Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1903-10-22
CHNlrIR |.
THE FOOTHII.IR COIyNTDv

~
~ lie the foothills. For 900 miles
RnSB the prairios spread themselves
in vast level reaches. and then be
to climb over softly rounded
bunds that ever grow higher and
arpcr till, here and there, they break
to Jagged points and at last rest upon
g great bases of the mighty NOUN
ms. These rounded hills that join
10 prairics to the mountains form the
othill country. They extend for
bout a hundred miles only. but no
her hundred miles of the great west
Re so full of interest and romance.
ne natural features of the country
mbine the beauties of prairie and of
ountain scenery. There are valleys
wide that the farther side melts into
e horizon, and uplands so vast rs
suggest the unbroken prairie. Nearer
e mountains the valleys dip deep and
Ter deeper till they narrow into can
bns through which mountain torrents
bur their blue gray waters from
aciers that lie glistening between the
bite peaks far away.
ed herds of cattle and horses. Here
e the homes Of the ranchmen, in
hose wild free, lonely existence there
ingles much of the tragedy and
bnedy, the humor and pathos, that go
make up the romance of life. Among
lem are to be found the most enter
rising. the most daring, of the peoples
old la nd ho no
list, the disappointed-these too have
bund their way to the ranches among
be foothills. country it is whose
Unit bills and shaded valleys reflect
hemselves in the lives of its people,
pr nowhere are the contrasts of light
nd shade more wildly seen than in
he homes of the renchmen of the AL
crtas.
The experiences Of my life have con-
rmed in me the orthodox conviction
hat Providence sends his rain upon
be evil as upon the good: else l should
ever have set my eyes upon the foot
i'll country. nor touched its fascinating
fe, nor come to know and love the
host striking man of all that group of
friking men of the foothil country
be dear old Pilot. as we came to call
i'm long afterward. My first year in
bllege closed in gloom. My guardia
Fas in despair. From this distance
1 years pity him. Then | considered
i'm unnecessarily concerned about me
"a fussy old hen," as one of the boys
llggested. The invitation from Jack
bale, a distant cousin, to spend a sum
ber with him on his ranch in south
Iberia came in the nick of time. ]
as wild 10 go. Ny guardian hesitated
bng. but no other solution of the prob
I'm Of my disposal Offering, he finally
greed that ! could not well get into
lore trouble by going than by staying.
Ience it was that, in the early sum-
per OF one of the eighties. found my
elf attached to a Hudson Bay com
any freight train, making our way
rom little railway town in Montana
oward the Canadian boundary.
Our train consisted of six wagons
nd fourteen yoke of oxen, with three
ayuses, in charge of French half
breed and his son, n lad of about Six
cen. We made slow enough progress,
but every hour of the long day, FROM
he dim, gray, misty light of dawn 10
he soft glow Of shadowy evening, was
Pull of new delights TO me. On the
evening of the third day we reached
= he line Stopping Place, where jack
Dale met us. | remember well how my
heart beat with admiration OF the
tasy grace with which he sailed down
. lpon us in the loose jointed cowboy
ttyle. swinging his own bronco and
the little cayuse he was leading for me
nto the circle of the wagons. careless
|bf ropes and freight and other i'm
Pedimentn. He flung himself off before
bis bronco had come to a stop and gave
*me grip that mase me sure of my
j~elcome Ii was years since he had
seen a man from home, and the eager
boy in his eyes told of long days and
nights Of lonely yearnng for the old
days and the old faces.
| came to understand this better aft
Yer my two years stay among these
bills that have strange power on
|some days to waken in man longings
that make his heart grow sick. When
supper was over we gathered about the
little fire while Jack and the half
breed smoked and talked. ! lay on my
back looking up at the pale, steady
stars in the deep blue of the cloudleSs
Sky and listened in fullness OF CON
tented delight to the chat between Jack
and the driver. Now and then | asked
Ia question, but not too often. 1t is
listening silence that draws tales from
Ia western man, not veXing questions.
This much ] had learned already from
my three days travel. So | lay and
listened, and the tales Of that night are
mingled with the warm evening lights
md the pa.e stars and the thoughts of
home that Jacks coming seemed to
bring.
Next morning before sunup we had
broken camp and were ready for our
fifty mile ride. There was n slight driz-
ze of rain and though rain and shine
We're alike to him, Jack insisted that |
should wear my macintosh. This gar
ment was quite new and had a loose
cape which rustled as ! moved toward
my cayuSe He was an ugly looking
little animal, with more white in his
eye than | cared to see, Altogether.
did not draw toward him. Nor did he
to me, apparently. For as ! took him
by the bride he snorted and sided
about with great swftness and stood
facing me with his feet planted firmly
in front Of him as if prepared to re