The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1894-10-10
A $40 GOLD PIECE.

through 20 Id the next day"
These were the parting words Of our
genial host Of the Ukiah inn. Mendoclno
county. California. / had purchased
couple OF horses and a pack-mule lower
down in the valley. and was taking them
along the old Oregon stage route to my
home in the northern part OF the state
Accompanying me was my overseer,
Robert Thorndycl<e Hawkins or as he was
more generally known, "Rancheria Bob"
and an easterner named Wilson, who was
going TO spand a few months on the ranch
TO see how it was done" l had not adj
vertised for boarders. nor contemplated
starting a 'tendeT-foot nursery" but VIII
son. whom I had met at the Palace hotel
seemed such "A genial. pleasant fellow that
it was impossible to refuse his earnest re-
quest 10 join us in our mountain life. Bob
was rather opposed to the scheme, but not
being a prominent factor in the matter,
Wilson came along.
Our route lay through a section of the
country which had elapsed into a demi-
civilized state. the mines there having in
a measure become exhausted. the stage
route abandoned for the more expeditions
railroad and thu immense timber tracts
still being t9) far distant to be worked to
any advantage. The men as we'll as the
other conditions took a backward gr1wth
and those who remained were very favor
ably described as tough" Hence the
cautioning Instructions from our land
lord.
Acting upon such advice. we planned
our daily route so as TO pass L. L.
at noon. We were all well equipped with
rifles and side arms. ana looked forward
to a very pleasant journey. Our horses
wsrs in fine condition. rs also was the
mule. Pera1ps e is needless to say that
Bob and myself rode the former. while
Wilson was happy OF tha mule
The view was charming with constant
y changing yizt1s. Now exquisite groups
Of bouqu= t-sh lppd elm trees haunted the
river bank, and again. an open. undulat-
ing meadow with wooded hills i'm the near
distance. backed by tle the great blue
tinted m3unta!1s Of the Coast range. We
Travelled on, enjoying the constantly
changing view. without any incident UNI
evening ~ tha second Gay found rs at
C-a From here Id was fifty-four
mil - ana I.- &c. hut th'rty-nina. Is
these wsre the only scttlcn ants in tn
country. We fit u Incumbent On MS u
make an early start. as IL would ha a
good days work for The horses. prae We're
begnnins g. sa'w effects of their recent
efforts
Varous rum7rs as to Tie sanctltv and
future prls,ats.s ~ In. I- T-fs.4e
1--WE classified them rs biologists do other
hard matcrI8D kept reaching us ae We
iourueyei ou. s. c1rruhIrat1ry- Werc the
reports that we locked upon oar APP
preach es o1e In The oldcn times must
have felt on nearing Sodam or Gomorgah
T. L. waf- one OF the places (Which
fortunately arc becoming few where no
restriction is placed on any class Ot
society. and the medieval law. Might
makes right is the only recognized
judicial power. There We're perhaps 200
pe pie I'm ali forming the fixed popul2 ion.
raoue'a At certain seasons there nigh. be
double that number The only visible
means Of support of the inhabitants was
catering to the vices Of their fellow
men, Ii was the escape value Of TINT
l3WleSS class VINO haunt The borders of q
new civilization. Miners came there 10
spend Sunday and tn result OF their past
weeks toll. Hcrders who might have
been leading q hermit's life i'm The noun
tains for three months. brought there The
result Of their labor and did not leave
until il was all exhausted. We did not
believe much of all this that was told
in regard To- the place. considering the
greater part of the Information of that
mythical construction common To the
character Of such region.
our intention of starting cary i'm the
morning from ca was frustrated by
one Of the horses casting a shoe. and it.
was nearly 9 when we entered the woods
beyond Ca. However we mad the
prospect Of moonlight night and did not
despair 0f reaching Id i'm fairly g1lI
season. We crossed the watershed at tine
NIendOcinO valley. and were descending
into thai Of Humboldt, the road following
the twisting f river. Here begins the
greatest redwood belt i'm the state. and as
We Travelled lower down the valley W.
saw the trees which We're a hundred feet
or 50 high on the foothills assume such
mammoth proportions that the distance 10
their tops could scarce be measured in a.
many yards. They now became an i'm
portant factor in he topography of the
road. which daviated from its course con-
tinua.ly. obedient tO the dictdti0n of these
monarchs. This constant interruption
made what had been a fairy direct road
q system IF ge0metrical curves. impossi-
BILE 10 follow i'm any fixed direction From
a certainty il became a labyrinth. The
great size and abundance .Of the trees
stilled the atmosphere, giving a s0mbre
effect 70 all the varied sounds natural to
the woods. We cou-d see limbs swinging
at the tops OF the trees and yet scarce hear
or perceive q trace ot the wind which
muse have been strong 10 move them 50
Violently. The very jingle Of our saddle
equipments seemed discorddnt amid the
deeper harm0nles
Tt was here. in the stage times. that
"Black Bard. the poet highwayman.
reaped many rich harvest His was a
chivalrous nature. and his memory is
held sacred in many cabin in the
woods One stag driver told with pride
how. after relieving him Of the mail and
Wells-F'arg0's box, BLACK Bard asked
him for a chew of tobacco. His nom DE-
plume arose from the fact that. after
rifling the mail he would joe down Il
dOggerel verse upon the back of some
f41f lion
pOraneOUs address of sympathy TO the
owner Of the package-and sign THE
Black Bard" His fna! capture, after
many liberal rewards, was unique. Being
interrupted in his se.f-enfOrced inspec-
tOrship Of a mail. he departed in his
haste leaving one of his cuffs. This was
traced by the laundry mark TO San Fran
cisco and led 20 his capture. Stores as to
his prOwess and the speed and beauty of
his horses are too numerous to mention.
His great virtue. 50 the people said. was
his liberalty TO the poor. and the fact
that he never robbed from any one but
the express company and the mail. As
we threaded the tOrtuOus road, We could
easily imagine a highwayTnan stepping
from behind one of the enormous trees,
and calling on Us 20 hold up our hands ="
Coming upon q little spring. we hated
awhile 10 refresh both ourselves ana our
S horses. Here we calculated that we were
distant but eight miles from L. l.,
and still had tWenty-three more to go be
fore Id was reacheTd. 1t being but
little past noon. our ride through L.
L. before dark and reaching Id