The San Francisco call., 1910-08-14


days. when the deer and the
buffalo grazed on tie open range and
the cowboy and the Indian were su-
preme in their control Of the wide
stretches Of mountain and plain which
make up the Pacific coast. Perhaps
this idea has been accentuated by the
discussion OF proposed railroad build
ing and even by the great development
of central Oregon brought about by
the construction of two lines into the
great rafIroadless area, one line by the
Hartman interests and another by the
Hil interests. But The facts are scarce
ly with the idea.
Scattered across a vast domain. of
rolling plains on the one hand and of
picturesque mountains on the other, in
the out of the way places Of Oregon.
many OF them tucked in narrow gorges
along isolated water courses. are scores
OF thriving communities that have
never known the railroad train, where
the arrival Of the bootleg" stage is
still the days event Oregon has more
stage coach towns than any other two
states in the union, and as many miles
of stage line as ali the rest of the
country combined. oregon has the
longest stage road in America and the
greatest freighting concern on the con-
tinent has headquarters at Prinevine,
an interior town not far from the cen
ter OF the state. The man who is
afraid 10 get out Of hearing distance
Of the locomotive has had but little
business in the largest raiIroadless
area IN the United States" in recent
years.
Distances are not considered serious
ly in central Oregon. Much of the
spirit Of the pioneer remains with the
people, the spirit of doing today what
must be done. and trusting until an
other opportunity TO do what may be
done. Perhaps nowhere in America can
be found so fun an exemplification Of
the simple life" as can be found 100
TO 300 miles from the nearest railroad
where distance is figured by the num-
Der Of days it requires to reach the
nearest commercial center Fifty, a
hundred, two hundred miles away the
Overland train rushes across the state
with its burden Of human freight, but
fits noise and hustle are lost to and un-
thought Of by these Isolated towns,
sleeping peacefully in the sunshine
their inhabitants intent on "minding
their own business" The latest scan
Sal in Washington, the prize fight at
Reno, the election of a president, even,
Is almost ancient history before the
details Of the event reach these people
IN their seIf-inhicted seclusion
Lakeview, thriving town in ore
gon, near the Nevada line, is truly an
outpost Of civilization. Located at the
southern end Of a stage line, 2S2 miles
in length, the longest in the United
States, the town is more than week
from the nearest daily newspaper and
perhaps a month from the nearest base
Of supplies. Hundreds of children liv-
ing IN the vicinity Of the town have
never seen a railroad, ard in the course
Of events may be deprived of that priv
ilege for two or three years yet Shan
fko is the southern terminus of the
branch Of the Southern Pacific which
serves central Oregon, and consequent
ly the center Of the greatest stage
business in the country. South of Shan
iko for goo miles men have lived for
many years. yet the whistle OF the To-
comotive has never been heard in. all
that wide country. over al the eastern
end OF the state lies Vale, connected
with the world by stub railroad and
by stage lines with interior towns
more than zoo miles away. A direct line
runs from Vale TO Burns, 125 miles