The "town" where the judge above-mentioned dwelt was one of those
squalid pretentiously named little clusters of make-shift dwellings
which on the edge of the wild country spring up with the rapid growth of
mushrooms, and are often no longer lived. In their earlier stages
these towns are frequently built entirely of canvas, and are subject to
grotesque calamities. When the territory purchased from the Sioux, in
the Dakotas, a couple of years ago was thrown open to settlement, there
was a furious inrush of men on horseback and in wagons, and various
ambitious cities sprang up overnight. The new settlers were all under
the influence of that curious craze which causes every true westerner to
put unlimited faith in the unknown and untried; many had left all they
had in a far better farming country, because they were true to their
immemorial belief that, wherever they were, their luck would be better
if they went somewhere else. They were always on the move, and headed
for the vague beyond. As miners see visions of all the famous mines of
history in each new camp, so these would-be city founders saw future St.
Pages:
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285