The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1873-01-11
From the Overland Monthly.
A Romance of ella Bend.

The day that brought us to Oatman,s Fiat
was murky and gloomy-a day III iuii mar
mony with the character of the country
through which we were traVehnS. we de-
scended into the Flat by an abrupt fall in
the road. that landed US at once among a
clump of scraggy trees, darkling willows,
dropping YEARLY over sluggish little creek.
In the distance glttered the white sand bed
of the ella; and half buried in it, here an.
there, were the CHASTITY, water bleached limbs
of the trees that the river had uprooted in its
annual frenzy. Verde, or greasewood, as
ragged and craggy as the willows, covered the
whole Flat, excepting where, toward the CEN
tire, dilapidated shanty stood on a sandy,
cherries open space. Not far from it were
the remains of a fence, inclosing some six
PAGES Of uneven ground and on the only up
per rail left of the Enclosure sat dsmal-look-
ing, solitary crow.
The Fiat was repulsivey dreary and DESC
late; and when Sam, the driver, pointing to it
with his whip said it was the spot where the
Oatman family had been murdered and lay
buried, it added nothing to its attracCveness
Only one of the whole family escaped-a little
chap, who crawled away, after he had been
left for dead, and brought the white people
from the next settlement to the scene of the
massacre. There was nothing to be done but
to bury the mutilatsd corpses. After this the
place was deserted and stunned, though
there has been no more Indian derredations
committed for years.
watched the solitary cabin with strange
fascination. Sam, too, had his eyes fixed on
something that might have been the shadow
of one of the victims, fitting by the black
gap which had once been the door, The
place was so weird, and the ghostly shadow
chimed in so well with the rest, hat 1 accep-
ted it as part fthe uucanny whole. We
wee going along at the usual lesurely gait
when Sam suddenly and excitedly whipped
up the mules, and leaned out of the ambu-
lance to speak to Phil who drove the army
wagon containing our baggage. The road
was good and solid, so that took no alarm !;
bnt, when the speed was continued, and the
baggage wagon kept laundering close in the
rear, ventured to ask, els there danger
from Indians, here?"
s'There han't no linens been seen round
here for more'n three year, was the an
swor.
Travelling frolu Los Angeles to Tucson,
you can, if you, choose. sleep under roof ,
most every night, providing you have goOld
teams. There are government forage sta
tions along the whole route, where travellers
are ''taken in by the station-keepers-
though not on government account. l do
not say that it is pleasant at all of these sta
tions-partcularly for swoman, as she will
seldom or never meet one IF her own sex on
the way. When we left Fort Yuma, Sam as
sured me that would not see white wo-
mans face between there and Tucson. We
were happily disappointed, for we met not
ouly one, but whole family of them, one af-
Ter the other.
At Burke's Station, where we were to
pass the light, the first surprise awaited US.
The house, squalid abode, was built in the
style common along the route: ain open pas
sage way from front to rear, with rooms on
either side. The principal room to the left
was bar room and store room; the one to
The right, sitting room and bed room, and
behind it was the kitchen. The passage way
was dining hall. When the tall young Mis-
souria5, mine host, had ushered me into the
DOM IN the right, he stepped to the opening
eading to the kitchen, and called out:
"Here, Sis; come and speak to the lady,"
Obedient to the CALL ashful, half grown
girl appeared, wiping her hands on her apron,
and looking up timidly from under long eye
lashes. / took her by the hand. "How do
you do, child? How in the world did you
get here-and where is your mother?" l
asked.
Sam and Phil stood in the hall door, nudg-
ing each other, till Sam could restrain him
self no longer:
'Why, that's his wife, pointing to a young
Goliath from Missouri; 'tand her dad and
MANS living in the old shanty down on the
Flat. I'll be derned if til didn give me
the wust scare he'd yet-thought they was
Injens-shoreP
s'And how old are youp' asked the girl.
''Almost Fifteen" was the answer; and,
when the men withdrew, she told mes about
the rest of her family, whom would probably
see along the road.
A coarse cotton gown made with yoke
about an inch and a half in depth, was drawn
I'D close around her neck, and hung loosely
about her slender, immature form her naked
feet were thrust into coarse boots, land large
check-aoron completed her costume. But
there was shy, daisy-like grace about her,
that made one forget the dress, and see only
the dove-like eyes nd the halfpensive smile
on her face. Her husband treated her in all
things like child; and she obeyed him with
out murmur or question. When we left,
he told us that we would find Sis's aunt at
Kenyon,s Station; and charged us to say
that Sis was WE'LL and not the least bit home
sick.
We made Kenyon's Station early in the
day-Sam and Phil greatly enjoyed the pros
pect of seeing another white woman. She
appeared on the threshold, a brawny, coarse
handed woman of about forty, tidy looking,
in spite of her bare feet and the short pipe in
her mouth. By her side appeared a shock
headed girl Of twelve, with eyes agog, and
mouth open, at the strange appariti III OF
civilized looking white voman. The nus
band stood beside the ambulance-six feet
and half in his cow-hide boots-and with
good -humored smile on his leathery face.
The house, like that at Burke's station, was
adobe; but there was an air Of homely
comfort about it, inside and out, cheerful
and inviting.
Aunt Polly was an excellent house-keeper
AS viewed from Texan standpoint-and,
after she had in the most naive manner salts
fed her curiosity in regard to my looks and
general makeup,she commenced preparations
for inner. Sarah Eliza Jane-sole daughter
ofthe house and re- ce-sitting in a low, home
made chair. stared steadily, till she had COM
pretended that the bits of braid and lace in
INV lap were to be manufactured into col
lar. similar to the one / wore. When she
loo rned that the collar was to be for her, she
ran ont. shouting her pleasure, to her moth
ar The mothers delight was as frank and
hearty as the daughters and all at once the
.ecret leaked out that the family was in pos
.as.;on of a fine American cow. Never speak
to me OF Pixies ana IeAahs. IL
has been NV experience that the least KIND
ness shown them is returned tenfold, and the
smallest advance of friendliness IS met ny
them half way. When dinner was placed on
the table, there came with it the most dell
clous butter had eaten for many days, ana
q cup Vi 1he sweetest b tterInik. Aunt fo'-
ly's metnod Tor making butter was very SIM
p,, ne etea a was poured into high, TN
quart CUP, and beaten with spoon till the
butter came-which it did T. about fifteen
minutes.
Becoming quite intimate, Aunt Polly ra-
sumed her pipe, and gave me short ao no ~
of her history since emigrating from T",.n
The most striking incidents were the Ioss o.
her former husband by a stroke of lirhtninoe,i
about ten months before, and the acouisitiGSn,
of her present husband by stroke of policy.
about three months before. Though she did
not snow me the weeds she had worn on be-
coming widow, she exhibited the gorgeous
s.good clothes she wore on again becoming
wife. She stood little distance from me,
and spread out the secondary dress admir-
ingly. SO that l could see the whole OF the
pattern, consisting of detached bouqets (brllli-
antly variegated in color, and glgSntc III slze)
scattered over plain of light skyblue. Her
husband had proved kind and lnduigent;
since their marriage he had been at Marlco..
pa Wells, and brought home another dress OF
many colors-which, alas! had nun out OF his
sadde-bags, after two hours hard rain, OIL
his way home. / saw the dress pattern, and
-"Oh, it was ptiful!'
Ate this display of goodwill and fine
clothes she had a favor to ask Ofme. Pointing