Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1889-01-17
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vanced age OF four and bali years.
was a year or so after the outbreak 81
the famous California ''gold fever"
lived in the little village of Beetown,
in a region which had had mining
boom Of its own of respectable dinen.
sions. But The lead boom shrank quite
10 nothing beside the gold boom. and
many men from my neighborhood
turned gold hunters. Among them
were several of my relatives and those
of my two companions on that trip.
Hearing so much talk about gold,
resolved TO go to California and get
some. knew that gold was very
desirable thing to have in family, but
did not fully understand why.
My resolution just mentioned was
reached in conjunction with two boys
about my own age. We managed to
smuggle out Of the house large supply
of biscuits. These were not intended
principally for our own provisions on
the journey, as might be supposed.
Our main object was 10 use them to
entice our folks dogs along, for dogs
were considered very necessary adj
junct to so adventurous journey. The
dogs did not seem very enthusiastic
about the trip. and it took the greater
part OF our biscuits to lure them to
A
accompany us out of the village. Then
they behaved better, and took the lead.
l had also put large piece of butter
into my trousers pocket. | hadn't
studded natural philosophy and didn't
know the temperature at which butter
melts; but soon learned from a large
and very oleaginous patch extending
down my leg to my bare foot, that said
melting point is somewhat below the
temperature of the human body.
| Each of us also had a pocketful of
matches. These were not, as some
unsophisticated reader may suppose,
for the purpose of kindling camp fires
ON the way. They were TO kill grizzly
bears. There was story current about
Beetown that California emigrant, a
former resident of that village, had had
a visit from a grizzly early one morning
in camp. The grizzly came up behind
the man just as the latter was striking
match to light campfire, or may be
it was his pipe. In his surprise the
man turned around and stretched out
bis hand with the burning match in it
toward the bear Grizzly snuffed at the
match, probably to find out whether it
would do for an early lunch. He found
out it wouldn't. for he dropped dead
instantly. In view of this experience
grizzly bears were no terror to us, with
our pockets full of matches
Leaving Beetown valley, we took a
road westward, which lead up ravine
called Crump Hollow or Hull Hollow,
after patriarchs Of that name, where
cabins graced that glen. This hollow
comes into the Beetown valley just
where Hutchinson's furnace stands, or
did stand not many years ago. | knew
this was the road to California, because
the sun set in that direction. My ideas
of geography were somewhat vague
and limited. had never been beyond
the hills that bounded the narrow valley
in which / lived. l knew, however,
that beyond those hills, toward sunrise,
lay Europe, Asia, Africa and Pennsyl.
vania. The first three countries were
rather mythical to me, but the last
seemed more real, for some of my rela-
tives had come from there. Beyond
the hills toward sunset, was Muscalunge
and Nipandtuck. knew by every day
talk, and farther beyond, knew by the
gold-hunter's letters had heard read,
were Salt Lake and California.
We proceeded up Hull Hollow may
be quarter of mile Il suspect how
ever, it was less) when the dogs, which
had gone on out of sight, came running
back. and. as we thought, looking
frightened. We Immediately stopped
and held council of war. What had
frightened the dogs? Perhaps it was
grizzly. In an instant every boy had
drawn a match and held it to his
trousers leg, ready to strike it. But on
short reflection | was sure we were not
yet into the grizzly bear country. Then
we all remembered that the aforesaid
Mr. Hull owned very vicious COW, the
fame of whose cussedness had spread for
more than a mile around. Doubtless
it was the COW which had proved the
lion in the way, SO to speak. Dared
we advance where the brave dogs had
been cowed, in double sense of the
word? True, we had the matches, and
we didn't doubt they were adequate to
lay out a grizzly. But a COW might
have a different constitution, which
would thrive rather than otherwise on
the fumes Of burning matches. Would
cow smell of a burning match? If
she did, would it kill her? Authority
and tradition, as far as we knew, were
silent on this point. These were prob
lens in zoology which we shrank from
solving by experiment, for perhaps
when we had got them solved we would
be in condition in which the
solution would be of no sort of
interest to us. So we decided,
with great reluctance. to turn back and
either find another road or wait in hope
that that COW would be gathered to her
fathers-or, no, that was not exactly
what we hoped, but that she might fall
into mineral hole, or that she might
be distributed in harmless fragments
through the neighborhood by means of
a beef wagon.
Soon after turning back, We met
another boy, about seven years old,
whom we recognized as typical village
"bad boy, and the bad boys of that
mining village in that ruder time, were
indeed though Ones" We told him
our plans and our experience. He en-