LIFE SKETCHES OF A JAYHAWKER 43 



before, as 1 have already stated. That was always a drawback in partner- 

 ship business — I could not always do as I wanted to. Time went on for 

 a couple of years more, and the bottom dropped out — they went down to 

 almost nothing; could buy range cattle, take them as they come, for four 

 dollars per head. The country was full of cattle and everybody wanted to 

 sell— the trouble was over-production — more than our local markets could 

 consume, and there was no foreign market to turn to, so the business went 

 flat and I was in debt my share of eight thousand dollars. My partner 

 wanted me to continue on, and there is where I made my mistake. I didn't 

 do it, but I was so plumb disgusted that I was determined to get out, so I 

 made him a proposition. I said, "Will you give me a few hundred — say 

 about three hundred — and take the whole outfit, all except the ranch, and 

 call it even? " He thought it a very liberal offer and insisted I should 

 keep on. He said he did not want me to make any great sacrifice, but there 

 were two things I was determined to get rid of: the debt of four thousand 

 dollars and the partnership business, because if he would have consented 

 to sell when I wanted to, I could have come out fifteen thousand ahead 

 free of debt, and the idea of that stuck into me pretty deep, so at last he 

 took the cattle, and I took liberty. I had quite a notion I would like to go 

 mining again, and when the excitement broke out over the mountains at 

 Washa, Virginia City and Gold Hill, I went over there the year after the 

 first excitement broke out, and that next winter of 1861-1862, I went over 

 in November, I think it was, and found work plentiful at six dollars per 

 day, but the weather was so cold it was hard to get in much time. I had a 

 pretty good thing on hand, as there was a man there who owed me four 

 hundred dollars, and he was keeping a hotel, so I made my home there. I 

 knew by this time I never would get anything only board and room. My 

 mining venture did not amount to much, so some time after the holidays I 

 returned to California and had rather a severe time crossing the mountains, 

 as the snow on the summit was over twenty feet deep. The sleighs ran 

 part of the way, but could not cross the summit, but three of us were foot- 

 ing it. In going from Lake Tahoe to the next station, a distance of twelve 

 miles, soon after passing Lake Tahoe Hotel, in crossing a small lake or 

 lagoon, we broke through the ice, and the water took us up to the waist. 

 When we got out, two of us stopped to wring the water out of our clothes, 

 but the third poled right ahead and left me with the other man who soon 

 gave out worrying through the snow, and I could not get him along. He 

 would want to rest about every fifty yards. Finally night came on, and by 

 this time I had to almost carry the man by letting him lean his weight on 

 me by placing his arms over my shoulders. It was not long until I knew 

 that I could not stand the burden much longer, and finally he lay down in 

 the snow, and I knew I could not get him up or even try to get him to help 

 himself any more. By this time we had just gotten in sight of the lights in 

 a house. He was down in the snow and I was rubbing him with all my 

 might, and if I left him to go for help, I knew he would be dead before I 

 could get back with help. Just at that time I saw a dark object in the road 

 approaching and it proved to be the mail stage, and we dumped him in and 

 I told the driver to go just as fast as he could, so we soon got him to the 

 hotel, but he was entirely unconscious and had been for some time. Some 

 time after getting him to the fire and a lot of stimulants taken inwardly 



