Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-08-12
ACROSS THE CONTINENT.

ACROSS THE CONTINENT.
"Now, boys, we've a tough long days
trip before us. Get up. hustle your packs.
eat quick breakfast and we'll reach the
foot of the mountain before the sun crawls
over the white caps yonder. I propose to
sleep at Marble Mount tonight" Thus Al
most shouted the expert about A. M. His
word was law, and we were soon ready for
the tramp downward. The stout assistant
lashed the heavy bag of samples to his back,
the packers distributed the bulky bundles
Of blankets, overcoats and camp mat
tresses equally as possible according
to their strength, and we were soon
plodding in Indian file through the hard
snow on which the cold winds Of the night
had woven crust that cracked under foot
and on which pretty crystals shone like
star-shaped diamonds. The downward
journey was made in an hour less time
than the climb a few days before. We slid
and fell toward timber line, and then over
the rooty, rocky, zig-zag pathway, clinging
to grass-tuits, branches and boulders.
the tenderfeet panied their limbs and
envied the strength of muscle and wind
possessed by the packers. We had rid
den up to the face Of the granite wall where
the ropes were stretched, but we walked, or,
rather, scrambled from that point to the
cabin. Then it was that the dangers of this
portion of the trail were exposed. How
horse could keep its footing on that narrow,
loose-stoned, ravined ledge was past under
standing. 1 was perfectly satisfied to reach
the cabin afoot. If Sbakespeare's Richard
had been on that trail he would not have
offered his kingdom for a horse.
A SPEEDY mountaineer had been sent
ahead, ana when we reached the cabin our
'coyuses" were neatly saddled with their
noses pointed toward civilization. After
carefully adjusting the packs on the intel
ligent beasts of burden and tightening the
girths we bade adieu to the old cook and the
few miners and prospectors who had gath
cred from the locations above to see us OF.
We knew the hard road we had to travel,
but there was more OF it down hill and better
time could be made. Our schedule was to
reach the halfway cabin for dinner. the
night station by nighfall-and i. was carried
out. had never ridden a horse before set
ting out on the expedition. In all we had
covered about so miles in the saddle. 1t was
a rather rough riding lesson, but the pure
air, the shifting scene, the grand views In
forest and from hill salved the stiff joints,
banished the sharp aches, and sleep came
quickly in the thatched shack on the edge
of the deep forest, whose giants cast long
shadows on two swift, cold and noisy snow
fed rivers. Before turning in an Indian was
sent six miles mp stream to order two
Siwash canoes for $3.50 the next morning.
This Indians name was Jim Aleck- On our
up journey he had been treated to hand
full of tobies, which he critically examined
and then exclaimed, "This make me close to
you" Thereafter he was our friend.
WE breakfasted in the dawn at $3.50, and
were in the canoes at 4:30. Before embark
ing went to where the little Indian pony
that had carried me safely to and from the
mountains was tethered. I caressed and
thanked him, and believed he understood
me, for he rubbed his nose on my shoulder,
whinnied and looked wistfully after me
when 1 disappeared down the steep bank
and deposited myself on a tuft of hay
amidships. The Siwash canoes OF the Skagit
valley of Washington are reasonably safe
craft, and the Indians who man them are
skillful navigators. The canoes are followed
from the trunks of huge trees, round-bot-
toned, high at PROV and stern. They carry
from 1000 TO 5000 pounds of freight Our
party chartered two, one smaller than the
other, and distributed our persons and packs
accordingly. The moccasined. well-armed
halfbreed knelt down in the stern and
with short paddle sent the light-draught
craft out into the boiling blue. We sat
down on the hay with our backs against the
packs, our limbs stretched straight out on
the bottom OF the craft. Forty-eight miles
below we would strike the railroad. The
train left at 1l:20 A. N. We covered the dis
tance in less than seven hours, with only
one paddle most of the time. And what q
memorable journey! Rain poured down
from start to finish. The air was raw and
cold. Gum coats were useless When we
landed, stiff and soaked, we were bedrag-
gled, sorry looking crowd.
But, as before, here too the novelty of
the thing and the magnificence of the sur
roundings compensated for the danger and
the discomfort. The Skagit is broad, deep,
blue, cold and swift. Snow-topped hills
kept us company nearly to our destination.
Thick forests, over which fantastic mists
hung and out OF which occasionally came
sound of AZ, sIoped dark and green upward
to the bare walls of the mountains. On
and gravelly points, in grassy,
shaded hooks on low-ly1n banks, the lonely
tepees of the Indians, sheltering q fat
squaw, nearly naked progeny and a lazy,
Siwash, were seen. As we shot
you 7)-the spelling is my own-and waved
their dirty, red-hued arms and were soon
out of view. At intervals the roar of the
rapids on the rifles below came up to US.
The canoes were skillfully guided through
the shadows, past the rocks and around the
sharp bends. Benumbed with the cold, wet
with the rain, we sat there without MUIR
mur, chilled but charmed. Only one brief
stop was made at the halfway station, where
the river ran slower and the hills began to
the snow patches on the tim
bered sides grew smaller and at the feet of
which the ranchmen harvested goodly crops
from stumpy, but fruitful black-soiled fields.
"GooD fishing? Yes, sir; in season. Only
netting now. But in tho fall the river is
alive with salmon" This from q native of
the valley in our canoe in answer to query.
"But it's no use Tor white man to attempt
to fish with hook and line when there's
Siwash around. He will pull them out as fast
Is he pleases, but you wouldn't get nibble
Why this is a fact I can't explain. But I've
fshed beside one, used bait out Of his can,
saw him land the trout at will and got nary
bite myself The. Siwash seems
10 charm the salmon. When he |
lrops in his line he begins to whistle in |
peculiar key. He keeps up the rolling note |
until he lands his fish and resumes it after |
batting again. It's singular, isn't it? But |
It's a fact" 1 had been told the very same |
,tory by bright little boy who strolled with |
ne one night along the banks of the beauti- |
ul river. His father afterward corroborated.
The third narration led me to believe the |
'trange tale.
WE reached the station that wet and cold |
and entered the cars shiver-
ng and rain-soaked. Not until nightfall did
We secure dry garments. But there were no