Mexico weekly ledger., 1901-02-28

question that none Of us could answer.
Several days after we passed the
DEVILS Gate we camped one night
where there was splendid grass for the
stock, and the next morning when /
went out for my team / walked
through about 25 acres of tall grass
that was, every blade and stalk, cover
ed with heavy coating of substance
that looked exactly like sleet. l
tasted it but could not tell what it was.
That morning we came to a place on
the road where the ground would sink
nearly two feet as the wagon was pass
ing over it and bound up behind the
wheels like piece Of India rubber. At
that place, by digging down two or
hree feet, you can find layer Of nat
ural ice, two to four inches thick, at
nay season of the year.
In the bed of the Sweetwater river
moss agates are found and believe 1t is
the only place in the world where
there beautiful stones have been dis
covered. 1t was in the Sweetwater
canyon that the late Rufus Hisey
met with thrilling adventure when
he was returning home from California.
He said that one day as he and his
companions were riding down the
canyon they were suddenly startled
and almost scared out of their boots by
a blood-curdling Indian war whoop a
short distance down below where they
were. This war whoop was shortly after
word repeated, and whOop after whoop
came roaring up the canyon in rapid
succession. He said; GAS there was
no chance for us to either hide or get
away we just stopped where we were
to see what would turn up and we did
not have to wait very long for we soon
saw band Of Grow Indian warriors
coming up the canyon like tornado.
They were well mounted, armed to the
teeth, and every son-of-a-gun had his
brightest war paint on. They quickly
surrounded us, gesticulated wildly
and jabbered at us in way thatfairly
made the hair bristle on my head, and
as could not understand word they
said, | though my time had surely
come and my name was "Denis." But
fortunately for us they soon put whip
to their ponies and started up the
conyon like a whirlwind and were soon
out Of sight. They had gone down
there to whip small company Of ..
S. soldiers that we're camping on the
river, and they gave those war whoops
to frighten the soldiers out of their
camp, but when they found that
Uncle Sans boys wouldn't I scare worth
a cent their courage failed them and
they got away as fast as their ponies
could carry them.n The Sweetwater
is a brawling stream of snow water,
and it leaps over the huge powders
that fill its bed clear down to the
mouth of the canyon.
Onward and upward our road lay all
on the south side of the stream, and
when we reached the place where we
left the river we crossed it and enter
ed a pretty little narrow valley that
ran down from the north. About %
miles north of this place Fremont's
Peak was in plain view, covered with
mantle of eternal snow. Captain J.
G. Fremont was the first man that
ever reached the top of this mountain,
and as he was planting the staff Of the
American flag in the snow, he caught
lage humble bee that came buzZing
around him. Whether that bee fol-
lowed Fremont up there or whether
it was doing some exploring on its own
account, arequestions that can never
be answered. As it was about noon
when we crossed the river, we stop
ped to get our dinner, and whilst Mike
was getting out his cooking apparatus
/ took a bucket and went down to the
stream for water. And right there l
was the worst fooled that l ever was
in my life, for when | looked down in
TO the clear water | saw that the
whole bottom Of the river was covered
with gold. "Eureka!" ] exclaimed,
"what is the use of our travelling any
further when we can fill our wagons
with gold dust right here, where we
can dip it up by the bucket FULL l
Shucked my coat in a hurry and
plunged my arm into the cold water
clear up to my shoulder, but when l
closed my hand on the glittering stuff
found that it was as elusive as the
Frenchmans flea, for it shot away in
every direction and all l got was two
or three little scales that were as thin
as tissue paper. 1t was mica, the kind
that was used for many years by orna-
mental sign painters, and was valuable
for that purpose. In that little valley
wild goOseberries were growing in large
patches and the berries were about the
size Of quail eggs, the bushes standing
six and seven feet high and enough of
the pretty fruit in sight to fill wag-
on. We Travelled about half a mile up
the little valley and then the road
turned to the left and wentup the side
of the mountain on a moderately
steep grade and less than a mile took
us to the summit. When we reached
the summit we found it to be a gently
undulating prairie all the way across
and there we saw our last buffalo, an
emigrant a few hours ahead Of us hav-
ing killed fat old bull within 10 steps
of the road. 1t is a curious fact that
no buffalo were ever seen along that
route west of the Rocky mountains.
All the way across the summit my
nose bled freely, but / did not know
then that it was the lightneSs Of the
air that caused it, | saw fax growing
wild on the summit that was three or
four feet high, and wild onions, two
or three feet In length. That night
we camped at the Pacific Springs, the
first water that we came 10 that ran
west and into the Pacific ocean. The
next morning our captain took my
rife with him when he went after the
cattle and he was fortunate enough to
kill a young antelope, and although IL
was not much larger than a jack-rab-
/ bit. old Mike connected a kettle of