Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1879-08-15

| his tribe and white men who came up from
the South.
'"The tribe he belonged to lived to the east
of the mountains-Sierra Hevada-and passed
their time then, as now, hunting and tending
their stock. Included in their domain was a
vast track of arid desert, really the bed of
some long extinct sea, surrounded by noun
| tains. There were many small valleys lead
! ing from the sand to the mountain rocks.
| Every year a party of white men came up
from the far South, bringing large train Of
pack mules. The animals carried water
casks, fuel, and TOOLS Establishing a camp,
some dug in the ground others packed wood
and water to the camp; others tended fire
and melted what was dug from the ground
and cast it into squares, white in'color. Fre-
| quently these white men had slight misunder-
standings with the Indians but they wisely
conducted themselves peacefully, and, on the
| whole, treated the Indians honestly. Our In
dams father noticed that always the same
men came back-never new ones and if one
of the number was missed, on inquiry the In
dians were told, He is dead
''These strangers from the south worked
all summer. On the approach of winter they
loaded the mules with the white bricks and
! silently filed off toward the mountains to the
south and soon were lost to the tribe for an
other season. One spring they came with
new men among them, and larger party
| than before. They were overbearing and in
! solent. An Indian was beaten with a stick,
and that night runners were sent out to gath
er the clans of the tribe. council was held,
medicine was made, and it was decided TO
kill the white men from the south, to fill up
the hole they had dug, to tear down their
freplaces and keep their mules A night at
tack was determined on. The night was
fixed and intercourse with the whites was re-
sumed.
"On the appointed night the braves attack
ed the sleeping camp, and all the whites were
| killed. The hole was filled up, the fireplaces
torn down, the mules divided. and the tribe
went to a favorite camping ground. That
| night the medicine man prophe sled that if
any member of the tribe should over reveal
| TO any one the whereabouts of the dead white
mems treasure, the tribe would be devastated
by disease. SO every man in the tribe was
bound by Oaths not to divulge the secret of
the mine on pain of death. From that day to
this no white men came up from the south.
This is what the Indian told US, said
Jackson. "All that winter we three partners
sifted and cross-examined and led up to our
Indians story by many ways; but as origin
ally told, it was retold and told again"
Jim, the Indian" jackson was continu-
ing, when l interrupted him with, Hold on !!
| want drink"
Walking down to the rapidly flowing Skagit
leaned over and drank my fill OF liquid ice
Rejoining the exile from Philadelphia, he
started anew with his story. l held up my
hand to check him. filed pipe, wrapped
blanket around me- then lying on the floor
on my back, told him to 60 ahead.
Jim, the Indian, agreed to take us to this
mine. OF course you understand that those
southern men were Spaniards working sill
yer mine, the ore of which was rich enough
to pay for packing water and fuel into des-
ert. II it paid them, how much more would
it pay us, who could command capital to work
it properly. By spring we had sold our
claims on the American, had bought sixteen
pack and saddle mules, had bought a cargo
of food and only awaited the falling Of the
rivers to start on the hunt for that mine. One
night we slipped out Of camp, and Jim pilot
ed us across the mountains, into the land of
his fathers-a dry, arid country, Astounding
in sage bush, jack rabbits sage hens, huge
buffalo crickets, and gigantic grnsshoppers.
Issuing from the base of the mountain were
few streams of water and in the little val
leys made by this water was fair grazing.
'As yet we saw none of JiIn's people. One
day he halted his horse, and pointing to
cleft in the hills across the dry basin, said
that his tribe was there. 1t was about noon,
and being exceedingly hot, Jim advised us
not to try to cross until night. SO we camp
ed, and looked into the cauldron of heat
that lay before us. The hot air rose from
the ground in vast waves and drifted slowly
southward before gentle wind. | could al
most believe the ancient sea water was again
there-a constant changing as if Of waves of
water on a lake, ever rolling to the south
Whirlwinds would gather up the sand into
small columns, and these would move slowly
to descend to the desert, like small dark
clouds others would rise in their place, and
in turn would fall. The wind grew stronger
and the sand lifted it in dense black cloud
which went scurrying to the south to be close
ly followed by another. | was quite willing
TO take Jim's advice and wait.
1--WE camped by a scanty stream where
there was some grass. About midnight the
wind went down, and We started over the
desert. We crossed the sand with but little
suffering, and by four O'Clock in the after
noon of the next day were on n little rill of
water that issued from canon, and got
speedily lost in the sands of the desert Jim
said that his tribe usually camped higher up
this stream in the mountains at this season of
the year, and suggested that we stay there
that night, while he rode on, leaving us to
follow next day. So We unpacked the mules
rested, and ate. At dusk jim mounted aud
rode up the black canon.
Next morning We followed on the trail
leading up the stream. At evening We ar
rived within sight of the Indian encampment
and Jim came riding rapidly toward us. He
told us that We must camp, as the Indians re-
fused to receive us into their village. So we
camped. Struck with the despondent looks
of our Indian, we asked what was his trouble,
and were greatly discouraged to hear that his
proposed exposure of the hidden mine had
been met with an outburst of savage fury, and
that Jim had been plainly told that if he did
what hta nronnsaI ha Uould he killed nul
his white friends killed, too.
''What were we to do? We talked the af-
fair over, and concluded to send jim back to
camp to make terms Reluctantly he rode
back. When it was dark we could plainly
see the figures around the council fires, could
hear the Indian orators harangue the assem-
bled braves; but, of course, could not under
stand what was said. When we spread our
blankets the noise and excitement in the In
dian village was great, and we three went to
sleep much dispirited.
1T was an early breakfast next morning.
Then We began deliberating on the probabil-
tiles of our ever getting out of the country.
We had reason to be alarmed at the extreme
reserve of the Indians, and feared they might,
in a moment of fear and rage, kill us to avert
the prophesied calamities. jim was seen ap-
proaching our camp at sharp gallop. The
bearing of the man was more cheerful. He
rode his horse more confidently than on yes
terday, and directly was with us. He smiled
and said that the Indians, ON his representa-
tiOns and after much debate, had agreed to
leave the revelation of the hidden mine to
their old medicine man, who was camped by
himself some twenty miles away. Incden-
tally he mentioned, as though it were of no
interest to us, that large party in the camp
were in favor of killing us out of hand and
summarily ending the trouble. The arrange
ment now was to go the valley where the
medicine man lived, and there Jim was to ar
que our case. If the prophet consented to
the discovery of the mine it would be shown
TO u.s. If not, then we would all be killed if
we moved in the direction of the treasure.
80 we packed up, mounted and were off.
The trail led over hills, across dry valleys,
and finally into the mouth of one of the ra-
vines that had water in it. Here on the bank
of a tiny stream hidden amonp the willows