Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1891-04-04
THE SAD FATE OF A FoRTY-NNER.
Might Be Bonanza King If He Hadn't
Converted His Mule Into a Callione.


Might Be Bonanza King If He Hadn't
Converted His Mule Into n Caliope.
A party of prospectors had located their
dry camp ION the headwaJers of the n eadow
and were having rather Indifferent luck
1t b a broken up country, and its redeem
ing feature is the abundance of game of
all kinds. While it may be termed Il hunt
IRIS paradise, it is certainly n miners
sheol Flour and bacon and beans lad run
low, and the boys had begun to ''cass" the
country
They were sitting around the fire one
night smoking when a visitor, a stranger,
with about as little ceremony as Poe's
Raven, made his way into the circle and
perched, not on a bust of Pallas, but on a
busted aparahoe. For about two II inutes
the remarks were about as extended and
interesting as were those of the famous
Forty miner. Finally he was indu ced to
chew, and then he gave an account If him
self. He was as near a nobob as a pros
pector can ever become; that is, he was
making no attempt to better his condition,
making his way afoot from one prospect
or'S or trapper's camp to another. He was
an old man, bowed and wrinkled. 1t was
evident that the end of the rocky trail of
life that he was travelling was not far off
In the course of the evening one of the
boys happened to speak of the old mans
condition. The old fellow Strengthened
up, adjusted one moccasined foot under
him, "Injun" fashion, and remarked: 1T
may seem little tough to you fellers to
see me knockin' round this way when
ought to be respectable member Of sas-
siety, holdin' my own with Mackay, Flood,
Hearst and Lucky Baldwin. | used to
train with them fellers. I'm a '49er, am,
and might now be a miIlynair if it wasn't
fer a piece of hard luck / struck way back
in the sos.
Il struck out one spring mornin ii Cal
iforny with a mule packed with plenty of
grub, and q good prospecting outfit. l
had two dogs, cross between bull ard shep-
herd, along for company. l packed with
me a tin horn that l called 'em up with
when they got too far away.
Il was maxim for the Mokeleunne hill
district, which hadn't been prospected
hardly any yet. l made burned good time,
considerin' AL things, till on the second
week that gosh blamed mule got sick The
sun of a gun begun to swell. He got down
and rolled. Well, he kept swellin and
rollin' and groanin', and l thought every
minute he'd bust"
The sweat stood out on the old mans
brow as he related this. He paused while,
reflected, and continued:
1.-The way l figgered it out was that he
had collie. l couldn't think of anything to
give him but the soda used to cook With.
I'd heard it was good for the stomach SO I
fixed up a drench of soda and water stuck
the dinner horn inter his throat, and COM
menced pouring the stuff inter him 1t
skeart him. He sneezed and snorted all at
wunst, and spit out the drench. And when
he snorted he blowed that 'ere horn He
seemed surprised to find that he wuz mu-
stefan. His ears riz, and he pranced round
an footed that derned horn. The dogs
heerd the tootin', and, true to their trai min,
they come along head an tail up. That
derned mule KEEP a tootin' that 'ere horn,
all the time a-tootin' the wind off'n his
stomach, and all at once, by gum, he st -uck
out "A tootin' that horn, an the dogs fol-
lerin'.
Il wuz left thar 800 miles from nowhar,
with no grub, mule, dogs nor nothin'. |
wandered back to the nearest camp and
sence then I've been wanderer, with no
aim in life but to find my mules an dogs.
For forty years I've been chasin' the Gu ssed
varmints I've seen lots of mules, but one
uv'm he'd er tin dinner horn in his mouth,
nor two brindle dogs follerin' him. Eave
any of you fellers seen stray mule ound
here?n
The old mans story created profoln
impression. The boys unanimously elected
him grand patriarch and assistant cook
for rs long as he cared to lay off from his
wild and thrilling chase.-Spokane Falls
Spokesman.