The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1898-03-11
NANCY'S DAUGHTER.
written for the Record-Union by Elwyn
Irving Hoffman)

| written for the Record-Union by Elwyn
| Irving Hoffman)
| 1.
Almost every man and woman in
Pleasant Valley knows Nancy" the
cid sGuaw who has lived in the camp
of Captain Pamblo for many years. and
who has done washing for her support
for half of her lifetime Many a tired
housewife in the hills has been given a
much-needed rest through the agency
| of this honest old Indian woman, who
is always glad and willing to do great
deal of work for very little pagan ar
rangement which is eminently salts
| factory to the not over aff1uent hus-
bandman of the chaparral hills.
A ood-natured soul is Nancy. I re-
member the last time l saw her. bent
over her tub, hard at work. her broad
| face one big smile as the artist pre-
pared to sketch her But there are
times when Nancy does not smile so;
when her heart aches and her dark eyes
lose their light. For Nancy has had
an eventful career, and sorrow and pam
are not heaped upon white mems
alone. Often, when the smile fades
from Nancys face she is thinking of
Kate-of careless, Maynard Kate
Most of the women of Pleasant Valley
will recall kate-the little, dusky-faced
baby that Nancy used to carry with
her wherever she went, strapped up in
its queer little cradle, like an Egyp-
tan mummy, unable to do more than
wink at the Fostering flies and the
floating dust, yet never even dreaming
of so much as whimper of fretfulness.
Had Kate been white child she would
have walled and grown sickly from this
rough treatment, but as she was an
Indian baby, OF sturdy Digger stock,
she grew fat and healthy. While she
was still a babe her mother would
pack her about. slung carelessly over
her back, and set her up against a tree
| or the side of the house at which she
stopped.
But as Kate grew older she trotted
along by her mothers side when she
took the trail. and while Nancy washed
the dirty laundry of the rancho, played
contentedly with the big rancho dogs
In those days Kate was a very com
mon raggit wean, but as she grew older
she developed into quite comely young
mahala, though Ida, the girl who came
after Kate, was far the prettier
Ida was strikingly good looking for
an Indian girl. Her features were not
coarse like those of the rest of her
tribe, and her figure was slender and
graceful. But if Ida turned out to be
the better looking, Kate turned out to
be the more mischievous. Ida was shy
and reserved, and hid herself from in
quisitive eyes behind Nancy's ample
form. But Kate was. a born coquette
or white man, with a bold glance.
Therefore Nancy was glad and relieved
when Kate married Pete and settled
down Gas she fondly hoped in a little
shanty in the camp of the Pleasant
Valleys.
| The house was not much of a house.
1t was made of old boards and planks
roughly put together The chimney
was of fiat stones, plastered with mud,
and topped off with corded sticks But
Kate had often peeped into the houses
OF the whites, and had gotten an idea
! tVery vague and shadowy though it be-
of home decoration. So she papered
the rough walls with old newspapers
collected around in the valley, and hung
OLD pictures that she picked up, and
ala other things in imitation of her
educated neighbors. Pete was very
much pleased with all this, and very
proud of his wife for doing it. for Pete
greatly respected the smart white man.
Pete was sober industrious fellow.
ana worked round the valley nearly all
the time-harvesting in summer. and.
cutting wood in winter He always had
money, and as Indians are nearly al
ways generous, Kate had all the bright
calicoes she desired, and plenty of coffee.
sugar and fouT-essentials to the Dig
gers happiness.
Pete was not full-blooded Indian.
He was half-breed, his father being
a well-educated negro who owned
bootblack stand at Nevada City. and
his mother being one of the suuaws
from the Nevada City rancherfa From
his father he inherited kinky hair.
| thick lips and the negroes usual
taste for music; and, alasi jealousy
and temper, also. Often the people of
lower Pleasant Valley would hear him
playing his flute in the long evenings
of summer. The music would float out
upon the quiet air when the shadows
had enveloped the valley below, and
would often continue until the coyotes
began their usual serenade from the
dark, somber canyon that lay Just
above the camp, and from the brown
hills above that.
Happy was Nancy in those DAYS.
for Nancy loved Kate, and took the
usual mother pride in knowing that her
child was happily married And Kate
was happy, too, for she had all that
her simple nature called for. Some
| times she got lonely, though, when
Nancy was off washing and Pete was
away, and felt a vague longing for
someone with whom she could laugh
and cut up" But there was no such
person in camp, and Kate stifled the
wish.
Perhaps they might always have
lived contentedly had they remained
in Pleasant Valley. But one day Pete
got A good job at Nevada City and
moved up there. The rancheria is about
two miles out of town-a collection of
board and brush shanties on a hillside.
Above it rises a thick forest of green
mountain pines, and below it winds the
yellow New Town road leading toward
Pleasant Valley and stretches the dark
hills away and away to nowhere. A
ditch of clear water runs through the
camp and there are hay fields and
gardens below it. for quite a bit of land
here belongs to the Indians
The cabin Pete got for himself and
Kate was close TO this ditch, and the
next day after their arrival a young
mahala came down there to do some
washing. She was a girl of 16 or II.
rather good looking as mahalas go. and
bad without doubt She had no father