The Press., 1906-04-04
CAMPING IN CALIFORNIA.


to The Press; / described trip across
the continent by way of the Royal
Gorge and Grand Canon of the Gun
nison. I then promised to write
again, telling few things about Cal
ifornia. The readers of The Press
have doubtless long since forgotten
that promise, but have been unable
to do so, hence this letter.
California has been described so
voluminously that there is but little
that remains untold. The Yosemite
and big trees in the form of realistic
pictures are at every Preside. Two
high grade magazines are devoted al
most exclusively to the Golden State,
and many New England residents are
more familiar with the Pacific coast
than with the Atlantic.
During our nearly twelve years of
California life we have tried to visit
new locality each year, and during
this time have travelled the entire Pa
oific coast of this country, both by
land and sea, from Victoria in the
north to San Diego in the south, and
these little journeys have been most
pleasant and instructive. The coun-
try through western Oregon and Wash
ington much resembles the state of
Maine. 1t is heavily timbered, al
though the desecrating hand of the
saw mill fiend is evident on all sides.
Puget Sound, with the single exception
of the st. Lawrence river. is the most
beautiful body of water 1 have ever
seen. We took the trip from Victoria
to Seattle on the same boat that
brought us from San Francisco. From
Seattle to Tacoma we sailed on the
"Arrow," long, narrow boat, with
cabin furnished like a car on a
high-grade railroad. 1t is claimed
that the ARROW is the fastest river
boat in the world, and l believe it.
1 have had the pleasure of five
camping trips in the mountains OF
California, four in the Sierra Nevadas,
where we caught rainbow trout and
hunted deer with various degrees of
success. One of the pleasures of camp
ing in California is the absence OF
rain, unless the trip is taken late in
the fall, when showers in the noun
| tains are not uncommon. This makes
tent unnecessary, and the joy OF
sleeping out of doors, with only the
stars above and the mountains and
pure air all around, must be expert
enGed to be appreciated. To be sure.
you may hear the coyotes howl or the
mountain lions scream, but these
sounds are but strains of the noun
tain music that we enjoy. One morn
ing big, fresh bear tracks were found
about two hundred yards from camp,
but we did not disturb one another.
Last year, in a stag party of five, l
went to a more wild and remote part
of the state than ever before, but we
were we'll paid for the trip. We left
Sacramento at midnight on Sept. 9th
and reached Montague, in the north
ern part of the state, the followin
afternoon. After a two-hours' wait
we took 'jerk water" line to YER
ka, about ten miles distant, where we
spent the night.
Now just take your geography and
turn to Siskiyou county, California,
and if the map is modern one you
will find the whole northwest corner
of the state to be full of mountains
The mountains are there all right,
even if you cannot find them on the
map. Here we left the railroad and
at seven the next morning took the
stage, drawn by four horses, for Fort
Jones, an eighteen mile ride over a
stiff mountain range. This is the re-
gion where the remnant of the once
powerful Modoc Indians live, and much
of this country was stubbornly fought
over. It was a bloody, cruel war,
and never was Indian treachery more
manifest or revolving. Many of you
can recall the newspaper reports and
the final capture and execution of
Captain Jack and few Ct his associ-
ates. The few that are left are some
what civilized, few having become
very decent citizens-for Indians.
have seen a good many Indians in
different states, and 1 must confess
that the Alesandro type seems to have
disappeared except in few isolated
cases, and these all seem to be doctors
l wonderif the desire to kill. Unborn
in every Indian, is thus gratified in a
more legal and refined manner.
At Fort Jones we we're met by one
of our party, who had preceded us,
and driven nine miles to the ranch of
his father in law. Here our final
preparations were made and the fol-
lowing morning, each mounted on
good horse and with three pack horses
loaded with our camp outfit, we start
ed for the Siskiyou wilds. For few
miles we we're on fairly good road,
but this was soon left and a narrow
bride path or trail" was our only
road the remainder of the journey.
This trail gradually grew more steep
and the country more rough, some
times running through a canon with
the top of the precipice far above our
heads and mountain torrent at the bot
tom. We travelled from morning I'M
til dark, much of the time in the rain
with empty stomachs, up the noun
tain side, down canons, but the scene
ry was a continuous and glorious pan
Drama. At night we camped in log
cabin, old and leaky, but it contained
a fireplace, leaky too, and the hot
coffee and bacon helped materially to
warm our chilled bodies and relieve
our aching joints, for none of US were
we'll saddle broke The cabin
caught fire repeatedly and we took
turns playing fireman..