THI-: FR \M>ri.K.\T Id >MESTEADER 



58.} 



"Drink up, and I will show you 

 about the place," he insisted. 



I thanked both of them graciou-h . 

 but i -aiti 1 never drank coffee, and we 

 left the table. I thought the locator 

 looked di-appointed. 1 urged Mr-. 

 Hill and her husband to exhibit their 

 garden and other "improvements," and 

 managed to get them outside without 

 disturbing the debris of the dinner. 

 Then I gave the -ignal fur the boys, 

 and soon they sauntered quietly in. In 

 a moment, while one "f the ranger- 

 wa- engaged with Cascade Bill and hi- 

 wife nver a peculiar species ot berry 

 that grew in the mountain-. I managed 

 to get the other ranger aside, and 

 in-tructed him to get into the cabin 

 unseen, if possible, and empty the con- 

 tents of that coffee cup into his can- 

 teen. 



This feat was dextrously performed, 

 and we soon left the claim, after 

 expressing ourselves pleased with the 

 call, and myself with the dinner. 

 Sufficient to relate, that after an analy- 

 sis of the coffee by an expert, it was 

 found to contain one-half ounce of rat 

 poison. Thus does man escape the 

 traps set for his downfall. I was very 

 grateful that the manufacturer had 

 inserted an odor into his poison. I 

 often wonder what Cascade Dill said to 

 his \\ife a1x>ut it after I left their h<>- 

 pitable roof. 



1 went on with my work of investi- 

 gation, and turned up startling and 

 lurid tales about this man and his dark 

 deed-. As fast as the deceived hoi 

 Steaders gave up their land, they 

 unfolded their troubles to me. and v\ 

 willing witnesses as to his treacherx . 

 .--pace will not permit me to repeat one- 

 tenth of these storie-. but the history 

 in brief of Cascade Bill's creation of 

 the "Settlers' Bridge" should not be 

 overlooked. 



None of the claims in que-tion could 

 be reached by a -ingle roadway, as the) 

 were located between two -teep moun- 

 tain \\alls, with no highway entrance to 

 the outside world. The railway crept 

 through a narrow -trip of right of way. 

 following the river bank- into the town 



and ''in oJ it. lndr\ is perhaps one 

 of the very few to\\ns in the Tinted 

 States having no roadway in or out of 

 it to the coiintrv out-: 



Tlieref ire, \\hen i ascade Hill first 

 located in this timber fair) land, one of 

 hi- first act- was to build a suspension 



ANOTHER RICH "CLAIM 



This IfaO Acres ConUiins Nearly Ten Million Feet of 

 Valuable Timber 



fool bridge across the river. It wa- 

 constructed of \\ire cables and short 

 planking. clo-el\ set, with timber arch- 

 way- at either end. The bridge i- -aid 

 to have cost originally $500. From 

 each new settler crossing that bridge 

 to fame and fortune, the old locator 

 collected Sin. a- his or her share of 

 building that structure. It i- carefully 

 uated that Ca-cadc Mill located in 



the neighbor!) 1 of I ._'< x > persons ill 



the twenty years he carried on hi- sys- 

 tem in that country. Thu- he realized 

 the fabulou- profit of Sii.onn mi his 

 original investment 



