The Andrew County Republican. [volume] (Savannah, Mo.) 1871-1876, 1876-09-14
A FRONTIER ADVENTURE.

Six or seven miles from where we
first settled on the east fork of the
Umpqua, in Oregon, there lived an In
dian trader named IIuclder. He dealt
in old Government muskets, powder,
lead, ETC., and used also to keep axes
%shockingly poor ones. ! suppose they
may have been defective oncs, chcaply
purchased at the factories. Often the
temper would be so high, that ON strik-
ing one into Il hard, dry log, the bit
would break and fly like glass. But in
those days there was not another place
where an AK could be bought within
sixty miles Of Us. SO it was ''llobson's
choice" those, or nothing. We bought
not less than Il dozen Of these axes Of
Iluclder during the first four years. !
remember that his price for an aN with
out the handle was three dollars and
fifty cents. Father could generally pick
ont those blades which were the best
tempered; but the trader's Indian Gus
toners could not tell a good AK from n
poor one. And so he went on swindling
them year after year; selling whisky
only tit to poison coyotes, aXes rs brit
tie rs glass, and guns all rusted out at
the breech. But the Indians took dead
ly revenge on him at last. Another il
lustration of the fact that if a man sows
~wickedness, q bitter harvest follows.
Towards the last days of October of
the third fall, my brother Samuel, ia
Their and I,set off n morning to go up
to Huelder's to get Il couple of his axes
and lay in Il stock of powder for the
winter. The road, or trail, ran along
the fork (east branch of Umpqua). We
went horseback, or rather muleback,
for we kept three mules to work on the
farm. One of them, old Tige, was the
most vicious beast and the worst kicker
l ever saw. Every body in Oregon
used to ride a mule in those days.
About four miles above place, the
river runs through Il rocky %ravine, such
us the lower country folks call a canyon,
II fearfully craggy, rough hollow, the
sides of which were fifty or sixty feet
in height. Great rocks, as large as a
car, had rolled down, and here and
there trees, which had toppled over
from above, lay across the lodges. Tho
stream filled the most of the bed of the
ravine. The trail was on the north
side. 1t wound in and out among the
rocks, sometimes running close to the
water, then back among the powders
and drift-logs, which lay piled up on
the rocks ten and twenty feet high,
where the freshets had lodged them. Il
was n terrible hole.
As we had started early, it was scarce,
ly sunrise when we reached the canyon
father riding the mule, Tige, in advance
of my brother and me some forty OF
fifty yards. At a turn among the rocks
he all at once came face to face with
big grizzly bear. 1t was probably a sur
prise on both sides. But the old bea
was the first to recover his wits. Wit
agrowl and a roar, he sprang ut tn
mule. Tige whirled about, fairl
pirouetting on his hind heels, deposite'
father Hat in the path, and took tn
back track like u fox. Sam and / wer
in sight, and caught a glimpse of thi
Then Tige tore past IL:
Squeezing like a pig. Our two mule
had heard the bears roar, and perhar
smelled him. They squealed, whirle
about, and ran away with us after Zig,
Sam had only a halter on his mule. W
could neither hold them nor turn thel
about. 1t was a regular stamped,
Down the canyon they went at full ga
lop, over and among the great roug
rocks and logs, Sam and l holding Q
for life.
As soon as we could master them, "
pulled up, and, jumping OFF, tied the
to the dry branches Of a fallen pin
Then, although we had not a sign of
weapon, we ran back to see what hs
become of father. We thought the bel
certainly had caught him. He had Il
rifle. and We had not heard him fire.
would be impossible to describe VIII
we two boys suffered in our feeling
during those few moments. Back '
went, all In q tremble. On coming wit
in a hundred yards or so of the plac
Sam said that we had better call OF
for we did not care to run upon I
bear, So we called softly at first, tn
q little louder.