The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1881-02-06
THE MOUNTAIN CAIRN.
No. /.
By GAsKELL.

there, on every manu. the WlldJ open
and free life OF the American prairie
and mountain is bat little appre-
ciated aud is an almost incompre-
hensible myth. Nature there is to be
viewed under many guises, each one
suggestive of freedom and liberty.
Vastness and solitude reign supreme.
Away of, far as the eye with its
mysterious power can reach, is the
varied prospect OF undulating, gently
swelling slopes, clothed in verdspt
green or sterile bsrrenness, inter-
sected here and there by the darker
green of forest or herbsge, which
lines the flowing waier.courses. But
il is not upon the prairie, nor while
snufipg in the fragrance OF the
bright-hued, blushing flowers that
spaDgle its surface like stars in set
ting of waving green, that the great
est pleasure is to be experienced, mol
the fulles! grandeur is to be seen.
Following up the canon courses oil
those mighty rivers, upon whose
broad and heaving bosoms, so much
commerce lourishes, we come upon
higher plateaus of table-land; end.
still ascending. at length. after many
s weary mils OF travel, we reach
those mountains among whose peaks
spring streams watering both sides OF
the western hemisphere. 1t ia there
we meet with grandeur and sublim
ity. With what feelings Of awe do
we stand upon the brow of the beet
ling precipice and view the sombre
clouds circling in fantastic shapes,
like an ocean in ceaseless agitation
far below. One false step is death
one feeling of dizziness or insecurity,
will unnerve the bravest heart and
precipitste disaster, abruptly ending
al dreams of earthly fame or plea
sure. II is not altogether the dreari-
ness OF desolation that dwells around,
though for untold ages the srow has
lain in the sunken cleft or dark
ravine unmelted by the recurring
summers sun. The ragged pine
tree rears his hardy head aloft, DEFY
ing the heat of summer and the cold
est blasts of winter, sending deep his
roots into crack and crevice wherever
frost and thaw had deposited their
mould; at times, irving ssunder the
rock itself oy the expansive force of
its growing roots thus adding security
to its precsrious footing. The deep
green OF his foliage relieves the
scene as oasis in the midst OF desc
lation, and the heart reioices in the
Wildness around. Anon we see the
rivulet springing IS silver ribbon,
from the towering cliff and dashing
in rainlike spray upon the jagged
rocks below. Here the eagle builds
his eyrie and securely rears his
screaming feathered brood, for the
foot OF adventurous man seldom
strays amid those dangers, nor ia the
sound of labor, except of the pro-
specting miner. heard awakening
the slumbering echoes of those soli-
tudes.
To such scenes would we conduct
our readsrs-to such scenes of wild
freedom and laWless license-ior with
its silence and solitude, there are
times when the feet OF laWless and
daring men intrude, startling from
their slumbers the grim spectres OF
this desolstion. They are men grand,
courageous, as the scenery amcng
which they live. They ever move
with cautious daring. armed and
for desperate deeds Of
Ofiense and defense and the blow
follows the word almost as soon as
spoken. They carry their lives in their
hands, ready at the Call of interest or
Of friendship, to lay them down,
Or to unfinchingly defend them from
an enemy. 1t requires discre-
ton and care in dealing with them.
They are. when in means, generous
even to foolish extravaganza, and in
The service of a friend, or in a ftful
mood of prodigality, they will squan-
Ter III few hours the hard earnings
Of months and years of srduous hsz
lrdous toll. Even as the chivalrous
of the old, baronisl castles
If the middle ages would welcome
Ind feast the passing stranger, so does
he western mountain man show g
] similar hospitality, rude it is true,
,ut heartily and freely extended.
They are much given to athletic ex-
rcises, gambling and hard drinking,
It times, and braWls necessarily oc.
ar on sHch occasions, and the life of |
ne, and sometimes both, pays the |
Orfeit OF their quarrel. They ask no |
aw to right their wrongs, except it
Q the might of a strong arm, quick |
ye, a sure aim and an uuiailing
'eapon.
Such a wild, free life. has its
harms, even for the man who has
cen brought up amidst the decencies
nd politenesses of our modern so
iety. Human nature, we find the
ame in the court, the camp, or on
le boundless prairie. To bold and
enerous spirit, enterprise, danger
nd bold deeds finds an answering
,ho in its Utmost recesses. In the
'owded thorOughfares of older coun.
les there 10 often a charmed circle,
Imed by wealth, rank or fashion.
Die society, beyond which we csnpot
,nture; on the prsiries and amid the
ountsins, outside the restraint of (
vilization there is no nobility to i
y court to, nor any superior priv. {
&c granted to any but of the most /
ring courage and the bo!dest deed.
pported by the greatest skill and t
dress. Tone, distinction, Is come
mes woD unjustly, honors worn that
re never earned, physical courage t
d endurance superceding moral
ength, and mere brute instinct ex- 81
ling the highest and noblest powers
mind in the estimation of the b
but even in the higher de- 81
,e is this injustice manifested under ?
, selfishness, deceits and decep- {,
rs of q worldly, fashionable life. n
3 have mixed somewhat with these Il
d cbarscters-have seen needlessly b
lei and wicked deeds, and brave, d
Bile and self-denying courage dis il
yed. II they are reckless Of the st
ss OF others, they are likewise n
'digal of their own. If they are II
el to their foes, vindiotivs to the 81
,r Indian. they know no moders- =.
D in their affection and zeal al
the service Of their friends. But b.
would be q very dark picture of "
man life, indeed, in which no b.
saks or veins OF gold, or of light, "
i be traced - dark indeed must be 81
daeds uhoro M uirfuea orc m ha | :,