St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1885-09-19

L
about it till Bill Richie, who has the
next claim east, came over Thursday
morn to tell me that another meetin'
was to be held that afternoon to hear
the report of the committee that had
been sent to Frisco to find out if it was
true or no. And SO I helped Bill to
notify the neighbors, and we held the
meetin' at Bits house, and the COM
mittee was thar an they said we was
done for, sure enough; that Congris
had decided that the hui Suscol Ranch
belonged to a few fellows that never
struck blow, nor turned sod, nor
put up shanty; and who never paid
nobody fer doin' it, but claimed it be-
cause some Spanish King or other once
pretended to give it to some of his GRO
MES before there was any United States
or anything else on this continent but
bufaler, and bars an Injins.
81 ust to be proud of my country,
he continued, ''and was fond of sayin'
that everybody stood an ekil chance
here; but it amt so. Nobody don't
stand any chance except he is a raskil
and coward into the bargin; stealth
'thout gettin' in front of the law There
amt no doubt but that Congris was
bribed. Our fellows have even learned
where and when the money was raised,
and some of the Congrismep and Sen
ators who was bought to vote agin us;
but we can't prove nothing in court,
fer everything works agin the poor
man, who only wants justice, an in
favor of the rich one that is seekin' to
rob him of his earnings; and if it wasn't
for the wirnin and children that might
be left wus off if their husbands and
fathers wus killed, there would be
fight before some of us give up our
claims.n
This allusion to possible violence
frightened Martha Parsons. What if
the squatters should resist and John
should be killed? The thought almost
took away her breath, and she tried IN
eVeryway to calm her husband whom
she had never before seen in so violent
and bitter mood.
He did not really mediate resistance,
however. Experience and observation
had taught him that those who could
control both the Legislatures and the
Courts could bring aids to their assist
Snce that made resistance by any force
which the squatters could command
worse than useless; and after a little
while he cooled down and began TO talk
of what was to be done in the direction
of seeking a new home.
s'Some of the fellows are talking OF
goin' up into the foothills, above Sac
ramento, where they say thar amt no
claim of any kind on the land, and
zrTt,La +FN(
and peaches an apricots and slch as it
is to raise corn an hogs back in the
States. If they would pay for the work
I've done on this place, or even enough
to get lumber for another house, we
could start agin up there, and do purity
well may be, but they won't. Stealth
is their game, and hayin' paid Congris
to declare stealth legal, / 'spose they'll
go for everything in sight. +"
Mrs. Parsons protested to be pleased
with the idea of raising fruit, which was
really the case, for she had already seen
evidences since arriving upon the coast
of the 1ibera1ity with which nature dealt
with such of her products in this eli
mate, and could she have felt abso-
lutely certain that they could find the
right spot and get claim which would
not be wrested from them, she would
have felt in no small degree contented
with the situation. And now she was
ready to encourage any scheme that
would help to reconcile her husband 10
the inevitable.
The result of further conversation be-
tween the members of the family was
that Mr.. Parsons again mounted his
pony and rode away in the direction of
Ritchie's shanty; and that that evening
dozen squatters. many of them accom-
panied by their wives, met at the cot
tage, were introduced to the new COM
ers, and when they departed it had been
arranged that John and Bill should
make trip to the locality spoken of
and see if it was really suitable for
homesteading. while others were to go
to San Francisco and ascertain beyond
possible question if there was any shad-
oW of a claim hanging over it.
II don't never mean to settle on
another bit of ground that anybody has
ever laid claim to 'ceptin God Fmighty,"
said one of those present; and all the
others echoed the sentiment.
The next morning John Parsons took
his wife, and then each of his children,
in his arms, and held them close to his
heart for moment, kissed them and
rode away to try to find another rest
ing-place.
AS he reached the brow of the hill
which was to hide the cottage from his
view, he checked his pony and turning,
looked back, and then away to where
he could see other houses dotting the
landscape, until a moisture came to his
eyes and blurred his sight.
Only Just acampin', = he said; "only
: .r.....:..3 ,--L,1so Il.