Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1885-07-16

gered little, knowing the direction i,
which Mrs. Richie had fed with he
child, and guessing that the family t,
whom she would impart the informa
ton of the destruction of her own dwell
ing would be frightened thereby int.
leaving also, and thus enable them t,
avoid the scene which, in Justice, i
must be said was no pleasure to them
and evidently they thought that tn
ruse had succeeded, for the leader o
the squad remarked as he halted tn,
men:
Guess we shan't have to frighte1
anybody to death here to get them tt
leave"
He was right. The occupant of tn,
cottage was not frightened, but il
another minute the officer was, for b,
heard the click of a rifle lock ane
knew that there was not only some
body within, but that that somebody
meant business; and, hastily stepping
back off the porch, he said to the men
Nobody at home here; guess we've
done enough for one day, anyhow
let's quit and 90 home" And il
another moment the whole posse wa:
out upon the road and headed in the
direction from which they came.
1t is more than possible, it is prob
able, that the officer did not intend &c
destroy the house from which this little
family had fled, and which Erastu,
Hemingway had determined to de.
fend at the risk of his life.
1t was one of the best cottages in the
whole ranch and was too valuable to
be destroyed if the family could be
frightened into leaving without; hence
those nearest it had been DESTROYED
first, with the expectation that it would
Result in its abandonment, if not i'm
mediately, at least within a very short
time; and the purpose of the posse in
stopping at all had been to add to the
fright of its occupants by threats and
by their presence: instead of which
their leader had received fright him.
SELF which induced him to move a Lit.
tie more rapidly than was his wont,
and to keep his person well sheltered
behind the wagon in which was de,
posted the axes and iron bars. by
means of which they had carried on
their work of destruction at other
places.
When Erastus was satisfied that the
men were really gone, he unbarricaded
the door and returned to the anxious
group behind the bluff.
At first they could not be persuaded
to 90 back to the house, the little girls
crying and begging their mother to
'.hitch right up and go back to the
States" where at least their lives were
safe; but finally venturing far enough
out to take look, they saw approach
ing a man, whom Mrs. Richie recog-
nized as a neighbor, and were reas-
sured.
The neighbor proved to be another OF
the evicted suuatters looking for shelter
for his houseless family, and when John
Parsons and Bill Richie refined up their
heated ponies in front of the cottage
that night, it was the only one standing
within circle of two miles on every
side, and a dozen families with their
little stores of household goods were
domiciled within, or camping beneath
its hospitable shadow.
CHAPTER v.
on THE MOVE AGAIN.
The report made by Parsons and
Richie of the advantages and resources
of the country which they had visited
was quite as favorable as any one had
expected.
1t was a wild country, of course.
There was no land for presumption suit
able for their purposes without going
back from Sacramento some distance,
and they must expect a hard life for q
number of years; but it was a beautiful
country, and would one day be thickly
settled Already few families had
started fruit ranches, and had obtained
the most gratifying results.
Melons. and indeed all kinds of vines
and vegetables, were wonderfully pro
life, and Irish potatoes, turnipS, car
rots, beets and other root crops could
be raised in abundance, and by the
simplest methods of cultivation.
For the present it was probable that
the mines in the vicinity would con-
sumo, at large prices, any surplus that
the squatters might produce; and if in
time this market should fail, little
work would enable them to transport
everything they produced to the river.
where it could be shipped to Sacramen-
to, or down to the river.
Those whose duty it had been to as
certain regarding the title to the land
in the locality under considera-
ton reported it free from faint
of any kind. In point of fact
the claim of these men to the land
upon which they settled in the foothills
above Sacramento City was never dis
puted.
A motion that they locate upon the
lands described was put to vote and
carried unanimously, and preparations
for the journey at once began.
The team which had brought John
Parsons family across the plains was
again hitched to the canvas-covered
wagon, their little store of goods was
packed therein, including as much of
the products of the garden as could be
added without overlooking the team,
leaving all, even Mrs. Parsons and the
children, to walk, and thus they again
took up their journey, dozen families,
all told.
Some in the little company were en-
tirely without money. All. not except
ing John Parsons. were nearly so. And
Martha knew well that worse hardships
than walking for few days, or even
weeks, beside the team, awaited her
and her children before they could erect
q shelter or procure the wherewithal to
provide comfortable home.
True, the men might 60 back to min
ing. There would be mines in the vi
cinity of the claims they expected to To-
cate, but these men had lost all faith in
their luck with the pick. They had
worked at it, more or less, all of them.
but none had ever '.struck it rich" Be
sides, they were of that class of men
who prefer steady gains, even if slow
and small, to the excitement of specular
ton or searching with pick and shovel