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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 1, 1881)
October, 1881. THE WEST SHORE. 247 cioline. elected officers, and from thenceforth stool guard at night, and were on the qui vive hv (lav, of which the hostile ribes mny have been possi- bly aware for they let us severely alone. Looking back from three-score, for thirty years brings before you vivid pictures of life and vour associates. Es- 4 pecially is this so when your life at thirty was thrown among stirring scenes, and your companionship was with men of the early time who met dancer with the cool skill of veterans. The captain of our party was Pleasant Armstrong, of Yamhill, and our Lieu tenant, Joe Bailey. Armstrong was a man of mature years, of savant charac ter and great natural courage and cau tion, who inspired confidence as well as respect. Joe Bailey was one of several brothers, most of them older, but Joe was a man among men, as brave as a lion, cool and inspiring by nature one of those men born to be popular leaders. The short experience of that journey left an impression on my mind concerning him that is pleasant to re call, because it is a pleasure when your head is erey to look back and count the men you have known who were above the avcraee, and both these men were nature's noblemen. The young men of our company naturally liked Joe and lie accepted their popular regard with a quiet modesty and unassuming conn dence that aided his popularity. If I am not mistaken both Cant. Armstrong and Joe Bailey afterwards were killed in battle with Indians. I tried to trace the historv of the younger man, but soon after heard that such was his fate. The gold of Kogue River did not crliuer in our way. and we did not dis cover It, but within a year rich diggings wire found on the ground our party nrosoected on that stream, and millions of treasure came out of it. In course of limi. fter traveling 450 miles in all, .,r irsinrcached what is now Yrcka, but was then called Shasta Butte City, because the great mountain was not far to the eastward of it. Returning in after years, I recognized the spot where the stage road crosses the creek, in en trn the town, as the site of my "torn," where the biztrcst day's wages I ever made was 12.37- 1 m5K,,t h"vc V r'n-K nuiinrr md hauling hay in Shasta for I had a sevthe with me, but with dull infatuation I vM the srythe for $50, when I could as well have had $75, and so threw away another opor- tunity. Due of our party I remcmlier was Michael Cosgrovc, from 1 rench Prairie; others have never returned to Oregon, and the ftrumntl of the expi- dttion is conhncd by my memory to a few persons. Shasta Butte City, was an agglomcr- ation of tents and clap-lmard shanties, and presented a graphic picture as it shimmered in the summer sun. Here were pack-trains coming and going. Gamblers were in profusion, ami the gambling haunts were great social cen ters. The place was ignorant of any attempt at a hotel, though grub could be had for a dollar a rough meal. Nome Orceon family, I recollect, had struck a bonanza by driving thither sonic milk cows that the girls milked and tended, a business that punned out better than ordinary placer mining. Those were wild times, wl.cn Indian alarms were frequent, and culls for volunteers a common occurrence. Sometimes we heard of great strikes, and one nugget was unearthed valued at $1,100. Niasta plain was soon a worked out placer, though not distant was a mining camp that bore the significant name o( "Hum bug," that belied its title by turning out millions of treasure. Whether tlie pla cers naid me or not.it was worth all it 1 cost to gather experience rrom aucn wild lountains, and the sight of th.it grandest of mountains, Shasta, looming un in the cast.dwarfing the tremendous . . .. ... ranges and mocking the wimcness 01 the clouds, combining majesty and beauty In one startling tvup V ail, was worth more than I can tell. When I returned to Oregon General Toe Lane and Governor John 1'. Gaines were holding a grand council on me banks of Roguo River, trying to make peace with the hellish tribes or mat re- tnn. A temporary peace w ni un. but when the mining Interests of Jackson county led to settlement of that valley, these fiends maoe war w.m savage ferocity hardly equaled in the inmli of lime. The history of any mining camp ol that eaily day, would be replete with startling Incidents, f.,r which gambling would generally afiorcj tne cause. Min ing was finally prosecuted late in the season, over on the Klamain. .n incident occurred one Waiitiful Sunday morning, a.wU is duUful if w ling a murder and terrible a judgment was ever before rcalixcd in o brief time. Sunday was the miners' holiday, the gamblers' harvest. On that Sain bath day, amid the pine that stood sparsely near the river, tho camps wcro set. Under a tree about a gambling table had gathered a crowd of packers, miner and others, and close by the long row I of armarahoe and carco showed that a pack train was not far off. Some miner, it seems, had lecn unusually "down on his luck," mid by continued losses was reduced to his last half dollar. Miners are superstitious, and holding his last uicca in his hand thus, he looked around and asked t there any man here who never bet on a cardr" Tho crowd pushed forward a tall, awkward vouth. whoso looks Ikho out the ascr. tion of his friends that ho had never bet a dollar. He tried to escape, and even refused to become In any way a partlc ipant, but the urgent request of tho ruined gamester, aided by the entreaties of his own friends, overcame his aeru. . , t .... pics. ioi even Knowing me immnuH of his act, ho placed tho coin upon tho table, and as it won changed It from spot to sMt. Following one of these I freaks of lortuno that are occasionally surprising, his winnings rapidly doubled up, and in less time than it can be tout, without a word U'lug uttered, the bank was broken and tho novlco in faro, who was a young man of Irreproachable character from way down lu Maine, turned quietly to Icavo tho Rene. At this moment tho owner of tho broken bank, Mixing a Iwwlo knife, shouting t "BvO d. no man with such luck that shall live," stablwd hint to the heart and ho fell dead. Tho scene was terrific. Miner and oilier in largo numli had watched the game, as Ote circumstance created unusual interest. These closed in around the table. Gambler too, had gathered around their comrade, and they now tried to rally to hi defence. It seemed certain that the bloody episode must culminate in further Imrrors, when suddenly some outsider scicd a lariat front the pack saddle near by, and making a loop, threw it accurately to the center or trie crowd, where It wa slipped over the rambler's head, and warce a moment ped Iroro the time he struck the fatal blow, when retributive justice had ac complish! ll fcte ! he wa swing ing to a neighboring tret.