THE WEST SHORE.
between Baker City and Olds' ferry, on
Snake river; the murder, for money, of
Mod ton and another musician between
Ccnterville and Placeirille, and of va
rioua other crimes. Nolan had ac?eral
times been arrested, but always sue
ceedfxl in proving an alibi by his asso
ciates. The number of robberies that
were committed between ISO 2 and 1870
would fill a large volume, and in this
they are merely mentioned bo that the
reader will understand that robberies
and assassinations were of frequent
occurrence. We will also mention the
fact that Nolan became noted through
out Southern Idaho as a desperado,
feared even by the authorities of the
law; was several times under arrest
charged with robberies, but always re
leased for lack of evidence against him.
In the early history of every country,
when it is wrested from a savage and
untutored race, many strange traditions
and stories gain circulation, which are
of course myths originating from some
natural phenomenon. In 1S0. stories
of the " Wild man of Camas" were re
hearsed, but the general impression was
that they were circulated to frighten
timid prospectors. Whether they were
circulated with that view or not, the ef
fect was tho same.
One evening in August, while a party
of thirty or forty prospectors were
camped at the upper crossing of the
Malad, on tho east side of Camas prairie,
one of the men, an old French trapper
named George Parody, declared that he
hail actually seen the " Wild Man of
Camas" two or three miles below camp,
and lagged of his comrades to go and
help him capture tho "beast" Now,
George had well earned tho reputation
of beiDg the best story teller in the
party; and it was generally recognized,
ton, tliat a man could not relate as many
adrcntures as he had and at all times
confine himself strictly to the truth.
His position was like that of the boy
who hallowed "wolfl" and, plead as
earnestly as he might, and pledge his
"honest Injin," no one would accompa
ny him, and as it was useless to under
take the capture alone, he was obliged
to abandon the idea. He ever afterward
maintained, however, that he saw the
14 Wild Man of Camas," and was within
only a few feet of him when he jumped
up out of a crevice in the lava rock and
climbed up a steep cliff in front of him.
When questioned as to the appearance
of the man, Parody invariably gave the
same description, which was near as the
writer of this, who was with the party,
can quote:
" The beast wasn't as big as I am, I
don't think, but he might be. I got so
excited it is hard to tell just exactly
how he did look But I tell you the
truth, gentlemen, when I say that his
hair hung down to the ground and his
beard came down to his knees. His fin
ger nails were that long (measuring the
whole length of his hand, which was an
unusually large one), and he had on a
coat which looked just as if it were
made out of a deer skin. He was the
wildest looking creature you ever saw,
and it was a caution the way he climbed
that clifT of lava rock to get away from
me. I do believe he was scared worse
than I was. I wished I'd a shot him;
he would have been such a fine specimen
to send to Barnum."
The party remained on the Malad
about a week, during which time two
human skeletons were found. They
were supposed to bo those of white men
who had been killed by Indians and the
flesh eaten from tho bones by coyotes or
wild animals, which were abundant in
that section of the country. Some ga
lena ore was found in the neighborhood,
but as it was considered worthless no
locations were made on the veins, and