The Republican journal., 1874-12-17

|
| hills with green as it goes, there come be-
! fore me with all the yividness of utter
| contrast some Of those old desert days
| days of some care and toll, and not a few
wanderngs, but not without many well
remembered episode Of pleasure or novel
experience. | wonder If it is the familiar
brown eyes OF the little lady in the navy
blue Just fitting by, that have brought
connected with Nell Gwn's comtship?
Do YOU know the Coma Piqua Valley in
southeastern Neyada? If you do, YOU re-
member that in so all that region was
still down on the maps as ''uneXplored, y
though few hardy spirits were pushing
their way through Basdell and his party
had seen much trbulation in Death Valley,
but had got through, and as they came
upon OomaPiqua, it looked to them-way-
Worn and Weary-as did Canaan to Moses
in days Of Old
Among others, we too arrived there. All
the way from ---th street. in an East
ern city, where we had studied the latest
aliases = Of yore they sought the oracle
/ Oar oracle was extremely communicative
rs far as Council Bluffs a little more ret
icent from there to Salt Lake gushed
out again with much confidence at Virgin
| ia City and Austin-had not MI Colfax
and Governor Bross been there but when
We required it to break away from the
/ great stage route and take us south from
/ Austin, the oracle stammered, stumbled
and-was dumb. To tell the truth, that
/ was Very much the way everything else
| served us on that eyentful trip-mules
| wagons, and drivers. But we got there
! over three hundred and fifty miles ofweary
/ road-a never ending succession of wide,
| gray valleys, bounded in front and behind
| by bare brown mountain ranges, and fad
| ing on either hand into gray distance ;
| but, over all, the most glorious blue sky
III ali the world, and an atmosphere, breath
| ING which you were compensated for all
| the ills of lite-past, present and to come
AT last, standing at the summit Of the final
/ range dividing Us from home, and shading
! our eyes from the morning sun, we gazed
/ down along ten miles Of sandy bench land
/ 10 where Ooma-Piqua lay in all its beauty
| Once in while, IN this land of otherwise
/ utter desolaton, some angel Of compensa-
| ton has dropped a gem of u valley, green
with turf and crystal bright with springs;
| and the pearl-no, the emerald-of these
I is Coma -Piqua Out OF bare, black rocks
| at the head of the valley rises a spring,
! bountitully large, and SO tempered by iuner
! heat that it has conquered the desert all
around it. This is the source Of one Of
! the rivers that feed the mysterious ColCra-
! do OF the South. The little stream from
! the spring flows down the valley, gather
| ing force and volume from others of its
/ kindred, until at the end of thirty-fiye
/ miles a lake is formed, inclosed by low
! hills and holding one OF two miniature
islands. All along there is tillable land,
| some OF it with deep vegetable mold, and
! Welding wonderful crops Of grain and
| potatoes Little wild flowers spring up
and even force themselves out into the
sandy ravines of the bench" to meet
the cactus and sage-brush and Yucca half
way in friendly greeting. The little oasis
had at last been discovered by the same
sturdy prospectors who had found the west
ern boundary range to be silver bearing,
and. OF course, it was not long without
mining camp one of those settlements
not only almost ubiquitous in Nevada, but
! peripatetic; tor, when comes a rumor of
richer quartz than their own, no matter
how many weary miles away, not only
! the inhabitants but their houses are far off
and away.
But | am not to tell you of the mining
fortunes or misiortunes OF this camp. |
am thinking this morning Of another morn
ing Just as sunny, in the latter part of '66,
when we had arrived at the dignity OF
stage from Austin once in two weeks How
| watched it as it ratified down the dusty
road, finally stopping in front of the low
building which served as mill office, post
office, and general club room. Two or
three dusty men descended, and then a
woman with an unmistakable air, even at
that distance Dl being fresh from some
centre of life and fashion. Our social re-
sources, lemininely speaking had hitherto
consisted Of family from Pike" good
little Norwegienne, who kept de boarding
house, and the household of on apostate
Mormon-of all whtened sepulchres the
worst whitewashed. So it was with a
little hutter Of expectation that watched
Il rs he came up the road with pack
age Of papers and letters from beyond
the mountains.
WHO is she DO tell me who she is
''NhO's who? I Ou're as bad as the man
that always asked who she was when he
heard Of any new mischief"
do be good and don't bother; you
know | mean the lady who came in the
stage
"Of (circuntlex)-'' very nice look
ing little lady who came with her brother
"a nice young man should say. Gwin's
the name-brought me Il letter from old
Mr. Hyatt, Of our company
"Splendid Where is she going to stay ~
just what young Gwin asked Of ne,
looking about as if he expected to see u
brown stone front lying around loose
somewhere
',1ouldnt we make room for her here
awhile? ?"
"Oh no doubt, with Il comical look
around the one room Of our sod cabin;
Il suppose | didn't hear somebody say
Yesterday that she could not and would
not live another week without 4 second
room-ehp ?"
Yes, but the poor little thing, without
soul to welcome her OF to expect her
You 60 right down and bring her up here,
and III fix it somehow
"All right, old lady; your head gener-
ally is pretty level"
Don't talk slang, II, but do as
you are bid
SO Nell GWin came, and there was a
merry time building nest in q warm cor
ner of the cabin, and mprovsing cur
tain wherewith to separate the guest cham
Der from the drawing room" The broth
er-Joe-took his chances with the others
u bunk, OF part of one, as it happened
and the half or the whole of somebody's
blankets. The sister was of a graceful,
womanly presence, with fair, oval face
lit by bright, honest, brown eyes; full of
helpful homelike ways, winning her way
straight to our hearts Their little story
was told before many days Their mother
had died years ago, but there had been a
happy home with the father and the two
children in it. Recently, the fathers death
had broken it up; and there was, in