, I suppose. The day after my fever turned I heard they were going over the mountain, on to the coast, about sixty miles. As my team was all I had left, I wanted to get to them once more. The third day against the advice of my doctor and all others, I hired a man to take me to the place where they were to play that night, a distance of thirty-five miles. My will, with the cool mountain air, carried me through, but a very weak and tired man when I got to the hotel where they were stopping. Henderson took me in his arms and carried me to his room, where after a good rest and supper, I felt revived and during part of the evening was in the hall where the company performed. Resting here one day, we crossed the mountain to the coast and played at small places and then we turned southward. We came to Napa City and had a good house, but whiskey got the upper hold of Henderson again and spoiled the performance and ended my career as showman. Disposing of one of my horses, wagon and harness, I mounted the other one and rode across the country to Benicia City, where the state's barracks is located, to see several of the boys from Oregon who had deserted from the company raised there. They had been pursued and caught before they had got to the Bay City. Some of them were feeling pretty sore over their situation and did not know what was to be done with the others; [they] tried to laugh it off as a good joke on the enlisting officers who enlisted them. The officers of the barracks thought the boys had done a pretty bad thing in taking the government horses and other things. I could but pity them for enlisting and then deserting. Of course what I said to them I had to say with the guard near us. All I could say was for them not to try to get away again, for it would be worse for them in the end. This Napa Valley I found to be the vineyard of the world, the garden of Eden. Everything grows for miles and miles. I rode through vineyards where the grapes hung in clusters, rich and juicy, peaches and all kinds of fruit in abundance. I made my way across the country towards Oakland. Night coming on, I rode up to a farm house and asked permission to stay all night with them. They were Mexicans and had to call their man, an American, before they knew what I wanted, and then I was told to come in. After taking care of my horse, I entered the house and had to lie down and rest before supper. My long ride had completely prostrated me and I could never have gone the other ten miles to the city of Oakland. The Mexicans at their meals eat one thing at time, first meat, then bread or pudding, fruit comes next, then coffee and nuts to finish up with. It was different from my way of eating and seemed very strange to me, but I tried to follow suit, and do as the Romans did. In the morning the Mexican's girl wanted him to buy my horse for her a saddle horse. Of course they had to try my horse and see if it could run with their running horses. The girl put her saddle onto my horse and mounted and the stable man mounted one of theirs and gave them a few turns up the road and the lady took the mare to her stable, and her father paid me the money and soon had a team to take me to the stage three miles from his place. We were just in time and I was soon rolled into the city of Oakland, across the bay from San Francisco. The ferry boat was soon ready to take us across and I for one, was glad when we reached shore. I found a hotel and soon went to my room and got a good rest and some sleep, which made me feel better. In the evening I went out to view the city and was astonished to see so many fine buildings as I saw on Montgomery Street, the richest street in the city. The piles of gold that one could see through the windows. Gold bricks and silver bricks came into the city every day by the truckload. Tons at a time were taken to the mint and there made into coin, and that coin taken back into the mines and the surrounding country and distributed among the people of all classes. Farmers, merchants, miners and even the gamblers got a share. Of course my health was so poor I could not engage in any very laborious work and had to content myself the best way I could. I kept exercising, walking and riding, sometimes on water, at other times on street cars. The Mission Dolores was a nice place to go to, seven miles for a quarter, and the sights to be seen were many, the adobe building, the beautiful gardens, the veiled nuns, the robed priests and the hundreds of little children under the care of the nuns, and the Father Jesuit; and from here we had a fine view of the bay of San Francisco, and away to the foot of the bay was the village of Santa Rosa sixty miles from us. Sunday was a gala day at the missions; everybody went there who wished to get out of the city. TO BE CONTINUED.
Wyoming County Herald, Perry, New York, July 15, 1904, page 2WESTERN TRAVELS
of James A. Austin of Bliss-- (CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK) A CHINESE GOD.
One night I strolled
around up to the plaza or park, and sat there awhile watching the
people promenading around and through the park, and the hack drivers
coming and going until I got tired, and getting up walked to the
northwest corner of the park and hearing some strange music I followed
the sound and soon found myself in Chinatown. At every door stood
a Chinaman or guard, while in the rooms above could be seen men and
women playing on a triangle and a sort of tambourine and some of them
singing in their native tongue. Watching here for a short time I
saw a Chinaman every few minutes leave the different
houses with a tray full of nuts and cake, and some had fruits and
cake.They would go across the street and soon come back with an empty tray, and this aroused my curiosity to know what they did with their sweetmeats and fruit. Crossing the street and walking back a few steps I soon solved the mystery. In a square lot perhaps a hundred feet from the street was a Chinese Josh or god, with eyes and ears very large and a large mouth, large enough to devour small children. In front of this image was a half circle table and before this table was several Chinamen, kneeling with their faces to the ground or hidden in their hands, and every now and then they would rise up and look upon the table to see if their trays were empty. If they were, they would take them and crawl back a few feet, then rise and go back to their gambling den or to where the music was. I watched several come and go, and when they entered the yard they would fall upon their stomach and crawl to the table and deposit their offering to the god and wait there until he had eaten it up and returned the tray to the table. While standing there and watching I see how the Chinamen were fooled by the priest. From the raise of ground where I stood I could see the priest inside through the eyes and mouth of the image, and when an offering was set upon the table he would come through a slide panel of the image, take the tray and deposit the offering inside and return the tray to the table, the Chinamen thinking or believing he would receive a great blessing from this pile of painted wood and the cunning priest. For an hour I stood there and watched them come and go and all went through with the same performance and seemed to feel relieved when they returned from paying tribute to Josh. As I was waiting for warm weather in the States to come before I dare leave the Pacific Coast, I began to look about to find some light work to do, to keep my mind easy and to strengthen my nerves, as I was very weak from my last sickness, the typhoid fever. It chanced about this time that I met on the street an old friend of mine from the upper country, and he was looking for someone he said, to go to the New Almaden quicksilver mines and take charge of some men that he, with a Chilean, had prospecting for quicksilver. I would not be obliged to work, he said, unless I had a mind to. These mines were about seventy-five miles from San Francisco in a southeast direction. I had to go by water to Santa Rosa sixty miles, then by wagon or horseback the rest of the way. This was in March 1863. I consented to go and try it a few weeks, as I would get the pure mountain air, have a chance to see the country, besides getting well paid for my time. As I said before, I took the boat to Rosa, caught a wagon ride to the smelting works of the Almaden Co., ten miles, then I had Foot and Walker's train the remaining five miles. A pretty long walk for me at that time. About one mile from where I was to stop I passed through the Mexican town of Almaden, situated upon a small creek by the same name. My stopping place was with a Chilean family, consisting of the man and his wife. The first appearance of the man did not suit me very well. The woman was quite talkative and tried to make it as pleasant as she could. They both spoke some English and Mexican, or as they pronounce it Meh-i-can, the true pronunciation I suppose. The master of the house I said I did not like on first sight, and before I left there I found him to be a mean, lying rascal, and as I believe a cutthroat and robber. His wife owned a piece of land where they lived, and near the house was some huge rocks that sometime had been disturbed by the upheaval of the earth, and were just in line with the great new Almaden quicksilver mine, the richest mine in the world of that kind. This rascal had salted the rocks near his house, that is he had stolen specimens from the Almaden mine and scattered them among the rocks on his place, expecting to sell out for big money someday. He had got one of his countrymen, a very rich man, and two Americans to go into the operation, and one of these men was my friend from Scott's River. We finally were ready and went to drilling into the solid rock as hard as flint and it kept me running to town most of the time to get our drills sharpened and fit for use. The town was the home of most of the men that worked in the mine, two miles above them on the mountain, and most of them were Mexicans and natives of Chile, although the mine was owned and run by an English company. In the town was several saloons and gambling houses, and Sundays they were full all day and the miners would spend all of their week's earnings. TO BE CONTINUED.
Wyoming County Herald, Perry, New York, July 22, 1904, page 2WESTERN TRAVELS
of James A. Austin of Bliss-- (CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK) A CHINESE GOD.
The ladies indulged in the
pastime of gambling, and some of them won large amounts of money.
Speaking about women, I noticed they were very white and curiosity led
me to inquire what made them so white and their skin so clear, and I
was told that they ate arsenic to give them a fine complexion, and some
of them used quite a little paint. Another thing puzzled me for some
time. The houses were built along the creek, about fifty feet from it,
and behind the houses and close to the creek iron and brass kettles,
holding from three to five pails each, were hung on poles. I solved the
mystery one day while passing along the road. It was washing day and
nearly all of the women along the street were washing and their kettles
were to heat water in. Near each kettle was a wide plank four or five
feet long, upon which they would put their clothes, and with a broad
paddle they would paddle out the dirt and rinse them in the creek, and
their clothes were very white and nice. The Almaden vein of quicksilver
had at that time been worked over one-half mile downwards and was
still going down.At this depth the ore was almost pure, 85 or 90 percent being the average of the ore taken out. Getting back to my work it went very slow, and I could not see how there was any chance for my employees to strike the Almaden vein, as that was running or dipping down all the while. About this time I was suspicious that the Chilean who owned the land was playing a game to sell his land, and I was on the lookout for some game of his and soon found where he had thrown specimens of the stolen ore among the rocks and bushes so that the company might find it and keep to work. I also found an old pail full that had been hidden for future use. I wrote to the boss and soon had orders to come to the city. From Santa Rosa I had the good fortune to ride on the new railroad to San Francisco, the first road ever built in California. When I told the company how things looked to me, I was sent back to get the tools, but Gomez had taken them and said he intended to keep them. When I returned to the city I found everyone greatly excited and going down to the pier to see the boat which some fellows had partly sunk. I followed the rush to see what was up. About twenty of the rebels had run up to the ironclad Pacific, the only one on the coast at that time, and bored a bole in her side and let her fill with water and sink. [Austin is apparently remembering the U.S.S. Camanche.] The devils were seen and captured as they were about to leave. ----
On the street I met my
friend and employer and he seemed very well pleased by the sinking of
the boat and invited me to go with him to supper. After supper we went
up to their office on Montgomery Street. We went through a long hall
and up three flights of stairs. Mac gave three raps and we were
admitted into the room. This room was filled with thirty or forty men,
mostly young, to several of whom I was introduced. Mac said they were
preparing to retake the men who sank the ironclad and also the
steamer they were on. He asked me to join the company and said they
were intending to liberate their companions, steal the ship and go to
Lower California and land there to hoist the Confederate flag, and with
the aid of some southerners there to take the cities along the coast
and make them pay a heavy tribute. He asked me what I thought of the
scheme. I told him it was wrong and they would rue the day they engaged
in any such operation against our country, that if I was boss I would
hang every rebel who was caught fighting the Stars and Stripes.ALMOST A REBEL. They did not take the steamer nor did they liberate their brother rebels. This was sometime in March, 1863. I had improved my health some going to the mountains, but still I was very poor in flesh and not very strong. Yet I thought I must not lie still, and looked around for some light work to do. A man who was boating wood from Salinas Bay, some 25 miles up the coast, said that he would give me a job if I thought I could stand it, and would take the chances of going to the bottom of the sea. I wanted to go through the Golden Gate, and told him I would try one trip and see how I liked the sailor's life. The second day of April, 1863, we cast off the lines and sailed from the city to the Fort, where we were taken in tow by a tug and taken out through the Golden Gate or rapids into the blue Pacific Ocean. From here we made our way up along the rocky coast of Salinas. The people at this place farmed it some, but the main industry was getting the timber wood and bark for the city. I found the work was too hard for me, and when our boat was loaded we started on our return trip with a load of wood that settled the boat into the water so that it was hard to manage, and sometimes the waves would roll upon the deck. As soon as we were outside the bar we encountered very heavy swells of the sea, and a dense fog. The fog was so thick that we could not see the high mountain before us, and had to run by the sound of the fog bell upon the shore at the lighthouse. Several times I thought we were going under but our boat righted and rode the swells or waves like a duck. We made good time toward the Gate as the wind was in our favor and the current soon took us into the rapids, and then we went like a race horse until we struck the waters of the bay. I for one felt as though we had had a narrow escape from being drowned or capsized at least. We made the run into town and I gave up the sailor's life then and there. TO BE CONTINUED.
Wyoming County Herald, Perry, New York, July 29, 1904, page 2WESTERN TRAVELS
I had intended to
start for home the 15th of April, but was told that was a bad time on
account of the fever crossing the Isthmus. May was said to be the best
time, so I made my calculations to leave on the steamer the 1st of May,
but was disappointed in getting some money due me, and I saw many
friends leave on the ill-fated boat that I wanted to be with, but the
fates had willed it otherwise and for my good perhaps. When all was
ready the steamer was let loose and she sailed from her pier, with the
booming of her gun and the waving of adieus from the shore.of James A. Austin of Bliss-- (CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK) She had on board about 700 souls and the most of these were young men, miners that were going home to different states to engage in the war, that was then in its fury, about evenly divided for the North and South and each side thinking that they were right, but many of them never lived to see the land of their fathers or the friends they loved. The vessel sailed or rather steamed out through the Golden Gate and down the coast with all on board feeling joyful and happy, many of them pleased to get out of that wild country alive, and with small fortunes to take with them to their homes in the East. The second day out and about 300 miles from San Francisco as they were sailing smoothly along little dreaming of danger, they were startled by the wild cry of fire, fire, the ship on fire, from the aft part of the ship the flames were already rolling up, the captain took in the situation at a glance, and headed the vessel for the rocky shore, about ten miles off. Going to the ship's safe he threw open the door and told the passengers to help themselves. I was told by the survivors that many of the men had so much gold about them, that when the boat struck the rocks about one mile from shore and went to pieces, that these men when they jumped into the ocean, went to the bottom and were never seen afterwards, they were loaded so heavy. Out of the 700 or more souls on board, only about three hundred got to the shore. Some of them came back to the city without a cent to their name, and started for the mines to try and repair their losses. Others that came back were just in time to take the steamer the 15th of May, the one that I came on. [Austin may be remembering the burning of the steamship Golden Gate in 1862.] We left the city of Frisco at the appointed time with about 800 on board. We had good luck in getting out of the Golden Gate, had a nice run down the coast and fine weather, when we got to where her smoke stacks [were] still standing partly out of the water. Near here we were bounding along and all at once the forepart of the ship struck something that raised it well out of the water, and many thought we had struck a rock and were badly scared, but we soon saw what had caused the thumping. Two whales just to the right of us came to the surface and spouted, the Captain thought one of them a large fellow, had thought to have some fun with the ship. We were pretty well loaded and going at a good rate and the oil man got the worst of the shaking up I guess. When we ran into the waters from the Gulf of California we had some rough seas to go through and those sleeping upon the upper deck got a good wetting, myself among the number. I had read many times and heard old sailors tell how the sharks would follow ships if they had anyone on board that was sick. We had two on this boat, one a small boy, who died and was cast into the sea without stopping the boat; in fact, but few knew of his death. The other was quite an elderly man, who had been to California for his health, but found no relief and was going home to die. He did not get there. The sharks ran alongside of the vessel all the way down the coast to Panama Bay. Our sick man got across to the Atlantic before he died. Some time before we came to the bay, we ran into a school of porpoises or sea lions fishing; they were catching flying fish. The lions were several miles [sic] in length and all moved with a regular motion; they would come to the surface under the fish and the fish would rise and fly. The porpoise would dive and come up where the fish struck the water, and in that way catch them. Some of the fish came upon the ship's deck and they were helpless there; their wings were useless only in water. When the ship ran into the bay and cast anchor some of the dusky officials of the city of Panama came on board and forbade our landing. Then the passengers were all of one mind; they wanted to go on shore and give those negroes a good thrashing for being so important. If the boys could have had the chance of going through the town, they would soon have cleaned out the soldiers that were stationed there and guarded us from the boat to the cars. Sometime before, the Californians coming home and landing there had gone up to the city and committed some offense to the police or officers, and some of them were killed I believe. That was why they would not let our men stop until they were in the cars. They were but doing their duty and protecting their rights as citizens of that country. Well, we were on the cars at last and running through some dismal country and every few miles we would come to a few huts or shanties and stop. The natives would flock around the cars like bees and all had something to sell, bananas, figs, beer and all that they raise in that country. The most of them were naked except the breechclout around the loins, and many of them did not have that, young men and women entirely nude. TO BE CONTINUED.
Wyoming County Herald, Perry, New York, August 5, 1904, page 2WESTERN TRAVELS
When we got to the
city of Colon or Aspinwall, the end of the railroad and the Atlantic
harbor, we were detained some time for the vessel to procure coal. We
here met the passengers from the East, and learned how the war was
raging between the North and the South. Some of the ladies just off the
ship had their modesty shocked by looking at their dusky sisters
in nature's costume. One lady, a young bride leaning upon her husband's
arm, thought it was too bad; they ought to be ashamed of themselves to
go around in that style.of James A. Austin of Bliss-- (CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK) At last the welcome "all on board," rang out and then there was a rush for the boat. As for myself I cared but little whether I was on board or not; being very thin in flesh and weak I had to wait for those that were stronger. We sailed out of port about dark Saturday night, and next morning were out of sight of land; a very few birds were seen flying over. About 10 a.m. the ship's bell was rung, and the vessel stopped or the engines were stopped and all were called on deck to witness the burial of a man at sea. The invalid that came from California had died that morning and was to be cast into the sea. When everything was ready two sailors brought a sack to the side of the ship and laid it upon a plank with one end over the side of the vessel about three feet, the other end resting on a barrel or box inside. The clergyman read the burial service after prayer and singing and as he finished the service, the plank was raised by the sailors and the sack filled with weights at the feet slid into the sea, carrying with it the remains of the dead man. For me it was a doleful sight, as I did not know how soon I would be like him, cast into the sea to make food for the sharks or other fish. But that was not to be, for after forty years I live to pen these lines, feeling thankful that I am on mother earth and when my time comes expect to be laid in her bosom to rest. In the afternoon we had a lecture or sermon on the second coming of Christ or where God would take up his permanent abode and make it a heaven for all mankind. It was delivered by a man whose name was Jeff C. Davis; he said he was own cousin to the southern Jeff Davis, the Rebel. This man was a good Union man from the state of Indiana. He commenced by saying that the time was not far distant when all the different churches would amalgamate, and be known as one church, having the name of the Christian church when that time came. God and his Son would descend to the earth to America and make this his everlasting abiding place; he would call all of the nations of the world to him and they would be happy with him. To prove his theory he quoted from the Bible, which he had at his command, and made the thing very plain in his way of thinking. Since that time the churches have been more liberal in their views and worship together more than they did in years past. This looks as though one of his ideas would come to pass in time. A united church is possible but not probable. In fact the Pope is said to have named America the resting place of the great Catholic head of the Church. Chasing a phantom light or a rebel decoy, we had passed the island of Jamaica and were getting down towards Cuba. It was just after dark and the ship was making good time when the lookout on hoard sang out a burning ship. Soon all was commotion; everyone was trying to see which way it was, looking off towards the island of Cuba, and to the left of the course the ship was running was the light. Sometimes it would shoot up a hundred feet or more then it would die down and seem to be almost out, then again blaze up and be plainly visible to the naked eye. When the light was first seen the Captain turned the ship's course that way, thinking it was a burning ship and hoping to render them aid in their peril and save some lives perhaps. After running for about two hours and the light disappearing all of a sudden, the Captain made up his mind it was a rebel decoy, a pirate vessel getting him off his course to rob the ship. He had on board in his care over a million dollars in gold and at that time worth something. As soon as the ship's course was changed, the Captain ran his brass cannon to the aft part of the ship, and putting arms into the hands of the crew and some of the northern passengers, men that he knew. He was ready to see Mr. Pirate, but none made their appearance. Still the ship was put to her utmost speed until she was again upon her course, and then and not until then were the men allowed to lay down their arms and get some rest. We passed Cuba to the left of our course and not in sight, made the Florida Keys during the night and kept out of sight of the land until we turned to enter New York Bay, then we encountered rough water, and a dense fog which was very cold. The Captain signaled for a pilot, and it was some time before one came to us. As soon as he was on board, the ship was headed for the city. We passed the warships and forts alive with men dressed in blue and bristling with the accouterments of war. When we came to the pier at Castle Garden the city seemed to be alive with soldiers for the army. As thin in flesh and poor as I was, I caught the war fever and went to a recruiting tent and offered to enlist in the dragoons, as I thought I could ride and it would benefit my health. The officer looked at me awhile and then said I was too near death's door to be of any service in the army. I soon made my way to the Erie depot, bought my ticket and in a little while was rolling along through the hills of Pennsylvania. The next day, 21st of June 1863, I was landed at the Castile depot. I soon found a way to come to my home in Eagle and had the happiness to find my parents alive and thankful for my return after so many years of wandering in the far West. THE END.
Wyoming County Herald, Perry, New York, August 12, 1904, page 2NORTH JAVA NEWS IN RHYME
(By Franklin S. Noatman) We at Bliss met James A. Austin,
Wyoming County Herald, Arcade, New York, June 16, 1916, page 5Who with old men must be class'd, For this man, now hale and hearty, Has life's ninetieth milestone pass'd. In his youth to California Go he did in quest of gold, And his hardships borne while mining Has by him in print been told. Him who looks as did Abe Lincoln, Hosts of callers at his side, Does with aged wife and daughter, And her family reside. |
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