The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1889-04-13
SKELETONS In A CAVE,
Prospecting for Dead Mems Gold
"A Rich Find.
An Old Miner Tells Of His Last Trip to
the Umpqua Mountains-Temporiz-e
Ing with . Bear-Attacked by an
eliza Ghastly Discovery.

All the good placer diggings OF this
coast haven't been found yet" Sid
William Carruth, an old prospector
who came down to San Francisco from
the northern part of the State, to an
Examiner man in the Russ House. I'm
the spring, If can raise grub-stake
and get an outfit, am going back to
Oregon, where was last summer, and
I'll come out with plenty Of dust. Some
sections of that country are as little
known as the interior of Patagonia.
and / know some places that nobody
else knows any thing about l don't
mind telling where struck rich dig
gings, because it's dead sure that
nobody will try to get in there ahead
of me.
ut was pretty late in the season
when took notion that I'd like to
see what sort of q country lies north of
the Umpqua river, and 1 struck into
the mountains from Drain Station with
my prospecting outfit and as much
grub as could pack upon my horse.
After leaving Elk Creek I followed. a
hunting trail for day, but after that
it was rough scrambling up and down
mountain sides and through gulches,
and the horse and l had pretty tough
time. The Umpqua mountains are
terribly steep and wild, and it's no fool
Of a job to cross them.
Bear meat is no good at any time UNI
less man Is starving, according to my
notion, and in the summer it is worse
than no good. Before berries are ripe
bear goes around clawing the bark
from logs and dead trees and feeds on
the borers and ants. He has banquet
when he strikes q well populated ant
heap, and then he smells and tastes
like ants if you try to eat him. His
meat is rank, and If you eat it for a
day or two you will break out all over
with sort of rash which is nightly
uncomfortable. There is no fur on a
bear in summer and his skin is not
worth taking. SO you see there was no
reason why / should fool away time
and cartridges on bruin. Besides, l
rather like bruin for his comical ways.
and when he doesn't bother me I'd
rather watch him than shoot at him.
II had to kill one big brown fellow,
because he wouldn't get out OF my
way, and my horse was afraid to pass
him. He was on narrow ridge that
l was following in order to keep out of
the heavy timber. and the bear sat
upon his launches right in my way.
There was nothing wicked in his APP
pearance. and If it hadn't been for the
horse 1 think would have passed
within three yards OF him without any
trouble. As it was, / dragged the
horse up to within twenty feet. but
then he hung back. snorted, and pro-
tested 40 vigorously that / was afraid
he would back over the edge and fall
down the steep mountain side.
Letting the horse back away few
yards, I tied his halter to scrub
tree and then advanced toward the
bear with my rife in my left hand.
He didn't bulge, and when l yelled
at him he only started a little and
cooked his head over on the other
side. That made me laugh, and then
I amused myself by talking to himP
why don't you mover said /. L
know you got here first and have q
squatter claim on the quarter section,
but you ought not to sit down on public
travel in that way He looked at me
as though / was the oldest specimen
he ever came across, and scratched his
ear with his left paw.
don't know how long he would
have remained there, but got tired Of
the fun and threw stick at him. 1t
would have hit him on the nose, but
he warded it of very cleverly, and
then his manner changed. He growled
. little and began swaying his head
from side to side, and when / saw his
little eyes begin to blaze with a green
light / knew that it was time to quit
fooling. So l shot him through the
threat, and the ball cut his spinal cord
4Ad dropped him like stuck pig.
nev(f INST bear before. barring old
VINE headod grizzlies, that wouldn't
seode like . scared wolf If you yelled
ct hin
II prospected here and there in the
gulches. for month without finding
any thing more than color, and then
l worked across to the Smith river
side and tried the tributaries to that
stream. The mountains carried quartz
in many places, and l was satisfied
that gold ought to be found in the
streams. It was while / was working
down on the north side of the range
that I got into q muss with . bull elk,
81 which this scar on my left hand Is .