Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1885-09-24

were now dependent for the means Of
subsistence upon small patches of
ground near the lake, distant in many
Instances from four to seven miles from
their claims.
Even these patches had to be con-
atantly guarded from droves of raven
Gus and half wild cattle belonging to
the herdsmen who gave little attention,
and who were lily disposed toward any
attempts at inclosing or cultvating the
land which, although seemingly little
better than desert, at certain periods
of the year produced a thin growth of
wild alfalfa upon which their stock fed,
being in the main driven to better pas
lures as the dry season advanced.
These patches of ground were made
fertile by their nearness to Lake Tulare,
and by being but little above the level
of its waters.
Veritable GASES in the desert these
spots seemed, and upon them the set
tiers raised the few bushels of corn and
beans and vegetables which formed
their sole means of subsistence while
prosecuting the work of redeeming their
claims by the herculean task of digging
an irrigating ditch upwards of twenty
miles long, by means of which they were
to obtain water from the river above
them, and convert the desert into
garden.
But if these GASES furnished garden
spots for the settlers they were also de-
sired by the herdsmen, for a few of
whose cattle they supplied pasturage
the year round. and being without the
means of fencing them in. the protec-
ton of their little crops meant con-
slant watch upon the cattle, and one
which consumed the entire time of
some member of each family.
Owing to the lack of feed, but few
were able to keep teams. and that they
continued the unequal contest for their
homes can only be understood when it
is known that of all the rich farming
lands of the State not an acre remained
for presumption or purchase except at
secondhand, and as a rule, in large
bodies. being held by corporations or
individuals who claimed it under pre-
tended grants from Spain or Mexico,
given before California was coded to
the United States, or by act of Congress
since that time. So that this barren,
sandy plain offered the only hope for
poor men in California of obtaining
portion of the Inheritance of the race.
Besides, they had confidence that,
once irrigated, it would produce abund-
dainty. and well repay all their labors
by future yields of fruit and grain.
All efforts to induce men with capital
to invest in the enterprise of cutting the
ditch and depending upon the sale OF
had failed the idea that any amount
- hn Of fho
plains fertile being secuted as vision
airy, the land being Judged not worth
paving taxes upon-and the settlers had
undertaken the task themselves. all
unaided, and had been two years at
work on the main ditch when Erastus
Hemingway arrived in the COM
munity.
So dreary and forbidding was the
outlook that he felt tempted to leave
again Immediately, but, knowing that
no land remained open for pre- emption
elsewhere in the State, at last he de-
cided to stay and cast his lot with those
who were so manfully struggling to
overcome the difficulties by which they
were surrounded.
Guided in part by the advice of such
acquaintance as he had made since his
arrival, he located claim of one hun
dred and sixty acres, and made ar
rangements to live for a time in the
family of a settler who was on claim
adjoining his own, agreeing to pay
small sum weekly for such food and
accommodations as they could offer.
OF the half dozen men who accom-
panied Erastus to the Slough, not one
had the hardihood to remain. All were
too much discouraged by the outlook,
and either returned to the old neigh
borhood or sought places for rent in
other portions of the country.
When he had staked out his claim
Erastus hitched up and drove across
the country until he found pasturage,
and a rancher who was willing to let
the colts run with his own stock until
such time as the light rains, which
might be expected to tall few months
later, should revive the seemingly dead
grass of the Mussle Slough country.
He then returned to the Slough on foot,
and went to work with his fellow-set-
tiers upon the ditch, which was their
only hope
For weeks and months he worked in
company with these men, many of
whom had worked through all the
weeks and months of the two previous
years; ill-fed-often without bread of
any kind for long periods at time,
sleeping upon the ground almost as fire.
quently as in bed, working at night
as well as by day, their families camp
ing in wretched little huts at the lake
watching the patches of vegetables and
corn upon which their very existence
depended.
When the rain came and vegetation
started up, the colts were brought down
from their pasture and made to do
portion of labor on the ditch; their
young master taking the best care of
them possible under the circumstances.
He had written home soon after posi-
lively deciding to locate at the Slough,
but had refrained from giving very
accurate description of the country or
of his prospects, not wishing to excite
any anxiety in the minds of his friends
regarding his welfare. In reply he had
received letters from the family telling
him of affairs in the old neighborhood.
Then for some weeks he was silent, not
feeling that he had anything cheerful
to communicate, and dreading, yet
longing, to hear further regarding the
engagement between Lucy and Mr..
Annelsey.
Meantime the dam which was to save
the Parsons settlement from the over
flow had been completed. but scarcely
| was the work accomplished before it
became evident that it would not long
stay the mass of Stockings which was
coming down in such immense quanti-
ties from the mines above as to have
filled the gulch itself a hundred feet
deep for ten miles below Gravel Hill.