The White Goat and his Country 



In a corner of what is occasionally termed 

 "Our Empire of the Northwest," there lies 

 a country of mountains and valleys where, 

 until recently, citizens have been few. At the 

 present time certain mines, and uncertain 

 hopes, have gathered an eccentric population 

 and evoked some sudden towns. The names 

 which several of these bear are tolerably 

 sumptuous: Golden, Oro, and Ruby, for in- 

 stance; and in them dwell many colonels and 

 judges, and people who own one suit of clothes 

 and half a name (colored by adjuncts, such as 

 Hurry Up Ed), and who sleep almost any- 

 where. These communities are brisk, san- 

 guine, and nomadic, full of good will and 

 crime; and in each of them you will be likely 

 to find a weekly newspaper, and an editor who 

 is busy writing things about the neighboring 

 editors. The flume slants down the hill bear- 

 ing water to the concentrator; buckets unex- 

 pectedly swing out from the steep pines into 



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