Trees Are Where You Find Them - Arthur Dekker Savage

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Trees are where you find them. This is a LibriVox recording.
All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording
by Barry Eads. Trees Are where You Find Them by
Arthur Decker Savage. You might say the trouble started at

(00:22):
the IVY, which is a moving picture house in Cave Junction,
being built like a big quantset. It's the only show
in these parts, and most of us old timers up
here in the timber country of southwest Oregon have got
into the habit of going to see a picture on
Saturday nights before we head for a tavern. But I
don't think old Doc Yoris, who was there with Lew

(00:43):
and Rusty in me, had been to more than two
or three shows in his life. Doc is kind of
sensitive about his appearance on account of his small eyes
and big nose and ears. And since gold mining gave
way to logging and lumber mills with outsiders drifting into
the country, Doc has taken to staying on his homestead
away back up along Deer Creek near the boundary of

(01:06):
the Siskayu National Forest. It's gotten so he'll come to
Cave Junction only after dark, and even then he wears
dark glasses so strangers won't notice him too much. I
couldn't see anything funny about the picture when Doc started laughing,
but I figure it's a man's own business one he
wants to laugh, so I didn't say anything. The show

(01:26):
was one of these scientific things, and when Doc began
to cackle, it was showing some men getting out of
a rocket ship on Mars and running over to look
at some trees. Rusty, whose top choker setter in our
logging outfit, was trying to see Doc's point. He can
snare logs with a hunk of steel cable faster than
any one I know, but he's never had much schooling.

(01:48):
He turned to Doc. I don't get it, Doc, he said,
what's the deal? Doc kept chuckling. It's them trees. He said,
there's no trees like that on Mars, Oh, said Rusty.
I suppose it was just chance that Bert Holden was
sitting behind us and heard the talk. Bert is one
of the newcomers. He'd come down from Grant's Pass and

(02:10):
started a big lumber mill and logging outfit and was
trying to freeze out the little operators. He growled something
about keeping quiet. That got rusty and Lou kind of mad.
And Lou turned around and looked at Bert. Lou is
even bigger than Bert, and things might have got interesting,
but I wanted to see the rest of the picture.
I nudged him and asked him if he had a chew.

(02:32):
They won't let you smoke in the show, but it's
ok to chew, and most of us were in the
habit anyway, because there's too much danger of forest fire
when you smoke on the job. Doc laughed every time
the screen showed trees, and I could hear Bert humping
around in his seat like he was irritated. At the
end of the show, we drifted over to the Owl
Tavern and took a table against the north wall, behind

(02:55):
the pool tables and across from the bar. Doc had
put his dark glass back on and he sat facing
the wall. Not that many people apart from the insiders
knew Doc. He hadn't been very active since the young
medical doctor had come to Cape Junction in nineteen forty eight,
although he never turned down anyone who came for help,

(03:16):
and as far as I knew he'd never lost a
patient unless he was already dead. When Doc got there,
we were kidding, Lou, because he was still wearing his
tin hat and caked boots from work. You figurin on
startin early in the mornin, I asked him, Rusty, and
Doc laughed. It was a good joke because we rode
out to the job in my jeep and so we'd

(03:37):
naturally get there at the same time. Then Rusty sat
up straighter and looked over at the bar. Hey, he said,
Pop's talkin' to Burt Holdin. Pop Johnson owns our outfit.
He's one of the small operators that guys like Burt
are trying to squeeze out. Hope. He don't try to
rop Pop in an old deals, said Lou. Doc tipped

(03:58):
up his bottle of beer. In Oregon, they don't sell
anything but beer in the taverns. Time's change, he said.
Back in nineteen hundred, all they wanted was gold. Now
they're trying to take all the trees. It's the big
operators like Burt, I said. Little guys like Pop can't
cut em as fast as they grow. The companies don't
have to receive either, except on National forest Land. That

(04:21):
Bert Holden was up to my place a couple weeks ago,
said Doc. Darn near caught me skinnin out a deer.
He'd better not yap to the game, Warden said, rusty.
Them laws is for sports and outsiders, not us guys
who need the meat. He wanted to buy all my timbers, said,
Doc offered me ten dollars a thousand board feet on
the stump. Don't sell, I advised him. If Bert offers

(04:45):
that much, almost any one else will pay twelve. Doc
looked at me. I'd never sell my trees, not at
any price. I got a hundred and sixty acres of
virgin stand and that's the way it's going to stay.
I cut up the windfalls and snacks for firewood, and
that's all. Here comes Pop, said Lou. Pop sat down

(05:05):
with us and had a beer. He looked worried. We
didn't ask him any questions, because we figure a man
will talk if he wants to, and if he doesn't,
it's his own business. He finally unlimbered. Bird. Holden wants
to buy the mill, he said, wiping his mouth on
the back of his hand. Buy your mill, said lou Hell.
His mill is five times as big, and he's even

(05:26):
got a burner to take care of slashings so he
don't have to shut down in the fire season. He
just wants the land, said Pop, because it's near the highway.
He wants to tear down my setup and build a
pulp mill, a pulp mill. If we could have seen
Doc's eyes through the glasses, I imagined they'd have been
popped open a full half inch. Why then they'll be

(05:48):
cutting down everything but the brush. Pop nodded, Yeah, size
of a log don't matter when you make paper. Just
so it's would It seemed as though Doc was talking
to himself. They'll strip the land down, bear, he mumbled,
and the hills will wash away, and the chemicals they
use in the mill will kill the fish in the
creeks and the Illinois River. That's why they won't let

(06:10):
anyone start a poultmere near Grant's Pass, said Pop. Most
of the town's money comes from sports who come up
to the Rouge River to fish. Rusty set his jaw
in the winter. We need them fish, he said. He
was right too. The woods closed down in the winter
on account of the snow. And if a man can't
hunt and fish. He's liable to get kind of hungry.

(06:31):
That rockin' chair. Money doesn't stretch very far. I ain't
gonna sell, said Pop. But that won't stop Burt Holden,
and any place he builds the mill around here will
drain into the Illinois. Doc pushed back his chair and
stood up to his full height of five foot four.
I'm going to talk to Bert Holden, he said. Rusty
stood up to his six foot three. I'll bring him

(06:54):
over here, Doc, he said, we're handy to the Q
rack here and Liu and Simmons can keep them guys.
He's wis off my back. I stood up and shoved
Rusty back down. I'm no taller than he is, but
I outweigh him about twenty pounds. I started working in
the woods when we still felled trees with axes and
misery whips, crosscut saws to the outsiders. I'll go get him,

(07:15):
I said. You're still mad about the show, and you
wouldn't be able to get him this far without mussing
him up. There won't be no trouble, said Doc. I
just want to make him an offer. I went over
and told Bert that Doc wanted to talk to him.
The three guys with him followed us back to the table.
Bert figured he knew what it was all about, and
he just stood over Doc and looked down on him.

(07:37):
If it's about your timber, yours, he said, I'll take it,
but I can't pay you more than nine dollars now.
Lumber's coming down, and I'm taking a chance. Even at that,
he rocked back and forth on his heels and looked
at Pop as though daring him to say different. I
still don't want to sell, mister Holden, said Doc. But
I've got better than three million feet on my place,

(07:59):
and i'll give it to you if you won't put
a pulp mill anywhere in the Illinois Valley. We were
all floored at that, but Bert recovered first. He gave
a nasty laugh. Not interested, yours. If you want to sell,
look me up, wait, said Doc. A pulp mill will
take every tree in the valley in a few years.

(08:19):
It'll make money, too, said Bert flatly. Money ain't everything
by a long shot. It won't buy trees and creeks
and rain. It'll buy trees to make lumber. Bert was
getting mad. I don't want any opposition from you, yours
I've had enough trouble from people who try to hold
back progress. If you don't like the way we run
things here, you can hell, you can go back to Mars.

(08:42):
It seemed to me that it was just about time
to start in. I could have taken Bert easiest, but
I knew Rusty would probably swing on him first and
get in my way, So I planned to work on
the two guys on Burt's right, leaving the one on
his left for Loo. I didn't want Pop to get
tangled up in it. I don't generally wait too long
after I make up my mind. But then I noticed

(09:04):
Rusty reaching out slowly for acoustic and I thought maybe
i'd better take Burt first while Rusty got set. I
never did see a guy so one way about having
something in his hands. But Doc didn't drop out. There
ain't nothing but a few scrub trees on Mars, he
said to Bert, looking him square in the eye, and
no creaks and no rain. Burt curled his lip sarcastically.

(09:27):
The hell you say, is that why you didn't like it? There?
You could see he was just trying to egg Doc
into saying he'd come from Mars so he could give
him the horse laugh. The guys he was with were
getting set for a fracas, but they were waiting for
Bert to lead off. Doc didn't get caught. But there's gold,
he said, like he hadn't heard Bert at all. Tons

(09:50):
of it laying all over the ground. I guess Bert
decided to ride along. Ok, yours, he said, tell you
what I'll do for only one ton of Martian gold.
I'll agree to drop all plans for a pulp mill
here or anywhere else. In fact, I'll get out of
business altogether. Doc moved in like a log falling out

(10:11):
of the loading tongs. That's a deal, he said, You
ready to go. Bert started to look disgusted, then he smiled. Sure,
Mars must be quite a place if you came from there. Okay,
said Doc. You just stand up against the wall, mister Holden.
Bert's smile faded. He figured Doc was trying to maneuver
him into a likely position for us. But Doc cleared

(10:33):
that up quick. You boys get up and stand aside,
he ordered, Get back aways and give mister Holden plenty
of room. We didn't like it, but we cleared out
from around the table. A bunch from the bar and
pool tables sensing something was up, came drifting over to watch.
I could feel tension building up now, said Doc, pointing.

(10:55):
You just stand right over there, mister Holden, and fold
your arms. Didn't like the audience, and I guess he
figured his plans were backfiring. When Doc didn't bluff you,
he'll happy, old coot, he snarled, you'd better go home
and sleep it off. I grabbed hold of Low's arm
and shook my head at rusty. I wasn't going to

(11:15):
interfere with Doc. Now you're not scared, are you, mister Holden,
said Doc quietly. Just you stand against the wall and
take it easy. It won't hurt a bit. Bert Holden
was plenty tough for an outsider and a hard headed
business man to boot, but he'd never run into a
customer like Doc before. You could see him trying to
make up his mind on how to handle this thing.

(11:37):
He glanced around quick at the crowd, and I could
tell he decided to play it out to where Doc
would have to draw in his horns. He actually grinned
for the effect it would have on everybody watching. All Right, yours,
he said. He backed up against the wall and folded
his arms. But hadn't you better stand up here with me.
I ain't goin, said Doc. I don't like Mars, but

(12:00):
you won't have no trouble. Get your gold. There's nuggets
the size of your fist layin all over the dry
river beds. I hate to be nosey, said Bert, playing
to the crowd. But how are you going to get
me there? With his head? Of course, blurted Rusty before
I could stop him, just like he cures you when
you're sick. Doc had pulled Rusty through two or three

(12:21):
bad kid's sicknesses, and a lot of the rest of
us too. Yep, said Doc. A man don't need one
of them rocket things to get between here and Mars.
Fact is I never seen one. Bert looked at the
ceiling like he was a martyr, then back at Doc.
Well yours, he said, in a tone that meant he
was just about through humoring him. I'm waiting, Can you

(12:43):
send me there? Or can't you? The start of a
nasty smile was beginning to show at the corners of
his mouth. Sure, said Doc. He slumped down in his
chair and cupped his hands lightly around his dark glasses.
I noticed his fingers trembling a little against his forehead.
The lights dimmed, flickered, and went out, and we waited

(13:03):
for the bartender to put in a new fuse. The
power around here doesn't go haywire, except in the winter
when trees fall across the lines. A small fight started
over in a corner when the lights came back on.
Doc and Pop started for the door, and Lou and
Rusty and I followed. Bert's buddies were looking kind of puzzled,
and a few old timers were moving over to watch

(13:24):
the fight. The rest were heading back to the bar.
Rusty piled into the jeep with Doc and me. When
you're going to bring him back, doc, he asked. When
we started moving, don't know, said Doc. He took off
his glasses to watch me shift gears. He's been after
me for a long time to teach him how to drive.
It only works on a man once the end end

(13:49):
of trees are where you find them.