94 



RECREATION. 



quent and plainly impressed in the dust on 

 the trail, and we kept our eyes open for 

 possible sight of the owners, but nothing 

 larger than chipmunks or squirrels came 

 to view. There are some bears in these 

 mountains, but I did not see any. Occasion- 

 ally the whir of a blue grouse or a pheas- 

 ant broke the stillness of this quiet region. 

 One of the former came to my gun and 

 made part of our noonday meal. 



Early in the evening we reached the 

 crossing point of the Illinois river, the main 

 branch of Rogue river, deep and shallow 

 at intervals. The bed and banks are solid 

 rock, worn smooth as glass and honey- 

 combed in places. Huge rocks, solitary and 

 in groups, loom along the banks of the 

 river at frequent intervals. On the tops of 

 many of these I often found well-like 

 holes, containing several barrels of water. 

 On others pine, spruce, shrubbery and 

 vines were growing, making scenery grand- 

 ly picturesque. This part of the country is 

 seldom reached by tourists. A few pros- 

 pectors and miners are its only visitors. 



My friend gave a loud "hello," which 

 brought from his cottage "Old George," 

 who crossed the river in his boat. We 

 loaded our traps into it and rowed to the 

 other shore, holding one of the horses with 

 a lariat, the other animals following the 

 leader. I found George quite a char- 

 acter, and a "mine of information" regard- 

 ing the vicinity. He had been miner, 

 rancher, hunter and gardener, having lived 

 in that location several decades. In that 

 time he had reclaimed several acres of 

 ground from boulders and timber, making 

 himself a fine garden and orchard. By 

 diverting water from a stream near, he 

 was always sure of raising vegetables and 

 fruit, thus creating a little paradise of a 

 garden in this otherwise wild region. He 

 invited us to spend the night with him 

 and he sat before us a most excellent sup- 

 per of deer's liver, biscuits, wild honey, 

 fruit, etc. His log cabin was roomy and a 

 model of neatness and good housekeeping. 

 Several shelves were stocked with well 

 thumbed editions of English and German 

 standard authors, while late periodicals and 

 papers covered the table. Fur rugs were 

 on the floor and numerous antlers adorned 

 the walls, serving as racks for guns, spears 

 and other implements of the chase. George 

 gave us a history of his eventful life in 

 these mountains and I became a willing 

 listener to his truthful tales of adventure 

 with bears, cougars, and other animals of 

 the vicinity. His most exciting and danger- 

 ous scraps, however, had been with Mexi- 

 can and other outlaws. 



The next morning we reached A's camp. 

 Carl V., a bright young German, A's mining 

 partner, and "Soon«r," his hunting dog, 

 were the sole occupants. The camp was 



on a bench on the side of one of the tall- 

 est peaks, half a mile from Rancherer 

 creek. Pine, spruce, and madrone trees 

 were scattered singly and in groups and the 

 ground was covered with short grass, thus 

 giving the place a park-like appearance. A 

 strong spring of ice-cold water gushed from 

 among the rocks. The stream leading 

 from the spring was lined with wild honey- 

 suckle and numerous other fragrant flow- 

 ering plants and the air was delicious with 

 their perfume and the exhalations from 

 evergreen. There was a large flat rock 

 on the top of the peak high above us, and 

 during my visit I spent many a pleasant 

 hour there watching, with a strong field 

 glass, the sails of vessels on the Pacific. 

 To the East and Northeast the snow-capped 

 peaks of the Cascades arose, while to the 

 Southeast the Siskiyous and grand old 

 Shasta loomed. In all directions were 

 mountains, as far as the eye could see. 



My companions were quartered in a tent, 

 and after I had set up mine I spent several 

 days in making a bedstead, table, chairs, 

 etc. When they were completed we had a 

 model camp. I then made a visit to the 

 mine and was so impressed with the finan- 

 cial outlook that I arranged for an interest 

 in the property, a quartz prospect on top 

 of a high butte, half a mile from camp. 

 A. and V. worked the mine, while Sooner 

 and I took charge of the camp, keeping 

 house and furnishing the table with choice 

 venison, grouse, pheasants, wild ringneck 

 pigeons and quails. Our board was varied 

 by fruit from George's orchard, and wild 

 fruit from the vicinity of camp, huckle- 

 berries being especially plentiful and of fine 

 flavor. They were most delicious with 

 sugar and milk or made into pies and pud- 

 dings. Salmon and trout were to be had 

 for the taking. Being 50 miles from the 

 nearest butcher shop we depended on deer 

 for our fresh meat and I could always get 

 a blacktail in a day's hunt. 



I never shot at deer unless we were in 

 need of meat and I therefore had frequent 

 opportunities of studying their habits. One 

 morning while sitting under a large pine 

 tree, watching the opposite mountain side 

 for deer, I turned my head and not more 

 than 15 feet from me stood an old doe, in- 

 tently looking me over. She stood but a 

 moment longer and one jump into the brush 

 hid her from view. I can still see those 

 large innocent eyes staring at me and I 

 feel glad that I had no opportunity to 

 shoot her. 



In the spring and fall salmon, though 

 plentiful, would not take the fly or bait. 

 When we wanted one we would either get 

 it with a rifle or with a long pole with a 

 hook fastened to the end. This may not 

 have been sportsmanlike, but it required 

 some skill. When standing on a slippery 



