The Boom of the Coeur d'Alenes [pp. 394-403]

T,'6e Boolz of the Coelir az'Alezes.
ber that skirts the valley of the Spokane,
which is a fertile, treeless plain, and
during ten months of the year is a gay,
green meadow of nutritious bunch grass,
the home of countless herds of cattle,
sheep, and Indian ponies, innumerable
flocks of prairie chickens, the nesting
place of the dreary curlew, their lonely
call answered by the twittering of the
brown-winged cross-bill, - but now a
wintry waste of snow. After a night of
north wind it was a trackless void, with
only the tops of telegraph poles to guide
thle traveler's way. Although McCoy &
Company's stage line made daily trips
on runners between Rathdrum and the
Fort, in a few minutes afterwards there
would not be a track or trace to mark
their passage.
On the second Monday in March we
concluded to transfer our headquarters
from Rathdrum to Fort Coeur d'Alene,
to be on hand for the first trip of the new
steamer "Coeur d'Alene," Captain Sanbourn commander, bound for the head
of steamboat navigation, the Mission.
Chartering a freight sleigh to convey our
boat and supplies across the prairie, we
took passage on McCoy's stage on runners, with "Graveyard " Charlie handling the ribbons. Charlie acquired his
sobriquet honestly, for on sight of him
a chill coursed down our vertebrae, and
tingled out through the ends of our furgloved fingers. On that particular March
morning his shock of white hair glist
ened in the cold sunlight with sprays of
frozeni dampness, his white eyebrows
stood out in icy stiffness from his deepset eyes, their long white lashes blinking
with an unpleasant jerking in frozen sections, through which the dull, dirty white
and light gray iris stared at one with a
dleath-like expression. He wore a suit
of buckskin, a white beaver hat, and bran
new buckskin gauntlet gloves, and as he
gathered up the reins and drew the white
duck apron about himself, a sense of
chilliness passed through the party,
which we were unable to cast off during
the drive. His deep sepulchral voice
called out from the wintry depths, " All
aboard." The wind whistled and howled
down the Northern Pacific track to the
depot, blowing great sheets of frozen
sleet and drifting snow directly in our
faces as we stepped from the hotel platform into the sleigh. The pale, sicklylooking sun was just rising from his long
night of debauching slumber, from behind the eastern snow-covered peak of
Canfield Butte, and his puny rays failed
to send forth an invigorating beam. Although we were well protected with
wraps, robes, and overcoats, we cast our
eyes with much concern toward the
blizzardy prairie.
Looking back over the past, I can see
Walter comfortably seated by my side,
enwrapped in his beautiful sealskin
overcoat, a large woolen scarf over his
fur cap, around his ears, and arrayed so
as to protect his face from the driving
blasts. Doctor Slocum, a famous Pittsburg oculist, who had shelved his work
a while to make a tour of the West, for
rest and recuperation from the close confinement of office life, was clad in a suit
of flannel-lined miners' duck, with a
heavy brown overcoat, and a cowboy
hat, its wide brim tied down over his
ears. Theo Saunders sat beside him on
the middle seat, while Wyatt Earp and
Keno Bob occupied the back seat. A
jollier sleigh load of six one seldom
meets, and even in the cosmopolitan
West it would be difficult to bring together, under ordinary circumstances,
six more varied in style, business relations, and general appearance. Only too
well this shows what a factor wealthseeking has become in the leveling of
caste in the human family.
After a few hours of unpleasant traveling, floundering through snow-drifts
and hunting the obliterated road, we
pulled up in front of the Lakeside Hotel,
in Coeur d'Alene City, which occupied
a sightly prominence overlooking the
lake, and was owned and managed by
396
[October,