Cooper's Clarksburg register. [volume] (Clarksburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1851-1861, 1855-11-28

His creed, reveals no TO-Morrow.
Poor wretch deaths no comfort to him
For his creed no Morrow doth bring.
MARCUS.
STEEPLE CHASE ON THE PRAIRIE.
The first of June, 1849 Six years
ago How stranger than fiction it seems
that on this sixth anniversary of that
eventful day, after traversing all the vi
cissitudes Of experience, after boxing the
compass Of life's stormy sea, and shaking
hands with every extremity of fortune, l
should be seated at last in this quiet little
sanctuD1 the hum of that mighty city,
which was then the goal Of our mighty
hopes, around me ; the wild freedom Of
the illimitabe prairies exchanged for the
confines of the dingy Office ; my snorting
charger discarded for this old arm chair !;
the badge Of the pioneer laid aside for a
more peaceful but but mightier weapon,
this gray goose quill"
Yes Six long years of stern expert
ence, of lonely wanderings. OF ever r,chan-
ging, nevcr-ceasng toll and turmoil have
changed the boy into the man the youth
full romance of the emanci pated student
into the stern, fixed purposes, the utilita-
rian views Of the slave of business. But
have all their stormy vicissitudes and wild
excitement blotted from the mind the
fearful memories Of that terrific scene,
long ago, when the tyro of the wilder
ness first looked on Death All, no -
On this sixth anniversary of that memo~
rable day the thrOnging memories Of that
fearful hour crowd thick upon me. The
first sudden moment Of wild alarm that
terrible war-whoop, bursting from fifty
savage throats /; the reckless desperation.
the thrilling excitement of that wild chase
Of eight miles, with fifty painted demons
sailing after me on their wild mustangs !;
the appalling fear, as the sweat gathered
on the hanks of my flying gray and the
foam tiew from his heaving nostrils, lest
his strength and bottom should fail me in
my dire extremity ; and, above all, the
eXulting thrill of gratitude and rapture
when the white wagon~tops of my com
rades hove in sight as We flew over the
summit of the last hill that divided us
from safety, and the wild howl of the baf-
fled horde burst on my startled ears-all,
all come back nothing is forgotten, and
that unspeakable revulsion of feeling when
my frightened steed rushed into camp.
and, his duty done, his powers exhausted
dropped almost lifeless to the earth, as ]
reeled from the saddle and ferventIy
thanked that gracious Providence who had
looked down upon and protected me in
my fearful need.
1t was on this day six years ago. Eigh,
| ty-fve of us, weary-wanderers over the
trackless prairies, were day after day and
month after month toiling onward to this
land Of gold, whose lofty sierras and sum
mer plains have since gathered to theil
eternal embraces SO many member oI
that gallant youthful band. 1t was Sun,
day in the wilderness the wagons al
" corralled" on the banks of the " Little
Blue" the toll worn mules scattered
around joyfully cropping the virgin grass
under the watchful vigilance of the guard
Some of the party were bathing in the
clear stream, some cooking, mending
clothes, washing, lounging, or smoking
and all enjoying to the full a glo
rious sunshiny day of rest and indo
lencc, when some evil genius possess
ed me with q sudden desire to be the frs
of the party to slay the long expected
buffalo," an animal we had not yet en-
countered, but which now began to be The
constant theme of conversation and con
lecture. Several of the boys were hunt
ing turkeys in the margin of the timbe
that skirted the river, so that when sad
died up my steed and, with rifle at M
bow, started out to the northward, thu
few who observed my departure exchang
ed sly winks at my probable disappoint
ment, but never dreamed of the thrilling
adventure that 1 was SO rashly rushing
into. Although we knew that We wer'
about the confines of the Pawnee Terri
tories, and had indeed been warned by
convoy Of trappers, whom we had met bu
a few days previous returning from thei
distant wintering ground in the mountains
that war parties were out, yet, con6den
in our numbers and the entire inability o
our unpractised eyes to detect any trace
of them, we had attributed the welI-mean
warning of the old mountaineers rathe
to a spirit of news-mongering than any
thing else, and rather dispised those will
Bedouins of the prsiries of whom We hat
as yet failed to see.