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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 1888)
THE WEST HIIOItK. JONATHAN WOBBLES' PIONEER EXPERIENCES. T ONATHAN WOBBLES hud been a childless WM I ower (or three years or more when ho took a sud den and uncontrollable desire to go w si Ho liHd read and heard bo mach of the wonderful fertil ity of the great west, of its marvelous growth and as tonnding publio enterprises, that he grew weary of his dull, sleepy neighborhood, of its tiles and swumps, and longed to leave them all for the prairies of the far west, where people were " alive and pushy," ho reasoned; where all was energy, bustle and activity; where the roads were neither bub deep with mud two. thirds of the year, nor so dusty a to almost smother the weary traveler the remaining third; whero chinch bugs were unknown and stumps and stones unpleas. ant realities of the past only. In fact, the Hoosier state had become too contracted, too small and mean in every respect for the great and expanding soul of Jonathan Wobbles, and he desired to leave it all in di'gust. Besides, Jonathan longed to speculate a little, lie did not know anything of stock, of course, nor of the manifold corners in corn or wheat, in lard or pork, and he was just a little too cautious to invent in anything he did not see his way clearly to a o r tain, swift and abundant profit; but he imagined ho did understand land perfectly, wherever it might bo, and as the land in his neighborhood had remained stationary in vdue for the last thirty years, with no prospect of it advancing one iota that ho could see, during his lifetime at least, if not that of the genera tions yet unborn, he concluded that the Hoosier state was not the field for his talents, and he longed to de part for pastures new and growing. Now, Jonathan had had bequeathed to him by his father two of the best tracts of land to b found any. where in his county, one of ono hundred and twnty acres and the other of eighty-five. The hrgr trart had to bo tilled a little, not, however, to such an n tent as to do it ono particle of harm nor result in th outlay of much money, and besides bring a marvel f fertility to any ono but Jonathan, embodied a chinn ing a little home as mortal could reasonably d-aire anywhere. The eighty-five-acr tract wm not a hit behind in any respect, brides outlining neat 'd comfortiblrt a little cottage as an ordinary, s"nil! man should wish for. Bit Jonathan tnnUl ey glasups were stained blu, and he therefore, ntonly saw himself in a rather blue light, but all his friends, fccrpaintancs and surrounding. Ho wa weary of all that was blu, not knowing that it wm simply lb r tl-ction of his own mind, and not th r-l condition of things, and he wantM a chang-th r-y hu U imagimsi he would seo farther on. H then-for ", 1 his largest tract to an old neighbor at a saenfij", tk. ing half in cash and the balance in notes with long time payments, at low rates of interrsl, and if bo could have dipoI of the other, even at a greater sicrifity, he would only too willingly havo dnw s-v lortunately for Joint nan, as nb-nt events prov. ed, ho not only fai!l in getting rid of this irw tf property, but also his household gU and farming implements. Not to bo outdone, however, by so tf i flmg a turn of ill luck, ho removed all thes goods to his remainirg property, and left them in rhargo f a friend to die of as opjrtuuilies presented them selves. Jonathan was determined to g at any ct whero land took a rise, occasionally, at least, and whero people who were dad, figuratively speaking, did not walk around to disturb the living hk J.ma-tban-simply because they wero too stingy to afford a funeral. It was on a Thursday in April, 1SSI, that Jon, than bought his ticket for the great wrtt I.ato one night, the week following this momentous event, ho arrived io a new rsilioad town in Kwtrrn Washing, ton. It was not long More ho had selected his lo cality and his land, in ouo of tho rolling pralrlo dis tricts of that region, built a small houao and gone to "batching" as of oKL It was long diataneo u tween settlements, ami a longer distance to tho near, est railway tjwn, but tho land was gwl, every aero of it; was jut as pretty as picture; within a tnilo and a half of a vilUgo just starting, b"" prta wero simply astounding. It moM not only claim tho county seat, but two railroads within ninety days, a Imputation of as many thousands as it then ha. I indl. viduals in even less timn than this, and pretty mu-h everthing de worth having. Jonathan was iu do ver, kueo high, figuratively shaking; ho "struck it rich" kyond a doubt; so ho Uiogut several Mucks in tho pnjftiv lo'troj.dia and awaitrd rtenta. It was not his fort, however, tii wait H did not corno west to wait; for if this was what was bcr"rjr to arquiro wraith, ho could havo dono enough -f that back in Indiana to ar-piro several fortune Ho camo west to grow np rapidly; It avoi I th waiting pmcras. Any l moI 1 K"iw rich by waiting, if ho cutd only hold out long t bough. " All things c mo to him Ixi waits" was an ad.go that might suit In. diana, but not Jonathao. lift tnltfU drop i (I to lis eternal real whil.t waiting, aid vpiiro tMLbg but d. LU, )vrrty and disgrac. m tbuab!a di aaaual. t.. .r.l thia is what Lm raado waiting ricmhegly no. bipolar, not only with Jonathan, but a U t l W. l,Ir similarly imbttL tn Iho clfely ds)S Ul I rt-.z ar.d n-itUr a rad.l v "y 't rr yt tuibh from his shaf d r. an I IU tilUgo Ul only icrrrl by s-teral ibhatiUbt lt..?ra.J of i thioaa&'U. Ju:.atha grew bjtUl U Hl tut