Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1895-04-25
OWYlHEE JOE'S STORY.
nf RoUNsEvELLE wILDmAN.

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It was the beginning of the end.
The lasttie of the mighty Union Pacific
twas the first tie in the march of civili-
zation into the great west" d
With the thunder of iron wheels and
the reverberent screech of the whistle,
the Indian, the buffalo, the desperate
I 5iedi the overland coach became n men,
DRY and the cowboy changed his buck
skin for New York shoddy Later, as
the gigantic Pacific system stretched
out Its arms to the north and south and
absorbed the slkali bottoms of Wv
oming, the sage brush plains Of Idaho,
the pine forests of Oregon, even the
lava beds of northern California, the
pioneers of 40 and the miners Of '65 be-
came curiosity, and the men who had
4 ,fgubdued the wilderness from the back
of an rntarhcd' mustang were styled
''moss backs by the tourist coach"
'emigrants and relegated to the back
ground.
Little more than decade has passed
+ since the Oregon Short line pushed its
way along the great valley of the
Ouuhcs lsilu trlDutdTy 10 luS
sovereignty; yet, in so short q time,
became an ''old timer" and, as looked
out on the crowd that had taken the
places of those who greeted me as
"tenderfoot," mentally repeated the
motto of the new west "Keep
up with the band wagon or fall in the
rear"
Typical of the Rrobdingnagian
strides of this new order of things,
thirty rotting skeletons cumber ram
shackle row of sheds on the suburbs of
Boise. Sun and wind, rain and snow
end their way down and through the
neglected roof upon their bodies, and
as year after year goes by they answer
to the age and the elements, and fall
away into dust and oblivion.
Yet they deserve better fate. On
their weather r-beaten forms are the
marks of rifle bullets; within their pro
tecting sides came the best blood of
the east, to find new homes and extend
.. the empire of the great republic.
s,, These thirty leather-springed, steel
the one connecting link between the
hardy miners and pioneers of southern
Idaho and ''home" Their very sight
recalls Indian fights, highway rob
berries and daredevil flights. In them
lives the essence Of the fast dying
N wild West" Their day is past; their
past is but q tale; their present is for
gotten. taa
/ asked Owyhee Joe about them once
Owyhee Joe had been famous driver.
Wild stories are told of his daring trips
n eup from Winnemucca or out from Boise
& with coach well loaded with gold
Gust, prospectors and government
mail. Like Ben Holiday and Yuba
Bill, his achievements live in the men,
~ ory and on the tongues of the oldest
y inhabitants and grow in luster as the
years pass. 20
1t was hot, sultry afternoon. i had
sent in copy for the outside page of
the Statesman and felt free to lounge
back in my chair and listen to Joe's
stirring, If at times mendacious, ac-
count of an Indian fight he had been
in near Kuna, when unaided he had
driven off ten Bannocks and saved the
,eold bricks in the boxes of Wells,
!. Fargo g. Co. IS express smiled patron
izingly when he had concluded. And
how about the time when you were re-
lieved of your bags without even an
If you please?' A shade of annoy
ance and ehagrin passed over his
bronzed face and he shifted uneasily in
his chair. The click-click-clic OF
lob press in the adjoining room sound
thoughts, while from the opposite cor
ner the splash-splash-splash Of an ir-
rigating wheel seemed to be rehears-
inc it's version of the incident that SO
weighed on the drivers mind. The
SIM heat down on the tin roof and
adobe walls of the old office with a
fierce. white intensity that awakened
the man from his rumination.
49,. .It was a hotter day nor this out
there on the mesa, when thatyoung
chan stepped odt from behind q little
sch,mp of greasewood and as'd me per-
lite ernuf ter throw up my hands. No
:. argument in the face OF that thar
5shootir' iron, Mister Editor. lie took
over four thousand clean dust and
,Emade for Salt Lake on the back OF my
3 bes'leader. Never hearn tell how we
caught him? NoP Wall, ye see,
s9 took my wheel hoss and made for
Roise. Found Bill Mcconnell, gov
- ernor and senator since, the same,
~ Col Robbins, Jim Agnew an Hank
5 Fisher. We made a bee line cross
country to head him off. Changed
] HOSES three times We struck his
trail. found whar his boss had broke
down an he'd stolen anoths1 That
stolen hoss meant pS
Sabe?
'In twenty-four he
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