The Forest Republican. [volume] (Tionesta, Pa.) 1869-1952, 1889-01-09
From Washington Territory.

tOliOWluS letleT lTOIn n IOTWeT It OT6sL
county gentleman, which will interest
many Of our readers who are looking
in the direction of Washington Terri.
tory at this time:
Thursday morning, November %,
1888, we all arrived in Tacoma, w.
T., safe and sound, with the exception
of slight cold all round. There is
no use going over our route and jour.
ney here, as nothing worthy Of note
occurred. My first failure stared me
in the face right after breakfast, when
went out to look for house in which
to domicile MY family, while 1 did
little prospecting. There was none to
be had, and we were obliged to stop at
the hotel for the time being. Friday
morning l met a gentleman named
Jones, a "locater" by the way, who
was about starting with q party of ten
to look up claims. told him, if be
had no objections, would make it
eleven, since there was luck 10 odd
numbers, and of course he readily
consented that | should be one of the
party, and l Immediately went about
fitting myself out for the campaign.
A hunting coat and vest, a pair Of
corduroy pants, and pair of long
legged rubber boots; pair Of blsn.
kets, tin plate, cup, knife and fork, a
weeks provision and my gun swung
over my shoulder, aud was ready to
take the trail" Taking a boat in
the evening for Seattle, we arrived
and staid there all night. Next morn.
ing we took another boat for Port
Washington, where we landed at II
o'clock, and after striking our trail,
we unbuckled our provender and pro-
ceeded TO tackle our bill of fare, which
consisted of sardines, Boston baked
beans and water. After dinner, we
again took up our trail and travelled
about eleven miles, when we struck a
railroad track, which we followed
about a mile, or as far as it had been
built. A gang of employees directed
US to a vacant shanty and told US to
make ourselves at home. We didn't
need second invitation, it being near
night aud we were cold and hungry.
We weren't long in building fire and
preparing our meals, after which we
smoked, swapped lies and played eu.
chre till bed time. Next morning
when we got up it was still dark and
raining quite briskly, and after break
fast we fell in line again, and from
here on we had to make our own trail.
After travelling until three o'clock we
learned that we had made but three
miles in direct course. During all
this time it had rained continuously,
and drowned rats were only trihe
moist compared with US. We thought
we we're hungry the night before, but
it wasn't patching to what we were
just then. Ten frying pans full of
bacon, eight loaves of bread, four
quarts of oat meal, four quarts of
beans and two quarts of canned sal.
mon is what we sat down to. This
wasn't all we had, but we concluded
any more might be injurious to our
delicate constitutions, so after getting
ourselves outside of the above we
called it quits for that day. I only
wish you could have seen the noun.
tains we Travelled up and down twas
enough to make sick man hungry to
look at them. But next day we had
a better streak of luck. Pitching our
tent in front of settlers house, we
were shown great deal of hospitality
by our new friend, who had the day
before killed deer, of which we Sc.
cured quarter, and ,..dst say it was
a little bit the sweetest morsel Of ven.
ison l ever helped to dispatch. So
much for my first little experience,
and now little about the country in
general. The climate is fine. To-day
is the coolest we've had, and yet the
grass, and a good deal OF the garden
stuff still out, is nice and green. We
have had no snow yet. am located
five miles from Seabeck, harbor for
steamers and vessels. A large steam
saw mill will go up there in the spring,
Nearly opposite Seabeek is Port Or.
chard, a place where steamers and
vessels load and unload, Before next
fall there will be a railroad running
within ten rods of the land have
taken up. Eleven claims have been
taken since / filed mine. / would
like awfully take another claim,