Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1934-02-15

Lorry-my poor little girl. Sorry,
honey-so sorry"
He sighed deeply and lurched over
against her; his head fell on her shout
der. She set the brake, moved a little
In her seat, put her right arm around
his neck to steady him and with her
left tilted his face upward toward
hers with look of love unutterable !;
racked by excruciating pain, neverthe-
less his high courage was equal to the
effort of smile; and then the light
went out Of his eyes and his heaving
breast was stilled forever.
For long time she had known that
some day he would leave her thus
suddenly, awkwardly. After a
while her thumb pressed the button In
the center of the steering wheel and a
series of raucous, long-drawn shrieks
came from the motor horn.
The Kershaw pride was In the dust
at last. The last of the Kershaws was
appealing to the last of the enemy
for helpl
For two hundred years the Ker.
shaws had not been able, with patient
submission, to tolerate more than a
modicum Of civilization. The first
progenitor In America arrived With
Lord Baltimore; thereafter each gen.
GRAFTON moved at least one state far
ther west; one might have traced the
hegira Of the tribe by its headstones
albeit many a Kershaw never found .
grave at all They were hunters, trap
pers, soldiers, and cattlemen.
When Robin Kershaw, at the age of
twenty-five, came home from the Mexi-
can war, he discovered that during his
absence his fathers ranch in northern
Texas had been raided by Comanche
Indians, his family slaughtered and
the cattle stolen or dead in a drought.
Robin Kershaw rode with Fremont
to California and, when gold was dis
covered, was among the first to stake
a claim in the Sierra foothills Before
the snow flew in the winter OF 80, he
had amassed fortune of half a mil.
lion dOllars-and it was time to be
moving on.
He was now twenty-eight years old
and he could afford to marry and move
on to the solitude the Kershaws called
peace. The land hunger was gnawing
at his heart; he liked the cattle bust
ness and he had in him In full measure
the ancient primitive urge for free
grass and free water. So he married a
Juno who had walked to California be-
side covered wagon In 40 and with
her rode up into northeastern Califor-
mia and cast about for spot where
the Kershaw odyssey should end.
On day In the year of 1853 he
drove his three pack mules out of the
timber on to bald spot on the crest
of what is now known as the Goose
Nest range, and saw three thousand
feet below him the land Of his hearts
desire.
"LOvely-and lonely" the girl beside
him murmured. and she spurred her
horse In beside him and slipped her
oOAN manu- ahbO iAiSp 81 tOuSn Gar
loused. Thus they looked upon their
heritage.
1t was wild elllptical valley into
which he gazed; Kershaw estimated 1t
should contain nearly one hundred
thousand acres. 1t was. in reality, a
vast mountain meadow. Nc trouble to
winter cattle there. He could cut suf-
f1cient wild hay to insure bringing
them out in the spring strong and fat.
A large stream meandered down the
approximate center of the valley.
After long. searching. wistful con-
temptation of the scene below him
Robin Kershaw said: "Well call II
Eden Valley"
The two youthful pioneers slid down
through the talus and pine needles at
last into the beginnings of Eden Val
ley-a canyon about quarter Of
mile wide and four miles long.