The new Northwest. [volume] (Portland, Or.) 1871-1887, 1879-07-10
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"a a sleepless Dight-the re-
sun o. strange premOnition afierward
4cco1 nted for in a sad bereavement in
elative's household, the news of which
reached us four days later in the shape /
of an obituary in the columns Of the
NEW NORTHWEST Of the same date
we were reused from couch OF restless /
ness 10 try the realities Of hundred I.
mile Journey by stage-eoscb, our desti- F.
nation jacksonville.
When you go by rail or steamer you
cannot possibly realize one-half Of the
incidents of your journey. The fatigue
is too slight, the transit too rapid, the
comforts too many. In such cases you
grow indolent as you travel, and il your
way is long you will unconsciously for
get to look about you. Very different
are your sensations when you mount
the box above the stage coach boot,
and, seated behind the prancing six
horse team, suffer yourself to be strapped
upon your precarious perch beside the
obliging driver, your main business for
the next twenty-four hours being an at
tempt to hold your place and ease, as
well as may be, the constantly recurring
jol,s that shake you to jelly and bruise
you to pulp.
All day long the patient horses pur-
sue their winding way, in diligent obe-
dience to the drivers whip. The stage
road winds along through the laby-
rinthine mazes Of narrow valleys that
form divides between the zigzag heights
which stretch themselves away upon
either hand, as though, sometime dur
ing great internal rupture in the ages
gone, their closed sides had parted,
leaving all exposed and bare the ere
while hidden rivers that come tearing
down the gorges to form patch of earth
upon either bank, upon which men have
founded farms and stock ranches, leav-
ing only room between their borders for
the tortuous river and the winding road.
And such ranches! The alluvial depos-
its of centuries of mountain side abra-
sion have so prodigally enriched them
that, almost without human effort, the
soil produces with amazing power and
regularity. One old man occupies, or
rather, clsims several thousand acres in
one locality, who has raised a bountiful
crop of wheat every season for thirty
years, without rotation or the idea of il
upon a single field. OF course this mar
is rich; that is, as men count riches
+ But he lives in a tumble-dOwn ole
c shanty and dresses in patched butter
t nut, and his equally ragged old wifi,
D goes barefoot. They have raised some
where about a dozen sons, who will in
: herit these possessions some day, anC
e will, it is to be hoped, prove less greedy
than their parents, and enjoy a littl
: more Of life than the bare, comfortles
e idea Of struggling through a chequere,
{ existence for the sole purpose Of aseer
= tanning how much they can accumulat
o and how little they can use with benefi
a to themselves.
: Noon, and Canyonville. Here we en-
: counter an intelligent landlady, a
9 hours rest, and a good dinner. The
[ we journey on, sometimes passing 70
0 miles through a tree-studded gulch
d sometimes slowly climbing great noun
e tains and again rapidly dashing dow
: them, and at sundown we reach beau
= tiful and fertile valley where there is
a I uFa FaN and hare sr4
C halt for supper, to be met by genia
If Mrs. Kitchen and her amiable daugh
Il ter, Mrs. Levins, the latter a whiloT
e schoolmate of our younger brothers an
l. sisters at Forest Grove, and the formC
e a specially wide-awake Woman Sufirs
n gist. After a supper fit for a king, an
is a change Of drivers as well as horses, "
of journey on and on, into the heart Of th
5. night, into the heart of the mountain
d over zigzag roads and past many wine
is ing turns of the busy Rogue River, OF
W companions for miles the beautiful dee
e that are so little afraid Of the coach an
e, team that they amble gracefully up
ic us in the waning twilight and ga7
N wistfully into our faces, regardless
ie the murderous wishes of the driver, VII
re vainly swears for a revolver. Then, {
E. darkness takes the place of twilight, Il
Of glorious stars come out in myriads an
hang their flaming jewels in the limp
heavens, fit monarchs of the might
solitude.
: Sometime after midnight, we reaehC
ol way station, where we change
T. horses, and, after driving onward for
u mile or so, discovered that the viii
'e that indispensable weapon withol
E. which no driver could think of hazarr
Sc ing his reputation as a modern Jeh
ig had been lost or left behind. The driv
70 suddenly gave US the lines, and, aligh
v ing, loosened the off tug Of the c
a wheeler, so that the coach might u
y run many yards without a compile
y smash-up If the team should get frigh
4u ened, and, leaving US there alone in Il
> darkness, so securely strapped in q
10 perch behind the apron that we cOuldr
VI extricate ourself from the buckle
u though we tore our gloves to shreds
is the attempt, hurried back with lam
d and was gone trifle over twenty mi
u utes, though to the solitary wanderer
% seemed nearer twenty hours. One
while the stiffness was so profound tn
we fancied we could almost hear q
u twinkling of the distant stars, We we
u startled by sudden ''loo" from sOr