Page:The History of Oregon Bancroft 1888.djvu/502

484 Such a season as this coming upon miners and travellers in the sparsely settled upper country was sure to occasion disaster. It strewed the plains with dead men, whose remains were washed down by the next summer's flood, and destroyed as many as twenty-five thousand cattle. A herder on the Tucannon froze to death with all the animals in his charge. Travellers lay down by the wayside and slept the sleep that is dreamless. A sad tale is told of the pioneers of the John Day mines, who were wintering at the base of the Blue mountains to be ready for the opening of spring, many of whom were murdered and their bodies eaten by the Snakes.

The flood and cold of winter were followed in May by another flood, caused by the rapid melting of the large body of snow in the upper country. The water rose at The Dalles several feet over the principal streets, and the back-water from the Columbia overflowed the lower portion of Portland. On the 14th of June the river was twenty-eight feet above low-water mark. The damages sustained along the Columbia were estimated at more than a hundred thousand dollars, although the Columbia Valley was almost in its wild state. Added to the losses of the winter, the whole country had sustained great injury. On the other hand, there was a prospect of rapidly recovering from the natural depression. The John Day mines were said by old California miners to be the richest yet discovered. This does not seem to have proved true as compared with Salmon River; but they were undoubtedly rich. By the 1st of July there were nearly a thousand persons mining and trading on the head waters of this river. New discoveries were made on Granite Creek, the north branch of the North Fork of John Day, later in the season,