The Elk Mountain pilot. [volume] (Irwin, (Ruby Camp), Gunnison County, Colo.) 1880-19??, 1921-07-07
THE PILOTS BIRTHDAY.



see in the Empire two or three
weeks ago that you were having a
birthday celebration for the Pilot,
that it was Al years old on that date.
Somebody has made mistake. The
Elk Mountain Pilot was born on June
II, 1880, Al years ago this day. /
ought to know, for 1 was there, and
was the doctor that brought forth the
child. 1t was an event that will ever
be fresh in my memory. Not so
many people now living who were
there.
Think of it, a Washington hand
press set up in log cabin with no
doors, windows or floor, but leveled
up on the bare ground, with printer,
one suspender down, feeding through
thousand sheets, that must be turn
ed and fed the second time when the
other forms are put on, as we had
no patent inside, and the roller boy
doing his best to distribute the ink.
AS fast as the papers were ready
they were taken out and sold to the
surging masses of people moving up
and down the gulch that we called
street. Most of whom wore top boots,
blue flannel shirts, some red flannel
undershirt, many with Gattling gun
in holster to belt of cartridges
around their waist, all wearing the
slouch hat and many that you did
not want to inquire into their ante
cedents or family history.
Such were the scenes in the then
town of Irwin, whose upwards Of s.
900 people made up the population
in the summer of 1880, where today
1 am told the same locality has re-
turned to its original fastness.
Everybody had money. They had
to have it to live. as we were $50
miles from railroad and it took money
to get there. The first bank brought
in by Sam G. Gill, had $4,000 in
currency locked in the safe, that
spent days and days jostled about on
freight wagon.
To be sure no one but Mr.. Gill
knew that it was in there for had
the freighters known it how easy it
would have been to opened up and
started a faro game along the road.
Sam Metzler brought his currency
in the same way to open the bank of
Irwin. It seemed to be the only way
to transport currency in those days.
What picnic it would be for the
present day bandits to meet freight
wagon coming over Marshall Pass
with safe full of money.
The same freight outfit that
brought in Mr.. Metzler's bank safe,
had our Washington hand press and
six barrels of whiskey, and Father
Hamilton came in the same time to
start church in order to save souls.
Think of it, whiskey to raise the
devil, the press to enlighten the pub
lie, money to serve as bank roll for
the gamblers and the preacher going
along to try to snatch some of them
out of the jaws of hades.
What a combination. Gambling
was carried on wide open with stacks
of money piled high on the table.
There were no screen doors or STAIN
ed windows, but every one was well
come. Many hard luck chap would
get in on the free roll of Keno which
started the game and from his win
nings get another start in life.
No such scenes will ever be enact
ed again in this country, and the
coming generation can only read of
them, as depicted by Bret Hart,
Mark Twain and others, whose stories
are all featured in California and
Nevada, but Colorado and your Gun
nison county had the same scenes if
anything little more intensified,
made up of all characters incident to
frontier life.
To have lived through these ex-
periences is an heritage we'll worthy
to treasure. Of course all are not
here to tell the story, as some passed
out with their boots ,on, while many,
alas too many, partook too freely of
John Barleycorn and an otherwise
useful life was often cut short.
Starting a wild and wooley mining
camp now without booze and the
dance hall, would seem like tame
affair, and because these features are
cut out by law may be the reason
there are no more booming mining
excitements.
had short but pleasant call
from Mr.. Lewis H. Easterly short
time ago. 1t was pleasure to meet
him, coming right from Gunnison,
where he has been an honored and
pioneer ranchman for these forty
years. His knowledge of the early