s
were commonly addressed to C.E. Bigelow was found entitled to one
inscribed C.E.D.L.B. Bigelow. Asked what his full name was, he
replied, "Charles Edward Decatur La Fitte Butterfield Bigelow." And,
mind you, he was a _blacksmith_! His christening entitled him to it all,
but he felt that all he could afford was what he commonly used.

Phonetics have a distinct value. Uncertain of spelling, one can fall
back on remembered sound. I found a letter addressed to "Sanerzay." I
had no difficulty in determining that San Jose was intended. Hard labor
was suggested when someone wrote "Youchiyer." The letter found its
resting-place in Ukiah.

Among my miscellaneous occupations was the pasturage of mules about to
start on the return trip to the mines. We had a farm and logging-claim
on the outskirts of town which afforded a good farewell bite of grass,
and at night I would turn loose twenty to forty mules and their beloved
bell-mare to feed and fight mosquitoes. Early the next morning I would
saddle my charger and go and bring them to the packing corral. Never
shall I forget a surprise given me one morning. I had a tall, awkward
mare, and was loping over the field looking for my charges. An innocent
little rabbit scuttled across Kate's path and she stopped in her tracks
as her feet landed. I was gazing for the mule train and I did not stop.
I sailed over her head, still grasping the bridle reins, which, attached
to the bit, I also had to overleap, so that the next moment I found
myself standing erect with the reins between my legs, holding on to a
horse behind me still standing in her arrested tracks. Remounting, I
soon found the frisky mules and started them toward misery. Driven into
the corral where their freight had been divided into packs of from one
hundred to one hundred and fifty pounds, they were one by one saddled,
cinched, and packed. A small mule would seem to be unequal to carrying
two side-packs, each consisting of three fifty-pound sacks of flour, and
perhaps a case of boots for a top-pack. But protests of groans and
grunts would be unavailing. Two swarthy Mexicans, by dint of cleverly
thrown ropes and the "diamond hitch," would soon have in place all that
the traffic would bear, and the small Indian boy on the mother of the
train, bearing a tinkling bell, would lead them on their way to Salmon
River or to Orleans Bar.

Another frequent duty was the preparation of the hall for some public
function. It might be a