The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1893-05-18
soldiers got to the scene the murderers

our soldiers got to the scene the murderers
had fed.
The personal effects of these emigrants
from the Flowery Land that the Indians
did not want were scattered over large ex-
tent of the plain. They consisted of opium
balls for smoking, type-blocks, chopsticks,
rice, ginseng, rhubarb, etc. In view OF
many depredations of which the foregoing
are samples, the command determined to go
out and hunt up the guilty parties, if posi-
BILE, and punish them.
Stems Mountain was about 100 miles dis
tant from the camp. Its summit during
the whole Summer long had remained
COVERED WITH SNOW,
which clistened in the evening sunlight
with resplendent beauty. This mountain
is one of a high range broken off from the
Blue Mountains, the south end of which
terminates very abruptly in the midst of the
plains. Viewing it from camp at so great a
distance it was not very distinct. With a
little stretch of the imagination, it had the
similitude of some large monster that had
crawled ont Of the unfathomed depths of
space from the northward, and was resting
there in the warming sunshine OF 0ne vast
and illimtable plain.
The conclusion was that the thieying In
dians had their hiding place in and around
this mountain, and hence it was determined
to 90 out there and see what could be
SEEM
The company consisted of about so men,
under command of Capt. White. Lieut.
Poopoon was also along, as well as several
other commissioned officers; but Poopoon
in particular was a terror 10 savages. He
had " blood in his eye 3" whenever he started
On The "warpath," and what he didn't know
about Indians very few other officers did.
Capt. White was also good Indian fighter,
and his dignified manner fitted him becom
ingly rs leader.
The distance from camp to the Owyhee River
was about so miles. Some beautiful valley
land along the Jordan River was traversed.
The Owyhee was crossed on temporary ferry.
Mr. Charley c. had at enc time tried to
maintain ferry there. But some savages came
along one day and choked him awhile, and
told him to get out of there. or they would
show him that he wasn't the big dog with the
brass collar" so he skipped. and the ferry had
not been kept by anyone in particular since
then. The few struggling immigrants managed
TO get across as best they could.
Let me give you a small scrap of the history
of this man Charley c., who first tried to
maintain ferry there. Two years before this
he had been a resident of Missouri. At that
time life and property were very unsafe there
on account of the civil war, and this young man
would soon have been compelled to leave that
place and go into the army, or find some other
place OF residence. A circumstance occurring
about that time helped him to form a resolution
for the future.
He had been waiting upon young lady by
the name of Sarah s., who was to him un-
der a provisional promise of marriage. She
was a fine blocking girl Her full, expressive
eyes shone with the luster Of sympathetic
tenderness and love. She was in perfect health,
her step was elastic and her voice musical.
But owing to the fact that Charley was poor
boy, the parents. who possessed considerable
property and belonged to the upper tens"
treated his proposals with contempt In this
the parents were, in some measure, justified
from other considerations The girl told him
that she would not marry him without the con-
sent Of her parents.
THIS WAS STUNNING BLOW
to him, but be resolved to surmount what he
supposed TO be the main objection to him,
namely his poverty.
About that time the discovery Of gold in
eastern Oregon and western Idaho was at
tracing 8 large emigration from the States, and
Charley resolved that he would leave his girl
behind him and secretly and alone quit his
home and seek fortune in the Western gold
fields. Finding which. he would return to
Sarah and claim her for his own. and make her
happy with all the comforts and iuxurics that
wealth bestows.
But alas for human endeaFori With some
people the unexpected should be most expected. |
year or so after this occurrence in Missouri |
his footprints were on the sands OF the 0wy- |
bee. Up to that time, aud for some time after /
ward, be had been wandering through the /
wilds Of eastern Oregon. and had become IA |
niiiar with the country. and with the strong
holds Of the hostile Indians
The jgRis fdigus Of wealth had lured him on /
and on, seeming at times TO be almost within /
his reach. when it would vanish out Of sight, |
like The stars Of morning upon the approach of /
day. We will trace more Of his history further |
along in the narrative.
Not very distant from this crossing of the /
Owyhee are found some Of Natures grandest /
works. The banks Of the stream, in places, /
are qnite high, and consist of a mixture of /
sand and clay formed into loose cement. |
During high wafer. the stream bad carried /
away these banks TO a considerable distance /
beyond the present current of the stream. /
Tie remaining banks, exposed as they have
been for long time TO the action OF the rains, /
frcsts. and winds. have been cut. carved, and /
chiseled into nearly every Imaginable form
and shape. Imagination lends enchantment /
20 tho view" and there can be seen resen-
blaDccs of different kinds OF ancient archi- 1
tectuTe-Of dcmes, arches, and sculptured col /
umns-of ruined cities that had succumbed to |
some powerful force, as that Of tornado, or Of /
al earthquake.
III.