Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1892-06-02


vaIIey-AIfred Had Many Friends
Among Well Known People.
One of the best known of all Sierra whips
was Alfred, VINO for number of years up
to the time of his death drove a stage daily
between Wawona and Yosemite valley.
Alfred was dark mulatto and likely
fellow, and although much petted never
got top heavy or spoiled. Probably no
man, living or dead, has ever driven SO
many illustrious people. Grant, Garfield,
Hayes, Blaine Schurz, Sherman, Senator
Morgan, of Alabama, and hundreds of
other senator's and congressman, governors
of many of the states; Bull Run Russell,
George Alfred Townsend, Charlie Nord-
hoff, John Russell Young and scores of
other eminent journalists; Albert Bier
stadt, Thomas Moran, Tom Hill and other
famous artists; Mrs. Langtry, Lady Frank
I'm, the Princess Louise and many hun
dreds of other persons of consequence have
been taken into the great Yosemite by AL
fred. He never had an accident; always
made time, either way, to minute; knew
every peak and tree and rock and canyon
and clearing AMI hut and streamlet by the
wayside. He was of medium stature
weighing 165 pounds; he dressed neatly and
wore the whitest and handsomest gaunt-
lets of any driver in the Sierra
He seemed to be of a melancholy nature
or like man who had experienced some
disturbance 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 CT yars can never be known
He would drive the entire distance from
Wawona to Inspiration Point sometimes
without uttering word or relaxing a fea-
ture. But if he had 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 Yose-
mite commissioner, and went over the
mountains with him alone. He had on a
new pair of gauntlets sent him by Senator
Morgan, OF Alabama, and used a fine whip
presented him by Mrs. Langtry He said
to me that he had never permitted but one
man to take the reins from him in his life,
and that was President Grant. The gen
eral drove nearly all the way to Inspira-
ton Point" said Alfred, land lighted at
along the road, and made all the turns as
perfectly as an old driver. | had a fine
crowd that day-the general and Mrs.
Grant and Ulysses, Jr.; Mr. Young, who
has since been minister to China: and there
were Miss Jennie Flood, the only daughter
OF the wealthy bonanza man: Miss Dora
Miller, the only daughter of Senator Mil
Ter, who is now the wife of an officer in the
navy, and Miss Flora Sharon, one of the
daughters of Ser ator Sharon. who after
ward married Sir Thomas Hesketb. 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 of the Grant party.
The general him self gave me a silver
mounted cigar case containing eight cigars,
and the girls sent me gloves and CANDY"
Aug. Il, 1878, l rode over one of the sum
mits of the Sierra from Quincy, Plumas
county, to Oreville, Butte county, upon
the seat with Cherokee Bill This driver
was not an Indian, but a regular Buckeve
from the western reserve. But, all the
same, he was called Cherokee Bill. He
was stout, clumsily put together crea-
ture, with stub beard, and drove n four
horse mud wagon. He was rather more
morose looking and slovenly in his dress
than most Sierra drivers, being clad in
overalls and wooden shirt, but wearing
good gloves and the regulation hat. was
the only passenger except an old clergy
man, who occupied the middle seat on the
inside. We left Quincy at in the morn
ing with not cloud in the sky. At 10
the entire heavens were overcast, it began
to sprinkle and distant mutterings of
thunder could be heard.
At IL O'Clock, when within a thousand
feet of the summit, we encountered the full
violence of the storm. | had never seen
lightning, thunder and rain to excel it.
The rain descended, not in torrents, but in
shafts; the lightnings flashed almost in
cessantly all around, and the thunders as
sumed one awful continuous roar. with
now and then crash that resembled the
fall of a hundred or more noble taxodiums
of the forrest. l said to Bill, although ]
was already completely drenched, ~ guess
Pill crawl inside" NO" he replied, ''you
don't want to get in with that thing inside
He refused to bury my poor boy a few
months ago because he hadn't been ban
tized. / 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
it is wicked to bury fellow being if he
hasn't been baptized. I'd like to run him
| off into the canyon
We reached the summit at - o'clock
and here sight presented itself such as
had never seen before and have never
witnessed since. Tie storm had spent it
self upon the summit, and had been swept
| into the stupendous chasms surrounding,
with all of its celestial pyrotechnics and
deafening artillery; and from sunny ele-
walton 1000 feet in the air we could behold
the jubilee of elements below. ] saw
Rockers fight in and above the clouds on
Lookout mountain, at the commencement
of the Atlanta campaign, and l was re-
minded of that memorable episode by the
sight before me, except that, with the ex-
ception of the din of small arms, the roar
| of heavens artillery in the Sierra that
| 18th day of August was like that of 10000
battles in the clouds.
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