|
The Davis City Advance, Davis City, Iowa Lowery, Cal. Oct. 29, l895 Being a reader of your bold little paper, I thought a few lines from the far off country might be of interest to some of your readers, hoping a copy might drop into the hands of some of my friends, whom I think would appreciate a few items from the sunny clime of the golden State of California. The weather is lovely and grass is starting in fine shape, soon feed will be plenty, we having a two days' rain. The fruit season is about gone except raisons. We are still drying raisins and I cannot say that I am sorry for there is lots of work attached to drying fruit, although it is not heavy. One of our neighbors came home from the mountains the other day and unloaded the finest four prong deer I ever saw, fat as could be and tender as a spring chicken. I like this country for various reasons; lovely climate, plenty of fruit of all kinds, game of any kind and the grandest scenery on earth. For an outing one should climb to the top of old "Yoly Boly" and take a look at the surrounding world. Look to the north and see Mt. Shasta as it stands king of mountains, towering its lofty snow capped head heavenward. To the south you see Black Butts, Uncle Sam's Mountain and Sandedrians, whose peaks are all above timber line. Looking eastward one has a grand view of the Sierra Nevada Range and the grand Sacramento Valley, and lastly to the west you gaze upon the snow capped peaks of the Coast Range. This is the natural home of the bear, panther and the fat, sleek buck. It fills one with amazement to see a band of deer as they slip over
the stony mountain sides or to see them as they leap over the deep
gorges and canyons. I spent one week on the wild old "Yoly Boly" and on
the l3th day of July I rode over a bank of snow that was thirty feet
deep and had lain for centuries. I with three others went to Mendicino
Co. last spring and was within twenty miles of the great Pacific Ocean.
We could see the fog raise in the morning. We were in the famous Abbott
quick silver mine, saw the boiling sulphur springs, crossed the Coast
Range, traveled up the beautiful Potter Valley and crossed the
treacherous E(?) River, whose banks are washed by the mountain forests. I will not endeavor to give you my first experience in a bear fight. I and another tender foot had stopped at the camp of WERT BRUNER, whose camp is at Raspberry up there up in the Coast Range Mts. He was trapping for bear and he invited us to go with him to his traps, and of course we gladly accepted. When we got near the trap BRUNER says "hark, do you hear that? I have a bear sure." I being the only one that had a gun felt pretty safe. When we got to the trap there was a cub in it and three big black bear in sight, taring the brush and roaring like thunder. I confess I felt shaky, but I was there and could not get away. BRUNER says "boys, do not run and keep a close watch behind you." Which we did for I felt as though I would as soon be a mile or two away. Finally one stuck his head up over the bank about fifteen steps from me and I drew my Winchester down on him and fired, and when the smoke cleared away I saw old bruin dead in the canyon. I hit him right at the butt of the ear. I do not know whether I saw the sight on my gun or not, but I got the bear just the same. Then my nerve left me and I handed the gun to WERT, and it was not two minutes until another bear started up the mountain and he let go at it and it turned right around and came down mountain side and lodged in a thicket of shaparrell brush within forty yards of us, but it was getting dark and we left it there until morning. We found the old one below where he lodged. Well we dressed the one I killed and each took a load and started for camp. Didn't we feast on bear meat? I tell you it was good. After supper we spread our blankets and laid down to sleep, but I could hear the piercing growls of bear all night in my dreams. -- FRANK COCHENOUR. Copied by Nancee(McMurtrey)Seifert |
| News Index *** Decatur County IAGenWeb |