v.v
t
Conservative *
1874 , and the Park has been inhabited
continuously since the spring of 1875 ,
when the Mao Qregors , the James , ' the
Spragues and the Fergusons moved in ;
nor are there lacking settlers who were
there before that time , though they are
not so easy to find. The writer even
knows where the remains of his cabin
are to be seen , but will guard the knowl
edge as jealously as he would the secret
of his mushroom patch , because he
wishes to secure a dornick from Jim's
fire-place for his own collection the
next time he goes out.
The stories of Jim differ , as may be
expected , but they all agree that he was
not such a bad man as he persuaded
Miss Bird. Ask the natives whether he
was not a desperate murderer and'you
will get a good natured laugh. He
might have killed somebody before he
came out there , they say , but he never
gained any right to that reputation in
that neighborhood. There was no harm
to be approached from old Jim , by their
account , unless his pistol went off by
accident when he was drunk and got to
swinging it around and blowing , as was
his custom. "I've told him to his face
he was a thief , " says one informant ,
"when I had no gun and Jim was
armed. I didn't consider there was any
more risk in telling him what I thought
of him than in talking to you now. "
It would appear , however , that all his
neighbors did not take him so philo
sophically. There is a tradition that he
forbade anyone but himself to settle in
Muggins Gulch , where he had
his pastoral dwelling. Muggins
Gulch is some five miles in
length , and now contains a half-dozen
ranches. One individual , wandering
over the mountains with a Winchester ,
in search of "rabbits , " considers this a
strange state of affairs ; "didn't nobody
have a gun besides Jim ? " *
One of those who took him seriously
was the Welshman , Evans , the same
who finally shot him. Their disagree
ments were numerous , as many , per
haps , over cards and liquor as over
weightier matters , and it is said that
Jim had Evans completely terrorized.
An eye-witness describes a quarrel be
tween them in Longmont , when Jim
forbade Evans to go home ; told him he
couldn't go through Muggin's Gulch
alive. "Some way or other old Jim had
managed to get Griff scared , and he
was nearly afraid to go home. I said
to Jim , you old duffer , you want to quit
your bluffing , because some day some
body'11 call you ; they'll make meat ol
you. "
This informant considers Evans * own
terrors to have been ample grounds for
the final catastrophe , but there were
other stories told. It was said , for
instance , that Jim had offered or
threatened to carry off a daughter of
Evans' and all agree that the Welsh
man was extremely fond of his family.
Then there is the mysterious English
man , who should likewise have become
'scared" of Jim and hired Griff to put
lira out of the way. The sum even is
mentioned it was $10,000. There was
an Englishman staying at Griff's ranch ,
and he and Jim were "at outs. " This
much is certain. And there is talk of a
witness to the transaction , who was
spirited out of the way. Miss Bird
mentions the Englishman's story in one
of her foot notes , and with her usual
frankness mentions his name ; he was a
Mr. Fodder , whom she had met on her
travels and didn't like. Another Park
story says that it was Lord Hague , from
whom Mummy Mountain got the name
it bears on the maps.
At all events , Evans was wrought up
to the necessary pitch , and one morning
when Jim stopped at his door for a drink
of buttermilk the thing was done.
Some mention at this point that Jim had
kept the Evans family in meat all that
summer , while Griff was off drinking
and gambling down below. Griff loved
his family , was a kind and affectionate
husband and father , but would spend
his last cent having fun , though they
were in want. And this time , seeing
Jim outside with a thirst , he stepped to
the door in his stocking-feet and shot
him. Some say that Jim dropped over
the side and shot back , ineffectively ,
from under his horse's neck ; others that
Evans shot the horse first and then its
rider. This happened at the first divid
ing of the road after one reaches the
Park level. Griff Evans' cabin stood
where now is the English Lodge-house.
After this , it is related that Jim was
arrested and taken to Longmout. Noth
ing was ever done to Evans. Jim lived
some weeks , or perhaps months. He
" and around " and there
got "up , are
those who visited and talked with him
in this period. He made no attempt to
"get" Evans , as one would expeot the
desperado of the book to have done.
There was even room for doubt whether
it was the wound that occasioned his
death , which occurred some time later
in Ft. Collins.
As for Evans , he no doubt lived hap
pily ever after. The stone house that
one passes in going out from Lyons is
named as a later habitation of his , anc
he was for a time postmaster at Jim
town ; and in that place he died
within the last half-year.
A. T. RICHARDSON.
It is a high attainment in politeness
to allow others to be mistaken. Let a
trifling misstatemeut pass unnoticec
where no principle is involved , and
when a mistake is past remedy it is
best to let the subject drop. The argu
ment of the "I told yon so" character is
always quite superfluous. Mrs. Burton
Kings ! and in the December Ladies
Home Journal.
R. CROKER , EVANGELIST.
Oan such things be ,
And overcome us like a summer's cloud ,
Without our special wonder ?
Even before the echoes of the cries of
imperialism , with which the affrighted
democrats made the campaign vocal die ,
the great imperator , Oroker himself
bids five of his minions to expel and
purify the city. Nero , Caligula or Oom-
modns , in their palmiest days , never ex
hibited "nerve" and assurance equal to
that of this latest incarnation of author
ity , who , after all , is himself only a
private citizen. To recur.
'Upon what meat doth this our Caesar
feed ,
That he is grown so great ? "
If Mr. Croker means business , and
wishes to appear as an angel of light , as
a servant of the public , did he never
hear of the duly constituted authorities
of the state , and did it never occur to
him that the machinery is ready to his
hand , if he chooses to set it in motion ,
without arrogating imperial prerogatives
and authority ?
But this stage play this horse play ,
rather deceives nobody.
It is the mere theatric transformation
scene with which the curtain of the
political drama of 1900 is rung down.
Oan the Ethiopian change his skin , or
the leopard his spots ? The Brooklyn
Standard Union.
A REPLY FROM A CALIFORNIA .
EDITOR CONSERVATIVE :
In your editorial on the dismissal of
Prof. Boss by the trustees of the Stanford
University , you say :
1 'Let those in charge make it a place
to teach young men how to think and
not what to think. "
This is good doctrine and it was be
cause the trustees believed this that Boss
had to go. He did not try to teach the
young men how to think but tried to teach
them what to think , and this what was of
the kind that Bryan and Altgeld and
Herron and Bemis and Ely were trying
to make the mass of our people think.
Had he confined himself to what you
have conceived to be the duty of a
teacher , he would still be numbered
with the honored members of the
faculty. He was not satisfied with that
but must insist that the students must
not only listen to his tirades in favor of
socialism and anarchy but must endorse
them simply because he asserted they
were true. The talk of his being
"dumped' ' on account of his opposition
to coolie immigration is all humbug and
was propagated by him as a ready
cushion on which to let himself down
easy.
J. S. STANTON , of California.
Chicago , 111. , Nov. 23 , 1900.