Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1884-11-22
GRAY EAGLE BAR.
THE THRIFTY MINING CAMPS OF
EARLY DAYS.
American River Scenery-Pure At
mosphere-Splendid Turnpikes
PERCEPTIONS Trails-Etc.
Correspondence of the RECORD UNION ]

covered rs u DC iUlS W NiliS, .iAid IL
agreeable shall endeavor to concentrate my
ideas, and give you partial account OF my
trip hither, and also of this section of the
country, as it appears to me after an alb
sence of eighteen years.
After bidding my Sacramento friends
good by. I boarded the afternoon train,
and was soon whirling through magnifi-
cent piece of country, dotted here and there
with little fourishing towns, seemingly,
and presenting a picture delightful to be-
hold A short ride brings me to Auburn
station; we stay but moment; alight
from the car make a hurried survey Of the
place, ask few questions, board the train
and again am on my way rejoicing.
Regarding Auburn, derived the follow
ing That it is the county..seat of Placer
county; is thirty-six miles from
Sacramento, and has within the past
three years doubled her population !;
pleasantly located among the foothills full
of life and bustle-very much so for a
country town; possessing climate second
to no other place in this lovely State of the
Golden West, is becoming quite resort
for invalids, and those who suffer from
throat or lung trouble thrive there like an
evergreen | had pointed out to me three
who came there suffering with that terri
Bile disease, consumption, and they Ger
tainly did look as though they were
WE'LL CLIMATED, WELL FED AND HAPPY.
An hours ride and find myself at Col
fax, which, by the way, is the end of my
railroad Journey. l find perceptible
change in the climate here, so | don my
great coat. Colfax, as styled in railroad
parlance, is a transfer station, as connec-
tions are made here with the Nevada and
Grass Valley Narrow-gauge Railroad, and
with the various stage lines running north
and east 1t was my intention to continue
my journey by stage and thereby avoid
STAYING over night at Celfax, but in this l
was doomed to disappointment, as on the
previous day the stage companies began
running their stages on winter schedule,
and left Colfax at 10 o'clock in the morn
ing instead of leaving in the afternoon, as
heretofore. On learning the above infor-
nation, and being satisfied in my own mind
that such was the case, | saw no other
alternative than to make arrangements
for staying all night. | no sooner finished
registering my name at the hotel when
who should | meet but my friend Dennis
Nathan, alias McCarty, who, by the way, is
an old pioneer, having arrived at San
Francisco on the 18th day of July, 1919.
He is well known throughout the State,
especially in the northern part. believe
he devotes greater portion OF his time
looking after the interests of the Central
Pacific Company in this quarter. From
him CLEAN the following: That Cofax is,
for its size, live, go-ahead place, situated,
YOU might say, at the very base of the
Sierras. Her people are of the industrious,
pushing kind, very sociable and hospitable !;
that there has been more clearing of land
done in and around this neighborhood dur
ing the past two years than in any time
since her first settlement; that there is
yet plenty of good land left, both Govern
ment and railroad, open for location, and
any one who will go there prepared to
clear the land and wrestle with those OBJ
stacles which usually fall to the lot Of the
first settler can in a few years make him
self and family comfortable home
and that prosperity will smile upon him.
III Was MIlllC HtIC Lllul llSlNi Il llttiV ApS-
rience with dog, and you will kindly
excuse the following few lines, though 1t
be slight departure from the subject. DO
not for moment understand me as casting
any insinuations upon the dog, oh, no
ONLY think he made himself little too
free considering | was stranger, and then,
again, such affection rendered so suddenly
and lavishly has tendency to destroy
ones finer sentiments. | wish | could
understand why it is some people will per
sist in keeping such dog in their neigh
borhood. If they would only keep that
species of dog chained, or their gates dog
proof it would not be so bad, and then
when strangers were visiting their town
they would not be half scared to death at
seeing a
MONSTER DART FROM A GATEWAY
And come tearing toward them like hur-
ricane, eyes flashing fire, mouth wide open
every movement of the beast indicating
destruction. If SOME people will take the
hint 1t may be pleasant amusement fol
those accustomed to it, but | think the
majority of strangers would rather be ex
eused from cultivating the acquaintance O
a blood-thirsty wretch that would as soor
eat one as wink.
At 10 o'clock sharp next morning | wa
comfortably seated in the stage, and in less
time than it takes me to tell you | found
myself leaving the pleasant valley and
gradually winding my way up the noun
| tain's side The air as | assembled became
piercing, and in some places the blast:
sweeping down the sides of the mountain
made me SILVER. The road over which
travelled was completed last June, and is il
prime condition, the scenery magnificent
] enjoyed the ride much, and was sorry
! that the end came so soon. At half-pas
II am in Forest Hill. All, that name
What a pleasant reminder of days gone by
those happy, happy days, as passed ii
the company of my sisters and brother
school-feilows and playmates.
When contemplate the many change
ave, and changes which have taken place
in that dear old town of my boyhood dur
ing my long ABSENCE deeper and differ
| ent feeling comes over me-a feeling | can
not describe and to myself do justice.
met with many friends, who gave me
kindly greeting and hearty welcome
but of those who were my playmates anC
school-chums but two remain in this sec
ton, and it is with them sm rusticatng
Caring to reach my journeys end as soor
as possible, my stay at the Hill was o
short duration Ny friend, vino had beer
waiting for me, ordered the horses saddled
and we mounted and were off. THIRTY
minutes later and we were descending the
mountain side. Our advancement wa
slow, and were | at all troubled with gid
diness it would be out of the question fo
me to attempt this part of my journey, thu
trail along the mountain-sde being a
times so narrow and so steep that it seemed
every step our animals made would pre-
cipitate Us
| HEADLoNG HUNDREDS OF FEET BELOW
As we were picking our way cautiously
we turned an angle of the mountain sud
denly, and came in sight of the American
river, with It's picturesque scenery, whicl
was something grand to behold, and which
was made all the more beautiful by tn,
highly rarifed atmosphere of these upper
regions, lending to remote objects brill
fancy of coloring and distinctiyeneS
which seemed to annihilate distance The
scene from here more than repaid us fol
our toll and trouble the previous hours
| At last we are at the bottom of the noun
tain, cross the American, and find ourselve;
on Gray Eagle Bar 4 few minutes ride
and we are, for the time being, at least, al
our journeys end. We dismounted, and
for the first time in eighteen years | was
IN tho homo of my two voIpsr Friends nra