Mexico weekly ledger., 1885-12-17
I,.s-ER ON THE WENAT.
CHEZ.

r*:1ER ON THE WENAT-
CHEZ.
: 40 years ago I served the North
err ricific Railroad Company on a
ba5, ctrical survey of some passes
ii.:... i. the Cascade Mountains and
6 : approaches to them. In early
hm-:.-f when the Columbia Plains were
brow. and the air dry and hot, my
basin ) called mt to the Wenatchee
r.. At its mouth l met the Butch
rr. :ailiarly called Butch. 4 red
ii-ir,. yeIlow-eyed ruffian from Yirgi-
III uaVe forgotten his real name,
II r. knew it, which | greatly
lob as it was not considered polite
10 Ia .sitlvely inquire into the antece-
den ; IF the gentleman n met in
III an: mn or at isolated trading
cS:. Ii You were introduced to a
merry man who gioried in the name of
Fac Kim or "Arkansas' or 'Sprad-
t-.r--yn iom," it was eminently proper
al I .:thful to address him as such,
I'D MAS considered highly improper
ID :. ar to endeavor to climb into
i--e logical tree OF any gentleman
s., 10 ..ht have sought solitude for the
IL, j ~ his health.
i 81. vas a One-eyed man. The
, SSH eye, l afterward learned. had
. II .,;.pcd in Il California mining
: nj nc evening when Butch was hay-
= tic un with the boys. He was a
r ;-soughtless man, and ~iucautious-
y.>s i an ace full, which he had been
cU..'i,i rable trouble to gather.
.t.v alter Il cold deck had been
-. - -la In tho confusion
f"Lowcd the discovery that six or
CO., were on the table Butch's
I:.i icen promptly extracted by
80: merry man, and he mad
awkwardly carved by 4 third and
a-iy shot by Il fourth. On his
,ry iiutch said that though he did
...ui having Il little fun with the
? tine boys of that camp played 4
too roughly with him. So lie left
csgab ished himself at the mouth
= Wcaatchec. He traded for furs.
.lyctt poker with the Indians. He
, cattle. He sold whisky to In
5- AMI provisions to Chinese miners.
.es WIS a grand scamp. n brave.
cSs %ruffian. but he had some very
, points. For instance, he could
- excellent hoe cakes. and he was
Jul and companionable. and could
At ighly interesting lies. We became
he'd TO each other, and though l
=. he was I murderer and 4 thief,
" that he was selling whisky to the
lis aud smuggling opium across
H. from British Columbia, | did
: ! care. | was young and careless
besides as | said, he could make
lent hoe cakes. One evening, as
st side by side on the sandy soil,
-iHI against the house and smoking
-~:tcr-supper pipes. and l was list
=. 10 a remarkable good lie about a
- That frightened all the other bears
d. 81 III extensive mountain range by
! .t..a.ently using a long pole to mark
light on the trees, a group of In
H.. driving cattle before them, rode
- ,tn behind 4 rocky point that was
l. fI~; into the waters of the Columbia.
In-tantly Butch sprang to his feet
arr rushed into the cabin. He put on
. c.:a:ingly devised harness that held
~, h;tvy six-shooters in a handy posi-
to- under his arms He put on his
-,...'. He pulled at the pistols to see if
li'y were loose, and that there would
TAT - hitch in the performance if any
- iHUIo ludu u ltIicdlSd SllUulu Dc
:sg ed In 4 few minutes the party
q -. semen drew rein in front of the
e si. They were young bucks from
- -. camp in the Grand Coulce.
IL. ! greeted them cheerluliy, and
H. al to corral the cattle. Then he
=" nc that these men were the select
e: oker players Of the Columbia Plains
liulans; that they had been staked by
li:r tribe to play with him in hope OF
winning n number of cattle Yes, he
said, the cattle were the stakes. Before
&c first hand was dealt Butch quietly
formed the Indians that English and
Chinook only could be spoken at the
table, and that the first Indian who
spoke in his W Ito Butch unknown)
tongue would have the top of his head
snot of. The braves cheerfully agreed
TO this condition. Then the relative
value of cows, calves and steers was
agreed upon. They decided to play
table stakes. The checks were pistols
and musket balls. Ten pistol balls
were equal in value TO a calf, or to q
musket ball. Three musket balls
equailed a cow in value.
A heavy California blanket was
thrown over a rough table. A candle
was thrust into q tomato can that was
filled with beans, and TIE game began.
Tho strong wind ceased blowing. The
silence of the plains was broken only
by the mysterious groaning and sigh
ing of the mighty river rs it swept past
the cabin to the sea. Hour after hour
passed and not a word was spoken by
the players. With faces as unchangc-
able as bronze the three Indians played,
and, favored by the dim light and the
fact of Butch's having but one eve,
how they dill cheatl The luck varied,
as it always does in q poker game.
Now they would be ahead, now Butch.
L dropped asleep, and when | awoke it
was nearly morning.
Batch's back was toward me. | saw
some cards thrust under his coat collar.
L knew he was waiting for the end to
come. One of the Indians dealt. Butch
picked up his cards, raised his right
hand TO scratch the back of his neck.
adroitly changed the cards he held for
those in reserve, and then thrust the
cards he had received below his shirt
collar. Then he turned to me. expos-
ing the back of his head to the Indians.
aud he winked a wink of great SAGA
city at me. He talked 10 me for an In
slant and then turned to the table.
The Indian to his left bet a cali.
The next n straddled it. The dealer
went a COW better. and Butch saw it
all and raised the pots two cows. Ali
stayed. Ali stood pat. Then the bet
ting began in Earnest 1t went on un-
til all the cattle tho Indians brought
were staked. Then came the show
down. Butch had four queens and an
ace. The Indians nil had fours which