Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1871-01-14
ErOIn Ihc fhlIaIeTnNla Frest.
FROM OREGON.
PORTLAND, Oregon, Nov. 13, 1870.

PORTLAND, Oregon, Nov. 13, 1870.
In my last letter | was compelled TO
break OIL rather abruptly at Fort Lasswai.
will now relate briefly some of the incl
dents and surroundings of our journey to
Fort Colvillo.
Captain Sells, the government agent for
the Nez PercGs, transported us to Lewis
ton, about thirteen miles. through region
abounding in wild suntluwers and indigo
nous wax berries, both transformed rs or
namcnts to civilized gardens, in which they
improve vastly In size and appearance
Here the magpic, the most beautiful, and
the raven, the largest Of the American cor
yidG, build their nests. That of the mag
pie is a curiosity for bulk and structure.
1t is usually built in Il hawthorne bush,
rudely constructed of sticks, and lined with
grass or any soft substance he can find.
Externally it is about three feet high and
eighteen inches or two feet in horizontal
diameter. The entrance is at the side and
50 protected by its thorny surroundings as
to make it difficult to handle without
gloves" SO plentiful are they that there
is scarcely a thorn bush thcket without
scores of them.
And here let me remark that even in
this desolatc wilderness, Nature has pro-
vided most generously for her ieathered
children. 1t is emphatically the land of
berries, and | would recommend all the
cherry-thicving birds OF the East to migrate
hither at once. They can obtain a less
| precarious subsistence, and run small risk
of being shot.
! The order Rasorcs is represented by four
varieties of the tctraonid@. or grouse. The
| largest Il magnificent bird externally, but
OF bad repute for culinary purposes. He
feeds upon the unsavory leaves of the
Brouscwort and sagebrush (wOrmwood)
aud for their digestion need no gizZard
consequently "hc don't got any" We
shot one that weighed nearly eight pounds,
and heard of those that weighed ten. Ow-
ing to his size and long, pointed tail, hC
more closely resembles the true pheasants
Of Southern Asia than any other bird OF
the grouse family. Next in order ofweight
come the blue grouse, the primated grouse
or prairie chicken, and the rulflcd grouse,
improperly called pheasants here as well ms
III Pennsylvania. OF these the second and
fourth have white flesh in the breast, and
far surpaSs the others in flavor.
The coyote (prairie wolf and the rabbit
were the only wild quadruprds we saw,
The whole region is iull Of badger holes,
but the inmates kept too closely ut hou,
i'll daylight to be visible.
We left LUwistuwn at four O'Clock in the
morning III stage coach, and crossed the
Clearwater in Il ferry boat impclled by the
current ; then following down The Snake
river on the north side for six miles. W,
crossed it in the same manner about day
break.
On our return we had fOndy hoped t
avoid 1T least "A portion of the dust, as thu
wind generally blows from the west, hu
our prayers that it might change on tho
way out, We're answered just three days
two late.
At O'Clock we stopped at a lonely iDI
TO change horses and breakfast. There VI
found great abundance of badly cooked
and nastily served food. We tried til,
popular song ol "Shoo fly, don't boddr
me, - with no visible effect No pain
whatever had been taken to separate tn,
hairs from the butter. nor the dead die
from the fried cow grease. The hosts o
the dead made us wonder 1T the multitude
still alive.
, At L. NJ. we reached Waitsburg, ;
, small hamlet on the Touchrt river, remark
able for nothing but the crowds OF Ne
Perces Indians hanging around it, In
little wood behind the hotel, | found Al
excited group Of them gathered aruun
two contcmptiblc white sCOundrcls, VIII
were entertaining them with Il dead ope
, and shut GAME rcsclrcLuL faro. The
were ruking IN the hall dollars as unsCru
! puluusly as your Ninth aud Chestnut
) Street blacklcgs perform the same Kind o,
nee iur the brainlrss idiots who tryquru
their midnight deus. The WailsbuTu
: thieves wvrc not quite as well dressed a
, their Philadelphia their hats were Gut g
= shiny, nor their shirt bosOms 81 sputius'
, but The rubbcr hearts beneath were Just 4
I pltllcss. The tulilng squaw aud her hal
| led naked children, were overlooking o.
4 game in which husband aud sire pcr,lle
aud lost his last dollar, his last horsy, al
s his last blanket They went forth 10 shyg
Il and sAryr, that the lale-htcrd villain
- mi-ht riot iu druukt nuv,s aud debauchCr
p liut the red mau Is not atone Ia h,s folly,
70 Not many days ago this little city NJ
q All excitement over lottery drawing tha
was taking place la Slu Francisco, Nhul
s "A million went lu aud only halt mllllu
r. come out II was the only subject ol cut
- ycrsatlon. Nearly every man Nuu met ha
% bought one uT more tickets ut the to- hgl
j. drui h0usuHd aud every man Was iu
Iafsuadud hv would draw tho great prl
lIappS arkiss,S they sluod much bctl,
!. chance ui bsius slru,A by lshInlng,
, Nc ku Nailsburs HeAt mnTnlng ia
Gur-hnrsr Ambulance, Which uur dut,
d a. rslsled Ia valliug au ayalapche," "
!. gat out our hish-box Cor dlpnef on q
snalh hank II the snako uter which n
= eTissed lust helpa thg mnuth ul lhe T.
4 lnuse un anulhrg sslfimlsliing ngry-ba
!, On lhe olhrr hank ~ passed through
tnsu Di une house and un lnll,bil,nls, q
a nalls uf uhich lraned fTuln tbs kFF
4 taAS, but hsvs ioIsol.sn ~