clothing or supplies among a lot of Indians throws
helpful light on the causes of inequality. A very few days suffice to
upset all efforts at impartiality. A few, the best gamblers, soon have
more than they need, while the many have little or nothing.

The valleys of Mendocino County are fascinatingly beautiful, and a trip
direct to the coast, with a spin along ten miles of perfect beach as we
returned, was a fine contrast to hungry climbing over rugged heights.

Another memorable trip was with two Indians from the mouth of the
Klamath River to its junction with the Trinity at Weitchpec. The whole
course of the stream is between lofty peaks and is a continuous series
of sharp turns. After threading its winding way, it is easy to
understand what an almost solid resistance would be presented to a
rapidly rising river. With such a watershed as is drained by the two
rivers, the run-off in a storm would be so impeded as to be very slow.
The actual result was demonstrated in 1861. In August of that year, A.S.
Hallidie built a wire bridge at Weitchpec. He made the closest possible
examination as to the highest point the river had reached. In an Indian
rancheria he found a stone door-sill that had been hollowed by constant
use for ages. This was then ninety-eight feet above the level of the
flowing river. He accepted it as absolutely safe. In December, 1861, the
river rose thirty feet above the bridge and carried away the structure.

The Indians living on lower Mad River had been removed for safety to the
Smith River Indian Reservation. They were not happy and felt they might
safely return, now that the Indian war was over. The white men who were
friendly believed that if one of the trusted Indians could be brought
down to talk with his friends he could satisfy the others that it would
be better to remain on the reservation. It was my job to go up and bring
him down. We came down the beach past the mouth of the Klamath, Gold
Bluff, and Trinidad, to Fort Humboldt, and interviewed many white
settlers friendly to the Indians until the representative was satisfied
as to the proper course to follow.

In 1851 "Gold Bluff" was the first great mining excitement. The Klamath
River enters the ocean just above the bluff that had been made by the
deposit of sand, gravel, and boulders to the height of a hundred feet or
more. The waves, beating against the bluff for ages, have doubtless
washed gold into the ocean's bed. In 1851 it was disc