Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1890-02-27
CALIFORNIA STORIES.
me Last Of The Mustangs- 9
Frontlersmen.

me Last OF The Mu9tanEn-Gri11lles and
Al FrohtIsrsmen.
' The mountains OF San Luis Obispo Offer
some Of the strangest frontier scenes and
types to be found on the Pacific coast.
Tho region was one Of the last strong.
hollis Of the native Californians. Helen
Hunt jackson collected a good deal OF
material few months before her death
in the old town of San Luis, from the
Spanish priests there, and would perhaps
have written another Californian novel
If she had had one more year Of life.
She thought that the region combined to
a remarkable degree the peculiar charms
Of northern and southern California, and
she often spoke of its "waste wealth OF
literary material" .a. it.. .....e
My thoughts were turned to San Luis
the other day by the news from there
that man had found band of wild
! horses in the mountains and had cap
tured about twenty in a corral. There
are four or five bands of wild horses that
take care Of themselves in the unfenced
mountains of the upper Sierras, but none
in the coast range, north of San Luis.
They are descended from Spanish "mus-
tangs," and are as wild and worthless for
any kind of work as it is possible to i'm
agine. In one case, in early times, q
Spanish land owner was persuaded to
buy an American plow and sow some
wheat. He had four or five mustangs
tied to the plow beam, put boys on the
mustangs, and ran them across the fields
with several Indians hanging to the plow
handles. Every now and then the mus
tangs flew out on the plowed ground and
kicked "for all they were worth" After
a little while the old Don was heard to
say: "What men these Americans arel
How hard they work for nothingr' And
SO he went back to his brush harrow.
One of the characters of San Luis died
short time ago He was q frontiers
man, known over thousands of square
miles Of mountain and valley as ''Uncle
Billy of Josephine" He was q griszled
giant, certainly tho coolest and strongest
man in the region, and he kept a post
Office and store. He was a blacksmith,
school trustee, and few things be.
sides, especially q wheel horse at camp
meetings. Onenighttwo Mexican miners
tried to rob the old man. The door was
shut, but he threw the foremost Mexican
through the panels into the road, and
then, putting his arms about the three
others, showed them en- masse through
the splnters and fragments of the broken
door. Gone or two of them Mexicans
stuck their knives into me-" said Uncle
Billy afterward, "but I never showed
was hurt, and after they were throwed
out they crawled away" In fact, one
knife thrust was clear through his arm;
but, on the other hand, he crippled most
of the Mexicans for life. ..2
There were plenty of grizzlies around
the mountains fifteen years ago, and /
hear of them, even now. Every one in
the mountains has an immense respect
for the grizzly. An old frontiersman
tells me that few years ago he was
hunting stray cattle, and he came on a
new settlers cabin beside an oak in
mountain valley. He stayed with the
settler over night, sleeping in blanket
before the fire. During the night they
heard great noise outside. The settler
looked out and reported that large bear
was at the meat safe, which hung under
the oak tree. The frontiersman was
asked to shoot it, but said he would not
risk it, with only revolver and shot
gun. The wife of the settler remarked
that they were both towards, and she
would drive it off with q broom, Thev |
locked the door, prevented her from |
going out, and shortly after heard the |
meat safe fall and roll into the gulch,
In the morning they found that an old
horse had become entangled in the ropes
'f the meat safe, and finally torn it down
n his struggles and dragged it down the
'avine. The old frontiersman and the
1ew settler were obliged in self defence
% retire to the headwaters of the San
Antonio within week and stay there
Until they had killed grizzly apiece
New York Tribune.