Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-04-07
IN HORSESHOE CAMP

!
of perspiration trickled down his dusty
| face
He was near the summit of a mountain.
and the forests behind receded to a valley
of vast extent, densely wooded, pro-
foundry silent. primeval and uninhabited
A shimmering river wound through the
distant trees. and Talbot scowled as he
looked back upon it. Six days before that
river had lured him from one of these sum-
mits in quest of placer diggings. He was
now returning unsuccessful. half starved
and lost.
| A deer suddenly appeared before him, not
| two hundred yards away, near the top of
the divide. 1t was visible in relief against
| the luminous sky, standing on a small fiat
rock. with feet gathered and head thrown
| sideways, curiously alert. The miner ut
tered an impatient cry. He had seen not
less than thirty deer within the last four
| hours and had not single cartridge left
for his rifle One hand quickly sought the
revolver hanging at his belt. but he shook
his head and abandoned the impulse. His
mouth watered the deer bounded off.
Not since morning had Talbot tasted food,
and it was now o. clock in the afternoon.
Resuming his blanket and empty rifle he
soon gained the narrow sunburnt crest and
reJoiced to behold again the Okanagon Val
ley, the giant brown buttes against the
eastern horizon, and the mighty snow-clad
peaks of British Columbia towering far
| north. For Ward Talbot was one of that
adventurous band who first penetrated the
| reservation of the Moses Indians in Wash
ington territory when thrown open for
settlement.
Sinewy and strong was Talbot, a young
man of robust health and shrewd wits. He
wore brown overalls and blouse. with re-
volver and light prospecting pick thrust
In his belt; ana as he stood beneath a tang
led fir, mis- boots IN a mat Of partridge-ber-
ry vines, and the pendant needles trembling
against the edge of his brown canvas hat,
a look of perpleXity crossed his frank ana
manly face. He had come over at an I'M
expected angle and could rot quite place
his surroundings. A few steps farther and
the charred top of a tall burnt pine rose
to view. simultaneously the young miners
face frightened. He found himself not five
hundred feet from one of his own claims,
| the very first one he had staked out, and
which he had never visited since the day
he located it. The nearest corner stake was
directly below him. The tents of Horse
shoe Camp were in sight two miles away,
and an hours walk would take him to his
own hut and coffee pot
Quite different was this northern slope
from the southern activity he had lately
climbed. The latter was rocky and sandy,
Its soil washed of vegetable mold by quick
melting SHOWS. On this northern side ne
struck at once soft earth and a carpet of
thick pine grass, down which he STROBE
noiselessly toward a barren spot where
boulders projected from the ground and
white stake showed. This was made of
cottonwood, rudely squared by an ak. and
Upon it was penciled:
Stake B.
Southeast Corner Post
Quartz Claim, PILLAR OF FIRE,
Located by Ward Talbot
| May 18th, 1856.
"a roIp al he III aol
recalled the peculiar circumstances under
which he discovered his first claim.
| While hunting. soon after his arrival in
! the country, he saw far up this mountain
side a dead pine burning brilliantly. Max
| ing his way thither in the hope of meeting
white men, he reached deserted Indian
camp by the side of little spring. The
abandoned campfire had ignited pile of
/ dry brush, and thence had communicated
! to dead but standing ptchpine tree,
which roared furiously as II burned, cast
ing or volumes of black smoke. Here Tai
! bot discovered silver float and few traces
| of ore in the rocks, and staked out a claim
| naming ii the Pillar of Fire. When the
| mining district was organized he recorded
MS claim, but had never yet found leisure
| to come up and investigate il thoroughly
Talbot now descended toward the center
| of his claim. Here were high walls of rock
! converging toward a massive platform
| overhanging the ledge wherein he had found
| ore. As he approached the walls he heard
a horse whinny, and stopped surprised. An
| instant later the thud of pick, striking
earth, echoed from the hillside below There
| was no mistakjng the sound. 1t fell with
| regular strokes, tinkling as II occasionally
! hit rock. Somebody was working his claim
talbot set his rifle on end against the
| rocks at the entrance to the passa geway
| He took off his rolled blanket and laid il
| gently down. Then he drew his revolver
from his belt and inspected it. The weapon
was OF dragon size, carrying balls of heavy
calber. He cooked 1t quietly, and stole
| forward between the rugged steps and
| down to the stone platform. overhanging
/ the hillside.
white. He debated his course as he ad-
vanced. So far no claims had been jumped
in the district. He had avoided disputes
and brawls with the miners He was peace
| able and well disposed. But often the most
peaceable men are the most dangerous when
| imposed upon, and now Talbot had but one
purpose-to expel this Jumper from the
| Pillar of Fire
| He neared the shelf, where the conyerg-
ing walls narrowed to a space not six
| feet wide. From this point he could see
the two opposite end stakes of his claim
nearly eight hundred feet down the decliv-
| ity, and moving forward a little further
! he could also see the center stake imme-
diately below him. None of his boundary
marks had been disturbed.
Creeping forth on the irregular platform
| Talbot peered over the edge A few rods
down the hill man was STOPPING. pick in
| hand. working in the loose earth.
| Miners rights on the frontier are sharply
defined by custom, and peremptorily de-
| Tended. Any one who jumps a duly re-
corded claim does so at his peril, and COM
mon assent justifies his summary expul-
sion and the right of the owner to use force
/ If necessary. Talbot raised his pistol and
prepared TO hail the intruder. when a new
! discovery kept him silent.
| The jumper was not taking ore from the
| claim. He was putting ore I'M
| Such was undoubtedly the case. He had
| turned over considerable earth running in
a straight line downward from the ledge
whereon Ward Talbot stood. and out of a
gunny sack of ore the stranger was sprink-
ling the soil, covering his deposits lightly
with dirt.
| Again the horse whinnied. Talbot saw II
now, a calico or pinto tied in the bushes
He knew that horse, and peering again at
| the toiler beneath, recognized him also, and
understood the matter better.
| The man below was Nose Tannin, a
| hanger-on in Horseshoe Camp, reported
| to earn his money mostly by gambling and
| trickery. Two weeks before, in a cursory
| talk around the evening fire in front of the
| log hotel Nose had offered to trade this
pinto horse for the Pillar of Fire. Talbot
| agreed. provided the pinto was delivered
| to him within three days. Nose had not
brought the horse and the proposed bar
gain therefore was never consummated, but
| evidently the gambler now assumed owner
| ship of the claim and was Sailing 1t for
! some speculative purpose. planting IN the
| soil feat of rich quality. which should give