The Idaho world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1864-1918, 1874-11-14
psvAGEs OF A PEsIILEECE-


n;cat;on from Mr. ]. j. Warner, IN the
Los Angeles Cal. Star:
have read Of the horrors OF the Ion
don plague, and Of the more than oee'
nation By pestilence Of the inhabitants
~ var;ons parts of the world, in differ
ont ages Of the destruction OF mankind
nv the angels of the Lord. and by De
stroyinr angels; but ] have never
read or heard Of such a general De
struction Of a people by any angel
GOOD or bad, or by plague or pest'ience'
as that which swept the. valley OF the
Sacramento and San Joaquin. IN the
summer of 1888. !.
In the Autumn of 1882. party. OF
which the writer was member, tray
eled from the mountain down along the
banks of the San Joaquin River and up
those of the Sacramento to some as
lance above the confluence OF the lat
ter with the feather River. The NUM-
Der of Indians living along and IN the
vicinity of the banks of the rivers. was
SO much greater than had ever seen
living upon the same area OF country;
that It presented constant source OF
surprise. The conclusion was then
reached by me that there was no other
place on the continent, north OF Inc
tropic, the natural productions Of winch
could support so large a population as
was then living in the section OF eoun-
try to which have referred
In the latter part Of the summer OF
1888 we entered the northern extreml-
ty of the Sacramento Valley from the
Klamath Lake and Pitt River countries
We found the northern part of the val
lev strewn with the skeletons and the
fragments of skeletons Of Indians, I'M
der the shading trees, around springs
and the convenient watering places. up
On the banks Of the river, and over the
plain. where wolves and coyotes, wad-
ding from tree to tree or over the plain,
their hides distented with unnatural
fatness, had dragged and denuded
them. From the head Of the valley TO
the American River but one living In
dian was seen, and he was the most
perfect personi6cation of solitude that
was ever presented to my view: his
wasted muscles, his eyes deeply sunk
in their sockets, as if there were no
brain within the Uranium, emitted a
dull vacant gaze, as if astonished TO
behold a living human being. when he
believed that all, all were dead, and he
alone left, telling most emphatically OF
his utter loneliness, Of how he had seen
the destroying angel engaged in his
work of death on every hand, and
wherever his eyes were turned, until
he himself was Frustrated, not killed,
but left 10 rise upon his feet, and wan
der about among the bones and tester
ing bodies Of his folk The dwellings,
of the Indians in the numerous villages
located upon and along the banks Of
the Sacramento River, and its tributa-
ries, were void, and no foot tracks but
those of fowls and wild beasts were to
be seen in the lonely villages.
As we travelled southern y the skele-
tons were of fresher appearance, and
before reaching the buttes, and from
thence southerly, the entire or partially
devoured bodies of the Indians, in all
stages of decay, were so invariably
found in and about all the convenient
and desirable camping places that it
became necessary, in order to escape
the stencil of decomposing humanity,
to seek our nights encampments upon
the open plains
After crossing Feather river, those
villages along the Sacramento which
in the winter previous were each III
habited by hundreds of Indians, were
desolate and the abodes of ruin. The
same appalling proofs of this dire ca
lamity were constantly presented to us
as we Travelled up the San Joaquin
Neither biblical nor profane history
has portrayed such mournful results of
the march of destroying angel as
were presented to our senses as we re-
passed through, along by, and around
those silent and vacated villages. which
some ten months before we had seen
swarming with Indian life and resound-
ing with voices from hundreds of hui
man throats.
Around the naked villages, graves
and the ashes of funeral pyres, the
skeletons and swollen bodies told a
tale Of death such as to us no written
record had ever revealed From 4ha