The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1896-12-13


Seeking . stray Horse.
From Mr.. cowhsrd's, wher. ! wac enter
ssine6 for TWO days. I returned 20 tire
Triure nins a. Golden. IN n. hoDs OF
meeting g G. May. OF Davenport. who
had been expeets6 there daily. ard from
whom expected 70 learn something use
ful 81 M further travels As be was
not there. i prepared 20 start fer Locrts-
ton next morning. bat Bonsy wflisd Il
otherwise. Finding grass rather thin
whore I tad Etzkes hfFr he RAD pulled
the rope from his picket and gone In
search % better pasture on the theory
that stray horse always goes back the
way be has come. went across the val
~ toward Orc Ii search OF him, looking
at every horse as / went II was hlsz-
ing hot day and the sur had splendid
purchase On ne for there was not . suz-
eeetfon % shase. ard watere6 thu parch-
81 earth with q r!wulet o. perFpiratton.
] uIflmatslw found hfrn or the hin near
the mine within a few minutes walk Of
where he had been psckste5. Il was then
too late 70 start. and 7 was too tired. not
having energy enough even 10 tell thar
horse what ! thought % him. o. al the
thankf>ss tasks q man ever undertook.
fndlng a stray horse Is ths worst. every
horse looks AT q distance Ike the one
yoa1 want. and rot I'll you have toiled
40 20 hiFn DO you find your mistake. Yet
some people seem &c enjoy Il, and rhilo-
Sophicaliy spend a whole day IN tracking
the lost Qaadrsped. time DeIng q drug In
the market with them.
One OF the most fortunate meetings I
had was with John Theis. q prnspector
from Goat creek. who was on his way
20 Spokane 70 take the train for g. Paul
20 get married. ] had spent the previous
night with J. ]. Snyder. g bachelor farmer
and prospector, who has made a good irri-
gated farm on the bank OF Texas creek.
a tributary OF the Methow. Mr.. Snyder
had told ne Il was about twelve miles 20
the Friday camp. my next haJting place.
and I expected 10 get there by sunset.
soon after starting ] met Mr. Thefs, and
was delighted TO find his destination was
the sane. We Joined company, and he.
knowing the country well. struck out from
the road by shortcut trails and several
times Ignored all roads and trails and
went clear across the bunch-grass hills.
thus saving I'VE or six miles. Even then
the distance We Travelled must have been
81 least seventeen miles. an illustration
OF the exorbitanI length OF the miles IN
that section
Beney I'm a Tight Place.
At the Friday camp Rouey played ms
ere OF the msanest tricks in his record.
Finding the camp on a small fat where
grass was scsnty and that Il was shut In
by hills on three sides and the river on
the fourth, with no way cut except the
steep. rocky and dusty trail We had fol-
lowed down the mountain. ] turned him
loose TO pick up meal Next morning
lie was nowhere 10 be seen and I started
TO find him. with the thermometer a. 10
In the Gun and no shade as Uncle Ned
Payne. of Ruby. expressed II. ! climbed
the mountain and walked all over IL, ex-
aiming scores of horses without seeing
4 rsfsr p
ed that mountain again lower down the
river 10 the house OF a man named Me
Intyre, who has a great reputation for
finding stray horses for = consideration
Dripping with peTspirstion, / entered
circle Of prospectors at acTntyrs's, but
the owner was absent ] had no sooner
state my errand than Billy Noble said
"You may as well SIT down and cool on,
for your horse is only half mile from
here. and he Is so helplessly wound up
that ne cannot gst away"
he pointed out Roney, standing In such
an attitude that he Was evidently safe
prisoner among the low brush so cooled
OF. afterward found Boney had
wound his stAke-rope. which i had left
on his neck three times around patch
OF greasewood and was standing In dumb
misery unable 10 move q step. IL he
had been a cayuse he might have un-
wound himself. for the Indian horse has
a happy faculty of untangiing rope from
his legs
Jake Durr's sad Fate.
The tragic fate OF Jake DUR the former
owner OF the Friday mine adds interest
to my first meeting with him. Tie was as
wen Informed as any man "a regard 20 the
Methow district, and therefore waited
throughout July for his return from Sc
attic. In the evening Mr.. Beulah. the
foreman. and I started for Ives TO look
for him About three miles down the
road We met him. riding toward the mine
His elean-shaven face. made swarthy by
years OF exposure. was shaded by a broad
brimmed. soft felt hat and his ciear-eut
features showed energy and determination
IA every line. His figure. muscular and
erect. was half hidden by a long. black
coat and made q good appearance on
horseback. He no sooner arrived at the
camp than he plunged ints business; at II
o'clock that night he took me into the
mine and showed ma through all its
workings At u o'clock I left him; but
he did not go 10 bed. for at o'clock hs
was again on the rosd 20 Ives 20 hurry
up some needed supplies. Al 8 O'Clock IN
the morning the tesmsters bringing them
aroused the camp by their shouts from
the mountain-top above the mine. and on
my arrival at ives two hours later found
Jake Durr wide awake as ever among 3
man OF ind0mltable pluck ard persever-
auce, and 10 him Is largely due the credit
for ths new life which the Methow dis
trfct has takesi On. Those who knew him
best scout the idea that hts death on
Meth0w rapids was due 20 suicide for he
was not the kind OF 6 man 20 thus fee
from lfe's struggles when he had put his
affairs in good order
Chasing "a wild Cayuse.
The whole population Of Friday camp
was thrown into state OF wild excite
n1ent the evening Of my arrival a Ger
man. whose only known name was Dick
tried 70 catch iittie roam cayuse, bat the
beast gailopes away from him. Several
men mounted horses and went IN pursuit.
hut ne distanced them easily. iesplng over
rocks dashing across ravines. doubling
on his tracks aud bewilderinE his pGr-
s1ers, Soon the whole camp was en-
gagged Ia tho pursuit. except two or three
who sat on a bench nj tne shady side u
tae huuk-honse and doubled Up with
laughing The pursucrs thought ~ last
that they had the roam coruered against
the steer mountain. and fastened to close
In on him rut they did not know hirn-
lie dashed Ike The wind up the precipi-
tons trail 20 the shafthOUsa. the purssiers
followed They felt sure then they had
him. for everything around the narrow
level space Under the shaftAouse was
vertical or nearly so-R vertical hin on an
sides above. the damp % sharp-pointed
pleces of GRE. stretching AZ a Ter
rfffs even angle fer huadrad
feet Below. and the shaft a. the
szsgeoEn - which ths miners were work
ing TIE Etue roam swiftly glanced
around. thea bounded down the dump. his
tai standing ouG in a line with his back.
An eyes we're fastened On him in the ex-
= a "a