The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1891-08-29


was empty except for the little pools
here and there into which the fish
had retreated. The ladies' walked
along the bank and located the fin-
ing prizes and the men tramped along
the canal bed and caught the speck-
led beauties by giving them dex-
trous firt out of the water. They
were the true mountain trout brown
on the back with round black spots
from head to tail and two scarlet
splashes OF color under each jaw.
Many of them were 10 and IL inches
in length.
We got fine lot of fish, turned the
water back into its old channel to
save the small ones, recovered our
team and reached the house without
any mishap by III M. Then came
the bottling of cream, the grinding
of coffee, the dressing of fish. packing
of baskets with dishes, cake, pickle,
jellies and all the various eatables
necessary to fish fry" and as soon
as the team was harnessed and horses
saddled all set off for Mountain
Glen" ten miles away wildly 70.
mantle gaze at the junction Of the
North Branch of the Deep Creek
with the main one.
There are corrals and numerous
outbuildings here and a low ramb
ling house with many odd hooks and
crannies, but it is deserted and des
mantled except a few pieces of furni
ture, a carpet and some torn lace
curtains. The garden was tangle
of weeds and shrubbery, with guam
titles of currents and raspberries red
dening on the bushes.
In 1886 when on my way to White
Sulphur Springs the coach stopped
here for dinner. Then it was the
home of the Carpenter family, ia
nous for having been the captives
of Chief Joseph during the Ne,
Perces war in 1876. Then it was {
pretty cheerful looking place smil
ing with comfort and cleanliness and
surrounded by a perfect wealth o
lovely flowers Now all is desolat.
and deserted and three of the famil,
"sleep the sleep that knows no wax
ing" At some future time l may
give an account of their capture anC
sufferings and final release.
As our team approached the canor
we all dismounted terrified at thu
steep declivity (down which the We
hicle slid and bounded) and took {
foot path which landed us at the wa
ter's side in lovely grove of cottor
woods of immense size. Some drift
wood was soon gathered and fir,
kindled near by, coffee was put tt
boil and fish to fry, an old table wa.
found, and set out with our various
belongings, seats were found among
the ruins Of the old house and soon
hungry people gathered round tn,
leaf canopied layout prepared to dc
ample justice to the smoking fist
and fragrant coffee.
In the midst of the feast the ole
4 horse stage coach from White Sui
phur Springs dashed up at gallon
drove across the bridge and into the
corral to get fresh relay of horses
which are still kept here, watched
and tended by one solitary dissatis
fed man. He halls an occasional
picnic party as welcome break in
the deadly monotony of life.
The canon is spanned by trestl,
2 or 3 hundred feet long and IS feet
high, on top of which runs a wid'
boxed fume which was intended to
carry water for irrigating purposes
The faces of many of the cliffs are
perpendicular here and of great
height. They are a slaty formation
and have been tilted up by some pow
erful agency till they stand on end
The afternoon was. spent listening
TO the silvery cadence of the spark
ling stream, reading, walking, sleep
ing and fishing; nice string of the
denizens OF the water being packed
up when we prepared to return.
| AS the slant rays of the sun were
making jet black shadows along the
mountain sides we wound our. way
up the gorge and out on the lovely
plateau of Paradise Prairie" where
the gentle breeze laden with the odol
of balsam and of fir brought health
and healing on it's wings and lnlled
us into a delicious dreamy reverie
that was only broken when we ar
rived once more at the cosy flower
decked home of our hospitable en-
tertainers.
Our hostess Mrs. David Hoover is
a native of West Virginia having
been born in Monongalia county al
Hitchcock in the Monongalia Glades
She is cousin of Com missioner j
W. Mason and q second cousin of the
late Buckner Fairfax. She came here
when the nearest railroad was nearly
500 miles distant and made her home
with a childless uncle until her mar
rage a couple Of years after to fine
looking six footer from Indiana
They have beautiful place and a
home that is perfect bower of flow
ers and fruit. The only drawback
is the lack of society, churches, and
schools. This lady made the first
carpet ever seen in the Territory OF
Montana.
Soon after she was married she
got very tired of bare floors although
everybody else had them and deter
mined on having carpet. She tore
up cast off clothing and cut and
sewed it in long strips and then
stretched the strips tightly along a
frame work her husband had made
for her, then she threaded other long
strips through long wooden needle
and passed it in and out through the
threads stretched on the frame Just
as one darns stocking till she had
thirty flee yards of beautifully striped
and very durable carpet over a yard
in width and enough to cover the
floors of two rooms.
1t is one of the most wondrouslv
painstaking pieces of work l ever
saw, and though she now has three
phys and ingrains looked with much
more interest on the two or three
short strips of this native manufac-
ture that are still left than on any
fruit of the loom however elaborate
that was ever spread on floor of pal
ace or wall of museum. NJ. A.. Y.