Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1899-02-03
.LI TAYLoR was a tvpical

Ii A1LOR was typica
frontiersman. His father hat
been pioneer and his grand
father had been killed by Indians
"away back when Missouri an Arkan
saw belonged to the French" to use
his own language.
Whenever Eli Taylor could see the
smoke of neighbor's cabin he became
possessed with the idea that the coun-
try was getting to be too thickly set
tied and correspondingly unhealthy,
and he bundled his family into one of
those huge wagons known as "a prairie
schooner" and 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 "about
ms big as they was ever goin' TO get TO
be-"
Young Tom Taylor had not inher-
tied the gypsy love Of change that had
distinguished his ancestors. He was a
sturdy, sensible fellow and wanted to
settle down on G farm, where his moth
er could live better than she had been
doing, and where Lena could have a
chance to know more about books,
which she had learned to read in some
unaccountable way, and of which she
was very fond.
And so Eli Taylor in his 50th year
cnttlnH 6nWn tn 70 o111ti iuo 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 mountains to South
Park.
Here Eli Taylor and young Tom
worked with so much success that
within few years they had a comfort
able house and outbuildings, a dozen
cows and as many horses, and, great
est of all evidences of prosperity,
money laid by for a 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 their way to see
her, and the general opinion was that
the man who made successful |
"claim" to her hand would have, by all |
odds, the finest piece Of property in the |
territory.
1t has been said that poverty and suf- |
fering are the greatest tests of charac- |
ter, but we are inclined to think that |
1t requires a stronger. nobler nature to |
withstand change in the face of sud. |
den prosperity than to meet reversals |
with philosophy.
Eli Taylor, was prosperous, and with
his prosperity vanished his Unborn dis |
like for settled communities. 1t was !
he who carried all the farm produce 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 a
chance to crafty his taste for strong
drink, and he yielded to it till the pas
sion became his master.
The saloons of the frontier at that |
time were open gambling dens, "run"
by sharpers who plundered without re-
morse the men they had first made
drunk.
One of these places was kept by n
man named "Mart" Estel, who had the
coveted reputation of wealth and the
unenviable reputation of desperate
who had killed a number of men. He
always denied being rich, and when
questioned about his shooting 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
out"
Estels saloon become a 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 no
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 the course.
And now the son and daughter, who
had been so eager to secure perman-
ent 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"