In '70, sheep were brought in from Oregon and hogs were driven in from Walla Walla. With the mines in full bloom, we had the best of markets and everybody was making money. Then, in '77, the Nez Perce war broke out. I was over in Elk City, a mining camp, the time of the war and all we had in the camp in the way of shooting irons were four old muzzle-loading rifles. If the Indians had come, we could have kept them at a safe distance by throwing sourdough his cuffs at 'em. A brave getting hit with one of these would never have come back for more. After the war was over, we all sent east and got guns. I remember mine was a 45 caliber Sharp's buffalo gun that shot 500 grains of lead and 120 grains of powder. I was afraid to shoot it off after the country got settled up tolerably full, for fear I might hit someone over in Montana.

Many Elk and Deer
There were thousands of elk and deer and they were not very wild either. After farming and mining, I quit both a couple of years ago to live on the interest of my taxees. 