My "Pardner" and I (Gray Rocks): A Story of the Middle-West

“Beneath yon rocky peak that hides
In fleecy clouds its snow-flecked crest;
Beneath those crimson crags abides
The fairest queen of all the West.”



CONTENTS

The breaking of a twig in some vast forest, or the dull echo of a miner’s pick in a rugged mountain canyon, alike suggest the solitude of Nature. The unwritten history of mining prospectors who search for yellow gold, or the advance guards of our civilization in the rich valleys of the West, are replete-with interest and dramatic incident. The “boom” town builder also plays a most conspicuous part in this unwritten drama.
There are no frayed-out remnants of a former greatness to be found on the frontier. A man sells for his intrinsic worth—no more, no less. Conditions that made men great in former generations are here active. and develop manhood in its highest form.
There is hardly a cross-road hamlet without its hotel, and usually a “Dick Ballard” presides. “Brainy men.” such as composed the Waterville Town Company, may be found wherever a new town is building, while a “Rufus Grim” is usually the autocrat of the mining camp.