River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1897-08-26

IL might have been this permiscus
whisky drinkin' that knocked old Potts
OF his nut instead of the hard team
sterin', but can't say. But. anyway
Potts went sort o daft. and finally lef,
the road and tux up with the Iniuns
Before he went crazy. and before he
left teamin'. Potts was the genialest
kind Of a Teller. Everybody liked him
he wasn't educated much. but he was
good-nature.i and jolly and always had
a good wore ilr folks. an he liked chill
dren.
Il remember Of his stopp.n' at my o.
mans place once, when a neighbor :
little girl was there. This girl-Min. !
believe her name was-had a new doll,
an Of course she wanted TO show il 10
Potts first thing So she trotted il out
an put it in his lap and then turned its
dress mp. as doll mammas always do.
and made him look al the lace on its
undcrclothes. An Potts laughed-why,
7 can see him now. settin' there on the
front porch. all dirty and smeared with
wagon grease. holdin' Minis new doll ia
his big hands and teilin' her that it's
the purtiest dolly ever he seed. But
that was a long time ago. Potts is diff
ferent now
Clark, of the Oregon house, paused IL
his talk and pulled away in silence for i
few minutes.
The man at the plum box. having sat
isfied himself, wiped his mouth on his
sleeve C'When in Rome, etc. nd now
sat gazing up the river. L was not an
uninterestiug view. From q narrow
gorge in the high brown hills. the river
suddenly appeared, a stream of dull
yellow that threw itself tempestuously
from the big, water-,s orn rocks, and
then with a smooth, graceful curve,
fiowe downward toward the point on
which the blacksmith's shop stood.
Here, as IL turned 10 take another direc-
ton, it fretted, and fumed, and growled.
and muttercd once more, until finding
a straight course again, it journeyed
peacefully to Climmin's point, where it
made another angry turn.
As one looks up the river one notices
q red ''cut that leads, with the natural
wind of the hills from the river bed to-
POINTS far up on thu mountains, on
either side of the river. That is the road
that goes from Browns valley to French
Corral, and where il crosses the Yubd
is known as Rice's crossing. 1t is sim
ply E ford, and in certain seasons an
impossible one.
Far up the river, however, where the
gorge is narrowest, there is a steel wire
cable, with n rude car swung under it,
and on this, people on foot who wish to
cross the river (mostly Indians and
Chinese miners, with now and then q
wandering artist, or scribe. proving
cor the picturesque') 20 over. just be-
low the cable there is a camp of the
Chinese, containing a store, a garden
and half a dozen nuts. In September
the river is low, and the Chinese sluice
among the powders in its very bed,
turning il aside with wing dams, for
this purpose.
As the man at the plum box looked up
the canyon he could see the Chinese
miners at work just below the cable.
The sun was bright, and now and then
their wet shovels, as they turned them
in air. flashed like disks of silver. The
yellow Nuba roGTed and Numbered in
its uneven course where they were
working, and the canyon was full OF the
vibrant sound of its ceaselcss conflict
with the huge powders that lined its
way; and yet, Low and then, as the wind
blew down the river, the sharp, nasal
tones of the Chinamen's voices could be
distinctly heard. The man at the plum
box got to marveling at the clearness
with which things could be distin-
guished over the dull, never failing
thunder of the great river that swept
along below him, and all but forgor
Potts entirely. Even Clark seemed to
find something foreign to think of, and
smoked and gazed in silence.
y mountain quail. across the canyon,
whistled melodiOusly, and its soft, but
impellant notes. seemed almost to echo.
Just below the shop. about quarter OF
a mile down the river, two sons of the
Flowery Kingdom were running
rocker, and he could distinguish the
harsh kaash. kaash. kaash. kaashl o.
the gravel rs il grated back and forth
on the iron riddle" and could hear the
stones rattle as they were thrown out.
Heeven fancied hecould hear the swee-ee
Of the water as it was poured upon the
gravel from the old oyster can that
served the Chinaman as a dipper-but
of course he was mistaken in that.
As he was listening to these noises, a
sound came To his ears from farther
down the river. II WAS a long cry, a
quayering, faintiug call that beat back
and forth from point to point, and
finally passed hir0 by, seemingly like a
broken-winged spirit flying painfully
up the great canyon TO die away in the
dull thunder of the sweeping waters.
Clark moved as about TO rise, and
took his pipe from his mouth. Both
listened.
The river Numbered, the quail across
the canyon whistled. the Cinnamon
clinkcd their picks and talked nasally
far up the gorge. But the cry they had
heard was not repeated. and Clark final
" stretched himself out again and re
turned to his leisurcd smoking and
talking. His only comment was: II
guess them Injuns n. st be drunk"
lie blew the smoke from his thin Inns
and sprayed it out through his sandy,
dropping mustache. Then he contin-
ued:
''Mabbe Scar-Faced Dick has been TO
town. or old Potts has seen a fresh batch
of his airships. BY the way, | was tell
in you about Potts, wasn't L?
We'll, after Potts began to get
Iooney. he got to avoidin' meetin' people
and talkin' to 'em, and finally he came
across the river here aud married and
cut all his tribal relations with white
folks. He got hold of some land and
made himself :. ranch its Just up the
hill here about two miles), and raised
i've or six boys and two girls. All the
boys are married now to Injun girls, and
one daughter is married. The other girl
By name-old Potts made Ter
STAY at hom- with him to keep house
after his wife died. which happened
year or SO ago
Potts has been gittin' loonier and
loouier all the time, and since his old
squaw wife died be has been pretty bad.
Hes. always mutterin' and talhtn' 10
himself; or when he amt doin' that he's
slippin' around through the brush so
ail-fred silent that he makes Teller
feel sorry.
What is he looney abOut?' Welt
blamed IL I know exactly, without it's