Expedition to John Day River 193 



I got out of sight at last in the deep canyons on the 

 other side, and soon saw Jake's pony near a fossil 

 bed and found Jake himself deeply interested in a 

 splendid discovery he had made. 



When I told him the news, he wanted to drop 

 everything until the war was over, and fly for safety 

 to the stockade. But no; my tent, with many fine 

 fossils in it, was in an open valley in plain sight for 

 miles, and would quickly attract any marauding 

 hostile, who might set fire to it and destroy the work 

 of months. I insisted, therefore, upon caching, the 

 Pacific coast term for hiding, everything. So we 

 took down the tent, and putting it, with the fossils 

 and all the rest of the outfit, into a secret place, we 

 covered them with a big brush pile. Then I was 

 ready to fly as fast as our ponies could carry us. 



When we reached the river, Bill was still with Mr. 

 Mascall, and brought over the boat. Then both men 

 insisted that we go without further delay to the 

 Gulch, as we had risked our lives long enough. 

 But there was a large collection of valuable fossils 

 in the log house behind Mr. Mascall's cabin, and as 

 the specimens were wrapped in burlap, they would 

 be destroyed if the Indians burned down the house, 

 which they would be sure to do if they came. I had 

 no boxes, but I had a quantity of new lumber, which 

 we had secured from a mill in the vicinity ; so, refus- 

 ing to be moved, I took off my coat and went to 



