Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1873-10-10
er end of him. Poor, good-natured

err end of him. Poor, good-natured
Jack; his owner says that he is per-
fectly contented / mean the jack
if he can get a gunny bag, or old
boot for supper, and that one time
q man stopped near where he had
camped, and Jack wandered round
to where slept and found the mans
boots, and worked on one all night,
trying to swallow the sole. The
leg of the boot was swallowed but
the sole had got crosswise; so they
saved the boots although the upper
part was well chewed. Now do not
pretend to vouch for the truth of the
above,
| ''But tell the tale as twas told to me-"
We did not get to Battle Noun
tain that day, but had delightful
ride across Cortez valley, and along
the creek called Wilson's, and to
Crumbs Rancho where we again
campcd for the night. Unluckily
we could not escape the canon
draught, and till midnight the wind
howIed and stormcd, then died out.
The winds at night in the valleys or
canons are a strange thing to those
unused to them. In the day time,
the warm air forces the cold air up
the gulley, and makes breeze; at
night the cold air forces the hot air
back, and rushes down the canon,
and when one hasa strong breeze
there, on the mountain it may be
perfectly calm, viii, h appears Curl
Gus to one unusctl'to it. Old noun
taineers get to one side, in some
gully leading crosswise, where there
will be no wind at all.
We arrived at Battle mountain at
10 A. NJ. next day. This is sta
ton on the River Humboldt, and so
called from Il mountain near where
the immigrants had brush with
the Piutes at an early day, to get
back their cattle which the Indians
had stolen. l do not think there
was much of fight, but still in that
vicinity was where the immigrants
suffered most, as the willows on the
river bank afforded cover for the
Piutes to lay h wait.
At Cortex | also saw and convers-
ed with J. G. Young, an old Dubu-
quer, and nephew of Fred Bissell,
the insurance agei He is an old
forty-niner, and has made lots and
sunk lots of money. He is superin-
tendent of a mill, keeper &c.
He gave me some specimens of
$4,000 Chlorides, Stctefcldt and
quartz, which you or l might not
think worth while to pick up, to look
at it.
From "Battle Mountain to near
Sacramento, there is some splendid
mountain scenery-the Seirras are a
truly grand range, and the windings
of the railroad around the steep pre-
cipices, is astonishing. One.would
be frightened at the short curves,
and steep bluffs, were it not that the
cars go so slow. "Dutch Flat" looks
extremely curious to one unused to
a mining country. Here they dig
down the hills and wash for gold.
The country is all cut up and has a
strange, weird look, as though they
were trying to turn the mountains,
the other side up. Tunnels, snow
sheds, water fumes, hydraulics,
waterpower, &c, form very inter
esting items, but to explain the meth
Cd of the washings, would take so
much space that shall pass it over.
Bonner Lake is very picturesque
sheet Of water, and here it was, in
about '63 ORA, that u family of i'm
migrants got showed in, in the fall,
and a German who was along, kill
ed the whole family, one by one, and
ate them. In the spring when dis
covered, ha had heads and limbs
stored away-hm as dog hides a
bone. What they did with him, !
could not find out, but they would
all have died any way, and / sup
pose love of life was stronger in him
than the rest; any way he killed and
ate them.
Sacramento is u beautiful city
but smaller that l had supposed,
and not, as a general thing, as sub
stantially built as Dubuque. But
there are a good many fine build
ings in the town, and the semi-trop-
ical fruit and shade trees give it a
quaint and lovely aspect. The eca.
lyptis, or Australian gum forms 4
beautiful shade. The fig Il saw one
very large tree) too is splendid
Then too the flowers, but being
poorly learned in Horticulture, |
shall leave the task Of describing
flowers &c. to some one better post
ed. Stanford and Croker have
nice houses, worth 100000 or such
a matter. The high school is splen'
did, and l took a stroll up to the
top of the capitol dome with DR..
Clayton Gan uncle Of my better two
thirds), and his daughters; and
from the top, the doctor gave me a
history of the buildings, &c. The
capital grounds are made splendid,
and irrigated every morning bv the
hydraulic works. 1t will take three
years more to finish the building.
1t is in the composite style OF
architecture. The State library is
excellent, and man must be fortu-
nate to have a chance to read some
of the choice works there. Still, to a
person from the beautiful west,
California, at this season, looks like
a barren waste, except those places
that are daily irrigated, gardens,
orchards, &c. l was astonishcd
not to see more fine houses on the
farms (ranches). Miserable little
shanties are the general order OF
the day in some Of the big vallies-
and dust-ye gods. Yet they grow
up to eighty bushels Of wheat PEI
acre where they can irrigate OF