I could buy, but
I could not sell to advantage like some other men.
I formed a partnership with Miller, and we were not long in
gathering up eighty-five head of horses in Jackson county and
starting to market with them.
I was back to Virginia City in a few days over two months from the
time I had left there, and Mr. Miller proving to be a thorough
salesman, we soon disposed of our entire band at a good figure,
and in less than one month from the time we arrived at Virginia
City we were on our way back to Oregon.
After we returned to Jacksonville we settled up and had cleared
eleven hundred dollars each on the trip. That beat ranching all
hollow. Now Mr. Miller proposed to me that we go into horse
raising. He said he knew where there was a large tract of swamp-
land near Klamath Lake. Swamp and overflown land belonged to the
state, and this swamp-land could be bought for a dollar an acre by
paying twenty cents an acre down and twenty per cent yearly
thereafter until it was paid.
Miller being a thorough horseman, I thought I might succeed better
in the horse business than in cattle. So in company with him, I
started over to look at the land, and being well pleased with the
tract, I made application for it at once. This land was located
just on the outer edge of the Modoc Indian reservation. Miller
being acquainted with all the Modocs, he and I, after I had
concluded to settle, rode down to Captain Jack's wick-i-up, which
was a distance of two miles from where I proposed settling.
Pages:
445
446
447
448
449
450
451
452
453
454
455
456
457
458
459
460
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469