Helena weekly herald. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1867-1900, 1881-01-27
GIANT WORLD BUILDERS.
Joaquin Miller's Sketch of Old Cali
fOrnianS.

fornians.
e In those days there Were giants in the land
mighty men of power and renown." II,
Il The towards did not start to thessPacii
, Coast in the old days; all the weak. aied o.
- the way. And so it was that we had thel
D not only a race Of giants, but of gods. 1t i
y to be allowed that they were not at all care
L ful of the laws, either ancient or modern, &c
o clesiastical or lay. They would curse. They
, would fight like dogs-aye, like Christians
1 in battle But there was more solid honol
among those men than the world will ever
see again in any body of men, I fear, till il
approaches the millennium. Is it dying out
, with them? hear that the new Californians
are rather common cattle. 4tE
Do you know where the real old Califor-
nian is ?-the giant, the world builder? He
is sitting by the trail high up on the noun
tain. His eyes are dim, and his head is white.
His sleeves are lowered. His pick and shovel
are at his side. His feet are weary and sore.
He is still prospecting. Pretty soon he will
sink his last prospect hole in the Sierra
Some younger men will come along and
lengthen it out little, and lay him in his
grave. The old miner will have passed on
to prospect the outcrppings that star the
floors of heaven. ss
He is not numerous now, but saw him
last summer high up on the headwAters of
the Sacramento His face is set forever away
from that civilization which has passed him
by He is called tramp now. And the new,
nice people who have slid over the plains in
palace car, and settled down there, set dogs
on him sometimes when he comes that way.
charge you treat the old Californian well,
wherever you find him. He has seen more,
suffered more, practiced more self-denial than
can now fall to the lot of any man, And
though he may die there in the mineaaon the
mighty mountain, while still feehly sG<rching
for the golden fleece, do not forge &hat his
life is an epic, noble as any handoa down
from out the dusty eld. implore pQm treat
him kindly. Some day fitting pet will
come, and then he will take his place among
the heroes and the gods
But there is another old Californian,
wearier man, the successful one. He, too, is |
getting gray. But he is power in the land. |
lie is prince in fact and IN acs What I
strange fate was it that threw dust in the
eyes of that old Californian, sitting by the
trail high up on the mountain, and blinded
him so that he could not see the gold lust
within his grasp quarter of a century ago
And what good fairy was it that led this
other old Californian, now the banker the
railroad king, or Senator, to where the noun
tain gnOmeS had hidden their gold of old?
What accidental beggars and princes we
have i'll the world to-day! But whether beg
gar or prince, the old Californian stands a
head and shoulder taller than his fellows
wherever you may find him. This is a solid,
granite truth.
A few years ago steamer drew into the
Bay OF Naples with a lot of passengers, among
whom were small party of Americans. The
night had been rough and the ship was be
hind time. 1t was 10 o'clock already. and no
breakfast. The stingy Captain had resolved
to econOmize.
A stout, quiet man, with a stout hickory
stick, went to the Captain and begged for a
little coffee, at least, for his ladies' The .
Captain turned his back, fiuttered his coat !.
alls IN the face of the stout, quiet man, and :
walked up his deck The stout, quiet man
ollowed, and still respectfully begged for
for the ladies, who were faint with
hunger. Then the Captain turned and q
threatened to put him in irons, at the same
ime calling his officers around him.
The stout man with the very stout stick
cry quietly proceeded to thrash the Cap
ain. He thrashed him till he could not :,
tand and then thrashed every officer that
Jared to show his face, as well as half the IL
rev. Then he went down and made the t.
ook get breakfast a
This was an Old Californian. 'Dave Col b
OH" as we used to call him at Yreka il
OF course an act like that was punishable 81
nth death almost. Piracy ON the high O.
eas," and all that sort of offense was charged; d
nd l know not how much gold it cost to W
cal the wounded head and dignity of the =
aptaln of the ship. But this Californian W
either knew the law nor cared for the law. 81
le had little party of ladies with him, and L
e would not see them 60 hungry. He st
ould have that coffee if it cost him his W
cad. ia
Dear Dave Cotton! / hear he is dead now. or
e first got acquainted one night in Yreka w
hile shooting at each other. tn
And wherever 1 have found the. Califor- WI
an, have found him a leader not an OBJ Al
rusive one, but man who, when a man is tn
eded, quietly steps forward, takes hold of tri
e helm, and guides the ship to safety. de
Once on the Rhine, between the armies of pa
ance and Germany, got into trouble with &c
e authorities, and. the military police. Ea
10 were arresting everybody they could
7 hands on, had got me into their clutches
were trying to read whole lot of mixed
manuscript, which constituted the chief
rt OF my luggage in order to find out what the
t OF man was; for l could not talk cha
rd OF either French or German. l think wa
~ must have been poorly educated. for bni
y could hardly read it. But they tried n g
4 tried with all their might. And the her
rder they tried the madder they got. and nm
y laid all the blame onto me. Of +
They were about to arm me and march nor
OFT for spy when an American stepped niv
and laid down the law in way that acr
de them open their eyes. He was Cali han
man, and my trouble was over. He could wei
talk word to them-no more than T: 60
they soon saw that although he could Wb
talk in any of their six or seven Ian deo
ges, he could at least fight in any Ian the
ge under the sun. mo,
< = X K iiel
graz
tut perhaps it is in the financial world Wb
the Californian takes first rank. Your tenn
rated railroad, that stretches down the sens
ets OF New York, was built and is owned pers
an ex-MayOr of San Francisco. Down it's !
der, at the end of the island of Manhat- cha,
where the bulls" and bears guide the con,