The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1906-09-30
A ROMANCE OF THE DESERT

make success Of fruit growing What
did it matter to him that there was
nobody within reach to buy his fruits
Gle Of cliffsf He swan the river and
explored the face OF the canyon wall.
Making his way upward upon drift
rock, he gained place 800 feet above
the river. There two-foot ledge
jutted out, skirting the face of the cliff
for mile. He walked along, literally
among the eagles, with death below
and solitude all around. The ledge
ended at little break which was part
ly filed with drift. Up this he climbed
and found himself upon the plateau.
Before him stretched the desert, COW
cred with sage brush Walking hun
dred feet away from the rim of the
canyon, he turned back, and it was as
completely obscured as If it had never
been. His gaze leaped across it to the
desert upon the other side, and but for
the distant thunder of Shoshone Falls
far upstream, he might have imagined
that he had merely dreamed of prec-
ipices and foaming water.
Driver Thought Him .Crazy.
Perrine was headed for Boise City,
with the object of recording his land
entry and buying seed. Boise City was
away to the northward. weeks jour
ney on foot. He did not have money
enough to buy seat on the stage.
Gaining the stage road. he begged the
driver to take him to Boise, promising
to pay his fare when his ship came in.
The driver refused. Perrine stood there,
STRIPPING, almost in tears, and made
another plea. He told of his ambition
to start an orchard in the canyon.
swell, get in" said the driver. "Any
kid with as crazy a notion as that is
dangerous to society. You can't be
at large. Hop in and I'll give you a
lift to the insane asylum"
"Thanks,' replied PerIfne. This is
the only time III ask for lift. I'll
buy this stage one of these days, and
ride in it whenever / please
A few years later Perrine hunted up
this stage coach purchased it, and in
stalled it ON his ranch, where it is now.
II would be long story to tell of Per-
rine's failure in many directions. But
he never failed in faith. He saw in his
minds eve, fortune, little Garden OF
Eden set between sheltering walls OF
lava, watered with iee-cold springs end
roaring river. He planted peach and
apple trees, dug bitches, built reser-
yoir. opened canal from spring
which drained the Blue lakes above his
farm, and did everything that Adam
must have done. He was as much alone
as Adam, and more, for no Eve was
there.
Within year or two the fruit ri
pened. 1t was then that Perrine blazed
q trail along the cliffs, up which he led
a single horse packed with fruit in bas-
kets. Once, up among me eagles, his
horse lurched against the cliff struck
the basket against the rocks, and found
itself clutching the trail with its front
feet, its hindquarters dangling above
destruction. Perrine struggled to recov-
er the animal, but it fell with a scream,
and was dashed to pieces on the rocks.
Shut In From World.
Perrine carried his fruit out in this
way for several years, finding a market
for Il in villages across thirty miles OF
saaebrush desert. As his orchard grew
larger he began to employ help,
until, in picking time, he had sixty
hands to work, At odd times he turned
the bows to roadwork, and with inf
mite labor, wagon road was blasted
along the edge OF the cliffs up TO the RIM
Of the canyon. 1t is splendid piece Of
Of road, and will last forever. On the
! western rim, he constructed similar
road. AT the upper end Of each road, he
placed a gate. With these gates he was