Gunnison news-champion., 1921-05-20
CHAPTER ~.
Beginning Of Life Anew.

But I must go on with my story.
.rGyelsd through 4 deserted land. A
the time went hy began to yearu
more and more for human beings Blu,
! never found one. and grew Ioneller
and lonelisr. I crossed LiFermore
valley and the mountains between Il
and the great valley of the San Joa
quin. You have never seen that val,
ley. but IL Is very large and II is the
home OF the Wild horse There are
great droyes there. thousands and tens
OF thousands. revisited IL thirty
years after. so know. You thin K
there are lots OF Wild horses down
here In the coast valleys. but they
are as nothing compared with thosa
OF the San Joaquin. Strange to say,
the cows. when they went Wild. went
back into the lower mountains Eyi.
IDENTIFY they were better able to protect
themselves there.
In the country districts the ghoals
and providers had been less In eyi.
dence, for ! found many villages and
towns untouched by FIRE. But they
were filled by the pestilential dead.
and passed by without exploring
them II was near Lathrop that, out
OF my loneliness. picked up n pair OF
collie dogs that were so newly free
that they were urgently willing TO
return to their allegiance to man.
These collies accompanied me for
many years. and the strains of them
are in these very dogs there that you
boys have today. But In sixty years
the collie strain has worked out. Those
bri.as are more like domcsticated
wolves than anything else"
HareLip rose to his feet. glanced
TO see that the goats were safe. and
looked at the suns position In the
afternoon sky. advertising impatience
at the prolixity OF the old mans tale.
Urged to hurry by Edwin, Ganser
went on:
There ia little more to tell, With
my two dogs and my pony, and rid
ing a horse I had managed To cap
ture. | crossed the San Joaquin and
went on to a wonderful valley in the
Sierras called Yosemite. In the great
hotel there ! found a prodigious sup
ply OF timed provisions. The pasture
was abundant, as was the game. and
the river that ran through the valley
was full OF trout. ! remained there
three years in an utter loneliness that
none but man who has once been
highly civilized can understand Then
could stand 1t no more. felt that
was going crazy. Like the dog.
was social animal and needed my
kind. reasoned that since | had
survived the plague, there was a pos
sibility that others had survived.
Also. ] reasoned that after three years
the plague germs must all be gone
and the land be clean again.
With my horse and dogs and pony.
set out. Again | crossed the San
joaquin valley. the mountains beyond.
and came down into Livermore val
ley. The change In those three years
was amazing All the land had been
splendidly titled. and now | could
scarcely recognize II, such was the
sea of rank vegetation that had over
run the agricultural handiwork Of
man You see. the wheat, the yege-
tables. and orchard trees had always
been cared for and nursed by man, 90
that they were soft and tender The
weeds and wild bushes and such
things. on the contrary. had always
been fought by man. so that they
were tough and resistant As a result,
when the hand of man was removed
the Wild vegetation smothered and de-
stroyed practically all the domesti-
Gated vegetation. The coyotes werc
greatly increased, and II was at this
time that I first encountered wolves.
strayfng in twos and threes and small
packs, down from the wild regions
where they had always persisted.
1T was at Lake Temescal. not far
from the one-time city Of Oakland.
that I came upon the first live human
being. oh. my grandsons, how can I
describe to you my emotions, when.
astride my horse and dropping down
the hillside to the lake, saw the
smoke of campfire rising through
the trees. Almost did my heart stop
beating. felt that I was going crazy.
Then I heard the cry. Of = babe-a hu-
man babe. And dogs barked and my
dogs answered. did not know but
that I was the one human alive in the
whole world. II could not be truo
that there were others-smoke, ana
the cry Of babe. Il.
Emerging on the lake, there. -.
tore my eyes. not hundred yarAa
away. saw 4 man. 4 large man Ha