, 1864-08-05
Letter from Grand Ronde valley.


GRAND RoNDE VALLEY, July 3lst, 1864.
EDS. STATESMAN Owing to the anticipated
accession to our farming population in this val |
ley by emigration, now on the eve of arrival |
here it occurred to me that farming, now prof
liable as a business, would be injured nate
rally thereby, from the fact that nearly all
the land in this valley is well adapted to agri-
cultural purposes; consequently l resolved to
turn my attention to something that would look |
to be more remuneratiye, and leave farming for
the new comers. The "Horse Race" to come
off in Powder River valley July 23d, being
much talked of, felt rather well pleased as 1 |
said to myself 'theres the place to go And
that's the occupation to engage inl" l thought
the people all prejudiced against what | very
SL'lSiastically sunnosAd TO be - y - ~ ~
, all many sports, combined with which was its
paying chances. Resolved to attend the Race
in due time found myself in company with a
few friends journeying on our way to Powder
River, enliyening the time we went by sing
ing f'Camp Town races" We fnallyiarrived at
the place designated for the great event-the
Powder River Slough-where there was a
large concourse of people assembled, many of
them from Boise Basin. AT about one O'clock
the performance opened with ''scrub racing. y
| The first race created some little enthusiasm,
but the second was failure. After some de-
lay, caused apparently by difficulty in select
Ing parties. competent to act as judges, all pre-
liminaries were finally agreed on, and the
horses "Chance" and French Horse"-or the
EPike's Peak Horse,p were led to the tracks
After the usual promenading, the covers were
removed, both animals looking splendid. It
was admitted by all that l heard express an
opinion on the the animals, that from their gen
eral appearance it would be closely contested
race, The Boise Basintes to a man backed the
horse "Chance offering to bet freely as they
rode up and down, waving huge sacks of dust
In the air The French Horse had his admirers,
some of them betting their 'Cayuses,' money
and other property freely. Others not caring
to stake aught on the race, owing to the conf
dence exhibited by the betters on the other
side, thinking there must be something wrong
kept secret among the knowing ones. After
several Intellectual attempts to get even start
the horses at length came nicely to the score.
The word being given, they went with a stimuli
taneOus bound, and at the third or fourth
jump there was daylight between them. The
French Horse took the lead, and at $50 yards
1t is variously estimated that he from to
25 feet ahead; whereupon, HChance" finding
himself without company, flew the track, ma
| king circuitOus turn around the spectators,
and ahead of the track. His rider refining him
around quickly, brought him back through the
crowd regained the track and ran through the
poles ahead of his adversary When the boy
that rode the French horse discovered that
"Chance" had flew the track he reined up with
all his might and turned his horse to the left on
Chances track when within a short distance of
the poles, man on horseback (the horse said
to be unmanageable) ran ahead of him, in
manner to stop his headway, and simultaneously
one or two men caught the bride rein and held
him. Thus detained, "Chance" went through
the poles first
Every person now became animated, and in
manner excited--the French horse being the fa-
vorite. The race called tie, and all bets
drawn. If another were made, twenty or
thirty thousand dollars would readily change
hands on the result. Hac ....
now became satisfied that racing, as a bus
mess, would. d.never do l resolved to 90 home
and apply myself studiously to farming pursuits
until the next potent excitement got fairly un-
der way. gave my friends intmaton of
my intention, and one of them being an anna
teur in matters pertaining to to the Turf, in
duced me to go with him and ascertain how far
the French horse had jumped. We repaired to
the end of the track and after some stepping
and measureing, my Amateur and Bachelor
friend informed me that he had jumped % feet
| Springing into his saddle, he cast wistful
glance in the direction of the Emigrant road
sighed languidly, he no emigrants in
sight, and commenced whistling "girl left be-
| hind me- as we turned to bid farewell to the
Races and Powder River Valley. y s n
"A. G. FOUNDER.