McCook weekly tribune. (McCook, Neb.) 188?-1886, 1884-09-25
IN "O-BE-JOYFUL.'

Shorty was my favorite stage driver.
Other name he must have had but had
never heard it. He was an anomaly
among stage drivers, for he did not
swear, he did not drink, he did not
boast, he did not lie; and with all his
rough exterior he had fine inward
grace and manly dignity that lifted
him far above most men Of his class.
knew that a day of pleasure awaited
me one June morning, when had been
so fortunate as to secure for myself a
seat by Shorty's side for a ride over Red
Mountain Pass.
In all my years of experience with
stage drivers, l had never met one who
could so quickly detect, and so fully
appreciate, the rare beauty and splen-
dor of mountain road as this homely,
uncouth, ignorant Shorty.
He noted every light and shade, every
bit of glowing color, the flowers of the
rocky road, the golden shadows of the
narrow streams, the low-hung clouds
that flooded the hills. The sunshine
came slanting down among the purple
shadows or. crowned the snow-white
crests, the quivering leaves of the aspen,
the gloom of the pines, the foamy waves
of crystal streams breaking around and
over the gray rocks, the glowing splen-
dor of the aster beds; the tranquil
beauty of mountain lakes-this man
Shorty saw and rejoiced in it all.
His soul was lighted up by the ma
jesty, the beauty and the grandeur of it
all.
"Why, sir,'' he said to me, GIVE
lived right in these here mountings
sence '63, and they're not old to me yit.
No, sir, they amt, an 1 don't reckon
they ever will be. They're new every
mornin' an every night. see somethin'
in 'em each day that l never noticed
afore; an / amt yit seen any two sum
sets jest alike. There'll be new kind
of shadder or new kind of light in the
sky every time. There's kind of a
sonaethin' bout mountings that man
never outgrows, an some men can't git
long 'thout after they're used to it.
I'm one O. them men,"
81 heerd that them that's been born
an raised by the seashore kin never
outgrow the sound O. the waves. They
Jest can't live 'thout the murmur an
music O. them sea waves, an the feelin'
the sea breezes give man.
'.Now. I'd Jest materially die if 1 had
to 90 an stay clear out O sight O. the
hills. 1 amt none O. yer poeticky kind
O. fellers, but 1 heerd of a man oncet
a-callin' certain mountings the hills of
his his love- an sir, that's Jest what
these hills air to me-the hills of my
love.
give tried goin' away to what some
folks call a civilized country but l
didn't stay long; an when 1 die want
to die right here an have the hills fer
my tomb, as they writ bout Moses
Shorty was garrulous man, but never
talked when you wished he would not.
He would stop short in the midst of the
most animated discourse to enjoy in
silence any special beauty in gulch or
valley, or far up the heights.
was sure that the man must have
had many adventures, but he said little
about them. He never spoke of any
act of bravery or skill on his part.
One gloomy day when mist hid the
ranges and gulches from our view, ]
asked Shorty to tell me some of his ex-
periences. 81 am sure you must had
many strange Ones" said.
ooh, I don't know" Shorty modestly
replied, s'none to speak of, 1 reckon. ]
never killed bear nor fit red-skin,
nor nothin' O. that kind. never even
had highwaymen or foot-pads try to
hold me an my passengers up"
''But your story need not be about
any of these things to please me"
protested.
ssWell, then, sir, will tell you BIZ
of yarn. You see the mouth O. thai
gulch square ahead of us an not more I
a hundred yards off. You kin jest make
it out through the mist. The sight o.
it reminds me O. somethin'. That's
Poor Mans Gulch. There used to be 6
purity big camp bout two miles up thai
gulch. 1t was called O-Be-Joyful, bu
It got to be kind of an o-be-sorrerfu
place to some o the boys fore they GO
out O. it.
cat one time I reckon they was a:
many as two thousand people in ant
round O-Be-Joyful. 1t had a reg'lal
boom fer two or three months. an folk:
thought it was goin' to put Leadvillt
clean in the shade, an there amt {
thing on earth there this day but a lo
o. old tumbledown cabins an shantie.
an prospect holes, shafts an tunnels il
which many poor devil has buried the
strength of his life
II driv stage from the South Park VI
TO O-Be-Joyful all through the ga!
times: an many an many's the load o
happy, hopeful young an N old feller
.ho;r nav SONGS an crackin' their joke
. Nth ey'ry mortal man of 'em thinkin
thew was goin' straight to fame an
~. ..Rut I tell you, sir; it want sil
,ontbs fore see many one o
iioh'"' eollo,.S with nOthin' but tn,