The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1921-11-24
CHAPTER w.
At the Back Of Beyond.

Al the Back Of Beyond.
To my chagrin, the railroad ticket
Offices In Denver didn't know any such
place as Placerville In the Red desert
region, which was then, as now, trav-
ersed only by one railroad. The SIN
gle "Placerville" they had listed was
q station not far from Telluride, In
quite another part Of the state. Nor
could the Mining exchange gentleman
help me. However, he suggested that
IL I could find some old resident cold
timer" was the word he used) whose
memory reached back a ways, there
might be something doing.
"Steer me-" I begged; I'm a half
orphan and a total stranger In Dem
ver."
He laughed. and then thought for a
minute, and said:
"The Du Pont Powder people have
been doing business here for a good
many years, and they know the pow
der buyers all over the state. It's Just
possible that they could tell you. Sup
pose you ask at their Office"
/ went, forthwith; and the gentle
man to whom / presented my card at
the cashiers window had the dope.
The Red Desert Placerville, he told
me, was strictly a has BEEN" The
placers had long ago been exhausted.
and the place had afterward figured as
q shipping point for some mine or
mines on the desert slope of the East
ern Timanyonis. He was not quite GER
tain. but he thought the name placer
Vile" had been changed to something
else.
AS to the manner of reaching the
Shas been." this, as he pointed out.
was simple enough. There were
through sleepers by way Of the P. S-W.
and Copah all the way to the Pacific
coast.
Armed with this information, l
quickly shook the dust of Denver (no
slam here intended at the Queen City
of the Plain) from my feet, taking a
through ticket to Angels; and the fol-
lowing morning. when I ran my win
WV w RhVFtOuo W kuIuluk Out
for breakfast, the train was rollicking
along over endless reaches Of the
dryest. dreariest, most ba~rren-looking
country that the SUI ever shone upon I;
red sand, 1t appeared to be, with with
cred bits Of grass here and there and
scattering lunches Of what I after
ward learned was called "~greasewood."
IT was while luncheon was getting It.
self served that the train stopped to
water the engine at the most desolate
place that ever lay out Of doors, I do
think. The place was utterly deserted !;
there wasn't a human being In sight,
either on the platform or In the street
upon which the station faced not even
d bunch Of loafers which usually ma
terfalizes out Of nowhere to see a
train came and 60. I was looking out
OF the window and wondering how any
body, even a hermit telegraph opera
tor, could stand 1t to live In such a
graveyard Of a place when / got my
shock.
It was a dog that connected up the
high-voltage wires for me; a shaggy
mongrel with his ears cooked and a
red ribbon Of a tongue hanging u as
he jumped up on the high station plat
form as If to say Hello. stranger" to
me. For, right down the center of that
dogs face and dividing II as accurate
&ly as IL 1t had been drawn by some
mathematical craftsman, was q line
marking of a black half from a white
half
! was just taking,a swallow of hot
chocolate when the dog appeared, and
AZ nearly choked me. Luckily, / got
the swallow down before 1 saw the
horse-a grasshopper-headed cow
bony, saddled and bridled and standing
Xbftched to g. gnawed wooden rail in
front of n of the tumble-down
hacks. 'Piebald" Is a sort Of an elias.
fc word, az the dictionaries define It,
Ind It might apply to almost any
zbeast-markings out Of the ordinary.
But the horse / raj gaping at fell cas-
within any or all Of the definitions
was q true Calico" white and light
|orrel In erotesque ~patchings; unmis-
nkably ''piebald," Il . purist In the
~ Of the mother.tongue-like Cousin
|}arcy, for exampleEwished to call It
Before ! could rush back to the
rewards s~entry-box In the vestibule Of
u car our train was chasing along
*Hoyip I shouted; what's the name
thai place where ~ stoppsd e Va
~ eng1ner'
ia sI1spr I t~r.nslated with :
~ Al ~ tia nv down ~ "a
~ ~ inda6erisS =