Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1898-12-22
REPORTED By SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.
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Vudhs his IdtllCI ipdu OCCu u plOuCCI
and his grandfather had been killed
by Indians AWAY back when Mis-.
souri, am Arkansaw belonged to the
French" to use mis- own language.
Whenever Eli Taylor could see the
smoke of a neighbours cabin he be-
came possessed with the idea that
the country was getting to be too
thickly settled and correspondingly
unhealthy, and he bundled his family
I'm one of those huge wagons known
as "a prairie schooner" ard moved
further west.
This he persisted in doing until one
day he found himself under the
shadow of the Rocky Mountains, and
he woke up to the fact that his wife
was "a broken-down old woman and
his daughter Lena and his son Tom
"alEout as big as they was ever goin'
to get to be"
Young Tom Taylor had not in
Verified the gypsy love of change that
had distinguished his ancestors. He
was a sturdy, sensible fellow and
wanted to settle down on farm,
where his mother could live better
than she had been doing, and where
Lena could lave chance to know
more about books, which she had
learned to gead in some unaccoumi.
able way, and Of which she was very
fond.
And so Eli Taylor in his fiftieth
year settled down to the cultivation
of farm not far from what is now
Canyon City, but which was then a
cluster of cabins where prospectors
rested before going over the noun.
taIins to South Park.
Here Eli Taylor and young Tom
worked with so much success that
within few years they had com.
Portable house and outbuildings, a
dozen cows and as many horses, and
greatest of all evidences of prosper.
ity, money laid by for II rainy day.
Lena Taylor, though miles away
from the nearest neighbor, was not
destined to remain unknown and I'M
appreciated The fame of her thrift
and her beauty was discussed about
the campfires Of prospectors in the
mountains. Many of them had gone
a days journey out of the way to see
her, and the general opinion was that
the man who made successful
claim to her hand would have, by al
odds, the finest piece Of property il
the territory
1T has been said that poverty and
suffering are the greatest tests O..
character, hut we are inclined tc
think that it requires a stronger. no.
bier nature to Withstand change in
the face of sudden prosperity than tc
meet reversals with philosophy.
Eli Taylor was prosperous, and with
his prosperity vanished his Unborn
dislike for settled communities. II
Was he who carried all the farm pro.
duce to Canyon City and purchased
there such supplies as were needed
by his thrifty family.
Had he confined his purchases to
these supplies all would have been
well, but, unfortunately, he had o
chance to crafty his taste for strong
drink, and he yielded to it till the
passion became his master
The saloons of the frontier at that
time were open gambling dens, run"
by sharpers who plundered without
remorse the men they had first made
drunk.
One of these places was kept by
man named Mart" Estel, who had
the coveted reputation of wealth and
the unenviable reputation of lies.
perado who had killed number q.
men. He always denied being rich
and when questioned about his shoot.
ing exploits he would lay his hand on
his hip and say, with chilling
laugh:
You can bet that when Mart Estel
finds himself in tight box he knows
how to fix the lock that will let him
cut"
Estel's saloon became favorite re.
sort with Eli Taylor, and he not only
got drunk there, but the news reached
his family that he had fallen into the
habit of gambling. The latter report
was confirmed by the fact that he nc
longer accounted for the money he
had got from the sale Of his produce
Lena and her brother begged their
father to keep away from Canyon City
but. unheeding them and blind to the
tears of his invalid wife, he persisted
in his course.
And now the son and daughter, who
had been so eager to secure per.
manent home, expressed an anxiety
to move further into the wilderness.
but their father became stubborn.
saying:
"You made me settle down here and
here I'll stay
When matters were nearing their
worst young man, dressed in the
garb OF a hunter. burt with a refine
ment OF manner that convinced Lena
that ha rac moi tar o,....no1 .,,,,,-