Chapter 09 - Characters about Town

23

An accident which occurred while he was employed as a woodsman in the timber was responsible for the loss of one of "Peg - leg" Russell's lower extremities at about the knee. He had been chopping down a tree, which lodged against a second sapling, unexpectedly causing it to jump the stump and catch him before he could move away. A home made substitute leg had been contrived of wood with a. socket carved out to fit his stump, and the lower extremity a round peg or 15 inches long, all attached to him by a combination of leather straps. Russell got around quite well with this artificial limb, but finding employment in a mining camp with such a disability was something of a problem. He was not employable as a miner under ground, nor as a woodsman in the timber, nor as a teamster. Sometimes he found work as a camp cook at outlying mine developments, but the competition of Chinese cooks made this trade neither too steady nor too remunerative. So, he spent considerable of his time in town, usually in the saloons, but more as an on-looker than as a participant. For he seldom had any spare money to spend. He was conscientious, paid his debts, was not disliked by the other men, but withal, he was a quiet, withdrawn, sad appearing lone wolf. One evening at dusk, two or three boys wandered back to Ike Maxwell's bear cage to take a last peek at the two young bear. Their chatter was interrupted when one boy noticed in the near darkness a man sitting on the ground, leaning against a foundation post, under the old building. Approaching a few steps closer, they discerned that it was Russell, his peg-leg extended straight out, his good knee folded almost to his chin, his hat pulled down over his eyes, - and motionless. Sensing that something was wrong, the boys ran to the front door of the saloon and summoned the first men in sight. Two of the hoisted Russell onto the shoulder of a third husky, who carried him around to the front door of the saloon, and laid him out on the floor. Another man was dispatched to get Dr. Yates. But the man who remained at the scene, striking matches to see if any effects .were left at the spot, knew that Dr. Yates could do no good. They found an empty bottle which had contained lethal poison. "Peg-Leg" had found the going too rough.

Little is known of "Flood - gate Jack" (Keenan) except that he was an early day -placer miner, and as such, was usually in charge of the 'flood - gates' which released the water to wash down the sluices and gravel beds. The name was applied to him because, when in town making the rounds, he would order a round of drinks for the customers at the bars by shouting at the bar tender, "Open the Flood - gates". The flood gate usually opened to him too frequently, for he sometimes did not get back to his job at the placer mine for several days.

Likewise obscure is the back ground history of "Lightfoot" Snyder. He was a big jovial good natured fellow who seemed to spend most of his time at the game tables. He was prominent at about the same time the "Twenty - One Kid" was holding forth so successfully at the black jack tables, but whether or not "The Kid" and Snyder worked together is not known. Anyway Snyder, usually dressed "better than average, appeared to have done very well for himself as he strode along the narrow board walks, going from one game house to another. But his everlasting distinguishing mark was his feet. They were so big that he could not get shoes to fit through ordinary channels, but had to send by mail to a cobbler who had his foot measurements, and have his shoes hand made. Furthermore, he was so proud of his number fourteens that he had his shoes made with extension soles,- soles that protruded a half inch or more out beyond the uppers just to accentuate their size. It could be said that he always had his conversation pieces with him.

These photos were taken by a professional travelling photographer who set up his "studio" in a tent for a few days.

The Elk Hotel (about 1908) with a portion of the regular boarders posing.

The ladies pose in a forest background. (Left to right)
(1) Mrs. Poyneer. (2) Mrs. Geist. (3) Minnie Brown. (4) Mattie Wilkins. (5) Mrs. Hillier. (6) Mrs. Kinkaid. (7) Daisy Strong. (8) Miss Wheeler (9) Stella Wilkins. (10) Bessie Brundage.
The numbers 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, and 10 were employed by Daisy as hotel help.

"Pack-Saddle" Greene was an educated, articulate conversationalist consequently more of his life back ground came to light than was the case with many of the nick-named old timers. Al Greene was the son of a well to do family in England where an attempt was made to bring him up as an erudite gentleman. It seems that such education as rubbed off on him was mostly accidental, for he turned to carousal,rowdyism and drinking to the point of disgracing the family. The word "shang - hai " was never used, but the plain implication was that the family made arrangements for him to ship out to sea on a sailing vessel. He sailed the seas for many years, lost all touch with his people in England, and -finally gravitated to the trails and camps of the old West. While on the trails with pack trains, using some of the skills he had learned at sea, he developed the hobby of constructing excellent hand made pack saddles of wood, canvas and leather for the horses. His continual talk about his product gained him the name "Pack- Saddle Greene".

Occasionally his education, skills and idiosyncrasies would show up in other peculiar ways. He shunned store - bought pants and overalls for trousers which he would tailor himself from light weight canvas. These trousers would be hand sewn in sailor fashion, with tight hip lines and bell bottoms, and then dyed in whatever color might come to his hands. One pair was a salmon pink! This in itself marked him as a character, even among mountain men. Then he loved to tell tales of how, in emergencies on the trail or in camp, he had chemically concocted materials, medicines or remedies that had saved the situation. The formulas and the resulting materials sounded fair and reasonable, - if one could forget that the original chemicals mentioned would hardly be found in a remote camp or with a pack train on the trail.

Due to his propensity for whoopee an spending his last dollar when in or near a community, Greene sought the .most remote employment available. This resulted in his longest and final job. A mine promotion company was making a show of developing a prospect far out between Dixie and the Salmon River. For show, they had put the cart before the horse by contracting the cutting, of 1200 cords of wood to fire boilers not yet installed in a mill not yet built. They had established an elaborate assay office and laboratory for ores not yet uncovered, and had built a fine log house and cook house, all equipped at considerable expense. At this point the company ran out of capital and had to suspend operations. However they still needed a care-taker and guard to protect the holdings against snow damage, wood-ratting and fire. This was just the job for Pack-Saddle Greene. He settled himself comfortably in the big cook-house, and, began receiving his monthly pay checks. Sometimes he would not see another human being for months except when making the long hike to Dixie to gather up his mail and pay checks, and to buy groceries.

This situation continued for perhaps twelve or more years, when the pay checks ceased to arrive; The company, -whatever was left of it-, could no longer pay for protection of the rotting wood piles and aging buildings and equipment. During all of these years

Greene had saved most of his money, there being no alternative, so he returned to Elk City, took up a small cabin on the old stage road leading out of town, and prepared to retire comfortably.

One day a stranger on foot and with a small pack on his back came trudging along the road leading toward Elk City. Greene, always his same talkative, garrulous self, engaged the stranger conversation, the outcome of which was that the stranger was invited to spend a few days with Greene until he, the stranger, arranged more permanent habitation. The two seemed to hit it off quite well, as the stranger stayed on for some time. Eventually some town residents in conversation remarked that they had not seen Pack-Saddle for several days, and that it might be well to call and inquire into his health. Greene was found sprawled on his cabin floor, with a bullet hole through his body. The "stranger" was missing, as was Green's little retirement fortune, and neither were ever again located.