Idaho news. (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1887-1891, 1889-12-28
SAVAGE GULCH.

Where he came from no one knew,
and no one felt sufficient interest In
the matter to inquire. 1t was an ev-
ery-day occurrence for men to com
and go-to drift into the Gulch from
points up in the mountains and drift
out again into the newer "diggins"
over across the eastern range, so
that the coming of one man elected
no interest from the people of the
Gulch.
He was tall, r;lw-boned indiyidu-
al, with q careless, swinging walk,
and great, long limbs encased in a
pair Of pants that held themselves so
much aloof from his large cowhide
shoes that considerable portion of
his lower limbs were left exposed to
view.
No one knew his name, and no one
asked to know it, but as the days
passed by and he continued to hang
around the Gulch, people began to
take notice of him, and when it be
came necessary to refer to him spoke
of him as ''Shanks. /"
tShanks" proved to be very qui-
ct, unassuming individual, and cut
about as much figure in the move
ments of the society of Savage Gulch
as the proverbial wooden man would
have done. He might have seen
better days, and had once, perhaps,
possessed certain amount of self
pride, but he bore in his person and
habits no evidence ofsuch things, and
if they ever had existed they had
completely lost their identity.
He became part and parcel of the
Gulch population, and fioated along,
taking whatever each day brought,
with seemingly no thought for the
future and no regard for the past.
To him time was nothing. 1t mat
tered not whether the sun shone or
whether it didn't. He made no
complaint, no matter what happened,
and when there was talk ofan Indian
outbreak and the people ofthe Gulch
were in high state of excitement,
he remained cool and calm as though
there was no thought of danger.
Some people said he was a philoso-
pher, while others, and the great ma
jority, said he was too indolent and
lazy to take interest in anything. 1t
it true that he never unnecessarily
exerted himself.
He drifted along in this ''fancy free"
condition for a couple of months,
now and then, when hunger forced
to it, doing little odd jobs about the
camp, but never under any cir
cumstances taking steady work.
He lived sort of independent life,
mingling but little with others and
soon came to be regarded as non
entity by the people about him. In
fact but little notice was taken OF
him, and he passed and repassed
almast unobserved.
One morning some one in
passing "Shanks" tent heard groans
within, and on entering found the
man twisting about on his straw
pallet with high fever. For two
days he had not been seen about
the Gulch, but no comment was
made on his absence for no one felt a
sufficient interest in him to speak of
it. The Savage Gulch doctor was
called on, and after feeling Shank's
pulse and looking at his tongue,
shook his head and said:
It's about up with him, boys, and
he's in fair way to go over the
range"
"What'lI we do with 'iml" some one
asked.
f'Jist as well let him stay thar an
de-" another replied. "He don't
know nothin' now, an he jist es vel
die thar as anywhere else"
mot while / got er cabin, he
WON'T" spoke up large man." who
had always been considered the hard
est character in the camp. ''Not sc
long es Joe Biggs is able ter wigglt
no man won't be left here to die in nc
SIGH er way es this. You fellers fall
to here now an hep ter git the fellel
over to my cabin an I'll take keer uN
him ther best kim"
The fellows "fell to" at once, fol
there wasn't man in the camp who
didn't know Joe Biggs well enough
to appreciate the value of his friend
ship, and not a soul of them bu
would have gone to almost an,
lengths to have avoided the conse
quences of his ire. More than ono
Joe had emphasized his dislike of
man with a six shooter. AS long a
% man treated Joe Biggs right ant
refrained from too close an intimac.
with his affairs, Joe Biggs was |
friend to him. but the moment tina
man oyerstepped Joe's conception
ofright, safety Of person demanded
his Immediate departure from tn
Guicb.