Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1893-03-10
TIE ORIGINAL ~rRurarUL JAMES. !
He Still Lives in the Picturesque Canyon o.
The Stanislaus.

The StaHislaus.
If there is any romance il man, life
in the newer sections OF California Will
bring it out. If one is not utterly dead
to all sentiment in the sublime and
beautiful, his soul will swell within him
and his heart labor in his breast az the
first view Of the great gorge OF the
Stanislaus, Of the outlook from Table
Mountain, or any one OF hundred
scenes where the clear rushing rivers
from the snowy Sierras have cut their
way deep down into the great plateau.
Ii the ingerer among these scenes
has the sentiment and the sense OF hu-
NOR, and with then a power of express
sion, the result Is Bret Harte, a Mark
Twain, or a Prentice Milford. II be
haye the sentiment and humor, but is a
tSlker only, not writer, the result is
Truthful James," That gentleman
still lives near the site Of the celebrated
cabin at Table Mountain, where Bret
Harte was long his guest and protege,
and his name is James Gillis. Ii is
pleasure TO learn that he has been very
successful as gold seeker, is well
fixed" and still the prince OF good fell
lows, says a writer in New York daily.
From the brow of Table Mountain
the tourist looks down nearly 1000 feet
upon a narrow, silvery band, when
seems perfectly still at that distance,
but ID is the Stanislaus dashing down
it's rocky trough. Down the mountain
side. by a road which is often mere
gallery In the rocky wall, the coach de-
scends in a few minutes TO the high
swinging bridge over the stream, but on
the south side two hours or more are
consumed In toiling up the $500 feet
ascent 20 the divide between the Stanis-
laus and Tuolumne. In that wonderful
gorge Bret Harte did much of his early
work, and heard many a drol story
from Jim ellis, who encouraged him
to write and took his productions to
San Francisco TO be published.
He lives now the life OF a wealthy
country gentleman on the Tuolumme
side of the Stanislaus, and the house,
overlooking that far.famed river, is at
the top of an eminence with an unpoet-
ic name. A useful species OF animal
may have some time roamed that re-
gion. Mark Twain may there have
grown sarcastic, but IL must be related
that the mansion of ellis is located on
JaekasS Hill. Table Mountains straight
ridge looms close at hand and some few
miles in the opposite direction, across
the stream, is the historic camp OF An
gels. Sonora, the Tuolumne County
seat. is seven miles to the eastward
Dow's Flat, Browns Flat, Shaw's Fiat
and a great variety Of other flats are in
that region. Poverty Bar isn't far
away.
The places are there, the sublime
scenery is there, but the miners are
gone. A very few still linger. AT
Shaw's Fiat there is a bare rock once
covered with earth. Gold was in the
Hat, though, and thousands of men
swarmed over tho big area, and every
bit Of the upper soil was dug out and
wased away. The rocks are all bare
now and beached, standing In a sort OF
cellar basin that varies in different
places from eight to fifteen feet in
depth.
At Angels still resides a gentleman
named Ross Coon, and Mr.. Coon Is
brought forward as the original nara
tor of Mark Twain's jumping Frog"
story. Further, he is said to be the
man who owned the frog, but the hu-
morst and poet alike Of course made
free use of their raw materials.
Truthful James" is rich and popular,
but still bachelor. He enjoys wide
in the State, and is not |
only pleasant companion, but very |
nseful citizen.