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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 7, 1909)
THE SUNDAY OEEGOXIAX, POUTXAXD, NTOTEMBER 7, 1909. 6 BT ANNTB LAURA MITiT.KB. r' loyal Orrcomans who know son- 1 thing of the beauties of th Cascade . Range -were to write & series of beati "redes they would probably begin: Blessed be tbe Lord, the creator of mighty t tnoiaitalna, of tow-ertna forastai of swtft-rosb- try maters and of the beasts and birds and h that inhabit them. . Biassed ba the forest ran(rrs, the buHoera ef trail tfcrouKh. the trackless wilderness. Blessed bo the Inventor of the cowboy sad dle, wbereia mankind mar rid In perfect ecttnty. Bleflsed be the maker of comfortable walk- lcc boots and biassed alJ be the makr of the bobnalls In their soles. Although It Isn't so meant, that last blessing may seem irreverent to some formal ecclesiastic in his study, if. any such are left in the world, but the great com pany of lovers of outdoor walks will sym pathize. Good boots that fit In these days of As as wide as EEs and 2s as long as 5s, are a Joy so long as they last and every mountaineer knows the feeling of confi dence that hobnails give. It was with keen regret that I finally discarded my own stout walking boots. They had been k a! f -soled and hobnailed and when, as the result of much tramping for views and huckleberries, and many wettings on fish ing trips they became, like Achillea, vul nerable In the heel, the carpenter at Mc Kenzie Bridge turned cobbler and sewed large patches cut from the tongue, over the tender spots. Thus reinforced they carried me on the best trip of the Sum mer, but that ended their career; they were quite cut to pieces by larva azrd X threw them away, somewhat sadly, for I had had such "good times" in them. Moreover, I may never see their like again; a pedestrian friend Is obliged to wear a double amount of hosiery on one foot and a heel cap and lnsle on the other when, attired in a pair of the latest cut! Tou see, we took a trail trip in the Cas cade Mountains' and were gone from that pleasant state of affairs which the old lady called "civilisation" 10 days; long enough to appreciate to the full the great fceauties ot the upper McKenzie River, with the lakes from which It flows, and Jong enoug to appreciate, too. the charms of civil lif when we returned. On the morning of the 16th of August we left Bvlknap Springs, some 60 miles tip the McKenzie from Eugene, and we -were several hours leaving, for only one ;pack horse was obtainable. Instead of the i promised two. Stout old Dan was so lleaped with camping outfit that only his face and tail were visible, and what was Jeft from his pack was tied on our rid ing saddles In such fashion that It took reat agility to mount. Even then, as the August skies of Oregon are nsvaiTy unfailingly blue, we discarded the tent as an effeminate luxury and took in its stead a tarpaulin. We were soon across the bridge and away, following the lonely rtver until the trail made one Z after an .th., n tiA flteeo mountain side. The ! horses went lunging upwards stopping of- ten for breath, while we sat In the high i backed saddles as comfortable as If we iwere in rocking chairs doing the wecCTs 'mending. Dan's pack worked loose anJ the bag of tinware tied on top of the load rattled and banged like cymbals. The trail rlown the other side of the mountain was steep and narrow, yet down we went with comparative ease, standing UP - In the stirrups, with the horns of the saddles like towers of strength In front of us. "We came then to a lonely flat where tall lady fern grew among the aiders, then to a thicket of salal under giant fira Little limpid streams were running to the river. Small 'ferns made a lacey pattern on the moss carpet, and here and there were clusters or Indian pipes, the fragile ghost flowers of the woods. At one place where the trail went high on the hillside In open timber, dozens of little trails ran down 'toward the river; some were old, old 'trails and some were new. but. all ran down to the lick where so many deer came in the early days that people made : a business of killing them for thoir ' hides. Only a few deer coins now and : a few wild pigeons that thirst for the warm salt water. Our horses were interesting characters, with personalities quite as distinct as 'those of human beings. "Bill" Yale, our guide, led Dan. end Dan, a husky, plod ding farm animal in mind and form, led the team at Uie tober gait uf two miles :an hour. "Sis" was a bunehgrass - boy, the kind of horse a cowboy would ride !whn encased in "shooting up town" pretty and lively. 1 ut as ijrnorant of the .limitations of a trail that she frisked her keels over its narrow edge time and ,e.'iin. bolrs pave J from a ttiir.ble, some 'tirres by hanpy accident and sometimes ' by he-r rider" pood sense. "Koamey," inarred for his cort hy some former ini spinatlve ov.-iier was youn.cr. but far too st j.d to be surprised at anything or to mtk a f.-.lse st-p. Ha had all the con ventional n'arv;?r of a correct boardhig srnool miss. Inceetl, in a way. one 'night call him a boarding-school product, for h 7Cuth had he:n t-pent in a fash ionable city ruling acaicmy. "Knife" was an Inili.in pony, so named by the ln- di.ir because hl;i flat sides and promi 'nent barKliono made l.im look Just like a Jnik-ktiitc. AcciiMomc.l to trails, he trawled them without ever looking white he we-.u. seeming to hnve a sense of feel ing In his hoof liite the sens of feeling in the fingers of the blind. Away from te slow gait of the pack horse, per uad:d by an ald-r switch. Knife had a c-iiious up-and-down gallop that gnve his ririor an amazii.g apivtite: and once he showed such unwonted activity, out up so badiy. thut we decided the Jndtane had moro reasons that one for naming him Knife. Were yon ever in a yellow Jackets nest? It Is an exoerelnce so common 'to mountaineers and so dreaded by them j that the bravest would rather face an cgry bear than be stung. We were (going along at peace with the world In a beautiful spot where the trail ran on a narrow shelf between a high mountain' and the river, when Dn stirred tbem up. ' Eis bolted, flourishing hr tail wildly, and Knife, unwittingly held by his terrl- i fled nder exactly over the tree root irrom which the jackets were swsmiing. ! bucked before, bucked behind, whirled ' madly around and kicked with all his might until his riders glasses fell off . and she herself fell under his nose, wbUe Roanery, of the riding school, safe 3n the distance, looked on disapprovingly. i At noon we all met again by a stream. v where we had lunch. We had collected stings enough amongst us to agree that a sting on the side of the head hurt the worst, while one under the ere looked the worst, and one on tr.e hand did the .most damage to one's usefulness. Sev eral days afterward we were able to laugh at the suggestion of Bis rMar h Lbad escaped.- miun g h at "tliewholo i. Wdent wouM have made a good aeries -ot moving pictures. Tbat night we made the abandoned camp of the Southern Pacific Co., a little pioneer clearing of rude houses a mils and a half from the main trail. There was a spring of ice-cold water, a stove built of sheet Iron laid on big rocks, a table and some arts-and-crafty chairs. One chair big enough for our childhood's friend, the Papa Bear," had "the throne" carved In its back. We sat In it very little; it may be because of our being democratlo Americana, but more likely because of its being uncomfort able. Darkness fell on us almost as soon as supper was eaten and our bough beds made against the side of the shanty. Away up In the mass of broken lava on the mountain above us. a coney uttered DAUGHTER OF -SECRETARY THE J" s' ' v runTtrtr-'' '-'"' HISS FLORA. WILSOJf. XEW YORK. Now. (Special-) Much interest is being manifested In the forthoomlng tour to the Pacifio Coast of Miss Flora W lis an, coloratura soprano, daughter of the Secretary of Agriculture, who will challenge the interest and approval of both the social and artistic world. Beginning the last week in this month she will be heard In a large num ber of Western State and ail thjongh. the-South. JJ t.JW. Rough Trip fam. of Its lonely cry; then there was no sound except those near me sleeping, so I lay looking at the stars above the big black fir trees, at the big dipper dipping to ward the river, and at the Milky Way growing milkier every minute. I was deciding that the Idea of a celestial cow herd upsetting a pall of. milk across the sky did not do the sight Justice; the Japanese showing far more appreciation of that lovely stream of tiny stars when they called It the Silver River of Heaven, and I was trying to remember the pretty love story that goes with the name when the dog (nothing as yet has been said of the dog. Sailor was his name 'and he was a shepherd, with 9. strong leaning toward bear hunting) the dog aroused the camp by his growling. Some one called "Mr. Tale, what is it?" and Mr. Tale from his faraway resting place shouted back to calm our fears: "Only a OF AGBICULTTOE WILL TOUR WEST. - J.IJL - l - J - 1l Bsachvatersf jheJMemie RfecHjK- Joy ;With Minkim skunk." But the next morning after breakfast the fact came to light, that an old she bear with two cubs had passed through the camp. We had turned aside from the main trail because we wanted to see the lower fall of the McKenzie; so soon after breakfast we packed a lunch and started. For more than & mile we toiled over a stream of lava that had hardened and cracked as . It flowed years and years ago, and had crumbled in some, places enough for moss and lichens, hardy ferns, huckleberry bushes and trees to gain a foothold. We tried to follow the path but it was so Indistinct In the rough rock and the blazed trees so Infrequent that we abandoned it altogether when we heard the roar of the fall. The river runs with foaming water, white as snow crystals, and big green pools down In a deep gorge. Following up its bank we came to the falL It is 80 feet high and a fine sight, though robbed of much of Its beauty by most of the stream sinking -through the lava above . and gushing out near the foot of the 'fall. Its glory is the great round basin be low it, an acre in extent, surrounded by a sheer rock wall on one side and on the other by the steep mountainside. The water of the pool is like some won derful opal, dark blue, purple, bright green, silver and ky blue where the ripples break and golden brown where the sunlight pierces Its depths! and it is set in the dull gray of the lava rock and the soft yellow green of mosses, ferns and trees that clothe the moun tain slope, making an exquisite pic ture. The next morning when the sunlight struck the top of the mountain 900 feet above us we arose and made haste for our way led along the ridge of that mountain. Back in the main trail we began to climb, going up and up a southern slope - covered with brake. ' From its summit we bad wide view of the. wooded range below us with the Three Slaters and the shell of an old volcano, once another sister. The narrow ridge be came a dismal place covered with the mere unclothed skeletons of trees, their dead limbs reaching in every di rection. A Jay squawked overhead, and two tiny song birds were makijig their Summer home in te Inhospitable spot, but we saw no other signs of life ex cept the tracks of deer that had been trailing the night before. Once out of the ghostly wood the trail became a level path, a credit to its ranger buiM- golng through an open park of nr and larch trees. Here and thera, big bears had measured their height on the biased trees beside the trail, mak ing their marks, as if they thought they were overreaching some smaller enemy above the man-made signs on tbe trees; here and there they had knockedold stumps to pieces and eaten colonies of ants out of house and home. The ugly black and white spiders, too, must have -had a grudge against man kind, for again and again we ran into their webs woven so that they hit a horseback rider in the face. It was late afternoon when we passed the forest ranger's place and came at last to Fish Lake. Fish Lake In the Spring is three miles long, but the thirsty Summer sun comes up from Eastern Oregon to drink It almost dry, and when we saw It nothing remained except occasional pools and streamlets In a field of high grass, surrounded cy empty curving beaches and. -forest trees. Nevertheless It was extremely picturesque, and we felt like a Remington painting a we of Comfort t other side. Very slowly we rode and In the grass, for every path was black with thousands of tiny frogs and every pool had a margin Ot them . several inches wide. We stayed that night at the simple hotel, and the next morn ing went on over the two-mile trail to Clear Lake. Here we struck camp, and remained for two days, while the horses reveled in the lush grass and the society of their kind at Fish Lake. Those were pleasant days. We wom en emerged from a dressing-room made of the tarpaulin and walked through the dewy fern to the wash basin, which was the lake itself, sparkling in the morning light. Our dining table was a joy made of shakes, with logs for seats, but cooking in that particular camp was almost as unpopular as dish washing, for we had no sheetiron to ONE OF THE SCIENTISTS OF ''7! DR. JOHX W. f X 5 t I - I L NEW YORK, Nov. ft. (SpecIaL One of the members of the Peary party Is Dr. John W. Goodsell, from New Kensington, Ohio. He is a graduate of CinclnnattI Medical College. He went with Peary as surgeon, but in addition to this work he expected to make certain scien tific observations wiilch should be of great value" to the world. ; It make -a top and the stove, left by for mer campers, was a eimple hole In thef ground, with a draft that blew the smoke Into the faces of the cook and her assistants, making us all cry. How the biscuits burned before they were done in the frying pan and how the ham grew cold and was rescued Just in time from Sailor, while the fish re fused to brown, and ashes fell into the beans! Our beds, in spite of the fir bough mattresses, were very down hill at the foot, and had to be padded at night with our walking boots, extra clothing and fishing tackle. We might have added our hats, .but combs and hairpins would have been forever lost had they not reposed at night in our hats beside our pillows. The second night we had a rain scare and made a tent of the tarpaulin, causing me to fear that I should not awake, for the THE PEARY EXPEDITION. -5. f' GOODSEXL. H4 morning before a hummingbird had served as alarm clock, waizzing down in my face. However, a kingfisher, shrieking tor his breakfast on the lake shore, served the purpose Just as well. That night a young buck made him self at home in our kitchen, but our bedrooms were widely scattered In the forest and Sailor was dreaming of bear, so he escaped unharmed. One of our greatect pleasures was boating on the lake, for its waters are so clear that except in the deepest parts one sees the bottom seemingly but a few feet below, covered with silt or lava, and the boat passes ovef petrified trees sticking up almost to the surface, some petrified even to their tips, looking like great serpents standing on their heads as the water ripples over them. We saw one lone snipe on the lake, a family of scrawny blue herons and a woodduck that looked . like a portly Jug of gray pot tery until he flapped his wings and stooped to drink. Few of the lake fish came our way, although a man on a raft was " having great success with bread dough for bait; but the few we caught were beauties of good size and fine flavor. Clear Lake is a mfle and a half long and Its outlet is the McKenzie. We fol lowed along the river's rushing waters, fishing with success in pools below a series of cascades until we came to the upper fall. It Is a glorious fall with a sudden rush of power that is terrifying. The water churned by small falls above shoots over the brink, a mass of white bubbles to strike the rocks 120 feet be low and go swirling and roaming away down a wild gorge. A walk ef a mils over lava brought us 'to the second fall, with Its wild mountain background and great blue pool 100 feet below. On the return trip we camped whers Smith Creek flows Into the McKenzie. because there is a rock there with a famous deep pool beneath it full of red sides, large and venerable. Nine of thera found their way to our frying pan, but the three-pounaer, for want of a landing net, found his way back to the pool. The next morning we arose (oh! so early!) and at 7 had everything packed and were sitting on rolls of bedding wait ing for Mr. Yalo to come with the horses. (He had gone for them before breakfast to their pasture, a mile and a half away.) The day were on; we unpacked our lunch and ate it; we decided that the primitive Jife had grown too primitive; nothing could make us happy but extreme civili zation. We saw that our flannel shirts were dusty and our khaki skirts a sight: and I felt, regardless of a rich brown sunburn, ending at collar and cuffs, a sudden desire to don a satin evening gown and go to a dinner party, followed by a box at the theater. But If ws might have had our dearest wishes fulfilled.- I think there would have sprung up, instanteously in the forest firs, modern bathrooms with white tiled floors, porcelain tubs, Turkish towels, scented soaps and endless hot water. Toward evening Bill Yala came back; he had arisen while It was still night, met a timber wolf In 'the trail by the camp and then trudged on and on back the 13 miles between us and Fish Lake, where he had found the horses feasting on the grass they like so well. It was Roaney of the riding school, with- his social sense and knowledge of dainty fare developed by city life above that oi ma am Ions, who had led the rest astray. But that night we forgot our troubles while our guide yarned to us. AU wild animals, he said, follow man-raafis trails, but most of all wolves, and they have regular hunting rounds. Every two weeks, he said, they came by his place where he llvs under Bald Mountain. He showed us on his gun scratches wildcats had made, and many were the tales he told of tracking cougars to. their lairs and of catching deer and bear alive. One cub he kept until it grew to be a bear'so big that his wife was afraid the great beast might kill the children. So when it -.aire time for the bear to "noie up" for Winter. Mr. Yale took him down to the river and shot Mm dead with one shot of a 4 revolver. "Oh I shot him decent." said Bill Yale. "I reckon he thinks he's standln' there yet." The next noon we were back at Mc Kenzie Bridge. When we go again we want to travel the trail the forest rang ers are building now, south from Mc-' Kenzie Bridge through the Cascades to the California line. That will be a trail trip well worth the taklr.g. Relation of Roads to Salt. London Dally News. Roads, we are told, owe a great deal to salt. According to one theory, the oldest trade routes came into existence as a result of the traffic In salt. One of the oldest roads In Italy Is the "Via Salaria." along which the people of the Sabine country obtained their salt from the salt pans of Ostla. Salt was the main merchandise carried In the trans Libyan caravans in the days of Herodo tus, and salt is one of the chief elements in the trade along the Sahara caravan routes today. Bait and salt fish. It is Interesting to remember, entered largely into the commerce by the Carthaginians. The latter, by the way, were considered a delicacy in those pre-Christian days. When Father Goes to Shoot. November's near, the law Is off For all the kinds of game; And ev'ry year about this time Pa guns it for the same. It takes him 'bout a week or so To fix things up to suit; An' when tbe fatal mornln' comes He Bailies forth to shoot. i Tve wanted pa to buy a gun For me, but he says "No"; He says if s fun enough for me To follow him, an' so When he starts out I tag behind To carry all the loot; It is an awful day for me When father goes to shoot. If he would only GIT some game I wouldn't care a bit; If he would shoot a hundred) pounds rd lug the hull of it. But Lawd! This trampln' round all -day For nothin' doesn't suit; I alius dread the time to come When father goes to shoot. He stromps around the underbrush An, looks up in each tree. An' when he don't see any game He blames it onto me. "Hang boys!" says be, "for scarin game ; They'd orter get the boot"; Oh, pa is loaded up for bear When he goes out to shoot. Pa gets back home mo' tired te death. An cross as he kin b1 "Ain't supper ready? I am starved:!" He says to me, say he. "Oh, yes," says ma, "I thought you'd like Some game, cooked up to suit; Ol' Tabby fetched a rabbit In .While -yo- waav-out -to shoot.1" BostOTHeraldV;