THE PILGRIM 
 
 AND 
 
 THE PIONEER 
 
 JOHN C. BELL 
 
BANCROFT 
 LIBRARY 
 
 -> 
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
THE PILGRIM AND THE PIONEER. 
 
THE PILGRIM AND 
 
 THE PIONEEPv 
 
 THE SOCIAL AND MATERIAL 
 
 DEVELOPMENTS IN THE 
 
 ROCKY MOUNTAINS 
 
 BY 
 
 JOHN C. BELL 
 
 MONTROSE, COLO., 
 
 FOR FOUR YEARS DISTRICT JUDGE AND FOR TEN YEARS 
 
 A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM 
 
 WESTERN COLORADO. 
 
 PRINTED BY 
 
 THE INTERNATIONAL PUBLISHING ASS'N, 
 
 College View, Lincoln, Nebraska. 
 
Entered according to act of Congress in the year 1906 by 
 
 JOHN C. BELL, 
 in the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. 
 
 INTERNATIONAL PUB, ASS'N 
 Publishers, Printers and Translators 
 COLLEGE VIEW, LINCOLN, NEBRASKA 
 
i,<v a 
 
 CONTENTS, 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 Preface 11 
 
 I. Crossing the Plains 13 
 
 II. Gratitude Personified 27 
 
 III. Freezing Out Selfishness 41 
 
 IV. The Seared Conscience of Greed 59 
 
 V. Lifting the Golden Scales 73 
 
 VI. A Pebble Turned the Current 99 
 
 VII. Entree to Society 109 
 
 VIII. The World a Glass House to the False. . 119 
 
 IX. Red Buck 131 
 
 X. Lost Paystreak 141 
 
 XI. Troubles of a Trifle 145 
 
 XII. A Night in a Cow Camp 159 
 
 XIII. The Wild Imaginations of a New 
 
 Country 177 
 
 XIV. A Typical Mining Camp 189 
 
 XV. The Judge 197 
 
 XVI. The Colored Delegate 209 
 
 XVII. He Called the Bluff 223 
 
 XVIII. "Can't" Not Applicable to a Just Cause 237 
 XIX. Shifting Scenes of a Pioneer Town. . . . 245 
 XX. Western Civilization Exalts Women. . . . 259 
 XXI. Mining Expert Hypnotized by Back- 
 Capper 267 
 
 XXII. Crossing Sneffle's Range. ., 307 
 
 XXIII. The Little Salamander 317 
 
 XXIV. Among the Rums of the Aztecs 331 
 
 (v) 
 
 
 
vi 
 
 XXV. Retreating 343 
 
 XXVI. Going to the Leadville Boom 377 
 
 XXVII. Crossing the Deserts 395 
 
 XXVIII. The Pioneer Wedding 415 
 
 XXIX. Through the Coeur D'Alenes 421 
 
 XXX. Another Self 431 
 
 XXXI. Mr. Campbell's First Test 441 
 
 XXXIL. Influence of a Noble Act 445 
 
 XXXIII. Perfect Ideals Only Are Effective 455 
 
 XXXIV. Clearing Up the Working Model 461 
 
 XXXV. From Trapper and Pioneer to Settled 
 
 Conditions . 479 
 
 XXXVI. Off to See His Children 513 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Pilgrim and the Pioneer Frontispiece 
 
 The Pioneer -and His Family 38 
 
 Cold water Brings the Dead to Life 139 
 
 A Branding Scene 164 
 
 The Duel 232 
 
 The Pilgrim Waits Outside 252 
 
 Miss Anthony Addressing the Miners 258 
 
 Bear Creelc Falls 282 
 
 The Picturesque Town of Ouray 296 
 
 The Mummified Indian 340 
 
 The Royal Gorge 358 
 
 The Garden of the Gods 370 
 
 The Exciting Honey-Moon 418 
 
 Stiff in Death 424 
 
 He Lost the Bet 439 
 
 They Paid the Penalty 450 
 
 Persuading Him to Break His Own Horse 466 
 
 Grave-yard Scene 476 
 
 Glenwood Springs and Bath House 480 
 
 Brown Palace Hotel 485 
 
 Brown Palace Hotel Dining Room 486 
 
 New Antler's Hotel 490 
 
 Beet Sugar Factory at Rocky Ford. ., 514 
 
 And She Stood Pat - . 520 
 
 (vii) 
 
The publication of this book was awarded to 
 The International Publishing Association, not 
 because theirs was the lowest bid, but because 
 the high character of those connected with the 
 Institution was impressed on the Author, 
 through his pleasant negotiations with the Mana- 
 ger of the Association. 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS BY 
 JNO. LOVE r CO., Lincoln, Nebr. 
 
 If this book is not found with your dealer, send 
 $1.50 post-office order, or draft, to The Interna- 
 tional Publishing Association, College View, Nebr., 
 or to Jno. C. Bell, Montrose, Colo., and it will be 
 mailed at once. 
 
THE PILGRIM AND THE 
 PIONEER 
 
ERRATA. 
 
 Page 19, third line from top should read, "made profert." 
 Page 201, 12th line from bottom should read, "angle- 
 worm" instead of "angle worms." 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 This publication is an experiment. It is not intended 
 that it shall follow any literary form or meet the approba- 
 tion of the literary critic. The chief aim is to reach a 
 class of readers who' are deterred from reading abstract 
 principles of lofty precepts in closely connected thoughts, 
 because of the irksome effort involved. The fond expecta- 
 tion is also indulged of inducing a goodly number to read 
 these pages for other objects than the high moral prin- 
 ciples attempted to be imparted, and that enough of the 
 every day philosophies of life will exude through the bal- 
 last to beneficially affect some of these lives. 
 
 Scenes are intended to shift and subjects to change 
 as often as they would appear to the reader, were he mak- 
 ing the journeys described on top of an Overland Stage 
 Coach. 
 
 Accurate descriptions of important places, with the 
 accompanying, moral, social and material developments, 
 are sufficiently depicted to enable one who reads these 
 pages to gain a fair comprehension of the early civiliza- 
 tion, present development and future possibilities, .of a 
 part of the country that is wielding and is destined to 
 wield so potent an influence on the national life, that no 
 well informed person can afford to be ignorant of its 
 
 early history, 
 (xi) 
 
xii 
 
 The Pioneer, the Teacher, and the Pilgrim, the 
 Taught, are introduced, with the stirring incidents along 
 the way of a great journey over mountain and plain, with 
 much adventure and short story, through which it is 
 hoped to filter enough of the triumphs of virtue, to impress 
 some of the wayward, at least, with a desire for her re- 
 wards. The confidence is also evinced here, that a hint to 
 the unwise is sufficient, if clothed in an apt example. 
 
 The Experimenter. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 CROSSING THE PLAINS. 
 
 Mr. John Campbell, of middle Tennessee, belonged 
 to that unfortunate generation of the South which had 
 just reached the prime school age when the "irrepressible 
 conflict" between the states broke up all of the schools 
 of that unhappy land, and left the young untaught, un- 
 travelled, and the parents impoverished. 
 
 After the long, bloody conflict, when the South was 
 pacified, and the schools were rehabilitated, this neglected 
 generation was crammed with the contents of books, and 
 pressed so assiduously that the pupils could assimilate 
 nothing outside of their books, and only those with iron 
 constitutions could continue to the end. 
 
 On the 28th of March, 1874, John Campbell was 
 proclaimed by the Supreme Court of Tennessee to be duly 
 qualified to sell his services to the public as a disciple of 
 Trebonian. He was reduced to a large, angular" frame, 
 covered with a few stringy ligaments and a jaundiced 
 and cadaverous looking skin. He had previously written 
 to a former neighbor and good friend, then engaged in 
 the cattle business in Georgetown, Texas, of his great 
 emaciation. In turn his friend invited him to participate 
 in the driving of a large herd of cattle from Texas to 
 Cheyenne, Wyoming.. "Yes," said Mr. Campbell, "I 
 shall accept, hoping thereby to recuperate my health be- 
 fore I settle down in some frontier town 'for the practice 
 of law, or, if I find no law to practice, before I offer my 
 general abilities to the benighted public, until the people 
 (13) 
 
14 THE PILGRIM 
 
 become sufficiently civilized to covet the services of this 
 erudite profession." 
 
 The estate of Tobe Tully had forty law books of 
 the elementary kind needed almost every hour in the 
 well patronized law office. These John Campbell purchased, 
 consoling himself with the thought that they would, in 
 all probability, make the most elaborate library which 
 could be found on the frontier, one which he confidently 
 expected would secure for him a leading position at the 
 bar, whenever this necessary evil should be called into 
 use. The foreboding kept intruding on his mind : "What 
 will you do if there is no great demand for your pro- 
 fessional services ?" 
 
 It occurred to him that while at school Professor 
 Hampton used to send his class out to survey, plat and esti- 
 mate the extent of the school grounds and the farms of the 
 neighboring settlement. Professor Hampton had often 
 complimented him on his efficiency in running lines and 
 computing territorial areas, and he thought that prob- 
 ably no one away out in Wyoming or in Colorado would 
 be so provident as to have a compass, or that, if any- 
 one should have such a rare instrument, he probably would 
 know but little about the proper use of it. Mr. Camp- 
 bell went over to the house of Prof. Hampton, revealed his 
 plans, and asked the price of the old compass used in 
 the school. They soon agreed upon the price, and the 
 wisdom of the plan, and Mr. Campbell bought the 
 compass, manufactured some forty years previously, 
 carefully packed it and his library on April 1, 1874, and 
 with a sanguine heart, turned his face westward. 
 
 From Nashville to St. Louis the railroads were sell- 
 ing tickets around via Louisville and Chicago for the 
 same price as by the most direct route, and it was not 
 
AND THE PIONEER 15 
 
 difficult for the ticket agent to convince this young sprig 
 of the law and prospective surveyor of the great west- 
 ern domain, of the great advantage of buying his ticket 
 the farthest way around, as at the best he would only 
 get something like a 2,500 mile railroad journey. 
 
 Every time Mr. Campbell thought of the superior 
 advantages of his forty-law-book library, and his sur- 
 veyor's compass, he felt more and more independent, 
 and could see no use of economizing, so he went into the 
 Pullman, bought some of everything that the newsboy 
 brought around, and talked long and loud about the 
 west. 
 
 While his train was stopping in Louisville, one of the 
 high officials of the Chicago land office and his wife, each 
 about sixty years old, took possession of the section ad- 
 joining him in the rear, and an immense, florid, well 
 dressed and heavily jeweled man, planted himself in the 
 section with Mr. Campbell. The new comer was soon 
 engaged in hopeful conversation with the old official about 
 the promising future of the rapidly developing west. 
 
 When the acquaintance was sufficient to put all of 
 them at ease, the florid gentleman unlocked a clean, 
 yellow valise, drew from it three tempting Havanas, and 
 juggested: "Let's go down to the smoking room and con- 
 tinue this enjoyable conversation." The trio of men then 
 moved to the gentleman's drawing-room, where two or 
 three persons were occupying seats smoking and reading, 
 leaving, however, abundant space. The host of this little 
 party said that it would be too bad to disturb the guests 
 in there with their western boasts, and besides there was 
 hardly room enough. "Let's go down to the smoking car," 
 he suggested, and without waiting for an assent from his 
 guests, he pressed on with his newly made friends at his 
 
16 THE PILGRIM 
 
 heels. The host turned a seat and insisted that the 
 land office official should occupy the forward seat, and 
 he asked Mr. Campbell if it made him uncomfortable to 
 ride with his back to the engine. Mr. Campbell replied, 
 "Not at all." "Very well then," said the host, "take that 
 seat, and I shall sit with your friend here, for I am sorry 
 to say that my stomach revolts at riding backward." 
 
 The chat was most cordial and boastful about the 
 growing west, until the cigars were about half consumed, 
 then the florid gentleman asked the official if he had a 
 deck of cards. The official replied, "No." The inter- 
 rogator asked one after another of those around him, and 
 after a time a little, black, wizard-looking individual 
 piped out that he had a euchre deck in his overcoat 
 pocket which he could have if he wished. The florid 
 gentleman replied that he preferred whist, but as a last 
 resort he might tolerate euchre. He invited the possessor 
 of the deck to join them, an overcoat was spread over their 
 laps, and the official and the black wizard were pitted 
 against Mr. Campbell and the florid gentleman. 
 
 For about an hour or more the game broke even, 
 when the florid gentleman picked up his hand, looked at 
 it, and said : 
 
 "If I were playing poker, I couldn't fill such a hand 
 as this." 
 
 The official replied, "I'll bet you ten dollars, I have 
 a better hand!" 
 
 The florid gentleman drew a fifty dollar bill from his 
 pocket and threw it on the table, saying, "I'll raise you 
 forty dollars. You dare not call me! You haven't the 
 nerve! I always heard there was no nerve in Chicago 
 sports ! I dare you to call it !" 
 
AND THE PIONEER 17 
 
 The wizard looked at the official's hand. 
 
 a Oh !" he ejaculated. "Bet him bet him to a 
 standstill !" 
 
 The florid gentleman feigned to draw in his money, 
 looked at the wizard, and said: "He really hasn't a full, 
 now." 
 
 The official thought he was going to crawfish, and so 
 he jerked out a fifty dollar bill and slapped at on the 
 table. His florid opponent pushed the hundred dollars 
 over to the wizard, and said. "You hold the stakes." 
 
 The official, with a chuckle, spread out three nines and 
 two queens, and the florid gentleman spread out three 
 kings and a pair of aces. The wizard pushed the hun- 
 dred dollars into the winner's hands, and started to com- 
 ment on the remarkable coincidence in getting two such 
 remarkable poker hands from a euchre deck, when the 
 official abruptly arose and left the car. 
 
 One of the remaining gentlemen suggested to Mr. 
 Campbell, "We shall be much obliged to you if you will 
 say nothing about this remarkable coincidence. Such 
 things are so rare that the thoughtless might conclude that 
 we had cold-decked him, but it was all on the square." 
 
 Mr. Campbell replied that if it was not on the square, 
 the tuition was quite low enough for one of the official's 
 age, and especially for one occupying so prominent a place 
 in such a city as Chicago. 
 
 At the next stop, the florid and the black gentlemen 
 stepped off the train. 
 
 Mr. Campbell returned to his seat in the Pullman, 
 and remarked to the land office official: "That was a 
 pretty hard crew we struck down there." 
 
 The old man made a vulgar mouth and turned his 
 
 THE PILGRIM. 2 
 
18 THE PILGRIM 
 
 back on Mr. Campbell, clearly indicating that he believed 
 he (Mr. Campbell) and the florid gentleman, were partners 
 in crime. 
 
 It so happened, that when Chicago was reached, Mr. 
 Campbell and the land office official stopped at the Palmer 
 House. Just as the former got comfortably settled in his 
 room, a light rap was heard at the door. He opened it 
 and there % stood a burly, uniformed policeman. Mr. Camp- 
 bell invited him in and gave him the best chair. The 
 policeman inquired: "Young man, have you a gun about 
 you?" 
 
 "Yes, yes," answered Mr. Campbell, "I am going 
 out to survey Wyoming and Colorado, and afterwards do 
 the law business of those territories. I heard that the 
 Indians were bad there and I purchased a pistol the day 
 before I left Winchester to defend myself with, but I'm 
 not going to shoot any white persons." And with that 
 he handed out to the policeman a little three'inch barrel, 
 22-caliber revolver. 
 
 The policeman laughed, and replied: 
 
 "Why, the tobacco growers in Connecticut use those 
 to shoot tobacco worms." 
 
 He handed it back. "Be careful," he cautioned, 
 "that you do not allow that to go off in the hotel. The 
 people might think Chicago was being visited by an earth- 
 quake. Now what have you been doing for the last three 
 months and where have you been?" 
 
 "I've been a law student in Winchester," answered 
 Mr. Campbell, and he drew out a new license from the 
 Supreme Court, showing its big seal, etc. 
 
 "Uh, huh," answered the policeman, "and where are 
 you going now, and what are you going to do ?" 
 
 Mr. Campbell then told him all about his plans to 
 
AND THE PIONEER 19 
 
 survey Wyoming and Color ado j and his purpose to do the 
 law business of those two territories for a number of 
 years to come, and profert of his compass and forty 
 law books as additional evidence. The policeman ques- 
 tioned him all about the euchre game, then asked to see 
 his money. 
 
 Mr. Campbell pulled off his top-shirt, drew his knife 
 and asked the policeman to cut the stitches of an im- 
 provised pocket sewed on the inside of his undershirt, in 
 which were concealed numerous twenty and ten dollar bills, 
 but no fifty. 
 
 "Young man,' 7 continued the policeman, a the only 
 reason those card players did not fleece you, was because 
 they did not know you had these bills. You are innocent, 
 but you had better push on west, or Mr. Crane may have 
 you detained as a particeps criminis to his robbery.' 7 
 
 Mr. Campbell hurried to the depot and took the first 
 train for St. Louis, where he put up at the Planters 
 Hotel. There he met Mr. Bates, who was working up an 
 excursion to the Rocky Mountains. Mr. Campbell was 
 soon persuaded that between Denver and Cheyenne, 
 he could get cattle-driving to his heart's content, hence it 
 was unnecessary to go out of his way in search of such 
 tame western pastime, so he joined the gathering excur- 
 sion. 
 
 April 3, 1874, all kinds of persons were loaded into 
 the excursion cars, many of them having never been away 
 from their native heath. The run between St. Louis and 
 Kansas City was made at night and never have a gang of 
 hungry wolves made more havoc among a bevy of un- 
 protected barnyard fowls, than did the three card-monte 
 and legerdemain fiends among those un travelled and un- 
 sophisticated passengers. If the train officers did not 
 
20 THE PILGRIM 
 
 stand in with the thieves, they certainly kept out of their 
 way. It seemed at one time that one-half of the excur- 
 sionists, though they had paid their transportation to 
 Denver and return, would have to stop off at Kansas City 
 because of their penniless condition. However, the man- 
 ager of the excursion went among his fleeced flock and 
 gathered their watches, revolvers, jack knives, jewelry, 
 shaving outfits, etc., and persuaded the unfleeced ones to" 
 purchase, or make advances on them, that all might go 
 on to Denver and eat regularly on the way. 
 
 The weather was dark and cloudy, and, except for the 
 broad expanse of plains, myriads of wild ducks in the 
 clouds and in every pool of water, an occasional race be- 
 tween the train and some leanj knotty antelope on either 
 side, stacks of buffalo heads here and there, and bales of 
 buffalo hides at the important stations, they saw nothing 
 different from the hum-drum scenes of Eastern life. 
 
 About the time they crossed the Colorado line, a 
 dozen Blanket Indians, with their faces tattooed, boarded 
 the smoking-car. A twitter of excitement permeated the 
 excursion car, until it so stimulated the spirits of a num- 
 ber of young Missouriaiis that they moved down to visit 
 with these wild natives of the plains. One of the Indians 
 was holding in his hand a unique pipe, which challenged 
 the curiosity of the excursionists. They proceeded to ex- 
 amine it, when by some slight of hand performance it dis- 
 appeared so mysteriously that it shrouded the young Mis- 
 sourians in as complete confusion as Hermann could have 
 done in the days of his most clever legerdemain. 
 
 This was too much for the excited young men. In 
 a moment they had the Indian pinioned to the floor, and 
 curious hands were meandering in every direction under 
 the blanket clothing, in search of the magical pipe. The 
 
AND THE PIONEER 21 
 
 fierce screams of the owner, brought the conductor and 
 the brakeman to the scene at once. They seized these 
 husky transgressors, and pushed them back. 
 
 "Gentlemen," said the conductor, with a great show 
 of dignity, "I am utterly astonished that young men, 
 so genteel and gallant as ydu seem to be, should condescend 
 to offer such indignities to this humble and helpless 
 woman. I blush with shame at the sight of such depraved 
 American manhood. Such a thing is entirely beneath any 
 old resident of the liberty-loving and highly civilized 
 West, and you will be ashamed of such conduct as soon 
 as you become accustomed to the majestic independence of 
 these towering mountain peaks, and as soon as the pure 
 mountain air destroys the blighting virus of the Missis- 
 sippi valley malaria in your system." 
 
 The rude passengers were greatly chagrined and 
 abashed. They held up their hands ; their gaping mouths 
 were turned toward the roof of the car ; they stared at the 
 squaw, then at the conductor; and finally the tallest one 
 with great humiliation said : "Please excuse us, Mr. Con- 
 ductor. We didn't know she was a woman. Indeed we 
 didn't. There was nothing in her dress, nothing about her 
 hair, nothing about her shoes or anywhere else that we 
 could see, that made her look like 1 a woman. In old Mis- 
 souri, a man can tell a woman by her hair and her shoes 
 and because she is pertier than a man. But these here 
 people all looks alike and none of 'em looks like women. 
 We are Missourians, and while we don't have any too 
 much respect for men, no one ever hearn of a Missourian 
 bein' unrespectful to any kind of a woman, where he 
 knowed she was a woman." 
 
 He then turned to the squaw and made a most humble 
 apology to her, but as she had no knowledge of the Eng- 
 
22 THE PILGRIM 
 
 lish language, this superb gallantry was lost on her, unless, 
 perchance, his contrite face and apologetic eyes may have 
 been properly interpreted by this crude daughter of nature. 
 The following morning, they reached Denver, a 
 crude little city of ten thousand persons, built upon the 
 naked plains at the junction of Cherry Creek and the 
 Platte River, with a great dearth of trees and shrubs, 
 but with towering peaks and lofty mountain ranges as an 
 attractive background. 
 
 Mr. James Smith met them at the depot, and with 
 great suavity made them feel that they had one friend 
 at least. As strange as the incident may seem, this gen- 
 tleman, without any previous arrangement, piloted them 
 to the Planters Hotel in Denver. They had just left 
 the Planters Hotel in St. Louis. 
 
 Those who had recently come in advance of them, 
 gathered around and asked who they were, what they 
 had been, where they came from, and what they expected 
 to do. 
 
 They had hardly succeeded in dusting their clothes 
 before Mr. Smith and his kind friends began instructing 
 them in the refinements of Rocky Mountain life, not com- 
 mon to the Mississippi Valley. 
 
 "Don't be afraid, boys," he said, "nothing will hurt 
 you. This country was once pretty tough, but it is now 
 the most moral part of God's vineyard. Wy, when I 
 came out in 1859, I was actually afraid to smoke my 
 pipe on the street for fear some marksman, not so accurate 
 as William Tell, might take a shot at it." And with 
 these introductory remarks he proceeded to tell how it 
 was a common thing in those days for the trappers and 
 hunters to amuse themselves on Sunday evenings by shoot- 
 ing the lights out in the churches ; that the churches didn't 
 
AND THE PIONEER 23 
 
 mind the loss of the lights, as they were accustomed to 
 darkness, but they were afraid of something worse. 
 
 "As a precautionary measure/' he continued, "the 
 old minister down where I used to go to church, upon in- 
 forming the congregation where the next prayer meeting 
 would be, and when, and at whose house the next meet- 
 ing of the Ladies' Aid Society would gather, would close 
 his introductory remarks with this peroration : 
 
 " 'Now, boys, I want you to be patient with the choir 
 this evening. You will probably have great provocation, 
 as the members have been much too scattered and too busy 
 this week to practice. However, I hope if you hear any 
 harsh discords, you will not open fire on them, as I can 
 assure you that whatever happens, they will be doing the 
 very best they can. And, anyway, it is a voluntary choir 
 and will not get a cent of your contributions. ' ' 
 
 At times, the boys restrained themselves under great 
 provocation. 
 
 They were told that dampness, malaria, and microbes 
 were unknown there; that the causes of sickness not ex- 
 isting there, they had no sickness. One pioneer said 
 they actually had to kill a man to start a graveyard, so 
 healthful was the climate. He told them that it was a 
 very ' discouraging field for doctors, because they had no 
 patients, and a very poor place for preachers, because a 
 great doubt had been raised there about the certainty of 
 death. 
 
 Mr. Smith continued to instruct them in the neces- 
 saries of Rocky Mountain life. He would stand erect, 
 drink in a full breath, swell himself out and say: 
 "If you remain here three months, you will be four inches 
 larger around the chest. You must learn to breathe the 
 dry air, just as you would learn to use a set of false 
 
24 THE PILGRIM 
 
 teeth; it is so devaporized and devoid of oxygen that one 
 must take twice the quantity required in humid climates 
 to secure the oxygen necessary to burn up the waste ma- 
 terial in the system." 
 
 He soon pointed out the towering, snow-capped peaks 
 and beautiful chains of mountain ranges forming a semi- 
 circle around Denver. 
 
 "~Not being familiar with this pure atmosphere, cloud- 
 less skies, and perpetual sunshine, you will be constantly 
 laboring under optical delusions about distance, unless 
 I instruct you. 
 
 "Those mountains seem to be two miles distant, but 
 really they are forty miles away. I would like to give you 
 the benefit of my pioneer experience, because you are 
 modest and seem anxious to learn. 
 
 "Last week an Englishman stopped at the Planters 
 Hotel, and in kindness, I sought to give him the benefit 
 of my experience, but he snubbed me. ' He said he had 
 summered in the Alps and had seen mountains that would 
 make these look like mole hills. He got up the next morn- 
 ing, took his cane, and asked me if I would like to walk 
 out to the hills and back before breakfast. As I was 
 not accustomed to walking eighty miles before breakfast, 
 I declined with thanks, but I volunteered no information. 
 
 "After walk-ing vigorously for two hours directly 
 towards the mountains, he stopped on the bank of a little 
 irrigating ditch, about two feet wide, and in confusion, 
 viewed the mountains that seemed no nearer him than 
 when he started. He looked back toward Denver and it 
 seemed just behind him, though he had been walking 
 directly away from it for two long hours. In a complete 
 aberration of mind, he began sounding the little ditch with 
 his cane. 
 
AND THE PIONEER 25 
 
 "A farmer approached him and asked: 'My friend, 
 what troubles you ?' 
 
 "The Englishman answered: 'I want to cross this 
 stream.' 
 
 " 'Well/ replied the farmer, Svhy don't you step 
 across ?' 
 
 " 'Huh/ answered the Englishman, 'W'at do I know 
 habout distances hin this bloody country. 'Ow do I know 
 that this his not ha river ha mile wide hand ha 'alf ha 
 mile deep ?' " 
 
 Everyone laughed heartily, except a thirteen year old 
 boy from Gonzales, Texas, who turned up his nose in 
 disgust and replied that he had seen stranger things than 
 that in Texas. He said that the last summer he was 
 driving a yoke of oxen out there, and it was so all-fired 
 hot that one of them roasted to death ; and that while 
 he was skinning him, a norther came up and froze the 
 other one to death. 
 
 Mr. Smith broke in, saying: a This Englishman's 
 experience is such a true illustration of Rocky Moun- 
 tain distances that there is nothing more to be said." 
 
 The same pains were taken, the same questions asked, 
 the same sympathies expressed, and the same stories were 
 told pilgrims from day to day as they arrived. 
 
 Mr. Smith, in addition to being a runner for 
 the Planters Hotel was also the agent for the James 
 and Miller Stage Line, running between Pueblo and 
 Del Norte, the latter being the gateway to the great Eldo- 
 rado, then uppermost in the mind of all western fortune 
 seekers. 
 
 The Territorial Legislature had just divided the 
 great San Juan mining region into counties, the governor 
 
26 THE PILGRIM 
 
 had appointed the new officers, and it required but a small 
 effort to engage a coach load for the new gold fields. 
 
 ; They reached Pueblo on the evening of April 9 by 
 the way of the D. & R. G. railroad, and put up at the 
 Schuyler Hotel, which for dismal appearances and for- 
 lorn surroundings, had no rival. The little town was 
 thoroughly Mexicanized in all of its appearances. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 GRATITUDE PERSONIFIED. 
 
 In 1849 Joshua Wickham graduated from a well 
 known Kentucky College, and, like hundreds of other 
 boys, after getting his education, he did not know what 
 to do with it. For many months he stood upon the pin- 
 nacle of doubt, ready to' fall toward the ministry, med- 
 icine, the law, or general business. When a young, man 
 is in such a quandary at this deciding point in life, a dis- 
 couraging word or hint, even, will often cause him to re- 
 treat. 
 
 In the midst of these vexatious doubts, the gold ex- 
 citement in California reached fever heat. Mr. Wickham 
 joined a band of pioneers, crossed the dreary plains, and 
 for nine or ten years enjoyed the invigorating hope of the 
 placer diggings with some measure of success. During 
 these years of pioneering his associations were almost ex- 
 clusively with the male miners, in fact he had seen but 
 few women since leaving old Kentucky. There are no 
 men living who adore women more than the typical Ken- 
 tuckians, and there are no women on earth more adorable 
 than the fair daughters of the blue grass state. 
 
 In 1858 it began to dawn on Mr. Wickham that he 
 was thirty years old and was spending the whole of the 
 prime of his manhood . away from all of the more en- 
 joyable amenities of life, and, as he meditated, a creep- 
 ing sensation of homesickness encompassed him. He was 
 not satisfied with his savings, when coupling them with the 
 sacrifices that he had made, hence he resolved "to try 
 (27) 
 
28 THE PILGRIM 
 
 his luck 77 just one more year, and then return to the land 
 of his birth. 
 
 Early in 1859 the general rallying cry was, "On to 
 Pike's Peak. 77 It occurred to Mr. Wickham that this was 
 midway between the far west and his eastern home. He 
 and a half dozen companions agreed to "pull up stakes, 77 
 go to the new Eldorado, and "try their luck 77 until autumn 
 in the new "digging," then leave the west permanently. 
 After many weeks of hardship, they struck camp at the 
 present site of Manitou in Colorado. From day to day 
 they reconnoitered the hills round about in search of gold. 
 Early in September Mr. Wickham ascended Pike 7 s peak 
 and was caught in one of the most blinding snow storms 
 that he had ever experienced. He lost his land marks 
 completely, and travelled day after day over hill and dell 
 in search of something that would direct him toward the 
 camp, but in vain. One evening an Indian chief, Hopping 
 Antelope, and his comely daughter, Blue jay, were rabbit 
 hunting on the banks of the Arkansas River, and they 
 stumbled upon the famished and demented Mr. Wickham, 
 lying helpless in a squaw bush thicket. The Indian chief 
 took the blanket from his shoulders, laid it beside the 
 exhausted man, rolled him upon it, took hold of two 
 corners, his daughter picked up the other two corners, and 
 they carried him to Hopping Antelope 7 s tepee, covered 
 him with blankets, gave him some herb tea, and tried to 
 warm his blood; but he was in the frigid, chilly state 
 which is a sure precursor of that dreadful disease, pneu- 
 monia. Blue jay called in the Big Medicine Man, who 
 looked over .the patient and said the demons had gotten 
 into his head, and that the deadly enemies of the Great 
 Spirit had their claws fastened in his "wind puffers, 77 
 and if he stayed in the tepee, where the Great Spirit 
 
AND THE PIONEER . 29 
 
 could not blow his fresh, gentle breath on these enemies, 
 they would choke him to death. 
 
 The Medicine Man and Blue jay picked up the sick 
 man and put him in the open air, carefully tucking the 
 blankets all about him. The Medicine Man said that the 
 Great Spirit would blow away the monsters that were 
 choking the patient into insensibility. He put Blue jay 
 to chanting some kind of an intranslatable incantation, 
 which he said would drive the demons away as the breath 
 of the Great Spirit loosed their hold upon the prostrate 
 victim. 
 
 For many days and nights Blue jay hovered over the 
 patient, praying and chanting for his recovery. One 
 bright morning the sick man recognized his surroundings 
 and asked where he was and how he came to the tepee. 
 Bhiejay's whole being was radiant with joy, and she gave 
 her weak patient to understand that she had found him 
 in hopeless despair, and was trying to nurse and pray 
 him back to health and strength. She nursed him, fed 
 him, and led him around the tepee, until he became strong 
 enough to retrace his steps in search of his comrades. 
 
 Mr. Wickham asked Hopping Antelope and Bluejay 
 what he owed them for their kind care. The chief and 
 his fair daughter held an excited colloquy in their native 
 tongue, then Hopping Antelope turned to Mr. Wickham 
 and said gravely that his daughter did not want to give 
 him up, that she had found him in the possession of the 
 enemies of the Great Spirit, that she had nursed and 
 nourished him and chanted away the evil ones, and that 
 she thought he belonged to her. The chief pointed out 
 many broad acres of land on the Arkansas Eiver, and 
 said: "Paleface, you take my daughter, Bluejay, and be 
 the father of her children, and for every child born you 
 
30 THE PILGRIM 
 
 may take your choice of 640 acres of land between Ground 
 Hog Mound and Kattlesnake Bluff." 
 
 These unexpected offers and the old man's speech 
 affected Mr. Wickham until he was speechless. The debt 
 of gratitude he owed to this gentle maid of an untamed 
 nature, had deeply touched him, and when he found that 
 no money compensation would gratify any desire of hers, 
 he was pierced to the very quick. The offer of land did 
 not affect him, as the whole country was unoccupied, ex- 
 cept by a few bands of roving Indians, and he regarded 
 it as worthless, though in a few years it became very 
 valuable. But, ah, the romance of it, the realization of 
 the debt of gratitude he owed, began to unnerve him. He 
 begged of Hopping Antelope and Blue jay to let him depart 
 and find his comrades, put their minds at ease, and then 
 search for gold until winter, when he would return and 
 they would talk it over, if she had not forgotten her pas- 
 sion by that time. 
 
 Blue jay threw her arms around his neck and showered 
 him with her tears, and said that if he went alone he 
 would lose his way, and the enemies of the Great Spirit 
 would again fasten their claws upon him, and there would 
 be no Blue jay to chant them away, and that she would 
 lose her "Paleface" forever. She cried, "No, no, no, I 
 will follow you to your friends ; I will help you find gold ; 
 I will keep the demons away until winter, then I will 
 bring you back." 
 
 The affection of this simple barbarian, dressed in 
 blankets, so touched the sturdy, philosophical easterner 
 that he felt his powers of resistance crumbling like a 
 sand bar before the raging torrent of a swollen stream. 
 Before the next moon he felt that he could not live with- 
 out his red-clay-colored squaw. There was no civilized 
 
AND THE PIONEER 31 
 
 woman, no white woman near to compare her with, and, 
 isolated as he was from civilization and the higher models 
 of the sex, she began to fill his soul. He was soon able 
 to think of her as angelic. Wherever one is, if he can 
 get the best the country affords, he is satisfied. Blue jay 
 was regarded as the most beautiful Indian maiden on the 
 plains, and there being no women but Indian squaws with 
 whom to compare her, it was not difficult to bring one of 
 the sterling worth of Mr. Wickham to her feet. In due 
 time the wedding night came on. The Indian bucks took 
 Mr. Wickham to the Arkansas River, stripped him, took 
 pure white sand and water and almost scoured the hide 
 from him, rolled him in blankets and carried him to 
 Chief Antelope's tepee, put him in a soft bed of furs, 
 anointed him with sweet smelling syrups, knelt and jab- 
 bered in their native tongues for some minutes, then 
 placed a cross four feet high at the foot of his couch with 
 rich resined pine knots burning from its top. 
 
 The squaws in the meantime had taken Bluejay to 
 the river, and with water and white sand had scoured her, 
 brought her to the bridal tepee, anointed her with spicy 
 syrups, gently laid her in Mr. Wickham/s arms, looked 
 heavenward and in their native tongues sent up toward 
 the Great Spirit some solemn supplications, tucked the 
 furs snugly around the wedded ones, withdrew and closed 
 the folds of the tepee, danced and chanted until morning, 
 when the bride and groom were, with great deference, 
 seated and furnished the tribal wedding breakfast due to 
 the chieftain's daughter. 
 
 In a few weeks Mr. Wickham and Bluejay went to 
 Gregory Gulch in search of his comrades and gold, and 
 they were quite successful in finding both. 
 
 Mr. Herman Mark, his wife and three children, were 
 
32 THE PILGRIM 
 
 camped at Gushing Springs, working the Emerald Isle 
 Quartz Claim, taking out hundreds of dollars a day, build- 
 ing a five thousand dollar cottage, etc. They invited Mr. 
 Wickham and Bluejay, yes, demanded that they camp 
 near by, as it was within easy walking distance of Gregory 
 Gulch where Mr. Wickham intended to sluice-mine. 
 Every evening the parties assembled and heard Mr. and 
 Mrs. Mark state and restate their plans when they 
 should take out the ore or sell the Emerald Isle for 
 what money they wanted. Prospective purchasers came 
 from time to time to look at the mine, but Mr. Mark 
 would not talk in figures less than millions. He would 
 say, "What is the use? We are taking out $500 a day 
 and there is a million in sight." When the cottage was 
 about half finished the walls of the mine began to come 
 closer together at every foot gained in depth. The 
 miners became uneasy and wanted their money weekly. 
 You could hear them say daily, "She is pinching out, 
 tightening up; we had better be looking around for an- 
 other job." Mr. and Mrs. Mark were perfectly 
 sanguine that the mine would turn out all right, that the 
 pinch was only temporary. They never let up on ex- 
 penses for a moment, as they expected to expose a valu- 
 able ore body at any shot. The mine tightened up day 
 by day until the walls came together, leaving but a knife 
 blade seam and not a pound of ore. Mr. Wickham sug- 
 gested to the owners that they had better let up on the 
 expenses on the house and mine until they could see 
 indications of value again. They hooted at the idea, 
 said that the Emerald Isle was good for millions yet, and 
 that they were perfectly safe with expenditures on both 
 mine and dwelling. Day by day and night by night 
 they sank the mine without a visible prospect of ore, but 
 
AND THE PIONEER 33 
 
 the owners were not in the least discouraged. By the 
 time the house was done, all of their accumulations had 
 gone back into the mine, into the house, and into a few 
 jewels that Mrs. Mark had purchased. They called 
 in Mr. Wickham and asked his advice. 
 
 He answered, "JSTo man can see into the ground; no 
 man knows whether the big or the little, the rich or the 
 poor end of the mine is at the top or at the bottom. In 
 all probability the Emerald Isle has valuable ore in it, 
 but no one can tell where it is, or how valuable it is, or 
 what it will cost to develop it. If I were you, I would 
 put it on the market and sell it and the house and let 
 those who are more able take the chances." 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Mark began with a storm of words, 
 "No, no, no; no one can have the Emerald Isle for less 
 than a million. We know that there are millions of ore 
 in the Emerald Isle if you will just sink to it, and we 
 are not going to give it away. 77 
 
 "Well, 77 replied Mr. Wickham, "Mr. Mark might 
 prospect with his own labor until satisfied whether he 
 can find additional ore chutes. 77 
 
 At nine o'clock the next morning Mr. and Mrs. Mark 
 hastened off to the bank at Golden for the purpose 
 of borrowing thirty-five or forty thousand dollars with 
 which to further prospect the mine. They took the 
 cashier into his private office and told him all about what 
 the mine had done and what it would do with a little 
 further development and what they wanted. 
 
 The cashier suggested: "We don't lend a dollar on 
 mining property. It is too uncertain for bank secur- 
 ities. 77 
 
 Both Mr. and Mrs. Mark started into a whirlwind 
 of talk, telling what the Emerald Isle had done and 
 
 THE PILGRIM. 3 
 
34 THE PILGRIM 
 
 what it could do, what it was worth, etc. The cashier 
 sat perfectly quiet until they ran down. He then in- 
 quired : 
 
 "Have you any other property?" 
 
 They described their new house and the thousand 
 dollars worth of jewelry that Mrs. Mark had purchased 
 out of the earnings of the mine. 
 
 "Very well/' replied the cashier, "the very best that 
 I can do with you is to let you have $2,500 on your joint 
 note for ninety days at five per cent interest per month, 
 with a pledge of the house and jewelry as security." 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Mark both answered: "This is quite 
 satisfactory. We shall strike valuable ore before we ex- 
 pend $2,500 and will then have all the money that we 
 want." 
 
 They executed the papers,' delivered the jewelry, 
 hastened home and continued the sinking of the Emerald 
 Isle, perfectly certain that they would recover their ore 
 body in the next few feet. 
 
 When the snows got deep in the mountains, Mr. 
 Wickham and Bluejay returned to Hopping Antelope's 
 camp and before spring the first child was born. Bluejay 
 was overjoyed, but the father was greatly distressed. He 
 had hoped it would be a boy, and Caucasian in appearance. 
 It was not only a girl, but had the stiff, raven black 
 hair, the dull red-clay-colored skin and expressionless eyes, 
 and was in every way a typical Indian papoose. Hopping 
 Antelope was ecstatic over his granddaughter, and in- 
 sisted that his son-in-law should select six hundred and 
 forty acres of land for it on the Arkansas, build corrals, 
 and put a few cattle on the place. 
 
 The disappointed father had gathered well during 
 the summer, and gladly bought one hundred cows, built 
 
AND THE PIONEER 35 
 
 corrals, etc., for the little one. The father was so dis- 
 appointed in the Indian appearance in his offspring that 
 he took no part in naming it. Blue jay christened it 
 "Clear Creek," after the stream on which she had camped 
 during the past summer and where she spent the hap- 
 piest days of her life. 
 
 In the early spring Mr. Wickham, Blue jay, and Clear 
 Creek went back to Gregory Gulch, and they went back 
 from year to year 'and prospered splendidly, and year 
 by year a new baby girl was born, until they had six. 
 They were named by the mother after the creeks, brooks, 
 springs, and birds, which most impressed her at or about 
 the time of the birth of each child, and every one was a 
 typical Indian papoose, with no appearance of white 
 blood in them. 
 
 This broke the father's heart. He wanted boys, and 
 traces of "white blood," at least. He rubbed his head and 
 exclaimed: "Ah, what a small part the sire takes after 
 all in the paternity of children, compared with the mother, 
 who nourishes them with her very life blood through the 
 formative state, and with the milk of her bosom after 
 their birth, and how much smaller part he enacts when 
 mated with crude and unrefined blood which refuses to 
 coalese perfectly with his." 
 
 At the birth of each child, Hopping Antelope in- 
 sisted on awarding to Mr. Wickham six hundred and forty 
 acres of land in fulfillment of the prenuptial agreement. 
 The disappointed father as regularly added another hun- 
 dred head of cattle to the general stock at every birth. 
 At the time of the birth of the last child this land was 
 of great value and the herd had so multiplied that Mr. 
 Wickham had to abandon mining and concentrate his at- 
 tention on his land and cattle. 
 
36 THE PILGRIM 
 
 About this time the United States government bought 
 the remainder of the Indian lands and traded them lands 
 in the Indian Territory. Early in September, Hopping 
 Antelope turned his steps eastward, never again to re- 
 turn to the west. 
 
 Mr. Wickham built a splendid stone residence and 
 a large company store near by. He furnished the resi- 
 dence superbly, rolled up the tepees and put them away, 
 as he thought, for all time. With great ecstacy Mr. Wick- 
 ham installed the wild mother of his children in this 
 palatial domicile and expected her to be supremely happy. 
 What a mistake ! This installation was the beginning . of 
 her discontent. 
 
 Blue jay rebelled, begged to go back to Clear Creek, 
 to gushing springs and babbling brooks with her tepee. She 
 said the house and the furnishings made her sick. The 
 refinements and costly ornaments were a constant torture 
 to her. Ultimately they became intolerable, and she fol- 
 lowed off every band of roving Indians that passed through 
 the country. She loved her children and fairly worshiped 
 her "Paleface," but could not endure their environments, 
 their civilization. 
 
 Mr. Wickham spent thousands of dollars and months 
 of anxiety in recovering her from time to time, but he 
 could not comfort her until he fixed a tepee on the banks 
 of the Arkansas River. When summer came she would 
 go to Clear Creek, White River, or some other mountain 
 resort, and if someone did not accompany her, she would 
 follow off the first band of Indians that passed. 
 
 Notwithstanding Mr. Wickham's great disappoint- 
 ment about the sex and full-blooded Indian appearance of 
 his children, he never ceased paying on the debt of grati- 
 tude he owed to Blue jay, and he used every precaution 
 
AND THE PIONEER 39 
 
 to shield her from suffering and exposure. He sent the 
 daughters away to school and educated them. The young 
 men in the store and about the ranches married them 
 one after another, as soon as they became of marriageable 
 
 This greatly modified the chagrin and disappoint- 
 ment of the father. It convinced him that he was super- 
 sensitive about their Indian appearance. He often 
 soliloquized in this way: "These young men have had 
 ample opportunities to compare my girls with numerous 
 pretty, refined white girls in the community and they seem 
 to prefer mine. They do not disparage my daughters, 
 and why should I." 
 
 Soon after the marriage of the last daughter, Blue jay 
 died, and Mr. Wickham was sorely grieved. He tenderly 
 buried her. He then became inconsolable over the in- 
 feriority of his children. He felt that he should, that 
 he must, devote the greater part of his unfinished life 
 to the amelioration of the hard conditions of his fellows. 
 His environments, however, were making him a dreamer, 
 a pessimist. He had spent a long life in teaching and 
 practicing "The Holy Creed of Blessed Optimism." He 
 saw clearly the impending danger. He must escape from 
 his present environment^ and find constant excitement, 
 or break his adored creed. He divided his property among 
 his sons-in-law, giving each an estimated value of $50,000, 
 and prepared to return to mining. He visited all of his 
 daughters and congratulated them on being in such good 
 hands and beyond want, and said there were twenty years 
 more of good, hard work in him, that his taste ran to 
 mining, and that he would go to the San Juan and try 
 his fortune there. He said it was better for all that he 
 leave them and their husbands alone, and so bade them 
 
40 THE PILGRIM 
 
 all an affectionate good-bye and was off for the San Juan 
 mines, saying to himself, "Now I have the choice of a 
 life of unceasing excitement or a life in an insane 
 asylum." 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 FREEZING OUT SELFISHNESS. 
 
 When the Denver passengers inquired of the hotel 
 proprietor as to when they might get tickets to Del Norte, 
 the price of the tickets, when the stage would leave, etc., 
 he said : "You can get tickets at the stage office and they 
 will cost you just twenty cents a mile, but golly, boys, 
 you can just make five dollars a day walking over, if you 
 don't think all the gold and silver might be scraped up 
 while you are delayed." 
 
 They had debated whether they should not walk 
 from Denver at $2.50 per day rather than pay ten cents 
 a mile by rail and some of the prospective passengers were 
 inclined to walk over the range. The host said : "By golly, 
 boys, you ort ter see the railroad freight and express 
 rates; they would make you pale. W'y a Jew peddler 
 would get rich packing his goods in competition with 
 them ; and as to the express, well I'll bet you the drinks, 
 you may go over and ask the agent the cost of sending 
 a bundle, and he'll look straight out of the window while 
 he tells you; he'll be so ashamed of the extortion that he 
 just can't look you in the face." 
 
 Major Dowell, a newspaper pilgrim, asked him why 
 the press and business men of the town did not call these 
 extortions to the attention of the manager of the road. 
 
 He replied: "Now look here, partner, that is just 
 what we did. We got up a petition and showed that 
 the railroads charged more than the bull teams did be- 
 fore the roads were built, and that the Mexicans with 
 
 (41) 
 
42 THE PILGRIM 
 
 their wagons were now successfully competing with the 
 railroads, and tried to convince the managers that it would 
 benefit the roads to lower the freight rate because it 
 would drive the bull teams out of the business; but the 
 managers 'lowed that it was entirely beneath the high 
 aspirations of the railroads to drive any one out of busi- 
 ness, and were surprised that we suggested such a thing. 
 They 'lowed it was their policy to live and to let live." 
 
 As the passengers arose from the breakfast table at 
 the Schuyler Hotel, a stranger, dressed in a neat fitting, 
 woolen lined, canvas suit, a blue flannel shirt, a shapely 
 pair of calf-skin boots, a broad-brimmed sombrero, with 
 a yellow leather belt around his number forty waist, drove 
 up to the porch in a buckboard, alighted, and asked the 
 clerk if he was in time for the Del Norte coach. 
 
 The clerk told him that he had plenty of time for 
 breakfast before the coach started. 
 
 There was nothing so startling about the makeup 
 of the new-comer's personal apparel as to cause others 
 to give more than a passing glance at it, but even in such 
 a casual observance one could not avoid being attracted 
 by two firm, piercing, deep-set gray eyes, a well-formed 
 and gracefully poised head, and a face so illumined by 
 intellectuality as to make the possessor a shining mark 
 among a thousand. 
 
 When it was whispered that the likely looking 
 stranger was to be a passenger on the long stage ride, 
 his fellow passengers gathered around the clerk and asked 
 about him. The clerk answered, "That is the richest, 
 the most equable-minded, the most intellectual, and by 
 all means the most attractive personality, that has ever 
 lived in the Arkansas valley. When a young man, he, 
 for some unaccountable reason, married Hopping Ante- 
 
AND THE PIONEER 43 
 
 lope's daughter, Princess Blue jay, and has had six 
 daughters by her, all named for brooks, springs, and birds, 
 and all looking like full-blooded Indians. He has always 
 claimed that he has never seen a dark cloud, a blue day, 
 or a hopeless just cause, and has always attributed this 
 and his marvelous success to what he calls 'The Holy Creed 
 of Blessed Optimism.' He has certainly snatched so 
 many victories from the very jaws of apparent defeat, 
 has so -completely supplanted the Territorial laws with 
 the practice of his creed, that he has dismantled the 
 courts, and has so directed the destinies of his community 
 that his neighbors almost think him divine. The most 
 thoughtful outsiders think he has forced this spectacular 
 regime and this crowded, excited life upon himself, to 
 keep his mind from the barbarous wife and inferior 
 children, that, like heavy mill stones, hang about his 
 neck. Watch him on this trip. Princess Blue jay has 
 just died and the daughters have married the employees 
 about the place, for a part of his property, of course, 
 and he is now probably running from the constant re- 
 minders of his early follies. He must be constantly 
 wrought up to the highest pitch. He will be, in all prob- 
 ability, driving the stage coach by the time you reach 
 Del ISTorte ; but don't be uneasy, his acts have always been 
 for the greatest good to the greatest and most deserving 
 number." 
 
 One of the women stretched her neck over the 
 shoulders of the men, and whispered : "His name, please." 
 "Oh, excuse me," answered the clerk, "his name is Wick- 
 ham, Joshua Wickham." 
 
 The old landlord slowly approached the coach pas- 
 sengers as they were paying their bills to the clerk, raised 
 his spectacles, and commanded : "I want you all to watch 
 
44 THE PILGRIM 
 
 that old man," pointing toward the dining room, "watch 
 him! He has played the false game in this valley for 
 twenty years, and he is playing a false game now. He 
 is playing that he is hurrying off to the wild and woolly 
 San Juan to mine, and he don't want to mine, I golly 
 he don't have to mine. He is running away from the 
 reminders of his early fads and from his false life. He, 
 for some reason, married a greasy, dumb, thoughtless, 
 unsympathetic Indian squaw, and she hrought papooses as 
 rapidly as a Belgian hare brings young, and they are 
 all as much like her as clover leaves are like one another. 
 He buried his squaw-wife the other day and divided 
 three hundred thousand dollars among his squaw-daugh- 
 ters, and, I golly, he has plenty left, so he has. He is 
 now staggering under his Indian burden and is trying 
 to slip from under his victims, but it will be all in vain. 
 Fifty thousand dollars is poor pay for that Indian blood 
 and everlasting humiliation and disgrace. 
 
 "I was the first sheriff in the Arkansas valley and 
 that fellow starved my office to death, broke up the courts, 
 took the bread and butter right out of our mouths, and 
 ruled the valley, as completely as Moses did the children 
 of Israel, and, mind you, with a spurious sunshine that 
 he called The Holy Creed of Blessed Optimism.' He 
 persuaded the people that there was no use of crime, 
 disputes with neighbors, blue days, or anything else but 
 just brotherly love, and this sunshine. What darned rot! 
 I 'low that the death of his squaw broke the machine, 
 or it manufactures moonshine, may be, instead of sun- 
 shine. That old man will never find a chasm so deep, 
 a gorge so dark, or scenes so wild, that the ghosts of his 
 Indian wife and daughters will not be astride of his 
 conscience, whipping and spurring him back to the feet 
 
AND THE PIONEER 45 
 
 of his ruined victims. He may hide his real purpose 
 a little while if the excitement is great, but as the old 
 muscles get rheumatic, the bones hard and limey, the 
 setting sun close to his dim, watery eyes, he will swell 
 up just like a starved cow fills with the gas from a gorge 
 of frozen alfalfa. You watch him; there will be an out- 
 crop of his remorse through the garrulous tongue of old 
 age before many summers, then you let old Major Bently 
 know. He thinks I am a bosom friend of his. I ought to 
 be, I golly, after he starved my office to death with his 
 blamed creed, and came nigh gittin' me. Look out, boys, 
 he's apt to turn the stage coach over just to get to try 
 his creed on your distress." 
 
 At this point the local stage agent appeared and 
 soon convinced the passengers that to attempt to walk 
 over to Del Norte would be a great folly, that they were 
 liable to be overtaken by snow storms, or caught out be- 
 tween stations to starve, or be run in by the road agents. 
 
 Major Dowell, a corpulent old gentleman of about 
 fifty years, loaded with a bound copy of the Kansas Ga- 
 zette, which he published, and a quart of gin, hurried to 
 the stage officer, and arranged with the driver for the out- 
 side seat. ~No doubt the bottle of gin not only brought 
 a quick, favorable decision, but kept the driver from in- 
 forming our aged pilgrim that an outside seat was a 
 despicable choice during that season of the year. 
 
 Major Dowell soon returned to the hotel with a smile 
 of success on his countenance. He sidled up to one pas- 
 senger after another, nudged him in the ribs, and said: 
 "I was smarter than you, for I have engaged the seat out- 
 side with the driver where I can see the country." 
 
 "Well, Major Dowell, will you not occasionally 
 
46 THE PILGRIM 
 
 change seats with us, that the monotony may be broken 
 for all of us on this long trip ?" asked Mr. Wickham. 
 
 Major Dowell looked down upon him with an insipid 
 smile, and, holding out the bound copy of the Gazette, 
 replied: "Well, you know, I am a newspaper man, 
 and I want to write up everything of interest that I 
 can see. It don't make any difference with you fellows 
 whether you see anything or not You know that I would 
 be glad to change with you, but I want to use the in- 
 formation for the benefit of the public. W'y, hundreds 
 of thousands of people will read what I say about this 
 trip." 
 
 Mr. Wickham called the other prospective passen- 
 gers about him and said : "Gentlemen, I have been in the 
 Hocky Mountains off and on for twenty years, and it will 
 be a miracle if we cross the range this season of the 
 year without encountering a severe snow storm. The 
 pioneer always shares every comfort and every hardship 
 with his fellows, everything else being equal, but here 
 is a bloated pilgrim, loaded down with the narrow and 
 bigoted selfishness so common to those who always live 
 among their kindred and families, who deserves chastise- 
 ment. Now, sirs, I move that any one of this party who 
 may, for however short a space of time, change seats with 
 him between Pueblo and Del Norte be drummed out 
 of the party." He submitted the question to a vote 
 and everyone voted "aye." 
 
 Mr. Wickham thanked the party for the unanimous 
 vote, and guaranteed that our outside passenger would, 
 in the next three days, get more color in his face and nose 
 from the angry elements than he could get from a whole 
 barrel of Holland gin. 
 
 At 8 A. M. the coach was loaded to the limit on the 
 
AND THE PIONEER 47 
 
 inside, and Major Dowell and the driver occupied the out- 
 side. Everything moved along very harmoniously dur- 
 ing the forenoon, as they were in the lowlands skirting 
 the Arkansas River. About the middle of the afternoon 
 one of the most severe and most blinding snow storms that 
 ever visited that region came mercilessly down upon them. 
 The wind raged at a velocity of fifty miles an hour, and 
 sent the sharp, cutting snow into the faces and eyes of the 
 horses, driver, and outside passenger, making their lot 
 almost intolerable. 
 
 Every eleven miles they reached a stage station and 
 changed horses, as it was the custom to travel day and 
 night until the trip was finished. 
 
 After they had been in the storm for an hour they 
 reached a stage station. 
 
 While the stock tender was loosing the horses and 
 putting in fresh ones, Major Dowell climbed down from the 
 coach and said to the inside passengers, "I am almost 
 frozen. It is very hard on one to sit out here constantly 
 in this raging storm. Will not one of you change places 
 with me for a little while ?" 
 
 "Ah," replied Mr. Wickham, a but you will get to see 
 the country. Think of what the hundreds of thousands of 
 readers of the Gazette would lose, should you be penned 
 up in this curtained coach where you could not see the 
 tall quaking aspen bend its graceful form to and fro as 
 these majestic canons inhale and exhale the gentle zephyrs. 
 How could you describe vividly, or put life into the grace- 
 ful arms of Boreas as he artfully lassoes these beautiful 
 horses with his lariats of twisted snow, without an actual 
 vision of the scene? Last, but not least, how could you 
 ever verify your oft repeated assertion to the inside pas- 
 sengers that you are smarter than they in obtaining the 
 
48 THE PILGRIM 
 
 outside seat, that you might see the beautiful country, 
 and describe it in the interest of the public, and that this 
 was all for the public good, unless you really sacrifice your 
 personal comfort for the public weal ?" 
 
 At this point the driver exclaimed, "All aboard," and 
 in a few moments the coach was plodding along in the 
 deep snow drifts toward the Eastern base of the great 
 Sangre de Cristo range. 
 
 Mr. Campbell twisted and groaned, coughed, and ex- 
 pectorated hlv)od frequently. Mr. Wickham asked him 
 about his trouble. He. answered that he had chronic 
 bronchitis, and afternoon fevers daily. Mr. Wickham said, 
 "Get out and walk up this hill, keep your mouth closed 
 and breathe deeply of the fresh air." Mr. Campbell re- 
 plied that he dare not venture out in cold air. 
 
 Mr. Wickham continued, "That is your trouble. You 
 are breathing this dead, poisonous air. It is the dead air 
 that depresses and the fresh air that invigorates. If you 
 will follow my advice, I will guarantee to cure ;you on 
 fresh air, wholesome exercise, and cheerful thoughts." 
 
 Mr. Campbell answered, "I am willing to try any- 
 thing. I prefer death to what I have been the last eighteen 
 months." Very well," suggested the pioneer, "I am 
 your physician. Now remember that you must follow in- 
 structions. I order you to alight, walk vigorously up this 
 hill, with mouth closed and shoulders thrown back, draw- 
 ing great drafts of air to the very bottom of your lung 
 cells, and to permit no shadow of fear or doubt to cross 
 your mind." 
 
 Mr. Campbell got out to walk, and while passing 
 some willows near a spring, found that the storm had 
 driven many rabbits to shelter there. He drew a small 
 22-caliber revolver and killed several of them. In fact 
 
AND THE PIONEER 49 
 
 they had been so frightened and chilled by the storm that 
 one could almost pick them up in his* hands. The smell 
 of the gun-powder and the sound of the musketry had 
 the same stimulating effect on Major Dowell that the sound 
 of the bugle has on the trained cavalry horse. He, too, had 
 a revolver, but it was in his valise, stored away in the 
 boot of the coach. Not even the potent influence of the 
 bottle of gin could induce the driver to stop and exhume 
 this deadly weapon that the old warrior might join in 
 the chase. Late at night they reached Badito for supper, 
 and there learned that the snow was so deep on the range 
 that it would be impassable that night or the next day. 
 
 Badito was a cold, barren little place, with a general 
 store, livery stable, blacksmith shop, and saloon with a 
 hotel attachment. When supper was ready there was no 
 bell or gong sounded, but the proprietor got upon a dry 
 goods box in front of his place, and cried out at the top of 
 his voice, "Come to your grub, you hungry devils." 
 
 Everyone expecting to eat there ran with all his might 
 for the table, as there were more persons than plates; 
 however, they were all well fed and fairly well bedded. 
 
 Before they retired Mr. Wickham raised the window 
 as high as it would go. Mr. Campbell suggested, "I do 
 not wish to discommode you, Mr. Wickham, but a win- 
 dow up like that would kill me. I have not slept with a 
 door or window open for a year and a half. I can't stand 
 the night air." "That is what has been lowering your 
 vitality, increasing your cough, and encouraging the inva- 
 sion of the army of deadly microbes on your weakened 
 system," replied Mr. Wickham. "I am the doctor and 
 you are the patient. I command you to think that this 
 will aid you, and tomorrow I shall ask you to explain the 
 difference between this fresh, pure night air, and the 
 
 THE PILGRIM. 4 
 
50 THE PILGRIM 
 
 poisonous carbonic acid that you have been rebreathing 
 into your depressed lungs for the past eighteen months." 17 
 
 When Mr. Campbell arose in the morning, Mr. Wick- 
 ham got a bowl of cold water and made him bathe from 
 head to heels, then go through a complete course of 
 muscle and joint exercises. Mr. Campbell said, "If I 
 had not been so refreshed from the brisk, cool air that 
 poured into the room all night, and if your prescribed 
 exercise had not so rejuvenated me, I could not think of 
 such a severe ordeal." When the bath and exercises were 
 over and his toilet was finished, Mr. Wickham raised the 
 window facing the east and required him to stand there 
 ten minutes drawing in and exhaling the fresh air to the 
 very bottom of his lung cells. Mr. Campbell persisted in 
 walking, and boasting that he hadn't felt so well in the 
 morning in eighteen months, declared that he verily be- 
 lieved that the pioneer had found the long sought 
 elixir of life, and that he felt sure of recovery under 
 his treatment. The pioneer answered, "That spirit, 
 if you will hold on to it, will greatly aid me. The great- 
 est medicine known to the race is buoyant, cheerful, and 
 hopeful thought. The embodiment of the greatest law of 
 health is bound up in the terse sentence, 'As a man think- 
 eth, so is he.' ' 
 
 The morning sun came out bright and sparkling, 
 but the range was closed. A night's sleep and two hearty 
 meals had not allayed the excitement of Major Do well, 
 caused by the smell of gun-powder the day before. Soon af- 
 ter breakfast he brought out an enormous, rust-eaten, navy 
 revolver that certainly had not been used since the war. 
 He carefully loaded it and hunted up Mr. Campbell, say- 
 ing: 
 
 "I'll bet you the drinks I can beat you shooting." 
 
AND THE PIONEER 51 
 
 A half dozen of the passengers cried out at once, 
 "HI take the bet" 
 
 They took a dry goods box and the passengers with 
 the towns-people adjourned to the back of the store to 
 witness the match. 
 
 Mr. Campbell put the box, with the top of a tin can 
 tacked to it as a bull's eye, thirty paces distant. 
 
 Major Dowell looking at this near target and then at 
 Mr. Campbell with the utmost contempt, sneered: 
 
 "Pshaw, I'm not going to shoot at that ; my revolver 
 will shoot three-quarters of a mile." 
 
 He looked across a valley to a large spruce forest and 
 suggested : 
 
 "Let's shoot the top off one of those big spruce trees." 
 
 An inhabitant replied : 
 
 "I'll bet you the drinks you can't hit the forest." 
 
 Major Dowell immediately took the bet, and they ap- 
 pointed judges who were to award the stakes to Major 
 Dowell if they could discover any falling limbs, and to his 
 adversary if they saw no- evidence of a wound in the tim- 
 ber. 
 
 Major Dowell took his revolver in both hands and 
 leveled it at the tops of these trees, which he afterwards 
 learned were seven miles away ; but when he pulled the trig- 
 ger, instead of shooting only once as he expected, it kept go- 
 ing until six shots were fired. He deliberately turned the 
 smoking muzzle up and looked into it, seemingly to see 
 if it had really quit shooting, then as deliberately dropped 
 it to the ground, took hold of the mangled thumb of his 
 right hand with his left, and raised it to his side, then 
 gravely and with a military bearing, looked at the crowd 
 and asked: 
 
52 THE PILGRIM 
 
 "What do you suppose was the matter with that re- 
 volver ? I would not give $2.50 for it." 
 
 Some one remarked that no one cared to buy. 
 
 He very deliberately picked up his thumb again, and 
 said: 
 
 "It has really ruined my thumb." In fact the 
 lead and powder from the cylinder had torn the flesh 
 from nail to wrist. 
 
 He picked up the revolver, took it to a store, and 
 traded it for a cake of camphor ice, and the last time 
 the passengers saw him his thumb was still in a sling. 
 
 He lost the wager, but the stakes were not tendered 
 or demanded. 
 
 The following morning the officers of the stage com- 
 pany proposed that if the passengers would leave their 
 baggage and walk across the range that they had paid 
 twenty cents a mile to ride over, the stage company would 
 put the mail on a buckboard and get it over. 
 
 All hands readily agreed, and for the first time all 
 passengers were on a complete equality. 
 
 Two women were in the party. One, the wife of 
 Judge Tucker of Antelope Park, and the other, the wife of 
 Mr. Warner, who had with her a six months' old baby. 
 
 Mr. Warner was about fifty years old and as deaf as a 
 post. He used a writing pad in communicating with 
 others. The drenched eyes of Mrs. Warner bespoke a fam- 
 ily jar. She stepped into the room where the passengers 
 were packing, wringing her hands and crying, "My baby, 
 my poor baby, this trip will kill you, if it does not kill 
 both of us." 
 
 Mr. Wickham looked up and said, "My dear madam, 
 it occurs to me that prudence and humanity demand that 
 you should stay here or return to Pueblo until the range 
 
AND THE PIONEER 53 
 
 opens. It's a trying undertaking for a husky man to 
 cross there today." 
 
 She wrung her hands and replied, "I must, I must, 
 I must, if it kills my child, because he (pointing toward 
 the room of Mr. Warner) wills it. I informed him that I 
 should take my child back to Pueblo, and remain until the 
 range opened, and then cross." He said, "Very well, 
 if you have the means, but I shall not give you a cent to 
 get to or from Pueblo and if you are not with me, you 
 will have to furnish yourself. 7 "What am I but a de- 
 pendent, a mendicant ? I am not a free agent. I do not 
 own my child, myself, or the means of subsistence. 
 He carries the keys to the commissary and is master; I 
 am the slave, and I must go if it kills my child. Talk 
 about the dignity of womanhood. There is neither dignity 
 nor womanhood without a purse attachment." 
 
 Mr. Wickham scratched his head and replied, "That 
 is a kind of an eye-opener. I gave the purse strings of 
 my endowments to my sons-in-law, because of the great 
 preponderance of Indian blood in my daughters. Sup- 
 pose my sons-in-law want to enslave or abandon my 
 daughters. I am afraid I took desperate chances. : What 
 a mess of trouble that debt of gratitude led me into ! I 
 should have known that if you pour a barrel of refined 
 oil and a barrel of crude oil together it will all be crude 
 oil. I should have expected that the mixing of refined 
 and crude blood would make the whole crude blood; but 
 the die is cast, I must make the best of it." 
 
 Mr. Warner came wabbling in with his baby in his 
 arms, caressingly spanking it. His inability to hear seemed 
 to be a very fortunate defect for the time being, for his 
 twenty year old wife was hurling at his unprotected head 
 all the vile anathemas that could be wrung from a troubled 
 
64 THE PILGRIM 
 
 and embittered soul for daring to bring a mother and child 
 into a merciless rendezvous of elements so hazardous to 
 human life. He gently pressed the baby to his bosom, 
 offered his wife all kinds of assistance, and looked into 
 her eyes with an approving and cheerful expression, evr- 
 .dently thinking she was pouring out the vials of her 
 wrath on that great octopus, the stage company. 
 
 How sweet the delusion ! How fortunate that he was 
 not versed in the modern lip action language so well un- 
 derstood by many of the deaf. 
 
 They soon passed the summit of the divide, stayed 
 over night, and the next morning hitched to the coach and 
 loaded in and outside the same as in the beginning of the 
 trip, and had a- very successful day. As the shades of 
 evening came upon them the north wind swept across the 
 great San Luis valley, making the air very cold and dis- 
 agreeable. The driver leaned back and opened the cur- 
 tain of the window of the coach with the staff of his whip, 
 and in a low tone suggested to Mr. Wickham : 
 
 "It is very hard on this old man to sit out here in 
 this cold night air. 
 
 "Yes," replied Mr. Wickham, "but he will get to see 
 the country, and what little he can't see he can feel, that 
 he may properly write it up for the entertainment of the 
 hundreds of thousands of readers of the Gazette." 
 
 The coach soon reached the supper station at the Big 
 Bend of the Eio Grande River. When Major Dowell moped 
 into the lighted dining-room with one hand in a sling, 
 practically snow-blind, his face blistered from the ef- 
 fects of the wind and cold and from the reflections of 
 the sun from the snow, much sympathy was expressed for 
 him by the inside passengers, as well as by the others 
 present. 
 
AND THE PIONEER 55 
 
 The hurried meal was soon dispatched, the coach 
 loaded as before, and the horses were off on a swinging 
 trot up the Rio Grande. 
 
 A mild rebellion soon began to show itself against the 
 determination of Mr. Wickham to keep Major Dowell fac- 
 ing the angry elements to the end of the journey. 
 
 Mr. Wickham straightened himself up and explained : 
 
 "My fellow travelers, this may, at first blush, seem 
 a severe penalty for the offense committed, but retribu- 
 tion is visited on transgressors by natural and by human 
 laws for the purpose of removing the causes of the 
 transgression. The chief object is to repair the defect in 
 the mental and moral machinery that permitted the evil 
 thought to pass the monitor of inner consciousness. The 
 penalty serves as a kind of additional safeguard or sen- 
 tinel during the period of convalescence or repair. Such 
 penalties are not intended so much as a punishment for 
 offenses committed as they are to deter perpetrators from 
 repeating the offense. IsTow let us do our full duty 
 to him and to the public. Let us coolly ask ourselves, 
 'Who is this pilgrim that claims our sympathy? 7 While 
 I never saw him until two days ago, I'll wager my 
 right arm that when a boy he would push his little sister 
 or smaller brother out of the little arm chair and sneak- 
 ingly push himself down into it; that he always made 
 the other children divide everything they had with him 
 and when he had anything that he might divide, like 
 stingy Peter, he went out behind the house and enjoyed 
 it all by himself. When a man, he always crowded into 
 the best rocking chair and made his mother and sisters 
 sit upon the stools; when, at the table, there was but a 
 small portion of any choice article, he appropriated it to 
 himself; that he made all of his family and kindred 
 
56 THE PILGRIM 
 
 wait upon him and he appropriated and used their, prop- 
 erty as his own, but never reciprocated in any way. He 
 has brought every evidence of these most despicable traits 
 with him to this common Western meeting ground of 
 the sons and daughters of every land and clime. Here 
 we read no pedigree, we do not care what a man has 
 done or be^n, or what his ancestors have done or been, 
 if he has mended his ways. We only concern ourselves 
 with the present and the future. We say, 'What are 
 you, and what can you do V Here we meet, without caste 
 or ancestral influence, as strangers and on an absolute 
 equality. We have nothing but the merit system here. 
 
 "Did you not detect a change in his demeanor at 
 supper? Did you not see that the medicine is acting? 
 Desperate diseases require desperate remedies. This pun- 
 ishment has not been agreeable, within itself, to any of 
 us. It is only the laudable end that justifies the harsh 
 means. We have certainly frozen out of him much 
 of the despised disease of selfishness. If fifty years from 
 today he should attempt to seek another" such selfish ad- 
 vantage of his fellows, his ordeal would rise up like 
 Banquo's ghost, and frown him back. If his short resi- 
 dence would permit, I should not hesitate to recommend 
 him now as cleansed and purified and well prepared to 
 enter the exalted domain of the pioneer, whose immortal 
 motto has ever been, other things being equal, 'Always 
 share equally the miseries as well as the joys of your 
 fellows/ " 
 
 At this time the lights of Del Norte flashed upon 
 them and the driver was pulling up at the Grand Central 
 Hotel for the night. Mr. Campbell looking up, replied : 
 
 "Sir, before we part, in behalf of all these passen- 
 gers, I wish to extend to you our sincere regrets that we 
 
AND THE PIONEER 57 
 
 permitted our sympathies, for even a few moments, to 
 drift our minds and our full appreciation from the most 
 beneficient purpose you were so grandly working out. 
 Our excuse is our lack of experience. It has been an 
 unbroken revelation to us throughout this eventful trip, 
 to observe the natural application of the many wise and 
 just precepts and examples wrought out through the close 
 contact of the adventurous pathfinders on this expansive 
 Western domain, with the immutable laws of nature. We 
 can scent in their every fibre the healthful aroma of nat- 
 ural justice. The great hardships attending this rugged 
 journey of one hundred and fifty miles have been prac- 
 tically unobserved by the inside passengers, so charmed 
 were they in viewing the natural and true character of the 
 pioneer, unfolding itself like a grand and unbroken epic." 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE SEAKED CONSCIENCE OF GREED. 
 
 April 14, 1874, the Pilgrim and the Pioneer arose to 
 find themselves in one of the most valuable and pictur- 
 esque spots on the Western domain. The great San Luis 
 valley, forty by one hundred miles, almost as level as a 
 billiard table and very fertile when awakened by the 
 magic touch of water, lay spread out before them with the 
 beautiful Rio Grande River emerging from the canon 
 above and threading its way through the center of the 
 valley, furnishing convenient means of irrigation, and a 
 sportsman's paradise; for it was literally swelling with 
 fish and covered with wild fowls. 
 
 The Sari Luis valley is fenced in by the Sangre de 
 Cristo and other lofty mountain ranges among the most 
 majestic and gorgeous found in the great Rocky Mountain 
 system. 
 
 Del 2s"orte is very cosily nestled in between the river 
 and a towering peak on the south resembling Lookout 
 Mountain; it is a beautiful, sunny, and protected nook, 
 and a nice town. 
 
 The main valley was not inhabited except by a few 
 bands of Mexicans who had been there for ages, and an 
 occasional man who had dropped out of the army or out 
 of some surveying or exploring party, working for the 
 government, with a few recent settlers who had located on 
 the small streams in the low bottoms near the river where 
 irrigation is inexpensive. But the town was a living, mov- 
 ing mass of prospectors, miners, business and professicnni 
 
 (59) 
 
60 THE PILGRIM 
 
 men, with the usual supply of camp followers, thugs, 
 gamblers, and bunco steerers. 
 
 Mr. Wickham kept up his fresh air, cold water, vigor- 
 ous exercise, and strong, cheerful thought treatment, and 
 his patient continued to improve. 
 
 Mr. Campbell and Mr. Wickham visited Messrs. An- 
 gier brothers, Yale graduates, with, the sign hoisted over 
 their door, "Civil Engineers and United States Deputy 
 Mineral Surveyors." Mr. Wickham told them that Mr. 
 Campbell was a surveyor and expected to follow the pro- 
 fession for a few years at least. 
 
 Mr. James Angier asked Mr. Campbell if he should 
 make surface or underground work a specialty. "Oh !" said 
 Mr. Campbell, "I am not a miner, but a surveyor." Mr. 
 Angier replied, "You do not understand me. The most ab- 
 struse, interesting and profitable work here is underground 
 surveys to determine the dips, angles, variation, courses, 
 etc., of veins. I did not know but you intended engaging 
 in this difficult line." 
 
 At this point Mr. Morice Stockman, a graduate from 
 Freiburg, Germany, stepped in with a gleaming new solar 
 transit that he had just purchased for $175, and was intro- 
 duced to Mr. Campbell as a new engineer. 
 
 "Ah!" said Mr. Stockman, "we welcome you as a 
 member of the profession." 
 
 Mr. Campbell replied, "I really supposed you were a 
 photographer from your carrying that camera," and 
 stooped and peeped through the glasses of the transit. 
 
 The engineers laughed and thought Mr. Campbell 
 quite a wit, but Mr. Wickham looked embarrassed. Mr. 
 Angier inquired, "What kind of an instrument do you 
 use ?" "Oh !" answered Mr. Campbell, "I have a fine com- 
 pass that Prof. Hampton has used ever since he came out 
 
AND THE PIONEER 61 
 
 of Columbia College thirty years ago. He did not want to 
 sell it, but I was used to it and while I could have gotten 
 a new one for $5, with a new hundred-foot tape line, I 
 offered him six dollars for his compass and old tape line 
 and he snapped me up in a minute." Mr. Stockman replied, 
 "The government will not permit you to use such an in- 
 strument or line." "What do they make you use?" in- 
 quired Mr. Campbell. "A transit like this and a steel 
 line," answered Mr. Stockman. "I should think that steel 
 would be so heavy and stiff that you could not. bend it 
 around an angle," said Mr. Campbell. Mr. Wickham said, 
 "Come on, Mr. Campbell, I have an engagement." They 
 bid the engineers good-bye and departed. 
 
 The mining excitement was caused by discoveries in 
 previous years in the Summit and Baker Park districts 
 30 to 60 miles away, and these places and the ways of 
 ingress and egress were so covered with snow that it was 
 not possible to prospect or get work to any considerable 
 extent before June 1st. 
 
 Mr. Wickham reached the -hotel about seven o'clock 
 the following evening. Remaining quiet for a few mo- 
 ments, he finally burst out: 
 
 "Man's inhumanity to man still makes countless 
 thousands mourn. These people, the newspapers, hotels, 
 stage companies, and railroads, are persistently advertis- 
 ing this place as the gateway to the San Juan mines, and 
 telling of the hundreds of people coming in to mine, 
 when they know these poor fellows cannot get work here 
 for two months, and it is all occasioned by a sordid desire 
 to get the pay for transporting and for feeding them; it- 
 is a natural, if it is not a statutory, crime." 
 
 "Well, I do not see it in that way." replied Mr. Me- 
 
62 THE PILGRIM 
 
 Collough, the hotel keeper, "we do not tell them that the 
 mines are at Del Norte or that the snow is off the moun- 
 tains. All that the railroad company, stage -company, the 
 newspapers, or myself, tell them is true. 
 
 a But," said Mr. Wickham, a you do not tell the whole 
 truth. There is an implication in your statement that 
 the mines are here and being worked. Is there any 
 moral or real distinction between telling a falsehood and 
 artfully and intentionally concealing the truth? 
 
 "If" you invite a person to be seated on a sheaf of 
 wheat with an adder concealed in it, that you know will 
 sting him to death, are you guiltless because you do not 
 mention the serpent ? No, you are guilty. ' You tell a 
 quiescent, an implied falsehood which, from the cunning 
 deception, often involves greater turpitude than an ex- 
 press falsehood. 
 
 "The distinction is but a convenient escape for a 
 pliable conscience. I have had this injustice forcibly im- 
 pressed upon my mind this afternoon by hearing the trial 
 of one of these deluded men for a theft. 
 
 "He swore that he was a miner living in Cheyenne, 
 doing odd jobs and barely making an existence, and one of 
 your newspapers was put into his hands, giving glowing 
 accounts of this mining country and telling the number 
 of daily arrivals coming here to mine and prospect, carry- 
 ing an indisputable implication that they were operating. 
 He started at once and expended all of his money in 
 reaching here, and was horrified to learn that he could not 
 get into the mines for sixty days; yesterday he searched 
 the town for work and repeatedly offered to work for his 
 board; he was without supper last night or breakfast this 
 morning, and while hunting work today he discovered the 
 
AND THE PIONEER 63 
 
 part of a ham of venison hanging outside of a cabin, and 
 the pangs of hunger impelled him to slip it under his 
 coat; he was overtaken, arrested, dragged into court, con- 
 victed, and sent to jail in disgrace. 
 
 "The lecture of the judge in sentencing this prisoner 
 was a disgusting travesty upon every element of justice 
 and of common sense. He blandly said that if all of the 
 miner's statements were true, still that would furnish no 
 excuse for the theft. ~No excuse ? The heartless cormor- 
 ants who deluded him into such a charnel house were 
 accessories before the fact, yea more; they were guilty of 
 the theft and in addition were guilty of brutally assault- 
 ing a fellow-being with the excruciating pangs of hun- 
 ger. The ignorance of the legislator and of the jurist 
 is made manifest when they pronounce it a grave mis- 
 demeanor even to touch insolently the hem of another's 
 garment, when they will with impunity starve one to death 
 from the pangs of hunger, or when, through stealth, de- 
 ception, and misrepresentation, one may, as was done in 
 this case, purloin his neighbor's cash for transporting him 
 into concealed environments which must commit the 
 deadly assault of hunger upon him, and yet remain 
 legally guiltless. Even approximate justice will not 
 prevail in the courts until legislators and jurists hunt 
 out the responsible cause, the person who commits 
 the first wrong which led to the overt act, rather than 
 some unfortunate one who is forced by another's wrong 
 to do the forbidden physical act. Legislators and jurists 
 do not, they cannot, fully appreciate the gravity of these 
 fallacies unless at some time they have been compelled 
 to battle with squalor and the pinch of hunger." 
 
 "The Pullman of a B. & O. train broke down a 
 short time ago, and the passengers were without food for 
 
64 THE PILGRIM 
 
 eleven hours; these Very best' citizens were ready to 
 break into a smokehouse for something to eat, and the 
 same persons expect the poor to go without work and 
 hungry for weeks and months without doing anything 
 that is abnormal. 
 
 "There seems to be no other task so difficult to the 
 masses as to learn this lesson of human nature. They 
 persist in expecting an idle man to act like a busy one; 
 a hungry man like a well-fed one; an illiterate man 
 like an educated one, when they are all as different as 
 jet and ivory, and the remedies are as different as those 
 for a burning fever and a frigid paralysis. 
 
 "Well, there is to be another trial before the justice 
 at eight o'clock, and I shall go over and get another les- 
 son in this progressive civilization." 
 
 Mr. Campbell suggested that he should be pleased 
 to accompany him if he would not be in the way. 
 
 "No," said Mr. Wickham, "I should enjoy your com- 
 pany very much." 
 
 The two hurriedly walked to the office of the justice 
 in West Del Norte, and as they stepped into the door 
 they were summoned as jurors in the case of H. vs. F., 
 demand $7, credit $5, balance due, $2. They were duly 
 sworn to answer questions, and the attorney for the plain- 
 tiff told Mr. Campbell to take the chair. 
 
 "What is your name, age, business, and place of resi- 
 dence?" said the attorney. 
 
 "John Campbell, age 21, member of the bar; resi- 
 dence, for the time being, Del Norte." 
 
 "I object to him because he is a lawyer," interposed 
 the defendant who had no attorney. 
 
 "Hold on," Suggested the plaintiff's attorney, "and 
 we will find out if he knows enough law to excuse him." 
 
AND THE PIONEER 65 
 
 "Mr. Campbell, if the evidence should develop 
 that the plaintiff sold the defendant some hay, the 
 defendant paid the bill, lacking $2 ; that the defendant 
 started to Arizona and when out 15 miles the plaintiff 
 attached his team for $7 and costs ; that he found the 
 defendant with the doubletree of his wagon broken and 
 he would have been compelled to return here any way; 
 that the mistake of suing him for $7 instead of $2 was 
 occasioned by the limited time the plaintiff had in which 
 to foot up his books; now what I would like to know is, 
 would this condition of facts prejudice you against the 
 plaintiff, or the fact that he attached for more than was 
 due prejudice you against the claim he might show to be 
 due?" 
 
 "Well," the juror replied, "I could not say that these 
 facts would necessarily prejudice me, but I should want 
 to know if the plaintiff knew the defendant 1 was going 
 to leave in time to have presented his bill or sued on 
 it before he left town; I should also want to know if 
 he ever made a demand before he sued and the particu- 
 lars about getting in his attachment a sworn statement 
 of $7 while admitting now that the defendant only owes 
 $2, before I should want to give him a judgment, that 
 is, if the defendant should deny the debt; however, these 
 circumstances should be used rather as affecting the credi- 
 bility of his testimony. And I should also wish to know 
 whether he had made a practice of allowing men to get 
 started out of the country and then attaching them for 
 amounts so small that they would prefer to pay rather 
 than return to defend even though they owed nothing." 
 
 "That's it, that's it quite right, quite right," inter- 
 posed the defendant. "I'gosh I'm afeard that follow 
 knows enough law to excuse him." 
 
 TIIK I'.i.c; HIM. 5 
 
66 THE PILGRIM 
 
 The plaintiff's attorney deliberately arose and said, 
 "May your honor please, I shall object to this juror, not 
 because he is surfeited with legal lore, but because he 
 seems to have a kind of mouth disease. Should he get 
 started in the jury-room on his abstract philosophy, I 
 am afraid he would run until doomsday. In the interest 
 of mercy for the other eleven 'good and true, etc.,' I shall 
 ask that he stand aside." 
 
 "Too bad, too bad," interjected the defendant, 
 
 "Come forward, Mr. Wickham," said the justice. 
 
 "Your name is Wickham, I believe," said the plain- 
 tiff's attorney. 
 
 "Yes sir." 
 "How long have you been in Colorado ?" 
 
 "I crossed the plains with a bull team in 1849." 
 
 "Where have you resided since then ?" 
 
 "The most of the time in Gregory Gulch and in the 
 Arkansas Valley, but quite a time in California." 
 
 "Mr. Wickham, would the fact that the defendant 
 is a pioneer and the plaintiff a newcomer, or what you 
 old timers call a 'pilgrim' or 'tenderfoot,' cause you to 
 be biased one way or the other ?" 
 
 "No, sir; the code of the pioneer teaches that when 
 you enter the sacred temples of justice, you shall forget 
 who is plaintiff and who is defendant, and deal only with 
 the subject matter; in other words, the jury becomes a 
 mere machine to hold the scales of exact justice, and 
 make a correct report of what these scales register," 
 
 "Let me understand you. Are you and '49ers not 
 generally a little clannish and do you not regard an old 
 timer as superior to a newcomer?" 
 
 ."The '49er has been tried in the fire and not found 
 wanting. He left the influence of family and friends, 
 
AND THE PIONEER 67 
 
 and met here the stranger in a strange land and unob- 
 structed nature, neither of which respected anything about 
 him except such as merited approval. The pioneer has 
 gone through the great university of nature and under- 
 stands men and things. He has never seen much that 
 is artificial, therefore there is but little of the artificial 
 about him. I might say that they are not more clannish 
 than the graduates of Harvard or Yale. We might 
 measure the pioneer's worth by the inerit of the great 
 school of which he is a pupil. I should regard his title 
 of pioneer as a certificate of character from the great 
 school of nature. That is all." 
 
 "You have a very poor opinion of the pilgrim or 
 tenderfoot, have you not ?" 
 
 "I cannot say that I have. However, I am rather 
 sorry for them. They are not censurable. Many of 
 them have been brought up among indulgent parents and 
 old family friends, coming down through many genera- 
 tions, and their peevish whims have been tolerated or 
 humored because of their relationship or Because of some 
 ancestral influence, and their chief experience has been 
 with artificial things. They have never known the ad- 
 vantage of a constant communion with nature, or the 
 muscular or mental advantages of being compelled to 
 fight their own battles or depend upon their own re- 
 sources without a sympathetic pulsation or word of en- 
 couragement, except as a laudable act or a line of meritori- 
 ous conduct spontaneously awakens approbation in their 
 fellows in general." 
 
 "You do not claim Del ISTorte -as your permanent 
 abode?" 
 
 "I do not" 
 
 The nttorney for the plaintiff arose and said: "May 
 
68 THE PILGRIM 
 
 the Court please, this juror might serve, provided neither 
 party objected, but either party may object on account 
 of his residence. I examined him, thinking if he was 
 in a normal state of mind we might accept him and save 
 time, but he seems to think that unless a person reached 
 here in his teens and slept in a snow bank like a polar 
 bear, ate grass like an ox, and renounced all of the polished 
 amenities of Eastern life, he is a mere object of pity. 
 For fear he might overpersuade the other eleven good and 
 true men to bring in a verdict against my client for im- 
 becility, and ask to have him sent to a school for the 
 correction of such unfortunates, I shall, in the interest 
 of liberty, ask that he be excused." 
 
 "Too bad, too bad," said the defendant. "Lost two 
 of the best men on the panel." 
 
 The Court announced a recess of ten minutes while 
 the constable summoned two more jurors. 
 
 The defendant hurried over to the two jurors just 
 excused, and clasped their hands, saying: 
 
 "I am sorry you gentlemen know too much to sit on 
 a jury. It is a downright blemish upon a-n unfolding 
 civilization that the denser the ignorance, the more capa- 
 ble the possessor to decide the complicated differences 
 dividing a man and his neighbors. By the way, Mr. 
 Campbell, you are a lawyer, and I'll hide if I don't like 
 the way you talked. You just hit the bull's eye the 
 first round. I'll hide if I wouldn't like to hire you to help 
 me if there was not so little involved ; then the plaintiff 
 knows he can't show that I owe him anything. He really 
 owes me fifty cents that I overpaid him, and he agreed 
 to bring the change back, but^found it convenient to for- 
 get it." 
 
 Mr. Wickham said, "I guess we could persuade our 
 
AND THE PIONEER 69 
 
 friend Campbell to lend you - a helping hand without 
 charge for the good of the order, as it were." 
 
 "No, no," Mr. Campbell answered, "I should 
 make a mess of this as I have of everything else I have 
 touched in this inexplicable country. I shall now keep 
 in retirement until I learn the rudiments of this mys- 
 terious civilization." 
 
 Mr. Wickham replied, "You must not. You shall 
 not feel this discouraging humiliation. In your examina- 
 tion as a juror you evinced a clear comprehension of the 
 defendant's case, and you impressed him and everybody 
 else, favorably. You can find all the defense you want 
 in that Justice's docket. There is a general blackmailing 
 system here, you must help justice out, and incidentally 
 this defendant." 
 
 "I would be ever so much obleeged," said the defend- 
 ant. "You know you lawyers will not defend your own 
 cases. Let's see, your proverb is: 'If a lawyer defends 
 his own case, he has a fool for a client. Then what would 
 I have, playing defendant, attorney, witness, examiner 
 of myself, etc. ? Why, I would have all kinds of fools 
 for a client. I would be ever so glad if you would examine 
 the witnesses and make the same kind of a talk that you 
 did on your 'voir dire;' I believe that is what you lawyers 
 call it. All the jurors didn't hear them apt answers to 
 that lawyer which so broke his heart. I tell you that's 
 the kind of stuff him and that justice are afraid of." 
 
 "Well," said Mr. Campbell, "I am not practicing 
 here and am not familiar with your practice, hence should 
 not want to take charge of your case, but shall gladly ex- 
 amine the witnesses and make a four or five minute speech 
 to the jury." 
 
 The defendant grasped his hands, and said : 
 
70 THE PILGRIM 
 
 "I'm ever so much obleeged; we'll now bring the 
 heartless Shylocks to justice." 
 
 The other jurors appeared; they were sworn to 
 'well and truly try the issues/ etc., and the plaintiff and 
 defendant made statements under oath, then the plaintiff's 
 attorney addressed the jury as follows: 
 
 "Gentlemen of the jury : "Now I am not going to 
 delay you at this late hour, but shall call your attention 
 to one suspicious course of conduct on the part of the 
 defendant, then I shall confidently submit the destiny of 
 my 'client to your keeping. You will observe that he 
 began his trial without counsel. This evinces either that 
 no respectable lawyer would defend him or that he knew 
 his case was hopeless and fully expected to have to pay 
 this bill and costs, but when the constable by mere chance 
 brought before this court as a juror a young tramp attor- 
 ney, without clients or fame, and when the defendant 
 heard his cant vaporings on his f voir dire/ which proved 
 his incapacity as a juror, he imbibed his first hope of 
 success, and in some mysterious way only known to those 
 birds of the same feather that ever intuitively flock to- 
 gether, we find the fellow installed at the eleventh hour 
 as attorney for his defendant, and you have seen what a 
 chaotic mess he has made of the defendant's case. God 
 forbid that they be encouraged with an ill-gotten verdict 
 that they may lock arms and walk up and down these 
 streets cackling like Juno's swans." 
 
 Mr. Campbell then arose and picked up the justice 
 docket and, one by one, turned to three different cases 
 where the same plaintiff had attached departing citizens 
 for small amounts; in every case they had paid up 
 without appearing in court, evidently preferring to be 
 blackmailed rather than delayed; "and," said Mr. Camp- 
 
AND THE PIONEER 71 
 
 bell, "this would have been the fourth if God, in his mys- 
 terious providence, had not foreordained the breaking of 
 that doubletree that this vile nest of petty, public plun- 
 derers might be unearthed." 
 
 The defendant jumped to his feet, crying out: 
 
 "That's it; that's it; that's it!" 
 
 The justice ordered both the defendant and his coun- 
 sel to be seated, and said that the court could not sit quietly 
 and have its high motives impugned. 
 
 Mr. Campbell said : 
 
 "Very well, I shall try to proceed in order. Gentle- 
 men, individual transgressions are stifling to the public, 
 but corruption in a public officer dries up the very well- 
 springs of the people's hope." 
 
 The justice insisted that he could not tolerate such 
 insinuations. 
 
 Mr. Campbell suggested that the constable was the 
 plaintiff in the case, and he had a right to comment on 
 him. 
 
 The justice replied, "No !" 
 
 Then Mr. Campbell continued: 
 
 "Gentlemen of the jury, in the seclusion of your jury- 
 room there will be no culprit to wince at every mention of 
 guilt; there will be no villain clothed with a little tem- 
 porary power to shut the calcium light out of these putrid 
 beds of corruption that are destroying the very pillars 
 of the body politic 
 
 "Stop, stop, stop ! The court will not tolerate this un- 
 seemly conduct longer." 
 
 The defendant jumped to his feet, saying: 
 
 "This is my attorney and he shall be heard." 
 
 Mr. Campbell waved him down with his hand, and 
 continued : 
 
72 THE PILGRIM 
 
 "No, I have said quite enough. Now let us hear 
 from the jury, and may its guiding star be, "Let no guilty 
 man escape." 
 
 The jury retired to their room for a few moments, 
 then returned with a verdict for the defendant for fifty 
 cents and costs. The justice ordered the court adjourned. 
 The defendant grasped the hands of the jurors, saying: 
 "But didn't we stir up a den of thieves, though ?" 
 
 "No, I reckon we won't go down town cackling like 
 Juno's swans. We will just go making more fuss than 
 a whole barnyard of guinea hens on a cloudy evening." 
 
 He invited Mr. Wickham and Mr. Campbell to all 
 kinds of refreshments, but as it was late they declined, 
 and retired for the night. 
 
CHAPTEK V. 
 
 LIFTING THE GOLDEN SCALES. 
 
 About nine o'clock a. m., Mr. Wickham was ab- 
 sorbed in reading a detailed statement in the Prospector, 
 of the shooting of a man a few nights before by the 
 marshal, the incarceration of a leading merchant for un- 
 favorably commenting on it, and the escape of the mer- 
 chant by cutting a log out of the wooden jail. 
 
 Mr. McCullough, the hotel proprietor, appeared and 
 remarked: "Well, Mr. Wickham, how was the court last 
 night ?" 
 
 "Oh," answered Mr. Wickham, "we fell into a den 
 of thieves last night. The very dregs of society are gov- 
 erning this town. It seems that when two or three gather 
 together, the Lord is always in their midst, but when 
 the pilgrims swarm in multitudes and light hither or 
 thither, that his Satanic Majesty takes control and the 
 evil ones are permitted to prey upon the good and upon 
 one another, until they are thinned out, before God or 
 man erects a house of correction there." 
 
 "I am afraid," replied Mr. McCollough, "that you are 
 a confirmed pessimist ; that you are out with a magnifying 
 glass looking for the bad. If you would think for a mo- 
 ment, you would not expect to find many of our Master's 
 precepts in vogue in a justice court. Your bow has been 
 bent too long without relaxation ; it is losing its flexibility 
 and becoming set in its way. Relax this and spend just 
 
 one week with the invigorating tonic of optimism. It 
 
 (73) 
 
74 THE PILGRIM 
 
 will rest you ; it will give you a new idea of the currents 
 of civilization. 
 
 "Now, there is a sensational divorce case to be called 
 in the county court today, and it will last about a week. 
 It is between a very rich and polished old gentleman and 
 his beautiful young wife. The most eminent counsel will 
 appear on each side. The judge is a refined and educated 
 gentleman, and here you may study the exemplary meth- 
 ods provided by our law givers for relieving individuals 
 from the results of the tantalizing and ruinous mis- 
 takes which persons blunder into, even in making 
 imcompatible or inharmonious matrimonial compacts. 
 When you wish to enjoy the exalted, you must 
 go where the best reigns supreme. There is much 
 good in the world, but we never can see or know of it if 
 we only search the haunts of evil." 
 
 "On the contrary," Mr. Wickham replied, "I am 
 theoretically and practically a devout disciple of Leibnitz 
 or Spinoza extended. I never see clouds so dark or 
 threatening that I cannot exuberantly optimize. I have 
 never met but one event that would not yield to this 
 roseate treatment, and this involved the transgression of 
 an immutable law of nature. . The result of this personal 
 violation is the only thorn that ever pierced my side, and 
 this is irremediable. Optimism must work in harmony 
 with natural laws, as they will brook no obstruction. 
 'The Holy Creed of Blessed Optimism' is second in power 
 for good only to the law of gravitation. The world 
 owes every invention, every step of evolution, every victory 
 in civilization, to this powerful stimulus, optimism. 
 
 "The pessimists are annoying clogs in the wheels of 
 all that is good, beautiful, or progressive. They, like 
 the deadly upas, spread the mist of degeneracy, and dry 
 
AND THE PIONEER 75 
 
 rot all about them. They deserve nothing but dark, slug- 
 gish shadows; they get no more. 
 
 "The enthusiastic optimist may seem pessimistic 
 about the things of the present moment, but through his 
 exultant confidence in his power to produce better things, 
 he blows the unworthy systems away and supplants them 
 with higher orders. He is constantly proud of his ac- 
 complishments. He is ever exhilarated with a knowledge 
 of the limitless possibilities of man. He has ever in his 
 mind the e World Beautiful.' He finds sunshine in every 
 cloud, joy in every passing breeze, glorious success in 
 every hopeful effort. I am an optimist." 
 
 On the way back to the hotel, after an early morning 
 walk, Mr. Wickham and Mr. Campbell stopped to watch 
 a painter lettering the firm name of Messrs. Bond & 
 Calvin, Attorneys-at-Law, on a large window pane. Mr. 
 Wickham walked in and introduced himself, then present- 
 ed Mr. Campbell as a young limb of the law. "Ah ! 
 ha !" exclaimed Mr. Bond, "I extend to you a frater- 
 nal, as well as a personal, welcome. To what branch 
 of the profession do you purpose consecrating your life?" 
 "To all branches," answered Mr. Campbell. "I have 
 just invested one hundred dollars in Blackstone and Kent's 
 Commentaries, Chitty and Stephens on Pleading, Green- 
 leaf on Evidence, Parsons on Contracts, and Jen- 
 kins' Forms, and some thirty odd other general books, 
 and have lugged them 2,500 miles. These books cover 
 all phases of the law, and I shall have to devote myself 
 to general practice to get the full benefits of my pur- 
 chase and trouble. I presume no one has brought any 
 books of consequence away out here ?" 
 
 "Not many," replied Mr. Bond, "step in to the reqr 
 room and look over the few books we have." As they 
 
76 THE PILGRIM 
 
 crossed the threshhold into the library room, Mr. Bond 
 pointed out about five hundred text books, covering the 
 most important questions. "Over on the other side," 
 said he, "are the Colorado, Nevada, California, Illinois, 
 New Jersey, and several other state reports and the U. 
 S. S. Ct. Reports and Digests, making about twelve hun- 
 dred volumes, and if business continues good through- 
 out the year we shall double the number, as we find it 
 very difficult to get along with so few books in this new 
 country, where such a limited number of questions have 
 been settled by our Supreme Court." 
 
 Mr. Campbell's face became pale, his eyes set, and 
 his mouth stood rigid and wide open. Mr. Wickham took 
 in the situation, pushed him toward the door and said, 
 "We are much obliged, Mr. Bond. We must be going. 
 Good day," and the two stepped back to the sidewalk. 
 
 After a few moments of silence, Mr. Wickham sug- 
 gested : "Mr. Campbell, you are a very young man and 
 younger still in experience in the ways and conditions 
 common to the New West, and purely for your own good, 
 I should like to give you just such an ' advisory talk as 
 I should thank your father for giving to one of my chil- 
 dren should she visit Tennessee, that is, if you will not 
 be sensitive." 
 
 "I shall accept any counsel you may kindly offer me, 
 as a great personal favor. It seems that every time I open 
 my mouth I have good cause to regret it." 
 
 "Yes," answered Mr. Wickham, " I observed your 
 great embarrassment when you were forced to compare 
 your out-of-date compass with the modern, expensive 
 solar transit, and a like embarrassment when your forty- 
 book library was contrasted with the twelve hundred 
 volumes stacked on the shelves of Bond & Calvin's office." 
 
AND THE PIONEER 77 
 
 "Yes, yes," answered Mr. Campbell, "at each ex- 
 posure I felt that I should like to sink through the floor 
 or hurry back to old Tennessee and hide my head from 
 the shame and humiliation that my ignorance and egotism 
 have brought upon me." 
 
 Mr. Wickham kindly replied: "My dear young 
 friend, you must not, you shall not, feel humiliated. As 
 the old song goes, 'They all do it, though ofttimes they 
 rue it. J ' But neither they nor you are to blame for these 
 mistakes, as grotesque as they may seem. The sensa- 
 tional newspapers have always written up this country 
 as a mere rendezvous of Buffalo Bill's Rocky Mountain 
 Hanks, stage-coach hold-ups, and abandoned cowboys, 
 and have rarely referred to the better side of Western 
 life. It is needless for you to make further mistakes. 
 You have observed the superior personnel and equipment 
 of the engineers and of the lawyers in Del Norte, on the 
 very frontier of Western civilization. The same high 
 standard runs through all professions and vocations in 
 the New West. The percentage of illiteracy in the West 
 is not as great as in the boastful New England. Instead 
 of the people here being the offscourings of the Eastern 
 states, they represent the very cream of the energy and 
 intelligence of the States and of Europe. They are not 
 the dull and slothful, but the most spirited and intellectual 
 young men and young women who shake the dust of the 
 old homesteads from their feet, and take Horace Greeley's 
 good advice to go West. The Rocky Mountain states, 
 particularly, have an educated and superior class of 
 citizens, as tens of thousands of the best Eastern people 
 have come here to obtain the benefits of this pure and 
 dry atmosphere, hoping thereby to recuperate decaying 
 constitutions. This is essentially a modern civilization. 
 
78 THE PILGRIM 
 
 There is not a backwoods region in this great Western 
 domain. These people have all travelled and have seen 
 nearly all phases of human life. There is little that is old 
 or old-fashioned here. Everything is new, hence generally 
 of the latest pattern.- You noticed, of course, the su- 
 periority of the railroad tracks, cars, and equipage as 
 you came west of Kansas City. There is not a country 
 on the globe in advance of the New West in new and 
 improved implements and machinery, in modern methods, 
 in new thought, in advanced laws, or high aspirations. 
 As you become better acquainted, your greater surprise 
 will be to find old Tennessee and her neighboring states 
 a half century behind the New West yi everything that 
 makes a country truly great. I am afraid that in trying 
 to enlighten you, I may discourage you. I believe that 
 in ability, in personal and in professional worth, you 
 are the peer of your fellows, but don't make the mistake 
 of concluding that you are superior. Mr. Wallace, of 
 this bar, ranked very high at the bar of Missouri and 
 later of Nevada, and was formerly a close personal and lit- 
 erary friend of Mark Twain. Mr. Eankin had more than 
 a state reputation at the bar and in politics, before leaving 
 Virginia. Mr. Tischner was one of the brightest of his 
 class in law at the University of Virginia. Mr. Lewis 
 ranked very high in his law and literary classes at the 
 Columbian University, and Messrs. Brown & Best were 
 among the most successful lawyers in Georgia. 
 
 "A few years ago a wealthy young man from Chi- 
 cago was indicted for murder in Denver. His friends 
 sent the eminent lawyer, Leonard Sweat of Chicago, to 
 Denver to defend him, and retained Mr. Plunket, of Den- 
 ver, a brilliant criminal lawyer, to assist. At the end of 
 the second day, the Chicago lawyer turned the management 
 
AND THE PIONEER 79 
 
 the defense over to Mr. Plunkett, and at the end of a three 
 weeks' trial, at a dinner in his honor, Mr. Sweat said 
 that he cheerfully raised his hat and bowed his head to 
 the superior ability of Mr. Plunket as a criminal lawyer, 
 and added : 'It would be wisdom for my Chicago clients 
 to take Mr. Plunket to Chicago to assist ^me in their de- 
 fenses, but it is a gross folly to send me to Denver to as- 
 sist him in defenses here/ ' 
 
 Just before ten o'clock a beautiful and richly dressed 
 woman, with a baby, and accompanied by two erect, pre- 
 possessing, and stylishly dressed young men, emerged from 
 a room leading into the parlor of the Central Hotel. 
 
 "There, there," exclaimed Mr. McCollough, "that 
 woman is the defendant, the heavy-set man a cousin of 
 hers, and the tall, erect, scholarly looking man is her 
 attorney. He is just out of law school and is a gem. 
 
 "You ought to hear Colonel E-ankin, the senior coun- 
 sel for the plaintiff. He is graceful, witty, flowery, and a 
 perfect classic, and besides he is as pretty as a New 
 Jersey country schoolmarm. 
 
 "Oh my, if he had been a contemporary, Demosthenes 
 and Cicero would never have been heard of. Say, by the 
 way, the plaintiff doesn't know the defendant is here. 
 He thinks she is in Chicago, and that he will get his 
 decree by default. Won't there be weeping and gnashing 
 of teeth when they step into the court house?" 
 
 Mr. Wickham anol Mr. Campbell followed the defend- 
 ant's party into a little hewn-log, dirt-roof, one-story build- 
 ing, called the court house. As the defendant, with her 
 pretty, six-month-old baby, and these elegant looking gen- 
 tlemen, brushed through the gate and took seats inside the 
 railing, a twitter of excitement permeated the room. The 
 answer was filed and time taken to reply. The little 
 
80 THE PILGRIM 
 
 stranger at once became an important personage. The 
 plaintiff disputed the motherhood of the defendant and 
 his fatherhood of the little visitor, and gave it the ap- 
 pellation of a "waif, borrowed or hired for the occasion." 
 The court adjourned for the morning and the excite- 
 ment spread through the town. 
 
 At the end of a week, as Mr. Wickham and Mr. 
 Campbell were returning from a duck hunt on the Rio 
 Grande, Mr. McCollough emerged from the court house 
 and said : "Give me your guns and ducks and go in quick. 
 The plaintiff's counsel is raising the very roof of the build- 
 ing with his eloquence. He is delivering a philippic 
 that would beggar the best efforts of Wendell Phillips." 
 
 The Pilgrim and the Pioneer squeezed into the packed 
 building just as he began the last paragraphs of his per 
 oration. 
 
 In language adorned with the most chaste and re- 
 fined garlands of rhetoric, he pictured this beautiful and 
 graceful defendant in her coy maidenhood days, being 
 chosen by the male wet-nurse now at her side, to entrap the 
 polished, affluent, though childish old plaintiff into a 
 matrimonial net; the consummation of the purpose to 
 be immediately followed by a division of his property, 
 to be used in common by these intriguers in their lascivious 
 intercourse. 
 
 He drew a pathetic picture of the probable way in 
 which they secured the babbling cherub boy that the de- 
 signing defendant held upon her lap, from some over' 
 crowded asylum, on the false pretense that they would 
 honorably cherish, nourish, and train it in the way it 
 should go. Then he bitterly denounced their degradation 
 in using its dimpled, innocent cheeks as a key to open the 
 doors of the sympathetic flood-gates of these jurors, as an 
 
AND THE PIONEER 81 
 
 incentive to them to plunder the tottering old plaintiff, 
 apparently for its sustenance as his offspring, but in fact 
 for the hellish, evil, designing purposes of the ill-omened 
 pair. 
 
 He drew a graphic picture of the hurrying of the 
 defendant and her. Chicago paramour from this court 
 house to the "nearest orphan asylum, at the close of the 
 case, for a final disposition of this "waif," fraudulently 
 obtained, hired or borrowed, for this occasion. He pa- 
 thetically pictured the sanctity of the home, and piled 
 contumely after contumely on the unprotected head of the 
 despicable courtesan who had conspired to plunder this 
 old plaintiff after he had reached his second childhood, 
 and appealed to the jurors to uphold the purity of woman- 
 hood and the chastity of the home. 
 
 When he sat down it was evident to every one that 
 he had judge, jury, audience; and that the defendant's 
 counsel was whipped into comparative silence. 
 
 However, the young attorney awkwardly scrambled to 
 his feet after the auditors had ceased wiping the tears 
 from their eyes, and, in a flexible, mellow, and most 
 pleasantly cadenc.ed voice, he said, "Your honor, please, 
 I came into this court for the purpose of defending the 
 rights of a forsaken widow and an abandoned orphan; 
 but I find that it is as impossible for me to keep with 
 the rulings of this court as it is for a Hindoo to keep 
 with the meanderings of the solar system, and seeing 
 that my day of usefulness is over, I now bid you all a 
 most respectful adieu." He put his hat far back on his head 
 and began a long stride towards the door, when the fair 
 defendant dramatically arose, grasped his coat tail, and 
 said, "O do not, do not, do not forsake me in this hour 
 of my distress." He turned with a great obeisance, say- 
 
82 THE PILGRIM 
 
 ing, "My dear madam, I possess no power that can aid 
 you at the bar of this tribunal," then made his exit. 
 The court had to take a recess until it could recouple 
 the defendant's counsel to her case. This dramatic episode 
 would rival the best efforts of Sir Henry Irving and 
 Ellen Terry. 
 
 The jury was given the case to consider its verdict. 
 It was out a few moments and returned a verdict for 
 the plaintiff. The audience tumultuously applauded this 
 announcement. This public approval of the defendant's 
 downfall almost crushed her. The defendant's attorney 
 immediately applied for a new trial, and argued it, but 
 the judge peremptorily overruled it, and as usual with 
 weak judges, entered into a long homily on fair and 
 impartial trials, exact justice, a just verdict of a jury of 
 peers, etc. This brought him to grief. A cloud of just 
 indignation was observed rising in the face of the beauti- 
 ful and outraged defendant. She majestically rose and 
 inquired, "Your honor, may I say a word in my own 
 behalf?" 
 
 The very courtly young judge replied, "Certainly, 
 the defendant has a right to be heard in person or by 
 attorney. In this court we endeavor to see that every one 
 gets equal and exact justice," and he meant every word 
 of it. 
 
 "Your honor, please, you probably thought you were 
 speaking the entire truth when you said that the 
 defendant had been allowed alimony pendente lite, 
 and had been put upon an exact equality with 
 the plaintiff in this case; had had a fair and 
 impartial trial before a jury of peers, etc. ; but you 
 will pardon me if I deign to analyze this judicial effusion 
 from so laudable a source, though I am but a simple 
 
AND THE PIONEER 83 
 
 woman. Your honor, on the application of Colonel Collier, 
 an eminent member of this bar, you allowed me fifty dol- 
 lars for my defense, and required the plaintiff to pay it 
 into court. This has been my only dependence in this 
 hotly prosecuted trial of ten days. Colonel Collier became 
 discouraged by this small allowance. He said the ap- 
 plication for the alimony alone was worth fifty dollars. 
 He took fifteen dollars out of it and paid for clerical 
 work, generously donated his services, and withdrew from 
 the case. I took the munificent sum of thirty-five dollars 
 remaining and peddled it from law office to law office, only 
 to be turned away with the discouraging information that 
 a proper defense in this case would be worth from five 
 hundred to a thousand dollars. In my despair I went 
 to a young man just out of the law school, who had never 
 been in court. He disclaimed his ability to cope with 
 any of the eminent attorneys of the plaintiff, but kindly 
 said, 'If you can do no better, I shall do my very best.' 
 I think, under the circumstances, he has done well, and 
 I am very thankful to him. 
 
 "Your honor, I am informed that the law makes it 
 your duty, on a proper application, when a husband sues 
 his wife, to decree her from his funds such an amount as 
 will enable her to be on an equality with him in the 
 contest. My husband, you, you sir, have expended 
 thousands of dollars in employing able counsel, and in 
 procuring the attendance of witnesses. Through the 
 lavish use of your money, you have convinced this jury 
 and these people that my cousin, my only friend in this 
 strange land, the model son of my mother's sister, is my 
 paramour. He has been publicly defamed and grossly 
 insulted in this court by eminent counsel, with the ap- 
 proval or, at least, acquiescence of the court in being dis- 
 
84 THE PILGRIM 
 
 dainfully referred to in the arguments to the court and 
 jury, as my wet nurse. My child, sired by you, sir, flesh 
 of our flesh and blood of our blood, has been bastardized 
 by its own infamous father, dubbed a waif, borrowed for 
 the occasion; and this defendant, your wife, sir, who was 
 bred and reared by pious parents, and shielded from even 
 a knowledge of such sins as your assassins of human 
 character paint, is charged with being a low, cunning 
 courtesan, here on a mischievous mission of blackmail. 
 Shame on such venal scoundrelism. I denounce every 
 charge as an infamous falsehood, established by perjury. 
 This verdict is a purchased debauch. Your honor, you, 
 sir, sat there on that high pedestal, with the .cap of jus- 
 tice pulled down over your eyes, while the plaintiff ex- 
 pended thousands of dollars to establish these false charges, 
 and in defiance of the well known law that you should 
 require the plaintiff to put up such funds as would en- 
 .able me to be his equal in this legal contest. You de- 
 creed me the paltry sum of fifty dollars, in the fair name 
 of justice and equality, when you knew my husband was 
 spending thousands of dollars in prosecuting me. 
 
 "You, sir, saw four most experienced and astute 
 lawyers mercilessly prosecuting me, and an inexperienced 
 school-boy floundering around trying to defend me, and 
 then, sir, you sat up here with a straight face and talked 
 about my having a fair and impartial trial before a jury 
 of peers, when you knew that justice was being mocked. 
 Can it be possible that an invidious distinction has been 
 made against wives in alleged courts of justice so long, 
 that the judicial horoscope has been shifted to so oblique 
 an angle, that this defendant, struggling here with a 
 thirty-five'dollar school-boy as her only defender, against 
 the plaintiff and four most eminent and experienced at- 
 
AND THE PIONEER 85 
 
 torneys, costing thousands of dollars, photographs itself 
 on your honor's distorted judicial vision as a completely 
 balanced equation? 
 
 "Is it possible that usage makes such a slave of the 
 mind, and that these cruel practices have run so long, 
 that the one-sided development of the judicial intellect is 
 ultimately overwhelmed with sex blindness ? Yes, I ap- 
 prehend that my husband will wine and dine your honor 
 this evening, in honor of your matchless judicial impartial- 
 ity. Doubtless, usage has so seasoned you to the mis- 
 carriage of justice that you will sleep your allotted eight 
 hours tonight without a livery of horrible night-mares 
 chasing your polluted conscience to bay. 
 
 "Out with this driveling cant and pretentious holi- 
 ness, ever shrouding the alleged sacred sanctuaries of 
 justice, where cash and venality, rather than rectitude, 
 prevail. 
 
 "Sir, your honor, you, sir, have willingly permitted, 
 yea encouraged, the polluting of my innocent and honored 
 cousin's good name, and the bastardizing of my innocent 
 babe, born in holy wedlock and sired by this infamous 
 plaintiff; and my good name has been dragged in the cess- 
 pool of corruption here with your complacent acquiescence. 
 
 "Why should not my husband and the like of him, 
 whose cash and nefarious villainy always succeed in 
 wrenching from these pretentious, sacred precincts favor- 
 able verdicts, be ever defending the judiciary ? It is the 
 like of my husband the like of you, sir that ever hold 
 up trembling hands in holy horror if anv crushed vic- 
 tim deigns to criticise the vile machinations of infamy 
 that are consummated here in the name of justice. This 
 is a den of inhuman debauch. This is your forum where 
 you can get judicial approval of your infamous rapine." 
 
86 THE PILGRIM 
 
 The audience arose and said, "Give her a new trial, 
 and an equal allowance with the husband. She has been 
 outraged." 
 
 The very much embarrassed judge quietly said, 
 "Sheriff, adjourn the court," and during the pandemo- 
 nium, he slipped out the side door and away to his 
 chambers, where he solemnly meditated on the sharp 
 castigation he had received from the outraged defendant. 
 He saw the whole situation now. The young judge was 
 honest, and thought as the case proceeded that every one 
 was having a fair and impartial trial. He had been en- 
 lightened. 
 
 The judge visited the defendant's attorney and gave 
 him a hint to renew his motion for a new trial. Notice 
 was given at once, and upon re-argument the next morning, 
 the judge set the verdict aside and granted a new trial. 
 He did not have the sweet sleep foreshadowed, succeed- 
 ing the arraignment of the eloquent defendant. The mis- 
 fortune of the judge was that the eminent attorneys of 
 the plaintiff had swept him off his feet with the jury. 
 
 The disgusted Wickham said within himself: "The 
 woman's condition and story have convinced me that T 
 have committed a dangerous error in disposing of my 
 estate. I have taken unwittingly the desperate chances 
 of giving my estate to my sons-in-law instead of to my 
 daughters. I have, unfortunately, made my daughters, 
 instead of my sons-in-law, dependents. Had I heard this 
 defendant's sad story before I made this disposal of my 
 effects, I certainly should have made my daughters the 
 independent ones. However, I have that strongest of all 
 adhesive qualities of the heart, on my side, the gratitude 
 of my sons-in-law, and T had the mortal dread of the 
 eccentricities of that alien blood. I had not the assur- 
 
AND THE PIONEER 87 
 
 ance that my daughters would not in time abandon these 
 comfortable surroundings and return to the wild haunts 
 of their mother. Yes, it is better as it is." 
 
 At supper Mr. McCollough inquired, "Mr. Wickham, 
 what did you think of that philippic?" 
 
 "It was a real baptism in the oily pool of linguistic 
 poses," replied Mr. Wickham, "but was the speech in 
 harmony with the dictates of justice? Could not, and 
 would not, the same advocate have crucified the plaintiff 
 in withering sarcasm if he had gotten the defendant's 
 instead of the plaintiff's retainer? Were those beautiful 
 flowers the spontaneous product of the soil ? Did they 
 have the fragrance and perfume of the morning? ISTo, 
 my friend, you were carried away with your star. Had 
 he been for the defendant and had he blistered the 
 plaintiff with withering epithets, you would have been in 
 unison with him there. Those flowers were artificial and 
 odorless, not a growth of the heart, but the product only of 
 the % sordid pocket book. They had the musty perfume 
 of the corrupt bribe. They do not bud, bloom, decay, 
 rest, and come again in their season, fresh, cheerful, and 
 fragrant, but are stale, lifeless, insipid imitations of the 
 genuine, that are used to beguile and deceive, in and 
 out of season; are used in a wedding triumphal arch or 
 to decorate the bier of the dead, just according to the 
 prospective profits. These magnificent powers of speech 
 are put upon the market and auctioned off to the highest 
 bidder the same as a bag of potatoes, turnips, or other 
 common commodities of bargain and sale; such gifts of 
 nature would be admirable indeed if used as God intended 
 they should be, for developing justice and equality, and 
 for the general uplifting of mankind; but aggregate greed 
 and the despoilers of justice hire these sublime gifts for 
 
88 THE PILGRIM 
 
 the oppression of man, and make them deplorable im- 
 plements of evil, and a curse, instead of a blessing, to the 
 world. They are hired to convict or exculpate the mur- 
 derer, or to convict the innocent, just according to the 
 price bid; and because of the abuses of such gifts one 
 can be proud of the possibilities rather than of the achieve- 
 ments of such powers. 
 
 "The so-called court of justice, under the prevailing 
 system, is just as subservient to the longest pocket book 
 as is a gambling stock board, or the ordinary, without 
 limit, gambling game. 
 
 "If the plaintiff and defendant in this case had ex- 
 changed financial conditions and attorneys, the jury would 
 not only have found a verdict for the defendant, but these 
 attorneys would have had the people so infuriated at the 
 plaintiff's brutal conduct toward her, that they would 
 probably have ridden him out of town on a rail. 
 
 "Great ability, powers of logic, rhetoric, and magnet- 
 ism, are constantly inducing men to buy lightning rods 
 and insurance policies, and to make other bad bargains 
 against their real wishes. We read biographies of one great 
 criminal lawyer after another, showing that in his defense 
 of hundreds of the most murderous wretches on earth, he 
 never had a client hung. This is intended as a professional 
 compliment, but it is a terrible indictment of the judicial 
 system. What does this signify ? It means this, that no 
 one could engage this man of marvelous powers for less 
 than from twenty-five hundred to ten thousand dollars 
 for a defense, hence none but the rich could employ him, 
 and therefore the rich need not suffer the penalty of 
 death, though they murder. The poor man who cannot 
 employ such an exculpator of criminals must hang. 
 
 "Biographers are constantly writing up great lawyers 
 
AND THE PIONEER 89 
 
 in the civil branch who have rarely lost a case, but it 
 took from two hundred and fifty to five hundred dollars 
 per day to engage such services, hence none but the rich 
 could employ them, therefore the rich rarely lost their 
 suits, and therefore the poor must have lost theirs. 
 
 "In modern practice of law, what is now known as 
 expert evidence, maps, drawings, and models, wield a great 
 influence. These experts charge from fifty to two hun- 
 dred and fifty dollars per day for their services, and it 
 has become notorious that the expert witness becomes a 
 special counsel, as it were, and is as desperate a 
 partisan for the litigant that pays him, as is the gen- 
 eral counsel. Only the opulent can have these high priced 
 witnesses, maps, and drawings, hence their great advan- 
 tage in their suits. 
 
 "All that can be said for the present system is, that 
 it is the best so far reduced to a science; but there are 
 so many advantages in favor of the rich, that a verdict 
 or judgment is not even entitled to a presumption that 
 justice has prevailed, until the characters o the witnesses 
 and attorneys used on the respective sides are examined. 
 
 "Just see what power the indignant outburst of the 
 defendant had on the judge and the people. They had 
 not seen the inhuman advantage taken of her by the plain- 
 tiff or the judicial oppression that was weighing her down, 
 until in her desperation she laid' everything bare. 
 
 "Suppose she had possessed less ability, power of 
 expression, or womanly spirit, and had kept quiet. Even 
 the judge would never have suspected that a judicial out- 
 rage had been perpetrated in the solemn and pretentious 
 name of justice." 
 
 "I observe, Mr. Wickham," interrupted Mr. McCol- 
 lough at this point, "that your change of scenes has not 
 
90 THE PILGRIM 
 
 dried up the springs of pessimism in you, or changed your 
 belief in the utter depravity of mankind. 
 
 "You are constantly mistaking the spirit of true op- 
 timism for the inert, well-enough doctrine of energyless 
 and unambitious pessimism. The true optimist is never 
 contented with present conditions, but regards them as 
 ephemeral, and he hopefully plunges into an effort to de- 
 stroy and replace them with higher orders. Optimism 
 runs in the same orbit with evolution. I believe in the 
 total depravity of mankind." 
 
 "Now that is the very thing I do not believe in," 
 replied Mr. Wickham. "I believe the masses of the 
 people are honest, but they are not versed in a knowl- 
 edge of human nature. Their leadership is bad, but 
 they seem unable to detect or correct it; that is my 
 complaint of the people in general and of those in this 
 town in particular. You are unquestionably governed 
 here by the alloy or baser element of the body politic, 
 and the masses seem to be oblivious of it. The legal 
 scavenger or shyster is trying your law suits, while your 
 genuine lawyers are waiting in their offices for clients; 
 the fake or quack physician is doctoring your sick, while 
 your good physicians are sitting patiently waiting for 
 you to detect the counterfeit; men without property, busi- 
 ness capacity, or strong character are filling your offices, 
 while the tax payers are footing the bills as far as' they 
 can, and watching the unnecessary and criminal burden 
 of a great indebtedness pile upon their property, upon 
 their children and grandchildren, to harass them and 
 absorb their hard labor and savings for a half century 
 with absolutely nothing but the monumental folly of these 
 fallacious selections to show for it. Of course this dross 
 will, in a measure, float off ere long, and the sterling 
 
AND THE PIONEER 91 
 
 element will assume control of the government, but not 
 till these great burdens are fastened upon them every- 
 where that a great swarm of pilgrims settle and estab- 
 lish a municipal government. It is because these lighter 
 and less substantial elements of society drift to the front 
 and top, assume a great familiarity with their fellows, 
 lock arms with them as they move up the street, and 
 constantly drench their ears with the soft rose water of 
 fulsome flattery, and thereby convince them that these 
 false pretenders were created really to govern their fel- 
 lows, while their every act exhibits the Earmarks of the 
 faker. Will the electors of this earth never learn that the 
 modest, retiring disposition bespeaks true merit and 
 sterling worth, while the officious, obtruding, ever flatter- 
 ing individual presents a true indication of the general 
 faker or of the professional gormandizer at the public crib ?" 
 
 "I suppose, Mr. Wickham, that you detect a great 
 improvement in the county court atmosphere,, as con- 
 trasted with the putrid filth of the justice court," said 
 Mr. McCollough. 
 
 "Now, my friend, I really feel my weakness I do 
 not think that I have the courage to express my convic- 
 tions, lest you should conclude me pestiferously hypocriti- 
 cal. Will you excuse my weakness if I reply by stating 
 a few facts, and leave you to draw. your own conclusions? 
 In the former court, a petty justice and constable in- 
 trusted by the public with petty matters, attached the 
 team of a citizen, well on his way out of the state, for 
 a petty sum of $7 on the assumption that he would prefer 
 to pay rather than return. This is a despicable system of 
 petty blackmail that is disgusting. 
 
 "In the county court we find that an aged rich man 
 has married a poor but beautiful young woman; that 
 
92 THE PILGRIM 
 
 she loved a young man, but married the rich one; nat- 
 ural result, application for divorce by jealous husband, 
 opposition of wife, not because she wants to live with 
 him, but wants a handsome share of his property with- 
 out the torture of this unnatural life. The plaintiff re- 
 sorted to every art that his wealth could invent to win. 
 Even a beautiful cherub boy was brought in for a share 
 the reputed father denied his fatherhood or defendant's 
 motherhood, and insisted that it was a waif secured for 
 the occasion, the other insisting that it was the offspring 
 of the twain; the one contradicted everything the other 
 said, yet both were under oath. 
 
 "You should not take a little veneering for a genuine 
 article. The fact that a crime is gilded, artistic,and of mag- 
 nificent proportions often conceals from a casual observer 
 the turpitude involved. The golden scales should be 
 lifted, and the very essence of the inner ingredients ex- 
 amined. When Mark Twain said, 'The government snubs 
 honest simplicity, but fondles artistic villainy,' he limited 
 a universal rule of dominant forces to the heads of the 
 departments of our government. If one people murders 
 another by wholesale, confiscates its ships, its goods, and 
 its country, if a money king wrecks a great railroad or 
 other mammoth institution, and takes it in at one fell 
 swoop, the grand proportions of the murder or the au- 
 dacity of the act so dazzle and awe-inspire the individual 
 citizen that he is unable to see the underlying crime, 
 though its polluting stench smell to heaven. Yet he 
 will send a petty thief to prison or condemn to death the 
 individual murderer. 
 
 "Now, I do not say that that young woman should 
 live with this old jnan ; that would be a crime against 
 nature. Nature never intended that the warmth of May 
 
AND THE PIONEER 93 
 
 should be chilled in the cold arms of December ; but May 
 sold herself to December for a part of his wealth, and 
 now loathes his clammy touch, but shrinks from yielding 
 up the purchase price. It is as utterly impossible to 
 harmonize young and old blood in marriage as it is to 
 mix oil and water, and the constant sale of young girls 
 to old men is . not only polluting our courts of justice 
 with the settlement of crimes that these unnatural alli- 
 ances breed, but it makes the family hearthstone the 
 very bulwark of the higher civilization the hotbed of 
 intrigue and decaying chastity, within the holy domain 
 of wedlock. The fact that the plaintiff held the pocket 
 book, and had the cherub little waif legally pro- 
 nounced fatherless and motherless and brought here on a 
 mischievious, mercenary mission, and obtained a verdict 
 in this man-ridden community against the powerful in- 
 fluence of this beautiful and dramatic woman and her 
 skillful and eloquent young attorney, would indicate 'that 
 Mammon still wins its way where seraphs might despair.' ' 
 
 As the first of June approached, the floating popula- 
 tion of every class, and many officials, gathered their trap- 
 pings and started for Baker's Park and the Summit, 
 many of them never to return; but Del Norte and the 
 great San Luis Valley kept unfolding, till now this 
 beautiful valley is the great granary of the arid domain, 
 and Del Norte has developed into a well-built town of 
 stone and brick. Early in 1874 the people of Saguache 
 on the Saguache River began the building of the Saguache 
 and San Juan wagon toll road to these mines, and be- 
 gan a very vigorous system of advertising Saguache as the 
 gate-way to the great San Juan mines. 
 
 Mr. Wickham remarked, "Well, Mr. McCollough, I 
 have persuaded Mr. Campbell that pilgrim rule in Del 
 
94 THE PILGRIM 
 
 Norte is now going into the 'sere and yellow leaf;' that the 
 real friends of the town will get to the helm and steer 
 it into the harbor of safety, and that the irritable opti- 
 mist will find nothing to feed upon now, and he reads 
 in the papers that the feed for him promises good at 
 your sister town of Saguache; therefore, at the first op- 
 portunity Mr. Campbell and he shall silently fold their 
 tents and go thither, I suppose to the great delight of 
 their many wearied auditors." 
 
 "Mr. Wickham," replied Mr. McCollough, "with all 
 sincerity, 1 unhesitatingly say that no one has ever de- 
 parted from here that I have missed as I shall miss you. 
 When I first met you I really thought you a little daft 
 that you were embittered against the world, and could see 
 no good in anything. Every ideal I suggested to you was 
 picked threadbare. But I soon learned that I was only 
 looking on the surface, and considered everything gold 
 that glittered. You are the first schoolmaster I ever had 
 who taught me the advantage of taking things to pieces and 
 examining all of the parts. I had never studied the 
 motives of men, but believed every one honest, and that 
 the complainers were troublesome busybodies; but you 
 have lifted the scales from my eyes and destroyed many 
 of my idols/' 
 
 "Well," said Mr. Wickham, "that is the greatest 
 stumbling block in the pathway of reform. The mother 
 of prejudice is a lack of knowledge. If people could be 
 induced patiently to investigate existing conditions, they 
 would select worthy representatives of the people who 
 would correct our public evils. As it is, we have self- 
 selected representatives, or those chosen by some great 
 interest, who seldom consider the public weal, but are 
 
AND THE PIONEER 95 
 
 ever alert to barter away the sovereign rights of the peo- 
 ple to private persons or corporations, to the great injury 
 of the public. 
 
 "But these things are all righted in time. Presi- 
 dent Jackson, the optimistic soldier and statesman, en- 
 thusiastically said, There are.no necessary public evils.' ' 
 
 Late in the evening, Mr. Wickham and Mr. Camp- 
 bell took a stroll down the main street, and were soon 
 attracted by screams coming from the upper story of the 
 dance hall building. An inhabitant told them that can- 
 didates were being initiated into the "Old Settlers' So- 
 ciety." As they reached the place they could see the halls 
 above and below brilliantly lighted, and inspiring music 
 and many gay dancers had attracted' a large crowd to 
 the lower hall. When they reached the threshhold of 
 the door, two men in grotesque uniforms with drawn 
 swords marched a small black Russian Jew into the hall, 
 with a ten gallon keg of beer on his shoulder. They were 
 informed that he had just made some penal blunder in 
 his initiation ceremonies, and that the High Muck-a-Muck 
 had fined him ten gallons of drinkable beer, and had sent 
 two officers with him to see that the purchase and -de- 
 livery were faithfully and speedily made. When the Jew 
 reached the foot of the stairway he laid down his burden, 
 and one of the guards ascended the stairs to see if the 
 High Muck-a-Muck was ready to receive them. As Mr. 
 Wickham and Mr. Campbell reached the foot of the stairs, 
 they came within plain view of the dancing platform. 
 M r. Campbell automatically removed his hat and put it 
 under his arm, out of respect for the ladies. Contempo- 
 raneously with this gallant deportment, all eyes were 
 focused on him and every one was giggling. He knew 
 his bare head had something to do with this, as all others 
 
96 THE PILGRIM 
 
 were wearing their hats. At the end of the quadrille, 
 instead of the usual call, "partners to their seats," it was, 
 "partners to the bar.'\ Under the regulations of this par- 
 ticular institution, at the end of each dance, each male 
 paid for two drinks or two cigars, and the female could 
 drink, or if she did not, the proprietor would give her an 
 agreed percentage on the value of the drink earned and 
 not consumed. After all were served at the bar, the 
 caller cried out, "Get your partners for the next dance." 
 The women did the soliciting. A good looking young 
 woman tripped over to Mr. Campbell and said, "Come 
 and dance with me this time." He replied, "No, my church 
 does not allow us to dance." "If you have a church, I 
 don't know what the devil you are do-ing here." She 
 chucked him under the chin and said, "Sonny, you had 
 better go back to your mamma, for you are the most un- 
 sophisticated tenderfoot that ever strolled in here. ' Mr. 
 Campbell meekly walked over to Mr. Wickham and in- 
 formed him that he was tired and would go home and go 
 to bed, if the latter would excuse him. "I shall go with 
 you, I have had quite enough of this." 
 
 When they reached the hotel Mr. Wickham began 
 reading the papers, and the clerk showed Mr. Campbell 
 to a room with two beds, in one of which some individual 
 was ensconced in a roaring, innocent snore. As Mr. 
 Campbell rolled and tossed in his bed, half frenzied by 
 the droves of nightmares emerging from the many hu- 
 miliations of the day, he began to lose faith in Mr. Wick- 
 ham. He said to himself, "Old Tennessee is certainly not 
 a half century behind in the modesty of her women or 
 gallantry of her men. Who ever saw a ball in Tennessee 
 where the women solicited the partners, and drank at the 
 
AND THE PIONEER 97 
 
 bar, and where men with hats on and in their dirty shirt 
 sleeves, boldly danced with the ladies." 
 
 By and by the clerk ushered in the black Russian 
 Jew and said, "You will sleep there with your friend." 
 His friend ceased snoring, and asked, "How was the 
 old settlers' meeting?" The Jew replied, "The High 
 Muck-a-Muck set a trap for me in my initiation, and I 
 valked into it; he vined me ten gallons of beer, they all 
 got trunk, and ve had bushels of vun ; but, by shimminy/' 
 continued the Jew, "the vunniest ding I ever saw vas 
 a long, lank, sorefoot vrom Tennessee ' "A tenderfoot 
 you mean," interrupted his friend. "Ya, ya, dats vot 
 I told you," said the Jew. "Dat sorefoot vas a young- 
 boy growing out of his clothes; his coat sleeves vos 'alf 
 vay up to his helboes, his bants 'alf vay to his knees, 
 his behind buttons hon his coat, between his shoulders, 
 han he jerked hoff his hat, han put it hunder his harm 
 hout hof respect for the dance house girls. By shimminy, 
 hit vas vunny." The two men laughed long and loud 
 about the "sorefoot." 
 
 Mr. Campbell was becoming desperate and had de- 
 termined to ask Mr. Wickham the next morning about 
 the superiority of Colorado society in general, and about 
 the unbecoming conduct of both men and women at the 
 ball. 
 
 The next morning at breakfast Mr. Campbell said, 
 "Mr. Wickham, I don't think Tennessee is a half century 
 behind Colorado in the modesty and refinement of her 
 women, or in the courtesy and gallantry of her men, if 
 those at the ball last night were a fair sample of Colo- 
 rado society." Mr. Wickham answered, "I am glad you 
 have spoken of this so early. I saw by the way you 
 bared your head out of respect for those hardened women 
 
 THK I'll.*; KIM. 7 
 
98 THE PILGRIM 
 
 that you did not understand this place. We should not 
 have been there, but the agonizing screams, and the black 
 Jew with the keg of beer between the two guards, enter- 
 ing there, caused my curiosity to outrun my better judg- 
 ment. 
 
 "These were the very lowest order of scarlet women 
 for whom nobody has any respect. This is why all eyes 
 were turned upon you when you removed your hat out 
 of respect for them." Mr. Campbell remained silent 
 and placed his hands over his face to hide his humiliation. 
 Mr. Wickham came near bursting into tears, went to the 
 window and aimlessly looked out upon the cheerless sage- 
 brush for a moment, then said to himself, "What a change 
 has come over me. Oh, this dispiriting humiliation ! This 
 common slough of despond has created an indissoluble 
 bond of sympathy between the very antipodes of pioneer 
 civilization." 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 A PEBBLE TURNED THE CURRENT. 
 
 On the 24th of June John Campbell and Joshua 
 Wickham entered the town of Saguache, a small adobe 
 village on the Saguache River in the most fertile and 
 best developed portion of the matchless San Luis valley. 
 
 The Ute Indians had been located on Los Pinos 
 for many years, and Saguache had been their trading point. 
 The overflow of the Saguache River and the natural perco- 
 lation through a great area of ground below, had made the 
 native grass grow in great abundance, and had attracted 
 many wealthy cattle and sheep men to the valley; also 
 many discharged employes, discharged soldiers from the 
 Indian reservation and their relatives, had settled here, 
 and while the new comers had not secured possession of 
 public affairs they had made a kind of a filling or fertilizer 
 to the old blood. There were also many old and reliable 
 Mexican families with large herds of sheep and some 
 attractive senoritas and senoras here. There were, besides, 
 a liberal number of pretty and bright American women in 
 the valley. Many new buildings were being erected, and 
 many business men were waiting for rooms in which to em- 
 bark in some unrepresented lines of business. They were 
 received with open arms by the old settlers who showed 
 them the things of public interest, and gave their ideas of 
 this place as the real gateway to the great San Juan mines. 
 All of the officers of the town and county were of the ster- 
 ling business class, and they were very vigilant lest in the 
 excitement they might drop into the ruinous habits of ex- 
 
 (99) 
 
100 THE PILGRIM 
 
 travagance that have ever been such a blighting curse to 
 the new settlements of the developing West. They owed 
 no public debts. 
 
 Said Mr. Wickham, "I have jumped from the frying 
 pan into the fire. ISTo healthy pessimist can fatten or 
 even hold his own here. There is even too little to com- 
 plain of to give him an appetite to hunt for the trail of 
 the dreaded 'octopus/ so I shall take a lay off, live on 
 the stimulating, ambrosial bread of smiling optimism, 
 listen to the enchanting lowing of the cattle on a thousand 
 hills, and sing decadent, dulcet strains to the accompani- 
 ment of the dark-eyed senorita's guitar, until the cold 
 blasts of winter waft back my disengaged spell." 
 
 Mr. Campbell suggested that he must go and invest 
 in an overcoat, and asked Joshua to defer his visit to 
 dreamland until he saw him properly fitted out with a 
 suitable June overcoat. 
 
 They marched down to the only general store there 
 that of Messrs. Mayers & Grebles in an immense building 
 and made their wishes known. A very polite, handsome 
 and kindly faced old gentleman, who had had a long ex- 
 perience in Kansas City, Santa Fe, Taos, and many other 
 places, brought out two styles. One a canvas outside 
 and lined with woolen goods for mountain wear, and the 
 other a deep blue coat with a ministerial cape. Mr. Kil- 
 lin recommended the blue coat as most suitable for town 
 wear, and turning to Mr. Wickham, asked, "What do 
 you think about it ?" 
 
 "As my friend Campbell is an attorney at law, I 
 quite agree with your choice as between the two styles ; he 
 may be bothered a little by being accosted occasionally by 
 the anxious candidates for matrimony or the despondent 
 friends of the sick to perform ministerial duties of which 
 
AND THE PIONEER 101 
 
 he is not worthy, but it will be easier to explain his habila- 
 ments than to wear one of these midwinter mountain coats 
 on these slightly chilly June evenings; then it isn't alto- 
 gether inappropriate, as it is a professional coat." 
 
 Mr. Campbell paid the clerk $20 and kept the coat. 
 
 "Ah, so you are a lawyer?" said Mr. Killin. "You 
 are the first man of this profession who has honored us 
 with a visit. You had better conclude to stay with us. 
 This will be a good town as soon as the road is completed 
 to the San Juan mines. Come over and meet the proprie- 
 tors of the store. They will be glad to see you both." 
 
 The party moved back to the office where the pro- 
 prietors and two handsome, well-dressed young men were 
 earnestly discussing some papers they held in their hands. 
 
 The polite clerk introduced Mr. Wickham all around, 
 and then very deferentially introduced Mr. Campbell, a 
 member of the bar, to the busy four. The older one of 
 the young men said, "I hoky, we need a member of the 
 bar very badly here. We have been trying all day to 
 get up a partnership agreement to go into the hardware 
 business, and every time we would think we had it all 
 right something would suggest itself to one or the other 
 that had not been covered, and the whole thing would 
 be kicked over. What would it be worth for you to draw 
 us one, if you have had any experience in such mat- 
 ters?" 
 
 "Oh, about $5," answered the lawyer. 
 
 Mr. Gentry remarked, "I'll be glad to give some one 
 $2.50 to do my part of this." 
 
 "So shall I," said Mr. Daly, "if this young man 
 thinks he can get up so complicated an agreement." 
 
 "Gentlemen," broke in Mr. Wickham, "excuse my 
 interference, but I have been working with this young 
 
102 THE PILGRIM 
 
 man for a long time, and have always found him all 
 right, whether engaged in the 'taming of the shrew' or 
 the trial of a lawsuit." 
 
 The partners handed him their draft of the con- 
 tract and five dollars, and asked when they could expect 
 it. He told them he would deliver it at that office at 
 ten o'clock A. M. the next day. This greatly relieved 
 the husy four and they drifted into matters of general 
 interest, while Mr. Campbell and Mr. Wickham hied 
 away to their room to prepare the troublesome articles of 
 copartnership. 
 
 Mr. Wickham ventured, "I guess we have gotten into 
 deeper water than we expected so soon." 
 
 "Oh no," answered Mr. Campbell, "that is easy; the 
 most arduous part of this undertaking is the penmanship." 
 
 "I'll gladly do the writing if it will lighten your 
 labors any." 
 
 "Yes, and I should like to have it written in your 
 clear Spencerian hand. It looks so much better than 
 mine." Handsome legal cap, a blue cover, a bottle of 
 black and a bottle of red ink were secured, and Mr. Wick- 
 ham seated himself as amanuensis. 
 
 Mr. Campbell went to his trunk and brought out a 
 nice leather covered volume of "Jenkins' Legal Forms 
 for the Northwest." 
 
 "What are you going to do with that book?" said 
 Mr. Wickham. 
 
 "This is the legal chisel, the lawyer's jackplane, the 
 symmetrical mould that will enable us to cut out, polish, 
 and mould this contract, as artfully in the little village of 
 Saguache as it could be done in the most pretentious law 
 office in New York City." He opened it at set formulas 
 for copartnership agreements, and there was a short and 
 
AND THE PIONEER 103 
 
 a long form, one or the other of which was used in most 
 important partnerships all over the world. 
 
 Mr. Wickham looked over them and said: "Well 
 sir, that long one is a thing of beauty, and its discovery 
 will be a joy to us forever." 
 
 Mr. Campbell suggested that the short one would be 
 quite adequate in this case and would involve less writing. 
 
 "Oh," remarked Mr. Wickham, "the long one evinces 
 more legal erudition, and has more of the smack of pro- 
 fundity about it, and when you present it to your clients 
 tomorrow they will feel like paying you more for burn- 
 ing so much midnight oil in casting such a comprehen' 
 sive and logical form, and I shall quite enjoy the writ- 
 ing in anticipation of the great surprise this artfully 
 constructed instrument will awaken in them." 
 
 Mr. Campbell read the form, even to paragraphing 
 and punctuation, as found in the book, and filled the few 
 blanks, such as length of time it was to run, the amount 
 each party put in, the names of the parties, etc., every- 
 thing else being provided for in the formula. It was soon 
 finished, put in a nice blue cover, entitled on the outside, 
 enclosed in an envelope and addressed to Messrs. Gentry & 
 Daly, City, then laid on the table for delivery next morn- 
 ing, and the happy drafters retired with complete content- 
 ment for the night. 
 
 At ten o'clock the next day Mr. Campbell delivered 
 the agreement to the bookkeeper at the store, with instruc- 
 tions to hand it to the new firm and tell them that if any- 
 thing was wrong he would be at the hotel and would gladly 
 correct it on being notified. 
 
 About eight o'clock that evening as Mr. Wickham was 
 passing by the store, Mr. Mayers beckoned him to come in. 
 He went back to the office, and found these same four 
 
104 THE PILGRIM 
 
 gentlemen Messrs. Mayers, Grebles, Gentry, & Daly 
 with the new agreement spread out before them. 
 Mr. Wickham said, "What, is there something wrong 
 with the agreement?" Mr. Mayers raised his eyes 
 and exclaimed, "Wrong! wrong! well I should think 
 not. W'y, Mr. Wickham, by shimminy, if that agreement 
 don't anticipate and provide against all of the possible 
 mistakes or misunderstandings of a whole life time. What 
 I called you in for is to learn who this young man is, 
 and how on earth he ever crowded so much legal informa- 
 tion into so young a head ? By shimminy, it was worth a 
 hundred dollars to work up such a contract as that." They 
 all joined in pronouncing it a marvelous piece of work. 
 
 "I met him by chance," said Mr. Wickham, "as he 
 was coming into the country and have become attracted 
 to him, but really know nothing of his antecedents, as he 
 never parades his personal affairs before others; but I 
 think he is all right." 
 
 "We must keep him here, that's all," declared Mr. 
 Mayers. "He can't go away." 
 
 The county commissioners were in session, and Mr. 
 Mayers went to them and suggested: 
 
 "The immigration and new questions arising make 
 it advisable that you have a county attorney, and by 
 spending $50 a month for legal advice you would prob- 
 ably save $200 per month." He also said that such a 
 thing was imperative under the new conditions. They 
 agreed with him in the desirability, but inquired, "Where 
 can we find the suitable person?" 
 
 Mr. Mayers related the wonderful story about the 
 partnership agreement, the order was passed to appoint an 
 attorney and the only name presented was that of Mr. 
 Campbell; he accepted, and as practically the same thing 
 
AND THE PIONEER 105 
 
 occurred with the town, he immediately had his hands 
 full. 
 
 The county furnished him a statute, and he took it 
 to his room and was absorbed in fastening the duties of 
 a county attorney in particular and county officers in gen- 
 eral in his memory when Mr. Wickham appeared and 
 said: 
 
 "What, have you a charter for some great railroad 
 to the moon to draw that ytm are appealing to that magical 
 looking book again ?" 
 
 "No, I have been appointed town and county attor- 
 ney and this is the State Statute from which I must learn 
 my duties." 
 
 "Well, well, 'great oaks from little acorns grow.' I 
 haven't moralized since T left Mr. McCollough at the Grand 
 Central, so you must excuse me if I deliver a short homily 
 this evening on the momentous subject, 'A small pebble 
 may change the course of a mighty river.' 
 
 "Think of the number of little links, the loss of any 
 one of which would have prevented you from drawing that 
 contract ; if you had failed to buy that book, or had for- 
 gotten to bring it, or had used the shorter and less pre- 
 tentious form, or if it had not been shown to Mr. Mayers, 
 you would not have been county or town attorney, would 
 have drifted away, and the entire course of your life would 
 have been changed, whether for the better or worse no one 
 can tell." 
 
 Mr. Campbell remained incessantly at his statutes 
 for six weeks and was little company to any one, when 
 Mr. Wiekham re-appeared and began: 
 
 "Mr. Campbell, my waste gates have been choked up 
 for a number of weeks, and I must now give vent to my 
 stored energies. I shall, as the reigning optimist pro tern 
 
106 THE PILGRIM 
 
 of the laughing blue waters of the Saguache deign this 
 morning to sermonize you on the deleterious effects of 
 wasted brain tissue. Do you not know that in time 
 this ever absorbing mental application will cause the 
 candles of the phosphatic fires to burn out, and leave you 
 mentally like the foolish virgins who forgot to fill their 
 lamps with oil, or you will be found desolately groping 
 around in mental darkness, and like a dethroned Ajax 
 you will cry for more light ? 
 
 "You should drop these books, take your gun and 
 challenge the cunning wild duck in her flight, hunt the 
 hilly haunts of the meek wild hare, or chase the athletic 
 and egotistical jack-rabbit that you may catch the current 
 of the departing phosphorus expended in its swift 
 flight ; or if you should prefer the more ecstatic and gentle 
 armor of the archer, then load yourself with Cupid's 
 feathery darts and flee away to the halls of Delsarte 
 and there bend yourself gently forward, then backward, 
 to the left, to the right, then around and around, at the 
 dreamy beckoning of some dark gazelle in the entrancing 
 mazes of the Spanish fandango; or, if that be too mild 
 a remedy for so great a spirit, then trip the light fan- 
 tastic toe in the sprightly polka with some smiling, im- 
 perious American beauty, and from her sparkling eyes re- 
 plenish your depleted fuel vats. Excessive mental work, 
 excessive grief, love, or worry, will seal the pigeon holes 
 of the memory with hardened carbon sheets that, until 
 softened by some pliable solvent, will admit no impres- 
 sions of occurring events. 
 
 "The pollen from the conjugal affections is almost a 
 sure specific for an impaired and fading memory caused 
 by an excessive mental strain, and the pollen arising from 
 a wholesome exercise of tEe reasoning faculties fertilizes 
 
AND THE PIONEER 107 
 
 a memory impaired by excessive love, grief, or worry, 
 so if you desire to keep your faculties normal you must 
 give each a reasonable play, or the neglected ones, with 
 that green-eyed jealousy permeating all nature, will 
 grieve themselves into empty shadows and weird stalking 
 apparitions that will glut their vengeance in chasing and 
 worrying the favored ones into a hopeless decay." 
 
 "First/' suggested Mr. Campbell, "go with me to 
 the Chronicle office that I may announce myself as an 
 integral part of the body politic, then I shall abide by 
 your decision. Now, sir, what do you order your ward 
 to do?" 
 
 "Lay down that musty statute," and follow me into 
 the refreshing ozone beds of the tinted prairie, or join me 
 in ascending the mountain steeps where you may inhale 
 the resinous aroma of the pitch pine and sleep in the 
 rugged crags with the Rocky Mountain goat. 
 
 "You must help me into the excitement of such 
 scenes as will' keep my thoughts scattered. Of late the 
 grinding of my brain has been confined to so narrow a 
 surface that I can distinctly feel calloused creases in 
 which everything is wont to run. If the current is not 
 kept spread until these grooves soften and fill up, I fear 
 thoughts emanating from any portion of the brain will 
 inevitably gravitate to these chasms, and be prematurely 
 poured off and lost forever." 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 ENTREE TO SOCIETY. 
 
 Mr. Campbell suggested to Mr. Wickham, a We are 
 invited to a house-warming tonight in San Isabel, and 
 to a Mexican fandango at Wheaton Hall tomorrow night. 
 Shall we go?" 
 
 Mr. Wickham hesitated a moment, then answered, 
 "The mind has worried this tired body into an appeal 
 for a few days' truce, and for the opening of negotiations 
 for the old time harmony. What a merciless tyrant the 
 mind is to persist in grinding these cowardly, desponding 
 thoughts through the helpless brain, keeping it so in- 
 flamed from incessant friction, that the whole body is 
 impotent. Why did nature give the mind complete 
 mastery of the body, instead of making them co-ordinate 
 members, that the body might protect itself from the 
 abuse of power of the headlong mind? I really need 
 the excitement, but treachery to the 'Holy Creed' of late 
 has disabled me, but if you think you can gather some 
 of the gangleonic glame from the aromatic damsels skirt- 
 ing the banks of the San Isabel, you go." 
 
 Eight or ten men and three young women started at 
 2 P. M. to drive twenty miles across the country to the 
 house-warming. In those days the settlers for thirty 
 miles were regarded as neighbors, and it was common to 
 attend the dances within these limits. 
 
 About 5 P. M. the Saguache contingent reached the 
 place. The family lived in a dugout, or cellar. The 
 
 visitors entered the new house situated about two hun- 
 
 (100) 
 
110 THE PILGRIM 
 
 dred yards from the dugout; there was not a person in 
 sight and no furniture in the new house except a cook 
 stove and an ordinary nail keg sitting in the corner. A 
 son of the minister of the gospel, a certain Mr. Paine, 
 was the rudest, boldest, and most reckless one of the 
 party. He opened the stove, and there was a well baked 
 jack-rabbi-t ready for the carving knife. He lifted it 
 to the top of the stove, carved and apportioned it out, 
 and it soon disappeared. He went to the keg in the cor- 
 ner, and it was filled with nice red apples. He took one 
 in his hand, held it aloft, and was telling the assembly 
 how it grew in his mother's garden in Missouri, and 
 how she had just forwarded it to him by mail, when the 
 lady of the dugout entered the door without speaking to 
 anyone, placed the keg on her hip and descended to the 
 dugout. There did not seem to be anyone expecting 
 visitors until eight o'clock in the evening, and no one 
 welcomed them or paid any kind of attention to them. 
 As the host and hostess seemed absorbed in preparing 
 supper, Mr. Paine called for volunteers to go and visit 
 some Mexican plazas while waiting for the ceremonies 
 to begin. All went. The buildings of the peasants were 
 made of sun dried brick or thick-walled adobe, with 
 numerous buildings for numbers of families joined to- 
 gether, evidently for mutual assistance in case of attack 
 by Indians. Their fire-places were built in the corner 
 of each room and formed a complete semi-circle. They 
 had no fire-irons they used pinon or pitch pine wood. 
 They would set a stick on end in the fire-place #nd touch 
 a match to a heavily resined part and the flames would 
 shoot up the stick of wood and up the chimney as from 
 a dry tree ignited in a forest fire, making a cheerful and 
 inspiring scene. They found quite a number of women, 
 
AND THE PIONEER 111 
 
 also several men. The Mexicans had no chairs, but sat 
 around the walls on little mats; the women wore their 
 shawls over their heads, and were modest and comely in 
 appearance. Both men and women were under-sized, 
 compared with Americans. 
 
 Every family had a patch of corn, beans, potatoes, 
 citron, and red pepper, the chief articles of the native 
 diet, which they grew to great perfection under a sys- 
 tem of irrigation, as it very rarely rains there. 
 
 The ground sloped gently to the south. They took 
 the water out of the natural stream into an artificial 
 ditch, and checking the flow at the upper end of their 
 truck patches, turned a trickling little stream down 
 furrows made by the side of every row, permitting it 
 to run until the ground was thoroughly soaked; this they 
 repeated every three weeks. Farming by irrigation is 
 the only scientific farming. No drought, no excessive damp- 
 ness; and the mineral and new soil in the water is con- 
 tinually fertilizing the ground. Those accustomed to the 
 humid regions may think it tedious and very expensive, 
 but this is an error. Nature, not supplying the arid 
 region with natural rainfall, has so shaped the surface 
 of the earth and so constituted the soil that it can be 
 easily and cheaply irrigated without washing. 
 
 The visitors were welcomed and very courteously 
 and hospitably entertained. 
 
 When the Mexicans saluted one another they em- 
 braced instead of shaking hands, but shook hands with 
 the visitors. 
 
 At eight o'clock in the evening, about twenty couples 
 met at the house where they had found the baked jack- 
 rabbit, for the ball. The owners were old pioneers who 
 had lived in the dugout many years; they had just com- 
 
112 THE PILGRIM 
 
 pleted the house and wanted it properly christened. The 
 way the Saguache party came to be there was, that a 
 young merchant of Saguache occasionally visited a young 
 lady at San Isabel and Mr. Hearn had invited him to 
 bring over eight or ten couples for the dance. 
 
 The party at the dance was conglomerate. There 
 were gray-haired men and gray-haired women, little 
 boys and little girls, young men and young women, and 
 the middle aged. The nationalities were German, French, 
 English, American, and Mexican. 
 
 The host and hostess were not society people, so they 
 gave the visitors possession of the new house and the 
 management of the gaities, while they looked after supper. 
 
 At the beginning, the nationalities were a little clan- 
 nish, which gave a good opportunity to distinguish the dif- 
 ferent shades of style. The corpulent Germans were ener- 
 getically whirling and jumping flat-footed at the entranc- 
 ing time, and driving everything out of their track like the 
 cow-catcher of a mighty locomotive; the French were 
 artistically touching the floor with the balls of their feet, 
 and turning in the smallest space with the grace and 
 regularity of a top, avoiding every possible contact; the 
 Americans were recklessly striding and gliding into others ; 
 while the Mexicans had both hands around the waists of 
 their partners the Mexican custom slowly swaying the 
 body to the right, then to the left, then weaving around 
 and around, flat-footed, and beating down every strain of 
 the inspiring time, like a ventriloquist keeping the sound 
 of a bumble bee under his foot. 
 
 The gentlemen from Saguache were strangers, and 
 no one offered to introduce them, so the irrepressible 
 minister's son came to their rescue. He would take a 
 gentleman by the arm, lead him up to a lady, and say, 
 
AND THE PIONEER 113 
 
 "Senorita', this is Mr. Jones," or "Senora, this is Mr. 
 Campbell," or "Mrs.- Waxelbaumer, this is Mr.. Smith," 
 and they would ask for a dance, be accepted, and move 
 on. 
 
 He said this was all right, for the women took no 
 more chances on the men than the men did on the women^ 
 as they were all utter strangers. 
 
 At twelve o'clock the host appeared and said : 
 
 "Supper is now ready at the dugout and there is 
 room for all." 
 
 The company marched to the dugout and partook of 
 as palatable and dainty a repast as could be gotten in 
 any country; the jingling of solid silver and the click of 
 delicate china were heard everywhere; these articles had 
 been heirlooms of the family for generations, and had 
 been hauled across the plains by bull teams. 
 
 Before the party dispersed, the incorrigible Paine 
 addressed the dancers, saying, "The Saguache contingent 
 has had a most delightful time with you. Every mem- 
 ber of our little group has personally met every one of 
 your party. Such sobriety, courtesy, and democracy as 
 we have witnessed here tonight could not prevail else- 
 where than in the shadows of the majestic Sangre de 
 Cristo range. I trust that the friendships and mutual 
 regard emanating from this informal house-warming 
 may result in business partnerships, life-long friendships, 
 and happy marriages. I know that you all feel that no 
 one has been tarnished or contaminated by being informal 
 and generous to strangers in a strange land." 
 
 The following evening Mr. Paine and Mr. Campbell 
 gleefully joined twenty American couples for the Whea- 
 ton fandango. Mr. Wheaton was a sterling American 
 who had some years previously married a fair senorita, 
 
114 THE PILGRIM 
 
 and had become the patriarch of his plaza and the polit- 
 ical power of a large Mexican settlement. Nothing 
 has a greater tendency to draw the heart of the Mexican 
 to the political leader than the gentle mazes of the Spanish 
 fandango. 
 
 Mr. Wheaton had built an adobe dance hall on his 
 premises to be used for political purposes. 
 
 When the invited guests were tabbed it was found 
 that twenty American and thirty-five Mexican couples 
 had assembled. Only about half of these couples could 
 occupy the floor at one time. Almost immediately, that 
 innate antipathy of nationality against nationality, began 
 to crop out. Mr. Wheaton saw the gathering storm and 
 set about to avert it. He called the leaders of both na- 
 tionalities together and proposed that they alternate in 
 the occupancy of the floor. This met the approval of 
 both, and Mr. Wheaton was very cheerful over the pros- 
 pects of complete harmony where a few moments before it 
 seemed impossible. The redoubtable Paine was not sub- 
 ject to discipline. He insisted on pushing into the 
 Mexican sets, and assumed familiarities with the senoritas, 
 to the great irritation of their male devotees. About one 
 A. M. he made some slighting remark about a short, 
 rotund senora, which was heard by her husband. The 
 latter became enraged, consulted with his countrymen, 
 and in a few moments the thirty-five Mexican couples, 
 in an orderly, and solemn manner, left the hall and 
 marched away to the plaza. 
 
 The Americans were delighted, as this gave them com- 
 plete possession. While they were enraptured with the 
 strains of an entrancing waltz, the Mexican men returned 
 with their pockets and hands filled with boulders, and 
 
AND THE PIONEER 115 
 
 without warning began shattering the chandeliers and 
 the American heads. 
 
 The women fled to the rear of the hall. Fortunately 
 the Americans had two local pugilists among their num- 
 ber. They threw off their coats, dropped their suspenders 
 from their shoulders, spat upon their hands, and called 
 upon the others to follow the charge. Robert Green led 
 them upon the left of the hall, and John Hill on the right. 
 
 The Mexicans were in possession of the front end 
 of the hall and the means of egress and ingress, and 
 four or five of their number were stationed just out- 
 side of the main door, throwing in rocks to their 
 warriors. The Mexicans were under-sized in comparison 
 to their competitors, and as these pugilists struck one 
 after another of their smaller foes, he was left limp 
 and helpless upon the floor. Mr. Green cleared his 
 side of the hall first. As he reached the door he ob- 
 served four or five Mexicans gathering and throwing in 
 stones to their countrymen. He whirled to assist 
 in clearing the right side of the hall, when he 
 ran into Mr. Campbell with his 22-caliber, three-inch- 
 barrel pistol in his right hand. Green fairly 
 jerked him onto the threshold of the door, and ordered 
 him to "shoot the head off the first one of these - 
 greasers that offers to straighten up or move." Mr. 
 Campbell was as stiff from fright as a metallic cigar 
 sign, but Green had jerked him into position 
 pointing his pistol in the right direction, and had given 
 the necessary orders to kill. Every Mexican was half 
 bent, with one hand upon the ground feeling for boulders 
 when the order was given, and no one changed his posi- 
 tion further, than to look directly into the barrel of this 
 formidable implement of death. After the shoulder 
 
116 THE PILGRIM 
 
 strikers . had cleared the hall of the enemy, they passed 
 from one of these rock-gatherers to another and gave him 
 a jolt under the ear which sent him winding in the dark; 
 he would then gain his feet and run for the plaza. 
 
 When the Mexicans were finished, an American who 
 had married a Mexican woman, drove his wagon up close 
 to the door and was trying to get his senora into it for 
 an early escape. Some one cried out, "There is a squaw- 
 man. Give him a tap under the ear as a tribute to 
 his poor matrimonial taste." Mr. Hill gave him a 
 left hander which sent him sprawling upon his face 
 under the wagon. 
 
 The Americans returned to the hall chuckling, 
 and immediately attempted to quiet the frightened 
 w T omen. To their utter surprise they found in the midst 
 of the women the pestiferous Paine, who had brought 
 on the riot. Green exclaimed, "Well, Paine, you are 
 the only black sheep in this flock. Through your cussed- 
 ness we had to meet greater numbers, taking us by sur- 
 prise, and no man turned his back to the enemy ex- 
 cept you, the starter of the disturbance." 
 
 Mr. Paine mumbled out that the women held him, 
 and that he couldn't get away from them. The women 
 indignantly denied this. 
 
 While one after another was looking down upon 
 him with scorn and denouncing his cowardice, the 
 musicians slipped down from a high railed platform and 
 were trying to make a quiet escape from the hall. Among 
 them was an old peg-legged Mexican who was passing 
 the crowd just as someone was denouncing Paine 
 for not joining in the battle. Mr. Paine quickly turned 
 and saying, "It is not too late yet," hauled off and 
 knocked the peg-legged old Mexican down. Mr. Green 
 
AND THE PIONEER 117 
 
 then took him across his lap and paddled him as 
 a mother would a child. Mr. Hill jumped to the 
 music stand, tore the sharp-cornered, two-by-four railing 
 from its posts, had Mr. Paine thrown astride of it, and 
 they rode him on this rail until the carriages were all 
 ready to be filled, and he was left upon the prairie six 
 miles from home in the dark alone. 
 
 When the injuries were figured up among the 
 Americans several were found with bruised heads, and 
 one had his hands and fingers badly cut, while Mr. Hill, 
 one of the pugilists, had one cheek laid open from a large 
 knife. 
 
 Mr. Campbell was in the wagon with the pugilists, 
 still stiff from fright. He was mentally pledging him- 
 self that if he could get home alive, he would never again 
 attend a Mexican fandango. 
 
 Mr. Hill was asked how he got his face slashed 
 open. He replied: "W'y, I did this to save Campbell's 
 life. While he was standing there so bravely holding 
 the rock-gatherers with their noses to the ground at the 
 muzzle of his gun, that big black Mexican slipped up 
 behind him and was just about to sever his jugular, 
 when I let him have a right hander under the jaw and 
 on his way to the floor he slashed me in the face. One 
 more second would have been enough for him to sever 
 Campbell's head from his body." Mr. Campbell went 
 into a regular chill, which he could not throw off until 
 the next day. This ended his society engagements in the 
 San Luis valley. The next day in telling Mr. Wickham 
 about it, he said, "Mr. Wickham, I can't see how anyone 
 over lives long enough in this civilization to become a 
 pioneer." 
 
 When the janitor cleaned up the hall, he reported 
 
118 THE PILGRIM 
 
 the finding of blood spots, mats of hair, and Mexican 
 teeth about every part of the premises. 
 
 Mr. Campbell sneered, "What a contrast between 
 these and the fluffy rosettes, little tufts of chiffon, and 
 garlands of withered flowers, the insiginia of the departed 
 dancers in old Tennessee." 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 THE WORLD A GLASS HOUSE TO THE FALSE. 
 
 Saguache now began to be the gateway of travel for 
 the mines of Lake City. 
 
 Three gentlemen from Kentucky, all well dressed, 
 but one rather flashily so, stopped over a day to rest. 
 The showy one spent money freely and created the im- 
 pression that he had much to spend. 
 
 After this party reached Lake City, eighty miles 
 south, there appeared in the "Silver World" an obituary 
 stating that forty miles south of Saguache this lively and 
 apparently wealthy member of the party ate an exorbitant 
 meal of mountain trout, took the colic, died, and was 
 buried on the banks of the Saguache. 
 
 The old pioneers looked at the notice, shook their 
 heads, and said: 
 
 "There are suspicious things about this. In the 
 first place the water was so high they could not catch 
 the fish; then it is not probable that he could have eaten 
 enough of this wholesome diet to kill him ; and lastly, 
 it is not the natural thing for a comrade like this one to 
 be buried without coffin or ceremony in a wilderness, 
 while within one day's travel they could reach all of 
 the conveniences of a decent funeral and burial. Well," 
 they suggested, "It shows all of the ear marks of 'foul 
 play.' " 
 
 The attention of the coroner was aroused, and he 
 concluded to summon a coroner's jury, take a few wit- 
 nesses and Mr. Campbell, the county attorney, and hie 
 
120 THE PILGRIM 
 
 away to see what evidence of crime this newly made 
 grave might contain. Near the place, on the banks of the 
 Saguache, was a cattle ranch, and the proprietor was the 
 father of three of the prettiest girls in the country, and 
 their admirers were numerous. Every beau was try- 
 ing to get subpoenaed as a witness or juror that he might 
 go. A newspaper man, a surveyor, Mr. Campbell, and 
 a liveryman, secured a spring wagon to which was hitched 
 the best team in town. The driver suggested that some 
 of the lovers of these girls had induced the officers to 
 subpoena them, and that their sole object was to visit the 
 girls at the county's expense. "There will not be room 
 for more than four," he remarked, "and if you prefer I 
 will drive you in first, and you can engage all the room 
 and keep the lovers in camp." 
 
 "Yes, by all means, get us there first," answered one 
 of the party. 
 
 The liveryman seemed to think such a trip as this 
 at the county's expense would knock him out of hiring 
 them teams. 
 
 Mr. Macready, the oldest one of the party, remarked, 
 "Here, if we find that dead man, it will be stifling to 
 move his body. I suggest that each passenger be re- 
 quired to take a quart of whiskey, as medicine, you know." 
 
 "A quart of whiskey?" inquired Mr. Campbell, "I 
 never drank that much whiskey in all my life, and don't 
 expect to drink that much, if I live forty years longer." 
 
 "Very well," answered Mr. Macready, "If you don't 
 have to drink it you will be fortunate, but those who 
 have to handle that putrid corpse will sorely need it. 
 Those who escape this ordeal can well afford to furnish 
 this little amount of medicine." They all went to the 
 saloons, and each purchased his quart of "medicine." 
 
AND THE PIONEER 121 
 
 The rain was pouring down in torrents, and the 
 spring wagon was without a cover. Mr. Macready got a 
 box of tacks and a hammer, and with the driver's assistance 
 moved the seats close to each end, stretched a buffalo robe 
 and tacked it thoroughly to the tops of the seats as a 
 shelter. The four passengers climbed in, took seats on 
 the floor of the wagon box, under the buffalo robe, and 
 began a game of seven up for the drinks. Whenever a 
 member should lose a game, he was to pass his quart of 
 "medicine." 
 
 When the first game was lost,, the victim passed 
 his bottle. When it reached Mr. Campbell he replied, 
 "No, thank you, I don't drink at all." The other three 
 insisted that he must, that it would warm him up, and 
 prevent his taking cold. Mr. Campbell insisted that he 
 preferred the cold to the effects of such "medicine." His 
 companions took hold of him, pinioned him to the floor, 
 poured some of it in his ears, in his nose, and one of 
 them was prying his mouth open, while the others were 
 saying, "Open it if you have to knock his teeth out. He 
 is the most unsophisticated tenderfoot we ever saw." 
 One suggested they pour it all into him. 
 
 Mr. Campbell soon became exhausted and yielded to 
 their persuasion, saying that if he must have that vile 
 stuff inside of him he would take it in an orderly way. 
 They made him drink heartily, and at the end of every 
 game they did not fail to see that he drank deep and 
 well. 
 
 When the driver reached the Hodding Dairy, twelve 
 miles up the Saguache River, he got out and looked under 
 the buffalo robe, and his four passengers were squeezed 
 in like sardines, sound asleep. He aroused them, but 
 none of them were able to navigate. He went to the dairy, 
 
122 THE PILGRIM 
 
 had a quart of greasy sweet milk sent over for each one 
 of his passengers, saying, "Boys, it won't do to go to Mr. 
 Wayne's house in this condition. Each of you take a 
 cup of this sweet milk, and you will be as sober as judges 
 in a half hour." All of them except Mr. Campbell took 
 the proffered cup, and drank the contents. It acted as 
 an emetic, and each one immediately obtained the neces- 
 sary relief. Mr. Campbell resented the offer, and said 
 that he was no blatant calf that every passing herder 
 might stuff with milk at his pleasure. He said that he 
 was not drunk anyway, and stretching out in the bottom 
 of the wagon, returned to his slumbers. The other pas- 
 sengers reached Mr. Wayne's house in good condition, and 
 suggested to the Misses Wayne that Mr. Campbell was 
 a little in his cups. - The young women expressed their 
 utter astonishment, and suggested they did not suppose 
 that he touched the vile stuff. They ordered Mr. Grill, 
 an English helper about the house, to pail a quart of 
 warm milk, arouse Mr. Campbell, have him drink it, and 
 as soon as he should be sufficiently relieved escort him to 
 the house. Grill prepared his milk, aroused Mr. Camp- 
 bell, and informing him what his orders were, proffered 
 the cup of warm milk. Mr. Campbell indignantly refused 
 the cup, said his comrades had vilely slandered him, that 
 he was perfectly sober, but had had a little slumber, that 
 was all. 
 
 With much confidence he started to climb from the 
 spring wagon, but the ground was much nearer 
 than it seemed, and he dropped in a heap by the 
 side of the wagon. He scrambled to his feet, and made 
 a bold plunge for the house. The road was not wide 
 enough for him. His feet were as far apart as the wagon 
 tracks, and it seemed impossible for him to go through 
 
AND THE PIONEER 123 
 
 the wagon gate without hitting a post. The front door 
 was directly before him, but he boldly passed it, went 
 around the house to the kitchen door, and pushed him- 
 self in without knocking. Miss Emily welcomed him 
 with her usual welcome smile. He began an awkward 
 apology for being sick. Intoxicated as he was, he never 
 has been able to forget the gentle irony with which she 
 told him that she had seen a great many persons suffer- 
 ing from his malady, and had always found that a com- 
 fortable couch and wholesome sleep were a complete 
 specific for the disease. She placed him on a lounge, 
 and threw some blankets over him. The next morning 
 he was duly sober, but overwhelmed with chagrin and 
 humiliation. His shirt bosom looked as if a hose con- 
 nected with a cesspool had been turned loose on it. He 
 sidled around and explained that he had on a flashy 
 necktie the day before, and that the drenching rain had 
 transferred the color from it to his ' shirt. Miss Emily 
 quietly replied, "You stay here today, and I will give you 
 one of father's shirts, and will have yours washed while 
 we go fishing. It isn't best for you to be out with those 
 ruffians anyway." He shook his head and answered, "I 
 must go." 
 
 When the teamster went to put away his horses he 
 found the barn was on one side of the Saguache River 
 and the house on the other, a light foot bridge connecting 
 them, and that the Saguache River was overflowing and 
 not fordable. 
 
 The party loosed their horses and put them up, and 
 as they were crossing the bridge for the house, Mr. Sharp 
 asked the old gentleman if he was through milking and 
 feeding for the night. He answered that he was. 
 
 Then Mr. Sharp told him he had seen a mighty cloud 
 
124 THE PILGRIM 
 
 descend to the mountain peaks, shatter and disappear 
 in the twinkling of an eye, and he was very fearful of 
 a water-spout coming down there and taking out the 
 foot bridge and cutting them off from their horses. 
 
 "If you don't mind," he continued, "we will pull 
 the bridge over to the house side and thoroughly anchor it, 
 and then replace it in the morning." 
 
 The old gentleman replied that he would be very much 
 obliged if it would not be too much trouble. 
 
 They pulled the bridge over the river and made all 
 chance for the beaux reaching their sweethearts impos- 
 sible that evening. 
 
 During the evening the coroner was beckoned to the 
 river's edge and let into the plot, and none of the pas- 
 sengers in the front wagon could be seen next morning 
 until the other wagons drove away. Then the bridge 
 was replaced. They searched the banks of the Saguache 
 far and near, but could find no trace of a newly made 
 grave, and returned convinced that foul play had sug- 
 gested a secret burial place. 
 
 When the party started home the astute liveryman 
 avoided the road leading by the house, and as the beaux 
 had lost four days and had not seen their girls, their 
 disappointments had increased their anxiety, and the next 
 Sunday the ingenious and business-like liveryman hired 
 them a team just as he expected he would do if they 
 could be kept away from the house, at the county's ex- 
 pense. 
 
 On the way back to Saguache they visited a rich 
 and highly cultivated colony of English dairymen, cattle, 
 and sheep men, who, like Abraham, left the dry and 
 sterile pastures of their native land and settled on the 
 banks of a strange river. How singular that these for- 
 
AND THE PIONEER 125 
 
 eigners, living five thousand miles away, ; should have 
 realized the great value of the nutritious native grasses 
 before our own citizens did. Their dairies and herds 
 were models of perfection. Their houses were good and 
 luxuriously furnished. They gave the visitors a most 
 dainty and excellent lunch, and vividly described the 
 acknowledged great value of native grasses from the days 
 of Abraham. They said it was far superior to Australia, 
 and then they had a monopoly of the markets of the Can- 
 tonment and Indian agency just beyond. 
 
 About the middle of the afternoon the party stopped 
 at a large Mexican plaza. A corpulent and intelligent 
 white man had married a senorita and was regarded as 
 the patriarch of the plaza. In the plaza they found a 
 white man who had long been used as an interpreter of 
 the Ute Indians. This tribe spoke the Spanish, or Mexi- 
 can language. He told them many interesting things 
 about these Indians. They had just had a conference 
 with some American commissioners in which Mr. Heaton 
 acted as interpreter. The whites wanted them to move 
 over to the Uncompahgre Valley. They wanted to remain 
 at Los Pinos. The whites insisted. The young bucks 
 wanted to go to war with the whites. Finally Chief Ouray 
 took the platform and pathetically told the tribe of their 
 numbers during his father's days, and how other tribes 
 and the pale faces had mowed them down, thinned them 
 out, overpowered them, and driven them back; that his 
 tribe had been as brave, loyal, and patriotic, as any tribe 
 of the plains or mountains, but that there were too few 
 of them to face the great tribe of the pale faces. He 
 told them he had just been to Washington to see the 
 Great Father, and described the size of their guns and 
 how they could make them, and their great destructibility. 
 
126 THE PILGRIM 
 
 He told them that the white men were as thick as the 
 grass of the valley, and the more you cut them down 
 the thicker they would come. He said the tribes of the 
 pale faces were like the prairie dogs; if they got into a 
 country they would take it, and no power could exterminate 
 them. If the Utes should try to stay where they were, 
 he explained, the pale faces, with their great guns and 
 greater numbers, would kill them all and have a great war 
 dance over their dead bodies, while if they moved to the 
 Uncompahgre Valley they could live in peace for a num- 
 ber .of years, at least. 
 
 The middle aged and the old men all voted to move 
 and live, the most of the young bucks voted to stay and 
 die, but the older men carried the day, and they moved. 
 This is not strange. Every generation of young men 
 insists upon war. 
 
 Mr. Heaton also told them many interesting things 
 about the English colony. He told them that one young 
 Englishman had been there off and on for two years who 
 enjoyed a fixed income of over $100,000 per annum. He 
 was a confirmed bachelor. A sweet-voiced, very witty, 
 intelligent, and rosy-cheeked American girl had been 
 visiting the Indian agency, and she was going East about 
 the time that this Englishman was expecting to start for 
 England. The book-keeper of the agency arranged with 
 him to look after her on the long stage ride to the rail- 
 road and to see her safely on the cars, and particularly 
 warned him to be on his guard against the blandishments 
 of her charms. The bookkeeper said he was not certain 
 but what every man at the agency was in love with her. 
 
 The Englishman, shaking his head, had replied : 
 
 "I have moved in the highest circles of English so- 
 ciety for fifteen years and every inducement has been 
 
AND THE PIONEER 127 
 
 extended me for a revel in the emotional dalliance of 
 hymen, but rny heart is too frigid to warm up under the 
 glowing fires of the best English blood, and I shall hardly 
 be captivated in the rugged wilds of the Rocky Moun- 
 tains.' 7 
 
 The rich Englishman, Mr. Henton, made the hard 
 trip with this charming girl, and when he met the book- 
 keeper again he said : 
 
 "I have often pondered over your parting injunc- 
 tion, 'Beware of the blandishments of that young lady's 
 charms/ and I had often heard the proverb, 'You should 
 go camping with a man to learn if he is worthy of your 
 friendship.' I would add another. 'If you want to learn 
 whether a woman is worthy of your affections, chaperon 
 her two hundred miles over the Rocky Mountains in a 
 stage coach in the snow and wind, riding day and night, 
 eating at all kinds of tables and at infrequent hours. 
 
 "Miss Fane adapted herself so resignedly to the 
 conditions, looked so hopefully upon the cheerful side 
 of every inconvenience, was so thoughtful about the horses, 
 driver, and everyone else, and so unmindful of herself, 
 and withal so charmingly entertaining, that at the end 
 of the trip we all really felt that she had been in charge 
 of horses, driver, and passengers. She occupied the po- 
 sition of a healthy, even-tempered, cheerful captain of a 
 ship. 
 
 "When bidding her goodbye I felt as one does after 
 a rough sea voyage when saying farewell to a kind captain 
 who has been at all times oblivious of himself and sacri- 
 ficed everything for his passengers without expecting ever 
 to see them again. 
 
 "She quietly said, 'I do hope, yes I am sure, you 
 will have a very, very pleasant voyage.' 
 
128 THE PILGRIM 
 
 "Unconsciously I stammered, 'Yes, yes, thank you. 
 I should be delighted to write you of the trip. 7 
 
 " 'I should be very glad to have you write me of 
 it/ she answered, 'I know it would be very interesting.' 
 
 "As I moved away the boldness of my offer scared 
 me. I tried to be sorry; tried to think I was sorry that 
 I had made such an offer; felt that it might be trouble- 
 some. 
 
 "Her image, her exemplary disposition, her prin- 
 ciples of unselfish devotion, her easy ways of finding 
 sunshine everywhere, followed me. I tried to banish her 
 and every reminder of her from my memory, or thoughts. 
 I was so trying, but I never saw a person show an im- 
 patience, make a complaint, or do an unseeming thing, 
 that my mind did not make a chaste picture of how she 
 would do or act under such conditions. As soon as I 
 was presented to a lady I would find myself comparing 
 her with Miss Fane, and always to the disadvantage of 
 my new acquaintance. 
 
 "When we landed I could not wait. Something im- 
 pelled me to write her about the trip. I gave her a 
 glowing description of the voyage. With her in mind I 
 could not write of storms and angry waves. When I 
 finished I collected myself and read it over. I had cer- 
 tainly surprised myself. I had had an inspiration. I had 
 no idea till then that I possessed such descriptive faculties. 
 I observed that when closing a glowing paragraph, I quite 
 frequently added by way of parenthesis, 'I wish you could 
 have been with me ; I know you would have enjoyed it 
 so much. 7 This scared me again. I thought it would be 
 construed as an inference. I wondered, 'Will she reply 
 to it ? 7 I tried to wish she would not ; I thought that would 
 cure me. . 
 
AND THE PIONEER 129 
 
 "I timed the mails, and by and by an answer was 
 due. It failed one, two, three days. My anxiety in- 
 creased. I remembered what the bookkeeper at the agency 
 said about all of them being in love with her. It oc- 
 curred to me, is it he? I sought gay female society as 
 a specific for my malady, but it aggravated it. I con- 
 tinued to compare everything they said or did with what 
 she would do or say under the same circumstances and 
 always to the detriment of my country-women. 
 
 "By and by the answer came, a free, cheerful, digni- 
 fied, non-emotional epistle. It troubled me. I tried to 
 drive her from me. She would not go. 
 
 "I walked down to the London bridge and gazed at 
 the flowing river and at the passing crowd, hoping to 
 forget her, but her image hung to me like a pest. I 
 became desperate, went to my room, opened the flood- 
 gates of my emotions, and unreservedly wrote my feel- 
 ings. I never read it and never knew just what I wrote, 
 but mailed it to America and resignedly awaited a reply. 
 The writing of this letter had the same relaxing effects 
 on my strained emotions that a flood of tears has on a 
 grief-stricken mother. 
 
 "In due time a kind, dignified reply came, thanking 
 me for my good opinion, but reminding me that we knew 
 very little of each other, and suggesting that we corre- 
 spond without any definite answer until my return and 
 see if I was then of the same mind." 
 
 In early spring Mr. Henton returned to America, and 
 the following fall recrossed the Atlantic and introduced 
 this sparkling, dignified, complacent, traveling companion 
 into London Society, as his bride. This girl 
 of nature, found in the wilds of the Rocky 
 Mountains, made, during one short stage ride, a deeper 
 
130 THE PILGRIM 
 
 impression upon the adamantine heart of the con- 
 firmed bachelor than all of the mothers and daughters 
 of the best London families in fifteen years. There is 
 quite as much difference between the fresh, natural charm 
 of such simple, pure-minded girls of nature and the 
 pampered up society belles of the 400 in some great 
 city, as there is between the beautiful, full blown rose 
 in the sunny corner of a fertile garden and the odorless, 
 insipid hot-house plant. One is the pure, fresh, natural 
 product and the other the sickly and artificial. 
 
 The searchers for the dead man returned to Saguache 
 in the evening, and the coroner wrote the sheriff at Lake 
 City to arrest the survivors of the Kentucky party. 
 
 He replied, "I arrested the Kentucky party and soon 
 found that I had your corpse with the living. The story 
 published in the Silver World was a pure fabrication. 
 The man alleged to be dead had left his wife, and fear- 
 ing she would follow him, had his obituary published and 
 sent to her to keep her in Kentucky." 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 RED BUCK. 
 
 At the neighboring town of Milton, the inhabitants 
 kept up a splendid half mile race track, and Mr. Penn, 
 the principal merchant, possessed "One-eyed Riley," a 
 race horse that for many years had taken the sweep stakes 
 of the San Luis valley. Early in the fall some of 
 the losers brought in a gray mare from Trinidad and 
 matched her with One-eyed Biley. She beat him and 
 cleaned up for her admirers some $18,000 from Mr. 
 Penn and his friends. 
 
 Mr. Penn went up and consulted Mr. Campbell 
 about the possibility of recovering his money. Mr. Penn 
 said that the managers of the gray mare assured him 
 and his friends that she was not a professional, but only 
 an ordinary blooded animal out of one of the valley herds, 
 and on this assurance he and his friends bet some $18,000 
 against this amateur, which turned out to be one of the 
 best known race animals in the West, and, of course, they 
 lost. 
 
 Mr. Campbell advised that the whole thing on both 
 sides was illegal; that if Mr. Penn had forbidden the 
 stakeholders paying over the money, and they had 
 paid it to the winners, after such warning, then they 
 would be liable on the theory that if at any time before 
 the illegal act was fully consummated one or both of the 
 parties repented and desired to repudiate the forbidden 
 act, the courts would have lent a helping hand, but after 
 
 a wager has been made, lost, and paid over without ob- 
 
 (131) 
 
132 THE PILGRIM 
 
 jection, the courts would not lend their aid to either of 
 the equally guilty parties in the culpable, consummated 
 act ; hence there was no remedy for him in law. 
 
 Mr. Penn arose, paid Mr. Campbell $5.00 for tell- 
 ing him what he could not do, pulled on his gloves, and 
 moped out of the office, saying, "You probably state the 
 law correctly, but this great rule of conduct, presumed 
 to maintain what is morally right, and to punish what is 
 naturally wrong, in this case stands in with a gigantic 
 fraud." 
 
 Mr. Wickham followed Mr. Penn into the yard. 
 "Sir, I heard your statement to your lawyer and his 
 reply, that technically in law you had no remedy, 
 and I saw your depression. I never wager anything on 
 a game of chance or on speed and never encourage the 
 same in others, but I am interested in your case,- be- 
 cause villiany is permitted to prevail. I think Mr. Camp- 
 bell is quite right, and as neither of you have clean 
 hands, the courts of justice will aid neither of you, but 
 this does not signify that you are without redress. You 
 are justified in working out equity on the same field where 
 injustice prevailed, even if you cannot get aid in the 
 judicial sanctuaries. The end demands the means, that 
 villiany may not triumph over comparative honesty, even 
 on this forbidden field. 77 Their voices were dropped to 
 a confidential whisper for a few minutes, then Mr. Penn 
 and Mr. Wickham shook hands, the owner of "One-eyed 
 Riley 77 cheerfully saying, "All right, whenever you say 
 so I shall make the race and bet them to a standstill, and 
 I don 7 t want any mistake about it. 77 Mr. Wickham re- 
 plied, "If I get him, he will save you, unless he drops 
 dead on the track, and that is hardly probable. 77 
 
 As Thanksgiving approached, great preparations were 
 
AND THE PIONEER 133 
 
 being made for a proper observance of the day at Milton. 
 Mr. Wickham sent a note up to Mr. Penn, "Make the 
 match. The horse is here in superb shape." 
 
 The owner of One-eyed Riley leisurely went over 
 to the stable where the gray mare was kept and carelessly 
 said to the manager of the gray mare, that he had an 
 old horse out on the range that he had never tried on the 
 track, but he would run him against the gray mare on 
 Thanksgiving for a small amount, simply to draw a crowd 
 to town and to assist in entertaining it. The manager 
 of the gray mare said he would not run her for 
 a stake less than a hundred dollars. "Well," said the 
 owner of One-eyed Riley, "If I can get a big crowd in 
 town I can make the hundred dollars out of trade in the 
 store. If you will promise to thoroughly advertise it 
 and bring a big crowd here, I will put up a hundred 
 dollars against the gray mare." Her manager eagerly 
 agreed to the terms and one hundred dollars was put up 
 by each of them. All of those who had recently won 
 on the gray mare, with their friends, started out at once 
 soliciting bets. 
 
 This was exactly what the owner of the 'new horse 
 expected and desired. 
 
 He put a liberal supply of money into the hands 
 of a number of his lieutenants with instructions to take 
 all offers. As the money on the mare would be confidently 
 covered, the bettors would hesitate and say, "Well, what 
 do you know about the old horse anyway?" 
 
 The backers of the horse would answer nothing ex- 
 cept, "We are all betting on the 'bull luck' of old T.' " 
 
 All of the loose money, and much jewelry and live 
 stock, of the valley were up by Thanksgiving. 
 
 The gray mare came on the track, pawing the ground, 
 
134 THE PILGRIM 
 
 champing the bit, and cantering around the track side- 
 wise. 
 
 The horse, a magnificent, toppy, muscular, large- 
 boned animal of the greyhound form, sleepily walked 
 around the track, smelling of the ground and cunningly 
 observing the number and kinds of horses he was expected 
 to meet. 
 
 The old racers shook their heads and said, "That 
 horse is no tenderfoot; look how he is sizing things up. 
 I am afraid the old man has set a trap and we have walked 
 into it." 
 
 As the new horse started up the track beside the 
 gray mare, an old Irishman, a trusted lieutenant of Mr. 
 Penn, shoved fifteen dollars under the nose of Mr. Camp- 
 bell and cried out, "Three to one on the new horse." 
 Mr. Campbell eagerly put up his five dollars against the 
 fifteen and excitedly cried, "Do you want more of that ?" 
 The old Irishman flourished under his nose a hundred 
 dollar bill and said, "Four to one on the new horse. " 
 Mr. Campbell excitedly beckoned Mr. Wickham to one 
 side and said, "I can get you a hundred on the new 
 horse to twenty-five.. Hadn't you better take that?" 
 "No, no," said Mr. Wickham, "I would not put up one 
 to a hundred against the new horse. Can't you judge 
 from the confidence with which Mr. Penn and his lieu- 
 tenants place their money on him, that he must win ? 
 They are the only- ones here who know just what each 
 horse can do. Never bet against a sure thing, however 
 much odds may be offered. The backers of the new 
 horse are playing their own game today, and a lot of 
 suckers are being caught on every side." Mr. Camp- 
 bell, humiliated and disgusted, slunk away vowing to 
 himself that until he familiarized himself thoroughly 
 
AND THE PIONEER 135 
 
 with this mysterious civilization, he would never again 
 make a move or express an opinion before he had sounded 
 the pioneer on the subject. 
 
 The judges were not long in getting the horses started. 
 They came down the track "nose and nose." The new 
 horse's style was magnificent, and the backers of the gray 
 mare became very much excited. "Look, look, the new 
 horse has his mouth wide open. The boy is holding him. 
 If he would let him out, he would outrun the wind. We 
 are gone, ruined, taken in." 
 
 The racers came in neck and neck until within about 
 thirty yards of the end of the track, then the rider of 
 the horse loosed his rein and tapped him with a raw- 
 hide, and he spurted to the lead and crossed the score with 
 a twenty-two-foot jump. 
 
 The backers of the horse went wild with joy, while 
 the backers of the gray mare assumed the attitude of 
 those who try to do something smart and get in jail. 
 There was no interest taken in the second heat except 
 to admire the grandeur of the new horse. This heat re- 
 sulted the same as the first one had. 
 
 The bets were promptly paid, and it soon leaked out 
 that this was the famous "Red Buck," procured and 
 brought in especially to play even with those who brought 
 in the gray mare with which to dethrone One-eyed Riley. 
 
 The evening promised much for the little town. 
 The winners generously asked their friends to eat, drink, 
 and be merry with them. 
 
 After supper Mr. Thompson, an old gray-haired and 
 gray-bearded gentleman, also a liberal winner and one of 
 those who could recite Webster's, Calhoun's, and Clay's 
 speeches, and who could repeat the Declaration of Inde- 
 
136 THE PILGRIM 
 
 pendence, climbed upon a dry goods box in front of the 
 store and said: 
 
 "My dear followers of Red Buck. The hand of 
 Providence has been magnanimously opened to us today, 
 and as we made good use of the talents entrusted to us, 
 they have been doubled. 
 
 "When destiny doubled our abilities, it doubled our 
 responsibilities. E"ow, sirs, let every favored one, in 
 accordance with his ability, load himself with the neces- 
 saries of life and go forth to feed the hungry and clothe 
 the naked according to their several necessities." 
 
 The winners poured into the store and started every 
 clerk to putting up sugar, coffee, bacon, and flour, until 
 all were loaded. They took the end of a box, inscribed 
 upon it in large letters, "The Red Buck Relief Corps," 
 appointed a boy to carry it as a banner, then every win- 
 ner got a broom, strung his groceries upon the handle, 
 and marched out and distributed liberally to every poor 
 family in town; wherever they observed a child poorly 
 clad they marched it to the store and clothed it. 
 
 About the time their charitable work was completed, 
 Mr. Campbell, a member of this spectacular army who 
 was wholly unaccustomed to strong drink, fell by the 
 wayside, ailment, too much liquification. His com- 
 rades brought him into the store and searched for his 
 pulse and heart beat, but could detect neither. They pro- 
 nounced him dead. 
 
 They immediately began preparation for the burial. 
 They brought up a long, deep broom box as a coffin, 
 bought white sheets and wound him in them as a shroud, 
 then gently laid him in the rough box. 
 
 One of the corps asked Mr. Thompson where they 
 could bury him. Said he, "Comrades, the ground 
 
AND THE PIONEER 137 
 
 is frozen and the ice is four inches thick on the 
 deep pool under the bridge across the Saguache river in 
 the southern part of the town. I would suggest that we 
 secure an ax, cut a vault in the ice, and bury him in 
 the Saguache." Everyone thought this a happy idea. Mr. 
 Thompson appointed pall-bearers. They secured ropes to 
 lower the coffin, an ax to cut the ice, picked up the coffin, 
 and "The Red Buck Eelief Corps" solemnly marched to 
 this watery cemetery. The pall-bearers put the coffin on 
 the ice, took the measure, moved it, cut the vault, then 
 waited for the final ceremony. 
 
 Mr. Thompson arose: "When in the course 
 of human events it becomes necessary for one member 
 of 'The Red Buck Relief Corps' to dissolve the pleasant 
 bonds that bind him here, and to assume among the 
 powers on high the separate and exalted station to which 
 the laws of nature, nature's God, and the tenets of the 
 'Red Buck Relief Corps' entitle him, a decent respect for 
 the memory of the departed requires that we should de- 
 clare the regrets that we feel at this unexpected dissolu- 
 tion. 
 
 " 'The Red Buck Relief Corps' hold these principles to 
 be self-evident, that all men are not created equal as proven 
 by the early fall of our brother; but while we are en- 
 dowed with certain inalienable rights, among which are 
 the privileges of eating, drinking, and wearing whatever 
 is most congenial to our pursuit of happiness, every in- 
 dividual is responsible for the abuse of that exalted priv- 
 ilege: To secure these inalienable rights, tailor shops, 
 restaurants, and saloons, are licensed by law, that a 
 man may have his liberty or have his death by the con- 
 sent of the governors as well as of the governed. But 
 when a long train of dissipations evinces a design on the 
 
138 THE PILGRIM 
 
 part of a free man to submit himself voluntarily to the 
 absolute depotism of some vile wine-vender, then it 
 is the right of the Creator and a benefit to the creature 
 to have the unhappy union existing between his body and 
 spirit, dissolved; all of which has been wisely attended 
 to in the case of our erring comrade, his spirit has gone 
 thither, and we, his mourning associates, are now about 
 to consign to the dust whence it came, this vacant house 
 of clay. The pall-bearers may now lower the coffin to 
 the bottom of this pure, chaste, ice vault, where the pallid 
 worm and solvent elements of dissolution cannot enter for 
 a season." 
 
 The pall-bearers lowered the coffin to the bottom of 
 the river, and as the cold water poured over the victim 
 he raised his head, there being no lid on the coffin, and, 
 between spasmodic coughs, screamed to the top of his 
 voice. Mr. Thompson said, "Raise the coffin," and the 
 wet inmate sat up crying, "What are you doing with me, 
 and where am I?" 
 
 Mr. Thompson answered, "My brother, you were as 
 dead as Lazarus when we brought you here, but when your 
 vile and filthy body was immersed in and purified by 
 the magic touch of these Ganges-like waters, you were 
 born again, as it were. This is the resurrection morn with 
 you; the spirit that took its flight from that body of cor : 
 ruption and left it tenantless, returned to the body washed 
 clean in these purifying waters." 
 
 "Well," whispered the man of the second birth, "if 
 you do not get me to a fire pretty soon I fear it will 
 go again. My bed clothes are covered with a sheet of 
 ice." They pulled him out of the frozen winding sheets, 
 got him on his numb feet, and dragged him to the store, 
 
COLD WATER BRINGS THE DEAD TO LIFE. 
 
140 THE PILGRIM 
 
 got him some dry clothes, and warmed him up. The 
 shock made him the most sober man in the relief corps. 
 
 This day will always be remembered as a time when 
 the wealth of San Luis valley was re-distributed ; the time 
 when the intriguers, who brought in the gray mare to 
 destroy the idol and humiliate the owner of One-eyed 
 Riley, received their just retribution. The old pioneers 
 nod their heads and say, "This is the day when everyone's 
 chickens in Milton came home to roost." 
 
 Mr. Wickham said, "That vindicates the losers on 
 One-eyed Riley, that vindicates 'The Holy Creed/ though 
 on somewhat questionable grounds ; but I had to have the 
 excitement." 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE LOST PAY^STREAK. 
 
 Mr. Wickham returned to Gushing Springs after 
 many years absence, and found Mr. and Mrs. Marks 
 living in a frazzle-edged, leaky old tent, and they and 
 their children in rags and existing on fat bacon-sides and 
 bread. Daily Mr. and Mrs. Marks worked on the 
 Emerald Isle expecting to cut the pay-ore-streak that 
 they had lost half a dozen years before. They were not 
 able to hire miners, so the husband went down in the 
 mine early in the morning and drilled the holes, and put 
 off the blasts at noon. The smoke cleared from the 
 shaft while he ate his fat bacon and bread. After din- 
 ner he filled the buckets with the results of his shots at 
 the bottom of the deep shaft, and Mrs. Marks wind- 
 lassed them to the surface. At night the shots were put 
 off again, and after supper Mrs. Marks brought the 
 rock to the surface, and so they worked day after day. 
 Between the times of windlassing the rock from the 
 deep shaft, Mrs. Marks was bending over the wash tub, 
 earning the money to buy the powder, fuse, flour, and 
 bacon, to keep the good work going. 
 
 After supper Mr. Wickham went over to the tent 
 of Mr. and Mrs. Marks, and was horrified at the wild, hag- 
 gard countenance of parents and children, and at the 
 signs of squalor everywhere. 
 
 The topsy-turvy tent, the dishevelled hair, the bleared 
 eyes, the gaunt, emaciated forms, the naked and unwashed 
 bodies, and the intense concentration of all minds on 
 
 (141) 
 
142 THE PILGRIM 
 
 cutting the pay streak of the Emerald Isle, made this seem 
 more like the abode of a family of infernal fiends than 
 that of an ordinary American household. Mr. Wickham 
 anxiously inquired, "You haven't heen here all these 
 years ?" 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Marks excitedly ejaculated in concert: 
 
 "Not one of us has been off Bald Mountain since 
 we lost the pay ore, but two of the children have been 
 buried here since, and we've taken an oath that we 
 will all be planted here, or find that pay streak again. 
 We'll stay till doom's day or catch it. We know that 
 it is here and how would we feel to have Eastern tender- 
 feet come along here and find it after we are gone, and 
 enjoy all of our hard work. Oh! we will, we must have 
 it ourselves." 
 
 Mr. Wickham inquired, "Why did you move out of 
 your residence ?" 
 
 The old man replied: "Oh, the mortgagee got im- 
 patient for his money, and wouldn't wait until we cut 
 the pay streak in the Emerald Isle, but took our house 
 and Sally's jewelry on the mortgage; we can get another 
 house and more jewelry when we strike the pay streak, 
 and maybe we will build in Denver where the children 
 can go to school, and get better jewelry next time." 
 
 Mr. Wickham asked what was the use of working 
 themselves to death for wealth they would not enjoy by 
 reason of broken down constitutions, . if they found it ? 
 
 "Well," answered Mr. Marks, "we go for it with 
 all our might because we know that it is there, that's 
 all. I don't care for myself, but Sally looks so tired 
 at night that I'm ashamed to look her in the face. I 
 am so crippled up with kidney trouble that I can't work 
 over seven or eight hours a day, but Sally works fifteen 
 
AND THE PIONEER 143 
 
 or sixteen hours every day. She makes a hand at the 
 windlass, a hand at the washtub, then does the cooking 
 and looks after the children. When we cut the pay 
 streak, she shall have the lion's share, she ought to, be- 
 cause she has done the lion's share of the work. All I 
 want in the future is to see her and the children com- 
 fortable and happy. I want nothing more for myself 
 except to cut the pay streak in the Emerald Isle; that I 
 must and will do." 
 
 Sally modestly answered: "You have done all that 
 you could. If it hadn't been for your kidney trouble, 
 we would have had the pay streak a long time ago. While 
 I am strong I don't mind fifteen or sixteen hours of work 
 a day, and then the harder I work, the sooner we will 
 get the pay ore. Whatever we get, I want divided equally. 
 I don't want it all." 
 
 Mr. Wickham suggested that it was very well to be 
 confident. "But, suppose that you don't cut this pay ore, 
 then what ?" 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. Marks both began, "There is no ques- 
 tion about cutting it. All we want is time. If we don't 
 cut it our children will soon grow up and they will find 
 that pay streak. We are working day and night now to 
 catch it in time to educate them." 
 
 Mr. Marks said, "If the older ones hadn't got 
 married and gone back to Kansas to starve, it would 
 have been cut before now. But never mind, we shall will 
 every foot of it to the younger set if they stay with us. 
 We would not think of selling it for less than $1,000,000. 
 We know our successor would uncover a fortune right 
 away if we should sell." 
 
 "What if he cut the big ore chute in three or four feet 
 from where we quit ? Wouldn't it be awful ?" The woman 
 
144 THE PILGRIM 
 
 said, "O me, I must go back now and windlass up the 
 rock broken in the last two shots. It will take me until 
 eleven o'clock tonight, but it will bring us just four hours 
 nearer the pay streak, and it may be that we will catch 
 it tomorrow, who knows ? There is always something to 
 work for in the Emerald Isle." 
 
 As Mr. Wickham moved out for Saguache the next 
 morning he soliloquized : 
 
 "Ah! I find myself treading on the threshold of 
 lean-bellied pessimism. I should feel like an apostate, 
 should these excited people fortunately cut the pay-streak 
 in the Emerald Isle. But this is not a case under the 
 Holy Creed. It is the mining fever in a desperate form. 
 Yes, a craze, a double craze. What channels must be 
 worn in those excited brains from this narrow concen- 
 tration of intense, monotonous thought! What objects of 
 pity! What cruelty to the poor, thoughtless children! 
 These deluded, excited, misguided parents, need a little 
 trip of brain-scattering excitement on the frontier." 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 TROUBLES OF A TRIFLE. 
 
 The toll-road had just been completed to Lake City, 
 one of the San Juan mining camps, and the pilgrims had 
 gone thither in swarms, Mr. Wickham with them, and 
 Saguache had assumed its old appearance as a mere supply 
 point for the great cattle and sheep industries of the valley. 
 
 The cooperative system has been more generally 
 practiced and its benefits have been more generally real- 
 ized in the cattle industry on the Western plains than in 
 any other industry or part of the United States, barring 
 the state of Utah. 
 
 The cattle here run on the commons, or vast areas of 
 public domain which are not fenced, except by great moun- 
 tain ranges. There is no way to tell one man's cattle 
 from his neighbors' except by the brand which every one 
 must put on his range animals before they are a year 
 old, or lose ownership, in which case the animal becomes 
 what is known in range parlance as a maverick, and must 
 be sold for the benefit of the cattle association. 
 
 The law requires each owner to select a brand and 
 have it recorded, and it must be one that is not used or 
 recorded in the office of the Secretary of State by any other 
 person. 
 
 The brands are often symbolic of a man's name, 
 or are letters, or figures, or a combination of both, in- 
 dicating the number and initials of a firm. 
 
 A gentleman by the name of Boot may have a stamp 
 of a boot ; a man named Bell, a stamp of an ordinary cow 
 
 (145) THE PILGRIM. 10 
 
146 THE PILGRIM 
 
 bell ; a man by the name of Shoe, the stamp of a shoe, 
 all made of iron. This, only heated sufficiently to kill 
 the roots of the hair, is stamped usually on left shoulder, 
 side, or hip of the animal, and identifies it as the property 
 of the owner of the brand. 
 
 Under the laws of Colorado, and probably those 
 of the range states, the cattle owners organize them- 
 selves into district cattle associations, and each member 
 carries a copy of the brands of all of the members. 
 
 In May or October of every year this , asso- 
 ciation elects a captain who is the authorized executive 
 officer of the organization that year. He appoints his 
 lieutenants and fixes days and places for rounding up, 
 branding, and returning all branded strays to their usual 
 ranges, and taking up mavericks and selling them for 
 the benefit of the association. 
 
 The captain organizes commissary departments, em- 
 ploys cooks, and directs the place where different ones 
 shall ride and what each shall do. 
 
 When a central place for a camp has been selected, 
 the captain directs the riders to go in every direction 
 and to bunch all cattle found at this camp. Fires in which 
 to heat branding-irons, or rods, are built in a con- 
 venient place, and adepts are appointed to do the branding. 
 
 When all of the cattle of this region are bunched 
 at this common point, the riders hold them there, and the 
 captain selects a number of good ropers and brand 
 readers to go into the bunch and rope and take to the 
 branding-fires all unbranded calves or mavericks. The 
 ropers observe the brand of the cow the calf is following, 
 and usually the mother of the calf follows it to the 
 branding-fires and pathetically pleads for its release; 
 
AND THE PIONEER 147 
 
 the brand of the mother is quickly put on the calf, and 
 this is continued until all calves are branded. 
 
 Every cattleman selects some general headquarters, 
 builds cabins, corrals, and pastures, and expects to 
 keep his herd in this neighborhood; but some are con- 
 stantly straying away to other localities. 
 
 At these round-ups they organize what they call the 
 day herd, which is composed of such cattle as are found 
 off their range, these being returned to the camp of 
 the owners. Throughout the year men riding on the 
 range brand such calves as they see that were missed 
 at the round-ups, whether belonging to the rider or to 
 any other member of the association, and in this- way 
 great savings are made. 
 
 With the sheep industry it is quite different. Sheep 
 being less persistent in their nature will not overcome 
 difficulties without help, and they are the prey of the 
 coyote, wolf, mountain lion, and dog, hence they must 
 be closely herded in the day and corralled at night. 
 
 As sheep graze in bunches, they tramp out and 
 clean up the grass very effectually if kept in one place. 
 Also their contact with shrubbery and the shedding of 
 small particles of greasy wool, leave a smell distaste- 
 ful to cattle, and they are inclined to leave the sheep 
 range; hence the cattle growers are strenuously preju- 
 diced against the moving of sheep onto ranges they have 
 been using for cattle, and many unseemly conflicts arise 
 between the two branches of the industry. 
 
 As a result of moving sheep onto ranges heretofore 
 used by cattle-men, the latter killed one night 500 
 head of the herd of Messrs. Dayton & Co., and injured a 
 great many more. The sheep-men contended that as the 
 public domain belonged to the government they had an 
 
148 THE PILGRIM 
 
 equal right to occupancy; the cattle-men conceded this, 
 where the sheep-men occupied a range first, as the tendency 
 of sheep is to drive cattle from the range; the cattle-men 
 claim that they are effectually ousted by the putting of 
 sheep on their range and insist that by all rules of 
 ethics, other things being equal, the first in time is 
 superior in right, and that the injury done by putting 
 sheep on the range, which the owner knows will drive 
 the cattle off, is quite as effective for the owners of the 
 sheep and as injurious to the cattle-men, as if done by the 
 force of arms. Say the cattle-men, "You might as well 
 set your dogs on our cattle and drive them from the 
 range as to set your sheep on them and drive them off." 
 
 When Mr. Campbell re-entered his office, after a 
 most delightful and rejuvenating vacation!, a German 
 merchant followed him and abruptly throwing a bill 
 against John Benton upon his desk, said : 
 
 "I vant you'l sue, right quick avay, on dis pill." 
 
 "My dear sir," said Mr. Campbell, "it will cost 
 you twenty dollars to collect three, leaving you seventeen 
 dollars worse off when you have made your collection." 
 
 "Val," said the merchant, "hacording mit your logic, 
 hi vil, but hacording mit mine logic, hi vin. Shon Benton 
 hoes mit me tree dollars ; hif I not sue mit im, he no pay 
 mit me ; one hundred men more owe mit me tree dollar ; 
 hif I no sue mit some of em, none of em pay mit me, 
 han loose mit me tree hundred dollar. Ven hi sue mit 
 Shon Benton for tree dollar, one hundred men mit out 
 suit, pay mit me tree dollar ; ont hi spend mit suit - on 
 Shon Benton $20 ont get mit me tree hundred dollar." 
 
 Mr. Campbell replied, "Your logic is sufficient I 
 shall bring your suit in the county court, which will 
 sit in a couple of weeks." 
 
AND THE PIONEER 149 
 
 Immediately on the German's departure, another 
 man appeared and ordered a replevin of two cows and 
 two calves in the county court at once. 
 
 ISText came Messrs. Dayton & Caldwell, and told the 
 thrilling story about the way the cattle-men drove off their 
 herders, killed 500 of their sheep and drove others from 
 the range, greatly damaging many of them; they wanted 
 suit brought at once for damages. 
 
 Mr. Campbell worked all day and late into the night, 
 getting his suits started, and spent a number of subse- 
 quent days in gathering testimony. 
 
 When court convened, the defendants had a very 
 good attorney present from Canon City. He moved for 
 a postponement for one day that he might look into the 
 papers. 
 
 When the coach arrived in the evening, a buzz of 
 excitement spread through the town. 
 
 Everyone was saying, "John Heald has brought 
 in Joshua Wickham, the optimist, formerly from the 
 Arkansas Valley, to settle these lawsuits." 
 
 Mr. Campbell asked the sheriff why the return of 
 his old friend Wickham created such a hubbub in the 
 town? 
 
 "From his past history in settling disputes and sub- 
 stituting tranquility and sunshine for turmoil and dark 
 shadows," replied the sheriff. "The people have been ex- 
 pecting the most exciting trial between the sheep and 
 cattle-men that ever occurred here, and probably a dead 
 man or two, but the arrival of this man means we shall 
 have no trial. That man has superceded the courts wher- 
 ever he has lived, and has settled more difficulties than 
 all the courts and juries in the valley. Instead of the 
 cattle-men and sheep-men joining in a tug of war to-mor- 
 
150 THE PILGRIM 
 
 row morning or killing each other, he will have them 
 walking up and down these streets with their arms around 
 each other hefore night." 
 
 After supper the disputants and their attorneys 
 were invited into the parlor of the hotel, and the famous 
 Mr. Wickham arose and related his trip across the plains 
 with a bull-team in 1849, and the settlements in this 
 country when they had no officers or courts, and the 
 manner in which they compromised their differences. He 
 gave case after case where greater differences existed 
 than were involved in this suit and telling how mutual 
 friends advised the contestants to make mutual con- 
 cessions, settle the same, and continue to be friends 
 and neighbors. 
 
 He contrasted these primitive and unofficial meth- 
 ods and their results, with like difficulties which arose 
 after courts were organized and officers installed. He 
 said the courkcases dragged along for years, keeping the 
 blood of the litigants at fever heat, and often resulted 
 in murders, widows, orphans, and murder trials, ulti- 
 mately impoverishing all of the parties and destroying 
 the comfort, tranquility, and happiness of their families, 
 and in the end, usually, the one with the largest bank 
 account prevailed. 
 
 He graphically described the facility with which 
 persons could get into individual and property difficul- 
 ties, commit crime, etc., and mix up in litigation, and 
 the great expense and annoyance involved in extricating 
 one's self from its persistent coils. 
 
 He said men rarely get into lawsuits that do not 
 bring them sore regrets, but after they have been in a 
 short time the cost-bill becomes so enormous that it be- 
 comes a more anxious matter of contention as to who 
 
AND THE PIONEER 151 
 
 shall pay the costs than the original matter of dispute, 
 and this prevents a settlement until a judgment of a 
 court of last resort is obtained, generally ruining one 
 party, if not both. 
 
 He said: "No man ever committed a murder who 
 would not in one hour afterward give all of his posses- 
 sions if thereby he could undo it. 
 
 "The people must be educated in the moral hygiene 
 of the avoidance of crime and ruinous mistakes against 
 their wives, their children, and themselves." 
 
 He pointed out the inclination of disputants always 
 to look at the contention from the selfish point of view, 
 and to make no kind of a concession to induce a settle- 
 ment, knowing at the same time that after they pay a 
 large fee to a lawyer, much court expense and witness 
 fees, lose weeks of time at the trial, and endure the dis- 
 turbance of mind incident to such disputes, the court and 
 jury will make concessions for them, and compromise 
 the difference between them and their neighbors. "Why 
 should not you, without price, do for yourself what you 
 dearly pay the courts and juries to do for you ? Do not 
 feel humiliated at concessions or compromises. The very 
 government under which we live the Constitution it- 
 self is the result of a compromise." 
 
 He then turned to the attorneys, saying: 
 
 "Now, my legal friends, I do not want to invade 
 your province or disturb your legitimate business. It is 
 the duty of these litigants to pay you liberally to assist 
 in this settlement. The learned profession to which you 
 belong has ever been a bulwark to human liberty, and a 
 stimulous to individual and national progress. You have 
 doubtless observed in the unfolding of the higher civili- 
 zation that the more advanced the individual citizen, 
 
152 THE PILGRIM 
 
 the less theology and the more Christianity is preached 
 by the ministers of the Gospel, with an .increase in the 
 number of exalted precepts and examples applied to every- 
 day life; the higher the civilization of the masses, the 
 less the physic given by the doctors, and the more gen- 
 eral the dependence on temperance in diet and drink, 
 personal cleanliness, wholesome exercise, pure air, nu- 
 tritious food, and a general application of hygienic laws ; 
 and the more advanced the people are in intelligence, 
 the fewer the lawsuits and the greater the number of 
 amicable settlements, the number of court trials de- 
 creases in proportion to the increase in the average intel- 
 ligence of the masses of the people. 
 
 "These changes do not foreshadow a decadence in the 
 professions, but rather a transition from remedies appro- 
 priate to a stage of civilization when the individual was 
 not amenable to remedies that did not partake of dras- 
 tic forces, intimidating fear, and magical superstition, 
 to the more exalted stage of development, where the benef- 
 icent sunlight of reason is the guiding star for both the 
 professionals and the laymen. It is the inevitable evolu- 
 tion the execution of the law of the survival of the fit- 
 test, scientifically applied.. 
 
 "Now, I should like to have the views of all of the lit- 
 igants, not regarding your griefs, injuries, or any exhi- 
 bitions of your malice, these things pertain to the past. 
 Let us consider only the logic of using your own free 
 intelligence, and the making of mutual concession your- 
 selves, instead of hiring at fabulous prices the intelli- 
 gence of courts and juries to make concessions and 
 compromise for you, for they will adopt conciliatory meth- 
 ods, and act for you just as you should act for your- 
 selves." 
 
AND THE PIONEER 153 
 
 Mr. C aid well, the oldest of the litigants, arose and 
 said: 
 
 "I have been much affected by the common sense 
 talk of our friend, and feel that he is another Daniel 
 brought to judgment. As for myself, I am willing that 
 each party shall briefly state his case, and let Mr. Wick- 
 ham render a final judgment.!' 
 
 One after another arose and informed the Pioneer 
 that Mr. Caldwell had expressed his sentiments, until 
 all had been heard. 
 
 The parties made their statements. Mr. Wickham 
 required the defendants to pay for the sheep killed and 
 a reasonable sum for maiming others; he required the 
 sheep-men to move south of a line he designated and not 
 to cross this line in the future; and each party was ad- 
 judged to pay its own costs. 
 
 The parties all shook hands, wined and dined to- 
 gether, carried out the judgment, and ever afterward 
 lived in peace and harmony. 
 
 The parties in the replevin suit for the two cows and 
 calves, imbibed the general spirit of conciliation and 
 asked Mr. Wickham to pass judgment on their case. They 
 had been in copartnership and failed. One claimed the 
 cows as his personal property, the other, that the firm 
 owned them. 
 
 Mr. Wickham awarded one cow to the plaintiff and 
 one to the defendant, and suggested that if the attorneys 
 would accept the calves in payment of their fees it would 
 be a happy settlement. They cheerfully accepted the 
 offer. The litigants drove their cows together to their 
 homes and were good neighbors and friends in the future. 
 
 While everybody was intoxicated with the beneficent 
 
154 THE PILGRIM 
 
 fluid of amicability, some one suggested the settlement 
 of the $3.00 suit and the breaking up of the court. 
 
 Several of the most enthusiastic compromisers hur- 
 ried away and brought the merchant and John Benton 
 before the august tribunal, and informing them how the 
 other cases had been compromised, suggested a like set- 
 tlement of this little case, and the adjournment of court. 
 
 "Vel," said the merchant, "Shon Benton vas me 
 owed tree dollar for a year or more, and if he vil pay 
 tree dollar han costs, hi de suit dismiss." 
 
 The defendant flew into a passion, said he had paid 
 the plaintiff hundreds of dollars, and would have paid 
 this when able, but as the plaintiff had sued, he never 
 would pay it, that he had nothing but his muscle and 
 that was hardly attachable, and that he should not be 
 at court, as he expected to leave the county the next 
 morning. 
 
 "Well, Mr. Benton," replied Mr. Wickham, "this 
 is none of my business, but I really think that man re- 
 sembles the divine most closely in the faith he keeps 
 with his fellows; and not only this, but honesty is cer- 
 tainly the best policy. The whole evolution of Nature 
 tends toward the ultimate prevalence of justice, and the 
 visiting of penalties on all who walk in crooked paths. 
 In days to come a judgment for $3.00 and a large bill of 
 costs and interests will overtake you at an inopportune 
 time and cause you bitterly to lament the day you could 
 have paid an honest trifle and refused, thereby calling 
 down upon yourself a severe retribution." 
 
 The defendant looked at him with a silent con- 
 tempt, rose and walked away, and the next morning took 
 the coach for the Gunnison country. 
 
 The old veteran exclaimed : "But a partial victory ! 
 
AND THE PIONEER 155 
 
 I lost only in proportion to my apostasy to the Holy 
 Creed. 
 
 When Mr. Benton's case was called in the county 
 court the Judge asked : 
 
 "Do you wish to prove up before the Judge ?" 
 
 The plaintiff shook his head and answered: 
 
 "I vant a ury." 
 
 "Oh!" replied Mr. Campbell, "the defendant will 
 not be here, and we might as well prove up before the 
 Judge." 
 
 "Vel," answered the plaintiff, "dot mides be ef et 
 vas unly de tree dollar hi vant but hi vant to hadvertise 
 to de hundred men more, howing mit me tree dol- 
 lar hi vant de ury to hear all habout de tree dollar suit, 
 and tell mit de oder men dot owe mit me tree dollar." 
 
 "Yes," suggested Mr. Campbell, "we shall ask a 
 jury, if your honor pleases." 
 
 The jury of twelve men was organized, the case 
 proved up, and judgment given the plaintiff for $3.00 
 and $22.00 costs. 
 
 The plaintiff hurried off to the Chronicle office and 
 gave the publisher $10.00 to write up the $3.00 suit and 
 the fact that the plaintiff had hired Mr. Campbell to 
 bring suit on all little bills which had been outstanding 
 for more than a year, and the paper incidentally referred 
 to the wise settlement of the stock cases, and, as a disin- 
 terested organ of the dear people, urged them to pay 
 these little bills at once and save these useless and ruinous 
 costs, and sent each debtor a paper. 
 
 Within two weeks the German had collected more 
 "as tree hundred dollar" on his little bills, and rejoiced 
 in the discovery that he was a greater advertising genius 
 than was P. T. Barnum. 
 
156 THE PILGRIM 
 
 Two years later some extensive stock growers from 
 the Cebolla brought their wagons over the range to get 
 their winter supplies of Saguache merchants. They ar- 
 ranged to pay for them when they sold their steers. After 
 they loaded their wagons, one of them said to our Ger- 
 man merchant that he would like to borrow forty dollars 
 in money until he shipped his steers ; that he would pay 
 a good rate of interest for it; in fact, he said, he had 
 to get it as he owed forty dollars to one of his herders, 
 John Benton, who the next Sunday was going to marry 
 their cook. 
 
 The merchant said: 
 
 "Blease excuse mit me ha moment." 
 
 He stepped over to Mr. Campbell's office, told him 
 of this conversation, and hurriedly got the sheriff to go 
 over and attach the forty dollars the stock growers owed 
 John Benton, for the purpose of paying the $3.00 judg- 
 ment, $22.00 costs and the interest and subsequent costs, 
 which about consumed the forty dollars. 
 
 When the stockman returned home and showed John 
 Benton the notice of the garnishment for this forty dol- 
 lars to settle his old judgment and costs, it created great 
 consternation in his mind. 
 
 He had to postpone his wedding for two months until 
 he could earn forty dollars more. He was constantly 
 soliloquizing during this time: 
 
 "Yes, truly, honesty is the best policy. Yes, 'the 
 whole tendency of Nature is that ultimately justice shall 
 prevail, and penalties are visited upon all who try to 
 walk in crooked paths.' ' He would subtract $3.00 from 
 $40.00 and then say: "The penalty is $37.00 two 
 months' hard work. What a 'penalty* for refusing to 
 
AND THE PIONEER 157 
 
 'pay an honest trifle of $3.00.' Now I must pay it thir- 
 teen fold." 
 
 Forever after this John Benton.was a devotee of the 
 honest and amicable principles of Mr. Wickham and the 
 stockmen, if not from principle, from a fear that the in- 
 exorable laws of Nature would visit condign punishment 
 on all transgressors. 
 
 These examples and salutary results so indelibly im- 
 bedded their lessons in honesty, amicability, and concilia- 
 tion to the very fiber of the community, and the wisdom 
 of using individual intelligence and making: individual 
 concessions and compromises of differences between neigh- 
 bors in the same way, were so instilled into them, that 
 courts of justice thereafter were more ornamental than 
 useful on the Saguache River. 
 
 Mr. Wickham said : "Bloodshed, poverty, and life- 
 time enmities are avoided. The cursory reasoner per- 
 sists in claiming that no man falls out of the line of duty 
 here, but some other just as good will come forward to 
 take his place; but all history shows that these rare indi- 
 viduals, such as Washington or some great general, in- 
 fluence the current of affairs for good and make more 
 impression on civilization than combined thousands of 
 their fellows, and at the death of such an one often a 
 real void is left unfilled for generations." 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 A NIGHT IN A COW^CAMP. 
 
 Mr. Caldwell, an extensive stock grower, an old Bour- 
 bon Democrat, an educated, polished, and gallant 
 bachelor, felt so good after the settlement of the stock 
 suits that he decided he must celebrate Christmas a 
 little more royally than formerly. He had a splendid 
 round log house or cabin, built in one of the canons of the 
 mountains twenty-five miles away, a man cook and a large 
 number of cowboys ; but such a luxury as a woman in 
 that canon was unheard of. 
 
 Mr. Caldwell invited Mr. Campbell, the book-keeper 
 in the principal store, and two young lady friends to 
 drive up to the a cow-camp" Christmas morning and wit- 
 ness a roping and branding tournament, and to eat a 
 bachelor's Christmas dinner with him. The young ladies 
 said they would be delighted if it would not make them 
 too late in reaching home for the evening. 
 
 Mr. Caldwell informed them they could start early, 
 reach the camp by eleven o'clock, rest until noon, see the 
 branding tournament, eat dinner at 2 p. m., leave at 
 4 and get to Saguache by 8 P. M. They all accepted. 
 
 Early Christmas morning the invited guests climbed 
 into a two-seated carriage and started for the canon, 
 reaching there a little after eleven. Mr. Wickham fol- 
 lowed on horseback. 
 
 They were ushered into a room about 20 by 25 feet, 
 with two large beds in the rear, a large open fireplace 
 at the other end, the floor covered here and there with wolf 
 
 (159) 
 
160 THE PILGRIM 
 
 or bear skins, two nice easy chairs with foot rugs of gray 
 wolf -skins prepared for the ladies near the large fire-place 
 with its roaring fire, and three tables covered with new 
 Navajo blankets; on one was a large bowl filled 
 with egg-nog; on another a bowl of orangeade flavored 
 with sherry; and on the third there was a variety of 
 whisky, brandy, wine, cigars, and a couple of boxes of 
 candy, etc. ; hanging on the walls were the pictures of 
 Washington, Jefferson, Jackson, and other noted states- 
 men. 
 
 Leading off from this large room was a very hand- 
 somely furnished smaller room into which the ladies were 
 ushered to lay off their wraps and to arrange their toilet. 
 When they all got around the fire they had a Christ- 
 mas toddy, and when they had finished this the foreman 
 of the cow-herd appeared in high, sharp-heel boots, with 
 large, clicking steel spurs, dark pants stuffed into his 
 red boots, a blue shirt, with a leather belt around his 
 waist, and a large white sombrero on his head. He was 
 presented all around, then in a low, mellow voice said: 
 
 "Ladies and gentlemen, if you will step out to the 
 rear of the corral we will show you how the dogs, horses, 
 and boys do their several parts in working a bunch of 
 cattle." 
 
 All present went to a dry field near the barn and 
 there saw eight or ten cowboys on their cow-horses 
 riding around about two hundred head of cattle, 
 which were moving around in a circle, or in "cow- 
 boy" parlance, "milling." There were also five or six 
 shepherd dogs walking around in the same way. If any 
 animal attempted to leave the herd or circle, the cow- 
 horse and dog nearest, without being told, eagerly started 
 
AND THE PIONEER 161 
 
 to turn it back. About fifty yards away a couple of 
 cowboys had a glowing fire with their branding rods 
 in it and two fine dogs near. After watching the herd 
 "mill" or turn in the circle of riders and dogs a short time, 
 the party went to the branding-fire. 
 
 The foreman suggested : 
 
 "Mr. Johnson, you go into the herd and bring out 
 one of those large yearlings ; Mr. Boggs, you can help him 
 at the fire." 
 
 Mr. Johnson fastened one end of his lasso to the 
 horn of his saddle with a bow knot and a long end so he 
 could instantly loosen it, should he get into a close place, 
 took the other erid of his lasso, made a large loop, and 
 swung it over his head until the loop became as round 
 as a barrel, then gently dropped it over the head of a 
 yearling. 
 
 The anxious cow-horse was watching every move, 
 and the moment he saw the catch was successful he bal- 
 anced himself on his hind feet, and gently turning toward 
 the fire, hurried to it, dragging the calf after him. 
 As the calf neared the fire, Mr. Boggs rode up, and 
 swung his loop over his head until it formed a circle, then 
 gently dropped in on the ground under the calf's belly, 
 so that with the next step its hind feet would come into 
 the loop. Mr. Boggs pulled up the other end of the rope 
 and it tightened around the hind legs of the calf. The 
 moment his horse saw the throw was successful, he gently 
 backed up in the opposite direction from the horse that 
 was pulling it with a rope around its neck, leaving the 
 calf suspended between these horses, one holding a tight 
 rope around its neck with his head toward the fire, the 
 other, with his head toward the calf, watching its every 
 move, pulling a rope tight around its legs. 
 
162 THE PILGRIM 
 
 The riders hurriedly dismounted, went to the year- 
 ling and laid it on its right side, then the branders with 
 a hot bent iron ran or wrote upon its side "J. C.," burn- 
 ing it just enough to kill the roots of the hairs. This be- 
 ing finished, the cowboys gave an exhibition of the in- 
 telligence of their horses. They called the one by name 
 that had his head toward the calf and said, "loosen up." 
 The horse took a short step toward the calf; as it began 
 to struggle to get up, the man said, "tighten up," and at 
 once he tightened the rope. Finally they called to the 
 horses to loosen up, and the men removed the ropes and 
 made the calf arise ; it started to run for the open prairie, 
 but two shepherd dogs were on guard and turned it back 
 to the herd. 
 
 Mr. Johnson then rode in and whirling his lasso, 
 threw his loop as before, but intentionally failed to drop 
 it over the head of the animal. The anxious horse never 
 offered to turn for the fire, but anxiously followed the 
 animal at which his owner feigned to throw the rope, 
 until the lasso was dropped over its head, then he in- 
 stantly whirled and made for the branding-fire again. 
 They loosed the ropes, turned it toward the prairie, then 
 let their horses out after it. They would shoot by it and 
 whirl in front of it, and the moment it turned and started 
 for the herd, they would quiet down. 
 
 They rode into the herd and indicated that they 
 wanted to get some certain animal out of the herd. The 
 horses incessantly followed that one throughout the herd 
 of two hundred until they got it out. 
 
 They saddled an old stiff horse called Jimmie, and 
 Mr. Johnson went out into a herd of wild horses and 
 lassoed a large, wild stallion, fastened his rope to the 
 horn of his saddle, and dismounted, leaving Jimmie to 
 
AND THE PIONEER 163 
 
 look after him. The wild horse bucked, Jumped, and ran 
 around in a circle, but old Jimmie kept his front feet 
 and his head at all times facing the pitching animal, and 
 as he would run around him, Jimmie would turn, always 
 keeping his eyes toward him and never giving any 
 chance to wind him up in the rope. 
 
 Every time a horse did his part, the owner would 
 stroke and pet him, which the animal seemed to appre- 
 ciate thoroughly. 
 
 Mr. Campbell went to the foreman and said: "If 
 you have an outfit, I would like very much to ride with 
 you, but I want a horse that is perfectly gentle." 
 
 "Very well/ 7 replied the foreman, and he told one 
 of the boys to throw a rope on old "Bart" and lead him- 
 out of the herd. The foreman brought out a saddle, bri- 
 dle, blanket, and spurs, and the young man led old Bart 
 up, handed the rope to Mr. Campbell, and said: "Throw 
 that saddle on him and you will find him all right." The 
 men then went away to the cow-herd. 
 
 Mr. Campbell sat down and put on a pair of large 
 spurs, got up, and looking over his outfit, picked up the 
 bridle; as he walked up near the horse, the rowell of the 
 spur on his right foot caught in his left trouser leg, threw 
 him down, and tore the wide hem on the left leg of his 
 trousers almost off. 
 
 He grated his teeth, and jumping to his feet, gave 
 the horse a vicious larrup in the flank with the bridle, 
 though, of course, the animal was blameless. Whereupon 
 the horse, with his eyes glistening and his ears thrown 
 back, shot his nose right into Mr. Campbell's face and 
 snorted. 
 
 In great fright Mr. Campbell back-stepped to his 
 saddle, his spurs caught in the blanket, and -threw him 
 

 BM i 
 
 oq 
 
AND THE PIONEER 165 
 
 sprawling on his back. The horse kept right up to him, 
 and when he fell over the saddle, the horse walked astride 
 of his legs, stuck his nose in his face and gave an excited 
 snort. 
 
 Mr. Campbell yelled for help, scrambled to his 
 hands and feet, and leaping to the fence, scaled it, look- 
 ing back at the pursuing horse all the time. After he had 
 his hands on the top pole, he reached for an imaginary 
 one higher up, and the small resistance of the light air 
 caused him to take a header and fall in a heap on the 
 other side of the fence. The horse pushed his head 
 against the fence and gave a sonorous snort. Mr. Camp- 
 bell gained his feet and ran like a frightened wolf, though 
 there was a ten-pole fence between him and the horse. 
 
 Mr. C aid well and his foreman hurried to the young 
 man's rescue and asked what the trouble was. 
 
 Mr. Campbell said the men had put up a job on 
 him and had given him an old outlaw that came near 
 trampling him to death before he could get the bridle on 
 him. 
 
 Mr. Caldwell replied, "Oh, no, my dear sir. I beg 
 your pardon, that is the most gentle horse on the ranch. 
 I see your trouble. That horse has been whip broken, 
 that is, taught to walk right up to one who motions a 
 whip at him, to avoid punishment, and when you struck 
 him that blow with the bridle he crowded right up on 
 you to avoid further punishment." 
 
 Mr. Campbell replied that if whip-broken horses 
 always wanted to ride the man, then he preferred one 
 broken with a club, that would allow the man to ride 
 him. 
 
 Mr. Caldwell expressed his sore regrets, and Mr. 
 
166 THE PILGRIM 
 
 Campbell hobbled off to the house, and borrowed a 
 needle to sew up his crippled pants. 
 
 Mr. Wood then went in and threw a rope on a 
 mare that had a young colt, tied her to a snubbing post, 
 and turned the horses all out; they scampered to the 
 branch, drank there, hurried back, and one by one came 
 up and saluted the colt and then walked away. One of 
 the young ladies asked the very natural question, "Doesn't 
 the mare drink water, too?" 
 
 "Yes," answered Mr. Woods, "I shall now show 
 you the object in keeping her tied here." He loosened 
 the mare and turned her out with the horses; they 
 all made a run for the range and it gave two of the cow- 
 boys a lively chase before they could turn them back. 
 
 Said Mr. Woods, "That colt is a tie that will hold 
 every horse here; every one considers it his particular 
 duty to protect it. Many inexperienced persons think that 
 horses have none of the finer sentiments of general ten- 
 derness, sympathy, responsible care, and the finer emo- 
 tions. They possess all of these to a marked degree. 
 Every one of these horses has been as tender with that 
 mother before and since the colt was foaled as ever the 
 Greek fathers were with motherhood there, when they 
 delighted to boast of the most perfect and handsome 
 progeny of earth, through a superior regard and care for 
 motherhood; and that bunch of horses makes as much of 
 the little embryo horse in their midst as ever a regiment 
 of soldiers did of a baby in camp." 
 
 "Well," said one of the young ladies, "I was always 
 taught that only man has reason, but these horses seem 
 to reason as much as the men." 
 
 "They certainly do," replied the foreman. "The 
 men who write the books do not use the horses and dogs, 
 
AND THE PIONEER 167 
 
 so they are excusable for their ignorance. The old com- 
 parison made in regard to a very practical person that he 
 or she 'has good horse sense/ is not an idle or senseless 
 one. The brain of a well broken horse does not have con- 
 volutions as fine as those of a philosopher, but it has the 
 coarse, deep convolutions, showing not only the power of 
 thought, but that he has done much methodical and deep 
 thinking. Sometime ago, while riding old Jimmy, I had 
 a long lariat securely fastened to the horn of my saddle. 
 I threw the noose in the other end over the neck of a 
 five-year-old Texas steer, ran around him and tripped him 
 in the usual way, and left Jimmy to hold him there while 
 I ran to tie him. Just before I reached the steer, he 
 gained his feet, discovered that he was securely tied to the 
 saddle on the horse, and seeming to regard the horse as 
 the author of his misfortunes, made a vicious assault on 
 him ; the horse dodged the steer, then ran around him and 
 tripped him up with the rope in the usual way, tightened 
 it up, and tried to hold him there, but the steer got up 
 the second and the third time; this horse persisted in 
 throwing him until he held him down the third time, till 
 I could get there and tie him. When I loosened the lariat 
 and went up to this faithful animal, he showed his joy 
 at our success as much as any one of the men could have 
 done; that horse actually laughed in his gleeful enjoy- 
 ment of our success. 
 
 "Many times in chasing cattle about dark in the hills, 
 where the contour of every hillside and ravine, monoton- 
 ously like every other one in that vicinity, so confused 
 me that I would lose my bearing, I would alight, and 
 carelessly dropping my rein, which would indicate that 
 I had no pressing work and was done with the chase, 
 would then slowly and carelessly mount and without 
 
168 THE PILGRIM 
 
 touching the rein, say, 'Get up ;' my horse would invar- 
 iably turn, and take a direct course for the camp or 
 home, showing that he has a much stronger power of lo- 
 cation than his master. The memory of a horse is some- 
 thing marvelous. I have halter-broken colts when three 
 months old, and not touched them again till five years 
 old, yet everything I taught them when young they re- 
 membered perfectly. Some time since I was standing on 
 a high point of the mountain overlooking a little valley, 
 and saw twenty-five or thirty horses in a great commo- 
 tion. I thought some one was rounding them up, but I 
 soon noticed them forming in a circle, alternating; one 
 would turn its head outward, the next inward, all around, 
 Two stallions then went out and took each colt by the 
 mane and pulled it inside of the circle, with their eyes 
 fixed on a patch of quaking asp trees at the head of the 
 park. 
 
 "I moved down to the quaking asp thicket to see what 
 was attracting them there, and two big mountain lions 
 skulked across the valley and over the hill on the other 
 side. The stallions kept their eyes riveted intently on 
 the lions till they were out of sight; then they looked at 
 the circle, gave a low neigh, and trotted briskly over the 
 hill in the opposite direction from the lions. The circle 
 broke at once, and the herd followed them; they did not 
 stop until they reached a valley six or eight miles away, 
 and I never saw that bunch of horses on that range again. 
 All of their movements for defense against these enemies 
 were as orderly and systematic as those of a company 
 of trained soldiers would have been, and they seemed to 
 appreciate fully the power and necessity of cooperation." 
 
 Just before the party reached the house a fine black 
 
AND THE PIONEER 169 
 
 shepherd dog, called Billy, that had not been with them, 
 came out wagging his tail. One of the ladies exclaimed: 
 
 "That fellow must he a dude, to sit here in the house 
 while the others do the work." 
 
 "Now," answered Mr. Caldwell, "you are very much 
 mistaken. Billy is one of the hardest worked dogs on the 
 ranch. We have a complete division of labor among the 
 dogs. Those two belong at the branding-fires to turn the 
 animals just branded back into or away from the herd, 
 as directed. 
 
 "Billy watches the house and if any stray stock 
 comes he chases it away. He goes from a mile to a mile 
 and a half for the milk cows every evening. When the 
 men irrigate the hay or pasture, he goes with them to 
 catch prairie-dogs. 
 
 "These dogs burrow in the ground and then make 
 an outlet some thirty or forty feet away from the inlet, 
 which lets in a circulation of air and gives them a chance 
 for escape if an enemy appears. 
 
 "When irrigating, if we find a hole with fresh signs 
 of prairie-dogs, we turn the water into the hole to drown 
 them. They would go out at the escape if not guarded. 
 The moment the water is turned into a prairie-dog hole 
 Billy finds the escape and crouches down within four or 
 five feet of the hole till the water drives the dog out, 
 then he destroys it. 
 
 "We bale a good deal of hay for convenience in mov- 
 ing it from cow-camp to cow-camp. The baler is pulled 
 around by a mule. Billy follows and drives that mule 
 around from morning till night, and if he did 
 not do this one of the men would have to; so you see 
 Billy is not a dude, he will do his work; but he will not 
 
170 THE PILGRIM 
 
 do that of the other dogs any more than a carpenter 
 will hire out to saw wood, nor will they do his." 
 
 "Mr. Caldwell," suggested one of the young ladies, 
 "you must have some new or improved strain of blood in 
 your dogs and horses. I haven't seen them anywhere else 
 so well trained and useful." 
 
 "No, they are the ordinary cow-horses and the or- 
 dinary shepherd dogs. They are not only trained to their 
 work, but they are trained to like it. Every time they 
 do a nice thing they are petted, stroked, and often fed. 
 Those horses and dogs enjoy the excitement of working 
 a bunch of cattle just as much as do the men. 
 
 "You speak of the 'strains of blood; 7 let me illus- 
 trate. Billy had two brothers, the three apparently ex- 
 actly alike. We took him and trained and encouraged 
 him to help us never punished him, and he earns as 
 much as any man here. The men who got the other two, 
 kicked and cuffed them around and made no effort to 
 teach them patiently what they desired done, and their 
 dogs timidly skulked around the neighborhood, afraid 
 even to follow the men or go about the house when they 
 were there, fearing a beating, and both are utterly worth- 
 less. Horses are the same,- by kindness and encourage- 
 ment you can teach them almost anything, but the use of 
 force makes them so nervous and confused that they can 
 not be trained." 
 
 When they reached the house all hands were pre- 
 sented to the Pioneer, all took an egg-nog, then a rosy- 
 cheeked young man with a blue flannel shirt, dark pants 
 held up by a yellow leather belt, and sharp heeled boots 
 with his pantaloons stuffed into them, came to the door and 
 announced : 
 
 "Dinner is now ready." 
 
AND THE PIONEER 171 
 
 Mr. Caldwell insisted that the Pioneer should go first, 
 then the older young lady, and so on by seniority. The 
 Pioneer was placed at one end of the table, the older 
 young lady at the other, the other young lady at the 
 Pioneer's right, and the other ten or twelve gentlemen 
 filled the center. With grave and reverent unction the 
 Pioneer asked the usual blessing, then as elegant and 
 bountiful a repast as could be partaken of anywhere was 
 served in the round log cabin with a dirt roof, by cow- 
 boys ; when all returned to the large room the cigars were 
 passed to the gentlemen, and the candies to the ladies. 
 
 While they were at dinner, massive dark clouds had 
 gathered, the snow was falling in sheets, and the wind 
 was blowing at a velocity of forty miles an hour. 
 
 This cast a gloom over the Christmas party. Here 
 were two young ladies in a rugged, isolated canon, twenty- 
 five miles from settlement, with a band of twelve or four- 
 teen men, mostly what the world would call tough, un- 
 gentlemanly, and uncouth cowboys. 
 
 Every one would say : 
 
 "It will quit directly;" but it was 4 P. M. and if 
 they should leave then they could not reach home before 
 8 o'clock. To divert their minds from their perplexing sit- 
 uation Mr. Wickham declaimed, then some of the boys 
 who were good singers were called in, but the wind con- 
 tinued to rage and the snow was so deep that it would 
 be unsafe to try to get out of the canon that night. The 
 ladies were almost hysterical. "What if it is not snowing 
 so fiercely in Saguache? What will the folks at home 
 think has become of us? If it is snowing there as here 
 will they think we are lost on the way? Will they not 
 be up here hunting us before morning? What will the 
 world say? What will the gossip-mongers say about us 
 
172 THE PILGRIM 
 
 staying all night in this cow-camp, and no one here but 
 a dozen or more men ?" But it was useless to worry. It 
 was not possible to make the trip in that storm, either 
 by day or night. 
 
 Mr. Caldwell organized a euchre game and tried very 
 hard to remove the depression from their minds, but 
 the nervous, restless feeling was constantly depicted on 
 their brows. 
 
 They were not at all afraid of the cowboys; they 
 had seen them they were perfect gentlemen. They were 
 not afraid they would not be comfortable, because the 
 room that was assigned to them for the day, had every 
 comfort they could have had 'at home except their night 
 gowns, such articles were not common in cow-camps, 
 but these they could do without. But what will "the 
 folks" think what will the world say? These were 
 their troublesome forebodings? 
 
 At ten o'clock Mr. Caldwell said : 
 
 "Well, girls, the angry elements have placed you in 
 my care tonight and I must insist that you go to bed at 
 the usual hour that you may be equal to that hard trip 
 tomorrow." He placed the key on the inside of their door, 
 adding : 
 
 "Now, lock yourselves in and go to bed, and we 
 four gallant young knights will act as protecting sentinels 
 at your door." They bade them goodnight and retired. 
 
 "How is the egg-nog?" inquired the Pioneer. 
 
 "O, !" replied Mr. Caldwell, "It is all right and an 
 abundance of it. I haven't passed it since dinner because 
 I saw the young ladies were very nervous when they 
 learned they must stay here till morning, and I was 
 afraid if we were free with our cups it might add to 
 their discomfort." 
 
AND THE PIONEER 173 
 
 Mr. Wickham answered: "That is another evi- 
 dence of your gallant manliness." 
 
 The men sat up, smoked, and talked till one o'clock. 
 Then all undressed for bed. None of them had night 
 dresses, so every one took off his outside garments down 
 to his undershirt. The Pioneer undressed first, went 
 to the table of bottles and took a drink of orangeade, 
 then walked over and began to survey Washington's pic- 
 ture on the wall. 
 
 Mr. Caldwell suggested that all take one more nip be- 
 fore retiring. 
 
 Mr. Campbell, in a butternut undershirt, was at 
 the orangeade table pouring a drink, the book-keeper, with 
 a blue undershirt, at the egg-nog table dipping out a 
 drink; Mr. Downing, in a white undershirt, at the table 
 of bottles, while the Pioneer, in a blood-red undershirt, 
 standing under the picture of Washington, was earnestly 
 appealing to his spirit to return and drive from power 
 the depraved Tories, who were so shamefully staining 
 the bright escutcheon of the grand government he so 
 gloriously contrived. 
 
 The three auditors, at the same time scanned the 
 four with their variety of clothing, and the earnest orator 
 and his silent auditor, and all involuntarily burst into a 
 loud laughter; immediately one of the young ladies 
 gave an agonizing scream. The laughter hushed -as 
 involuntarily and as suddenly as it started, and the four 
 courageous gentlemen sprang to the door of the room of 
 the young women and eagerly tendered their assistance, 
 without it's occurring to any of them that these short 
 undershirts were hardly a becoming uniform in a lady's 
 chamber. 
 
 As the gallant Chesterfields reached the door of the 
 
174 THE PILGRIM 
 
 ladies' chamber, they heard them convulsed with laugh- 
 ter. The explanation elicited was that when the gentlemen 
 broke into that loud laughter, one of the young ladies 
 dreamed that the herd of cattle they were reviewing in the 
 morning had stampeded and was about to run over her. 
 
 The next morning dawned bright and clear, but the 
 snow was deep. They got into Saguache a little after 
 noon. It was rather a quiet quartette going down. The 
 ladies were thinking: 
 
 "What will the world say about last night?" 
 
 The gentlemen were thinking : 
 
 "Would their father let them explain at all or would 
 he just kill them on sight without an opportunity to pray 
 or explain;" but neither public nor father expected that 
 they could return in the storm. When they reached the 
 home of the ladies the gentlemen took the father aside and 
 began to explain, but he did not allow them to finish. He 
 said: 
 
 "I knew you would not bring them out in the storm. 
 We knew they were all right at the cow-camp. The 
 world speaks of the wild and reckless cowboys, but I 
 never heard of any women in Colorado receiving an in- 
 dignity from a cowboy. These hardy sons of nature, in 
 daily communion with her, breathing pure air, and work- 
 ing for a living, are the defenders, rather than the offend- 
 ers, of the gentler sex. It is the man who lives in the 
 stifling atmosphere of the alcoholic and narcotic fumes of 
 the great city that is the dreaded foe of sexual rights. 
 These crimes are perpetrated, not from the pressure of 
 abnormal passions, but as a result of the paralysis of 
 all moral sensibilities through dissipation, or of an 
 abnormal deprivation of the necessary will-power 
 to control any ordinary propensity. Occassionally 
 
AND THE PIONEER 175 
 
 you find a temporary cowboy who is a fugitive from 
 justice, or a real cowboy of very small intelligence, who, 
 when under the influence of whisky, seeks to run the town, 
 shoot out the lights, or defy the marshals, but even he 
 yields all deference to the personal rights of women. As 
 a class, the cowboys of the West are most worthy and 
 law abiding citizens. Yes, I am very glad you stayed 
 all night and I should have lost confidence in your good 
 judgment had you attempted to face such a storm." 
 
 As they drove the team to the barn the book-keeper 
 said: 
 
 "I believe that old gentleman would make an ideal 
 father-in-law, and of course you know I am a poor for- 
 lorn orphan." 
 
 Before the snow fell the next winter he had, indeed, 
 ceased to be an orphan, and addressed the kind old gen- 
 tleman by the respectful appellation of "father." 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE WILD IMAGINATIONS OF A NEW 
 COUNTRY. 
 
 The developments of the San Juan mines were suffi- 
 cient to cause the Great Over-land Stage and Star Route 
 mail magnates, managed by Messrs. Barlow and Sander- 
 son, to establish between convenient railroad points and 
 the principal towns in the San Juan a most splendid 
 line of Concord coaches, and an industrious, efficient, and 
 most courteous corps of agents, messengers, and drivers, 
 and an army of the most intelligent and superb 
 coach horses that was ever mobilized on this globe. Color, 
 size, form, and temperament were leading requis- 
 ites. Every horse had to stand as critical an examination 
 by an expert judge, as is required of an applicant for 
 Annapolis or West Point before he could pass muster, 
 and if the animal developed any kind of weakness or un- 
 fitness after purchase he was discharged from his role and 
 put into a draft team, or sold. 
 
 The coaches were run on as close time and with 
 as much system as are the cars on the Pennsylvania rail- 
 road, and they had no more accidents or break downs, 
 and passengers were treated with as much consideration 
 by employes. Many of the horses lived from thirty 
 to thirty-five years. A trained veterinary was always look- 
 ing after their feet, teeth, and general health. It is doubt- 
 ful if such perfection in the equipment of so extensive 
 
 a line ever before existed, or will ever again exist, any- 
 
 (177) 
 
178 THE PILGRIM 
 
 where on earth. The whole equipment was simply ideal 
 of the kind, the very nonpareil of perfection. 
 
 This very costly equipment, together with the gen- 
 eral ideas of great profits on western investments, made 
 the fare very high twenty cents per mile. It was the 
 ambition of every one to ride on these elegant stage 
 coaches. In the west if one could enjoy the best the 
 country afforded, this gave' complete satisfaction. Mr. 
 Campbell was an inveterate lover of horses and could 
 not withstand the temptation of a stage ride to Canon 
 City, a distance of eighty miles, and return. Going 
 east the travel was light and he succeeded in getting an 
 outside seat with the driver. On the level portions of 
 the road they drove fours, and on the hilly portion sixes, 
 and always used the most stylish and showy teams for 
 the drives going into and out of the railroad stations and 
 into the biggest interior towns. They made from eight 
 to ten miles an hour and changed horses every eleven 
 miles. The trip was one of unbroken charm. Canon 
 City was a most beautiful town in a warm, fertile and ex- 
 pansive valley on the Arkansas River after it emerges 
 from the famous Royal Gorge, and was a place of ideal 
 homes, schools, churches, etc. 
 
 On the trip back their load was quite different. There 
 were nine persons squeezed inside of the coach and eight on 
 the top, including the driver and the messenger. On the in- 
 side they had the young attorney of the stage company. He 
 rode upon a pass and was what was deemed well trav- 
 elled. About one trip a year was all an ordinary pas- 
 senger could stand, so we might all be said to be untrav- 
 elled except the breezy attorney. He called the driver 
 Tom, the messenger Oscar, the agent Ed, and the stock- 
 tender Jimmie. One without some knowledge of human 
 
AND THE PIONEER 179 
 
 nature would have presumed that he certainly owned 
 the stage line, if not the country over which it ran. He 
 replied to every question addressed to the eight and 
 agreed with no one who expressed an opinion before his 
 was announced. 
 
 Toward noon Mr. Campbell pulled from his pocket 
 a piece of buffalo meat and some crackers and began his 
 mid-day lunch. By and by he threw a small piece of 
 cracker out of the coach window. The stage attorney 
 straightened himself up and said, "We'll stand some 
 things, but we'll hardly stand that." Mr. Campbell, in 
 confusion inquired, "What harm will that do ?" 
 "My dear sir," replied the attorney, "it will allow the 
 mountain lions to trail us up, and eat up the whole coach 
 load of us as soon as the shades of the evening shelter 
 them." Mr. Campbell meekly folded up his lunch and 
 returned it to his pocket. He had blundered into tender- 
 footism so often that a mere accusation of any blunder 
 was sufficient to bring a plea of guilty and a complete 
 humiliation to him. 
 
 The coach cheerfully glided along Poncha Creek 
 until the steep pass was reached. "I should think that 
 the coach would run very rapidly coming down here," 
 ventured Mr. Campbell. "Yes," said the stage attorney, 
 "It is marvellous how it spins down this hill. You 
 wouldn't think it, but at the top of the pass, they hitch 
 a Babcock Fire Extinguisher to the coach on the down- 
 hill trip, fearing that the friction of the wheels on the 
 rocks might cause a conflagration and burn up the whole 
 outfit, without an adequate fire apparatus at hand to 
 extinguish the flames." 
 
 The inquisitive and nervous Mr. Campbell turned 
 and twisted in his seat, and looked out of the window, 
 
180 THE PILGRIM 
 
 but the topography of the country presented such a same- 
 ness that he could not find a pretense for a question. 
 In time they reached the top of the hill, which was very 
 refreshing to all of the passengers. -They were in the 
 great San Luis Valley, with its vast and expansive plains. 
 But a short distance out stood prominently in bold relief 
 certain small mounds near some hot springs. These im- 
 mediately challenged Mr. Campbell's attention and fur- 
 nished him the basis or another inquiry : 
 
 "What causes all those little mounds out there on 
 the open plains?" 
 
 The stage company's attorney answered : "You have 
 seen the coral reef or the mountains of fish and whale 
 bones belched up by the sea in one of its little spells of 
 gastric dyspepsia and deposited as the uppermost strata 
 of a mighty mountain range, which finally congealed into 
 mighty cliffs of corallaceous rock or into the great beds 
 of calcium carbonate creamily cresting th$ surface of 
 so many of our southern mountains. Such a metamor- 
 phose is passing strange, but not more strange than those 
 mounds. By those mounds are large hot springs where 
 thousands of cattle come to drink when the water is 
 frozen elsewhere. Those mounds are composed of petri- 
 fied bovines. If an animal dies here in cold, freezing 
 weather, and disintegration can be held back by the aid 
 of zero temperature for ten days, the elements of petri- 
 faction get such a possession of the carcass that disintegra- 
 tion never takes place and after a year the animal can 
 be sawed into blocks of most beautiful variegated marble, 
 every vein, artery, ligament, intestine, and other part 
 retaining its color and form the same as when 
 they belonged to the animal kingdom. Petrifaction in 
 the vegetable kingdom is almost as wonderful. Five years 
 
AND THE PIONEER 181 
 
 ago the people of Colorado City* generally built hewn log 
 houses; now they are all petrified and penciled off into 
 brown stone fronts." 
 
 Mr. Campbell stared at the stage company's attor- 
 ney hazily, expressed himself by an audible grunt, shut 
 his eyes in bewilderment, and took hold of his head, 
 indicating that his temples pained him. 
 
 The weight of the last new discovery seemed to be- 
 numb his sensibilities for an hour or so. He then aroused 
 himself and ventured: 
 
 "I have heard that you can see a long ways out 
 here. 
 
 "Yes, it is indeed astounding how the vision will stretch 
 out here. How far do you suppose it is to those foothills ?" 
 
 Mr. Campbell guessed it was about half a mile, and 
 he missed the distance very little. The stage company 
 attorney, with great earnestness, replied: 
 
 "Thirty-five miles, sir, thirty-five miles. How far 
 do you suppose it is to that little forest over there ?" 
 
 Mr. Campbell answered that it looked like about 
 three miles, and he was not much out of the way. The 
 young stage company attorney answered: 
 
 "Seventy-five miles, sir; seventy-five miles." 
 Just at this time they were driving up to where a ranch- 
 man was setting some fence posts eight feet apart. The 
 young stage company attorney asked : 
 
 "My young friend, how far do yon think those fence 
 posts are apart?" 
 
 Mr. Campbell, for the first time, received a vision 
 that he was being imposed upon; his whole system re- 
 laxed, the paralyzing pressure of the brain was removed, 
 a twinkle came into his eye, and a ray of cheerfulness 
 
182 THE PILGRIM 
 
 played over his brow, as lie gleefully smiled and an- 
 swered : 
 
 "I should guess about fifteen miles." 
 
 The crowd laughed, rested, laughed again and again 
 until tired out. The young attorney threw his hat down 
 in the coach and said: 
 
 "Boys, if you will say nothing about this, I shall 
 buy you a keg of beer when we get to Saguache." 
 
 Every one promised till the beer was. bought and 
 drunk, but from that day to this the passengers have 
 been telling of this unique and hilarious ending of what 
 had been a very serious affair up to that point, at least 
 with the young Pilgrim. 
 
 When the coach drove up to the hotel in Saguache 
 Mr. Wickham appeared, locked arms with Mr. Campbell, 
 and walked off up the street, saying: 
 
 "I have come to help you pack up and shake the 
 dust of this dear little city from your feet, and to assist 
 in putting you on the road that will lead you to an early 
 fame and a certain fortune." 
 
 "Oh!" replied Mr. Campbell, "Do you expect me 
 to assist in holding up a stage coach, the United States 
 mail, to break into a bank, or go into the gold brick busi- 
 ness?" 
 
 "O, no ; things more pleasant, respectable, and profit- 
 able than these. I have found a place where Dame Nature 
 can be held up and made to yield her gold and silver will- 
 ingly and without crime, as a benefit to all mankind. The 
 pioneer road builder, Enos T. TTotchkiss, has discovered 
 at the foot of Lake San Christobal, the richest mine so 
 far discovered in the great San Juan and a body of the 
 richest tellurium so far discovered in Colorado. The ore 
 carries silver and gold in a ratio of seven to eight, and 
 
AND THE PIONEER 183 
 
 the owner has just received returns of seventeen dollars 
 a pound for a shipment. This mine is called the Hotch- 
 kiss. They have also discovered lead and silver mines 
 called the Belle of the West, the Ute, the Ule and the 
 Big Casino, all in close proximity to Lake City, which 
 must make it a most prosperous and thriving town." 
 
 "You startle me," responded Mr. Campbell. "Your 
 proposition is so sudden, so unexpected, that I really ought 
 to have time to consider it, but as I have followed your 
 advice in the past with profit, I may be excused for judg- 
 ing the future by it, and fleeing with you, for better or 
 worse, to the mountains of Tellurium." 
 
 "Yes," answered Mr. Wickham, "you will hardly be 
 so fortunate as to emblazon your path to fame and for- 
 tune by some effulgent piece of work as you did here, but 
 I shall, Homer-like, sing your greatness from place to 
 place till your great merit is acknowledged ; then we shall 
 have a splendid opportunity to go. Mr. Reynolds has a 
 livery outfit he is going to move up tomorrow and offers 
 us seats in a buckboard for half price, though he has 
 picked up an entire stranger for a driver and says we 
 shall have to take chances on him." 
 
 Mr. Campbell bade his friends good-bye, packed his 
 books and office furniture and put them into one of the 
 livery wagons, and at sunrise next morning he and Mr. 
 Wickham mounted the buckboard and waved Saguache a 
 regretful farewell. 
 
 The driver proved to be a quiet man, gentle and 
 courteous, also very careful and kind to his horses, until 
 after they reached a camp where a saloon outfit, moving 
 into Lake, was stopping for the night, and whisky flowed 
 as freely as water. The driver imbibed freely and it was 
 with much persuasion that they induced him to leave, but 
 
184 THE PILGRIM 
 
 the world would not call him drunk. As soon as they 
 left this whisky joint he became very loquacious. He 
 deprecated the fact that he had to come down to driving 
 two horses. He said that in California he drove sixteen 
 for the Great Over-land Stage Company, and was such 
 a favorite that J. L. Sanderson, one of the owners, always 
 rode with him. When he was punishing his horses, Mr. 
 Wickham entered a mild protest. 
 
 a Oh !" answered the driver, "You are evidently igno- 
 rant of the curriculum of the equestrian. I was educated 
 under J. L. Sanderson and one of his fixed maxims is, 
 'When a horse is obstreperous pat him on the back with 
 the keen lash of a sharp whip. 7 ' 
 
 Shortly after dark he lashed his team into a furious 
 run through a toll gate, and down a steep hill. Mr. Wick- 
 ham said: 
 
 "Driver, you may care little for your own life, but a 
 very small amount of such recklessness will do me." 
 
 The man answered: 
 
 "Necessity is the mother of many dangerous escapades ; 
 that off horse hasn't got a thimble full of sense, and a 
 small brained horse is just like a small brained man, it 
 is just as hard for him to unlearn a thing as it is for him 
 to learn it. With great difficulty when young, that horse 
 was taught to let down and put up the bars, and as you 
 may have noticed, the pole of the toll-gate lay off to one 
 side. I passed here last week with him, he saw that pole 
 and made a surge for it, broke his check rein, seized the 
 pole with his teeth, dragged it around, and was determined 
 to put it up ; no punishment would cause him to abandon 
 his determination. I got out and assisted him to put it up, 
 then he trotted off with a clear conscience. You needn't 
 laugh ; a small-minded horse may have a strong conscience 
 
AND THE PIONEER 185 
 
 the same as a weak-minded person may be very conscien- 
 tious. That is one reason against mis-educating such per- 
 sons or horses. It is just as foolish to educate wrongfully 
 a small-brained horse as it is to educate falsely a small- 
 brained man. It is just as hard to beat an idea out of a 
 little head as it is to beat an idea into such a head, and 
 they are incapable of particularizing or discriminating at 
 all. 
 
 "I am much obliged," replied Mr. Wickham, "your 
 reasons were quite sufficient for the great chances we 
 took." 
 
 The passengers dozed along quietly for hours and 
 finally were awakened by the sound of the lashing of the 
 horses, the squeaking of the wheels on the ice, and the 
 slipping of the horses as they went like chariot racers over 
 a gorge of three hundred feet of spread out ice in the 
 ford of Los Pinos Creek. When he checked his team 
 Mr. Wickham in a low whisper inquired : 
 
 "Driver, are the Indians after us?" (We were 
 crossing their old reservation.) 
 
 "Hades, no," answered the driver, "there is no more 
 harm in these Indians than there is in a tribe of Presby- 
 terian deacons." 
 
 "Then what did you mean by that dangerous run 
 across that icy gorge?" 
 
 "Well," responded the driver, "you are certainly 
 from near the Equator, or I should not have to explain 
 this self-evident fact to you. If you had been awake you 
 would have seen sags here and there in that wide sheet 
 of ice where the sun has partially thawed it and made it 
 weak. If a wheel had been permitted to settle in one of 
 these sags we should have gone through the ice out of sight. 
 By driving at this wild gait the wheels only hit in the 
 
186 THE PILGRIM 
 
 high places, hence saved you from a watery grave. When- 
 ever you see a danger, charge it, that is my motto." 
 
 Mr. Wickham answered: 
 
 "I must be one of that small-brained class, as the 
 more you teach me the less I seem to know. You must 
 be right, because you have had an unbroken run of suc- 
 cess while going right through the jaws of imminent 
 danger." 
 
 They rocked along monotonously, cat-napping, until 
 they were aroused again by the surging and leaping of the 
 horses in a mad flight down the long hill leading to the 
 Cebolla River, also a stopping place. The buckboard was 
 running upon the horses and no attention was paid to the 
 brake. 
 
 "Let me there," said Mr. Wickham, "and I'll hold 
 the brake." 
 
 The driver frowned and motioned him back. At the 
 foot of the hill the former said: 
 
 "I see you do not understand horses at all, especially 
 these weak-minded fellows. They would not allow you 
 to hold that brake. A few days ago in going down a hill 
 like this I pressed the brake with my foot ; they got mad 
 and snapped their check reins, seized the neck-yoke with 
 their teeth, and fairly set the ground afire, pitching down 
 that hill. You must treat a horse according to his educa- 
 tion or you will always have a rebellion on your hands." 
 
 As the passengers climbed out of the buckboard for 
 the night, they felt the same kind of thankfulness for 
 their preservation that a soldier feels after passing un- 
 injured through a bloody battle. 
 
 The next morning the horses and the driver looked 
 care-worn and haggard. Nothing unusual occurred on 
 
AND THE PIONEER 187 
 
 the drive from this point. Just before reaching Lake City, 
 the driver said: 
 
 "Gentlemen, we have gotten along nicely, and I want 
 a place with the livery-stable and should be much obliged 
 if you would speak a kind word for me or give me a 
 letter." 
 
 Mr. Wickham answered : 
 
 "If you ate tobacco leaves saturated with the deadly, 
 poisonous nicotine as a cow eats hay, or if you smoked 
 opium as the nervous Cherokee Indian smokes cross vine, 
 I might recommend you because, while it might make you 
 stupid, enervated, and dreamy, your sins would be prob- 
 ably only of omission ; but any man who will saturate his 
 blood and brain with that devil's water, alcohol, the only 
 morpheus fluid known to man, that sings to sleep all of 
 his moral checks, care, precaution, judgment, and the in- 
 stincts of self-preservation and the preservation of others 
 in his keeping, and turns loose without restraint all his 
 lower propensities, and augments his inclination for 
 viciousness, heedlessness, and destructiveness, should not 
 be recommended for any position of trust: I never realized 
 till yesterday what a difference there is between Philip 
 sober, and Philip just a little drunk. If a little of this 
 vile poison will make you criminally reckless and negli- 
 gent as you were last night, what would you be should 
 you get really drunk? TTo, I shall feel honor bound to 
 warn your employer against trusting you in the future, 
 not as a punishment to you, but as a duty I owe to the 
 traveling public." 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 IN A TYPICAL MINING CAMP. 
 
 Lake City was nestled among beautiful mountain 
 streams, lakes, and over-towering hills, which made 
 the site one of the most charming and picturesque places 
 in the Rocky Mountains. It was in a little mountain park 
 more than 8,000 feet above sea level, skirted on the east 
 by the Lake Fork of the Gunnison River, on the south 
 by Henson Creek, and on the north by Beaverdam Lake; 
 three miles south of the town is Lake San Christobal, three 
 miles long, one mile wide, and five hundred feet deep, 
 filled with fish. The latter lake gave the town its name. 
 
 The streets were so level and smooth that they would 
 have made ideal race tracks. Tents, cabins, and camps were 
 on every side, and the streets were alive with all kinds 
 of people American, German, Hebrew, Irish, Cornish, 
 Swede, Canadian, French, Italian, English, Negro, Chi- 
 nese, Japanese, etc., and all tongues were spoken there. 
 
 They stopped at a hotel, so-called. Mr. Wickham 
 said: 
 
 "Mr. Campbell, this place is wholly unlike Saguache. 
 This is a typical mining town, controlled by pilgrims; 
 and most of these people are merely sojourners and care 
 for nothing and nobody. They are here for what they 
 can gather in, so you must be on your P's and Q's for 
 two weeks and take in the whole situation before you 
 attempt to start business. It will be a regular variety 
 show and the scenes will change as often as the magician's 
 leger-demain, but I think this is best for you." 
 
 (189) 
 
190 THE PILGRIM 
 
 "All right," said Mr. Campbell, "I am in your 
 charge for two weeks. Do what you will with me." 
 
 When evening came, the blowing of horns, the hila- 
 rious laughter, the occasional ring of the revolver, echoed 
 from hill to hill, finally dying away in some acute canon, 
 with a faint disappearing sound, bringing to memory 
 the chimes of mellow church bells in the stillness of early 
 morning. The Pilgrim and the Pioneer occupied a double- 
 bed in a room under a transom, and another bed in the 
 room was occupied by two of the leading business men 
 of the town. About eleven o'clock a regular concert be- 
 gan the picking of banjos, the squeaking of the violin, 
 a chorus of voices, and a pounding upon the door, causing 
 a regular bedlam. The business men knew what this 
 meant and sprang to the door, appealing to the visitors 
 not to break it down, but to allow them to open it. By 
 a dextrous move the door was opened and fifteen or twenty 
 of the leading citizens of the town walked in and passed 
 bottles of whisky and demanded that all drink, dress, 
 and join the crusade. Mr. Wickham took in the situation 
 and suggested to Mr. Campbell that the better and quicker 
 way out of this was to join them and appear to enjoy 
 it until they found an opportunity to escape. They then 
 arose and Mr. Wickham soon dressed himself. Mr. Camp- 
 bell got one foot through a trouser leg and was hopping 
 about over the floor with the other foot elevated, trying to 
 force an entrance into the other trouser leg. His sus- 
 penders had become wound around this and closed the 
 opening like a puckering string. Some of these night 
 marauders concluded that the young man was feigning 
 impotency, gathered the unfilled trouser leg, and dragged 
 him into the presence of Mr. Stevenson, a huge young at- 
 torney, who had just received the appointment of Justice 
 
AND THE PIONEER 191 
 
 of the Peace, and asked him for a warrant against the 
 confused young man for treason to the crusade. 
 
 Mr. Wickham saw the young man's perplexity and 
 parried it by joshingly appealing to the young Justice 
 as a conservator of the peace to protect this weakling from 
 the insults and impositions of the strong. 
 
 The young Justice grasped one after another of the 
 intruders by the shoulders and flung them into a heap in 
 one corner, sat down upon them, and said: "By the 
 strong arm of the law I protect this Pilgrim." 
 
 Every one present was forced to drink, or pretend 
 to drink, from the bottles on tap, and all were ordered to 
 the next house. 
 
 In the midst of the confusion the Pioneer and the 
 Pilgrim slipped away from the mob. The latter 
 was trembling like an aspen leaf. He exclaimed: "My 
 , Mr. Wickham ! What next ? Is this what you call 
 pioneer civilization? If so, if God will permit me to es- 
 cape, I shall never again be caught among such ferocious 
 wild beasts." 
 
 Mr. Wickham replied : "The best way to avoid these 
 evils is to pretend to join in with them; and don't appear 
 to be annoyed or bored, and they will soon drop you." 
 
 They retired and soon were asleep. At peep of day 
 the next morning they were startled by four or five of 
 the crusaders piling through the transom into bed with 
 them. They began: "Yes, you tenderfeet, you tried to 
 shake us last night, but we have you. Get up and dress ; 
 the boys are at the bar having cocktails made for you." 
 
 The Pilgrim and the Pioneer dressed and repaired to 
 the bar of the hotel and there were twelve or fifteen mer- 
 chants and bankers sitting in chairs on the top of the bar, 
 while five or six were behind the bar assisting the bar- 
 
192 THE PILGRIM 
 
 tender in mixing the cocktails. After all were served 
 they paid the bill, got a cocktail for old Aunt Martha, a 
 three hundred pound colored cook, and told her they 
 wanted an early breakfast. 
 
 The old woman laughed, slapped the donors on the 
 shoulders, and told them to run up to the attic and call 
 the waitress -and they should have their breakfast imme- 
 diately. 
 
 Two of the leaders went to the girl's room, called her, 
 and told her if she would get down in ten minutes and 
 wait on them, there would be a dollar in it for her. In 
 a few moments the girl was down, her face glowing 
 with smiles. Mr. Allan Crandall, the leader, said : "She 
 is a nice girl and ought to have a solid fellow/' and tried 
 to induce one after another to lay claim to her, but 
 each made some plausible excuse. Mr. Crandall 
 was not to be outdone. He went to the bar room, secured a 
 screwdriver, walked across the street to a handsomely 
 painted metallic cigar sign, with a tempting havana in 
 his mouth, and unscrewing it from the sidewalk, called 
 two assistants, and ordered them to carry the metallic 
 Indian to the smiling waitress's room and to tuck him 
 snugly away in her bed, as her "solid fellow.' 7 
 
 While Mr. Wickham was the best type of the Pioneer, 
 the leaders got the impression from his slipping the crowd 
 the night before, and from his shy, sedate demeanor, that 
 he was an unsophisticated tenderfoot and needed disciplin- 
 ing. They gave their impressions to a bronzed-faced, 
 semi-rapid maid of about thirty-five and persuaded her 
 to seat herself beside him at breakfast to try his sus- 
 ceptibility to feminine charms. They took the head- waiter 
 into the secret th^it he might seat them properly at the 
 table. 
 
AND THE PIONEER 193 
 
 t 
 
 
 
 When Mr. Wickbam came in, the head-waiter took 
 him to a corner table near the screen which cut off the 
 view of the kitchen, and as Mr. Campbell was about to be 
 seated, the head-waiter tapped him on the shoulder, say- 
 ing, "I am sorry, but that seat is taken," and ushered in the 
 short-haired woman, introduced her, and seated her with 
 Mr. Wickham ; and the leaders of the crusade, the waiters, 
 and Aunt Martha, hung about the screen to see the tender- 
 foot taken in by the short-haired woman. She guyed him 
 and sneered at the effete East, and he played the greeny 
 and tenderfoot to perfection. She flattered him, coyly look- 
 ed askance at him, chucked him under the chin, and talked 
 baby talk to him, and he played the game admirably. The 
 crowd behind the screen were overjoyed, and were ready to 
 be jewel the short-haired damsel for the complete sway 
 she had so soon obtained over the tenderfoot. 
 
 After a long sitting Mr. Wickham began to rise to 
 go, but the brazen woman, in a pettish attitude, puckered 
 her mouth, caught him by the sleeve, and said: "Now, 
 my dear Mr.- Wickham, you are not going to leave me 
 unprotected here among all of these hateful, rough men, 
 are you ?" 
 
 "I must, I must!" _said'he. "This is very pleasant, 
 but the best of friends must part, you know." 
 
 The woman turned her parted lips up toward him and 
 in an imploring, babyish tone, said : "Who is going to love 
 me when you are gone ?" 
 
 Mr. Wickham hesitated a moment, raised himself 
 to his natural grandeur, and gently said: "Jesus is go- 
 ing to love you when I am gone, if you are good." 
 
 The spontaneous outburst from behind the screen 
 was too quick for the disappointed woman to reply, if she 
 could have said anything. Old Aunt Martha's voice rang 
 
194 THE PILGRIM 
 
 out: " Jesus is guine to lobe you. Well if dat ain't the 
 doggonest smartest tenderfoot dat eber come to dis here 
 hotel, den I'll gim you my head for a football. Men ain't 
 what dey used to was nohow." 
 
 The leaders of the crusade jumped to Mr. Wickham, 
 took him upon their shoulders to the bar and offered him 
 anything in the house, while the short-haired woman slunk 
 away upstairs. 
 
 From this moment the Pioneer was a hero with 
 "the old-timers." In the midst of the hub-bub the old 
 German cigar-maker was seen walking up and down in 
 front of his shop across the street, shaking his fist at the 
 place where his sign used to be saying: The man vat 
 
 stoled away mine Indian, I kill mit him. ." 
 
 The waitress, for some purpose, went to her room during 
 the excitement, and immediately began to scream for 
 the proprietor to come quick a man was in her bed. The 
 proprietor grabbed a Winchester, the clerk a baseball bat, 
 and the bar-tender a revolver, and all burst into the 
 waitress's room, and began to pound the ringing metallic 
 Indian with their weapons. They soon saw the joke, and 
 feeling the humiliation, picked up the cigar sign, and 
 pushed it through a skylight to the top of the house, saying 
 nothing. 
 
 The Pilgrim, was extremely shy and nervous. He 
 inquired : "Mr. Wickham, is this the usual life out here ? 
 If so, I should think ten years a ripe old age, if anyone 
 could even live that long. Tell me, what has converted 
 these people into a drove of common wild beasts 2" 
 
 "My dear young friend," replied the Pioneer, 
 "there is a most valuable lesson bound up in this unbroken 
 pandemonium. You will observe that there are fifty men 
 here to every woman. If a modest, neatly dressed woman 
 
AND THE PIONEER 195 
 
 should walk up Silver Street, five hundred men would 
 come out and quietly and silently admire her, as long as 
 she was in view. This chaotic civilization is the standard 
 that men fix for themselves when alone. The superiority 
 of older societies is a tribute to womanhood. When man 
 and woman are associated, man greatly elevates the stand- 
 ard of civility and morality for both. Oh! it is here 
 that man can adequately estimate the magnificent attrib- 
 utes of the Caucasian woman. What superb mothers they 
 make ! I can hardly conceive that men of this age and sons 
 of exemplary dames can become even temporarily so degen- 
 erate. The result of lack of woman's influence here is 
 an ocular demonstration of her great worth. It is only 
 sires that have been deprived of the beneficent influ- 
 ence of refined womanhood in the maternity of their 
 children, who can adequately measure their real worth. 
 Here you may actually observe the reason God gave for 
 creating woman. He said truly that it was not well that 
 man should be alone. Again this is a demonstration of 
 the innate weakness of men. They are moral cowards. 
 Two-thirds of this motley crew would have preferred bet- 
 ter things. The saloons and dance halls wield a potent 
 influence here. The proprietors of these dens continu- 
 ally harp upon the generous qualities of the individuals 
 who visit their places and treat the crowds, and these dive- 
 keepers are constantly advising their patrons to buy at 
 their customers' stores. To keep the finger of scorn on 
 the part of these interested venders from being pointed at 
 them, and to get the influence of the appellations, 'one of 
 the boys/ 'a good fellow who spends his money freely,' 
 'the man to trade with/ etc., they pollute themselves in 
 these nightly debauches." 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE JUDGE. 
 
 The Pilgrim and the Pioneer stepped into a bar-room 
 where all kinds of games were in progress and many men 
 risking their jingling cash on a favorite card or number. 
 As they got well into the door a man approached Mr. 
 Campbell, held up his hand with a large parlor match 
 between his fingers, and said: 
 
 "Mister, I have a match, have you a cigar?" 
 Mr. Campbell handed him a cigar. 
 He hurried along to Mr. Wickham, who was near the 
 bar and, with a smile, exclaimed : 
 
 "Hello, stranger, what kind of a ship do you sail 
 on?" 
 
 "A double-decker, sir." 
 
 The young man took t him by the lapel of the coat 
 and, facing him up to the bar, said : 
 
 "Cast anchor, sir." 
 
 Mr. Wickham smiled and told the bar-tender to give 
 him a drink, which he did ; then the young fellow moved 
 out at the door, soliloquizing as he went : 
 
 "One cigar and one drink without paying a cent, 
 and it isn't a very good day for suckers either." 
 
 The Judge, a square, well formed, middle-aged man, 
 with a large mustache and Arkansas chin whiskers, 
 was taking a drink. He chuckled at the amusing incident, 
 and introduced himself as the Judge. Mr. Wickham in 
 turn introduced Mr. Campbell as a young limb of the 
 
 law. The Judge insisted that they must visit his court. 
 
 (197) 
 
198 THE PILGRIM 
 
 He told them they had an excellent bar and it was making 
 the term very interesting. The visitors promised, the 
 Judge wiped his mouth and hurried off to his judicial 
 ermine. 
 
 As the new-comers walked up the street they met a 
 brisk, loquacious individual, who seemed to be on the en- 
 tertainment committee. He inquired: 
 
 "Boys, do you want to have a bushel of fun without 
 its costing you a cent ?" 
 
 "Yes," answered the Pioneer, "the cheaper the 
 better, if the quality is good." 
 
 "Well, sir," replied the entertainer, "I have a law- 
 yer friend here who has more imagination than John Bun- 
 yan, more pathos than John Calvin, more eloquence than 
 Wendell Phillips, and more fun in him than there is in 
 Tom Corwin. The opposition's counsel is a typical product 
 of the pawpaw thickets of Missouri, talks the Missouri 
 dialect, has the general attitudes of a kangaroo, seems to 
 be annoyed with the mange, and has never been able to 
 find a comfortable place in which to locate his hands. 
 Both of the attorneys are strangers here, but my friend 
 is a 'Joe Dandy/ and I told him what kind of a looking 
 fellow his opponent was, and I said : 'Look, a-here, that is 
 a little case of no importance, but I'll tell you how you 
 can make a big fee out of it, not in money, but in 
 reputation. You just get a big crowd there and let your 
 powers loose and let them compare your great abilities 
 with your opponent's poor abilities and great awkward- 
 ness, and inside of a week you will have to drive clients 
 away from your office.' He said: 'You furnish the 
 crowd and every time the limb of the pawpaw district 
 presents a point, I'll buff it in so many directions that 
 it'll make him hurry to agree with me to save himself 
 
AND THE PIONEER 199 
 
 from being utterly belittled.' Now, I want to furnish 
 the crowd for a first-class free entertainment." 
 
 Said the Pioneer: "Mr. Campbell, we might go 
 over. This is some parrot-tongued, police-court lawyer 
 who talks like a magpie and thinks like an oyster, and 
 he will throw his whole resources into the show windows. 
 It might pay you to go over and study the manner of 
 man you will probably have to measure swords with in 
 the legal arena, though I think I can write his biography 
 without seeing him." 
 
 "Yes," said Mr. Campbell, "I should like to go." 
 They went over, found the house crowded, and the Judge 
 viewing it with 'astonishment. 
 
 The question involved seemed to be the location of 
 the northeast corner of a mining claim. The stake at 
 this point had been moved. The plaintiff swore to one 
 place. The defendant swore to a different place. The 
 defendant's attorney then asked the defendant if he could 
 recall any incident that enabled him to remember this 
 corner definitely. He answered yes, that a large jack- 
 rabbit used to delight in resting his back against that 
 stake, and that he had gone there time and again to kill 
 it and in trying to take advantage of that rabbit he got 
 a lasting impression of the very spot. The attorney for 
 the plaintiff jumped to his feet and said that facts brought 
 out of the defendant's own witness in that way were 
 "illegitimate" evidence. 
 
 This was the great lawyer's opportunity. He 
 stroked his whiskers, . looked at the ceiling, chuckling 
 vigorously, then arose to his feet and said: 
 
 "Your honor, please, I have enjoyed an active prac- 
 tice at the bar for twenty years, but I have never heard 
 of such evidence as the gentleman names, before. I have 
 
200 THE PILGRIM 
 
 often read of 'incompetent' evidence and 'illegitimate' 
 children but never until now have I heard of 'illegitimate' 
 evidence and 'incompetent' children, and this counsel is 
 lead to believe that such is indigenous to the pawpaw 
 thickets of Missouri, and not a part of the statute law of 
 this state, and certainly no part of the common law." The 
 crowd laughed, the court scolded, and the plaintiff's coun- 
 sel blushed, and scratched vigorously first the rear of one 
 leg, then the side of the other. 
 
 The Judge withheld his decision and ordered the 
 plaintiff's counsel to argue the case on the merits. He 
 hammered the table, talked about the ejectment law, and 
 tried to explain away some apparently fatal admission 
 that the plaintiff had made in a verified replication, and 
 finally closed, scratched the rear of his legs vigorously, 
 and sat down. 
 
 The hero of the occasion arose and every one leaned 
 forward with an intent smile as all expected the show to 
 begin. 
 
 "Your honor, please, counsel are employed for use- 
 ful rather than for ornamental purposes." 
 
 The crowd construed this into a sarcastic thrust at 
 the personal appearance of the plaintiff's attorney, and 
 broke into a hilarious laughter. The Judge pounded his 
 desk, and lectured the crowd on its bad manners. The 
 counsel proceeded: 
 
 "Your honor, please, does the plaintiff's swearing 
 that there was a misunderstanding between him and his 
 counsel make it so ? He might swear his counsel was the 
 Angel Gabriel. Would his swearing that it is so, make 
 it so ?" 
 
 "Yes, it might," interposed the plaintiff's counsel. 
 
AND THE PIONEER 201 
 
 The defendant's counsel, with great vehemence, 
 cried out: 
 
 "Yes, your honor, if our brother from the pawpaw 
 thickets could only get wings to match his tail feathers, 
 he might make a bird of paradise !" 
 
 The crowd laughed and stamped the floor. The 
 Judge arose and rebuked them severely, and threatened to 
 clear the house if it was repeated. 
 
 The plaintiff's counsel jumped to his feet and said: 
 
 "Your honor, I should be glad if you would confine 
 the defendant's counsel to a .discussion, of the facts and 
 the ejectment law 'applicable to this case. No lawyer 
 can follow the worming in and worming out arguments of 
 this seemingly raving maniac." He scratched the back 
 part of his legs, then sat down and, in his embarrassment, 
 platted them like an ornamental willow. 
 
 Before the court could speak, the defendant's coun- 
 sel jumped to his feet and with great rapidity and fervor, 
 replied : 
 
 "Yes, and if this counsel adjudges aright from the 
 angular action of the plaintiff's counsel, his progenitors 
 must have been using angle worms, instead of Japanese tea, 
 when the gentleman was sired." 
 
 The Judge had to laugh with the spectators, and when 
 the explosion was over begged of them to be decorous, and 
 insisted that the defendant's attorney should get down 
 at once to the law and facts of the case, or take his seat. 
 
 The counsel proceeded, telling stories, quoting 
 poetry, comparing plaintiff's attorney to all kinds of ani- 
 mals, for half an hour, and had not even referred to the 
 case. 
 
 The Judge lost his patience and inquired: 
 
 "Sir, are you not about ready to close your argu- 
 
202 THE PILGRIM 
 
 ment ? It is getting very late, and it seems that you have 
 covered everything in the case." 
 
 The sarcastic reference to his "covering everything 
 in the case" before he had reached the case at all, stung 
 the counsel and, as quick as a flash, he answered : 
 
 "Yes, your honor, I, too, believe that I have covered 
 everything in the case, except that jack-rabbit, and I am 
 now ready to pay my respects to it." 
 
 The crowd broke into a general pandemonium, the 
 Judge ordered the court adjourned, and here ended as 
 comical a farce as will ever be presented on the Lake Fork 
 of the Gunnison River. 
 
 The Judge kindly escorted the visitors to the hotel. 
 As they approached the platform some fifteen or twenty 
 leading business and professional men lined up in front 
 of the Judge and informed him that they had shut up their 
 shops and come over to give him a mid-day serenade. 
 The Judge took a position in front and led the singing, 
 beating time with his cane. With great zest they sang: 
 "The old sow, she went a-rootling, a-rootling, 
 The old sow, she went a-rootling, along the road, high 'o." 
 
 At the end of the singing the Judge invited all of 
 the serenaders to the bar and they drank round after 
 round. After dinner Mr. Wickham and Mr. Campbell 
 returned to the court with the Judge. 
 
 The love of order is an innate attribute in our make- 
 up. No lodge, society, or other educational or delibera- 
 tive institution can long thrive without a liberal recog- 
 nition of decorum. Institutions will crumble more often 
 by reason of too much, than by reason of too little, de- 
 mocracy. "Too much democracy" is not an attribute of 
 the pioneer, but an attribute of those coming after him, 
 
AND THE PIONEER 203 
 
 and desiring to "outpioneer the pioneer." They often 
 spoil the dish by trying to be "too democratic." 
 
 The district court was organized in Lake City, and 
 there, as elsewhere, the people had the utmost faith in 
 its integrity, but the people were very democratic; they 
 called the judges, "Tom," "John," etc., off the bench, but 
 were usually very circumspect and deferential while the 
 Judge was wearing his judicial ermine, though these un- 
 usual familiarities sometimes caused the laity to overstep 
 the bonds of propriety. The' District Judge was fond 
 of getting out with the boys at night and pretending that 
 he was very democratic, and sometimes playing a few 
 games of draw, and when lushed up a little he became 
 inspired with a desire to sing. While in court he usually 
 sat with his feet elevated on a table, smoking incessantly, 
 with everyone talking and joking as though no court was 
 in session. The murder trial of John York for killing 
 Bnrkett was taken up and hotly contested for days. 
 The seriousness of this case made it easy to retain good 
 order. The defendant was acquitted. 
 
 The next case was that of a Frenchman charged with 
 malicious mischief in killing a Durham bull. The evi- 
 dence showed that he had cleared a tract of land, had 
 spent several hundred dollars importing seed from France ; 
 that it was growing nicely; that his neighbor's Durham 
 bull broke in and was destroying his garden. He stepped 
 up close to the bull, shot him in the face, and the bull drop- 
 ped dead in his tracks. The case was submitted to the jury. 
 It was out a few moments, then returned a verdict of 
 guilty, as charged. 
 
 The Judge called the defendant to the bar of justice 
 and asked him if he had anything to say why the judg- 
 ment of the court should not be passed upon him. The 
 
204 THE PILGRIM 
 
 Frenchman arose and, in a very excited manner, told 
 how he had worked, and how much he had spent on that 
 garden, and how his neighbor persisted in allowing his 
 bull to trespass upon him, and how aggravating it was, 
 and said that he, like the defendant that had just been 
 acquitted for murder, shot in self-defense, and in defense 
 of his experimental garden which was his pride and his 
 life. He said he was surprised at the verdict; that he 
 was astonished to learn that it was a greater crime under 
 the laws of the great western republic to commit bullicide 
 than it was to commit homicide. The crowd shouted and 
 cheered lustily, and the Frenchman seemecl more as- 
 tonished. 
 
 The next case was an important suit of Mills vs. 
 Wilson for possession of valuable grounds. An able law- 
 yer from Illinois, and a very able lawyer and politician 
 late from Kansas represented the plaintiff, and the "en- 
 tertainment friend's idol" represented the defendant; he 
 was also from Kansas. This divided the admirers from 
 Kansas between the two legal lights from that state. A 
 big crowd was on hand. The Judge looked haggard and 
 worn. The gentleman lately from Kansas representing 
 the plaintiff, with a cartload of books before him, ad- 
 dressed the drowsy looking Judge on the insufficiency of 
 the defendant's answer. 
 
 When the defendant's attorney arose to reply he 
 took a position between the two attorneys for the plaintiff. 
 The loquacious, poetical, and flowery advocate talked about 
 almost everything but the case. He said he was Attorney 
 General of Kansas while the senior counsel was speaker 
 of the lower house of the legislature of the state. He said 
 the plaintiff's senior counsel was elected speaker to keep 
 him off the floor, as he was given to much speech, but 
 
AND THE PIONEER 205 
 
 through his power as speaker he kept off all bills he was 
 opposed to until within ten days of the close of the ses- 
 sion, then called another to the chair and talked till the 
 session expired by constitutional limitation, with his 
 speech unfinished. The speaker suggested that this was 
 probably a continuation of that famous effort, as it seemed 
 to have no application to the case in hand. He then de- 
 liberately turned, and pointing to the attorney for the 
 plaintiff sitting on his right, then as deliberately to the 
 one on his left, he said : 
 
 "But these Siamese twins claim " 
 
 "Yes, your honor/' interrupted the senior attorney 
 for the plaintiff, "let him designate us as the Siamese 
 twins, there is only one set of 'gutterials 7 between us," 
 pointing his finger directly at the speaker. 
 
 The Judge, lawyers, and audience laughed hysteri- 
 cally. The speaker stammered, halted, tried again, gave 
 up, uttered an embarrassed chuckle, and bowed to the 
 new star from the Sunflower state. The new hero Was 
 enthroned in the hearts of the large Kansas constituency, 
 and the old stand-by- was allowed to die in neglect like 
 a vanquished gladiator. Everyone broke into pandemo- 
 nium, and jollied one another, and the Judge, who was 
 now becoming serious from a retrospect of the week's 
 events, scratching his head, soliloquized : 
 
 "These proceedings are very funny, but are they not 
 too democratic and indecorous to be effective or re- 
 spectable?" 
 
 An important mining case was called, and while the 
 Judge was in a brown study about the hilarious proceed- 
 ings of the past week, twelve of the leading business men 
 of the town marched solemnly into the court room and 
 
206 THE PILGRIM 
 
 lining up in front of the judge, sang at the top of their 
 
 voices the first verse of that rich old melody : 
 
 "Here's to the health of General Jackson j God bless the 
 
 the bold hero." 
 
 The Judge hammered his table, and cried aloud: 
 "Stop, stop, stop that I" 
 
 The sheriff jumped to the rescue and, when they 
 were silenced, the Judge inquired: 
 
 "Gentlemen, what can you mean by this unseemly 
 conduct in this court? Can it be possible that a dozen of 
 the best citizens of this town are crazy at the same time ?" 
 " The leader, Major Bentley, answered: 
 
 "No, it is out of our profound respect for this court 
 that we are here. You taught us to sing this beautiful 
 song last night, and we are here to show you how much 
 we have improved since you left us at five o'clock this 
 morning." 
 
 The Judge whispered to the sheriff, "Take them out, 
 and place a guard at the door to prevent their return." 
 
 As they marched away the Judge sololiquized again : 
 "Yes, truly, familiarity does breed contempt; yes, there 
 is such a thing as too much democracy." 
 
 This exciting day so revived the drooping spirits of 
 the Pioneer that he felt really attached to the Judge, 
 grotesque as his court proceedings were. 
 
 It was in this court house that Edward O'Kelly 
 was tried for the murder of Bob Ford. 
 
 In Creede, near the head waters of the Rio Grande 
 Eiver in the very heart of the Rocky Mountains, Bob 
 Ford, the slayer of Jesse James, sought safety for body 
 and composure of conscience, in vain. He here learned 
 that this earth is too small a hiding place from a guilty 
 conscience. He was always shy, nervous, and expectant. 
 
AND THE PIONEER 207 
 
 He never would sit in a game of cards unless he could 
 get his back to the wall so no one might get behind him. 
 He was ever expecting the Fates to demand his life in 
 return for the treacherous taking and selling of the life 
 of his confidential associate in crime. On a spree one 
 night he shot out the street lights. On getting sober he 
 apologized in the public press and faithfully promised 
 good behavior in the future. He earnestly tried to throw 
 off his burden, but no inaccessible retreat, no mountain 
 fastness, no rough and tumble excitement, could bring ease 
 of conscience or peace of mind. He had hourly premoni- 
 tions that his Missouri pardon, his secluded wildness, 
 could not save him here on earth from an inexorable, 
 stern, retributive justice. Ultimately Edward O'Kelly ap- 
 peared on the scene with a double-barrelled shot gun. As 
 Bob Ford nervously walked from a dancing platform to 
 a bedroom, O'Kelly exclaimed, "Hello, Bob," and 
 as Ford turned his head quickly, he received a charge of 
 buckshot in the neck and fell a corpse. ~No one, not even 
 O'Kelly, has been able to give any pertinent reason for the 
 killing, unless perchance he expected to be extolled and 
 celebrated for the removal of such a character. But lo! 
 the public said O'Kelly was probably the worse of the two 
 and must be removed also. The community prosecuted 
 him to a conviction and sentence for life in the Colorado 
 penitentiary. The Fates finally get their own, no matter 
 how we may try to avoid them. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 THE COLORED DELEGATE. 
 
 During the forenoon of Saturday, there was an un- 
 der-current of excitement over a delegate convention to be 
 held at the court house in Lake City at 3 P. M., to nomi- 
 nate a candidate for the legislature, who, if successful, 
 would have a vote for United States Senator for the Cen- 
 tennial State. The interest was augmented about the 
 court house, because District Judge was an ac- 
 tive candidate. He was perambulating among the coun- 
 try-men, slapping them on the shoulders, and calling them 
 Tom, Dick, Harry, Old Boy, Old Fellow, and other fa- 
 miliar appellations. The Judge had dressed himself gro- 
 tesquely for the occasion. He had regaled himself in an 
 unstarched white shirt, without a collar; an old pair of 
 dark trousers, without suspenders, were bagging from be- 
 low his hips. He wore a pair of rusty boots, with one 
 trouser leg stuffed in one boot top, and the other drag- 
 ging on the ground over the other boot. A well-worn 
 slouched hat was pulled down over his eyes, and a long, 
 weather-beaten canvas overcoat covered his body. He 
 had every appearance of the veritable tough. His adver- 
 tising agents were constantly calling attention to his unos- 
 tentatious personal appearance, and always ended up by 
 saying that no office, or ten-dollar-a-day salary could in- 
 flate him ; that he would always be one of the boys. The 
 Judge's opponent was a young republican attorney from 
 Georgia, clean, handsomely dressed, and deferential in 
 his social relations. 
 
 (209) PILGBIM.-12 
 
210 THE PILGRIM 
 
 The friends of the Judge sought to make the contrast 
 as striking as possible. The delegates generally were 
 miners and laboring men, dressed in their talc-stained 
 working clothes, and the Judge had an impression that 
 unsoiled garments would be offensive to them. 
 
 The Capitol Gity delegation came down solid for 
 the clean, tidy Georgian. This created quite a consterna- 
 tion among the delegates, and they began devising means 
 to break this solid phalanx. The Judge accosted Dr. 
 Sawyer, the county chairman, saying, "Looky here, there 
 is a nigger in that delegation, and I can take him 
 away from that reconstructed rebel, if I can get a quiet 
 place to talk with him." 
 
 "Very well/' answered the chairman, "my rear room 
 is at your disposal, whisky and cigars can be had for 
 the asking, now do your work well." 
 
 Mr. Jack Hoyt was despatched for the colored dele- 
 gate; a bottle of whisky and a box of cigars were con- 
 veniently placed in the room. 
 
 The colored man was soon ushered in, deferentially 
 introduced as a leading owner and the manager of the 
 Morning Star Mine, and an influential delegate from 
 Capitol City. He was given a dram and a cigar. The 
 Judge told him that he was a northern man, and had 
 been a general in the Union Army during the Rebellion, 
 and recounted one hair-breadth escape after another, while 
 fighting for the freedom of the negro race ; that at the same 
 time his opponent was leading a brigade in the Rebel 
 Army, trying to hold them in bondage. Turning to 
 the colored man, he looked him squarely in the face, and 
 said firmly : "I expect, yes, I demand your support. 
 You cannot, you dare not, commit treason to your race by 
 voting for this slave-driving Rebel." 
 
AND THE PIONEER 211 
 
 The colored man's eyes rolled in their sockets, ex- 
 posing only their chalky white. He pushed the muscles 
 of his thick jaws and lips out with his rigid tongue, and 
 the froth exuded from his mouth for a few moments be- 
 fore he composed himself, then he turned squarely toward 
 the Judge and said: 
 
 "Now looky here, white man, what du ye take me 
 for, anyhow ? De war wus done ober and it wusunt fought 
 for de nigger neither. Don't youens all say youens wus 
 fighting all de time for de Union, and ye didn't kere fur 
 
 de nigger at all ? Didn't President Lincoln, when 
 
 de war wus half ober, offer our old Massas all of der 
 slaves, all de time, if dey would bring de states back into 
 de Union ? Ain't it bout time youens wus telling de truth 
 'bout dat war ? Youens knows ye just set us free to spite 
 de rich soudern Massas, ca'se dey seceded, and ca'se de 
 nordern people wus jealous of deyer great power and 
 riches. If wes to be slaves again wed take our old Massas 
 ca'se we knows theys high toned gentlemen. They never 
 told a story to no slave on de hill, but my Lordy how 
 dese here nordern people does prevericate! Judge, you 
 says Mr. Brown was leading a rebel regiment in de 
 rebel army. Massa Brown was just a little 
 kid during de war, working in de corn field ebery 
 day, or hiding out de stock in de thickets to keep de 
 Yankees from stealing em all. I knows ca'se I seed him 
 ebery day. O, Judge, you did told a whopper 'bout 
 Massa Brown, and I specks yus told one 'bout yerse'f, 
 and dat ye wusen't in de war yerself, or wus in de 
 rebel army. I'se not guine to vote for no big story-teller 
 like you is for U. S. Senator, no sir-ee. Now there's 
 Massa Brown, he talks, dresses, and acts like a real gentle- 
 man, and is fitten for U. S. senator. Excuse me Judge, 
 
212 THE PILGRIM 
 
 but you dresses, talks, and looks jest like de poor white 
 trash down south, and no nigger eber votes or associates 
 with sich catties.' 7 
 
 The Judge lost his temper and said, "You can go 
 to - . What more can be expected from a 
 nigger? I wish the Democrats would get in power, and 
 re-enslave every black scoundrel in the United States. 
 They don't deserve to be free, anyway." 
 
 The colored delegate fairly cackled, shook his head, 
 and said, "Umph, wouldn't I be a fine honey-suckle to 
 vote for such an old rapscalion as you is ? If you wus not 
 a reb in de war you is one now shore. Shucks, my white 
 folks wouldn't make a door mat of such a dirty ting as 
 you is. You wants to free us from de high toned gen- 
 tlemen dat was our massas, and wants to make slaves 
 of us to de likes of you. No sir, not in a tousand years 
 will Ezekiel trow hisself away by voting for any poor 
 white trash !" 
 
 The convention was called to order on time. The 
 chairman made a grandiloquent address, constantly re- 
 ferring to the great manhood that was found under soiled 
 linen, and pictured the beautiful looking apple that was 
 so often rotten at the core, making the application to the 
 miners in their talc-stained suits, and the dressy profes- 
 sional and business classes of the country. He highly com- 
 mended the superior intelligence of the western delegates, 
 and often lauded the Judge for his genial and democratic 
 proclivities. He said, "I want yo'u to look at him, boys, 
 he is the poorest dressed man in the room, and does not 
 feel himself above the common scavenger in the street, 
 which bespeaks his worthiness to receive the vote of every 
 laboring man in the state." 
 
 At the end of the Chairman's speech, a committee 
 
AND THE PIONEER 213 
 
 on credentials was appointed, and sent out to determine 
 what delegates were entitled to seats in the convention. 
 While the committee was out the Judge was invited to 
 address the delegates. He dilated on the glorious achieve- 
 ments of the grand old party, and particularly for the 
 emancipation of 4,000,000 black slaves. He flattered 
 the delegates on their manhood, intelligence, and pure 
 hearts. He said that the like were rarely found else- 
 where than under soiled garments. In closing he turned 
 to the colored delegate, and said, "There is duly commis- 
 sioned here a sole representative of the emancipated negro 
 race. While you white delegates represent less than 100 
 persons each, this colored delegate represents a race of 
 6,000,000 persons. He is on trial today, and his acts 
 in voting for one who fought four years for his freedom, 
 or for one who gave aid and comfort to his oppressors, 
 will show whether he is worth the great sacrifice." When 
 the Judge closed, the delegates almost raised the roof 
 from the building with the force of their vociferous ap- 
 plause. 
 
 His managers folded him in their arms, and carried 
 him to the rear of the building to the seats set apart for 
 them. In the struggle they pulled the buttons from his top 
 shirt and exposed another of the same type. They un- 
 buttoned it and found a third one; they opened this and 
 exposed a filthy undershirt. His admirers stood him on 
 his feet and carefully separated and exposed one shirt 
 after another, until four were counted on his back. They 
 commended his slovenly demeanor and dirty linen, and his 
 aspirations for a low social standing, as eminent quali- 
 fications for a U. S. senator. They glowingly contrasted 
 his lovely filth with the despised cleanliness of the Geor- 
 gian, and finished by proclaiming that the colored delegate 
 
214 THE PILGRIM 
 
 could not and dared not, if he could, vote against the 
 emancipator of his race, especially when his rival was 
 a constructive, if not an active rebel. 
 
 Ultimately the voices of the Judge's friends called 
 for the colored delegate from every part of the house. 
 When he stood upon his feet every one in the house, 
 except the Oapitol City delegation, greeted him with 
 tumultuous applause. They thought that the colored dele- 
 gate had weakened, and was about to declare himself 
 for the Judge's candidacy for the legislature. 
 
 When the noise ceased the colored delegate said, 
 "Fse but a despised, colored ex-slave, but Fse thankful 
 to God that my old massa wus a real southern gentleman, 
 who learned me dat 'cleanliness is next to Godliness.' 
 I'se in filth and rags ca'se Fse too poor to buy soap and 
 clothes, but as soon as I gits some pay ore out ob de 
 Morning Star, I'se guine to buy a box ob soap and some 
 clean clothes, den Fll t'ink more ob myself. If de 
 Jedge wus a candidate in Chicago he'd appear in silk 
 stockings and broadcloth, ca'se he's all tings to all men. 
 He spects to get our support by showing us dat he loves 
 to be nastier den we has to be. Our work requires 
 dirty clothes, and we can't keep 'em clean, and we are 
 dirty from necessity. De Jedge's work requires clean 
 clothes, and he's filthy from choice, or ca'se he tinks 
 we'll love him for his dirt. Delegates, dis is not de Jedge's 
 ebery day clothes; he has dressed up like a circus clown, 
 and he has got on all dose shirts jest to make us tink dat 
 he's onery and too common to carry a valise, or brush 
 de dirt off of hisself . Dis idea dat he's trav'lin de circuit 
 wid tree or four pair ob cheap socks and paper collars 
 and shirts in a paper, and dat ebery time dat a pair of 
 socks or a collar gits dirty, he trows dem away, and 
 
AND THE PIONEER 215 
 
 when his shirt gits dirty he slips another ober it until 
 he has tree or four dirty shirts on his filthy back, and 
 I spects some oder filthy tings creeping ober de back, 
 shows dat he is more shiftless dan de trashiest ob de 
 southern white trash. Maybe you wants such a candidate 
 for de white folks, But I won't disgrace de nigger race, 
 or trow myself away by voting for such a dirty hoodlum 
 as he is ; sides, Massa Brown is jest as good a 'publican." 
 The delegate reported his experience with the Judge, 
 and how he told a "whopper"on Massa Brown, a high-ton- 
 ed southern gentleman, "fitten for anybody to vote for." 
 The Judge interposed, and asked the delegate if his south- 
 ern friend would eat or sleep with him. The colored dele- 
 gate indignantly said, "No, sir, no more den I would eat 
 and sleep wid de poor white trash, ca'se we wurn't raised 
 dat way. The difference between Massa Brown and you. 
 Jedge, is dat you would eat or sleep wid me or any oder 
 filthy nigger who would pay for hjs own bed and board, 
 but if I come down from de Morning Star, broke, hungry, 
 and sleepy, and asked you for some grub and a bed, when 
 you wusen't running for office, you would turn on your heel 
 and say, 'go git your own board and lodging, you lazy 
 black scoundrel ;' but if I went to Massa Brown and told 
 him dat I was broke, hungry, and sleepy, he would say, 
 'Why, come right ober here to Mr. Jones' hotel,' and he 
 would say, 'Jones, gib Ezekiel a good square meal and 
 a bed and bring de bill to me.' You nordern people 
 make a great fuss about de little social fixins dat cost you 
 not'ing, but when it comes to givin' a nigger something 
 substantial you are not dare. What de nigger wants is 
 someting to eat and a place to sleep. He is not after 
 someone to eat wid or to sleep wid. Now I will leave 
 it to you delegates which is de real friend of de nigger, 
 
216 . THE PILGRIM 
 
 de Jedge, who's willing to eat and sleep wid de nigger 
 when he pays his own board and lodgin', and kicks him 
 out to starve and freeze when he's broke, or Massa Brown, 
 who won't eat or sleep wid a nigger, but if dat nigger 
 sufferin' for victuals or sleep, will go down in his pocket an' 
 dig up de grub and de bed for him to eat or sleep by his- 
 self. I ask you delegates who is de real frien' of de nigger's 
 freedom, de man who tooked him from his massa, and 
 now wants to own and use him hisself for de balance of 
 his life, or his old massa, who says, 'Ezekiel, youse as 
 free as I is now and can do as you please. I'll hire you 
 and pay you as much as anybody else, you ken work for 
 rue, or go whare you like ;' and when election day comes 
 he says, 'you is got as much right to vote for who you 
 likes as I has. Look ober your ticket, and vote for dose 
 dat you tink will treat you best.' Is de soudern folks 
 dat gib de nigger work and personal freedom all de time, 
 or de nordern people dat don't care for him 'cept at 'lec- 
 tion, and not den 'less he votes der ticket, de real frien' 
 to de nigger ? 
 
 "I knows some of de nordern delegates tink we's 
 ungrateful to de north for freedom, but if de nordern 
 people hadn't sold us to de soudern people, dey wouldn't 
 a lost all dat precious blood undoing deyes own wrongs. 
 Dey is two sides to all dese questions. De nigger am not 
 complaining of nobody, and dey are not tanking many 
 people. If de nordern speculators hadn't stold us from 
 Africa we'ens 'ud be in barbarism dere now. If dey had not 
 sold us to de high toned soudern gentlemen we'ens would- 
 n't 'a had such fine opportunities to grow out of our ig- 
 norance. It looks like dat we'ens is under no obligations 
 to nobody but de Lord, who tooked dis debious way of 
 delibering de nigger from barbarism. De nigger whose 
 
AND THE PIONEER 217 
 
 been in slavery is a tousand times better off dan de nigger 
 dat was never stold, and dat was never in slavery, so I 
 jest guess de Lord is responsible for all dis. Now, gen- 
 tlemen delegates, I has jest one request to make. Youens 
 has hearn de Jedge's coarse harangue, and I wants youens 
 to jest invite Massa Brown to address dis convention so 
 dat you can see de difference between a high toned soud- 
 ern gentleman and poor white trash, before youens vote." 
 
 When the colored delegate took his seat, he was sur- 
 prised at the generous applause and the hastening of 
 delegates from every part of the house to congratulate him. 
 
 "Massa Brown" was invited and addressed the con- 
 vention. 
 
 In chaste, modest language he heartily thanked the dele- 
 gates for the courtesy extended to him, and told them that 
 he believed that office should seek the man, but "that after 
 much persuasion from his good friends he had consented 
 to become merely a receptive candidate ; that he had been 
 informed that the only objection urged against him by 
 his opponents was that he was dressy and aristocratic. He 
 declared that his work was all among books and papers. 
 The very preservation of these required a spotless cleanli- 
 ness ; that every man's vocation called for a suitable kind 
 of apparel, and his work was such that it was easier to be 
 cleanly than otherwise, and the clean linen had no terror 
 for him whatever ; that if he should engage in mining, or 
 other labor where cleanliness of garments was not prac- 
 ticable, he would not think of wearing other than the talc- 
 stained suits common to this work, and that he had as 
 much and even more regard for the man who wore clothes 
 suitable to his calling than he had for the man who per- 
 sisted in being filthy where his work required neatness, 
 or for some aesthetic individual who attempted to keep 
 
218 THE PILGRIM 
 
 a spotless apparel where the character of his vocation made 
 it impracticable. He said that when they were invited 
 to appear before this convention his opponent and he had 
 each changed his apparel ; that his adversary thought that 
 he could do greater honor to the convention by appearing 
 in his most filthy and grotesque apparel, while he himself 
 had concluded that he could show greater respect to the 
 convention by appearing in his cleanest and best attire, 
 "If I should be favored by your votes," said he; "and 
 should be elected, clothes would not be considered by 
 me one way or the other ; but I should make it the point 
 of every effort to cast my vote and influence toward the 
 men and measures that would redound to the greatest good 
 to the greatest and most deserving number." 
 
 When Mr. Brown bowed himself from the platform 
 the house "fairly shook from the force of the applause. A 
 delegate jumped to his feet and nominated Mr. Brown 
 candidate for the legislature, and he was nominated with 
 but few dissenting votes. It is a debatable question 
 until this day whether .the quaint eloquence of the colored 
 delegate, or the cleanly appearance and methods of the 
 Georgian stampeded the convention from the filthy Judge. 
 
 When the nomination was announced the Judge slip- 
 ped out alone and dragged himself to his room mumbling 
 to himself, "Another fatal mistake too much democracy 
 again." 
 
 Mr. Wickham met the Judge at dinner and expressed 
 his sore regrets that the delegates to the convention should 
 have been so unstable and erratic in their political con- 
 victions as to allow the harangue of an ignorant negro 
 delegate to stampede them. The Pioneer looked consol- 
 ingly into the eyes of the Judge and inquired, sympa- 
 thetically : - 
 
AND THE PIONEER 219 
 
 "Does your defeat here put you out of the race ?" 
 
 "Oh, no," replied the Judge, "I have a dead cinch 
 on the nomination and election ; I am in the impregnable 
 combination you know, which makes success as certain as 
 death. Defeat is impossible. This local defeat led by a 
 negro is humiliating, that's all." 
 
 Mr. Wickham, thoroughly interested now, anxiously 
 inquired : 
 
 "Have you any objections to giving me an outline of 
 this wonderful combination ?" 
 
 "Oh, no ! not to you sir, a close personal friend and 
 a good Republican like myself," replied the Judge. 
 
 "You know we have about 4,000 non-English 
 speaking voters in this state, about half employed in 
 farming and stock growing, and the remainder in coal 
 mining. This vote is the balance of power between the 
 factions of the Republican party, and between the Re- 
 publican party and all opposing parties. As goes this 
 vote so goes the state. All parties but ours are pessimistic, 
 and constantly annoy and menace capital, and keep it 
 so intimidated that we can always go to the banks, the 
 railroads companies, and the large employers of labor, and 
 show our gre.at fears of the prestige that some of these 
 calamity parties are obtaining with the voters, and they 
 will shell out a liberal campaign fund to us. We then go 
 to the leading merchants who furnish supplies on long 
 time to the non-English speaking farmers and stock grow- 
 ers, and arrange with them for a liberal part of this cam- 
 paign fund or some good offices for themselves or friends ; 
 then we go to the managers of the coal mines and tell them 
 the great favors being shown for the candidates of one 
 of these pessimistic parties, and suggest to each manager 
 that he had better help our ticket to avoid strikes and 
 
220 THE PILGRIM 
 
 labor troubles. The manager generally stilts himself on 
 a high moral pinnacle, utterly declines to interfere with 
 the free ballot of his employes, but adds, parenthetically, 
 'I will send a letter to the superintendent that you be 
 given every facility to talk to the men.' This is just what 
 we want. The letter is so worded ttiat the superintendent 
 is shown the bias of the -manager for our ticket. The 
 superintendent gives us a like letter to the foreman of 
 the mine. We go to him and show him the natural vote 
 outside of the mine, and tell him that the manager and 
 the superintendent are for our ticket, and that for every 
 majority vote for us, we will pay him, say $1.00. He 
 sees the opportunity for a great day's work, goes to his 
 shift bosses and offers them 10 cents each for every such 
 vote. The rounder in our executive committee calls these 
 leaders to Denver, and instructs them to call all of the 
 manipulators together, including such local Democrats as 
 can be arranged with, to agree on judges and inter- 
 preters who will stand by the combination, though the 
 heavens fall. They then agree that all of the non-English 
 speaking classes, though some may understand English, 
 shall call for interpreters. One of the combine is on 
 hand, and is selected interpreter and fixes up the tickets 
 as per agreement, regardless of what the voter requests. 
 The leading local Democrats are compromised and taken 
 care of, so there is no one to object to or to challenge illegal 
 votes. Democrats and Republicans request that no speak- 
 ers be sent or arrangements made to get out the vote. Each 
 says that any campaigning will hurt his ticket; that they 
 want all of the funds to employ these influential ones. 
 This furnishes a combination that beats the world. This 
 is what is called 'practical politics,' which means that you 
 must get there by whatever means necessary. I have this 
 
AND THE PIONEER 221 
 
 machine both for the nomination and election, and I know 
 as well now what the vote will be as I will know when 
 it is counted. I hope that you appreciate my happy po- 
 sition." 
 
 The Pioneer arose, looked the Judge directly in 
 the eyes, and replied: "I scorn your 'happy position/ 
 and denounce as a despoiler of human liberty any one 
 who countenances or accepts the fruits of such infamous 
 villainy. Is it possible that my party, the Republican 
 party, the party of Lincoln and Sumner, founded on the 
 rock of eternal justice, must perpetuate itself in power by 
 wholesale bribery, forgery, and the utter pollution of 
 the very fountain of human liberty ? Is it possible that 
 even the local organization of the great party of Jefferson 
 and stalwart Andrew Jackson can descend to such di- 
 abolical political venality? Can the bleached bones of 
 these great men remain inert while such scoundrels, their 
 alleged devotees, masquerading as their disciples, are 
 sapping the very foundation of the institutions they so 
 justly contrived? Is it possible that there is 
 no longer such a thing as a public or political conscience 
 among the people? Do they approve of partisan office 
 expectants putting up public places at public auction? 
 Is this constant clamor' for a free ballot and a fair count 
 a hypocritical cant to muddy the water, that the people 
 may not see the undermining of popular government? 
 The negro delegate was wiser than I suspected. His 
 strong instincts took your proper measure. God forbid 
 that you or your nefarious combination usurp the 
 powers of an honest majority rule in this republic. If 
 the people would demand the same strict rectitude in those 
 charged with the transaction of their political business 
 as they do of those serving them in their non-political 
 
222 THE PILGRIM 
 
 duties, and would ostracize a political thief the same as 
 they would an ordinary convict, political conscience would 
 soon develop so that the people would have faithful service 
 in public office instead of the too usual betrayal of the 
 public weal to serve some great private interest" 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 NEVER MAKE A BLUFF YOU ARE UNWILLING 
 TO BACK UP IF CALLED. 
 
 Messrs. Mayer & Grebles of Saguache did a large 
 jobing business among the merchants of Lake City. Mr. 
 Mayer, who spent much time in Lake City, was in 
 the town when the Pilgrim and the Pioneer arrived, and 
 lost no time in seeing the county commissioners, and in- 
 forming them all about the drawing of the famous part- 
 nership agreement and the wonderful amount of legal 
 acumen that this Pilgrim had in his youthful head, he 
 soon convinced them of the advisability of appointing 
 him county attorney. The salary of the office was at 
 once fixed at $1,000, and the appointment was made, 
 tendered to Mr. Campbell, and accepted. 
 
 The most sedate, handsome and dignified personage 
 about the court house was the under-sheriff. All of 
 his attitudes and movements were models of grace and 
 dignity. It was said that he never made a pretense at 
 laughter until he was over 40 years old. At the latter 
 age he married a gushing widow who tried to teach him 
 to laugh. His efforts at merriment were senseless mock- 
 eries, detected by all who heard him. However, he had a 
 keen insight into the ridiculous, though he did not express 
 it through laughter. He saw clearly the absurdity of the 
 partnership agreement story and the consequent appoint- 
 ment of the Pilgrim as county attorney. On the very 
 day of the appointment, the board of county commis- 
 sioners disallowed the bill of Dr. Mclntosh for doctoring 
 (223) 
 
224 THE PILGRIM 
 
 the poor, without a request from the board. The doctor 
 heard of his misfortune and repaired to the court house 
 and inquired about the cause for the disallowal. The 
 under-sheriff told him of the appointment of this won- 
 derful attorney, the reference of the bill to him and his 
 report against it and detailed to the doctor numerous 
 harsh things that the county attorney had said about 
 him. Dr. Mclntosh hunted up the county attorney 
 for the purpose of holding him personally accountable 
 for the insults. The county attorney denied everything 
 and told the doctor that he had been imposed upon. Later 
 in the evening the under-sheriff and Dr. Mclntosh 
 met and the doctor explained the mistakes as related to 
 him by the Pilgrim. The under-sheriff told the doctor 
 that he had just left the county attorney and that the 
 latter had related to him how he had thrown the Doctor 
 off his guard, and told him many other disparaging things 
 the county attorney had said about him. 
 
 The doctor inquired of the officer as to what could 
 be done to make this young limb of the law atone for 
 these grave insults. 
 
 The under-sheriff answered, "There is but one 
 honorable way for a gentleman and that is to challenge 
 him to mortal combat under the Code, with shotguns, 
 at twenty paces." 
 
 This coincided with the views of the doctor, hence 
 the challenge was forwarded at once by the under-sheriff. 
 
 Saturday evening, the Judge and visiting members 
 of the bar were smoking and discussing how they might 
 amuse themselves during Sunday, without any feasible 
 plan of diversion being in sight. 
 
AND THE PIONEER 225 
 
 The dramatic under-sheriff suggested that if they 
 would visit Dead Man's Gulch at ten o'clock A. M., they 
 could witness the settlement of a grievous dispute between 
 two hot-headed Southerners, with shotguns, unless that 
 was too mild an entertainment to satisfy their desires. 
 He explained that the county attorney, in officially 
 passing on the doctor's bill for treating the poor, 
 was not satisfied with reporting against him, but had gone 
 beyond the legal limits and criticised him to the board, 
 depicting him as a worthless and dissipated product of the 
 gum-swamps of the South, raised upon persimmons and 
 polk-salad, placing him in the first rank of the "low 
 white trash," so common to that region. These charges 
 have always been sufficient cause, in that sunny land, 
 for an appeal to the Code of Honor, but the inflated 
 young attorney had added insult to injury by further 
 declaring that the doctor was self-employed, showing his 
 low breeding, and that ethically he was a mere quack. 
 Such an insult to a Kentuckian must be avenged. If 
 we do not let them go and orderly shoot it out, the 
 first time they meet at church, court, hotel, or crowded 
 street, they will open the duel and probably kill a half 
 dozen innocent persons as well as themselves. When men 
 get into a condition that nothing but a little blood-letting 
 will satisfy them, the officers should see that this gory 
 ordeal is so conducted that all of the blood will be taken 
 from the aching veins. I am going up to protect the 
 innocent." 
 
 The Judge inquired: 
 
 "Why do you call this place 'Dead Man's Gulch?' 
 Is it a regular dueling ground ?" 
 
 "O, no! Your question calls for a long story. 
 In the winter of 1873 and 1874 twenty odd miners 
 
226 THE PILGRIM 
 
 left Bingham Canon, Utah, for the great San Juan mines. 
 In the Uncompahgre Valley they separated into three 
 parties and started for the Los Pinos Indian agency for 
 supplies. Two of the parties turned up in due time, but 
 the third party was not heard of till in the spring of 
 1874, when Alfred Packer came in alone. As soon as 
 Chief Ouray saw him he said, 'That man has been living 
 on human flesh.' This proved to be true, but how he 
 was able to detect this from the mere appearance of 
 Packer has always been a mystery. General Adams turned 
 Packer over to Constable Lautter and had him questioned 
 about his five companions. He said they got lost, and 
 their provisions became exhausted; that they existed for 
 awhile on their shoe leather, which they boiled, and on 
 rose buds, roots, etc., and finally the oldest man in the 
 party, Mr. Swan, died, and they ate him ; they then agreed 
 to, and did, draw cuts to see who should be slaughtered 
 from time to time, until Humphries, Miller, and Noon 
 were consumed, leaving only Packer and Bell, and they 
 had a battle in which Packer killed Bell and ate him. 
 
 "General Adams told him to go back with the con- 
 stable and some others and verify his story, and he should 
 be protected. He retraced his steps to a few camps, then 
 claimed to be lost, was sent to jail in Saguache, but 
 escaped. 
 
 "When the prospectors swarmed in here in the summer 
 of 1874 they found in a dense thicket of hemlock about two 
 miles above Lake City on the Lake Fork of the Gunnison 
 river, four of his comrades dead in bed with their blankets 
 pulled over their heads and hatchet-cuts through the 
 blankets and on through their skulls, showing that they 
 were murdered while asleep; Bell was lying about thirty 
 yards from the others with a bullet-hole through him. 
 
AND THE PIONEER 227 
 
 Many human meat-stakes had been cut from the thighs 
 and breast of a fat Irishman among the murdered. 
 
 "They were taken upon a high bank above the river, 
 five graves were dug side by side, and five solemn head- 
 stones mark the resting places of these foully murdered 
 victims. From that day this has been called 'Dead Man's 
 Gulch.' " 
 
 Since that time Packer has been apprehended, tried, 
 and convicted of murder in the first degree, and sen- 
 tenced to be hanged; but before he was executed, the Su- 
 preme Court held that the murder statute in force when 
 the crime was committeed had been repealed, without a 
 saving clause, and that he could only be sentenced for 
 manslaughter, hence the court sentenced him to eight years 
 for the murder of each of his five companions or to forty 
 years in the penitentiary. He is now planning an ac- 
 quittal on the ground that it was Indian Territory where 
 the crime was committed, and that the state court had no 
 jurisdiction to try him. However, the commissioners and 
 the Indians had signed a treaty ceding to the United 
 States the land where the crime was committed ; after 
 the crime congress ratified the treaty and the general 
 current of authorities is to the effect that the state's right 
 relates back to the time of signing the treaty, which would 
 seem to make the conviction legal. 
 
 It may seem strange to those with a casual knowledge 
 of this famous case that Alfred Packer should be incar- 
 cerated for killing under such trying circumstances, es- 
 pecially as it is well known that starvation will soon create 
 in the mind of its victim an uncontrollable desire to kill 
 and eat a companion ; but the penalty in this case is put ex- 
 clusively upon a bad name. The traveling companions 
 of the prisoner said he was without money and wanted 
 
228 THE PILGRIM 
 
 to fight on the early part of the journey; and that he had 
 plenty of money after the murder and spent it in riotous 
 living and in unseemly dissipation. Forty years im- 
 prisonment for a bad name ! Probably there are but few, 
 if any, cases in history, where a good character would have 
 yielded such a rich return. 
 
 When the challenge was sent by the. physician to the 
 county attorney he was so irritated at Dr. Mclntosh's 
 challenge, after he had denied all knowledge of the al- 
 leged insult, that he wrote the following curt reply : 
 
 "You doggoned fool, you; you will die soon enough 
 without begging me to kill you." 
 
 The under-sheriff read it and said: 
 
 "Now, look here, that won't do. If you send that 
 reply he will think you are afraid of him, show it to all 
 his friends, and whenever you meet him in public he will 
 heap such indignities upon you that you will have to kill 
 him in self-defense. I would suggest this answer: 
 
 I cheerfully accept your challenge to mortal combat 
 and as the Code permits me to select the weapons, time, 
 place, etc., I choose double-barrelled shotguns at twenty 
 paces, duel to take place at Dead Man's Gulch at ten o'clock 
 next Sunday. If he has any religious scruples he will 
 decline to fight on Sunday ; the designation of Dead Man's 
 Gulch will bring vividly to his mind the horrors of the 
 tragic butchery of those five men at that lonely spot ; and 
 choosing double-barrelled shotguns at twenty paces will 
 give him warning that you mean that both shall be reduced 
 to a common level by an early return to mother dust. He 
 will find some excuse to decline,' he will be humiliated, 
 and will be sneaking around like a whipped cur, while 
 you will imperiously walk the streets in open defiance of 
 the whole world." 
 
AND THE PIONEER 229 
 
 The county attorney replied that he was not a 
 fighting man, did not believe in the Gode, did not want to 
 kill any one else, and did not want to be killed himself. 
 He asked: "Now, suppose he should accept those bloody 
 terms, then what would I do?" 
 
 "Oh ! now," responded the under-sheriff, "let's not 
 imagine the impossible, then throw ourselves into a brain 
 fever trying to avoid an empty shadow. Now, you get 
 your pen and write and I shall dictate !" The reply was 
 written as suggested and given to the under-sheriff, who 
 took it over to the doctor's office ; the doctor read it and 
 unconditionally accepted the terms in such an unconcerned 
 way v that it threw the under-sheriff into complete con- 
 sternation.. He began siding with and encouraging the 
 doctor, and finally got himself chosen as his second. He 
 withheld the answer from the county attorney until 
 Saturday morning, fearing that two nights of fear might 
 break down his nervous system. 
 
 When the reply was delivered it completely upset 
 the county attorney. He wrung his hands and exclaimed : 
 
 "Oh, Heavens ! You, a high peace officer, instead of 
 protecting me have dragged me into the very jaws of 
 death. What will my poor father and mother think ? Oh, 
 Heaven save me !" 
 
 "Now, look here," said the under-sheriff, "he is playing 
 the very same game that we are playing. He is bluffing. 
 You must make him think you. are hungering and thirst- 
 ing after human gore, then he will lay down. I have 
 worked into his good graces and he has made me his sec- 
 ond, which will enable me to influence the doctor in favor 
 of honorable peace. Now, you select Mr. Wickham as 
 your second and between us we shall, we must, stop any 
 bloodshed, even if we have to put you both in jail." 
 
230 THE PILGRIM 
 
 "Anything, anywhere," shouted the county attorney, 
 " to prevent this bloody murder. It would really kill my 
 poor old mother, too. I just can't and I won't stand it." 
 
 The two seconds agreed to have their principals at 
 Dead Man's Gulch by half-past nine Sunday to get the 
 influence of that horrible, bloody Packer tragedy on the 
 incorrigible doctor, who was giving all hands much 
 trouble. 
 
 At half-past nine Sunday morning the principals, 
 with their seconds, appeared upon the ground, measured 
 off twenty paces, walked over the scene of the bloodiest 
 and most pitiless crime of the Rocky Mountains, and the 
 under-sheriff graphically described the details of the hor- 
 ror, but no change came over the doctor. The under-sheriff 
 told him that he understood that the county attorney was 
 a great shotgun man. Said two quails might fly in dif- 
 ferent directions, and with no effort, he could kill them 
 both, and that he really believed he was so all-fired quick 
 that if he had a three barreled gun, and three quails should 
 fly in different directions, he would get them all. The 
 doctor paid no attention to him. They walked him over 
 the five graves, stopped him at the headstones, read and 
 commented on the epitaphs and the grief of their families, 
 how it had impoverished the child of this one, killed the 
 mother of that one, etc., and discussed the general hor- 
 rors of death, but the doctor ignored it all. Then the 
 under-sheriff, in his despair, suggested that they kneel and 
 pray ; three knelt, but the doctor must have been a Presby- 
 terian, for he stood erect with his cold steel gray eyes al- 
 ways up and toward the front, with a military bearing. His 
 second devoutly prayed that the shotgun might soon be 
 beaten into branding irons and that men might in general 
 be spared from "the shroud, the deep, damp vault and the 
 
THE DUEL. 
 
AND THE PIONEER 233 
 
 worm" until a ripe old age caused them to welcome such 
 environments. He. prayed for the hatchet-mangled vic- 
 tims that slept in that lonesome graveyard and begged 
 that all persons in the prime of young manhood might be 
 saved from the frightful horrors of an untimely death. 
 The doctor never budged, but the county attorney could 
 not stand the strain any longer. He put his handkerchief 
 to his eyes and boohooed, and asked if mutual apologies 
 might not prevent this bloody scene? His adversary 
 looked cold daggers at him, unmoved. It was now nine- 
 forty and something must be done quickly. Said the under- 
 sheriff to Mr. Wickham, "Nothing but human gore and 
 lots of it will do that cold-blooded doctor, and we must 
 be very careful or he may conclude to kill two or three 
 of us instead of one." 
 
 The seconds took the guns, went into an abandoned 
 mining tunnel, consulted together, came out at 10 o'clock, 
 promptly stationed the principals and handed each a 
 cocked shotgun. At the signal the doctor quickly aimed 
 and fired, then came to a tension position, endeavoring 
 to see the effects of his shot. At the crack of his gun, 
 Mr. Campbell fell sprawling on his face, the jar dis- 
 charged his gun, the load striking the ground with such 
 force that it raised so great a cloud of dust that the crowd 
 could not tell whether he was up or down. The seconds 
 hurried to him, and appointed assistants to keep the crowd 
 back; physicians came rushing to the rescue, were inso- 
 lently pushed back and went away indignant, and while 
 this pandemonium was at its height some one cried out, 
 "Look ! look ! The murderer is escaping." 
 
 The doctor had seized the under-sheriffs horse, saddle, 
 and overcoat, and was going at a head-long gait up the 
 river. Under the laws of Colorado it was a crime to kill 
 
234 THE PILGRIM 
 
 another, even in a duel where both men agreed to it. The 
 under-sheriff exclaimed, "That is a $250 outfit, and I can't 
 afford to lose that to save this man with a shattered and 
 worthless constitution." He left the prostrate man, organ- 
 ized a body of horsemen and ordered them to take a short 
 cut and head off the murderer. About sun-down the men 
 met the doctor, and ordered him to throw up his hands, but 
 instead of obeying he slipped from the horse's back and 
 darted into a spruce jungle out of sight. 
 
 When the under-sheriff returned to Mr. Campbell, his 
 eyes were wide open, but he was limp and helpless. "Are 
 you dead or alive?" asked the under-sheriff. "I think I 
 am shot all to pieces," replied the Pilgrim. The under- 
 sheriff called a doctor through the guards and ordered him 
 examined. The doctor asked the Pilgrim where he was hit. 
 In a very faint voice he said he felt as if he was shot all 
 over, for he couldn't move. The doctor had him turned 
 from side to side and examined his clothes for blood, but 
 could find no indication of it. "Then exclaiming, 'I guess he 
 is bleeding internally," ordered his clothes immediately 
 ripped from his body ; after minutely examining him the 
 doctor said, "Why, this man hasn't a wound about his 
 body!" 
 
 Mr. Campbell replied, "I was struck with something 
 that felled me to the ground, and I haven't been able to 
 get up or move since." 
 
 The under-sheriff solemnly looked him in the eye and 
 said : "You were shot with a load of fear. We went into 
 the tunnel just before 10 o'clock, took a cork-screw and 
 removed every buck-shot from the cartridges, and left 
 nothing in them but powder, paper wads, and a good 
 charge of fear, which I think struck you." 
 
 The Pilgrim began to work his arms and his legs 
 
AND THE PIONEER 235 
 
 and asked : "Are you sure that you didn't leave a shot in 
 his gun? I feel a little better, but it seems to me that 
 there is something wrong yet." 
 
 The conviction soon permeated the crowd that one . 
 of the most successful sham duels that ever was fought 
 had just been consummated. The two seconds were the 
 only ones in the secret and it was a bloody buck-shot duel 
 in the minds of everybody else. They had to wrap Mr. 
 Campbell in blankets and haul him home, as his clothes 
 had been cut into strings to enable the doctors to make 
 the necessary examination. Dr. Mclntosh thought his 
 victim was dead until the next evening. 
 
 He said he experienced all the sanguinary horrors 
 of a murderer; saw the grim, clammy ghosts sitting 
 on the drooping limbs of the bushy hemlock at the foot of 
 his crude couch all through the long, long night; felt the 
 clammy hobgoblins creeping over his face and chasing 
 sleep from his tired eyelids ; and he would have given all 
 he had or ever expected to have, to wash the blood of his 
 victim from his hands in twenty minutes after the fatal 
 shot. 
 
 The county attorney slept like a baby Sunday night, 
 but bowie knives, shotguns, and spouts of crimson blood, 
 had stared him in the face all of Saturday night, and his 
 agonizing fear had impaled him. He never failed after- 
 ward to admonish his friends never to make a bluff that 
 they were not willing to back up, if called on to do so. 
 
 The countenance of the under-sheriff never changed 
 except when he saw the doctor escaping on his horse and 
 taking his overcoat along. He did not seem to see 
 any fun in this, but felt that he had executed a piece of 
 fine work in getting the county attorney, who had been 
 challenged to mortal combat, out alive and with honor. 
 
CHAPTEK XVIII. 
 
 "CANT" NOT APPLICABLE TO A JUST CAUSE 
 
 The Pioneer and the Pilgrim were clearing up 
 the office 'after their return from breakfast, when Mr. 
 John Gaylord, a young lumberman, entered the office with 
 a summons in his hand and a dark cloud on his brow. 
 
 "Mr. Campbell, while I was in Labette County, 
 Kansas, I signed a note for a neighbor as an accomoda- 
 tion ; the note was amply secured on mortgaged property 
 of beneficiary. When it came due the bank, as payee, 
 took the mortgaged property, advertised it, bought it in 
 for a trifle, and as I was leaving Kansas to come out here, 
 they sued me for the balance due, amounting to over 
 $5,000, got a judgment, obtained a transcript for the 
 same, sent it here to Messrs. Denton & Gunning, and 
 they have sued me on that judgment in the district court. 
 I took the summons to Mr. Trenton, one of the best law- 
 yers in Colorado, and he says that if they served me with 
 a summons in Kansas and regularly got a judgment there, 
 they can sue me on that judgment here, and offer a regu- 
 lar transcript in evidence at the trial, and that I can dis- 
 pute nothing if the court had jurisdiction in Kansas. The 
 best he could promise me was to delay it for a year, but 
 he wants to charge me $250 for this and I am unable to 
 pay it. I will give you $50 if you will take this summons 
 and look into it and keep it off as long as possible. The 
 bank got property worth more than the debt and every 
 cent I have to pay will be the result of extortion." 
 
 (237) 
 
238 THE PILGRIM 
 
 "Very well," the Pilgrim replied, "I will do what 
 I can for you." 
 
 After Mr. Gaylord left Mr. Wickham suggested: 
 
 "Mr. Campbell, my mind has been recurring to the 
 past Don't you remember the second night you were in Del 
 Norte as a result of your being summoned on a jury, when 
 by reason of a few apt, epigrammatic truisms, spontaneous- 
 ly coined on your f voir dire/ you were engaged by the un- 
 protected and outraged defendant, exculpated him from the 
 clutches of a gang of thieves, and made yourself locally 
 famous? Do you remember that the second day you 
 were in Saguache, you drew that magical copartnership 
 agreement that immediately paved your way to glory and 
 to a competency? While Mr. Gaylord was relating the 
 depraved manner in which that hard fisted, cold, clammy 
 banker, protected by a mere legal technicality, is about to 
 commit a judicial theft of all the savings of his lifetime, 
 I had a presentiment that this case is not hopeless, that 
 it is to be your greatest victory, justice is to prevail, and 
 your reputation is to be established in Lake City." 
 
 "Well," replied the attorney, "if Mr. Trenton, with 
 his acknowledged great ability, had not pronounced the 
 case hopeless, from the long course of successful achieve- 
 ments I have gained under your direction in the past, I 
 should certainly be inspired by you again, but this time I 
 must ask a profert of your premonition of success." 
 
 "Will you not allow the undaunted optimist to test 
 his Creed on this presumably hopeless case ? Allow me to 
 argue a little before you reply. Success in this case is 
 bound up in the great advantage of the defendant, armed, 
 as he is, with a just cause. Every element in nature is 
 constantly conspiring that justice may prevail. Wrong 
 is deformed in its every part; it is unnatural, and no or- 
 
AND THE PIONEER 239 
 
 dinary condition will fit its ungainly form; everything 
 must be made to order for it. It is stoop-shouldered, bow- 
 legged, pigeon-toed, hump-backed, and all of its paths are 
 devious and all kinds of pitfalls are open for its undoing. 
 If you will devote yourself to this cause and allow it 
 to inspire you, you can, you must win. Will you do it?" 
 
 "Yes. You have already inspired me to action. I 
 shall put in every spare moment from now until court 
 time on an attempted verification of your presentiment" 
 
 "Then, wrong is defeated. Mr. Gay lord will suc- 
 ceed, avarice will die in the pit. The paths of justice 
 are so straight, level, and smooth, that you will have a 
 pleasant journey, compared with the thief's dark and zig- 
 zag trail that the plaintiff must follow. He will get off 
 somewhere and lose his way and go over a precipice to 
 destruction." 
 
 The next morning the Pilgrim got up early and 
 secured the transcript of the judgment upon which suit 
 was brought. He had upon his shelves United States di- 
 gests, giving a synopsis of every decision of the courts of 
 record in every state in the union. He began 
 with volume, one and examined every decision in every 
 state in the union, on suits brought on judgments rendered 
 in foreign states, and compared the decisions from time 
 to time with the transcript of the judgment in this case. 
 When he had finished he had briefed two defects in the 
 transcript, each of which these decisions adjudged fatal. 
 
 The first defect found in the transcript was that it 
 was signed by a "deputy clerk." A line of decisions from 
 highest court of New York, held that these records of 
 sister states were made admissible in evidence by United 
 States enactment in 1792, "when properly certified by the 
 clerk of the court in which the judgment was rendered," 
 
240 THE PILGRIM 
 
 and the courts held that the state statute providing for a 
 deputy, would not make a certificate signed by the deputy 
 admissible under this U. S. act. 
 
 The second fatal point was that the transcript as 
 first sent, was found by the attorneys to be defective, and 
 they had ordered an additional record, without sending 
 back the part they had, having one certificate and one 
 record only. 
 
 Mr. Campbell had found a decision holding that if 
 the record was not a complete whole, with a single cer- 
 tificate showing it complete, it could not be used. He 
 was so happily surprised at finding these two supposedly 
 fatal defects in the transcripts that he would not even im- 
 part the information to Mr. Wickham until he had pledged 
 him to keep it secret from Mr. Gaylord. 
 
 Mr. Campbell filed in court a formal denial of any 
 such judgment or record, sent to Denver and got the re- 
 ported cases sustaining his contentions, and when the court 
 convened and the case was called, he carelessly sat dumb 
 until after Messrs. Denton & Gunning said they were 
 ready for trial. "Then," said Mr. Campbell, in an un- 
 . concerned manner, a You may proceed to prove up before 
 the court." 
 
 The plaintiff's counsel read the complaint and stated 
 their case, then started to introduce the record of the 
 judgment. 
 
 "Hold on," quietly said the Pilgrim-, "we shall 
 interpose some objections to that transcript. Our first 
 objection is that there are two transcripts here, or two 
 parts of one transcript, when the law provides for one 
 transcript with a certificate showing that it is full and 
 complete. 
 
 "The second objection is that the certificates are made 
 
AND THE PIONEER 241 
 
 by a 'deputy clerk/ an officer not recognized by the act of 
 Congress, under which a record in one state is admitted 
 in another state." 
 
 He then produced the decisions supporting his con- 
 tentions. 
 
 The plaintiff's counsel pleaded and appealed to the 
 court that they might introduce a transcript, or continue 
 the case and withdraw and amend the first transcript, but 
 the court said "no," and rendered a judgment for the 
 defendant, then took a recess until two o'clock P. M. 
 
 Mr. Trenton, the noted attorney who said he could 
 not win the case, Mr. Gaylord, the defendant, and Mr. 
 Wickham, jumped to their feet and showered their con- 
 gratulations upon Mr. Campbell. The defendant wrung 
 his hands and cried like an over- joyed woman. 
 
 Mr. Trenton said: 
 
 "Mr. Gaylord, I want to tell you that you owe much 
 to Mr. Campbell. There is not another member of this 
 bar that would have relieved you of this burden. I do 
 not know that his law points are well taken, but he has 
 put them in so plausible a condition that neither plaintiff 
 nor court can controvert them, and they have relieved 
 you. This is one of the advantages of hiring a young 
 member of the bar; he is full of hope and ambition and 
 has unlimited time to devote to his cases, while older mem- 
 bers rely upon general principles and have such little time 
 to devote to any one case that they often make fatal mis- 
 takes as I seem to have done in this case." 
 
 The Judge then came around and publicly congrat- 
 ulated the Pilgrim, and the defendant invited all hands 
 to lunch with him as a fit celebration of his victory. 
 
 It is needless to say that the successful handling of 
 this supposedly untenable defense gave Mr. Campbell an 
 
 THE PILGRIM. 16 
 
242 THE PILGRIM 
 
 enviable position at the bar in Lake City, in the minds of 
 the people, in the estimation of the bar, and in the judg- 
 ment of the court ; but this pleasing and valuable achieve- 
 ment was insignificant when compared with the indelible 
 impression and conviction that the causes leading up to 
 this signal victory left upon his mind. From that event- 
 ful day he has ever believed that no just cause is hope- 
 less, and has ever refused to tell a litigant that he can not 
 win if justice is on his side, but has gone upon the 
 theory that, with a just cause, all other needful things will 
 be added and that however clear the way may seem for 
 an unjust cause, at some point in its depraved journey its 
 despicable deformity will expose itself and yield the right- 
 of-way to justice; it was also indelibly impressed upon 
 his mind that nothing is free in this world, but that all 
 success must be purchased through persistent, determined 
 and systematic work; that eternal vigilance is the price 
 of success ; and that when such vigilance and a robust in- 
 dustry are coupled to a just cause, injustice is speedily 
 driven to the jungles. 
 
 There never was a fairer, more beautiful, or logical, 
 practical test of what the Pioneer eloquently called the 
 "Holy Creed of Blessed Optimism," than in this case. 
 This lesson was the Shibboleth of whatever success Mr. 
 Campbell made at the bar. 
 
 General Deering remarked to Mr. Wickham : "Your 
 friend Campbell is the best lawyer I ever saw to be so 
 consummate a tender-foot." 
 
 The Pioneer replied: "The two traits quite natur- 
 ally go together. It is the biggest banker that buys the 
 gold brick; it is the best lawyer that the shyster always 
 beats in a business transaction. The best are always so 
 wedded to their callings that they have never had time to 
 
AND THE PIONEER 243 
 
 see the world, and are always tender-feet. I am going to 
 take Campbell with me to the frontier for a wild and 
 exciting trip that I think will harden up his feet a little." 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 SHIFTING SCENES IN A PIONEER TOWN. 
 
 A new mining-camp is impregnated with optimism, 
 every one thriving on the hope that he will soon uncover 
 a fortune. Many miners are what is called in mining 
 vernacular, "grub-staked;" that is, they are furnished 
 with provisions and tools by friends who are to share 
 with them equally in whatever of value they may dis- 
 cover. 
 
 Now and then a person who never had a hundred 
 dollars at one time, uncovers a mine worth a hundred 
 thousand dollars or more. This transition from abject 
 poverty to opulence is very trying on the nervous system, 
 and some times the mental equilibrium of the successful 
 one gives way under the strain, especially when the 
 discovery is made by the newcomer, or what is known 
 in mining parlance as the tender-foot. Quite often the 
 discovery is made by mere accident. One claim here, 
 which sold for more than a hundred thousand dollars, 
 was discovered by an Irishman falling over a cliff and 
 kicking off a piece of the brilliant silver-bearing rock, and 
 another that was sold equally high was discovered by a 
 little boy shooting at a jack-rabbit while it was sitting 
 near a crag, going up to where his bullet struck he 
 found he had chipped off a piece of glittering gold; and 
 similar incidents are reported from all the principal 
 camps. 
 
 The miners used to have a suspicion that assayers 
 gave greater returns than their ore justified, and often 
 
 (245) 
 
246 THE PILGRIM 
 
 believed that assayers made at times what was known as 
 "wood-box" assays that is, they thought they sometimes 
 threw the ore into the wood-box without running it 
 through the "fiery furnace," then wrote up a certificate for 
 their patrons from a mere estimate. To catch the as- 
 sayers, miners often take a piece of jug, a piece of a brick 
 or like non-mineral bearing material, grind it to a powder, 
 and take it to the assayer. If he finds nothing in this 
 material his reputation is established ; if he finds that it 
 carries values, it is demonstrated that he is a "wood-box" 
 assayer. It is reported in one case that a miner took a 
 piece of grind stone, powdered, to a new assayer and that 
 the latter returned a value in gold of ten dollars per ton. 
 The miners denounced him as a "wood-box" assayer. The 
 assayer then made them show up the other part of the 
 grind-stone. This leader enabled him to trace it to the 
 quarry. He went there and bought the quarry and con- 
 verted it into a great gold mine instead of a grindstone 
 quarry. His was a genuine and not a "wood-box" assay. 
 
 During the early days of Lake City, Mr. Merrill, a 
 handsome young engineer and assayer, very poor, sold 
 a claim for a net profit of $10,000. He could not under- 
 stand how one man could ever spend so much money, and 
 besides, he supposed he would make such a sale every few 
 months. This impression is common to all of the so-called 
 "tender-feet," hence they usually run through with the 
 results of the first sale and never make a second one ; and 
 Mr. Merrill was not an exception to the rule. 
 
 He immediately made a trip to "New York, sent in 
 a handsome double-seated sleigh, a harness, and a two- 
 seated spring-wagon, and had the stage agent at Lake City 
 select him a handsome pair of trotters; he brought back 
 with him an old colored man, noted for nothing but his 
 
AND THE PIONEER 247 
 
 utter ignorance of country life, and the fact that at one 
 time he had served the Vanderbilts. 
 
 A great snow avalanche had come down from the 
 mountain heights to Henson Creek bottoms, south of the 
 Die mine, and crowds were hurrying to see the results. Mr. 
 Merrill drove up to the office in his handsome sleigh and 
 invited the Pilgrim and the Pioneer to accompany him 
 to the slide. Mr. Campbell got in the front seat with Mr. 
 Merrill, and Mr. Wickham into the rear seat with the 
 old colored man. They drove up the canon to Henson 
 Creek, where the precipitous cliffs extended thousands of 
 feet above them on either side. Every one was quiet for 
 a few moments, then the colored man inquired: "Boss, 
 coming through de South park de udder day we seed som- 
 ting bigger den a deer but not so big as a hoss, what does 
 you spose it were ?" 
 
 Mr. Wickham suggested that it was probably a chip- 
 munk. Those on the front seat tittered, but the colored 
 man looked astonished. Promiscuous talk engaged the 
 party until they ran up by the side of the high cliff near 
 the Mountain Lion mine; just opposite in a little cove 
 in the cliff on the other side of the creek, were heapQd 
 up millions of tons of small, thin, smooth shale rock, 
 weighing about four ounces each, which had been crumb- 
 ling from the cliffs and trickling down a little ravine for 
 ages. The colored man stretched his neck, and looking at 
 the steep mountains running up thousands of feet above 
 them on either side, said : "My gracious, boss, Fse always 
 hearn dat dis wus a great cattle country, but Fde like tu 
 know what dey eats ?" 
 
 Mr. Wickham answered: "Do you see that green 
 moss on the shale rock in that great pile in that little 
 cove ?" 
 
248 THE PILGRIM 
 
 "Yeas, yeas," said the colored man, "I sees 'em." 
 
 "Well, those rocks are covered with a fine, green, 
 salty moss, which is as nutrious as buffalo grass, and 
 probably every rock in that huge pile has at one time or 
 another 'rolled as a sweet morsel under the tongue of some 
 Colorado bovine.' ' 
 
 The occupants of the front seat giggled, the colored 
 man gaped, scratched his head, and inquired: "Where 
 does de salt comes from, boss?" 
 
 "Oh," replied Mr. Wickham, "it was pounded into 
 the bed-rock of the ocean by the salty billows before the 
 rocky bed of the sea was belched up as the crests of these 
 mighty mountain ranges." The colored man grunted and 
 the gentlemen on the front seat cackled vigorously. 
 
 The colored man seemed to be engaged in a brown 
 study till interrupted by the whirr of machinery and the 
 peal of the blast as they passed over the famous Ule 
 mine, when he quickly roused himself. "Say, boss, just 
 about how far down in dese here mines does dey go, any- 
 how ?" 
 
 "Well, this is a new camp and they are only down 
 about 1,500 feet in this one, but in the Comstock in Ne- 
 vada they have gone through the earth, and take out a 
 part of their ore on the American side and part on the 
 Chinese side." 
 
 For the first time on the trip the face of the old col- 
 ored man lighted up, a twinkle came into his eye, and he 
 leaned over close to the Pioneer and in a low, confiden- 
 tial tone, said, "Say, boss, don't you 'spect de Chinese 
 immigration will come tro dat ere mine after dis?" 
 
 Those in the front seat threw themselves back and 
 ha-ha-ha'd and in so doing pulled the horses up on the hill- 
 side, the sleigh tipped over, and all of the occupants 
 
AND THE PIONEER 249 
 
 rolled down the steep bank into Henson Creek, while the 
 horses went up the creek at a breakneck pace. "No one 
 was hurt, however, and they soon found the horses stuck 
 in a snow-drift. 
 
 The slide was a miraculous sight. The snow had 
 fallen four or five feet deep on a steep, smooth, grassy 
 mountain side near the top of the range, a mile above a 
 thick forest of yellow pine and green hemlock trees, 
 which stood about half a mile above the bed of Henson 
 Creek. The snow on the high range began melting from 
 the bottom, then began to slide on the slick grass covering 
 a steep hillside, constantly gathering weight and momen- 
 tum until by the time it struck the forest it was a body of 
 packed ice several hundred feet wide and fifty feet high, 
 going with the velocity of a meteor rushing through the 
 skies; the forest yielded to it as helplessly as a field of 
 wheat does to a McCormick harvester, and thousands of 
 tons of trees from one to two feet through, and from fifty 
 to one hundred feet long, were literally picked up on the 
 apron of the slide and deposited in the Henson Creek bot- 
 toms. The track of the slide presented to the vision the 
 appearance of a clean and unobstructed roadway with 
 big forest trees thickly skirting each side of it. The 
 open track will remain for ages as an evidence of this 
 mighty avalanche and as a danger signal warning travel- 
 ers to watch out for slides here in snowy weather. 
 
 Five or six men were distributed at dif- 
 ferent points around the slide chopping cord wood 
 with which to operate the machinery of the Tile mine, 
 and seemed a little nervous lest others- might wish to 
 divide this ice-felled forest with them. They 
 related that they had taken a contract from the "Die 
 company to deliver 2,500 cords of wood and had 
 
250 THE PILGRIM 
 
 been cutting and sliding logs down the hill all the 
 fall at a loss, and if they could hold this forest they 
 could save themselves. They said they had been worry- 
 ing and praying that something might turn up which 
 would enable them to perform this contract without ab- 
 solutely ruining themselves and it seems their prayers 
 were answered if no one interfered with them. 
 
 The colored man grunted, "Um ! and 
 
 you just put your faith in de Lord to help youens out 
 and he just made his snow fall above dat big forest, den 
 push de whole ting right down to your feet. De Lord 
 am a powerful helper when you can get 'im on yore 
 side. Say, boss, youens not gwine to pray for him to move 
 any more forests down today, is youse ? Case my eyes is a 
 little sore dis morning, and I don't care to have 'em splat- 
 tered wid de snow, anyhow." 
 
 "Ah," retorted one of the men, "if you had been in 
 the neighborhood of this slide when it struck on the 
 opposite bank of the creek, the jar would have put you 
 beyond all desire for earthly vision. It shook up the 
 buildings down at the Ule, and people six miles away 
 heard the crash." 
 
 The colored man slipped around to Mr. Merrill and 
 told him one of "de horses' legs seemed to be a swell- 
 ing," and if we did not get home before he got too cold 
 we might have to leave him. He then planted himself 
 in the front seat, took a hold of the lines, and from his 
 driving down Henson Creek no one would have presumed 
 that any maimed horses were hitched to that sleigh. He 
 became homesick for New York and never would consent 
 to go into the mountains again. 
 
 When the Pilgrim and the Pioneer got to the office 
 after viewing the avalanche, Messrs. Walker and Knight 
 
AND THE PIONEER 251 
 
 approached them and inquired: "Do you gentlemen 
 ever dance?" 
 
 "Sometimes," answered Mr. Wickham, "but we have 
 not had a chance in this camp." 
 
 "Well," said Mr. Walker, "we are on the invitation 
 committee of 'Every-one-a-partner ball.' Heretofore a 
 certain number of young fellows have attended all the 
 balls and danced with every one else's partner most gen- 
 erously, but have never troubled themselves to take a 
 partner, so we have concluded to admit no one this even- 
 ing without one. Mr. Jayne, who was to take Mrs. Car- 
 roll, a buxom young widow, and Mr. Carr, who was to ac- 
 company the beautiful Miss Lennox, are in charge of the 
 sheriff as jurors in a murder trial and the Judge will not 
 permit them to attend; the ladies have sent us out to 
 hunt them partners and they, as well as we, will be obliged 
 to you if you will take them to the ball this evening." 
 
 "But," replied the Pilgrim, "we are not acquainted 
 with them." 
 
 "We are here to take you over and introduce you; 
 which one will you have ?" 
 
 Mr. Campbell answered that he was inclined to timid- 
 ity and probably the widow would help him out of his 
 embarrassment. The spokesman invited him to come on, 
 and conducted him to a little rough log cabin of one room 
 in which the gushing widow was ensconced sur- 
 rounded by two carpenter-made stools, a little carpenter- 
 made table, a carpenter-made cot, a little cook stove, a 
 trunk, and a big dry goods box. She looked very pretty 
 in the midst of these rough surroundings. 
 
 Mr. Walker formally introduced Mr. Campbell and 
 incidentally told Mrs. Carroll his desire to escort her to 
 the ball, for which she expressed much gratitude and 
 
THE PILGRIM WAITS OUTSIDE. 
 
AND THE PIONEER 253 
 
 greatly relieved the Pilgrim's embarrassment. He in- 
 formed her that he should return at 8:30 and bade her 
 good-bye until that time. 
 
 Promptly at 8 :30 he knocked on the door of the log 
 cabin and said, "It is Mr. Campbell." She answered, "I 
 beg your pardon, but I have had company and have just 
 begun dressing; would you mind waiting for me a few 
 minutes?" He replied, "Certainly not." 
 
 The snow was six inches deep and there was not 
 even a door step to sit on, but there was a pine stump near 
 by. He brushed the snow from this and shivered in the 
 frosted air while his partner dressed. 
 
 In about twenty minutes she opened the door a 
 couple of inches and asked him if he had any pins. She 
 had just discovered that she had not pins enough to finish 
 her toilet. "No, but don't worry," he said, "I will step 
 up to the store and get some." 
 
 On his return she soon pinned her clothes and they 
 went hurriedly into the hall just as the dancers were being 
 formed for the grand march. Neither of them had ever 
 appeared in Lake City society before, and as she was both 
 handsome and handsomely dressed she created quite a 
 sensation, for women were not numerous, there being 
 in Lake City about fifty men to every woman. 
 
 Many men had on their blue flannel shirts, nail bot- 
 tom mining boots, and usual working clothes, because at 
 this early day they had brought no society clothes with 
 them; but they were very intelligent, splendidly behaved, 
 and good dancers, and many of them were graduates of 
 Yale, Harvard, and other leading colleges. 
 
 Many of the women had enjoyed equal educational 
 and social advantages and they appeared better than the 
 
254 THE PILGRIM 
 
 men, because most of them had brought some good clothes 
 into the pioneer mining-camp. 
 
 Among the first persons to challenge the attention 
 of the Pilgrim and the Pioneer were the young engineer 
 and the colored man in full dress suits, the colored man 
 coming along merely to assist his "boss" in taking off and 
 putting on his overcoat and guarding his coat, hat, and 
 cane. This proverbial dress of the Eastern ball room 
 seemed as much out of place in the new mining-camp as 
 the possessor would have been if dressed in a Chinese 
 costume, and it was the butt of all jokes during the evening. 
 Even the handsomely dressed ladies sneered at the assump- 
 tion of this ostentatious dressing where it was known that 
 the men generally had only their working clothes there. 
 
 In these mining-camps of the West, the people have 
 always kept closely up with the dress and social fashions 
 of the East so far as knowing the fashions and prevail- 
 ing styles, but never adopted them in pioneer times. 
 This knowledge probably comes from the constant coming 
 and going of the mining-men between the mines and the 
 Eastern centers of population. Here was a complete 
 social democracy; there were no cliques, no special sets, 
 no classes or castes, but every one who demeaned himself 
 becomingly was the social equal of every other person, 
 and it made the most harmonious social condition. The 
 banker or the Judge would not think of neglecting to 
 ask his servant girl for a dance and would treat her with 
 as much gallant courtesy as he did the daughter of his com- 
 petitor in business; the most well-to-do and aristocratic 
 boarder at the hotel would not think of neglecting to ask the 
 girl who waited on his table for a dance, and never failed 
 to treat her with respect. 
 
 The widow was in great demand and her program 
 
AND THE PIONEER 256 
 
 was always crowded with the names of anxious dancers. 
 Everyone was constantly complimenting Mr. Campbell 
 on having the belle of the ball. 
 
 At three o'clock the next morning the partners were 
 called for "Home, Sweet Home." Mr. Campbell took the 
 widow on his arm in an ecstatic mood at the thought that 
 his partner was the acknowledged belle of the ball, and 
 felt very much flattered by the impression her debut had 
 made in Lake City society. They got into a very lively 
 set at the head of the hall, when suddenly, without warn- 
 ing, while every one was aglow with life and good cheer, 
 the widow dropped to the floor in an epileptic fit. The 
 music ceased, every one hurried to the scene, an intimate 
 lady friend of the unfortunate one pushed Mr. Campbell 
 to a sitting posture, placed the sick woman's head on his 
 lap, forced her handkerchief into her mouth, called for 
 water and began bathing her temples. Some one proposed 
 going for a doctor but she said, "No, in an epileptic fit all 
 you can do is to keep the patient in a horizontal position 
 on the back with the head just high enough to prevent 
 bruises from pounding the floor, and a handkerchief in the 
 mouth to prevent the biting of the tongue, and to check 
 excitement by bathing the temples." 
 
 The dance prematurely closed and every one quietly 
 went home, sad hearted from the unexpected gloom cast 
 over the interrupted pleasures of the evening. 
 
 Mr. Campbell had never witnessed such a scene be- 
 fore. He thought that if his partner lived to get home 
 she would surely die soon afterward. The snow was up to 
 his boot tops, .but he treked her at a double quick pace 
 to her door, bowed, said good night and fairly ran to his 
 room. Mr. Wickham arose, and looking at him in as- 
 
256 THE PILGRIM 
 
 tonishment, inquired: "What is the matter with you? 
 You are as white as a ghost and seem completely winded." 
 
 "Oh," answered the Pilgrim, "this insane civiliza- 
 tion would soon prepare me for a mad-house. This ordeal 
 was really more trying on the nerves than that of the 
 Mexican fandango. This is my last dance in this giddy 
 land of chance." He took a long breath^ then broke out 
 again, "Oh, those horrible contortions of her beautiful 
 face, the pallor of her former rosy cheeks, the deathly 
 white in her soft, blue eyes, and hydrophobic- 
 like froth coming out of her clean-cut lips, will be staring 
 me in the face for years to come " 
 
 "Tut, tut, tut," said the Pioneer, "don't be hyper- 
 critical. Don't make yourself believe that two accidental 
 occurrences at the beginning of your entry into society are 
 the general order of things. We had a nice democratic 
 ball this evening. There were no classes or cliques, every- 
 body stood on a common level; and such is the natural 
 social order. These little equal social recognitions of 
 those of lower stations in life are great moral stimuli. 
 The recipients are encouraged to try to merit these unusual 
 courtesies. I attended these informal meetings during all of 
 my stay in Gregory Gulch, and many of those who par- 
 ticipated in those democratic gatherings have since become 
 wealthy and now belong to the smart set of the cities. 
 They frequently refer to those gatherings as the most 
 pleasurable social events of their lives. It is to be hoped 
 that you will not become discouraged and neglect these 
 important social functions." 
 
 "Well," retorted Mr. Campbell, "it may be the nat- 
 ural order of things to have passes made at your jugular 
 with a butcher knife, or to have fair women lie upon your 
 lap and entertain you with epileptic fits, but you'll excuse 
 
AND THE PIONEER 257 
 
 me if I frankly admit that I prefer a little more artificial 
 formality in my social intercourse." 
 
 The young engineer was soon at his rope's end, and 
 disposed of his remnants, even to his watch, for the ne- 
 cessary means with which to transport the colored man and 
 himself back to New York, never to return. 
 
 THE PILGRIM. 17 
 
Miss ANTHONY ADDRESSING THE MINERS. 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 WESTERN CIVILIZATION EXALTS WOMEN. 
 
 One evening about dusk in 1876 Susan B. Anthony, 
 dusty and careworn, came riding into Lake City, astride 
 a horse, and invited the people to congregate in front 
 of the court house that evening and hear her discuss the 
 desirability of providing for female suffrage in the Colo- 
 rado Constitution. 
 
 The Pioneer suggested to the Pilgrim that they 
 walk down and hear what cogent reasons, if any, she 
 could give for this desired innovation. 
 
 The Pilgrim said that he despised the appearance 
 of any woman on the public rostrum and as to women 
 mixing up in political affairs, that would simply destroy 
 the home and much happiness of both sexes; he said he 
 did not care to lend such a despicable movement the en- 
 couragement of his presence. 
 
 The Pioneer answered: "I have placed the unpar- 
 donable curse of inexorable barbarism on six of her sex, 
 which must inevitably reduce my branch of my father's 
 house to an invidious inferiority for fifty generations. I 
 am now doing penance for my iniquity, at the feet of 
 womanhood everywhere. I shall go and carefully listen to 
 and impartially judge her argument. I have long since 
 learned that we are all slaves to habit; if we had in the 
 past seen women alone on the rostrum and voting at the 
 polls, might we not now think these were light duties 
 beneath the sturdy dignity of men, and might we not 
 be as much prejudiced against observing a man on a 
 
 (259) 
 
260 THE PILGRIM 
 
 speaker's platform or voting, as we are now against 
 ing them washing the dishes or caring for the baby? 
 An English General serving in British India says that 
 at a great state affair, there, he saw some high caste 
 English women with their faces bare and the remainder 
 of their persons securely clad, meet some high caste In- 
 dian women with their faces and bodies securely clad but 
 with their legs bare, and overheard an English woman 
 say how vulgar it is for 'these Indian women to expose 
 their naked legs in the presence of all these gaping 
 men/ and soon afterwards he heard one of the Indian 
 women say, 'How indecent for these English women to 
 expose their vulgar faces before all of these horrible 
 men.' Each class was equally modest, but each from a 
 sheer force of habit believed the other grossly immodest. 
 Each class was a slave to Master Habit." 
 
 . The Pilgrim and the Pioneer went down and 
 heard Miss Anthony make a remarkable speech in behalf 
 of democracy and in behalf of the equal and natural 
 rights of the sexes. 
 
 Miss Anthony began by saying that she taught school 
 in the state of New York during fifteen years of her 
 young womanhood, and was credited by the school super- 
 intendent with having the best school and the best taught 
 scholars under his jurisdiction, and yet the school author- 
 ities persisted in paying her but $8 per month while pay- 
 ing the less efficient male teachers $24 per month, a 
 premium of $16 per month on the mere accident of sex. 
 This flagrant injustice burned into her insulted woman- 
 hood and drove her into a general investigation of the 
 equality of the sexes before the laws of her country. She 
 found that these men-made laws had drawn most invid- 
 ious and barbarous distinctions between the personal, prop- 
 
AND THE PIONEER 261 
 
 erty, and political rights of the sexes; that women were 
 degraded and ostracised politically and that they were not 
 even given dominion over themselves in the family circle; 
 that they must be felt and seen, when their property 
 rights were at issue, through husbands who were often 
 both mentally and morally their inferiors; that such laws 
 permitted degraded, debauched, and overbearing hus- 
 bands; as a matter of legal right, to humiliate, impoverish, 
 and reduce to squalor, refined and intelligent women who 
 had inherited a competency, but had lost, by marriage, 
 the right to manage or control it. She denounced such 
 laws as a brutal invasion of natural rights and made a 
 powerful appeal to the hardy, just-minded pioneers, ask- 
 ing that, in the Constitution and laws of the new state, 
 they award to women a legal right to own and control 
 themselves, their property, their labor; and that they be 
 given the right of franchise that they might have a voice 
 in making the laws which should govern them and their 
 property. She said it was thoughtlessly cruel in the good 
 and just men of the state who always dealt equitably 
 with women, to withhold from them the legal right to 
 protect themselves, their children, and their property 
 from a depraved class of men who were slaves to selfish 
 appetites and respected the rights of neither men nor 
 women. 
 
 She said : "Woman will be ruled by man as long as 
 man holds the purse strings. Man will rule will set 
 her standard of morals and his own as well. If woman 
 has equal wealth and equal independence, she will be 
 another individual. The police, the soldiery, the wives 
 and all mendicants have their actions, thoughts, and moral 
 codes made by the pay-masters. Man makes an ideal 
 moral code for his wife and a very low one for him- 
 
262 THE PILGRIM 
 
 self. If his daughter or wife doesn't keep her head 
 toward the sky-line, the purse strings are tightened. A bril- 
 liant woman doctor, lawyer, minister, or lecturer can 
 not command the same fees as the medium male. She is 
 dwarfed with discouragement wherever she casts her eyes. 
 The male says she is the uncrowned queen of the home, 
 that this is her kingdom; yet she is not mistress of the 
 home the title remains in the master, and if he is dis- 
 pleased the children can be wrested from her arms and 
 she can be evicted. What inhumanity of man to woman." 
 
 When she had finished an acre of bronzed-faced 
 miners sent up a shout of applause and said, "You are 
 quite right, my good lady; we shall stand behind you until 
 full justice is done to your sex in Colorado." And they 
 kept their word. 
 
 After the Pilgrim and the Pioneer reached home, 
 the latter inquired : "Mr. Campbell, what do you really 
 think of woman suffrage by this time ?" 
 
 "She certainly made out a much stronger case 
 against us than I supposed existed. I was, 
 in a general way, familiar with the unusual ad- 
 vantage in the laws in favor of men, but did not suppose 
 they ever took advantage of their sisters; but there seems 
 to be much in her complaint that the good men who 
 always adequately protect the interest of their women, 
 have been negligent in allowing legal privileges to de- 
 praved men for the abuse of their women. She correctly 
 says that giving women equal personal, property, and po- 
 litical rights, would not encroach on the habits and cus- 
 toms of good men, who have ever been just to women, 
 regardless of the law, but would enable them to protect 
 themselves against the depraved and profligate men who 
 abuse and impoverish them and their children. However, 
 
AND THE PIONEER 263 
 
 a majority of the good women do not want to vote. Would 
 you force an unwilling franchise upon them ?" 
 
 "Ah, it is a sagacious teacher that gives his pupils 
 what they need rather than what they want. You keep 
 a bird in a cage from the time it hatches for a year or 
 so, then turn it out, and it will fly around and back to the 
 cage. It has an aching void, but does not know what will 
 fill it. It does not know what liberty is. If it stays away 
 from the cage for twenty-four hours and gets a real taste 
 of liberty you can not cage it any more. The lifelong 
 slave does not know what liberty is. You speak of it and 
 he becomes alarmed, but give him a real taste of it and 
 he will die in its defense. In the age of physical prowess 
 and strength, frail women could not cope with the male 
 athlete or giant, and were a kind of beast of burden; 
 they were very thankful for being permitted to live at 
 all, as their first appearance was generally a matter of 
 sore regret to their progenitors and they frequently were 
 destroyed by parents in infancy because of their unfor- 
 tunate sex. Timid women are just now getting a glimpse 
 of their natural, equal, personal, property, and political 
 rights, and like the birds and slaves when they get a 
 clear view and a fair taste of their just dues they will 
 wage an unrelenting war, if need be, in their defense." 
 
 Mr. Campbell replied that he was very glad that 
 he went out to hear Miss Anthony because she had given 
 him much light upon the question, and had caused him to 
 feel quite differently about the subject. 
 
 "Yes," answered Mr. Wickham, "the greatest obstruc- 
 tion to human progress is human prejudice, and the 
 greatest security for fundamental errors is the unwill- 
 ingness of the people to hear the truth. 
 
264 THE PILGRIM 
 
 "You may safely and profitably carry these maxims 
 through life with you: 
 
 "Never dispute, or play at, another man's game until 
 you thoroughly understand it. 
 
 "Never take the tenets of another's faith from an 
 enemy of his creed. 
 
 "Never decide a question until you have thoroughly 
 considered both sides, and never assume that any great 
 question is wholly one-sided. 
 
 "Always measure another's corn in your own half 
 bushel. 
 
 "Adopt the Golden, Rule as your measuring stick 
 in all political and sex questions as well as in social and 
 business questions, among men. 
 
 "Keep imperious reason ever upon the throne, un- 
 fettered, and never permit insinuating fancy or prejudices, 
 incidents to old traditions, sacred forms, sage creeds, or 
 aged societies, . to usurp her God-like functions. 
 
 "If you should study the natural, personal, property, 
 and political rights of women, independent of the po- 
 sition they have heretofore occupied, you would probably 
 reach a different conclusion than is approved by our 
 present practices and general laws." 
 
 "But," replied the Pilgrim, "will it not make our 
 women rough, uncouth, and less womanly, to receive all 
 of these manly privileges." 
 
 "I am not a Yankee, but will you allow me to inquire 
 if the exaltation of womanhood through the teachings of 
 Christ, made Christian women less womanly than the 
 pagan women ? Did the advanced position the Pilgrim 
 fathers extended to American women, make them less 
 comely or womanly than their more restrained European 
 sisters? The logic of the whole subject is embodied in 
 
AND THE PIONEER 265 
 
 one short sentence: 'It is a natural right.' It is not per- 
 tinent to argue that this suffrage will not be exercised 
 always for the public good. The same may be said of 
 many men. It is a question of the right of representa- 
 tion. If women have ideas of value to civilization the 
 ballot is the most effective way of putting them in force." 
 Now, in the new states of Colorado, Wyoming, Utah 
 and Idaho, women have practically all of the personal, 
 property, and political rights that the men enjoy, and 
 women hold, own, control, sell, and buy property as freely 
 as their husbands do, and may sue or be sued without 
 any reference to their husbands, and may even sue or be 
 sued by them if necessity requires. Women in these states 
 vote for every officer from constable to president. 
 What has wrought this beneficent change? It is a 
 part of the great evolution of the race from the age of 
 the physical to that of the moral and intellectual forces. 
 Women are deficient in brute force, but are quite efficient 
 in moral and intellectual strength. 
 
CHAPTER XXL 
 
 EXPERT HYPNOTIZED BY BACK-CAPPEK. 
 
 Mr. Wickham went into the M. & M. bank and 
 told the cashier that he was expecting an expert in on the 
 coach in the evening to examine the Kuklux mine, and 
 all the fear he had was that, as every "back-capper" around 
 town had a dozen prospects for sale, if they got at the 
 expert they would block all his own prospects of a sale. 
 
 Mr. Arnold, the cashier, replied : "Mr. Wickham, just 
 take possession of one of the bed-rooms upstairs. Mr. 
 Boyd and I each have a double bed; we will move into 
 one room and you can entertain your expert in the other 
 and keep Henry at the hall-door and bar every one out 
 until you have made your sale or have failed." 
 
 "This is a capital idea," answered Mr. Wickham, 
 "and I shall accept your kind offer." He at once set 
 about putting the room in order and storing it with 
 all necessary comforts. The coach came rolling in about 
 5 :30 P. M., and the usual crowd was at the stage office 
 to see who came. Some women and children and a few 
 miners climbed out, and after them appeared a very small 
 and extremely slim and shriveled up individual, with his 
 clothing fitting almost as tightly as his contracted hide, 
 wearing very close-fitting red leggins, and with some scat- 
 tering red hairs distributed over his upper jaws as a pre- 
 tense for "sideburns." This personage darted through 
 the door of the coach, lightly dropped to the sidewalk, 
 brought himself to a tension attitude, and with much self- 
 sufficiency surveyed the crowd and waited to see if any 
 
 (267) 
 
268 THE PILGRIM 
 
 one would claim him. Mr. Wickham stepped forward, 
 and extended his hand, saying, "This is Prof. E. H, Ham- 
 ilton, I presume?" "Hit his," replied the expert. "Hain't 
 hit beastly weather though?" Mr. Wickham took his 
 valises and extra walking canes and umbrellas and piloted 
 him up to the rooms over the bank. 
 
 The spotters of mining investors eyed the new ar- 
 rival critically and one would ask, "What has Wickham 
 to sell?" Another would say, "I wonder whether the 
 expert is French, English, or Irish?" Another, "I 
 wonder if he is really an investor or a machinist." A 
 droll Irishman remarked, "Oi would jidge the srintlemin is 
 here to repair the Bille of the Wist pomps ; at least this 
 gintlemin seems to be made and drissed so ha con slip 
 down through the poipes of the pomps if need be." 
 
 The "back-cappers" then swarmed into the room of 
 Mr. Al. Carlton, the stage agent, and inquired, "Who is 
 this? what is his business? and what are his purposes 
 here ?" The stage agent became very much irritated, and 
 in a recklessly erratic mood, and without a thought of an- 
 noying Mr. Wickham, wrote on his blackboard: 
 
 "A mine investor arrived from Ontario, Canada, 
 this evening. 
 
 "Wants a good mine. 
 
 "Is worth many hundred thousand dollars. 
 
 "Is stopping at private rooms and will be pleased 
 to see any one having good prospects for sale," and set 
 the same in front of his office ; when anyone inquired 
 about the newcomer he pointed to the blackboard as con- 
 taining all he knew about him. This started a regular 
 train of prospect holders to the bank building; they would 
 ring the bell, the colored boy would open the door just 
 far enough to ask what was wanted, and as the visitors 
 
AND THE PIONEER 269 
 
 answered, "To see Mr. E. H. Hamilton," the colored 
 boy would say, "He is in an important conference and 
 cannot be seen until tomorrow." The "back-cappers" 
 knew this meant that he was hidden out from them. 
 They then started out to find what claim Mr. Wick- 
 ham had in view. They got the county clerk to open up 
 his office and they found Mr. Wickham had recently 
 taken a bond on the Kuklux mine, about four miles south 
 of Capitol City, and on the southeast side of Henson 
 Creek. One of the "back-cappers" mounted a horse and 
 started for the Ule for the night, to stand guard and to 
 fall in with the expert and Mr. Wickham as they passed, 
 and to block all possibility of Wickham's sale unless he 
 would make it an object to them. 
 
 The cashier and Mr. Boyd joined the expert and Mr. 
 Wickham in a short time. The expert took a bracer and 
 a Havana, and soon someone proposed a game of whist. 
 As the game waxed warm Mr. Wickham ordered supper 
 sent up for four. About eleven o'clock the game closed, 
 and it was agreed that they should start to the Kuklux 
 mine at four o'clock next morning; in fact Mr. Wickham 
 said it was absolutely necessary that they go early while 
 the crust was so frozen on the snow drifts that it would 
 hold up the weight of their horses; that they could get 
 breakfast at Capitol City, etc. The mining expert replied, 
 "Hany time will be quite hagreeable to me." The horses 
 were ordered to be at the bank at four o'clock the next 
 morning. Mr. Wickham retired, satisfied that he had 
 baffled all chances of the "back-cappers" interfering with 
 his prospective purchasers. 
 
 Mr. Wickham, Mr. Campbell and Mr. Hamilton 
 mounted their horses and headed for the Kuklux mine just 
 as the dawn began to appear in the East and before there 
 
270 THE PILGRIM 
 
 appeared to be any one astir in the town. Mr. Wick- 
 ham led the way up Bluff Street and no appearance 
 of life was visible, more than an occasional stream of 
 light from some all-night saloon, until they were about 
 to pass out of the city, when they ran right upon two 
 gleeful Irishmen holding each other up, and between 
 hiccoughs, chucking one another in the ribs. 
 
 The taller one looked up and said, "Ellow, the top 
 of the marning to yes, foine gintlemin." 
 
 "Hello, what is the trouble," inquired Mr. Wickham. 
 
 "A divil of a bit of trouble it is," answered Moike. 
 "Wa've bin on a bit of a droonk and are a bit unsartain 
 about the floight of toime, so we be. 'Pat/ says Oi, 'the 
 marning approaches in the Ast and I most be after 
 drapping in and sawing a bit of wood for the old dame 
 for breakfast/ ' 
 
 " 'To the divil with the auld dame/ says Pat, 'she 
 has to pack the wood 'in, and she moight as well saw it 
 while she is about it, so she moi -ght.' ' 
 
 " 'By the way, Moike/ said I, Til bit yes tbe Irinks 
 that this loight in the horizin is not a search loight of the 
 marning sun, but it is the hora bora hallis of the sitting 
 sun.' " 
 
 / 7 said Mike, "What does yes foine gintlemin 
 say ? Is it this marning or is it this avening ?" 
 
 Mr. Wickham answered, "If the sun still rises in the 
 East I should say that aurora in the East is a harbinger of 
 morning." 
 
 Mike grabbed Pat in his arms, chucked his sprang- 
 led fingers down his shirt-collar, nudged him in the ribs 
 and pumbled him off toward the nearest saloon, consoling 
 him on the way by saying, "Now, Pat, it was a foine 
 thing, so it was, that yes didn't back up yes judgmint on 
 
AND THE PIONEER 271 
 
 yeh hora bora hallis, as I'd raised yes till ye'd bin so 
 poor yes spit wouldn't rattle on dry laves." Locked in 
 each others arms they tumbled through the saloon door 
 out of sight and hearing. 
 
 The travelers passed from the town through the toll-gate 
 into the wild, beautiful, and picturesque canon of Hen- 
 son Creek, which is a mere crease cut deep down into 
 these majestic mountains just wide enough in many places 
 for a bed for Henson Creek. However, Western enter- 
 prise had carved a passibly good road in the cliffs near 
 the water's edge. The travelers trotted along at a cheer- 
 ful gait and reached the Ule mine just as the brilliant 
 sun arose and threw his long, white rays over the hills 
 on the northwest side of the creek, but the other side 
 of the creek was shaded and chilly. 
 
 As the expert reached the Ule mine Dick Grade, one of 
 the most despicable "back-cappers" in the San Juan, beck- 
 oned Mr. Wickham to one side and said, "Mr. Wickham, 
 I know you have a party here to buy the Kuklux mine 
 and I want to warn you that no sale of that mine can 
 be made until I am made whole. I had a bond on that 
 mine once and spent much time and money in working 
 up a sale, then the owner went back on me. I took an 
 oath then that this mine never should be sold until I got 
 my money out of it, and I think you know me too well 
 to expect me to perjure myself against my own interests." 
 
 Mr. Wickham answered, "You astonish me; if your 
 supposition should prove true, what would you expect?" 
 
 The "back-capper" replied, "I know you can't make 
 me whole, so I will just demand an even 'divy' with you." 
 
 Mr. Wickham answered, "That would be an outrage, 
 an extortion; you can do your worst, sir." 
 
272 THE PILGRIM 
 
 "A hint to the wise ought to be sufficient," suggested 
 the "back-capper." "No 'divy 7 , no sale. Good day." 
 
 They rode on for a mile or so, stopped to get a 
 drink of water; as they were mounting, up rode the 
 "back-capper" and pushing right up to the expert, said, 
 "A very fine morning, sir." 
 
 "Yes," replied the expert, "the rising hand setting 
 sun hin the West his halways very henjoyable to me." 
 
 "Yes," answered the "back-capper," "the Western 
 sun is the most constant, strong, and brilliant known to 
 man ; it is as much superior to the Eastern sun for 
 lighting purposes as an incandescent light is superior to 
 a tallow candle; its energy and constancy in the West 
 surpasses that of the East as much as the energy and 
 constancy of the intelligent, vivacious, and ambitious New 
 England Yankee excels the energy of the slothful Zulu 
 chief tian, and yet while the north- west side of this creek 
 is sunbathed from sunrise to sunset most every c(ay in the 
 year, the hills on the other side of the creek are dark, 
 cold, and chilly; the partial sun throws his warm, piercing 
 rays at direct angles into the snow banks on the north- 
 west hills, while he throws them at the snow on the 
 south-east hills at such oblique angles that his rays slip 
 off these snow banks like a boy's shale-stone thrown at 
 oblique angles upon a sheet of ice." 
 
 "But," retorted the expert, "hit as hits hadvantages; 
 you will hobserve the snow melts hon the right side hof 
 the creek habout has fast has hit falls and runs hoff the 
 steep 'ills hinto Enson Creek hand 'urries hoff to the 
 Gulf of California without wetting the ground; this 
 causes a continuing drought which makes the pine, spruce, 
 hand quaking asp trees shaggy, scrubby, hand hunsightly, 
 hand no grass hor flowers hat hall, while hon the hother 
 
AND THE PIONEER 273 
 
 side hof the creek the sun's rays strike the snow at such 
 sloping hangles that it melts slowly hand hall hof the 
 resulting water soaks hinto the ground, causing a beau- 
 tiful growth of thick, tall, symmetrical forests of pine, 
 spruce, hand quaking hasp trees, hand ha beautiful car- 
 pet of profuse wild flowers ; so you see there his ha com- 
 pensation hin the sun's neglect. I was hout in Harizona 
 hexamining ha mine last summer while General Sherman 
 was there. The sun was simply hunbearable. Ha minister of 
 the gospel had been very much himpressed while reading 
 some of the hepigrammatic sayings hof General Sher- 
 man set forth hin the morning paper, hand hamong them, 
 'War is 'ell.' This minister went hat once hand called 
 hon General Sherman. He found him hout hunder the 
 shade of a tree with 'is shirt hopen hand trying to force 
 some hair hinto 'is bosom with ha big palm-leaf fan. The 
 minister said, 'General Sherman, hi was very much 
 pleased to find your declaration hagainst war hin the 
 morning paper.' General Sherman said, 'Hi ham hin 
 favor hof one more war. Hi want to fight Mex- 
 ico once more. Hi would like to force her, hat the 
 point hof the bayonet, to take back Harizona." So you 
 see the strength, the direct rays, hand the constancy hof 
 the sun may be ha curse has well has a blessing. Hi 
 hinfinitely prefer the south-east side of the creek with 
 hits beautiful, thrifty forests hand fragrant flower gar- 
 dens, with hits dark, cool atmosphere, to the dry, parched- 
 hup north-west side with hits bright, sunny climate." 
 
 a Ah, but," observed the "back-capper," "there 
 is as great a mystery wrapped up in the dominating 
 powers of the sun in development of the royal metals 
 as there is in the marvelous powers of the moon over the 
 ebb and flow of the tides. Would it surprise you should 
 
 THE PILGRM. 18 
 
274 THE PILGRIM 
 
 I tell you that every chute of pay ore on Henson Creek 
 is on the warm, sun-bathed hills of the north-west side 
 of the creek ? The Ute, Ule, Ocean Wave, Wave of the 
 Ocean, Eed Eover, Silver Cord, Dolly Varden, and 
 numerous other claims, are producing pay ore on the 
 sunny side of these hills and not a mine on the shaded 
 side of the hill is producing; and it is the same country, 
 the same formation, and the veins cross this creek, but 
 the mineral seems not to develop in these cold, shaded, 
 timbered hillsides." 
 
 "My , Mr. Campbell I" exclaimed Mr. Wickham, 
 
 "listen to that, and yet there is more fact than fiction 
 about it. I was a fool not to divide profits with him, but 
 how did he learn of my plans ? I told nobody and yet 
 he knows my every purpose and is now defeating every 
 possibility of a sale. I must get Mr. Hamilton away from 
 him, but even this will be suspicious. I will let him 
 do his best, then tell Mr. Hamilton all; but some of 
 the things he is telling are stubborn facts. I would like 
 to thump him and I ought to, but I will try to control 
 myself on the theory that discretion is the better part of 
 valor." 
 
 They reached Mr. Stevens' cabin and saw him wheel- 
 ing some rock out of the Black Jack, just across Henson 
 Creek on the shaded side. Said the back-capper, "Let's 
 ride over a moment and see what he is getting." They 
 found he had a little high-grade crystallized ore. The 
 back-capper inquired, "Have you any more of the ores 
 of this vicinity about your cabin ?" He answered, "Yes, 
 from all of the mines about here." The back-capper sug- 
 gested, "Let's go up and I will show you the difference 
 in the ore found on the different sides of the creek." 
 
AND THE PIONEER 275 
 
 Mr. Wickham answered, "No, no, we have no time 
 to be chasing rainbow theories today ; we must go on." 
 
 "Oh, yes, yes," broke in the expert, "This his a re- 
 markably hinteresting subject and his worth the short 
 time we will devote to hit." 
 
 In despair Mr. Wickham followed them up the hill, 
 convinced that the "back-capper" had his expert hypno- 
 tized, and the only thing left now was to give the deceiver 
 more rope and trust to the probability of his hanging him- 
 self. So he abandoned the expert to the tender mercies of 
 the "back-capper." 
 
 The latter took the splendid gray copper ore 
 of the Red Rover, Silver Cord, Little Hattie, Wave of 
 the Ocean, Ocean Wave, etc., from the sunny side of the 
 mountain, and put them on one side, and the ore from 
 the Black Jack, Gimlet, Big Button, Pecksniff, etc., just 
 opposite, on the shaded side of the creek, and put them 
 in a row opposite, and said, "Gentlemen, the ores from 
 the different sides of this creek look as different as if 
 found on the opposite sides of the globe, and that from 
 the bare and sun-bathed hills is the superior quality and 
 abundant quantity produced in the sunny cultivated fields, 
 while those from the icy cold south-eastern side of the 
 creek are like unto the fruit or cereals produced in the 
 untamed and shaded woodland. Who can tell but what 
 the light and heat of the sun perform quite as important 
 a function in developing the mineral as in the develop- 
 ment of the vegetable kingdom ?" 
 
 Mr. Stevens asserted: "I know all of the paying 
 mines here are on the sunny side and since I come to 
 think of it, I believe all the good mines where I used 
 to be in Nevada were on the sunny side of the hills." 
 
 They mounted, loped into Capitol City, ate break- 
 
276 THE PILGRIM 
 
 fast, then had an invitation from Mr. Arnold to look at 
 a splendid mineral cabinet which he had gathered. 
 
 The "back-capper" asked him whether he got more 
 of those on the south-east or on the north-west side of 
 the creek ? "Oh," he replied, "all on the north-west side 
 of the creek. We have found nothing near here on the 
 south-east side." 
 
 The "back-capper" got the expert off in one corner 
 and inquired, "Is it not strange? Some years ago I got 
 a bond on the Kuklux mine on the south-east side of the 
 creek, and got a shift of the best miners of the country 
 and took them up there and told them, 'I want you to 
 take out ore here for a few days.' There was one big 
 piece of galena that would weigh about two tons, stick- 
 ing between the walls, and this was all that was in sight. 
 One of the miners said, 'If you want to sell it you had 
 better leave that in there because in my judgment there 
 is no more in the mine, and on this side of the creek they 
 are like this clear down to the Gunnison River;' and this 
 question has had me confused ever since." 
 
 The "back-capper" got upon his horse and returned 
 home as certain that no sale could be made as he was 
 that death would finally overtake him. He chuckled to 
 himself, "If Wickham was not so infernally greedy he 
 could make some sales, but without a 'divy' no sales 
 here." 
 
 Mr. Wickham told the expert all and he seemed 
 greatly surprised. 'He replied : "Hit seem's 'ard to believe 
 that one so bright, cheerful, hand hentertaining could be 
 ha scoundrel. 'Owever, there see'ms to be much truth hin 
 'is sayings ; not only he, but Messrs. Stevens and Arnold, 
 both, disinterested miners, seem to corroborate 'im." 
 
 The expert had no heart in the examination of the 
 
AND THE PIONEER 277 
 
 mine, but was seriously pondering over the question, "It 
 is on the shaded side of the hill. Does the heat and light 
 of the sun materially affect the development of the mineral 
 kingdom ? and if so, to what extent ?" 
 
 The mine was in splendid condition. The large 
 bodies of galena were stripped and shining from end to 
 end. The "back-capper" gone, Mr. Wickham thought a 
 sale assured. 
 
 When they finished examining the mine Mr. Wick- 
 ham suggested that they were about midway between 
 Ouray and Lake City, and as Mr. Hamilton was going 
 west anyway it might be preferable for him to go 
 by Ouray, the most direct route. Mr. Hamilton said, 
 "Yes, hi much prefer to travel hover new territory, 
 bother things being hequal." 
 
 They struck a lively trot toward the head of Henson 
 Creek and soon met Mr. Judson and Miss Queechy, lead- 
 ing members of the "smart set" of Lake City, heavily 
 goggled and cloaked. Mr. Wickham said, "Good morn- 
 ing, have you been visiting at Rose's?" "We are from 
 Ouray," said Mr. Judson. Mr. Wickham replied, "You 
 must have started long before daylight to have reached 
 this place so soon." The Lake City friends, with con- 
 fused embarrassment, whipped up their horses, and' left 
 the questioners standing in the road. 
 
 The mine hunters moved on and in a short time 
 reached Rose's cabin, a historical landmark found on 
 maps and in histories. It is a huge, two-story, log house 
 standing on a steep, sunless hillside in a dense spruce 
 forest with the snow on the north side piled up to the 
 eaves, some of it from sweeping the roof. It was con- 
 stantly settling, squeaking, and popping, and kept the 
 guests jumping and almost constantly talking of the prob- 
 
278 THE PILGRIM 
 
 abilities of its sliding, with the building, into Henson 
 Creek. Henson Creek, on the summit above this point, 
 breaks into numerous little rivulets like the veins on one's 
 hand ; a small stream comes from every neighboring snow- 
 bank and blots out all definite landmarks. Mr. Wickham 
 asked the proprietor: 
 
 "Is it safe for us to endeavor to cross the range 
 without a guide ?" 
 
 "Oh, yes," replied Mr. Scranton. "Mr. Judson and 
 Miss Queechy have come over this morning and as there 
 has been no snow fall since yesterday afternoon, you can 
 readily back-track their horses right into Ouray." 
 
 The travelers took the trail of the fresh horse tracks 
 and quickly made the summit of Engineer Mountain, the 
 famous "American Flats," a great area of flat ground 
 twelve or thirteen thousand feet above sea level, covered 
 with a turf of grass, and in mid-summer with wild flow- 
 ers; the ground is always so damp and springy that the 
 pack-trains and horsemen leave no lasting impression or 
 trails over their great frigid domain ; and there is not a 
 tree, as eleven thousand feet is "timber line," or as high as 
 timber will grow; nor was there on these flats a peak to 
 guide the confused travelers. 
 
 They were soon nonplussed by coming to the place 
 where Mr. Judson and Miss Queechy had camped the 
 night before, and there was no sign of horse tracks from 
 here as the snow had filled up those made the day 
 before. They were at their wits' ends. They had all read 
 the graphic description of Charley Hall losing his way 
 here 'early in the sixties, how, from the pangs of hunger 
 and confusion, he lost his mind, and was found and 
 carried down when he was at the threshhold of death. 
 
 They had read of Mr. Gerould, Turner Brothers' 
 
AND THE PIONEER 279 
 
 man, on his way to Ouray with $5,000 strapped upon him, 
 being lost for days here, and how he was rescued just 
 before the twilight of reason had departed. 
 
 They had all read of the magic, impelling influences 
 of Horse-thief Trail which had always beguiled all un- 
 protected strangers into the sinuosities of Cow Creek, 
 such a confusing wonderland that the traveler seemed in- 
 capable of going on or retracing his steps, and moved in 
 regular circles until some one, an immune to these mystic 
 mazes, came and broke his spell. 
 
 Mr. Campbell suggested: 
 
 "Here, gentlemen, are the tracks of a man leading 
 off toward .Mineral Point; a pedestrian has been here this 
 morning. Let us follow him." 
 
 They pursued the trail for a mile and a half when 
 they came, upon the May Day mine, overlooking Mineral 
 Point, and found Mr. Bain, the superintendent, with his 
 horse saddled, ready to start for Ouray. They told him 
 of their starting out in the afternoon to follow the fresh 
 horse tracks of Mr! Judson and Miss Queechy and how, 
 -just as they had reached these trackless flats, they struck 
 their camp, back of which all tracks were filled with 
 snow, and they had followed a man's trail here. 
 
 The superintendent laughed hysterically and replied : 
 
 "This morning at day-break I heard the sharp 
 screams of a tenor-voiced man with the unmistakable 
 vibration of distress in its echoes. I got out upon the 
 point, spied a white horse, went to it, and found a young 
 man and a buxom young woman with their saddle blankets 
 wrapped around them; between the chattering of his 
 unruly teeth he stated that they left Ouray the day before' 
 and came along leisurely, reached these confusing track- 
 less flats, meandered around until dark, then were com- 
 
280 THE PILGRIM 
 
 pelled to remain here through the night. His voice and 
 cast of countenance were pathetic as he sympathetically 
 looked down upon the fair one who stood at his side, 
 calm, sedate, but eager; and as he finished, she looked up 
 and exclaimed : 
 
 " 'Oh, my, my ; last night on this wild iceland, with 
 the wolves howling all around us, without fire, food, or 
 bedding, would have been intolerable if Jakey had not 
 been with me. Oh, what would have become of me here 
 with any other person ?' 
 
 "The glow of self-satisfaction that this evidence of 
 implicit confidence and consoling companionship started 
 in the palid face of Mr. Judson, soon warmed into a beau- 
 tiful rose color; the quick instincts of the sensitive Miss 
 Queechy detected the potent influence of her confiding 
 speech, and a cardinal warm cloud arose in her cheeks, 
 and the twain left the merciless American Flats with 
 more of the feelings of those who arise from the marriage 
 altar and hurry away to some screened retreat in a strange 
 land for a bewitching honey-moon, than of such senti- 
 ments as usually follow a night spent in so wild and frigid 
 a lair as this, especially with a cold, twenty mile ride be- 
 fore them over a rugged mountain road, on hungry, 
 jolting bronchos. 
 
 "The non-sentimental would say that some persons 
 are very easily satisfied ; the sentimental would say, 'With 
 the right one at your side, any cross is bearable.' 
 
 "What a magic is carried in the train of a tender, 
 confiding speech ? But why use the rasping tongue with a 
 woman who is so versed in the gentler and more endearing 
 language of sighs and blushes? With her fine, natural 
 instincts she properly interpreted every ebb and flow of 
 
AND THE PIONEER 281 
 
 the red corpuscles that paled or flushed his cheek; she 
 is of the sex of natural face readers 
 
 Here Prof. Hamilton broke in : "Do you find hany 
 mines hon the shaded side of the 'ill ere ?" 
 
 "Well, no," answered the superintendent. "Our 
 mines are the only ones found upon the flats and they, 
 you will observe, are in the most sunny spots near here." 
 The superintendent pointed to some twin buttes standing 
 over toward Mineral Point and continued : 
 
 "The P. S. runs across there but the ore chute is 
 on that sunny knoll. By the way, has it occurred to you 
 that these flats are the sources of great rivers? Snow 
 banks are perennial here. The bedrock is so close to the 
 surface that the water soaks the black muck from 
 the surface to bedrock, forms a springy turf of grass, and 
 every day in the year the water is gradually percolating 
 through the soil into the channel below. You can see 
 these companion springs over there near Mineral Point, 
 so close together that a giant with a long handled dipper 
 in each hand could stand between them and dip water 
 from both at the same time. The one on the south is 
 the small beginning of the Animas River which flows into 
 the San Juan and the Colorado into the Gulf of 
 California, and the North Spring is the source of the Un- 
 compahgre River which flows through the Gunnison, 
 Grand, Green and Colorado Rivers on into the Gulf of 
 California; this is really the backbone of the continent, 
 the real dividing of the waters. The headwaters of Hen- 
 son Creek are on these flats behind us. Those who wonder 
 how a mountain stream flows on forever through the long 
 drought as well as during the freshets, should examine 
 the economy of nature on the "American Flats" for hus- 
 banding her resources for all emergencies. The frost and 
 
'THERE SWEPT BEFORE THEM BEAR CREEK FALLS." 
 
AND THE PIONEER 283 
 
 the freezing of the snow every night, keep it melting 
 very gradually, so that it is never all consumed at one 
 time." 
 
 The superintendent mounted his horse and ordered: 
 
 "Gentlemen, shut your eyes, follow me, and I will 
 drag you around the polar suction of Horse-Thief Trail, 
 which has ever heen the mortal foe of the sojourner here. 
 All have heen carefully warned against its seductive en- 
 chantments, and about all strangers have yielded to it, 
 soon to find themselves in helpless despair in the dark 
 canons of Cow Creek, where the trail in front and behind 
 them gradually fades out and in helpless confusion they 
 travel in a circle until rescued from without." 
 
 They jogged along over the grassy, springy turf at 
 a fair gait until they reached Bear Creek, a dashing moun- 
 tain torrent, shooting through a deep, box canon at right 
 angles with the Uncompahgre River, and emptying into it. 
 The narrow trail was stuck on a steep hillside far above 
 the creek bed, but a little wider than a horse's hoof, with 
 under-hanging cliffs, over which a horse would be hurled, 
 if he lost his footing. All of them, except the mining super- 
 intendent, dismounted and walked around these treacher- 
 ous cliffs, but he retained his seat, explaining: 
 
 "The horse, with his additional two feet and superior 
 balance and greater muscular power, can stick to the trail 
 much better than his rider, and my long experience with 
 him here has convinced me that he is equally careful." 
 
 As they descended to the point of a great hill, shaped 
 like the hump on a camel, there swept before them Bear 
 Creek Falls, the greatest combination of wild, yawning 
 chasms, mighty towering cliffs, merciless, grinding, roar- 
 ing waters, with gentle, misty sprays, great chaste, white- 
 spreading bridal veils, variegated rainbows, and symmetri- 
 
284 THE PILGRIM 
 
 cal, white spray domes, couched, ghost-like, on the smooth 
 cliffs below, that has been discovered on this continent, 
 if not in the world; thousands of travelers annually go 
 around the circle, principally to view these and neighbor- 
 ing scenes, and the travelled public generally pronounces 
 this far superior to anything in the Alps or elsewhere, so 
 far as they have seen. 
 
 The bed of the TJncompahgre River here is cut many, 
 many hundred feet down into these majestic cliffs, and 
 the trail in the cliff around an obtuse angle between Bear 
 Creek and the TJncompahgre River is gouged out of the 
 solid rock for quite a distance, just wide enough for a 
 horse to crowd around; it might be likened to the center 
 hoop around a great hogshead. It is many hundred feet 
 from 'the trail to the top of the cliffs and even further 
 from the trail to the bed of the river below. 
 
 On a level with this elevated trail the water of Bear 
 Creek, as white as phosphorus, and splashing and roaring 
 like Niagara, comes pitching and raging through a nar- 
 row water-way dug in the solid rock, as though it meant 
 to leap over the great chasm of the TJncompahgre, stand- 
 ing at right angles ; but as it shoots out of the end of this 
 narrow rock-trough over the cliff, like the discouraged 
 valuter, it seems to realize its powerlessness to jump over, 
 it spreads itself into a magnificent bridal veil and lower 
 down on the smooth cliffs gathers in the form of graceful 
 white domes; then the scattered waters, like broken, im- 
 patient particles of quick-silver, reunite and trickle into 
 the more patient waters of the TJncompahgre below. 
 
 A crude bridge, consisting of three logs side by side, 
 with a few chips and a little dirt thrown into the creases 
 between them, laid across the narrow stone box channel of 
 Bear Creek where it dumps its raging waters over the 
 
AND THE PIONEER 285 
 
 high cliff, constituted the only possible crossing or chance 
 for their getting to Ouray during the day. The travelers 
 could not hear one another talk, the noise of the rushing 
 water was so great, and while they were shaking their 
 heads in protest against venturing their lives in crossing 
 such a torrent on this precarious make-shift, where, if by 
 chance one lost his footing, he would be hurled to certain 
 and immediate death, the mining superintendent with his 
 head skyward, without a word, rode his horse over the 
 frail structure. 
 
 Mr. Wickham dismounted, turned his head toward 
 the cliffs, and led his horse over. Mr. Campbell tied up 
 his bridle, went back, got a firm hold on the large part of 
 his horse's tail, fixed his eyes above the hips of his horse, 
 and followed him over. The mining expert tied up his 
 bridle, stepped behind his horse, gave him a lash with his 
 rawhide, and the horse walked over ; the expert got down 
 on his stomach, turned -his head up like a fur seal when 
 about to be fed, and crawled over. 
 
 No one dared look, while crossing, at those wild, rag- 
 ing waters, leaping off that high cliff a few feet to his left. 
 
 When they were all safely over, the mining superin- 
 tendent suggested: 
 
 "Here we have an ocular demonstration for the 
 evolutionist. The first time I passed here I drove my 
 horse in front of me and crawled over; by and by I held 
 to the tail of the faithful animal, and walked over ; after- 
 ward I set my eyes among the cliffs and led him over, 
 and now, without any fear or hesitation, I ride him over. 
 I find every stage of my development represented here 
 today. So it is with society. Generally there is as much 
 difference between the development of different individ- 
 uals of the same country as there is between the develop- 
 
286 THE PILGRIM 
 
 ment of people of different countries. Each evolves on the 
 lines of his particular environment." 
 
 They crowded around the cliff on the narrow trail, 
 and as they emerged from these weird, precipituous, dark, 
 threatening gorges, narrow, dangerous trails, and deafen- 
 ing, roaring waters, they felt like prisoners escaped from 
 a dungeon surrounded by almost impassable stone walls 
 and vigilant, cold, merciless sentinels, ready to take ad- 
 vantage of every excuse to visit condign punishment on 
 the unfortunate inmates. 
 
 They came out into an open country, rocky and hilly, 
 but not dangerous, and it was well they did so, as they 
 were now in the dim twilight and three miles from Ouray. 
 
 Two Fatalist women from Boston recently approached 
 this fantastic panorama with awe and astonishment, and 
 the older one exclaimed, "My, my ! God certainly intended 
 that many, many of us should visit this retreat, other- 
 wise he would not have bunched so many rare beauties 
 here." 
 
 Her companion said: "Yes! Look at the 
 lovely rainbow in the mist cloud ! God must have intend- 
 ed this as a part of Heaven or a kind of a second Heaven, 
 else he would not have dropped a rainbow of equal splen- 
 dor with the token he put in the greater Heaven to allay 
 the fears of his children of recurring floods." 
 
 Such panegyrics are quite common during the tourist 
 season and no one wonders at any apparent extravagance 
 of pen or tongue, in the hopeless efforts to portray vividly 
 this superb combination of mountain wildness and scenic 
 beauty. 
 
 -They soon trotted into the picturesque and thriving 
 town of Ouray, named for the famous Ute chief. They put 
 up at the Dayton hotel, and were seated at the table with 
 
AND THE PIONEER 287 
 
 Major Tompkins, a typical Virginian, who had been ex- 
 tremely poor for thirty-five years, prior to the sale of the 
 Rover mine which had just lifted him back to opulence 
 for the first time since the emancipation of his many black 
 slaves. He had the usual courteous, genteel, and imperious 
 chivalry of the Southerner, and implicitly believed in the 
 eternal fitness of southern traditions and customs, when 
 they did not militate against the proverbial assumptions 
 here of the superiority of the new western civilization. 
 
 He remarked: "You will find more rare ability in 
 the town of Ouray or any other like western town, than 
 you will in an eastern town of five times the size. !NTow 
 there is Mrs. Yaeger, General Elleston's sister, who has 
 as charming manners, as courtly a bearing, and as pol- 
 ished and pungent a mind, as you will find in a day's ride 
 in Paris. There is Walter Preston, who electrified the 
 four hundred in staid old London with his charming 
 voice, and then we have Daisy Dean, the superb newspaper 
 paragrapher well he has just simply whipped the wit 
 snappers of the whole country into submission." 
 
 He slowly drew from his pocket a newspaper para- 
 graph, saying, "Here is a fair sample of power a little 
 coarse, but it demonstrates his brilliancy," he read 
 Daisy Dean's leader: "The Ouray girls are the most 
 daring and independent of their sex. When they wish to 
 wander among the Sneffles peaks they just jump astride 
 of burros and make them leap from crag to crag like so 
 many mountain goats." 
 
 The major carefully laid this one down and picked 
 up the second one, saying, "Here is a burlesque on Dean's 
 paragraph by the Boston - : 'What can Daisy 
 Dean find extraordinary in the Ouray girls jumping 
 a-straddle of donkeys and riding across the Rockies. Such 
 
288 THE PILGRIM 
 
 tame pastimes are not noticed in Boston. Why, my dear 
 sir, when a Boston girl wishes to cross Boston Bay she just 
 jumps astride of a huge Codfish, pops her heels in his 
 flanks, and he goes splashing, diving, and lunging to the 
 other shore with her.' ' 
 
 The Pioneer laughed heartily and said : "Really, 
 that is very clever." 
 
 The major never smiled, but pulled out the third clip- 
 ping, saying: "I should say 'clever.' If you will listen 
 to Dean's rejoinder you will observe wherein pungent 
 western ability shines like the sun contrasted with a 
 tallow candle, when compared with that of the effete east, 
 'Ah! Ha! The athletic Boston girl just jumps as- 
 tride of the knightly cod, plants her knotty heels in 
 'his scaly flank, and he gallantly lunges to the other shore 
 with her, eh? This fatal admission suggests a very deli- 
 cate question for the Natural History Society in locating 
 the responsibility for certain well known aromas, if justice 
 is to be done to this much appreciated family of the finny 
 tribe.' " 
 
 The Major stroked his whiskers, laughed, rested, and 
 laughed again, and said: "Really that is the sharpest 
 thing I ever saw in my life." 
 
 Daisy Dean was ushered in and seated at the table, 
 but no one suggested to him that his greatness had been 
 the subject of discussion. 
 
 The waiter appeared with an order of ham and eggs 
 for the Virginian. The Virginian looked askance at it, 
 smelled of the ham, pushed it back, and remarked: 
 "Northerners do not know how to put up or cook ham 
 so as to make it palatable. In the Old Dominion the far- 
 mers sprinkle a little clean hickory-wood ash over it when 
 salted down so as to give it an appetizing flavor and also 
 
AND THE PIONEER 289 
 
 to keep the skippers off ; when the old mammies cook a ham 
 they soak the ashes out, par-boil it in champagne, slice it 
 and sprinkle a little pepper over it, and there is a dish 
 fit for the gods." 
 
 Daisy Dean, with a contemptuous curl of the lip 
 arose, saying: " You boil ham in champagne ? You, who 
 have been living around here for the past twenty years 
 on snowballs and rabbit tracks, without a thing of value 
 except your dignity, talk about boiling ham in cham- 
 pagne ?" Daisy Dean grasped his hat and in disgust started 
 out when the Virginian as a compromise suggested that if 
 the champagne was not on hand a little hard apple cider 
 would do. 
 
 Mr. Wickham said : "Major, that uncalled for thrust 
 would be contemptible and cruel, if your star meant what 
 he said, but I am. sure he did not. I have observed all 
 of my life that good talkers are constantly talking too 
 much, and wit-crackers are constantly wounding their 
 friends by yielding to the temptation to display their 
 gifts. 
 
 "He is drinking, 'I reckon," replied the Major, and 
 he arose and meekly walked into the office where he could 
 bind up the unexpected wound. 
 
 Soon after supper the Government explorers and 
 two local pioneers, Captains Craydon and Joyce, called 
 upon Mr. Wickham, and the evening was consumed in 
 comparing the trapper and the pioneer periods, and the 
 causes of the development of these two periods in inverse 
 orders. 
 
 There was a concensus of opinion that the trappers 
 and old hunters, who occupied this country between 1826 
 and 1859, the trapper's period, presented in common with 
 the Indians, the unique combinations of gentleness, gen- 
 
290 THE PILGRIM 
 
 erosity, and kindness, when everything moved along har- 
 moniously, and that like them they were the embodiment 
 of ferociousness, brutality and inhumanity when aroused 
 by an insult or a supposed injury. All were agreed that 
 during the trapper period the whites degenerated until 
 they preferred the wild animal skins to woolen clothing, 
 the woods and dark gorges to the bright cities, and the 
 tepee to the house, as an abode. 
 
 "Why," said Captain Craydon, "there is Jim Baker, 
 who left Illinois when about grown, in 1826, and when we 
 came out in 1859 he was completely metamorphosed into 
 a typical red man in dress, habits, tastes, and aspirations. 
 He ate with them, hunted with them, slept with them, and 
 married a chubby young squaw. You would have thought 
 that when the white people became abundant in the terri- 
 tory he would have drifted back to the civilization of his 
 youth, but no ! Honest, generous, brave, manly, incorrigible 
 Jim Baker, after twenty years with the Indians, persisted 
 in using their dress, their ways, their superstitions; and 
 when he went to Denver to sell his furs and hides he was 
 as anxious as any Indian to get away from civilization 
 and back to his blanket clothing, back to his tepee, back 
 to his wild squaw. Even the famous Kit Carson, with 
 all of his Kentucky chivalry and southern pride, though 
 he came out in 1826 when but seventeen years of age, by 
 constant association soon reduced himself to a point where 
 he could love and wed a dusky, uncivilized squaw, and if 
 death had not soon called her from him, who knows but 
 that he would have followed the downward footsteps, so- 
 cially, of Jim Baker and many others. Kit Carson's In- 
 dian wife soon brought him a brown-eyed little daughter 
 that he raised with much care, but she closely fol- 
 lowed her mother's type. Soon after the loss of his 
 
AND THE PIONEER 291 
 
 wife lie married Josepha Jaramillo, a Mexican woman, 
 which changed his kindred and associates, and he often 
 hired his services to army officers and explorers and finally 
 developed into a great Indian fighter rather than one of 
 the fribe ; but who can see far enough into the "might have 
 been's" to tell what the young wife might have wrought 
 in degenerating his tastes, habits, and ambitions had 
 death not arrived before her wild -nature wielded its full 
 influence over him. However, the great Kit Carson, with 
 his strong individuality, upright character, and undaunted 
 courage, presented such characteristics as make environ- 
 ments yield to the individual, or he is of the strong type 
 that makes its own environments and may be classed as 
 exceptional." 
 
 The Pioneer's countenance changed to a radiant 
 glow, as he eagerly exclaimed: "I see! I see! A light 
 is breaking through the dense fog that has been gathering 
 about me ever since the birth of my children. Ah, what 
 a clear demonstration of the subordinating powers of en- 
 vironment over heredity. This is the first gleam of hope 
 that has pierced my troubled soul since my unpardonable 
 sin, giving me the faintest promise that my unfortunate 
 progeny may be partially rescued during this generation 
 from their hard fate. Oh, will those superb Caucasian 
 husbands be so provident as to make the environments 
 of my heavily burdened daughters such that the dis- 
 located heredity, criminally placed upon them by me 
 may be closed up, smoothed over, and ironed out, during 
 this generation ? 
 
 "Ah, if American women are not on the ground, the 
 men will allow the dusky squaws to take them out of their 
 tailor made suits and rig them out in blankets and leather 
 strings, and, if occasion require, tattoo them and touch 
 
292 THE PILGRIM 
 
 them up with a little war paint. Now see what a different 
 turn the pioneers of fifty-nine took. They laid the foun- 
 dation of a broader civilization than any existing east of 
 them in the old world or the new. The pioneers married 
 the proud, imperious white women whose ambitious eyes 
 are always toward the sky-line, and who are ever pulling 
 them upward. Ah, what model mothers they make 1" 
 
 Captain Joyce suggested : "You seem to talk with 
 the hare and run with the hounds. You feign to adore 
 Caucasian motherhood and yet you passed her by and 
 chose a dark Indian princess as the mother of your chil- 
 dren. Why such a discrepancy between your words and 
 acts?" 
 
 "Ah, sir,' 7 replied the Pioneer, "Your query betrays 
 my secret. It is being deprived of her in the siring 
 of my children, that has burned the sterling worth of 
 the Caucasian mother into every fiber of my soul. I gave 
 myself unselfishly into holy wedlock to pay a debt of 
 gratitude, without a thought as to the grievous burden 
 I was placing upon my posterity for many generations. 
 It required a John Howard Payne, a friendless and home- 
 less wanderer, living in filth and squalor, really to portray 
 the sacred beauties and the delicate shades of tender 
 sentiment clinging around 'Home, Sweet Home.' Those 
 who had always enjoyed the luxuries of good homes had 
 never given it more than a passing thought. Shelly 
 truthfully wrote : 
 
 " 'Most wretched men are cradled into poetry by wrong, 
 They learn in suffering what they teach in song.' 
 
 "The sire who daily sees the glorious image and 
 heavenly traits of one of these matchless mothers in his 
 progeny gives it but a proud, approving nod. It is we 
 alone, who ever see a preponderance of untamed blood 
 
AND THE PIONEER 293 
 
 irretrievably chaining our innocent, helpless children to 
 dishonorable and menial, social, moral, intellectual and 
 business positions, because of inferior motherhood, that 
 can fully appreciate the exalted functions of highly civil- 
 ized womanhood." 
 
 The Pilgrim and the Pioneer arose in the morning 
 and found themselves surrounded by the most picturesque, 
 wierd, and bewildering panorama of wildness and stately 
 scenic beauty that they had ever beheld. 
 
 The town-site is in a little basin about one-half by 
 three-fourths of a mile, so pitching from east to west 
 that the rear end of the buildings on the east side of the 
 main street have the first story under ground or the sec- 
 ond floors at the rear end are level with the ground, while 
 the first floors at the rear end of the buildings on the 
 west side of the street are ten or twelve feet above the 
 ground. The entire town-site, with the exception of the 
 creek bed and a little ground at places near the edge of the 
 water, is surrounded by almost impassable mountain ranges 
 towering skyward. 
 
 From the south, east and north margin of the town, 
 hot water boils from the cliffs and the smoke rises from 
 these springs and from bath houses built in different 
 places like smoke from so many furnaces just blown in. 
 
 At the south boundary, Cascade Creek and the Un- 
 compahgre River come together. The approach from a 
 southerly and a westerly direction is through deep cut 
 box-canons squared out like the open end of a great tuning- 
 fork. 
 
 After the union, the stream like a silver thread 
 winds its way around the western cliff and out through a 
 narrow throat at the northern boundary of the town. For 
 
294 THE PILGRIM 
 
 miles above this junction the Uncompahgre comes roaring 
 and splashing through a deep, narrow box-canon cut 
 vertically into the bed rock from fifty to hundreds of 
 feet deep. 
 
 Cascade Creek is cut down into a solid bed rock in 
 the same way. A few hundred feet south of where this 
 stream empties into the Uncompahgre is probably the 
 most terrifically wild water-fall in the Rocky Mountains, 
 not so much because of the height of the fall, but because 
 the water is confined in a small twisted hole something like 
 the rifles in a gun barrel or like the twist in a corkscrew. 
 A stream of water large enough to move the machinery 
 of a large mill comes rushing down from Imogene basin, 
 tumbles into a large vertical funnel in the bed-rock, surges, 
 twists, and pitches from point to point, and, in a roaring 
 rage, leaps out of the other end of this vertical rock-funnel 
 some hundred feet below. There is no spreading water- 
 fall here, but the rock-hole keeps it in a powerful twist- 
 ing, solid mass. 
 
 This is the first thing the natives direct the sight- 
 seers to visit, and the next thing they are recommended 
 to drive five or six miles up the Uncompahgre and view 
 Bear Creek Falls and the trail cut out in almost vertical 
 cliffs for miles. At one point on this trail one can look 
 down upon Grand Mesa dividing the Gunnison and 
 Grand Valleys; it is seventy-five miles distant, and looks 
 like a great cape of a sea only a few miles away. Truly 
 the vision is greatly stretched out in this clear, rarefied 
 atmosphere. 
 
 The moment the visitors came down stairs in the 
 morning the hotel clerk suggested that it might be well 
 for them to visit the hot springs in the south end of 
 town, wash out their stomachs with the natural flow of 
 
AND THE PIONEER 295 
 
 hot water, and see the falls ; that this would give, them 
 an appetite for breakfast. They took his kind advice 
 and became so enchanted with the wonderful natural beau- 
 ties on every hand that they came near missing their 
 breakfast. When they returned they were seated at the 
 table with an exploration party, which had visited this 
 spot many, many years before with bull teams. They said 
 they found a few >Ute Indians here and asked them if 
 this party could pass on over the range. One of the 
 Indians motioned as if he were going to walk over and 
 answered, "This way youy can g-o-e-y-," then motioned 
 to the ox-teams, shook his head, and said, "if the woe 
 hawy here now, ye no get over." 
 
 They said that Chief Ouray once came to their camp 
 and seeing the cook opening a quart can of corn, he asked 
 for one. The cook gave him a can and a spoon and he 
 soon gulped down the whole quart of corn. Supper came 
 on and he accepted an invitation and ate very heartily. 
 Early in the evening an Indian came running over and 
 asked if they had a medicine man, saying, "Heap big 
 chief heap sickum." Dr. Lemon took a hyperdermic syr- 
 inge, went over, and found him doubled up with agon- 
 izing pains in the stomach. He shot a wholesome lot of 
 morphine into his arm and the chief soon straightened 
 out and felt gloriously good. He asked to see "that med- 
 icine gun." Dr. Lemon showed it to him and how it 
 worked, and he became wonderfully excited and wanted 
 to buy it. Dr. Lemon told him that he could not do without 
 it, t^at it was a pain puller and he could jerk a pain out 
 of any part of the body in a few moments with it. Chief 
 Ouray said, "Heap good gun. Give heap ponies for it," 
 but the doctor had to go away leaving the chief begging 
 for the syringe. 
 
AND THE PIONEER 297 
 
 These explorers pronounced this spot, with a drive 
 of six miles up the river, superior to anything in America, 
 and suggested that it probably surpassed anything on the 
 globe. They said their descriptive geographer attempted 
 to describe this scene, failed, and gave it up in disgust, 
 on their first trip here. That he started his word picture 
 of the wonderful scene as follows: "If we had been 
 dropped down from another planet last night, with one 
 all around sweep of the vision, we should have concluded 
 that all of this sphere is in sight and that the only ave- 
 nue of escape is by direct ascension." He described 
 the south-east mountains as gigantic heaps of conglomerate 
 material fringed from the river half way to the top with 
 scattering bunches of quaking asps and pine trees, with 
 many lofty, graceful peaks shooting their bare, smooth 
 heads up among the clouds, with their bases washed 
 with gurgling, splashing waters, in the canons and basins 
 below. He described the mountains on the south with 
 their mighty dykes, yawning chasms, grassy basins, snow- 
 slide tracks, cataracts, and water-falls, then climaxed 
 with the majestic Mount Sneffles with its colonnades and 
 graceful, snow-tipped minarets gradually bending around 
 the south quarter-circle of the walled-in amphitheatre in 
 which this fascinating tourist and mining town is snugly 
 nestled; but wrote: "When I, with one sweep of my 
 vision, took in the towering, vertical, cliff- walls, fencing 
 in the town on the west and the north, I stood aghast, 
 awe-stricken at the two distinct forms of modern architec- 
 ture which loomed up before me. These walls seemed to 
 be constructed of the same general material, towering 
 cloudward, presenting every appearance of having been 
 constructed after a fixed design, with material and walls 
 leveled and squared, blending a reddish with a brownish 
 
298 THE PILGRIM 
 
 tinted stone, and laid in alternating, regular courses. 
 The south half of the north superstructure, dividing the 
 waters of Cow Creek and the Uncompahgre River, is 
 covered with a rich red mansard roof, broken here and 
 there, and ornamented and dignified with an occasional 
 spire shooting heavenward, with a sheet of chaste, pure 
 white water pouring out of its south eave trough and 
 winding itself around the huge boulders leaning against 
 the base of this cliff wall ; the more massive structure 
 on the west, dividing the waters of the San Miguel and 
 Uncompahgre Rivers, is covered with a sombre, oval, shell- 
 like roof so becoming to stately tabernacles, and is differ- 
 ently painted, differently decorated, and 'gracefully orna- 
 mented with massive, lead-colored domes, one of which 
 is tipped with a symmetrical statue of George Washing- 
 ton, as a pleasing substitute for the proverbial Goddess 
 of Liberty ; the impatient roof-waters of the south side of 
 this mighty structure come leaping and splashing from 
 its south eave trough, into Oak Creek at the south side 
 of the town." 
 
 At this point the geographer cast his eyes over the 
 sloping hillside on the east of the little city, and the whole 
 background was a perfect tint of all the known shades 
 and colors produced by the fading rays of a setting sun 
 on a variegated landscape. He dropped his pen and said, 
 "It is no use. These were made to be seen; they can't 
 be described." While he was in a brown study, a French 
 helper came along, stopped and looked up at these ma- 
 jestic walls and admiringly exclaimed, "O, my, my! 
 Just look at these regular horizontal layers of variegated 
 stone of uniform thickness and length, running up from 
 the bottom to the top of these towering cliffs with as much 
 
AND THE PIONEER 299 
 
 regularity and harmony as the ruffles on a Parisian dam- 
 sel's petticoat. And see the beautiful roof " 
 
 "There, there," answered the geographer, "you will 
 be comparing that artistic roof to her Easter bonnet next ; 
 those graceful spires to the red feathers in her hat. Your 
 spontaneous similes are more happy than my best studied 
 efforts, but don't try to compare this with any messy 
 work of art, not even with the ruffles on a French dam- 
 sel's petticoat, or the crown of her Easter bonnet ; these 
 splendors are incomparable. They are blended here only 
 to be seen ; let's leave them here. What can be expected 
 of me, after the tongue, and brush and pen in much abler 
 hands, have dismally failed? All I can becomingly do, 
 is to lift my hat reverentially and pronounce this simple 
 benediction: 'The eye alone is capable of transmitting 
 the phantasmagora, produced by the blending of all these 
 scenic grandeurs to the sense of appreciation. This is the 
 nonpariel of mountain splendor; it is the gem in the 
 diadem of mountain scenic beauty.' ' 
 
 As the explorers and the Pilgrim and the Pioneer 
 were walking down Main street about seven o'clock in the 
 evening, they drifted upon a large crowd standing in the 
 street ; brilliant bonfires were blazing from different points 
 and the Judge was standing on a dry goods box trying to 
 persuade the people that he was the very person they 
 needed in the Senate. He flailed the Democratic party 
 until it was threadbare. After a talk of an hour and a 
 half, and just before entering upon a flowery and patriotic 
 peroration which he used in closing his speeches, the 
 Judge humbly apologized for keeping the crowd standing 
 out in the cold so long. The ever-present Daisy Dean 
 squeaked out, "Go on, Judge, go on; we can stand down 
 here as long as you can lie up there." The Democrats 
 
300 THE PILGRIM 
 
 howled and cheered and the Republicans jeered and hissed, 
 to the great discomfiture of the speaker. 
 
 However, he straightened up and started his grandil- 
 oquent peroration : 
 
 "My fellow citizens, when this campaign shall have 
 ended and I have returned to the to the to the 
 when I shall have returned to the family of my bosoms, 
 
 The audience broke into a hilarious shout, the speaker 
 became red in the face and said, "Now laugh if you think 
 you know better than I do what I wanted to say." He 
 recurred, "I say when I shall have returned to the 
 to the " 
 
 Another Democrat piped out : 
 
 "What about the carpet-baggers that the Republicans 
 are sending in here from the East to govern us ?" 
 
 This gave the desired opportunity for a diversion of 
 the speaker's mind to a new field, from the futile attempt 
 to cross the lost trail of his peroration; his troubled 
 face brightened into a cheerful, blazing glow, and he 
 sharply retorted that the few Democrats who can read 
 know that the National Republican platform provides for 
 appointment of residents of the territory. "But for the 
 benefit of the great masses of the unterrified, Bourbon 
 Democracy, who cannot read, I would say that they remind 
 me of the decision of the Irish arbiter in the notorious 
 turtle case, a few years ago. A Frenchman and a German 
 were drifting down a marsh in Florida and came upon a 
 huge turtle; amputating its head and turning it upon its 
 back, they waited for it to die before starting home with 
 it. The turtle persisted in working its feet and tail. 
 The German said, 'De turtle vas mit de knife his head 
 cut off, but he vos not go quick avay dead.' 
 
AND THE PIONEER 801 
 
 "The Frenchman said, 'Ze is dead; when ze great 
 electric battere of ze body ze brain, ez severed, death 
 ez necessarily contemporaneous.' 
 
 "And about this time Pat McGuire happened along. 
 Each stated his contention and asked Pat's opinion. 
 
 "Pat said, 'Yis, gintlemin, I'll be after giving yes 
 moi bist jidgment, so I will. This blarsted varmint is 
 dead, but it don't know it.' ' 
 
 Continued the speaker, "This is the condition of the 
 Democratic party in Colorado. The Democratic party 
 with carpet-bagism is dead, but it don't know it." 
 
 The Republicans shouted and screamed with joy while 
 their orator bowed himself from his crude rostrum and 
 started for his hotel. On the way he warned his friends 
 if they ever lost a peroration, for Heaven's sake grasp 
 immediately some associate incident to open the sealed 
 pigeon holes of memory, or weave in some apt epigram or 
 light story and close the scene. He said when he forgot 
 his prepared speech his mind actually ceased to work 
 as long as he held it on that subject, and that if some 
 Democratic friend had not come to his aid with a timely 
 question he would have floundered around and spoiled 
 his speech for lack of a set peroration. "Why, I sweat 
 blood while my mind was clogged, and as I had no associate 
 incident as a key to my locked memory my only remedy 
 was a resort to some other resource, and my interrupting 
 Democratic friend was a great benefactor instead of a 
 tormentor, as he intended to be." 
 
 Mr. Wickham felt perfectly safe when the expert 
 agreed to come out this way, regarding the possible in- 
 fluence of "back-cappers" here, and he thought certainly 
 no one here would divine the object of his visitor. But 
 alas! it was not long after breakfast before a gang was 
 
302 THE PILGRIM 
 
 following them and trying to get the expert to one side. 
 By prearrangement Mr. Wickham and Mr. Campbell 
 close-herded him; whenever any of the gang got up a 
 conversation with him one of the two staid by him. The 
 speculators watched till they all went to their rooms about 
 eleven o'clock at night, then one of the crowd went up 
 and knocked gently on the expert's door. It was quickly 
 opened. The visitor said he was a newspaper man and 
 would like a half column, or such a matter, of his im- 
 pressions of the country. The mining expert felt very 
 much flattered, talked freely, and the newspaper man 
 told him that the interview would be very valuable to 
 the people of the San Juan, and also to the owner of his 
 paper, and that he was very much indebted to him. As 
 he was giving him a good-night hand shake, he said, "By 
 the way, do you ever indulge in a nip?" The expert 
 answered, "Hocassionally hi do." The newspaper man 
 told him he had a friend just across the street that kept 
 some pure old Scotch whisky, and they would go over 
 and have a quiet drink. When they reached Hoskin's 
 saloon they were ushered into a back room and -the re- 
 porter seemed very much surprised to find Mr. Hinkley, 
 Mr. Oilfield, Mr. Johnson, and Mr. Cass, the men who 
 had been all day trying to inveigle the expert away from 
 Mr. Wickham. They cordially invited the newcomers 
 to-be seated and insisted that they join them in a drink. 
 The whole run of their conversation was about the fabulous 
 richness of the mines around Ouray and their sympathy 
 for places like Lake City and Henson Creek, which were 
 on the outer margin of .the mineral belt and had just 
 ore enough to make sanguine men spend fortunes there, 
 then go out of the country disgusted. The Englishman 
 seemed indifferent and took no part in the conversation 
 
AND THE PIONEER 303 
 
 and the intriguers felt sure he had discovered something 
 in the "wood pile/' or that some one had put him on to 
 them, and finally after taking a number of hot Scotches 
 and consuming a number of Havanas, Mr. Hinkley, the 
 most courageous one, concluded to make a spoon or spoil 
 the horn, and he was in the humor to do either. He started 
 in to give the mining expert a glowing description of the 
 Mineral Farm, told him that there was more than a 
 hundred thousand dollars worth of silver in sight, and that 
 Mr. Cass would take a hundred thousand dollars for the 
 claim, and warned him against Lake City and Henson 
 Creek, saying they were on the very margin of the mineral 
 belt. 
 
 The expert turned to Mr. Cass and retorted: "Hif 
 you 'ave such ha bloody good thing, why hare you so 
 hanxious to let hit go ?" 
 
 Mr. Cass replied that the altitude was too high 
 for him and that he had been climbing around on those 
 steep hillsides until one shoulder was a foot higher than 
 the other; that he wanted to get down to sea level and 
 straighten himself up. He said a hundred thousand dol- 
 lars was enough for him anyhow, was as much as he 
 could handle, and he was willing for those accustomed 
 to big things to make the balance. 
 
 The expert inquired: "His the mine hon the sunny 
 hor shaded side hof the 'ill ?" 
 
 Mr. Cass answered that about all of the claims were 
 on the shaded side, but all of their workings were on a 
 high knoll on the sunny side and that they expected 
 to work tunnels into the shaded side from here. Mr. 
 Hinkley continued: "It is only a mile and a half up 
 there ; I shall bring up a gentle horse in the morning and 
 we will go up and see it. We can get back before noon." 
 
304 THE PILGRIM 
 
 The expert answered: "No, no, I x would not go 
 hacross the street for hall the mines hon the shaded 
 side of the 'ill hon Cascade Creek. Hexcuse me from this 
 pleasant trip. Hi want no Mineral Farm hon the shaded 
 side hof the 'ill." 
 
 Irritated and discouraged, Mr. Hinkley sarcastically 
 replied : 
 
 " I , we have it at last, we have the real thing! 
 the expert with red leggins on, on the ground, sent from 
 a foreign land to report on the value of mines, who really 
 believes that silver grows on trees like persimmons. I 
 suppose you think, my Christian friend, that the old 
 women about sundown get buckets of water and sticks 
 and go to the silver plant beds and draw the scions as 
 you would cabbage plants, find a rich loajny place, make 
 holes with their sticks, put the silver plants in, water 
 them and squeeze the dirt tight around the roots, then 
 follow this up with the hoe and irrigation ditch till fall, 
 then go out and harvest the crop of silver as you would 
 a crop of luscious grapes? This is not called the 'Min- 
 eral Farm' because you have to plow, hoe, or irrigate the 
 silver crop, but because Mr. Cass found a good group 
 of veins here covering forty acres of ground, or enough 
 for a good farm, and symbolized the territory with this 
 indicative name. You need not be afraid to go up there. 
 Mr. Cass hasn't a yoke of leviathans and a colossal plow 
 to which he might impress your services, neither will he 
 put you to irrigating the silver plants or clearing the 
 jungle that the sunlight may dissolve and disseminate 
 the stimulating carbonic acid in his silver orchard. We 
 neither clear the jungle nor irrigate the silver mines here, 
 even if some of them are called farms. I have heard old 
 
AND THE PIONEER 305 
 
 pioneers say experts were sent here in early days that did 
 not know a mine from a mill-site, but you are the original 
 expert who teaches that irrigation and sunshine are essen- 
 tial to the development of a silver mine, or I might say 
 you are the first expert we have entertained that does not 
 know a mine from a cabbage patch. The miners of Ouray 
 should build a monument over your tomb and place on 
 your headstone: 'The pioneer in the irrigation and culti- 
 vation of mining claims.' ' 
 
 The Englishman said, "Hi ham not so sure hof the 
 force hof your logic has hi ham hof your hirony. Why 
 his hit that so many mines 'ave been barren huntil water 
 his reached, hif mineral claims do not require hirrigation ? 
 Why his hit that so many hof the great mines hof Nor- 
 way, Germany, North and South Hamerica hare hunder 
 water, hif flooding does not benefit mineral claims? 
 Does not water 'ave ha beneficial haffect hon the sea salts 
 hand hacids that so stimulates hand gathers silver hinto 
 the bug holes hand crevices ? The 'eat hand light hof the 
 sun his quite mysterious. Why does the 'ouse plant pro- 
 duce hits best flowers hon the side next to the window, 
 hif the sunlight hon vegetation does not beneficially 
 haffect hit ? Hin many ways hit has a more mysterious haf- 
 fect hon the mineral kingdom. Put ha lump hof common 
 table salt hin ha glass hof water. Set the glass hout hin 
 the sun hand halmost himmediately salt crystals begin to 
 form, but why hargue this further. Hi will hask hagain 
 why should not the 'eat and light hof the sun 'ave ha 
 material haffect hin converting the cruder minerals hinto 
 silver ? You reply, 'Ow can you prove hit ?' Hi say, 
 "See which side hof the 'ill your pay mines hare hon.' ' 
 
 The next morning the mining expert took the out- 
 
 THK PILGRIM. 20 
 
306 THE PILGRIM 
 
 going coach for home. He told Mr. Wickham before 
 he left that he could not advise his client to buy the 
 Kuklux mine because "Hit was hon the shaded side hof 
 the 'ill, you know." 
 
 The Pioneer looked about him for a moment, 
 then muttered to himself, "A few more wild escapades 
 like this would not only soften and fill the old creases in 
 my brain, but would start others in new places." 
 
 The defeat of the sale of the Kuklux by the "back- 
 capper" seemed to depress him and render him more quiet 
 and sedate. The "Holy Creed" was not working well. 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 CROSSING SNEFFLES RANGE. 
 
 The Pioneer had spent a restless night. Before 
 rising from his bed he said, "Mr. Campbell, I am loath 
 to retrace my steps just yet. I should like to go further 
 among these cloud-capped peaks and try to harmonize 
 my physical with my mental self. The tyrannical mind 
 arrogantly persists in obtruding melancholy, pessimistic 
 thoughts about the bygones of a misspent past, through 
 the ramifications of a wearied and protesting brain, with 
 such a monotonous persistency, that when the cells of this 
 jaded organ collapse, the parasitic hosts are invited to 
 occupy the degenerate parts so that replacement is well 
 nigh impossible. The nervous, abnormal mind is like a 
 howling mob ; it will obey no command to halt, but may 
 be diverted to some other exciting feat. Let's push on into 
 the untamed wilds on a little brain-scattering and foot- 
 hardening expedition. It will be a mutual benefit." Mr. 
 Campbell assented. At six o'clock the chiming of many 
 bells called the 'guests to the hotel windows. Hundreds 
 of little jacks and jennies, called in this country "bur- 
 ros," were loaded with provisions, Spanish-fashion, baled- 
 hay, lumber, iron rods, track iron, etc., and were being 
 prodded up toward the range by individuals designated 
 here as burro-punchers. About one out of every dozen 
 burros had a bell on and led a division. These little 
 fellows carry an average of 200 pounds each, or ten of 
 them carry a ton, and they have been as invaluable in 
 
 (307) 
 
308 THE PILGRIM 
 
 the development of the mines in the precipitous Rocky 
 Mountains as the dromedary has been in the development 
 of the arid regions of the Orient. 
 
 These indispensable burros have a little frame called 
 a pack-saddle buckled upon their backs, covered with rings 
 and ropes with which to tie the load securely, with a 
 crupper under the tail and a breast strap attached to the 
 front of the saddle, so the load cannot slip. 
 Many of these little animals were loaded that morning 
 with long iron bars and lumber from twelve to fifteen 
 feet long. One end of these bars and lumber is fastened 
 to the side of the saddle, about an equal amount on each 
 side, and the burro walks between the boards or bars 
 of iron, one end of the same dragging after him on the 
 ground, to the general terror of passing horses and sensi- 
 tive human ears. 
 
 These useful packers are rarely fed at night or at 
 other times. When idle they are turned out on the hills 
 or in the towns to hustle for a living. They will hang 
 around back doors and eat scraps like dogs. 
 
 About seven o'clock A. M. the Judge campaigning 
 for the senate, Dr. Hawley, Mr. Campbell, Mr. Wickham, 
 and two courageous women, mounted on the backs of 
 faithful bronchos, or mountain ponies, and headed for 
 Telluride. The air was clear, sharp, and dry, and the trail 
 was very steep, narrow, and rough up Cascade Creek, but 
 these little ponies glided along at a good clip until they 
 caught up with the train of burros with their jingling 
 bells and the scraping and dragging of the boards and 
 iron bars over the ground and rough rocks. TJie riders 
 could not get the horses in the neighborhood of them, 
 much less past them, but even if their ponies had not been 
 afraid of this burro-train they could not have gotten ahead 
 
AND THE PIONEER 309 
 
 of them for miles because of the narrowness of the trail. 
 The party climbed around the precipitous trail and finally 
 reached Porter's^ the supply point for the great Virginia 
 group of mines. Between here and the summit it is very 
 steep, and in many places the trail was a sheet of ice. 
 They alighted and led their horses. About half way up 
 the steep hill, just before reaching the summit, Dr. Haw- 
 ley's horse slipped off the trail and tumbled over and over 
 until he reached comparatively smooth ground a hundred 
 feet below. He was so badly crippled that he could not 
 go on. He was relieved of saddle and briddle and turned 
 out to look after himself. When they reached the sum- 
 mit of the famous Mount Sneffles range, so named for 
 Prof. Sneffles of the Hayden Geological Survey, they could 
 truly say that they were standing in the midst of a cluster 
 of the richest mines in the world. Just behind them were 
 the Terrible, the Monongahela, and the famous Virginia 
 group ; a little to their left the Matchless, and the Camp- 
 bird group; in front of them the Sheridan TJnion, Men- 
 dota, Tom Boy, Cimarron, and many other valuable mines 
 in the Virginius, Tmogene and Marshall basins. 
 
 The altitude at this point is from 13000 to 14000 
 feet above sea level, thereby rendering the air so light 
 and devoid of oxygen that it makes one weak, light-headed, 
 and short of breath, and several of the party bled at the 
 nose. From here their pace down the trail was gauged 
 by the footman for the first two miles and after this by 
 a long burro-train loaded with ore from the Sheridan. 
 Each of these little animals had 200 pounds of ore, a 
 100 pound sack fastened on each side of his 
 saddle. They are so inclined to fight and crowd for the 
 possession of the trail, that the bronchos did not feel safe 
 in trying to crowd around them on the narrow path. 
 
310 THE PILGRIM 
 
 Early in the afternoon they reached Pandora, the head 
 of San Miguel River, one and a half miles above Tel- 
 luride. It was a most bright and sunny day and only a 
 little after noon, but no sun was in sight. They asked 
 a resident if the sun did not shine upon the people of 
 Pandora as well as upon other people in Colorado. He 
 answered : 
 
 "No, we do not get our part of God's sunshine, but 
 I do not know who else can help us. The sun will have 
 to be raised or the cliffs lowered to relieve us. We have 
 but little sunshine in this dark gorge now, and during 
 the shortest days in the year, but thirty minutes during 
 any one day." 
 
 From this point for four miles down the river, in- 
 cluding the town-site of Tellur'ide, the ground is compar- 
 atively level, furnishing fine mill-sites and building- 
 sites. South of Pandora is a most beautiful water-fall, with 
 chaste bridal veils and towering cliffs on either side. 
 Telluride has been from its first location one of the best 
 mining towns in the West, and has always been self-sus- 
 taining from the products of its mines, farms, and ranges. 
 It, like all of these mining towns, is surrounded by gi- 
 gantic mountains of great beauty and has a splendid class 
 of cultivated and intelligent citizens. 
 
 A large crowd met the Judge at the south margin 
 of the town and escorted him to the American House, 
 where they all put up for the night. 
 
 A temporary stand was erected at the corner near 
 the hotel, a large crowd gathered at 7 :30 in the evening, 
 and the Judge was introduced. He showed from the be- 
 ginning that he was desperate. There was no stopping 
 or diversion tonight from the prearranged line of argu- 
 ment, for the purpose of sympathizing with freezing 
 
AND THE PIONEER 311 
 
 auditors as he had done the night before in Ouray, thus 
 spoiling his set speech. He started in by saying : "Ladies 
 and gentlemen, I, with three other gentlemen and two 
 ladies, have ridden across this knife blade trail from Ouray 
 and am somewhat tired, but I want to say in passing 
 that any woman who will ride over that knife blade trail 
 once, ought to go to Heaven without any further qualifica- 
 tion; and any man who will ride over this trail twice 
 
 ought to go to on general principles." 
 
 The crowd yelled and whooped and so inspired the 
 candidate that mind and memory held up bright and 
 sparkling from prelude to peroration, and he made a 
 great oratorical effort. 
 
 After the speaking the politicians took the Judge 
 from saloon to saloon, and he treated the crowd, and by 
 easy gradations the people were becoming comparatively 
 tipsy. About twelve o'clock the crowd reached the hotel, 
 which had a bar attachment. The candidate and others 
 were introduced and he gave his last treat of the evening 
 to the semi-intoxicated crowd; among the introduc- 
 tions John Taylor, of Silverton, was introduced to 
 John Taylor, of Paradox Valley. They instantly 
 trumped up a kinship, each tracing his lineage back to a 
 famous hero of the common name. They took another 
 drink on the new discovery, then almost doubled in one an- 
 other's arms. 
 
 John Taylor of Paradox Valley said to John 
 Taylor of Silverton, "John, we are going to have a 
 fair down at Paradox next week; come down and make 
 a speech." 
 
 John Taylor, of Silverton, with a sneer, answered: 
 "What do I want to make a speech for? I made all of 
 
312 THE PILGRIM 
 
 my speeches for glory when I was a young man. It takes 
 cash to get talk out of me now." 
 
 "Then come down and see the fair without making 
 a speech. We have fine fairs down there." 
 
 "I don't want to see your little fair. I at- 
 tended one of those little cross-roads fairs down in Ala- 
 bama once, and they didn't have anything but one big 
 pumpkin and a big Durham bull, and the bull got loose, 
 ate up the pumpkin, and broke up the fair." 
 
 John Taylor of Paradox indignantly arose, walked 
 into the office, told the crowd that there was not 
 "a single drop of Zachariah Taylor's blood in that 
 fellow's veins. He's an imposter, a part of the poor 
 possum-eating white trash of the white crawfish beds of 
 Alabama, where there is neither good blood nor good 
 breeding. The negroes would not associate with him down 
 there. That fellow is the very trashiest of the poor 
 white trash found in the blackjack thickets, where the 
 ground is so poor that it won't sprout a 'goober pea.' He's 
 no kinfolks of mine I'll tell you." 
 
 Mr. Wickham and Mr. Campbell were assigned one 
 bed in the parlor, Mr. Joh,n Taylor of Silverton the 
 other bed in the parlor, and Mrs. Eugene West of Silver- 
 ton, a friend of Mr. Taylor's, a room opening into the 
 parlor. 
 
 Mr. Taylor and Mr. West had volunteered to 
 pilot the Pilgrim and the Pioneer over the mountain 
 trail by way of Ames and Ophir the next morning, on their 
 way home. The travelers mutually agreed to get up at 
 7 o'clock A. M., eat their breakfast and hurry off. About 
 one o'clock A. M. Mr. West suggested that they retire. 
 All consented except Mr. Taylor, who insisted that 
 they were in the shank of the evening and that he would 
 
AND THE PIONEER 313 
 
 go over and chance a few spots on the faro table, then he 
 would follow, and suggested to Mr. Wickham that he 
 leave a light burning. The building had an open stair- 
 way going up from the street. All of the party except 
 Mr. Taylor retired and went to sleep. 
 
 A little after dawn the next morning, Mr. Taylor 
 came staggering in, found his bed occupied, stood over 
 the occupant, and said : "This is an imposition. I paid 
 for this bed. T come to it and find a man in it as big as a 
 horse." 
 
 The man began to jabber, swing his arms, and try to 
 get up to fight; but poor fellow! he staid with the poli- 
 ticians too long last night ; he can't make it. 
 
 Mr. Taylor stood like a leaning statue over him as 
 he struggled, and said, "Yes, you usurper you, turn over 
 again." 
 
 He then walked over to the door leading into 
 Mr. West's room, and knocking on the door, said, "O, 
 Eugene!" The nervous reply rang out, "Yes, yes, I 
 will get up right away. Is it seven o'clock ?" 
 
 "Seven o'clock, thunder. I want to go to bed. I 
 find a stranger in my bed as big as a horse. T don't 
 want to get in with him. How do T know but that he 
 would inoculate me with some loathsome disease. T want 
 to sleep with you." 
 
 Mr. West opened the door. Mr. Taylor walked 
 in, undressed, then came back into the parlor and looked 
 on the piano, in the closet, around the bed and every- 
 where, like a superstitious old woman hunting a ghost or 
 a bad man in the room, and at last in disgust he went 
 back and leaned over the stranger and said, "Yes, you 
 usurper, you were not satisfied with getting into 
 my bed, but you had to get into my night-shirt, eh ?" 
 
314 THE PILGRIM 
 
 The drunken man began to jabber, swing his limber 
 arms, and try to rise, but he was harmless. With a con- 
 temptuous grating of the teeth Mr. Taylor said : 
 
 "Yes, turn over again, you usurper." 
 
 This command and the accusation were a little too 
 far fetched as the poor limber fellow had not recently 
 turned over and could not turn over, and he had not 
 pulled off his mining boots, let alone hunting for a soft, 
 clean night-shirt, but poor Mr. Taylor's eyes were so 
 blurred that he could not distinguish a silk night-shirt 
 from a canvas overcoat. 
 
 Mr. Taylor went to bed with Mr. West, but 
 in a very short time the clerk knocked on the doors, and 
 said, "It is seven o'clock." 
 
 Mr. Taylor got up, came back in the parlor, found 
 his valise and night-shirt untouched, went up and 
 leaned over his tormentor and said, sneeringly, "Yes, you 
 usurpers, there are two of you, are there? Ah, ha! you 
 doubled-teamed on me, did you ? When I made that bold, 
 bad break here last night, I thought I was talking to 
 one lone, solitary individual." 
 
 The drunken man struggled to arise, but he was not 
 equal to the task. Mr. Taylor, in contempt, said : 
 
 "Yes, turn over again you usurper." He 
 went to the office and complained about their giving up 
 his bed to others. 
 
 The clerk indignantly denied having done any such 
 1;hing and said, "Now, you wait till I come back." The 
 clerk tripped up stairs and down again, and slipping up 
 to the side of Mr. Taylor and his friend, said : 
 
 "Sh , that is the desperate Pat O'Shea, a former 
 lieutenant of General Mosby. He was the most fearless 
 
AND THE PIONEER 315 
 
 and desperate character in his command, and he has 
 with him a desperate chum. They go loaded down with 
 six-shooters and dirk knives, and as soon as they get sober 
 enough to handle themselves, if they should hear you had 
 said a thing about their wandering up there, they would 
 cut your tongue out with their butcher knives." 
 
 "Then it behooves me to take a cup of coffee and 
 shake the dust of Telluride from my feet before king 
 alcohol takes his hobbles off their limbs. Say clerk, you 
 tell them I said I was glad they occupied my bed, as I 
 was out all night in a little game of draw and I did not 
 need or want it, any way." 
 
CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 THE LITTLE SALAMANDER. 
 
 At eight o'clock, as per agreement, the travelers 
 moved off down the San Miguel River for a mile and a 
 half, then across the high grassy mesa to Ames, Ophir, 
 Trout Lake, and Lizzard Head, on to Rico on the Dolores 
 River, and to Mancos Canon. 
 
 When they reached the summit of the high, grassy 
 mesa ahout 9,000 feet above sea level, they stopped at a 
 well equipped, round pole ranch house to get a drink of 
 water, and were surprised to see what they grew there 
 in the way of fodder and vegetables. There were oat-stalks 
 six feet high, timothy to their armpits, barley waist high, 
 and cabbage, turnips, raddishes, and other hardy vege- 
 tables almost as sweet,brittle,and juicy as Michigan apples ; 
 the mesa was covered with a luxuriant crop of nutritious 
 bunch-grass, and while it looked like a cold, bleak, and 
 lonesome place to live, the people seemed contented and 
 happy. They said : 
 
 "This ground and these cows are all paid for and 
 this is our home." 
 
 What a sweet thought! What an expressive word, 
 even under these hard environments ! 
 
 They soon climbed around Ames and up to Ophir. 
 Every one here had his pockets loaded with glittering 
 gold specimens, and all had prospects to sell, and all of 
 them seemed to feel certain that this was the best gold 
 mining camp in the Rocky Mountains. They have many 
 things to back up such a belief. However, the thing that 
 
 (317) 
 
318 THE PILGRIM 
 
 most attracted their attention was the beautiful Trout 
 Lake set in the top of this lofty mountain 10,000 feet 
 above the sea level, like a great solitaire jewel, and studded 
 with the high peaks on the east, and Mount Wilson 
 on the west. The lake is a mile long by a half mile 
 wide and of an unfathomed depth. Enthusiastic anglers 
 were around the margin, landing the beautiful trout on 
 every side. This splendid body of water, large enough 
 to float a warship, is severed from all possibility of fish 
 passing between lake and waters below by some precipitous 
 falls, and Mr. Wickham asked the most natural question, 
 "When and how did these fish get into this lake?" 
 
 An old, gray-headed angler asked: 
 
 "Will you allow a Maine Yankee to answer you by 
 asking a question ?" 
 
 "O, certainly." 
 
 "Then," said the old man, "tell me when and how 
 the fish got into the oceans ?" 
 
 Mr. Wickham replied : "If we take the Bible view, 
 God put them in ; if we take the view of Huxley, Tyndall, 
 and others, certain conditions in nature evolved them." 
 
 The old man scratched his head and suggested, "I 
 am no Bible scholar, but if God did make these fish 
 and scatter them around on the fifth day of that big 
 week's job, and I believe he retired from the animal in- 
 dustry and work as a common day laborer after that week 
 then why shouldn't he have flipped a handful into Trout 
 Lake while he was throwing them thousands of miles 
 around him into the big oceans ? Or who knows but that 
 when he started to toss a big shovelful into the mighty 
 oceans on Mars, some sixty million miles away, that a few 
 might not have slipped off his shovel and fallen back into 
 Trout Lake ? Now, I don't know nothing about 'Huxter,' 
 
AND THE PIONEER 319 
 
 'Tyddell,' 'Darnell & Co./ because I've got no book lam- 
 ing, but I have some horse sense and that tells me to ask 
 if these scabs have chisseled God out of his job of making 
 and distributing fish, and they just take a little hot mud. 
 without father, mother, seed, egg or anything else, and 
 make these fish on the ground, then what is the matter 
 with Trout Lake mud? Or, are they and God like the 
 legislature, just got time enough to look after the big 
 ponds and the big fish ? Now, sir, I'd like to know what 
 trail you think these fish came in on?" With an under- 
 shot, and a wink of his left eye to his brother Anglers, 
 he set himself with self-satisfaction to see Mr. Wickham 
 untie some of these zoological knots. 
 
 "Well, really, my friend/' replied the Pioneer, "I 
 am not much of a naturalist or scientist, but I should say, 
 in all probability, some wild goose or wild duck, ages ago, 
 in wadding around in the hatching grounds in some of 
 the streams below got some of the spawn or fish-eggs on or 
 tangled in their web feet, flew up here, shed them, and they 
 hatched in the lake ; or perchance some kingfisher or other 
 bird grasped a live fish below, flew up here and lost it 
 in the lake in time for the water to resuscitate it; these 
 are my crude ideas, but I don't know, I am sure." 
 
 The old man winked at the anglers, pulled his line 
 out of the water, then turned and looked squarely in the 
 face of Mr. Wickham, and inquired: "And how did 
 the fish get into the lakes on top of Grand Mesa and the 
 others, miles and miles from fish streams ? How did they 
 get into these streams ? You may say they came up from 
 Grand River; then I would ask, 'Where did those in the 
 Grand come from?' You would say, 'From the Green;' 
 then I would say, 'Where did those in the Green come 
 from?' You would say, 'From the Colorado;' I would 
 
320 % THE PILGRIM 
 
 ask, 'Where did they come from?' You would answer, 
 'From the Gulf of California. 7 I would ask, 'Where did 
 those in the Gulf come from?' You would reply, 'From 
 the ocean.' Then we would be back to my first question, 
 how and when were the fish put into the ocean \ which 
 you have not answered. I say there are no speckled 
 mountain trout in any of the big rivers, gulf, or ocean." 
 
 Mr. Wickham continued: "My individual opinion 
 in the great economy of nature is that under certain con- 
 ditions certain animals evolve, and under other conditions 
 they ae transformed irom one grade to another, the ten- 
 dency being for the ascension towards the higher type." 
 
 "Now, partner," answered the old man: "You have 
 really said something; that's my doctrine to a 'T.' Over 
 in the Montezuma Valley I have had a real experimental 
 station. When the Indians were moved out of there I 
 went down and got me a ranch. A company built a big 
 canal around the hill just above it. There was a big basin 
 covering about six acres of my ground, full of alkali and 
 covered with grease wood, and nothing else would grow 
 there. The water seeped from the ditch into this basin 
 and it was as clear as crystal at first, but when the sun 
 got right hot and that water became rotten-like, it became 
 literally black with tadpoles. I used to watch them swim 
 with their long tails and breathe through their gills just 
 like so many fish, and by and by legs sprouted at the root 
 of their tails and seemed to absorb all the nutriment of 
 the body that wandered back that away, and their tails 
 just rotted off. Then the gills disappeared and those ani- 
 mals went ashore and just changed from water to land 
 animals." 
 
 " 'That was edolution,' suggested Dr. Cady. 
 
 " 'Edolution you foot !' he said, 'it's a fact' ! Then I 
 
AND THE PIONEER 321 
 
 went down to the lower end with my scythe one day to 
 cut some cat-tails, and the whole bottom of the lake was 
 covered with little animals about six or eight inches long; 
 they were dark and spotted, and just the image of these 
 mountain trout I just called Martha down and said, 
 'Look a-here, I golly, weVe got a million of fish in this 
 pond;' and we admired them awhile, then I shot my 
 scythe into the water, and drew one ashore, and behold 
 he had legs. I took him over to Dr. Cady, and he got down 
 his books and said: 'Zoologists call that a water-dog or 
 little salamander, but/ said he, 'that looks more like a 
 fish than any one I have ever seen ; in fact if he did not 
 have those feet I should call him a fish. When they are 
 young they breathe with gills and swim like a fish and 
 they change and reproduce injured parts as rapidly as a 
 fast growing tree. If a foot is cut off it grows right back ; 
 put an eye out, a new one grows; cut one's tail off and a 
 new one grows on. It would not take much of a stretch 
 of the imagination to presume that this very pliable little 
 animal might be converted into a mountain trout' ' : 
 
 "I said: 'Look a-here, doctor, I have a suspicion 
 that under some conditions of the water and heat, this 
 fellow makes a fish. If you have noticed, the mountain 
 trout has its color, it is sleek and without scales just like 
 this salamander, as you call it, and when you cut open 
 this trout you can just take hold of the tail and lift the 
 back bone from it with the little projecting bones on each 
 side like a coarse comb, and then there is not another 
 bone in it. Its bones are just as I would imagine this 
 fellow's carcass looks.' ' 
 
 "Dr. Cady opened his book and said, 'See here, 
 Bob, Mr. Huxter vol page has two pictures here which 
 look just like big links of sausage and one of these is a 
 
322 THE PILGRIM 
 
 pup in the formative state, and the other a child in the 
 formative state; he held his finger over the names and 
 said, 'Guess which is the pup and which the child.' 
 
 "I said: 'If one's a pup, tother's a pup, because 
 they are just the same.' 
 
 "He answered: 'No; one of these is a pup and 
 the other is a child, and they are exactly alike in the 
 early period. See, here, Bob, here is a lot of buds 
 on this young body, and each leg, ear, eye, etc., is like a 
 dim eye of a potato, and these limbs grow out just like 
 
 the buds and limbs of a tree, and here at page Mr. 
 
 Huxter says, Human beings, pups, chickens, fish, and 
 everything come from eggs on the same principle, except 
 in one case the egg is laid, then warmed into a living 
 animal by the mother sitting on it, by the sun, hot 
 water, etc., and in the other the egg develops in the mother 
 and is retained and warmed into a living animal, but in 
 both cases the egg principle prevails.' ' 
 
 "Says, I, 'Look a-here, doctor, I don't care what Mr. 
 Huxter or any one else says, but I just feel that rotten 
 water and hot sun somehow made these salamanders and 
 tadpoles change from one thing to another, and the tails 
 on these tadpoles are rotting off and they are becoming 
 beautiful frogs; here's one of your buds which grows off 
 instead of out, and the salamander sheds its skin once a 
 week, then swallows it, thereby identifying the species 
 that occasionally turns itself outside in;' ' 
 
 "Doctor Cady answered: The buds of the oak-twig 
 come out as the tadpole tail does, grow up to be a mighty 
 oak, which sheds its old limbs, rejuvenates itself and 
 throws out new limbs just as your tadpole does.' 
 
 " ' Yes,' said I, 'the limbs of the mighty oak do 
 rot and fall off like the tails of the tadpoles, and it be- 
 
AND THE PIONEER 323 
 
 comes rejuvenated, but it is still an oak and continues to 
 bear acorns; it is not converted into a fig tree as the tad- 
 pole is into the frog; I really believe a certain con- 
 dition of this water would produce the mountain trout, 
 and I am suspicious of the shape, color, size, etc., of these 
 salamanders. If they would shed their legs I am afraid 
 I should be eating them.' 
 
 "Dr. Cady answered : 'Well, Bob, it was an unhappy 
 illustration that I made. I mixed zoology with bot- 
 tomry, and they are hardly mixable. I should have said 
 the shedding of the tadpole's tail was a mere matter of 
 edolution.' 
 
 "I replied, 'Edolution be darned, it really took place.' 
 
 " 'O,' said the doctor, 'I meant that zoology referred 
 to the animal kingdom, and bottomry to the vegetable.' 
 
 "I replied, 'Now, look a-here, doctor, I can show you 
 something just as wonderful about bottomry as you call it.' 
 
 "Said I, 'Before that basin had that 'ere water leaked 
 in there, that dry parched ground made grease wood grow 
 fine and healthy, but not a blade of grass. After this water 
 staid in there a few months, and the ditch was shut down 
 three months to repair, the water dried up, the grease 
 wood all died, because it is supported by grease in the 
 ground, and water kills it, and fox-tail grass grew up there 
 until it looked like a great barley field. When they 
 finished repairing the ditch and put just a little water in 
 it, it seeped just enough in my lake to wet my feet when 
 walking over it. In six mouths, says I, every stalk of 
 that fox-tail grass rotted and a stand of good wire grass 
 grew all over that lake as thick as the hair on a dog's 
 back, and I cut a ton and a half of hay off every acre; 
 that 'ere ground sunk a foot. I ditched the water around 
 onto the lower end, plowed the upper end and made a 
 
324 THE PILGRIM 
 
 spanking crop of potatoes, and don't you know within six 
 months the wire grass dried out and cat-tails came up as 
 thick as wheat in a field, where the water stood constantly 
 in the lower end.' 
 
 "Dr. Cady said, 'According to the science of 
 bottomry, seed must have washed or blown in there or 
 you couldn't have had them three grasses ?' 
 
 "I said, 'Now, look a-here, doctor, that water came 
 from the snow banks just above, right through the soil 
 where there is not a bunch of fox-tail, wire grass or cat- 
 tails, and there was no place for them to blow from,' and 
 I said, 'Look here, doctor, suppose we had put water on 
 every acre in Montezuma Valley just as I did on my six 
 acres, and that the fox-tail, wire grass, and cat-tails should 
 have followed one another like they did in my place; if 
 they came from seed it would take a million bushels of 
 seed,' and I said, 'Now, doctor, you look at your bot- 
 tomry books and see why the adobe flats near Montrose 
 are covered with fox-tail grass ; at Chief Ouray's place four 
 miles south, there are hundreds of acres of thick, wire 
 grass; five miles above there, just as thick a crop of blue 
 stem ; and from a few miles above there to this point, the 
 country is covered with bunch grass when none of it has 
 been sowed or watered ?' Says I, 'It is the conditions of 
 the soil, the amount of moisture, the elevation, etc., that 
 causes the change from one kind to another, and some 
 favorable condition produces these grasses without what we 
 call grass seed.' 
 
 "I told Dr. Cady that I believed I could get a patent 
 on reclaiming this here 'grease wood' ground, from my 
 experience with that bottom and with these grasses and 
 crops. 
 
 "These 'grease wood' bushes thrive, without water, 
 
AND THE PIONEER 325 
 
 from the grease and alkali in the soil, and nothing else 
 will grow under these special conditions. If you will keep 
 pouring water constantly over that ground for from twelve 
 to eighteen months it will dissolve, kill and wash out so 
 much of the grease and alkali that the 'grease wood' will 
 die, a crop of fox-tail will come up and die, and the puffy, 
 heavily-alkalied soil will run together, sink down mate- 
 rially, develop a heavy crop of wire grass good for 
 pasture or hay, and then the ground may be plowed up 
 and cultivated." 
 
 "You haven't much faith in. book-men, I see," said 
 Mr. Wickham. 
 
 "Now, partner, you guessed it the first shot, for that's 
 what I don't, and I'll tell you why. Some eastern men 
 are constantly sending young chaps, just out of school, to 
 examine our mines. They bring their books and magni- 
 fying glasses, and really make your head ache with their 
 jaw-breaking words. If we have a poor mine we are 
 always glad to see them fellows come as they are about 
 as liable to make a favorable report on a poor mine as on 
 a good one, but if we have a good claim we want some 
 good, practical miner who knows a good mine when he 
 sees it and will state the facts." 
 
 Just at this time Old John, a stuttering liveryman 
 from Del Norte, came riding up. All this time, every 
 few minutes, some one was landing a speckled beauty. A 
 resident said to him, "These are the greatest fishing 
 grounds in the state." 
 
 Old John said : "Pshaw, I have caught th-th-them so 
 f-f-fast in th-the Eio Grande th-th-that it 1- 
 left a dry hole i-in the b-b-bottom of the river." 
 
 The Pilgrim and the Pioneer hurried around Liz- 
 ard Head a towering, isolated peak, reaching towards 
 
326 THE PILGRIM 
 
 the clouds, so designated by the government explorers be- 
 cause it was tipped with a symmetrical brown-stone statue 
 of a huge lizard. 
 
 They here came upon an old miner working on a gold 
 claim in close proximity to a big lump of yellow snow 
 which looked as if it had lain there for ages. They asked 
 the old man how long that snow had been there. He 
 said: "Some of it always, I reckon. It snows here any 
 time it takes the notion. The worst snow storm I have 
 been caught out in this year was on the 4th of last July." 
 
 The Pilgrim suggested, "Is that not the place you 
 old-timers tell us tenderfeet about where we can gather 
 flowers with one hand and make snow-balls with the 
 other?" 
 
 "Yes, this is the very spot," said the old man. He 
 dropped his shovel, went to the upper end of the snow- 
 heap, reached out with one hand and gathered some bine 
 flags and columbines, and at the same time squeezed an 
 icy snow-ball with the other. 
 
 "That is very strange," said Mr. Campbell, "but 
 it is the real thing." 
 
 "ISTo/ it is not strange when you understand the 
 philosophy of it. Ice freezes here every night in the year, 
 and yet, in mid-summer, there is a perfect carpet of wild 
 flowers. The ordinary frost or freeze is not injurious to 
 these hardy varieties. The snow lies in shady nooks all 
 through the year. The air here is so rarefied that it holds 
 no perceptible moisture, and therefore it cannot absorb 
 any of the heat of the sun, hence its rays go through 
 the air unobstructed into the earth, or into your hands 
 or face, if it can get at you, and will bake you brown, 
 or blister you, quicker than it will in a tropical or semi- 
 
AND THE PIONEER 327 
 
 tropical climate. The air, not being capable of absorb- 
 ing the heat of the sun, cannot become hot or even warm, 
 hence the snow will melt only where the rays of the sun 
 can pierce it. That which is protected in the shaded 
 nooks never melts; but where the sun's rays pierce the 
 earth, flowers burst forth, and where the shaded and 
 sunny spots are found in such close proximity, you will 
 find the snow and the flowers. For this reason it is never 
 hot in the shade in a dry, rarefied atmosphere, where the 
 air does not get hot, and for the same reason the nights 
 are very cool ; and the nights nearly always being clear, 
 the earth's crust cools off very quickly after the sun goes 
 down. The sun's rays are as hot in Colorado as they are 
 in Louisiana or Florida, but the air is not hot here and 
 on the hottest day in the year in the hottest part of Colo- 
 rado, one will be comfortable in the shade, or at night." 
 
 The travelers rode on, over and down a large grassy 
 hill to the Dolores River and followed this stream into 
 Rico, a chaste little mining town, inclosed with a wealth 
 of rich, green spruce and pine trees, and perched on a 
 mesa 100 feet above and overlooking the Dolores River. 
 
 Every one about the hotels had his pockets loaded 
 with silver and lead specimens, and all had silver or lead 
 prospects for sale. 
 
 After supper an old white-haired miner pulled his 
 chair up to Mr. Campbell, drew out of his pocket a hand- 
 ful of silver specimens and a magnifying glass, and said : 
 "Here, young man; you look like you have considerable 
 book larnin', and I suspect you are a kind of a metal- 
 lurgist or mining expert from the kind of clothes you wear 
 and the way you cut your whiskers. !N"ow, take this here 
 glass and look down in that 'ere bug hole and you'll see 
 
328 THE PILGRIM 
 
 it is just lousy with brittle silver and sulphurets, and runs 
 away up yander, and these other two pieces are taken 
 from within five feet of where I got that, and on each side 
 of it, and they have nothing in them. Now, I want to 
 tell you how this is. Up here on Nigger Baby Hill, 
 the veins cross one another like this, 
 and the ore is richer than Croesus, 
 right where the veins intersect, and it 
 
 ; i 
 
 is poorer than a church mouse in every part of the mines 
 except at this point. I can see how, at this juncture 
 of these veins, we might find more ore than elsewhere, 
 and as rich as found in the best one, but can't under- 
 stand how all of the veins on this hill are rich where 
 there is an intersection with another vein, and poor every- 
 where else." 
 
 Mr. Campbell answered that he did not pretend to 
 be a mineralogist, but asked: "May not the juncture of 
 these two veins bring together such ores as make a com- 
 pound augmenting crystallization ; or, is it not probable 
 that the union of these two veins, being the hub of the 
 wheel, as it were, or a common center, would have a 
 greater opportunity to become the depository of these 
 rich minerals, than would the spokes of the wheel, if 
 veins gather their minerals from the surrounding rock ? 
 Or, if it comes up in molten matter from toward the 
 center of the earth, would not this center, or check, where 
 the rock is cut both ways, have a superior opportunity 
 of obtaining a deep, rich draft ? However, I do not pre- 
 tend to know anything about such things, even if this 
 has been a scientific day with us. We attended a lecture 
 this morning on zoology, one on botany, and one on meteor- 
 
AND THE PIONEER 329 
 
 ology, and here I am trying to deliver one on mineralogy, 
 a subject I know nothing about." 
 
 "Well," replied the old man, "you made a blamed 
 good stagger for one who makes no pretense. You talk 
 a darned sight better horse-sense than most of them 
 fellows that come in here wearing clothes and whiskers 
 like you do. I can understand what you say, and there's 
 a darned sight of good sense in it, but the most of them 
 fellows, when you ask them a question like I did you, 
 just touch a button and the big, jaw-breaking words begin 
 to fly head first, tail first, back first, and stomach first, 
 all in a heap, and so many of them that you can't remem- 
 ber all of them to go to the dictionary and see what he was 
 talking about, and so when he's done, all the impression 
 you have is a cussed bad headache and a mighty big dis- 
 gust for such cattle. I am very much obliged to you, 
 any way." 
 
 The hotel here was built of rough, white pine 
 boards stood on end and the partitions were made of 
 the same material ; the rooms were canvassed with a cheap, 
 thin, slazy muslin and left at that. This soft pine and 
 spruce of the Rocky Mountains are so coarse grained 
 and spongy, that they dry and shrink like so much 
 cheap-knit cotton cloth, and one could put his hand right 
 through the partition anywhere, but for this muslin. If 
 you blew out your light first you could see everything 
 going on in the next room, and this stretched canvas 
 seemed to be equal to a banjo box in transmitting sound. 
 Every word uttered in the hotel, above a low whisper, 
 every cough, every clearing of the throat, or "turn over" 
 anywhere in the building, was audible everywhere. v Those 
 accustomed to what are termed "telephone houses," talked 
 in whispers, but those coming into such houses for the first 
 
330 THE PILGRIM 
 
 time, usually divulged to the public many of their secrets 
 and little personal chitter-chatter that was never intended 
 for foreign ears. 
 
 Late in the evening a young man and woman from 
 the country came in, were married at the hotel, and slept 
 near the center of the building. They forgot themselves 
 the next morning and were talking all kinds of honeymoon- 
 talk. The groom insisted on putting on the bride's 
 stockings and when she blushingly protested, he reminded 
 her of her recent vow to love and obey him, etc., which 
 soon brought her to an acquiesence; then he drifted into 
 a complimentary homily on the very interesting subject 
 of her beautifully-fitting stockings, her most shapely 
 ankles, etc., when the pressure on the brain of some in- 
 discreet guest caused him to snigger out, "O, my, if I 
 ever get married in Colorado, I will go camping on my 
 honey-moon." 
 
 This spoiled all the fun of thirty or forty eagerly 
 expectant guests, and all condemned the indiscreet indi- 
 vidual who checked the public cooing of these unsuspect- 
 ing lovers. Poor things, after they discovered that their 
 endearments had been heard by all, they could not face 
 the crowd- in the dining room, but remained in their 
 insecure lair until they could slip away to the country 
 when there were the fewest hangers-around to view them. 
 At ten o'clock the Pilgrim and the Pioneer continued 
 their journey down the beautiful and fertile Dolores 
 valley which opens out a short distance below Eico. 
 When they reached the big bend of the river, 
 which is shaped like a great lazy (U) C , 
 
 they cut across the cedar ridges, piney hills, and the fertile 
 and expansive Montezuma Valley, whose early history is 
 beclouded with sombre mystery, and pushed on to the in- 
 teresting and historic Mancos Canon. 
 
CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 AMONG THE RUINS OF THE AZTECS. 
 
 When the Pilgrim and the Pioneer arose in the 
 morning they found themselves in the fertile and beAvitch- 
 ing little park just above where the gurgling and chaste 
 waters of the Mancos brook forsake the cheerful light and 
 dazzling sunshine and dive into the deep, dark, box-canon, 
 beyond the reach of man or beast. 
 
 The little basin was a carpet of green, fringed around 
 the borders with the yellow-leaved quaking asps, and looked 
 from the distant hills like a little green hammock with 
 a yellow border suspended on either side from towering 
 peaks. 
 
 When they broke camp and meandered down the 
 east side of the valley, the sun was bright and the air 
 was crisp and frosty. Many song birds welcomed their 
 approach with their cheerful music ; the chipmunks scamp- 
 ered over the logs and stumps about them; the lazy, 
 fat groundhogs were sun bathing in the crags of the rocks 
 above and below -them ; occasionally the sneaking coyotes 
 skulked from their lairs to the open, and as they ap- 
 proached a large pine tree forest, a bunch of black-tail 
 deer bounded across the trail in front of them. 
 
 Said the Pilgrim, "Mr. Wickham, this is certainly 
 a fairy land, or this is the era of good feeling between 
 man and beast, as every animal indigenous to this latitude 
 seems to be out welcoming us this morning, and all nature 
 is calm, gentle, and cheerful." 
 
 As he completed the sentence, they unexpectedly ran 
 (331) 
 
332 THE PILGRIM 
 
 into a row of mounds, the abandoned ruins of an ancient 
 civilization ; who the authors were, how old the ruins, and 
 why they were abandoned, must always be a matter of 
 mere conjecture. 
 
 Fortunately, they soon found some newspaper corre- 
 spondents, a magazine writer, and an archeologist exhum- 
 ing stone arrow heads, stone . implements, crockery, and 
 other evidences of the stage of this civilization. They 
 found no trace of metals, but the horn and stone imple- 
 ments evinced a high standard in the stone age. They 
 also saw many wooden implements and kitchen utensils, 
 cotton and feather cloth, maize and maize meal. The 
 pictograph literature indicated that they had the usual 
 domesticated animals, excepting the. horse, of which no 
 picture has been found in their hieroglyphics; they 
 evidently knew nothing of this sensible and useful animal. 
 
 When General Coronado invaded the Indian pueblos 
 with his mounted troops, the natives supposed that the 
 horses were used to devour men rather than to carry 
 them, and after he appeared before Cibola, the Indians 
 sent out messengers to all of the outlying pueblos inform- 
 ing them that Cibola was threatened by a ferocious race 
 of men who bestrode great animals that were used to 
 devour men. 
 
 The natives seem to have used a great many fowls, 
 and utilized their feathers as a woof in weaving a shroud 
 for their noted dead. A thread from a kind of flax 
 or silk weed seems to have been used as warp. They 
 pressed the knees of the dead close to the stomach, 
 thoroughly wrapped the corpse with this feather- 
 cloth, put it into a kind of brush or willow basket, then 
 buried it so deep in the dry earth that no dampness could 
 
AND THE PIONEER 333 
 
 penetrate, and it became as completely mummified as did 
 the Egyptian nobles in the pyramids. It is claimed that 
 evidences have been found tending to show that they 
 cremated their ordinary dead. 
 
 What a sombre gloom such relics spread over one 
 here ! It is akin to that which lowers over visitors in old 
 grave yards or on old battle fields where some great prin- 
 ciple, affecting civilization, has been decided. 
 
 These literary and scientific men paid but little at- 
 tention to the new arrivals, but continued vigorously mov- 
 ing the ruins and examining everything that indicated the 
 touch of human hands ; were earnestly discussing the prob- 
 able type, the period of growth, the stage of civilization, 
 the general aspirations, and the ultimate fate of the au- 
 thors of this once advanced civilization, when Mr. Wick- 
 ham interrupted with the queries : 
 
 "What are these mounds ? By whom and when 
 were they made ? What has become of the former happy 
 occupants ?" 
 
 Prof. Hinkley replied: "My dear sir, I regret that 
 your question is not as easily answered as it is asked. 
 Many, many days, weeks, and months have been spent 
 by scientists in gathering such fragments of evidence as 
 will justify them in hazarding a plausible guess. We 
 may safely say, we know a race of peaceable, civilized, 
 and intelligent home-builders, herdsmen, farmers, me- 
 chanics, and manufacturers were thickly settled over six 
 thousand square miles of territory, mostly in south-western 
 Colorado, and, .to some extent, in Utah, Arizona, and New 
 Mexico. Whence, when, or why they came, and when or 
 why they departed, and whither they went, are queries 
 that can only be answered argumentatively. 
 
334 THE PILGRIM 
 
 "From the taste and expenses displayed in the mul- 
 titude of their houses in the valleys and among the crags 
 and in the cliffs, we may say, with reasonable certainty, 
 that they were not nomads. We judge that they were 
 industrious, from the vast amount of labor devoted to the 
 building of their houses and estufas, or council chambers. 
 We may say positively that they were ingenious and skill- 
 ful, from their efficient use of squares, levels, plumbs, and 
 circles in their architecture, and from the facility with 
 which they wielded the stone hammer and ax in hewing 
 the thousands of tons of stone and thousands of cords of 
 huge cedar logs, as well as that displayed in making 
 these implements and the symmetry adopted in working 
 this material into permanent and substantial buildings. 
 We may judge them precautions and sagacious from the 
 many watch-towers erected in the valleys and among the 
 cliffs. We may regard them as tenderly refined, from the 
 great labor exerted in weaving long bolts of very expensive 
 cloth in which to wrap and mummify their dead. We 
 feel sure they lived in profound peace, contentment, and 
 prosperity for many generations, because their valley resi- 
 dences were so much older than their cliff dwellings and 
 watch-towers, that were evidently constructed as a refuge 
 and precaution against the threatened invasion of some 
 powerful foe, and because of the maize, feather-cloth, do- 
 mestic animals, etc., possessed by them. 
 
 "We conclude they were defeated by the nomads as 
 there seems to have been no use made of their dwellings. 
 The war must have been prolonged and relentless, as it 
 must have consumed a generation to build the watch- 
 towers and cliff dwellings. We conclude that the Aztecs 
 were driven out many centuries ago, from the age of 
 their latest buildings, and because the Ute Indians, their 
 
AND THE PIONEER 335 
 
 probable conquerers, have occupied the country for gen- 
 erations and have no traditions as to their predecessors, 
 the authors of these ruins, and traditions about so 
 important a measure should be handed down for from 
 three to five centuries at least. 
 
 " There is, however, a tradition among the Moqui 
 Indians in Arizona, who claim to be descendants of the 
 Aztecs, and are of a higher type of civilization than the 
 Utes and therefore more liable to prolong such traditions. 
 
 "This tradition is given by Hall, the historian, in 
 substance, to this effect: 
 
 " Tor 6,000 years the Aztecs occupied the great 
 country west of the Rocky Mountains, and were very 
 numerous, prosperous, peaceable, and happy. One 
 day the earth shook violently, and shot up great moun- 
 tains from the bottom of the rivers and lakes, and formed 
 other rivers and lakes at other places; most of the Aztecs 
 were drowned or otherwise killed, and the remain- 
 ing few continued to be industrious, peaceable, and happy. 
 About one thousand years ago a nomadic tribe of 
 blanket Indians from the north (presumably the Utes), 
 began to visit them in the summer and depart in the 
 fall ; the Aztecs became suspicious of their encroach- 
 ments, built watch-towers and stone walls around many 
 of the valley villages, and dwellings of refuge in the 
 cliffs of the mountains, provisioned them, and moved 
 their families thither. By and by these northern 
 visitors came in great numbers and claimed the country. 
 The Aztec women and children were gathered and 
 started across the great lake then covering Montezuma 
 valley, and the warriors met their northern invaders in 
 battle near the head of McElmo canon, and defeated them 
 for the time; the hollows of the rocks were filled to 
 
336 THE PILGRIM 
 
 the brim with the dead on both sides, and the blood 
 of the slain ran, down the canons like water; the 
 Aztecs, unable to hold out against the invaders, escaped 
 and followed their families into Arizona, and their de- 
 scendants are there today, known as Moqui Indians.' ' 
 
 Prof. Hinkley continued: "There is nothing im- 
 probable about the truth of the facts assumed in this tra- 
 dition. Evidences of the advanced civilization, and of 
 the long struggle of the people are physically marked on 
 the ground all around us. Enough of the unique Cliff 
 Palace, with its one hundred and twenty-five rooms on 
 the ground floor, and probably three or four hundred 
 originally in the palace, finished with lofty watch-towers, 
 numerous estufas for the meeting of the different as- 
 semblies, etc., stands out in bold relief in the bluffs in a 
 branch of Cliff Canon, sufficiently distinct to be classed 
 as the most extensive ruin of the kind in the United 
 States. Smaller buildings are numerous on Mesa Verde 
 and in the Mancos Canon, or near the Dolores, Rio San 
 Juan, etc." 
 
 In half an hour's ride from the mouth of Cliff 
 Canon stands the large and superbly built Balcony House, 
 the stone cut to the square, laid in clay and sand mortar, 
 corners turned at perfect angles, and towers in perfect 
 circles, and is a standing monument of Indian thrift and 
 mechanism. This was probably the educational Athens 
 of the aborigines of the Americas. Respectable ethnol- 
 ogists accredit the Aztec language with being the classic 
 Greek among the 200 existing Indian languages. 
 
 Prof. Lamed said, "Their pictograph literature has 
 never been excelled. They manufactured from the leaves 
 of agave plants a thick, coarse paper, used in every- 
 day transactions; their books were written on this paper, 
 
AND THE PIONEER 337 
 
 15 inches wide and from 60 to 70 feet long; these sheets 
 were so artistically folded and backed with thin boards 
 that they resembled English quarto volumes." 
 
 The very fact that some 200 languages are well 
 distinguished among the aborigines would indicate that 
 they have been here tens of thousands of years. Prof. 
 Whitney and others claim to have evidences that the 
 Pacific Coast was inhabited before the Glacial period. 
 Prof. Agassiz says that proof is abundant contradicting 
 the common error that this is the New World. Prof. 
 Bunsen claims to possess evidence that inhabitants were 
 here for 20,000 years prior to the discoveries of Co- 
 lumbus. 
 
 The exhumer of a skull, lance-points, etc., from 
 below the lava beds claims to possess indisputable geolog- 
 ical evidence that the Pacific slope was settled at least 
 35,000 years ago. Some very capable authors claim that 
 the original American is as distinct a type as the African, 
 and that he is indigenous to the continent, but it seems 
 more probable that colonies came over from western Eu- 
 rope, later from Asia, while the preglacial land-bridge 
 connected the Americas with the continent. There are 
 cliff dwellings and architecture similar to that of the Az- 
 tecs in Morocco. While none of the ethnological analogies 
 seem to connect the American Indian with any Asiatic 
 races, still there is a great similarity between the American 
 Indian and the Asiatic in the general lack of the mental 
 powers of analysis, or power of propulsion, and the 
 American Indian seems to be irretrievably chained to the 
 proverbial indestructibility of type so common to the 
 Asiatic. The difference in complexion and general make- 
 up is not so glaring that the great difference in climate, 
 food, and general environment might not reasonably ac- 
 
 THK PILGRIM. 22. 
 
338 THE PILGRIM 
 
 count for it No layman can pass through the great 
 Montezuma valley without being forced to the conclusion 
 that he is passing over what has been the bottom of a 
 great inland sea. All of the known facts in a general 
 way tend to support the Indian traditions. 
 
 Captain Harden said : "Gentlemen, war would be a 
 sad, sad thing to contemplate if it had not done so much 
 for civilization; war may be 'Hell,' but it has always 
 been working in harmony with nature in establishing 
 the survival of the fittest. The wars of all ages have 
 elevated and benefited the vanquished, usually, more 
 than they have the victors. I am for war as a civilizer, 
 notwithstanding its necessary evils." 
 
 "Ah," retorted Mr. Wickham, "That has always been 
 the view of the military devotee, who ever has in mind 
 the law of brute force and is continually wishing for a 
 war, that his personal position may be elevated. Did 
 the annihilation of this home-building and home-loving 
 civilization, by the barbarous Utes, elevate either tribe? 
 Did the spoliation of Peru by De Soto and Pizarro better 
 the condition of the conquered race ? Did the destruc- 
 tion of the home-building and home-loving Indians of 
 Mexico by Cortez and Coronado, benefit the vanquished? 
 
 "The much vaunted law of the survival of the fittest, 
 as used in layman parlance, is but a cunning justification 
 of the impunity with which the strong has ever sub- 
 ordinated the rights of the weak; the law of the survival 
 of the fittest is but a justification of brute force, by attrib- 
 uting the rule of omniverous greed and merciless brutality, 
 to the inexorable law of destiny. It is a lowering of the 
 rule of humanity to a parallel with that of the vulture. 
 It is an acknowledgement that might, and not the Golden 
 Rule, is the criterion of right. 
 
AND THE PIONEER 339 
 
 "The Fiji Islanders may as reasonably justify can- 
 nibalism because the big fishes eat the little ones, or 
 because the hawk eats the sparrow. In the conflict be- 
 tween the wild, barbarous nomads and the peaceful, in- 
 dustrious, intelligent, moral home-builder, the latter is 
 often the weaker and perishes. For centuries the slave- 
 holders were mightier than the slaves and their friends, 
 and the slaves were kept in bondage. England has been 
 stronger than Ireland for centuries, and has made the 
 latter a humiliated mendicant. What a vindication of the 
 law of the survival of the fittest ! Did England's victory 
 benefit the vanquished? Spain has, for ages, made her 
 masses slaves to the grandees. These humiliations are 
 all the results of war, or brute force. It is the dominion 
 of might, the product of the so-called inexorable law of 
 the survival of the fittest that many shallow thinkers 
 sanctify as the will of destiny. Such principles are but 
 the outbursts of the fiendish instincts of the human wolf 
 that is ever feeding upon the natural rights of the race. 
 It is the self-made shield of the blood-stained comorants 
 who never rise above the gluttenous appetites and selfish 
 greed that have ever preyed upon the unwary and mis- 
 guided public. 
 
 "If war is to be used primarily as a means of es- 
 tablishing such a creed, then why not draft the consump- 
 tive, the syphilitic, and otherwise diseased ones into 
 the wars and leave the physically perfect at home to 
 perpetuate the race? The diseased ones would 
 have much less to lose on the field of battle than the 
 sound ones. Cruel as this would be, it would be more 
 merciful than your barbarous code. Good health, in- 
 stead of disease, would be transmitted to posterity. This 
 may seem cruel, but there is no mercy connected with the 
 
IT DISLOCATED THE PIONEER'S MENTALITY. 
 
AND THE PIONEER 341 
 
 ravages of war, and the tenets of the devotees of this 
 brutal theory that 'Might makes right.' 
 
 "How long could the integrity of a herd of sheep, 
 cattle, or horses be maintained if the owner constantly 
 selected and exported the most persistent and healthy, 
 and left the diseased and weakly ones easy facilities for 
 procreation? How long can the American people hold 
 their own if the most healthy are to be selected daily and 
 shipped away to be slain or loaded with disease ? A wise 
 lesson might be learned from the stagnation of the blood 
 of the stunted, undersized French soldier. 
 
 "Why is the armor of the soldier in olden times so 
 much too long and too large for the Frenchmen of today ? 
 Why has his progeny ceased to multiply? Why has the 
 once fertile and imperious blood of the Spanish become 
 sterile and stagnant? 
 
 "Cruel, brutal wars have drained the cream of the 
 blood, while putrid disease and impoverished blood have 
 multiplied, to the decay of the races. How long can we 
 run the military skimmer over our blood without going 
 into a like decay ? A common fate awaits all nations that 
 heedlessly tumble into the same fateful abyss." 
 
 At the top of the hill some of the scientists were 
 laying out a mummified Aztec Indian. His nails, his 
 teeth, his hair, and general contour, were seemingly as 
 perfect as during his buoyant life period. He seemed to 
 be as artistically dried and cured for preservation as 
 the salted pork of the successful hog-growers. The 
 Pioneer looked over this Indian for 'a moment, his face 
 reddened and puffed with accumulated blood, then whirled 
 upon his heels and moved off easterly at a rapid pace. 
 He travelled constantly during the day toward the East, 
 morose and speechless. 
 
CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 RETREATING. 
 
 After a night's rest and a long silence, Mr. Wickham 
 said: "I must retreat from these sad relics. It makes 
 a bad impression on my over-loaded mind. How uncivil- 
 ized, how depraved a being is man! Where is the brute 
 that will premeditately murder or exterminate a larger 
 part of its species for its accumulations? Where is the 
 lower animal so malignant as to kill the female in a fit 
 of. jealousy? Greedy, selfish man is the most cruel and 
 merciless of all God's creatures. This great civilization 
 has been destroyed, not for malice, not for revenge, not 
 from necessity or self-preservation, but for what the con- 
 trivers possessed. But, ah! would not I and mine be 
 better off if some cruel enemy had exterminated the In- 
 dian race before the commission of my fatal error?" 
 
 As they dropped down into Wildcat Canon it became 
 dark and gloomy and seemed to be a fit abode for the 
 skulking wild animals for which it was named. They 
 meandered through great pine and spruce forests and over 
 numerous outcroppings of bituminous coal. At the junc- 
 tion of Wildcat Creek and the Animas Eiver lie some of 
 the greatest coal deposits in the Rocky Mountains. The 
 water power is splendid, the town-site of Durango is 
 superb, and the country has such a variety of resources 
 and occupies such a position that it must in the near 
 future be the metropolis, not only of southern Colorado, 
 but of a much vaster part of the great arid belt lying 
 
 south of it in New Mexico and Arizona. 
 
 (343) 
 
344 THE PILGRIM 
 
 They followed the Animas River up to Animas City 
 and stopped for the night in a saloon with a hotel attach- 
 ment. If any one wanted a drink of most vile whisky 
 or a cigar of most poisonous, frost-bitten tobacco, the 
 proprietor's eyes sparkled and his cheeks glowed with a 
 supreme ecstacy, but he seemed to think eating played no 
 pleasant or beneficial part. What is there about the sale 
 of this iniquitous beverage and narcotic weed that makes 
 the proprietor rejoice more over earning a quarter in , 
 selling these poisons that injure his customers than he 
 does in making a half dollar from a dish of nutritious 
 ham and eggs, which so cheers and rejuvenates some weary 
 traveler? The tired travelers were put into the second 
 or top story of the building, over a saloon. Soon after 
 they dropped off to sleep some drunken gamblers began 
 firing their revolvers through the ceiling. Oh, how 
 the Pilgrim and the Pioneer longed for bed slats 
 a yard wide and a foot thick, or for four or 
 five stories, or for a roof garden .as a possible 
 means of escape. Fortunately their only injury was 
 fright. The next morning they told the proprietor how 
 bullets crashed through the floor all around them. He 
 laughed cheerfully and replied that the boys were just 
 having a little fun and were not shooting at them and that 
 there was not a bit of danger, though the bullets passed 
 all around them. As they moved off up the Animas River 
 Mr. Wickham repeated, " 'Not a bit of danger' in a bed 
 of bullets ! What a commentary on the baneful influences 
 of this Devil's water and Satan's narcotic weed. They 
 destroy all discretion, all discrimination, and all sense 
 of care for self or others." 
 
 They moved on through the verdant and fertile valley 
 of the Animas for an hour and a half, and reached a 
 
AND THE PIONEER 345 
 
 spot near the mountain's base where hot mineral waters 
 of various kinds were boiling from the crevices in the 
 rocks all around them. They soon passed into the dark, 
 rugged Animas Canon with its precipitous cliffs hanging 
 over them. The deafening roar of the waters over 
 successive runs of cascades, and the dark, 'heavy mist 
 settling on them reminded them forcibly of their help- 
 lessness. 
 
 These wild scenes exhilarate and cheer up the rapid 
 traveler that can see and depart upon a railroad train or 
 on a fleet steed, but to be compelled to camp in these 
 rugged gorges shrouds the traveler with a gloom akin 
 to the horrors of a dungeon. 
 
 At noon the next day they emerged from these deep, 
 dark, noisy gorges and stood at the foot of the level, ex- 
 pansive, and picturesque Baker's Park, the site of 
 the thrifty town of Silverton. This place is 9,200 feet 
 above sea level, where it frosts throughout the year, and 
 the fires in the stoves, like those in the estufas, never 
 die out; but it is one of the richest mineral regions in 
 the great West, and a beautiful town-site. Water which 
 appeared to be almost as red as a fountain of blood was 
 pouring through the ditches on either side of the streets. 
 Cement Creek, from which the water comes, runs through 
 great beds of red iron and the stain collects on the boulders 
 in the bottom of the ditches and in the creek and gives the 
 water the appearance of blood. 
 
 As they entered the business part of the town they 
 encountered a great crowd of business men and miners, 
 two of whom were beating something unmercifully 
 with clubs, while the others were jeering and encouraging 
 them to proceed. Mr. Wickham said to a by-stander, 
 
346 THE PILGRIM 
 
 "That poor fellow must be beaten into a jelly now. Why 
 don't some one stop that brutality ?" 
 
 "Someone beaten into a jelly, your foot!" answered 
 the by-stander. "They ain't beating nobody." 
 
 "Then pray, what are they doing?" inquired the 
 Pioneer. 
 
 "I'll tell you how it is. We are a territory and can't 
 elect our officers like white people, and the dude of a gov- 
 ernor appointed a dude friend of his in Virginia as 
 county judge of this new county up to next election, 
 when we will elect one of our own lawyer old-timers. 
 This new county judge came in here with a biled shirt 
 and a plug hat on. The boys just met him down here and 
 beat that plug hat into shreds and they will pull that 
 biled shirt off of him and put it up as a scare-crow. The 
 miners won't tolerate any such high-toned Eastern fixin's 
 in this camp." 
 
 Judge James was marched up the street bareheaded 
 to a store and presented with a miners' slouch hat and 
 a blue flannel shirt and informed that he was dressed 
 in due and ancient form. The crowd, in its glee, kept 
 up the hurrah until they broke the faro bank, took pos- 
 session of the variety theaters, and made the echoes from 
 the surrounding hills roar until the break of day. 
 
 The people had elected Mr. Richard Courtney dis- 
 trict attorney. He was a brilliant and prepossessing 
 official, but had a mania for playing poker. It 
 is said of him that he usually, in his capacity as a public 
 officer, vigorously prosecuted all gamblers to a conviction, 
 at each term of court, and had them heavily fined for the 
 people, then staid over a couple of weeks and played poker 
 with them, showing that as an individual he had the 
 common gambling passion and was not personally op- 
 
AND THE PIONEER 347 
 
 posed to the game. Mr. Campbell was presented to the 
 district attorney and the two strolled over and dropped 
 into a young attorney's office about five o'clock in the 
 evening. The attorney was also permeated with the poker 
 passion, and had his office filled with chips, cards, etc. 
 He got them down and said to the four other gentlemen 
 in the office, "Let's have a 'little game of draw* before 
 supper." Three of his guests replied, "E"o, we don't 
 care to play." 
 
 The young attorney answered, "Let's put up ten 
 dollars and play 'freeze-out' for it." The three were 
 still incorrigible. The yaung attorney then pulled down 
 his cards and chips and said : "Sit down there, boys, and 
 let's see how the cards would run were we really playing 
 for money." 
 
 They all sat in the game and the ivory chips were 
 so energetically clicking that passers-by could hear them 
 distinctly. A drunken gambler, in passing, heard the 
 clicking of the chips and blundering in, asked, "Is 
 this uh club-room ?" 
 
 "Yes, sir," replied Mr. Trowbridge, "this is a club- 
 room." 
 
 The gambler threw down $5 and said, "Gim me five 
 dollars' worth ur chips." 
 
 They were counted out to him and he came into 
 the game. The other players thought it quite a joke, and 
 made all kinds of reckless bets until the new-comer had 
 $150 worth of chips. He then pushed his chair back 
 and inquired : "Who cashes these chips ?" 
 
 Mr. Trowbridge replied, "!N"o one; we were just 
 playing a little game of social 'shoot mouth,' " and pushed 
 his five dollars back to him. 
 
 The gambler threw the $5 in his face, backed up 
 
348 THE PILGRIM 
 
 against the wall so no one could get behind him, drew 
 an immense navy revolver, turned the muzzle towards 
 the ceiling and began to whirl the cylinder with his finger, 
 coolly remarking: 
 
 "My friend, if these chips aren't cashed in just one 
 minute there will be the liveliest game of 'shoot-mouth* 
 in this room that ever occurred in Silverton," then de- 
 liberately pulled out his watch and noted the time. Every 
 one stared in astonishment. Mr. Trowbridge got his 
 second breath and replied: 
 
 "Now, my friend, you should have observed from 
 my manner that I was only joshing you. Your chips 
 will be cashed all right. This .is a gentleman's game; 
 take your seat there and we will play one more round 
 and then we will all take a drink and go to supper 
 together like gentlemen." 
 
 Every one heartily assented and the gambler put 
 up his gun and seated himself at the table. All others 
 played only against the gambler, stole cards and slipped 
 to one another under the table, and in a couple of deals 
 the gambler was broken and the game closed. 
 
 Mr. Trowbridge arose, put on his overcoat, and ex- 
 claimed : "Now, gentlemen, come and let's go get a drink 
 and go to supper, and I want to give one and all timely 
 warning that there is to be no more r shoot-mouth,' played 
 in this office." 
 
 Mr. Campbell, his teeth chattering like those of the 
 inhabitants of the Southern swamps when seized with a 
 malarial chill, sneaked away to his room, turned the 
 key in the door and said to himself, "What a narrow 
 escape. I shall now mark card-playing from the few 
 amusements left me while in this extremely dangerous 
 civilization." 
 
AND THE PIONEER 349 
 
 After supper a "fleecer" called Mr. Campbell to one 
 side, slipped a small bottle, filled with a red fluid, out 
 of his hip pocket, raised his hand and whispered : 
 
 "Sh, be quiet about this, and don't allow any one 
 to see or hear you." 
 
 Mr. Campbell, in an embarrassed voice, stammered 
 out, "No, thank you, I don't care to drink now. I have 
 just been to supper." 
 
 The fleecer retorted, "Drink, thunder ! a well man 
 don't want to drink a steam-engine or a wire fence in 
 solution. You think that red stuff is whisky. It hasn't 
 got a drop of alcohol in it. That is a tincture of iron 
 from a natural flow, compounded by nature. There is a 
 whole creek of it up here, enough to furnish the world 
 with a natural preparation of iron for medicine, and 
 enough iron which can be cheaply precipitated to build an 
 iron fence around the globe that would turn a wild 
 Tartar, and the whole thing is mine. I am a poor man; 
 that is, I haven't any money to develop it and want 
 some good man to put up a little grub and a few tools 
 until we get to selling the water and precipitating the 
 iron. Two or three hundred dollars would be sufficient, 
 and I'll do the work myself. Take time for your decision, 
 there is no hurry about it, but I must insist that you 
 impart nothing I have told you to a living soul. You hold 
 the golden key which will unlock the door of fortune to 
 me and mine, and to you and yours as well, if you join 
 me, but you shall not betray me." 
 
 Mr. Campbell was restless through the night. He 
 fancied the brilliant life of luxury he would live, and 
 longed for daylight that he might behold his treasure 
 vaults. He enjoyed all of the sensations of the million- 
 aire. 
 
350 THE PILGRIM 
 
 As Mr. Wickham and Mr. Campbell arose from the 
 breakfast table at half past seven in the morning, the 
 possessor of Cement Creek beckoned Mr. Campbell to one 
 side and said, "Excuse yourself for half an hour and I 
 will show you one of the wonders of . the New World, 
 where we may tap prodigal nature for princely incomes 
 for ourselves and posterity, until these gigantic moun- 
 tains are worn to the level of the plains." 
 
 Mr. Campbell excused himself and was stealthily 
 piloted to where Cement Creek poured her crimson waters 
 in torrents into the Animas Kiver. With bated breath 
 the assumed owner said, "That really looks like the foun- 
 tain filled with blood about which we so often sing ; that 
 water is 25 per cent iron. I have staked it, and also 
 two great basins in the Animas Canon as settling 
 vats. We shall pour all of this torrent into one basin for 
 months, then we shall divert it to the other, and this 
 dry and light atmosphere will, in a very short time, take 
 up the water and leave the granulated iron in the quiet 
 one for the shaping 'of our hands. We shall have mills 
 built at the basins, where we shall convert it into iron 
 bars so cheaply that it will shut down every other iron 
 mine in America and give us a monopoly, and we shall 
 fix our own profits. Why, we shall make Carnegie's 
 mills look like playthings, and, besides we will put up 
 bottling works and advertise this great supply of the 
 tincture of iron compounded by nature in such glowing 
 terms that we shall soon have a stream of money coming 
 into our coffers from every drug establishment in the 
 United States." 
 
 Mr. Campbell stammered, halted, but finally replied 
 that he was sorry to inform him that he only had $100, 
 and it would require about all of this to bear the ex- 
 
AND THE PIONEER 351 
 
 penses of his contemplated trip, but said if he would 
 allow him to present the merits of this great discovery 
 to his friend, Mr, Wickham, the latter would furnish all 
 of the money needed. 
 
 "Tut, tut, tut; perish the thought," answered the 
 fortunate possessor; "you almost make me sorry that I 
 confided in you. Only you shall know of this until all 
 of these claims are staked, worked and recorded. 
 
 "Now, look here, my new young friend, be a man. 
 Wean yourself from the state of fogyism of the belated 
 East. Kemember that you are in the free, expansive 
 western domain, where the ambitious, stalwart, young 
 man reigns supreme. Don't give any ground for your 
 peers to point the finger of contempt at you, and say, 
 'There is a young stripling tied to the apron-strings of 
 a fossilized old man, now groping in the garrulous im- 
 becility of a second childhood. 7 Let me give some free 
 advice. Never present a new discovery to a man whose 
 sun has passed the meridian. In the declining years of 
 life he becomes overly conservative, argues himself out of 
 all attempt to execute his intuitions, and is a pestiferous 
 stickler for the old things. To hope for success, you must 
 always present innovations or new methods to the hope- 
 fulness of youth." 
 
 The possessor filled a small vial with the red water, 
 handed it to Mr. Campbell, and informed him that, "In 
 two or three days the water will precipitate and settle 
 in the vial and look like red brick dust The solid iron 
 will fill the vial about one-fourth the way to the mouth. 
 You have my permission to present this ocular demon- 
 stration to Mr. Wickham, for even the conservatism of old 
 age will not be able to withstand such a temptation, and 
 you can have a conclusive argument for necessary means 
 
352 THE PILGRIM 
 
 made by one of these harmless vials that you were ready 
 to run from last night. Now, you give me $50 out of 
 your hundred to buy supplies and record the claims, and 
 I shall do the work myself. Before your $50 is expended 
 the iron will have precipitated in your vial and the claims 
 will be worked and recorded. Then you can present it 
 as evidence of your opulence, and for a small interest 
 you can get all the money you want." 
 
 Mr. Campbell eagerly handed his new partner $50 
 and with a light heart hurried back to the hotel. 
 
 He then inquired, "What is the program to- 
 day?" The Pioneer gravely answered, "I am retreating 
 from the melancholy scenes that lie behind us," and moved 
 off rapidly toward the East. Mr. Campbell was dis- 
 appointed; he was beginning to lose faith in the old 
 Pioneer and to feel a relish for these wild escapades. 
 He bade his partner and new acquaintances an affectionate 
 goodbye, and with Mr. Wickham started up the Animas 
 River and across Engineer Mountain. How he regretted 
 leaving such individuals as the district attorney, Captain 
 Moulton, Captain Slingsby, Mr. Singleton, and. the young 
 attorney who, he was told, kept the ball rolling high and 
 often the high ball rolling in the Sky City. They tramped 
 over lead, copper, silver, and gold mines from morning 
 till night. 
 
 They arrived in Lake City late in the evening, and 
 Mr. Campbell hurried off to examine by himself the vial 
 of red water and see how the precipitation was progress- 
 ing. The bottom of the vial was covered with the brick- 
 dust-appearing material, and he was completely over- 
 joyed, hunted up groups of miners, talked about bonanzas, 
 and irisisted that every man ought to mine in this coun- 
 try, and if all did not get rich it was their own fault. 
 
AND THE PIONEER 363 
 
 Col. Harry Kandall, who was exhibiting a bogus 
 $5,000 draft which he soon expected to cash, and upon 
 which he got board and lodging, agreed with him fully, 
 and thought his advice was worthy of the serious con- 
 sideration of all. By and by Colonel Randall motioned 
 him to one side and whispered in his ear : 
 
 "If you will agree to be mum until I say 'open box/ 
 I will tell you something that will please you." 
 
 "Oh, yes, yes," responded Mr. Campbell, "since I 
 have been dealing in mines I have become accustomed to 
 keep secrets. You can implicitly confide in me; I know 
 the necessity of keeping these things sub rosa until the 
 work is done and the record made." 
 
 "Very well," replied the colonel, "I am always glad 
 to deal with those like yourself, who understand and 
 recognize business principles. This morning a mile up 
 Henson Creek I put a shot in the cliff and opened a regular 
 bonanza ; I have all of my means in a $5,000 draft which 
 I cannot get cashed in this little mining-camp, and I 
 must get some one in with me to help work the assess- 
 ment and record the claim before I go to get my draft 
 cashed. I should like to go up and show it to you at 
 seven A. M." 
 
 Mr. Campbell told him he had just made some in- 
 vestments in Silverton that took all the money he had, 
 but he expected more in a very few days and would be 
 glad to see his claim any way. 
 
 Meanwhile Mr. Wickham, with a raw-hide concealed 
 under his coat, searched the town in vain for the "back- 
 capper." He was altogether too astute to be caught nap- 
 ping. 
 
 The next morning, just after sun-up, Mr. Campbell 
 and the Colonel stole off to the new mine. A hole had 
 
354 THE PILGRIM 
 
 been blasted into the cliff about thirty feet above the 
 bottom, and the brilliant mineral glistened in every part 
 of the broken rock, but there was not a particle on the 
 dump. The colonel said it was so valuable that he shipped 
 it all out. 
 
 Mr. Campbell asked, "How did you get up to 
 blast that hole ?" 
 
 "Oh," replied the Colonel, "I had a long ladder." 
 
 "Get it," said Mr. Campbell, "that I may see it 
 at close view. That looks like a veritable bonanza." 
 
 "I am sorry," replied the Colonel, "but I took the 
 ladder to town to keep any one from getting up there 
 and seeing what a big thing I have opened. I cannot 
 afford to have any one's attention called to this till I get 
 the assessment done and the record made. When the 
 proper time comes I shall build a permanent approach 
 'to it." 
 
 On their way back to town the Colonel continued: 
 "Mr. Campbell, it is a shame that I must go out and cash 
 my draft before I work my assessment and record this 
 claim. I am really afraid I shall lose it. If you will 
 squeeze out enough money to buy the powder and sup- 
 plies and do the recording, I will put your name on the 
 stake for half, and I shall do the work myself." 
 
 Mr. Campbell answered that that was a very gen- 
 erous proposition, and if he had the money he would 
 jump at the opportunity, but said if he did not object 
 he would get his friend, Mr. Wickham, to come up and 
 look at it, and he felt sure he would advance whatever 
 was necessary. 
 
 "No, no," said the colonel, "beware, guard yourself, 
 young man, lest these wide-awake young fellows conclude 
 that you are an unripe infant, precociously grown tall, 
 
AND THE PIONEER 355 
 
 but still nourished by your mother's milk. Of all coun- 
 tries, this is the most uncomfortable place for overgrown 
 boobies, or Jumbo dependents. You must ever keep 
 your eyes toward Uncompahgre Peak, but openly defy 
 the world, the flesh, and the devil, if you want a firm 
 foothold here. Mr. Wickham is an old California miner, 
 and if a claim looks just like the claims in California, 
 he will put his last dollar in it, but if the claim is unlike 
 California mines he will back-cap it. No, I wouldn't 
 consent to that at all." 
 
 Mr. Campbell suggested that if it would do him any 
 good he would squeeze him out ten dollars, and would give 
 him more when he got his money. 
 
 "That is better," answered the colonel, "that will 
 record the claim and I shall get the merchants to carry 
 me for the powder." He eagerly took the ten dollars 
 and excused himself on account of an engagement. 
 
 Mr. Campbell hurried to his room to see how the 
 precipitation in his vial was getting along. He could see 
 no perceptible increase and was inclined to be depressed, 
 but it occurred to him that the heavy iron would run near 
 the bottom of the creek, and that the vial was filled from 
 the skimming of the surface. He wrote his partner 
 the condition and his impressions, and asked him to put 
 his thumb over the mouth of a vial and press it to the 
 bottom of Cement Creek, fill it from the undercurrent, 
 and forward to him at Colorado Springs. 
 
 Early in the morning the Pilgrim inquired, "What 
 shall we do today?" The Pioneer replied, "I am re- 
 treating;" and they moved off down the Lake Fork of 
 the Gunnison River. At Barnum they met the Barlow 
 and Sanderson stage-coach and dined with the driver and 
 passengers. 
 
356 THE PILGRIM 
 
 Much of the early immigration to Lake City, includ- 
 ing the famous Packer party, came from Bingham Canon, 
 Utah. The country was unsettled between these distant 
 points and the old inhabitants of Lake City could always 
 "spot" a pilgrim from this canon, as his hair was usually 
 standing out through the crown of his hat, the brim of 
 which was usually gone, the uppers of his shoes would 
 generally be missing and the soles tied on with strips of 
 blankets, and his clothing would be a mass of irregular 
 strings. 
 
 Just as the coach was reloaded for the drive to 
 Lake City, a tipsy Irishman spied such an one limping up 
 the road. He said : 
 
 "Look a-here, driver, there comes a poor devil of a 
 foot-sore pilgrim from Bingham Canon, Utah. They are 
 always objects of pity, but this seems to be the most for- 
 lorn looking one of the whole pack. You must invite 
 him to ride." 
 
 "Oh, no," -responded the driver, "it would cost me 
 my position should I take him in without the regular 
 fare." 
 
 "Very well," responded the Irishman, "you keep your 
 eyes on those unruly leaders ; we will smuggle him in here, 
 and put him out a mile this side of Lake City 
 without your seeing him, and if the agent ever hears of 
 it every mother's son of us will swear we smuggled him 
 through without your knowing it." 
 
 The Irishman quietly invited the foot-sore pilgrim 
 into the center seat on the inside. The new passenger 
 really looked like an escaped maniac. His personal ap- 
 pearance was indescribable. When he was comfortably 
 seated in the coach the Irishman bent over him and 
 eagerly examined the matted, sandy hair sticking through 
 
AND THE PIONEER 357 
 
 the remains of a hat, looked critically at his* sun-blistered 
 ears under the brimless crown of a hat, then gazed upon 
 his dirty, blistered feet tied to the remains of his shoe soles 
 with strings torn from a blanket; he then took a glance 
 at the sun-burned and dirty flesh between the strings into 
 which his clothes were rent until they were as airy as a 
 mosquito net. As he raised his eyes from the mass of 
 rotten rags they met those of the very much confused 
 pilgrim, and the Irishman said: "Partner, may I in- 
 quire whence you hail?" In a confused tone the 
 new passenger replied, "From Bingham Canon, Utah." 
 The Irishman bent over him, took a second view of the 
 matted hair standing erect through an immense hole in 
 the crown of his hat, re-examined each blistered, unpro- 
 tected ear, reviewed the sore, bare feet, resurveyed the 
 whole exposed body, then raised his eyes and confidentially 
 said: "Say, partner, we have had many distinguished 
 immigrants from Bingham Canon, but I must say you are 
 
 the best dressed s g we have ever welcomed here," 
 
 and proffered him two dollars with which to buy a pair 
 of overalls to cover his dirty and sore nakedness. 
 
 The pilgrim sarcastically replied that he had the 
 necessary means to buy clothing, and said that he would 
 thank some one to present him to a supply point, rather 
 than means, which had been wholly useless to him during 
 the past six weeks. This brush-picked and almost naked 
 pilgrim did dress up as soon as he found a furnishing 
 store, and proved to be one of the most polished gentle- 
 men, and one of the ripest scholars who had entered the 
 San Juan country, and afterward he was known for many 
 years as one of the most forceful and pungent news- 
 paper writers in the arid West. 
 
 The Pilgrim and the Pioneer passed over the high 
 
THE ROYAL GORGE. 
 
AND THE PIONEER 359 
 
 mesa to the crystal Gunnison River with its sparkling 
 pure waters, literally swelling with black, speckled moun- 
 tain trout, weighing from one to five pounds. Here a nar- 
 row, verdant valley extends for a distance of fifty miles, 
 completely carpeted with a luxuriant wire-grass, and the 
 Indian ponies and government cattle, by their complete 
 contentment, evinced that they fully realized that they 
 were in a stock paradise. In all of their travels in East, 
 South, or West, they had never seen the equal of the 
 mountains around the Gunnison Valley, for the stores 
 of pure gray granite, all shades of handsome marble, and 
 inexhaustible mountains of bituminous and anthracite 
 coal; and iron, iron, iron, everywhere. They crossed 
 Marshall Pass and moved down the Arkansas River to 
 the enchanting and picturesque town-site of Canon City. 
 The next morning Mr. Campbell said, "Mr. Wickham, you 
 should take a trip around here. The indescribably wild, 
 gorgeous and magnificent Royal Gorge, the beautiful 
 Arkansas River tumbling out of the wild canon, the 
 charming valleys opening out below, and the bewitching 
 landscape, are enough to surfeit one on natural scenic 
 beauty." The Pioneer simply said, "I am retreating 
 from these melancholy relics." 
 
 They crossed the Arkansas River and followed the 
 highlands to Pueblo. They tramped over coal, coal, coal, 
 everywhere. In a lone basin they found a solitary family 
 that seemed to have lost all of the evidences of an abund- 
 ance of this world's goods. The wife evidently thought 
 the travelers were land hunting, and she was prepared 
 for them. She was of the class that does not welcome 
 railroads or settlers, but went upon the theory that to 
 be monarch of all one surveyed was a good thing, and that 
 she would not divide until she had to. Mr. Campbell saw 
 
360 THE PILGRIM 
 
 the point and asked the old woman what she thought of the 
 advisability of their settling there? She screwed 
 the muscles of her face close to her jawbones, 
 tightened up her lips, dramatically looked toward 
 the East, and said, "Not without you want to starve. 
 Many, many years ago my John was young, strong, and 
 handsome, like you are, and then he was a great buffalo 
 hunter. They were so plentiful at first that he could 
 sell only their tongues. When they 'come a leetle scercer 
 he could sell the meat ; then later he sold the skin ; and 
 at last they 'come so scerce, that when he killed one he 
 jest pisened the meat and thousands of coyotes would 
 eat of it, lay down and die, and he would have all kinds 
 of money for their skins. In time all the buffalo and all 
 the coyotes were gone. Then we hauled up their bones 
 and sold them for fertilizers for a right smart of money; 
 but, strangers, every thing is gone now. There haint no 
 buffalo huntin' ; there haint no pisened coyotes ; there 
 haint no bone pickin' ? she put her apron over her 
 streaming eyes and said, "there haint no nothin' !" The 
 bluff was successful and the new-comers moved on next 
 day. It is probable that the repeated telling of that dole- 
 ful story gave the cunning authors the exclusive possession 
 of that region for decades. 
 
 In Pueblo, while admiring a railroad engine, repre- 
 senting the civilization from which they had been away 
 so long, they were approached by the Judge. His mus- 
 tache was waxed, his hair curled, and he was dressed in 
 the height of fashion. The sight of the Judge caused 
 the Pioneer's face to brighten up for the first time since 
 he was startled by the mummified Indian. He cried out, 
 "Hello, Judge; where are you from, and where do you 
 live?" 
 
AND THE PIONEER 361 
 
 "In Pueblo." 
 
 "What do you do here?" 
 
 "Play slough." 
 
 "Not all the time?" 
 
 "No, only ten hours a day." 
 
 "What do you play for?" 
 
 "The drinks." 
 
 ''There isn't much money in that ?" 
 
 "Yes, some; not much." 
 
 "How is this?" 
 
 "In Three Star City, beer is worth 15 cents a glass, 
 in Pueblo, 5 cents. Sometimes I catch a victim not in 
 practice, and then the percentage is in my favor. It 
 takes just so many glasses of beer a day for me, whether 
 there or here." 
 
 "Have you quit politics ?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 "Why?" 
 
 "It is too expensive, and the methods are too de- 
 praved." 
 
 "Is it worse than cards for drinks ?" 
 
 "Yes ; in cards you must make a show down, and in 
 politics you return your hand in secret to the deck. 
 In cards you play with those who understand the game, 
 in politics you play with blind-folded novices." 
 
 "You don't mean to say that you live by gambling?" 
 
 "No ; I sold the Uriah Heap for $100,000 and salted 
 it down." 
 
 "I should think that this competency would make 
 you more anxious to return to the Senate." 
 
 "It did, but the methods became so much depraved 
 that I could not tolerate them." 
 
 "How did your sale affect political methods ?" 
 
362 THE PILGRIM 
 
 "The politicians wanted to assess me $25,000 to 
 enter, then set all the gormandizers of the state on me 
 for the balance." 
 
 " You didn't encounter these methods before ?" 
 
 "Yes; they took all I had and clamored for more. 
 I have sold the Uriah Heap since." 
 
 "Who does this fleecing?" 
 
 "Everybody. Political influences are bought, not 
 convinced." 
 
 "You don't pretend that the legislators are pur- 
 chased?" 
 
 "Yes ; many of them, more than once. Don't all 
 stay bought." 
 
 "I should think that they would be exposed." 
 
 "They are, but the people haven't public conscience 
 enough to know a political sale when made before their 
 eyes." 
 
 "You don't hire a man to vote for you as you would 
 a plowman to fallow your field ?" 
 
 "Not exactly; only one hires a plowman for a job, 
 often several candidates hire a legislator." 
 
 "You don't mean that members of the legislature 
 agree with more than one candidate for pay?" 
 
 "Not directly; indirectly, yes." 
 
 "What's the form of his contract." 
 
 "The nominee appeals to the Senatorial candidate 
 for his expenses in the campaign, or accepts them from 
 him. Among honest men this is regarded as equivalent 
 to a bill of sale. Often you find a member that collects 
 his election expenses two or three times, from as many 
 candidates. You usually have to buy him again after 
 election, or agents of corporations offer him places with 
 high salaries in the corporation for his vote." 
 
AND THE PIONEER 363 
 
 "You don't mean that men generally accept election 
 expenses from candidates before election, or ever sell 
 their influence for corporate places?" 
 
 "I do. There were only two or three exceptions in 
 my race. A Methodist minister, with a charge, eagerly 
 accepted $150 ; but, to his credit, he stayed bought. The 
 railroads are stocked with local surgeons and attorneys 
 who have sold their legislative influences for these places. 
 With places and passes the railroads run the politics of 
 the nation." 
 
 "I should think from your long association, steadfast 
 friendship, and persistent efforts for all the labor meas- 
 ures in the Senate, that the labor electors alone would 
 re-elect you." 
 
 "That betrays your political ignorance. They are as 
 needy as men in the so-called higher ranks of the 'Social 
 Order.' " 
 
 "You don't mean to say that a labor journal like the 
 Gazette could be taken from you ?" 
 
 "The manager informed me that he was very hard 
 up, and had been offered $1,000 not to meddle in politics 
 this year." 
 
 "This did not imply a sale ?" 
 
 "It meant that if I didn't raise the bid, the Ga- 
 zette would stay out of the game." 
 
 "You don't think that such a labor advocate as 
 John Lindholm could be turned from you ?" 
 
 "He informed me that he had a mortgage on his 
 house for $1,500, that was about to be foreclosed; that 
 
 the had -offered him $50 a night and expenses 
 
 to work with the Labor forces the last six weeks before 
 election, and he asked me what I thought about it?" 
 
 "This didn't mean that he would sell ?" 
 
364 THE PILGRIM 
 
 "It meant that if I didn't raise the bid I would 
 lose the pot." 
 
 "Such men as work in the mines and smelters, for 
 whom you have made such desperate efforts for a shorter 
 work day, couldn't be turned against you by such false 
 leaders?" 
 
 "Yes, a large per cent could be. By a fraudulent use 
 of the phrase 'Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion/ a presi- 
 dential candidate was defeated. In my campaign, one of 
 these employed leaders went to one of the big mines, 
 worked almost exclusively by Democratic Irish miners, and 
 quietly informed them the night before election, that 
 he had heard my opponent say that he didn't need or want 
 a single Irish vote in the election. This was utterly false, 
 and yet I received practically every Irish Democratic vote 
 in that mine." 
 
 "Then the voter is not bought, but deceived ?" 
 
 "Exactly. The leaders, in whom they misplace their 
 confidence, are bought, and they manipulate the voters by 
 fraud and falsehood." 
 
 "It seems that you received the fruits of much of 
 this infamy in your election." 
 
 "I certainly did. Influential men bought the mine 
 managers and the Labor organizations were arranged with 
 in numerous places for my benefit. I know of one organiza- 
 tion that offered to the manager of the gubernatorial candi- 
 date, a choice of three of the Labor places at his disposal, 
 for certain majorities for our ticket. The places were 
 won and awarded." 
 
 "Is it any less a purchase if men work for places 
 instead of money ?" 
 
 "No; it is bribery in either case. In trading offices 
 the credulity of the people seems more obtuse." 
 
AND THE PIONEER 365 
 
 "I should think with your fortune that you could play 
 the game of politics more successfully now than when 
 you were poor." 
 
 "Ah, so I could, if I were willing to deplete this 
 fortune. If I should go in now, the committees would 
 not only tax me in proportion to my holdings, but they 
 would set every political grafter in this state upon me, 
 and every eleemosynary, or quasi-charitable, institution in 
 the state would importune me just before election, and in a 
 few years I should be picked as naked as -a spring jay; 
 so that I infinitely prefer the more honorable and orderly 
 game of 'slough/ to the infamous game of modern pol- 
 itics." 
 
 "Then, who should go into politics ?" 
 
 "The man with nothing, or the man with a surplus to 
 distribute among the grafters." 
 
 "Why do the people permit such ignoble trafficking 
 in public places ?" 
 
 "Because the social evolution has not builded a public 
 conscience and they do not clearly see the infamy." 
 
 "Why have you so changed your political morals 
 since you worked with the negro delegate ?" 
 
 "I had but little then, and was benefiting from ex- 
 penditures of others. I have more now, and others want 
 to benefit from my expenditures." 
 
 "Then, it is not a question of political morality, but 
 one of political expediency with you ?" 
 
 "Yes. One who plays the game of politics must 
 use the current cards or stay out. These elevated pre- 
 tentions and high-sounding words, from the president 
 to the constable, are largely deceptive plays in the game 
 of cheap politics, but the deluded public take them se- 
 riously." 
 
366 THE PILGRIM 
 
 "What is the remedy?" 
 
 "Let the people build a public conscience, let the 
 office. hunt the man and require of every applicant as a 
 condition before receiving the votes of the people, that 
 he practice the same rectitude in his political methods as 
 a reputable business man does in his business methods. 
 Then strong individualism will supplant the spoils- 
 man in public place, and the people, instead of being de- 
 ceived by the political grafters, will be well served." 
 
 "I presume the mental improvement in the greatest 
 deliberative body in the world causes this spirited fight 
 for the Senate." 
 
 "The greatest fiddlestick! It is a mere rusting ma- 
 chine. It has been subverted by the executive into a mere 
 machine to register his will." 
 
 "The Constitution provides that the Executive, Ju- 
 dicial, and Legislative branches shall be independent and 
 co-ordinate, does it not?" 
 
 "Yes; then clothes the Executive branch with the 
 social and patronage functions of the government with 
 which to destroy the others." 
 
 "The president can't hurt a senator ? He is elected 
 by the local Legislature." 
 
 "He can withdraw his social recognition from him 
 and his family, neglect to recognize him in the distribution 
 of patronage, and set all of his timber agents, pension 
 agents, revenue collectors, district attorneys, marshals, 
 land officers, and postmasters against his re-election. 
 These are the fellows who make or unmake senators, and 
 the president controls them." 
 
 "You don't mean to tell me that you rusted out 
 the six years that you were in Washington in this way ?" 
 
 "Oh, no ; I almost ran my legs off doing errands for 
 
AND THE PIONEER 367 
 
 the people that I couldn't be hired to do for them at home, 
 and wouldn't do for myself. The remainder of the 
 time I was distributing patronage and doing my master's 
 will." 
 
 "Keally, from your discouraging outlook, I don't see 
 how any one can afford to hold this office." 
 
 "A man with a surplus of money might hold it, and 
 make it a kind of a club to occupy his time when not en- 
 gaged in his social functions, and the man with nothing, 
 and< without the power of accumulating for himself, might 
 hold it and do the errands." 
 
 Mr. Wickham, with a smile, heartily shook hands 
 with the Judge, and informed him that he was able to 
 separate from him with a much higher regard for his 
 political virtues, than he entertained the day he lost the 
 negro delegate. 
 
 The Pilgrim and the Pioneer followed the Fountain 
 up to the well-known sites of Colorado Springs, Manitou, 
 and the Garden of the Gods. What grandeur, what sub- 
 limity, Nature planted here! How could such spots be 
 other than famous? Why shouldn't the traveling world 
 stop here and admire the climax of Nature's plastic hand ? 
 
 Mr. Wickham hurried away to the postoffice, hoping 
 to find letters from his daughters. He found letters from 
 his sons-in-law, gushing in affection and solicitude for his 
 well-being, and giving various excuses for their wives' 
 silence. 
 
 This cut the Pioneer to the quick. It soon occurred 
 to him, however, that they were simply wrapped up in 
 their husbands and had pushed them forward to do the 
 writing. He thought of how Bluejay had followed him 
 through the mountains and was oblivious of the existence 
 of her kind father, Hopping Antelope, until her husband 
 
368 THE PILGRIM 
 
 had tried to install her in a well furnished house, which 
 seemed like trying to train a fish to love the dry land. 
 He said, "Oh! This Caucasian blood is sterling stuff. 
 Poor things ! they are happy with their grateful husbands, 
 and that is some consolation. I hope there will be some 
 marked improvement in their children. Blood in animals 
 and blood in human beings will tell its own fateful story." 
 
 At beautiful, wild, picturesque Manitou, they sur- 
 feited on the grandeurs of snow-capped peaks, cascades, 
 wild torrents, huge stone castles, balanced rocks, moun- 
 tain glens, nature-built amphitheaters, and other rare 
 scenic beauties that have few, if any, parallels. 
 
 They found as many different kinds t of water here, 
 at the base of Pike's Peak, as there were colors in Joseph's 
 coat. 
 
 They drank and bathed in energetic, bubbling springs, 
 as they boiled out from its base, with their gurgling, im- 
 patient waters charged heavily with sulphur, magnesia, 
 soda', lime, iron, and every other ingredient forming the 
 majestic Pike's Peak. 
 
 Ah, after all, what is this famous peak but a mighty 
 heap of tired, sluggish gas, loitering here for a brief 
 period, then disintegrating and returning to the gaseous 
 state and disseminating itself among the elements in a 
 thousand ways. Millions of tons of this gigantic peak are 
 corroding and tumbling from the outer crust and floating 
 away to the low lands. Millions of tons of sulphur, iron, 
 silica, magnesia, soda, lime, and the other ingredients, 
 from the very foundation stones of Pike's Peak, are dis- 
 solving, leaching out, and spurting through these springs, 
 and floating away to the Gulf of Mexico. 
 
 The sparrows of the Rocky Mountains and those of 
 New Orleans, grind their grass seed with millstones taken 
 
AND THE PIONEER 369 
 
 from Pike's Peak. Every passing tourist, whether from 
 Boston, New York, Paris, London, Berlin, or elsewhere, 
 carries away in his stomach a block of Pike's Peak in 
 solution. The travelers abiding here, feasted their eyes 
 on Pike's Peak ; they climbed Pike's Peak ; they washed 
 their faces with Pike's Peak; they departed with their 
 stomachs filled with Pike's Peak. What, but Time or 
 Eternity, is immune to disintegration or change? 
 
 The Pilgrim and the Pioneer moved over to Colorado 
 Springs. On the main street they found little knots of 
 people gathered on every corner engaged in most earnest 
 conversation. The new visitors hung around the out- 
 skirts and listened that they might learn the chief topic 
 of interest. They were surprised to learn that the gist 
 of the excitement was to find some means of getting 
 an intoxicating drink and of discovering a legal way for 
 property holders to rent their premises for saloon pur- 
 poses without losing the title to their land under the 
 prohibitory clause in the deed. When the deeds to lots 
 in Colorado Springs were issued by the town company, a 
 clause was inserted forfeiting the title if at any time 
 whisky or intoxicants were permitted to be sold on the 
 premises. The timid were afraid and hesitated, but the 
 bold declared the prohibitory clause unconstitutional, de- 
 fied the provision, were prosecuted and lost their property 
 under a decision of the Supreme Court of the United 
 States. All kinds of wheels, holes in the ground, and 
 other devices were contrived to get intoxicants. The 
 prohibition clause seemed to germinate the same appetite 
 for the forbidden drink that the prohibition against Adam 
 and Eve's tasting of the apple had done in the Garden of 
 Eden. What is there in human nature that causes us 
 instantly to crave forbidden fruit? 
 
 THK PILGRIM. 24 
 
370 THE PILGRIM 
 
 Court was in session. A man was being tried for 
 stealing a horse. He had a great word painter defending 
 him. The lawyer tinted and flowered the entire prairie, 
 and finally worked himself up to the Garden of the Gods, 
 where the thief was apprehended, and in a great burst 
 of eloquence, exclaimed, "Why hasn't this defendant, a 
 fair representative of the noblest work of God, a right to 
 inhabit the Lord's parlor ?" What a perfect picture ! Is 
 
 THE GARDEN OF THE GODS. 
 
 there a spot on this footstool more entitled to be designated 
 as the Lord's parlor ? However, the connecting of the thief 
 with this beautiful appellation irritated Judge Huntley 
 who responded that it was very unfortunate for the Lord 
 that His parlor was sometimes inhabited by horse thieves. 
 Colorado Springs at this time had a celebrity in the 
 person of one Sm alley, a foot-racer. In the evening a 
 gang of men came down from the saw-mill, secured con- 
 siderable of the forbidden beverage, and at once began to 
 malign the favorite, offering to wager any sum of money 
 
AND THE PIONEER 371 
 
 that one of their "loggers" could beat him in a hundred 
 yard foot-race. This offer was soon disseminated among 
 the people, and they came flocking in from every quarter 
 with their money to bet on Smalley. Some greedy indi- 
 viduals were about to cover more than one bet each, but 
 they were dragged back by the crowd and warned that 
 others must have a chance. After they had bet all of their 
 money, they put up their jewelry. 
 
 When the time came for the race the "logger" stripped 
 down, and exhibited a fine equipage and a most excellent 
 athletic development. The people began to grow sus- 
 picious, but it was too late. At the crack of the pistol 
 the "logger" trotted over a hundred yard track in ten 
 seconds, looking back over his shoulder at his discouraged 
 antagonist. Every one of the inhabitants of the town felt 
 humiliated. It soon leaked out that the "logger" was none 
 other than Crandall, a celebrated foot racer, who had been 
 shipped in to take the conceit out, of Smalley and his 
 backers. He at once became a hero, even with those who 
 lost their money on Smalley. They wined, dined, and 
 praised him without stint. Just before taking his de- 
 parture he said to them: " You are generous good fel- 
 lows, game sports, and I like you, and really dislike to 
 take your money from you. I shall be at Waco, Texas, 
 for the next ninety days, and if you see any opportunity 
 let me know and I shall obey your call and help you win 
 your money back." This gave the sports great pleasure 
 and all of them accompanied their hero to the train and 
 bade him Godspeed. 
 
 In five or six weeks a black, dirty, middle-aged man 
 drove a bull-team into Pueblo. He had a tobacco-sack full 
 of currency, and began the rounds of the saloons and gam- 
 bling houses, boasting that he could outrun any one west 
 
372 THE PILGRIM 
 
 of the Missouri Kiver for from one to five thousand dollars. 
 Some one immediately informed the sports of Colorado 
 Springs, and inquired for the whereabouts of Crandall. 
 He was soon located. The teamster's money was ordered 
 taken by the thousands. On the day of the race, trains 
 were loaded from Colorado Springs to Pueblo, and when 
 they got upon the ground they almost fought for an 
 equitable division of the bets among those who lost on 
 Smalley. The race was run just as the train was pulling 
 out for the East. The teamster beat Crandall as easily 
 as Crandall beat Smalley, and as he ran out at the lower 
 end of the track he stepped aboard the train and was 
 whirled across the plains while his partner remained to 
 collect the money and jewelry so lavishly put up by the 
 second time deluded sports of Colorado Springs. 
 
 Any reasonable person would have said "enough," but 
 the inveterate gambler rarely benefits by experience. Some 
 of the duped ones, in after years in the San Juan country, 
 conceived the idea of getting up a race between a fast and 
 an ordinary runner and giving the faster one a large per- 
 centage of the earnings to have him "throw" the race. 
 All arrangements were made for the race to take place 
 in Ouray; the leaders bet much money on the slower 
 man. Before the race was run one of the backers of the 
 slower man sold out to the other side and gave the whole 
 thing away, and the innocent backers of the faster runner 
 offered him the same percentage on their winnings and 
 warned him that if he did not win they would kill him on 
 the track. He said that if he did win the other side would 
 kill him on the track. They assured him he should be 
 protected and that they would provide a fleet horse at 
 the end of the track which he could mount and thus be 
 away from harm before his co-conspirators could realize 
 
AND THE PIONEER 373 
 
 that he had "thrown" them. The backers of the faster man 
 lined up along the track with revolvers drawn, and as he 
 passed they fired over his head, shouting, "Win or we will 
 kill you." The faster man darted over the track away in the 
 lead, mounted the waiting horse, and made a wild break 
 for the railroad at Ifontrose. 
 
 His co-conspirators were wild with wrath when 
 they found he had "thrown" the race and escaped. 
 They hurried to a justice's office for a warrant. 
 The justice declined to place the expense on the peo- 
 ple ; they paid the expense and obtained the warrant, and 
 hurried to the sheriff ; he declined to follow at the expense 
 of the community. They begged to be appointed special 
 deputies to serve this warrant. The sheriff readily ap- 
 pointed them; they secured horses and reached 3!ontrose 
 just after the train had pulled out with their betrayer. 
 There was only one train a day between Montrose and 
 Gunnison, a distance of sixty miles. They telegraphed 
 a description of the culprit to the marshal at Gunnison, 
 and directed his arrest. The marshal arrested a man an- 
 swering the description, and the special deputies took the 
 next train for Gunnison. When they reached Gunnison 
 the next day, they were astonished to find that the marshal 
 had dragged a California tourist from the car and put 
 him in jail, while the real culprit was then spinning over 
 the T>lnins of Kansas. 
 
 The inexperienced ones will say that these men, 
 after being duped three times, quit the wager. O, no! a 
 man with a mania for gambling never quits as long as 
 he has a dollar or can borrow or steal one. The passion 
 becomes a disease that rages and drives the victim on to 
 inexorable ruin. Every inclination of the young to haz- 
 ard anything, however valueless, on a game of chance or 
 
374 THE PILGRIM 
 
 on speed of horses, etc., should be guarded as one would 
 guard him against exposure to small-pox or some other 
 virulent disease. 
 
 Mr. Oampbell patiently waited for weeks for his vial 
 of iron water, taken from the bottom of the stream, but it 
 did not arrive. He then wrote an inquiry to the post- 
 master of Silverton. He received a prompt reply to the ef- 
 fect that his partner was a human scavenger, a professional 
 fleecer, constantly inveigling strangers into some fraud- 
 ulent scheme, and that recently he had deceived so many 
 people into putting up money for him to work the assess- 
 ment, locate, and record some mineral colored water, that 
 he had been driven from the camp. This letter greatly 
 humiliated Mr. Campbell and caused him to regret sorely 
 that he had allowed a fakir to talk him out of consulting 
 his trusted friend, Wickham. As for the supposedly value- 
 less character of the mineral water this did not worry him. 
 He felt that the value of the prospect at Lake City was 
 sufficient and that there could be no question about this. 
 He immediately wrote to Col. Harry Randall inquiring as 
 to looks of claim, if he had worked assessment, staked, 
 recorded, etc., but got no reply/ He wrote the post- 
 master about this second partner. The postmaster replied 
 immediately to the effect that Col. Harry Randall came 
 to Lake City with a bogus draft for $5,000, borrowed 
 all the money he could get on this, obtained whisky, board, 
 lodging, etc., on it until the people became suspicious and 
 shut down on him; that the Colonel, as a denier resorte 
 for money, went up to a high cliff up Henson Creek, took 
 a long ladder, went up thirty odd feet above the ground, 
 blasted out a pot-like hole in the cliff, got a piece of galena 
 from the Ule mine and vigorously rubbed it over the fresh- 
 ly broken rocks, thus giving it the appearance of a body of 
 
AND THE PIONEER 375 
 
 sparkling solid ore ; then removed the ladder, took a min- 
 ister from Chicago up there, showed him the glistening 
 ore, got an advance of $300 for working capital, etc. ; that 
 some miners built a ladder, went up to the hole to try to 
 get the direction of the claim that they might locate an 
 extension, discovered the deception, exposed it, and the 
 miners had driven Col. Randall out of the country. 
 The receipt of this letter completely humiliated and pros- 
 trated Mr. Campbell. 
 
 "Ah," said he, "the old adage, 'Protect me from my 
 friends/ should read, 'Protect me from those who warn 
 me against the counsel and advice of my true and wise 
 friends.' " 
 

CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 GOING TO THE LEADVILLE BOOM. 
 
 For many, many years a few faithful miners had 
 sluiced for gold near the head of the Arkansas Eiver in 
 California Gulch during the warm summer months, trap- 
 ped for furs on the river, or gone over to the Gunnison 
 Valley and trapped there during the deep snows in the 
 gulch, which lasted about eight months of the year. By 
 and by H. A. W. Tabor and August Rischie discovered 
 
 the Little Pittsburg lode the Iron ' of 
 
 fabulous value in lead, copper, silver, and gold, thereby 
 establishing the fact that the chief wealth of this region 
 was contained in quartz or carbonates and not in pure 
 nuggets of gold found in the loose gravel, as had been as- 
 sumed for a generation. Most sensational reports of the 
 new Eldorado were flashed over the wires, and miners, 
 prospectors, and speculators started a crusade from every 
 leading mineral country from Maine to California. Bar- 
 low & Sanderson lined the road with stage coaches, feed 
 wagons, etc. ; all available wagons, saddle-horses, and bur- 
 ros supplemented the coaches, and tens of thousands footed 
 it with their provisions and bedding on their backs. 
 
 The Pilgrim and the Pioneer joined the stage-coach 
 passengers. In anxiety and intensity of desire .and deter- 
 mination, this army of wealth seekers equaled the most en- 
 thusiastic descriptions given of the most famous crusades 
 to the Holy Land. While the fortune hunters did not have 
 to meet human enemies with battle axes or spears, they 
 
 had most trying encounters with mud, snow, inclement 
 
 (377) 
 
378 THE PILGRIM 
 
 weather, and deprivation of shelter, and were at constant 
 war with cold and hunger. But the great elixir of life 
 hope held them up to a courage equal to any emergency. 
 A town, called Leadville, went up like magic. In a few 
 weeks every necessity of life could be had, but at exalted 
 prices. Prospectors and stakes soon covered the surround- 
 ing hills, and new strikes were daily reported in sufficient 
 numbers to keep the excitement at fever heat. Many 
 miners and prospectors went to bed at night penniless and 
 were awakened in the morning by helpers or partners 
 and informed that a fortune had been uncovered in their 
 claims during the night. The sole topic of conversation 
 among men, women, and children was mining prospects 
 or fortunate strikes. Every one had his pockets loaded 
 with mineral specimens and every one verily believed that 
 by running a few feet in on his claim he would uncover 
 a fortune. How many sad disappointments awaited the 
 development! The whole system of life was reduced to 
 a rough and tumble scramble. All kinds of wages were 
 enormously high, and no one seemed to place any partic- 
 ular value on small sums of money. But little change 
 was made for less amounts than a quarter of a dollar. 
 Every one was playing for a fortune or nothing. 
 Life was a pandemonium, a raging, mercenary fever. The 
 candles of life were rapidly burning at both ends with 
 all classes and sexes. When they arrived, there were thous- 
 ands and thousands on the ground. A few weeks' resi- 
 dence in this fast life inflated the inhabitant with the con- 
 soling thought that he was an old-timer. The Pilgrim 
 and the Pioneer soon met many whom they had known 
 just a few weeks before in the San Juan, but these had 
 become cosmopolitan and would hardly admit that they 
 had ever lived elsewhere than in Leadville. This was the 
 
AND THE PIONEER 379 
 
 first real boom on the eastern slope of the Rockies that 
 had untold mineral wealth at the very grass roots to hack 
 up and perpetuate the hoom. The first to reach the for- 
 tunate spot attributed their early arrival to a superior 
 foresight and therefore they manifested some egotism. 
 
 The people quickly organized municipal government, 
 appointed officers, etc. It has been most common in the 
 early days of the mining-camps of the west to select 
 as marshals or deputy marshals some desperate ''man-kil- 
 lers," some one famed for carrying a number of human 
 scalps in his belt. This reputation deterred the bad men and 
 if the unsavory marshal ever killed any one, it was one of 
 his own ilk. These lawless appointees who have been 
 trusted with such positions, thoroughly protected the law- 
 abiding citizens. A district attorney prosecuted to a con- 
 viction an old man and his two sons for stealing some 
 hogs. They were fined for petit larceny. After they 
 paid their fine the district attorney rented them a valuable 
 ranch. When asked the meaning of this, he said, "They 
 have the reputation of being hard workers and there is a 
 strain of honor among thieves. They may steal from the 
 neighbors, but, under the circumstances of my trusting 
 them, they will not steal from me." He related that he 
 had long had a herd of valuable horses running upon a 
 range infested with horse thieves; that he went to the 
 leading suspect and hired him to take care of his horses, 
 and, while his neighbors lost many of their horses, he 
 never lost one. Even thieves and cut-throats seem to be 
 favorably affected by the reposing of a trust in them. 
 
 After the Pilgrim and the Pioneer had been offered 
 enough whisky, beer, and cigars to kill a company of 
 soldiers, if they had consumed the offerings in one day, 
 Hon. T. 0. Hiskock invited them to dine with him at an 
 
380 THE 
 
 improvised private residence. Mr. Campbell called a 
 bootblack and started him to polishing his shoes. The 
 Hon. T. M. Sothern, a leading lawyer who had lately 
 moved from one of the small San Juan camps to the 
 greatest mining-camp in the West, with the usual assump- 
 tion of those living in larger towns, approached the busy 
 scene just as one shoe was being finished, and inquired: 
 "Young man, do you know whose shoes you are blacking ?" 
 The bootblack replied: "No, and I don't care a - ." 
 "Well," answered Mr. Sothern, "I don't want to interfere 
 with your business, but I would advise you to collect your 
 money before you do your work. That fellow is a tinhorn 
 from the San Juan country, who never pays a bootblack 
 or anyone else ;" then he unconcernedly walked away to a 
 waiting crowd. 
 
 The boy raised his brush and looked Mr. Campbell 
 straight in the eye and said, "I'll be blamed if you don't 
 look a little like a tinhorn. I guess you'd better put up." 
 
 "O, no," responded Mr. Campbell; "There are just 
 two bad paymasters one who pays before the work is 
 done, and the one who never pays at all." 
 
 "I golly," retorted the bootblack, "I think you are 
 one of the latter class," threw his kit on his shoulder and 
 went off up the street, whistling, leaving Mr. Campbell 
 with one polished shoe. Mr. Sothern and his waiting 
 crowd pounced upon Mr. Campbell, dragged him into a 
 saloon and drank two or three dollars' worth at his ex- 
 pense. 
 
 As soon as possible Mr. Campbell returned to the 
 street and called another bootblack; just as he got 
 down to his work Mr. Sothern reappeared and inquired: 
 "Young man, didn't you observe this man had one shoe 
 blackened?" The lad answered, "Yes, what of it?" 
 
AND THE PIONEER 381 
 
 "Why," said the lawyer, "when your 'pal' got one shoe 
 finished he discovered that he had hold of a San Juan 
 'tin horn 7 who used to 'bilk' him down there; he de- 
 manded his pay in advance, was refused, and quit the job." 
 The boy gave Mr. Campbell a piercing look, and sug- 
 gested: "I guess you might as well pay up now." Mr. 
 Campbell replied, "Not much." The young man threw 
 his kit on his shoulder, said good day, and moved off up 
 the street. 
 
 Mr. Sothern and party dragged their victim into a 
 saloon again and drank three or four dollars' worth at his 
 expense. 
 
 The time was about up for the dinner party to appear 
 and Mr. Campbell was almost frantic about the conspic- 
 uous condition of his shoes. He hurried back to a street 
 corner and a bootblack soon came along. His left eye was 
 gone and the right one elevated to about an eleven o'clock 
 sun; his mouth was cut on the side instead of the center 
 line of his face, and was connected with his right ear. 
 His front teeth were large and set in double rows, and he 
 had a sharp whine in a cracked voice, the right side of 
 which was a melodious bass and the left a rasping tenor. 
 Mr. Campbell inquired, "Have you courage enough to hold 
 off a motley crowd of hoodlums until you polish my 
 shoes?" He piped out, "Ye bit yer - - life I 'ave," 
 dropped to his hands and knees, and, Quilp-like, began 
 grinding on the untouched shoe. Mr. Sothern and his 
 followers soon appeared, repeated all of the old stories 
 of the San Juan "tin horn" beating his pals, the dis- 
 covery of the two former ones, etc., but the bootblack 
 never stopped, spoke, nor looked up. He had polished the 
 shoe and was about to quit when he discovered a small 
 missed spot in the instep. Reloading his dauber, he was 
 
382 THE PILGRIM 
 
 about to cover this when Mr. Sothern, in his despair, 
 reached over and spat right on the center of the shoe. The 
 bootblack, as quick as a flash, brought the loaded dauber 
 down his pants from hip to shoe top, leaving a black 
 stripe three inches wide on a pair of expensive light tailor- 
 made pants. Then springing to his feet, with a large 
 brush in his hand, his mouth wide open, his eyebrows 
 connected with his bristle-like head of hair, and his double 
 rows of teeth shining, he squeaked out, "You big bluffer, 
 you, if you ever interfere with my business again I'll 
 knock the whole top of your head off," and stepped towards 
 his tormentor, but the meddler silently and hurriedly 
 walked away. The bootblack finished his job, got his pay, 
 shouldered his kit, and went up the street By this time 
 a large crowd had gathered. They seized Mr. Sothern, 
 dragged him into the saloon and drank at least five dollars 7 
 worth in jollification over his discomfiture at the hands of 
 the whining one-eyed and deformed bootblack. The 
 actual cost of the shoe blacking was a quarter and the in- 
 cidental expenses were at least ten dollars. 
 
 This is but a sample of the general rough-and-tumble 
 existence in this new mining-camp all labeled real fun. 
 
 Eeturning from the dinner, the Pioneer and the 
 Pilgrim met Mrs. Monk, who cried out, "Why, Joshua 
 Wickham, of all persons, I most wanted to see you. I 
 need the counsel of your good common sense. Of course 
 you know of our great strike in the Sky-Scraper Mine ?" 
 
 "Yes/ 7 answered Mr. Wickham, "I am delighted to 
 learn of your good fortune. How are the dear children 
 and Mr. Monk?" 
 
 "Ah!" replied the troubled woman, "the dear chil- 
 dren are very well, but poor Hal, I fear, has lost his head 
 like. You know we were carried from abject poverty to 
 
AND THE PIONEER 383 
 
 millions of dollars between two days, and I fear the change 
 was too abrupt for the stability of the ordinary human 
 brain ; but I hope your even, well-balanced temperament 
 may veer his distorted intellect toward the natural orb, 
 if you should come in contact with him." 
 
 "I make no pretense of occult power, but shall be 
 glad to contribute my weak mite in any way you may sug- 
 gest/ 7 replied Mr. Wickham. "When can I probably find 
 him at home ?" 
 
 "Oh, my dear sir ! Hal, poor fellow, hasn't been 
 home for seven weeks. He has three handsomely furnished 
 rooms on Harrison Avenue, and I am informed that all 
 kinds of unworthy company gather there, and that his 
 money is being scattered in every direction." 
 
 Mr. Wickham suggested that she should have him 
 adjudged non compos mentis, and have a conservator of 
 his estate appointed, if he were in this condition. 
 
 The woman wrung her hands and exclaimed, "It 
 can't be done ! It can't be done, while Jris .money lasts. 
 Hoards, both male and female, are following him and 
 fleecing him, and persuading him that he is one of the 
 greatest and most important characters in the great West, 
 and every one of them would swear that he is most bril- 
 liant and normal, and would turn upon me and convict 
 me of a crazy, abnormal jealousy. No, there is no remedy 
 now but moral suasion, and you must go up and work 
 with him." 
 
 The Pioneer went up to Mr. Monk's apartments 
 and rang the bell. A colored boy, gorgeously uniformed, 
 opened the door about six inches and asked, "What is it, 
 sir?" Mr. Wickham answered, "I would like to see 
 Mr. Monk." 
 
 "I fear you cannot see him; he is very busy, sir." 
 
384 THE PILGRIM 
 
 Mr. Wickham wrote on one of his cards, "Formerly from 
 Gregory Gulch/' and asked the boy to take it to Mr. 
 Monk. 
 
 The boy soon returned, opened the door and invited 
 him to "Come right in, and be seated in the reception 
 room. The boss will see you as soon as he gets through 
 with some visitors in his private chamber." 
 
 Mr. Wickham heard the constant clicking of wine 
 glasses, female voices flooding the host with all kinds 
 of flattery, and the host's egotistic giggle and insipid re- 
 plies. 
 
 After a long wait Mr. Wickham was ushered in. He 
 was astonished at the red eyes, flabby flesh, and imbecile 
 smile on the face of his old friend. 
 
 Mr. Monk gushed over the Pioneer, and told George 
 "to knock off the neck of a bottle of 'Mum's Dry.' ' 
 
 Mr. Wickham answered, "My dear Hal, you will 
 remember that I never indulge in even 'Mum's Dry.' ' 
 Mr. Monk chucked the Pioneer in the ribs and re- 
 plied, "You wifl take one with me on the Sky-Scraper ? 
 You know I have money now to throw at the birds. I 
 will let you have all you want and you can pay it back 
 whenever you like, without interest." 
 
 The Pioneer took his glass of wine, touched it with 
 his lips, and answered, "I shall call on you if I ever need 
 a friend. But," he continued, "my dear Hal, you look 
 tired and worn out. You should take Mrs. Monk 
 and go abroad and have a long respite from these arduous 
 duties." 
 
 Mr. Monk repeated his coarse, silly laugh, 
 chucked the Pioneer in the side and said, "Say, Joshua, 
 I don't have anything to do with Sally any more, you 
 know. She's all right in a miner's cabin or at the wash- 
 
AND THE PIONEER 385 
 
 board, but would hardly grace a piano or ornament a 
 parlor. She is hardly progressive enough for me. When 
 I go to New York or Chicago, my friends take me among 
 the Four Hundred. How would Sally look with her 
 number eleven hands squeezed into a pair of white French 
 gloves ? Or suppose she should pull off her gloves and 
 my friends' wives should get a glimpse of her red, chubby 
 fingers, with her deformed nails that have run over a 
 washboard for thirty years ? It would stampede the com- 
 pany. No, no, I shall give her a hundred thousand, 
 and she can put the children in Notre Dame, but if I 
 should remain linked to her, it would drag me down. 
 You know, the Good Book says, 'If one member 
 offend thee, cut it off and cast it away, lest the whole 
 body perish.' You know I can't pull Sally up to my 
 level." He then pointed to a picture on the sideboard, 
 of a handsome, flashy-looking blonde in full evening dress, 
 and said, "Say, Joshua, what do you think of this ? Isn't 
 she all wool and a yard wide ? I deserve something like 
 her; she would ornament silks and satins, would grace 
 diamonds and distinguish parlors anywhere. I could take 
 her among the Four Hundred in Chicago, New York, or 
 London, and create a sensation." He chucked his thumb 
 in the Pioneer's ribs, he he he ed, and inquired, 
 "What do you think of choice Number Two?" 
 
 The Pioneer replied, "My dear sir, the most mis- 
 erable creatures anywhere are the sensible men and women 
 who have inherited great wealth and have been forced 
 by their environments to use their bodies like wax models 
 in millinery show windows, to exhibit fastidious dress 
 and sparkling diamonds. Everywhere are evidences that 
 the progeny of affluence are now craving useful pursuits. 
 Early in the twentieth century inherited wealth will be 
 
386 THE PILGRIM 
 
 so common that the possessors will cease vieing with one 
 another in highly ornamented corpulosities, gorged with 
 rich viands and fired with exhilarating wines, while their 
 tongues vociferate a chitter-chatter as senseless as the 
 superstitious incantations of the barbarians. Moral and 
 intellectual forces and well-spent lives will in the near 
 future be the test of honor among all citizens, and the 
 change will come before the present fickle social harness 
 is set to your frame. The labor of your wife's dignified 
 and honorably scarred hands, joined with your own for 
 the past thirty years, has blazed the pathway to this ex- 
 ultant abundance. It is the refined blood, the pure heart, 
 and the radiant soul, that form the only human beauty 
 that endures. You are now daft with a glowing coun- 
 tenance, a buxom bosom, and shapely features, stall-fed 
 and groomed for the market, as the ox is for 
 the shambles. These apparitions are gawdy, ephem- 
 eral glosses, ornamenting a mere form of flesh and bone, 
 which is offered in exchange for your gold. You are 
 not considered or desired. You are expected cruelly and 
 inhumanly to turn your back upon the long-suffering, 
 labor-wearied, and pure-hearted wife of your young man- 
 hood for this string of cheap and coarse, though glittering 
 gew-gaws. The wife of your youth has her heart set upon 
 your comfort and well-being, and would cling the closer 
 to you should you be returned to abject poverty. The 
 new intruder will only tolerate you for what she can 
 obtain from your affluence, and upon any reverse of for- 
 tune, she would flee from you as from a contagious pes- 
 tilence." 
 
 Mr. Monk broke into an egotistical "he -he he" 
 and answered, a My dear Joshua, you must not expect 
 me to allow any feminine inferiority to pull me down as 
 
AND THE "PIONEER 387 
 
 Bluejay destroyed your social and mental happiness. 
 Think of taking Sally into the circle of the Four Hundred 
 in Chicago, New York, or London ! What a figure ! What 
 a sensation ! Think of pulling off her number eight rub- 
 bers and piling them upon the number ones of those of 
 my friends' wives. Even the servants would scorn her 
 and treat me with contempt, and the next morning the 
 society paper would cartoon these shoes, large enough for 
 a wholesale sign, as one of the wonders of the wearing 
 apparel of the Four Hundred. No, Sally is all right for 
 Leadville or any other mining-camp, but would be a mill- 
 stone about my neck, socially, in Chicago, New York, or 
 London. I shall divide with her and treat her justly, 
 but you must not beg me to commit social suicide as you 
 have done. How did 'The Holy Creed' work in your own 
 case, eh? He he he he." 
 
 The Pioneer arose to his feet and replied, "Hal, you 
 cannot drive me from this warning by holding up before 
 me my conjugal mistakes. I did my whole duty to Blue- 
 jay. The older she became and the more I accumulated, 
 the better I treated her personally. I regret no personal 
 sacrifices for Bluejay. My sorrow is not born of carnal 
 sensualities. My remorse is that I unwittingly permitted 
 the veins of my children to be charged with barbaric 
 blood. How culpably thoughtless ! How criminally negli- 
 gent ! How excuseless I am ! I had seen one species after 
 another in the vegetable kingdom degenerate from the 
 higher, by mixing the well selected and highly cultivated 
 with the wild and neglected. I had seen families of 
 animals retrograde from the higher, by mixing the 
 carefully bred with the wild outcasts. I had seen the 
 coarse, uncouth donkey and the fine-haired, keen-eyed, 
 fleet-footed, tenor-voiced, highly sensitive, docile, and 
 
388 THE PILGRIM 
 
 superb thoroughbred horse-family coalesce, and well knew 
 that the offspring was invariably burdened with the coarse, 
 woolly hair, with the narrow, contracted foot, with the 
 large, knotty head, with the long, thick ear, with the 
 sluggish sensibilities, with the coarse, rasping bray, and 
 with the chubby, unshapely form of the donkey, the 
 cruder-blooded progenitor. I well knew that it was easier 
 to dilute or pollute than to refine. I was familiar with the 
 Ionian philosophy correctly stated at the dawn of Cau- 
 casian civilization, that all nature works by fixed laws. 
 I was familiar with the selection and care of motherhood 
 among early Grecian sires, which made their offspring 
 the most handsome, the most intellectual, the most moral, 
 and the most normal, known to mankind. I did not even 
 have the ordinary criminal's excuse, 'ignorance of the 
 law.' O, who is wise enough to locate accurately the 
 line where the responsibility of parents cease and that 
 of progeny begins ? It was criminally careless in me to 
 expect a preponderance of the color, form, voice, energy, 
 or high aspirations of the Caucasian race in my progeny. 
 I thank God that all of my sorrowings are for those un- 
 fortunate ones, whom my error burdened with an untamed 
 blood that must ever keep them below mediocrity. JSTo 
 change of condition or knowledge of my fatal mistake 
 ever caused me to abandon or neglect the wild mother 
 whose life became linked with mine in holy wedlock. 
 You, sir, have no contaminated blood in your wife, and 
 your children are glorious specimens of the highest civi- 
 lized race. You were contented and happy until your 
 great wealth drew around you a hoard of heartless flat- 
 terers that have whetted the coarse appetites of your 
 lower nature into loathing of the honorable means 
 by which you and your wife reached a goal which 
 
AND THE PIONEER 389 
 
 might be earthly bliss, but which may be diverted to your 
 complete undoing. The very fact that you are capable of 
 looking with contempt upon your wife's large stubby hands, 
 bony wrists, and well developed feet, the very insignia of 
 a well-spent life in the ranks of honorable and dignified 
 toil that brought you the gold that now leads you to loathe 
 her, evinces your imminent danger. You seem to be ob- 
 livious of the good common sense, the pure heart, and 
 the radiant soul, the rare jewels of perfect womanhood, 
 that she developed along with her physical organs and 
 appendages. Link your fortune with some passing, glitter- 
 ing physical beauty, because she has well-poised features, 
 wears small bracelets, a number five glove and a number 
 one slipper, and when too late, perchance, you will find 
 that her intellect, her heart, and her soul are proportion- 
 ately dwarfed, also from non-use. It is beneficial 
 use that develops the physical, moral and spiritual being 
 in harmonious proportions." 
 
 The colored boy rushed in with the cards of Miss 
 Mabel Jenkins Harrison and Mrs. Ellsby, her favorite 
 aunt. 
 
 Mr. Monk responded, "Bring them in," and 
 turning to the Pioneer, said, "You shall meet the fair one 
 of whom you entertain so low an opinion," pointing to 
 the picture on the sideboard, then giggling in his silly 
 fashion until the door was thrown open. The women 
 swept in and gushingly saluted Mr. Monk, and 
 Miss Harrison stuck out her tiny foot and the colored boy 
 relieved her of those number one rubbers that had made 
 such an impression on her host 
 
 The Pioneer was deferentially presented, then Mr. 
 Monk launched into an almost constant insipid giggle, 
 while Miss Harrison pulled a hair from his shoulder 
 
390 THE PILGRIM 
 
 here and there, observing the color and length with appro- 
 priate comments, while her thoughtful old aunt expati- 
 ated on his domestic neglect, in his great business press- 
 ure. They expressed their great disappointment at his 
 failure to call the evening before, and their resultant fear 
 lest he might be indisposed, hence this call. 
 
 Clinking glasses of "Mum's Dry" were passed and 
 Miss Harrison daintily sipped her wine, and with dainty 
 fingers brushed a grain of dandruff from Mr. Monk's 
 collar and lapel between sips, and commented upon the 
 useless neglect of his valet, while the thoughtful aunt was 
 insisting that Mr. Monk should go down to New 
 York and take a much needed rest. She said that all 
 great men were quitting all details in labor that they 
 could hire any one else to do, thereby husbanding 
 their strength as directors. At the first moment of a lull 
 Mr. Wickham bowed himself out, convinced that there 
 was no hope for his friend's rescue, unless the officers of 
 the county would protect him from the machinations of 
 these women until he could get his mental bearings. 
 
 The Pioneer called at the offices of the mayor, sheriff, 
 and judge, successively, and told what Mrs. Monk 
 had told him, and what he had seen. One after another 
 ridiculed the idea, and told the Pioneer that this was 
 simply an outburst of generosity ; that - Mr. Monk 
 was a man of superb intellect and of unstinted liberality ; 
 that he was the typical, generous Western rich man ; and 
 that he was really one of the boys, and no man, woman, or 
 child ever appealed to him for help and came away empty 
 handed. They insisted that his wife was one of those 
 nice, good, New England women, who believed in getting 
 all she could out of the country without putting a dollar 
 back; that Mr. Monk was the ideal of every one in 
 
AND THE PIONEER 391 
 
 Leadville, and was making everybody prosperous, while 
 his wife was always trying to spy around to see if any- 
 body was getting a dollar out of him, and croaking about 
 his expenditures. Each one said that his office would be 
 worthless without Mr. Monk, and each suggested that if 
 he were Mr. Monk he would quit her. 
 
 The Pioneer then returned to Mrs. Monk and 
 told her what he had heard and seen, and her hopeless 
 condition, and suggested that she should permit him to 
 get a divorce and get all the alimony possible for her by 
 amicable agreement, then go away and forget. 
 
 Mrs. Monk clasped her temples with her hands 
 and a flood of tears streamed from her eyes. She sobbed 
 aloud, "My last hope for his rescue is blasted. O, what 
 a curse this strike has brought upon us all. I thank you, 
 Joshua, with all my heart. Good-bye, and God bless you. 
 I shall not burden you again with my woes," and, with 
 streaming eyes, she dropped in anguish upon her couch. 
 
 Social conditions were "free and easy" among all 
 classes here. Men, women, and children, laymen, and 
 ministers would do things here that they would have 
 blushed to have thought of in the organized societies, 
 whence they came. Everything was sacrificed at the 
 shrine of lust for a "quick fortune." Preachers would 
 talk of using a gun or of thrashing men, and use profanity. 
 I remember that a Presbyterian minister was assisting a 
 bucket brigade at a little fire. Some one said, "Look out, 
 Mr. Daly, I am going to throw down this bucket." The 
 
 minister replied, "Throw and be ." No one severely 
 
 criticised such liberties with profanity; they rather 
 regarded it as evincing a commendably liberal spirit. 
 Neighbors were mixed good, bad, and indifferent in 
 the same block and they all mingled freely. 
 
392 
 
 THE PILGRIM 
 
 A friend warned a leading wealthy woman of 
 the u'nfitness of a visiting associate, thinking she was 
 unaware of her reputation. The woman replied, "I do 
 not care, she is a good-hearted soul, and I never knew a 
 'mudhole to dim the sun/ but have often known the sun- 
 to dry up the mudhole. I am not here for my health or 
 as a moral missionary." And this was the prevailing 
 thought. The hotels took in all kinds and classes and 
 kept their eyes shut except as to the amount of the charges. 
 A majority of the business men joined with the visitors 
 in organizing and marching from saloon to saloon and 
 from variety theatre to theatre at night, singing, howling, 
 and filling up on the vilest of whisky. They thought this 
 built up their trade and caused the miners to give them 
 the reputation of being "good fellows." 
 
 After they had grown weary of this "double quick" 
 march towards death, and of the fulsome egotism of the 
 old San Juan friends at the assumption of being resi- 
 dents of a bigger mining-camp, the Pilgrim and the 
 Pioneer engaged passage for a return to the even-going 
 San Juan country, thoroughly impressed with the hollow, 
 baseless mockery of the assumptions of the superiority of 
 those living in larger places, and of the increase of moral 
 turpitude and license for evil doing, in the ratio with the 
 population. 
 
 Examine your legislators and you will find the lowest 
 average in intelligence, fidelity to duty, and morals from 
 the largest cities. Examine the records of congress and 
 you will find the lowest average in morals, intelligence, 
 and fidelity to duty in the state of New York, from New 
 York City; in the state of Massachusetts, from Boston; 
 in Illinois from Chicago ; and throughout the nation from 
 the largest cities. The great masses of the moral and 
 
AND THE PIONEER 393 
 
 intellectual forces of all countries are reared and main- 
 tain their situs in the small villages and country settle- 
 ments, and the cities are constantly drawing their most 
 sterling citizens from these supply points. 
 
 On their way hack to the San Juan the coach was 
 loaded to the limit with men, with the exception of one 
 Bohemian woman on her way to the Gunnison valley. 
 Women were scarce in Colorado and men were as gallant 
 and deferential to them as bridegrooms to their spouses. 
 At that time almost every man travelled with his pockets 
 loaded with cigars and whisky, and always shared with 
 his fellows whether intimate friends or comparative 
 strangers. At every change of horses the men would 
 march behind the stage barn and drink, but never exhib- 
 ited a bottle in the presence of the Bohemian cook lest it 
 might shock her womanly temperance instincts. 
 
 About eleven o'clock their Bohemian sister opened a 
 big, yellow valise, drew out a long black quart bottle of 
 whisky and said : "Men won't yez have a dram of bourbon 
 with me?" This broke the ice and drinks, of as many 
 kinds as there were numbers of passengers, were free- 
 ly indulged in during the remainder of the journey, and 
 the Bohemian sister never missed a drink. Mr. Wickham 
 exclaimed : "What a pleasant relief to pass from the fever- 
 ish excitement of a mining boom where the fakirs, bunco- 
 steerers, sports and wild speculators dominate the senti- 
 ment of the people, back to the settled mining-camp where 
 the sterling, solid miners, conservative business men, and 
 old pioneers are dominant. It begets a sentiment like unto 
 that felt in going from Sodom to Bethlehem. It is like 
 passing from the excitement of war to the placid paths of 
 profound peace. It forces the conviction on the inex- 
 
394 THE PILGRIM 
 
 perienced ones that there are dearer things in life than 
 money. 
 
 "But, ah ! I can't remain among these peaceful scenes. 
 It is too close to the field of my desolation. That social 
 outcast, Monk, has pushed ajar the long closed gates of 
 my social folly and has exposed on every side of me the 
 parched fields and blurred pathways of my conjugal mon- 
 strosities. My brain reels ! I can hear the squeaking of 
 the caloused fissures and feel the tearing tissues as they 
 spread their gaping jaws to monopolize again the field 
 of thought* I must turn my back upon these familiar 
 scenes and place many broad withered prairies and many 
 lofty mountain ranges between me and these grotesque 
 surroundings, or become a slave to my mania. I must 
 have new pastures, new excitement, greater diversion, or 
 my thoughts will all be careened into these well-worn 
 depressions of the brain and will be ground into the com- 
 mon grist of continuous lamentations for the inexorable 
 results of the contravention of an immutable and merci- 
 less law of nature. 
 
 "For days the profligate mind has been permitted 
 riotously to intrude these weak and cowardly thoughts 
 into its organ, the brain, without noticing the deep furrows 
 that were despoiling the smooth surface. That greatest 
 enemy of the race, Procrastination, has been harvesting 
 bis usual crops of ruin and despair. I am afraid ! I am 
 afraid of that potent warning that I feel creeping upon 
 me. Too late! Too late!" 
 
CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 CROSSING THE DESERTS. 
 
 Mr. Wickham and Mr. Campbell pushed over a link 
 in the chain of the Kocky Mountains to the cantonment 
 on the Uncompahgre River commanded by Gen. Me. 
 Here they found the government saloon, as it 
 were, in full blast, and many red faces and blooming noses 
 told the sad story of the insinuating inroads of king al- 
 cohol. They had not been long at the cantonment when 
 an acquaintance of Mr. Wickham's appeared and said, 
 "Old Tambien is in the guardhouse and desires to see 
 you, but you will have to get permission from Gen Me." 
 
 They went to his headquarters and the Pioneer told 
 him that he had known Mr. Hiram Frobisher, alias "Tam- 
 bien," when he was one of the most polished, wealthy, and 
 influential citizens of his community, but that he had 
 tarried too long at the wine vaults and had become prac- 
 tically irresponsible ; that the old man had sent a messenger 
 for him and he would like to go over and talk with him 1 
 privately, and see if there were any aid or consolation he 
 could extend him. Gen. Me. answered, "Very well, 
 you can see him, and further, you may take him along 
 with you if you can get him away from the cantonment." 
 
 They were conducted into the quarters of the pris- 
 oner. He cried out, "Tambien, Senors," his usual cor- 
 ruption for the Spanish of "How do you do, sirs." The 
 adoption of the Spanish salutation had caused the old 
 man's associates to refer to him generally as "Tambien." 
 
 The Pioneer inquired, "Is not this rather a curious 
 abode for a gentleman born and reared in Tammany 
 
 (395) 
 
396 
 
 THE PILGRIM 
 
 Hall as you have been, and a blue-blooded gentleman 
 
 at that?" 
 
 A deep gloom came over the old man's face, he 
 puckered his lips and tried to explain, and finally looked 
 to the hills and suggested that "the high altitude occa- 
 sions all of these strange freaks," the usual excuse for 
 many unexpected turns of opinion or moral conduct of 
 immigrants to the Rocky Mountains. He soon worked 
 himself up to his normal courage, and moralized : "Senor 
 Wickham, the world is all a vain show, a false pretense; 
 I have been at the cantonment two weeks and have not 
 drawn a sober breath until after they pla.ced me in here. 
 The officers were drinking as much as I; the only dif- 
 ference is that I have to pay for my drinks, but I have 
 never seen one of them pay a cent, or the mark of a pen 
 made against one. I saw that many of the officers were 
 absolutely oblivious to the value of property, and that 
 criminal waste was rampant in every quarter. Two cars 
 of corn and a saw mill were to be sold. 'I stood in with 
 the auctioneer and some others, and in a gentlemanly and 
 high-toned way we practically stole this property of great 
 value. Tramping over these beds of cobble stones my 
 shoe-soles gave out and I boldly stepped up to the com- 
 missary department, picked up a pair of dollar shoes, put 
 them on, was arrested and thrown in here. What an in- 
 vidious distinction between the petty thief and the thief 
 on a grand scale. I stole two cars of corn and a saw mill 
 and was regarded as a high-toned gentleman, but when I 
 condescended to steal a pair of dollar shoes, I was con- 
 demned to a criminal cell. Is it any wonder that the 
 father could not make his thoughtful but inexperienced 
 boy understand how John Jones could kill one man and 
 become marked like Cain as a murderer, abhorred by all 
 
AND THE PIONEER 397 
 
 good men, while Alexander the Great could kill a hun- 
 dred thousand and become the sacred idol of his race? 
 It is not the moral turpitude so much as the petty or 
 enormous scale on which the act is done, that darkens the 
 deed of the criminal in the eyes of the hero-worshipping 
 populace." 
 
 They took the old man out and started him up the 
 "Dry Cedar" for the San Juan. 
 
 The Uncompahgre Valley is completely surrounded 
 by majestic mountain ranges and the blue sky seems to 
 rest upon their summits all around, giving the valley all of 
 the appearance of a canopied and completed world. 
 
 The only uninviting things in the valley were the 
 parched vegetation and shrubbery and the dry and thirsty 
 soil. 
 
 The Pilgrim and the Pioneer pushed on down the 
 Uncompahgre River to the Gunnison, then down this at- 
 tractive stream under the headland of the Grand Mesa to 
 the confluence of the Grand and Gunnison Rivers. Here 
 a great valley opened, fenced in with a most charming 
 range of mountains. The valley was sterile and uncul- 
 tivated, but with a rare combination of fertile soil, salu- 
 brious climate, abundance of water, and great coal veins 
 cropping out on every mountain-side for fuel, making such 
 a combination of natural necessary elements as will in- 
 sure a great center of population and of wealth when the 
 pace of development reaches this favored spot 
 
 When they reached the Utah line the old Pioneer 
 turned and gazed intently at the country lying on their 
 east flank. Mr. Campbell asked, "What is the attrac- 
 tion?" 
 
 The Pioneer replied, "Have you observed that for 
 
398 THE PILGRIM 
 
 130 miles on our right there has been an almost unbroken 
 bed of coal? If God keeps his promise to consume this 
 world by fire, then you want to get as far from this spot 
 as possible, for the most intense flames of the universe 
 must be here, as this is the center of the carbon supply." 
 
 Leaving this valley they struck a desert as trackless, 
 cheerless, and torrid as ever was crossed by an Arab in 
 the burning sands of Sahara, and one which will never be 
 taken from the maps as "The Great American Desert," 
 until Time, or God, in His providence, shall have worn 
 down some of the lofty mountain ranges, or piled up new 
 ones in such a manner as to send currents of air here which 
 have not been devaporized, or shall put forth new streams 
 for the irrigation of this virgin soil. The time will cer- 
 tainly come when the mysterious workings of the econ- 
 omies of nature will so change the air currents or water- 
 courses that the great sterile deserts of the old and of the 
 new world will be the great food granaries and centers of 
 population, but such an undertaking is not within the 
 possible reach of the ingenuity of man. 
 
 After many deprivations and hardships the weary 
 travelers reached the western slope of the high inter- 
 vening range and beheld the great Salt Lake Valley and 
 Salt Lake, which looked like an oasis with a brilliant 
 solitaire jewel set in the center. They soon reached the 
 Mormon settlements. Though the inhabitants were poor 
 and scantily equipped with the conveniences of life, the 
 travelers never enjoyed entertainment by a more frank, 
 generous, sympathetic, or hospitable people. Their every 
 act evinced that they were not only teaching by precept, 
 but by example, the blessed doctrine of the "Fatherhood 
 of God and the Brotherhood of Man." 
 
 The night they entered Salt Lake, George Q. Cannon 
 
 ! 
 
AND THE PIONEER 399 
 
 lectured on the pioneer days of Salt Lake Valley. His 
 description of the turmoils, suffering, and disappoint- 
 ments of men, women, and children in the early days was 
 heart-rending and his depicting of the abiding faith they 
 incessantly had exercised in God was pathetic. He viv- 
 idly described the cheerfulness of men, women, and chil- 
 dren and how they, with the crude implements shaped 
 by their own handicraft, diverted the streams upon the 
 virgin prairies and cultivated, them, and how, when the 
 inhabitants were all aglow with the cheerful hope of a 
 most abundant harvest, clouds of grasshoppers came and 
 consumed all their crops; how they met in fervent, inces- 
 sant prayer, lived upon herbs, and tried the second crop, 
 and how the same pests came with the same fatal results. 
 They repeated their devotions and preparation for the 
 third crop and planted it, and just before the fruitage the 
 dark clouds of grasshoppers were seen approaching. The 
 people were called together in continuous, fervent prayer, 
 piteously and faithfully depending upon God to rescue 
 the starving inhabitants from this third visitation of the 
 ravaging pests; just as the grasshoppers approached they 
 beheld another dark cloud of sea gulls approaching, and 
 these new visitors swooped down upon the grasshoppers, 
 utterly destroyed them and saved the crop; the local 
 legislature soon declared the sea gull a sacred bird and 
 placed a heavy penalty upon any one who should in any 
 way molest it, and these timely immigrant birds had re- 
 mained as guardians over the crops of the great Salt 
 Lake Valley up to that time. 
 
 The visitors never before witnessed such evidences of 
 a burning faith as were depicted in the glowing counte- 
 nance of the people in this pioneer audience, as the speaker 
 
400 THE PILGRIM 
 
 contrasted these trials with the locust pests of Pharaoh 
 while he was oppressing the children of Israel. 
 
 He also described the great foresight and caution 
 with which Brigham Young apportioned the land among 
 his people. If one desired to be a tradesman, he gave 
 him a lot in Salt Lake near the size of an ordinary city 
 block ; if one desired to do market gardening for the people 
 of Salt Lake, he gave him a five-acre tract near the city 
 limits; if others desired to do general farming or stock 
 raising, he awarded them thirty acres each, further out 
 in the country ; this division at the time was very equitable 
 and evinced method. 
 
 The clerk of the hotel where the Pilgrim and the 
 Pioneer stopped was thoroughly imbued with the tenets of 
 the church, paid her tithes, and sustained the faith to all 
 comers. They asked her which wife she preferred to 
 be, number one or number two. She replied, "We are a 
 tolerant people ; some of us believe in a plurality of wives 
 and some believe in but one wife to each man, and," said 
 she, "the records of our church show that only two per 
 cent of the husbands have a plurality of wives." 
 
 They asked her why the 98 per cent did not blot out 
 this iniquity of the 2 per cent which was bringing such 
 odium on the church and on the people. She grew ani- 
 mated and really eloquent. She pointed to street after 
 street in Chicago, New York, and St Louis that were 
 crowded with lewd women and said, "These are the dupli- 
 cate wives of the Gentiles ; we have none such among the 
 Mormons. The Mormon loves, protects, and defends his 
 second or third wife as faithfully as he does his first, until 
 death separates them, but the Gentile loathes his duplicate 
 consort after the fresh blush of her youthful cheek fades 
 
AND THE PIONEER 401 
 
 into the wrinkles of old age, and abandons her to a lot of 
 shame and misery to fill a dishonored grave in the potters' 
 field : her offspring, if any, are outcasts, covered with a 
 load of shame for which they are not responsible and which 
 they can never outlive or shake off. Ah," said she, "the 
 Gentile is a real publican, hunting motes in his brethren's 
 eyes while refusing to see the beam that is in his own 
 eye." 
 
 In the midst of this talk an old, wrinkled-faced man 
 past middle life came up with newspapers for sale. The 
 Pioneer bought one and jocularly asked, "My friend, how 
 are your wives today ?" The old man replied, "My wife 
 is very well, thank you." "Well, haven't you married 
 but one woman?" said the Pioneer." "Yes," said the old 
 man, "I married two, but one was dead when the cere- 
 mony was performed." "Why did you do such an absurd 
 thing as to marry a dead woman?" inquired the Pioneer. 
 The old man dropped his head, and answered, "I consoled 
 others. A friend's daughter died without having been 
 married. Her father and mother were inconsolable. They 
 believed she would have a lonely and unhappy life in 
 Heaven without the companionship of a husband. They 
 appealed to my wife and to me, that I take her as my 
 second wife, though she was dead. To palliate their grief 
 I went over, had the ceremony performed, and her name 
 recorded in the church records as my second wife, and 
 this pacified her parents. Such things are non-essential in 
 our church. I do not believe in this or in plural mar- 
 riages, but many others believe in both. We differ in 
 many non-essentials." 
 
 The sight-seers walked up to the east door of that 
 symmetrical tabernacle, with its wonderful acoustic prop- 
 
 THK PILGRIM. 26 
 
402 THE PILGRIM 
 
 erties. A very old gentleman sat at the east door. They 
 asked him some questions about his church and his people. 
 Like an automaton he launched into a history of both 
 church and people, and never ceased till he had stated the 
 whole creed and the Biblical authority for each tenet, the 
 history of the saints and prophets, and also the greatness 
 of Brigham Young, and the justice and equality with which 
 he governed his people. His memory was marvelous. 
 
 The Jordan Eiver, the tabernacle, the beautiful tem- 
 ple, and the famous Salt Lake, are too well understood by 
 the public to justify a description here. The travelers 
 went to church on Sunday and heard the practical talks 
 of the leaders and the orders given for the temporal 
 welfare of the people. What a lesson in discipline ! The 
 whole machinery of Brigham Young's government ran as 
 smoothly as a Swiss watch. Every one received his orders 
 cheerfully and performed the commands with military 
 precision. They were rigidly taught the salutary prin- 
 ciples of trust, honesty, fidelity to duty, and the general 
 brotherhood of man and the fatherhood of God. The Pil- 
 grim and the Pioneer talked to agents, stockbuyers, and 
 drummers, and found that they invariably considered 
 them as the most reliable patrons they had, saying that 
 they regarded the fulfillment of a promise or 
 an agreement as a most sacred duty and rarely 
 faltered or quibbled. Gentiles generally said that out- 
 side of their polygamous habits they were most exemplary 
 people and they liked to deal with them. Why not ac- 
 kowledge the many commendable traits of this great people 
 and condemn the one evil practiced? Intolerant moral 
 teachers condemn the good and the evil alike without 
 mentioning the many exceptionally laudable tenets that 
 are in their creed. How long will Christian sects discon- 
 
AND THE PIONEER 403 
 
 tinue the intolerant practice of withholding credit where 
 credit is due, out of pure bigotry or a blind prejudice? 
 
 Before the Pioneer left Salt Lake City, he wrote long, 
 affectionate letters to each of his daughters, and implored 
 them to write him letters descriptive of their doings, 
 etc., and forward the same to Spokane Falls, Washington. 
 
 After viewing the fortresses, beehives and many other 
 relics of the early practices and tribulations of these people, 
 the travelers moved westward along the margin of the 
 great Dead Sea (Salt Lake), through a remarkably fertile 
 country, by the way of Ogden into Idaho. 
 
 Here they met the rigors and trials of another irre- 
 deemable, sandy desert which really tries men's souls. 
 These deserts are caused by the air currents crossing 
 ranges of mountains so high that precipitation of the mois- 
 ture in the air takes place on the elevated ranges, and the 
 air is devaporized and reaches the parks and valleys be- 
 yond, dry. In many places on the west side of a range the 
 rainfall will be abundant in the valleys, while those on the 
 east side will be a parched desert. Wherever an unusually 
 high range is found that the air-currents must, cross on 
 one side or the other, a desert will be encountered. How- 
 ever, Idaho is well watered by the Great Snake River, and 
 others, has millions of acres of level and fertile lands, 
 great stock ranges on the public domain, and a splendid 
 climate; in a few decades it is destined to support an 
 immense population of happy and prosperous people. 
 The Pilgrim and the Pioneer patiently worked their way 
 across Idaho up to Butte City, Montana. Here they found 
 the greatest business spot in all of their travels. Every- 
 thing was wide open. Dance houses, variety theatres, 
 gambling dens, prize fights, and everything that would 
 cause the expenditure of money. Prices were enormous. 
 
404 
 
 THE PILGRIM 
 
 It had never been their privilege before to observe such 
 a large proportion of ruddy and muscular men. It looked 
 like the breeding ground of giants. The laboring men 
 and women, aided by the sporting and saloon elements 
 that were catering for their patronage, absolutely 
 dominated the sentiment and public policy of the 
 city; and the laboring men, being busy and loth to 
 meddle in public affairs, beyond the establishment of high 
 wages for themselves, permitted the insinuating sports 
 and saloon men largely to control the city administration 
 and, therefore, public opinion. 
 
 However, labor was unionized by common consent 
 if not under actual constitution and by-laws, and wages 
 were enormously high; visitors were not humored or 
 catered to, but had to pay obeisance to those who served 
 them. The house-girl was mistress of the household ; she 
 told her mistress when she should have an outing, and the 
 mistress dared raise no objection. The bonanza kings had 
 to walk the chalk line at her dictation. One of the wealth- 
 iest men in Butte told them that one morning when he was 
 at his breakfast, his house-girl peremptorily ordered him to 
 get up and draw her a check for her wages, saying that 
 she wanted to use some money right then. He said he 
 dared not hesitate, as the least quibbling on his part would 
 have caused her to pack up her things, move away, and 
 leave him without help. What a lesson this teaches. 
 Capital is wholly dependent upon labor. As usual, when 
 they reached the city they were dusty and hungry, and 
 when they caught sight of the "Saddle Rock" restaurant 
 they entered for a repast. It may not have been first class 
 or the best in Butte, but their stay was interesting, to say 
 the least. The tired travelers were seated by a well- 
 dressed, flashy-looking owner of a gambling hall, to whom 
 
AND THE PIONEER 405 
 
 everyone about the institution paid great deference. A 
 girl about thirty, raw-boned, muscular, with a coarse voice 
 and abrupt, independent air, was mistress of the dining 
 room, seated the guests, took the orders, collected the bills, 
 and practically ordered the boarders to tip her liberally. 
 She, and the unique guests which they were fortunate 
 enough to meet here, used a slang that made their conver- 
 sation almost a riddle to the ordinary visitor. It is not pre- 
 tended that these guests, this waiter, or this restaurant, 
 were fair samples of those common to Butte City. The 
 owner of the gambling hall blandly referred to the cook as 
 a "pot- wrestler," to the waiter as a "hash-slinger," and 
 to the victuals as "chuck," etc. 
 
 By the time they got comfortably seated a man and a 
 woman, dressed mostly in leather, with high gauntlet 
 gloves, red leather leggins, and immense sombreros, came 
 sweeping across the dining-room to their table and gush- 
 ingly grasped the hand of the gambler, familiarly calling 
 him "Gray Eagle," because of his prematurely iron-gray 
 hair; he addressed the man as "Hackey" and the woman 
 as "Bronchey," they being generally known in the com- 
 munity as "Hackberry Charlie" and "Broncho Kate." 
 
 Gray Eagle was consuming an immense beefsteak, 
 large enough for four men. "Bronchey" inquired : "Gray 
 Eagle, what does that slab off the unfortunate bovine set 
 you back?" He replied, "I don't know, Bronchey, the 
 hash-slinger hasn't presented me with a bill of lading 
 yet." The waiter soon came in and cried out "Beefsteak, 
 ham and eggs." "Hackey" and "Bronchey" consulted a 
 moment, then "Hackey" answered : "Bring us a couple of 
 slabs from the most elevated portion of the rear perambu- 
 lating machinery of the lamented swine and a healthy 
 bunch of green hen fruit." The waiter inquired: "How 
 
406 
 
 THE PILGRIM 
 
 will you have your eggs cooked?" "Hackey" in a low, 
 confidential tone said, "Fry mine up and down stairs," 
 then solicitously looked at "Bronchey" for a reply. She 
 piped out, "You may close the eyes of mine, too." One 
 would have thought these three persons controlled the des- 
 tiny of Butte to hear their conversation. "Gray Eagle" 
 mentioned one capitalist after another and declared them 
 real enemies of the town; said they employed men of 
 families or old fogies who put their money into savings 
 banks and sent it away to relatives, and that the saloons 
 and gambling halls, which kept up Butte and distributed 
 the money among the people, got but little benefit from 
 such miners, and that the sports would leave town unless 
 things changed, and the houses in Butte would be filled 
 with bats and burros if this wide-awake business class 
 should abandon it. 
 
 "Bronchey" and "Hackey" fully agreed with him. 
 They pushed back their plates and "Hackey" inquired, 
 "Hash-slinger, how much is the till shy on this re- 
 plenishing of our empty bread baskets?" The girl 
 answered: "$3.50." He threw down a five dollar 
 bill and said : "Can you break a V ?" She replied, "You 
 bet your sweet life we can break anything from a broncho 
 buster to a bonanza king if we can get a cinch on them." 
 She threw him down a dollar and a half in silver, say- 
 ing, "There is your dough." He threw the girl back a half 
 dollar, retorting, "Plant that in the heel of your stock- 
 ing with my love. I like to encourage a real artist in hash- 
 slinging." The girl grabbed the half dollar and replied, 
 "Bully boy with a glass eye, thanks awfully; if I 
 am around I shall dance at your funeral for the nice comp' 
 and the half dollar to sew in my stocking heel." With 
 great cordiality "Hackey" took the gambler by the hand 
 
AND THE PIONEER 407 
 
 and bade him good-bye, saying that he had greatly enjoyed 
 this "jaw service" and regretted that Butte was not filled 
 with such wide-awake and enterprising business men as 
 he. The gambler thanked him, looked patronizingly at 
 "Bronchey" and said that when he saw the graceful shape 
 of "Bronchey" glued to the apex of her pretty caballo 
 this A. M. he envied his station as her "pal." "Bronchey" 
 shot her long red hand into the gambler's and said : "Shake 
 a bunch of fives on that handsome lip service, pardner ; I 
 am your huckleberry hereafter." Then "Hackey" and 
 "Bronchey" stalked out to their horses. 
 
 The waiter suggested: "I like them kind of people 
 who always speaks pure English so one can understand 
 them, and then they pays for what they get. I'll bet they 
 plank down to me $3 a week for good attentions. I de- 
 spise these Boston and "N&w York people who come here 
 and try to use those high-falutin words that they don't 
 know the meaning of themselves ; and then they squeeze a 
 dollar until the eagle on it gasps for breath before they 
 will let it go. Shucks, if one of them eats here a week I 
 wouldn't get a dollar out of him. He might leave ten cents 
 by his plate if I was right sweet on him, but what could 
 one expect of these tender-feet who always lived among the 
 old fogies in Boston or !N"ew York where they never see 
 nothing and where they never get a glimpse of a dollar un- 
 less some of our western boys go back there and blow in 
 their stuff. I wish they would quit spending their 
 money in "New York and Boston and let the natives starve 
 awhile. I'll bet that would bring them to their milk. I 
 am always sorry for people who have to live in such ignor- 
 ance and poverty as they have to in New York and 
 Boston." 
 
 The gambler said they knew no better and, "in the 
 
408 
 
 THE PILGRIM 
 
 language of Milton or Byron or the Bible or somebody, 
 'Ignorance is bliss/ or something like that/' arose, threw her 
 a half dollar, and departed, and the weary travelers were 
 afraid not to put up a half dollar each lest she might think 
 they were from the poor villages of New York or Boston. 
 
 The Pioneer said, "There are extremes in society; 
 that part that always lives on a frontier or at a cross road 
 town without an opportunity of seeing the more advanced 
 centers of civilization believes that all on earth that is 
 precious or desirable centers in the villages or on the fron- 
 tier, and they are really sorry for those who have to live 
 in the more advanced settlements. The other extreme 
 moves from place to place until it believes there is no place 
 on earth fit to live in. The breezy waiter belongs to the 
 former class. As between the two extremes the former is 
 much more desirable as there is love of home and content- 
 ment associated with this lot, while the nightmare of 
 restlessness and dissatisfaction are ever at the heels of the 
 latter." 
 
 When the Pioneer and Mr. Campbell came out into 
 the office, the owner of the gambling hall was sitting at 
 a round card-table playing solitaire. The Pioneer said, 
 "Wait for me here, Mr. Campbell, until I get shaved." 
 Mr. Campbell walked over and watched the game of soli- 
 taire, and the owner of the gambling hall asked him if 
 he ever speculated any with cards. Mr. Campbell re- 
 plied that he could play a little, but did not believe in 
 gambling. "Very well," said the owner of the gambling 
 hall, "we will amuse ourseives with a little friendly game 
 of shoot-mouth," and he dealt the cards. He always 
 allowed Mr. Campbell to win and constantly eulogized his 
 luck and his brilliant plays. 
 
 The Pioneer soon returned and looked on the game 
 
AND THE PIONEER , 409 
 
 for a few moments. Every time the owner of the gambling 
 hall got the deal he gave Mr. Campbell a phenomenal hand 
 and had bully-ragged him to bet until he was about to 
 yield. 
 
 The Pioneer said, "Give me your hand, Mr. Camp- 
 bell, you see if the horses are all right." 
 
 The stranger, when it came his turn to deal, gave the 
 Pioneer three queens; the Pioneer said nothing about 
 betting, but made a show down and won the pot. The next 
 time his new friend got a deal, he gave the Pioneer three 
 jacks and a pair of queens. The Pioneer said, "Ah! I 
 have a winning hand this time." The gambler threw 
 down twenty dollars and said, "I'll bet you twenty. You 
 dare not bet; you haven't got the nerve. I dare you." 
 
 The Pioneer coolly laid twenty dollars on the table, 
 drew a vicious looking bull-dog revolver fiom his hip 
 pocket, stuck it in the gambler's face and said, "Lay down 
 that hand. Lay it down, or I shall drop you right in your 
 tracks." 
 
 The gambler spread out three kings and a pair of 
 queens and said, "Don't get excited, my friend, put up 
 that gun, it might go off accidentally. Those things are 
 always unpleasant, if not dangerous." 
 
 The Pioneer spread upon the table four aces, picked 
 up the forty dollars and put them in his pocket. 
 
 The gambler flushed up and said, "It looks to me like 
 there was some swindle about this." 
 
 "Yes," replied the Pioneer, "it is all a swindle on both 
 sides. You started in to rob that boy, and I returned 
 just in time to save him. Then you tried to 'cold-deck' 
 me by stealing out three jacks and a pair of queens for 
 me, and three kings and a pair of queens for yourself, but 
 while you were getting together these two hands, I took 
 
410 THE PILGRIM 
 
 out the four aces and put them under my leg, and returned 
 your three jacks and pair of queens to the deck. Now, 
 what are you going to do about it? Squeal, I presume." 
 
 "Ah !" answered the gambler, "you are all right a 
 dead game sport. The money is yours, but I am surprised, 
 I never suspected you at all. I was trying to keep you 
 from watching me, but I never thought of watching you. 
 Say, partner, I should like to go in 'cahoots 7 with you. 
 I know where we can make a barrel of money. Will you 
 join me ?" 
 
 The Pioneer straightened up to a superb dignity 
 and replied, "No, I am no sport. I never gambled in my 
 life, sir, and shall hardly begin now in my rapidly declin- 
 ing years." 
 
 "Oh, yes, yes, I understand that," answered the sport, 
 "that is all right." 
 
 The Pioneer returned to the dining-room and gave 
 the two helpers each five dollars, then went to the kitchen 
 and gave the two helpers there five dollars each. 
 
 When he returned he said, "Sir, I have given the 
 money I wrenched from you to the helpers in the dining- 
 room and in the kitchen. I should not taint my business 
 transactions with such ill-gotten gains." 
 
 "Oh, that's all right," answered the gambler, "don't 
 be offended; I admire you. Such generosity is always 
 found in dead game sports. When can I have a long busi- 
 ness talk with you?" 
 
 "Never," said the Pioneer, as he stepped out on the 
 pavement. 
 
 The owner of the gambling hall stepped up to the 
 clerk and inquired, "Did you ever see that fellow before 
 that just went out of here ?" 
 
 "Yes," replied the clerk. "I just saw him distrib- 
 
AND THE PIONEER 411 
 
 ute twenty dollars among the help. I think he is some 
 crazy fellow." 
 
 "No," answered the gambler, "he is the slickest and 
 gamiest sport that I ever tackled and I am going in 
 'cahoots' with him if I have to follow him for a year. I'll 
 bet he's got a barrel of money. When he cools off, he will 
 be back, then you send for me." 
 
 Mr. Campbell saw all this and fully realized 
 that he was the sole cause of this dangerous escapade. 
 Between the fear and humiliation he almost had nervous 
 prostration. This was the first time he had ever seen the 
 Pioneer aroused and it filled him with all kinds of morose 
 forebodings. It made him long for old Tennessee again. 
 
 It occurred to Mr. Campbell that the Pioneer had 
 been very morose ever since they passed a band of Indians 
 the evening before; that when he saw the savages he in- 
 stantly turned his back upon them ; that his checks puffed 
 up with accumulated blood and he walked briskly in the 
 opposite direction; that he had had little to say since, 
 and that probably these most forcible reminders of his 
 ruin had unbalanced his mind. 
 
 In the morning the Pilgrim and the Pioneer took 
 a stroll over this famous mining-camp. There was noth- 
 ing which would lead the untutored in the mineral king- 
 dom to expect great mineral values here. The so-called 
 mountain upon which the mining and prospecting were 
 being done, was a low, barren ridge hugging the little set- 
 tlement below. There was not a tree, a bunch of grass, or 
 a flower visible in the town. They asked the editor of the 
 newspaper why no one had a grass plot, a tree, or a bunch 
 of hardy flowers. "My dear sirs," said he, "the fumes 
 from the minerals here are destructive to vegetable growth. 
 A bunch of grass or a potted plant left out here over night 
 
412 
 
 THE PILGRIM 
 
 will be dead in the morning." They asked how he account- 
 ed for the giant-like men they met on every street corner. 
 "That is the consequence of a wise business prin- 
 ciple that is recognized in but few places, though its 
 soundness is as well established among the thinking em- 
 ployers of labor as the law of gravitation is among scien- 
 tists, and that is, the cheapest per diem is usually the 
 dearest labor. Butte City has the reputation of maintain- 
 ing the highest mining wage^scale of any place, hence the 
 very best miners of British Columbia and the United 
 States gravitate to this point. Hon. James G. Blaine, 
 when Secretary of State, showed in one of his reports 
 that while the American artisan obtained a much higher 
 per diem than his European brethren, at the same time 
 he accomplished so much more than they that 
 the American manufacturer completed a yard of 
 cloth at a less cost than did his European com- 
 petitor. The philosophy of this seeming contradiction 
 rests on indisputable premises. For over a hundred years 
 the American wage-scale has been much higher than that 
 of Europe, This occasioned a constant inflow of the most 
 aggressive, strong, and efficient workmen of the Old World 
 to the American employers, giving them the great advan- 
 tage bound up in the principle that he who continually 
 employs at the highest per diem gets such an advantage 
 in superior efficiency that he in reality uses the cheapest 
 labor. I knew one great mine, the manager of which fully 
 recognized the principle and persisted in paying from 25 
 to 50 cents above the current wages, and thereby obtained 
 the choice of all accessible miners, and made money. 
 The mine owners protested and sent a committee to 
 him to persuade him to abide by the usual scale. The 
 astute manager replied, 'My mine is at timber line, the 
 
AND THE PIONEER 413 
 
 highest in the district. If I pay the usual scale of wages 
 I will get only such miners as cannot get employment at 
 the lower and more congenial altitudes, and will there- 
 fore have the refuse of the camp, and lose money. By 
 paying one-half dollar per day more than the usual scale I 
 obtain the pick of the miners of the country, and I find 
 that this apparently dearer labor is, in fact, much cheaper 
 than that obtained at the usual scale. 7 ' 
 
 After a very instructive sojourn in Butte they moved 
 down the Missoula River between stately mountain sides, 
 covered with great pine forests, to the little city of Mis- 
 soula, with bleak, parched, shadeless background of the 
 ever present sage brush. 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 A PIONEER WEDDING. 
 
 Early in the morning, the Pilgrim and the Pioneer 
 were attracted to five or six unkept-looking men, dressed 
 in greasy buckskins, with uncombed, long ringlet hair and 
 waving, bushy whiskers, escorting one cadaverous-looking, 
 malarialized, though neatly dressed and refined, middle- 
 aged woman, from the station to the Missoula Hotel. 
 
 She had evidently just left the malaria beds of the 
 East, as no such complexion or neat dressing was indigen- 
 ous to this region. One man and the woman hurried away 
 to the parlor. It was soon narrated to the Pilgrim and the 
 Pioneer that John and this woman knew each other in 
 childhood, and that he had not seen her since her short- 
 dress and barefoot school days ; but of late they had been 
 using the pen, and she had just arrived from Illinois 
 to become John*s " worn an." 
 
 John soon emerged with a forlorn and dis- 
 appointed look upon his face, showing that things 
 were not just as he had expected. A small, wiry little 
 Justice of the Peace, apparently with his father's 
 wedding suit on, at least fifty years out of date, hur- 
 ried up to him and asked if he was ready to have the 
 ceremony performed. The prospective groom shook his 
 head and said, "In a little while," and walked across to 
 a clothing store. In half an hour he returned, clad in a 
 suit of shoddy clothes and a white shirt without a collar, 
 and seemed as awkward and restless in his woollen 
 
 clothes as a young colt at his first appearance in harness. 
 (415) 
 
416 
 
 THE PILGRIM 
 
 His comrades gathered about him and asked, "Wouldn't 
 your woman marry you in your buckskin suit and blue 
 shirt?" Another said, "She must be mighty high-toned." 
 Another warned him : "John, it won't do for you to wear 
 them store clothes and that 'biled' shirt over to the Coeur 
 d' Alenes. W'y the boys would have no respect for you 
 in those high-toned fixins'." John shook his head. 
 "She never seen anything like this and ft makes 
 her home-sick, but I told her that after she had lived here 
 six months she wouldn't like anything but the buckskin 
 suit and blue shirts, and you couldn't hire her to live 
 anywhere else; but she says these suits scare her now. 
 Things don't seem to be as she expected, and I'm afraid 
 she regrets her bargain." 
 
 The frisky Justice of the Peace asked him if he was 
 ready to be married. John answered, "In a few minutes." 
 He soon came out again, more embarrassed than before. 
 One after another asked him if he was ready. He shook 
 his head and re-entered the clothing store, and soon re- 
 turned with a high standing collar, which went above 
 his short neck and pushed his large ears up into folds ; but 
 he was still minus a necktie. 
 
 His comrades were astounded. They said that they 
 never thought that "any woman could ever get John 
 Farley into such dude fixin's as them." They all thought 
 that he had made a mistake in selecting his "woman." 
 They said that he was a good provider; he had built a 
 good peeled-log cabin for her and had gone to great ex- 
 pense in putting in a board floor and a glass window, and 
 in putting the boards under the dirt roof so close together 
 that not a crumb of dirt would sift through ; and they were 
 willing to bet that from her high-toned Eastern ideas she 
 wouldn't be satisfied. 
 
AND THE PIONEER . 417 
 
 In a few minutes John appeared and leaned against 
 the door to keep from falling in his embarrassment. His 
 "woman" had tied one of her white silk handkerchiefs 
 around his neck as a tie and he sought to keep this hidden 
 from his comrades. He mumbled out, "Come in now." 
 As soon as the spry little Justice of the Peace entered the 
 door, he began the ceremony, and he really did his part 
 skillfully. At the conclusion he kissed the bride. The 
 old hunters then, one by one, walked up and spread their 
 flowing beards over the bride's pale face and made their 
 muscular lips fairly pop in their vigorous contact with 
 those of John's "woman." Her heart seemed to stop and 
 her muscles trembled like aspen leaves in a mountain 
 zephyr. She would have given all she possessed to re- 
 trace her steps, but it was Joo late. 
 
 In half an hour John .returned to the street 
 in his buckskins and blue shirt, and was a model of 
 grace and comfort. He walked briskly to a 
 livery stable and soon returned with a huge unpainted 
 lumber wagon with three sets of side boards, the 
 bottom loaded with hard wood and iron bands ; above this 
 was piled in a load of light furniture. He had six lop- 
 eared, wild-eyed bronchos hitched to the wagon, prancing 
 and standing on theii; hind feet. The high spring seat 
 was tilted on the third set of side-boards, which put it 
 ten or twelve feet in mid air. One comrade brought the 
 bride, another a step-ladder for her to ascend to this 
 elevated seat. At the foot of the ladder John's "woman" 
 burst into tears, and exclaimed, "I can never get up there, 
 and if I could I never could stay there. I know I'll be 
 killed !" The men crowded around her and tried to con- 
 sole her, told her how safe it was, and what an opportunity 
 she would have to see the beautiful country. They said 
 
r 
 
 AN EXCITING HONEYMOON. 
 
AND THE PIONEER 419 
 
 that in six months she would not change this life for any 
 other. One Pioneer pointed out to her how fortunate 
 John was to have a good mattress along; that it would 
 be so much better than rolling up in a blanket when they 
 camped on top of the range that night. Her heart sank 
 within her when she found that she was to camp out that 
 night among the crags. Her muscles relaxed and like a 
 conquered deer she gave up and by her actions at least, 
 said, "Do what you will with me. You can do no more 
 than kill me." The men took hold of her and literally 
 pushed hoi- UT> the ladder and into the high spring seat. 
 She eagerly grasped one end of the seat with her left hand 
 and fastened the fingers of the other hand in the collar of 
 John's buckskin coat. One of the men got a firm hold on 
 her jacket, Johii popped his whip, the six wild bron- 
 chos bolted into a dead run, and the last the Pilgrim and 
 Pioneer saw of the bride, she was swaying to the right 
 and to the left as though on a teeter board, as the surface 
 of the ground changed. But few brides in the world can 
 have so wild and romantic a honeymoon as John's "wom- 
 an" experienced on that reckless run from Missoula to 
 the Coeur d'Alenes. 
 
 The parting salutation of the Pioneer was, "What a 
 superb mother that refined and cultivated woman will 
 make, for that wild animal's children. It is to be hoped 
 that they will, as usual, be modeled after the mother, es- 
 pecially so in this case." 
 
CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 THROUGH THE COEUR D'ALENES. 
 
 After seeing the bride swing off on her depressing 
 honeymoon, the Pilgrim and the Pioneer picked up and 
 took a short mountain trail for the same wild jungle. They 
 encountered many little tributaries headed in smooth 
 basins up among the rugged hills, occupied, generally, by 
 a lone man, though now and then they found a family 
 there. Travelers could always depend on these settlers 
 to give them a dismal picture of the country that they 
 might move on and leave this lone occupant monarch of 
 his basin. 
 
 On a sloping hill, by a gushing spring, in a clump of 
 quaking asp trees, they picketed the horses out to grass, 
 and went down to a long pole cabin, with elk and deer 
 heads all over it, a long rough board nailed aver the door, 
 and a sign written with charcoal, "WOOLY APHIS 
 INN." The snow was deep, and as the shades of evening 
 crept over Woolly Aphis Mining Camp it became bitterly 
 cold. Old Woolly Aphis had a big Dutch fire-place across 
 one end of the cabin, and one corner of the room was 
 filled with large pine logs. All hands put their blankets 
 as near as possible to the fire-place and retired early, all 
 except the grotesque host, doubling up to try to keep 
 both sides warm. About one o'clock in the morning, some 
 one knocked on the door, and a quivering female voice 
 piped out, "Can I come in ? I am almost frozen." 
 
 John's "woman" had become so hysterical on that 
 
 high seat and over the thought that she had to sleep out 
 
 (421) 
 
422 
 
 THE PILGRIM 
 
 among the crags that night, that he had put her in the mail 
 wagon that plied from Missoula to Wallace, running day 
 and night, and told her to stop off at Wolly Aphis Inn, 
 "a first class stopping place," he said, and he would pick 
 her up the next day. 
 
 Old Woolly Aphis rolled out of his blankets and ex- 
 claimed, "I, hoky, boys, thars the first woman that ever 
 put her foot in Woolly Aphis ! and how can we take care 
 of her? We ain't fixed for ladies?" 
 
 He hurriedly opened the door and the woman, with 
 chattering teeth and a benumbed body, almost fell into 
 the room. As she began to warm up a little she came near 
 falling into the yawning Dutch fire-place. Mr. Wickham 
 arose and said, "Gentlemen, this woman must have a 
 place to sleep. We must divide our blankets with her, 
 or some of us must sit up." 
 
 Old Woolly Aphis retorted, "Pardner, you content 
 your soul in peace and patience. I guess old Woolly 
 Aphis can run his own house and look after his own 
 guests, if one on 'em do be a woman." He turned down 
 his blankets and got one of the long logs of wood from 
 the corner and placed it in the middle of his blanket-bed, 
 and said, "My dear, m'am, I ain't fixed very well for 
 ladies, but I'll provide for you the best I ken. Now, you 
 see this back log in the center of my blankets is the dead 
 line between us. You get on the side of the log next to 
 the fire and go to sleep, and I'll guarantee you will be 
 jest as safe in my blankets as in your mother's arms. 
 Narry a finger nor a toe of old Woolly Aphis will ever 
 cross to your side of that back log. While you are a 
 guest here, I'll be your protector." The woman, benumbed 
 and stupid, dropped between the blankets with her clothes 
 on, instantly fell asleep and knew nothing until she was 
 
AND THE PIONEER 423 
 
 ;i wakened for breakfast the next morning. She arose re- 
 freshed, and for the first time intelligently comprehended 
 her precarious surroundings, and became fright- 
 ened. She said to Mr. Wickham, "If I had been my- 
 self, I never, never, could have thought of sleeping as I 
 did last night. What would my neighbors, my people, 
 think of me if they should hear this ?" 
 
 "Ah, my good woman," replied the Pioneer, "because 
 they would never understand the situation, they should 
 never know of it. When I saw the landlord's unique ar- 
 rangement last night I was perfectly satisfied, because I 
 knew from my past experience that you would be secure 
 on your side of the dead line, as you would have been 
 in a locked room by yourself with a trusty guard standing 
 at your door. The old host would have forfeited his life 
 in your protection." 
 
 "I am so glad there is some redeeming feat- 
 ure among the men, as my one day here had 
 convinced me that they had all degenerated to brutish 
 beasts. The good example you extol is so blended with 
 heathenism, that I dare not tell that, even to my wild 
 husband. I would, however, like to relate the story of 
 this night's lodging, the only redeeming feature I have 
 seen about this life, but my lips are hermetically sealed 
 on this commendable, though grotesque treatment. O, if 
 I could only tell this to my friends in the East, and 
 make them believe it, how it would change their minds 
 relative to the characters of these pioneers, but I can't, 
 I can't, without compromising myself, so I must keep this 
 night's lodging a sacred secret." 
 
 The first thing that met the eyes of the Pilgrim and 
 the Pioneer when they awoke in the morning was the 
 pack horse, with his feet sticking up, stiff in death. He 
 
STIFF IN DEATH. 
 
AND THE PIONEER 425 
 
 had lain down at the end of his rope, on the hillside, 
 and every time he struggled to get up he slid further 
 down the hill and the rope drew tighter and tighter around 
 his neck until the poor animal choked to death. 
 
 Mr. Wickham handed Mr. Campbell fifty dollars and 
 said, "I see a smoke curling up in the deep canon below, 
 gallop over there and see if you can buy a horse, and be 
 very careful to get a guarantee, or you may get something 
 that we cannot handle." 
 
 Mr. Campbell had been gone just a little while when 
 he trotted up to the camp, leading a typical, knotty-headed 
 and lop-eared broncho. He handed Mr. Wickham twenty- 
 five dollars and a bill of sale for the animal, which read 
 as follows : "I certify that I own this broncho, and there 
 is no claim against him ; that he is as sound as a dollar, 
 as tough as whit-leather, and as to his gentleness he speaks 
 for himself. A man, woman, or child can saddle or cinch 
 the pack on him with perfect safety." 
 
 Mr. Campbell fully expected the Pioneer to be pleased 
 with the good trade he had made, but on the contrary 
 he observed a perplexed cloud upon his face as he looked 
 from the bill of sale to the broncho. Then Mr. Campbell 
 asked : "Aren't he and the bill of sale all right ?" 
 
 "I fear him. The bill of sale does not guarantee that 
 you can pack or ride him, but says he will stand and let 
 anyone saddle him or cinch the pack. The most desperate 
 bucker will save his strength until you start to move him 
 off. He looks like a very healthy pitcher, but we can only 
 tell by trying him." 
 
 After breakfast the packsaddle and outfit were se- 
 curely cinched to his back and Mr. Wickham goaded him 
 and said, "Get-up." The broncho shot his head between 
 his front, legs, humped his back, swelled up and began to 
 
426 
 
 THE PILGRIM 
 
 squeal like a pig, and bucked and squealed and pitched and 
 swelled until he broke the cinch, and as he darted from 
 under the pack, he struck the saddle with both hind feet 
 and tore it to splinters. 
 
 The dark cloud of wrathful indignation that gathered 
 upon the Pioneer's brow will never be eradicated from 
 the mind of Mr. Campbell. The old man picked up his 
 Winchester, mounted his horse, and without saying a 
 word, led the broncho back toward the curling smoke in 
 the canon below. 
 
 Mr. Campbell was almost paralyzed with chagrin and 
 fear. He now felt sure that the sight of the band of 
 Indians had dislocated the mental equilibrium of the 
 Pioneer. Mr. Campbell, however, felt that his own short- 
 comings were constantly irritating the situation, and he 
 firmly determined at the first opportunity to turn his steps 
 toward Colorado. He walked to a high point and breath- 
 lessly listened for the crack of a Winchester. At the 
 end of an hour, Mr. Wickham came trotting up the trail 
 with his proverbial radiant countenance and Mr. Campbell 
 knew that he had gotten complete satisfaction in some way. 
 
 Mr. Wickham remarked, in his usual genial tones, 
 a We will pack our outfit behind us on our saddles." Mr. 
 Campbell waited anxiously for Mr. Wickham to explain 
 how he had settled with the vendor of the broncho, but 
 the old man never recurred to the subject. 
 
 The Pilgrim felt that the settlement was very satis- 
 factory to the old man from the change from dark clouds 
 of wrath to placid sunshine. The question with Mr. 
 Campbell was, did he kill the broncho trader and satisfy 
 his vengeance, or did he find satisfaction in some milder 
 form? However, it occurred to him that if the Pioneer 
 had settled on terms that were safe to communicate, he 
 
AND THE PIONEER 427 
 
 would some time mention the same. Efe waited from day 
 to day in anxious expectation, but when they parted he 
 had not broken the seal of his lips on this dark page in 
 their travels. 
 
 After passing the Missoula foot-hills they diverted 
 their course and crossed the range on to the Coeur <F 
 Alene River. They stood on the point of a hill where 
 many small streams come together, and viewed the grand- 
 est green forests that they had seen on the entire trip. 
 There is such a great rainfall in northern Idaho' and the 
 adjoining parts of Montana that the growth is almost 
 as rank and verdant as in the tropics, and they had not 
 seen finer summer ranges or greater forests of pine and 
 spruce than here. 
 
 While standing here admiring the heavy, rich green 
 on the mountains south of them, their attention was at- 
 tracted to the moon standing in the sky almost as distinct 
 as it is at night, though the bright morning sun was shin- 
 ning in all of his glory. It was in the form of a crescent 
 turned this wise ^^^""^^ wi\h the lower part in- 
 visible. A nervous Irish miner kept circling around them 
 with a mining stake and a pick, seemingly fearing that 
 they might stop there and prospect. Mr. Campbell said, 
 "My dear sir, can you tell me why the horns of the 
 moon in Idaho are turned toward the earth instead of 
 Heavenward, as in God's country?" 
 
 The Irishman said, "Be Gory, for the same reason 
 that iverything es wrong side down and wrong ind up 
 out here. The sun seems to rise in the wist and sit in the 
 'ast ; the moon is cut off at the botthom instid of the top ; 
 it shoines in the day instid of at noight; wather seems 
 to run up hill instid of down; and if you sea a peak 
 over there a quarter of a moile away and start for it you'll 
 
428 THE PILGRIM 
 
 be after chasing it three to four moiles before you'll catch 
 up with it ; and the ivolution, that the scientists talk so 
 much about, is so far in the rear here, that iverything is 
 wrong end to and wrong side down, so it is." While they 
 had no doubt that the Irishman's main object was to bluff 
 them out of stopping here, nevertheless every one that has 
 been on the western domain realizes that appearances are 
 very much as depicted in his eloquent speech. 
 
 The mountains here are literally underlaid with lead 
 deposits, awaiting transportation. Major Sweany, of the 
 U. S. army, informed them that he and a company of 
 cavalry camped in the basin several weeks, and a number 
 of their dogs and horses died, and that the sergeant attrib- 
 uted this to the lead fumes, saying that they were simply 
 leaded. 
 
 After a wholesome rest here they followed the Coeur 
 d'Alene River down to the Coeur d'Alene lake, crossed it, 
 and went into Spokane Falls. The Spokane Falls are 
 most charming and the surrounding country is so vast 
 and fertile that this must make a great inland city. 
 
 The Pioneer hurried off to the postoffice and received 
 letters from his sons-in-law, friendly, affectionate, newsy, 
 and apologetic for the failure of their^ wives to write. 
 
 This deeply affected the Pioneer in two ways : First, 
 it greatly exalted his sons-in-law in his estimation and 
 further lowered his appreciation of the Indian blood in his 
 unfortunate daughters. 
 
 He rubbed his head and said, "Poor, unfortunate 
 things; they are not to blame, but I am, for paying my 
 debt of gratitude to their mother in this unnatural way. 
 They will always be mere children, a thousand years be- 
 hind their more fortunate sisters and their adorable hus- 
 bands." 
 
AND THE PIONEER 429 
 
 "Well, I shall make no further effort to com- 
 municate with them. Their superior husbands evi- 
 dently feel the same obligations of gratitude to 
 them and to me for what I have done for them, that I 
 felt to Hopping Antelope and Blue jay for what they did 
 for me, and will treat them kindly. This is, after all, as 
 much as they are capable of enjoying. Oh, what a noble 
 race the Caucasian is! After all is said -and done, there 
 is much in the strains of human blood. The fool thinks 
 you can pick up the barbarians, mix their blood with the 
 Caucasians, and the offspring will be redeemed. It would 
 require a hundred generations of cross breeding to bring 
 up to our standard this wild, untamed blood." 
 
 The separation of Mr. Wickham and Mr. Campbell 
 presented a sad spectacle. The Pilgrim was about to 
 collapse as he said, "Good-bye; I have relied so much and 
 so long on you, and with so much benefit to myself, that 
 I fear I have not now the courage to face the world without 
 the aid of your good common sense and kindly advice." 
 
 "Don't think of that," replied the Pioneer. "When 
 our attachment began, you were a green sapling, subject to 
 the sway of every passing breeze. I have seen you grad- 
 ually and thoroughly become seasoned, so that you may 
 safely stand on your own pedestal. I have often acquiesced 
 in your punishments; yea, sometimes I have added fuel 
 to the flames under the crucible in which you were being 
 tried, but always for your good, that you might be the 
 sooner and more thoroughly seasoned. I am content to 
 trust you everywhere and under all circumstances. The 
 morally weak thrive upon expedients ; the truly strong are 
 content with nothing less than justice. Let your motto 
 ever be, Tor the right, though the heavens fall.' And 
 ever keep this emblazoned on the horizon of your ambition 
 
430 
 
 THE PILGRIM 
 
 that 'Invigorating optimism is the gladsome mother of the 
 world's successes and joys ; while pinched-f aced pessimism 
 is the gruesome dame of its failures and miseries.' Now, 
 good-bye. You must go back to Colorado while I go into 
 British Columbia in search of a greater excitement. It is 
 too dull here to prevent my mind from recurring to the 
 abused past. I must try to get farther from my victims." 
 While Mr. Campbell deplored losing the benefit of the 
 philosophy and unusual good common sense of the Pio- 
 neer, he experienced a feeling of relief, because of 
 the foreboding of possible results from such desperate 
 remedies as were resorted to by him in the case of the 
 owner of the gambling hall and what he feared had been 
 done with the dealer in bronchos, so, with a dejected spirit, 
 he turned his face toward the little law office in Lake City, 
 Colorado. 
 
CHAPTER XXX 
 
 "ANOTHER SELF/' 
 
 When Mr. Campbell reached that most delightful, 
 shaded, and cheerful spot, Provo, Utah, he concluded to 
 stay over a day and commune with his fellows. Though 
 the little city is in the dry and thirsty belt, where it does 
 not rain either on the just or the unjust, enough even to 
 cause trees or grass to grow, nevertheless, through the pride 
 and enterprise of the splendid population, gurgling little 
 ditches were running on either side of the streets near the 
 roots of regular rows of trees, and the water in these 
 ditches (at intervals of about fifteen days), was spread 
 over the lawns, making the whole a beautiful bower of 
 fresh grass, flowers, cheerful trees, and vines. There are 
 probably thirty miles of these ditches skirting the streets. 
 As Mr. Campbell passed down the main street, a short, 
 spare, dark-complexioned, wizard-like individual, was 
 wading one of these ditches from end to end. A young 
 physician informed Mr. Campbell that this person was a 
 splendidly educated, well raised young man, a painter 
 by trade; that his name was Teague, of the firm of 
 Brown & Teague; they were without money, but had 
 just painted the Magnolia Livery Stable, run many 
 bills, and expected to pay them from their earnings. 
 When they presented their bill to two ranchmen, own- 
 ers of the barn, they said: *'We have no money, but a 
 number of bronchos and a large cellar of potatoes ; we will 
 pay you in bronchos and potatoes." This disap- 
 pointment had caused the young man to go upon a spree. 
 
 (431) 
 
432 THE PILGRIM 
 
 As they approached him, the physician said, "Mr. Teague, 
 come out of that water and go to dinner with me. That 
 cold water will make you rheumatic." As the young man 
 stepped out of the water he was introduced to Mr. Camp- 
 bell. He ran up under Mr. Campbell, for the top of his 
 head didn't go above Mr. Campbell's arm pits, and began 
 to hallo at the top of his voice: "O, Mr. Campbell, come 
 down here until I introduce you to my friend Brown!" 
 Just at this moment a little boy drove up a shepherd dog 
 hitched to a little wagon and piped out, "Introduce my 
 dog." The young painter got the impression that Mr. 
 Campbell made this disrespectful remark, and his dignity 
 was wounded. He began to wave his hand to his partner, 
 who was approaching, and cried out, "Go on, Mr. Brown ; 
 go on, Mr. Brown; go on, Mr. Brown; this fellow has 
 acknowledged that he is all dog up as far as I know him, 
 and we will presume him to be dog all the way up." He 
 then turned to the doctor and said : "I shall dine with you 
 with much pleasure." 
 
 One of the principal vocations here was mining on 
 the public domain. The statute required every one finding 
 a mine to put a plain sign on a stake at the point of dis- 
 covery and within sixty days to do sufficient work on it 
 to expose the vein. This is called doing the assessment. 
 If you fail to do this work within sixty days, any one else 
 may stake the claim. This is called "jumping" the claim. 
 Hence every one here was talking about "staking claims," 
 "doing assessments," "jumping claims," etc. When the 
 three reached the dining-room the landlord took them to 
 a table occupied by the Rev. Mr. Dowling, a Presbyterian 
 minister, and introduced them. The painter extended his 
 hand and said, "Brother Dowling, you have come up here 
 to save us sinners, have you ?" "Yes," replied the minister ; 
 
AND THE PIONEER 433 
 
 "I have come up here to stake Provo for Jesus Christ." 
 The young painter retorted, "Yes, and if you don't work 
 your assessment in sixty days the devil will jump your 
 claim sure." The painter continued, "Brother Bowling, 
 you might save poor Joe, if you could only get the preju- 
 dice out of his mind against water. Water is a good 
 preventive. It prevented me going from East St. 
 Louis to St. Louis in 1862. General Forest was quite 
 anxious for us to go, too. Water is good for irrigation 
 purposes and for external purposes ; hut, Brother Dowling, 
 ever since my poor old mother induced me to read that 
 little chapter in Genesis about the great deluge, water has 
 always tasted to me like drowned sinners." 
 
 After dinner the three walked up to the Mag- 
 nolia Livery Stable. Mr. Teague was very in- 
 terestingly explaining the signs that Brown & Teague 
 had just painted. He had completely ignored 
 Mr. Campbell since the wound to his southern dig- 
 nity. The sign was in large letters, "Magnolia Livery 
 Stable," and in small letters in the corner, "B. & T." 
 Every one knew these were the initials of the painters, 
 but Mr. Campbell wanted to reestablish himself with the 
 painter, and asked, "What does 'B. & T. 7 stand for?" 
 The painter as quick as a, flash replied, "Bronchos & Taters 
 
 by ." The by-standers all gathered around Mr. 
 
 Campbell and said, "The drinks are on you." Mr. Camp- 
 bell was glad to do anything to relieve the embarrassment. 
 
 The doctor told the stable-man to hitch up the horse, 
 saying that he as going out a couple of miles to the arroyo, 
 duck hunting. He asked Mr. Campbell if he would like 
 to go. Mr. Campbell said he would be delighted. They 
 adjourned to the saloon of a young, smiling, curly-haired 
 Irishman, and all drank on Mr. Campbell. The doctor 
 
 THE PILGRIM. 28 
 
434 THE PILGRIM 
 
 borrowed the Irishman's gun for him and made known 
 his purposa The Irishman inquired, "Just about how 
 many ducks do you expect to get?" 
 
 "I must be back at four o'clock to tend my calls, but 
 we will get thirty by that time," answered the doctor. 
 
 The Irishman replied, "I'll bet ye the drinks for all 
 of the gintlemen in the tannery that ye won't git thirty." 
 
 The doctor took the bet, went to the stable, slipped on 
 a buckskin hunting suit fringed with long strings, with 
 two great game pockets on the sides, took his gun and a 
 huge red retriever, stepped with them into the buggy, 
 and they were off toward the duck grounds. Mr. Camp- 
 bell was completely enchanted with the buckskin suit. He 
 inquired all about the price, where they could be gotten, 
 etc. The doctor lashed the horse into a gallop, saying, 
 "It has just occurred to me that our Irishman will have 
 every drinking man in Provo in his tannery, as he calls 
 it, on our return, and if I lose, it will cost me five dollars 
 to treat the crowd." 
 
 In a few moments they reached a long, meandering 
 arroyo, with tall chicos on either side. At every turn in 
 the arroyo a large bunch of ducks arose and the hunters 
 mowed them down. The escaping ones flew about a mile 
 further and lighted on the lake. When they reached the 
 end of the arroyo they had sixty-five ducks in two large 
 oat-sacks. The retriever worked splendidly and never 
 lost a duck. He was quite a mathematician. If one duck 
 fell, he made one trip, then took his place behind the 
 hunters. If two fell, he made two trips; if a half dozen 
 fell, he made a half dozen trips, never missing a count 
 of a bird. 
 
 The ducks were thrown into the buggy and they were 
 off for Provo. Mr. Campbell at once began the conver- 
 
AND THE PIONEER 436 
 
 sation about the buckskin suits, and his desire to visit 
 the lake and fill another bag before night. "Very well," 
 replied the doctor, "you will have plenty of time. You 
 can get your suit and a horse and cut across the country 
 and get there in a few moments." They soon reached the 
 Irishman's saloon and found- it crowded to the door with 
 loungers expecting the return of the duck hunters and a 
 free drink. Mr. Campbell and the doctor took their birds 
 through the crowd and threw them upon the bar. The 
 Irishman said to the bartender, "Partner, count' those 
 birds." The bartender opened the doctor's sack, which 
 held the greater number, and counted them out one by one 
 until he reached the thirtieth duck, when the Irishman 
 leaped upon the bar, and said: "Stop that count; they 
 have at least five hundred." He turned to the crowd and 
 continued, "Gintlemen, I invited ye in here that ye might 
 git a free drink at the expense of these handsome nimrods 
 and that I might salt down the profits therefrom, but the 
 sly old fox walked into his own trap. Now walk up and 
 drink at the expense of pretty L. and laugh with the gay 
 hunters." The crowd drank and jeered the Irishman. 
 The doctor threw him a half dozen big mallards and 
 he and Mr. Campbell hurried to the stable. Mr. Campbell 
 ordered a horse saddled, stepped over to the store, and 
 soon returned dressed in a suit of buckskin. With his 
 angular form and high cheek bones, he looked like a well- 
 cared for Pi-Ute. He mounted his horse, whistled up the 
 retriever, and cantered rapidly away toward the lake. 
 The marshes near the lake were black with ducks and 
 they had not been hunted much and were tame. Mr. 
 Campbell slaughtered them while they sat in the sloughs, 
 and soon had thirty ducks pushed into his big pockets. 
 The weight of them had tired him out, but fortunately 
 
436 
 
 THE PILGRIM 
 
 he had a cowboy saddle, covered with long buckskin 
 strings. He took the ducks from his pockets and securely 
 tied them to his saddle and mounted his horse. In the 
 distance he saw six or eight persons dressed in leather 
 suits coming at a wild run toward him with guns in hand. 
 His horse became excited. . Mr. Campbell exclaimed, 
 "Indians !" turned his horse's head toward Provo, plowed 
 the spurs into his flank, and the excited steed made a bee 
 line for the city. The chargers opened fire on him. He 
 dropped himself over by the side of the horse and plowed 
 the spurs into him. The excited animal with his nostrils 
 turned inside out, to'ok a course as straight as a gun shot, 
 leaping arroyos, fences, and all kinds of obstructions. The 
 pursuers with a war whoop were close in pursuit, firing 
 their Winchesters at him every few jumps. Just before 
 he reached the city a bullet passed through his hat and took 
 the hide from a long strip on the noble steed's neck. This 
 caused an increase of speed and made Mr. Campbell press 
 his body closer to the animal's neck. He came in a dead 
 run right up to the porch of the hotel and simply rolled 
 from his horse and into the house, out of wind and tremb- 
 ling like an aspen leaf. The guests of the hotel gathered 
 about him and asked the cause of this strange conduct. 
 Mr. Campbell gasped out, "O, a band of wild Indians 
 followed me right into the city ! Look at the bull(-t holes 
 in my hat and look at the poor horse's bleeding neck !" 
 
 In a few moments the band of pursuing cowboys in 
 a wild run reached the porch of the hotel, leaped from 
 their horses, and asked the landlord where the Indian 
 horse thief went that rode that horse up there. The land- 
 lord smiled and said no Indian rode that horse. The cow- 
 boys pulled their guns and replied. "We will search the 
 house. We will tolerate no harboring of Indian horse 
 
AND THE PIONEER 437 
 
 thieves here." The landlord smiled and answered, "Search 
 her from cellar to garret, boys." The excited cowboys 
 rushed into the hotel with drawn revolvers. In the office 
 they ran upon Mr. Campbell, dressed in his new fringed 
 buckskin suit, with his teeth chattering as if he had the 
 southern ague. The searchers saw the truth of the situ- 
 ation at a glance. A rough, burly one punched Mr. Camp- 
 bell in the side with his gun, and said: "Pi-Ute, you 
 would better pull off that Indian suit, or stay in the 
 house, or some one will send you to the happy hunting 
 grounds." Mr. Campbell's fear was too great for utterance. 
 All he could do was to stand and stare the searchers in the 
 face. One of the milder cowboys suggested, "Well, boys, 
 that's all right. I guess the drinks are on us." One of 
 them looked at Mr. Campbell and inquired, "Indian, this 
 includes you, too." Mr. Campbell answered, "No, thank 
 you; I don't drink." The big, burly one grasped him by 
 the nose, ran the barrel of- his revolver up one nostril, 
 and said, "Yes, I guess you do drink, too," and led him 
 up to the bar. They took round after round of drinks. 
 In their cups they began rather to lionize Mr. Campbell. 
 The big, burly one came up and punching him in 
 the ribs with his thumb, inquired, "Say, Pi-Ute, can you 
 do anything but wear those buckskin clothes and run like 
 
 "Yes," answered Mr. Campbell, "I can kill ducks." 
 
 "Where are they?" 
 
 "I have thirty of as fine mallards on my saddle as 
 ever graced a pot," replied Mr. Campbell. 
 
 The big, burly one said, "Now, tenderfoot, I know 
 this is your game and I am a sucker to bite at it, but I'll 
 bet you ten dollars you haven't got a duck." 
 
 "I never bet," answered Mr. Campbell, "and if I 
 
438 THE PILGRIM 
 
 did, I wouldn't take this one, because I know I have them 
 and to bet would be like robbing you." 
 
 The big, burly cowboy looked him in the eye and re- 
 plied, "Yes, you told me you did not drink, but you do, 
 and I guess you bet, too." 
 
 "Yes, yes," replied Mr. Campbell, "I'll bet with you 
 just this one time, but I don't like to take your money 
 on a dead sure thing." 
 
 The cowboy put his ten dollars in the landlord's hands, 
 and said, "Put up your dough." Mr. Campbell meekly 
 put up ten dollars. All hands adjourned to the jaded 
 horse to decide the bet. Mr. Campbell reluctantly strolled 
 along behind wondering whether this cowboy would kill 
 him after he had won his money. Think of the chagrin 
 and humiliation of the Pilgrim when they reached his 
 horse and found his saddle artistically decorated with 
 thirty beautiful duck heads without a body of a duck in- 
 tact. In this wild run the heavy bodies had wrung them- 
 selves from the heads. 
 
 This first day of civilization away from the control- 
 ing influences of the Pioneer was a succession of mistakes, 
 chagrins and humiliations. The Pilgrim spent a sleepless 
 night and was first at breakfast, and, fortunately for his 
 sensitive feelings, got out of Provo without meeting any 
 of the witnesses to his blunders. When he became a soli- 
 tary traveler on the long, lonesome road, his meditations 
 brought on melancholy and intense thought. He inquir- 
 ed, "What is the use of trying to rely upon this abnormal 
 self ? It can't be trusted. It is erratic, unstable, a frosted 
 reed." He realized fully that his mental vision seemed 
 to have a reverse action. What he expected to be wise, 
 others thought foolish. Acts that he thought should bring 
 people to him set them against him. What he chose as 
 
440 
 
 THE PILGRIM 
 
 calculated to influence others disgusted them. He was 
 conscious that he had miscarried at every turn in the road 
 since he left the old homestead. He gave up all hope of 
 succeeding, mentally, morally, or socially, with the old 
 self. His mental vision seemed to be adjusted obliquely; 
 nature seemed to have been at fault in his whole mental 
 construction. a Why not graft or bud on the scion 
 of some other self? If it is true that nothing in the 
 great economy of nature is lost, then what becomes of 
 the myriads of great thoughts turned loose in infinite 
 space? Why not attune the nerves and brain to receive 
 the thoughts emanating from greater intellects? Why 
 are there so many minds at greatly removed places, re- 
 ceiving the same impressions at the same time, unless 
 thought, the very essence of the soul, shot through the 
 great electric battery, the brain, is carried on the undu- 
 lating waves until a mind is reached properly adjusted to 
 receive it ?" John Campbell declared that he would throw 
 off the old self, as a serpent casts off its epidermis with the 
 approach of warm weather, and attune his faculties to 
 receive the great thoughts and aspirations of the Pioneer ; 
 that henceforth he would live another self. 
 
CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 MR. CAMPBELL'S FIRST TEST. 
 
 In the early spring Mr. Campbell was again ensconced 
 in his little law office in the happiest mood that he had felt 
 since his departure. His friends were coming and going 
 on divers missions. The good Methodist ladies soon 
 ushered in a young minister and introduced him. One 
 of them suggested, "Mr. Campbell, we are scarce of house- 
 room and we have come to see if you will not permit Bro. 
 Munson to move his cot and trunk into your office." 
 This startled Mr. Campbell. He answered, "W'y I am 
 afraid he would not enjoy it. I am quite worldly; I am 
 hard to understand ; people don't take to me/' He gasped 
 and drew back. This was the old self. The thought 
 flashed over his mind, "This must be decided by what my 
 mentor would do my other self" and before the ladies 
 could reply, he continued, "Yes, move right in; you will 
 be quite welcome if you can endure my scant hospitalities." 
 
 Rev. Munson and the ladies, one by one, grasped him 
 by the hand and heartily shook it, and in turn told him 
 how he had relieved them of a great embarrassment, and 
 hurried away to move in his trappings. Mr. Campbell 
 began to meditate rapidly upon what the old self was 
 wont to do and what the other self did do ; what the con- 
 duct of these visitors would have been if his first inclina- 
 tion had been carried out. But he resolved that there 
 should be no mixture of weakness and strength in the 
 situation; that all must be strength and justice in dealing 
 with the new lodger. . 
 
 (441) 
 
442 
 
 THE PILGRIM 
 
 In the evening before retiring Rev. Munson dropped, 
 upon his knees and fervently prayed aloud for all such 
 things as he needed as well as thanking God for the few 
 things he had on hand. This thoroughly aroused in his 
 host the manly spirit of the other self. When he arose 
 Mr. Campbell inquired, "Mr. Munson, don't you think 
 God requires us to use the means He has given us to obtain 
 these temporal wants, rather than to beg?" The minister 
 dogmatically answered, "If I should fervently pray with 
 sufficient faith I could work a removal of Uncompahgre 
 Peak." 
 
 "Well," replied Mr. Campbell, "I think it would be 
 more complimentary to God if you would take a drill, 
 hammer, dynamite, and the brain and muscle He has 
 given you, and go up there and blow it off. God gives 
 nothing in this life. He sells every blessing." 
 
 "Mr. Campbell, I am pained to learn that you have 
 no faith in prayer." 
 
 "There you are mistaken, Mr. Munson ; I believe every 
 time I get upon my knees and pray fervently to overcome 
 my evil passions, I get aid from some source. I admit 
 that I have much more faith in good works. I have no 
 patience with the sects that slothfully stand around upon 
 their knees and allow their children to suck the fumes of 
 death from rotten vegetation in the cellar and drink 
 deadly poison from filthy cisterns, permit them to decay 
 gradually in unventilated huts, and then hover over their 
 dead forms and say, 'God's will be done/ If such a father 
 had done his duty, God's will would have been for life 
 instead of death. Christ said, 'Seek and you shall find; 
 knock and it shall be opened unto you.' He did not say, 
 'Sit down and let God bring it to you;' He said, 'Go 
 after it.' " 
 
AND THE PIONEER 443 
 
 Mr. Munson looked at Mr. Campbell pityingly and 
 answered, "I shall pray for you." 
 
 On Saturday evening Mr. Munson prayed fervently 
 for five dollars to pay the rent on his little log church and 
 Sunday morning he sent up the same petition. At church 
 he asked Mr. Campbell to pass the hat. After the bene- 
 diction General Slocum walked down to the law office with 
 Mr. Campbell. In a few moments Mr. Munson came 
 bounding in, saying, "Mr. Campbell, I have demonstrated 
 the power of prayer. You remember my prayer last 
 night and this morning for five dollars to pay the rent 
 of the church. When the hat was passed this morning 
 we got five dollars to a cent." 
 
 Mr. Campbell answered, "You should thank the 
 people for this." 
 
 "No, no," replied Mr. Munson, "I thank God for 
 putting it into their hearts." 
 
 Mr. Campbell suggested that it was a mere coinci- 
 dence, but Mr. Munson insisted that it was the providence 
 of God in answer to his prayer. 
 
 Mr. Campbell replied, "Your prayer brought the 
 exact amount, but I, instead of God, heard your prayer. 
 I kept track of the money as it was placed in the hat and 
 when I had finished I had but four dollars and I put in 
 a dollar to make up your rent. If I hadn't heard your 
 prayer I would have put in twenty-five cents. Then you 
 would have been seventy-five cents short." 
 
 General Slocum raised his glasses and shouted, 
 "Brother Munson, suppose Echlin & Route's planing mill 
 should be on fire and you should humble yourself and pray 
 to God to quench the flames. Do you think he would do it ?" 
 
 "Yes," answered Mr. Munson, "if I showed the 
 adequate faith." 
 
444 
 
 THE PILGRIM 
 
 "No, no, no," answered Sltfcum; "he would look 
 down upon you with scorn, and say, 'You lazy scoundrel, 
 there is the Gunnison River ; go and get a bucket, and put 
 out the fire yourself.' " In three months Mr. Campbell had 
 this preacher depending upon good works rather than long 
 prayers. This success strengthened the Pilgrim quite as 
 much as it did the young preacher. Mr. Campbell said, 
 "Figuratively speaking, I have begun with the calf and 
 now I am ready to test my growing strength with the ox." 
 He continued to "attune himself for higher things," and 
 awaited patiently the presentation of a greater opportunity. 
 Mr. Munson became a devoted teacher of self-reliance, 
 high ideals, and good works as the road to salvation. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIL 
 
 INFLUENCE OF A NOBLE ACT. 
 
 In 1878 the Indian Bureau at Washington tried one 
 of many foolish experiments with the savage White River 
 Ute tribe. It appointed the venerable, steadfast, and in- 
 corrigible Meeker as agent, knowing that he would ruth- 
 lessly invade their most sacred idols and traditions. Al- 
 most instantly after he was inducted into his office he 
 demanded that these hunters be converted into plowmen; 
 that their beautiful grazing-meadows be turned into grain- 
 fields and their dancing-seasons into schooldays. 
 
 These were most laudable aspirations, and, if they 
 had been approached gradually, an impression could have 
 been made in a few generations. 
 
 The state officials and home population tried to sug- 
 gest and advise, but he would not yield unenlightened im- 
 pressions to the greater experience of others. 
 
 He prodded the Indians on day by day until they were 
 in open rebellion. He then called in the military. At 
 their approach, these red fiends murdered the agent, drove 
 barrel staves through his body, murdered all of the male 
 employes, took the women as hostages into the wilds of 
 the mountains, intercepted General Thornburough's troop 
 in a deep, narrow defile in the mountains, massacred them 
 and escaped. This stirred the martial spirit of the people 
 of Colorado to fighting heat Lake City was a little min- 
 ing-camp with not more than one or two thousand people, 
 three hundred and fifty miles from the capital of the 
 state, without railroad, transportation, or telegraph com- 
 
 (445) 
 
44C 
 
 THE PILGRIM 
 
 munication, and yet the people here organized the Pitkin 
 Guards and announced to the governor, whose name they 
 had taken, that they were ready for any military duty 
 he might assign to them. 
 
 The recruiting officer solicited the enrollment of Mr. 
 Campbell. He was averse to the militia and to the law 
 of physical force in any form. He replied: "O, you 
 have plenty who desire this work. I abhor it. You will 
 
 please ex ," then he threw up his hands and answered : 
 
 "I will enlist, of course; every one should in times of 
 dire distress," and he hurriedly signed the roll. He was 
 startled at the insidious reapproach of that abandoned, 
 cast-off self. He now firmly determined never again 
 to go off guard. He determined then and there to be 
 the most assiduous, dutiful and fearless in the ranks. He 
 took down a large card board and wrote: "Let your 
 motto ever be, 'The morally weak thrive on expedients; 
 the truly strong are content with nothing less than natural 
 justice.' Tor the right, though the heavens fall/ ' 
 the parting injunction of the Pioneer. He pinned these 
 upon the wall at the foot of his bed. The company now 
 began to meet nightly for drill. Mr. Campbell was 
 always at his post. He was among the first upon the 
 ground, and never departed until everything was in its 
 proper place. His dutiful conduct soon attracted the 
 favorable notice of all the officers. A corporal dropped 
 out and every officer made it his pleasure to see that Mr. 
 Campbell was elevated to the place, a favor which excited 
 the envy of many in the ranks. 
 
 The Governor called them into service, and war-order 
 No. 1 was, "Bring in, dead or alive, all hostile Indians 
 found off the reservation." A copy of this order was 
 posted in the armory. Mr. Campbell was detailed to 
 
AND THE PIONEER 447 
 
 visit the Guard at the arm6ry at ten P. M. before retiring, 
 and see that everything was in order. He performed this 
 duty and went to bed. The Guard became green-eyed with 
 envy. Think of this tenderfoot being elevated over the 
 heads of the old residents ! It was intolerable. They de- 
 vised ways and means to destroy him. They took down 
 order No. 1 and wrote, "How can one tell a hostile from 
 a docile Indian ?" and sent two men down at three o'clock 
 in the morning to make this inquiry. When their mis- 
 sion was made known, Mr. Campbell did not lose his 
 temper or apparently discover the motive. He gathered 
 a pen and wrote: "Consider all Indians off the reserva- 
 tion hostile, and bring them in, dead or alive, and we 
 will determine their docility afterward." The men took 
 their query and answer back and posted them. The next 
 morning when the captain and lieutenant arrived, the 
 men derisively pointed to the query and answer, expecting, 
 a harsh reprimand to Mr. Campbell. The captain care- 
 fully read them, and replied: "That is the kind of ma- 
 terial that makes the great soldier. This young man is 
 the bright rising star in this company." His traducers 
 turned black in the face and about-faced. Soon the first 
 sergeant dropped out of the rank and Mr. Campbell was 
 elevated to his place. 
 
 Before the Indian war ceased, Bates & Benton, pro- 
 prietors of a dance house, attempted to rob a furnished 
 residence. The sheriff and marshal learned of their in- 
 tention and concealed themselves in a dark hall, and as 
 the older one entered the sheriff ordered him to throw up 
 his hands. Mr. Bates fired into the 'dark hall and ran 
 away. The sheriff dropped dead in the hall. The marshal 
 immediately gave the alarm and in a few moments the 
 
448 THE PILGRIM 
 
 dance house proprietors were in the custody of the of- 
 ficers. 
 
 The sheriff was a miner, and when the news was 
 noised around among the hills five hundred miners gath- 
 ered about the jail, demanding vengeance on the murderer. 
 Mr. Campbell was detailed with a number of guards to 
 protect the prisoner. At twilight the first lieutenant called 
 Mr. Campbell aside and said, "Sergeant, these miners in- 
 tend to hang the murderer tonight. He deserves hanging. 
 You make an appearance of resisting, but don't resist 
 or hurt any of them. The leaders have been informed 
 that you will make much pretense of resisting without 
 real resistance. The murderer is not worth defending." 
 Mr. Campbell replied, "Never ! never ! ^ As long as I am 
 in charge of this prisoner I shall protect him." The 
 lieutenant answered, "Very well, sir; you are relieved 
 .until nine o'clock tomorrow, at which time you will report 
 at the armory." He laid down his gun and went to the 
 office. He looked at his mottoes and said, "No, no; I 
 can't stay here. Justice must be done." He went out 
 in search of the captain, the deputy sheriff, the marshal and 
 the justice, but could find none of them. He said, "They 
 are a part of the mob." He walked into the crowd 
 and began criticizing mob violence as beneath the aspira- 
 tions of a really civilized being. As he went from man 
 to man in his opposition he learned that he was lecturing 
 his captain, yet he never winced, but poured the hot shot 
 right into him. The captain suggested, "We will go and 
 get our company and protect the prisoner; you are quite 
 right," but when they endeavored to leave, the mob would 
 not permit it, and the captain and the sergeant were 
 placed under arrest. 
 
 Soon the mob moved to the jail. The guards ordered, 
 
THE PILGRIM. 29. 
 
THEY PAID THE PENALTY. 
 
AND THE PIONEER 451 
 
 "Halt," but no one halted. They knocked the door down, 
 threw a rope around the murderer's neck and pulled him 
 out. A few weeks before, the smaller man had grossly 
 offended a certain politician of the town. The politician 
 had quite a coterie of friends and had conspired with them 
 to take advantage of the occasion and hang Mr. Benton, 
 the petty thief, not because he had done anything to the 
 sheriff, but to glut the politician's vengeance. The con- 
 spirators threw a rope around the petty thief's neck and 
 dragged him out. Mr. Campbell cut the rope three times, 
 trying to save the man, but they overpowered him and 
 held him fast. The mob took the two to the Ocean 
 Wave Bridge, threw the ropes over the beams of the 
 bridge, and pulling them up six feet from the floor, 
 tied them there and left them till morning. The 
 murderer did not seem to move a muscle and appeared 
 to expire from mere will-power, but the thief had 
 small hands and fat wrists, and he slipped one hand out 
 of the handcuffs and pulled himself up by grasping the 
 ropes. He felt innocent and died with his tongue between 
 his teeth at the end of a great struggle. The conspirators 
 grasped him, tied his hands behind him and taking him 
 by the legs, pulled the rope tighter around his neck. 
 The next day the mob saw the murderer buried before the 
 sheriff and then dispersed. 
 
 Mr. Campbell reported to the armory to receive a 
 knowledge of his fate for refusing to merely play soldier. 
 The lieutenant reported the sergeant for disobeying orders. 
 The captain asked him, fortunately in the presence of the 
 company, if he had any explanation of his conduct. 
 
 "Yes," answered Mr. Campbell, "I felt that there 
 was greater credit in disobey ing -than in obeying such an 
 order. I was asked to play the part of a tin-soldier. As 
 
452 
 
 THE PILGRIM 
 
 I enlisted as a real soldier, I declined to disgrace myself 
 and the company, even at the command of a superior 
 officer. Why are the militia called tin-soldiers? It is 
 because of their poor mettle, their proverbially unsoldier- 
 like conduct. Ignoble, indeed, is he who conspires in these 
 uniforms against the laws he is sworn to uphold. The 
 crimson blood of that petty thief is indelibly impressed 
 on these uniforms. What a causeless and inhuman dis- 
 grace! Tin-soldiers, indeed, unless there is some lower 
 level ! Why does not the state furnish us with alder guns 
 and leaden bayonets ? They would be commensurate with 
 our conduct last nighk That order was mothered by 
 hypocrisy, fathered by false pretense, and written in in- 
 nocent blood. The only honorable, open way was to dis- 
 obey it. I am ready to receive my punishment.'/ From 
 every part of the armory came the cry, "No! no! no! 
 He is not the guilty one. He deserves promotion." The 
 captain said he felt that the punishment should be visited 
 upon his own head; that he was the culprit; that while 
 disobedience to orders, especially at this time, could not 
 be countenanced, there was such credit in disobeying one 
 so disgraceful that he would not, he could not, lose the 
 opportunity of praising this sterling conduct. He humbly 
 apologized for having permitted the promulgation of this 
 unsoldierly order, and assured the company that the laud- 
 able conduct of the sergeant should be the future rallying 
 cry of the Pitkin Guards. 
 
 In a few short weeks Dan Early assaulted a scarlet 
 woman, an inmate of a dance hall, who was quite popular 
 with the frequenters of these resorts. The sheriff learned 
 that the dance house and saloon customers had organized 
 a mob to take Early from the jail that evening, and 
 asked the captain of the Pitkin Guards for a detail of 
 
AND THE PIONEER 453 
 
 troops. Mr. Campbell was assigned to take twelve picked 
 men to protect the prisoner at all hazards. At two o'clock 
 in the morning a mob of two hundred motley men ap- 
 proached the jail with a sledge hammer and a rope. When 
 they got within ten paces of the jail the guard stood 
 with fixed bayonets. Mr. Campbell commanded a halt. 
 The mob stopped and the leader said : "Sergeant, we are 
 friends of yours and of the people. You give us the 
 keys and retire and we will do our work orderly and 
 quickly, and you will have done you full duty, as it would 
 be folly for you to try to keep back these two hundred 
 men." 
 
 Mr. Campbell replied, "No man can be a friend of 
 mine who attempts to interfere with my duties, and if 
 you enter this jail it will be over the dead bodies of every 
 soldier here, and I now warn you that no leader will 
 be left alive to tell the story if you even attempt it." 
 
 The spokesman answered, "0, yes, we know you have 
 to do your duty, but you can't stand off this mob, and 
 we will now move on the jail and break down the doors 
 if you deny us the keys." 
 
 Mr. Campbell gave the orders, "Ready, aim," and 
 the twelve soldiers had their cocked guns at their shoul- 
 ders. The mob back-stepped a few feet, .astounded at 
 the audacity and determination of the young sergeant. 
 Mr. Campbell then addressed the soldiers as follows : "If 
 anyone advances a step, fire and then charge, and keep 
 firing and charging as long as a man has his face toward 
 this jail." This dauntless courage and determination 
 paralyzed the leaders and they began to weaken and in 
 a few moments went sullenly away, saying, "It is folly 
 to give twenty-five good men for this worthless ona" 
 
454 
 
 THE PILGRIM 
 
 The newspapers were full of praise for the conduct of 
 this troop. 
 
 On Saturday night when the company met at the 
 armory the sergeant made a simple written report of 
 what had occurred. The guard was covered with praise 
 by the officers and heartily applauded by the men. In 
 a couple of weeks clippings were gathered from Eastern 
 and Western papers holding up this conduct as a model 
 for the militia and officers of the country. Governor 
 Pitkin detailed a scouting party from this company to 
 reconnoiter the Uncompahgre Valley, where the Southern 
 TJtes were located. This caused envy among many other 
 companies. Later the Denver companies offered prizes 
 for the best drilled men in the state. The Pitkin Guards 
 sent up two contestants. Officers of the U. S. army were 
 appointed as judges. Mr. Crowley of the Pitkin Guards 
 was awarded first prize, and Mr. Hammond of the same 
 company tied for the second. This so stirred the feeling 
 of envy in the capital companies that they failed to deliver 
 the prizes for months, if they ever did. Subsequently two 
 adjutant generals and two inspector generals were, by 
 different governors, appointed from this company, giving 
 it the greatest distinction of any like organization in the 
 state. This all grew out of the Wickhamizing of the moral 
 code of the company. It grew out of following the 
 mottoes of the Pioneer: "The morally weak thrive on 
 expedients; the truly great are satisfied with nothing less 
 than natural justice." "For the right, though the heav- 
 ens fall." A close following of these mottoes will bring 
 a like success in any profession or calling. 
 
CHAPTER, XXXIIL 
 
 PERFECT IDEALS ONLY ARE EFFECTIVE. 
 
 The murdered petty thief had long lived with 
 a certain scarlet woman, Hellen Mallory, by name, 
 who sank into a pensive grief after his bur- 
 ial. She dressed in deep mourning and associated 
 alone with her young daughter. When the business 
 men saw her grief they began to talk. Every one 
 said, "She has a natural modesty and refinement in- 
 consistent with her life. She has always been very lady- 
 like in all of her dealings with us." In a few weeks after 
 her paramour was hanged her little daughter fell sick 
 with fever which soon took her to her grave. The mother 
 went into a complete solitude and gloom. Every one 
 pitied her, but no one was brave enough to help her. The 
 women said her lot was what she deserved ; the men said 
 they would like to help her, but the world would mis- 
 construe their conduct, and they did not care to compro- 
 mise themselves. 
 
 Mr. Campbell heard much of this talk, but he was 
 not aesthetic or particularly inclined to the opposite sex. 
 He had often thought, however, of an expression used 
 on one occasion by the Pioneer: "What inhumanity of 
 man to woman !" Mr. Campbell said, "Yes, and the 
 much greater inhumanity of woman to woman." Then 
 he would say, "Why don't the women look after her?" 
 He was conscious of a failure to live up to the highest 
 humane standard, but he realized that he was awkward 
 
 and no favorite with the gentler sex. 
 (455) 
 
456 
 
 THE PILGRIM 
 
 While he was doubting between timidity and duty, 
 the pale, haggard mistress of the murdered petty thief 
 entered the little law office one afternoon, and introduced 
 herself. She said, "I heard of your manly conduct in 
 trying to save Mr. Ben ton from the mob, and my first 
 duty is to extend to you my sincere thanks for your 
 noble conduct. From the time of my disgrace and aban- 
 donment by the world I had one dear tie, my little daugh- 
 ter. She has been taken from me, and I have concluded to 
 follow her in a few days. I have a few hundred dollars' 
 worth of jewelry and ready money in a safety deposit 
 vault which I wish to leave to you, and if you will make 
 out the necessary papers, stating clearly that it is a token 
 of regard for your manly conduct the night of the mob, 
 I shall be pleased to sign it." 
 
 This struck Mr. Campbell dumb for a moment. When 
 he regained his presence of mind he answered, "~No, not 
 yet; let's see if we can't find a better way. Why not 
 wait awhile and see if some one else as kind as Mr. Benton 
 may not take you in." "O, no, no," said the woman, "it 
 was a wretched fate that linked me to him. I loathe such 
 an existence, and but for my child I should have destroyed 
 myself years ago. I now have nothing to keep me here." 
 Mr. Campbell inquired, "Haven't you a father or mother ?" 
 The sad woman answered, "I did have, but a misfortune 
 for which I was not wholly responsible overtook me 
 and they abandoned me to the cruelties of this sin-stained 
 world. They made me believe that I had fallen so low 
 that no one above the class I am with would recognize 
 me, and I chose the only path that I thought was open 
 to me." 
 
 Inadvertently the unfortunate woman mentioned the 
 town where her father lived. Mr. Campbell persuaded 
 
AND THE PIONEER 457 
 
 her to put off everything for a week or ten days until 
 he could look up the law of the matter, and then they 
 would determine what was best. He gathered his com- 
 mercial publications, selected a correspondent in the home 
 town of this unfortunate woman, gave her history and 
 asked him to find the father and dispatch him there at 
 once. By return mail he received a reply telling him that 
 he had no difficulty in putting his hand on the father, 
 a Methodist preacher of much distinction and of consid- 
 erable wealth, who would depart the next day for Lake 
 City. The father arrived on time and Mr. Campbell 
 left him in his office and went for his daughter. He 
 ushered her into the room where her father was seated 
 without any knowledge on her part as to his presence. The 
 father seemed considerably affected, but the daughter ap- 
 peared as cold as a marble slab and as formal as a nun with 
 him. He informed her that through the kindness of Mr. 
 Campbell he had come to see what he could do for her. He 
 told her that her mother had recently died, that he 
 was going abroad for two years and that he would be 
 delighted to take her along; she would have no cares and 
 could have a complete rest. 
 
 She thought for a moment, then said that after she had 
 suitably marked Mr. Benton's grave she would go, but 
 only on these conditions: That she take the body of her 
 child, that no limitation be placed on her future conduct, 
 and that the past be completely obliterated. 
 
 "What do you care about the grave of that para- 
 mour ?" inquired the stern old minister. 
 
 The daughter replied, "His instincts were low, his 
 tastes were groveling, and his ambitions were unworthy, 
 but my child and I received more tender kindness from 
 him than from any other living person, and he was not 
 
458 THE PILGRIM 
 
 at all responsible for our disgrace or our being forced into 
 his class, and I owe him praise rather than censure." 
 
 The tears boiled out of the old man's eyes and he 
 quaked like one with palsy as he answered: "You are 
 quite justified in remembering him and in taking the 
 body of your child with you, but you do not desire to 
 continue this disgraceful life?" 
 
 "No, no," replied the daughter, "I want to draw a 
 dead line at the death of my child and never shall I 
 look backward to the somber landscapes and parched fields 
 where I have endured such excruciating miseries. I want 
 to go right into the haunts of vice and search out the 
 inmates that are there, not from choice but through cruel 
 fate, and find means for their extrication. 1 want to 
 show the world that there is one woman, at least, willing 
 to extend a helping hand to the fallen of her own sex. 
 I want to teach the world the inhumanity of parents to- 
 ward womankind. If a son, the alleged stronger of the 
 sexes, drifts into the quicksands of social ruin, the whole 
 family flies to his rescue. If the daughter, the weaker 
 of the sexes, is lured into sexual transgression, by ecme 
 dashing Lothario, even under the promise of marriage, 
 the whole family ruthlessly pushes her into the vortex 
 of irretrievable ruin. If the male members of the family 
 are without means and without work, they can tramp 
 from place to place, foraging on railroad and country for 
 travel and living. If the female is helplessly poor and 
 without available employment she becomes the unwilling 
 prey of the more fortunate of the opposite sex. 
 
 The stern minister felt the burden of his guilt and 
 that it was four-fold greater than that of his daughter. 
 He made every desired concession and set about prepar- 
 ations for their departure. The unfortunate daughter 
 
AND THE PIONEER 459 
 
 took Mr. Campbell by the hand and said: "All of this 
 is due to your model character, your great moral worth, 
 and I shall report to you as my master as to the success 
 or failure of my good intentions." With much embarrass- 
 ment, Mr. Campbell replied, "You do not understand my 
 weakness. I am a broken reed, as unstable as the moun- 
 tain zephyrs.' I am struggling to live, not myself but a 
 better self, and will be delighted to have you join me 
 in this laudable undertaking." 
 
 In a few months Mr. Campbell received a long letter 
 postmarked "London." It was from this unfortunate 
 woman. She detailed her great success in extricating 
 many of her sex, unwilling inmates of houses of vice. 
 She gave the number of energetic women who 
 had joined her in the great work, but added : "Be it said 
 to the discredit of the so-called better class of women, 
 not a warm impulse or encouraging word have we received 
 from them. The whole force have been tried in the fire." 
 She closed by saying she got all of her inspiration and 
 strength from the spotless character and pure thoughts 
 of Mr. Campbell. 
 
 In the same mail he received a letter from Mr. Wick- 
 ham, giving the effects of his work in British Columbia. 
 It delighted Mr. Campbell to know how Wickhamized 
 thought was spreading from these far removed places, but 
 he realized that the work was lagging at Lake City. He 
 had become morbid about the perfect model, the other 
 self. The form of Mr. Wickham came up before him 
 daily like a morning sun covered with black spots. He 
 could see the mark of Cain on his forehead. He could 
 see the crimson blood trickling through his conscience 
 from the body of the old hermit in that gruesome canon. 
 He could see the horseman's bleaching bones eroding in 
 
460 THE PILGRIM 
 
 an old abandoned shaft. He fully realized that these 
 dark spots on his sun, these blood stains on his working 
 model, must be eradicated or -he would degenerate back 
 to the old self. Fortunately for Mr. Campbell, he was 
 attracted to a notice in a Colorado Springs paper of an 
 organized party of newspaper men going overland through 
 the North-west. Mr. Campbell wrote them of his former 
 experience and proffered his services as guide on condition 
 that they visit this deep, dark canon with him and assist 
 him in determining the fate of the old horseman. The 
 secretary immediately replied, accepting his offer, and 
 telling him that just such an investigation would furnish 
 the best material for their papers. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 "CLEARING UP THE WORKING MODEL" 
 
 Early in September these newspaper men, with Mr. 
 Campbell as guide, started over the route formerly 
 covered by the Pilgrim and the Pioneer. Their experi- 
 ence was very similar to that of the Pilgrim and the 
 Pioneer until about five o'clock, October 10th. When 
 they were within a few miles of the unfortunate camp 
 where the pack-horse had been lost, they were overtaken 
 by the most dirty, greasy, matted and ringlet-haired, and 
 unkempt-whiskered individual that any of them had ever 
 met. He was dressed in a mouldy, stringy buckskin suit, 
 with a long butcher knife and two six-shooters stuck in a 
 wide leather belt around his thick waist, and a Win- 
 chester rifle strapped to his saddle. He was riding a 
 vivacious sorrel stallion, and leading a nimble, toppy, 
 diamond-eyed, bay mare, and each of these superb ani- 
 mals had a blue ribbon in its brow-band. 
 
 Mr. Campbell said, "Stranger, you must be in the 
 fine-horse business, from the splendid animals you have 
 there." 
 
 The horseman responded, "Yes, they are 'beauts.' 
 They have just taken first premiums down at the Mis- 
 soula Fair. Yes, I have been chasing horses in Horse 
 Thief Gulch for twenty years, and I reckon I'll never 
 quit now, for I don't know anything else." 
 
 One of the newspaper men replied, "One generally 
 sees those toe-headed bronchos out here, and the sight 
 
 (461) 
 
462 THE PILGRIM 
 
 of such horses as these is quite a relief. They make a 
 Kentuckian homesick." 
 
 "Are you from Kentucky?" inquired the horseman. 
 
 "Yes," answered the correspondent, "'I was raised 
 there." 
 
 "Here too," replied the horseman, "I was in college 
 four years at - . Well; never mind, I'll get to blow- 
 ing about my pedigree if I get to talking about 'old Ken- 
 tuck 7 and so I'll desist right here." But he continued, 
 "I didn't have much money when I first came out here, 
 and I bought some of those brush-tail cayuses that would 
 make a saint lay aside his religion occasionally, until he 
 could express his opinion of them. I used to get me a 
 good healthy club and hitch one up every time I felt 
 right well and thought I could get through without losing 
 my temper and shooting him. When I hitched one up I 
 pushed him off right brisk-like with my club. He would 
 go off crow-hopping and looking back over his shoulder 
 at me, and I could fairly see the thought running through 
 
 his head, 'Now, just how little can I do for that 
 
 scoundrel without getting hit with that club.' I always 
 took a club because it was the mildest treatment that 
 the stubborn animal would submit to. O, they are 'onery.' 
 I very well remember the worst one I ever had. I sold 
 him once, to my sorrow, but the purchaser soon persuaded 
 me to take him back. I never was gladder than when I 
 sold him, except when I was given an opportunity to 
 take him back. 
 
 "I had just built a fire one morning, when a long, 
 lank, bony-faced boy came galloping up and inquired, 
 'Hello, mister, have you got a good, gentle, trusty horse, 
 that you can sell cheap, and that you can warrant is all 
 right r 
 
AND THE PIONEER 463 
 
 "I answered, 'Yes, sir, I have just what you want.' 
 I went out to the barn and threw a rope on old 'Money 
 Musk' and led him up. He was knotty-headed, his eyes 
 were small and stuck away back and high up, where he 
 should have had brains, one ear lopped down over his left 
 eye and the other lay back on his neck. The position of 
 those ears would have been enough for an old-timer, but 
 this tender-foot thought them cute-like. 
 
 "I pulled a leaf out of my blank book and guaranteed 
 that he was mine, and that any man, woman, or child 
 could saddle him with perfect safety, but I did not say 
 that anyone could ride or work him. Here is where 
 I made my mistake. I have always been sorry that 
 I did not say that he would buck any one's boot straps 
 off that was fool enough to get on him, but I forgot about 
 this until after it was too late. 
 
 "I sold the sleepy outlaw for $25, took a hearty laugh 
 at the coming circus when they should hitch him up. 
 I went to the house and got my breakfast, got my buckets, 
 went out, took off my guns and knife, laid them against 
 the barn, smoked my pipe, laughed again, and milked 
 the cow. 
 
 "By and by, I had a mysterious feeling, like some 
 enemy was slipping up on me, though I had seen or heard 
 nothing. I whirled around toward my guns and knife, and 
 stuck my nose almost into the muzzle of a Winchester, 
 held by a handsome, determined old man, the boy's 
 father, I guess, who said, 'You'd better make your guar- 
 antee good, I reckon.' -He continued, 'You shell out my 
 twenty-five dollars and ride that horse or I'll pump a 
 pound of hot lead into you.' 
 
 "I replied, 'Hold on, now; let's talk about this. If 
 you look at your bill of sale, you will remember that I 
 
464 THE PILGRIM 
 
 only guaranteed the horse to stand till you could saddle 
 him, that he was mine, was tough, etc., and I think he 
 fills the bill to the letter.' The old man showed no 
 disposition to see or remember anything, but kept bring- 
 ing his cocked Winchester nearer my teeth. I threw the 
 twenty-five dollars at his feet and said, 'Now, you have 
 persuaded me to take the horse back, he is mine, and if 
 I don't want him broken to ride, I suppose that's nobody 
 else's business.' 
 
 "The old man, with death in his eyes, answered: 
 'You throw your saddle on that horse and ride him or I'll 
 make you swallow a magazine of Winchester bullets.' 
 
 "I saw he was determined not only to persuade me 
 against my better judgment to take the horse back, but 
 to make me break my own horse to ride. I saw from his 
 wrought-up countenance that I was in for it, and it oc- 
 curred to me that I had better try to gain his admiration 
 by displaying my daring horsemanship, lest he might 
 conclude to kill me after he had made me take the horse 
 back, ride and break him. So I threw my saddle on him, 
 cinched it up, took the horse's left ear between my thumb 
 and forefinger of my left hand and placed the palm of 
 this hand over his left eye. While he was turning his 
 head toward me to see what I was going to do to him, I 
 slipped my right leg over his back, caught the right stirrup, 
 then loosed his ear and gave him his vision. It took 
 the broncho several seconds to recover his presence of 
 mind, but as soon as he did he began to quiver, elevate 
 his back, and place his head between his front legs. When 
 he got good and ready he began to squeal, squirm to the 
 right and left, pitch forward, then dart backward, first 
 to one side then the other, pitching and bucking, swelling 
 and foaming at the mouth. The old man kept right up 
 
AND THE PIONEER 465 
 
 to us with the muzzle of his gun in my face, but the 
 dark cloud on his brow had scattered and he was now 
 chuckling. In time the broncho's strength was completely 
 exhausted, and so was mine. He tried to give up the 
 contest and I was mighty thankful, but thought I would 
 make the old man think I really enjoyed such exercise. 
 So I gave the exhausted broncho a vicious jerk and plowed 
 the spurs into his flanks. The poor fellow could not buck 
 any more, and discouraged, he reared up and fell sprawl- 
 ing on his back, caught my left leg under him, closed 
 his eyes and lay as still as death. I closed my eyes and 
 played dead, too, though my leg was in the crease next 
 to the broncho's shoulder and did not hurt me at all. 
 
 "The old man deliberately walked up and looked 
 us over, then placed the cold muzzle of his cocked Win- 
 chester on my temple and with it rocked my head back- 
 ward and forward. Then with a tinge of pity in his voice, 
 
 he exclaimed, 'My , I believe they are both dead.' 
 
 He dropped to his knees, felt of my pulse, then put his 
 ear to my chest, saying, 'It is beating, but is very weak.' 
 He put his gun back on my head and said, 'Poor fellow, 
 I only intended to teach you a lesson that would benefit 
 you as long as you lived, and would forever hereafter 
 protect the public from your fraudulent machinations, but 
 I did not intend to give you so serious a blow as this.' 
 
 "I saw now that he did not intend to kill me, but to 
 administer such a wholesome lesson as would forever 
 deter me from taking short cuts on tender-feet in horse 
 trades, and I felt perfectly safe in beginning to breathe 
 again. I distorted my face and writhed with apparent 
 pain, and frothed at the mouth like a dog with hydro- 
 phobia. 
 
 "The old man took the horse by the ears and tried 
 
 THE PILGRIM. 30. 
 
PERSUADING HIM TO BREAK His OWN HORSE. 
 
AND THE PIONEER 467 
 
 to pull him off me, and said, l you, you ought to be 
 
 killed, and I guess you are dead all right. Your cussed- 
 ness has caused all this trouble, and has probably caused 
 this man's death.' 
 
 "He stepped back to the barn to get a pole to pry 
 the horse off me, and while his back was turned, I drew 
 up my right leg so that the rowell of the spur rolled right 
 over the most ticklish part on the broncho's flank. He 
 sprang to his feet, humped his back and squealed like 
 a pig. He swelled up and bucked and bucked, trying to 
 relieve himself of the saddle. 
 
 "The old man returned and again put the cold 
 muzzle of his Winchester against my head and rocked my 
 head backward and forward, and said, 'Poor fellow, it 
 is too bad to administer such a punishment as this, even 
 if you do not die from it, all on account of that onery 
 broncho. It would be too bad if he should live, and you 
 should die.' 
 
 "I lay perfectly still, just breathing occasionally, as 
 I wanted the old man to state his intentions clearly. It 
 occurred to me that I should play my trump card, and I 
 distorted my face, frothed at the mouth and mumbled 
 out the word 'mother.' The tears just streamed out of 
 that old man's eyes, right into my face. How I did want 
 to laugh, but my condition was a little too precarious 
 to make any light experiments. 
 
 "The old man brought up his horse, tied one end of 
 his lasso to an old sled, the other to the horn of his 
 saddle, and made his horse pull it up to my side. He then 
 rolled me onto the sled and made his horse pull me up 
 to the door of the cabin, then he gently dragged me into 
 the house and onto the bed, tenderly covered me up and 
 bathed my temples with cold water. 
 
468 THE PILGRIM 
 
 "I closed my eyes and gasped as though I was about 
 gone. The old man went to the wood-box, picked up a 
 hatchet, and started toward my bed. It forcibly occurred 
 to me that he had concluded that I must die any way and 
 it might get him into trouble, so he would just knock 
 me in the head and throw me into one of the abandoned 
 mining shafts around there and be done with me. 
 
 "I abruptly changed my policy, and mumbled out the 
 word 'water.' He brought me a cup of water, and I 
 drank it and looked around the room, and asked, 'What 
 does this all mean, and what am I doing here in bed?' 
 
 "He gave me a contemptuous look, dropped the 
 hatchet, mounted his horse and trotted off up the trail, 
 and has not been seen around here since. 
 
 "I got up and tried to walk around, but I had been 
 studying the nature of that old man so intensely that I 
 was entirely exhausted. The cramming system in the 
 public schools may be a deplorable thing, but it is pleas- 
 ant pastime compared with my determination to cram 
 the whole nature of that man into my mind in one short 
 half -hour. However, this strenuous half -hour so impressed 
 me with the danger of misrepresentation in a horse trade, 
 that I am almost afraid to tell the whole truth about 
 anything." 
 
 Mr. Campbell saw it all now, and the Pioneer was 
 re-established in his esteem and confidence. 
 
 The broncho dealer continued, "In a few days every- 
 thing was about as usual and a big, strapping, nice-looking 
 fellow came along and wanted to buy a gontle old pony 
 that any child could ride. 'All right,' I said, 'I'll sell 
 him to you for fifty dollars.' He told me to 'bring him 
 out.' I caught him and led him up to the cabin. The 
 fellow called for some paper and he then wroto out a 
 
AND THE PIONEER 469 
 
 long bill of sale and a guarantee of my ownership, his 
 soundness, gentle qualities, etc., and pa^cd it over to 
 me to sign. 
 
 "I replied, 'Now, look a-here, partner; in this coun- 
 try where we are not bothered with courts or lawyers, I 
 have known men to get into serious trouble over these 
 guarantees, and have occasionally known them to be com- 
 pelled to make them good according to the spirit in the 
 way the purchaser understood them, when no words would 
 justify such a construction, and I swore that I would 
 never give a guarantee of one of these bronchos, and that 
 purchasers would have to take them for better or worse, 
 or not take them at all, and now I guarantee nothing.' 
 
 "He got upon his horse and rode away, and somehow 
 I could not sell any more of them because I could not 
 guarantee them. I got disgusted-like and traded the whole 
 herd off for a dozen of these sixteen-hundred-pound Nor- 
 mans. I was willing to guarantee them. After waiting 
 a long time, a fellow came along and said, 'What's that 
 big grey horse worth ?' I replied, 'A hundred and a half.' 
 He inquired, 'Isn't that an awful price for a horse?' 
 I answered, 'Yes, that is considerable money, but just 
 look at the size of him, besides I shall guarantee him.' 
 The fellow said, 'Every darned thing you could say in 
 a guaranty would be. Just look at the size of him.' 
 
 "When I came to consider it, I really couldn't think 
 of a single point I could make for him, further than this, 
 and I said to myself, 'I never can improve as a horse- 
 trader on a horse about which all I can say is 'Just look 
 at the size of him.' So I traded them all off for a 
 bunch of Messengers, and now I can just talk a leg off 
 anybody wanting to buy a horse. 
 
 "I am kinder glad I owned the bronchos and Nor- 
 
470 THE PILGRIM 
 
 mans, bad luck as I have had with them, and especially 
 with the bronchos. Knowing their poor qualities enables 
 me to lead up to the grander qualities of the Messenger. 
 
 "I say, the broncho might be likened to the watery 
 and curly elms among woods, too tough to handle profit- 
 ably, or to the cast-iron among the metals, too snappy and 
 brash to trust on important occasions. The Normans are 
 something like the great, soft, spongy mountain chestnut 
 among woods, or the wrought iron among metals; most 
 easily handled, can be bent to your liking in most ordinary 
 uses, but are not persistent enough to endure anything 
 beyond the ordinary. strain; but the noble Messenger may 
 be compared to the smooth, fine-grained, elastic white 
 hickory, or the variegated, tough, polished quartered oak, 
 or the glistening, springy, and everlasting steel that so 
 completely fills the ideals of the inventor and artisan. 
 Hello, there is Horsethief Trail, and I must leave you, 
 just as I am growing really eloquent in laying my prem- 
 ises to present some of the superb qualities of the im- 
 perial Messenger. Good day." 
 
 Mr. Campbell inquired, "May we have the pleasure 
 of knowing your name before you leave us ?" 
 
 The old man answered, "I haven't seen any one 
 I knew in my youth in so long that I have about for- 
 gotten what they used to call me. Out here I am known 
 as Buteherknife Hank, and we will just let it go at that," 
 and he turned into the dark Horsethief canon, out of 
 view. 
 
 This very intelligent and well educated man, had in 
 his young manhood consigned himself to a life of filth 
 and a hermitage in this gruesome canon, probably because 
 of some criminal act which would not permit of general 
 knowledge of his whereabouts, without danger to his lib- 
 
AND THE PIONEER 471 
 
 erty. So many blighted lives are seen finishing up their 
 days in putrid filth, with wild beasts in the dark canons 
 of the Rocky Mountains, that it is no longer a matter 
 that excites any particular attention. 
 
 After clearing up the working model, Mr. Campbell 
 related to the pressmen the story of the Pioneer wedding 
 and the exciting honey-moon, and informed them of his 
 desire to visit John Farley and his "woman," and to 
 learn the result of their unique marriage. 
 
 The newspaper men all agreed to make the visit, 
 and before noon they were knocking at the door of John's 
 peeled-log cabin. John Farley approached the door with 
 heavy, halting steps, followed by a huge boarhound. He 
 wore a greasy, stringy buckskin suit of the same pattern 
 as when Mr. Campbell first saw him, but his wealth of 
 white, bushy, unkept whiskers and his mass of white, 
 matted hair, and his form prematurely bent by his great 
 burden, concealed his identity from Mr. Campbell. One 
 of the visitors inquired, "Can you inform us where we 
 may find John Farley ?" 
 
 The old man, with a trembling hand, pointed to- 
 ward the stars, and answered, "John Farley has gone 
 thither." He then struck himself on the breast, saying, 
 "This is the old hulk in which he formerly lived." 
 
 Mr. Campbell grasped the old man's unsteady hand, 
 and suggested to him, "My name is Campbell, John Camp- 
 bell. I witnessed your happy wedding at Missoula a quar- 
 ter of a century ago. Where and how is your 'woman ?' ' 
 John Farley dropped heavily to a wooden bench, a pite- 
 ous groan escaped his pale lips, he grasped his temples 
 and streams of hot tears boiled from his eyes for a few 
 moments, then he pointed them to a paled-in knoll a few 
 yards from the cabin, containing two long graves, and 
 
472 THE PILGRIM 
 
 between them a very short one. Substantial granite slabs 
 were set at the head of each grave, and each slab was 
 marked, beginning from the left, "John's Woman," 
 "John's Baby," "John's Faithful Hired Man." Wooden 
 vases filled with fresh water and columbines stood on each 
 grave. At one side of the grave stood a great rustic arm 
 chair, with a high cushioned board in front like an in- 
 fant's chair, so that the occupant could fasten himself in 
 and rest himself on the cushioned board. The packed 
 ground showed that the old man spent much time on the 
 paled knoll. 
 
 The newspaper men gathered some mint along the 
 spring branch, got some fresh water and whisky, made 
 the old man a strong toddy, had the cook fix him a dainty 
 dinner, gave him a highly flavored cigar, then Mr. Camp- 
 bell began, by easy gradations, plying questions tending 
 to elicit the fate of John's "woman." It was as hard to 
 get him straightened out as to get a bloodhound to take 
 the trail of a criminal, but when he started he went to 
 the end without a break. 
 
 John Farley informed them that after his "woman" 
 had been here about a year, and before she liked the 
 West, she was about to become a mother, and she thought 
 that she would die if left here in her trial and cried to 
 go home for the ordeal. The old man shook his head 
 and continued, "I couldn't bear to have her go. I felt 
 that after all of us and everything on the Hill had learned 
 to love her so, we could not live without her so long. I 
 was afraid they would not take good care of her there 
 where they have so many other women, as we would on 
 the Hill where she was the only woman. I persuaded her 
 to go with me into the valley to Dr. Weston's office, thirty 
 miles from the Hill, to arrange with him to attend her, 
 
AND THE PIONEER 473 
 
 and to get cloth, to make apparel for the expected stranger. 
 We stopped at a half-way house and arranged for a change 
 of horses for the man when sent for the doctor and a 
 change for the doctor on his way to the pole cabin. We 
 met Dr. Weston, and he agreed to be there in two hours 
 after notified. We went to the store to get the material 
 for the clothes, and my woman wept, and said that it 
 was not worth while as she knew that something would 
 happen. So she bought two ready-made suits of little, 
 long clothes, and said that she felt it a waste of money. 
 We returned home, and at the first appearance of trouble, 
 I mounted Simson on Tawney, the noblest horse of them 
 all, gave him ten dollars and asked him to have the doctor 
 here in four hours, if I had to pay for four dead horses. 
 The tears trickled down the faithful hired man's cheek, 
 as he replied, 'He shall be in on time if a dead man 
 has to be thrown in.' The hired man cantered off toward 
 the valley, and I returned to the house to watch develop- 
 ments. 
 
 "Four hours passed and no doctor in sight, and my 
 woman getting worse every minute. I blew my distress 
 horn, and all the men on the Hill immediately appeared. I 
 laid the situation before them and we determined to put out 
 a sentinel with a red flag, on the big hill below, where 
 he could view the road for four miles, with orders to sig- 
 nal us the approach of the doctor that we might encour- 
 age my 'woman' to bear up under her suffering until he 
 arrived. Eight hours, ten hours, twenty-four hours passed 
 and no doctor in sight and my 'woman' losing conscious- 
 ness. We held another conference and decided to mount 
 two more men on fleet horses and send them to meet 
 the doctor, then have the one on the fleetest horse come 
 on in advance and relieve the distressing suspense. The 
 
474 , THE PILGRIM 
 
 men were started immediately. In half an hour we saw 
 one of the men returning on a dead run. We all gathered 
 in the yard, threw our hats in the air and sent up shout 
 after shout for joy. As the man rolled from his horse, 
 we grasped him in our arms, hugged him, and exclaimed, 
 'Tell us, tell us quick, how far back is the doctor?' 
 
 "The man burst into a flood of tears and broke away 
 from us. He was dumb, speechless. Every one clamored 
 and prayed for some information to break the painful 
 suspense. When the man became composed a little he 
 informed us that four miles below they had found Sim- 
 son, Tawney, and the shepherd dog pressed in against 
 the cliff by a huge snow slide, and all cold in death, and 
 that the doctor had never been notified. This nearly 
 paralyzed every one present. We held a hurried con- 
 ference and decided that the only ray of hope left was 
 to take the child from her as best we could. We brought 
 the little stranger to light with dispatch, but he never 
 saw the light, he was dead. We washed his little body, 
 put one of the little, long suits on him, and tenderly laid 
 him in a little cradle." The old man pushed open a little 
 door leading into a pole annex, pointed to the wall, and 
 said, "There is the other little suit." 
 
 The little peeled-pole annex had been built and dedi- 
 cated by John 'Farley to the belongings of his woman 
 and his boy. It was, indeed, a veritable curiosity shop. 
 Everything was immaculately clean. Their things were 
 most carefully and touchingly arranged. Potted silver- 
 tipped spruce and mountain evergreens were growing in 
 the corners. The little cradle, the woman's arm-chair, 
 were ornamented with mountain ferns. This was verily 
 sacred ground., But lest the opening of this scene should 
 disturb the old man's mind, Mr. Campbell abruptly in- 
 
GRAVE-YARD SCENE. 
 
AND THE PIONEER 477 
 
 quired, "What was the fate of your 'woman f ' "Well/' 
 the old man answered, "after we put my baby into his 
 little cradle, I fell into a long, deep sleep, and when I 
 awoke they were all buried on the knoll, the graves marked, 
 and the ground paled-in, just as it is now." 
 
 Mr. Campbell suggested to Mr. Farley that he must 
 go with them to Spokane Falls, and that they would have 
 him taken care of. He insisted that it would not do 
 for so old a man to stay there any longer alone. 
 
 The old man's hair fairly stood on end. He sharply 
 retorted, "I leave here? I leave my 'woman' and baby 
 without company or protection ? I abandon them ? Who 
 would sprinkle their graves? Who would gather them 
 flowers? Who would be company for them if I went 
 away? I alone? I have my woman and my baby with 
 me. We never were so happy. She is just beginning 
 to like this Western life. Excuse me, you have so highly 
 entertained me that I have neglected my 'woman' and 
 baby." The old man impatiently sprang to his feet, stood 
 erect, and with an elastic step ascended the knoll and 
 fastened himself in his chair. The boarhound stood at 
 the head of the graves watching him. The light began 
 to blaze in the old man's face and a wreath of smiles played 
 about his mouth, as he began a spirited conversation with 
 the dead. He made the voice of his -woman coming from 
 the grave the fac-simile of her voice when living. If it 
 could be imagined that such an infant could talk, then 
 the voice that the father assumed was the one that the 
 child would use. If a blind person had come on the scene 
 he would have, concluded that the father, mother, and 
 infant were having a most pleasant colloquy. In his long 
 practices in these seances, he had become so accomplished 
 a ventriloquist that he had the voice of his "woman" 
 
478 THE PILGRIM 
 
 and baby located so accurately over their sealed lips in 
 their graves, that the excited boarhound, with every hair 
 and ear standing out straight, several times raised his 
 paw and put it right over the mouths of the dead, deter- 
 mined to dig them from the damp, deep vaults, but his 
 master frowned and motioned him to desist. After a 
 short, excited conversation and much laughter, in which 
 it appeared that the father, mother, and child equally 
 participated, the old man fell over on his cushioned 
 board, exhausted, and a dark, grayish pallor crept over 
 his face and drove away the red glow and joyful smile. 
 The boarhound put his paw down time and again on the 
 very spot where the old man had located the voices of the 
 woman and child, and seemed distressed that he could 
 not exhume them. The hound soon gave up, and with a 
 solemn, cat-like tread, moved to one side, stretched 
 out on the ground and closed his eyes. There was not 
 now a rasping sound of a cricket, the chirp of a bird, or 
 rustle of a leaf on Farley Hill. The sad visitors silently 
 viewed the death-like tableau for a moment without ex- 
 changing a word, then pressed on down the Coenr 
 d'Alene River to Coeur d'Alene Lake and across it into 
 Spokane Falls. 
 
CHAPTEK XXXV. 
 
 FROM TRAPPER AND PIONEER TO SETTLED 
 CONDITIONS. 
 
 One morning Mr. Wiekham arose tired and sick and 
 exclaimed, "God forbid that I ever again try to do busi- 
 ness burdened with the ponderous ways of a government 
 so far from the people as this one is. I am now approach- 
 ing three score and ten years and long to get back to the 
 pure democracy of Colorado, where every man, woman 
 and child is an entity, where flesh and blood, the heart, 
 the high moral character rather than the accumulations 
 or the pedigree make the man." 
 
 Yes, that will do to tell, but the real reason was that 
 mysterious power that ever impels a criminal to return 
 to the scene of his transgressions with approaching old age. 
 
 He bought his ticket to Denver and wired Mr. Camp- 
 bell to meet him on the way. 
 
 The meeting of the Pilgrim and the Pioneer was a 
 curious mixture of pain and pleasure. Mi 1 . Wicklunn was 
 overjoyed upon observing that Mr. Campbell had passed 
 from the ungainly, awkward, and green boyhood state, to 
 that of a mature, conservative, and sedate middle-aged 
 man. 
 
 Mr. Wiekham went into ecstacy over the deferential 
 greetings extended to this Pilgrim by the trainmen and 
 passengers, and was especially proud of the titles used in 
 addressing him, indicating that he had been trusted with 
 ;i number of honorable official positions. 
 
 Mr. Wiekham surmised thafchis always interested and 
 often somewhat severe tutelage, in the seasoning process 
 
 (479) 
 
480 THE PILGRIM 
 
 when his friend first appeared as a stranger in a strange 
 land, might have contributed to this happy fruitage. 
 
 Mr. Campbell was pathetically sad, when he observed 
 that Mr. Wickham had passed the cheerful, warm meri- 
 dian of supple, vigorous manhood, well into that stiff, 
 shaded, and frosty zone, awaiting all who reach the three- 
 quarter century parallel. It was indeed painful to observe 
 the deep furrows in his face, the rounded, stooped shoul- 
 ders, the lifeless, bleached hair, which so plainly bespoke 
 the grinding ravages of merciless Time. Both had been 
 fairly prosperous; a just cause for common joy. It was 
 six o'clock in the morning that Mr. Campbell met the old 
 Pioneer at Grand Junction with a cab, and after a hurried 
 breakfast, drove him to Orchard Mesa, to the fruit drying 
 and packing house and to the sugar factory. He was 
 carried beyond himself. He said, "Those trains of coal 
 I expected, but these sprightly orchards, these luscious 
 fruits, these sugar-beets, are the figment of a wild dream. 
 This is a California scene, but it does look so natural. " 
 
 GLENWOOD SPRINGS AND BATH HOUSE. 
 
AND THE PIONEER 481 
 
 Mr. Campbell informed the old Pioneer that only 
 ninety miles south was Glenwood Springs, with its acres 
 of cemented bathing-pools, grassy and shaded parks, and 
 the matchless Colorado Hotel, equipped with broad veran- 
 das and cheerful fountains, snugly nestled in Gleenwood 
 Park and overlooked by towering peaks. It was situated on 
 Grand River and on the main lines of the D. & R. G. and 
 Midland Railroads, and was attracting tourists from all 
 parts of the globe. 
 
 The old Pioneer hung his head and meekly replied, 
 "What a sweet delusion; what a fantastic dream!" 
 
 At 9 :45 A. M. the Pilgrim and the Pioneer drove 
 to the Narrow Gauge, boarded the train, and were soon 
 whistled into Delta. The brakeman informed them that 
 it would take half an hour to load the fruit in the express 
 car. They got out, visited the Association building, the 
 canning factory and the cars which men were loading 
 with melons, tomatoes, and all kinds of fruits. They were 
 told that the day before a hundred big wagons loaded 
 with peaches had come down from Surface Creek and the 
 North Fork, and that two railroads were surveying up 
 there to get to the coal-beds. The old man said, "The 
 coal story is so natural, but the remainder of the scene 
 is in California.' 7 
 
 The conductor soon cried out, "All aboard!" 
 and the Pilgrim and the Pioneer took their seats 
 on the side next to the river. Mr. Wickham gazed 
 constantly at the ribbon of cultivated green until the 
 conduct&r cried out,"Montrose ! twenty minutes for din- 
 ner." The old Pioneer said, "Here is a Nile Scene. Saw- 
 Tooth, Uncompahgre, and surrounding peaks make the 
 pyramids, Montrose is Thebes, and Delta is Alexandria." 
 The conductor interrupted by announcing, "A small culvert 
 
482 THE PILGRIM 
 
 has burnt just ahead of us and it will require probably 
 two hours to build around it. The engine will whistle 
 three times, ten minutes before we start." 
 
 A friend of Mr. Campbell appeared with a double 
 rig and drove the Pilgrim and the Pioneer out to the Ash- 
 enfelder orchard of two hundred acres. A regular school 
 of girls were packing peaches, plums, nectarines, grapes, 
 pears, etc., and many were drying Italian prunes. The 
 old man said, "A perfect California scene. How unfortu- 
 nate that this can't be real. How natural the features of 
 Mr. Campbell, and how familiar the voice. This fantastic 
 scene is the precursor of a horrible nightmare. I haven't 
 started to Colorado yet, but how vivid and natural. Oh, 
 that I could awake now without having this fairy scene 
 blurred, and write him. But what is the use ? Such scenes 
 are impossible in that waste desert The picture would be 
 so far-fetched that it would not even interest him." 
 
 They were driven back to the Fruit Association ware- 
 house. A number of men from Texas were loading 
 potatoes for the southern market Men from Minnesota 
 and Iowa were loading peaches for the north-western 
 market; men from Chicago were loading pears for the 
 Windy City ; five or six cars of the purest arid most delic- 
 ious honey were being loaded for St. Louis, and numerous 
 teams were passing with coal from the close-by hills. The 
 old Pioneer pointed to the co-al wagons and said, "There 
 is the only part of the scene which belongs to Colorado. 
 Oh, if these other imaginary industries could only be 
 added to the monotonous mining and stock business of 
 this parched land, what a boon it would be to that part of 
 mankind who are compelled to live here or not at all." 
 
 The three whistles blew and the Pilgrim and the 
 Pioner hoarded the train. 
 
AND THE PIONEER 483 
 
 When they approached Gunnison they saw train after 
 train on the side tracks loaded with coal and coke. "Here 
 is a Colorado scene," said Mr. Wickham. "This is as 
 I expected. This inclines me to believe these scenes are 
 not purely fantastic." 
 
 They changed cars at Mears and went through the 
 San Luis Valley. They saw waving wheat and oat fields 
 as far as the vision could reach, grain, grain, level and 
 waving like a great ocean, with an occasional field of peas 
 and potatoes. They stopped at , a milling and ele- 
 vator station, where about 7,500 bushels of most excellent 
 wheat were taken in daily. The old Pioneer was led to 
 a high look-out and around Center he counted the curling 
 smoke from twenty steam threshers. The elevator men 
 told them that water was scarce and they expected a short 
 yield, probably only a million and a quarter bushels. 
 
 The old Pioneer rubbed his head and said, "This 
 is a Dakota scene. I know it is not Colorado, because 
 when I left here they could not grow a good milling wheat 
 This dry bed is not the Rio Grande. It was a great river 
 filled with fish and covered with fowls. There is not 
 enough water here to hide a fish or float a duck. This is 
 but an erratic dream that beats imagery of Fauntleroy. 
 Parts of it are so natural. I do wish I could awake and 
 write it up before some horrible nightmare blurs it" 
 
 In the autumn of 1900, after an absence of twenty- 
 six years, Mr. Wickham and Mr. Campbell were ushered 
 into a splendid stone depot in the city of Denver, just 
 after the electric lights had been turned on in the evening. 
 What an improvement on the little tumble-down brick 
 structure from which Mr. Campbell boarded the D. & R. 
 G. train in 1874 when taking his departure for the San 
 Juan and farther, west. 
 
484 THE PILGRIM 
 
 There was in 1874 a stem of the D. & E. G. narrow- 
 gauge railroad,, with its roots firmly fixed in the heart of 
 Denver. It really looked like a toy or plaything when 
 contrasted with the standard-gauge roads. But since then 
 the little giant, fertilized by a healthy commerce and a 
 plenteous travel, has gradually crept through gorge and 
 over mountain passes until it has reached the Utah line, 
 and a branch has been budded on at every canon or water- 
 course leading out to a mining-camp, grazing park, or 
 other desirable point, until it now has a system of 1,500 
 miles of the most expensive and best equipped line of the 
 kind and extent in the world, and when spread out on a 
 map, looks like a great tree with a wealth of branches. 
 It also enjoys the distinction of having the best-paid rail- 
 road employes for a system so extensive, in the world, 
 and the management has ever been so vigorous and 
 efficient that competition has made but little impression on 
 its business. 
 
 Mr. Campbell inquired of the information bureau 
 about the Planter's Hotel, whether Captain Lambert was 
 still operating it, and as to the best means of reaching it. 
 
 The information man ran his fingers up through 
 his hair and inquired, "The Planters, Captain Lambert, 
 really I do not recall such a place or person." Then, with 
 a quick jerk of his vocal organs he said, "Say, this is 
 Denver, maybe you are thinking of St. Louis. 'The 
 Planters' is an old standby there, but I never heard of 
 such a place hera" 
 
 "Oh, no, no," said Mr. Campbell, "twenty-six years 
 ago I came from the Planters Hotel in St. Louis to the 
 Planters Hotel in Denver. Captain Lambert, a very con- 
 genial gentleman, was proprietor of the latter and I 
 should like to renew my old relations there, but the great 
 
AND THE PIONEER 485 
 
 changes here have blotted out my old landmarks and I 
 have forgotten the number." 
 
 "Twenty-six years ago," replied the information 
 man, "that was just one year before I was born. I have 
 seen practically all of the Denver of 1900 built. In 1878 
 H. A. W. Tabor began building the Tabor Block and 
 later the Tabor Opera House. This inspired others and 
 they began the Windsor, Albany, St. James, and other 
 splendid hotels, and the good work went on and on until 
 they have climaxed with the Boston, Equitable, Masonic 
 Temple, Ernest & Cranmer, People's Bank, and the Brown 
 Palace Hotel, a $4,000,000 state capitol building, and 
 many thousand beautiful private homes that would grace 
 any great city. Old Denver has passed away. I would 
 suggest that you take the Seventeenth street car and go 
 to the Brown Palace. You may not find it as much to 
 your liking as the Planters, but you can obtain the neces- 
 saries of life there, at least ; besides it is quite convenient 
 to theatres, capitol grounds, etc." 
 
 With valises in hand they moved over a half-block, 
 stepped on to a well-equipped electric car, and were soon 
 landed at the Brown Palace, a huge brown stone edifice, 
 nine stories high, covering all of the small triangular 
 block, which gives street space and 
 light to every part of the building. 
 Uniformed messenger boys met them 
 at the door, took their valises and 
 ushered them into a large, brilliantly 
 lighted court, extending to the roof, 
 with a chaste tile floor, wainscoated 
 with Mexican Onyx, and lined with 
 handsomely banistered balconies fac- 
 ing the court in front of the rooms on every floor, with 
 
486 
 
 THE PILGRIM 
 
 many ladies and gentlemen in full evening dress, prome- 
 nading, or sitting on divans and watching the busy scenes 
 below. 
 
 They were ushered into the elegantly equipped dining- 
 
 BROWN PALACE HOTEL DINING ROOM. 
 
 room, and found it filled with stylishly dressed ladies 
 and gentlemen and tended by uniformed waiters. The 
 gist of the table talk was the great agricultural, grazing, 
 mineral, and manufacturing resources tributary to Denver, 
 and the brilliant prospects of its becoming a great inland 
 city. Mr. Wickham said, "Is this real, or is it a mere 
 erratic phantasm, a figment of a diseased brain ? Where 
 are the blue shirts, the nail boots, the democratic social 
 crowd that we left here? How am I to become one of 
 these made-to-order society chaps ? I am too old, I cannot, 
 I never will." 
 
 They arose early the next morning and took in Denver 
 via a scenic car. After they returned to the Brown, Mr. 
 Wickham sat a long time in solemn meditation, then raised 
 
AND THE PIONEER 487 
 
 his head and said, "Mr. Campbell, this is a wonder. 
 These are some of the changes that are gratifying to 
 me. I am delighted to see Denver metamorphosed from 
 the little, naked, dirty village to the well paved, shaded, 
 watered, lighted, and magnificently built city of 160,- 
 
 000 people, I appreciate the elegant capitol building 
 and grounds, the splendid transportation facilities, the 
 sumptous hotels and the enviable position Denver has 
 attained as a great commercial, manufacturing, and dis- 
 tributing point; but in the last analysis it is the people 
 who make a country truly great. What has become of 
 the modest, sterling, simply-dressed, unpretentious women ? 
 Where are the sturdy blue-shirted and nail-booted men 
 that we left in possession of Denver? Where are the 
 faithful ponies and comfortable buckboards that our 
 wives and daughters used to drive over range and prairie, 
 bringing us supplies or taking us to work? Have those 
 noble democratic customs been swallowed up by the empty, 
 ostentatious ways of the Four Hundred ? Who would have 
 expected in the space of a quarter of a century to see the 
 'swallow tail 7 coat, the train, the bosomless evening dress, 
 the liveried coachman and footman, the bobtailed horse, 
 the exclusive set, the senseless society 'chitter chatter' wipe 
 out the natural, sensible, and enjoyable social customs of 
 the pioneer days ? Is there nothing but the constant sun- 
 shine, the dry, pure atmosphere things that depraved 
 men cannot contaminate left of" the matchless pioneer 
 civilization ? From what I have seen in the last few days, 
 
 1 fear this is too true!" 
 
 At this point, Hon. , candidate for governor from 
 
 Pueblo was introduced to Mr. Wickham. Mr. Wickham's 
 face brightened up as he grasped his hand and said, 
 "Yes, I left the little Mexicanized village of Pueblo, 
 
488 THE PILGRIM 
 
 April 10, 1874. When I bade Major Bently of the 
 Schuyler Hotel goodbye, I had no idea that T would be 
 gone so long. We left on his 75th birthday. How are 
 Major Bently, and the Schuyler House, and the village 
 of Pueblo?" 
 
 The genial candidate for governor, cut somewhat at 
 this light reference to his home city, replied: "My dear 
 sir, I never heard of such a hotel as the Schuyler House, 
 nor of such a man as Major Bently, nor the Mexicanized 
 village of Pueblo. Pueblo, sir, is a magnificently lighted, 
 well-paved, and well-built city of 40,000 people; it has 
 as fine hotels, business blocks, and opera houses as any 
 city in the state, with the greatest steel plant and the larg- 
 est smelters west of the Mississippi "River, in fact one of 
 the largest steel plants in the whole country, and the heav- 
 iest pay rolls in the state; and the Arkansas Valley 
 tributary to Pueblo is now becoming the greatest melon, 
 sugar-beet, and alfalfa-producing territory in America. 
 From Rocky Ford and Sugar City they are shipping 175 
 tons of sugar per day, grinding 1,700 tons of beets per 
 day, and are shipping train loads of cantaloupes and other 
 melons daily to all Eastern markets. And these indus- 
 tries are still in their infancy. My friend, they have actu- 
 ally lifted the Arkansas River from its banks and spread 
 it over the prairie, and for three hundred mUes belcxw La- 
 mar and Amity, the pedestrian can make his bed in late 
 summer in the bottom of the Arkansas River on the dry- 
 sand. The matchless coal fields of Trinidad and Walsen- 
 burg are almost at our doors, and furnish us unlimited 
 steam power at a mere nominal cost. Pueblo, sir, is no 
 village, but the Pittsburg of the Middle West." 
 
 "Wonderful, wonderful changes in tho country," said 
 
AND THE PIONEER 489 
 
 Mr. Wickham, "but have the social conditions of the peo- 
 ple changed in the past quarter of a century ?" 
 
 "O, quite as much as the country," said the candi- 
 date. "You can find as many fine-liveried turnouts with 
 coachmen and footmen, as many ladies and gentlemen in 
 full evening dress at the balls or theatres, as you will 
 find in any Eastern city of like size. Yes, the inhab- 
 itants of Pueblo are very much like other people now." 
 
 "Sad, sad!" said Mr. Wickham, "From what you 
 say I feel no interest in the people except that I would 
 like to see Major Bently. I am sure he is not changed." 
 
 "O, excuse me, I forgot to recur to him," said the 
 candidate. "You say you left Pueblo on Major Bently's 
 75th birthday, some twenty-six years ago; that would 
 make him 101 years old. We live a long time down rhere, 
 but we don't all pass the century line." 
 
 "Oh, yes, yes, I forgot to note the flight of time." 
 
 Col. McShane, candidate for the legislature from 
 El Paso and Teller counties, was introducod. "Mr. Wick- 
 ham brightened up and said, "Yes, yes, you v/ant to 
 represent that beautiful spot of Colorado Springs, and 
 that sacred spot, the Garden of the Gods, reverently re- 
 ferred to as the 'Lord's parlor,' by that wordy lawyer 
 what is his name ? yes, General Danford. How is the lit- 
 tle village where they supported the incongruous trio of 
 professional foot-racers, whisky-wheels, and a garden for 
 the gods ?" 
 
 "Oh, my dear sir," replied the breezy colonel, "the 
 village-days of Colorado Springs have passed and gone, 
 and her aesthetic city-days are here. Colorado Springs has 
 more stately stone and brick business blocks, more elognnt 
 homes, more wealth per capita, more magnificent hotels, 
 and is the best governed city of twenty odd thousand poo- 
 
490 
 
 THE PILGRIM 
 
 pie in the world. My dear sir, Colorado Springs, the re- 
 ception room, has become about as elegant as the Lord's 
 Parlor, and the streets, well, they are simply macad- 
 amized with grains of pure white sand and are as elastic, 
 level, clean, and smooth as Galveston beach. The present 
 population knows nothing of a professional foot-runner, 
 and a gentleman can get all of the invigorating drinks 
 he wants if he has character enough and sufficient money 
 to get into one of the splendid clubs supported there ; the 
 Garden of the Gods we have always with us. You should 
 
 see the New Antlers 
 
 Hotel and some of 
 the new residences ; 
 they are dreams, they 
 would ornament New 
 York City." 
 
 Mr. Wickham 
 answered: "Yes, yes, 
 these material im- 
 provements are very 
 desirable if they can 
 be maintained with- 
 out degenerating the people. Where are the sterling, 
 hardy pioneers ? Where are the calico dress and the blue- 
 shirt and nail-boot brigades? Are they still dominant? 
 Or have insipid, unnatural, and unjust select sets pushed 
 these noblest sons and daughters of God to the rear? Are 
 the democratic methods still in vogue or have the osten- 
 tatious assumptions of wealth put the dollar above the 
 man?" 
 
 "0, now, my Christian friend, I can see you are 
 in league with the republicans. You are certainly trying 
 to encompass my defeat; but, confidentially, if you go 
 
 
 NEW ANTLERS HOTEL. 
 
AND THE PIONEER 491 
 
 down there take your plug hat, patent-leather shoes, dress 
 suit, and a book on London etiquette, and drop your IPs, 
 if you wish to thrive with the Four Hundred. You know 
 I suppose that some malicious wretch has dubbed this 
 model city 'Ittle Undon.' He ought to b hung. Yes, 
 I am sorry to say that the plug hat, the swallow-tail coat, 
 the patent-leather shoes, the decollete dress, and the bob- 
 tail horse battalions have driven from the ranks of the 
 prevailing society the calico dress and blue-shirt brigade." 
 
 "Enough ! enough !" said Mr. Wickham. "Were our 
 people sincere? Were the many visitors from the East 
 sincere when they and we used to teach and claim to 
 believe that men and women should be judged by qual- 
 ities of head and heart rather than by their dress, pedigree, 
 or accumulations ? Were they or we sincere when we 
 used to encourage the house-girl and the teamster to 
 clean up and attend all of our balls and banquets as an 
 equal of any one who possessed no greater moral char- 
 acter? Were we mistaken when we boasted that these 
 great stimulants to the working people did more to elevate 
 them morally, socially, and intellectually, than all the ser- 
 mons and moral lectures that could be poured into them ? 
 Is it possible that aristocracy of wealth rather than of 
 human character is the inexorable result of evolution? I 
 am sorry I have learned of the decadence of the grand 
 pioneer civilization in my fast declining days." 
 
 Senator Colton from Utah was presented to Mr. 
 Wickham, and the old man held his hand and told him of 
 the delightful trip he had in that great territory, and how 
 grateful he was to be set right on the Mormon question. 
 He said he really thought before his visit that one and 
 all of this great army of people deserved hanging, but 
 that his actual contact with them convinced him that 
 
492 THE PILGRIM 
 
 the things objectionable in their creed were like a mus- 
 tard seed in a bushel of chaff compared with the teach- 
 ings and practices of the many virtues that all thinking 
 people approve. "I presume the Edmunds law has blot- 
 ted out every vestige of polygamy in Utah by this time ?" 
 concluded Mr. Wickham. 
 
 "No, no," answered Senator Colton, "You are quite 
 as much in error about the cause of the disappearance of 
 polygamy in Utah, as you were about the general customs 
 and practices of the people before your visit among them. 
 The Edmunds law punished some of those who had 
 duplicate wives when the law was passed, married 
 when it was lawful to marry them, but the young boys and 
 girls of Utah have blotted out all sentiment for dupli- 
 cate marriages. When the Gentiles became thoroughly 
 mixed with the Mormons, the subject was generally dis- 
 cussed, and the Mormon girls naturally concluded that 
 the Gentile custom of having but one adored queen in every 
 household would be too nice for anything. This con- 
 vinced every thinking young gentleman of Mormon ante- 
 cedents that one wife was the natural and proper comple- 
 ment for man, and in this wise polygamy was destroyed. 
 Public sentiment is the only effective human law. The 
 misinformation on this subject comes from designing 
 politicians and from some few narrow-minded, bigoted 
 church representatives in Utah, who are jealous of the hold 
 the Mormon church has on the masses there." 
 
 "I am very much gratified," said Mr. Wickham, "to 
 be set right again. Has Utah progressed like Colorado ?" 
 
 "It is marvelous how Utah is driving to the front," 
 said Senator Colton. "Handsome buildings are going up 
 everywhere, and the people are prosperous and happy. The 
 Knutsford Hotel and the city buildings in Salt Lake City, 
 
AND THE PIONEER 493 
 
 / 
 
 and the Salt Air Pavilion of the Great Salt Lake would be 
 ornaments to Boston ; great farms are being developed, and 
 manufacturing plants, canneries, and sugar factories are 
 going up all over Utah. The United States Industrial 
 Commission that took evidence in Salt Lake last summer 
 pronounced the industrial condition of this state the best 
 of any state in the union. We have an eight-hour law, 
 passed by the legislature, which is recognized and ap- 
 proved by both employer and employe, and there has 
 never been a successful strike or labor organization there." 
 
 "How do you account for this?" said Mr. Wickham. 
 
 "Largely through the control that the Mormon 
 church wields over the laborers of Utah," said Senator Col- 
 ton. "They have been thoroughly instructed in fidelity, 
 industry, and conciliatory methods, and in the desirability 
 of home building. Most of the miners have little tracts 
 of agricultural ground upon which they can grow their 
 own vegetables, etc. If work in the mines shuts down they 
 retire to their little farms and cultivate them. When 
 they are in demand again they leave the care of the 
 patches to their families and return to their usual voca- 
 tions. I might say that the independence of the wage 
 workers here makes their superior condition, and the fru- 
 gal teachings of the Mormon leaders have imbued them 
 with the salutary principles of independence." 
 
 "How gratifying," said Mr. Wickham, "but how is 
 the social condition ? Do they maintain the same just and 
 natural democratic social conditions as they did twenty- 
 five years ago ?" 
 
 "Not exactly. Aristocracy is daily encroaching on 
 democracy, but not at the rapid pace of Denver and Spo- 
 kane." 
 
494 THE PILGRIM 
 
 "Sad, sad, sad!" replied Mr. Wickham, "that nature 
 seems to have made the tares more powerful than the 
 wheat in every domain of his kingdom ; that the evil every- 
 where must encroach upon the good. Is this necessary? 
 Is it inevitable " 
 
 Mrs. Hal Monk was presented and the old friends 
 communed in sadness about the worsted past. She de- 
 tailed the infamously false charges brought against her 
 for divorce, and how civil officers and alleged friends, hyp- 
 notized with her husband's money, besieged her to ac- 
 quiesce in the false charges to save her children from no- 
 torious scandal. 
 
 She graphically described the canting of the judge 
 about a liberal and just division of the joint earnings of 
 the husband and the wife while he decreed to her the pro- 
 portion of one dollar to her husband's five hundred dollars, 
 well knowing that her husband was throwing his portion 
 into the laps of the unworthy everywhere; told him that 
 after the divorce her husband married his charming adven- 
 turess, only^to be abandoned at the end of five years, penni- 
 less ; told how she, the first wife, sent for him, put him into 
 a Keeley Institute, paid the expenses of his divorce pro- 
 ceedings against wife number two, remarried him, and 
 was caring for him. 
 
 Her eyes filled with tears as she fell into a melan- 
 choly mood and continued : "Poor, misguided Hal. They 
 kept him filled with fiery wine until all the mental strength 
 was steeped from his brain. All that remains is the coarse 
 physical man. The abused brain is a cindered crater as 
 dead as the lifeless mountains on the moon. It does not 
 crave or assimilate mental nutriment. All the consola- 
 tion left me is the dear children. Thank God, they are all 
 moral, intellectual, prosperous, and highly respected citi- 
 
AND THE PIONEER 495 
 
 zens. I still have the most of the hundred thousand dollars 
 doled out to me, while my husband was given millions 
 to spend in a revelling debauch. But this is man's idea 
 of an equitable division of joint earnings between hus- 
 band and wife, even where the wife does the most of 
 the work, as I did in this case. However, I am not com- 
 plaining. I can take care of my husband's physical wants, 
 and help my children some, if need be." 
 
 Mr. Wickham answered: "The pure-blooded Caucas- 
 ian woman is the salt of the earth. What ideal mothers 
 they make. Yes, yes, every one expected these children 
 to be most like you. They should be, because you per- 
 form the lion's share in their formation. The sire con- 
 tributes his share of blood to the raw material for the 
 foundation, then turns the work over to the mother. She 
 nourishes the developing embryo with her life blood, 
 until the umbilical chord is severed, then succors the 
 child on the milk of her bosom until it is able to masticate 
 solid food. How can it be otherwise than like her? I 
 would to God there was some way to form them after the 
 model of the sire at times ! Ah, how fortunate are they 
 who have such pure-blooded dames as yourself. God pity 
 the unfortunate ones born of wild, barbarian mothers. My 
 poor, unfortunate ones, I have given them abundance to 
 buy food and raiment; they are not capable of enjoying 
 more. God bless their dear husbands, who so patiently 
 tolerate their wild natures. I must stop. I am constantly 
 undone." 
 
 Mr. Wickham was introduced to Senator Norton 
 from Central City. The old man heartily grasped his 
 hand and suggested, "Evidently you know the fate of my 
 old friends, Mr. and Mrs. Herman Mark, and the Emerald 
 Isle." 
 
496 THE PILGRIM 
 
 "Yes," replied Senator Norton, "They have all been 
 buried on Bald Mountain except the old woman and the 
 youngest boy. They struck a little pay ore, bought their 
 house back, and have a small pocket of good mineral that 
 feeds and clothes them. The old woman hasn't been off 
 the hill for forty years, and the boy has never been out 
 of the county, though he is thirty-three years old. The 
 manager of the last conclave in Denver tendered them 
 transportation to Denver and return, hotel fare and passes 
 to all the entertainments, if they would visit Denver as 
 a part of the curiosities of the big show. The mother 
 and son consulted and replied that they were perfectly 
 contented now on the Emerald Isle; that if they should 
 go to Denver they might want to go somewhere else; 
 that they had not used any money for a quarter of a cen- 
 tury that hadn't come from the Emerald Isle, and they 
 didn't care to use any other money. They informed the 
 committee that they would stay on Bald Mountain the 
 remainder of their lives, and be buried with the other 
 members of the family there, if anyone should care enough 
 for them to bury them." 
 
 In the evening a ball was given in the parlors to 
 the guests of the house. The invitations requested all 
 gentlemen to appear in dress suits. In the court of the 
 hotel the following query and answer was most common: 
 "Are you going to attend the ball this evening?" "JSTo, 
 I have not a dress suit here, and the invitation practically 
 requests all who cannot appear in dress suits to stay 
 away." 
 
 Mr. Wickham, after hearing many of these inquiries 
 and replies, rubbed his head and inquired, "Is this really 
 Denver? Do the clothes really make the man here? Is 
 all. this real or am I dreaming?" However, the couples 
 
AND THE PIONEER 497 
 
 appeared in goodly numbers, all in full evening attire, 
 which ultimately convinced the Pioneer that these great 
 changes were real. Disgusted and chagrined, he was 
 about to retire to his room when Col. McShane reappeared 
 and suggested: "Mr. Wickham, I live in Cripple Creek, 
 one of the wonders of the new world, the greatest gold 
 mining-camp on earth, where the calico dress, blue-shirt 
 and nail-boot brigade absolutely dominate the sentiment 
 of the community where men and women are judged 
 and esteemed exclusively by their moral and intellectual 
 standing. You had better go up with me to-morrow and 
 visit this great mining-camp and you will find the seed at 
 least of this great pioneer civilization still preserved." 
 
 "I shall go, I shall go/' eagerly replied Mr. Wickham. 
 
 Col. McShane and Mr. Wickham took the morning 
 train, and in the afternoon they alighted on 1 the platform 
 at Cripple Creek. It was crowded with miners coming 
 and going from Victor, Altman, Goldfield, Independence, 
 Elkton, and surrounding camps. One by one they grasped 
 the colonel's hand and heartily welcomed him home. In 
 turn he introduced them to Mr. Wickham and every one 
 had some genial word of welcome or an expression of 
 hope that he would enjoy his stay in the greatest gold 
 mining-camp in the world. Now and then he met an 
 acquaintance from Central City, Georgetown, or some 
 other old-time camp. Among .others he met Mr. Rich 
 from Georgetown. He held him long and tightly by the 
 hand while asking him all about Georgetown, Central 
 City, and Idaho Springs. Mr. Rich answered, "All of 
 these camps are constantly improving." 
 
 "Ah, indeed," said Mr. Wickham, "I left those camps 
 twenty-seven years ago, thinking the precious metals were 
 about exhausted, and you say they are constantly improv- 
 
 THE PILGRIM 32 . 
 
498 THE PILGRIM 
 
 ing. When are they to cease producing wealth in these 
 old camps ?" 
 
 "When man shall cease to develop the natural re- 
 sources of the earth," responded Mr. Rich. "A quar- 
 ter of a century ago we talked about exhausting the 
 mineral resources of a camp in a few years and then 
 moving on to new fields. Now the concensus of opinion 
 of all experienced mining men is that the mineral re- 
 sources of the Rocky. Mountains are inexhaustible. Lead- 
 ville, Central City, Georgetown, Idaho Springs, San Juan, 
 and other old mining-camps were never more productive 
 than now, and every prospect is that they will continue 
 to get better for generations to come." 
 
 As Mr. Rich gave Mr. Wickham his hand to bid 
 him goodbye, the old Pioneer inquired, "What are you 
 doing now, Rich?" Mr. Rich replied, "I am working 
 the Dives and Pelican of Georgetown, or Silver Plume, 
 rather." "Wonderful, wonderful," answered Mr. Wick- 
 ham. "I remember we were expecting that mine to be 
 worked out a quarter of a century ago. I remember well 
 when they had the great ore chute, the excitement, and 
 the murder of poor Judge Gibbs, and our general talk 
 was that in a few months the ore chute would exhaust." 
 
 "Those talks and expectations have all changed," re- 
 plied Mr. Rich. "The Rocky Mountain ore bodies are 
 permanent, everlasting. That is why so many bankers 
 and conservative business men have gone into mining here 
 as a safe and legitimate business. The Dives and Peli- 
 can, notwithstanding the quarter of a century that they 
 have been producing and pouring out a stream of valuable 
 ore, are producing right along. I am to-day working 250 
 men extracting ore worth five hundred dollars per ton 
 
AND THE PIONEER 499 
 
 from these old claims with no thought or expectation of 
 its exhaustion for generations to come." 
 
 As the colonel and Mr. Wickham walked up to the 
 hotel, Mr. Wickham said, "Colonel, don't you know I like 
 this. I like to hear the tramp of these nail-boots; I 
 like to look at those blue shirts; I like the smell of the 
 talc on these coats; I like to shake the hands that 'are 
 adding something to the general stock of wealth; I like 
 1o hear their talks about material development of the 
 resources of the country. How different from the friv- 
 olous, insipid monotony of, 'Why, how are you? Awful 
 glad to see ;>ou. When did you come over? How are 
 the folks ? etc.,' heard at the Brown. Such empty forms 
 are all moonshina There is something substantial about 
 these fellows." 
 
 They reached the hotel, brushed up a little, and en- 
 tered the dining-room for supper. Colonel McShane con- 
 ducted Mr. W T ickham to a special table at which he and 
 his friends had eaten for many months. He introduced 
 Mr. Wickham to his friends, then very deferentially in- 
 troduced him to Miss Mollie Sewell, a very rosy-cheeked, 
 plump, hazel-eyed girl, with a soft, resonant voice and 
 easy, graceful manners, who waited on this special table. 
 She bowed, smiled, and said she gladly welcomed him 
 to her table during his sojourn in Cripple Creek. She 
 took the orders and retired to the kitchen. At once the 
 friends of the colonel launched into an enthusiastic de- 
 scription of a fine set of jewelry they had just presented 
 to the waitress as a token of their appreciation of her 
 efficient attentions. All of the guests pronounced her a 
 most excellent individual. 
 
 Mr. Wickham exclaimed, "Ah, what a human atmos- 
 
500 THE PILGRIM 
 
 phere! I thank God I have again reached a place where 
 every dutiful human being is an entity; where clothes 
 or position are not the test. The merit system alone is 
 in harmony with the spirit of the Golden Rule. 
 
 "Oh, what a superb thing this refined Caucasian 
 blood is, whether coursing through the veins of the first 
 lady of the land, or through those of the typical dining- 
 room girl, and what adorable mothers they make. A child 
 by one of these makes the flesh of our flesh and blood of 
 our blood. How different it is when one endeavors to 
 mix the highly-civilized, refined blood with the untamed 
 strains of the less civilized races. There they make flesh 
 and blood of the lower strain only. There are great 
 distinctions in strains of blood, but it cannot be tested 
 by accident of social position." 
 
 After supper the guests went into the office and were 
 smoking and enjoying their reminiscences when a com- 
 mittee appeared and informed the colonel that his friends 
 had concluded to celebrate his return with an informal 
 dance at the hotel if it met his approval and he could be 
 present. The colonel replied that he would be delighted. 
 
 "Very well," answered the spokesman, "the music 
 will start up at nine o'clock sharp, and we shall expect 
 you and some lady of your own choosing to lead the grand 
 march." 
 
 The colonel hesitated a moment, then introduced 
 Mr. Wickham to the committee,. as his guest, and said that 
 he should insist that his guest, with the prettiest woman 
 in the hall as a partner, should lead the grand march, and 
 added, "I shall be at his heels with a second choice 
 beauty." 
 
 Mr. Wickham replied, "If this is to be an old-fash- 
 ioned mining-canip ball where every man and every woman 
 
AND THE PIONEER 501 
 
 of good moral character, regardless of dress or position 
 in the world, is to stand on an equal footing, I shall 
 enjoy my farewell grand march, but if the merit system 
 is ignored, I could not, I would not, attempt to stay 
 in the hall." 
 
 The committee informed him that the only aristoc- 
 racy in Cripple Creek was the aristocracy of actual 
 human worth, and that the calico dress, the nail-boots, the 
 blue shirt, the talc-stained coat would receive much more 
 deference than patent-leather shoes, swallow-tail coats and 
 long-trained silks, if any should appear. 
 
 "How happy I am that I came. How this democratic 
 atmosphere has rejuvenated my depressed spirits," re- 
 sponded Mr. Wickham. 
 
 "By the way, colonel," inquired Mr. Wickham, "why 
 is this great mining-camp called 'Cripple Creek ?' ' 
 
 The colonel chuckled, twisted his mustache and re- 
 plied, "There are two stories extant accounting for this 
 name. The first one is more interesting, even if less 
 likely to be true. This fall at the press association in 
 New Orleans, just before the meeting closed, when nomi- 
 nations for the place for the next year's meeting were 
 declared in order, representatives from different portions 
 of the country sprang to their feet and presented the 
 special inducements that their respective cities offered, 
 and among others one of our friends nominated Cripple 
 Creek as the place for the next meeting. An aggressive 
 spirit from one of the Eastern cities arose to second the 
 nomination of a neighboring city and with burning sar- 
 casm belittled the thought of such a place as this for 
 the meeting of a great association. In closing his sar- 
 castic and impressive address he spent fifteen minutes 
 in ridiculing the name 'Cripple Creek,' and said the un- 
 
502 THE PILGRIM 
 
 couth name bespoke its unfitness for even a passing con- 
 sideration of any delegate not from some sage-brush 
 thicket of the West or 'gum swamp' of the East. When 
 he took his seat we did not have a friend in the East or 
 South. This meeting being in the South, a decided ma- 
 jority of the delegates were Southern people. Fortunately 
 for us Denver had a delegate there, Senator Plunkett, 
 whose throat is lined with velvet, whose nervous system 
 vibrates with pathos, whose soul heaves with ambition, who 
 is comely, graceful, and eloquent, and has snatched more 
 convention victories from the jaws of defeat than any other 
 human being in the great West. He arose, was recog- 
 nized, and with a mellow-cadenced voice said he had 
 no particular choice, any of the great cities named were 
 satisfactory to him, but he wished simply to shed a little 
 light on the name 'Cripple Creek' for the benefit of the 
 historian of the association, rather than to influence any 
 one to vote for it as the place of the next convention. 
 "He said: 'In 1862 a gallant Southern gentleman 
 possessed in this sun-kissed land a magnificent residence, 
 and hundreds of African slaves bought under the sanction 
 of the national constitution and largely from the very men 
 who afterward frantically clamored for their emancipation. 
 Other civilized countries, when the governments changed 
 their public policies and concluded to abrogate slavery in 
 their dominions, had compensated the slave-holder 
 for such purchases made under the sanction of 
 their laws. The proposed confiscation of his slaves 
 carried in its train such flagrant injustices that his sense of 
 justice, his love of home and native land, drove 
 him into the ranks of the Confederate army. He proved 
 so brave, gallant, and true that the enemy delighted in 
 destroying his home and confiscating all of his personal 
 
AND THE PIONEER 603 
 
 effects. At the bloody battles of Franklin, near the close 
 of the war, while supporting General Hood in one of 
 his desperate stands, he dropped a leg and an arm upon 
 the battlefield. After the war what remained of his vital 
 parts hobbled upon crutches back to the spot where he had 
 so long entertained and enjoyed his friends, to find it a 
 bed of white ashes. When he stood upon that sacred 
 ground and compared his homeless, propertyless, and man- 
 gled physical condition with what it had been, the stout 
 human heart was not adequate to the superhuman cour- 
 age required to live among these ever present reminders 
 of his material and physical undoing. He sold the rem- 
 nant of his belongings, took his Bible and Prayer-book 
 under his remaining arm, and went into exile on the banks 
 of a little brook in the unblazed jungles of the Rocky 
 Mountains that he might be relieved of seeing the in- 
 animate reminders of his sad plight during the short 
 time remaining of his allotted three score and ten years. 
 He erected his little pole cabin under great difficulties, and 
 the old trappers and hunters aided him and shared his 
 hospitality, but never could fish from him his name or 
 any part of his history.' 
 
 " 'His congenial and sympathizing spirit, his humane 
 and unstinted hospitality, born in the very bone and 
 sinew of every Southern gentleman, so endeared him to 
 every passing hunter and trapper that by common con- 
 sent they set apart this creek as his preserve and tenderly 
 called it the "Cripple's Creek;" and when the generous, 
 hardy gold-miner discovered the great gold-fields here they 
 would not brook a change of the sacred name, uncouth and 
 offensive as it may sound when severed from its sad asso- 
 ciations.' 
 
 "At the close of Senator Plunkett's pathetic outburst 
 
504 THE PILGRIM 
 
 of eloquence the demand came from every part of the 
 house, Vote, vote, vote.' The question was put and the 
 almost solid Southern delegation overwhelmingly decided 
 that the next meeting of the association should be at 
 Cripple Creek. This is one legend. 
 
 "Another is told by the pioneer cowboys to this 
 effect: In the early days of the country an old Texas 
 steer had one hip knocked down, became bony and poor, 
 and locomotion was very difficult for him. He was astute 
 enough to know that it was unsafe for him to get away 
 from water, so he grazed alone upon the banks of this 
 brook and drank of its water for years, and the cowboys 
 generally referred to the brook as 'The Cripple's Creek.' 
 You can take your choice of the roots of the name 'Cripple 
 Creek.' " 
 
 "I infinitely prefer the former version, whether true 
 or false, for the good results of Senator Plimkett's elo- 
 quence," said Mr. Wickham. 
 
 "Yes," replied the colonel, "the end justifies the 
 means. The Eastern people have always written the 
 newspaper and magazine articles and the book descriptions 
 of this country and people without knowing anything in 
 particular about them. They have been partisan, and 
 the people have suffered the usual injury where rivals 
 or enemies of a people and a country write their histories. 
 If the people of the West cannot write their own books 
 descriptive of the people and country, then by all means 
 get the writers among the people and in the country and 
 as nearly right as possible." 
 
 At nine o'clock sharp the music started up and mem- 
 bers of the committee came for Col. McShane and Mr. 
 Wickham, and escorted them to the ball room. A com- 
 mitteeman said to Mr. Wickham, "I see the wife of the 
 
AND THE PIONEER 505 
 
 proprietor of the hotel is sitting across the room; also 
 Mrs. Held, the wife of the cashier of the bank. I shall 
 be glad to introduce you to either of them, and either 
 will make you a splendid partner for the grand march." 
 
 Mr. Wickham cast his eye over the assemblage, and 
 the first person he fixed his eyes upon was Mollie Sewell, 
 the pretty waitress. "Excuse me a moment," said 
 he, "I see a nice young lady over there that I am 
 acquainted with." He stepped over and asked Mollie 
 to assist him in leading the grand march. She cheerfully 
 accepted. Col. McShane secured the assistance of the 
 type-writer girl in the hotel, ind the merchants, bankers 
 and others, with their wives, dropped in behind without a 
 murmur or seemingly a thought of surprise. 
 
 The crowd generally was neatly dressed, clean, and 
 well behaved, but if any one had chanced to be present 
 without a white shirt or a good business suit, he would 
 have been as welcome and as considerately treated as the 
 best dressed person in the room. 
 
 Mr. Wickham and Mollie led the march with much 
 spirit and with military precision. Afterward the old- 
 time dances were called, such as Quadrille, Virginia Reel, 
 Versouvienne, Heel and Toe Polka, Lancers, etc. 
 
 The object of every gentleman seemed to be to dance 
 with every lady friend present. The bankers and business 
 men generally danced with the waitresses in the hotels and 
 the housemaids at their own and their neighbors' homes. 
 The girls were all neatly dressed and their manners arid 
 general deportment were excellent. In fact, the unusual 
 attentions they were accustomed to receive in these demo- 
 cratic mining-camps had awakened an emulation in them 
 to make as good an appearance as their more fortunate 
 sisters, and at times they really appeared better. 
 
506 THE PILGRIM 
 
 Little Oma, a five-year-old daughter of a near 
 neighbor, some years ago was stopped by Mrs. Kent, 
 who had her baby with her and a nice young house-girl 
 pushing the baby carriage. The little girl said to Mrs. 
 Kent, "Are you her hired girl ?" pointing to the one rolling 
 the baby carriage. 
 
 Mrs. Kent said, "No; why did you think I was 
 her hired girl?" The little one stuck her finger in her 
 mouth and looked at Mrs. Kent's shining silk dress and 
 said, "Cause you are dressed so fine." 
 
 Mr. Wickham enjoyed every moment of this old- 
 fashioned democratic dance, and retired at the close in 
 an ecstatic mood. 
 
 Early the next morning Col. McShane took Mr. 
 Wickham out to see this wonderful mining-town and a 
 number of the mines. He said the contour of the country 
 reminded him somewhat of Butte City, especially the 
 low, accessible ridges right in the suburbs of the town in 
 which the mines were found. 
 
 The Cripple Creek mines were discovered after things 
 became permanent in the West and after people learned 
 that the Rocky Mountain quartz-mine ore bodies were 
 everlasting, as it were, hence the towns in this district 
 are splendidly built of iron, stone, and brick. Cripple 
 Creek is probably the best built mining-town of 6,000 
 people in the world. The output of gold is from one to 
 two million dollars per month, and there are about 30,000 
 people in what is known as the Cripple Creek country. 
 
 In the afternoon the citizens of Victor sent an invi- 
 tation to Col. McShane and Mr. Wickham for a seven 
 o'clock dinner. The invited guests stepped on to one of the 
 electric cars running frequently between all of the neigh- 
 boring towns, and in a few moments were in charge of 
 
AND THE PIONEER 507 
 
 the reception committee of the wonderful town of Vic- 
 tor. Some of the greatest mines in the world are being 
 worked right in the business part of the town. A splendid 
 dinner was served at the Miners' Exchange, reminiscent 
 toasts were responded to, then the party was invited over 
 to the splendidly built and exquisitely equipped Miners' 
 Club Room, erected by the Western Investment company, 
 at an expense of forty thousand dollars, for the enter- 
 tainment of its own miners. Easy chairs, gymnasiums, 
 a splendid billiard and pool hall, luxuriant baths, splendid 
 offices, and rooms all brilliantly lighted with electricity 
 and manned with generous, courteous attendants, made 
 one think of some magnificent public building in which 
 some great institution or city takes its chief pride. 
 
 As they entered the office they were welcomed by Mr. 
 Wilmet, Jr., and the geologist of the famous G-old Coin 
 mine, situated right in the heart of the city. This great 
 institution, built to ameliorate the hard condition of the 
 miners, greatly affected Mr. Wickham and he at once 
 began to ply Mr. Wilmet with questions, "Why did you 
 build this? What did it cost? What effect has it had 
 on your workmen ?" etc. 
 
 The genial and frank Mr. Wilmet replied first, "We 
 built this because Victor and the miners have done so 
 much for us; secondly, we could afford it and felt it a 
 duty to do something more than the ordinary for the 
 country and the men that had so improved our condition. 
 It cost us about forty thousand dollars; a majority of 
 the men appreciate it very much, but a strong minority 
 of our men never have seemed to appreciate either our 
 efforts or good intentions." 
 
 "Strange, remarkably strange," answered Mr. Wick- 
 ham. "I have been with and of these fellows for more 
 
508 THE PILGRIM 
 
 than a half a century, and there is not a class of men in 
 America who reason more from cause to effect or are 
 more conservative or just in their conclusions, than the 
 American gold and silver miners. This minority has 
 some cogent reason founded in deep logic for this appar- 
 ent failure to appreciate your most generous and humane 
 efforts. I would suggest that you candidly inquire into 
 the cause of this seeming ingratitude." 
 
 Mr. Wilmet and the gentlemanly geologist then in- 
 vited them out upon an elevated balcony to look at the 
 camp by electric light. 
 
 The high rolling hills back of Victor form a semi- 
 circle, hugging the basin-like location of the town, and they 
 are literally covered with working mines, all lighted with 
 electricity; electric cars, brilliantly lighted, were shoot- 
 ing over the hills from mine to mine like phosphorescent 
 shuttle-cocks. The scene is indescribable but most forcibly 
 reminds one of a half-circle of the firmament upon a 
 clear night, be-spattered with innumerable constellations 
 of enlarged stars, with countless dissatisfied meteors dart- 
 ing through them. 
 
 After they bade Mr. Wilmet and the geologist good- 
 bye, Mr. Wickham said, "Col. McShane, I want to see a 
 leader of the minority of the workmen on the Gold Coin 
 who fail to appreciate this splendid club building. They 
 are not actuated by prejudice, but some fundamental rea- 
 son prevents their patronizing this luxuriant building." 
 
 The colonel conducted him up to the office of the 
 Miners' Union. Mr. Wickham immediately stated the 
 object of his visit. The courteous secretary telephoned 
 to the leader of the protesting minority on the Gold Coin ; 
 he came up, was introduced to Mr. Wickham, and the 
 object of the call frankly stated to him. The miner said, 
 
AND THE PIONEER 509 
 
 "We fully appreciate the good intentions of the Western 
 Investment Company, and if all employers of labor were 
 like the Western Bros., there would be no serious dif- 
 ficulties between labor and capital ; but the recognition of 
 the precedent of accepting little sentimental palliatives, 
 which, for the time, divert the minds of the workmen and 
 'of the public from fundamental injustices in the distri- 
 bution of wealth, are what deter us. All of these gifts 
 of the Rockefellers, Carnegies, and Vanderbilts, furnish 
 indubitable evidence of the unconscionable proportion that 
 capital has taken from the joint earnings of capital and 
 labor. Labor, accepting back these illy-gotten gains as 
 alms, presents a parallel to Nero's feeding, amusing, and 
 fiddling for the people while destroying the very bone and 
 sinew of the nation and of the city of Rome itself. It is 
 like putting a soothing salve upon a burning cancer, which 
 quiets the patient while the festering sore spreads its 
 roots to the very vitals, instead of at once removing the 
 cancerous patch that the remainder of the body may es- 
 cape poison andvdeath. We demand that the causes that 
 permit capital to obtain from the earnings of labor these 
 burdensome surplusages of wealth be removed by the dis- 
 tribution of a larger portion to the side of labor. We 
 refuse to accept these palliatives, even at the hands of men 
 with the good intentions of the Western Investment Com- 
 pany. We desire that the eyes of the public shall ever 
 be riveted on the fundamental evil." 
 
 Mr. Wickham replied, "There is much force in what 
 you say." 
 
 The next morning they returned to Cripple Creek 
 and were conducted through the market streets, great 
 stores, and public offices. Every necessity of life was 
 kept here, and of the very highest order and quality, as 
 
510 THE PILGRIM 
 
 wages were high and the people generally wanted the 
 best. They never before in any market saw the general 
 average of the quality of vegetables and fruits so high, 
 and the merchants told them that their general grocery 
 stocks were of the same high order. 
 
 When the bus was called for the train for the Ar- 
 kansas Valley country, Mr. Wickham gathered his grip 
 and with a heavy heart bade the proprietor of the hotel 
 good-bye and sought to do likewise with Col. McShane 
 and several others, but one after another answered, "We 
 shall bid you good-bye at the train; I am going down to 
 see you off." This deeply touched the Pioneer. While 
 they were waiting for the train to start, Mr. Wickham 
 said, "Col. McShane, my exuberant spirits of the last two 
 days have begun a reactionary turn which mixes a sadness 
 with my delight Don't you know that the democratic 
 territory in the great West has been chopped off and off 
 until but a few little spots like this are left as breeding 
 grounds of the higher civilization that used to cover all 
 of the territory west of the Missouri River? I fear that 
 ere long these remaining little necks of land will be inun- 
 dated by the great mass of aristocratic, muddy water, not 
 leaving even an inlet or island for the breeding of pure de- 
 mocracy." 
 
 "Yes," said the colonel, "I share your sombre fore- 
 bodings. I hope, however, that when we get a represen- 
 tation here of all the leading editors this summer, their 
 contact with our advanced social methods will furnish a 
 leaven which may work through the Eastern Press and 
 turn the great mass of the people to the teachings of Wash- 
 ington, Jefferson, and Lincoln." 
 
 "Such a supposition is contrary to all human his- 
 tory," Mr. Wickham replied. "Democracy does not seem 
 
AND THE PIONEER 511 
 
 to thrive in old soil. Lord Byron, after his pilgrimage 
 over the ashes of many dead governments, lamentingly 
 put to the world this significant query : 
 
 " 'Can tyrants but by tyrants conquered be, 
 And freedom find ,no champion and no child, 
 Such as Columbia saw arise when she 
 Sprung forth a Pallas, arm'd and undefiled? 
 Or must such minds be nourished in the wild, 
 Deep in the unpruned forest, 'midst the roar 
 Of cataracts, where nursing Nature smiled 
 On infant Washington? Has earth no more 
 Such seeds within her breast, or Europe no such 
 shore?'" 
 
CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 OFF TO SEE HIS CHILDREN. 
 
 It had been twenty-six years since Mr. Wickham 
 had seen or heard directly from his children, and he 
 had some misgivings as to what might have happened 
 to them. He felt a little hurt that they had not personally 
 written him, but he thought that they were wrapped up 
 in their husbands and believed that they could write 
 better than themselves. When he reached the neighbor- 
 hood of the thirty-eight hundred acres of land given him 
 by Hopping Antelope, he went into ecstasies. The whole 
 country around was verdant with the growth of melons, 
 sugar beets, and alfalfa, and beautiful homes were sur- 
 rounded with orchards. It occurred to him that his chil- 
 dren must be enormously rich from the growth of com- 
 munity values alone. He asked one after another who 
 boarded the train about his sons-in-law, but could find no 
 one that had ever heard of them, though every informer 
 said that he was quite new in the country. 
 
 At Rocky Ford there was great life. The fields were 
 covered with sugar-beet gatherers, cantaloupe packers, etc. 
 The roads were lined with teamsters, a magnificent sugar 
 factory was grinding a thousand tons of beets daily, and 
 trains were being loaded with cantaloupes for the Eastern 
 markets and for Europa 
 
 When the train stopped in the beautiful little city, 
 the courteous conductor said, "There is a freight wreck 
 just ahead of us and we will be detained an hour or so, 
 and the passengers will have time to look through the 
 
 (513) THE PILGRIM. 33 
 
AND THE PIONEER 515 
 
 Rocky Ford Sugar-Beet Factory." The passengers were 
 conducted to the office of the company by the kind-faced 
 Senator Scovil, and the condition was stated to the assis- 
 tant manager, Mr. Eldon. He instantly dropped his pen 
 and conducted -the passengers to an elevated board plat- 
 form covering half an acre, with mammoth wooden funnels 
 in the center. One wagon momentarily followed another 
 and dumped its beets into this great funnel and hurried 
 away, like so many teamsters with their scrapers on a rail- 
 road grade. The wagon boxes were built above the wheels 
 and a great rope hammock with a ring hanging over each 
 end lay upon the bottom of the wagon box upon which 
 the beets were loaded. These rings were placed on an 
 elevated hook, a button was touched, and by electric power 
 the whole load was raised from the wagon and swung over 
 the great funnel, the farmer jerked a rope attached to 
 the center of his hammock, it unjointed and dropped the 
 beets into the great receiver and they rapidly poured 
 through the small end of the funnels into a raging stream 
 of water which loosened the dirt and washed them down 
 hundreds of feet into a tank filled with water. Here 
 revolving arms tumbled them in every direction, and 
 washed and scraped them until they were as white as 
 peeled cabbage stalks; then, by a system of elevators, 
 they were conducted to grinders and presses and the juices 
 were carried into the boilers and chemical processes which 
 extracted and purified them into 96 per cent granulated 
 white sugar. As these teams dumped their loads momen- 
 tarily, a passenger said to Mr. Eldon, "You must run 
 through hundreds of tons a day." "Yes," said Mr. Eldon, 
 "we ran through 1,050 tons yesterday." They were led 
 through and advised of all the different processes leading 
 from the dirty raw beet to the chaste white sugar. The 
 
516 THE PILGRIM 
 
 appliances seemed to have exhausted the whole domain of 
 chemistry and labor-saving machinery. When they reached 
 the last process, they saw the startling sight of a hundred- 
 pound sack of refined sugar dropping from a spout every 
 minute with as much ease and regularity as the sweet 
 water drips from the spile of the sugar-maple in the 
 mountains of Vermont. 
 
 The Pioneer suggested to Mr. Eldon, "This must 
 be a wonderful country to produce all of this saccharine 
 matter." 
 
 Mr. Eldon, turning to him, replied, "Probably the 
 most marvelous on the globe. On mere tests of a few 
 acres, we put a million dollars into this plant and our 
 judgment has been verified by witnessing the greatest ton- 
 age per acre, fraught with the highest per cent of saccha- 
 rine matter known to man." 
 
 The Pioneer answered, "You will reap a rich reward 
 for your superior sagacity and this great investment" 
 
 Mr. Eldon dropped his eyes to the floor, shook his 
 head and replied, "All the combinations of nature favor 
 us, but the combinations of men seek to destroy us. The 
 moment the heartless monopoly of sugar refiners saw the 
 matchless success of the sugar-beet industry, where the 
 same mill makes the raw and the refined sugar, it cut 
 the price of sugar at all Missouri River points one and 
 one-half cents per pound, so that we cannot market our 
 product to advantage, and so as to discourage the increase 
 of acreage and the building of new mills. The sugar in 
 our market is cut below the cost of production." 
 
 The Pioneer rose to his full height, exclaiming, 
 "Is it possible ? I knew these combinations were greater 
 than the government that creates them, but did not suppose 
 
AND THE PIONEER 517 
 
 that they were greater than the Almighty. In this case 
 all of the elements of nature are for you, and those of 
 aggregated greed against you. Here God proposes and 
 the conscienceless sugar-trust disposes. It would seem 
 that these infernal creatures are not only greater than their 
 Creator, but mightier than this fertile soil, this perpetual 
 sunshine; yea, able to thwart the will of God himself! 
 Will the manhood of the- nation ever be sufficiently aroused 
 to lift the iron heel of these grotesque monsters from the 
 neck of a long-suffering people? How strange that the 
 God-created beings of flesh and blood and brains are in- 
 capable of coping with these bloodless, heartless, soulless, 
 artificial, man-made creatures. These cormorants constant- 
 ly vote the people for their own piratical destruction. The 
 God-made man poor, weak, feeble, miscreant that he is 
 may learn, but is ever slow to benefit from experience. 
 How long, how long will he play the despicable part of 
 the destroyer of his own wife, his own children, aye of 
 himself ? Must it ever be thus ?" The assistant superin- 
 tendent shook his head in sad silence. 
 
 The Pioneer continued, "Land values must be very 
 high here." The superintendent answered, "Yes, from 
 $150 to $250 near the mill." 
 
 The Pioneer moved off toward the car, solilo- 
 quizing, "My sons-in-law must be rich as Croesus. I won- 
 der if they are interested in any of these infernal com- 
 binations?" The bell rang and the passengers entered 
 the cars and were off toward the Kansas line. Soon after 
 passing Rocky Ford, the Pioneer reached his old ranch. 
 It was a perfect oasis green, green, green .everywhere. 
 The local . passengers told him that the whole tract was 
 worth fifty dollars per acre. He thought that his sons- 
 in-law must yet hold the possessions he gave them. At 
 
518 THE PILGRIM 
 
 about five o'clock in the afternoon the train whistled in to 
 the sidetrack at Mr. Wickham's old homestead, and a well 
 developed, business-looking woman of middle age stepped 
 up to the mail car, got the daily papers, and returned to 
 the house. Mr. Wickham quickened his step and over- 
 took her just as she was opening the door. He asked 
 her if she could tell him who owned that place. The 
 woman stood squarely on both feet, looked him in the 
 eyes and answered, "Yes, I own it." 
 
 Mr Wickham, with a trembling frame and a very 
 much depressed voice, inquired, "Would you mind telling 
 me when and from whom you purchased it ?" The woman 
 answered, "I purchased it from Jack Michaeljohn ten 
 years ago." Mr. Wickham, now very weak, asked, "Can 
 you tell me what became of the former owner and his 
 family?" 
 
 With much indignation the woman raised herself 
 on the balls of her feet and replied, "It is to be hoped that 
 the scoundrel is in the penitentiary somewhere, but it is 
 probable that he is revelling in his crazy old father-in- 
 law's property, with some frivolous, cunning upstart, who 
 is pretending love to him, while his lawful wife, poor 
 thing, is scrubbing the floors of the big hotel up on the 
 hill yonder for her bread. Her husband took the forty 
 thousand dollars he got for the place and all he 
 got out of his cattle, and absconded to parts unknown, 
 leaving her penniless. Her crazy old father was madder 
 than the pre-historic old King Lear, who gave all of his 
 estate to his daughters, disinheriting himself only, and 
 though his ungrateful daughters drove him out into the 
 storm penniless to perish, they still had their husbands, 
 and the dear husbands would stick to their dear wives, 
 like sick kittens to hot rocks, as long as their estates 
 
AND SHE STOOD PAT. 
 
AND THE PIONEER 521 
 
 lasted. Old Joshua Wickham divided his estate up among 
 his sons-in-law, sons-in-law, mind you, disinheriting 
 not only himself, but his daughters and their children. 
 Yes, the fifty thousand he gave to each of his sons-in-law 
 was a direct incentive, a bribe for them to abandon his 
 daughters, their wives, and hunt up some gay, empty- 
 headed butterflies of the great cities with whom to spend 
 the money in debauch. I thank God that the scales had 
 fallen from the Colorado women's eyes before I got my 
 part of my father's estate and before I bought this place. 
 It is in my name and always shall be, and I never shall 
 want for a dear, loving husband. If old Joshua Wickham 
 had known enough to come in out of the rain, and had 
 put his property in the name of his daughters and their 
 children inalienably, they would all have homes and most 
 obedient and loving husbands, and if a husband should 
 die, before fashion would permit the daughter to shed 
 her widow's weeds, a train of marriageable men would 
 be pleading at her feet for the place of Number Two. The 
 fool says that 'The hand that rocks the cradle, rules the 
 world,' but I say the hand that holds the pocketbook, 
 whether male or female, rules mankind everywhere." 
 
 The indignant woman discovered that Mr. Wickham 
 was lying against the door with his hand to his head, 
 very pale. She got him a glass of water, and said, "I 
 hope you are not ill." 
 
 Mr. Wickham replied : "I am crushed ; I am humil- 
 iated; I am undone. I am the idiotic, the thrice crazy 
 Joshua Wickham ! 
 
 "O what a prolific -breeder of evil that parent sin has 
 proven to be. One crooked step so knocked my legs out 
 of joint that my whole course of life since has been zig- 
 zag. In trying to veer around one pitfall, I have tumbled 
 
522 THE PILGRIM 
 
 into many. I divided my estate and tried to run away 
 from the constant reminder of my great sin of commission, 
 and what a prolific brood of sins of omission it has foaled ! 
 Man may, with impunity, break the municipal laws of 
 his country, pay his fines, serve his sentence, get reprieved 
 or pardoned, and end the affair ; but if he breaks a law 
 of nature, the punishment is eternal. Oh, it all centers 
 around my criminally careless breeding of my offspring. 
 How commendably careful a man is in breeding his dogs, 
 cows, and horses, and how culpably negligent in the breed- 
 ing of his own children. This is not a complaint against 
 a thankless child, but a confessed, unpardonable sin of a 
 culpable father, who unwittingly permitted the veins of 
 his children to be charged with barbarian blood. 
 
 "How exacting, how wise, how just, God is! No 
 one can break one of his sacred laws without being lashed 
 with the loose ends for the remainder of his days. My 
 children in hunger and want? Scrubbing other people's 
 kitchens, because of my insane folly? My good woman 
 ply your tongue! You cannot find epithets with keen 
 enough lashes to make my punishment adequate to my 
 offense. I shall run no more from nature's revenges! I 
 shall devote the remainder of my days to the amelioration 
 of my children's hard conditions. What a pitiable sacri- 
 fice compared with the irreparable burden I have fastened 
 upon them, but I give all that is left of me, what more 
 can I do ? This is the dark blur on an otherwise long 
 life of unbroken sunshine, and the blur threatens to spread 
 into a midnight eclipse. Oh, beware, beware, of running 
 counter to the immutable and merciless laws of na- 
 ture!" 
 
 The astonished woman said, "If I had known to 
 whom I was talking, I should not have talked as I did, 
 
AND THE PIONEER 623 
 
 but every word I said is God's truth, I'll stand by it." 
 
 Mr. Wickham put his hands to his head and ex- 
 claimed, "Ingratitude, ingratitude is the spontaneous 
 growth of this money-mad age! It all grew out of my 
 fear to trust that Indian blood," and he asked if all his 
 sons-in-law were gona 
 
 "No," said the woman, "Clear Creek and Meadow 
 Lark died without children, and their husbands had no 
 occasion to leave, but poor, grief-stricken things, before 
 their wives had been dead six months they were married 
 again. They are both very rich, but they have never 
 helped the other children to a penny." 
 
 The woman continued, "You lie down on the lounge 
 and rest yourself until supper, and I will send out and 
 have your girls and your grandchildren assemble here 
 after supper and you shall stay here until you get rested. 
 I suppose those worthless sons-in-law got all of your prop- 
 erty any how and you could not go to the hotel." 
 
 "No, thank God, I have some means and can help 
 them some yet. I shall care for them while I live." 
 
 "Then," said the woman, "remember that women in 
 Colorado are entities ; they own their children, their prop- 
 erty, and themselves. Put what you give them in the 
 names of your daughters and their children inalienably, 
 and my word for it, you will have no more absconding 
 sons-in-law." 
 
 After supper the four daughters and their children 
 were brought in and mutual explanations were given of 
 attempts to write, husbands intercepting letters, robbing 
 them of their property, absconding, etc. 
 
 The grandchildren were dirt-colored but bright-eyed, 
 and had some Caucasian snap about them. The grand- 
 father had three or four on him at once, putting all kinds 
 
524 THE PILGRIM 
 
 of questions to him. He filled their little hands with 
 more silver coin than they had ever had during their short 
 lives and he put .fifty dollars into the hands of each of his 
 daughters and told them to give up their places and he 
 would provide for them.' 
 
 He then began to ask the children about school. 
 Johnnie told him that he did not like to go to school, 
 and his grandfather asked why he did not like to go. He 
 replied that the boys were mean to him, called him 
 Gusher, Gushing Springs, and Springy, etc., and in a 
 criticising tone asked, "Grandpa, why did you name 
 mamma Gushing Spring? Nobody else has such a queer 
 name." 
 
 The grandfather answered, "Your grandmother did 
 it; I had nothing to do with it; when your mother was 
 born we were camping at a spring that gushed from under 
 a big rock with as much force as water from a Holly sys- 
 tem, and your grandmother loved that spring so that she 
 named your mother for it" 
 
 Anna pulled her grandfather's whiskers, and said, 
 "The girls all call me Birdie, Campy, etc. Why did you 
 name mamma Camp Bird ?" 
 
 The grandfather answered, "Where we were camped 
 when your mother was born there were five or six big 
 Camp Birds that lived in the tepee and around it, mim- 
 icked, and talked like parrots. Your grandmother made 
 a willow basket for your mother's bed, and when she was 
 six or seven days old, your grandmother started down to 
 the spring for a bucket of water and put your mother 
 in the basket out in the sun where she could watch her. 
 As soon as your grandmother got away, your mother be- 
 gan to cry, and these Camp Birds flew down and sat 
 on the edge of the basket and rocked it and sang the same 
 
AND THE PIONEER 525 
 
 lullaby that your grandmother did from day to day, just 
 as well as your grandmother could. This so affected her 
 that she named your mother Camp Bird." 
 
 Lillian said, "They use me worse at school than any 
 of them. One boy will say to another boy, 'What's a hum- 
 mer V. The other boy will say, The daughter of a hum- 
 ming bird.' The first boy will point his finger at me and 
 say, 'But ain't she a hummer, though ?' Don't you think 
 that is real mean ? Grandpa, what did you go and name 
 mamma Humming Bird for ?" 
 
 Grandpa answered, "When your mother was a tiny 
 little thing, as the sun rose in the morning, your grand- 
 mother tucked the blankets around her in her little willow 
 basket, just leaving a little hole for her eyes, nose, and 
 mouth, and then put her out in the sun. As soon as 
 she set her out, two little humming birds visited her from 
 time to time and kissed her over and over again, fanning 
 her little cheeks with their wings, and this so touched your 
 grandmother that she named your mamma Humming 
 Bird. I did not name any of them." 
 
 "Why didn't you name some of them?" said Anna. 
 "Because they were all girls," replied the grandfather. 
 "Aren't girls just as good as boys?" piped out Humming 
 Bird. "Yes," answered the grandfather, "in the eyes of 
 God, or in the eyes of the ox, or the ass, or the ferocious 
 wild beasts, but in the eyes of selfish, bigoted, half civil- 
 ized men, no." 
 
 Anna's mother told her to kiss her grandfather good- 
 night, say her prayers, and go to bed. 
 
 The Pioneer pressed her to him, and said: "Stand 
 on your knees in my lap and let me hear your prayer." 
 
 The little girl blushed, rubbed her fingers over his 
 
526 THE PILGRIM 
 
 nose, and replied, "A part of it is about you, and I should- 
 n't like to say that where you could hear it." 
 
 Her mother told her that it was all right, she should 
 say it as her grandfather desired. 
 
 Anna dropped to her knees, clasped her hands, closed 
 her eyes, and in a confidential, firm voice, proceeded, 
 "Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul 
 to keep, and I pray the Lord to be kind to Grandfather 
 Hopping Antelope for giving Grandfather Wickham 
 Princess Bluejay for his wife, that mamma and aunties 
 and all of us might not be whole Indians, and have to 
 wear dirty blankets, live in cold, dirty tents and eat herbs 
 and wild, raw meat. Bless Grandfather Wickham for the 
 great sacrifice he made for mamma, aunties and all of us 
 in making us half white, so that we can have nice houses, 
 schools, books, churches, Sunday schools, and all the nice 
 things the white people make, and if any of us die before 
 we wake, I pray the Lord our souls to take." 
 
 The Pioneer pressed Anna closer to him, and 
 looking intently at one after another in the room, ex- 
 claimed, with a very much affected voice, "Praying for 
 me? Thanking me, the criminal, who unfeelingly and 
 thoughtlessly am responsible for the bringing of your 
 mother and her sisters into this cold, uncharitable world, 
 loaded down with a preponderance of untamed Indian 
 blood? You asking a blessing on me, who have brought 
 nothing but the curse of inferiority on you and my father's 
 house " 
 
 Anna vigorously broke in, saying, "Wouldn't mamma 
 and aunties have been born just the same, if you had 
 never seen or married Grandma Princess Bluejay?" 
 
 The Pioneer ran his fingers through his hair, 
 shuffled the muscles of his face from place to place, 
 
AND THE PIONEER 527 
 
 stroked the raven locks of the little girl, and quietly re- 
 plied, "That question would stagger a Solon. If your 
 grandmother, Princess Bluejay, had married an Indian 
 prince, which she certainly would have done if she had 
 not unfortunately met me, she would certainly have had 
 children. They would probably have been moulded 
 closely after her type. Just how near they would have 
 been the same persons, if the Princess Bluejay had mar- 
 ried an Indian prince instead of myself, I am unable to 
 tell." 
 
 Anna looked her grandfather straight in the eyes 
 and continued, "My teacher told me that you came near 
 losing your mind because mamma and aunties looked so 
 much like Grandma Blue jay's people, and so little like 
 your folks. Don't you think that was a little selfish ?" 
 
 After a moment her grandfather replied, "Not for 
 myself, but I thought my children would be better treated 
 and more respected if they looked like white persons rather 
 than like Indians." 
 
 The little girl put her index finger in her mouth for 
 a moment, then dropped it to her lap, and said, "If mamma 
 and aunties had been the children of Grandma Bluejay 
 and an Indian prince, they would have been all Indian, 
 and would have been living the hard and dirty lives of 
 Indians and wouldn't have had any schools, books, 
 churches, Sunday school, or nice things to eat. It looks 
 to me like you ought to be glad." 
 
 The old grandfather answered, "I feel ashamed, com- 
 pletely humiliated that I should have brought this inex- 
 cusable curse of inferiority upon my progeny for untold 
 generations and this great suffering upon you and upon 
 your mother and her sisters. Then I disgracefully lowered 
 my branch of my father's house." 
 
528 THE PILGRIM 
 
 Anna twisted herself around, looked at the stove a 
 moment, then replied, "It don't look that way to me. If 
 the Indian prince had married Grandma Bluejay, we 
 would all be just common Indians. You married her, and 
 we are all half white, and have all of the nice things of 
 the white people. Grandpa, if you are so sorry, then 
 why did you leave your daughters as soon as grandma 
 died, and stay away so long without telling anyone where 
 you were ?" 
 
 "Because of chagrin, disappointment, and humilia- 
 tion," said the Pioneer. "I am trying, ah, I always 
 intended to die with this a secret, but you seduce me, you 
 chaff me, you instruct me, I feel compelled to tell you 
 in self-defense. When your grandmother was on her 
 death-bed, I had a physician tell her gently that she must 
 die soon. Her disease was consumption, and her mind was 
 normal until death. I went in and kindly asked about her 
 wishes, generally. She said that the only wishes she had 
 were to have her pinto pony, her hornless saddle, the 45- 
 Winchester, her bows and arrows, her Navajo blankets, 
 and her old dog, Drum, buried with her. She showed no 
 concern about me or the children. She would sit up and 
 tell me what a splendid trip she would have to the Happy 
 Hunting Ground, if I would bury her equipment with her. 
 She was anxious to get into the deep, dark canons, join in 
 the chase, and feast on the wild meats and herbs in the 
 world beyond. I had spent twenty long years in trying 
 to educate and refine her tastes. When I saw my dismal 
 failure, when I saw the same barbarous wild Indian that 
 I had married twenty years before, when I saw the possi- 
 bility of my daughters inheriting her low tastes and her 
 many superstitions, my brain reeled and I ran from the 
 dismal picture, but it followed me. I finally abandoned 
 
AND THE PIONEER 529 
 
 the 'Holy Creed of Blessed Optimism' and became a pessi- 
 mistic child of despair." 
 
 Anna broke in, "That was very sad, grandpa, but I 
 don't see what good running away from your daughters 
 did. They are just as much Indian now as they were 
 when you left, and they have suffered awfully because 
 they had no one to help or comfort or teach them. You 
 say you were troubled because your children were inferior 
 and because you lowered your father's house. But when 
 you lowered your father's house, you raised Grandma 
 Bluejay's house, and don't you think it needed raising? 
 If you hadn't raised Grandma Bluejay's house, then 
 mamma and aunties and all of us would have been whole 
 Indians, and if you had stayed here and looked after your 
 daughters, you could have raised them more." 
 
 The Pioneer lifted his head, his face brightened, 
 he grasped his temples with both hands and exclaimed, 
 "Ah ! Ah ! I then got a glimpse of the beauties of the 'Holy 
 Creed' again. I felt the bottoms of the deep fissures in 
 which my compressed thoughts have been wedged so long, 
 lift themselves toward the old surface.' I felt the sweet 
 spreading sensation of resuscitation, as the misty spray 
 of generous thought crept over my parched and desolate 
 brain. It was left to a little child to place her fulcrum 
 on the cleavage of raising the house of Bluejay, as a com- 
 pensation for lowering mine; to suggest that Bluejay might 
 have given birth to substantially the same daughters with- 
 out me, that my act may prove a blessing rather than a 
 curse to this progeny. A feasible second side to this 
 assumedly one-sided question. Ah! this is but unstable 
 speculative philosophy, but what other philosophy of life 
 is there? Why shouldn't the higher civilized races make 
 some sacrifices to lift the less civilized ? Might my daugh- 
 
530 THE PILGRIM 
 
 ters not have been born substantially the same without 
 me? I seem to have tickled their mother's fecundity 
 sufficiently only to cause her to mother young as much like 
 herself as peas from the same pod are like one another. 
 But what have all of my grief, my running from my mis- 
 takes, done for me or others? They have augmented 
 every phase of the evil effects following the original 
 blunder! They have photographed me on the minds of 
 my contemporaries, on those of my children and grand- 
 children, as an arrant, cowardly weakling. I have passed 
 the morning of my life in the cheerful sunshine of 'Blessed 
 Optimism' which shed its glory on all with whom I came 
 in contact. I have spent the evening of my life in the 
 gloomy shades of gaunt, blear-eyed pessimism, continually 
 torturing myself into a withered, useless member of so- 
 ciety, and impoverishing and humiliating my children 
 and their posterity. 
 
 "O, if I could only have seen before it was too late 
 the deeper logic of life, as presented by this little child, 
 I might have turned the course of the head-strong mind 
 in time to have warded off this mess of disasters ! What 
 a change this would have wrought ! I should have enjoyed 
 placid sunshine, and complacent ease, instead of these 
 sombre forebodings, mental anguishes, and bodily weak- 
 nesses. My daughters would have enjoyed, plentifully, 
 comforts and good cheer, instead of this clammy squalor, 
 anguish unspeakable from tired, stiff limbs, and a general 
 humiliation. They would have their fortunes, their hus- 
 bands, and their full self-respect. 
 
 "O, if I only could have had the prying'of that child 
 shake up the deep, compressed fissures of the brain in 
 time so that the exuding vaporings from generic thought 
 might have refertilized the desert wastes of the brain be- 
 
AND THE PIONEER 531 
 
 fore my setting sun came so close to the Western horizon. 
 O, procrastination, wrecker of fame, families, and fortune ! 
 But for your insinuating intrusions this habit of weak, 
 cowardly thought might have been eradicated without all 
 of these devastations ! They have had possession too long ! 
 They have so entrenched themselves in the brain that they 
 have monopolized all of its fertile functions. It is too 
 late too late to reclaim these fortunes, to blot out the 
 deformities of these grinding miseries, to save these hus- 
 bands ! I can but bequeath to posterity this withered field, 
 with a dwarfed monument marked, 'WHAT IS,' standing 
 in the shadows of a towering pyramid marked, 'WHAT 
 MIGHT HAVE BEEN' if an imperious courage instead 
 of these gaunt forebodings had dominated to the end. I 
 shall leave it to those who may pass along the way, to 
 determine whether the wrecked evening of this propit- 
 iously-begun life was due more to the unnatural alliance 
 with untamed Indian blood than to the pessimistic habit of 
 weak, cowardly thought."