The World. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1891-1896, 1892-09-07
TWO NOTED SIERRA JEHUS.
ALFRED AND CHEROKEE BILL THE
FAMOUS STAGE DRIVERS.

Hayes and Other utustrtous Persons.
Gen. Grants Trip-A Memorable Ride
with Cherokee Bill in 1873.
One OF the best known OF all Sierra
whips was Alfred, who for number Of
years up to the time Of his death drove a
stage daily between Wawona and Yose-
mite Valley. Alfred was dark muiatto
and likely fellow, and, although much
petted, never got top-heavy or spoiled.
Probably nd man, living or dead, has ever
driven so many illustrious people. Grant,
Garfield, Hayes, Blaine, Schnrz, Sherman,
Senator Morgan, Of Alabama, and hum
dreds OF other senators and congressman,
governors Of many of the States; Bull
Run Russell, George Alfred Townsend,
Charlie Nordhofi, John Russell Young
and scores Of other eminent journalists;
Albert Biefstadt, Thomas Moran, Tom
Hill and other famous artists; Mrs. Lang
try, Lady Franklin, the Princess Louise
and many hundreds Of other persons 81
consequences have been taken into the
great Yosemite by Alfred.
He never had an accident; always made
time, either way, to q minute; knew every
peak and tree and rock and canyon and
clearing and hut and streamlet by the
wayside. He was OF medium stature,
weighing 1856 pounds; he dressed neatly
and wore the whitest and handsomest
gauntlets OF any driver in the Sierra. He
seemed to be OF melancholy nature, or
like man who had experienced some dis
turbance of heart or peace Of mind. He
seldom had much to say unless spoken to;
was temperate or did not drink at all, and
only smoked the best of cigars. How
many people there are in the United
States who have presented Alfred with
fine gloves, gauntlets and cigars can never
be known. He would drive the entire
distance from Wawona to Inspiration
Point sometimes without uttering word
or relaxing feature. But II he had q
jolly crowd behind him he would watch
his team carefully, but listen radiantly to
the jokes and stories and conundrums and
conversation Of those in his charge.
The last time saw Alfred was
Yosemite Commissioner, and went over
the mountains with him alone. He had
on n new pair OF gauntlets sent him by
Senator Morgan, of Alabama, and used o
fine whip presented him by Mrs. Langtry.
He said to me that he had never permit
ted but one man to take the reins from him
In his life, and that was President Grant.
The general drove nearly all the way to
Inspiration Point,n said Alfred, "and
lighted at least four cigars. He took in
everything along the road, and made all
the turns as perfectly as an old driver.
/ had fine crowd that day-the Gen.
and Mrs. Grant and Ulysses Jr.; Mr..
Young, who has since been min
lister to China; and there were Miss
Jennie Flood, the only daughter of the
wealthy bonanza man, who was Tilted by
young Grant; Miss Dora Miller, the only
daughter of Senator Miller, who is now
the wife OF an officer OF the navy, and
Miss Flora Sharon, one of the daughters
OF Senator Sharon, who afterwards mar
ried Sir Thomas Hesketh, of England.
Miss Sharon was the prettiest girl ever
carried into the valley, and Mrs. Langtry
the most beautiful and most agreeable
woman. ! received nice presents from
all the members ofthe Grant party. The
general himself gave me silver mounted
cigar case, c>ntaining eight cigars, and
the girls sent me gloves and candy
August II, 1878, rode over one Of the
submits of the Sierra from Quincy,
PInmas County, to oreville, Butte County,
upon the seat with Cherokee Bill.n
This driver was not an Indian, 1ut q
regular Buckeye from the Western Re-
serve. But, all the same, he was called
"Cherokee Bilfn He was O stout,
clumsily put together creature, with stub
beard, and drove a fourShorse mud wagon.
He was rather more morose looking and
sloyenly in his dress than most Sierra
drivers, being clad in overalls and wooden
shirt, but wearing good gloves and the
regulation hat l was the only passenger
except an old clergyman, who occupied
the middle seat on the inside.
We left at six in the morning, with not
q cloud in the sky. At ten the entire
heavens were overcast, 1t began to
sprinkle, and distant mutterings Of thun-
der could be heard. Al II o'clock, when
within thousand feet of the summit, we
encountered the full violence OF the
storm. ! had never seen lightning, thun-
der and rain to excel II. The rain de-
scended, not In torrents, but in shafts;
the lightnings flashed almost necessarily
all around, and the thunders assumed
one awful continuous roar, with now and
then crash which resembled the fall OF q
hundred or more of the most noble
taxodiums of the forest. / said to Bill,
although was already completely
drenched, 81 guess I'll crawl inside. -
4NOs AAO AOPAACAt Jo0 uoAi Wdut To
get in with that thing inside; he refused
to bury my poor boy few months ago
because he hadn't been baptized. wish
one Of these pines would strike him dead.
He's one Of those old buffers who believes
or pretends that he believes that lots OF
our babies come into the world to be
damned, and claims that 1t is wicked to
bury fellow being If he hash t been bap-
tized. I'd like to run him of into the
canyon"
We reached the summit at II O'Clock.
and here sight presented itself such as
had never seen before, and have never
witnessed since. The storm had spent
itself upon the summit, and had been
swept into the stupendous chasms sur
rounding, with all of its celestial pyro-
technics and deafening artillery; and
from sunny elevation 1900 feet in the
air we could behold the jubilee of elements
below, / saw Hooker's fight in and above
the clouds on Lookout Mountain, at the
commencement OF the Atlanta campaign,
and / was reminded of that memorable
episode by the sight before me, except