Cañon City record., 1903-10-29

in that section, q position he held for a
couple of years He regarded himself
as extremely lucky to get work as there
was little demand At that time for la
bor of any kind, and he held on to it
until ne had accumulated enough
money to go prospecting for himself.
After the institution of territorial
government in 1881 Governor Gilpin
authorized the organization Of a regi-
ment of troops to assist in keeping New
Mexico in the Union, and Mr.. Fisher
volunteered and wss ordered with his
command to Santa Fe, where he got
his first taste of war. When hostilities
closed he resumed prospecting in the
mountains, and, like many another
miner, had fortune within his grasp
several times, but allowed it to slip
through his fingers as result of spec
ulative tendencies.
In the early days the only recognized
authority for the government of the
mining camps was miners law, which
was predicated upon the seventeenth
century town meeting Of New Eng
land. Mr.. Fisher says the miners Law
was wholesome and efficacious and
there was less disturbance under it
than is the case under the complex
iti-s of our present statutes. There
were occasional lynchings, to be sure,
but they were not very frequent and
were a great deterrent OF crime of all
kinds.
Fewer misdemeanors were commit
ted on the border during the decade
from 1880 to 1870 than was the case in
the following ten years, when statutary
law had in great measure supplanted
the DEGREES of the miners There was
sort of a community Of interest
an ong the frontiersmen in the early
days which bound them together in a
way that cannot exist under more
perfectly organized polity, and any
appeals to their charity was responded
e. with an alacrity that is not to be
expec,. d nder present conditions.
1" the old days men that made them
selves obnoxious to the miners were
ordered to leave camp, and if they did
not obey more drastic measures were
res',rted to in order to get rid of them
Although Judge Lynch sometimes held
court and took summary means OF ex-
ecuting DEGREES, an innocent man was
seldom, il ever, hung. A criminal was
always given trial and allowed TO es-
fSfaiSh his Innocence II ke could bur
was never str ung up on an uncertainty
A murderer or thief was usually
known to be guilty before he was given
trial, which accounts for the few ac-
quittals recorded of those primitive
courts. There WAS no taking advant-
with latter day tribunals, and il the
accused was found to be guilty rs
charged he had to suffer the prescribed
penalty, whatever it was, rs there
could b. no appeal TO higher court on
q writ of error or other cause.
Mr.. Fisher spent many years in pros
pecting for the precious metals among
the hills on The Western slope and was
reasonably successful. but the decline
in property values where he had in
vested his money dissipated it more
rapidly than it had been accumulated
In c ,mmon with other men that have
followed that line of work for many
years Mr.. Fisher found it extreme y
fascinating and it was not given up
without a good deal of reluctance in
fact, he says he would go out in the
hills yet in search OF the Golden Flee,e
ii h- had an opportunity
Mr.. Fisher did not care much for
hunting big game. consequently had no
great experience as Nimrod. nor did
his method of life bring him into close
contact with the Indians, whom he
characterixes as not as bad race as
they have been represented by some
writers. The Indians of his acquaint-
ance were a lot of lazy. thieving men,
dicants. but were not as vicious as
many people assume them to have
been.
Mr., Fisher lived for q considerable
period al Montrose, ouray and other
towns beyond the divide, and says that
twenty years ago they were delightful
communities to live in, and may be
yet for aught he knows, but that
Canon City is the queen residence
town of Colorado. Although he has
laid aside the kit Of the miner and
taken up the tools Of St. Crispin, he 10
never 10 happy as when coeitating on
the old days in Colorado when mining
was the paramount industry Of the
country.