“But, being naturally of a hopeful disposition, I remembered that flocks and herds were still left, and I determined to look at the disaster with a strong heart, and try by renewed exertion to regain what had been lost. Alas! troubles never come singly. I was obliged to postpone my marriage indefinitely. The coldest winter and heaviest snows ever known before or since in that country brought starvation to all my cattle, horses, pigs, and chickens, and when spring came I had nothing left but my dwelling. I became despondent, sulky, indifferent. My father, who dwelt in another part of the country, was wealthy. Generously sympathizing in my misfortunes, he offered to give me a fresh start, with three hundred head of cattle and the necessaries of life. I accepted, and determined to plunge deeper into the wilds, away from civilization, and begin life anew, thinking to avenge myself upon the disappointments of the past by a solitary life, with nature and books as a solace. “I bought a well-selected assortment of educational volumes, ranging from a spelling-book to the Latin and Greek classics, and from Ray’s Arithmetic to the higher branches of mathematics, and, employing three reliable men to drive the herd, picked my way over mountains and rivers to the Rogue River Valley, a region then destitute of settlers, but the principal hunting-ground and home of the fiercest and most warlike tribe of Indians on the Pacific coast. Their hostility to the whites then, and for many years afterwards, was bloodthirsty and unappeasable. But I was accustomed to frontier life, familiar with the country, and did not fear the Indians. The valley was full of game, and they would not kill my stock. My life, which they would destroy on the first opportunity, I determined to look out for as best I might; besides, there was an indescribable charm in the idea of such exposure as required a constant exercise of all the faculties. A man shows for all he is worth in a country filled with hostile Indians. He makes no mistakes there, and learns the value of gun, pistol, and hunting-knife.