The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-09-03
Still Camping on the
ra1 No. 2
SOME "REMINISCENCES OF Pl0CHEe
mcguire
SOME "REMINISCENCES OF PIoct
BY JOHN MAeUiRE

| place, but to no purpose. The hours Of
early morning saw an entire block OF
smouldering ruins, including Nellie
Johnson's home.
OF course there was much sympathy
for those who suffered financial loss
/ by the fire, but in the case Of Nellie
Johnson. who. with the inmates of the
| building, barely escaped with their
lives, that sympathy assumed such a
practical shape, that a public sub
scriptiOn was Immediately started
throughout the camp, and was most
literally responded to. There never
was such a spontaneous tribute OF a
public gift as when Phoebe i'll remem-
I Drance of Nellie johnson and her girls
/ 10 PiOche's day of gloom, decided over
the new house, superior in all respects to
the one burned down, elegantly FUR
nished, including the most expensive
carpets and piano that cost, laid down
IN Phoebe, 81 100. These incidents are
recorded as typifying a condition Of
society in the camps of these days, a
condition it is hardly needless TO say
can never again be duplicated III the
west.
Phoebe! II was here that Jack Harris.
whom Mark Twain has embalmed in
'Roughing It." lived and drew his pen
sion or pay Of $500 per month from
Wells, Fargo & company ostensibly as
Z a detective. but really TO keep him off
the road" for Jack had at various
times been tried for holding up the
stage, but invariably was acquitted.
because he could invariably prove an
abba most useful thing to a gentle
man of his profession.
Here too was the home Of "Nicka-
raqua," or as he was commonly called
Nick NOrreye," a handsome young
Californian of Spanish parentage, al
ways dressed in neat and costly ap-
parel, who had the reputation OF hold
ing up a stage with the nerve OF a
Dick Turpin and the Chesterfieldian
grace Of a Darlington or a Paul Du-
vail.
Who diving during these days in
Phoebe Will not remember the gamb-
ler's hoOdOo, "HOg-eyed Mary" whose
run of luck at the faro table on many
occasions broke the bank. And poor lit
! tie Madame Mustache." the little
French woman, who was so we'll known
in every prosperous mining camp on the
Pacific coast, who presided between the
&
s-nilingiy invited the crowd to try their
luck at ''Twenty-One," as she would
cry out: Come along! Make your
games shentlemans," and with a non
chalant air. she tapped the bell and
ordered drinks for the crowd when she
raked in the winnings. Poor little
body. She made gambling q business,
just as she might have made dress
making or millinery, and outside OF
this mode of living I never heard her
/ character assailed. She was eminently
charitable and kind-hearted. and when
one winters day she found the game of
/ life growing dark she quietly wan
dered among the snow drifts outside
of Bodie and laid down. An empty
pistol by her side mutely told the story.
When the news was published there
we're many sincere regrets for little
Madame Mustache."
[ am awakened from my reverie of
/ Phoebe by a slap on the shoulder, and,
turning around, l am grabbed by the
hand OF a griZZled-lOOking old man,
with a Hello John! Great Scott, I'm
glad To see yOu!'
l recognize an old packer, Mike Hart
nett, or as he was known and called in
his young days, Mike the Mule" How
Mike got his sObriquet is worth relat-
ing, as il gives a good idea of his stub
bornness of character The story is
told that one day Mike, arriving at
the camping place where the town of
Milford now stands, dismounting from
his horse and after diyesting it OF the
saddle. endeavOred to lead his mule by
the rope up to the spot where he
wished to deposit his pack Mule-like,
/ however. the more he pulled, the more
/ stubb0rnly she remained in her tracks,
planting her fore legs firmly, and
stretching out her neck with provoking
obstinacy. If truth be told it does re-
quire the temper of a thousand Jobs TO
manage a mule. and IN no case does the
wilful mulishness OF the animal stir
up ones chOler more than in the very
trick this one was playing. and
! which is of daily occurrence.
After Juggling Intellectually for sew
eral minutes and throwing himself for
! ward suddenly with all his
strength, Mike actually foamed with
passion, and although he might have
subdued the animal at once by fasten-
ing the rope with a haf-hitch round
/ its nose, with an obstinacy equal to
that of the mule itself, ne refused to
attempt 1t, preferring TO Vanquish her
: by main strength.
However, this failed. and with a vol
ley of blasphemous impFecations. Mike
suddenly seized a rifle, and, leveling at
the mules head. shot her dead. Ever
since Mike Hartnett is known only as
Mike, the Mule"
The first thing noticeable here at Cal
iente is d very handsome depot. There
is round house, machine shops, etc,
but as / take a place on the stage for
De Lamar, will leave Caliente and its
resources my next number.
JOHN mcguire.