Morning journal and courier., 1883-01-19
Faithful Lucy.
An Indian Girls Romance-Her SOIitar! Home in OreGon-Long Years of Wait ing

l An Indian Girls Romance-Her Solitary Home in OreGOn-Long Years of Wait From the Atlantic Monthly.l
 She was California Indian, probably of the Tulares, and migrated to Oregon with her family thirty years ago. She was then | young girl, and said to be the handsomest squaw ever seen in Oregon. In those days white men who lived in the wilderness thought it small shame, if any, to take In- dian women to live with them as wives, and Lucy was much sought and wooed. But she seems to have had uncommon virtue or coldness, for she resisted all such approaches for long time.
 and. as Lucy said afterward as soon as she looked at him she knew he was her 'tum- tum man," and she must go with him. He had small sloop, and Lucy became his mate. They two alone ran it for several years up and down the river. He established little trading post, and Lucy always took charge of that when he went to buy goods. When gold was discovered at Ringgold bar Lucy went there, worked with a rocker like man, and washed out hundreds of dollars worth of gold, which she gave to Pomeroy. With it he built fine schooner, and enlarged his business, the faithful Lucy working al- ways at his side and bidding At last, after 8 or 10 years, he grew weary of her and of the country and made up his mind to go to California. But he had not the heart to tell Lucy he meant to leave her. The pilot who told me this story was at that time captain of schooner on the river. Pomeroy came to him one day and asked him to move Lucy and her effects down to Columbus. He said he told her she must go and live with her relatives while he went to California and looked about and then he would send for her.
 treachery, came on board cheerfully and willingly, and he set her of at Columbus. This was in the early spring. Week after week, month after month, whenever his schooner stopped there, Lucy was on the shore asking if he had heard from Pomeroy. For a long time, he said, he could not bear to tell her. At last he did, but she would not believe him. Winter came on. She got few boards together and built herself sort of hut, near house where lived an eccen- tric old bachelor, who finally took compas- sion on her, and, to save her from freezing, let her come into his shanty .o sleep. He was mysterious old man, recluse, with morbid aversion to women, and at the outset it was great struggle for him to let even an Indian woman cross his threshold. But, little by little, Lucy won her way first she washed the dishes, then she would timidly help at the cooking. Faithful patient, un- presuming, at last she grew to be really the old mans housekeeper well servant. He lost his health and became blind. Lucy took care of him till he died, and followed hlm to the grave, h1s only mourner, the only human being in the country with whom he had any tie. He left her his little house and a few hundred dollars-all he had-and there she is still, alone, making out to live by do- ing whatever work she can find in the neigh borhood. Everybody respects her. She is known as ''Lucy" up and down the river. 'I did my best to hire her to come and keep house for my wife," said the pilot. ''Pd rather have her for nurse or cook than any white woman in Oregon. But she wouldn't come. I don't know as she's done looking for Pomeroy to come back yet, and she's going to stay just where he left her. She never misses a time waving to me when she knows what boat I'm on, and there isn't much going on on the river she doesn't know''