The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1874-01-30
Daisy's Mission.

its dwellers, 1t was an exceedingly fifth,
one for the locality that bore II. Al;
months residence there convinced M.
SO thoroughly of this fact that conIC
not conscientiously have changed n sin,
gle letter of the name, even had nos
sessed the power to do so. Not that 4
savored of sulphurous odors; not that
the roarings Of its apparent patron saint
were ever heard echoing among the car,
ons that eneompassed 1t; but for sinful.
ness, and wickedness, and riotous de.
bauchery, IL was peerless among ali IN,
mining camps had ever visited in Cal,
ifornia.
was sent there in the summer o
1858, by a San Francisco firm, to cIosf
out business that was drifting into in.
voluntary bankruptcy, and long dusty
ride found me there early in June of thai
year. A view of the camp from the
mountain had not impressed me favor.
ably with it, and nearer acquaintance
only confirmed that first impression;
but, like half-reluctant bridegroom,
had resolved TO take ii for ''better OF
worse" with but slight hope, however,
that it would prove any better than il
looked.
Hello! deacon. What do you want
in Hell-Roarin'? Preachers don't stand
much show in these diggins. You amt
wanted; better gitr'
This was my greeting. | had Just
alighted from my mule, tired and out of
humOr, and felt half-inclined to resent
the brusque, unmannerly salutation, but
did not. IL was not a consciousness OF
the truth that quieted me, for my ap-
pearance was certainly slightly clerical.
True, l had perfect right to differ in
opinion with the speaker, for of verify
this was just the place where preachers
were wanted, and just the place they
should stay; but, making 10 professions
of godliness, 1 held my tongue for a
moment. | looked up; q brawny and
powerful figure confronted me, and /
prudently held my temper | replied
blandly that | expected to remain there
awhile, and suggested with all meekness,
that appearances were sometimes deceit
ful. Soon the Bar was agnog with curl
osity, and crowd gathered. And such
a crowdi Great broad-shouldered fell
lows, dirty and unshaved, deeply
marked with chronic dissipation, whose
every second word was an oath; striD-
llngs whose tongues were volubly inn
pudent and early trained to blasphemy
in imitation of their elders, gathered
around, while / unsaddled my mule in so
awkard manner as to excite derision.
These people weighed everything, like
their gold-dust, in their own scales, and,
measured by their standard, was re-
garded as a worthless impOstOr. | had
''store clothes" on, and this fact alone
was too much for the fixed convention
alism Of the Bar. Buckskin and gray
flannel assumed dignity in early times
yielding, more exacting, than purple
and fine linen. My "boiled shirt' was
considerd an infraction, and therefore
the Bar was affronted. "DeacOn" was
echoed from. mouth to mouth. Bets
were offered and freely taken that was
a psalm-singer; a gambler, with a dead
thing" or "waxed keertls;" n lawyer; n
doctor; anything but horse-jOckey, or
a gentleman. Although. nettled with
the uncourteous reception, / could not
afford to fall out with my new neighbors.
Beating my dusty hat against my knee
with q well-assumed swagger, turned
quietly, and asked if the Bar was dry
And the Bar trds dry
With n whoop, the crowd adjourned
to the saloon-a rickety, clap board in
stitution, furnished with few stools and
rough tables-and the Bar drank-first
with myself; then with Joe Miles, the
then with the bluff individ
ual who had first accosted me. Pressing
the crowd, he held out his big,
rough hand, and taking mine, he led me
forward with something OF triumphant
air.
"Boys," he said, 'T take it all back.
This is my old skipper; came out with
him from Boston in '46. He amt 40
spends his money like =
man, and don't whine. Anyone that
don't like him can call on Bill ThrOp.
That's me, boys! Let's take suthin'."
Finding that things had taken an un-
expected turn, Immediately took adj
of the new situation. ThoIp
stood sponsor for me, and his emphatic
assurance of my unproacher-like charac-
ter and proper disregard Of the value OF
money put the Bar in a good humor; so
explained my business, and hoped to de-
serve well of the boys. And l won the
of these people; not by pan
dering to their tastes or falling into
their practices, but by minding my own
business. While abstaining from rub
bing against their prejudices, and scru-
pulously avoiding all interference with
their pleasures, | sympathiZed with
"
respected me. The Bar, by day, did not
seem to be a very bad or bOisterous
place; in working hours it INDUCED in
a feverish rest. But il was by night
that it shone in full glory of its appro-
pirate name. Then it was that the vam-
pires that sucked the blood of honest Ia
Dor came forth. Short-card men, poker
sharps, mOnte-dealers, faro-dealers, and
others of the fraternity, sneaked out to
pray on the earnings of the day, and the
Bar ran riot. Ii was then that great
strong fellows, who were wearing out
their lives in daily conflict with ma
ture-tearing open the mountains and
wrestling with the streams-that others
might wear the gold they won, would
gather round the gamingtables, to "try
theirlucku ku-and this thing called"luckh
in the early days was a strange thing.
Existing on the superstition that is found
in the composition OF every man, in a
greater or less degree, it was q phantom
that haunted all classes, and entered
INTO all human calculations. Luck
sbamed reason and set at naught all
mathematical certainties, and forget
ting that a mans luck was much of his
own making, il was followed with a per-
sistent fatality that led the feet of too
many into bad and dangerous places. 1t
was the scapegoat for all sins and short
1t was the rock upon which
were built the golden castles of the hope
full future; the shifting sand that carried
away with il the unfruitful and disas-
trous past; the harvest whose sheaves of
promise often yielded only bitterness
and disappointment. In these tilts with
fortune the Bar drank deep. If it was
dry by day, it was unquenchable by
night. IL luck was with the boys, they
drank, and dallied with it; If against
them, they drank still deeper, and cursed
1t.
Altogether, the Bar was wild and
abandoned blacei but attrition with