THE TROUBLES OF 2 TENDERFEET. 
KLATTOWA, 
In the spring of ’88 the little town of 
Conconnelly, then known as Solomon City. 
well up among the hills between the 
Meéthow and Okanogon rivers, in Northern 
Washington, was enjoying the sensation of 
a mining, or, more correctly speaking, a 
prospecting excitement. The camp lay 
cosily at the head of a little valley, wedged 
into the narrow coulee out of which tumbles 
Salmon creek. A short distance below this 
coulee, where the valley begins to broaden 
and the sunlight lies on the riffles, a number 
of us prospectors had set our tents. 
Camp life there was chosen by many in 
preference to such accommodations as the 
hotels could offer. At that time stumps 
stood in the street, sidewalks were unknown 
and landlords showed their guests to bunks 
in an attic over a barroom where celebrat- 
ing prospectors and cow chasers were 
rampant. The‘camps along the creek were 
pleasantly located, and the creek supplied 
us with fish. At almost any time, one 
could stand on the bank and shoot a salmon 
that was working its way up through the 
shallow places. Shooting was the popular 
way of taking these fish; in fact, the only 
way we knew. Shooting had but one dis- 
advantage, the plunge, hip deep, into icy 
water to retrieve. 
One day a bright new tent was set up 
near our own and was occupied by 2 young 
men. One was a sort of prospector and 
mineral expert, and the other a newspaper 
correspondent, both sent out by a Salt Lake 
syndicate. The new camp was _ supplied 
with all modern conveniences, which made 
our camp look like the deuce of spades in 
a euchre deck. I consoled myself with the 
reflection that it is characteristic of tender- 
feet to burden themselves with camp equip- 
age and mentally gave old Frank credit for 
keeping our camp within the limit of sen-. 
sible appointment. 
few weeks passed. Chaparral and 
sarvis bushes were bursting into foliage 
and the great pine tree that stood as a 
shelter over our tent was taking on a 
fresher green. Each day someone could 
be seen, rifle in hand, walking slowly along 
the bank of the creek looking for salmon; 
and the odor of fried fish and bacon grease 
at meal time had become familiar. 
Our new friends took no part in this, 
though making some pretensions to being 
sportsmen. Indeed, they spoke disparag- 
ingly of the practice and said that in time 
they would show us a 19th century way of 
killing fish. 
Old Frank remarked one morning that 
- nearly put him out. 
287 
the roth century way of doing things was 
surely due. 
“Those fellers got an idea that what they 
don’t know they ain’t goin’ to learn here,” 
he said. “Worst pair of tenderfeet I ever 
see. Bet if that long pilgrim found a cool 
cinder .he would assay it. I happened 
’round just in time t’other day to prevent 
that 4-eyed idiot from blowin’ Mineral 
hill all over this district. He had pinned 
a paper target on the powder house and was 
about to shoot when I happened to see what 
he was aiming at. He said he didn’t s’pose 
any one would store 2 tons of dynamite in 
a wooden box like that. I told him people 
out here didn’t s’pose any one would shoot 
into a wooden box unless they knowed 
what was in it. 
“Tries to make me believe he is an old 
timer. Saw him trying to get on a Si- 
wash’s cayuse t’other day and he couldn’t 
get near enough to reach its neck. Cayuse 
was on to him in a minit, and I guess he 
doesn’t savee the cayuse yet. 
“Know what they did? Some one told 
"em that ducks flew from this lake to the 
upper lakes and they stood there in the 
coulee with scatter guns till night waitin’ 
for ducks. Don’t s’pose a duck ever saw 
any of these lakes. 
“Saw that pinto they had t’other day? 
He’s gone now. Give an Injun $8 for him. 
Knowed durn well they couldn’t keep him, 
or the Injun wouldn’t have sold him for no 
$8. That Siwash camped below Ruby City 
and knowed that the first time that cayuse 
got loose he would go that way and stop 
with his old tillicums. When these fellers 
offer a reward for their pinto some other 
Injun will bring it back and in a short 
time it will be gone agin. 
“Don’t think they have had fish sigce 
they been here. Told ’em to come over 
once and I would divide with ’em, but they 
didn’t come. Wonder if they thought I 
would bring it to ’em. 
“S’pose you heered about their reception 
at Wynetchie? The boys over there framed 
up a gambling row and worked one of these 
fellows into being stake holder. I think 
it was the expert. They made out he was 
in the deal to do a rancher what went 
against their game. Lights all went out 
first shot, and there was a stampede to get 
out. There was hoarse yells and guns 
cracked and chairs crashed, and the room 
was full of powder smoke in no time. A 
saw mill hand fired a wad that missed this 
feller and hit Sunrise Pete in the gob and 
They got the expert 
