St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1892-11-19


from its lofty front high III
among the hoary peaks, flows . brool
crystalline in its purity and melodiou
in its movements. carrying sweetness
and verdure to the thirsty vegetation
below.
Let me take you 10 this valley, callei
by its people Gods country" and
show you some Of its beauties. And
in order the better to view it, let me
conduct you to a lofty point. Let n,
ascend by way Of Santa Anita CANYON
through alternating sage and man.
zinita, to Wilson's peak. ten miles ur
the Sierra Madres. to one OF the finest
natural Observatories in the country, II
not in the world
This is the scene. and there in the
valley, at La Puente, is the spot
whereon dwelt the heroic woman OF
whose brave deed the following Is q
record.
In yon village some twenty years ago
lived Uncle Billy Madden, . genial
country merchant. and his good wife,
lady from Arkansas, Of whom he was
ever ready to relate some humorously
turned anecdotc or speak . word Of
praise.
They had seen some Of the rough side
of life together and, Is Uncle Billy was
wont to boast, that Arkansaw wom-
IN of his always kept things moving
along smoothly" She was born and
reared near the city Of Little Rock and
came Of highly respectable family Of
the middle class. Of quite ample means,
and was fairly educated and possessed
many of the minor accomplishments.
The then young and somewhat ad-
venturous Bill Madden wandered rather
simlessly through the states, having
left his home in Ohio with the half
formed intention of locating in some
new and unsettled portion of the couu-
try. in beating about he found himself
in Little Rock, where he met his AR
kans2w Woman and married her.
After quite an extended tour of the
west in search Of = likely place in
which to build home Uncle Billy"
and his bride brought up in the San
Gabriel valley ut La Puente.
After short residence in the valley
the new couple combined their efforts
and means in starting little store for
general merchandise. Here they turned |
their small stock of goods to gold, and.
renewing it constantly, went on gath |
ering in the coin and enlarging their
store until it came to be noised about |
that Uncle Billy (which name he had |
acquired soon after his arrival in the |
valley through his fondness for chill |
drenD and that Arkansaw woman Of HIS /
were getting rich.
The bulk Of their trade was with the
Nexicans, who were in the valley.
among them being number Of ugly
customers OF the Chavez stripe who
used to sometimes render the surround
ing country, and particularly the .-Old
Mission close by, anything but . st
for peace-loving people.
They would I'LL mp with ''owadiente,"
the native brandy, and bestriding their
bronchos dash through the highways
in manner highly threatening to the
personal safety Of any who might be
coming their way, yelling mean while
like demons and whirling their lassos
about their heads until they whistled
= $3.50 80 o~~sAAVossAuSCot 70 Tue UpT08f. L /.
According to Uncle Billy" that Arkan-
saw woman Of his often grew uneasy in
The presence Of these rufRaus, and it
Vas her firm conviction that sooner or
later there would be trouble 1t La
Puente. He would ridiculc her fears ;
ana would try to persuade her out Of
nor notions" Is be termed them, but,
lhpugh she appeared to be calm for the ,
inc. she resolved within herself to be
,ver on the alert for Mexican mischief.
md her fears were not groundless
One day . bl&ck-muzzled Mexican ,
inferred the store, and glancing about I
m hstless way inquired the prices of :
'9ious articles. He seemed to have
l4ple leisure. for, after making . few I
rining purchases. he hung about for
eyeral hours. exchanging ~ intervals 9
tsw words in Spanish with the store /