Butte record. (Bidwell, Butte County, Cal.) 1853-1858, 1857-02-14
CHAPTER ".
ats hard road to travel to the Junction. =


- It's hard road to travel to the Junction.
Over hills and through tortuous defiles,
runs the road from Ophir to the Bridge of
Size. But winding as it is, map from John
the chain bearer, shows its course to be far
more straight than another which Savage
and his friends have talked of as being re-
quisite for those who might in time be led
to cross the river at the point where, in his
madness, he engaged to build ferry Love
of county and of scientific pursuits, induced
our Judge to employ the chain bearer to
take his staff, and compass, and stakes, "a
large portion of which, Joe kindly furnihed)
and go out upon the Bidwell road and make
survey, from which to make a chart, and
sraight,cdy John did as he was told; and
after that, he went upon the other route,
and surveyed that, and made of it another
draft, and this he did with care, but not as
straightway as he had the other, but repre-
sented it a Savage path, and jesting said,
Its hard road to travel to the juno
ton"
Among Joe's quondam fellow craftsmen
the packers-there is story told, that Bob,
who acted as the keeper of the Bidwell ferry,
was of yore an austere man, and when mule
trains passed his way, was fain to grab a
mule from out herd, and tie him to his
boat until the reckoning was paid. Now,
this was right, tho strange; and yet the
packers murmured at it, saying, ''Y ou know
US to be worth the fare, and many times as
much ;" yet Bob held to the mules, and kept
them as his own until the ferriage was
paid, and thereupon the packers swore with
fearful oaths that Bob, and George, and the
two Joes might go to = that bourne from
whence no traveller returns, with their old
ferry, and they would drive their mules an
other road, though two days more were
spent upon the journey. And these men
talked together, and with Savage, and the
Ophrites, and said, ferry by the Junction
should be built, for by that road we'll come
unto your town and buy our corn, and wine,
traffic in the cities of the lain. So also said
the merchants of the mountains, and the
sons of toil--they who labor in the bowels of
the earth for gold, and they who dam, and
curse the rivers.
Now, it came to pass, that Joe the Judge,
aud Bob, were seized with great desire to
iii tLa 1or1 opl p,;ndfn1 Of "a How Grounds
and rich pasturage that lie unoccupied along
the banks, and low down by the margin of
the water, where the offspring of eternal
snow, and its sister of the north blend into
one, they went with warrants and with John
the chain bearer to mark the metes and
bounds, and each one took unto himself a
neighborly with Savage, they comprised his
ferry round about, and corralled it with
their claims.
Bright rose the morning sun in the rudy
east, and up rose George, one of the mighty
four, and betook him to his daily task. The
morning passed away, and then came noon
to Bldwell, and with it came the stage from
Ophir bringing the mails. By post there
came a Record 1t came to George, who
CHANGING DER its pages Borrowing read its
editors remarks upon the Savage ferry,
which encouraged that enterprise withall
George liked it not that editors should speak
out at variance with his will, and "more in
sorrow than in anger" and with signs, he
gathered all the Records he could get and
sent them back to those from whom they en-
anated. Now this was kind in George, and
hence we tender him our thanks
But this is DEPRESSION and not part of
our narrative, but yet it shows the generous
character of one of oar principal heroes, and
also that he couldn't take joke.
But let's go back to Savage and see what
he is doing The time is drawing near when
the county's officers should meet in solemn
conclaye to minister to the sickly common
wealth, and smoke and tell long yarns and
institute retrenchment and reform and draw
metes and bounds and eight dollars day in
scrip. With visions of ferries running in
his head, (his ferry never ran anywhere
else,) Savage gave his cause into trustwor-
thy hands, that in due course of trial
brought it before the powers whose duties
are described as above.