USA > California > Siskiyou County > History of Siskiyou County, California > Part 29
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HISTORY OF SISKIYOU COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
with a bone-racking trot of six steps. After plod- ding slowly along Main street until Miner was safely passed, the exasperated man gave vent to his feel- ings in a flood of tears and imprecations. "This is a pretty beast to give a man to save his life with," he blubbered: "if I had a pistol, I'd shoot the man that gave him to me. If I only had a knife l'd cut the brute's throat. Get up, you lazy hound !" he shouted, as he dug the fence picket into the offending animal's ribs. "Get up; get up ! I'd walk if I wasn't lame; get up! Oh, I'll shoot the man that did this."
Just then the jokers, who had followed close be- hind him, began to yell, "There he goes," and to fire their pistols. The sensitive ear of the fugitive caught the sounds, and he redoubled his exertions to entice a trot from the old cayuse, but in vain. Wiley Fox soon overtook him, mounted on a fine horse. As he came up he asked:
"Is that you, Murray ?"
"Yes. Is that you, Wiley?"
"Yes, and you had better hurry up; they are after us."
"I can't hurry.'
"Why not ?"
"Why the fools have given me an old crow-bait that won't go off a walk. Have you got a pair of spurs ?"
"No."
"Have you got a knife?"
"No; why ?"
"I want to cut his infernal throat."
When they arrived at Greenhorn, Wiley turned around and said :
"I'm going back to face the music; come on." "No."
"I'll see it through if it costs me every cent I've got. No Jew can drive me out of town."
"If you're going back let me take your horse." "No, let's both go back."
"No, I won't. Let me take your horse."
At this point Wiley burst into a fit of laughter. "Murray, you're the worst sold man I ever saw." "How so ?"
"Why, the confounded Jew isn't dead; it's all a joke."
Silently he sat and cogitated ; then turned the old cayuse about, and slowly plodded toward the town. There was no sleep for the jokers that night, but their shouts and laughter, mingled with the clink of convivial glasses, until the stars faded from the sky.
Stilts and Fox have moved away, while Murray has been gathered to his fathers, but the woes of Steamboat Jake and the midnight fight of the wor- thy justice will be repeated in Yreka long after their bones will have mingled with the elements of nature.
THE WAR IN AFRICA.
In 1851, a dispute arose at the forks of Salmon between two descendants of Ham in regard to a mining claim. One was a mulatto from the city of Washington, and considered himself superior to the full-blood Arkansas negro who disputed with him. They differed somewhat in their political ideas also, the black considering slavery not so bad as it might be, while the opposite view was taken by
the lighter-hued Washingtonian. The cause of their difference was soon forgotten, while the disputants confined their remarks to subjects of a more per- sonal nature. To a suggestion by the lighter one that a master was, perhaps, a necessary evil, so far as a certain thick-headed black that he could point out was concerned, the thick-headed black, without waiting to be pointed out, gave it as his opinion that the other was "a black abolitionist." This was too much for the sensitive feelings of the inulatto, and he effected a change of base immedi- ately, and charged the enemy all along the line. The battle waxed furious for a few moments, admiring spectators cheering on the combatants, until the representative of Arkansas, who was much the smaller man, began to suffer severely. He then drew a knife from his boot, a favorite place for car- rying a weapon of that kind, and plunged it into the side of his assailant, and ended the war by mnor- tally wounding him. The name of the victor was Nathan Furber; the other is "to fortune and to fame unknown." It so happened that Furber was an industri,, is miner, and had many friends, while the wounded abolitionist gave his attention chiefly to gambling. In a difficulty between a miner and a gambler, no matter which was in the wrong, the sympathy of a camp was always with the miner, and had the result of the conflict been reversed, the mulatto would have soon graced the limb of a convenient tree. As it was, an effort was made to lynch the plantation darkey. Quite a crowd gath- ered and talked over the matter of hanging, but it was soon found that Furber's friends were out in force, and the matter was dropped. That inborn generosity and hospitality that is such a large proportion of the Kentucky nature, prompted George Reese and a few others from that noble State, to take the wounded man to their cabin and care for him. He was a gambler, a negro, and an abolitionist, and yet these slave-owners took him to their home, sat up with him nights, and when he died gave him a decent burial. Furber struck his tent and migrated to Yreka, where he abandoned the calling of a miner and gained his living by deftly gliding a razor over the chins of the citizens of the new town. There are, no doubt, still living in Yreka, men whose stubborn beards have been mowed down like grain by the keen blade of the Arkansas champion.
THE OYSTER BUSINESS.
A certain rather simple-minded man was mining in the early days on Poorman's Bar, just across the river from the lower end of Scott Bar, and was approached one day by another who took him one side in a mysterious way and said that he had made a great discovery. He had found in the river a bed of oysters and he wanted the man to go into the oyster business and divide the profits. The offer was eagerly accepted, and the prospective oyster- man was led to where was a large bed of fresh-water muscles of which he gathered a generous supply and prepared for business. No vinegar could be pro- cured, so he paid five dollars for a jar of pickles to get what vinegar it contained, laid in a stock of small tin plates, rigged up a tray, on which the bivalves were temptingly displayed on the half-shell, and was ready for business. In the evening he
JAMES BRYAN.
MRS. JAMES BRYAN.
JAMES BRYAN
Was born in Gorey, county of Wexford, Ireland, November 30, 1830. He was the third of a family of seven sons of James and Mary (Whelen) Bryan. James was at home, working on his father's farni and attending school, until he was fourteen years of age, when he went to the capital city and found employment in a store. Here he remained until 1848, when he conceived the idea of coming to America, taking passage on the sailing vessel James Fagan, and landing in New York in May of that year. For about twelve months he followed vari- ous pursuits, doing farm work, store work, and other kinds of labor. In 1849 he joined Company E, Fourth U. S. Infantry, at Detroit, Michigan, and in the same autumn was removed to Wisconsin. In 1852 he departed from Green Bay, Wisconsin, where he had purchased a farm while in the service, and journeyed to California, stopping for a short time at Benicia, from whence he was removed to Fort Columbia, at Vancouver, on the Columbia river, Washington Territory. In 1853 be was sta- tioned with his company at Fort Jones, Siskiyou county. Ulysses S. Grant was first lieutenant and brevet captain of same company, and Mr. Bryan was first sergeant of the company for four years and three months. During his entire service in the
army he was with Grant. On the fourth of August, 1854, his term of five years' enlistment had expired and he was discharged at Fort Jones. He at once went to work on his farm that he had taken up in 1853, and since that time has been one of the most active men of Scott valley, achieving success and prosperity as a farmer, stockman, dairyman and butcher. He was married in San Francisco, July 7, 1864, to Miss Mary J. Fragly, daughter of John Fragly. By this marriage there were born to them the following children: James P., born May 8, 1865; Charles F., born September 9, 1867; Mary A., born October 13, 1869; Lillie E., born May 9, 1872; Helena May, born May 3, 1875; William J., born July 14, 1877, and Gertrude C., born May 15, 1880. Mr. Bryan has six hundred acres of Scott valley's best land. His present residence was erected in 1872, to take the place of one burned in 1865. Mr. Bryan has devoted his whole time and attention to the vocations mentioned above, and has never mined a day in his life. In 1859 he ran a pack-train between Red Bluff and Scott valley and to Weaver- ville. Mr. Bryan is not a strong partisan in poli- tics, calling himself an independent. He generally votes the Democratic ticket, but supported Grant at both elections. He is a thorough business man, and abundantly deserves the success that has attended his efforts.
B
RANCH PREMISES OF JAMES BRYAN, 607 ACRES, SETTLED BY HIM IN 1853 6 MILES NORTH OF ETNA, SISKIYOU COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
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HISTORY OF SISKIYOU COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
entered a saloon at Scott Bar and soon had a cus- tomer in the shape of a gambler, who paid fifty cents for a plate of oysters. He put salt and vine- gar on them and then slipped one into his mouth and closed his teeth upon it. A look of surprise came into his face. Something was wrong with the oyster. It was as tough and elastic as a piece of rubber. Once more the teeth came together and this time in earnest, but it was proof against his efforts. Then he got mad, called the innocent oyster peddler a swindler, and was going to whip him on the spot, but failed to do so. The first customer was the last, and the vendor of bivalves started for home with a heavy heart. When he got to the river he found the little ferry-boat that was used to cross on was on the other side, and he called to his partner to come over after him. For a long time he stood there calling, but the partner who originated and owned a half interest in the oyster enterprise pretended not to hear, and he had to go back to the saloon and sleep on the top of a table the balance of the night. No one has ventured into the oyster business in Scott Bar since.
DISAPPEARANCE OF SAMUEL P. FAIR.
The disappearance of so prominent a man as Samuel P. Fair, sheriff of the county, under circum- stances so unfavorable to him and his reputation, has led to a great deal of controversy and a variety of opinion among his friends, for in that list be counted nearly every man in Siskiyou county. He was from Coles county, Illinois, and was elected sheriff in 1855 and again in 1857, making a most efficient and faithful officer. The first circumstance that cast suspicion upon Fair was the murder, one night in 1858, of a notorious woman called the "Cherry- picker," in her house on Miner street. She was known to have considerable money, and that the possession of this was the object of the crime there was no doubt. In the woman's hand was found a lock of hair, evidently torn from the head of the murderer, in which some thought they saw a resem- blance to Fair's. Some of this hair, at the request of the sheriff himself, was examined under a micro- scope, in the presence of a number of men, and care- fully compared with hair taken from his head at that time, and by all declared to be entirely differ- ent in shade and quality. Fair had never been known to visit the woman's place save in the line of his official duty, while the contrary was the fact in the case of a well-known citizen, whom many sus- pected then, and now believe to have committed the deed. He was rich, and it was somewhat of a mys- tery how he became so. He was living with a woman whose dress caught fire, in October, 1858, and burned the lady to death. It was reported that the dress was ignited from the stove, but as the clothing was woolen many believed that the citizen had saturated it with camphene and 'set it afire, to get rid of a woman who knew too much.
The next incident occurred on the night of the second of January, 1859, when the alarm of fire about midnight aroused the slumbering firemen from their beds and sent them out into the cold to fight their declared enemy. Dense smoke was seen issuing from the brick store of Charles Rose, and great confusion prevailed among the citizens, who
had rushed to the spot. The fire companies soon ar- rived, and the closed doors were thrown open, when the whole interior was found to be ablaze. So fiercely were the flames burning that no one was able to effect an entrance, although Rose was sup- posed to be within, as he slept in the store. The night was cold, the valves of the engine were frozen up and considerable delay was experienced in getting the machine to work, but this was finally accomplished, and the flames were subdued. Inside was found the body of a man so charred and burned as to be unrecognizable. The next day, Coroner T. T. Cabaniss impaneled M. B. Callahan, William Morton, John Gross, A. H. Purdy, F. G. Hearn, and James Smith, as a jury, and held an inquest upon the body. The verdict rendered was, "We, the jurors, who sat on the body of an unknown man found in the house of Charles Rose, believe the remains are those of Charles Rose, a native of Scotland, aged about forty years; that he came to his death by violence, by a person or persons unknown, and that the house was afterwards set on fire by the mur- derer or murderers." Great efforts were made to ferret out the perpetrators of this heartless mur- der. Rose was known to always keep a sum of money, and his particular friend and confidant was this same citizen. He also had a balance in a San Francisco bank, which was drawn out after his death by some unknown man. Suspicion also fell upon Fair, and when he suddenly disappeared the following June without any apparent reason, save to escape the clutches of the law, nearly every one believed him guilty, an opinion but few still retain. The day before Fair left town he stopped a friend on the street and asked if he had a place where he could go and get a good night's sleep; said that men were shadowing him continually, and he had not closed his eyes for two nights for fear of assassina- tion. The friend took him to his house, and before retiring to bed, Fair said that he was going to leave, saying that he had to go or die. He had worked diligently since the Rose murder to dispel the cloud that surrounded it, and had run the culprit to the ground in the person of a prominent citizen, a man of wealth and influence; that this indi- vidual had in his employ several unscrupulous ruffians, ready to commit murder or any other crime at his bidding; that these men shadowed Fair continually, until life had become a burden to him; that to make public the evidence he bad discovered would seal his own death-warrant at the hands of hired assassins; that the guilty party had told him he must leave town, and had himself cashed the sheriff's county warrants to enable him to do so. This the friend, who has been his constant and warm defender through all these years, firmly believes to be the cause of Fair's disappearance. After his night's rest, Fair busied himself in prepar- ing for his departure. In the evening he went to the office of an attorney he had employed to investi- gate these murders, and said that he was going to San Francisco to buy material for the new gas-works he was interested in. The attorney told Fair that he had spent considerable time looking into the Rose matter, as requested by him, and that the deeper he probed the more the evidences seemed to implicate Fair himself. Fair said, "I know it looks
15
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HISTORY OF SISKIYOU COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
bad, and when I come back I will have the whole matter eleared up." The stage soon departed and that was the last seen of Sheriff Fair in Siskiyou county. Days went by and nothing was heard from the absent officer. Inquiry by mail failed to reveal his whereabouts. His accounts were investigated and found to be so nearly correct that flight for that reason was unnecessary. It was then supposed that he had been murdered and robbed. A careful search for the missing man was made, and he was traced to a hotel in San Francisco, from which he had secretly departed about the time of sailing of an ocean steamer. The search was then abandoned and the searchers returned to Yreka with the news. Nearly every one then believed that Fair had absconded on account of a connection with the murder of Rose and the woman, but many have changed their opinion since and shake their heads in doubt, while some whose confidence in Fair's integ- rity of character has never faltered, have firmly maintained his innocence and asserted their belief in the guilt of the other party. The opinion seems to be divided as to whether Fair and the other man were both implicated or whether the other man was alone guilty.
Nothing more was heard from Fair, except a report that he had been seen in South America, until in 1874, when the friend before spoken of received a letter from the representative of the United States in Peru, saying a man, who claimed to be Samuel P. Fair hal just died there, and referred to him. Fair had assumed the name of James Williams, and had married there, and had one son. The friend sent an advertisement to the papers of Coles county, Illinois, for the relatives of the dead fugitive, who responded unanimously, and took steps to obtain possession of his property in Peru. The estate, which was small, was settled by giving the supposed wife and son two-fifths and the Ilinois heirs three-fifths. That the mystery that enshrouds these murders and the flight of so efficient an officer will ever be dissipated is hardly to be expected, and opinions of the guilt of Fair should be guarded by that charity due to all, and which his long career as a faithful officer and his character as a good and upright citizen entitles him to receive.
MCKEE'S INDIAN TREATIES.
In 1851 the government appointed these commis- sioners of Indian affairs in California, with instruc- tions to make treaties with all the tribes in the State. They were Col. G. W. Barber, of Ken- tucky, Dr. O. M. Wozeneraft, of California, and Col. Reddie McKee, of Virginia. They divided the State into three districts, Southern, Sacramento, and Klamath, Barber taking the first, Wozencraft the second, and McKee coming into this section. They made treaties right and left, promising enough in the way of blankets, cattle, etc., to have swamped the whole government. McKee came up the Klam- ath to this region in 1852, and many amusing stories are told of him and his method of treaty- making. He entered a store on Hamburg Bar one evening and said, "It's all right now, boys, you'll have no more trouble with the Indians; I ve made a treaty with them." After talking a while he asked if some one would not go up to Scott Bar with
him. "What for ?" they asked. "The trail is plain, and you can't miss it." " Well, you know, the Indians are bad, and I don't like to go alone." " Why, you just said you had made a treaty, and there would be no more trouble;" and they let him go alone.
He next got all the Shastas together, and assigned them for a reservation the lower end of Scott valley, just the section the miners were then occupying. He was a self-important man, and to impress the Indians with a sense of his official dig- nity, and to convince them that he was a great tyee, wore a flaming red vest. This sanguinary garment was the envy of every Indian heart and the focus of every Indian eye, whenever its wearer appeared among them. The treaty was concluded in due time, the consideration to the Indians for the relinquishment of their claim to the lands outside of the strip set apart for a reservation being two hun- dred head of cattle. It is a custom among the aborigines to exchange presents upon the conclusion of a treaty, and old Tolo, one of the chiefs, set his heart upon the envied vest. He could scarcely restrain his impatience to sign the document, and when he had axflied his cross he turned eagerly to the agent, threw off his upper vestment, and ex- claimed, " Me take um vest." " What for ?" asked the astonished official.
" Me sign um treaty, you make um me present. Me take um vest."
McKee did not relish the idea of exchanging his badge of authority for the dirty and he feared oth- erwie objectionable garment of the chief, and so he said, "I give you my name and you give me yours. You be McKee and I be Tolo."
The chief consented to take the name, though he preferred the vest, and was thereafter known as McKee. The bad faith which has characterized the dealings of the government with "the nation's wards" was not wanting in this instance. The promised cattle did not appear. To be sure, McKee's son did drive up a band of cattle, but they were all slaugh- tered on the Humbug, and the Indians profited nothing from them. The whites invaded and occu- pied the reservation as well as the ceded territory, while young McKee went into the ranching busi- ness in Scott valley. No wonder the Indians be- came dissatisfied, and no wonder they should have little faith in any promises made to them in the future.
One day the old chief was accosted with, "How are you, McKee ?"
"Me no McKee; McKee bad man; me no McKee.' "What, you not MeKee any more ?"
"No."
"You Tolo now ?"
"No; me no Tolo; me give Tolo to McKee."
"What is your name, then ?"
"Me got no name."
And so the old man, too proud to bear the name of a deceiver, or to take back his own which he had given away, insisted to the day of his death that he had no name.
THE JUSTICE MURDER.
Early on Saturday morning, September 26, 1863, John Justice was found dead in his trading-post on Long Gulch, near Hawkinsville. He lay in a little
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HISTORY OF SISKIYOU COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
back room, with his head nearly severed from the body by two blows of an axe. Under him lay an extinguished candle that bore the appearance of having been lit but a few minutes, while under the spiggot of a barrel of wretched gin, such as he sokl to Chinamen, was a pint measure of the liquor just even full. About twenty minutes past eight the evening before, a slight noise had been heard in the store by the occupants of a cabin near by, but noth- ing had been thought of the circumstance. A care- ful investigation was made and S. M. Farren, justice of the peace, held an inquest, which all resulted in the following theory of the murder, but failed to fasten the guilt upon any one :- Justice was in the habit of closing his store about eight o'clock, and would not again open the door, save for some one whom he knew well, as he bought more or less gokl- dust, and too much caution could not be exercised. The supposition was that some one with whom he was well acquainted came to the door and asked for a pint of gin, and that Justice lit a candle and step- ped into the back room to draw it for him. Some new axes stood in the corner, and one of these the murderer picked up, and just as his victim stooped over to turn the spiggot off when the pint measure was full, struck him with the axe on the back of the neck and felled him to the floor, the candle being overturned and extinguished in the fall. He then struck him another blow that nearly cut off the head. As he stepped up to the murdered man to take the key of the safe from his pocket, his foot rested in a pool of blood, and kft a bloody impress of his boot upon a sheet of paper near the counter, that had been sprea } out upon the floor that day for a customer to try on a pair of new boots. This, however, was of service but as a clew, for the water removed all blood stains from his boot the next time the murderer worked in his claim. But little was found in the safe to reward the robber for the bloody crime he had committed, and if there is such a thing as a conscience in his soul, and he is living to-day, it must be reproaching him day and night. Justice was a native of North Carolina, a much respected citizen, about fifty years of age. Who his murderer was the authorities never decided, but there are those who think they could put their hand on his shoulder if required so to do.
LOAG, DURAND, AND THE PIGEON.
Among the royal good men of Siskiyou was George Durand. who was justice of the peace for a long time at Humbug, and filled the office of county a-sessor. He is now in Oregon, but occasionally visits his old friends and receives a hearty welcome. To play a joke npon him was the chief delight of a number of his friends, among whom was John Loag, who kept a livery stable. One day Durand was passing the stable, where Loag and a number of others were standing, and the joker said he would bet the drinks for the crowd that he could shoot the head off a pigeon that sat a short distance away, with his revolver. Durand took the bet, as it had been planned he should, and Loag, who was a fine shot, accomplished the feat. Then there was a great shouting and laughter, and all rushed over to drink at Durand's expense. They called in every one they met on the street, until a crowd had collected,
whose thirsty throats made Durand's pocket abont ten dollars lighter. The victim said nothing, but kept thinking all the while, and when the treat was over he sauntered up to Justice Murray's office and asked him what it would cost a man convicted of shooting off fire-arms within the city limits. When he was told it amounted to ten dollars fine and four dollars and one-half costs, he swore to a complaint against Loag for violating the city ordinance. A constable was at once sent for the offender, who came up in great amazement to think that he had been arrested; but when he saw Durand sitting there with a happy smile on his face he grasped the situation at once, pleaded guilty, paid his fine, and departed.
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