Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1898-12-13

at was the same everywhere. Up on
the Walla Walla division the country is all
settled up and changed, but you couldn't
fool old Hank on the rivers pnd noun
tains. I drove once alone from Walla
Walla to The Dalles, $40 miles, in about
10 hours. Them river Injins up in that
country was bad too-cowardly ctlsSes,
sneakin, crawlin, shootin from bushes and
won't give you anything like as fair a
fight as the Injins east of the Rockies.
The way of that drive was this: had just
got in off my rs mile ran, washed up, had
my supper, dressed and was startin for u
dance down in The Bottoms when l met
the Wells Fargo office agent comm a-rushin
up the street.
Hank he says, i was huntin you!
We're in a devil of fix! We've got nearly
$40, 900 in gold bullion just come in that's
due in The Dalles by tomorrow night at
the close of business hours, or one of our
best shippers stands to lose a lot Of money
already paid on a mine. 1t fought to have
been down yesterday, but our dow stage
tbrowed a wheel and missed the regular
connection for The Dalles. I've been to
the stage office, but Haworth says for me
to see you. What can you do?'
Il" Get the bullion to TIL Dalles by noon
tomorrow
But it's $40 mile.
"'Nobody knows that better than l do,
Mr.. Price, but you get your bullion ready
and in half an hour send it Town to the
stage stables in a wagon And l went
on down the street. Thu superintendent
was still at the stables,
"'Did you see Price, Hank?'
"'Yes, sir, / says.
"sCan you make its
"'Sure thing!' I says.
"'All right. Pick your teams
81 had the stock tenders hook up six
horses that I picked out, then went to the
| boardin house, changed my clothes and
went back to the stables with Two W gal
Ion demijohns of whisky. Price was there
,, with the bullion. 1t weighed just 4O4
pounds. l had 'em put it in the bottom of
the stage and throw a lot of sacked feed in
on top of it, then I climbed up to the seat.
Three or four shotgun messengers started
to foller me, and l said: Hold up, gentle-
men; one mans enough on this trip. The
only trouble that Pm likely to run into
that / can't handle myself is at Willow
Springs, where there's always a crowd of
r~ustlers. One man may get through all
right, but if they're lookin for trouble or
suspicion anything you fellers wouldn't
last as long as a SNOWFALL in HI. You'd
only be an advertisement for trouble. l
had nv way and drove off with the bull
lion, feed and four gallons of whisky and
knowed that if l passed Willow Springs
all right I'd make it. The Springs was
the toughest place Oh the road, and when
ever there was a holdup we could bank on
it being by some of that Willow Springs
gang, made up as it was of cattle %rustlers,
boss thieves, road agents and all around
bad men. Haworth had give me a pointer
that he thought the gang was a-lookin for
the bullion, and the last thing he said
was: Now, Hank, look out for your team
and yourself. Let the express go If 1t
to a show down.
II got to the Springs long in the night,
Toward mornin I was hittin the trail
mighty fast, 1 tell you. knowed they'd
be a gang there, for at the last station l
passed they told me that the regular had
been held up the mornin before, so long
before I got to the station l commenced
whoopin and yellin and singin as loud as
l could and sure enough when l rolled up
there was about 20 of the toughest lookin
fellers you ever saw, all heeled and didn't
look like they had been to bed. Lord,
wasn't I drunk Wheel Most Of 'em
knowed me, and the antics l cut made 'em
laugh. I was too drunk to pay any atten-
ton to the station keeper or the stock
tenders, but I grabbed one of the demi-
Johns, and yellin for the boys to come ON,
I staggered into the house. Ipoured about
q half O pint of good, strong whisky into
each one of them fellers, and in my drunk
en- way managed to tell 'em that l was
takin the coach down to replace an old one
on the south end and had a load Of food
for the way stations.
~ told the station keeper that five of
the sacks of grain on top was for him and
for him to have it taken out. Then l sang
another drunken song and staggered out
to the coach for the other demijohn. !
reeled ND to the coach, where the station.
keeper was takin out the grain, and spok
quick and low: I'm runnin extry to Th
Dalles with bullion. Have the tenders
change my team for the freshest and best
you've got-quick, man:
ooh, I'm a jolly stage driver
"'Stay with it, boys. Here's s'more. And
l staggered back with the other demijohn.
Well, sir, in Is minutes l had that gang
fixed-plenty. What wasn't on the floor
or the ground outside was a-tryin to fight
over the balance Of the whisky. I saw my
team was hitched up and made a runnin
Jump for the front boot, grabbed the lines,
and how / did cut loose from there
, Whoopi Well, I eat my dinner in The
Dalles and got mighty we'll paid for that
! trip. The Willow Springs gang held VI
the regular that follered me the next day
! They was dead on that the bullion Wal
. due all right.
: "Comin back / struck a wagon train OF
y Is families, and they was In trouble. Inc
y cussed Injins had made a rush and STAN
peded some of their bosses. You could SCI
. the Injins, five or six of 'em, a-drivin tn
y bosses across the valley two or three mile
away. The women and children In tn
: train were cryin and yellin, purity mig
. scared to death. The men was scared
. too, and didn't know how they was goil
: to pull out. l wasn't or schedule time, S
took out a leader, tied the others up, grab
. bed my Henry off the seat and yelled 70
: five men to come on. The Injins wa
. headin for a mountain, but / knowed tn
!, country too we'll to believe they was goil
n there, so rode to head 'em of below. M,
thoroughbred wal too fast for the Others
and I was soon in range. I cut loose an
. unloaded two ponies, and the other Injin
! left the bosses and cut for shelter. I head
y ed the train bosses back and met the othe
. fellers comm up. l reckon my souls al
!, right if them women's blessin's is an
!. good. l told EN- to hook up and pull
! right out of there, and I did not have t
x tell 'em twice. st. Louis Post Dispatch
~ Leaky Souls.
. "Sinkiller'' Griffin, a colored evangelist
d thus addressed a gathering of negroes I
l. Guthrie, o. T., the other night: Where
d fore, you black scoundrels, does the turitud
It Of your souls leakP I know. You've beel