The weekly Butte record., 1863-10-10


The little party were, however, true
and tried men, and went forth upon
the perilous scheme of adventure as Cor
tez went forth upon his boasful expedl
ton for they had heard the marvellous
tale of the mysterious seven cities OF
Cibola, and the legends of an unknown
people who dwelt in castellated towns
and used bullets of gold and silver In
stead of lead and our hunters were,
therefore, actuated by much the same
ambition which inspired the Spanish hi
dalgo, though more in a humble way
But the city of Cibola or golden bullets
saw not they, and the beautiful maidens
of doubtful derivation; with flashing
eyes and hair falling in food Of natu-
raj golden curls to their feet, and who
were to take our hunters by the hand
on meeting them, and introduce them to
their families, present them each with
chieftain's badge of power, were equally
scarce. For this our adventurers cared
but little, and no unusual accident be-
fel them. The free, fresh air of the
prairies favored their cheeks, and the
bounding motion of their steeds added
agility to their own movements and re-
newed elasticity 20 their limbs. Zach
day some fresh natural wonder or beauty
unfolded itself to their vision, and the
slightest raylet of the humblest piece of
starry moss that grew, possessed for
them a more absolute value than the
brightest diamond that ever cleaned
upon the brow Of duchess.
The old routes of travel(the old
"trails," more properly speaking), were
scrupulously avoided, and after months
of toll and hardship varied by pleasure
such as the people of crowded commu-
mites never know, and knowing, would
not appreciate, they found themselves
crossing the SUBMITS eff the Sierra by
pass of which none of the party (and
they were cogniznnt of all the ore of the
wilderness) had ever heard before. Gil
gantic peaks leaped sheer up into the
bluest of Alpine skies, smiling in glor-
ries eternal, their foreheads crowned
with the everlasting SHOWS. Terrific
gorges, through whose almost fathom-
less depths moutain torrents, that seem
ed the emptyings Of mighty seas, de-
livered themselves to the plains, which
their embraces were one day to fertilize
and enrich, singing in diapason, the old
song of praise and rejoicing. Trees,
half thousand feet in height, and more
than one hundred in circumference,
raised their yet leafy branches towards
the clouds, even as they raised them
three thousand years ago, before the
Sayiour's birth, and ere the patriarch
Moses had delivered his people from the
thrall of the Egyptian. They gazed on
the cliffs from which river precipitated
itself in sheets of sparkling foam a dis
tance of twenty-five hundred feet into
the lap Of one of the lovliest valleys
which it had ever fallen to them to dis
cover, and witnessed withthe admiration
which grandeur Of scenery ever inspires
in the rude and uncultivated, the work
ings of volcano (still in active exist
ence), whose traces were visible in the
springs that boiled and bubbled at in
tervas about their path. They were in
a veritable land of wonders, and were
appalled, as well as surprised at the Gu
riosities which every where greeted their
sight. The leader of the little party Of
adventurers picked up in mountainous
glen lump of bright yellow ore, which
he knew to be gold. Then he knew
that they were in the farfamed land Of
the mysterious Moqui.
Buffalo Jake, as he was called by some
comrade, was a man in what might still
be termed the spring time of youth, al
though the perils and hardships natural
to hunter-life had bronzed his rather
Romanesque features, had mottled his
leathern countenance with the pittings
of small pox, and furrowed his brow
with wrinkles not those of age. His
dress, like that of his companions, was
the usual mixture of Indian and hunters
garb, not the less picturesque on account
of scarlet blanket which he had wrap
ped about him, con6ning portion by
buckling it into his belt.
incline to think that Buffalo Jake
must have struck the country some
where in the vicinity of the Yuba Gap,
and followed the eastern summit slope
until he reached the wooded wales of
Calaveras, Tuolumne, and Mariposa.
On the first night of their intrusion
upon this unaccustomed scene, the hun
ters received the first intimation that
they were in hostile country, from the
circumstance that every peak and iut-
ting rock was suddenly ablaze with In
dian watchfres. The course of the
hunters thenceforward was one of inces-
SAINT peril and annoyance. Finding
themselves in a trap, they concluded to
i