Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1889-05-17
A Female Highwayman.

U,
began the stockman, "my business. of
certain periods of the year, carried me
pretty frequently up and down the road
between Luis Obispo and Soledud, ON the
Salinas River, as had interests to look
after in both neighborhoods. At such
times it was necessary for me to carry,
now and again, considerable sums of
money to pay off hands and do other
things connected with my business. OF
course the only way practicable to do
this was either to carry the money on NV
person or send it by Wells-F argo. Some
times l did the one, sometimes the other
Tor though stage robberie, were almost
unknown In that section, thought it as
well not to show my hand, and so some
times simply packed the coin in my sad
Ole bags or IN some of the many WAYS
known to old-timers, and trusted to nv
pistols Tor protection. Now look back
upon 1t, am surprised that such a lonely
and almost uninhabitcd section, as the
country lying between Monterey and
San Luis Obispo was then, was not more
frequently the scene of such highway
robberies as we hear of now. suppose,
though, the road agents of these days
had more profitable fields to work, and
that probably accounted for the i'm
munity we en-. Dyed.
well, some time in March, II or -.
forget which, had occasion to make
trip from the ncighborhood Of Jim Lows.
as the next station south of the Salina.
Crossing at Solcdad is called, to San Luis
Oblspo on business, partly to get money
to pay my shearers and oihcrs-all that
neighborhood was little better then than
vast gra ing-ground for sheep and
cattle, and March was one of the busiest
months in the year for both classes Of
stock-raisers, the cattlcmen being en-
gagged in branding aud the sheep-men
very frequently in shcaring. AS the
gang had came from the north. and had
made dates ahead for other ranches. it
was necessary for me to pay them of in
coin, Mcxicans-.all the sheep shcarcrs
IN these days were Mexicans-do not
like checks, even though they know thew
are perfectly good, rs their custom is to
gamble of Mt night what they have
earned during the day, and when
gambling they prefer the Jingle of tho
hard cash, to say nothing of its con.
venience in measuring the extent of n
stake. had had about twenty working
Tor me for the past fortnight, and rs theiT
earnings averaged some four dollars n
day apiece, my pay to them alone footed
up something like . thousand dollars.
beside what was coming 10 the fee g.
binders, sackers aud others. calculated
that about fifteen hundred dollars would
sec Inc through, and so, us say. about
the end of March rode into jim Lows.
and leaving my horse there, boarded the
south-bound stage for San Luis when
she came along.
The rivers were running pretty high
that spring, I remember, and we had
some difficulty III crossing the San An.
ton some miles below, the sand, hayinp
shifted Mt the regular crossing. How.
ever, we got to the Pleito Ranch all
right, where we changed horses. took
dinner, and againg started OH our Jour.
-peY There was, however one more
river ~ n ss, and that was the Ma
cimicnto, lying between the Pleito and
San Miguel, after which it was plain
smiling clear into San Luis. This is an.
other tributary OF the Salinas, with a
treacherous quicksand bottom, which We
could hear grinding CONTINUOUSLY under
the swollen waters brought down from
the Coast Range on the west. hap
pened to be the only passenger in the
ehaS zap, Willie TIC driver lnC
myself were discussing the feasibility Of
risklng the passage, man, whom | re-
:ognized as n rancher who lived close by,
rode up and nd Used us not to try it, as
us own wagon had been nearly carried
down the stream that morning, saying a
the same time, that if we cared TO- ",
could put up at his place all night. A.
the past two days had been clear, ther,
was every probability that the frcshe
would go down before morning. and of
ter Driei consultation we concluded t.
do so.
COVE shall have to pay, though, sai,
inc driver, soto voice, with n wink, a
nc turned his leaders from the bank
and pretty ronndly, too-mind that
old Williams is Il hard one. I've 90
stalled here once or twice before, and til
comp'ny gave me Jesse for it, YOU bet
It's Just fun for the old man to ketcI
the Stage in a tight place. Did We not
how he was layin' for us us VIC come I'D
me rivers too high, though, this tri
to fool with, an l amt agon' to ris
my life for no comp'ny, leastwise nc
Tor no SIGH wages as Pm gettin,' an
with vicious crack of his whip to tn
oil leader, he turned into the yard wher
wi nose WAS awaiting us.
II wasn't surprised ut the caustic RI
marks of the driver, MS old Williams
parsimony was the talk of the countr
side, although rumor had it that he ",
worth many thousand dollars in casl
besides herds of cattle in the foot hill
and roaming along the Salinas.
We passed the time as best we coul
till supper was called, when we went
and were received by our hosts wife.
woman Of about forty years of age. wi
had meanwhile been doing the cookir
in the kit hen. The meal was really
good one, plentiful in every respect al
well cooked-bettcr, in fact, than we
usually served at the waysidc taverns
that day, though these, too, were gene
ally good. This, considered, areu,
we'll for the hospitality and good di
position of Mrs. Williams, whatever h
husbands character might be. Her CO
versation and demeanor, too. we
courteous and pleasant, though O
could see by her face she was n won
of determined character. ! remarke
however, that she said little to the q
man, who SCENE to be, l thought, a lit
afraid of her and to avoid her glance.
"After supper we were shown t
sleeping accommodation, which &C