The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1870-05-19
The Facts in the Great Landslide
Case.
BY MARK TWAIN.

1t was in the carly days of Nevada Terri
tory. The mountains are very high and
steep about Carson, Eagle and Washoe val
leys-very high ard very steep, and so when
| the snow gets to melting off fast in the Spring
and the warm surface earth begins to moist
en- and soften, the disastrous landslides COM
mence. You do not know what landslide
is unless you have lived in that country and
seen the whole side Of mountain taken off
some fine morning and deposited down in
the valley, leaving vast, treeless, unsightly
scar upon the mountains front to keep the
circumstance fresh in your memory all the
years that you may 50 on living within
seventy miles of that place.
General Buncombe was shipped out to Ne
vada in the invoice of Territorial officers, to
be United States Attorney. He considered
himself lawyer Of parts, and he very much
wanted an opportunity to manifest it-party
for the pure qualification of it and partly be-
cause his salary was Territorily meagre
(Which is a strong expression.) Now tie old
cr citizens Of a new territory look upon the
rest Of the world with a calm, unmaignant
contempt as long as it keeps out Of the way
when it gets in the way they snub it
Sometimes this latter takes the shape Of a
practical joke.
One morning Dick Sides rode furiously up
to General Buncombe's door, in Carson City,
and rushed into his presence without stop
ping to tic lis horse. He seemed much ex-
cited. He told the General that he wanted
him to- defend suit for him and would pay
him FIVE hundred dollars if he achieveda vic
tory And then, with. violent gestures and
words Of profanity, be poured out his
grief. He said it was pretty well known
that for some years past he had been farming
{orrauching as the moro customary term is,)
Eiu Washoe District and making successful
thing of it, and Furthermore. it WAS known
that his ranch was situated just in the valley,
and that Tom Morgan owned rancho imme-
diately above on the mountain side. And
now the trouble was that one of those hated
and dreaded landslides had come and slid
Morgan's ranch, fences, cabins, cattle, barns
and everything down on top Of his ranch, and
exactly covered up every single vcstige of
his property, to depth of about six feet
Morgan was in possession and refused to va
cate the premises-said he was occupying
his own cabin and not interfering with any
one else's-and said cabin was standing on
same dirt and same ranch it had always stood
on and would like to see anybody make him
vacate.
"And wheA reminded him" said S. weep
ing, "that it was on top Of my ranch and
that he was trespassing, he had the internal
meanness to ask me why didn't | stay on my
ranch and hold possession when | see him
coming! Why didn't | stay on it, the blath-
ering Iunatic-and by George, when heard
that racket and looked up that hill it was
ripping and tearing down that mountain
side--trees going end over end in the air,
rocks as big as q house jumping about a
thousand feet high and bursting into ten mil
lion pieces, cattle literally turned inside out
and a coming head on with their tails hang
{ ing out between their teethm-TOh, splipters,
and cord wood, and thunder and lightning,
and hail and snow, odds and ends Of hay
stacks, and things, and dust--Oh, dust amt
no name fof tit was just clouds; solid clouds
Of dust and in the midst of all that wreck
ana destruction sot that cusscd Morgan on his
gate post, wondering why I didn't stay and
|Rold possession !; likely.i l took just one
glimpse Of that spectacle, General, and | lit
out'n the country in three jumps exactly
But what grinds me is that Morgan hangs
on. there and won't move of that ranch
SAYS it's his'n aud he S going to keep it-7likes
/ it better II he did when it was higher
up the hill. Mad. Well, I've been 50 mad