The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1885-12-17

E'llH "'IH ago served tho North
Grm I"cI!ic RHiiroad Company on Il
nar"mGi"cal surrey Of some passes
tiiuH%h the Cascade Mountains and
rH&icEN approaches to them. In early
N:-,U&t when the Coium bia Plains were
brown, and the air dry and hot. NV
business called me TO the Wcnatchee
I'i"". At its mouth met the Butch
cE iMniilarly called Butch, q red
h"!rcd, ycllOw-cyed ruflian from .Viroi-
n'r. J pave forgotten his real name.
II ever knew it, which | greatly
ooubt, aS 1t was not considered polite
10 'Hl"ia'tiVciy inquire into tho antecc-
NchtS or the gentleman one met in
H'niAS camps or at isolated tradiro
N"Si>. !! you were introduced to =
merry man who gloricd in the name of
'B"c"skin" or "Arkansasn or ..Sprad-
d!"-tcg IUm,' it was cminentlv proper
an0 hcA!thIul TO address him as such.
anH 1t was considered highly improper
ana vulgar to cndeavor to climb into
'hc genealogical tree OF any gentleman
VINO might have sought solitude for the
benefit OF his health.
butch was onc-cycd man. The
missing eye, | aftcrward learned. had
Dccn dropped in u California mining
camp one evening when Butch was haV-
m% lltslc fun with tho boys. He was q
merry thoughtIeSs man, and incautiorls-
~ raised an ace full, which he had been
Ut considerable trouble to gather.
directly after Il cold deck had boen
run% III on the game. In the confusion
that followed the discovery that six or
seven aces were on the table Butch's
eJc had been promptly extracted by
aNothcr merry man, and he had
been awI;wardly carved by u third and
bungingly shot by fourth. On his
recovery Butch said that though bo did
not mind having u little fun with the
boys, the boys OF that camp played
Htllc TOO roughly with him. SO he left
anu established himself at the mouth
O! Inc Ncnatchep. lie traded for furs.
lie played poker with the Indians. LLo
raised cattle. He sold whisky to In
dlahs and provisions to Chinese miners.
Butch was grand scamp, q brave,
reckless ruilian. but he had some very
good points. For instance, he could
make excellent hoe cakes, and hc was
cheerful and companionable, and could
tell highly interesting lies. We became
attached to each other, and though I
knew nc was Il murderer and n thief
ana lhat he WAS selling whisky to tho
1h"ianS and smuggling opium across
the line from British Columbia, I did
not care. | was young and careless
ana besides rs | said, he could mako
excellent hoe cakes. Ono eycnino. os
Wo sat side by side on tho SANDY soil
leaning against the house and smokinU
our altcr-suppcr pipes, and l was lists
enlmg TO remarkable good lie about n
bear that frightened all tho other bears
out OF an extensive mountain RANCE bv
1raudutcntly using a long pole TO mark
ms height on the trees, q group of In
dlans, driving cattle before them, rode
from bchind rocky point that was
thrust into the waters of tho Columbia.
instantly Butch sprang to his feet
and rushed into the cabin. lie put on
cunningly devised harness that held
TWO navy siXshOotcrs in handy posi-
1Ion undor his arms. Ho put on his
coat. lie pulled at tho pistols to see if
thcy woro loose, and that there would
DC no hltch IN the performance if any.
thlhG moro than rehearsal should be
required. In Il few minutes the party
OF horsomen drew rein in front of the
cabin. They were youno buckq from
Moses camp in tho Grand Coulco.
Butch greeted thom cheerfully, and
helped TO corral the cattle. Then ho
TOD me that these men wore the select
cd poker players of the Columbia Plains
Indians; that they had boon stakod by
tho tribe to play with him in hopo of
winning number of cattle. Yes, he
said, the cattlO were the stakes. Before
tho first hand was dealt Butch quietly
informed tho Indians that English and
Chinook only could be spoken at tho
table, and that the first Indian who
spoke in bis own OO Butch unknown)
tongue, would have tho top of his head
. shot off. The braves cheerfully agreed
to this condition. Then the relative
value of COWS, calves and dsteers was
MGreed apon* they decided to play
taplo stakes, The checks wero pistols
and musket balls. Ten, pistol balls
worG equal in value to a calf, or to a
mGsket BALI Three muskot balls
cqualled acow in value.
A hcNyy California blanket was
thrown oyera rough table A candle
was thrust into tomato can that was