138 ROCHESTER ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 



was located. Some months later they ascertained, in some way, that 

 their supposed iron reef, which they had found to be but ten feet long 

 and a yard or more deep, was a meteorite. They became more 

 secretive than ever, and covered their find most carefully. 



In August of 1903, Mr. Dale in the meantime having left the 

 countr}'', Mr. Hughes conceived the idea of bringing the great iron 

 mass to his house, a distance of nearly three-fourths of a mile. This 

 seemed an almost impossible task, he having only his son of 15 years 

 and a small horse as motor power. But he was an old miner, full of 

 mechanical resources, and also full of pluck and energy. With infi- 

 nite pains he fashioned a simple capstan with chain to anchor it, and a 

 long braided wire rope to roll up on it, as his horse traveled around 

 it as a winch. Then he fashioned an ingenious car with log body- 

 timbers and sections of tree trunks as wheels ; also some heavy- 

 double-sheaved pulleys. By wearisome blocking-up and leverage he 

 succeeded in capsizing the great mass directly upon the car and lash- 

 ing it securely. (See plate 13). Then he stretched out his 

 hundred-foot hauling wire-rope, attached one end of it to the car and 

 the other to his staked-down capstan, and started his horse going 

 round. The sequence of effect to cause followed ; so did the meteor- 

 ite. The great mass moved slowly, for the ground was soft, and, 

 even with boards put under them and constantly changed, the wheels 

 sank deep into the mud. Some days they moved little more than the 

 length of the car (which was that of the mass itself); on others they 

 passed over ten, twenty, or (one day) fifty yards of their toilsome 

 road. At last, after three months of almost incessant toil, the giant 

 meteorite reached Hughes' own land, where it now rests. It was a 

 herculean struggle between man and meteorite, and the man con- 

 quered. It is unpleasant to have to record what followed. 



The Hughes, father and son, had for these months worked 

 unobserved in the dense forest. Their nearest neighbors, a mile 

 away, do not seem to have been aware of what they were doing. But 

 when the great find was announced, people came trooping up the 

 little valley, first from near-by Willamette, then from Oregon City, 

 and then from Portland, to see the celestial wonder. News soon 

 came to the Portland Land Company, and they promptly claimed the 

 meteorite as having been taken from their land. Hughes refused to 

 give up possession, which latter, he believes, is a strong point in the 

 matter. So a suit at law has commenced, with all prospects of a 

 stoutly fought legal battle. The suit should come off during the 



