Petaluma High School - Trojans Yearbook (Petaluma, CA)

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HIGH SCHOOL E troops, from the fort, out cn a reconnoitering expedition, and he knew he would have a chance of saving the lives of his comrades and himself. The Indians as soon as they discovered the trappers, began a hot pursuit. Pierre kept the lead for a mile and a half, but the Indians were slowly gaining. In another half mile, there were only fifty pur¬ suers, as the weaks of travel had wearied their ponies considerably, while Pierre’s were fresh and strong. As the trappers urged their heav¬ ily laden horses up the mouth of the ravine, there were about twenty Indians, in a compact body, about a half a mile behind, while others were strung out for two miles or more. Here Pierre dropped a dozen vi the new pelts, a little farther cn he dropped a few more, always dropping them where they could easily be seen, but making it neces¬ sary for a rider to dismount in order to obtain them. He used all there were in one roll of blankets before he passed through the ravine. The pursuers who were constantly dwindling in numbers, passed the first pelts at the mouth of the ravine, but the thought of others Hidden The May sun beat down with hot defiance on the blue water of the little river which slowly wound between steep brown hills on its way to the ocean. At a sharp turn in the river the bank rose straight up in a smooth rock face, at the foot of which was one of the deepest holes in the river. Down in this hole, lazily swimming-about under the shade of the clump of willows which secured a scanty existence between the water and the rock, was a school of young bass which continued dart¬ ing about after insects and other small animals in the dark water ut- TERPRISE ’OG. getting the pelts, made them hurriedly dismount and throw them fur¬ ther into the brush, so that they could not be seen. They never thought of giving up the chase but wanted to make a double catch. When the trappers passed through the ravine, they beheld no cav¬ alry but a swollen river. This was as good to Pierre as to be tortured by the Indians. He row spurred cn with all the energy his horses poss¬ essed, and camle to the bank of the river. Hie was about to ride in when he spied a boat a short way down the bank. When he came up to it he saw to his inward joy another. The pelts were hurriedly removed from the horses and put in the boats. Pierre motioned to the men to shove the boats off the bank and then he led the horses to the water’s edge and drove them in. He quickly entered the boat and came up behind the horses to force them across the river. A half a dozen redskins suddenly sprang into view but they had lost the chance. Their expressions changed from fierce exultation to a fiery anger and hatred. Their greed had cost them many a precious moment and now they had lost scalps, horses and furs. —M. D. F., OG Death. Weslev Corliss. ’07 terly unconscious of the threatened danger from a fleet of black and white ducks which came swimming slowly along, each now and then disappearing under the surface of the water only to reappear again a little nearer the patient Indian hunter who lay at full length upon the very top cliff beside a small boulder which he very much resembled. Even a close observer could have seen nothing unusual unless it waft a pair of jet black eyes piercing out at him from the scanty bushes which served as shelter for the Indian lad. He had one observer and

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HIGH SCHOOL The Escape of Qa iau early spring morning in ’54 a half a ' dozen trappers wore laboring with many beaver and mink, near a branch of the upper Mis¬ souri. Pierre, the mutual leader, after carefully setting one of the traps in place stood erect, filled his lungs with the crisp morning air ajnd scanned the horizon with a sharp keen eye. “Aih, he said in a subdued tone. “I thought it time.” Those near by immediately sprang (to dxis side, and looked in the direction in which he pointed. A few specks coulid be seen moving over a distant hill and that was all. The trapping this spring had been exceptionally good and the little party had a mass of small fortune in pelts of beaver and mink. A week before, Pierre had v anted to raise camp, and go to the fort and then float down the river to St. Louis, where they would dispose of the result of their hardships and toil, during the winter and spring. The others, much younger, and less learned in the ways of the prairie and Redmen, were obstinate and refused to go. Pierre could not handle all his pelts alone, so he had to stay. Nature never seemed to have been in a better mood. The spring had come early, the warm bright sun had melted the srow, and the green grass and bright flowers had begun to push through the earth and rear their heads toward the clear blue sky. The beaver had never been so easy to trap and their fur was so thick and soft that they would bring extra large returns. No wonder that the young bloods would rebel in leaving such a source of wealth as this, but a word from the wise should have been sufficient. Pierre knew that as soon as the grass began to spring up, the Indians would come north, for they would NTERPRISB ’ OG. Pierre Ladrone. Marion Pa leone r, ’06 have ample feed for their ponies, amdi still not be too late to trap the beaver. He also knew that this section was always visited by a large number of Indians and if they should capture any one there, would make themselves merry over his torture. No sooner had the trappers seen the specks coming over the hills than they felt a pang of terror and all rushed to Pierre. He quickly commanded them to seek cover in the brush along the creek so that they would not be discovered. They then rushed back to camp, caught their hobble horses, and loaded them idown with cured pelt which were always done up in bales. The other pelts were hastily rolled up in blankets and fastened to the saddles. In a few minutes they W ' ere off on a forced ride, of life or death. They kept on the opposite side of the creek for about four miles to where they had to cross over on account of the rough and steep bank. They were stricken with surprise and terror as they beheld the vast horde of horsemen, pouring over the hill into the long and narrow valley. The Indians began spreading out both up and down the valley, and although the distance was over a mile, they seemed very near. Their escape was now cut off from the mouth of the valley ' . The young men began to talk in a frightened and hurried manner as to •what they should do, but Pierre calm and erect, looked upon them with a pair of blue eyes of wenderful softness; but, as he heard the “whoop” from the Indians, they sparkled like fire. He immediately wheeled sharply to the left and made for a small ravine in the hill. If he could get through this ravine, he might meet a detachment of the

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HIGH SCHOOL ENTERPRISE ’OG. . fur- ught cav- ured poss- when to it Loved em to iter’s le up r had on to cions F., OG t and then ;ain a ■n the ibled. t waft ushes r and that was the little grey snake which lay coiled up under a rock watch¬ ing him with staring glassy eyes. It was a watte-r moccasin, one of the most poisonous snakes in the territory. It did not strike on account of the motionlessness cf its prey wlho was so intently watching the slo wly approaching ducks that he was entirely unmindful of his immediate and terrible peril. The foremost duck caught s ' ght of the fish and disappeared head first beneath the water leaving only a ripple to mark his position. At last it came up carrying a feebly struggling fish in its bill. Now it crossed the danger line. The Indian drew the arrow, which had already been fitted, to the string, back to its head, and sent it with unerring aim straight at the unconscious duck wiiich was busily devouring its breakfast. Struck directly in the body it rolled over on its back dead, while the snake, seeing that the Indian was indeed alive, drew its body up into a tighter ceil and the twang cf the bow-string was followed closely by the snake’s darting upon the boy and burying its fangs in his brown shoulder. He leaped to his feet with a, half inarticulate cry, shook the snake off, and then, his desire for revenge asserting itself, he trampled the snake into the dust. He then turned to his wound but seeing that he could net suck the poison out on account of its position, he, with a few quick steps and 1 a leap hurled himself free from the cliff and fell far below upon the heavy branches of a tree and then into the water where he sank, leaving only a train of bubbles, for an Indian w r ould much rather die by his own hand than be killed by an evil spirit, for such they consider the snake. Joshua’s Love Experier)ce As Joshua Van Burskuk came into the village store, he was greeted by one of the wags on a cracker box with “Well Josh, what do you think of investing money in Missouri. The latest reports say that a fellow can get all kinds of returns inside cf two weeks.” Now Joshua was net so much like his namesake in Bible times, as he was like another patriarch, Moses, who, it is said, had an “impedi¬ ment” in his speech, and if telling you his name would likely say J-J- Jo-Josh.” It was difficult for him to carry on conversation under ordinary circumstances, but when riled he always spoke at great length ' whether he got more than one sentence out or not. So this timie after handing his list to the grccer he began warmly; “S-S-S-So I har ba-have heard. I-I-I-I have s-s-ssi-sixty dollars invested already, and expect the f-f-f-first returns in a f f-f-few da-days.” Chas. Duffin, ’o7 By this time the packages were all wrapped up, and with a relieved look, he made his way to the dcor as rapidly as his slow slouching movement would permit. “ Missouri” was Josh’s one sore point, and now it was to him the land of “Misery,” indeed. He lived just out cf town on a high hill which overlooked the town ard the fertile valley in which it was located. From the summit could be seen three little towns, pretty in the distance, lying by the side of the Columbia, which at this place was a swift river of over a mile in width. Away to the east and south are the mountains, the great round foothills rising perpendicularly from the river, and back of them the snow white peaks, five of which can be seen on a clear day. The hill,