Capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1893-1895, 1895-01-08

Stamped Out a smallpox
Living in the picturesque valley OF
tbe Columbia river in British Columbia
with the Selkirk mountains on one slde
and the Rocky mountains on the other,
is the town of Donald, on the Canadian
Pacific railroad. 1t used to be known
rs "wide open town., " but it is now
. sedate little place of nearly 200 III.
habitants. 1t is the meeting place OF
divisions of the railroad, and from that
reason takes on a commercial lmpor-
tance that other towns of the same size
along the railroad lack. 1t also has an
added inheritance from the fact that 1t
is the home of Sheriff RedgraVe, the
chief official of all that country around
for a great distance. ,
Sheriff Redgrave is a distinguished
man not only because he holds the chle1
Office thereabouts for many miles, but
because he has a notable past He has
had many fierce campaigns with the In
dians, has fought his full share OF dead
" duels with desperadoes, has drop
ped" his man on more than one occa'
sion. knows what roughing it means in
a country the widest Of the wild, and
for wears before such a thing as rail
road was thought of in that country was
o marked man.
Sheriff Redgrave is always amiable
and almost always cheerful. Once a
year. however, he is manifestly trou-
bled and downcast 1t is a custom in
Donald on these occasions to wait until
a eoodlv collection of citizens have ar
rived. and then this conversation usual
" ensues:
Good morning, sheriff. You seem a
little troubled this morning. You look
blue. Nothing gone wrong, has there: .
some one will say, and the sheriff will
make this response:
"Oh, nc" with an apparent effort to
throw off his careworn look, nothing
is the matter, but the fact is this is the
anniversary of a very sad day with me,
and l never can shake off its remem-
brance. "
"Indeed?" some one will say, and at
that invitation the sheriff will tell this
story of an eventful day in his career,
one that annually fills his soul with sad
| ness:
1T was just 80 years ago today that
| was up in the Caribou country with
the dearest friend ever had. He was a
noble fellow, one that l would have
gladly given my life to any day were
| there occasion to do so. We were walk
ing through a gorge one afternoon, and
by lamentable oversight had only one
gun with u.s. Ny friend had that Sud
denly we came face to face with an
enormous grizzly bear, one Of the old
| time bears, tremendous fellows such az
we used to have in these mountains.
The bear was angry, and | think had
been stung by some bees. He showed
fight, and l saw at a glance that it was
either his life or one or perhaps both Of
ours. He came right for us, roaring and
determined to kill us,
My friend was nervous man, and
could see that he was little fright
ened. Now, you know that l never lose
my nerve, and so | said to him that |
thought he had better give me the gun
and let me kill the bear, so as to make
sure of the job. He agreed and seemed
to be glad to have the responsibility off
his hands The bear came straight for
as, and | took deliberate aim. He had
his mouth open, and l aimed to shoot
him there and let the bullet penetrate
the brain, and thus make a neat Job of
it. When the bear was about ten PAGES
off, | pulled the trigger. That bullet
went straight to its mark, of course, but
do You know, just as it struck the bear
in the mouth, that animal for some rea-
son or other turned on his heels. The
bullet passed through his head, and tho
bear, turning just as it was passing
through, DETECTED the bullet, so that
it flew back to US and killed my friend
instantly by my side Yes, this is al
ways a very sad day with me, and | am
sure You will excuse me if don't show
my accustomed cheerfuluess,
Sheriff Redgraye has another thrill. F.
ing experience that he relates occasion.
ally, and it illustrates his fertility of
resource in time Of great emergency
and reveals to some extent the reasons
for his popularity and advancement in
the estimation Of his fellow citizens
lie was up in the Caribou country many
years ago and stumbled into a camp of
Indians where there was an epidemic of
smallpox raging. II would never do for
mn TO return home after having been
exposed to that coutagion, and il also
was incumbent on him as man with
a sympathetic heart % try 70 stamp out
tho terrible disease lie and his friend
pondered over the situation for a long
time, and at last plan came TO them.
How do you suppose we slammed
lAal smallpox outi" the sheriff saws as
no tells the story
Well lt was this way Neither of
us haq any medical education. and If
we had u wouldn have done any gald
Iof We had no remedies with us. and in
"oHll have been impossible % mako
Nose Indians take any medicine. Wlat
10 you think $50 dils We lust rggpB.I
ap All IAe Indians that had thg dl,.a..
'Na when Wa We're surr rHarwe had ,y.
~ one ~ tHru pd D4d burned Mn ,
A,lF ohe''s We hu.DIa.l tlo Indians ug }