The weekly Thibodaux sentinel and journal of the 8th Senatorial District. [volume] (Thibodaux, Lna. [i.e. La.]) 1875-1898, 1890-03-22
CALIFORNIA STORIES.
The Last of the Observation-Disclosures and
Frontiersnen.

|
| Frontier,men.
The mountains of San Luis Obispo offer
some Of the straagest frontier scenes and
| types to be found on the Pacific coast.
| The region was one Of the last strong
holds Of the native CaiiIornians Helen
| Hunt Jackson collected good deal of
| material a few months before her death
| iii 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
IA remarkable degree the peculiar charms
| OF northern and southern California. and
she often spoke of its waste wealth of
literary material"
My thoughts were turned to San Luis
the other day by the news from there
that /; man had found a band of wild
horses III the mountains and had cap
tured about twenty in 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
III the coast range, north of San Luis
! They arc descended from Spanish "mus-
tangs. and are as wild and worthless for
any kind of work rs it is possible to i'm
2gine. In one case, in early times. n
Spanish land owner was persuaded to
| buy an American plow and sow some
wheat. He had four CT five mustangs
tied to the rlow 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
tanS5 flew out on the plowed ground and
kicked ''for all they were WORTH After
little while the old Don was heard to
say: hat men these Americans are,
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 Il frontiers
man. known over thousands of square
mile5 OF mountain and valley as '.Uncle
Billy of Josephine He was Il griszled
giant, certainly the coolest and strongest
man Iii the region, and he kept a post
Office and L store. He was u blacksmith,
school trustee, and Il few things be-
sides, especially wheel horse at camp
meetings. Onenighttwo Mexican miners
trled 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 throuyh
the splinters and fragments of the broken
door, "One or two of them Mexicans
stuck their knives into me-" said Uncle
Billy afterward. but | never showed |
was hurt. and after they were throwed
out they crawled away" La fact. one
knlie thrust was clear through his arm;
but, on the other hand, he crippled most
of the Mexicans for life.
There were plenty of grizzlies around
the mountains fifteen years ago, and l
hear of them, even now. Every one in
tho mountains has an immense respect
for the grizzly An old fronsjrrsman
tells me that Il few years ago he was
hunting stray cattle and he came on a
new settlers cabin beside an oal. in
mountain valley. He STAYED with the
settler over night. sleeping in 4 blanket
before the fire. During the night they
heard Il great noise outside. The settler
looked out and reported that's large bear
was at the meat safe, which hung under
the oak tree. The frontierslnan was
asked to shoot it, but said he would not
risk it, with only revolver and 4 shot
gun. The wife of the settler remarked
that they We're both towards. and she
would drive it off with broom. They
locked the door, prevented her from
going out, and shortly after heard the
meat safe fall and roll into the culch.
In the morning they found that an old
horse had become entangled in the ropes
of the meat safe, and finally torn it down
IN his struggles and dragged it down the
ravine. The old frontiersman and the
new settler were obliged in self defence
to retire to the heaelwaters of the San
Antonio within a week and stay there
until they had killed grizzly apiece
New York Tribune.